Author Archives: Cyndi Johnson

About Cyndi Johnson

Paper crafter

SHAMROCKS AND SHAKES

Posted on by
4

I have a new stamp set that has sparked a lot of creativity lately. It isn’t a stamp set that I would typically consider, as it’s very subject specific, which in my mind makes it less versatile. I usually gravitate towards more well-rounded sets that have a variety of images and sentiments that I can use all year long. Something about this set really caught my eye, however, and I ended up buying it anyway. I’m so glad I did, as the more I use it, the more I’m discovering how applicable and versatile the images and dies are, even though they are all centered around one theme–ice cream. Yes, you read it right–ice cream! Milkshakes, to be exact!

Here is a look at the stamp set. As you can see, all of the images help create milkshakes and ice cream sundaes. I love some of the extra details that are included, like the cherry, the striped straw, and the spoon. I also love the font used for the sentiments–it’s so cheerful and fun! What’s surprising is that it isn’t the images that inspired today’s project; it’s the name of the set–“Share a Milkshake”. As I have said many times, inspiration can come from anywhere, and today, it came from the title of a stamp set.

In truth, the name of the stamp set only provided half of the inspiration for my project. The other half came from the return of these:

McDonald’s Shamrock shakes! Not being Irish, St. Patrick’s Day usually comes and goes without much fanfare, except for two traditions–we order take-out corned beef and cabbage dinners from a local Irish restaurant, and we get a Shamrock shake for dessert. I love Shamrock shakes, and I look forward to enjoying that minty goodness every year! It was in thinking about how good these shakes are, that I decided that it would be fun to come up with a way to literally “share” a Shamrock shake with my family and friends. And that is how this project came to be.

I created a Shamrock shake gift card holder using some of the images and dies from this set. I’ll let my pictures show you the design process from beginning to end:

My vision was a simple card design with a Shamrock shake on the front, and space for a gift card as well as a handwritten note on the inside. My color scheme was mint macaron and white, and I brought in lots of scalloped layers and gingham for added charm and sweetness.

Let’s start with the inside–the gift card will go on the left, and my handwritten note will go on the right under the sentiment. I just love how the scalloped edges really soften the mint macaron layers and bring in so much charm! The scalloped gingham strip is adhered only on the edges and the bottom, so that the top is open for the gift card. The small scalloped circle will indicate the gift card amount.

And now for the front! I brought in lots of charm and personality, because this is the first thing people will see when they open the envelope. I love the gingham fountain glass, but my favorite part of the shake is the whipped cream–I embossed it with a polka dot pattern to help it stand out. I added a little bling to the cherry, and I also stamped some little shamrocks on the mint macaron layer to add interest and help break up the blank space.

And that’s it–the gift card holder is finished! The layout is simple, but this project is dripping with charm and sweetness, which is just the way I like it!

I can’t wait to get these in the mail!

BUT, I discovered an issue when I went to put them in the envelopes:

The gift card holder was too small for the envelope and flopped around inside. So, back to the drawing board. I needed to design some packaging so that the card would fit better inside the envelope. Here’s what I came up with:

I placed the cards inside 4″ x 6″ inch glassine bags that were folded over and stapled shut. I added a simple shamrock topper using layered scalloped circles and

ta da–problem solved!

Now this project is finished! My sweet Shamrock shake gift card holders are loaded with gift cards; packaged; and ready to be mailed. I love sending happy mail, and I can’t wait to “share” a Shamrock shake with some very special people!

Thank you for stopping by today. Take care and have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. And, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I am going to close with an Irish blessing rather than my usual ending:

“May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks; / may your heart be as light as a song; / may each day bring you bright happy hours; / that stay with you all year long”

-C-

Advertisement

HEART-SHAPED TREAT HOLDER

Posted on by
2

My husband and I are having our Valentine’s Day dinner tomorrow night, as he will be traveling next week. I always like to make some sort of table decoration, but time has gotten away from me, and I need to come up with a quick and easy project for this year. I came across a tutorial for a cute heart-shaped treat holder yesterday that I think will be perfect, so I thought I would share it with you in case you, too, need a quick and easy Valentine’s Day decoration idea.

To give you an idea of the finished project, here is the picture of the treat holder from the online tutorial:

This project really caught my eye and I thought the design was really clever. I love how the box is incorporated into the simple heart shape, and I also love the curved banner on top. This design could easily be adapted to any number of occasions, depending upon the paper and the embellishments that you used–Valentine’s Day, “Gal-entine’s” Day lunch, or even a Bridal shower to name a few. The possibilities are endless!

I plan to use this as a table decoration for our Valentine’s Day dinner, and I wanted to try and coordinate the paper with our china. I ended up with a color scheme of coral, gold and white, which isn’t a traditional Valentine’s Day combination, but it coordinated perfectly with our china!!

The supplies needed for this project are pretty minimal:

You need a strip of decorative paper for the heart; a coordinating piece of solid card stock for the box; label/banner pieces; and embellishments. I widened and lengthened the decorative paper for the heart from the original directions, which, in turn, changed the measurements for the box, as I wanted my heart to be a little bit “beefier” and take up more space on the dinner plate.

