Encre, papier, ciseaux

Christmas Town Packaging

I'm trying to use the precious time we have left before Christmas rolls around to finish getting everything ready. I got things off my to-do list today but I was a little off my game so I kept dropping things, getting things crooked, nothing was working quite right. Gift wrapping was part of my to-do list, but inspiration was not really there, so I was planning on waiting for another day, but somehow I found a spark of inspiration and I ended up with packaging that I'm really proud of. As a general rule, Doodlebug will never fail to impress my nieces. The oldest one has turned 10 this fall so I keep thinking at some point, she'll decide it's too childish for her, but because she's really into everything kawaii, Doodlebug keeps holding strong.

The first gift was made out of leftover paper from the Christmas town collection. I simply bent the papier around the gift, added washi paper on both sides and wrapped red scrubby sparkle trim around it. I used a cut-apart image to make a tag, hiding the English sentiment with a strip of Petite Pattern paper, on which I stamped my niece's name. I added gems for the earrings, a little candy sticker and a wax seal over the bow.

The other gift would have been hard to wrap with papers, due to the fact that it was a bunch of little items grouped together, so I decided to make my own box using patterned paper. I pulled out Home for the Holidays, an old collection that dates back to 2013. I reused the same idea for the top of the gift: strip of patterned paper lined with washi tape on both sides, white scrubby sparkle trim wrapped around, a flair in the center of the bow and a tag made out of an album insert piece. I cut it in half, punched the corners, stuck a sentiment banner using dimensional adhesive and stamped my niece's name. I added a few snowflake sequins and a heart sticker in the corner of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Stay Colorful Alphabet (Dear Lizzie for American Crafts)
Ink: Gumball Green (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Flairs, This & That Stickers, Simply Put 4" x 6" Album Inserts: Christmas Town,
Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design) 
Accessories: Gem, Stampin' Dimensionals, PInking Hearts Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Strawberry, Marshmallow Scrubby  Sparkle Trim (Red Heart);
Washi Tapes (Recollections, American Crafts); Snowflake Wax Seal (Honey Bee); Wax Pellets (Honey Bee);
Tag Corner Punch (We R Memory Keepers); Moonshine Snowflake Sequins (Cartwright's) 

 

Hocus Pocus Pillow Boxes

My next Halloween packages were done with an old Bigz die from Sizzix, Pillow Box. I also thought I could pull out my Halloween shaker kit from Queen & Co, Hocus Pocus, and pair it with the Monsters & Friends papers I've been using.

So far, I had only made the shakers using the patterned paper included in the kit, which was pretty dark, and switching to bright colours totally changed the look of the resulting embellishments. I love both of them, but I will admit I particularly love how the bottle turned out. Now that I have the outline dies that go with the shaker, it makes putting the shakers together a much smoother experience than when I had to fussy cut an approximate shape for the back piece. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Monsters & Friends (Bella Blvd.)
Speciality Paper: Silver Assortment (Sizzix)
Shaker Kit: Hocus Pocus (Queen & Co)
Dies: Pillow Box (Sizzix)
Accessories: Black & White 1/4" Gingham Ribbon, Black 3/8" Glitter Organdy Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Cutest Monsters on the Block

Inspiration: Festive Friday #120 (black + orange + stars)

I've started working on Halloween packaging and I was hoping to find the Monsters & Friends collection from Bella Blvd. in my stash. I found all of my Halloween collections hiding at the back of my paper pile and I pulled this one up to play with. I have quite a bit of patterned paper from this collection, as I think I ended up reordering some of the single sheets when they went on clearance, so I'm hoping to get it used up. I also have the ephemera pack, which contains 112 pieces, so I have quite a bit of choose from! 

I started with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits to make cute envelopes. I picked the border strip patterned paper to make the first envelope and I realized that the glittery washi tape sold by Stampin' Up! matches the collection, so I added washi between the patterned strips. I added a purple eyelet to one of the die-cut tags, threaded gingham ribbon and I added a cute monster I fussy cut from the cut-apart paper. At the top, I added a purple cloud on which I added a glittered purple brad, and I added the "Creepin' it real" die-cut. I stapled a tab from the ephemera set at the top of the bag and added a chipboard candy corn image at the bottom. Finally, I wrote my niece's name on black Dymo tape and added it to the bag.

Since I always create things in pairs for my nieces, I picked the adorable candy patterned paper for the second envelope, and wrapped a strip of purple star paper at the bottom. I added a scalloped border from the cardstock stickers and purple tinsel from the Thirty-One trims from Prima. I added a tab at the top again. I really liked the "Cutest monsters on the block" sentiment strip, which I added at an angle on the bag, and I balanced two die-cut monsters on it. I used a piece of holographic paper I had on my desk and die-cut the images from the Mixed Media Motifs set out of it. (On a side note, the holographic paper pack is from Recollections and I discovered that it does not die-cut as cleanly as some of my better quality specialty paper does. A nice reminder that you get what you pay for...) I used the star in the top left corner and layered my niece's name in Dymo tape over it. The bottom right corner felt a little bare, so I found a cute eyes die-cut that I popped up with foam adhesive slightly layered over the tinsel.

I'm wondering what kind of reaction the packaging will get from my nieces this year. Two years ago, the oldest looked at every single box one at a time and pointed out various details to me that caught her attention. Last year, she fished the candy out and didn't really seem all that bothered. The youngest was also mostly interested by the candy, but she was just 3½ years old, so we'll see if her interest picks up now that she's older. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip, Cardstock Stickers, Ephemera: Monsters & Friends (Bella Blvd.)
Specialty Paper: Holographic (Recollections)
Dies: Mini Treat Bag Thinlits (Stampin' Up!); Mixed Media Motifs (Sizzix)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, Black and White 1/4" Gingham Ribbon,
Eyelet, Iridescent Gems, Glitter Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!); Thirty-One Trims (Prima Marketing);
Black Tape and Machine (Dymo); Glittered Brads (Doodlebug Design); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger);
Oval Googly Eyes (Multicraft)

 

Teen Spirit Mini Purse

Inspiration: Mini One 6x6 Sheet Purse Tutorial from Maymay Made It Crafts

 I was going through my Watch It Later list on YouTube, trying to see if I had crafting videos that could inspire me to do something different. I almost immediately found an older video showing how to make a mini purse out of a 6" x 6" paper. I was intrigued and knew it would be a quick project, so I grabbed the Teen Spirit paper pad from Echo Park and started crafting. The result is really cute. I would advise using liquid glue for the handles, as I went for mini glue dots and the handles kept twisting, so I think liquid glue would offer a firmer hold.

There's this pattern in the pack that looks like buttons, so I used a circle punch and punched the "Oh yeah" button image out to use as my front fastener for the purse. I added pink gems to the handles and recycled a rolled rose I had left on my desk from a previous project. I had tried incorporating it on projects all week, but it's quite bulky so I avoided adding it to card as I knew this would mean I would require an oversize envelope to accommodate the extra bulk. Here, it didn't matter, so I glued it to the purse and added Stickles to the edges to make it sparkly.

I encourage you to check out this tutorial, this packaging is surprisingly quick to put together, so definitely a good option for mass production.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Teen Spirit (Echo Park)
Ink: Flirty Flamingo (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers); Black Pen (Pilot);
From My Heart Faceted Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up);
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

 

Cupid Mailbox

I have been seeing some really cute projects done with Coco & Reno dies over the years and I finally caved and placed my first order with them. I was eager to try my new purchases, particularly the Mail Box dies since Valentine's Day is coming up. I picked the Cupid & Co papers released last year by Echo Park.

I used white woodgrain cardstock to make the flag on the side of the mailbox and I used a black brad to make a hinge. I added a die cut with the word Always, from the Frames & Tags ephemera pack that I got on clearance for a dollar recently. I punched a small heart and added it to the flag to decorate it.

