So Easy Christmas Decor

I think this has to be one of the easiest and cutest little decor projects. I simply put Real Red ink into chipboard letters to spell NOEL then tied them to glass votives with silver string (I sure wish Stampin'UP! would bring this string back, I use it all the time!). I put votive candles inside but I also think it would look great with a sprig of greens tied with string or ribbon, or fill the glass holders with candy, or with little silver bells, or....well use your imagination, the possibilities for this simple little project are endless!

Gift Card Envelope Box

Finally for my brother-in-law, I wanted to come up with something to hold gift cards and a chocolate bar (I can never just give a gift card, I always like to include a little treat with them). I decided to try to make a boxolope. That is the name I've given this envelope box.

I stuck with the Parisian Breeze paper that I had used for the birthday cards and used not quite navy for the boxolope. My little owl buddy was from the 2 step owl punch and I used the teeny tiny wishes set for the "happy birthday". I punched it with the 1 1/4 circle, rubbed some chocolate chip on the edge and put in onto a 1 3/8 baja breeze circle. Finally, the clip to hold the flap down is from Hodgepodge Hardware.

So Nice I Made it Thrice

So in addition to my birthday and my son's birthday, my mom and two of my aunties also have birthdays in October. I first saw the idea for this card in the current Idea Book then saw the talented Marlene Peters take it up a notch with a card she shared at our group meeting. I thought it would be a great layout for the 3 ladies celebrating birthdays. I used the retired Parisian Breeze DSP with Baja Breeze card stock, chocolate chip ribbon and ink, and the Wonderful Favorites stamp set. The Wonderful mother card also has hodgepodge hardware and the bird is from the Aviary stamp set

The added flowers on this card are done using the Boho Blossoms punch and the circles from the Owl Punch.

This one just added a button from button latte.

Still one more birthday to come....my brother-in-law.

Birthday Place mats

October is full of birthdays in my family...starting with my own, closely followed by my son - who turned 2 this week. The theme for his party was trains. As a party favor I made these place mats using My Digital Studio then had them laminated at my local office supply store. They boys border and colors are from the Happy Birthday designer kit and the girls from Sunny Day designer kit. I created the trains using a variety of punches: square punch was stretched into rectangular shapes (yes you can stretch punches in MDS), oval punch was stretched and changed sizes to create the front part as well as the rounded top of the front tower, OK, I am very quickly realizing that I know nothing about the parts of trains, so here are the other punches I used, circle punch, modern label, photo corners, rounded square, butterfly and star, you can figure out where they are and if you know the train part associated with it let me know.

Upline Swap

Tonight I went to a demonstrator meeting with my upline Kari and participated in a swap....my first time doing a swap! Here is the card I created for the theme "Winter". I used whisper white, bashful blue and shimmery white paper, bashful blue ink, dazzling diamonds glitter on a strip of sticky strip, a rhinestone, whisper white satin ribbon and the Northern Hearts stamp set (hostess level 1 in the current holiday mini). The hole is punched with the 1 3/8 punch and the insert in punched with the 1 1/4, a piece of dental floss allows the inner circle to spin (and provides a minty aroma - hee hee) and two rows of paper piercing finish it off. I enjoyed challenging myself to swap with some very talented ladies!

Christmas Decor

Ever since I saw the picture of the ribbon wreath in the 2010/2011 IB&C (p. 190), I knew I wanted to make one for Christmas. My daughter and I started making this yesterday and with this week Stampin' Royalty Challenge being Anything But a Card, we were inspired to finish it today. At 3 1/2 Jessica couldn't quite tie the knots but she did enjoy selecting what pattern the ribbons were going to go in (it created a nice random pattern doing it this way, rather than my somewhat more regimented approach). We used white satin, old olive striped grosgrain, real red polka dot grosgrain (now retired), 1/4"chocolate chip grosgrain (also retired) and 1/4" real red grosgrain. I also used an 8" wreath form that we got at the craft store. Now we just have to pick the perfect spot to hang it at Christmas time!

Gift Certificate

My friend is just a few months away from achieving a lifelong goal of hers. She is going to Cambodia to build houses with the Tabitha Foundation. Yes, amazing! She needs to raise a bunch of money to go, and her team's major fundraising effort is going to be a silent auction so I just had to support her by donating a gift certificate for Stampin'UP! This cute card is a hybrid MDS creation and the coordinating gift certificate is held inside. The idea and instructions for the pinwheel came from Patty Bennett.

Best of Luck Estelle in your fundraising efforts!