Gingerbread Favours

It is that time of year when the Holidays are only a few weeks away and our family gets together each weekend to bake Christmas cookies; and Christmas baking would not be complete without gingerbread cookies.

I whipped up a "batch" of gingerbread themed Curvy Keepsake favours that would be perfect for gifting a couple of small homemade gingerbread cookies.

Isn't this little couple just adorable? I think they came out rather cute. Best of all, whether you want to make a boy or girl, the pieces needed are identical, the assembly just differs slightly.

For the boy; add the bow at the neckline for a"bow tie" look and 2 pieces of icing trim at the top of the head for hair.

For the girl, place the bow on the head and move the trim to the neckline for a necklace. And if you like, add some eyelashes.

Either favour/wrapper can hold a few goodies, such as 2 cookies placed in a little clear bag, or as shown below, 2 peppermint patties.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections

Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler - both SU

Die: Curvy Keepsake - SU

Punches: see instructions below

Misc: white gel pen, black marker

Also a little note. I have found a much better way to cut the Curvy Keepsake pieces needed for these treat wrappers that results in a seamless bottom piece which expands a little further to accommodate a thicker gift item.

Start by cutting a 3" wide strip from an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock; your piece should be 3" x 8.5"

Fold this piece in half on the long side, so you end up with a piece that is 3" x 4.25" and then cut the Curvy Keepsake die shape with the fold is at the bottom.

 

The cut piece should look like this:

Now just trim the excess on the side as shown.

Fold on score lines, and then glue the top "handles" together. Your favor shape is now ready to finish.

Gingerbread instructions:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Winter Moose Favour

Winter in Canada would not be complete without including a great, big moose. So of course I had to make a winter themed moose favour. This cute fellow would be great for any huntsmen on your holiday gift list.

Note, when I say big, I mean big. This favour is a good 2 . 5 " taller than the mouse favour from my last post. He was made in the same style and can therefore hold a nice treat in his tummy.

Although he is adorable as is I thought a little holiday greeting would create the perfect  finishing touch. This would also work well with a simple "hello" or a birthday greeting.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Bazzill, Recollections

Ink: Early Espresso, Mossy meadow, Crumb Cake - all SU

Sentiment die; Wonderful Wreath - SU

Misc.: white gel pen, rose/red chalk

Punches/dies needed as per below instructions.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Winter Mouse Favour

When I came up with the idea to make a cute little mouse treat wrapper I was rather excited to get started but for some reason he gave me a little trouble and just refused to look like the mouse image I had in my head. It took a bit of adjusting but he finally came out how I pictured him.

He is rather cute but still very masculine looking. I think he'll make the perfect treat for my teenage sons. I plan on filling him with a few homemade Christmas cookies tucked inside a clear bag.

To give you an idea what he looks like stuffed, h he is filled up with 2 peppermint patties.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections, Bazzill

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Strawberry Blush, - all SU

Sentiment die: Wonderful Wreath - SU, Curvy Keepsake - SU

Misc.: black marker, white gel pen

Full punch list as per below instructions:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Penguin Christmas Favour

I thought a few more Christmas favours would come in handy now for classroom gifts as well as  party and holiday treats. This time I focused on some frosty wintertime friends.

To start off this little collection of Curvy Keepsake treats is this handsome little penguin decked out in his winter attire.

As with all my Curvy Keepsake favours his tummy can hold various little treats such as peppermint patties, Tic Tacs or even a clear bag with a couple of homemade Christmas cookies.

He can also be finished with a Holiday greeting (or someone's name).

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections black, rest is old Bazzill

Ink: Cajun Craze, Marina Mist, both SU

Sentiment die: Expressions Thinlits - SU

Misc.: white gel pen, black marker

Punches and dies needed for the treat holder/favour as per below instructions.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon for more fun and frosty Holiday favours.

Curvy Keepsake Christmas lantern

I have been playing with the Curvy Keepsake die again and have come up with several really cute Christmas designs. Today's is not a favour/treat wrapper but rather a single layer, flat die/punch art design.

With the addition of a couple of other dies I turned the Curvy Keepsake into this cheery Christmas lantern.

Although my below instructions list the exact dies I sued, the lantern opening can really be cut using any oblong or oval die shape and achieve similar results.
And if you don't own the SU Bow builder punch, an actual ribbon bow will work just as well.

