Googly Tags

This is a guest blog post for my sister's shop, Millymog (her blog is here). 

Hello! My name is Bexx and I am Emma's much younger sister (Sorry Em, couldn't resist!). I live in Southern Maryland with my husband, two little boys & cat. I occasionally help Emma out tweaking images for the Millymog website but more often you can find me sewing, knitting, crocheting or papercrafting. Emma asked me if I would share an easy craft project on her blog, so here it is!

When we were kids, our mum & dad would wrap our Christmas presents and separate them out in the living room. Our older brother Richard's presents would be on one chair, mine on another, and Emma's on the sofa. However, they would NEVER EVER have tags on them, so usually at least twice on Christmas morning, a non-plussed Emma would open up some underpants, or Richard would be stunned by a beautiful make-up set. I am now a huge fan of using gift tags, one per gift.

I'm going to share with you today how I whip up cute and easy gift tags for all occasions. They don't need a lot of fancy equipment, although there are a few things that would be helpful, if you REALLY get into making tags.

Step 1: Make or buy your tag. You can usually buy luggage labels from WHSmith, or from places like Amazon or eBay. If you've bought them, skip to step 2. However, if you want to make them super personalised, it isn't difficult. First up, find some good card. I like to use neutral colours so that when you're writing them, you don't need a fancy pen. But coloured card also looks awesome.

Next, you need to cut your card to about 10cm x 5cm, or 4in x 2in. Then, mark a spot in the middle near the top of your tag. That's where your string is going to go.

If you want to reinforce the hole, punch out two 1/2" circles and stick them over the dot. You can use any colour for this, cheerier the better!

You then need to punch your hole in the tag. A standard office hole punch works perfectly for this, or if you have a craft punch, that works too. Just make sure that, if you used reinforcement, you wait until the glue has dried. Otherwise your punch is going to mangle the whole thing up.

Next, you need to add your string. I use a lot of baker's twine - it's cheap, readily available & cheery! But you could use garden twine for a rustic look, wool if you have it lying around, anything really. You need to fold your length of string in half, poke the loop through the hole, then string the ends through the loop. You just made a Lark's Head knot, former scouts & guides!!

Step 2: Stamp your image on your tag. I used a stamp set called Fox & Friends from Stampin' Up!, but you could use anything with eyes. I also used Stampin' Up! ink as I have it on hand, but there are lots of different brands available from craft shops.

Step 3: Take your googly eyes (get them from that craft shop we mentioned, or raid your kids' art box, or sometimes you can find them in haberdasheries) and glue them on. You're all done! Easy eh?

Step 4: Run with the concept and make tags for all occasions. Here's a Hallowe'en tag using exactly the same idea, and a Christmas tag to which I added a couple of jingly bells and replaced the googly eyes with glitter glue.

I've enjoyed blogging with you today. I'd love to see your tags - check out my own blog, the Dented Spoon, if you'd like to share your tags with me, or to see more ideas.

Bexx xxxxxx

Something slightly different!

I've been preparing for my Beautiful Basics class on Thursday (only two spots left!) and I thought I'd share the little handout I put together. It's full of hints & tips, such as guidelines for cutting & scoring cardstock, colour selection, matting, a few useful links, and all the details of the supplies I'll be using on Thursday.

Beautiful Basics Handout

I've tried to keep things very simple & used just one stamp set to create a versatile birthday card, a Christmas card and a fun general purpose card. It's a great starting point for newcomers to the craft & I know that more seasoned stampers would find the class interesting too. Here's a sneak peek:

I'll share some more pictures after Thursday. Don't want to steal my own thunder! Ha!

Stampy Saturday

Lots of cards done today, and there may even be another!

First up - a card for my friend's niece:

I am not at all confident on "vintage" and that was not the look I was aiming for, but it just evolved this way! I like this one. 

And now for something completely different.

