This card was SO quick!

 

So in my quest to make clean, simple and fast cards, I could not resist using some of the great snowflakes that are included on the Jen Allyson Celebrates eCraft SD Design Card.  Of course, I have to do it a little different.

First thing that I did was cut the snowflake at 5” in my eCraft using a pressure setting of 4 with a veggie mat stabilizer.  Then using my paper trimmer, I cut the snowflake in half.   I also cut some Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores cardstock with their Edgers #3 dies and then a simple strip of Pure Poppy Large Dot patterned paper.  The large sentiment from Think big Favorites stamped in red ink ties the whole card together.

 

This card came together so quickly, that you could make several of these in no time flat!  Hope all is going well with your Christmas crafts!  Please share what you are working on and what kinds of special crafts you do for the Christmas season!

eCraft Monday Design Team Project

 

Before I get started with my project today, I have to send a BIG Happy birthday to my son Jared!  Happy Birthday Jared!  I love you and I cannot believe that you are already 7!  Yikes, I just realized that means that in 9 short years he will be driving!  Where does the time go? 

 

This week the eCraft Design was given quite a challenge!  I personally love to use non-traditional Christmas colors, but I usually go with bold darker colors.  We were challenged to use a hot new color combination for Christmas…Baby Pink, Baby Blue and Lime Green!  Well I love a good challenge and this one is definitely out of my comfort zone, but I have to say that I LOVE what I made!

There is such a whimsy to these colors isn’t there?  Since I am also focusing on treat containers this month, I thought it would be fun to take something that all of us have at home, and use it for our treats (which even though they look complicated, are REALLY easy, keep reading and I will explain).

 

The first thing that I did was take a jar of Classico Spaghetti sauce and made spaghetti for dinner so that I could use the jar in my project! I love the details on the jar itself, so it was perfect for this project!  I used Martha Stewart’s line of acrylic paints (found at Michaels) and painted the jar.  These paints work on all sorts of things including glass, so this was easy as can be.  The paint that I used was the satin finish and the color is called Pink Carnation.  Oh and don’t worry about the paint job being perfect because the glitter will conceal a lot!

 

 

I then took some Mod Podge and covered the entire jar and then went a little glitter crazy!  I used Martha Stewart Snow Glitter and Sterling fine glitter.  I used the Sterling sparingly just to add a little touch of silver.

 

 

While I let the jar fully dry, I went to work on my tag. I used THIS ornament from eCraftCentral.com but also found on the Jen Allyson Celebrates SD Design card. I skewed it in eCraftshop Pro to form a more oval ornament and one that was big enough for my stamps.  I cut it out of Core’dinations cardstock using a veggie mat, pressure of 5.5, no tabs and blade cover on.  I then went to stamping.  My Pink by Design stamp set Beary Merry Christmas was perfect for this whimsical project.  I actually only stamped the bears heads on the tag along with the sentiment.  I then used some Picket Fence Distress Stain to color in the bears.  I love how it gives a chalky look to it!  To do this, I just put some of the Distress Stain directly on my non-stick craft mat and then used a paint brush to paint in the bears.  I did two coats of this.  I messed up in a couple of places and just went over the black stamp lines where the Distress Stain ran over them with a black marker.  I also used the same method with Shabby Shutters Distress Stain for the scarf and the little bit of the sign that is showing.  I then used Perfect Pearls and painted that onto the ornament hanger.

 

 

I added a scalloped oval behind the whole ornament and also if you look closely you will see that there is a small amount of glitter along the edges of the blue ornament to add a little more shimmer. I then set about creating the bow around the top of the jar.  I used some Christmas ribbon from my stash and then layered it with a bow out of handmade Crinkle ribbon and topped it off with the pink button.  The ornament is actually the same thread that is threaded through the button.  I used some amazing Crafty Power Tape adhesive from 3L Adhesives to adhere this bow onto the jar, and let me tell you….it is not going anywhere!

 

 

I added some floral foam inside the jar and started to add my “Cheater Cake Pops” (more on this in a bit, I promise) into the jar and decided that I wanted one more element in there, so I created this super simple decoration using the bird cuts and the snowflake cut from the Jen Allyson Celebrates SD Design card. The snowflake can also be found on eCraftCentral.com right HERE.  For the snowflake, I again doused it with the Martha Stewart snow glitter.  After I added this into the jar, I filled it up with some decorative filler.