Tutorial Mine

Heart: 1 1/4″ x 11″ 1 1/2″ x 12″

Box: 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″

Both of the boxes were scored at 5/8″ on all four sides.

I made the heart first:

Start by folding the paper strip in half, and then add 2 strips of adhesive tape to the bottom edge on 1 side:

Remove the adhesive backing, and bring the strip ends in towards the center with both top sides facing each other, and adhere the two strip ends together. This is what your heart will look like:

The heart is done; that’s all there is to it! Now on to the box:

As I mentioned above, the square piece of solid card stock is scored at 5/8″ on all 4 sides. The first thing you want to do is fold on all of the score lines. To make the tabs, snip the vertical score lines at each corner, and then angle cut both the inside and outside edges of all 4 tabs. Apply adhesive tape to the tabs, as well as the bottom of the box, as it will be difficult to do this once the box is assembled.

Remove the adhesive backing on the tabs, and assemble the box, making sure that the tabs are adhered to the inside of the box.

I made the banner last.

I used on of my favorite sentiment stamps, and embossed it in white embossing powder onto the coral banner piece. I love the script font of this stamp, and the fact that there are tails on either side of the word. I cut the narrower white banner piece in half and adhered it to each end of the coral banner, as I felt like I needed some contrast against the decorative paper pattern. I finished off the banner with some gold foil hearts and a gold trim bow, and the banner is done.

Now comes the fun part–it’s time to put the project together!

I removed the adhesive backing from the bottom of the box and added it to the heart. I decided to use a Ferrero Rocher chocolate for my treat and it fits perfectly inside the box!

All that was left was to curl the banner and add it to the heart with glue dots. I love how the gold embellishments on the banner tie in with the gold treat wrapping, and I think all of the gold accents add a touch of elegance to the overall appearance.

I did want to show you a comparison of what the hearts look like with and without the box, in case you wanted to make the heart but felt that the box was a little too intimidating. The heart could totally be used as a decoration without the box; I think my only recommendation would be to use a decorative paper that had more traditional valentine patterns on both sides.

And, last but not least, I wanted to show you how the heart looks on our china. I couldn’t be happier! The color scheme works really well with the navy in our china pattern, and the gold rim on the plate ties in with all of the gold accents on the heart decoration. I did end up adding some heart table scatter to take up some more of the white space around the heart–it’s not exactly practical, but it helps with the visual presentation.

I’m excited that I now have a handmade Valentine decoration for our Valentine’s Day dinner tomorrow night. This project was exactly what I needed for this year–a simple, quick project that looks elegant and special! Now to plan the menu………!

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy Valentine’s Day to each of you, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet; / the sand be your seat; / and your friends out-number the stars”.

-C-

A “LOVE”-ly Keepsake

Posted on by
Reply

This post is a continuation of my post from earlier this week, As I mentioned in that post, I not only made the majority of the engagement party decorations for my son and his fiancé, but I also made them a gift. I am stopping back by today, as promised, to show you what I designed and created.

Let’s start with the engagement card I made for them:

I kept the overall card design very simple, and yet this card is anything but simple in appearance! I think the embossed heart image is just beautiful, and the contrast between the embossed vellum layer on top of the patterned paper strips is really striking. I love that I was able to personalize this card by incorporating the same paper patterns that I had used on the decorations, and I was also able to customize the ring to resemble the actual engagement ring.

It’s little touches like this that make paper crafting so satisfying!

For my gift, I wanted to give them a way to commemorate and always remember this very special day for many years to come. So, I made them a keepsake album. I used a paper collection from Simple Stories called Happily Ever After for the album. This is an older collection, and I had purchased a few of the kits several years ago for some bridal shower and wedding cards I needed to make.

This collection has coordinating paper patterns as well as stickers, and, in the above photo, you can see the specific papers I used for their album.

I decided to use a 6 x 8 album so that it would fit easily on a bookshelf. The album was designed to have 2 distinct sections–the first section gives them an opportunity to write and record specific information and memories about their engagement day, and the second section is for photos. Let me walk you through the album, cover to cover:

This is the front cover. I absolutely love the background paper, so I didn’t want the title to overpower it. I kept it really simple by framing a white square with coordinating paper, and adding another coordinating strip of paper underneath. The “You & Me” and the arrow are stickers included with the kit. I carried this same design for each of the other two title pages in the book for consistency.

For the spine label, I just adhered a ring onto the same background paper as the front and back covers.

This is what the inside of the front cover looks like. I used a coordinating pattern to cover both the inside front and back covers.

I wrote them a note, so I made a pocket for it and put it on the inside front cover.

Opposite the inside front cover is the first title page of the album. As I mentioned before, each title page has a consistent design with the same background paper, and the same design for the label. I stamped the words, but the ring box is another sticker included in the kit.

The next few pages were designed to give them opportunities to write about their engagement day:

I used page protectors in a variety of different configurations to create these different sections, and each layout used a combination of hand stamping and stickers. It took me a long time to design and make each section, and I worked hard to have the overall appearance of each area be consistent with the others.

We now move into the second section of the album for photos. Again, I kept the label design the same and the title was made with stickers.

