Gift Ideas: Baby & Home Decor

 

Good morning!  I hope you've had your coffee because I have lots of pictures for you today!  First up is this baby mobile I was honored to make recently.  It was requested to match THESE things I made a while back for a good friend's new baby.  It is entirely made of Stampin' Up! papers, old and new, Stampin' Up! felt ribbon and a piece of plumbing pipe insulation that I bought and cut then wrapped with the dotted ribbon (not SU). 

 

The long pieces of felt that the circles are attached to were wrapped around the circle and held in place by either a button (which is hand sewn on for safety!) or a knot of tempting turqhoise ribbon.  They all very in length and the circles are different too.  I think I used at least 20 different patterns of paper. 

EDITED TO ADD:  I completely forgot to mention that the circles (all punched with SU's punches) were done like this... I punched two circles in matching paper and glued one of them to a punched chipboard circle (thin enough chipboard that it would punch).  The one with the chipboard backing was the outward facing circle.  The other was glued to the back of that with the ribbon sandwiched in between.  Some of them had chipboard behind both sides, but that was a mistake.  They didn't stayed glued nearly as well and I had to clip them with small binder clips for hours while they dried completely.  The glue I used was Tombo Mono.  Hope that helps!

 

I didn't take pictures of the entire process because I was under a time crunch.  But I have a few tips on using the pipe insulation.  It is much cheaper than using one of those wooden rings ($4) for needlepoint and doesn't have that clamp part to figure out what to do with.  I bought a piece about 5 feet long at the hardware store ($1.75) then cut off the length I needed (you could probably make 2 out of one piece).  In order to make sure your circle doesn't end up oblong here is what you should try:  hold the tube in a loop then slightly overlap the two ends.  Eyeball the angle at which they overlap then try to cut that angle off one end.  (Don't panic with my vague instructions, it isn't an exact science).  Then the two ends will meet flush and your tube will stay more circular.  Tape the connection with duct tape then cover with whatever material you want.  I used ribbon! 

 

On to project two: 

This project doesn't involve Stampin' Up! products at all (even though it could), but since I gather you are somewhat crafty or you wouldn't be here, and since I need a place to brag to a captive audience, you get to enjoy this one as well.  

So I found this frame in my barn.  No idea what it was for- square is an odd shape for a frame. 

 Decided to cover the cardboard backing for the frame with an old map (I've got tons- you'll see that in the future).  Chose my favorite saying of all time and cut it out with my daughter's Cricut in two different fonts.  Then used temporary adhesive (I used removable Dotto) to apply the letters just where I wanted them.  I also wanted a faux matt around the final project so I used painters tape on the edges.  Here's another TIP:  Be sure to destickify (yep, made it up) the tape by sticking it to your shirt or pants or couch over and over before applying it or else your map might tear (mine still did a little). 

 Then spray the entire thing. 

 We used black spray paint.  I was a tad worried that the paper map wouldn't hold up to the wet paint and let my daughter make an executive decision to not go solid black, but just enough to see the letters.  I like that you can not only see the map through the font, but also behind the paint a bit. 

 Here is how it looks on the wall.  We barely let it dry before we got it up there!  Just couldn't wait! 

 

If you're curious about where on earth we hung this... you probably don't recall but in 2010 we bought a 12x16 foot playhouse for our kids.  It has taken us two years, but it is now livable.  We've painted the entire outside, stained the deck, wired it (with a little help from an electrician), insulated, boxed in plywood walls and painted the crap out of it.  It has kept us crazy busy for many many hours!  I'll do another post on it if anyone is interested, but this is one shot of the inside.  The table, chairs and ladder were all paint projects I've worked on all this week and last.  Hopefully I am DONE painting for awhile.  Thanks to Pinterest we have many more ideas to come!

 

I am going to link a few of the ideas that inspired these projects: 

 

mobile:

http://pinterest.com/pin/198932508511198064/ 

http://pinterest.com/pin/198932508511198077/

paint over letters: 

http://pinterest.com/pin/198932508510004081/

http://pinterest.com/pin/198932508511282904/

 

Thanks for stopping by!  If either of these projects inspires you to do something I'd love to see it!  Leave me a link to your online photos or blog post!

 

Have a great day!

~Kristin



Recycled Album Clock

Here is one of the two 3D items I submitted for the Artisan Award contest for Stampin' Up!.  I've had this idea in my head for a long time so it finally came to fruition recently.  I had SO MUCH FUN putting this together!  The best part is the album and clock parts were both recycled.  The album came from a friend who said she didn't want it.  I laughed so hard when she gave it to me because written on the album cover was "this is horrible", "terrible", "lousy album" etc.  Obviously I knew why she was willing to give it up.  LOL! 

