PCS November 2014 ~ Holiday Fun

Get ready for the holiday with a few of these crafty project ideas from the November Sampler, "Holiday Fun".

This month's template is the Holiday Secret Gift Box.

$12.99

  

Here are a few sneak peeks for you:

Dynasty Ornament ~ Poinsettia

A few days late with the directions for the Dynasty Ornament, but here they are.  It was more difficult to put into words than I thought.  Hopefully the directions and shapes I created will be easy enough to follow.

There are several ways to recreate the ornament.  Cut the template shapes and layer them one on top of the other, using the smaller layers as a guide to create your side 'strips'.  Then push them up a bit (gently) and adhere to the base.

You can find the template (along with a few others) in the "Freebie Template" group on the PocketsOfInspiration.NING  (POI.NING) site.  Like most NING's you must first sign up for the site.

Here's another sample to get you going.   If you happen to try it be sure to post your samples to the POI.NING.

Dynasty Ornament

Here's something I've been working on.  A different kind of ornament. I call it the Dynasty ornament.  After a week of tweaking it, I'm ready to share.

I'll be posting directions and a template towards the end of the week for those who'd like to recreate their own.

I really love how it came out!  That large flourish is from the Presto Patterns digital downlaod.  It's one of four BEAUTIFUL designs you can print as many times as you want and whatever size you need. 

Holiday Wreaths

Found these creative Holiday wreaths while browsing online and just thought I'd share. 

Origami Wreath from Dolloar Store Crafts

Doily Wreath from Dujor Mag

Check out this yellow doily wreath.  Thinking outside the box here; this would look great for a Baby Shower or Spring.

The Winner and Sneak Peek

Thanks to all those who participated in the drawing for copy of the November issue of the Paper Crafters Sampler.  The winner was selected through a random generator, and they are:

Congrats to Ruby!  Send me your email address and I'll make sure you're on board to receive your copy of the November issue when it goes live to subscribers November 10th.

Thanks again to all those who played. Here's another sneak peek of what's in store for the November issue:

A Whosville Color Palette

Moving on with my gift wrap inspired card creations.  Here's my second using the same gift wrap I used in my prior post, using a different section of the paper. 

It's unusal to use pinks this time of year.  After posting my last gift wrap inspired card, Kathy Strubel emailed and said it reminder her of Dr. Suess.  I totally agreed.  In fact, it reminded me of the Who's in Whosville.  Fun and cheery.

Here's a close-up of the center star.

Used my little leaves sizzlet to create the leaves here.  They were cut, sponged and then hand-drawn lines brown marker.  The white snowflakes were created with the white signa-gel pen.

See the rich pink color in the background of the snowflake?  I used my watercolor wonder crayons to create that depth.  You've gotta love those crayons!  Just scribble some of the crayon on your Regal Rose cardstock and smudge away with your finger.  Of course you can activate the wax crayon a bit with water, (and I did), but smudging also gives it a randomness of where the color is distributed.

The scripted text are words from the song "My Favorite Things".   Didn't have a clue as to what the text on the Gift Wrap said so I opted to write something myself.  The song is not written word for word (couldn't really remember all the words), so I only jotted down the lyrics I knew.  It was all done in a Close to Cocoa marker.

The text around the Regal Rose and snowflake square says "Joy".  If you look closely at the written text around the square on the gift wrap, you'll notice it's Gregg shorthand (remember that???).  You know, I took shorthand in school but couldn't remember a lick of it when looking at this paper. I think it has something to do with trimming a tree.  Still, it looked great around the square so I added something of my own, "Joy".

Below is the gift wrap I've been using for inspiration.  There are still many options for card samples.  The music note heart is my next inspiration.  I think that heart is what drew my attention to the paper in the first place, well that and the writing on the paper.   

Anyone up for a little gift wrap Inspiration Blog Hop?  Create a card, scrapbook page or anything using the gift wrap paper here as your inspiration.  You don't need to have squares and rectangles like I did.  Try creating just the snowman, just the tree or any of the other features.