I included lots of paper protectors for both landscape and portrait oriented photos. My son’s fiancé’s twin sister ( say that three times fast!) took all of the pictures, so I wanted to make sure that they would have a place to store and protect all of her photos.

I put my logo on the inside of the back cover, and now we have reached the end of the book:

This album was definitely a labor of love, and it really challenged my design skills. I am really proud of the final product, and I hope that they will use it to relive their engagement day for many years to come.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet; / the sand be your seat; / and your friends out-number the stars”.

-C-

A “LOVE”ly Celebration

Posted on by
4

Saturday was a very exciting day for our family–my son proposed to the love of his life, and both families were close by and got to watch it all unfold! Witnessing the proposal was a very moving and magical experience, and it meant the world to both of them that we were all there.

After pictures were taken and we had a round of drinks at a nearby dessert bar, we all headed back to our house for a party. Her family had just traveled from upstate New York, and this was the first time that the two families were meeting, so my son wanted this to be a very informal gathering. He wanted there to be plenty of time for relaxation and casual conversation. Even though this was to be a very casual get-together, I wanted the house to look festive because, after all, this was an engagement party! So I made all of the decorations in keeping with the theme and my son’s wishes. As I have said many times before, one of the best parts about paper crafting is the fact that you can customize any project to fit a theme, style, or recipient and, in this case, I did all three!

Now that you know the back story, it’s time to get to the fun part–the actual decorations! My goal was to have some form of decoration in all of the major parts of the house where people were going to be, and I used a combination of banners and table top decorations to accomplish this goal. The color scheme was teal and purple, and these are the patterned papers I used in some form on almost all of the decorations I made:

Let’s start with the side porch door, and I’ll walk you through the decorations as people saw them as they came through the house:

I really wanted to dress up the side porch door, as this is the first thing that people were going to see as they arrived. So I made a vertical banner, which I had never done before. I wanted the words on the banner to speak to this being a celebration for both my son and his fiancé, so I chose to use “Best Day Ever”. The banner ended up blending in with our door color, so I got two bunches of balloons for either side of the door to help draw your eye to the banner.

Here are some pictures of the banner against a white door, so that you can see the detail more clearly:

Each of the 4 x 4 letter blocks was adhered to a long piece of white burlap ribbon. I looped the top end of the ribbon around a piece of dowel and tied coordinating strips of ribbon to the dowel on either side of the banner. I then tied the hanging loop of twine to the small eye hooks my husband drilled in to either end of the dowel.

The next decoration people saw was another banner as they entered the kitchen area:

This time I attached streamers to the 4 x 4 letter blocks, so that everyone would have to walk through the streamers. I don’t know about you, but I think streamers scream party, and I wanted the happy couple to walk through some streamers on their engagement day!

The last banner I made was hung the mantel, and you could see it from anywhere in the kitchen area:

Out of all of the banners I made, this one was my favorite. Because this was a double banner, I used 3 x 3 letter blocks and strung all of the blocks together with ribbon. I put command hooks on top of the mantel and hung each banner by tying the ribbons to the hooks. I know it is customary to put the woman’s name first, but it rhymed by flipping the names around!

Now let’s go into the sunroom, where the appetizer table was:

The plates and napkins were on top of a cabinet that was by the door entering the sunroom. As a decoration for this cabinet, I covered the couples’ initials with some of the different patterns of papers. I kept each letter very simple, except for tying a wooden button on with some twine to her initial. I also added some tiny hearts table scatter to the top of the cabinet as an extra touch.

I didn’t have much room on the appetizer table for decorations, so I decided to use a stack of books. My son and his fiancé attended the same Master’s Degree program in Creative Writing and both work in the publishing industry, so the books have real significance to them.

I covered the books in brown paper–which I haven’t done in MANY years– and it brought back a rush of memories of starting each new school year by making my own book covers with grocery bags. I was so proud of myself when I thought of the idea of adding the equation to the spines of the books! I thought that it not only tied in with the occasion, but also tied in the fact that her undergraduate degree was in economics.

And did you notice the mason jar of flowers on top of the books? This actually is my most favorite decoration of all, and I had one jar on the appetizer table, and one on the kitchen table:

I took flowers from our garden and placed them in the mason jars, with the white hydrangea clusters on top of the daisy varieties. I then covered the flowers completely with water, followed by a thin layer of vegetable oil. I added a tea-light to the center of each jar and lit the candles. The oil layer provides the buoyancy needed to allow the tea-light to float.

I think these jars of flowers are just beautiful, and I know that this is going to be my preferred method for arranging flowers from now on. Flowers and candlelight always add a touch of romance, and I was happy that I found a way to incorporate both in to the decorations.

The get-together ended up being everything that my son had wanted, and it truly was a great ending to the BEST DAY EVER! He loved how festive the house looked with all of the decorations, and the two families had a wonderful time getting to know each other.

Mission accomplished!

Before I close, I have one more project to show you–the party bags. You can’t have a party without favor bags!

I filled bags with 3 different flavors of popcorn from our local popcorn shop, and attached a tag that said “He POPPED the question, she said YES”! This isn’t my original idea, but, when I saw it on Pinterest, I knew it was perfect for our popcorn-loving family!

