Posts Tagged ‘Handmade gifts’
Learning the “Vintage” Look
Aloha, all!
As you can probably tell, I tend towards the kinds of designs that have clean lines and some symmetry. I like to have neat edges and have papers and ribbons and such lying nice and flat on the card or scrapbook page. But I've noticed in many of my craft magazines as well as in Stampin' Up!'s publications and samples, the "old," "vintage" look has become very popular. I'm sure there's some psychology in that as we go through some economic and environmental hard times. But regardless of the underlying cause, I'm really going to work to try to learn how to take what I'm most comfortable with and turn it into a more vintage look.
Today's project is my first try at this in a side-by-side manner. Let me back up a bit and say that I really like making covers for my 5" x 8" lined note pads and I've had instructions for making this posted here almost since I began my blog. It just looks so, well, plain, to have the pads just sitting around with bare paper on them! And my favorite theme to use for note pad covers is the musical "note." For awhile, Stampin' Up! had a wheel with whimsical musical notes on it, and there was a great stamp that said, "Just A Note." Perfect for that. Well, this year, there's a new wheel with musical notes, but they've done themselves one better and have a great set of printed Designer Series Paper that has musical notes on it. It's one of the sheets in the Newsprint Designer Series Paper set. Hooray, I have my theme again! And here are the two projects that I've made with this idea of trying out a Vintage Look when my first instinct is to make something with nice, neat, straight lines.
My first try with the new papers is on the left, and the second one, with a bit of stepped up Vintage look, is on the right. Both of these projects use basically the same products: Newsprint Designer Paper, Lovely Letters Alphabet, Rich Razzleberry Patterns Paper, Rich Razzleberry Card Stock, a Border Punch, and some Stampin' Up! Ribbon.
.jpg)
Here's my first try at this with my traditional clean-cut look. Can you tell I took this photo during the sunset last night? Love the lighting! Anyway, I made some nice clean cuts here, and used plain Very Vanilla card stock on which to stamp the letters. The border punch is the Scallop Edge Border Punch, and the letters are nicely lined up with some Stampin' Dimensionals popping them up over some 1/4" Rich Razzleberry Grosgrain Ribbon. The letters are cut into 1-1/8" squares and I punched the mats with the 1-1/4" Square Punch.
Now let's check out the Vintage look:
To begin, I roughed up the edges of both pieces of Designer Series paper – the Newsprint as well as the Rich Razzleberry Patterns. Then I sponged Rich Razzleberry ink from a Classic Stampin' Pad all over both pieces of paper. Instead of using the Scallop Edge Border Punch, I used the Eyelet Border Punch. The letters are the same color and size as in the plain card, but I used some more of the Newsprint Designer Paper on which to stamp them. Then, instead of some plain grosgrain ribbon (think clean lines) I used Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon which I first ruffled by pulling a center thread through it and then mussed up a bit by applying some Rich Razzleberry Ink with a sponge. Finally I applied the letters NOT in a straight line (straight lines were not allowed in this project, well, except for the note pad itself). Angled up a bit they seem to fit more with the vintage look.
What do you think? Which do you like? If I get at least 10 comments about this post by July 24th, I'll pick one commenter who can choose one of these note pads for a gift! Check back here next week to see who wins the note pad!
Subscribe to the comments for this postSome Great Workshop Projects!
Aloha, all!
Dana's workshop was a great success, even though we may have had a few logistical glitches. The good news (for me) is that I didn't forget ANYTHING! I'm amazed because there's usually something critical that I leave at home (SNAIL, snips, the stamp set we're using for the make and takes).
In preparing the kits for the make and takes, using that wonderful Sweet Pea Paper Stack, I found that I had been so eager to make sure that the projects were designed just perfectly that I didn't have enough of the paper I'd chosen for the Note Pad Cover left for all of the kits. What to do, what to do. Well, it is a paper STACK! So there had to be something else in the stack that would still coordinate well with the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt and Flower Fusion embellishments that Dana and I had chosen to use. And, of course, there was. Here is the second of the two designs for this project. Um, well, actually there were 3 designs because (gasp!) I ran out of Old Olive card stock. How could that happen???? There weren't even some 12" x 12" pieces in the "greens" box in the craft room. So the last couple of kits had to be made with Certainly Celery card stock. Would you believe no one noticed??? Oh, and as I promised earlier in the month, here are the instructions for making this great gift project!