On the front flap, I added a pink foil bow that was die-cut using the Bows dies, also from Coco & Reno. To decorate the left side, I used a rosette (another die from my order), topped with a circle die-cut and a little banner that was fussy cut from the patterned paper. I added a touch of red Stickles on the little heart from the banner.

I love that this mailbox was incredible easy to put together but also a little bigger than most I've seen in the past. (Approximately 3½" long by 2¼" high.) Hopefully, I have time to make a second mailbox so that I have one for each of my nieces.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Woodgrain (Memory Box); Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Frames & Tags Ephemera: Cupid & Co (Echo Park)
Dies: Bows, Mail Box, Rosettes (Coco & Reno)
Accessories: Black Brad (Unknown); Mini Heart Punch, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Christmas Red Stickles (Ranger)

 

Poinsettia Tag

Inspiration: In[k]spire Me #466 (Elegant Christmas Colours) + Just Add Ink #585 (Gift Packaging)

I am putting the finishing touches on Christmas gifts. My mom bought my sister's gift when she visited in October, had it gift-wrapped at the store and asked if she could leave it at my place rather rather than having to lug it back and forth twice, which I was totally fine with. I figured I'd add a gift tag on it just for fun. The store had wrapped the gift in gold paper with a red twill ribbon, so it gave a lot of creative freedom to do any kind of tag. I really wanted to use the Seasonal Sketch dies from Tim Holtz. I dug through my scrap drawers to find colours I liked and I added a bit of gold foil sheets to make the design stand out. I wanted a neutral background and I found a white polka dot kraft cardstock in my neutral scraps that is from an old Stampin' Up! paper collection. The tag die was pulled from a Planner Essentials die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

I added my sister's initial using the Tall Skinny Alphabet dies on Red Berries Specialty paper from Tonic. As I mentioned in a previous post, the texture unfortunately get squished during the die-cutting process, but the sheen remains, so the colour is not as flat as it would be with regular cardstock. I'll be adding Old Olive/Pretty Peacock reversible ribbon on the tag once I'm ready to tie it to the gift.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Various Scraps; Red Berries Specialty Paper (Tonic); Gold Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Speciality Designer Series Paper: (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Tall Skinny Alphabet (Scrapbook.com);
Sidekick Essentials 11 Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

 

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

In a galaxy far, far away, a little girl was about to celebrate her ninth birthday...

...and she picked Star Wars as her birthday party theme. And her auntie, which is only vaguely familiar with the Star Wars universe (as she tried to get into the movies and just couldn't muster any interest for it) really struggled to get into the theme. I've been warned months ago this is the theme she was going for and there has been a lot of Googling on my part to try and find inspiration for a costume as well as for the packaging of her gift. The character that appeals to me the most is Grogu, because he is really adorable. I remembered having seen cutesy interpretation of him on Disney merchandise, so I went searching for those type of images and I found an adorable mini backpack with a simplified version of Grogu that I thought I could do in paper piecing. I will say, paper piecing is not something I have done a lot of in my crafting career, as it has never been my thing, but in the spirit of trying to make my niece happy, I decided to give it a go tonight.

I am really pleased with what I managed to achieve, both because I stepped way out of my comfort zone to get this gift bag achieved, but also because I managed to use some retired cardstock that has been sitting in my stash for a long time. That Green Galore cardstock (which has been retired by Stampin' Up! a good 15 years ago) is so obnoxiously bright, it is really hard to work into designs, but it really is the perfect shade for The Child. The orange is Dusty Durango, the pink is Powder Pink and the brown is Cinnamon Cider (not retired, but not my favorite and I have a feeling I'll be stuck with leftovers when it retires). 

I've invested in a lot of stitched dies in recent years, but I was thankful I had some regular dies to do my basic shapes. I went back to my old Nestabilities ovals. I used a wide one for the face and narrow ones for the ears, cutting the top off straight. (I layered my two ovals and cut them at the same time to make sure they'd be symetrical). I used the smaller oval die to the pink part of the ears and penciled a line that looked like the image I was working from. Again, I cut both shapes at the same time. The brown clothes are also just an oval. and I found some mini tag punches from an old Stampin' Up! punch pack. I used one shape for the sleeves and I cut the other tag shape in half to make the hands. I used layering circle dies from Tonic to make the carriage, and I used a grey marker to add the detailing, basing my doodling on the image. I used a green marker to add the facial expression, and I punched two circles out of black cardstock for the eyes, adding highlights with a white gel pen. All of my pieces were inked in matching ink before I assembled my image.

I knew I wanted gold stars on black cardstock for the background. I always try to recycle gift bags instead of buying new ones when I can. This is especially easy with a lot of shops switching to paper bags when plastic bags were retired. I used a Christmas bag here that was the right size and had black with stars on the sides, so I knew that would work out with what I was planning to put on the front and the back. I found a larger stencil from Stampin' Up! from a few years ago and I paired it with Gold Glitz glitter gel from Gina K Designs. I made sure to do the stars on two pieces of black cardstock, and I set aside to dry.

While going through my stencils, I had also spotted the Radiating Rays stencil from MFT. I thought it would look cool used behind Grogu, so I added Soft Suede ink to a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with my blender brush, matted in Dusty Durango and I added my Grogu to the center using foam adhesive. Once the gold glitter gel was dry, I glued the panels to both sides of my gift bag and punched holes in the cardstock with a Crop-a-Dile. I pulled out Going Grey chevron ribbon and used it to make new handles (the one from the former bag having silver in them, which was not working with the gold stars).

Initially, I called this done, but later that same evening, I started wondering if I would be able to write my niece's name at an angle to mimick the sliding text at the beginning of the Star Wars movies. I was curious, so I started fiddling around in Word and then I thought, surely, someone's done it before me and shared the how-to online. It didn't take long before I found someone sharing how to do it in PowerPoint, but the same options exist in Word, so I went back to testing it out. It was working, but with only her first name, the angle was barely showing, so I started typing "In a galaxy far, far away, a little girl was celebrating her ninth birthday..." and the slanting became way more apparent. I played with the placement of the words until I got the result I was hoping for. I put the text in yellow and added a black fill and then I sent to print. I cut the cardstock at an angle and added the cardstock to the backside of the bag. I'm pretty pleased with that added detail. I think this will please my niece. As a final touch, I went looking for tissue paper and I found a piece of white tissue paper I had spritzed with Distress Oxide spray last year in something like Marmalade, I believe. I liked how it looked in the bag, so I went with that. Tissue paper is another thing that I try to upcycle rather than buy. So many stores use it when they ship items, this gives me a nice variety to choose from when I do my own packaging.

So I'm both happy with what I was able to come up with and to be leaving the galaxy behind and back to more cutesy stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Cinnamon Cider, Powder Pink, Green Galore, Dusty Durango,
Grey Granite (Stampin' Up!)
Stencils: Radiating Rays (My Favorite Things); Hearts & Stars (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Green Galore, Powder Pink, Smoky Slate, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Cinnamon Cider (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Large and Narrow Ovals (Nestabilities from Spellbinders); Layering Circles (Tonic)
Accessories: Gold Glitz Glitter Gel (Gina K. Designs); White Gell Pen (Gelly Roll);
Blender Brushes (Taylored Expressions); Mini Tag Punches, Circle Punch,
Stampin' Write Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

Monogrammed Mini Curvy Boxes

Inspiration: TGIF challenge #338

Earlier, when I was going through my dies to finish up a project, I spotted the Mini Curvy Keepsakes Box dies and thought this box would be great for the Halloween treat packages I'm working on. I went back to the Boo Crew papers. I used the same patterned paper but used a different side on both.