Here is a closer look at the tags–the background paper used for the tag reminded me of popcorn kernels. The label was computer generated and printed on adhesive label sheets. I punched the label out with a circle punch and mounted it on a solid card stock circle also made with a circle punch. I know it was a little corny (sorry, I couldn’t help myself!), but everyone loved them!

Thank you so much for sharing in this special day with me–this is the first engagement for our family and it’s very exciting! I not only made all of the party decorations, but I also made our son and his fiancé a gift that I would like to show you as well. I will try and get a second post up later this week.

Until then, take care, and, as always, remember:

“May what waves kiss your feet; / the sand be your seat; / and your friends out-number the stars”

-C-

P.S. She said yes!

WOODEN SCOOP DECORATION

Posted on by
4

I love my baking cabinet! My favorite parts are the old-fashioned elements–the chicken wire and the ice box latch on the cupboard doors; the bead board; and the butcher block countertop. I have always wanted to make some sort of decoration for this cabinet that would add in some homemade charm and bring in a little splash of pink, but I just haven’t been able to come up with the right idea.

Practicality has gotten in the way of all my ideas over the years. My original plan was to make a banner across the top or a tag for the ice box latch using old, handwritten recipe cards. I still love the concept of this idea but I had to abandon it, because either option would make accessing the cupboard doors difficult.

My next idea was to make tags for my flour and sugar jars, as, at a quick glance, it’s easy to pull down the wrong jar. Again, great idea, but I had to let it go because the tags would be impossible to keep clean. Yes, I could laminate the tags, but that’s not the look I’m going for.

The answer to my dilemma came in a very round about way. My daughter and I got together several weeks ago for an afternoon of crafting. She wanted to make some faux scoops of ice cream for a tiered tray decoration, and she sent me this picture to give me an idea of what she had in mind:

I know I was to be focusing on the scoops of ice cream, but all I could see is this absolutely adorable wooden scoop. Just look at it–doesn’t it just bring a smile to your face and melt your heart! All it took was one look at this picture and I knew I had FINALLY found the perfect decoration for my baking cabinet. And I knew exactly where it was going:

on my cookie jar. I could hardly wait to get started!

In looking at the picture more closely, the supplies that I am going to need are the wooden scoop, 3 wooden beads, craft paint, ribbon, a fish-tailed tag, twine, and some sort of decorative element for the bowl of the scoop.

The miracIe of all miracles is that I have a package of wooden scoops left over from another project. I ordered these from Factory Direct Crafts several years ago, and they are 4 1/4″ long. I just checked to see if they are still available and they are, in case you’re interested.

The first thing that I did was paint my 3 wooden beads, and I used the same three colors that my daughter and I chose for the faux scoops of ice cream.

Once the beads were dry, I combined them with all of the other supplies I had chosen. This picture just makes me happy–I love the color combination and the scalloped-edged pink polka dot ribbon. You will also notice that I added another tag that will shadow the white one, as I thought I wanted a little more color on the neck of the scoop.

While I was working on the tag, I had my husband drill a small hole near the top of the scoop. The tag took the longest out of any of the different parts of this project. Since this scoop will be going on my cookie jar, I chose the word “cookies” for the tag. With some assistance, I downloaded some Rae Dunn fonts and then experimented with different font sizes until I got the spacing just right.

Once I was pleased with the tag, I cut both pieces down to size and punched a hole in them. I threaded the tag onto the scoop with twine and then attached my three wooden beads to the top of the scoop. This sweet little scoop is really beginning to come together!

I could hardly wait to attach the bow, and I think my heart skipped a beat when I took a look at what I have created. I couldn’t be happier and it’s not finished yet! I still need to add the decorations to the bowl of the scoop.

Knowing that I was going to make this scoop, I made some faux chocolate chip cookies when my daughter and I were done making the scoops of ice cream. They are made with a mixture of light sparkling paste, flour, and craft paint. Once you have them formed, you add in small pieces of black air-dry modeling clay for the chocolate chips. For a first timer, I think these cookies look pretty realistic. I hot glued two cookies to the bowl of the scoop, and here is my finished project:

Even though this scoop isn’t what I had in mind at all, I think this is the perfect decoration for my baking cabinet. The wooden scoop ties in with the other old-fashioned elements, and I love the pops of pink!

I love how the scoop looks on the cookie jar–I couldn’t have asked for anything better!! And practicality did not need to get in the way of this idea–the cookie jar can be accessed without disturbing the scoop at all! My husband took one for the team and tested it out for me!

One more thing before I go, I thought I would show you the faux scoops of ice cream my daughter and I made:

We made big scoops, small scoops, scoops with sprinkles and scoops with chocolate chips. We had a wonderful time and are pretty proud of ourselves!

I don’t have a tiered tray, but here are two little ice cream displays I made to put around this summer. Again, for first-timers, I think our scoops looks pretty realistic! And for those of you that are interested in seeing a picture of a decorated tiered tray, here is a picture of the strawberry themed tray my daughter recently put together:

These decorated tiered trays have become all the rage, and there are lots of Etsy shops that specialize in making small decorations to fit on the different tiers. I think she did an awesome job putting this theme together–she definitely has a good eye and a creative streak! Hmmm–wonder who she got that from?!

