Christmas Favor Boxes Featuring Magnolia Doohickeys

Hello crafty friends! It's no secret that I am addicted to Pinterest. Well, I think a lot of us are, right? I never fail to find inspiration for my projects and today's project is no exception. I was looking for a cute way to gift some holiday goodies to my daughter's teachers. Sure enough , I found the cutest little box idea. It wasn't Christmas themed, but with the right papers and embellishments I knew I could make it perfect for the holidays.

Christmas Favor Boxes

Ta-da! How cute are these? And I finally got to play with my new Doohickey Dies.

This one is my favorite! I'm just so in love with the cute Santa die. I wanted the die cuts to take center stage so you can see I kept it light on additional embellishments. A few strategically place rhinestones and lots of Snow-Tex is all it took to give these a wintery look.

Here's a side view of the cute rocking horse too! So adorable!

Here's that Santa again!  I made the mini tags out of cardstock scraps and added a jingle bell tied with some bakers twine.

Take a look at the little trees. I added a few red rhinestones and dabbed them with Snow-Tex.

The stocking die is adorable too! Such cute little details on the die cut pieces.

I die cut 2 of the larger poinsettia pieces to give my flowers more dimension and then, of course, dabbed them with more Snow-Tex! 

I think they turned out adorable! All I have to do now is add some crinkled tissue inside and add my goodies. I hope Kaylah's teachers' love them.

Thank you so much Tracy MacDonald for the inspiration and the wonderful tutorial. You can check out her awesome tutorial here:  http://iwannabuildamemory.blogspot.com/2012/02/treasure-box-tutorial.html

Thanks for stopping by.

I'll see you all real soon! Take care.

12 Tags of 2014, December

Welcome back! Today I want to share with you my take on Tim Holtz's December tag. It has been so much fun participating in the monthly tags and I'm so proud of myself for playing along  each month. Well...I did miss August and September, due to my move, but I won't tell anyone if you don't, hehe. The tag for December was amazing , like all of Tim's tags! Again, I was without a lot of the products he used, but it's always fun to work with what you've got. So enough babbling, let me show you what I came up with...

December Tag

It's very different from Tim's but I think it turned out rather cute. I created the background with a combination of Chipped Sapphire and Weathered Wood Distress Stains for a dark winter day look. Then I embossed a piece of Frosted Film (didn't have the new Frosted Sheets) with a snowflake embossing folder from my stash and adhered it to my tag. I love the shimmery effect of the frosted film and the subtle embossing. To create the look of snow, I splattered white paint on the surface and dabbed Snow-Tex all over the tag.

I hope you can see the shimmer and the embossing from this angle. Believe me, it's there and looks gorgeous in person.

I don't own the Prancing Deer die so I used one of the deer from Reindeer Flight. I cut out 3 deer out of chipboard and glued them together for dimension.  The deer was colored  with light brown acrylic paint mixed with Antique Linen,then I sanded and inked the edges with Walnut Stain. I did add Distress Glitter in Rock candy and dabbed Snow-Tex on the deer to make it look like falling snow.

As for the greenery, I used the branches from the Tattered Pinecone die. I cut them out of watercolor paper and used Peeled Paint Distress Stain to color them. Then I just lightly sprayed them with a shimmery silver spray from my stash and dabbed some Snow-Tex ( can you tell I love this stuff)?

 

The branches are from the Branch Tree Die. I cut three out of chipboard and layered them for dimension. Then, I inked them with Walnut Stain and heat embossed them with Walnut Stain Embossing powder. This is my favorite technique to create realistic looking branches. You can see more of that snowy stuff on my branches and one last, little green leaf just clinging on for dear life. The scene really does look like a Winter Wonderland and makes me long for a white Christmas. I topped of my tag with a crinkled ribbon bow dyed with the stains used to color the tag.

Well, that is it for me today! I had so much fun creating this month's tag and there's still plenty of time to play along, if you haven't already.

Can't wait to see what Tim comes up with for the New year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Graphic 45 Twelve Days of Christmas Advent Calendar

I'm back with my second post of the day! As you can tell, I'm a little behind on my posts so I want to catch up before the holidays are over!
This project is for my baby girl, who loves counting down the days until Christmas.

 Twelve Days of Christmas Advent Calendar

I picked up a paper mache advent calendar at HL and started off by painting the edges and compartments with Warm White acrylic paint. I then covered the advent calendar with papers from Graphic 45's Twelve Days of Christmas collection ( one of my faves). Each compartment is numbered and decorated with fussy cut images from the 8 x 8 paper pad. The numbers were stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed with gold powder.This really makes the numbers pop.