If you're interested, just email me by Friday so I can get a head count and we'll post our creations first thing Tuesday (that'll give you an entire week).  We'll post our creations Tuesday morning to share with everyone.

Hope your day is filled with inspiration.

Melanie

Tour de Freaks ~ November

Time for another Tour de Freaks.  Remember, the tour officially starts on the 20th of each month, so stop by then in the morning to see it in full swing.

The theme for this month is altered art, stocking stuffers, gift and more.  Mostly 3D you see.

You probably just arrived from the fabulous blog of  Gretchen Barron

My first project is an altered wooden hanging plaque.  The base paper is from the Merry Moments designer series packet.  All other embellishments came from the Christmas Jingle Simple Scrappin pack.  Here's a suggestion if you try this yourself.  Use the beautiful papers in the Scrappin' pack instead of the Merry Moments.  I just happen to attach the paper before I thought of using the Scappin' kit.

I must have taken 30 photos of this and each came out blurry.  I finally opted to scan the plaque, which is the reason for the grey background color.

Here's a close-up of the details.  I used a gold zig pen to add color to the brown die cuts that came in the kit.  The center ornament you see here is actually the outside rim of where the green stripped ornament was held.  I adhered a peice of vanilla cardstock behind it after stamping the with a festive image (from the Pattern Pines set).  Additional gold dots with the Zig pen were added to the green stripes on the ornament and dots on the vanilla card stock and stamped image.

Here's the top of the plaque.  My large Bigz Scallop, Circle Cutter and Damask Texturz was used to create this embellishment.  Oh, and the Peace is from the Peace, Love, Joy and Cheer die.

Next up.  A plain white candle I picked up from a dollar store (the same place the plaque was purchased).  The candle had been sitting for a month (knowing I would eventually dress it up).  Who couldn't use a candle?

The paper once again is from the Christmas Jingle Scrappin' Kit.  The paper is adhered with sticky strip and the red paper going down the front  is a peel and stick border.  Quick and easy! 

The snowflakes are from the Patterned Pines set.  Emboss in gold on Vanilla card stock and stamp in Real Red on Vanilla card stock.  An additional stamped image and scallop punch finish it off nicely.

Here's a close-up.  The Joy once again is from the Peace, Love, Joy and Cheer die.

There you have it.   I hope these ideas help you to create some inspiring gifts and 3D items your self.

Next up on the hop is Connie Babbert.  I'm sure you can't wait to see what she has in store for you. 

Melanie

Seasonal Smiley's and Gift Packages

Bad weather Saturday in the wee early hours shorted something in our computer. Nothing like a panic attack when you're up at 5am.

I rely heavily on the computer and the last thing I need is to have this baby go dead on me. It's not so much what was 'on' the computer (we have an external backup source), but the fact that I couldn't get online. Have you ever waken up wanting to check our your favorite sites and not be able to?

Luckily the husband figured out the source of the problem and headed to the computer store to get what we needed.

Now on to some crafting news! It's time for another "Seasonal Smileys" workshop. This year a Gift Packaging ideas will be included.

The basis of this workshop is to share ideas for creating small, inexpensive gift ideas. What could be better than a crafter being crafty during the season of giving? It's an extra special treat for everyone.

You can get a glimpse of a few projects in the collage below. There's a captured butterfly mini-ornament, and a personalized note card box using the Extreme Elements stamp set.





This years event will be held at Sweet Wishes. Contact me for more information.

Can't attend the local event? Don't fret. Sign up for the "online workshop" starting November 17th.

The online workshop cost is $27.00 and includes video for constructing all projects along with a PDF for supplies. Once registration is received, your personal invitation is sent to PocketsOfInspiration.NING.com where you can view your classes.

The Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone.


Yesterday the boys decided to sit down in a bunch of clovers in the backyard

and not 2 minutes later, our oldest son pulled out a Four Leaf Clover!

What luck!