Category Archives: 3-D

Sweet Baby Laundry Bags

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My dear friend Crystal is getting closer to her due date.  At her shower last month, she received a gift in the cutest little gift bag.  I looked at it and thought “I could MAKE that!”  Last week, I finally sat down to do just that:

Sweet Baby Girl Laundry Bag

Can you stand it? It’s so cute it makes your face hurt when you look at it, doesn’t it?   I’m still grinning.

Of course the baby boys need their own version:

Sweet Baby Boy Laundry Bag

  • Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper Pad
  • Vintage Labels SAB , Teeny Tiny Wishes, and Sock Monkey Accessories stamp sets
  • Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, and Taken with Teal card stock
  • Big Shot and Build A Bear Beary Essentials die
  • Linen Twine, Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon, Bermuda Bay Polka Dot ribbon, and Pretty in Pink 5/8″ Satin ribbon
  • Wide oval , Curly label , Heart to Heart, Horizontal Slot and Tag Corner punches; 1/16″ hand held punch
  • Tombo Adhesive, Mini Glue dots, 1/2″ Library Clips, Vintage Brads, and sponge daubers

I wanted to make these with colored bags, but I couldn’t find anything that wouldn’t compete with the outfits.  Remember, I live on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!  It’s kinda country here.

A few things to note:

  1. The linen twine is attached to the bag by piercing holes with a large needle and threading the twine through.
  2. The brads looked sort of like clothes pins to me, but I had to trim the sharp points off with my Craft and Rubber scissors.  Be really careful with those sharp little bits of metal.
  3. The little garments are held in place with glue dots – the brads and clips are more decorative than functional

I’d love to see what you do with this idea, and would appreciate a link back to this post if you publish your work.  Have fun!

Kellie’s Journal

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My friend Kellie came over yesterday morning to stamp, and one of the things she brought with her was a journal she’d made.  She told me she was tired of hoarding Designer Series Paper (who isn’t??) and decided to use her Urban Garden paper from last year’s catalog.  She put it together with the Bind-it-All and it is gorgeous!

Kellie's Urban Garden Journal

  • Urban Garden Designer Series Paper (retired)
  • Pretties Kit, Basic Gray Corduroy Buttons, and the Clips Assortment
  • Big Shot and the Little Leaves Sizzlet
  • Retired buttons and rub-ons
  • Non-SU ribbon and the Bind-it-all

You’re really going to love the inside:

Inside Kellie's Urban Garden journal

She used the Top Note Bigz die to create little pages for notes and photos, and turned each Designer Series Paper page up to create a pocket page when she bound it.  Genius!  This set of papers was so beautiful (and it’s not just my bias for Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, either!) and the entire project is really stunning.  Couldn’t you see this in Cottage Wall? And I have a brand new package of Bella Bleu just waiting to be opened!

What could be cuter?

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There was a surprise shower on Sunday for my wonderful friend and upline.  There’s something about a new baby that brings out the best in a group of women.  We were all so happy to come together to celebrate Crystal and her February baby.

I was thrilled to be included and quickly offered to make favors for the shower.  It didn’t take me long to decide what to do – I’d seen a card posted on Lyssa Zwolanek’s blog  Song of my Heart and knew it would make a great favor.  There was a little trial and error involved to get the proportions right.

Scallop Circle Baby Carriage

  • Dotted Wheel (retired)
  • Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa cardstock
  • Bashful Blue Classic Ink
  • Scallop Trim Punch (SAB Sneak Peak)
  • Big Shot and Scallop Circle #2 Bigz
  • Tombo Adhesive, Small Cello bag, and Bashful Blue narrow grosgrain ribbon
  • Retired button, Non-SU silk flower, DMC Embroidery Floss, and Hershey Nuggets

The scallop circles are adhered to a “2-4-6-8” box with the dimensions adjusted to 1.25 x 2.5.  Four Hershey kisses are squeezed into a Cello bag that fits perfectly into the box.  It was a little bit of work, but well worth it for a sweet baby and mama.

Dasher on the Wall

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Doesn’t he look marvelous?  As though he could just Dash Away!?

I love the Clement Clark Moore story…we own multiple versions of the book, and it was a favorite read for our family at Christmas time when the children were small.   It’s been a long time since bedtime stories were read in my house, but I still get out the children’s Christmas books and put them in a basket near the tree every year just in case someone wants to read one.

