More Gift Purses

Today just a few more samples of my gift purses. These are more like an evening purse with a little glimmer and sparkle...

Here is a side view and a view of the back of the purse. 

I hope you enjoy these little samples and again, let me know if you are interested to learn how they are made.... just contact me...

A special kind of Gift Purse

I love this idea of a gift purse. Yes, it looks like a purse. It opens like a purse and you can hold it as a purse, but is is actually a gift.

It is made from one sheet of 12"x 12" paper, a small strip of cardstock, some brads and ribbon and a button to close your purse.

I put some tissue paper in it to fill out the space and there is a lot of space in it (See the picture on the right). You have room for a book, some sweets, make up or even just a plain gift card if you like. Wouldn't this be a surprise for someone special? Who like to give just a plain box? This is much more fun, don't you think?

Let me know if you are interested to learn how to make one of these gift purse. Starting in September I will offer multiple classes, so contact me for more information or check out the blog for more details in September....stay tuned...

Flower Wonders

These flowers are a wonderful embellishment for all kinds of presents. The are great for boxes, home deco items or even on cards.

They only work cards if you plan to hand them to your recipient or you have to place your finished card in a small box to sent out, otherwise the flowers would be flatten.

So, how do you create these flowers? I used our Close To My Heart cartridges to have my Cricut cut out the basic shapes. Two of the three cartridges from Close To My Heart contain these kind of flower projects; you can find them on the "Art Philosophy" and the "Artiste" cartridge.

First thing you need to know is how big you like your flower to be...you can cut them in any size you want with the Cricut. In this project I use a 2 1/2" size.

The machine will cut a big circle with a smooth edge on one side and a scalloped on the other. The scalloped edges can be round, more pointy or long leave etc.. They all will create a different kind of flower. The top picture shows a rounder edge scallop, while the picture on the bottom has a more pointy edge when cut out.

All cutout have a roundish circle like end in the middle. The following technique is the same for all flowers, no matter what edging you have. If you have a quilting tool, this will be the perfect time to use it. If not, just use your fingers or a needle to get started.
Take the outer end of the flower and start rolling it up towards the middle. Make sure it is some what tide and don't let go of the role you are creating. While rolling the paper try to keep the smooth edge even.
Once you reached the middle, place a glue dot (should fit right on the little circle) in the middle and press the roll with the smooth side on the glue dot. If your roll is very tide, let is go just a bit so the layers can unfold a bit. This would also allow you to create a bigger more open flower.

You can use any other type of glue too, but I found the dots work pretty good. Now bend the pedals just a bit to give them a more realistic look. 

For more embellishment, place a rhinestone or pearl in the middle or use glitter glue or other glitter along the edges of the flower....

I know it is hard to explain these techniques. It would be easier to show you...so if you like to attend a class where we create these little flower wonders, please contact me for more information

Lip Gloss in a Box

I have attended many craft shows last year and one experience I had was that many of the shoppers loved the cute little boxes I made, but they didn't know what to use them for. Well, chocolate is always a good idea, but that would be your typical first choice. 

I thought I have to come up with a few different ideas and here is one of them:

I found a set of mini Lip Glosses from BareMinerals. Not only are those great lip glosses, but they also came in some great colors. What a perfect idea for a "Ladies Day Out" event I thought and oh, was I spot on. They were a hit. The packaging and the small size of the gloss, perfect...

I created the pillow case box from the Close To My Heart "Art Philosophy" cartridge. To make sure my customers could see the color of the lip gloss I cut a window in the top with my craft knife. 
To make sure the lip gloss is not moving around in the box I placed a strip of paper on the inside that is holding the gloss in place.

I cut two swirl embellishments with the Cricut from the same Close To My Heart cartridge "Art Philosophy" and adhered them with glue dots to one side of the box.
The rose was also cut from the same cartridge. After I rolled the flower together and adhered it with a glue dot to the box, I bend the edges of some of the flower pedals to give it a more natural look.

Stay tuned for more flower sample in the next post....

Do you like to buy some of the boxes or would like to join me for a class on how to make these and embellish these little gifts, well...please contact me for more details, dates and costs

The new annual Close To My Heart Idea Book is here ...

It is finally here, the brand new annual Close To My Heart Idea Book is alive! How many of you have already checked it out? Not yet, well click here to see the new Idea Book online.

So what’s new and what is changing you might ask?

First of all, this is an annual Idea Book valid from 8/2014 until 7/2015. There will be two additional small booklets for seasonal items (incl. papers, stamps etc) coming out during the year, so make sure to stay tuned for those. 

You can view the Idea Book for FREE on my website. Otherwise, if you like a hard copy of the Idea Book you have to contact me. The costs for the new Idea Book will be $5 plus shipping (if we can’t meet), but you will get a refund for it if you place an order of $50 or more from August-February. The order has to be placed on my website or via email to me. 

