Party Favor Treat Box with Calendar

 Usually I wait until November to start thinking about a  party favor design for our family holiday get-together. Recently, I saw a Lawn Fawn die set at HM Ben Franklin Crafts that seemed perfect for my needs.  Using card stock sheet from a Sizzix 6x12 paper pad, I was able to cut out the box and the inside photo frame. Because our party group is a mix of young and old, males and females, I plan to keep the boxes neutral in design.  The calendar on the cover was ordered from Vippies who carry them in assorted sizes...I used the smallest one.  I was going to embellish the top of the box with cute/sparkly stuff but decided that the men in our gathering would probably be happier with 'yay' cut from gold foil card stock (DCWV). The die set also comes with a 'thanks' die which would be great for other occasions.

 I plan to put Big Island shortbread cookies in the favor boxes but lots of other cookies or candies would fit.  To personalize the boxes, I will use my Japanese camera (which takes mini Polaroid-like photos) to snap a shot of each guest before the dinner.  Then I will include the photo frame  in the box with some double stick tape so the guest can tape in their photo.  I hope that each recipient will enjoy the treats, use the calendar and put items like paperclips or buttons in the empty box.  I'm amazed at how quickly this project came together because of the wonderful Lawn Fawn die set.  I hope by sharing my calendar treat box early this year you can get a head start on your party favors, too.  It really is enjoyable to share my hand crafted projects when I am not pressed for time to complete everything during the holidays.  Happy Early Holiday Crafting!

P.S. The photo on my sample box has a piece of vellum over it to protect the innocent who would likely dislike that MOTHER used it without their permission. LOL!

Arcade Game Shaker Card

 Most people wouldn't guess that my husband is super skillful at arcade games in Japan. He's won a bunch of giant stuffed animals for me; it was my job to figure out how to get them home...heeheehee! When I saw this Lawn Fawn 'You're Clawsome' die set at HM Ben Franklin crafts, I knew that I had to have it to make cards for my arcade game superstar husband.  This card started with a sheet of Bo Bunny printed cardstock from a paper pad.  I sized it to fit a Snippets yellow card (with matching envelope from a 3 pack).  I stamped the arcade game image on the printed card stock and used a craft knife to cut out the opening.  I stamped the game image on blue cardstock, stamped the words at the top and colored in the knobs and buttons with a grey Copic pen.  I fussy cut the blue parts and glued them to the matching parts of the first stamped game image. In the back of the cut out window I glued  a clear acetate sheet.

 Onto a piece of white card stock I stamped the game image and colored it in before centering it on the yellow card front behind the window. The die cut unicorn and claw were glued to the window with Glossy Accents.  To form the shaker portion I simply folded lengthwise four strips of card stock and adhered them behind the card front, outside the edges of the window. Using double stick tape the whole front piece of the card was put into position after a few pinches of flower sequins were centered in the card.

For the inside of the card I stamped some of the typewriter print words and sparkled up a few bears with  glitter before adhering them with foam pop dots.

I think this arcade game shaker card turned out almost exactly as planned...that's always nice!  I enjoyed using these Lawn Fawn stamp and die sets so much that I'm sure I'll make more cards and tags with them.  Maybe I'll use them to make a photo frame for pictures of me hugging giant stuffed Rikkumas and Pompompurin. LOL!

Magic Color Floral Thanks Tags

 Why are these Magic COLOR tags?  There's very little color....but wait....here it comes....

 You just pull the arrow tab and it magically fills in the acetate with color.  The mystery of this effect is explainable if you dissect the paper mechanics involved with the Lawn Fawn die set.  I admit I had to go to the Lawn Fawn website to figure out how to use the die but it really isn't that hard except for an instruction avoidance person like me.

 It's so much fun to play with these magic color tags that I'm sure that I will make lots of Magic Color cards too.

The Hampton Arts stamps fit perfectly for printing on the acetate to fit the window, but there are many other stamp choices you could make.

 I thought the Paper Smooches stamped sentiment was just right for these tags...don't you?  Oh yes, the giant tag was cut with a Little B die and the pretty Heiko ribbons worked well with the colors magically revealed on the tags. The 'thanks' were cut with a Hero Arts die and black glitter Nuvo heat embossing powder was used on the Paper Smooches stamped sentiment on the back of the tags.  Be sure to get this new Lawn Fawn Magic Color Slider die set at HM Ben Franklin Crafts soon because they have already run out online. I know you'll love playing with this die set!

Wow! Expanding Pen Department at BFC and the Uncontest Blog Comment Winner!

Whoa!  Have you seen the pen department in HM Ben Franklin Crafts?  It is a new craft section for the stores and features pens from Japan including the famous Frixion brand.  These colorful Frixion pens come in ball point, markers, and highlighters all with the amazing friction erasers.  I absolutely love these pens and I'm thrilled that I can purchase them here in Hawaii.

