Sunday, January 29, 2017

Tiny Treats!

Today I want to share a cute little treat bag that can be decorated with all sorts of posy trims and ribbons. I am making twelve of these little bags to deliver as Valentine surprises to some friends. 
The little bag is from a kit (January 2017 Paper Pumpkin from Stampin' Up!), but is easily made. It's a tiny treat bag -- just big enough to hold 3 or 4 Ghirardelli or Dove chocolates! I think it's the perfect size to just let someone know you are thinking of them! I always love fun little treats!

I gathered my supplies, and wanted to make a little bit of of a sweet "bouquet" to dress up the arrow. The bag and banner are adhered with Scor-Tape, and the little heart sentiment with foam tabs.
I chose several trims from Really Reasonable Ribbon to dress it up: Light Pink Organza (3/8"), Ivory Burlap String, and a sweet pink Resin Flower, and added three Baby Pink Gypsophila for the flowers. I made a three loop bow with the organza, then tied the string around it and made a single bow. 
I used a wood scallop circle (Stampin' Up!) to thread my flowers through, and then added the Resin Flower on top. I hot glued the arrow to the front of the bag, and then my bow trims to the arrow.
It's now ready to fill with some sweet tiny treats! I also tried a different look, and instead of the shredded fill, used a mini clothespin to close the bag. I think I like the white shred better. What do you think?
Come join our "Pink or Red with Ribbon" Challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon! You have until February 1 to play along!


Challenges: 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Otter Love

I'm playing along in several challenges with this little guy. My otter is sending sunshine and love to cheer up a friend! I am working on flat and mailable for January, which is not my usual style, as I like lots of embellishments and layers!
I LOVE HAMBO STAMPS and yes, they are still in business! If you aren't familiar with their artwork, you need to go check it out. Cutest ever. I used Otter (4521) and It's An Otter (4509).
It's super (almost eerily) foggy here today, so I am bringing some warmth to our skies with my little smiley guy.

I stamped him in Archival Black (SU!) and then used my Kuretake paints to color. I did a fast watercolor for my coloring. I die cut the edge using a new Pretty Posh stitched die, added some corrugated hearts and a little wood heart. Still pretty flat and mailable!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a sunny day!
 

Crafty Gals Corner - Add a heart  
Tuesday Throwdown - Your Favorite Medium 
Dream Valley Challenges - Something New
Bit More Time to Craft - Always Anything Goes

Friday, January 13, 2017

January Hop With Really Reasonable Ribbon!

Welcome to the January Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Ginny's blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened along, be sure to start at the beginning at the RRR Blog (I am the fourth stop, so you don't have far back to go!) so you don't miss out on the awesome projects, fun news, and a prize from Really Reasonable Ribbon! Our hop goes live at 6:30 AM Central.
My stamping goal this month is to make and work on cards that are CAS (Clean and Simple) and/or flat and mailable. I tend to use a lot of embellishments and layers and make it so expensive to mail cards. And that is the other part of the goal -- to actually mail them!
So with that in mind, I present you a slightly, almost flat, with a beautiful bow, CAS design for the hop today!
I inked up a brand new Stampin' Up! set called Sealed With Love and used one of the Love Notes Framelits to die cut the edge. I love the teeny tiny "sent with love" sentiment!

Each 13th of the month it's the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop where we highlight the Ribbon Club! I LOVE Bonnie's choices for the January Sweetheart Mix ribbon club package. The cheery combination of red and white are perfect for Valentine cards. If you really love ribbon and would like to have a wonderful assortment of ribbons sent to you automatically each month, just join the Really Reasonable Ribbon Club! Monthly ribbon club assortments are selected and pre-packed to reflect a specific theme, color, or holiday season.

I am a sucker for lace. So for this month's card, I chose the pretty Crochet Lace in the assortment. I tied a length around my card, and tied a simple bow. To the knot I added a resin flower. All of my layers are held together with Scor-Tape.
The inside of the card is finished with coordinating patterned paper (also SU!) and the same little heart and sentiment.


I used Archival Black ink (SU!) and Red Hot ink (Poptone), and Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS.
Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays - chocolate and handmade cards! What could be better?
 
Now off to Cheryl's blog, where you will have a feast for the eyes!



I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies - and more added each week!



 

Thursday, January 12, 2017

You're A Good Egg!

I took a little diversion from pink (hard to believe ~ ha!) after a week of pink, and played for the first time with this adorable chicken set from Stampin' Up! It's part of the SAB sale this year, and is so cute!
I stamped the images and sentiment with Archival Black (SU!), and then used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints to color the little scene. The egg has a light wash of gray on it to give it some depth. When I was all done, I thought I would add some black speckles, flicking my aqua brush (which has worked every day forever.....but NO! I ended up with huge blobs of black everywhere -- and right on my chicken's face! Thank goodness that watercolor paper (using TH here) is so forgiving! I ran and got a Kleenex and starting dabbing it all off, and then used the (clean) Aqua Brush to blend it. Sheesh! The sky ended up a little funky because of that, but I think it saved pretty well!

The zig zag die (MFT) was a gift from my sister for Christmas. I had planned to tie some gingham ribbon around the bottom, but spied the houndstooth washi tape, and chose that and another instead of ribbon. Still flat and mailable! My goal this month! The card base is from a package from my local printer -- $2 for 50 sheets of 90 lb. What a deal!


I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!






Challenges:
Color Throwdown #425

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

You're On My Mind

So I have been working on making my cards EASIER to mail -- as in FLAT. Ha! I am not used to that, as I love layers and bumpy embellishments and ribbons and flowers. But here is a super cute image from Unity's PENGUIN PALS:
I stamped my image and sentiment with Archival Black Ink from Stampin' Up! on Hobby Lobby's Heavyweight White CS. I have been finding that this holds up pretty well to a quick watercolor background! Then I made a watercolor wash using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints, and added splatters with each color. A border die from Pretty Posh and some patterned paper with cute hearts -- all done! Flat and mailable!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!

Challenges:
Color Throwdown #425

GIANT SALE!

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!


Monday, January 9, 2017

New Year, New Stamps!

What a whirlwind December! I haven't posted in awhile, because December always seems to spin away so quickly! We finished our Community Theatre production of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" on the 18th, and my sister arrived for two weeks on the 22nd. My son, his wife, and my sweet granddaughter arrived Christmas Day, and we celebrated on the 26th. Lots of fun with my family, making gingerbread houses, opening gifts, going to the Zoo, and then everyone back to reality!

I didn't do a lot of stamping in that time, but last week got to work with some of my uninked, new (in November ha!) stamps from Unity. Here is one - using a video by Heather Hoffman as inspiration:
The kit is called Penguin Pals, and is super cute! I stamped my image and sentiment with VersaFine Onyx Black, and then painted a watercolor wash when it was dry. I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints. The border was then cut with a die from Pretty Posh. I added some patterned paper, and adhered it all to a white card base. Super fun and simple! AND flat and mailable! More to come later this week!

Challenges:
CAS on Sunday - Black and white, with one color of your choice
Come and Get It - Something New 
Glitter n Sparkle - Anything Goes 
Catch The Bug - Anything Goes 
Crafty Calendar - January - Something New 
Sweet Stampin - Something New

I am having a huge craft sale in a Facebook Group page! A whole lotta crafty goodness from my stamp studio -- for you! Lots of stamps, dies, ribbon, paper, stickers, embellishments and more! Lots of your favorite brand name companies!