Of all the packaging dies I own, this one is arguably the simplest to use: you die-cut the whole box in one pass and not a drop of glue is required to put together. I just use my bone folder to round the paper up and then you slide the left and right side over the handle and you're done. I used the oval and star tags from the same die set and to monogram the boxes, I used the Alphanumeric Cutout Lower Alphabet from Tim Holtz with black foil sheets. I tied ribbon on the boxes and added a spider on the side of the plaid box and a little ghost on the side of the black box.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Grey, Basic Black, Whisper White, Black Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Dies: Mini Curvy Keepsakes Box Dies (Stampin' Up!); Ghouls and Tree (Simon Says Stamp); 
Spider Web, Alphanumeric Cutout Lower (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: 1-1/2" Metallic Mesh Ribbon, Black 3/8" Glittered Organdy Ribbon,
Gold Cord, Eyelets (Stampin' Up!)

 

Boo Library Pocket

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday

This one will definitely be for my younger niece, as her favorite activity is going to the local library. She's been in love with books since she was a toddler and the love is still going strong. I used the Library Card stamp and die set, along with the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. I used the Alphabet roller stamp Stampin' Up! used to carry to add her name to the library card. Both embellishments come from the Decorative Brads pack. I added a piece of Tangelo Twist ribbon and black mini-sequin trim on the edge of the pocket. Super simple, but very adorable.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps and Dies: Library Card (Hero Arts); Alphabet Roller Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Inks: Basic Grey, Marigold Morning, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Black Mini Sequin Trim, Tangelo Twist Ribbon, Brights Candy Dots,
Ices Rhinestone Embellishments, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Burger and Fries Combo

Inspiration: Paper Players #561 (Spooky)

This is one more Halloween packaging project made with the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. This time I went back further in time and pulled out the Fry Box Bigz L die and the Hamburger Box Bigs L die that Stampin' Up! used to sell. It was fun to revisit those shapes, which work especially well with double-sided paper. On a side note, I've noticed that papers sold in paper pads from certain company tend to be one-sided, even if their paper are double-sided when sold by the sheets (I'm thinking of Crate Paper as an example). I've learned the hard way that it can limit how you can use the papers and I now prefer to stick to double-sided when the choice is available. This is a good example here, as both containers are pretty inside and out without requiring any extra work.

Embellishing was really fast and easy, as I used a mix of ribbons, Bits & Pieces die-cut images, faux Halloween seals stickers, foam stickers and decorative brads. I made sure to use the same pattern on the French fries box and hamburger box so that they would look like a set. I made two so that I have one for each of my nieces. I'm usually keep my fancier/pricier embellishments like decorative brads for scrapbook pages or projects less disposable than packaging, but in this case, by an unfortunate turn of events, I ended up with doubles of the foam stickers and decorative brads, so I don't want to sit on those for years to come, which is why I am using those embellishments more liberally than I usually would. Companies are coming out with such amazing collections years after years, so I'm starting to embrace the approach of "if you love it, use it." 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits, Foam Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Dies: Fry Box Bigz L Die, Hamburger Box Bigz L Die (Stampin' Up!)
Embellishments: Tangelo Twist Satin Ribbon, Basic Grey Striped Satin Ribbon,
Very Vanilla Striped Satin Ribbon, Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Halloween Puffy Stickers (Recollections)

 

Something Wicked Pocket

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #604 (Halloween) 

I am really excited about how this treat bag turned out. I ended up working on this in sequences. At first, a couple of weeks ago, I had sprayed a dollar store clothespin with Black Soot Distress Oxide ink, let it dry and then I covered the sides with Boo Crew patterned paper, inked the edges and embellished it with a fussy cut image and a chipboard sentiment. I left it aside to have ready to embellish a treat bag when the time would come.

I recently put my hands on the Jack-O-Lanterns stencil from Simple Stories. I find this one to be really cool because it works as a full background, but I also very much plan to use the individual faces to stencil on Halloween stamped images or die-cuts. I really wanted to test the stencil with some sort of black glitter paste, which I don't happen to have on hand, so I improvised. I needed a treat bag, so I went looking through my stash and pulled out the now-retired chevron bags from Stampin' Up! I blended an ombre look using Dried Marigold, Ripe Persimmon and Crackling Campfire Distress Oxide inks with blender brushes. I used Dried Marigold on the back of the pocket as well so that it would show when the top of the bag is folded over, but you can barely tell I've added this ink colour as it doesn't show up much once dry. For the embossing, I was thinking of creating my own paste with black glitter and liquid glue, but then I remembered seeing a lot of crafting videos where people were using the Nuvo Drops or Liquid Pearl with a palette knife to fill in their stenciled images, so I investigated to see if I had black, and turns out, I do have black Enamel Accents! I had no clue if that would work, but I used both a scraper and a silicon spatula to fill in the details and it worked out way better than I anticipated. I was planning to sprinkle my fine black glitter over the top before it dried, but I liked the glossy look so much that I changed my mind. I made sure to use Pixie spray on the stencil before using it so it wouldn't shift, but I have to say, the details of the faces came out so crisp! And the result is pretty flat, so I was able to glue a layered die-cut on top easily and the shine is amazing! I barely use my Liquid Pearls anymore, so I have to revisit this technique to put them to good use.

So the pocket got left aside to dry overnight and then I decided to do the embellishing on it today. I went back to the Boo Crew collection since the colours would match. I used a banner and a flower sticker at the top and I placed one of the cute tag cut-aparts over the folded edge of the bag, clipping it in place with the clothespin. I had a polka dot scrap that I slid under the edge of the tag, and I added star stickers from the collection and star sequins from Stampin' Up!'s current Halloween suite.

The Chicken Wire die (from Impression Obsession) is a recent acquisition. I jumped on it when my local store showed it in a "what's new" video as a chicken wire die had been on my wish list for a long time. I have a stamp, but I love that this die is really dainty (craft companies have made so much strides and the images are not as bulky as they were when die-cutting started to appear on the crafting scene). I've noticed this is the kind of generic detailing that can be worked into many projects and adds texture and details without taking precedence over other elements. I had pulled my foil papers out thinking I might do copper, but then the Generous Grapefruit holographic paper caught my eye. It was a freebie during SAB a few years ago and even though I didn't think much of it at the time because I wasn't a fan of the Grapefruit colour, I have thoroughly enjoyed using this foil paper. It reads more as a rose gold/copper colour and the holographic treatment makes it that much more special. This is one of those craft items that you end up with a little randomly and that you later wish you could stock up on if you run out. I think I might be able to find something similar in the mirror cardstock from Tonic when that happens.

I tried covering as little as possible of my cute jack-o-lantern pattern on the envelope, but I did add two sentiment strips at the bottom to balance the overall design better. The back of the envelope seemed too bare, especially since the orange ink was not showing up (I should have done the same ombre on the back), so I used a strip of the 2" x 2" square cut-apart paper, more sentiment strips and a little candle holder sticker on the side. I didn't think when I started this treat holder that it would end up so intricate, but this might be my favorite Halloween project I've done so far this year.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Ink: Crackling Fire, Dried Marigold, Ripe Persimmon Distress Oxide, Black Soot (Ranger)
Dies: Chicken Wire (Impression Obsession)
Accessories: Cute Stars Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Chevron Treat Bags (Stampin' Up!);
Jack-O-Lanterns Stencil (Simple Stories); Black Enamel Accents, Black Soot Distress Oxide Spray (Ranger);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Silicon Spatula (Nuvo); Clothespin (Dollar Store)

 

RIP Pocket

And we are finally off on Halloween crafting! I let myself get tempted by Christmas projects for a few weeks before I finally circled back to Halloween. I was in the mood to craft tonight and initially thought I would pick a collection and spend a couple of hours die-cutting and fussy cutting elements so that I would have a base ready to craft with later. It turned out that I die-cut a pocket and already had an idea on how to embellish it, so I let inspiration take me where it wanted to go and I quickly ended up with a completed project.