I sponged gold acrylic paint and Snow-Tex on all the edges to give them a snowy look.

 I fell in love with the signature page of this collection but it was too big to fit on the back. So I decided to "re-create" it , my way .  All the images were fussy cut from  the paper then layered over and  under the song lyrics.  I used foam tape on some of the images to give them more dimension.

I created a cute Christmas morning scene on top of the calendar. The little tree is from the dollar store. I dabbed it with white gesso, added gold bead trim, red bows and topped it off with a glittered star. All the tiny gift boxes and bags were made by hand using scraps from the paper collection. I found the little wagon and teddy bear in the miniature section of my local art store. They are the perfect addition to my Christmas scene.

Needless to say, my daughter loved it and looks forward to opening the little compartments each morning. There is always a sweet surprise awaiting her. 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Christmas Stocking and Mitten Gift Card Holders

Hi everyone! So Christmas is 2 weeks away and I haven't even started my shopping! Please tell me I'm not the only one ( I know there are others like me out there, hehe). No but seriously, I really need to get a move on. Sometimes, I just don't know what to get someone so I usually stock up on gift cards. Yeah, yeah,  I know that's a little impersonal but I'd rather buy a gift card than purchase something that will end up in a bin somewhere, or in the trash. I personally don't mind receiving a gift card, this ensures I get something I really want. And who wouldn't like that!
Anywho, I wanted to create some cute gift card holders for all my gift cards. I came across these super cute stocking holders on Pinterest and was instantly inspired. So let me show you what I made...

Stocking Gift Card Holders

 

 Aren't they cute? The ones I saw on Pinterest were created with a die, but I thought I could make my own by just using  a template. I found a stocking template online and printed it to size. I then cut it out and traced it onto heavy weight cardstock. This ensures I have a template I can use over and over again. 

The paper collection is "Christmas Home" by Teresa Collins. I also used bits of lace and braided trim to decorate my stockings. Those cute poinsettias are from HL and the leaves were fussy cut from the paper collection. I added a bit of tinsel to the tops to make them more festive.

I loved the stockings so much that I decided to make mitten gift card holders too. I made these a little more vintage looking and a lot more dimensional.

 

 

 

 

 

Omg, I adore the way these turned out! I found the sweet images online and printed them on ivory cardstock. Then I distressed them with Vintage Photo for the perfect aged look. I used Authentique's "Festive" collection for these.  The clear snowflakes  and the festive red ribbon are from the dollar store. The greenery is from a Christmas pick and the Pinecone bunch was purchased at HL.  Who wouldn't want  to receive a gift card in one of these. They can also double as cards if you just add a message on the back. Super cute!

 

I hope you like my projects! And hopefully I've inspired you to make your own sweet gift card holder.

Until next time, take care!!!

 

 



12 Tags of 2014, November

Hi all! I'm back to share my take on Tim's November tag. I'm so proud of myself for not waiting till the last minute to make my tag, hehe. Tell me what you think;

November Tag

As you can see, it's quite different than Tim's version but still has some similarities. I created the background with Distress Paints in Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Peeled Paint. Tim used corrugated board on his tag but I really wanted a rustic look, so I used the wood grain embossing folder. I dabbed  Walnut Stain Distress ink on the raised surface of my embossing folder before running it through my Big Shot. Tim shared this technique on a past tag and it's still one of my faves.

I don't have the Leaf Die so I had to improvise with an old leaf punch from my stash. I punched out 3 leaves out of Kraft Glassine and colored them with Distress Stains. I then crinkled them up in my hand and dabbed them with the  Walnut Stain ink pad and sponged gold acrylic paint on top. I also used the Tattered Pine cone die to create the little pine cones and some of the greenery. I sponged gold acrylic paint on the greenery and pine cones as well.

I threaded a piece of linen ribbon through the Alpha Parts words and tied it around my tag.

Then, I tied some dyed seam binding through the hole on  the tag and added chit chat stickers on the top corner. Lastly, I sprayed the entire tag with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold for some added shimmer. So, so pretty and just perfect for Fall.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I hop you like my tag. There's still plenty of time for you to play along.

I'll see you all real soon!

12 Tags of 2014, October

Hi guys! Got a real short post for you today. Just wanted to share my take on Tim's tag for the month of October. I wasn't able to participate in August and September because of my move, but I just couldn't pass up on October's Tag!

Halloween Tag 

I loved Tim's tag from the moment I saw it but was a little disappointed that I didn't have most of the products he used. So I had to improvise quite a bit. First, I  made my own homemade texture paste and used a tree stencil on my background. I had this cute little owl stamp and I wanted it to look as if the owl were perched on one of the branches.As for the color sprays, I had to use some Tattered Angels sprays I had on hand. I must say I was a bit disappointed with the colors and just know Tim's Distress Sprays would have looked so much better! Definitely have to add those to my wish list.