I finally cracked how to use my Piestra Tile die - I used Dotto to tape a strip of DSP to the back ( leaving a 1/8" border) then used the shims from my SU! crease pad. This one is for my sister's 39th birthday. Colours are Summer Starfruit, Sahara Sand and Raspberry Ripple. Yum! 

And! I started, at long last, my Christmas cards for 2013.

This one is for Retro Sketches #50. I rarely use purple but I recently discovered that Wisteria Wonder is quite pretty with Baja Breeze. 

Anyway I am hoping to do one more challenge this evening, HOPEFULLY it will be making a card for my Stampin' and Socialisin' night on Friday. Looking forward to it very much. 

Squeaking in with my last two Chrimbo cards for September...

Phew! Made it!

I am however behind on my ACAD challenges, but I have GREAT PLANS for this weekend. (Don't they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions? I think they invented that saying just for me.)

As always, (for Christmas cards anyway) I made two of these. The top and bottom parts of the balloon are raised up a wee smidgen, as is the basket. It's a simple card, but I had fun with it and I am seriously LOVING this set... it's a Hostess Rewards set called Christmas Wishes (only available if you host a party of $150 or more) which means it's SUPER BARGAINACIOUS:

For Clear-mount, it's $11 of your hostess dollars (these are FREE and you get at least $25 hostess dollars with a $150 party / big order), or in wood it's $14. The images are lovely and big (no more umming and ahhing about how the heck to fill up the rest of the space! Ask me how I'm an expert on that...), cute, and very versatile. 

Speaking of parties and the like, my lovely friend Laurajane has decided to host a party for me! It's going to be November 5th (remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot!) and I am very excited. She is a superstar. My first "proper" party! It'll be a blast. I wish I could have squeaked it in in October but it just wasn't working with our schedules. 

I've set myself a target of selling $300 a month for September, October, and November. I've actually exceeded it in September (so proud!) but October is looking dicey as I move slap-bang in the middle of the month. Oh well, I'll think of something. That - or perhaps you have suggestions? PLEASE share if you do!

In other news, I have also signed up to do a craft fair at the end of November! Very excited. So November looks BUSY... Praxis, Party, Thanksgiving, and Craft Fair! 

Just watched Hunger Games with Stew. I thought they did a good job. Shame the next two books are a bit pants. Jacob has soccer tomorrow morning (4th out of 6 sessions, not sure he'll want to do it again, but he really has tried his best so I am proud of him); and Leo had his 6 month check up on Wednesday. He is a stonking 19lbs 8oz!!! 

  

Eeek! It's nearly the end of September!

And I must catch up on my Christmas cards. Well, I'm 4 out of 6 of the way there, with two of these tonight:

How cute is that stamp! It's a Unity stamp of the week one. I didn't really like the box around the accompanying sentiment so I raided my stash for this instead. Masking wasn't quite right here but oh well. Another card that if you receive, I must really like you!

Also made this for Zhenya (for her to send):

It's a rehash of one I made in May? June? but Zhenya needed a sympathy card, not a get well card. So I remade it for her in blues, as per request. We've arranged a trade, one pack of SU! 12x12 divided page protectors (I am ONE short on my Disney album - which is well underway - I hope to share with you guys soon!) for this card, and the grungy baby card. I love trading stuff. It's just friendlier somehow than paying people. Plus, it saves me placing a teeny-tiny order.

Right! That's that for this evening. Leo had shots today and has been VERY grumpy (well, for Leo, anyway, it's probably every other baby's normal); so I'm slightly tired. Completely recovered from tummy rot, thankfully.

Christmas in September

Only 3 months left of CCC12! That's Christmas Card Challenge 2012. If I haven't mentioned it before, this is a monthly challenge on Splitcoast where you commit to making a certain number of Christmas cards each month, so that when December rolls around, you are all set just to write & mail them. It's awesome, this is my second year of it now and I can't tell you how fab it is to open the box and see all your hard work!

