Mug Wrapper for craft supplies

 This is a little thing I sewed up for our gift exchange for the holidays with my Stamp N Chat friends. The criteria was that it had to be under $10 - I think and handmade.

I have been  hoarding this fabric bundle from Stampin' Up when they used to have fabric eons ago. It is sew cute! I still have a few packets of this and the christmas fabric that they used to have- good quality for quilting and I made several fabric shopping bags with pockets inside for going to the farmer's market. 

I took a really large mug that had a funny sentiment on it and measured the diameter using a tape and came up with this design. there are a lot of templates but you may have to tweak it a little depending on the size of the mug.  i have one on my desk that holds all my everyday tools which I LOVE so hoped this would be useful to one of my friends.  the image below is the outside and inside of the piece with all the pockets for all your tools. 

I took the piece that has the zigzag picture on it and the back piece which is 1 1/2 times the base piece  (because it folds up to make the inside pockets and put a batting between the 2.

I took a piece about twice as long as the width - for the button piece because you have to fold it to make the pockets for the outside. I sewed the red check on top of the folded orangish piece edge then sewed it on to the base every one and a half inches or so to create the inside pockets.

the button fabric is twice the height because it is folded over to double side it the pleated and sew every 1 1/2 inches or so to create the outside pockets.

I then make a binding out of the red checker fabric and sewed it all around the edge to create a cute binding.  this is the inside of the mug .

this is the back of the piece with velcro attached so that I can loop it through the handle of the mug to help this stay in place. 

A Gift from Alejandra

 I just wanted to share a gift I got from my nurse Alejandra- She rocks as my nurse and she told me she was "into crafting" but I was not sure what she was into and she made me this for my birthday/Christmas gift and I just Love It so I wanted to share it with you. 

I noted that I love the mauve/lavender/blue purples and this is what she made for me and it sill be on my wall in my office ...

25 days of Christmas- Card kit - a gift for a friend

 

My friend Evelyn who I see everyday at work is leaving for a better job which is great for her but I will miss seeing her every day so I wanted to give her a gift of - what else- cards I have made- You can find lot of different tin boxes - you want to find one big enough to hold lots of cards -  I tied a bunhc of ribbons on the one side of the handle and put a label with her name on it- I normally would decorate the tin box with some DSP but I liked it plain red so I just kept it red.

I put a selection of cards I thought she would like and use and matching envelopes and piled it in. 

I also got a good magnet with clip and I got a book of pretty stamps and put in a Stampin' Up pen so it is a all ready to go mail center.  She can take it with her to one of her son's events, fill out some cards with a message, stick on a stamp and she is all good to go.  I also told her I can do refills whenever she needs.  This is a kind of gift that you call can do since I am sure you have BOXES of cards you are hoarding - I think it makes a lovely gift that is so useful, thoughtful and has the added benefit of decreasing your hoard which should make YOU feel good too.   

Scary Cute candle holder - Happy Halloween!

I love open window dies like this- I have made candle holder covers the last few years for my friends using die for Halloween and Christmas and when Stampin' Up Holiday catalog revealed this die I know I HAD to HAVE IT! and I love it. 

I took black cardstock and diecut windows on 3 sides as shown and die cut the cat and the spooky house. I took a piece of vellum cardstock and where the big opening was stamped the kids in versamark and embossed it using black embossing powder.  added the little bats and the moon in daffodil and used extra scraps of daffodil behind 

the cat's eyes and for the windows on the house.

I had a square glass votive that fit the dimensions perfectly but I have some glasses that hold the electric or real votive candles inside as well. 

I went into a closet to see how it would look and it is amazing.  The picture would not show but it was still cool. 

Don't you LOVE this? Enjoy! Lynda

 

Mini Curvy Keepsake Box candle holders

 I suggest that you make the box, set up 3 sides and add the tag so that you have one side that is free to open and close to turn the light on and off without messing with the tag.  I hope this makes sense to you.I used vellum paper thinking it needed to be translucent but my friend Annette made it with regular copy paper and even stenciled some stars on the side which made it pop out even more and it still glowed pretty well in the dark so play around with this my friends! it is beautiful!Lynda

We made these for my December Tags, Bags and Boxes class. It is a candle holder using the Mini Curby Keepsake box.  I love that it is just one pass on the bigshot- I hate putting pieces together. 
Only thing is that the candle with the flame do not fit as it is too high.

The flameless "ash" lights fit fine though- see left. I got it at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I found a pack of 4 at Michael's but it is more than double the cost of the glass flame ones.

Christmas Gift ideas

 We have a Christmas party where we make things to exchange and this was one by Gayle - a wooden wreath wrapped with moss and a variety of succulents attached - all you have to do is mist it regularly  Gorgeous!

This is a basket made using rolled up ribbons filled with candy - adorable!

 Marisa homemade all these cookies including the homemade Oreo ! although I have to say I did not get to taste any of these cookies as they were completely devoured by my family ...

I also got the best present ever- a whole pack of diecut boxes and bags to use throughout the year - totally useful!

 Annette made this cutest cup with tea and cookies inside.

This is a bag wrapped in ribbon filled with treats

These are things we made previous years:
die cut box using christmas cardstock.

Little paperbag decorated with DSP, filled with treats, tied with ribbon and a tag
scallop the edge of the bad with the scallop punch (retired)

This is the fancy bag diecut and decorated with holiday images. 

bag made using the bagmaker and diecut window with the ornament die- line with a clear plastic to keep the candy in- 

this was a box which was part of the advent calendar kit a few years ago- i was giving them out separately and it was so cute.

this is the curvy keepsake box made into a santa outfit that I got from one of my friends

This is a bag using DSP  and oval hole punch to make the handle

you make a coordinating box that fits the base and glue it in.
so lots of little gift and treat ideas for you to make for your friends and loved ones....