Thank you for stopping by today–I hope you are all well and looking forward to a visit from the Easter Bunny. Take care, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet, / the sand be your seat, / and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-

NESTED HEARTS–PART II

Posted on by
4

Hi again everyone! Welcome back to Part II of my nested hearts post. I have a folder of Valentine project ideas that I have been compiling since my kids were in grade school. I pulled it out recently, and it was in looking through the file that I ran across these nested hearts. The original instructions showed attaching a Tootsie Pop up the middle of the heart to give as a Valentine. Gone are the days where my kids need class valentines, but it’s kind of a cool idea nonetheless.

I ended up using the nested hearts for something entirely different. I love to give my kids a little something for Valentine’s Day, and so I had decorated the fronts of plain white gift bags to use for their gifts. The bags were definitely “valentine-y”, but they lacked that extra pizzaz to make them special. When I saw the instructions for the nested hearts, I knew I had found my pizzaz!

These next few pictures will show you my step-by-step process for decorating one of the bags:

Heart stencil

Decorative paper

Ruffled ribbon trim for the finish ( I definitely have been watching way too much of the Olympics!) As I said earlier, the bag front was OK, but it lacked personality and pizzaz. So I added a nested heart to the bag, and look at the transformation:

Talk about pizzaz! The nested heart was exactly what this bag needed–it brought the bag to life! I was so excited, I could hardly wait to put the heart on the other bag!

Here is a side-by-side picture of both of the bags, along with the coordinating Valentines I made. I couldn’t be happier with how these bags turned out, and I am so glad that I saved and came across these nested heart instructions!

Riding high on the success of the gift bag decorations, I decided to make a larger version to use as a table decoration for our Valentine’s Day dinner.

The original nested heart is in the middle, so you can see that the others are quite a bit bigger. I followed the same steps, but I started out with 8″, 9 1/2″, and 11″ strips of paper.

I love setting the table for holidays and special occasions, and I think the nested hearts are the perfect addition to the place settings for our Valentine’s Day dinner.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day dinner, I found a recipe for what I think will be the perfect dessert that I wanted to share with you. We will be having a mini chocolate cream pie and I will link the recipe at the end of the post. It uses a 6″ pie plate instead of a regular sized one. Here is a comparison of the two pie plates side by side:

The 6″ pie plate is the cutest thing ever, and I think it will make the perfect amount of dessert for my husband and I. I am hoping that it will take away the age old battle of not wanting to eat an entire pie but not wanting it to go to waste either. With a mini pie, there won’t be a lot left over.

Thank you for stopping in again today. Have a good rest of your week, Happy Valentine’s Day, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet, / the sand be your seat, / and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-

Recipe: http://www.dessertfortwo.com/chocolate-cream-pie-2/

NESTED HEARTS–PART I

Posted on by
2

Hi everyone! I hope this post finds you healthy and surviving the winter, wherever you are. Have you been watching any of the Winter Olympics? I love watching it all, but my favorite events are the figure skating and downhill skiing competitions. I watched a new event last night–Big Air–where some of the competitors skied backwards to and up a ramp to perform aerial jumps/tricks. I was totally amazed that one could do that and remain upright!

With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, I have a fun project for you that looks impressive yet requires very little time or supplies. What could be better than that! I am going to show you how to make paper nested hearts, and the only supplies you will need are 6 strips of paper and staples. You can use solid or patterned card stock in any combination that you choose, and the paper strips can be any length you want as long as the three different measurements are in 1 1/2″ increments.

I chose to use solid card stock for the top and bottom layers, and a patterned paper for the middle layer. The patterned paper was double-sided and I didn’t like the other design, so I glued 2 strips together to give me the same pattern on both sides. My strips are 3/4″ wide, and I cut two strips at 5″, 6 1/2″, and 8″ respectfully.

Start by laying the strips out as pictured above, where the two short strips are the bookends, and the two long strips are side by side in the middle. Once you have your paper strips arranged, the next step is to attach the baker’s twine, if you are planning to use the hearts as a garland or gift bag decoration.

I used 12″ lengths of baker’s twine, and I adhered one string to the underside of the left-hand long strip, and the other string to the topside of the right-hand long paper strip.

Now gather the paper strips into one pile, going in order from left to right as you have them arranged. Layer each additional strip behind the short left-hand strip, such that the two short strips are on the very top and bottom of your pile. Staple all of the paper strips together at the bottom edge.

These next three steps are my favorite, as the project really begins to take shape and everything begins to make sense!

Turn your paper strips to the side, as you will be working with the left and right hand sides separately. Starting with the three left-hand strips, curl the solid card stock strips several times with a bone folder or pencil to help break down the paper fibers a bit.

Match up all three ends together,

and bring the ends down and staple them in line with the bottom edge. Repeat the above three steps on the right-hand side and this is what the finished project looks like:

Ta da! I give you nested hearts! I think these hearts look quite impressive, and the best part is that they aren’t complicated to make!

I did make some other variations to show you, and I learned some things in the process which I’d like to pass along to you.

