Reverse Confetti Easter packages

 Hello everyone.

I hope you had a lovely Easter, and still have lots of chocolate goodies in your stash. Here are a few little gift packages I made up using the Reverse Confetti Box Dies and Layered Bow dies, along with some papers from my supplies.

These gift bags are also from Reverse Confetti and they are ideal for holding small gifts. I managed to get a surprising amount of chocolate into each one!

The tag die also comes in the set, and on this one, because children love to see something just for them, I added the recipient's name in glitter stickers left over from my scrapbooking days.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Hugs

Carol

Sunshine card and parcel to brighten the February gloom

Hello everyone and I hope your Monday is the start of a great week. We have just had a beautiful sunny day and it reminded me that I haven't yet shared the rest of the sunshine package I sent to my daughter a little while back. I started by making a sunny card, which I cut out on my Silhouette Cameo and stamped with the WPlus 9 Sending Sunshine stamps. The little picture above shows the inside of the card.

In addition to the canvas on the previous post, I added lots of little yellow gifts I collected that would bring a smile, and I wrapped them in yellow tissue paper.

My daughter is a hard working teacher, and the parcel arrived at the end of a rough week at school so I know it really cheered her, and I thoroughly enjoyed making it up. Do you know someone who needs a box of sunshine?

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs

Carol x

Christmas gifts

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and were able to spend some time with family and friends to celebrate the season. We had a very busy run up to Christmas with lots of choir concerts and social events which were lovely, but I'm ready to have things slow down now in this lull between Christmas and New Year. I had a few health problems throughout December so I'm afraid I have been a very poor blogger because other things had to come first, but I hope that 'normal service will resume soon' as they say!

I thought I would share a couple of Christmas gifts I made now that they have been given

This started life as a Ribba Photo Frame from Ikea. I removed the inner card frame, adhered some frosted vinyl to the inside of the glass, and then added the red design on the outside. The design came from the Silhouette store and I cut it on my Cameo out of red vinyl.

After replacing the glass in the frame, I stapled a string of battery operated Christmas lights around the inside before sticking the battery pack on the back with some velcro. This is how it looks when it is lit up

Next up is a Hot Chocolate gift set

I bought the aqua spotted travel mug and placed it in a bag with a little Christmas tree tag and some spotty aqua ribbon. Then I made a mug hug out of aqua felt from Papertrey Ink using their Coffee Cozy Dies. I added a little stitched heart to the front and made the packaging using other PTI stamps. 

I wanted to add a Costa gift card so I used the PTI Gift Card Greetings Die to make a nice little packet to hold it. I cut it from aqua mist card and stamped it with sentiments from the MFT Hug in a Mug stamp set and a snowfall background stamp.

For the front of the gift card holder, I stamped, coloured and fussy cut a cup stamp from the PTI Latte Love stamp set. A tin of yummy Green and Black Hot Chocolate finished the little gift off. I have made this kind of gift set before, but I love it in this colour.

Finally, here is a little gift holder for nail polish that I made using my Silhouette Cameo.

I cut the holder from kraft card and then made mats for it using PTI spotty kraft paper. The sentiment was embossed in white on the same paper and then cut with a couple of oval punches from Stampin' Up.

Well that's all for now except to say thank you so much for coming to visit me this past year. I hope you have found something to interest you, and I really appreciate your encouraging comments, I'll be back soon with a round up post of my favourite cards of the year, and before we know it, we'll be jumping into 2016! How did that happen so quickly?

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Silhouette Cameo and Papertrey Ink Easter Gift bag and tag

Hello everyone,

I'm back for the PTI 8th birthday celebrations again with a gift bag and tag for some yummy Easter treats.

I cut the bag on my Silhouette Cameo and stamped the bottom of it with Polka Dot Basics, and the top with BB: Hearts. I cut the small tag from Tag Sale 8 and added a little scalloped border from Lawn Fawn to the bottom. I stamped and cut the bunny from Polka Dot Parade #1 and added a a glittery tail, before finishing it off with the sentiment on a tiny banner .

This will be so easy to mass produce and it's good to have a head start on Easter!

I'd like to enter this into the

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge - all creatures great and small

PDE Linky Party - sweet Treats

2 Creative Chicks - anything goes - no cards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Silhouette Cameo and Bugaboo gift box

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge. This time we are sponsored by

and the challenge is Elf.

I decided to make a gift pillow box on my Silhouette Cameo and stamped and embossed the greeting on the bottom left hand corner. The image I used was the Bugaboo Deacon Elf, and I imported this into my Silhouette Studio software and cut it out before I coloured it with Copic markers.

 I added glitter to the hat, bobbles and dots on the present, put some ribbon round the belly of the box,
stuck the elf over the top and called it done!


I'd like to enter this into the following challenges

Crafting When We Can - clean and simple

A Little Bit Crafty - clean and simple

Crafting Musketeers - anything but a card.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Glass Etching for Silhouette Challenges

Hello everyone,

How did Friday come round so quickly again? I am ready for another weekend though and especially as this one will include the Wimbledon Finals when we will be glued to our tv with a glass of Pimms and some strawberries and cream!

Over at Silhouette Challenges we are having a special challenge to use etching cream:-

"Special Challenge - Glass Etching" over at

"Special Challenge Glass Etching"
Begins: Saturday July 5
Ends: Sunday, July 20

A blog dedicated to the Silhouette Cutting Machines.

You MUST use a Silhouette somehow in your project.

This is in addition to our regular monthly challenge.

DT members were not required to participate.