The flowers are a Decor Element called Wildflower which has since retired.  However, I loved this so much when it was done that I ordered another one so I can duplicate this for myself!  Can't wait to hang it in my stampin' studio aka kids' playhouse.  :)

I used the Beautiful Wings embosslit for the butterflies flying around on the ends of the clock hands.  If you ever decide to try this you should know that a single layer of cardstock is the only weight the hands could actually carry around the clock.  Any heavier or more layers bogged the hands down so they could not make the upswing.  The papers I used are the new Floral District.  Finally, did you notice the glimmer brads in Rich Razzleberry?  They popped right through thanks to the Crop-o-Dile!

Well, thank you for all the kind comments and emails about the disappointment of being a non-winner.  They have helped tremendously and I've now got my sights set for trying again next year.  Stop back tomorrow and I'll show you one of my scrapbook pages.   

~Kristin

Celebrating Easter

I don't know about you, but Easter has sure snuck up on me this year!  I suppose it could be because my mom is no longer here to make plans and remind me.  *sigh*  But instead of  mopping the kitchen floor today, which desperately needs it, I decided to stamp and blog.  I had stamped a tree just like this a few years ago for a class and had a few leftover which I thought I'd use... but ended up restamping it so the paper was the right size. 

I loved the MOJO sketch for this week and tried to figure out how to incorporate this image with that sketch and here is what I came up with.  True to form, I took some artistic liberties.  But my punched circle scallop is supposed to suffice for the large circle. 

Here's a quick shot at the inside.  Simple and sweet, I think.  Are you wondering what on earth I'm photographing my card on?? 

Well, here is a project I did recently which I hadn't thought to share with you until now.  It is a display piece I made to showcase my cards at our local consignment boutique.  Isn't it neat?!  Just took an old frame that went through college with me and spray painted it, distressed it some and added chickenwire.  It is BIG and holds LOTS of cards.  I bought Stampin' Up's mini clothespins to hold the cards on. Big clothes pins worked but bent the cards and bit and took up too much space.

It is kind of fun and handy to photograph on!  I'm going to hate to give it up, but I can always make another one or two.  ;) 

Thanks for stopping by today and giving me the perfect excuse to not mop!

~Kristin

ETA:  Sorry for so many photos.  Trying to upload the best one but none of them look near as good once uploaded as they do in my photo editing software.  This is a new problem.  Yikes! 

SUO Supplies

Stamps:  Branch out, Well Scripted, Wonderful Words

Colors:  Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride

Accessories:  Big Shot, Dotted embossing folder, large scallop circle punch, Crop-a-Dile, jumbo eyelet, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit, pearl

Stacked Hand-Made Gift Boxes

***This is the second post for today.  Scroll down to make sure you do not miss the DCBD challenge posting.  I meant to schedule this for tomorrow but messed up.  Oops.***

 So what do you think of my hand-made gift boxes??  I found this wonderful tutorial from Tina at My Therapy, My Creations that made them so so easy.  It can be found here:  paper box tutorial.  I used the Scallop Circle and Scallop Circles #2 dies with a piece of cardboard that comes in every pack of Designer Series Paper to make the bottoms and lids for these boxes.  Then covered them with cardstock.  There is one TIP that I'd like to point out if you decide to try these:  FOLLOW the tutorial when she says to glue the cardstock and cardboard together BEFORE running them through your Big Shot.  Trust her!  Trust me! 

 Here is a shot of the largest box open.  I am giving this set to a friend with a little something special in each box (I'll show that on another post).  Each box has a little stamped surprise in the lid and, for the bigger two, in the bottom of the box as well.  That's one reason this project is so fun- tons of areas to jazz up however you want!

Here is another shot of the inside of the lid for the largest box.  Sentiment is from In My Thoughts, leaves are from Great Friend.  I also used the new Chantilly Lace, an antique brad, pearls and the Large Oval punch and scallop oval punch with Oval All for the label on the outside.

 This is the medium box with a sentiment from Full of Life and 3 Jewel Basic Rhinestones.

 Here is the smallest box.  It has pearls all the way around it plus a hand-made carnation flower on top (more on how to make those later!)