I made a monochromatic version, and the patterned paper I used was double-sided. I decided to keep both patterns this time, so I arranged my strips with the same pattern facing up on both the left and right hand sides. I ended up with a mis-matched middle layer.

To avoid making the same mistake, arrange your patterned paper strips such that the design you want on top is face up on the right-hand side, and the opposite design is face up on the left-hand side. When you put it all together, you end up with symmetrical middle layers.

Much better!

I also decided to try making a version out of ribbon. The heaviest ribbon I had was a saddleback ribbon, so that’s what I used. I thought the added weight would help to hold the shape better.

The ribbon was more flexible to work with, but if you want to hang this as part of a garland or to a gift bag, it just can’t hold the shape.

I’m going to leave you today with a picture of all the different nested hearts I made. I hope you’ll come back tomorrow, as I can’t wait to show how I used them. Have a good rest of your day, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet, / the sand be your seat, / and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-

The Sweet Smell of Summer

Posted on by
4

Hi everyone– how are you? How has your summer been? It just seems like this summer has flown by, and I can’t believe that we turned the calendar to August this week. I haven’t had much time to spend in my craft room until several weeks ago, when I found myself in need of some thank you gifts. I thought I would stop in and show you what I came up with.

I wanted these gifts to be somewhat special and out of the ordinary, so the most time-consuming part of this project was coming up with just the right idea. In times like this, I always refer back to my project photos and, in doing that, I ran across this picture of a Christmas stocking stuffer I made 11 years ago:

This is an envelope sachet that I made for my Mom, and she kept hers hanging in the bathroom. The minute I saw this picture, I knew I had found my project!

I had forgotten all about making these sachets, and how excited and proud I was of how they had turned out! I hadn’t been stamping for very long when I made these, and I remember how giddy I was that I could make something other than a simple card! I had gotten the idea from another Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Carla Brasher, who had posted this project on her blog as part of her 12 Weeks of Christmas series. Her website is no longer active, but I was able to find a picture of her sachets on Pinterest. I used her instructions for the basic construction and sachet filling, but I changed the appearance of my sachets.

Fast forward to 2021. A lot has changed in 11 years, and in thinking about this project, I knew I could modify the instructions to make the sachet size more realistic, and the whole process more streamlined. To begin with, I changed the envelope size from 4 3/8 x 5 3/4 to 3 x 3, which is closer to a traditional sachet size. Secondly, I purchased some scented sachet material instead of making my own filling with corn cob bedding and essential oil. This method was certainly more convenient given my time constraints, but it isn’t a cost effective solution if you are mass producing these sachets. I will list the instructions for making your own sachet filling at the end of this post.

I chose to use a peach scent for my sachets. It seemed appropriate, since the peaches are at their best right now, and I have some new peach-themed stamps and paper that I was excited to use.

I started by cutting two coordinating patterns of paper to the measurements listed above, and attaching them to the base and flap of each of the envelopes. Once that was done, it was time to determine how to embellish the sachets. I wanted them to be soft and feminine, and this ended up being much more of a challenge than I had anticipated. After several hours and lots of trial and error, I finally landed on a neutral die-cut peach, some lace and a little bling.

I attached the die-cut peach to the lower right corner of the envelope before I added the filling. I used dimensionals so that the die-cut would be able to move freely as the filling shifted around inside the envelope.

Now it was time to fill the envelopes.

The scent of this sachet was fairly strong, so I only added 1 tsp of the mixture inside the envelope. I didn’t want the scent to be overpowering, and this amount also allowed the sachet to remain relatively flat. There was a little over 4 tsp of filling in this bag, so you would be able to fill 4 envelopes out of 1 sachet packet. I then sealed up the envelopes and added the rest of the embellishments, and my envelope sachets were finished.

For the packaging, I started by placing each sachet on top of some shredded paper at the bottom of some cellophane bags. All I needed now were the bows and tags, and I kept the design elements similar by using the same card stock, patterned paper, and lace. I layered my gift tag and tried to mimic the look of the sachet envelope with the base tag.

I am so pleased with how these sachets turned out! They are exactly what I had in mind–somewhat special, out of the ordinary, soft and feminine thank you gifts. The sachets would also be perfect for shower or luncheon favors, or as a craft class project.

Now, before I sign off, I wanted to give you the DIY instructions for the sachet filling. You will need some corn cob bedding, and essential oil in a scent of your choice. I remember purchasing the corn cob bedding at Walmart, but I discovered this week that neither Walmart or major pet stores carry it in store anymore. You can order it, and here is a picture of what PetSmart offers:

I followed Carla’s instructions and added 2 cups of the bedding and 1 oz. of oil to an airtight container. It’s better to start out light on the oil and add more if needed vs. adding too much at the beginning and having to start over. I stirred the mixture around twice a day for 5 days to make sure that the oil was completely absorbed. You may need more or less time, depending on what part of the country you live in. It is important to make sure that the mixture is completely dry before you add it to your envelopes, because otherwise you run the risk of the mixture staining the envelope and whatever material is sitting under or next to the sachet. Carla added 2 Tbsp. of filling to each standard A2 sized envelope; you would add much less if using a 3 x 3 envelope.