This is also for the Great Outdoors challenge for Card a Day.

Urgh - really bad photo! Sorry! This stamp is from the super cute "Wonderful Winterland". I think it's my first stamp set with actual people on it. I coloured it in with SU! markers. The DSP is from Festival of Prints:





Only $6.95 for 48 sheets of 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" designer paper. It's perfect for cardmakers. My favourite thing about it is the combination of traditional and non-traditional colour schemes & designs.

Quick Chrimbo

I had done four Christmas cards (towards my target of 6/mo) and spotted Limeade and Gumball Green scraps on my desk. As you may know, Jacob isn't the only one in our family who LOVES green. So I knocked a quick card together from mainly scraps.

Colours are Real Red, Gumball Green, Lucky Limeade, Chocolate Chip, and that fabulous Champagne Glimmer Paper again. I just love "En Francais" background stamp - it works for loads of different occasions. I love it stamped in Real Red on Very Vanilla cardstock as here. In case you are wondering what ribbon I used, it's Scallop Dot Ribbon in Chocolate Chip. Because the dots are Whisper White, and I used a Very Vanilla card, I flipped it over to the plain side. It's like a BOGOF!

I usually make my Christmas cards in pairs - really, you might as well. :D Once you've cut your card base, you've automatically got two. It really doesn't take much longer to knock another one out!

Festive Banners

Big news - Leo has a tooth! We have had some bad nights of little sleep, but we now know why - a wee tooth! It's his front left bottom tooth. Poor monkey.

Here's my second Christmas card for August.

It's inspired by a card by Kristina Werner, just Christmas'd up! I used a Cherry Cobbler card base, with Very Vanilla and Gumball Green. The colour combination came from the DSP, Be of Good Cheer, as did all the bannery bits. I used some Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details and Linen Thread knots (just stuck on with Mono Multi!) to put the finishing touches on it. Finally, the sentiment comes from Chock-full of Cheer.

I really like the Be of Good Cheer paper. Because it only has three colours, it is super easy to coordinate with. It's also an excellent choice if you're new to Stampin' Up as there isn't a huge amount of outlay to get all you need to make tonnes of Christmas cards!

Colour Challenge

Francesca threw down the gauntlet in my blog group this week with this fabric swatch:

The colours are: Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Lucky Limeade and Tangerine Tango.

Well, about this time of the month, I start thinking about the month's Christmas cards. If you didn't already know, I take part in a Christmas Card Challenge throughout the year on Splitcoast Stampers. The idea is, you make a certain number of cards each month, so that there is no panicking in November. Works for me, last year I sat down to a lovely box of handmade cards. Some people even write them as they go along!

Anyway! I decided that this colour scheme wasn't too far from festive, so here's what I made!

 

The card base is Chocolate Chip, then the snowflake circles are in Poppy Parade, Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze and Lucky Limeade. Finally the "tag" is in Soft Suede (didn't have Creamy Caramel) with gold embossing powder and backed by the irresistible Champagne Glimmer Paper. Finally, a bit of Lucky Limeade ribbon and some Early Espresso baker's twine. The stamp set is a retired hostess set called Northern Hearts. I doubt I'll ever part with it as it's kind of Nordic which I love. You could get pretty much the same effect using "Snow Swirled", a current set. I punched them out using a "best fit" philosophy which has kind of a neat effect. 

CAS Christmas

Well, last week I found out I was a CAS-ual Friday Favourite! I was very excited as it was the first time I'd ever entered that challenge. I've had another go this week, though I am not quite as pleased with my card...

The challenge was to use lime, aqua and navy. So I chose Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Midnight Muse DSP from the In-color 2011-2013 and 2012-2014 stacks. Although these stacks are quite a big investment, I can't tell you how handy it is to be able to pick out DSP in just the colour you need.

My original idea was to tessellate vellum snowflakes to give the illusion of hexagons but it was too tricky for me this evening - I am super tired. I think the day of "crying it out" might need to be on the horizon. Poor baba Leo.

