Christmas Money Holders

Here are some of the money or check holders that I gave for Christmas.  You know, money is always the right color and just what young families need so I felt I couldn't go wrong!  lol!  I had fun making these because I love all the colors and I got to use that beautiful & sparkly Candy Cane Christmas Designer Paper which everyone else loved too (we know because it totally sold out!!)

Strips of white cardstock were treated with the Scallop Edge Punch then adhered underneath the edge of the front flap to dress up these holders and make them more festive.  Then a strip of the Candy Cane Christmas DSP was adhered to the top of the flap; the red stripes in this paper are glittery which adds so much to the project!

I also got to "play" some more with that wonderful new Northern Frost snowflake Decorative Strip Die for the Big Shot die cut machine!  In just one pass through the Big Shot, it produces eight various sized perfect and beautiful snowflakes!  Love them!  I layered them on a Scallop Circle punch out in a coordinating color to emphasize them, then centered them with nice red rhinestones left from other crafts I had done.  This was adhered to a belly band of cardstock to keep them closed.

The size of the cardstock for the folders is 8" x 6-3/4".  I scored it at 3" and 6-1/4".  I then punch half a circle in the center of the 3" portion, folded it up and adhered it, forming the pocket with a circular "notch" which aids in retrieving the money or check in the pocket.  (Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture of that!)  I cut a strip from the remnants of  each sheet of cardstock 1" wide and long enough to wrap around the folder to make the belly band, adhered it then added the snowflake embellishment I described above.  I stamped the "Merry Christmas" greeting from the A Cardinal Christmas set in the lower right corner of each folder. 

Here are some individual pictures of the folders:

The snowflake die used is found in the Holiday 2010 Mini Catalog (which ends January 3) will be carried over to the next quarter so it will be available for purchase the next few months also!  You may order it from my Stampin' Up! website here  or contact me to order!  Also, don't forget the Filled with Love promotion from now until January 24 for your free package of Bitty Buttons!  (see the promotion information on the upper right corner of the screen).

 

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you're having a joyous holiday season and will enjoy the New Year festivities this evening and tomorrow!  Be careful out there tonight!  I hope to watch the Rose Parade tomorrow before football takes over the television for the rest of the day!  Lol!!

Margaret

Love Letter DSP Book

Love this Love Letter Designer Series Paper!!  I bought it soon after the catalog came out but haven't really used it yet until now, but I do love it!!  The color scheme of Riding Hood Red, Basic Black and Vanilla combined with some ornate and classic designs certainly lends itself to some fun vintage and collage-y (is that a word?) looks.

I cut the chipboard out with the large Scalloped Square die and my Big Shot, covered it with Crumb Cake cardstock then stamped the flourish from Baroque Motifs in White Craft Ink.  Using my Crop-A-Dile, I punched holes and attached the Jumbo Brass Eyelets for the binding rings to go through.  As you can see I used several different paper  prints, solid colors, punches and embossing folders.  I also used stamps from the Charming set and the initial from the Lovely Letters Alphabet on the tag.  A variety of ribbons in black, Riding Hood Red and Vanilla were tied onto the rings for decoration.  A little book like this can be carried in one's purse to show pictures or for jotting notes, records or appointments, or even sketching ideas when they hit!

This picture is a little more close up; you can see the embellishments such as the Antique Brad in the center of the flower and Basic stick-on Pearls and Rhinestones.  I love the Raven (black) lace with this paper; however, it will retire at the end of the Holiday Mini on January 4th, so if you want some to add charm to your romantic or vintage Valentines, you'll need to order it before then!!  Hmm, I think I'll get another roll myself!  It's really a favorite of mine with this DSP!

I apologize for the color being rather washed-out in these photos; I was at a friend's house when I took these photos and she has a new (to me anyway) type of light bulbs.  I just couldn't figure out a proper setting on my camera!  Anyway, I do hope you get the idea!  I'm making another one, similar but different, and hopefully I can get a better take with my camera this next time!

Thanks for visiting today!  Hope you get all your holiday tasks accomplished in time!  And remember, Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Warmly,
Margaret

Bells and Boughs

I took advantage of the recent Stampin' Up! special and purchased the lovely vintage set Bells and Boughs.  I'm so glad I did; it makes such pretty cards.  It is also well-suited to heat embossing which is what was done on this card.  

 

After the image was embossed in gold, color was added with Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke Stampin' Write Markers then layered onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Hard to see in the picture but a tiny Pearl was added to the bell clapper.

Over a Cherry Cobbler card is a layer Whisper White cardstock, the top half of which was dry embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder.  The Christmas greeting was heat embossed in gold on the lower right side.  A strip of Deck the Halls Designer Paper which was treated with the Scallop Border Punch plus a sash of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding center the card, then the focal image is layered on top.

I was inspired by a lovely card made by Selene Kempton.  Thanks, Selene!

I hope you are making progress toward your Christmas celebrations!!  


Thanks for dropping by!  Have a joyful holiday!

Margaret

Christmas Frame II, in Red

I've made several more of the Peace Joy Love & Cheer frames since I posted Tuesday evening!  Five, in fact!  I had a request for one in red so here it is.  I think that was a good idea; I'm liking it!  What do you think?