The little jack-O-lantern is an old Sizzix die, I die

cut out of chipboard. I inked it with Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, and Vintage Photo. Then I covered it with clear embossing powder. The letter squares are stickers I had in my stash and I added tiny little half back pearls painted in gunmetal to mimic the look of nail heads.

I added the monocle and wishbone and tied some black tulle at the top to finish my tag.
So there it is, my take on Tim's October tag. Can't wait to see what he comes up with for November.
Have a great day everyone!

DIY Halloween Home Decor!

Hi everybody! It's my most favorite time of year again! Oh, how I looove Halloween! Every year I look forward to the leaves changing and counting down the days till the most spookiest of days. I think I get more excited than my kids,lol.
This year I decided to create some Halloween decorations that will serve me well year after year. Sure, I love buying decorations from the store but there's just something about making your own that makes it so much sweeter.
So just sit back and check out my creepy decorations. Hopefully I'll inspire you to create your own.

"Wicked" Wall Hanging

I made this wall hanging using 3 silver Dollar store trays. I primed them and spray painted them black and glued them together using E6000.

The paper collection is called Wicked by My Mind's Eye and it's just perfect for Halloween projects. The first tray is a creepy cemetary scene where the dead are waking up from their graves trying to make their way to the most awesome Halloween bash in town! I used several Tim Holtz dies to create the creepy ambiance.

The middle tray depicts the haunted house where the awesome Halloween bash is being held. Our gracious host greets us at the door and beckons us to go right on in. 

And here's the last tray depicting the inside of the house all decked out for the bash. I did a lot of fussy cutting on this project to create layers and a more realistic scene. The "flames" were created from pieces of a glittery floral pick from my local art supply. Pretty cool, don't you think?

Creepy Witch's Lair Countdown

I created this project for my baby girl who enjoys counting down the days till Halloween. She looks forward to changing the blocks each morning. This is such a fun and inexpensive project and can be changed for any holiday. All you need is 2 wood blocks, small wood base and some heavy weight chipboard.

I love the way the cauldron turned out, looks so grungy and rusty! Check out the little bottles on the shelf too. 

Last but not least....

Eek! Halloween Wreath

I'm loving the way my wreath turned out. I started with a grapevine wreath from the store, spray painted it black and added lots of dollar store finds. 

I grunged up the skull with black acrylic paint and some damp paper towels. Then I added lots of flowers, leaves and glittery berries. 

I spelled out "eek" using some wood letters painted blurple ( combination of black and purple silly), then topped with fine glitter.

Well, that's all for now. I had so much fun creating these spooky projects, now to get started on Christmas!

Goodbye, I'll see you all real soon!

Kaisercraft 75 Cents Mixed Media Canvas, Card & Decorated Glassine Bag

Hello there scrappy friends! I'm finally back after what seems like an eternity! But boy it was one crazy summer let me tell you!
My move was by far the worse move ever ( and we've moved around quite a bit in the last 7 years)! It just seemed like everything that could go wrong did and then some. Like not fitting all our stuff into the biggest moving truck we could find, and having to make 3 trips! Ugggh! Then our power was shut off because hubby and I assumed the other had called the electric company to make arrangements for service ( which neither one of us did). It was on a Friday and they said power would not be back on until the following Monday. I'm surprised we made it 3 days without air conditioning in this Texas heat, without killing each other! I'm just so glad summer's over and we've gotten back to our normal routine. I've even had a chance to do some crafting, so let me share with you what I made...

Mixed Media Canvas

I made this canvas for a very special lady I met on Youtube. She is undergoing chemotherapy and has lost all of her hair. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be to have to go through such an ordeal. Personally,  I don't know how I would handle this situation.

But I would hope that I would have half the strength she has, because she is the most amazing and courageous woman I've ever known. I admire her so much for her positive attitude and her unwavering faith. Nothing can bring her down, I tell you! She is that  amazing!

Here's a closeup of the sentiment on the canvas. This special lady loves flowers so I made sure to incorporate lots of lush blooms to my canvas. I used Spellbinders Floral Ovals and Large Ovals Dies along with scraps from Kaisercraft's 75 Cents paper collection for the focal point of the canvas.

 I  created the background with a damask stencil and gloss gel medium.Then I used several ink sprays, Ferro special effect paste, and acrylic paint to create a grungy, yet feminine look.

Thinking of You Card

I also made her a card to coordinate with her canvas. Here, I used Spellbinders Opulent Ovals dies and some pretty paper doilies. 