Seriously. More Christmas cards?

It seems like in Blogland at the moment, everyone is making Christmas cards in an effort to keep cool! It's genius. Or insane. One or the other!

When I saw this palette on Apron Strings Pinterest challenge #19 -

I immediately thought of traffic lights! Not helpful. But then I thought of street signs, street furniture etc. I'm not sure this was what Lori was thinking but hey, if we all thought the same, we'd live in a very boring world!

I second-generation stamped the background with my new "Sanded" background stamp (got it from the PIF threads on Splitcoast Stampers - check them out if you haven't already) in Basic Grey on Sahara Sand to get an asphalt-y look. Then I sponged the edges to make it look a bit more distressed. Then I grabbed some bits of ribbon (didn't have grey - no probs! Used cardstock) and scraps of paper in roughly the correct colour palette and voila. The sentiment was stamped onto vellum and embossed in silver. I am so pleased with this card.

If you receive this card from me at Christmas you must be very special indeed because I'm going to have a hard time parting with it!

Surprisingly good weekend!

Well, on Friday night, the weekend looked like being a bit of a disaster as Stew was due to work a mad big day on Saturday, meaning another one-day-weekend for all of us. However Saturday dawned gloomy and drizzly. Hooray! Work was cancelled and the Pyne family rejoiced...

In the afternoon we went over to Heather's house for 4 people's birthday party - Heather, Heather's Mum & Dad, and Heather's best friend Brandi. It was loads of fun and a good time was had by all.

I arrived home to a surprise - a fellow SU! demonstrator from SCS had sent me this month's special stamp set "Reason to Smile" because I had been moaning on Splitcoast that I forgot to put it on my order. She said she'd pop it in the post to me free of charge. All I have to do is pay it forward someday. So I'm looking out for good deeds to do. Such a nice surprise!

Then I caught up with my Google Reader (how awesome is Google Reader?!) and saw I'd got another honourable mention on 55CCT! Awesome! Finally, I checked on here, to find I'd had 658 (!!!!) hits... The Online Card Classes ladies Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire had selected this card and this card as examples to show the techniques learned in class. So flattering and exciting. There isn't a lot of instant gratification or recognition as an SAHM so it meant an awful lot.

Today we went to the Vintage Source - a monthly flea market and antiques thingy. Bought a cute little side table, allowing us to finally get rid of the oval coffee table from hell. When we first arrived in the USA we were given a budget to furnish & equip the entire house. Well, needless to say some of the decisions we made on the million trips to IKEA have been regretted, including the coffee table. It is GOOOOOOOONE now though. Phew!

Anyway! I've done another couple of challenges for Apron Strings' Pinterest challenges:

100.100 (Yep, I'm all finished! Woo hoo!)

Inspired by Pinterest Challenge #15. Spritzed this one with that glimmer mist that I keep forgetting the name of to make it look a bit more festive. So loving Raspberry Ripple!

100.101

Inspired by Pinterest Challenge #13. Another good scrappy Christmas card. Love this one, I think I may crank a few of these out!

The only Pinterest challenge I haven't done this week is the Subway Art one (#11). I may have a play this evening.

Black and Blue Christmas!

Well after my success with 523 {Christmas} Card Throwdown last week (Honourable Mention! First ever challenge success! Chuffed-to-bits.com!) I thought I'd try the colour challenge for July. When I first saw the colours I was a bit dumbstruck but then I had an idea which tied in nicely with SYS day 4 - Graphic Stamps:


100.86 and 100.87 (made two of these):

I actually REALLY LIKE this card and if I was mass-producing my Christmas cards this would be a good choice. Plus, it's a one layer card!

I am debating outlining "Holidays" with Pacific Point (to match the snowflakes) but I can't quite decide... thoughts?