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!
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!) 
“Wild Mind” Stamping!
Aloha, all!
OK, it’s not all stamping. But believe me it’s all of the "Wild Mind" variety. I’ll not take up much of my crafting space to explain. Here is a quote from notes about Natalie Goldberg’s book, "Wild Mind."
"Here is compassionate, practical, and often humorous advice about how to find time to write, how to discover your personal style, how to make sentences come alive, and how to overcome procrastination and writer’s block–including more than thirty provocative "Try This" exercises to get your pen moving."
At this point, I’m not so into "writing" as I am into "style." I spend a lot of time looking at how other people use the Stampin’ Up! products that I represent, and I base a lot of what I do on that. So "my" style has been more the style of others. Understand that I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I am crazy about the style that Stampin’ Up! is presenting in its latest catalogs, and the style that some of the most amazing SU demonstrators are using amazingly creatively.
After the writing class last night, though, I decided to break away from what’s "out there" in the paper crafting world, and just create–with some restraints that I placed on myself. Tonight, the restraints were:
- I have to have something easy to create for my friends who are coming to my Stampin’ Up! Open House tomorrow–and I promised them a Valentine project!
- I have to use ONLY the Sizzix and Designer Series Paper that came in the box that arrived on my doorstep today.
- Beyond that, I can use plain colored card stock and any stamps and other accessories that I already have.
OK–there were 6 packs of Designer Paper that arrived. Only one had any kind of vague resemblance to what might be considered "Valentine" value. The DSP is called, "Sweet Slumber." The colors are Rose Red, Baja Blue, So Saffron, and a background color (Sahara Sand).
Of the Sizzix materials that arrived, I had the Box #2 die as well as the Naturally Serif Sizzlits Alphabet.
So, where to start–the box of course! And, some of the Sweet Slumber dotted paper. The nice thing about the Sweet Slumber is that it’s cover weight paper. It’s of the same basic thickness as Stampin’ Up! card stock. So it can be the framework for a card as well as for anything that the Sizzix Big Shot has to offer. This is a lot different from the Designer Paper Stampin’ Up! has been making. The little box will hold some nice treasures, and is the item on the left in the photo above.
OK, now some cards. Hmmm. Well, the number of papers in the DSP pack is limited–2 of each design. So I had to be judicious in case several of those who are coming on Saturday want to make the same project. So I decided on one 4" x 4" card and one 3" x 3" card. Neither of these is mailable in the U.S. But, hey, my ladies are going to be making these ON Valentine’s Day. So they’re probably going to be handing them out. So no problem! The 4" card is in the middle and the 3" "Love Note" is on the right. OK, now who would have thought that I’d be making Valentine’s gifts and cards using Baja Blue and So Saffron?! Not I, for sure!!!
Tomorrow I’ll show a close up of that box that I made with the Sizzix Big Shot and the Box #2 die. That was amazing (not my particular design, but what the Sizzix could do!) because I made that box in less than 10 minutes!! If I hadn’t had to think about how to decorate it, it would have been even less than that! The Sizzix cuts and scores the box, and there’s only one little spot where you have to glue it!
But more of that tomorrow. I also have another hint to make this box a bit better (in my humble opinion!) And, while Valentine’s Day will be over, don’t forget that there’s Easter and Graduations and Weddings and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and summer parties–this box die is going to be a treasure that you’ll definitely want to have all year long!
Stationery is a Great Holiday Gift!
Aloha, all!