Now since we have an annual Idea Book, we will have 9 brand new paper packs to work with. And the best part, they will be available all the way until 7/2015… 

Here are the new paper packs and some ideas on where to use them:

• -      Chalk It Up … School, boys, girls
• -      Scaredy Cat … Halloween, and more
• -      Pathfinding … Fall, family, girls, boys
• -      Yuletide Carol … Christmas (traditional), Winter
• -      Snowhaven … Winter, Christmas (modern)
• -      Confetti Wishes … Kids Birthdays
• -      Brushed … Flowers, Spring, Summer, Girls
• -      Wanderful … Travel
• -      Seaside … Vacation, Sea, Family
• 
  

We have five brand new ink and cardstock colors: thistle, glacier, flaxen, canary and pixie.

You will find may new embellishments, Workshops-On-The-Go for scrapbooking and cardmaking, Easy to make card sets, treat bags, deco items, jewelry and naturally many new stamp sets.

There is a new Cricut Cartridge coming out called “Artfully Sent” and the launch is planned for September, so make sure to read your monthly newsletter.

Finally, they are here, 24 new alcohol markers in gorgeous colors from ShinHan.

Many new tools are in the Idea Book: new embossing folders, punches, an all-purpose mat, a score board and on and on it goes. Check out the book to see all the new and exciting things.

You can also visit me on

Friday August 15^th from 10am-4pm or on

Saturday August 16^th from 9am-5pm

during our annual Association Garage Sale. Check out some of the new items from the new Idea Book or pick up your personal copy. Beside this, I will have a lot of scrapbook items for sale as well J

Here are the Special for the month of August:

-      

• Buy any “Picture My Life” set and  receive a Memory Protector set ( 8 different sets to choose from) for only $3.
• The Stamp-Of-The-Month set for August is just adorable… “What a HOOT” … remember, this set will only be available during the month of August. You can either purchase it for the full retail price of $17.95 +SH&T or if you spend $50 on products from the new Idea Book, you will receive this cute set for only $5….Better hurry before this little owl flies away!

    I hope you will enjoy the new Idea Book and all the wonderful products in it. Don’t hesitate to contact me for any question; I would love to hear from you. Gather with some friends at your home or enjoy an online gathering without leaving your home and get tons of products for free! Let me know if you are interested. I know you will love all the FREE products…

"Thinking of you" Card

Well, this is my last card before the summer break. Our next Card Workshop Class will begin in September. Oh, but in between I will be busy creating new ideas for card, preparing the upcoming classes and work on my page layouts. I need multiple different layout for the "Oakland Fair" Craft Crop in October. If you are likely to attend that weekend you will get to see the results first hand. I do will give you little sneak peeks here and there, but my blogger friends, you won't see them until the crop is over. Never the less, stay tuned because other things will come....

But let's go back to the card we made here. The base is created off Kraft cardstock measuring 11" x 4 1/4" and folded in half. The fold is to the left. I rounded the corners on the open side and punched the middle with my envelope board.

I strung a piece of hemp from the inside around to the side and closed it with a simple knot. Trim back the ends to make it look nice.
I used a piece of design paper from Close To My Heart and stamped a flourish design along the edges. This piece was adhered flat and centered to the card.

 The Colonial White cardstock was stamped with the phrase "Thinking of you" and edged with some chocolate ink. I placed it on a piece of cocoa cardstock measuring just an 1/8" bigger than the first. The kraft cardstock that followed was also an 1/8" bigger than the cocoa piece. Adhere them together and place them flat towards the left side of the card.

I punched out two sets of butterflies, one set (bigger one) in blue, the other one is the back side of the blue paper. Adhere them together with a glue dots and fluff the wings up.
I created a little bling with a silver pin decorated with little glass pearls and closed with a silver stopper. I bend the pin just a bit. I adhered the first butterfly to the phrase part with a foam dot. Then I pushed the pin end through the foam dot of the first butterfly, just enough so the end stays put.
Now I placed the second butterfly with a glue dot underneath the bling part. If the pin doesn't stay down, used a little bit of glue (the kind that dries clear) to hold it in place.

For the inside I cut a piece of white cardstock and rounded the corners. Place the white piece on the inside centered.

Well, that is my "Thinking of You" card. Do you like to know how to create the bling or any other technique or how to get a set home? All you have to do is contact me. I am more than happy to help...

Have a wonderful summer and enjoy the gorgeous weather and don't forget to tune in once in a while.... 

Happy Summer

and

Happy Crafting

Sunshine wishes

Here is another combination of our Skylark paper, Kraft cardstock and a Cricut cutout. This Skylark paper pack is so versatile and the colors are really nice. I've been using it a lot and if you like to get one, make sure to order it now, because this paper pack will retire in July, just before the new Idea Book will come out...

 The card is made from Kraft cardstock and measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I cut three strips to cover the front. The two design paper strips are from one sheet of paper and the cardstock is from a piece of juniper color. Arrange them as show and adhere them to the base flat. 



