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Archive for the ‘Gifts’ Category:
Gifts for our Toastmasters Club
Aloha, all!
Of the many groups to which I belong, one in which I have the longest membership is Toastmasters International. Right now, I’m a member of Hilo Toastmasters Club, which is one of the oldest in the world, with the low 3-digit number of 248. My last Toastmasters Club – Albuquerque Toastmasters Club in New Mexico – also has a long history with the club number 122. With more than 12,000 clubs in the world right now, you can imagine how high the club numbers go!
But I digress. This week, Toastmasters is celebrating its 85th Anniversary, and the theme of our meeting yesterday was "Happy Birthday," with gifts and some cake. The "gifts" for all our members were bookmarks, made by yours truly. Every Toastmaster has at least two manuals in play at any given time, so we can always use bookmarks.
For this project I used the Designer Series Paper Set, Autumn Traditions. Now I’m sure some of you may be wondering why I would buy some autumn papers when I live in Hawaii. Well, many of my friends, family and business acquaintances–many of YOU!–live where there is a colorful autumn each year. And I love to share projects that relate to fall with you. The coordinating card stock colors for these bookmarks are Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, and More Mustard, with appropriate coordinating 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. (For those of you who are sticklers about such things, my apologies for sneaking in some retired More Mustard ribbon. I just can’t imagine what Stampin’ Up! was thinking when they retired that color ribbon!!! And I haven’t been able to talk myself into just putting it away where I won’t see it and use it by mistake. But the bookmarks are done, so the ribbon’s staying!)
On the bottom of each bookmark is a stamped definition from the stamp set, Define Your Life. I occasionally use one definition stamp from this set. But this time I was able to use more than half of those in the set and still have the bookmarks be appropriate for Toastmasters.
And I have to make a point here about My Digital Studio. Remember when I mentioned the question about whether having My Digital Studio would mean no more paper and ink? Well, you can’t make a bookmark like this with My Digital Studio. In fact, there’s not a whole lot in the way of handmade papercrafted gifts that you can make with MDS besides photo albums, cards, calendars and multi-media digital projects. So, no, I won’t be giving up paper and ink!
Subscribe to the comments for this postA Tote Box with Gift Cards
Aloha, all!
What makes this gift box with note cards special is that it’s made with TWO boxes made from the Sizzix Box #2 Die to create a little tote. How cool is that? I learned this technique at one of the Late Night Stampers Pre-Convention Stamp Camps in Salt Lake City earlier this month. What a great idea for using this die!
Something else that makes it special is that I used Stampin’ Up!’s new Wood Sheets for the boxes. I bought a couple of packs of the wood sheets to try them with various Sizzix Dies just so I could answer your questions before you decide to order some. I’ll make some of my comments/findings at the end of this post.
For this tote, I cut two of the Box #2 shapes, and made all the folds EXCEPT the two for the top flap. I left those intact so they’d stand up nice and s
traight. After I put the two boxes together, I lined the inside of the tallest part with Designer Series Paper. (All the DSP in this project are from the Razzleberry Lemonade set of papers–gorgeous set!) Then I punched the top of one box with the Word Window Punch. At the Stamp Camp, we then put the boxes together and punched the word window punch through the second box. Can’t do that with the Wood Sheets because the two Wood Sheets glued together don’t fit into the punch. I found that out the hard way, so had to use a Craft Knife to cut the handle out of the second box. Won’t make that mistake again!
All the cards are 3" square gift cards. Four of them fit nicely into one side of the tote, and I put the envelopes in the other side of the tote.
Now for my comments about the wood sheets:
The good:
- They cover a whole Bigz XL Die, so there’s little chance you’ll cut one wrong.
- Our punches cut them nicely.
- They really do have a pretty wood grain.
The less good:
- They are textured wood on only one side. So, for a project where both sides will show–as in the above project–the other side is a white plastic-type paper. You may or may not be happy with that effect on your finished project.
- They fold nicely on the straight of the grain, but do not fold so nicely against the grain. I had to cut or file rough edges of wood grain off in several places even where the scores were very good.
- They are thick, and will not work well where you have lots of folds. For example, I could not use wood sheets for both the cover and inside of a Matchbox made from the Sizzix die.