I just finished completing an order for a customer who wishes to give one-of-a-kind, handmade gifts, but just doesn’t have the time to make them herself. She wanted to give the gift of a Stationery Set. I can’t believe how much fun I had selecting the papers and the stamps that I would use. It took awhile because I had to consider some guidelines that the customer gave me as well as stock I had on hand (she wanted them as soon as possible). Among the guidelines was that there had to be two of each card; there had to be a birthday card, a thank you card, and a general note card. While she didn’t specifically say that they should be coordinated, I felt that I needed to make the cards look like a set and not like 3 different cards just haphazardly put together into a set.
This is what I came up with. There is an interesting mix of colors. The greens are either Old Olive or Kiwi Kiss; the reds are either Real Red or Robin Hood Red. The pink is Pink Pirouette and the blue is Baja Breeze. The striped ribbons are all "In Color" colors (Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, and Robin Hood Red). The stripes in the papers made mixing and matching the various colors very, very easy!
Two of the papers are from the Level 3 Hostess Set, Holiday Happenings Bundle. I may just have to see if I can put together another order this month to grab some more of that luscious paper!! The other stripe is from the Ski Slope Designer Series Paper set (112994). The stamp set throughout is Pocket Silhouettes (111672). I used the Wide Oval and Large Oval Punches (112082 and 107305) for the cards
When the cards were finished, I realized that the folio that I had wanted to make to hold the cards wouldn’t work as I had that nice knot in the ribbons that took up a lot more space than the folio provided.
Canadian Demonstrator Extraordinaire, Andrea Walford, to the rescue! Last Spring I had purchased a class planner from her, and the box for the stationery set in that planner was just the ticket! So a big Mahalo (Thank You) to Andrea! For decorating the box, I used the 1-3/8 Circle Punch (104401), Scallop Circle Punch (109043) and Scallop Edge Punch (112091), along with the stripe paper and some Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (109054). Hmmm. Now that I look at the picture, I think I’m going to put a knot in that ribbon!. That should tie it all together, don’t you think!
If you’d be interested in my making some gift cards for you, it’s not too late to get an order in! I have most of my own Christmas Cards and gift already made (though I seem to keep making them up to Christmas Day itself!). So my time could be yours! Visit the "Cards" tab to download my Cards by Robin brochure.
Christmas Gift Cards
Aloha, all!
Gift Cards are a great way to give a gift to someone when you don’t know specifically what he or she would like for a gift. Think iTunes gift cards when your taste runs to classical and his taste runs to heavy metal.
Especially in this economy, when I need to buy a gift for someone who (1) wouldn’t necessarily appreciate a set of hand made stationery and (2) is not someone I know really well, I certainly don’t want to risk spending money on something that will not be used or, worse, thrown away!
In this case, there are three elementary school students (5th and 6th graders) who serve with me and a half dozen other adults on our local school’s Community Council (a state-mandated group). These three young ladies have been very conscientious about their attendance at and participation in the Council’s meetings. (Note that, at their age, I would have been bored to tears and would probably have used the time to catch up on my sleep!) So the adults on the Council have purchased gift cards to a store where they can stock up on school supplies.
Here are the cards that I made to hold the three gift cards. The cards can be made as simple or as fancy as you’d like. For these, I used Glorious Green Card Stock as the base for the card, with Real Red Patterns Paper from the Level 1 Hostess set in the Fall/Winter 2008 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog. I added Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (109034) and a greeting from another Level 1 Hostess Set, Best Yet (can you tell I’ve been doing my job for the economy by buying lots of Stampin’ Up! supplies???). The two ovals are punched using the Large Oval Punch (107305) and the Wide Oval Punch (112082).
Here are the instructions for making the gift card holders, along with some ideas for decorating them. I hope that you enjoy making and using them this Christmas! And if you need some of the supplies for making and decorating them, you can order them from Stampin’ Up! any time, 24/7. Just click on the"Shop Now" button! Or call (808.854.6145) or e-mail and I’ll be glad to help you with ordering supplies or with making the Gift Card Holders!
More Personalizing!
Aloha, all!
We had a totally busy day in paradise today–starting with a visit from an electrician who fixed that smoke alarm that has been going off at 4 in the morning more than I’d care to have it go off (um, actually, one time would be more than I’d care; but I’ve been patient). I’m truly looking forward to a full night’s sleep tonight!
