Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Thanksgiving Name Cards & Tutorial

I love Thanksgiving ... and I love how both my side of the family and my husband's are getting together this year! My family from Portland will be joining us here on the coast this year, so to add to the special-ness of this event, I thought I'd make some name cards for our Thanksgiving dinner.



These little name cards are really easy to make. And no matter where you are, you have plenty of time to run to your local scrap store for supplies, or rummage through your own scrap drawer! I got all my paper and embellishments from Paper Mermaids last week, so if you happen to live in town and need some guidance, drop me a line and I'd be happy to help you pick out Thanksgiving colors and embellishments at Paper Mermaids!


To make 12 name cards, here's what you'll need:

*3 pieces of cardstock - preferably 1 dark brown, 1 deep orange, and 1 ivory
*1 piece of orange pattern paper
*12 mini flowers - Prima ones such as these are perfect
*Dark brown, orange, and red inks
*Dark brown pen
*1 foot of twine
*A script stamp, such as the one in this Tim Holtz set
*A corner punch of your choice, such as this Fiskars 3-in-1 punch
*Sizzix "Autumn Gatherings" die, or, use silk leaves no larger than 1"
*Spellbinders - Labels 4 die
*Glossy accents
*Stickles
*Crackle accents
*Liquid pearls

The leaves
1. Cut two 3" x 12" strips of your ivory cardstock using a paper trimmer or scissors.
2. Run each strip of paper through your die cutting machine, using the Autumn Gatherings die.
3. Ink your leaves in different colors, such as red, orange, and brown.
4. Take one half of your red and orange leaves and set aside.
5. With your other half of red and orange leaves, grab your script stamp, apply some brown ink to it, and stamp over your leaves. When these have dried, apply Crackle Accents on top.
6. For the other half of leaves, apply glossy accents to the top. After these have completely dried, apply Stickles on top.

The base
1. Take your brown cardstock and cut (12) 4" x 2 3/4" pieces of paper.
2. Use your corner punch and punch each corner of the 12 brown strips you just cut.
3. Fold each brown strip in half; set aside.

The sentiment piece
1.Take your patterned cardstock and cut 6 pieces using the 2¼" x 3⅝" size Spellbinders Labels 4 die. Once cut, use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut your labels in half - you will now have 12 pieces. Ink each one and set aside.
2. Take your orange cardstock and cut 6 pieces using the 1¾" x 3⅛″ size Spellbinders Labels 4 die. Once cut, use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut your labels in half - you will now have 12 pieces. Ink each one and set aside.
3. Glue a piece of your orange cardstock that you cut onto a piece of patterned cardstock, making sure the cut side of the orange paper is flush with the cut side of the pattern paper. Do this for the remaining 11 pieces of orange and pattern paper.
4. In the center of your orange cardstock, handwrite "Blessed by ... (name)" using your brown pen. I like to change things up, so I also used "Grateful for" and "Thankful for". If you have a custom stamp set that is tiny enough to fit, you can stamp your sentiment instead!

Assembling your name cards
1. Begin with your brown cardstock pieces and your Prima flowers. If your flowers come in a little bundle, remove the flowers by cutting their metal stems about 3/4" long from the flower. Glue the flower and its stem onto 8 of your 12 pieces of brown cardstock. Leave the other 4 pieces of brown card stock without the Prima flower for now.
2. Glue your orange cardstock and patterned paper onto the brown cardstock, so that the metal stem of the Prima flower is covered.
3. Create one of three patterns: Sparkly leaves, Crackled leaves, and Pearls.
3a. Sparkly leaves: Take a brown leaf and one of your leaves that you applied Glossy Accents and Stickles to. Glue these next to the Prima flower on your name card. Tie a small piece of twine around the flower.


3b. Crackled leaves: Take a brown leaf and one of your leaves that you applied Crackled Accents to. Glue these next to the Prima flower on your name card.


3c. Pearls: Glue a prima flower at the bottom tip of your orange cardstock & patterned paper. Tie a piece of twine around it and make a bow. Grab some liquid pearls and outline the inside of the orange cardstock. Let name card dry completely before handling!


If you don't have all these supplies, no worries! You can always substitute them for something you have on hand. Or, just drop by your local craft store and hand them my list of supplies! For the sentiment piece of the name card, you can switch out the Spellbinders Labels 4 die for any other label die you have. Or, you can cut a rectangle shape ... or, this is pretty, you could use a doily and distress it with some orange ink!



Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Steampunk Tag

Tags are so much fun to make because the possibilities are endless! Here's one I made for a friend of mine recently:


Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Steampunk Debutante paper
Prima flowers
Kaiser craft tag

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hair Stylist Tim Holtz configuration box

Today is my friend's birthday, and because she's a hair stylist, I thought I'd add to Maggie's work area by making her a Tim Holtz box.



When I made my first configurations box earlier this year, I had an extra set of mini scissors afterwards. These fit perfectly with my friend's hair stylist theme. :) 



Supplies:

Tim Holtz configurations box
Graphic 45 - Fashionista paper
Sizzix - Rosette die
Stickles

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Christmas cards - part 2

So what's your opinion on non-traditional Christmas cards? You know, ones that aren't your typical red, green, and white? I personally think they're a little refreshing ~ they're a fun twist to the usual holiday color palette. Well, here are some Christmas cards I made using brown, orange, blue, and lime green ... I kinda like how they turned out!






You can't really see it, but the yellow Stickles I applied to the brown snowflake look sooo pretty! You should try it on one of your next creations. And throw on Mindy Smith's "My Holiday" CD while you're at it. :)


Supplies:

Summer's End paper
Sizzix ornament die
Martha Stewart punch
Spellbinders - Fleur de Lis motifs & Labels 8 (4? 2?) dies
Sizzix - Regal Flourishes embossing folder
Cuttlebug - Swiss Dot embossing folder
Bazzil cardstock
Stickles

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Christmas cards - part 1

Here are some Christmas cards I made for a local business. :) Stay tuned for more card designs!






And my favorite of this bunch:


I found my beautiful mermaid stamp, Graphic 45 paper, Lacey Ovals die, and Townscape die at Paper Mermaids. I can tell I'll be using these supplies over and over! The fun Authentique paper and spool of thick red & white doodle twine came from Creative Crafts in Corvallis. If you just want doodle twine by the yard, you can find some at Paper Mermaids as well! These places are brimming with inspiring holiday projects ... stop by for some ideas or visit some of the blogs on my page for ideas!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Christmas Emporium paper
Authentique paper
Spellbinders - Lacey Ovals, Fancy Tags, Poinsettia, & Labels 4 dies
Sizzix embossing folder
Sizzix - Townscape border die
Cuttlebug - Textile & Swiss Dot embossing folders
Martha Stewart punches

Friday, November 4, 2011

Christmas Configurations Box

Hello! I wanted to share my latest project for Paper Mermaids. It's another Tim Holtz Configurations Box, only this time, it's got a vintage Christmas theme to it.


I used Graphic 45's "Christmas Emporium" paper for the entire box, along with a handful of fun little trinkets. One fun things you can do to change up these shadow boxes is to remove some of the inner boxes and place them on the outside of your box. 


Here's another angle: 


These Configurations Boxes by Tim Holtz are great for showcasing little treasures or a particular theme. They come in different sizes and you can find matching "findings" for these items, like foundation feet or miniature bottles. 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Christmas Emporium paper
Bazzil cardstock 
Claudine Hellmuth studio gloss
Walnut Stain distress ink

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Thanksgiving centerpiece

Before you recycle that empty tea box, hold onto it - you never know what you can make with it! For example, here's a centerpiece I made a couple weeks ago for Thanksgiving:


Just the night before, the centerpiece looked like this:


Here's how to make your own: 

1) Cut the top flaps off your box. 
2) Measure the front, back, and sides of your tea box, then cut cardstock to fit each side. 
3) Emboss a pattern onto some cardstock and use die cuts, pins, flowers, and any other embellishment you like to frame the embossed pattern. 
4) Decorate the other sides of your box.

I just bought a little thingy of styrofoam today, which I plan on putting inside my box. I'll stick sticks and leaves into the styrofoam to make my centerpiece truly stand out! Pictures to come later. Till then, here are some other shots of my recycled Thanksgiving centerpiece: 




A little sidenote (and a recent blessing to be thankful for): my husband finally found a full time job! He gets to work for a great company with plenty of room to grow in his career. We are both so excited and so grateful. One of the hardest lessons we've had to learn has been to thank God (not to mention, to completely rely on him) for everything in our lives, even the hardest moments when our circumstances seem so hopeless that we can't see anything to be thankful for. So we've been in a different kind of thanksgiving for a while ... and now, we have something new to be thankful for!

Supplies:

Jenni Bowlin paper
Bo Bunny paper
Sizzix Texture Fadez - Thankful
Sizzix Decorative strip - Harvest Gatherings
Mulberry Street flower
Maya Road pin
Tim Holtz Distress Ink & Distress Stain