Making your own filling is definitely more cost effective if you are making a large amount of the sachets, but it is not without it’s inconveniences. You need to allow enough time on the front end to order and receive the bedding and oil, as well as the time to prepare and allow the filling to dry. Also, given the size of the bag of bedding that is available, you are going to have left-over bedding and filling, if you use a 3 x 3 envelope. You would have to consider all of these factors when planning out your project.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet, / the sand be your seat, / and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-

Take Note

Posted on by
6

I just completed a project for the daughter of family friends, who is pregnant and due at the end of this month. She and her husband recently announced that their unborn baby, a boy, will most likely need open heart surgery soon after birth. They will need to travel hundreds of miles to a Children’s Hospital, where she will deliver and their baby will receive the specialized care he needs.

I felt such an instant connection to their situation, not only because their story tugged at my heart strings, but also because I have been on both sides of part of the experience ahead of them. Not only was I an NICU nurse for 10 years, but our son was born 5 1/2 weeks early and required some special care in the beginning. I felt like having been on both sides of this life event gave me a unique perspective and opportunity to do/make something for this couple that might make a difference in the coming weeks. But what? It was actually in thinking back on my experiences that I was able to draw some inspiration, and I came up with the idea of a notebook. I know that their sweet baby’s care team is going to be giving them lots of information and updates, and it’s going to be important for them to have a place to keep track of all the changes. I wasn’t prepared when our son was born, and, looking back, I would have benefited from a notebook. As it was, I was documenting his information on the back of hospital menus, card envelopes, etc.

In thinking further about the notebook, I decided that a composition notebook would be the perfect choice. It has plenty of pages without being too bulky, and it’s the perfect size for putting in a bag or keeping out by the phone. Even more perfect is the fact that I had several composition notebooks in my supply closet, so out one came, and off to work I went to “dress” this book up for a very important job.

And this notebook was going to need lots of help dressing for success!! It’s about as far from sweet and charming as it could be! So I pulled out lots of papers and supplies, and here is the design concept I came up with:

a baby blue and yellow color scheme with lots of white scalloped accents, mama and baby elephants, sweet bitty dot yellow ribbon, and tiny navy hearts. This project is already taking on so much charm, and all I’ve done is gather everything in one place! I love putting all of the design elements together at the beginning of a project, and I know that if I get excited about how everything looks as is, that I’m going to love the finished product. I have a good feeling about this project, as this grouping just makes me smile!

I have altered/covered several other composition notebooks, but that was several years ago. I keep a file folder for certain projects, and my notes on covering a notebook said to cover the inside front and back covers first, before tackling the outside covers. It made trimming the inside covers easier. So, that’s what I did–I covered the inside covers first; followed by the outside covers. I used the solid baby blue paper on all 4 covers, and then used the yellow plaid paper for the spine of the book. Once that was done, the real fun began adding on all of the decorative elements!

Enough talking; let’s get to the pictures! I’ll start with the before and after of the front cover:

This is quite a transformation, isn’t it! I kept the decorative elements to a minimum, as I wanted the elephants to be the main focus. The elephants are so sweet, and having their trunks joined together with the tiny heart above helps to communicate that special bond between a mother and her baby. I also kept all of the decorations towards the bottom of the book to allow for someone to hold the book more in the middle.

Let’s continue the tour with the inside front cover, as this is probably my favorite page:

I made two little journal cards for the baby’s name and all of his birth information that the parents can fill in. I kept the color scheme the same, and used a combination of stamps, die cuts, and computer-generated words. I love the sentiment “born to be loved”, and I bought that stamp set specifically for that sentiment. It’s perfect for this project, and I was so excited to be able to use it!

Next we move on to the inside back cover. I made a pocket, which I thought might come in handy. I changed the position of the white scalloped border from extending beyond the edge of the yellow paper to on top of the paper. This way it won’t interfere with putting things in the pocket. I originally was going to use the word “stuff” on the pocket, but after seeing this project come to life, this book deserved something classier. So I changed the word to ETC., which I liked better–plus it gave me an opportunity to use a heart for the period. It will always and forever be about the little details for me!

Lastly, the back cover, which I kept very basic, as this is the part of the book that will be laying on flat surfaces. This cover might be basic, but it’s not plain, thanks to the white scalloped border.

There are a few additional accessories that I will be sending along with the notebook. I covered a binder clip with paper and added some ribbon to one of the clips. It will be helpful in marking the page and keeping the book closed. The silver clip is a pen clip. It could be clipped to the top or the side of the front cover. I also made one additional journal card to document when the baby arrives home–I envisioned the card going on the back cover, but didn’t want to put anything there yet. So, I have added double-sided tape to the back, and the parents can remove the protective film and place it where they want it.

This concludes the tour of the notebook, but…….I have one more thing to show you:

Since I had all of the supplies out, I decided to make some notecards as well. I wanted them to be very versatile, so they are sentiment free and blank inside. I plan to include the stamps with the cards, as well.

I have loved working on this project–it is so satisfying to create something that you know is meaningful and will make a difference for the recipients. It is for this exact reason that I continue paper crafting.

