Winnie the Pooh Gift Bag

A Winnie the Pooh fan is having a birthday, so I wanted to make a special gift bag for her.  When I got this yellow L'Occitane  bag, it's color screamed "Winnie"!  Luckily, I had some Winnie the Pooh themed double sided card stock that I purchased from HM Ben Franklin Crafts.  I cut the papers into 8x8 pieces and adhered them to the front and back of the bag. 

I wanted to cover all the L'Occitane logos so I had to decorate the sides of the bag too.  I had leftover paper and ribbon so I used those along with some dimensional Winnie the Pooh stickers.

The paper cord handles of the bag were rather plain and unattractive, so I ripped them out and replaced them with some printed satin ribbons....better looking and easier to hold.

Even the bottom of the bag had a logo so I had to cover that too.  I used a funny Taylored Expressions stamp on a scrap of card stock to add some humor....hope she notices it!

Here is a better view of the other side of the bag that was decorated with another 8x8 cardstock, die cut words and sticker bees..  As a bee and honey lover, I can imagine myself as Winnie eating honey with a careful eye on the bees.  Hmm-mm-m-m  honey!

 

Recently, I had the opportunity to pick some fresh lavender.  They smelled wonderful even after drying.  I decided to pair them with a Rubberstampede image (from my ancient stash).  I used 3 in 1 Beacon glue (also sold as Fabri-Tac) to glue the dried stems to the stamped panel (cut from watercolor paper) that was colored with watercolor pencils and Ranger Distress Inks.  Heiko gauze ribbon from Celebrations was tied into a small bow and glued down.  Small drops of Lavender scented essential oil (sold at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) was applied to the lavender sprigs and the ribbon. Heiko double stick tape (from HM Ben Franklin Crafts) was used to attach the watercolored panel to the purple card blank (Paper Accents from HM BFC).  The glue, color pencils and Distress Inks were also purchased at HM BFC.  I plan to tell the recipient of this card to cut the front off and use it as a sachet in a clothing drawer.  It's fun to design a card that has a double purpose.  This card was a simple pleasure to create and I hope it gives you some creative inspiration.

 

Dinosaur Birthday Tags

As mentioned in the previous post, I had to rush and finish these birthday tags before the party.  I started with some birthday print double-sided card stock from my never-ending scrap pile.  (In hindsight, I should have just used plain white cardstock as the print was too colorful and overwhelmed the dinosaurs.)  Anyway, I used my faithful Little B giant tag die to cut two tags.  Next I found black sticker letters in my really old stash and used them to spell out the names.  A Lawn Fawn die was used to cut out the green hill and Darice (from HM BFC) felt sticker dinosaurs were applied.  Whimsy characters (actually dragons not dinosaurs) were stamped, colored and fussy cut before adhering them to the tags.  A little Scribbles sparkle was added to the dinosaur with the balloons and Nuvo white dimensional paint was added to the cake on the other tag.  Lawn Fawn birthday words were stamped on white paper and colored in with Copic markers before fussy cutting.

Like the twin birthday boys, I wanted the tags to be similar but different.  I wish I had more time to make some color changes but procrastination won out again. Oh well, the sweeties are only three so I think they will be more interested in what the gift bags hold than the tags tied onto them.  Hopefully, they will appreciate seeing their names on the tags. When you don't have time to make a fancy card, decorated tags can still make a gift look special.                                                