I selected the Boo Crew collection from Simple Stories. I absolutely fell in love with it when sneak peeks came out last year. It reminded me of an older Halloween paper collection from Stampin' Up! with rust and dark grey colours that I had used up until the very last bit. The imagery is also incredibly cute, so I asked my local store to pretty much order the whole collection for me. Last year being what it was with the pandemic, the elements trickled in a few elements at a time and by the time I had received most of it, I was already mostly done with my Halloween projects. The one time in my life that I worked ahead of time... I wasn't too concerned about it, I knew I would like revisiting the collection later. 

My base envelope was made with the Small Crayon Box Card die set. When you forgo the crayons, you really just end up with a fun envelope that can be used for a lot of different things. I remembered my beloved Spider Web doilies (sold by Stampin' Up! many moons ago). I still have quite a few in the pack, but I'll be sad when they are all used up. I wish I had that shape as a die... I folded the doily in two on the side of the envelope and stapled it in place on both sides since the envelope was not glued together yet.

As I was pulling my doilies out from my Halloween embellishments box, I found some old die-cuts from Making Memories, so I picked a cute sparkly label shape and a sparkly eyed ghost as well. I assembled the envelope and wrapped grey with black stripes ribbon around it. I then added the label with black foam adhesive, layered a leftover piece of paper at an angle and then I remembered my skull and crossbones die from Echo Park. This is actually from the Pirate Tales collection, so the dies include a little bandana you can put on the skull to make it look like a pirate, but I realized I should keep it around for Halloween crafting. Here's the best part: purchased of $0.99 in the Clearance section. Talk about a score! I think Echo Park would sell their dies more if they included an image of the die pieces as well - the image of the assembled die on the front of the packaging does not always show clearly how many separate pieces are in the set and what can be done with pieces individually.

The skull was die-cut out of the pearlized Speciality paper from Stampin' Up!, which is definitely off-white, so it works well with this collection that has vanilla as a neutral instead of white. I added RIP from the foam stickers, as well as two of the stars, and I tucked my little ghostie peeking out from inside the envelope. As the final touch, I added a rhinestone inside the skull's eye socket. I like where I landed with that one. 

I have a sneaking suspicion the kids will not be going door to door again this year for Halloween, so I think I'll put together cute candy packages and prepare another scavenger hunt to entertain the girls with again this year.

 

 

Supplies
Specialty Paper: Pearlescent (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers: Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Die-Cuts: Toil & Trouble (Making Memories)
Dies: Small Crayon Box Card (Honey Bee Stamps); Skull & Crossbones (Echo Park)
Accessories: Spiderweb Doilies, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Mini Stapler, 
Black Striped Basic Grey Satin Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Black Foam Adhesive (Brutus Monroe)

 

Sweet Tote Bag

Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe challenge #115 (Texture + Ribbon + Die Cut) + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

This project was inspired by everything that was on my desk when I sat down to craft. I had some time to kill earlier today so I went to the art store near my mechanics and I came back with a few fun finds. One of them was papers and ephemera from the Little Adventurer collection from Pink Paislee. This one dates back to 2018, so I was surprised to find it in stock. While I was roaming the aisles, I also remembered that I wanted crimps, which I found in silver in two sizes at clearance price, so that was lucky. I was also curious to test out the Tote Bag die from Mama Elephant, so I combined all of those things and started putting together my little bag.

Another recent purchase is the white woodgrain cardstock from Memory Box. Up until now, I had been using the Lawn Fawn version, which I love and hoard because it is not cheap. When I saw that the Memory Box cardstock was $12 for 25 sheets compared to $8 for 5 sheets by Lawn Fawn, I became really curious to see if it was of the same quality. Now that I have both side by side, here are my observations. The Lawn Fawn cardstock is thicker, but the Memory Box one is not flimsy. As you can see in the pictures below, it holds up very nicely when doing a 3D project. I still consider it cardstock weight. The pattern on the Lawn Fawn cardstock is deeper and has more depth variation whereas the Memory Box cardstock is one printed design that is all the same depth. The pattern still shows up very well, but when placed side by side, the Lawn Fawn cardstock looks more luxurious. I also notice a difference in colour. The Lawn Fawn cardstock is warm white whereas the Memory Box cardstock is a cold white. I would need to test inking to see how different the results are on both. All in all, I am happy to have both and I think I will use the Lawn Fawn cardstock when the woodgrain texture is at the forefront and the star of the show and the Memory Box cardstock when I want to add a little texture to the background. This is a good example here - the die has to be cut twice to make the tote bag and because I wanted the woodgrain to run vertically, I had to cut into two sheets as the die was too high to fit it twice on the same cardstock page. When you are working with a 5-sheet pack, this feels like a lot of cardstock! At a quarter of the price, I didn't think twice about it when I decided to use the woodgrain cardstock for my tote base. And the result is really neat! Clean look of the white but with a twist.

The die set includes a pocket, which I die-cut out of the heart pattern. I added another tag die from the same set and a flower that I fussy cut from the patterned paper. Also sitting on my desk was the Library Card stamp and die set, so I stamped the library card image in Sahara Sand ink on the ledger patterned paper. The card when cut with the matching die was a 1/8" too wide, so I use my paper trimmer to make it slightly narrower so that it would fit into the pocket. I stamped the heart from the stamp set in stamped off pink ink and I added to the pocket a cut-apart image from the papers.

On the back, I used the adorable little banner that folds in half at the top of the tote bag and added another fussy cut flower, along with a few sequins. I used the rounded tag from the die set and stamped "a gift for you" from the Library Card stamp set, added an eyelet and tied the tag with ribbon to the tote handle.

I then pulled out my box of ribbon scraps (ribbons purchased by the yarn or too short to be kept on bobbins) and dug for ribbon in matching colours. I can see why those Maggie Holmes-inspired ribbon tassels have become an instant hit overnight. They are beautiful, incredibly easy to put together, cost next to nothing to make and are a great way to use up tiny ribbon scraps. I added three ribbons to the crimp, then a jump ring and lobster clasp, which I tied to a ribbon bow added to my tote handle. I then did wire wrapping on a mother-of-pearl star and a green bead, two finds from today's shopping as well. Then came the fun part of using jump rings to add those charms to the crimp. Let me tell you: I've tried various different forms of crafts over the years, but miniatures will never be one of them. I am SO clumsy when it comes to handling those tiny jewelry bits with my tools. I guess I would not have made a great dentist either... It took way longer than it should have to add those two items, but it was worth the struggle because the result is adorable! Logically, I also know that practice makes perfect and that I will probably improve over time if I keep at it, but I'll admit that part was a little aggravating.

I'm really happy with the result. This sits right in my preferred spot, layered enough to be interesting but not too cluttered. And those colors are right up my alley.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Library Card (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: White Woodgrain (Memory Box)
Patterned Papers: Little Adventurer (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Basic Grey, Petal Pink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Tote Bag Dies (Mama Elephant); 
Warm Golden Glow Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards);
Mini Hearts - Cotton Candy Glossies (Pure & Simple);
Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon, Eyelet, Crop-a-Dile (Stampin' Up!);
Crimp, Mother-of-Pearl Star Bead, Green Bead (DeSerres);
Lobster Clamp, Jump Ring (Recollections); Ribbons (May Arts, Basic Grey, Unknown)

 

Spring Wallet

Inspiration: YouTube Tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

Michelle has shared a cool tutorial at the beginning of the year showing how to make a paper wallet and I finally got around to circling back to it this weekend. I looked through my 12" x 12" papers and the Comme un air de printemps collection from KirelCraft (a company from France) quickly caught my eye. I am so pleased with how it turned out. I'm not usually big on florals but the soft watercolor look of this line really appealed to me, and having two-sided papers was really key to creating a beautiful wallet. 