I changed out the Baja Breeze background DSP for this Real Red DSP print from the retired 2009 Christmas Cocoa DSP and used Wild Wasabi for the mid-sized punched snowflakes.  I used Early Espresso cardstock for the words die cut (Join in the Cheer #113452, $21.95) and changed the three small snowflakes to Real Red.

I wish you could see how sparkly this is in real life!!  The white snowflakes are solid with Dazzling Diamonds glitter and they are totally eye-catching!!  The three small snowflakes punched out with the circle punch are covered with Dazzling Diamonds, too, making it so, well, umm, dazzling, for lack of a better word!  lol! 

You can see Tuesday's frame here for more details.  Which one do you favor?

Thanks for dropping by today!  Hope to see you again soon!

Margaret

Christmas Frame

It's been awhile since I've made any "name frames", as they are often called but I saw one Saturday at our demo group gift exchange that inspired me (I believe it was made by Pam Jones).  I had to make one because I knew I had just the spot for it on my kitchen window ledge and the colors are just great!  I changed it up slightly (as we always do!) and was delighted that it went together pretty fast!) 

 The Big Shot is a must-have for this project and makes it go pretty quickly!  The words are cut from Chocolate Chip Textured Cardstock with the "Join in the Cheer" Decorative Strip die.  The large snowflake is cut with the Snowflake #2 Die.  The medium size snowflakes are punched out with the Snowflake Extra Large Punch.

 This Snowflake was diecut from Whisper White cardstock then coated with glue (Two-Way Glue Pen) then covered with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  A punched red snowflake is layered on and is high lighted with a large sparkling self-adhesive Rhinestone.

Another snowflake is formed by layering a white over a red snowflake, adding Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the white one, then adding another Rhinestone to the center.  The small snowflakes were stamped, glitter added with glue pen and punched out with a 3/4" Circle Punch before adding Rhinestones to their centers.  This picture was taken without the glass in the frame to avoid glare in the photos, but the glass was reinserted for display.

The Candy Cane Christmas Designer Paper was used for the background and also the stripe across the bottom.  It has been extremely popular for Christmas projects!  Regrettably it is out of stock and no longer available but Stampin' Up! has many other beautiful papers!

I also made one in predominately red; it is posted here.

Thanks for visiting today and hope you visit again soon!

Margaret

Celebrations "Squash" Book!

I just love making these "squash" books!  They are so much fun!  The Celebrations Designer Series Paper and Celebrations Quick Accents are just the perfect products for making one as they already coordinate with each other and Stampin' Up!'s cardstock colors.  Another huge plus is that the Quick Accents are already cut out and are adhesive-backed so no taking time to adhere glue and no glue mess!  Both products are 12" x 12".

The cover (above), featuring a stamp from Party Hearty, "Celebrate You" in matching cardstock and ink, and adhesive accents.

The entire book, opened.  You can see that there ten squares for adding pictures; some of those have a fold in the center, so you can either cut your pictures or use smaller pictures on each side.

Closer view of the left side (above)

Closer view of the right side. (above)

One of the larger circle adhesive diecuts, cut in halves.  These would be perfect areas for smaller pictures or journaling about the nearby pictures.

 A close-up showing a the placement of two of the strips of Quick Accents, cut to fit the squares.  They quickly add so much with so little effort!

The back of the squash book with a Celebrations DSP print layered onto Real Red cardstock and a strip of the Quick Accents.

In addition to the Celebrations Paper and Quick Accents, I used 8-1/2" squares of coordinating Pear Pizzazz layered with Pacific Point or Real Red cardstock, yielding a book that is 4-1/4" x 4-1/4".  This is a great size to carry in your purse to show pictures of your family, pets, child's soccer team, trips or whatever you wish!  You may adjust the size of the book by using larger squares of cardstock.  These books also make great gifts and can be done for any holiday or theme!  I'm thinking Valentine's next...

Thanks for visiting today!  I appreciate your comments and hope you come back soon!

Margaret

Party Cupcake Picks

I recently was a co-hostess for a friend's baby shower.  Cupcakes were the cake of choice so I volunteered to make some baby-themed picks to decorate some of them!  I used the shower napkin for the color scheme and made three designs, ten of each.  I got to use lots of my punches, designer papers that I had on hand, and cardstocks.  I had so much fun doing these!

Some of the cupcakes had the pics and some had real pansies on them (they are edible, you know!)  Here's the serving tray on the table.

The above stamp is from the current Level 3 Hostess set Occasional Quotes!  Love it!

This is one of my favorite stamps; it is from a retired set.  I applied the toothpicks to the back of the front layer with double-stick tape, then added the back.  The double-stick tape worked great and the picks were decorated both front and back.

Our expectant mom is having a girl (you probably have already figured that out since the cupcakes are iced in pale pink, lol!)

This is how a party plate could look; we had a yummy menu!  : )  Umm, I may be getting hungry now, lol!

I just love how versatile stamping is!  We saved a lot purchasing plain iced cupcakes over the decorated ones and decorating them ourselves!  Plus it was fun to do and personalized!

Thanks for visiting today; I appreciate you dropping by!  Come back again soon!

Margaret