Slimline Jellyfish Card

The summer heat inspired me to create an ocean themed card using Whimsy and Hero Arts products.  I used the elongated hexagonal Whimsy die set to cut both the card base and Whimsy slimline printed paper.  The largest die was positioned to the left of the folded edge of the blue card stock to result in the card blank. The Hero Arts jellyfish Bold Print stamp was used to stamp and heat emboss the jellyfish background.  I used a combination of light blue and sparkle embossing powder.  I liked the sentiment on the other Hero Arts Bold Print stamp and thought that it would help to balance off the long shape of the card.  I stamped it on clear vellum paper and embossed it with Nuvo brass embossing powder.  I cut out a band of the words and applied it to the card front.  I thought it would be easy to read the words but my husband had a difficult time understanding the message.  Maybe in the future I will use the stamped words for a full background or cut out the specific words to form the sentiment.  As a final touch, I used the Hero Arts jellyfish stamp (from the monthly kit) to stamp an image in blue permanent ink. This image was die cut with the matching die and colored in with purple Distress Ink.  To make a more jellyfish-ish look, I applied a little clear sparkle Scribbles paint.  Because I was so excited to try these new products, I forgot that I still have two three-year-old B-day cards to create before the end of the month... so I better get cracking.  Please visit this site again to see the result of my speedy dinosaur tag- card creations.

 

Gift Card Holders From Scrap Papers

These days I seem to give more gift cards than ever before.  Perhaps the pandemic makes them easier (and safer) to give and use.  With all the variety of gift cards available now I was pleased to find a die set from Stampendous (at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) that I could use to help decrease my mountain of scrap papers.  Rather than make all the card holders the same, it was fun to see what I could create from a hodge podge of print and solid papers.

For each card holder I tried to leave a blank place inside for a message. If you look carefully you can see the corner slits where the gift card can be inserted. Because these gift card holders were meant to be used and discarded, I didn't spent too much time on them and added simple sticker embellishments.  My favorite holder is the lavender one because of the color and the artificial flower that was glued on the corner.  I tried to decorate the card holders so that they would be useable for a variety of occasions.  I really recommend that you get the Stampendous die because it is a good set that will inspire you to make use of your scraps.  Aren't you tired of making tags from your scraps?

 

Washi Tape Collecting

 Just a short post today for those of you addicted to washi tape like I am....big time!  I found two washi tape holders at Daiso in Hawaii. The first plastic one holds about 4-6 rolls at a time and has a serrated edge for cutting the tape.  For someone like me these cases are a bit small but they look great on a desk and can be stacked.  The canvas washi tape holder is more space saving and holds about twelve rolls which makes it suitable for journaling/card making on the go.  Not only are these washi products a mere $1.50 each at Daiso, the tapes are gorgeous and come in an amazing variety of sizes, colors, and designs.  Check out Daiso to add to your collection and become even more wonkers for washi tape....like me!

Slimline Butterfly Cards with Envelopes

I've been hooked on slimline cards ever since I discovered that it doesn't cost any more postage to mail this size envelope.  I think they look elegant and more interesting.  Anyway, the Tim Holtz stencil and stamp set seemed perfect for this style of card.  I started by applying Distress Oxide and Hero Arts oxide inks onto a piece of plastic wrap that was taped down to my desk.  Next I sprayed water on the inked plastic sheet and pressed watercolor paper onto the inks. I carefully lifted up the paper and gently blotted the excess ink.  I sprinkled water onto the inked watercolor paper and blotted again to reveal a distressed look.  I let the colored sheets dry overnight.

Using the Hero Arts Infinity rectangle dies I cut the panels and made folded card bases.  With the stencil I applied colored ink to reveal the patterned design.

Using a Misti tool (available from HM Ben Franklin Crafts) I was able to align the words just where I wanted them before applying embossing powder and melting it with a heat tool.  I stamped the butterflies using the Misti tool and was glad that I could re-stamp them several times to achieve just the color and look I wanted.  I used pink and silver embossing powder on the purple card and blue and copper on the green one.  It is a subtle look that doesn't really show up well in my photos.

I decided that regular business envelopes would not enhance the cards so I used my Whimsy envelope die set to make matching lined envelopes.  It's really is easy to do.  Perhaps the hardest thing was to find  color coordinating papers that weren't too thick.  I discovered that Japanese papers that come in large sheets are perfect for making envelopes.  Celebrations store (next to Mapunapuna HM BFC) has a pretty selection.  I think the extra effort to dye the papers before stenciling and stamping was worth it to achieve a unique one-of-a-kind card which can e used for any occasion.  Give it a try!