The other thing that made embellishing fast and easy was using my Planner Essentials dies on this one. I've used my dies from this serie a ton even though I don't do anything planner related. Because they are meant for planners, their size in on the smaller size, which made them perfect for this wallet. I was able to create this cute layered pocket and stick small items in it, all created with the dies as well. On the left side, I combined two dies and filled the opening created with vellum to mimick the identification pocket we often see in real wallets. I handcut a couple of butterflies from one of the patterned papers and used them to embellish the wallet as well. 

On the front, I used eyelets and a 1" circle punch to create a closure, adding gold cord as well. I glued the word Happy, fussy cut from the cut-apart sheet. Frankly, I will never understand why French companies include English die-cuts in their lines. There are a million companies already offering English papers, I truly wish they would stick to French only for the French customers. Anyway... I did something similar on the back of the wallet: punched out the wreath from one of the cut-aparts and added a fussy-cut butterfly from the patterned paper. All butterfly wings were made sparkly using the Glitter Gloss aqua shimmer brush.

This was simple but very pleasing to make. I think Michelle designed this to send fun goodies in a swap, but I also think it could include tickets for stuff being done around the house (a fun idea with kids, who love creating those tickets), to send out money for a gift or to send out family pictures. This is what I'm leaning towards since we still have at least a few months of confinement ahead of us and my parents have not seen their grandkids in a long time. We do send out pictures via email, but I think they like having printed copies around the house as well. 

I watched the first half of Michelle's videos, following the measurements and instructions to put together the base of the wallet and then I decided I could make a second pocket on top of the right one, but instead of gluing vellum like she had done, I decided to add a second piece of patterned paper. From that point on, the ideas started coming and I never went back to the tutorial, I just went where inspiration took me. So on the right, you can slip something inside the big pocket and also underneath the polka dot paper, which is only glued at the bottom and on the right edge. The three-slot pocket was backed with pink paper to create a lining and this piece was also glued with thin adhesive strip in order to make the top a pocket as well. Adding the various little ephemera pieces makes it more obvious where the pockets are. Same thing on the left side: the top of the vellum piece was left open so something can be slipped underneath and the vellum will let us see a bit of what's in there.

I would love to revisit this project and recreate it with another paper line. I bet the results would be drastically different just by using other products. I would also love to try with doing two score lines in the middle to give height to the wallet and make it so that it can be filled with thicker elements and still close properly. Mine closes well right now, but it has not been filled yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Gold Rush (Lawn Fawn); Basic Grey, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Un petit air de printemps (Béatrice Garni Illustration - KirelCraft)
Dies: Planner Essentials 1, 2, 4, 11, 21; Sidekick Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); Gold Eyelets, Gold Cord,
1" Circle Punch, Blushing Bride Shimmery Ribbon, White Crinkled Ribbon,
Adhesive Strip, Stamp Mini Punch (Stampin' Up!)

Valentine Circle Boxes

Happy Wear Red Day!

A few months ago, Spellbinders had a sale on their clearance items, which included a die set I've wanted for a long time, so I decided to place an order. The package took ridiculously long to get to me, but it finally arrived this week. When pulling things out of the box, I realized that the This Time Around Cake & Treat Box die is oversized and will not fit in my regular Big Shot. My bad, I should have paid more attention to the description. Ironically, I had passed on the popcorn box die because I realized it was too big for my machine, but I did not pick up on the fact that this box die was too.

I was stll curious to see how the box would look assembled, so I improvised. I pulled out an acetate sheet, traced the die shapes on it with a Sharpie and cut the template out. I then traced it again on patterned paper and fussy cut it out. I used circle dies from my stash to make the top and bottom and voilà! It's a pretty nice size: 3 inches in diameter and 2-3/4" high. I decorated the edge with rhinestone stickers from the dollar store and the top with one of the cardstock stickers from the Sweet Talk collection to match the patterned papers. From my Spellbinders order, I also have some Love Filled faceted hearts, which I used to embellish the box as well.

I made a second box using the Sweet Talk collection again, so I will have one for each of my nieces to gift to on Valentine's Day. I made a mistake on the second box - I traced my template on the back of the patterned paper I wanted to use, placing the stripes running vertically, but I forgot that the other side had hearts on it and when I turned the paper around, I found out the hearts were going sideways! I debated for a minute whether to redo a new piece and I decided it still looked cute, so I kept it as is. Making a mental note for future boxes, though...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Die: This Time Around Cake & Treat Box (Spellbinders)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Sweet Talk (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Love Filled (Fun Stampers Journey); Typewriter (We R Memory Keepers);
Rhinestone Border Stickers (Dollar Store); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Ribbon (Unknown); Circles Dies (Spellbinders)

 

Christmas Pudding Layered Tag

The starting point of my latest card was a piece of Irresistibly Yours papers from Stampin' Up! (from a past SAB offering) that are all white with clear-embossed patterns. I pulled those out with another project in mind, but when I saw the diagonal stripes I thought it'd work great with red ink for Christmas projects. Those papers have gotten a new wind with the purchase of the Distress Oxide inks, which have renewed my love of inking. I didn't know what I'd use the papers on initially, but I knew that picking a cherry red color would be a safe bet, so I pulled out Barn Door and inked the whole piece without cutting it to size. That gave me enough for a card background and once the card was done, I decided to make a tag. I used the same paper collection as on the card, namely the new Christmas Magic line from Doodlebug Design, but I avoided the pinks and yellows and stuck to red and green when picking papers. I started with the striped tag, pulled out the Santa's Sweets stamp set and picked the fruitcake as my main image. I colored it with Polychromos pencils, popped it on dimensionals and I decided to make the bottom part of the tag a pocket, using thin 1/8" adhesive strip to keel the paper in place. I then used my trusty Dotted Scalloped Rectangle dies from Elizabeth Designs to make an insert. I went looking at my sentiment list to find a "to: from:" stamp. Most of them are on the same stamp ad placed much too close together (I should probably snip the photopolymer ones apart, too) but I did find one in one of my set that was already two separate words. This allowed me to space them better, and the cutesy font works well with the Doodlebug look.

I then decided that before threading my silver tinsel, I could die-cut a tag in the next size up and layer the two together for added interest. I simply used the leftover die-cut border piece at the bottom of the second tag and added a piece of white sequin trim at the seam. I love how that one turned out.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Santa's Sweets (Doodlebug Design); Coffret d'étiquettes (Tin of Tags - Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Christmas Magic (Doodlebug Design); Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Call Me Clover Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); Barn Door Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); White Sequin Trim (Michaels); Lacy Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Dotted Scalloped Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Nested Tags Dies (scrapbook.com); Silver Tinsel Trim, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Santa's Sweets Dies (Doodlebug Design)

 

Christmas Tag

It's official: the 50 Christmas cards are finished and have been sent to my mom so they can be distributed at the seniors' centre at their Christmas party. Since I was sending a package home, I decided to include something for my parents as well, as it is unlikely we will spend the holidays together this year. I had done an adorable winter-themed mini-album this past Spring when we were in full lockdown, which I have yet to post as I need to edit the pictures first. I knew my parents would love it if it was filled with pictures of their kids and grandkids, so last weekend, I dug through my pictures to find ones that I could crop small enough to include in the album and finished it off. Then, I wrapped it with beautiful gold-foiled birch paper I found at Indigo a couple of years ago and then I decided it needed a tag to make sure my mom knew this was for her and dad and not for the seniors' centre. I looked at my paper collections and decided Christmas from Carta Bella would look nice with the Birch paper.  

