The Christmas Gifts

I'm involved in a Secret Santa gift exchange at my work. I've been busy working on the gifties for my person.

I hope she REALLY likes pink. She wrote on her sheet that she likes the color, so I kinda ran with it.

You can scroll down or click here http://sarasstampingsanctuary.blogspot.com/2008/11/work-in-progress.html to see the cards and card holder I already posted.

Now, for the rest of the gifts.

I asked her specifically what candy she liked - she responded anything with peanut butter and chocolate. This didn't really help with what I was planning, but it gave me another idea.

I think it was Becky who's on the Papertrey design tem that first came up with using the thin plastic boxes the $15 Papertrey sets come in as a holder for the little Reese's peanut butter cups. (Trying to give credit where credit is due) It works beautifully - and you get 25 little cups in it.

So... here's the unfilled box - all decorated.

Stamps: PTI - Holiday Treats. Paper: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Polka Dot dp. Ink: Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush. Accessories: Crystal Stickles, ribbon, classic oval Nestabilites, dimensionals, Tacky Tape.

Now for the project that required knowledge of her favorite candy.

I was in a candy store and displayed on a shelf was a candy tree. Made with the "fun size" candy bars, it was so cute. I decided that I had to try and make one myself for my Secret Santa person.

I tried. Which is the main thing. I've changed it slightly since I took the picture: I moved some of the bottom Snickers to fill in the top and I stuck a peppermint lollipop in the top for the "star."

Items used: styrofoam cone, Snickers bars, satin pins, peppermint lollipop.

I found some adorable Christmas socks at Walmart that were pink (of course) and red with peppermints on them and I needed something to put them in. I've seen these Box in a Bags on blogs quite a bit lately and they're cute. So I wanted to make one.

Stamps: none. Paper: Georgia Pacific white, Cryogen white (shimmer), Heidi Grace snowflake dp, Regal Rose (already punched). Ink: Regal Rose (marker and sponged), Tattered Rose Distress Ink (sponged). Accessories: Tacky Tape, corner rounder punch, ribbon, white gel pen, snowflake brads, classic scalloped circle Nestabilities, Bellas Baubles, Diamond Glaze, glue dots.

The last thing is a little gift set I made. I got a magnetic coaster calendar from one of my VSN secret sisters and I love the thing. I found a downloadable template of a 2009 calendar on Splitcoast and went about making my own.

This set is the coaster calendar, microbeaded pen, and a mini journal (which was unfinished when I took the picture.)

Stamps: Damask by Flourishes. Paper: My Mind's Eye dp. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Sugar Cookie Glimmer Mist, ribbon, printed calendar, staple, magnetic tape, chipboard coaster, RSVP pen, tacky tape, microbeads, Martha Stewart glitter.

I think that's all!

Christmas Cards

It's been awhile since I posted about my search for this year's Christmas card (or cards.)

I finally decided which ones I wanted to make - I chose 4 sketches.

AND...

They're all done.

Completely stamped and assembled (and dry in some cases.)

All I need to do is make sure I have enough envelopes and get ready for them to be mailed out.

I'm impressed with myself. I didn't think I'd have all 48 done in a week.

Next up on the agenda: assemble the last bit of my Secret Santa present by Monday and upload some pictures.

Hope everyone has a great weekend (and had a Happy Thanksgiving here in the US)

Christmas Ornament Tutorial

My coworker Christmas gifts this year are one of the easiest things to make, they look pretty and it's not a labor of $$.

I decided to make all of my coworkers glitter ornaments in their favorite colors.

What you need:
Clear glass globe ornament (I found a 12 pack at Hobby Lobby for about $4 - before the 50% sale)
Stamp pad reinker (I used SU! Bashful Blue)
Glitter (I used Martha Stewart Lapis Lazuli, but any glitter works)
Paper towel
Small Funnel (I made mine out of a Post-it note and stapled it so that it wouldn't come apart)
Something to keep the ornament upright (I used the lid of a gallon jug, but I've used empty ribbon spools)

Remove the top to the ornament. Check the ornament for cracks.

Set the ornament on the base so you have free hands and add 10 drops of reinker into the ornament. **This is just a guesstimate on reinker - sometimes you need more, sometimes you need less. It all depends on the size of the ornament.**

Slowly spin the ornament to coat the inside with the reinker.

Once the inside is completely coated with ink, turn the ornament upside down on paper towel to remove the extra ink. I get ink caught in the lip of the ornament, so pressing gently into the paper towel helps.

I don't have enough hands for this step!!! This is where having a base is useful - set the ornament on the base, put the funnel up to the opening and gently pour glitter inside the ornament.

When you think you have enough glitter inside, cover the opening (or you'll have inky glitter everywhere) and shake. **If you look at the picture, I'm using the funnel to cover the opening of the ornament - mostly because I don't really want inky glitter all over my hands.**

When the inside is covered to your satisfaction, turn the ornament upside down over a trash can or container and shake to remove the excess glitter. (No picture because there wasn't any excess glitter for this globe.)