Okay, onward to more good news..... It's time to announce the winner of the July un-contest for commenters to my blog posts.  As some of you might know, every once in a while I pick a winner from all the comments I receive in a randomly chosen month. This time KAREN, who writes her Have a Scrap Happy Day blog, is the winner of the prizes in the photo below, including a $25 gift card to HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Congratulations Karen!.... and thank you to all of you who send comments to me.  I really appreciate your support.  Your kind words keep me going on days when I wonder if anyone is reading and enjoying my posts.  I truly love sharing information about what I purchase and how I use the craft items.  Happy crafting forever!

Panda with Bamboo Die Cut Card

When I spied the new In'spire paper dies from Spellbinders at HM Ben Franklin Crafts, it was impossible to buy just one. The panda die and bamboo one are just two of the many I scooped up and loaded into my shopping basket. I started with the Studio G black arched blank card and simply used the Kaiser Craft embossing folder and printed card stock paper (from pad) to make the background.  I love the way that the gold cloud paper matches the curves of the green embossed hill.  The sentiment square came directly from the Kaiser Craft printed die cut package.  This card is so simple; it practically created itself.  Please go check out the new assortment of Spellbinder dies and Kaiser Craft products at HM Ben Franklin Crafts and I know you'll be inspired too!

Ocean Themed Gift Bag

This gift bag was made in a similar fashion to the last one.  A blue bag was chosen and the Liquitex modeling paste was added using the TCW Nautilus stencil (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts),  To highlight and add shimmer to the raised design, fine glitter (Queen and Co) was added to the still wet stenciled pasted design. Because there was some smudging, I covered it with a light spritz of glitter spray and that camouflaged it.

The sea horse/sand dollar tag was constructed from die cut watercolor paper. The top of the sand dollar was folded before cutting and set just beneath the cutting edge of the Tim Holtz die to form a 'sand dollar' mini card.  Both the sand dollar and seahorse were colored with Tim Holtz Oxide dyes, sprinkled with Infusion dye powder and the sand dollar was rubbed with a bit of  Bo Bunny glitter paste. I found an 'ocean-like' yarn in my ever-growing stash of yarns which added the perfect 'seaweed' touch that I was trying to achieve.  Well, that's it for my ocean themed gift bag...hope you liked it.  Leave me a comment if you can. I LOVE hearing from you!

Stenciled Pineapple Gift Bag

 A blogger friend of mine,Yvonne (Do More With Less) Yam, featured lots of lovely, decorated gift bags in her recent post.  I decided I needed to build up a stash of ready-to-go decorated gift bags, too. Here is an example of what I made using a pineapple stencil ( Echo Park) I purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  Together with  Liquitex light modeling paste (also from HM BFC) I was able to create a raised texture which is very appealing to me.  First, I sprayed the back of the plastic stencil with Elmer's Spray Adhesive and then I adhered the stencil to the bag (from an economical BFC multiple bag pack).  With my finger I applied the modeling paste, carefully pulled up the stencil, and let the bag dry.

Next, I stamped onto watercolor paper and heat embossed the  Avery Elle pineapple design before die cutting it. I used Tim Holtz Oxide Inks and Infusion dye powder to color the image.  For the 'aloha' I used the Avery Elle die to cut two shades of green card stock and off-set them to give a shadow look. With the addition of raffia to tie the pineapple tag onto the bag, the any occasion pineapple gift bag was ready for giving. Hope that you will look at the amazing stencils sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts and see what you can create with them.  Happy Crafting!

Sweet Life Tropical Drink Shaker Card

 There is something addictive about making shaker cards so I just couldn't put away the Sizzix shaker card die that I used on my last posted blog card.  The die set that I purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts has a small die piece that makes the pocket for enclosing the sequins....so easy!  I cut the card base from a 12x12 American Crafts paper from the Shoreline series...old stock. The fruit slice design front piece came from the Bo Bunny 6x6 Lemonade Stand paper pad and the Sweet Life word sign was fussy cut from a Doodlebug 6x6  paper pad called Fun in the Sun. I was happy to discover that I had just the right sequin colors of pink, green and yellow to match the fruit slice paper. I even put in some Queen & Co. clear diamond toppings to look like ice and so there would be more sparkle and shaking noise.  The umbrella in the drink was die cut from printed origami paper and the drink was colored with Copic pens and color pencils to highlight the embossed ice cubes made by the die. 

For the inside of the card I used the circle that was cut from the front and the gold foil paper 'celebrate' (cut with an Avery Elle die) was added.  This drink was also cut with one of the Cutter Bee dies from the set that I just couldn't pass up at HM BFC.....and I don't even drink!  I think this card is very refreshing and satisfied my need to shake, shake, shake!