Now it is time to talk about the “Cheater Cake Pops”.  I got this idea from the Frugal Crafter who did this for a birthday party and I decided that I absolutely had to do this.  You see, I have been seeing recipes for the cake pops for a while now, and they look wonderful.  The problem is that, I would rather spend my time eCrafting than in the kitchen.  Who can blame me right?  That is why I never made them, they always seemed like they would take more time to do than I was willing to give to it.  So here is my recipe and it seriously took me maybe 10 minutes to do, and they were good too!

CHEATER CAKE POPS

12-16 Donut Holes (I got mine from Dunkin Donuts, you want the cake donut holes)

1 (16 oz.) package of Candi-Quick (found at any major grocery store)

Sprinkles or any other type of edible decorations

Lollipop sticks and something to stand them up in (I think floral foam would work beautifully)

 

Put your donut holes in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.  After they are frozen, insert your lollipop sticks in using a twisting motion.  Follow the directions to melt the Candi-Quick and then dip each donut hole into the Candi-Quick and let the excess drip off.  Then place in your floral foam and add your sprinkles.  Let the Candi Quick set.  That’s it, you’re done! Oh and I should mention too, that I recommend that you wrap your cake pops in a small cellophane baggie.  They sell some in the major craft stores in the candy making aisle if you plan on giving this to someone.  That way they will be protected from all the glitter!  I didn’t do that on my project because I think I am going to use this for a small centerpiece on my table.

 

 

Have a great day everybody, and be sure to come back every day this week to see what the other ladies have in store for you with this hot new Christmas color combination!

eCraft Design Team Video

 

Hi everybody, I am back today with another eCraft Design Team video.  In today’s video, I show you how to use die cuts from your eCraft to emboss paper!  This adds a whole new element to the possibilities of what we can do with our eCraft.  Oh, and have you heard about the eBosser?  I cannot wait to get this machine!  Craftwell is going to be releasing this machine this winter!  The eBosser is a machine that is fully electric (no more turning a crank) and will take a full 8 1/2x 11 piece of paper!  Just awesome!  You can cut with it using your metal dies too!  For more information about the eBosser, make sure to check it out HERE!

 

Today’s project is a quick and easy treat bag!  This is a great technique to do and great for mass producing since you only need to cut one image.

The cookies are a recipe from Paula Deen and they are called Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies!  So easy to make and really yummy too!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  Next week, the Design Team has a whole new challenge using the wonderful Pink by Design Stamps!

One last Craftwell CHA Booth Project!

A few weeks ago, Craftwell sent out an e-mail looking for projects made with the eCraft to be displayed at their booth at CHA!  At the time, I was working on a Valentine's Day Banner and I decided that I would send it off to them.  Well they decided to display it in their booth!

How about a few close-ups?



All of the scalloped banner shapes were cut from the Jen Allyson Celebrates SD card at 8 1/2 for the top layer and then cutting a shadow for the cardstock base layer.

The top layer of this banner was actually cut from some fabric that I found at Joann's.  It was a perfect match to the Core'dinations cardstock colors that I had picked!

The butterflies here were cut from the Fundamentals 1 SD card.  After cutting them out I coated them with UTEE to make them stronger but also add that shine!  I bent the wings up a bit to add some more dimension.  I also used my sewing machine to stitch the trails.



The stamp used on top of that medallion is from the Signature Series: Flower stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  I just love that saying and knew that I needed to use it!

I added these glitter lines using Scor Tape and Martha Stewart glitter.  The flowers were colored with Distress Inks.



Do you see that glittery see-thru heart above the button border?  I did that by cutting a sheet of Terrifically Tacky Tape in the eCraft so that I was left with a die cut of adhesive.  After putting that on my background paper, I added some Extra Fine Glitter to it.  I love how that turned out!

That pink heart was created by cutting a piece of clear plastic and then coloring it by airbrushing it with some Copic markers. I then stamped it with some white Staz On ink (Fancy Flourishes stamp set from Papertrey Ink) and then I dabbed the whole thing with some Perfect Pearls.  Also, all of the letters on the banner were cut out of cereal box chipboard and then a shadow layer cut from the cardstock.  I coated the chipboard letters with Distress Crackle Paint (Tattered Rose) and then once dry, I added some Victorian Velvet Distress Ink on it to make the cracks stand out some more.