Here's another view of the card. I finished the inside to match the outside of the card as well.

Decorated Glassine Bag

Last, but not least, I decorated a medium size glassine bag to round out her gifts. I wanted to send her some pretty laces so I wrapped them around a pretty tag and stuck it inside the bag. I think it turned out so pretty!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! 

Fun Birthday Card

Hey guys! Today I've got a short post for you. Just wanted to share the card I made for my sister's recent birthday.

Isn't it cute! I used MME Sky's the Limit 6x6 paper pad and the colors and images were just perfect for the look I was going for. 

I love the hot air balloons and the fun colors. The little pennants were die cut from scraps using Spellbinders Banners die set. All of the paper edges were lightly distressed with Tim Holtz distress tool. I also cut a paper doily in half and tucked the piece in between layers of pattern paper. 

I fussy cut a few images from the paper pad and layered them on the bottom corner over the pieces of tissue tape I used in the background. The flowers were all from my stash and were lightly sponged with warm white acrylic paint. The little leaves were die cut from green card stock and tucked into the cluster. I used alpha stickers for the sentiment and I love how they coordinate with the words beside the little bird image.

This card was a lot of fun to make and my sister loved it! hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you all real soon!

12 Tags of 2014, July

Hey everybody! I'm back to share my tag for the month of July. I fell in love with Tim's tag as soon as I saw it and knew I just had to make the time to create my own . Being from Southern California and all, I can't help and be in love with anything beach theme.Since I've moved to Texas,  I think the beach is the one thing I truly miss from Cali...that and the gorgeous weather.

I stayed pretty true to Tim's version and had to purchase the Sand and Sea dies ( any excuse to get new goodies will do) . The background of the tag was created with a combination of Distress paints, stains and inks. The edges are distressed and inked with Frayed Burlap.

I didn't have Shrink Plastic so I just used a piece of plastic packaging and embossed it with the Swirls Texture Fade. It reminds me of waves so it was perfect for the ocean theme. I inked the sea horse with Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge and Barn Door Distress Inks. I also used Rock Candy Crackle and then sprinkled some gold embossing powder on top. I think he turned out awesome!

I followed Tim's recipe to create the "sand" and I've got to say it looks just like the real thing. And it didn't flake off! I'm definitely going to use this technique again. The sand dollar and starfish were painted with distress paints and then sprinkled with gold embossing powder. I also used Distress Stickles on the starfish for added texture.

I had so much fun creating this tag and can't wait to see next month's tag.

Hope you are all making the time to participate in the monthly tags.

Till next time, have a great one!!!

Bo Bunny Country Garden Altered Frame and Birthday Card

Hello there! I'm back to share some more projects with you all!
Last week, my sweet, wonderful mom celebrated her 64th birthday. She is a huge fan of anything from " I Love Lucy" and collects the Lucy Barbie dolls, so my husband and I ordered some dolls online. Unfortunately, they would be arriving a few days after her birthday. I didn't want her to not have anything to open on the big day, so I decided to alter a frame for her. She loves to display pictures of her kids and grandchildren all over her room and she just loves when I make her stuff. She loved it! And immediately found a picture to put in it.

I started off with one of those $1 frames from Michael's and painted the sides a warm white. Then I covered the frame with Bo Bunny's Country Garden papers. I distressed the top piece by tearing random pieces and inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I also used my Martha Stewart punch to punch out border strips that I tucked in between papers.

The wooden dressform is from Sacrafter's shop and I left it natural. I just made  a "dress" from one of the pattern papers and added a piece of strung pearls for a necklace. And just look at those flowers! Aren't they gorgeous? The big blue one was gifted to me by Sa and the pink ones are from my stash. They were originally white but I colored them with Heidi Swapp's shine spray in Blush. 

I added Diamond Dust to the tops of all the flowers and tucked pieces of white tulle in my flower cluster, for added girliness! ( Is that even a word?) I also cut apart an Easter pick and used the berries to accent the arrangement. The leaves were die cut with one of the Spellbinder's Foliage dies and pattern paper.

Love these little wooden sentiments from Michael's. They come white and are so shabby chic. Perfect for my frame!

I also made a coordinating card to go with the frame. This was my first time using the Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles dies, I've had forever.They are sooo pretty! Then I just added a Kaisercraft wood frame and some pearls for accent. The banner was fussy cut from one of the pattern papers and then stamped with "Happy Birthday".

Here's the two pieces together. I think they turned out so pretty and shabby! My mom loved them both and I loved watching her smile when she opened them. Let me know what you think. I really appreciate your sweet comments.

Have a wonderful day!