After a few other social engagements, I finally had a chance to play in the Craft Room, and finished the second of the two ornaments that I wanted to make this year for the wreath being built by my son (Gus) and grandson (Quin). Yesterday I featured the "Q" ornament. Today the "G." Actually, Gus is not the name that I gave him at birth. His given name is Andrew. How he ended up a "Gus" is a story for another time.
But Gus he is, so a "G" is called for. I wanted the two ornaments to be similar but not the same colors. So today I reverted to one of my favorite of the Stampin’ Up! 2008 embellishments, the "Little Felt Flurries" (113697). No, I have not used them up!!! In fact, I can’t imagine you could use all those wonderful embellishments up unless you were mass-producing cards and ornaments. I rarely mass produce as I like to think about each and every card and ornament I make, so I tend to be slower than many of my fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. In fact, I’m thinking of saving some of the red snowflakes for Valentine’s cards. Hey, it still snows in February somewhere in our wonderful country! Maybe even in Hawaii (I’ll let you know when I first see snow this season).
The "G" is from the same Serif Essentials Sizzix alphabet set (113464) as the "Q" of yesterday’s blog entry. For the "G" I used white self-adhesive felt, added some Little Felt Flurries, and mounted it all on Glorious Green card stock. This was cut using the Scallop Circle #2 Sizzix Die (113469) (as was yesterday’s gold scallop circle).
I’ll be punching a small hole in both ornaments (to make them easy to attach to the wreath) and mailing them off to Oregon tomorrow.
Happy Stamping!
Robin
Personalize Your Gifts With Sizzix!
Aloha, all!
My favorite toy this weekend is the Sizzix Big Shot with the wonderful Serif Essentials alphabet (113464).
The first project was to make 2008 decorations for the wreath that my son, Gus, and grandson, Quin, started decorating last year. For Quin’s decoration, I used the large Q (I’m probably one of the very few people who may actually wear out the Q in the alphabet set!). I used some self-adhesive red felt and attached it to a piece of the cardboard that somes with Stampin’ Up!’s Designer Series Paper (never throw that stuff away–it’s free gold!). I hand cut two pieces of Glorious Green card stock into the shape of holly leaves, and added a Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad (109110). To finish it off, I mounted the decoration on Brushed Gold card stock, using Stampin’ Dimensionals to make it "pop" out a bit.
Tomorrow, the G!
Happy Stamping!
Robin
Diagonal Double Pocket Card – Part 2
Aloha, all!
Here is another version of the Diagonal Double Pocket Card.
Most of my dearest friends and I are at the point where we don’t feel that we have to shop for each other for holiday gifts, whether they be for Christmas or Hannukah. But we do like to exchange gifts of things that we have made to commerate at this joyous time that we do, indeed, treasure and are thankful for our friendships. My friend, Janet, for example, has bene making us a Christmas tree ornament for as long as I can remember. She celebrates Hannukah, so I don’t reciprocate with a handmade ornament. However, I do like to make her something special.
As I mentioned yesterday, this year, I have been having lots of fun making diagonal double pocket cards with bookmarks for my friends. Janet is definitely a book lover, even volunteering at her local library.
Today’s card is made with card stock (Taken with Teal). You’ll see on the instructions for the card, there is a variation from the design I used yesterday. With card stock, that last fold creates just two too many layers of card stock for my taste. So this card is actually more like a traditional greeting card, with an inside for a greeting. There are still two diagonal pockets on the front, though!
I created some difference between the front and the back of the card stock by embossing small snowflakes (from the Level 3 Hostess set, Holiday Happenings Bundle, using VersaMark (102283) and White Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109132). I made the two bookmarks with Whisper White and Taken With Teal card stock, and finally affixed two small snowflakes, also made out of Whisper White and cut with the Sizzix Big Shot and two Sizzlits from the Snowflakes Set #2 (113449).
The stamped greeting is from the Heritage Holiday Stamp Set (111646).
Ready to make some of these cards! Just call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me, and I can help you pick out papers and stamp sets to get you started!