In other news, Leo had his first proper food today! He tried BANANA gloop. He couldn't quite work out what was going on at first but he very quickly got the hang of it and wolfed it down! It was very cute, and quite a relief, as he's been very hard to satisfy with milk the last few days. He is a giant baby.

Such a cutie! Big day for little Leo today, he also tried out the ExerSaucer my friend Lindsay (notecard lady!) was kind enough to lend us...

I think Jacob secretly wanted a turn. Jacob has really enjoyed building Lego models today, he's really good at it for a four year old! I have zero spatial awareness so I have to position the model I'm working on EXACTLY like the picture, but Jacob surprised me with his skill!

Anyway, a good day here in SoMD. Hope you enjoyed the start of the weekend as much as I did. 

Christmas in July part 2

Tried a non-traditional colour scheme for my second lot of July Christmas cards. The sketch was from this challenge blog,  found via Patty Gorka (a fellow 100in100'er). Cool idea for a challenge blog, I will be taking part a lot I suspect!

100.78 & 79 (made two of these)

Not 100% keen on this one, the sketch is good (thanks to the challenge!) but I think the colour scheme is a bust. I just can't seem to get non-traditional schemes to work for Christmas cards. Oh well I shall keep trying!

Edited to add - I got an honourable mention badge for this challenge card! Wooo! Check it out!:

Christmas in July Part 1

A CAS Christmas card. I made 3 of these (well actually I made four but one went horribly wrong!) I was inspired by a colour combo I spotted on one of the teachers of Clean and Simple Cardmaking's blogs but I can't for the life of me find it now. Sorry! I used Raspberry Ripple, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Island Indigo and Pool Party.

100.69-71

The stamps are a variety of snowflakes from Hero Arts, and I masked the sentiment out whilst stamping the snowflakes. Finally I added just a touch of Dazzling Details to give a bit of Christmas Sparkle!

Christmas in June

As well as doing the 100in100 challenge, I am also taking part in the Christmas Card Challenge. I did it last year too, and it was utterly fabulous to sit down in November to a big pile of handmade cards!

Anyway, with all the events of this year, I struggled to keep up in March, April and May. But, thanks to 100in100 I caught up my backlog AND I am on schedule now!

Just finished 8 cards, two of each of these:

100.46 & 100.47

OK so these are not going to set the world on fire but they'll do!

100.48 & 100.49

100.50 & 100.51

100.52 & 100.53

All supplies Stampin' Up. Stew has set up my light tent, so these photographs are slightly better. Still need to work on the lighting I think. I also think I should rotate the card a bit, and try using DSP as the background. But hey, tonight's achievement was getting off the sofa and completing these cards. I will mess with the light box another day...

My favourite card in a while...

The last sketch in Day One of the CAS card class (clearly this is going to take me SIGNIFICANTLY longer than specified!) was one that didn't initially excite me in any way. I almost skipped over it! But then I had an idea and decided to give it a whirl.

100.45:

Again, the photograph is baaad but I think you get the idea. It really POPS in real life. I am gutted because I gave away my second set of SAB ribbon, and I have run out of the Lucky Limeade variety. I would have liked to do another of these in Limeade! Oh well.

Love the sketch so much that I am working on this month's Christmas cards (part of the Christmas Card Challenge) using it. So at the moment there are 8 cards on my desk waiting for me to complete. Will post those soon which will take me over the 50 mark... wooo!

Supplies for 100.45: Basic Black and Very Vanilla cardstock, Basic Black and Calypso Coral ink, Black grosgrain ribbon, Calypso Coral organdy (?) ribbon from Sale-a-Bration, Antique brad, First Edition DSP, Teeny Tiny Wishes and Triple Treat Flower stamps.

Super Wednesday!

Well, somehow I managed to get Leo, AKA Velcro Baby, to sleep for 3 hours solid this afternoon without being glued to me. I kept thinking I'd never get the next project finished, but I kept managing it. So I made 5 cards! Wooo! And in fact, I'd done two others earlier in the week so I am about to update you on 7 cards....