- While you can stamp on them, the ink from my classic stampin’ pads did bleed a little into the wood grain.
- I understand from others that they do not do well with heat embossing. They’re too heavy and the wood grain is too fragile for dry embossing.
My bottom line: I made a nice, wood-grain looking card using Creamy Caramel Card Stock and the Woodgrain Background Stamp stamped in Chocolate Ship. Until I find another "a-ha" use for the wood sheets, I’ll just stick with what I’ve made from my test packages.
Build-A-Bear Paper Dolls
Aloha, all!
I know, I know–they’re paper BEARS not paper dolls. But playing with these Build-A-Bear Workshop (BABW) bears and their clothes has reminded me so much of my childhood times playing with paper dolls.
Yesterday I shared one of the BABW Sizzix Bears that I had made up with some magnets to work with a Magnetic White Board. I realize as I’ve been playing (er, working?) with these, that there’s a fine line between too little magnetic force and too much. As I’ve been making up the magnet board, I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to watch children play with their toys. And I’ve designed this board to be used by a 6-year old. Kids that age are just not as fussy as I am when it comes to things like this magnet board. So I’m just cutting the big pieces, and leaving the small things such as cuffs for the pants and blouse and pleats for the skirts out.
So here is the first scene for my BABW magnet board project. I’m probably going to laminate the background as well as the bears and their clothes to help them last a little bit longer than if they were left as just plain paper and cardstock. This, of course, makes everything a little bit heavier and just a teensy bit too heavy for the light magnetism of the Business Card magnets. But just a teensy bit. I think that the kids are going to love it just the way it is. After all, they’re more likely to be laying the magnet board on the table, and they might not even notice if there are no magnets at all!
Notice that I set one of the BABW Sizzix Bears up "backwards." In this case, the indentations for the ears, eyebrows and heart aren’t as pronounced. So I’ve helped them out by drawing a bit of Chocolate Chip marker on those lines.
The backdrop is made up of Stampin’ Up! Cardstock–Garden Green, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom and Rose Red. I punched two butterlfies using the Stampin’ Up! Butterfly Punch and some
Regal Rose and Summer Sun card stock. A cute scene for these VERY cute bears! I can hardly wait to start selling them in just two weeks! But, if you’re in East Hawaii, I’ll be glad to set up a time to show them off to you before that if you call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me.
Folded Corner Bookmark
Aloha, all!
Besides making gifts, favors and cards for my Family and Community Education (FCE) fair to sell at it’s charitable fund-raiser earlier in the month, I also was scheduled to conduct a "paper crafting" demonstration. For that, I chose the Diaper Fold Pouch and the Corner Bookmark fold.
Last week I talked a lot about the Diaper Fold Pouch gifts and demonstration. Today I’ll finish up my Fair discussion with an activity that was a highlight of my day–my demonstration of the Folded Corner Bookmark. What was fun was watching everyone in the audience slowly see how this was going to all come together–then having one of the audience members come up to me afterwards to show that she’d already put her bookmark in a book! I looked around a bit afterwards, and there were two people with some of the extra paper I’d handed out making even more!
I’ve posted instructions for this fold, and hope that you’ll enjoy making your own bookmarks. This one is for my Hawaii Farmers’ Market Cookbook; and it won’t be long before ALL of my cookbooks have their own bookmarks. Maybe I’ll call them "cookbookmarks"! They are definitely that because they’ll hold several pages, which helps keep those cookbooks open the spot where you’re recipe is printed!
Something Old and Something New at the FCE Fair
Aloha, all!
Usually I only post here products that you can order right now from Stampin’ Up! But, during Sale-A-Bration in February and March of this year, there was a stamp that I’ve decided may become a permanent resident of Robin’s Craft Room. Unless, of course, Stampin’ Up! comes up with a great replacement, which I believe is highly likely. But for now, I’m sticking with this stamp for this kind of gift/favor.
But I won’t concentrate on that. What I would like to feature is how you can take Hershey’s Nugget sized candies and use Stampin’ Up! Designer Series paper packs to make a lovely – AND QUICK – favor for any kind of a party. In fact, for last week’s Family and Community Education (FCE) fair, I made 14 of these favor pouches, and one person bought all 14 for a Mother’s Day party he was hosting the next day!!!