On the inside of this lid I used a stamp from Think Happy Thoughts and punched a little flower with the Boho Blossoms punch, attached with a Rose Red brad.  For all three boxes I used retired Raspberry Tart DSP (designer series paper).  The measurements I used are as follows: 

Large box: 2"x12" strip & a 1"x113/4"
Medium box: 1 1/2" x 9 1/4" and 1"x9" (as per the tutorial)
Small box: 1 1/2" x 5" and 1" x 4 3/4" 

For the larger two boxes I just cut circles that looked like they would fit with my circle cutting system.  For the small box my 1 1/4" punch worked perfectly!  These circles are to line the inside so the edges of paper don't show. 

Want to know more about the paper carnation?  Here is a tutorial that is super easy:  paper carnation tutorial thanks to Emma F. at Lady and the Stamp.  These have been around awhile so I might just be the last person to try them.  If you haven't either then check out this tutorial! 

Hope you have a great day.  If you have any questions about this post just post a comment and ask, I'll do my best to answer. 
~Kristin

{PS- Special thanks to Tina and Emma for your inspiration and wonderfully done tutorials!}

Some Teacher Gifts

Phew! The last week of school is certainly a busy one! It doesn't have to be but of course I PROcrastinate and make myself miserable. I basically spent all day yesterday making these teacher gifts for my kiddos' last day of school today and also 5 graduation cards that my hubby suddenly needed. I didn't even get a picture of those. Thank goodness I love making stuff like this.

For the kids' 3 main teachers I prettied up these tiny tins I bought several months ago at the dollar store. They were actually gift card holders with a Christmas theme. I just pulled out the plastic insert that held a gift card and decorated the outside.

I used the old Alphabet set, Doodle, in rainbow hues to label the tins, then added a little scallop edge and some ribbon around the edges to finish them off. Inside are a set of 12 or so tiny note cards that I always think will be handy for teachers to send notes home with students for various reasons. The cards ended up being 4x5 folded in half. I did a variety of styles for the note cards along with a monogram set for each teacher. Here are some pictures of the notecards. I'll label the stamp set below just in case you are curious! Spring Solitude

Flight of the Butterfly

Good Neighbor

Vintage Labels & Lovely Letters Alphabet

Good Neighbor
Vintage Labels & Lovely Letters Alphabet

Here is the little M&M holder I made for my son to give to his teachers. I thought he might be a little embarassed handing out the pink ones below. For this one I use the Have a Ball & Sporting stamp sets.

These were done with the Oval All set and Pocket full of Flowers

Well, that's all I've got for you today! Thanks so much for stopping by. If your teacher gifts aren't done yet hopefully these will inspire you to get going!

Measurements to make the little stand up chocolate holders are different every time I make them. The last time I posted them with measurements they didn't work for me this time so here's what I would recommend trying: you can get four from one sheet of cardstock if you make them 2.75 inches wide by 8.5 inches long. Then try scoring at 1", 4.5" and 5.5".

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Kristin

BIG POST!

Trying to make up for my random posts lately. Did I ever mention that my husband was out of town for 5 days last week on a hog hunting trip in Florida? That was my primary excuse for not doing much stamping... that and the incredible amounts of snow we got. Yes, it kept me home but it kept my kiddos home as well and we all know what that means. Less "me" time!
So here's the first card I made. This is a CASE of my own card seen here. I had the supplies out for my downline to make at our meeting on Friday and decided to try it out in these colors instead (Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum and Very Vanilla). I must admit that I prefer the Soft Suede version for some reason and think it is better as an anniversary card because of the "kissing" birds. However, the texture does show up a bit more in the Pale Plum, wouldn't you say?

Here are the little treats I made for my girls! These were so quick and easy. I made four out of 1 sheet of cardstock. The measurements are 2.75" wide by 8.5" long. Scored at 1", 4.5" and 5". I'm sure I saw a similar idea somewhere on-line, but I have no idea where. If this idea was yours originally feel free to speak up! The top scalloped edge just folds over the front and I added a bit of repositionable adhesive so they could be opened and closed. The candy hearts are in a tiny ziplock plastic bag and stapled inside at the top. The tag is made with the retired "Say it With Scallops" stamp set and the scallop square punch with a small heart punch added on!

This one was also a M&T for my downline meeting Friday and is a CASE of a great card I found on a link from a link from some blog I visit and no kidding, I can't find it again. It was one of those things that I copied right from the screen instead of saving it to my hard drive like normal. Please speak up if this is your design. In the mean time I will continue looking for the original. It was so neat- I know I changed the DSP I used so the colors are different, but pretty much everything else is the same. A very quick and easy card and a great use for the Full Heart punch! I used Razzleberry Lemonade paper here.

ETA: FOUND IT! This is the card I was so inspired by. It is by Nancy Riley who was CASING Bard Mann whose card I don't have a link for. Thanks Nancy and Barb!

