TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Holidays are Coming!!

With Christmas coming we have started our decorating.  What a lot to do!!  Sometimes I think I should start decorating in September just like the stores do.  Then by Thanksgiving all I need to do is sit back...relax...and enjoy the scenery.   This year I did start the week before Thanksgiving hauling everything up stairs and making sure everything with lights still work.  I am happy to report no re-stringing was needed!!  In between all of that I still had to take care of the grand kids and finish the gifts for my lady friends for our brunch that is actually taking place on Sunday. I have come to the realization that at this time of year it is a shame that my friends have access to my blog!  LOL  I mean seriously........how am I to share with you things that they will be receiving, without them seeing it here first??  Frustrating for sure!  But I can tell you that I had to unwrap the gift because I forgot to take a picture!  Yep I'm THAT organized!  heeheehee  So I got a picture...re wrapped....and added embellishments to my packages.  Oh!!!! AND I made all the boxes for the gifts!  You'd think I'd be tired of boxes! LOL  All the small bows were made with my bow maker that my husband made me a few years ago.  Love that thing and could not do without it!  Perfect bows every time...and we all know how difficult it is to make those tiny bows we use on our cards.  I will post those gifts after brunch on Sunday.

This weekend it is also Dickens in Dundee here.  The entire town is decked out for Christmas.  There are living windows, carolers, Santa, horse and carriage rides, reindeer and certain businesses open their shops for cookies and hot cocoa treats for all on Friday night.  Candy Canes too!  These are all small businesses as Dundee is a quaint little town in the Old town district.  Saturday there is the Dickens in Dundee parade, gingerbread house making and community tree decorating contest. Busy busy weekend.  I also have my annual cookie bake with my sister and our DIL's on Saturday.  A special tray is always made for our firehouse too.

Well that's it for now and don't forget to check back for Paper craft gifts later!

HAPPY CARDING!  

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Scene cards for Christmas

Well it's a foggy day today so it's a good day to sit around and finally share these scene cards I made with my fellow card makers over the weekend.  First let me say they looked WAY easier than they actually are.  All the fussy cutting and trying different layout arrangements took alot of time!  Second...this was ALOT of fun.
  I found a video on YouTube by XANNERO1 found here .  Her cards were stunning and the ladies and I were eager to make them with the same papers.  What I didn't realize was that it was an old set of papers.  They are by Graphic 45 (which I love) and it's the Twas the night before Christmas collection.  After a lengthy search I finally found someone on eBay selling packs of 8 different sheets and lucky for me she had 6 packs available.  So I bought all 6 and sat down to figure out dimensions.  Not so easy because some of the measurements, when following the videos, were not accurate and though she said to go to her blog not all measurements were there either.  It took me about a week, fiddling on and off, to get everything rights.  Actually after I typed it all and we actually started making I found some mistakes so corrections were required.  But all in all they are cute cards.  Fully closed I believe they measure 4.5 x 6.  I should have measured them before I put them away.  Sorry.


I think I need to decorate my trees more on the first card.  The back sides are just the plain black card stock and 1 of the ladies decided to add a little ribbon and tag.  Mine is not done yet so I'll share hers.

Isn't that cute?  She did that because it was a cute way for the card to close.  The way it was designed it is called an envelope card so after folding it up on the score lines you would secure the flap with some score tape and then add an address label to the other side.  So the card and envelope are all the same piece.  Cute idea but personally I wouldn't take a chance mailing it this way because the sides are not closed so anyone could actually peer inside or it could get snagged and then torn open and by the time the recipient gets it ...well it could be a total mess.  I suggest you either hand deliver or use a regular sturdy envelope to go through the mail.  Extra postage will probably be required due to thickness.
Well that's it for now .....til next time..................................

HAPPY CARDING








Monday, November 14, 2016

HOLIDAY BOX DECORATION

Hello again!  Can you believe that the holidays are almost here???  I feel like I have so much more to do and not enough time.  Boy that's familiar.  Seems I say that every year.  LOL
So I love to decorate EVERYTHING!!! Windows, door knobs, cabinet knobs, lamp switches, etc.  Like I said everything and these little boxes do the trick and don't cost a fortune.


At first I was going to give these out for gifts but then the recipient couldn't use it for long.  So I decided to just hand them out whenever I saw someone I wanted to give a little gift to.
The red one is 2.75 x 2.75 and made with the box maker by We R Memory Keepers.  I used an old set of Sizzix dies for letters to spell HO using the positive part of the cut on all 4 sides.  Guess the green on the red box doesn't show up so well so I'm making a few more that pop out more.  The 3 box strand is a template for a 2x2x2" box with jute strung through on a diagonal with a jingle bell between each box.  Once again I used the positive cutting of the letters to embellish all 4 sides to spell out JOY.  The twine is strung through the little opening between the box and the lid as your closing it.  I started with the top loop being weaved through the back left corner of the lid as your closing it , pulling the tail end through the box and coming out the right front opening of the bottom of the lid.  Hope I didn't totally confuse you.  Then repeat for all additional boxes. (Top left back, bottom left front)  The third on I strung straight with 3 wooden beads between box and this time used the negative cutting of the letters to spell NOEL.  I punched tiny holes in the middle of both the top and bottom lids and strung them together that way.   I have probably made at least 20 of these so far with various words.  
Well now I really need to get on with these scene cards so til next time............

HAPPY CARDING

Friday, November 11, 2016

Scrap Holiday Tags

Hello!!!  Long time...I know sorry.  Life got crazy with medical issues of my daughter in law and we had the birth of a new granddaughter.  Who, by the way, is totally a doll!  I get lots of baby-grandma time with her and just love all the cuddling.
So slowly, I am getting back into my craft room and I started with making some Christmas gifts.  Sorry can't post those!  heehee  Santa wouldn't approve but what I can post are the lovely tags I was able to make from my scraps.  First I made a trip to the Dollar Tree to get some file folders.  These can turn out at least 80 tags when cut up.  You get 10 folders in a pack. Take 1 folder, cut off the tabs (save these to make grommets) and cut the folder in half.  Then cut each piece into 2 3/4 x 6 1/2 tags.  These are large so you will get 4 from each half folder. Totally 80 if you do them all this size.   I love this size tag and it is the one I use the most.  Another great medium size is 2 3/4  x  5 1/2 and a smaller size of 2 3/4 x 4. You should be able to get 10 tags from each half if you use these sizes and that would be a whopping 100 tags from just one $1 pack!!!  Now that's a deal!
The 5 tags on the bottom right are the 6 1/2" long ones.  Top and middle are the 5 1/2" ones and the 4 on the bottom left are the 4" long ones.
The grommets on all of these I made by cutting out 3/4" circles and punching a hole in the middle and they turn out nearly perfect.  I'm a strong believer that your tags need the extra support for the ribbon, jute, yarn or whatever you choose to use. 
 In the next few days I hope to share some scene cards that I'm C.A.S.E.ing from a you tube video I saw.  I'm trying to figure out all the dimensions before I post and I will put up the link to the video then too.  Sooooo stay tune and til then................................

HAPPY CARDING!