The bag topper for these favors was made using the Stampin’ Up! exclusive Sizzix Die, Top Note, folded in half long ways, and stamped with a stamp from the set, Yummy. I punched a small flower using the Boho Blossoms Punch, and added a 1/4" Circle in Riding Hood Red. The Designer Series Paper used for the Nuggets was from the Bella Rose collection.
For each Hershey’s Nugget, I cut a strip of Designer Series Paper 1" wide by 3" long, wrapped it around nugget and sealed it with SNAIL.
Simple, elegant and EASY!!
Of course, there are lots of stamps in the Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog that you can use. As with all else creative, you’re only limited by your imagination!
Call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me if you’d like more information about how you can use or purchase any of these Stampin’ Up! products! Or order online 24/7 on my website.
Sweet Gift!
Aloha, all!
Yesterday I showed off the pile of Gift Pouches that I had for sale at our Family and Community Education (FCE) annual fair in Hilo, Hawaii. Today I’ll show a close up of the gift pouch and go over all the elements that make this such a cute gift idea.
The bases for all Stampin’ Up! projects are the Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Papers or their Card Stock in dozens of luscious colors. For this project, I used Riding Hood Red Patterns paper. If you look at yesterday’s post, you’ll see that there I used several different designs from the pack.
All of the flowers are Sizzix Flowers. The Daisies attached to the pouch itself are the two smaller flowers from the "Flower Daisies #2" die. The larger of the flowers is Almost Amethyst card stock, and the smaller is Riding Hood Red card stock. The button is from the Button Bouquet set of Designer Buttons. Now here is where I have a bit of a beef with Stampin’ Up! (love the company, but there are some things that bug me). The stated color of the button is Baja Breeze. But this button exactly matches the Almost Amethyst paper NOT the Baja Breeze paper. The other colors in the Designer Button set are spot on. But this one isn’t. I wish I had realized this earlier in the year as I would have loved using these buttons to accent some Almost Amethyst projects. The problem that I have with Stampin’ Up! is that, if a manufacturer produces a product that doesn’t match the color it’s supposed to, then Stampin’ Up! shouldn’t go ahead and give it that color name anyway. OK. Statement made. I’ll try my best to steer you to embellishments that really do match as the new catalog and the new colors for 2009-2010 are announced. So stay tuned for that.
Now–about the Embosslits. These little one-flower dies not only cut the flowers out but they emboss them as well. The Riding Hood Red flower is the Stampin’ Up! Flower Burst emblosslit. While some embosslits seem to have a "right" side and a "wrong" side, this one seems to me to have two "right" sides. In this project, I used the side with the concave impressions. In a project I’ll feature next week, I’ll show you the flower with the convex side up.
The Almost Amethyst embosslit in the back is the Stampin’ Up! Cherry Blossom. Both of these emblosslits are Stampin’ Up! exclusives for now, so you can only purchase them with a Stampin’ Up! order. Next week’s project will show off another Stampin’ Up! exclusive embosslit, the Stampin’ Up! Simple Flower.
The two embosslit flowers and the lollipop are attached to a separate piece of Riding Hood Red card stock cut 3" x 3", and then I inserted that into the pouch. In this way, the pouch can be reused after that lollipop disappears the way that most lollipops disappear. The Ribbon is Riding Hood Red 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, and the tag, cut with the Small Oval Punch, is stamped with a stamp from the All Hollidays set.
What a quick and easy gift this was to make, and it was especially easy with a production line going. This would be a perfect favor for a graduation party or a shower! And you can purchase everything you need to make it is any of four dozen plus colors featured in the Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog. If you’d like a catalog, or would like to order any of these products, you can call (808.854-6145) or e-mail me. Or, as always, you can order 24/7 from my website!
More from the FCE Fair
Aloha, all!
As I mentioned last week, I spent quite a bit of time getting some cards and gifts from Robin’s Craft Room ready for the Family and Community Education (FCE) Annual Fair.
In addition to the little Pillow Box favor boxes I made, I also made up some gift cards with the Diaper Fold Pouch decorated with a variety of Sizzix flowers and other Stampin’ Up! Embellishments. Even with all the flowers and embellishments (including the delish Life Savers Lollipop!), the gift pouches fit nicely into a standard Stampin’ Up! Medium Envelope (an A2 size envelope). All of these, along with their envelopes, are also packaged in a Clear Translucent Medium Envelope.