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Christmas (Carta Bella)
Dies: Border Dies (Photoplay); Nested Tags (Scrapbook.com)
Accessories: Christmas Milk Caps (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Mini Jingle Bells, Gold Eyelet, Wonderful Gems, Silver Thread,
Cherry Cobbler Scalloped Tulle, Cherry Cobbler Curly Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Gold Pen (Pica); White Roughly Sewn Rub-Ons (49 & Market);
Natural Trim (Recollections); Gold-Foil Birch Wrapping Paper (Indigo)

 

Simple Halloween Packaging: Hocus Pocus Treat Box

I got into Halloween packaging this week and pulled out my punch boards to do so. I had already used the Bag one earlier, so I decided to use the Box one today. I purchased the Hey Pumpkin 6 x 8 papers and matching Ephemera pieces at my local store last year, but it came in pretty late in the season so it sat untouched in my stash until today. I love this collection, the cute patterns and the colours. The fact that I only have 6 x 8 paper does limit possibilities, but by using grey cardstock for the base of the box, I was able to simply layer four patterns on each box side and add a piece of patterned paper to the bottom as well. I matted them all with black foil paper, previously sold by Stampin' Up!. For the top of the box, I looked at the Ephemera pack to see what could work. The pieces are pretty big, better suited for scrapbooking, but the little witch did catch my eye and I loved how she looked on the top of the box with the Hocus Pocus sign underneath. I also used the bat die-cut on one side. It is larger than the box, but I don't mind it. The orange sequin also comes from the ephemera pack.

The punch board allows you to punch slits to close the box. I've always struggled with using this. It takes a lot of effort and you often bend the cardstock when you try to get it done. While I did punch the slits, I was trying to figure out how I could use the embellishments I liked on the top and still have the possibilité to hook and unhook the slits easily. In the end, I decided to go with a good ol' ribbon bow instead. I tied the ribbon where I wanted it and then added the embellishments with black Stampin' Dimensionals on top to secure the ribbon as well. It's something I've heard many times when giving treat boxes to colleagues: "It's so pretty, I don't even want to open it and mess it up." I've always made sure that the candy can be accessed while keeping the packaging intact. This way, people can still enjoy the packaging as decoration on their desk for a little while during the Holiday period. This box is really simple, but I love how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Grey Textured, Black Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Ephemera Pack: Hey Pumpkin (Crate Paper)
Accessories: Black Stampin' Dimensionals, Box Punch Board,
Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Pumpkin Party Mini Treat Bags

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + Little Red Wagon #573 (Halloween)

I have two Doodlebug Halloween stamp sets purchased last year that I had received late in the season and did not have much time to play with, so tonight, I decided to stamp all of the images from both sets and colour them with Copic markers in colours matching the Pumpkin Party collection (which also dates back from a few years ago). I don't usually work in batches as I don't necessarily often have a use for bunches of similar projects, but I can definitely see the benefit of doing so as it becomes really easy to create various projects and embellishments when you have a series of matching items available on your desk and ready to create something with. 

Instead of figuring out first what my treat bags would need, I assembled the bags and went through my colored images to see what would work best. The sticker sheet from the collection pack has a lot of big stickers that would be hard to work into cards as they would fill in the whole space, but that actually came in handy on the treat bags. I then added my images around the sentiment based on space available.

Both bags were accented with tulle because I had leftover pieces on my desk from previous Halloween projects. On the first bag, I created a dangle using a candy corn glass bead found on sale at Michaels. I tried adding a eyelet on the top of the bag to clip the dangle in, but I placed it too low, so I wrapped a piece of tulle in a bow and clipped the dangle on it instead. For the second bag, I stapled my piece of tulle to gather it and glued it inside the top of my treat bag. Rhinestones, gems and pearls were added to embellish the bags.

My nieces are always drawn to everything Doodlebug designs, so I expect those packages to be amongst their favorites.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Treat Bag Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Amethyst Pearls, Pineapple Gems (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Button Galore and More);
White Sparkly Tulle, Black Rhinstones (Recollections); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
Alligator Clip, Jump Ring, Candy Corn Glass Bead (Bead Landing)

 

Halloween Crate

I wanted to make a Halloween crate using the Wood Crate dies from Stampin' Up! I scored in the Clearance Rack. I had this idea of making a orange crate and dirtying it up with black paint or ink. A few years back, Stampin' Up! had a very potent orange shade in its In Color range (Tangelo Twist) and I ended up with a lot of my cardstock pack leftover at the end of the two years. Because cardstock is getting more and more expensive, I don't want to get rid of the colours I don't like as much and try to work them in projects where it will serve as a base or get covered. I thought this could work here since I would be adding the black and it turns that the Distress Soot Oxide ink mutes the colour enough for me to actually like it.

I used the PInewood Planks 3D embossing folder on my die-cut pieces before inking and assembling the box. To add the ink, I used my stencil brush and I will say, this is one of the rare occasions where I was actually happy with the results I achieved from those brushes! I stippled it in a few places to make darker, textured spot and I like the final look.

I initially wasn't sure how to embellish the crate and my first attempt was not to my liking, so I put it aside and worked on other stuff until I could find inspiration. I did after I had started working on generic embellishments created with die-cuts. I started adding a cobweb abd rose to one end and a wreath, rose and ghost to the other. On the sides, I added a strip of cobweb patterned paper and a row of black rhinestones, then a few little die-cuts.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Soft Sky, Black and Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Ink: Black Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Wood Crate (Stampin' Up!), Mini Wreath, Rolled Roses, 
Build-a-House Halloween Add-On, Cute Cobweb (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Pearls (Studio Katia); Boo Bling Sheet (Recollections);
Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Stencil Brushes (Clarity Stamp)

 

Mummy Pizza Box

I went all out with Halloween crafts yesterday. I pulled out a bunch of dies, the Halloween Town paper collection and I started putting together embellishments, then I turned some of them into packaging.

One of my favorite embellishments from the bunch was this rosette. I have this white waffle flower that Stampin' Up! used to sell years ago, which I have used many times and yet still have a lot leftover on the roll. I decided to try and see if I would be able to make a rosette out of it. I used my pinking shears to cut the edge to give it a pattern, and then I layered sparkly white tulle over it and cut it in a circle to match the rosette. I LOVE this detail! I then added a Swimming Pool mini doily from Doodlebug Design. The colour was too bright, but I discovered that if I turned it around, the aqua colour was showing through but was more muted, so I used the backside to match my papers better. I then added a black foil paper circle and a patterned paper scalloped circle, followed by a patterned paper punched ticket, a little X made out of "boards" die-cut out of champagne glitter paper and my "Happy Halloween" stamped on patterned paper. The little mummy is one of the images from the 6" x 4" cut-aparts from the paper and I fussy cut it to make it an embellishment. I added little enamel eyes from one of the Doodlebug eye sticker set.

The mini pizza box is something still currently sold by Stampin' Up!  I love them - they are easy to decorate, can be assembled in 15 seconds and they are a great size. I figured the size would probably work for my rosette and I was right. The boxes are white, and I colored mine using Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide sprays. I then overstamped in Black Soot Distress Oxide ink an Halloween damask motif I pulled from the set From the Crypt, sold by Stampin' Up! a good ten years ago and still one of my favorite Halloween sets ever. I added the bats from the Wicked Cool stamp set in Dusty Concord Distress Oxide ink. I sprayed my box with water and dried it. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi Starry Colors watercolors and used Champagne Gold to add speckles and also to color a line of gold alongside the edge of the box. (I love how that detail turned out.)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wicked Cool, From the Crypt, Mystérieux félin (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Black Foil Paper, CHampagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Dusty Concord, BLack Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Pizza Box, Stampin' Dimensionals, 2" Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch,
Ticket Duo Punch, White Waffle Flower, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!); Pinking Shears;
Swimming Pool Mini Doilies, Eye See You Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Sparkly White Tulle (Recollections); Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Watercolors (Kuretake);
Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Sprays (Ranger)

 

Pumpkin Party Treats Wooden Crate

I had a bunch of images leftover from my coloring session with the Halloween Doodlebug stamps so I put together a little wooden crate using the Pumpkin Party papers again. The cotton candy cart is my favorite image from the Trick of Treat stamp set and I was happy to finally be using it. I picked all of the other treat images to add around the box so that it would be Halloween sweets-themed.