This handsome fellow is the Level II Decor Elements Hostess award.  I’ve had him for quite a while and originally thought I’d put him directly on the wall.  The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to find a way to enjoy his elegant profile for a few years.  My brilliant friend Crystal came up with the idea to apply the Decor Elements to canvas.

Dasher

This is a 16 x 20 inch thin canvas board, not  stretched canvas on a frame.  Cost is under $7, and that’s a Hawaii price, so you mainland crafters will probably find a better deal.  I painted it very lightly with a bristle brush using a linen color of craft paint – you know the stuff,  a 2 ounce bottle for about $2.  I kept the strokes horizontal and the coverage light to allow the texture of the canvas to show a bit.

Once the canvas was thoroughly dry, I applied Dasher.  You gotta put on your patient hat when you apply a Decor Element with this much detail!  I carefully burnished all the dots and swirls before peeling off the backing, but still had to go very slowly and give a little extra attention to a couple of stubborn areas.  This image was easy to fit to the 16 x 20 canvas, and the application was much easier than the burnishing.  There’s a very small amount of texture from the canvas visible under the larger areas of the vinyl, but you have to be looking for it to notice it.

Crystal added a bow and some bling to her Dasher, but I decided mine was going to be a Manly Sort of Reindeer.  I used the Crop-A-Dile (seriously!!  it worked great!) to add a pair of Jumbo Eyelets to the top corners, and broke out my precious stash of retired Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon to thread through the eyelets and tie in a bow.

Here’s a closer look at the canvas…

I really love the effect of the texture.

On a personal note, I’m really happy to be back to blogging.  Life throws a curve ball once in a while, and it was just my turn up to bat.  I didn’t hit it out of the park, but I took a good swing at it and I’m working my way towards home plate.

See you tomorrow!

An elegant package

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Here’s a gift bag worthy of royalty, in my humble opinion.  I am really pleased with the elegant simplicity of this stencil – and I am really pleased that Stampin’ Up!’s Decor Elements line has introduced stencils as a design option.  They’re easy, they’re fun, and they can be so much larger than stamps!

  • Vintage Ornaments I Decor Elements Stencil
  • Always Artichoke and Ruby Red Craft ink pads, Encore Gold ink pad
  • Stampin’ Sponges
  • Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke cardstock
  • Purchased kraft bag, gold wire ribbon, and tissue

I used a sticky note to mask off the top of the ornament in order to make it a proper gold hanger.  This image is equally beautiful using Classic ink, with a softer, more vintage look.

I’m looking forward to stenciling some canvas bags with this image.

 

Build-a-Santa-Bear

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Last weekend was the final class in Anne and Crystal’s fantastic Holiday Series.  This bag definitely got high marks in the cute department, and would make any boy or girl – big or small – anxious to get a look inside.  We all agreed that you couldn’t put a gift for Just Anyone in such a cute bag…it would have to be a special someone, a someone who would appreciate both the Cute Factor and the effort that goes into attaching all the little pieces that make this bear so darn…well…cute!

BAB_bag

  • Big Shot, Stampin’ Up! Bear die, Stampin’ Up! Beary Merry die
  • Stampin’ Up! Pawsitively Embosslit, Stampin’ Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plate
  • Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Basic Black, and Summer Sun cardstock
  • Many Merry Messages stamp set
  • Scallop edge punch, 1 3/4″ circle punch,  Gold Elastic cord, Old Olive 1/2″ striped grograin ribbon
  • Purchased kraft handle bag

I’m a big fan of gift bags.  In addition to being the easiest wrapping job you could imagine, they’re re-usable.  I’ve noticed a big difference in the amount of trash we collect on Christmas morning since we’ve started using more bags.  They’re not peek-proof, though, and I usually have all the gift bag gifts hidden (and hidden well, I might add) to be placed under the tree on Christmas Eve.  Just because my kids – and dear husband – are mostly grown up is no assurance that they won’t peek.  They all like to poke, prod and shake, and gift bags are just too great a temptation.

 

 

Autumn leaves

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Another of the projects that I’ve wanted to tackle forever has made it to completion.  There’s a beautiful wreath on page 92 of the Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalog made with the Leaves #2 Originals die (113459, $15.95).  I had my own color scheme in mind, and over the past couple of weeks I’ve cut out leaves and figured out what to use for a form.  I finally took a big breath and starting attaching the leaves to the base.  I often get stuck at that commitment point – my idea seems so clear in my head, and I get all the components ready to go, but putting the project together makes my fingers go all shaky.