Early in the Fair day, the little Pillow Box treats and greeting cards sold better than the gift pouches. But then I was on the day’s agenda to do a demonstration of paper crafting. I had chosen a hands-on demonstration on how to make the Diaper Fold Pouch, and gave every one a 7-1/2" square piece of Designer Series Paper to try one out. When I held up one of these packaged pouches to show how a finished project could look, one audience member bought it on the spot and all but two of the rest sold immediately afterwards! It’s good to demo stuff!!
Tomorrow, I’ll show a close up of the pouch, with details about the embellishments. If you’d like to try your hand at making your own, just click on the link above to get detailed instructions for the folding.
Oh, and you should know that every cent made selling these gift pouches, and the rest of the items I made goes directly to our FCE club for its charitable work. If you’re involved with a charitable organization, Stampin’ Up! products create an excellent quality gift to sell! I’ll show off another project I made early next week.
My Sizzix Big Shot Has a Home!
Aloha, all!
My Sizzix Big Shot finally has permanent home all its own. It’s been in temporary quarters on this table or that since it arrived on my doorstep right after Convention 2008. So now every time I work on a card or scrapbook project, I don’t have to think about whether it’s worth it to drag it out from where ever I happened to stash it last. It’s always at home on a sturdy shelf in my closet, with plenty of room for even the XL dies to go through it with ease.
And they have been going through the Big Shot often! My current favorite die is the Box #2 die, which I’ve shown off here before. This being March, though, I’ve been anxious to try out something that looks like a treat box for a St. Patrick’s Day party. Now you know as well as I that there just aren’t the cute M&Ms and Hershey Kisses in St. Patty’s Day green as there are wonderful reds and pinks for Valentine’s Day and pretty pastels for Easter. March 17th is just another in-between holiday (and it’s not really even that!). But M&Ms do come in their "Premium" variety in a green mint. Oh, those are SOOO delicious. Unfortunately, the Box #2 die makes such a good, large, box that it holds more than 1/2 a pack of those tasty treats!
Well, I guess I’m going to have to try out the little Pillow Box die and see how many that will hold. Hopefully not as much so that I can make lots of treat boxes instead of just a few.
I made the box on the left using standard transparency plastic that you can buy at any office supply store. But Stampin’ Up! is going to start selling its transparent Window Sheets again, beginning April 1st with the Occasions Mini Catalog. It will come in both 7 mil and 20 mil thicknesses. I’ve ordered up a preview of both and will report back here when I get them so you’ll know what to buy for your OWN Sizzix projects.
For the box on the right, I used one of the Stampin’ Up! Background I Sizzix Terturz plates to texturize the Certainly Celery Card stock before I put it through the Sizzix again to cut the Box #2 die. Both boxes are tied with the Certainly Celery Poly twill ribbon featured in his month’s Sale-A-Bration catalog, and I got them FREE for ordering $50 worth of Stampin’ Up! projects. You can, too, by just placing your OWN order of $50! As always, you can order online 24/7, or call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me and I can place your order for you.
The Shamrocks on both boxes were made using Garden Green Card stock and one of the hearts from the Heart to Heart Punch. To make the smaller of the two, I just placed a Mini Glue Dot in the center of the tag and attached the point of each of the three hearts and one end of the stem to the dot.
If you already have a Sizzix Big Shot, the Box #2 die is really a winner and I’d suggest that this be one of your next purchases!
Happy Stamping!
Honolulu Regional – Part V – Make & Takes
Aloha, all!
Finally I have finished unpacking (from a short trip to Honolulu–go figure!!). And I finished the one project that I didn’t get done while I was at the conference. For one thing, it was a 3-dimensional project (using the Sizzix Big Shot, of course!) and I didn’t want it squished (that’s a paper crafter’s technical term that relates to what happens when you put 3-D paper projects in a piece of luggage that’s going on an airplane).
There were 6 projects, but I have to tell you that I had a really hard relating to the scrapbook page that needed a picture of snow to make it complete. Yes, there is snow on Mauna Kea this year, but not as much as last year. (But that gives me an idea for the project, so you may see it here later).
