Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Tunnel Style Christmas Card


Recently I participated in a Christmas card swap with Kraftie Kre8ations. This swap required me to create 6 tunnel cards for Christmas to swap with partners. The A2 cards had to include white, silver and blue and 2 butterflies. As a result of the swap, I received 5 unique tunnel cards, one card from each swap participant. 


The instructions for the tunnel cards (and many other types of cards) can be found at Beccy's Place. I was astounded by all of the types of cards I had never heard of AND the fact that there are detailed instructions.


Oh what a bit of cardstock, stamps, detailed embossing powder, Krylon pen, Washi tape, Stickles, dry embossing, Copics and embellishments can do!!


The card I created includes stamps from Hero Arts and Stampin' Up! I love how it came out. I will definitely make more tunnel cards and many others from Beccy's blog in the near future. Hope you will give it a try too!

La-Vie

Monday, December 30, 2013

Altered Art - The Letter "B"


This Fall I participated in an altered letter swap with Kraftie Kre8ations. My swap partner's name starts with the letter "B" so that's what I created. It was quite a fun little exercise!




I started out by purchasing a flat wooden letter (14" I think) from Hobby Lobby and painted it with Gesso. Once it dried I painted it again with several coats of Martha Stewart glitter paint in purple, my swap partner's favorite color.



Once it dried, I added the embellishments - clear bling, heart-shaped purple bling, dimensional flowers, ribbon, flower trim and a butterfly. I believe less is more!

I hope you enjoyed this project as much as my swap partner did!


La-Vie

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Crazy for Craft Fantastic


What to give the teachers, bus driver, etc for Christmas?? It's always a big guessing game. I have made homemade greeting cards, given wine, etc. But I wanted to do something different this year. Then I remembered I had a hoard of Craft Fantastic jewelry supplies!!

Score! My daughter (who's in 3rd grade) was able to make her own teacher's gifts and I made my son's day care teacher gifts. Here's what we came up with using some of the images Craft Fantastic had at their booth and others were from Tim Holtz vintage Christmas cardstock and DCWV cardstock.


There's a variety of styles of pendants, chains, bracelets, etc. If you see this company at a craft fair, check 'em out! It's definitely worth an online order if you cannot go see them in person. They have kits and carry the right glue and jewelers dots adhesive to make your custom jewelry in a snap!


Zora made her music teacher a large oval pendant with the sheet music to Joy to the World in it. That tickled her teacher to no end. She even pulled out a magnifying glass to make sure all the words were in there! LOL


I decided to stick to botanical images and such for the daycare workers so they could wear their creations all year long. We figured that the teachers would only be able to were theirs during the Christmas holiday. I love the long rectangle pendants!


Once I ran out of chains, I started making adjustable rings. I made extra for the daycare because it's my son's last Christmas in daycare and I wanted to thank all they people who had a hand in his care over the past 4 years. They were blown away by my gratitude and generosity. Giving from the heart is the BEST!

Well, I hope you too will go crazy for craft fantastic! In the meantime, tell me... what have you given to teachers for Christmas?

La-Vie

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Glow in the Dark Custom Ornament


My daughter's teacher sent home a note asking a parent to volunteer to plan and lead the Christmas party craft and although I had already signed up for Valentine's Day, I volunteered because my daughter really wanted me to and I've spoiled the children with past projects. None of the other parents are into crafting like I am so the projects I create for them are in high demand. It's very nice to be recognized and wanted!

So this is the project I created after polling my crafty friends on Facebook and trolling Pinterest. It's a glow in the dark ornament using Stampin' Up! treat cups, ribbon, twine, embellishments, Martha Stewart glow in the dark glitter, jingle bells, 2.5" cardstock circles cut with my Cricut.


The children enjoyed making these ornaments. The embellishments varied from Gingerbread men, houses, Reindeer, Ornaments, etc. But as always, they wore me out. I always think I am designing something simple, but never remember that all families are not into crafting like we are. My daughter can complete projects better than some adults. Needles to say, there were some catastrophes, spills, touch and go moments and McGiver fixes. With 23 kids to appease and one of me, it was a challenge and a joy. Although I am the hardest worker of the day, I'm going to TRY to simplify for Vday!! LOL

Well, I'd love to hear from you. Have you gotten crafty this holiday season? What did you make? Did you volunteer? And of course, how do you like this (simple) project?

Merry Christmas!!!

La-Vie

Monday, December 23, 2013

Get Inky! Challenge 20: Winter Snow


Today the last challenge of the year starts at the Get Inky! challenge blog. It is also my final challenge inspiration post as a design team member. It has been a great ride! Well, this time we're looking for your winter snow projects. I've decorated a darling mini gift bag for those special little Thank you gifts at Christmas time.

The 2013 Holiday set (available on Etsy) has the most darling little snowman with all the trimmings! My snowman is ready for a snowball fight as soft billowy snow falls all around him.  This clean and simple look was achieved with Copics and Flowersoft. 


Supplies:



  • Get Inky! 2013 Holiday Stamp set
  • Mini white gift bag
  • Copics - 100, YR07, R29, G17
  • Uniball Signo White pen
  • Flowersoft, Flowersoft glue
  • Recollections white glittered embellishment
  • Memento black tuxedo ink


A quick tip for ya... there were some ink spots on the white bag. Quickly resolved with my opaque white pen!

Thanks for stopping by!

La-Vie

Friday, December 13, 2013

Inspiration for Get Inky! Challenge 19: Christmas


We've got an exciting Christmas challenge going on at the Get Inky! Challenge blog and I'm blogging to inspire you to join in on all the fun!!


I've always wanted to try out the corrugated cards. This one has a gusset for those pop-up cards and honeypop cards etc. I started by coloring some Color Me paper with 2 radiant rain daubers in a random pattern. I love how it made a third color wherever the two colors overlapped.

Using 3 Get Inky! Stamps from the 2013 Holiday set (available on Etsy), I created a banner from kraft cardstock to top the card. The stamped images were colored with Copics (and on the edges of the banner to mimic inking), adorned with Epoxy circles and popped up on foam tape. The Ho Ho Ho embellishment and the red grommet ribbon complete the look. I actually stapled the ribbon on, but wiggled the ends out of the top layer of ribbon so it wouldn't be seen. Tricks of the trade!!

Here's some more views...


Supplies:

  • Get Inky! Stamps - 2013 Holiday stamp set 
  • Recollections - Kraft Corrugated Cards (5.5" x 5.5"), Ho Ho Ho embellishment, Kraft Cardstock, foam circles
  • Color Me paper with silver embossing
  • Luminarte Radiant Rain daubers - Mallard and Poppy
  • Fiskars - red epoxy embellishments
  • Copics - R29, R59, G00, G85, G17
  • Red grommet ribbon - stash
  • Memento tuxedo black ink
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed this project and will consider joining in on the challenge! Merry Christmas!!


La-Vie