Yesterday the wreath came into being and I am very pleased with the results.

Leaves_Wreath

  • Big Shot, Sizzix Leaves #2 Originals Die, and Stampin’ Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates
  • So Saffron, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, and Soft Suede cardstock
  • Thoroughly Modern, Old Olive Patterns, and a retired Designer Series Paper
  • 12″ Wire wreath form, cheesecloth, hot glue and gun, and purchased Gold 1 1/2″ wire edge ribbon

Here are the basic construction steps:

  1. Wrap cheesecloth around the wire frame and secure with loose basting stitches
  2. Cut 24 sheets of leaves (4 leaves per sheet)
  3. Attach leaves to outside edge of wreath, one at a time, using hot glue and overlapping
  4. Repeat process for inside edge of wreath
  5. Fill in the center of the wreath, balancing for shape and color
  6. Attach ribbon and bow; hang wreath and admire!

Here’s what the wreath form looked like before the leaves went on:

Wreath_bones

Wreath_first_l;ayer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you’re inspired – it was much easier than I thought it would be.  It’s a great way to use up those odd sheets of Designer Series papers, too, as each page yields 4 sheets of leaves.  Now pull out that Big Shot and get crankin’!!

 

 

Christmas bags: Delightful Decorations

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Crystal and I offer a series of classes in the fall to inspired our customers for Christmas.  Tomorrow we’re doing the last of the set – Christmas bags.  Today you get a little sneak peak of one of those bags.  It’s very, very easy, and we designed it to perfectly coordinate with THIS card.

Ornament_bag

  • Delightful Decorations and All Holidays Stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry card stock
  • Old Olive, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry Classic ink pad
  • Ornament punch; Scallop Edge punch; 1/16″ hand held punch
  • Gold brad, Stampin Dimensional, 5/8″ Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Gold elastic cord
  • Purchased white bag and gold wired ribbon

I’m really pleased with all of the bags we’ve designed for this class.  Maybe next year, you’ll plan your trip to Maui just right and be able to join us!

Flip scrapbooks

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Ah, Monday.  My To-Do list is long and the days grow shorter.  I’m struggling to do the things that must be done before I tackle the things I really want to do.  Being grown up and attentive to one’s responsibilities is such a challenge.  I think I enjoy stamping precisely because it allows me to forget that I’m a grown-up!

Saturday, I did a Flip Album class using Simply Scrappin’ kits.  (Topic derail:  I have such awesome customers.  They bring goodies, they laugh and share stories, and they make me feel like a genius.  Even when I’m not.  Thanks, friends!)  I gotta tell you, the Scrappin’ kits make this project an absolute breeze.  My friend Kellie had the absolutely BRILLIANT idea of adding a CD pocket to the design and I’ll be making a Christmas music CD to fill the pocket.

Olive_Jingle_Flip

  • Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin’ Kit
  • Real Red 1″ Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
  • Sticky Strip

 

Red_Jingle_Flip

  • Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin’ Kit
  • Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (retired)
  • Sticky Strip

These are a lot easier than you might think!  I’m a pretty visual person, so it helped me to hold an actual Flip Album in my hands while I read the directions.  If you’d like basic instructions, check THIS link for a PDF.  I made both of these with one Simply Scrappin’ kit and had plenty of resources left for at least one or two more.  If I get enough requests, I’ll take some photos of the inside.  Maybe.  If I’m feeling really grown up about the whole thing.

Tags in little boxes

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I’ve mentioned before – I’m a container kind of person.  I like little drawer organizers and things to hold stuff on my desk and Tupperware in my pantry and boxes for my shoes.  When I saw the Christmas Punch Hostess stamp set in the Idea Book and Catalog (page 14) I put the little box full of tags on my To Do list.

(Digression:  My To Do list is an act of faith and a work of art.  It has catagories and priorities and there is always more undone than done at the end of the day.  I hope it will always be that way.)

Crystal and I played around with the box until we liked it, and then added it to our tag class.  Peanut butter and Jelly.   Romeo and Juliet.   Tags in a box.  It had to be.

Tag_Class_Tags

Tag_Class_box