I used my Midas Touch and Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer brushes to add sparkle to my images and I used little embellishments to complete the box. This is arguably the easiest packaging die I own to assemble and I like that because the shape is rectangular, you get very little wasted paper when die-cutting the two pieces you need. This was the first time I was cutting it out of patterned paper and I love how it looks! I was worried it might not hold its shape as well due to the cut-outs to make the planks, but as long as you use good-quality patterned paper, it holds up as well as the cardstock does.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Trick or Treat Dies (Doodlebug Design); Markers (Copic);
Stampin' Dimensionals, 2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots, Elegant Faceted Gems, 
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots,
Playing with Patterns Resin Dots, Faceted Dots, Wood Crate Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Blush Rosette and Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo)

 

Halloween Coffin

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Spooky)

This is another project that I worked on in two parts, as I originally couldn't find the inspiration to get the box finished. 

Stampin' Up! came out with super cute coffin boxes last year and while I was very tempted to purchase them, I knew I wouldn't have a use for them that year so I ended up passing over it. When they came back on the Clearance Rack at a very low price, I finally got some for myself. That was out of season so they have been sitting unwrapped since and this is the first time I was pulling them out to assemble one. I should have known thet would be small, as all Stampin' Up! boxes always are, but still, I was still surprised at how tiny the top looked even with the sides laying flat. I embossed the top of the box using the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder and I used my Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer brush to highlight all of the raised portions of the design. I then assembled the box and I got stuck for inspiration there.

After I started pulling Halloween elements out and working on a bunch of embellishments, the creative juices started flowing. My first idea came from finding the Boneyard embellishments from Tim Holtz. The bones were the perfect size to glue on each side of the box so they would look like handles. I had also die-cut the mini-wreath in orange and champagne, and decorated it with a little bow and the gorgeous pearls from Studio Katia I recently scored from my local store, and the wreath looked awesome added to the top of the coffin. I also added black lace trim around the edge of the lid, a little glittery spider and a rolled flower at the bottom and now I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Mini Wreath, Cute Cobweb, Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Bora Bora, Café au lait Pearls (Studio Katia); Boneyard (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Coffin Boxes, Black Lace Trim, Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!)

 

Candy Carnival Tall Halloween Bag

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #349

I wanted to craft the other night and it was already late and I kept moving supplies around, thinking I'd color an image, then changed my mind, then started cutting papers to copy a sample from the minicatalogue, then it wasn't panning out so I put the stuff away. I was really close to calling it quits for the night until I remembered I wanted to get my Doodlebug collections out for Halloween crafting. My creativity finally ignited. I was initially thinking of another Halloween collection but I saw the Candy Carnival papers and remember how in love I was with that collection when it came out, so I stuck with it. I pulled out my Bag Punch Board (which is my second most-used after my trusty Envelope Punch Board) and I looked at what the largest size I could do would be. You can go full out with a 12" x 12" page, but after seeing how tall of a bag that would make it, I decided to measure the tall guy from my Odds & Ends and to base the length of the bag on it: 7" (which means you need your initial paper to be cut at 12" for the width of the bag by 8-1/4" for the length to accommodate the bottom pieces). 

In addition to the patterned papers, I have also purchased the Mini Icons stickers, the Odds & Ends pieces and the Petite Print 12" x 12" papers from Candy Carnival, so I mixed it all to create this bag. I started by adding a purple border punched with the Daisy Edge punch from Martha Stewart and I added a thin black washi tape on top. I added two banner stickers on each side of the bag, with lanterns and rosettes stickers.

I usually assemble and embellish later, but I had the good sense of doing my embellishing with the bag lying flat on my desk this time. On the front, I layered a piece of Pearlescent Vellum from Lawn Fawn, die-cut with a scalloped rectangle die, and a stitched rectangle cut out of pink polka dot paper (from the Petite Patterns pack). I then placed my tall skeleton guy on the front, over a pumpkin die-cut and I added a Halloween word sticker. 

On the backside, I tried out various die-cuts and finally selected a firework piece, the haunted castle and Dracula. I added a little owl from the Mini Icons stickers in the window of the castle.

For embellishments, I added Iridescent Pearls, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems and 2020-2022 In Color Enamel dots, all new from Stampin' Up! I picked funny eye stickers from Doodlebug for the tall guy and added black eyes on the pumpkin and Dracula. I decided to place a 3D bow over his existing one, using the Mini Wreath dies from Lawn Fawn. (I've used this one so many times for the bow die alone!) So the bow has the tail ends, which didn't fit my bowtie, so I was about to discard the piece when I thought, I wonder how it would look on Dracula... It is the perfect size on him! I love how it really finishes off his outfit and add a slight bit of dimension to the die-cut. (That's a great way to give life to your die-cuts, by layering elements or embellishments over them.)

Then I decided to add paper handles, using matching patterned paper. I love the look better than when I punch holes and add ribbon. I also like that the handles stay up, unlike softer ribbon, so it looks better on the bag and you can still use the handles to carry the bag around. Win-win!

Considering how late inspiration was to the party tonight, I'm really impressed with what I finally managed to put together.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Candy Carnival, Petite Prints Candy Carnival (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Candy Carnival Mini Icons Stickers and Odds & Ends, Eye See You Stickers,
Pumpkin Party Mini Icons Stickers (Doodlebug Design); Daisy Edge Punch (Martha Stewart);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Iridescent Pearls, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems,
2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots, Bag Punch Board, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
Mini Wreath Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Hocus Pocus Shaker Treat Bags

I kept going with the Queen & Co kits I had put aside to work on. This one is Hocus Pocus and I created two treat bags using the witch dress, the hat, the broom and the two sentiments. The polka dot pockets are the Sketched Dots Tag-a-Bag Gift Bags Stampin' Up! was selling in a previous annual catalogue. I added the Stitched Oval dies, the mini clips, the twine and foil paper, but the rest came from the kit itself. I always think that because I'm working with a kit, the projects are going to come together quicker, but this is not necessarily true, especially since in this case, the projects are not designed for you. You have the shaker elements, but you need to design the project they are going on. I'm also missing the "back piece" dies. which Queen & Co didn't use to carry, but they started providing them after clients asked. What I mean by that is that while I have the shaped transparency for the front, I do not have the shape to close the back of the shaker with. You could simply glue your shaker directly to the project, but most of the time, you would like to fill the shape with a specific colour that might not be your background colour, and you might also want to move the shaker around before you commit to where it is going to be glued permanently. For that reason, I had to trace and cut my own back pieces and some of the shapes (the broom, for example) were trickier than others. The backing dies are now on my wish list, but I don't know when I will get around to purchasing them.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Shaker Kit (including patterned papers): Hocus Pocus (Queen & Co)
Dies: Stitched Oval Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Mini Clips, Black and Gold Foil Paper, Sketched Dots Tag a Bag Gift Bags (Stampin' Up!);
Black and Orange Twine (Recollections)

 

Pumpkin Felt Pocket

I wanted to use felt to make a little treat pocket of some sort and I remembered I had pulled out the Stitched Pumpkin Frame and Outside In Stitched Pumpkin dies from Lawn Fawn, which would be the perfect shape and size to do just that. I die-cut the full pumpkin twice and the pumpkin frame once to layer over the front. I handstitched around the pieces using needlepoint floss in matching colour. I then die-cut the stem and leaf from brown and green felt, and added stitching as well.