Thank you for letting me share this project with you, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet; the sand be your seat; and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-

Hearts and Envelopes

Posted on by
4

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I want to show you how to make a small gift bag that would be perfect for packaging Valentine’s treats. The best part about this bag is that it starts with a common household product. It’s called a bag-a-lope, and, while it’s not a fancy name, it’s certainly very descriptive of the end result. A bag-a-lope is simply a bag made out of an envelope. I learned how to make one at my very first stamping class, and I recently came across the printed instructions I received at that class. It’s relatively simple to make; it doesn’t require a lot of supplies; and it’s a good idea to have in your back pocket should you have an unexpected need for a small gift bag!

Let me walk you through the basic construction first, and then I will show you the bag-a-lopes I made for Valentine’s Day this year.

You can make a bag-a-lope from any envelope. Most of us have both standard and legal sized envelopes around, and I am going to show you the basic construction using a legal sized envelope. You can use a standard envelope, but it ends up being a tall, narrow bag, so it isn’t as versatile. When you use a legal sized envelope, you actually cut it in half, giving you two bags that are the perfect size for small gifts.

The first thing you want to do is seal your envelope at the top, end to end.

Now cut the envelope in half. Each half will measure basically 4″ x 4 3/4″. The next step is the most important one:

With the open end at the top, fold in or score the two long sides and the bottom at the same measurement. For most bag-a-lopes, the fold measurement is 1/2″ or 3/4″. There is no set measurement–it really depends on the size of your envelope and how large an opening you need or want for your bag. If you use a larger mailing envelope, you might end up folding each side in an inch or more. The important thing to remember is to have all three fold measurements consistent. In this example, I have scored all three sides in at 1/2″. Make sure that you press each fold line both towards the font and towards the back of the bag to really set those lines.

Once you have your fold lines made, you can decorate your bag between the side and bottom folds, which is indicated by the cardstock. If you are going to cover the entire space between the fold lines with paper, then use the side with the seam in it. If you are going to stamp, or just use a small tag or embellishment on the front, then use the side without the seam.

Once you have decorated your bag, it’s now time to start to open it up. Start at the top of one of the long sides, and gently begin to open up the envelope as you work your way down to the bottom. Once you get close to the bottom, you will begin to see a triangle form. Gently push up from the bottom of the bag while you finish opening up the side to help with the triangle formation. Do the same for the other long side of the envelope.

When both sides of the envelope are open, your bag should look like this. Stand the bag up flat, and give those triangles a good press. Then put adhesive on the underside of the point of the triangle, and adhere the triangles to the bottom of the bag. I like to use glue dots for my adhesive.

And that’s it! From one legal sized envelope, you just made two small gift bags that each measure 3 1/8″ x 4 3/4″, and are 1″ wide. These bags are the perfect size for small gifts or treats. You can finish the bag any way you like–I’ve shown you two different options in the picture above. You could add a ribbon handle by punching holes on either side of the bag, and tying knots in the ribbon on the inside of the bag. This would allow you to deliver a treat to someone’s house by hanging the bag on the front door handle. The other option is to tie up the treats in a separate bag, add a tag, and place the treat bag inside of the bag-a-lope. The sky is the limit, and the wonderful things is that these bag-a-lopes are very versatile and adaptable to a variety of needs.

Now that you have a general idea of what a bag-a-lope is and how to make one, I want to show you a set of Valentine bag-a-lopes I made this week. I love to give my kids something homemade and handmade on the holidays; especially Valentine’s Day. We are meeting both of our kids tomorrow for separate, Covid-approved visits, and I wanted to bring them a little something special that they can put at the table on Valentine’s Day.

I bought this Valentines kit from Stampin’ Up! last month that includes notecards in 2 designs; layering cards in both the landscape and portrait orientations; and gold foil lined envelopes in 2 different patterns. The more I looked at this kit, the more I decided that I wouldn’t use it as it was designed. So I decided to “de-construct” the kit and use the contents to decorate some bag-a-lopes that were more my style. I’ve never done anything like this before, so I was a little timid at first cutting all of these cards up. Once I had my first bag done, however, I just let my creative juices flow, and the ideas came faster than I could create them! I used a standard A2 card envelope for my bags, as I wanted them to be solid white inside. The envelope measures 4 3/8″ x 5 3/4″. I cut 3/4″ off one side for the opening, and scored the other three sides at 3/4″. Here’s what I came up with:

I told you that I de-constructed the kit! I used every element in the kit in some way, and, along with other Valentine stamp sets, punches, and dies that I had, I was able to come up with six different bag designs that have the personality and charm that I love. Not even the envelopes were spared. It’s a lot to take in looking at all of them together, so here are some pictures of smaller groupings for you:

I had a wonderful time making and decorating these bag-a-lopes, and I can’t wait to give them to our kids! I am hoping that they will put these on their tables, so that they have a little treat to go along with their Valentine’s Day dinner. I will do the same for my husband and I. Here’s a picture of the bags all filled, along with a picture of how one of the bags will look on our table:

That’s all I have for today. I hope you enjoyed today’s treat packaging idea, and that you’ll give making a bag-a-lope a try. Stay safe and healthy, and, as always, remember:

“May the waves kiss your feet; the sand be your seat; and your friends out-number the stars.”

-C-