My card is standard A2 (4.25 x  5.5") in size. The white embossed background was cut to 4 x 5.25".
The interior of the lantern consists of a white piece of cardstock cut to fit the opening that was sponged in several shades of yellow to create the feeling of a warm candle light.

The finished lantern was attached with foam tape for a little added dimension. The sentiment was stamped onto scrap white cardstock, matted on black and fishtailed using a star punch. Finishing touches consist of a few random pieces of sequins for a bit of Holiday sparkle.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollection
Stamp: Christmas Sentiments - Club Scrap
Embossing folder: Scroll border - Darice
Ink: So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Craft White, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy meadow - all SU, Tuxedo
       Black - Memento
Punch: large Star punch - SU (for lantern see instructions below)
Misc.: foam mounting tape/squares, gold sequins

Lantern instructions:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Burnished Gold Blossom

As I did finish colouring this image, despite the gold embossing, I thought I'd share it as well.
As noted in my last post, I don't recommend anyone else trying this unless you have a very steady hand and are willing to risk your marker tip.
Instead I would recommend investing in some good quality metallic ink (now definitely on my wish list) and then clear embossing to get a similar finished look.

I really love the colours in this one as I tend  to lean more towards warm tones. This has a definite fall feeling to me.

I started by stamping both the leafy image and the lotus blossom onto scraps of white cardstock. Heat embossed the images in powder gold and then coloured with Copic markers. Both images were fussy cut and then glued to the brown die cut shape which was trimmed at the top to fit the card front.

The green mat was dry embossed with diagonal stripes and cut the width of my card base. The sentiment was stamped towards the right side in dark brown. The card background mat consists of a very golden pattern paper that was inked in brown along the edges. For finishing touches a gold organza ribbon bow and a few gold rhinestones were added.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill brown and green

Patterned paper: MME "Reunion" 6 x 6 " paper pad

Stamp: Remarkable You, Tin of Cards - both SU

Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso - SU

Alcohol markers: YR04, YR24, YR32, YR35, YG03, YG25, 0 - blender pen - Copis, Olive Green 

                             (lightest) - SU Blendabilities, 

Die: Apothecary Accents - SU

Embossing folder: Stylish Stripes - SU

Misc.: Gold organza ribbon, Gold rhinestones - both Crafts by Dollarama, powder gold embossing powder - the Stampers Edge

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon. 

Silver Blossoms

Still being very new to colouring with Copics I thought I'd try embossing my line image in gold and silver before colouring, after all I have successfully coloured my images after clear embossing.
Those of you well familiar with Copics are probably cringing as you read this as you know better.

I had no idea that the embossing powder, despite having been heat set, would dissolve when coming into contact with Copics.  I noticed this immediately when I started colouring and quickly did a Google search only to find this is a big no-no.
I did persist though and managed to finish colouring my image by being very, very careful not to touch the tip of my marker to the embossed edges. The finished image looks beautiful but I don't recommend anyone else trying this unless you have a very steady hand and are willing to risk your marker tip. I would recommend investing in some good quality metallic ink (now definitely on my wish list) and then clear embossing to get a similar finished look.

The Lotus was stamped on a scrap piece of cardstock, coloured with Copic markers and then fuzzy cut. The leaves  and sentiment were stamped onto a separate piece of card trimmed to approx. 3 x 4.25 ".

The lotus flower was attached with a bit of foam tape for some added depth. The panel was then mounted on a bit of pink patterned paper.

The last mat is mint cardstock embossed with a frame texture. before attaching this mat it was sponged with a little ink and wrapped with the ribbon. 

The pink pattern paper was used as the card front and a white doily added to fill in the space. Lastly for the finishing touches the bow as added as well as a few rhinestones in the right corners.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill green

Patterned paper: Karen Foster

Ink: Versamark, Garden green - SU

Alcohol markers: Copic: G02, G05, RV10,RV21, RV34, blender pen

Embossing folder: Framed Tulips - SU

Misc.: 5/8" pink organza ribbon, 4.5" white paper doily, rhinestones, foam tape/mounting squares

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Remarkable Hello

Have I mentioned that I have one of the best SU demos around? A few weeks ago I had a surprise in my mail box, a pack of melon mambo Blendabilities. Knowing I am really getting into alcohol markers, and that I missed out on several colour packs of the Blendabilities before they were pulled she gifted me this set. I love the vibrancy of this colour pack and thought flowers were the perfect canvas.

As I had not made use of the third flower in the Remrakable You set i decided a bright and happy bouquet created form this image woudl be perfect.