First up: 100.11 was a repeat of 100.10 (the Christmas mittens). So you don't need to see that.

100.12 was another Christmas card:

All I can say is BLEURGH!!! Don't like this at all. I think it's the button. These wooden buttons will be available from SU! from June 1st, I got them in the pre-order (one of the many perks of being a demo!). I am actually not a big fan of them though coz I can't figure out how to use them, and they are a bit plasticky looking somehow. Everything else SU! makes is awesome though! :D

Supplies: Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla cardstock, Jolly Holiday DSP, Linen thread, Wooden button, Chock-full of Cheer stamp set.

Onto 100.13:

This was for a colour challenge on Splitcoast: Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede. I cheated and used Rose Red too as I couldn't find any ribbon in the given colours. I also did a bit of paper piecing with the leaves to give them a bit of dimension by curling them at the edges. And I cut into the bird's wings, again for a bit of dimension.

Supplies: Rose Red seam binding ribbon, Basics Jewels: Pearls, Whisper White, Certainly Celery and Blushing Bride cardstock, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, Blushing Bride and Rose Red ink, Betsy's Blossoms and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets.

100.14 was a repeat of the 100.4 hummingbird card.

Getting worried I'll lose my post so I'll upload this, then do another!

Memorial Day Weekend...

...is one of the RARE holidays Stew actually gets here in the USA. Plus it's when all the outdoor pools open here in SoMD... fabulous. Have swum the last two days, it is such fun to swim with Jacob in the sunshine!

Card making has been a bit hit and miss, I really liked the "Goddess Lamp" card I did (100.8) that I tried another with the same paper and another Becky Fleck sketch:

I think I would have liked this a lot more if I'd matted the DSP once more. Or... who knows. I'll find someone to send it to though!

Supplies for 100.9 - Hoover Bow: Pool Party, Calypso Coral and Whisper White cardstock, Domestic Goddess DSP, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, large scalloped circle and 1.75" circle punches, Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and Bitty Banners framelits, Basic Jewels: Rhinestones, Calypso Coral and Basic Grey ink.

Then I realised I have 4 days to do 3 Christmas cards for CCC12 - not normally a problem but when you're sloping off to the outdoor pool it can be a bit tricky to get in the right mindset. However I really wanted to get the Domestic Goddess DSP off my desk after 100.9 (something isn't right about it and I wanted to do something different!) so I made this:

Really like how the string "tying" the mittens together came out - I freehand drew it and this is NOT a strength of mine. Whenever I use markers to ink up a stamp it goes a bit wrong, I think I need to season my stamps better. Anyway, judicious application of the blender pen usually helps!

I am also pleased with managing to use some of my Scallop Dot ribbon. I really liked the concept, but some of the dots aren't quite dead centre (only a fuss pot control freak like me would care) so I don't use it much. Anyway - flipping it over solves that problem AND the issue of white dots, vanilla paper (see, told you I was a control freak!).

Anyway I shall stop rambling on and get to the...

...Supplies for 100.10- Merry Mittens: First Edition (current) and Jolly Holiday (retired) DSP, Chock-full of Cheer stamp set (new!), Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler cardstock, Cherry Cobbler scallop dot ribbon, Basic Black inkpad, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Basic Black markers. Oh, and the aforementioned blender pen!
 

Christmas Swirls (In May!)

Well, I didn't make the semi-finals of the CAS DT search. Oh well it was my first try and lots of fun! Anyway as I was browsing the gallery of a former DT member I spotted a card I wanted to CASE. So I did! Made two of these to bring my total for the last 3 days, 6 cards! Wow! They also bring me half way for CCC12 May.

Supplies: Crumb cake cardstock, Deck the Halls DSP (retired), linen thread, Early Espresso ink. Stamps - Elements of Style (again!) and Teeny Tiny Wishes.