The phrase was stamped in cocoa ink on a piece of colonial white cardstock, that was matted with a piece of Kraft cardstock. The Kraft cardstock is just about an 1/8" bigger. I poked two holes on the top and used a piece of hemp to create the hanger. I secured the hemp with a knot on each side.
The sign is placed with foam dots to the card.

 The flowers were cut with the Cricut and stamped like described in in the previous card, just that I used Juniper ink this time.
I placed on flower with a glue dot to the card right at the top of the hemp. This way I keep the hemp in place and it looks like the flower is the anchor to the sign.
The other flower is placed with a glue dots on the site of the sign.

How do you like this idea? Do you like to know more about techniques, products or on how to get a set of cards for yourself? Well, please contact me for more information!

A Hot Air Balloon Birthday ride

This Hot Air Balloon pop-up card was so much fun. So let's start and see how this one started out. The card base is 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" of Sky Blue cardstock from Close To My Heart. I created the balloon from the "Balloon Ride" paper pack. I used the coordinating stamp set to stamp the balloon on the backside of the paper. I cut out just the balloon and adhered it with foam dots to the card. For the basket I used a strip of design paper, scored at 1/4" increments and accordion folded. I used three medium glue dots, spaced evenly to attache the folded piece. Stamp Happy Birthday on the tag and place it with foam dots on top of the balloon.

For the inside you would need a pieces of colonial white cardstock measuring 4 1/8" x 8 3/8". Fold the piece in half and cut two slits into the folded side, about 3/4" into the card and about 1/4" apart from each other. Open the piece and push the cutting part inside. 
Now I used a sponge dauber to apply blue ink for the sky and green ink for the ground. I started with the blue and went in circular motions from the corners to about 1/3 of the top of the card.


I did't the same with the green ink, but this time I went over the middle fold a little bit. Make sure you create a little hillside on the sides. Using the stamp set "Give A Lift" (D1581) from Close To My Hear I stamped both hot air balloons on a piece of colonial white cardstock with StarzOn ink. Using my blending pen and multiple Close To My Heart ink color pads I colored the balloons in. I cut the one balloon out whole and attached it to the sky portion on the card (left balloon). The banner "Best Wishes" was stamped separately and cut out. I adhere it with foam dots to the balloon.
The second balloon I only used the top part. This one was adhered to the little step we cut out earlier. 
A piece of white cardstock gives you room to place your wishes.

On this shut you can get a better look how the step looks like that was cut out and bend inside the card piece. Now you can adhere the second card piece the the blue cover. Make sure it is sitting straight inside. It might be easier for you to adhere the inside piece to the card base (cover) first and then decorate as described above.

 The little step is about 1 1/2" from the right side. You can use this technique for many other pop-ups. Depending what item you like to pop-up when opening the card, you have to alternate the step accordingly.

Would you like to order a set of this card or the whole month? Please feel free to contact me....

Thanks...you are the best

Get out your inks and lets stamp a bit...That was the motto of our June Card Workshop Class this month. Thanks...You are the Best uses just a little of the Skylark paper pack from Close To My Heart.

 For the card base I used the colonial white cardstock measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". The colonial white has just a hint of cream color. It is not bright white like the daisy white from Close To My Heart. I love to use it with the kraft cardstock or any other more warmer tones.
I cut out a giant tag with the Cricut Cartridge "Art Philosophy" from Close To My Heart.


Now to the ink part: I used Desert Ink, Honey Ink and Creme Brullee ink from Close To My Heart. I also used the stamp set "Happy Autumn" (D1550) for the flowers. 
First I took the stump part and inked it up with desert ink. I stamped it twice on the tag, just about an 1" from the bottom of the tag. I then used one of the single leafs and inked them up in desert ink. I stamped the first time on a piece of scrap paper and then the second image on the tag. This will give you a more faded image, almost like a two tone. Now I used the small flower part inked in honey ink right above the stump. The bigger flower part was inked in creme brullee and added right above the first one.


The tag is just a bit smaller than the card size and is cut out of kraft cardstock that came with the Skylark paper pack. The "thanks...you are the best" tag was cut out the same way as the tag. I edged it with some chocolate ink and stamped the saying on to it also in chocolate ink. I placed it with foam dots on the tag as shown here.


The flowers were also cut with the same cartridge and Cricut machine. The stamped used for the flower is a three step set. First I stamped the base of the flower in Buttercup ink. I then used chocolate ink to stamp the outline design of the flower and finally the little dot in the middle. To create a more 3-D look I worked both flowers with a big stylus. I then adhered them in an offset way together and placed a brown pearl in the middle. Finally adhere the flower to the card with a foam dot. Place the brown ribbon knot on the top and this card is done.

If you would like to know more about the techniques used or how to get these cards to create at home...please contact me...