I was tried adding stitching to the eyes and mouth of the jack-o-lantern, but I was not liking the look so I pulled the stitching out. I had initially planned to stitch the pocket together, but I realized I would have a hard time having stitching all around the pumpkin frame and not going over the same sections twice if I was stitching the pocket together and leaving the top open. In the end, I decided to do the decorative stitching first and to hot glue the felt together to assemble the pocket and to add the face on the front.

Tip: Make sure you glue your stem to the back of the front piece of your pocket so that it is not hidden when you slip your candy inside!

The stitching took a little while but all in all, this was still a fairly quick project. If you wanted to mass produce, you could skip the stitching and stick to die-cutting and gluing together and you could get a bunch of pockets in no time. I found the felt sheets at my dollar store and they were something like 45 cents each, so this makes for a very inexpensive project.

 

 

 

Supplies
Felt Sheets: Dollar Store
Dies: Outside In Stitched Pumpkin, Stitched Pumpkin Frame (Lawn Fawn)
Needlepoint Floss: DMC

 

 

Halloween Pocket

I'm still working on little Halloween treat packaging for my nieces. I found a tutorial for these really easy origami pockets which I hadn't done in a long time, so they were fun to revisit. I used the Halloween Town papers again since I had them close by, but it should be noted that could use 6" x 6" paper pads since this is the size you need for those pockets.

To embellish them a bit, I pulled out last year's Spooktacular Bash stamp set, which I barely had time to use before it retired, and I used the two framed portraits. I stamped them in black ink and colored them with Copic markers. I then used the matching dies to cut the images out and to layer them over a fancy frame die-cut out of glimmer paper. I added ribbon on both and gold glitter enamel dots as well. 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Spooktacular Bash (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Peek-a-Boo Peach Seam Binding, Black Cord, Blackberry Bliss Satin Ribbon,
Black Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic)

 

Fab-BOO-lous Halloween Mini Baskets

I'm still working on my Halloween packages and these were inspired by a super simple tutorial found on YouTube. I punched the ends of my handle strip using the Banners Pick a Punch from Stampin' Up! (I have been using this one a ton since it came out) and it was a great way to quickly get the ends as little arrows. I added orange and purple pearls (from Studio Katia - so in love with those gorgeous embellishments!) to the ends and I used the Fab-BOO-lous Friends stamp set from My Favorite Things to add little images on each sides, matted with a scalloped circle punched out of Lime LIght pearlescent cardstock from Tonic. The patterned paper is from Halloween Town, which I've used previously to make my Halloween mini-album. I used my Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer brush to add shimmer to each of the ghosts so that they would glow.

Tip: Learn from my mistake. If you use Aqua Shimmer on your project, make sure to let it dry thoroughly before you add tape to your die to keep them in place over your images when you run them through your die-cut machine. My low-tack tape, which I never have any trouble with, ripped up parts of three of my images, the which ghost being the worst off as he is the one I made the most shimmery. Lesson learned - moisture and tape don't mix well!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fab-BOO-lous Friends (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Lime LIght Pearlescent Cardstock (Tonic)
Patterned Paper: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Markers (Copic); Banners Pick a Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Scalloped Circle Punch, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Amethyst and Ripe Persimmon Pearls (Studio Katia); 
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Tonic)

 

Flowery Crate

Inspiration: Inspired By #133 (Pretty Blossoms) 

I looked at the Wood Crate die the whole year it was in the Stampin' Up! catalogue and while I thought it was adorable, there were a few details that prevented me from purchasing it. I felt it was a little too small, I didn't like the stamp set that went with it (which made some of the dies from the set irrelevant) and I also could see in the sample pictures that the sides tend to curve outwards, which does not go with the wood look. I may not have been the only one with reservations about this die set as it retired after only a year in the annual catalogue. And it found its way to the Clearance Rack. At its new reduced price, the set became more appealing even if I wasn't using the shapes that go with the stamp set and I was more willing to be lenient on the design aspects I was unsure about. This was ordered quite a while ago and because it was already retired when I received it, I never got around to using it until tonight.

I was in the mood to craft, I wasn't sure what to work on and when I'm unsure, it's usually a good time to put something simple together. I knew the crate wouldn't be complicated and it gave me a chance to see the finished size of the assembled die-cut. (3-1/4" x 1-5/8" x 1-1/2". It's small.) Before I started die-cutting anything, I looked at the current colour combo challenges and I picked the one from Global Design Project. I liked the idea of doing the crate in a dark blue colour and adding pink and aqua flowers on it. I have not received the new In Color inks yet, so I substituted Misty Moonlight for Midnight Muse (an older In Color). I stamped the crate pieces with the Hardwood background stamp. I lined the inside of the crate with a piece of Pool Party cardstock embossed with the Tin Tile embossing folder. (I made life simple for me: I decided I would use whichever embossing folder I pulled out of the box first, choosing blindly.)

For the flowers, I wasn't sure if I'd do punches, dies or stamps. I quickly looked through my recent stamp sets and Perennial Birthday caught my eye. I stamped the flowers in various ink colours and colored them using Stampin' Blends markers. They all had to be handcut since this stamp set doesn't have dies to match.

I went around the crate and made little flower arrangements. I used the little tag from the die set on pink cardstock, stamped a birthday sentiment that was the right size from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set and added Night of Navy/Sahara Sand baker's twine on it. I finished embellishing the flowers and crate with Peaceful Poppies sequins and From my Heart faceted gems. I also made a bow out of pink metallic thread and added it to one end of the crate.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Anniversaire vivace (Perennial Birthday), Ravissant Bouquet (Beautiful Bouquet), Hardwood
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Petal Pink, Pool Party
Ink: Basic Grey, Petal Pink, Pool Party, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Wood Crate Dies, Peaceful Poppies Sequins,
From My Heart Faceted Gems, Black Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folder, Sahara Sand/Night of Navy Baker's Twine,
Stampin' Blends Markers

Box with Unexpected Angles

Link to video tutorial

During my quarantine YouTube deep dive, I stumbled unto a video showing how to make a little boxes with unexpected angles. It immediately got me curious and instead of watching the whole thing, I kept the video aside until I could sit down and follow along while making my own sample. Here's the deal: the video is well-made, the instructions are clear to follow along. The part where you have to glue the box together and get the angle right? It's doable, but it's challenging. This is the kind of project that would totally get client excited for a class and potentially very frustrated during the class. Considering this was my very first one, though, I think it turned out very nicely and that it would probably improve from here. I did make an addition to what was shown, by adding patterned paper to the point on the box. The tutorial shows how to cut the patterned paper at an angle to follow the shape of the box and I realized I could fish those three pieces out of my recycling bin and cut them smaller and use them on the corner. I think it makes this detail stand out even more.

The patterned paper is old. Not sure from which year, but that was purchased in my early years of stamping. Because my downline members and I are doing this team challenge of using Designer Series Paper, especially older one, I found this pack. There is not a lot of paper in it, if I can push myself to make a couple of projects with it, I might be able to finish it once and for all. 

As I said in another post, I had rumaged through my stamps and put aside a pile of sets that include encouragement stamps. Here, I used an older SAB set that includes a sentiment that means "Time will do its work." I guess in English you would probably say something like "It'll all work itself out in good time." Pretty appropriate in our current context, I find.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: T-shirt Design (Designer Tee)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Calypso Coral
Designer Series Paper: Berry Blossoms
Accessories: Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon, Circle Punch