All of the cardstock is from Core'dinations.  The patterned papers are Bo Bunny Wine Dot and digital papers from Lettering Delights Valentine Game Night Collection.

Have a great day everybody and be sure to come back tomorrow, because I am working on something that I think all of you eCraft users will like!

Some More CHA Projects

I wanted to drop in and share with you two more projects that were on display in Craftwell's booth at CHA that I made.

This first box was made with the Pinch Box collection from Lettering Delights.  The birthday cake embellishment is cut from the Jen Allyson Celebrates SD card.  This box was super quick to put together and I just LOVE the background paper that I made using Glossy Cardstock, Alcohol Inks, and a can of pressurized air.  I will definitely be doing this again!  So much fun!

The next box was created from the Vintage Paper Rosettes collection from SVGCuts.com.  Love their stuff and now that MTC is working well with the eCraft, I know I will be using more and more of their files!  The hot air balloon was made from the Balloon Craze collection at Lettering Delights.

I know that I promised all of you another video today on MTC, and I am going to do my best to get it done today.  Unfortunately yesterday was a rough day for me.  First off I feel a cold coming on, and I am just hoping that it is not the same cold that my husband and kids had last week because that cold lasted for a week!  I know...I think it is a lost cause, but I always try to be positive so that is what I am doing.  The other thing that caused a glitch in my plans was that there is a blizzard heading toward the Windy City (like we need more wind!) and so yesterday I headed out to the grocery store not once but twice to stock up on everything that we may need.  We are expected to get up to 24 inches of snow (yes 2 whole feet...yikes!), so I needed to make sure that we had enough supplies in case we are "snowed in" and also in case we lose electricity.  I had to go twice because at the first store I realized early on that I was not going to be able to fit everything in my cart that we needed, so I had to go home and drop the first load off and then head out again.  That really wore me out as I wasn't feeling good anyways.  The snow isn't expected to start until this afternoon, and I do have to get to the pharmacy to get a prescription for my hubby, but after that I am planning on spending the rest of the day at home, so hopefully I don't get too stuffy and can get it done!

Christmas with the eCraft - Day 4

For today's project, I decided to do a scrapbook layout. This paticular layout is an 8"x8" layout.  I am trying to get myself back into scrapbooking mojo, and I find that working with a smaller size page helps my creative juices start to flow so I can take on those 12"x12" layouts!

Here is a video showing how I imported the SVG file (Christmas tree) which was a freebie from Images from Heather M.  Heather makes some really nice files, so be sure to add her to your list to check out!  In this video, I also showed you how I created the title by utilizing cut and draw lines.  Of course after I cut it out, I had to embellish it up!



SUPPLY LIST:
Jen Allyson Celebrates eCraft Design Card - For the title under the Words category
Red Cardstock - Base Layer
Patterned Paper - Decorative Strip.  Mine is from K&Company.
Light Green Cardstock - for the title
eCraft Primary Pens - I used the red one
Stardust Glitter Pens - I used the red, and outlined all the red lines with it and colored in the first letters of each word. I also used the green pen to color in the ornament strings
Copic Marker R24 Prawn - Used to color in all the other letters being careful to not overlap the glitter outline
Martha Stewart Green Glitter - Added to the ornament shapes
Dark Green Cardstock - Cut out the Christmas Tree
Red & White Buttons - For the embellishments on the tree
Spellbinders Label 11 - Cut out the picture

On another note: Tonight ABC is showing Disney's Prep and Landing cartoon.  If you missed it last year, be sure to watch it this year.  It is family friendly and in true Disney style it appeals to adults as well as kids.  Our family really enjoyed it last year, and we were so glad to see that they are going to re-broadcast it this year!

Tomorrow is all about MAGIC!  We will be doing a little bit of SVG modifications in Inkscape, and then we will do something that will be sure to add a little excitement to all the little ones out there on Christmas morning!

Christmas with the eCraft - Day 3

For this fancier card, I decided to use some colors other than Christmas Red and Green and I LOVE how this came out!

Here is a video showing how I used a doodlebat file from Letterning Delights called Circles Tis The Season. Oh and in case you haven't heard, Lettering Delights is now selling SVGs!  Their images are always so cute and I can't wait to test these out on the eCraft! I also layered that circle image on top of an image from the Jen Allyson Celebrates Design Card.





