25 days till Christmas.....

The Story: 

 My daughter's class parents pooled their money and bought the teacher a substantial group gift for Christmas. 

The Problem:  

Normally, one card is bought and everyone gets to write in a tiny piece of space, about the size of a 20cent piece. 

The Solution:

Everyone has their own 3 x 3 inch gift card to write in, all of which will be presented on a small Christmas tree, hanging like ornaments.

The Challenge:

Being me, I couldn't just make 25 gift cards.  No.....  I had to make them all look pretty, and unique, and look like baubles when hanging on the tree.  So, the challenge became, to create 25 gift cards all different, but all using the same ornament shape, and all using the same colours. 

Over the next 25 days till Christmas, I'll post one card a day, kind of like a Christmas Bauble Advent Calendar.  So stay tuned.  As mentioned above, all of the cards use much the same in the way of supplies, so I'll post the supply list now, and you can refer back to it for each card if you get stuck on which supplies I've used.  I have used all SU! supplies, but I did need to venture into a friends stamp collection for some of the backgrounds (click here if you would like to discover some of her fantastic creations). 

But without further ado, here is the first, and my favourite (yes this one was mine to write in - hehehe) gift card. 

Supply List:

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive

SU! Stamp Sets: Delightful Decorations, Contempo Christmas, Contempo Roller,Christmas Greetings, Four the Holidays, Tree Trimmings, Baroque Motifs.

Other: Jolly Holiday DSP, Vellum, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Mistletoe Ribbon Originals, Sleigh Bells, Very Vanilla taffeta, Old Olive thin taffeta, Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, Fire Circle Rhinestone Brads, Dazzling Diamonds, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Modern Label Punch, 1 3/4 inch circle punch, 1 inch circle punch, Ornament punch, Petals-a-Plenty and Polka Dot Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, copper cord (retired), dimensionals, 2 way glue pen, snail, paper piercing tools.

Happy Stamping......Manda

Paint Tins????

Yes, paint tins.  Although these ones have never seen any paint.  They come from the local craft store - a riot really! (hint, hint).  They are really easy to decorate, and look fantastic filled with wrapped lollies - yes I know that these ones are missing.....Hhhmmm wonder where they went?

Here is a close up of the front of this tin.

There is also another example of my paint tins here. 

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke

Stamp Set: Tree Trimmings

Other: Love Letter DSP, Basic Pearls, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon.

Happy Stamping......Manda

Sledding......

I have really enjoyed stamping with Welcome Christmas stamp set, especially teamed with the stunning Cocoa Christmas Specialty paper.  The following card features both (surprise!!) and the Real Red Polka Dot ribbon from the Dressing Up Christmas promotion currently running from SU!  You can see the dazzling diamond snow better in the first picture. 

(Please excuse the slight angle on the photo.  Not sure what happened there!)

Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Soft Suede

Stamp Set: Welcome Christmas

Other: Real Red Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, Cocoa Christmas specialty paper, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder, Paper Snips (for hand cutting out the sentiment and the mat).

Happy Stamping.....Manda

Welcome Christmas Damask.....

This is simple, yet luxurious, card, made so by the gorgeous flocked damask pattern on the paper.  Not wanting to detract from this beautiful DSP, I have kept the card fairly simple, with a white taffeta ribbon and a small red rhinestone brad.  The greeting I hand trimmed, then adhered to Soft Suede card, and hand trimmed again.  That way you get an even mat to the greeting. 

Card stock: Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede

Stamp: Welcome Christmas

Other: Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP, White Taffeta Ribbon, Red Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals.

Happy Stamping.....Manda

Christmas Cocoa Bird.....

Here is a card that I whipped up using the Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP that you can receive as part of the Welcome Christmas bundle available from SU! at the moment.

Normally, a DSP page with a large image printed as part of the paper, I think of as a scrapbook page.  But for some reason this time, the bird image jumped out at me, and I thought it would make a quick, yet effective, focal image for the front of the card.  I have hand cut the letters from the word, added an antique brad and a bow of white organza and ta-dah.....card complete.

Card Stock: Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede

Stamps: Welcome Christmas

Other: 2 way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Antique brad, white organza ribbon, dimensionals.

Happy Stamping......Manda

A stack of chocolate......literally!!.....

Here is another quick, simple, and inexpensive, yet impressive gift. 

Once again, Aldi was the source of the original product.

Simply take of the coloured paper, and substitute DSP in the design of your choice.  I've used Jolly Holiday, as it is part of the Dressing Up Christmas promotion.  Vanilla ribbon, and a quick tag, and you're done. 

Happy Stamping......Manda

Happy Birthday ......

To my wonderful, amazing, and much loved Mum....Hope you have a happy day. 

As an aside, I'll be teaching you how to make this amazing paper bow at technique class this Friday.  Email me if you would like to come along. 

