12 Days of Christmas

I've made another set of small gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas for a friend who needs a little cheering up.

I think this Ellen Hutson set is so delightful. I keep it simple by adding patterned paper and a simple colour palette. This year I went with kraft and red, with touches of white.

Here's a closeup of 3 of the tags ...

Here they are more in order of numbers.

Have you ever read or listened to the wonderfully humorous book "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by John Julius Norwich. You can go and listen HERE.

My entry to ...

... Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge : Christmas Critters.

Matchbook Gifts

I had bought the Altenew Mini Starry Flower stamp set for my stamping friends and wanted a fun wrapping. I spotted a few matchbook designs on Pinterest and thought, what a great idea.

So I measured my stamp set and calculated the size I needed.  To decorate, I thought the best thing was my new Altenew poinsettia die set since the gift was from Altenew too.

I made a little pocket so that the stamp set just slipped in.

Here's the close-up.

You can see the shimmer on the metallic cardstock. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp - Tiny Words Christmas.

I adjusted the measurements to take a small hand cream too.

My entry to ...

... The Flower Challenge : Add Embellishments. I used enamel accents and liquid pearls.

... Global Design Project : Winter/Holiday

... Die Cut Divas Challenge : Anything Goes

Quick Cards, Boxes and Wrapping

What do you do when you need a quick set of cards ... or gift wrapping?

Grab some delightful Altenew Delicate Blooms stickers ... punch some circles ... stamp or diecut some lacy backgrounds ... add some ribbon ... and voila!!

Bottom left is the box I made for the cards ... pizza box style.
Bottom right is another gift wrapped in brown paper, then there was a band of the card I had used for the box left over, so I wrapped that around and popped on the decoration.

My entry for ...

... Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge : No Stamps

Gift Box of Cards

A Christmas wrapped box of cards ... a gift for friends who love getting cards.

I made a pizza style box. Simple, but elegant.

This card stock has a wonderful metallic shimmer, and it's quite thick and sturdy. 

My entry for ...

... Just Add Ink Challenge : Gift Box

Stocking Fillers ...

It's an oldie, but a goodie and too much fun not to repeat! Snowman Poop Tic Tacs ... a sweet stocking filler.

It's thanks to Whimsie Doodles for the digital images. 

I colour mine to suit the recipient's favourite colour. The set for my book club...

Card Set

It's a joy to make cards for friends who appreciate them. So thought I would make up a card set as part of my Christmas gift to a dear friend. When I do this kind of thing, I make cards in the style and colours of the recipient.

I made a pizza box style box.

This is a close up of the top of the box.

I made 6 cards of the same design, but changing the colours and the embossing folder used for the background. 

Here are the six cards ...

My entry for ...

... The Flower Challenge : Anything but a card I'm using the box for this entry.

... SIP Challenge : Say No to Christmas

... Addicted to CAS : Make your Mark

Twelve Days of Christmas ...

This came together as I had spark of an idea for a special friend. She has had a tough year with a heavy work load and I thought she needed a touch of joy each day leading to Christmas. What better way than to have 12 Days of Christmas?!

And it was a great opportunity to use Ellen Hutson's 12 Days of Christmas stamp set. I decided to keep it simple ... 3 pieces of patterned paper, the 3 tags from MFT Dienamics Tag Builders Blueprint 2 set, and only colouring with a touch of red.

I printed out a label I found on a google search (but I can't find the link now - if anyone can let me know where it is, I would like to acknowledge the creator), and found a white box. I used plain white paper and red string from May Arts to wrap the gifts.

 So happy that all the little gifts fit in the box perfectly.

I hope this is an acceptable entry to ...

... Muse Christmas Visions : Anything Goes

... The Card Concept : Parisian Postale (I was inspired by their plain paper wrapping with string)

... Inkspiration Challenge : Gift

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Present and Name Place Card

When I spotted this "gift box in a card", I knew it would be perfect for the table decoration and name place setting. I had to adjust the box size so that the present would fit. (Shhh! Can't tell you yet as the dinner is next week!)

My entry for ...

...  SIP : All Wrapped Up

... Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge : Anything Goes

Gift Idea ... Message Blocks

I decided to use up some of the large stash of 6x6 patterned paper to cover some message blocks. Then it was fun finding stamps to match to stamp on the sides. It was a late night, but I finished 13 of them.

These Wplus9 stamps went so well with this paper. Sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

Complete different WPlus9 set. I know there is a Hero Arts stamp with almost the same flowers, but I don't have it. You work with what you have.

How I love the mix of this paper with the Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine set.

I've had quite a few queries on how I made these, so here's the quick version :

• Choose your patterned paper and cut to size.
• Find matching stamps and ink colours.I didn't really care what make or type - I was more concerned that the colour matched, so it was a mix of Hero Arts, Memento and Simon Says Stamp, Versacolor.
• Turn the block vertical, so the side you want to stamp is on top. Hold firmly against the table top and squeeze the pages together with your one hand, and stamp with the other. It's important to try and hold it so the pages make a "straight" surface with no dips.
• Turn the block to repeat for the other 2 sides.
• Glue on the patterned paper and add a sentiment and embellishments if you wish.