SUPPLY LIST
Vellum - Cut the Happy Holidays. I used one that has a cloudy/uneven look to it that I think adds a nice element.
Burgundy Cardstock - Cut the round ornament from the Jen Allyson Celebrates Design Card (Image 38 in the Winter Holiday category)
Glossy Accents
Martha Stewart Snow Glitter - Got this last year on clearance from Michaels.
Perfect Pearls, Perfect Gold color
Kaisercraft Pearls
Paint Brushes - I used the ones that come with the Perfect Pearls
White Cardstock for cardfront - Cut at 4.75" x 4.75"
Distress Inks - For cardfront, I used the Scattered Straw, Brushed Corduroy, and Aged Mahoghany colors
Kraft Cardstock - Cardbase, cut at 5"x10", scored at 5"
Rustic Jute Twine - I got mine from Papertrey Ink
Foam Dimensionals

As you may have noticed in the past few days, I get a lot of use out of the Design Cards from Craftwell.  I order mine from Cutters Creek.  Kim Bush there is a great person to deal with, and she does a great job of working out shipping options for international customers.  I understand that some overseas crafters are having difficulty finding eCraft supplies so if that is you, send an e-mail to Kim and she will hook you up!

Tomorrow, I will be using images from the Design Cards in a way that only us eCraft users can do!  Also I will be importing SVGs into the software to create a scrapbook layout!

Christmas with the eCraft - Day 2

Today, our project is going to be a tag.  I just LOVE making my own tags for the holidays.  There is just something about throwing something together and adding some pretty ribbon and other embellishments to making a gift stand out.

This tag was made entirely out of images found on Craftwell's Design Cards.  By welding various images together, you can make entirely new images.  This method is especially popular right now to make wordbooks.  Here is a video showing how I did this using eCraftshop Pro.



SUPPLY LIST
Jen Allyson Celebrates Design Card
Fundamentals 1 Design Card
White Cardstock (cut base layer)
Red Glitter Paper - I used American Crafts.  Seriously LOVE this paper!
Candy Cane Ribbon - Found this at Michaels
Distress Stickles, Rock Candy - Hard to see in the picture, but I spread a thin layer of this over the white base before adding on my red glitter layers to give the base a little bling.
To/From Stamp - Not shown in picture, but I stamped this on the back of the tag.
Distress Ink Barn Door - Used to ink the edges

Tomorrow we will be using a True Type Font dingbat to create a fancy Christmas card.  I will also be using unconventional colors for this card, which is something that I just love to do at Christmas time!

Tags as Gifts?

NOTE: This is the 2nd post of the day, so be sure to scroll down to see my first post!

Yesterday for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, I showed you two of the tags that I have created for this year.  Now, I would like to take the time to show you 5 more of the tags that I have created. I will be showing you more tags in the next few days as well until I have shown you all of them! Also for today I am going to show you how I am packaging up these tags to give to some people as a little gift.  Hint:  I am recycling something that any Cricut crafter has laying around... Now onto the tags...

Now onto the gift...I am giving an assortment of these tags to a few people this year.  One of whom is Jared's teacher, which I did last year for his pre-school teachers and was so well received that I have decided that this will be my standard Christmas teacher gift.  I am making improvements on it for this year however.  I decided that I wanted to put these into a box that in itself would be a keepsake.  This box needed to be big enough for all the tags, but also for a few accessories.  I wanted to include a couple of pens and also some Baker's Twine to attach these tags onto each gift.  So in my brainstorming, I came across an idea that I think all of you will love!

Awhile ago, I had to come up with some alternate storage for all of my Cricut cartridges.  After completing that storage, I was left with all of the Cricut cartridge boxes.  I could not do what others had done and just throw them out.  I knew that one day I would find a way to use them, and I did!  So I set out to recover these boxes to use as my tag boxes!  First off, here is the finished product...

Now, a little picture tutorial on how I did this.  To do this project, you will need the following supplies.