There was a lot o fuzzy cutting involved in getting this to look just right. The leafy stems consist of two images cut apart to frame my little bouquet.

I chose to match the flower colours in my pretty striped ribbon, so opted for purple, pink and fuchsia tones. I also coloured my die cut sentiment to match.

The leafy greens were glues straight onto the card front, where as the flowers were all popped using a bit of foam tape for some added dimension.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill green

Patterned paper: source know (old piece I had in my stash with no printed info on the back

Stamps: Remarkable You - SU

Die: Hello Thinlits - SU

Ink: Tuxedo Black - Memento

Alcohol markers: Melon mambo Blendabilities - SU, RV01, RV21, RV34, V04, V06, V09, G02, G05, G09 - Copic

Misc.: striped ribbon (1 1/4" wide), foam mounting tape/squares

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Remarkable You Magnolia

For the second card creation in this SU set I chose the magnolia image. I wanted my image to be the focus of the card and therefore opted for a white canvas, no fuzzy cutting.

The flower was coloured using Copics in warm pink tones. I added a shadow with warm gray and faded it out using pointillism.

The light gray card front was embossed with a leafy background and the flower image was mounted on a matching pink before adhering to a lacy white square. 

The card was finished with a simple hello die and some matching pink ribbon.

I actually just purchased that ribbon last week at my local Dollarama. I knew I had very limited pink embellishments, especially ribbon and when I saw this multi coloured striped one I had to have. I am amazed at how well it matched the Copic colour I currently own )I used it in my next card as well).

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections white, Bazzill pink, Gray Staples.

Stamp: Remarkable You - SU

Dies: Greetings Thinlits - SU, Lacy Squares - Spellbinder

Embossing folder: Flora - Spellbinder

Alcohol markers: R11, R22, W1, W3, W5, G02, G05, G09, Colorless blender - Copic

Misc.: 1 1/4" ribbon, foam mounting tape/squares, corner rounder (Creative Memories)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

You are Remarkable

I really enjoy coloring and as I am still in need of a lot of practice I am always on the lookout for new line art stamps. It is therefore no wonder that when I came across SU's new "Remarkable You" set in their catalog it immediately made it onto my must have list.

This past week I finally had time to play with this lovely st. For my first card I chose the calla lilies image.

As my colour preference always leans towards warm autumn hues I chose to colour the flowers in soft, peachy pink.

Although i don't often use patterned paper I happen to buy a 6 x 6 pad the other day at 50% off and low and behold it matches my intended colour scheme perfectly. I picked two coordinating patterns, cut them to size and matted each onto white cardstock.

To help the flowers pop from the card front I placed them over a vellum oval and popped them with foam mounting tape. The sentiment was also popped with foam and for a finishing touch I added a ribbon bow.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Recollections white, vellum - unknown

Patterned paper: MME "reunion" 6" paper pad

Stamps: Remarkable You - SU

Ink: Tuxedo Black - Memento

Alcohol markers: YR000. YR00, Y35, YG03, YG25 - Copic

Misc.: foam mounting tape/squares, 5/8" mint green organza ribbon

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Glistening Tree Tops

I try to be a little frugal with my crafting budget (although I don't always succeed).
One of this year's SU Holiday stamps sets that intrigued me is the Wonderland set. To be specific, I really love the tree image. The sentiment is nice as well,  I however don't have need for the rest of the images and honestly am not a fan of the deer horns.
After seeing many creations using the new fir tree image I decided to see if I could create a similar look with what I already own; after all I do have the wonderful Lovely as a Tree stamp set.
The results were these pretty winter scenes; daytime, night sky and after sunset  purple.

I love how they turned out.
Each background was created with a single ink colour, Night of Navy

Marina Mist

Blackberry Bliss

I used sponge daubers to apply the ink to the card front. The fir tree images were stamped using Basic Black. I then repeated the tree images using a white pearlescent ink. The same ink was used to add the falling snow. The pearlescent ink is pigment based and was therefore heat set.

The card has just the right amount of sparkle for my taste without overpowering.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections white & black
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree - SU, More Merry Messages - SU
                  Holiday Home - SU, Gorgeous Grunge - SU
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Night of navy, Mairna Mist, Basic Black - SU, Pearlescent white - Club Scrap
Die: Bitty Banners - SU
Misc.: white and black 5/8" organza ribbon, mini clear plastic snowflake (Dollarama)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.