Supplies: Sunny Garden DSP, So Saffron wide grosgrain ribbon (retired).

Happy Stamping....Manda

Dressing up.....Lil' Chocits....

Another Aldi favourite are these little chocolates.....

Very easy to cover with DSP and stack into a pile with ribbon, or a DSP belly band.  But my new discovery is that they fit into the No. 2 Box Die really well.

Card Stock:  Cherry Cobbler

Ink: None (are you shocked?)

Stamps: None (don't fall over now!!)

Other:  Jolly Holiday DSP, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Cherry Cobbler button, kitchen string.

Happy Stamping.....Manda

Dressing up......Nougat.....

My stamping friends tease me that I never go anywhere without thinking about stamping....Sad to say, but sometimes it's true.  I was wandering around Aldi the other day, and found these little treats.

The gold wrapping caught my eye, and I had to think......."I could make something with these".  What did I come up with?

This...... 

And to get rid of the not so special blue on the original packaging....

 

just add a strip of co-ordinating DSP.  Pop 4 into the pillow box made from acetate, and look what you get.   Gotta love it, right?  Makes a quick, impressive, yet inexpensive gift for Christmas......I'm thinking all those extra teachers at school....music, sport, art, etc.

Here is a close up of my tags.  I've used the markers to just colour the little pictures from the full stamp and then punched them out with the jewellery tag punch.  Simple, hey?

Card stock:  Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Acetate

Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Gifted

Other: Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Stamp'n'Write markers, Jolly Holiday DSP, Linen Thread, Jewellery Tag Punch, Pillow Box Die, Big Shot

Happy Stamping.....Manda

Different Dasher....

 Here are a couple of very quick and simple Christmas cards that are easy to produce on mass.  They are also very easy to adapt to whatever colours you like, or more importantly, have in your stash!

I've chosen two shades of pink, Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo, and two shades of blue, Baja Breeze and Marina Mist. The rest of the card is very straightforward.  Again, you can adapt it easily by using whichever border punch you have. 

Card stock:  Whisper White, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo

Ink: Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo

Stamps: Dasher, Curly Cute

Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Melon Mambo Spotted ribbon (retired), Marin Mist 3/8" Taffeta.

Happy Stamping.......Manda

Dressing Up Gifted......

I'm sure that you have seen the latest Stampin' Up! promotion all around blog land.  Lots of fantastic deals, and better yet, is lots of free ribbon. 

So I thought I'd show you how I've dressed up the Gifted Pack, where you get the Gifted stamp set and Jolly Holiday DSP for the fantastic price of $66.90 (wood mount) and your choice of a free roll of ribbon. 

Lots to see here.......stay tuned for some more detailed info on the projects. 

Happy stamping......Manda

Card # 3 ....

Here tis......

A bit a a departure from the normal colours of a Christmas card, but I love it!  It's so bright and vibrant.

Despite looking like a simple layout, this card took the longest to construct.  There were several steps that we had to do, that just took that extra bit of time. 

First there was the spritzing.  We used the colour spritzing tool to add some Wild Wasabi dots onto the bottom of Dasher.  It just grounds him a bit, so that he isn't just hanging in space. 

We edged lots in either Wild Wasabi or Pumpkin Pie ink.  We stamped some images from Tiny Tags and punched them out, and tied them to the ribbon with some copper cord. 

Card stock: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Set: Dasher, Four the Holidays, Tiny Tags

Other: Pumpkin Pie Ribbon, Copper Cord, Woodland Walk DSP, Basic Pearls, jewellery tag punch

Happy Stamping.....Manda

Christmas SAS Card 2.....

Here is the second card from Friday night's Stamp-a-Stack.  This is a more simple one, but you really need a balance between complex and simple at a SAS.  Otherwise you would still be there at midnight! 

This card uses two patterns of DSP and some bling. 

Card stock: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler

Stamp Set:  Christmas Classics

Other: Basic Rhinestones, sponges for edging, Jolly Holiday DSP

Happy Stamping......Manda

Another version of SAS 1.....

If you are like me, you can never have enough cards ready to go.  After the Stamp-a-Stack last Friday night, I decided to make up a few other cards similar to the one I showed you a couple of posts ago.

BUT......

Because I was feeling lazy, I couldn't be bothered running heaps more DSP through the Big Shot.  Soooo...I decided to use one of the decorations from the Delightful Decorations set, and substituted it.  Here's the end result. 

Of course, it stills opens up the same as previously.

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Old Olive

Stamp Set: Christmas Greetings, Delightful Decorations

Other: Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Polka Dot embossing folder, Jolly Holiday DSP, clear button (non SU!), kitchen string (non SU!).

Happy Stamping......Manda

Here's what was inside.....

Jo guessed it correctly.......well done Miss Melbourne!  Everyone seemed to like them. 

Happy Stamping.......Manda