Three of the projects were made using a stamp set that will be featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog, which is being previewed beginning tomorrow (ssshhh!) The set is called, "Soft Summer" and is definitely on my wish list. I’ll give you more information about it as we get closer to the time when you can order it (and if you love a watercolor look and are ready for spring flowers, you will LOVE this set!)
The little yellow basket is made with the Stampin’ Up! exclusive Baskets and Blooms Sizzix die. This is a super easy little basket to make, and it can be made in the shape shown here, or it can be shaped so that it is perfectly round. In either form, you’re going to love it for favors for Easter events this year!
Now for a little hint for my fellow demonstrators who may have bought this die back in the fall, and would like to encourage your customers to purchase it now. There is a slight change (for the better in my humble opinion) that makes this a much easier basket to put together. The bottom of the basket is different in the version that is now for sale, and is the one that was featured at the Honolulu Regional. The flaps that have to be folded up (or down depending on your preference in putting the basket together) are fewer, and wider and are much easier to handle. Here’s a picture so you can see graphically what I mean. The newer version of the bottom piece is on the left, and the older version on the right. Wish I had the newer version! But I’ve learned how to make the earlier one work, so I guess I’ll be saving my $$$ for stuff in that luscious new Mini Catalog!
Oh, and the project with the Tangerine Tango flower with the white outline? That’s made with the Tangerine Tango "Patterns" Designer Series Paper. Unlike regular Stampin’ Up! card stock, the Designer Paper has a white core. And this is how this flower was made: The paper was cut using the Sizzix Stampin’ Up! Simple Flower embosslit. The embosslits emboss the paper as well as cut it out. Then we used a sanding block like an emergy board and sanded away the color from the surface of the edges which had been embossed. Thus–White Outlines!
OK–enough for today. Are you intrigued by some of these projects? If so, I’m ready to get you started with the latest Stampin’ Up! products. But first–be back tomorrow, March 1st, because YOU are going to be able to order some sneak peaks from the Occasions mini-catalog–to help you get your Easter projects started! Any questions? Call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me any time!
Parisian Breeze in a Box!
Aloha, all from your card stock, paper and ribbon junkie (I’ve officially designated myself that as I can’t move around the craft room for all of the ribbon and paper all ove
My craft room is overflowing with little boxes I’ve made with the Sizzix Box #2 die. I am just so fascinated with the idea that I can make a box without a pencil or computer to draw it and a pair of scissors to cut it out! It’s a good thing that I’m a card stock and paper junkie, because otherwise I might run out of paper fairly quickly.
So, here is my latest take on the box, using some brand new Designer Series Specialty Paper, Parisian Breeze. I just love the colors in this paper–Baja Breeze (I have all kinds of turquoise-y colors in my craft collection), Chocolate Chip and Kraft. The Kraft is sort of an accent color; but it is just the right accent for the Baja Breeze/Chcolate Chip combo.
But as much as I like the colors, I just LOVE the texture! And this designer paper is also card-stock weight, and make a great 3-D project such as a box.
I made this as a gift for a member of my stamp club. Marcie and I share the same birthday, and you just gotta love someone who has the same birthday as you! The flower comes from the stamp set, Eastern Blooms, and the birthday greeting comes from the Crazy for Cupcakes set. Even though the color in the paper is Chocolate Chip, I liked the look of Close to Cocoa with this design. The band around the base of the box is Close to Cocoa and is the stamping on both the Baja Breeze and the Whisper White card stock.
Marcie has recently purchased two of the Stampin’ Up! Classy Brass Templates, along with the Empressor Stylus to do some dry embossing. So I’m showing off some of what she can do with her dry embossing materials by using the Floral Frenzy template, which coordinates with all of the designs in the Eastern Blooms stamp set. The textured dots on the Whisper White card stock are from the dry embossing, as is the outline of the flower itself. And, of course, the Scallop Circle Punch sets everything off nicely. (Oooh, do I have a sneak peak for you–there’s going to be an Scallop Oval punch in Stampin’ Up!’s future–come back next week and I’ll tell you more!)
The finishing touch is (what else!) ribbon! This is the striped 5/8" grosgrain ribbon in the Baja Breeze Color.
Happy Birthday, Marcie (well, just a couple of days late!) 
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