Friday 25 December 2015

12 Weeks Of Christmas: Weeks 11 & 12 Gift Box & Bags




MERRY CHRISTMAS from the speckled sparrow! 

This is totally what our Christmas looks like today! Hot, sunny & beaches surrounding us.  I am truly lucky to live here in Torquay!  Ok, so I either can't count or I have missed a week somewhere in my 12 weeks of Christmas posts!  To make up for my error, I am posting 2 projects using similar products.

I have been making gifts galore this week & I needed some packaging for them.  Firstly I made a big batch of shortbread with the kids & I needed to house them in something pretty.   My trusty festive flower punch came in handy for all of these projects today.  I didn't have time to stamp my flowers & guess what? They still look great.  I needed flowers in a hurry!  These are so easy to build.   I used tombow glue, but you could use a hot glue gun.


Stampin' Up! sell the best cafe bags! They are lined with plastic so they were perfect for my shortbread gifts. This prevents the butter from the shortbread soaking through the bags.  

Project 2 is a cute little box I made using the retired gift boxes on sale on the Clearance rack.  I have created a little belly band & added my pretty poinsettia to the top.  I needed a special box for a very special gift.  I'm sure my niece Indiah will love what's inside! 


Today marks the end of my 12 weeks of Christmas projects. I am taking a few weeks off from blogging & will see you all again for some special Sale-A-Bration posts very soon! 
Thanks so much for visiting my little blog & I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas & a Happy & Joyous New Year.  

Thanks for stopping by
Tricia 




Friday 18 December 2015

12 Weeks Of Christmas Week 10: A Winter Wonderland Ornament

Hello, & welcome back to my 12 weeks of Christmas posts.  Today I am sharing my Week 10 project.
My friend Lisa came over for a paper play date last week & she brought with her a photo of an ornament she wanted to make.  She found it on Facebook & wanted to give it a try & since I had all the ingredients we made one up.  The one we were CASEing came from Jamie from Gettin' Crafty Stampin'  If you follow that link she has an easy to follow tutorial on how to make your very own pretty paper ornament.  While these look hard, they are really super easy.


Here is my version hanging on my small tree:


Here is the ornament laid out on the table to get a better view.  I have used the Winter Wonderland Specialty DSP & Winter Wonderland Vellum with the pretty Snowflake Elements for a centrepiece.



I know Lisa has made a heap of different ones since we made this one. I can't show you all of them as they are going to be given as presents.  Here is one she shared with me yesterday.  Isn't it pretty!

Lisa's Pear Pizzazz Ornament
I have plans to make a few of these as present myself now that school has finally finished for the year & I can relax a bit. The best thing is all the ingredients for this ornament are on sale in the Year End close out sale!  If you click on the pictures below it will take you to my online shop where you can order these at a discounted price right up until January 4th, but remember these items are While Stocks Last!  

Be sure to check back here next Friday for my Week 11 project.

Thanks for stopping by
Tricia 



Sunday 13 December 2015

CTC 60 CASE-ing Simone


Hello & welcome to a very special CTC blog hop where all the team members CASE each other.  How fun!  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!  You will have hopefully hopped here from Jess's blog where she has CASED me!  Today I am CASE-ing Simone Bartrum.  Simone is my Upline "grandma" so to speak, so CASEing her was a little bit daunting!

I loved what Simone did with the Wonderland stamp set recently, so I decided this would be the one to CASE. To refresh your memory here are Simone's cards.



I just love this stamp set & if you follow my blog you will see I have used it lots.  For this project, I wanted to try the Northern Lights technique.  I have always wanted to go see the northern lights, however, I absolutely loathe the cold - so nope, I shall have to love them from afar.   

For my first card, I used sponges & swiped my Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise & Rich Razzleberry inks over the white cardstock randomly.  Then I rubbed Island Indigo ink all around to soften & blend the sky.  Next I stamped the trees in our Basic Black Archival Ink.  This ink is seriously the best black ink I have ever used! Then I added snow with the white gel pen to give it a really wintery feel.  You can see I have added a snowflake element just like Simone did too! 



I then decided I would like to try brayering to see if I could get a similar look. I used Island indigo, Daffodil delight & Rich Razzleberry inks to achieve the lit up night sky.  Well, I was a little out of practice & had to have about 4 tries before I got it just right. Trust me my hands were rather colourful by the end of it!  


As you can see, I used 2 different techniques to achieve a similar effect, but I like them both. 
Next stop on the blog hop is Simone's blog.  I hope she likes my CASE of her lovely cards.  I bet she has something fun to share!  If you get lost on your hop just stop in at the CTC blog to get back on track.  




Thanks for stopping by
Tricia 


Thursday 10 December 2015

12 Weeks Of Christmas: Week 9 Punch Art Reindeer Gift Bag


Welcome to week 9 of my 12 Weeks Of Christmas Posts.  This week I am sharing a little gift bag I made for each fo my stamp club ladies.  Each one has a little present inside from me to thank them for such a lovely & fun year.

I am unsure of who originally posted this cute reindeer however, I'm sure if you look on Pinterest or google you will see lots!  I have certainly seen him pop up lots & I am pretty sure I CASED him from Dena at thecreativitycave.com



When it comes to Christmas it is always good to have a few little punch art reindeer or Santas to add to tags, cards or gift bags. I whipped up 20 of these little fellas using scraps left over from other projects so I am super happy about that too!  Be sure to check back next week for my Week 10 project.  

Thanks for stopping by
Tricia 


Friday 4 December 2015

12 Weeks Of Christmas: Week 8 Corner Window Card

Hi & welcome to Week 8 of my 12 Weeks Of Christmas series.  This week I am sharing a project we made in stamp club last month.  It is a 3d window card & the best thing is it folds flat & can be mailed in a business envelope.

I originally saw this card at Paperific way back in August, where Janine Rawlins had made up her version as a sample for the stand.   She had made hers using the White Christmas stamp set. I had a few customers asking to make a version of this card & I finally sat down last month & made this one.

I found a great sample on Pinterest by Fiona at Oakfieldcrafts & figured it was perfect as I had all the ingredients for us all to make one. When there are 16 ladies to cater for I need to have enough supplies to go around!


I have changed a few tiny things, but I loved the general look of it.   I love the warm Christmassy feel of the Merry Moments DSP stack wallpaper & the festive baubles hanging on the window.  Both the stamp set "Happy Scenes" & the Home & Hearth framelits can be purchased as a bundle for 15%off, making this a great value set. 

I used a sentiment from Lots Of Joy stamp set in the annual catalogue as it seemed to work for my little mat.  It is hard to see in the photo, but there is glittery snow outside on the ground & trees.  My Dazzling Diamonds gets a real workout at Christmas time! 

The base is made from an 8" x 8" sheet of Thick Whisper White card stock.  It's then scored at 4" up & 4" across.   All you need to do then is cut up to the centre of one line.  Here is a sample showing the measurements & cutting guide.



Thanks for stopping by
Tricia