Set your ornament someplace safe (where it won't be touched by little hands or roll off tables) to air dry, then put the top back on the ornament.

Embellish your ornament to your heart's content. Add rhinestones, rub ons, ribbon, etc. Here is an ornament that I just finished.


I hope this was easy to understand and inspires you to make some ornaments for yourself and friends!

Work in progress

Which is obviously what I am.

But this is more on the lines of Christmas gifts. My work Christmas party is on December 1st; which means my heinie (which isn't little) needs to get in gear if I'm planning on doing anything for my Secret Santa person. So yesterday (Sunday) I sat down in my very messy dungeon and made part of my Secret Santa gift: a set of monogrammed cards with a holder for them.

This holder originally started out as the holder from the Au Chocolat tote and cards OSW on SCS - found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243314&highlight=Au+Chocolat+tote I changed some things. There are supposed to be 2 handles - one on each long side - and I switched it to a piece of ribbon. The flourish is Tim Holtz Grungeboard inked in Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters and the initial (which happens to be the initial of my Secret Santa person) is Basic Grey BonBon chipboard covered in Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Peeled Paint.

Stamps: None. Paper: PTI - Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Pink Patterns dp. Ink: Berry Sorbet, Distress Ink - Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters. Accessories: Tacky Tape, ribbon, brads, dimensionals, Grungeboard, Basic Grey chipboard, Distressed paint - Peeled Paint, mono multi glue.

The cards that go into the box are monogrammed with the help of Papertrey Ink. Borners and Corners Monogram Edition and Ambassador Monogram sets were a big help.

Stamps: PTI - Borners and Corners Monogram Edition, Ambassador Monogram. Paper: Select White, Sweet Blush. Ink: Palette Noir, Sweet Blush. Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, ribbon, dimensionals.

Wishing for a better day tomorrow,

Trying to Resist a Deal

In which I failed COMPLETELY.

Here's what's up:

I was on the other side of town this morning because I was asked to babysit. Danny's a great kid, smart as anything and a cutie to boot - the dog gave me more trouble than Danny did. Goofy dog that tries to eat anything including yogurt tubs and wooden blocks.

I'm not often on that side of town, so I drove out to Pages in Time in Jenison because I was on the hunt for Twinkling H2Os. I wanted more colors and they don't have them at the Pages in Time 5 minutes from my house.

There's a clearance going on - a STORE MOVING clearance. They moved to a different part of the building (a smaller part) and needed to get rid of a lot of stuff. It was 75% off items or $40 for a shopping basket filled up flush.

I had a dilemma: Fill the basket! Don't go to temptation, you have enough!

The title of my post - and the first line - say it all.

I filled the basket. 1 paint can of primas, 4 corner punches, 1 tin of metal letters, 1 package Basic Grey chipboard, alterable wine holder, snaps, eyelets, rub ons, brads, a 7 Gypsies handbag kit, 3 font cds and lots and lots of paper. And I'm just listing things off the top of my head.

All the Twinkling H2Os were gone. :(

Hope the week was good for everyone and Yay! for deals!

It's All About Becca

Yesterday's Featured Stamper and today's Technique Lovers challenge were the same person: Becca Stamps. Her gallery is great and I had a blast making my card yesterday.

The card of Becca's I CASEd (Copy and Selectively Edit) is this one: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/971519

I changed the colors, stamps, ribbon, well, pretty much everything but the sketch.

Stamps: Verve Visual - Thankful Blossoms. Paper: Lavender Lace, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla. Ink: Palette Noir, Lavender Lace. Accessories: Tacky Tape, microbeads, glitter, corner rounder punch, brads, dimensionals, ribbon.

Today's Technique Lovers Challenge is based on a tutorial she has on her blog, Amazing Paper Grace. You can see it http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/circle-frame-tutorial/ Her video tutorial is fabulous - I watched it once and understood it enough to go and create.

I don't have that many decorative corner punches. Actually, I have 3 corner punches: a corner rounder, a ticket corner, and a stair step. I decided to use the stair step.

The tutorial says to use a circle Nestability die to cut your circle. Unfortunately, I just ordered my circle nesties on Saturday and they're not in my hot little hands yet, so I used my Coluzzle. I punched out the inside of the circle and taped it into place on a piece of Cryogen White shimmer cardstock (bought at Eclectic Paperie.)

I stamped the largest snowflake from PTI's Snowflake Serenade in the center of my medallion and added a rhinestone for some more sparkle.


Stamps: PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: PTI - Pure Poppy, Cryogen Shimmer White. Ink: Pure Poppy. Accessories: Coluzzle, stair step corner punch, rhinestone, ribbon, dimensionals.

Hope that everyone had a safe and fun Halloween and that the week's great for you all!