1 piece of 8-1/2" x 12" decorative paper (Note: the magnets on the box will work better if you use a thinner paper, but you will want to make sure that you can't see through the paper!)
2 pieces of 1-1/4" x 3-3/4" coordinating paper
1/4" Scor Tape or similar adhesive
E-6000 Adhesive or similar industrial strength adhesive
Empty Cricut cartridge box
Rubberbands

Step 1: Remove the interior box from the outer shell of the Cricut Cartridge box.  I recommend removing the bottom portion of the box first, as when I tried it the other way, I ended up tearing the box.

Step 2 - Apply a strip of Scor Tape to the interior edge of the outer shell right above the magnets.

Step 3 - Apply the paper to the Scor Tape as shown.  Make sure that the overlap on each side is even!!!!

Step 4 - Apply Scor Tape on all four side and along both sides of each "score" in the box.

Step 5 - Slowly fold the attached paper over and apply to each section of the outer shell.  As you go along, bend the outer shell at each "score" so that the paper does not get too tight!

Step 6 -  Fold paper over to the inside of the outer shell and adhere with Scor Tape.

Step 7 - Cut and remove the interior corner sections so that the long ends can fold over easily.  Then fold over the ends and adhere with more Scor Tape.

Step 8 - Apply the coordinating paper to the ends of the interior box that we removed earlier.

Step 9 - Apply a good amount of the E-6000 adhesive to the underside of the interior box and place in the outer shell.  Make sure you line up the "score" of the outer shell with the interior box.

Step 10 - Apply E-6000 adhesive to the back section of the interior box and fold the outer shell so that it completely surrounds the interior box.  Place some rubber bands around the box to hold it in place while the adhesive dries.  I like to let it dry overnight.

Now it is time to embellish our boxes.  On both of the boxes that I have completed so far, I used a thicker cardstock weight paper from K&Company.  Since I did this, the magnets would "grab" onto each other, but they did not hold the box closed the way I would like them to.  I decided to add a ribbon closure to the boxes.  I used Papertrey Ink saddle stitch ribbons on both boxes.  I simply adhered them onto the box with some more Scor Tape and then tied the ends into bows.  I also used the same ribbon to do a layered and looped riboon embellishment on the top of the boxes.  I then used the Jen Allyson Celebrates eCraft Design card to cut out the tags at 3 1/2" in coordinating cardstock.  I stamped each tag with some Versamark ink using Papertrey Ink's Fancy Flourishes stamp set.  I heat set that ink with my heat gun and then stamped the sentiment from PTI's Signature Christmas stamp set and heat embossed it using white embossing powder.  I inserted a little white velvet ribbon in the hole and then added a glittery button to each before adhering the entire tag to the top of the box.  Here are pictures of both finished products.

And here is a shot of the box opened with the contents inside...

I have two more of these boxes to complete, and I will be sure to share those pictures once I have them done!

Be sure to check out my first post today, as I announced the winner of the Giveaway!!



Christmas is Coming...

My sister-in-law recently approached me about putting together a care package for some soldiers in Afghanistan.  She had some some research and she found a platoon that are in desperate needs of some of the basics.  They live in tents, and they do have 110v electricity and a small microwave.  The problem that they have is that their rations keep running out.  If they open a box of cereal, they have to eat the whole box otherwise the bugs and rodents will get into it.  They requested only food and socks to be sent to them.  Of course, I want to help!  My father was in the Navy, and my brother was in the Marines, so I feel for these guys and I am grateful that my relatives did not have to live in these conditions.  My SIL has put together a lot of stuff, and I am giving her the stuff that I put together tomorrow so that she can get it all shipped out.  We want them to have it before Christmas, so we have to get it shipped soon.  I could not resist putting together a Christmas card for them as well.

The snowflake on this card is from the Jen Allyson Celebrates eCraft Design Card.  I did have some trouble getting it to cut right in one spot.  I decided that I would let it hang over the edge and cut off the bad portion, because I needed to get this done quickly! I am in love with this color combination!  All from Papertrey Ink, Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, and Hawaiian Shores.  The scalloped border is cut from the Tim Holtz Alterations die, and I just love how imperfect it is!  The red panel was impressed with Papertrey Ink's linen impression plate.  I stamped the sentiment (from Papertrey Ink's 2009 Holiday Tag Collection) on a piece of white cardstock and then punched it out with the Word Window Punch from Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by!  Also we are getting really close to 100 followers for the giveaway, so if you have not signed up for the giveaway, be sure to do that.  The link to do so is in the column to your right at the top!  Have a great weekend everybody!