Here's another of the M&T's I had ready. I'm not exactly crazy about this card but it was to be a challenge to everyone to come up with a unique card using these same supplies. Unfortunately no one was able to make it to my downline meeting so I didn't get to see what they all would've done with this. For this one I used the Beautiful Wings Embosslit to make the butterflies, and the Fine Flourish single stamp to make the pattern at the right. The sentiment is from the Sale-a-Bration set Whimsical Words. See my link at the right if you're interested in earning this set for FREE! Also on this card are Cottage Wall DSP, Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain, and silver brads.

Finally, here is the Valentine I made for my daughter's class this year. I know the colors are pretty hideous. I went through and used my retired paper stash for all 25 of them. I think this is the old Mint Medley and the old version of Regal Rose (can't even remember the old name right now). In a big pile they all looked great, but I forgot to photo them and this was the only one left over. On the back I put a Full Heart punched out and she wrote "Peel Here" on it. They were attached with a repositionable adhesive over the 3/4" hole punched through so the candy could come out.

And if you're wondering, no my son didn't get homemade ones this year. I had the best intentions but found out too late that he needed 35 (for both 4th grades) instead of the 23 I had planned for so I didn't have enough supplies. He was going to get the circular treat cups on his. Turns out he didn't really care- and didn't mind getting store bought Valentines the night before his class party!

So how's that for a makeup post??

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristin

Simply Adorned Craziness!

OK, so as you can see I went a little crazy today! These are what you might call "inchies"- one inch decorated pieces that all fit in my new Simply Adorned 1" charm! I must admit that when I first got my charms (this one and a smaller square) the smaller one was my favorite... however, I don't have a punch that fits the smaller one so I got started on this one first. WOW! I first went through my binder of stamps to see what might work well in this size- the possibilities are endless!! Especially when you consider Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous designer series papers that are double sided and my endless stash of rub-ons!

I didn't photograph all of them (I think there are 43 in the photo) but I did many of them which I'll share over the next few days. Here are some of my favorites!

Stop back tomorrow and I'll show you more. If you want you can click on any of these to see a close up view. Let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite? If you want to know specific stamps, papers or other products feel free to ask. I didn't want to take the time to list them as they are all different and it would take me forever!

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to show you more!

~Kristin

Back from Stampin' Up! Regionals in Cincinnati!

I had a great weekend in Cincinnati at Stampin' Up! Regionals as well as hanging out with my sister and her family! It was much fun meeting up with my great on-line stampin' pals Lisa Henke, Crystal Birr and Becky Carafa for a stampin' good time! (Crystal, help, I can't find a link to your blog that works anymore?!)

Here are the fabulous projects we got to make with our new stamp set "Berry Christmas" which is in the current mini catalog! I'll show indivual shots of some of these over the next few days probably, but wanted to show you a picture of them all together. This is how nice projects look when they all coordinate in color, theme and even in stamps used!

Thanks for stopping in today. Have a great Monday and thanks for all the sweet comments while I was away. It was great to come up to some fun emails!
~Kristin

You're Nothing But a Big Shot!

On a previous post I showed lots of different projects without any real detail so I thought I would give a quick explanation for a few of them. First of all, this little boxed gift set with 3 note cards and a little box to put them in... the holder is made from 2 Scallop Envelopes (made with the Big Shot). Basically you trim the bottom flap off so it is only about a 1/2" wide and glue all the flaps of the two together. If you have the envelopes it is pretty easy to figure out. BTW, I did NOT come up with this idea, it has been widely shared by demonstrators, and I have been unable to trace it back to the originator so far.

The three matching cards I made are 3x3 and fit easily into the 3.25" wide box. Each of these was made with Sale-a-Bration products, including the Delicate Dots DSP as well as stamp set Polka Dot Punches. I also included sentiments from Short & Sweet as well as Think Happy Thoughts.

This adorable little box was also made with the Scalloped Envelope Die & Big Shot- but four of them this time! Also, there is no need for trimming as the bottom flaps form to make the bottom of the box. I wanted to show all the fun patterns in this pack of DSP so I used a different paper for each side.

The embellishment on the front is a stamp from Polka Dot Punches again, embossed in white, then punched out and layered with a clear button and some Certainly Celery Grosgrain ribbon. It would be a perfect little basket to hold a chocolate Easter bunny for a special someone! Best part it, it is so easy!

Well, I haven't stamped for 2 days (wore myself out on Friday I think and it was my DH's birthday yesterday) so I'll get busy and have something new to show you soon!

Thanks for stopping by,

~Kristin