Perfect Santa Parcel

This was one of the projects from my Tags Bags and Boxes workshop for the holidays.

Cut 2 pieces using the perfect parcels box die and put it together
How to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-wEqbWF9T0

add a 1/2 inch strip of white on one side only.
Add a strip of 3/4 inch black paper band.

I did not have a die that would cut the belt buckle but I did have a 3/4 inch square punch so I cut strips of gold foil paper 1 1/4 inch wide then turned it around and marked it every 1 1/4 inches  with a ruler then from corner to corner I put an x to get it centered then punched it out. 
I love the how it can be laid flat for packing - I made a gazillion of these for my favors for my staff and friends. It will hold a gift card as well so you can add some candy and a gift card or some money- it is super cute, super easy once you get the hang of how to glue to box bottom.

Pop up Money Slot how to Using Balloon Popup Thinlit

 This is the inside of the card I posted yesterday.
YOu can make any pop up by making a rectagular tube.  The left shows you how.  I made this one 4x41/2 inches but you could make it shorter or taller depending on what you want.  I scored it at 1 1/4, 2 1/4, and 3 1/2.  When you put glue on the top and bottom panel in the front and put it in the fold of your card, it makes an automatic popup like this.

I love the little slit or balloon stem die from Stampin' Up's Balloon Popup Thinlits  (Occasion catalog)  because it makes the perfect little slit for money or a check.

Have fun with it.
Lynda

Bringing back Birthdays Tin of Cards

I really am trying to send birthday cards to my family and friends and God only know how many cards I have just sitting around.  I have lots of occasion cards but my problem is that I don't remember the birthdays until after it's past and then I smack my head for forgetting.  The solution is to have cards set up by months rather than occasions.

I really love the tin of cards and got the stampset to match to make the cards inside but I used the Perpetual Birthday Calendar set to stamp the months on each of the tabs.

 Now the kit comes with only 9 dividers but no worries.  I used the white cardboard that comes with most of the DSP to cut out a piece 6 1/2x 5 inches and then used the envelope punch board to make the tabs.

 For the side tabs, punch at the corners and at 3 inches. The middle tabs are not exactly centered so it seemed like about 1 3/4 and at 4 1/4 or so worked out. After punching the indentation, cut off the remainder with the paper cutter.

Maybe Stampin Up will put 12 dividers next time in the kit?

 I am thinking about stamping Writing Notes stamp in front of each divider to write the actual birthdays and names of people to remind me to send the cards.

 While I was taking the picture of the Tin for the main picture a gargantuan bumblebee buzzed into the picture- here is the closeup...

On the lid I like to have some postage stamps on the ready so nothing impedes my card getting mailed.

When I gifr these, I also like to put a pen - you can use a velcro tab on the pen and the lid to attach if you want.

Hopefully I will be better this year sending out my cards.....

Undefined- Star Wars

 At the  end of the school year I have been making a tin of cards for each of my kids' teachers, decorating the tin, filling it with a stack of cards for different occasions.  I like to add a book of postage stamps on the lid with a magnet and  put it in a bag with a stack of envelopes so they have everything they need to send out the cards.

One of my boy's teacher this year is crazy about Star Wars.  He has movie nights at school and has lots of paraphernalia on his desk. He was the teacher for my other boy in the past and I had found some Star Wars designer paper then, but this time I had no luck finding anything appropriate. So Undefined again to the rescue-  it is now retired through Stampin' Up but I bought a bunch of extra carving material just for situations like this.   I found some pictures on the internet that I thought would work and printed it and used it to carve out the images.  I found the font TIE-WING on line for free and printed on whisper white CS using my printer.  I printed 4 on one sheet then cut it out then stamped the images above the sentiment.  The Yoda is stamped in Pear Pizazz with same color CS to layer the stamped piece.

Easy cards and now with my new stamps I can make many many more.  I have little stamping space so I don't mount the carved rubber on the wood blocks but they are thick enough to work without the wood.
I also carved out too much of Yoda's eyes so when I stamp it, it looks wonky.  Since Stampin' Up has coordinated everything, I just used the marker to fill in the eyes a bit and it's just fine.....
Lynda

Center open earring boxes

I made these boxes to hold my little earrings and gifts for some of my friends this holiday and wanted to share the template with you all.   I've seen boxes like this on several different sites but they were all in weird dimensions or in metric so I convered it to suit my needs and I hope you find it helpful.
 The box opens through the center to reveal earrings or a small trinket as shown.  The template is pretty simple.
The box is made with a sheet a smidgen less than 4x4 to make a 2x2x1 box. Fold up the sides and tape it to make the bottom of the box.   The right side piece makes the base and the sides/top.  The base of the box is taped to the middle square and the top and the bottom part is folded up to make the side/lid.I put tape on the 2 blue striped squares as shown and fold up the sides to makes the sides of the box.  I then took a 2" circle punch and put tape only on one side of the lid and attach to the one side of the top.
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Inside is made by taking a piece of a cardstock a smidgen less than 2"  x 2 1/2 or so, score at the 2" and put the 1/16 inch holesalong the fold line if you are giving away earrings.
  This was a pair I made using some wire wrapping techniques and some beads and pearls I had.
This is a very simple pair I made using the new Botanical Garden Jewels that is in the new spring Occasion Catalog.  It was super simple to make.  Just a sterling silver earring back, a clear crystal and a sterling pin connecting it all.

The top of the box is made using the festive flower builder punch with a set each punched with whisper white and vellum -put together with vellum on top of the white pieces, just offset a tad.  Curl the edges a bit using a small dowel.  I put a little iced rhinestone in the center to add a little touch of sparkle. Enjoy!