We have 8 participating.

Sponsor is:

My Crafting Channel

Winner will receive:

Silhouette Cameo Replacement Cutting Mat

Winners for any challenge is announced on the Winners page on the 3rd day of the following month after a challenge ends.

If you have never used the Silhouette for glass etching here is a how to video.

I  had never tried anything like this before but was happy to step out of my comfort zone and have a go.  For my first experiment I decided to use a flat glass jar and a very simple tulip shape cut from vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo, to make a little tea light holder to hang in a tree. I used etch all cream and left the cream on for 20 minutes before washing it off. I was so excited to have a proper 'reveal' and see that the shape had been etched perfectly! Sorry for the quality of the pictures today but I found it so hard to get good photos of glass.

For my proper try I used a nicely shaped vase from my present drawer. This time I used a more complicated dandelion design from the Silhouette Store, sized it on the mat and then cut it out of copier paper to ensure I liked the look of it on the vase before I cut it from vinyl. It was trickier to apply the vinyl to the curved glass but 20 minutes later, I washed the etch all off and this was the result.

 I was so pleased with how easy it will be to personalise items for people and wanted to start etching everything in sight! These pieces were created using the negative space from the vinyl and it gave me the idea to use positive shapes on a couple of glasses and try a frosting spray with them. I cut some tiny butterflies and dragonflies from vinyl, stuck them on some glasses and masked off the top of each glass with some masking tape. I then took everything outside and sprayed three thin coats of frosting spray, letting each coat dry before adding the next one. I could probably have added an extra coat but I was too impatient and when it had dried, I removed the vinyl and had some frosted glasses

which would make a nice present with a bottle of champagne, and could be personalised by adding names or dates to the glasses depending on the occasion.

Well I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and would encourage you to head on over and see what the Design Team came up with.

What are you waiting for? Step outside your comfort zone and join in the fun.

Link up your projects below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Silhouette Cameo Gift Bag for Silhouette Challenges

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to tell you that I am now a member of the Silhouette Challenges  Design Team and this is my first contribution.

It's the time for another challenge over at

Ch# 13 Gift Bag (No Boxes)

Begins: Thursday, May 1

Ends: Saturday, May 31

A blog dedicated to the Silhouette Cutting Machines.

You MUST use a Silhouette somehow in your project.

Sponsor this month is:

My Crafting Channel

Vinyl Ease 30 Sheets of Permanent Adhesive Backed Vinyl for Craft Cutters, 

6 by 12-Inch, Assorted

The challenge lasts for month but there is only just over a week left to get your entry in.

I made this gift bag with a cut from Lori Whitlock in the Silhouette Store (Design ID #45733). I cut it in pastel pink card and then stamped it with a polka dot background stamp before assembling it. I then cut some tiny onesies in a deeper colour from a border design (Design ID #9212) and added the letters and some stitching with a gel pen. A bow and a tiny stamped tag finished the bag off.

 I wanted to have a matching little gift card so I used a similar onesie (Design ID #24816) to make one, and I really love all the frill detail on it. Now I just need someone to have a baby girl so I can put this to good use! 

Why not head over to see what the DT has created for your inspiration and link up today.

Click HERE

I'd like to enter this into

Craft for the Craic - something for the baby

Crafts 4 eternity - use a die cut

Crafting When we Can - Silhouette

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Wine Bottle Tags for Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge

Hello everyone,

Summer has arrived in my neck of the woods and it seems more than a little odd to be thinking of Christmas, but I'm slowly squirreling away lots of projects that will make this Christmas so much easier for me when all my cards are made ahead of time. I have this fantasy that I will be able to sit down with a glass of mulled wine in the first week of December, put some Christmas music on the player, and write my cards without feeling rushed. I'll be so laid back that I'll be able to add newsy notes to people I don't get to see too often, and really enjoy the process this time instead of frantically scribbling messages so I can get on with all the tasks still waiting to be done. Aahhh - it sounds good doesn't it? Well if you haven't made a start on your Christmas cards yet, why not join us at the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge where you will have a weekly theme to inspire you and some prizes to be won. After all that talk about cards - the theme this week is 'anything but a card'! I thought about doing some home decor for this challenge, but decided on getting all the practical necessities completed before branching out. I have certain people who always get a bottle of wine from me at Christmas, and I always have a bottle wrapped under the tree for any unexpected visitors over the festive season, so I decided to make some wine bottle tags.

All the tags used the Papertrey Ink Wine bottle tag die and for this one I also die cut and stamped the multi layer tree from Polka Dot Parade #9. The sentiment was from Think Big Favorites #20 and I just cut some banner tails on the end. I cut the end of the bottle tag again in white card and added it to the bottom of the tag to add a little variety and finish off this bright, festive tag.

The next one is a little more muted

I used a Hero Arts fern and cone stamp and stamped it in Ocean Tides ink before colouring the cones with a Copic marker and adding some berries with gel pen and a little bit of glitter. I die cut the 'merry' several times and glued the words together to give a chipboard effect before painting over it with my Wink of Stella glitter brush. I added a block of ocean tides card to the bottom of the tag to give a slightly different look.  

The final tag has a more masculine look

I cut the wine bottle tag in smokey shadow card and stamped over it with versamark ink and an Impression Obsession star background stamp. I then cut a round PTI tag and stamped and embossed it in white using a sentiment from PTI Over Under Easy: Holiday Additions Stamp Set. I added a metal snowflake charm with a black brad and scattered a few die cut red stars to add a pop of colour. This time I left the tag tails plain.

Here are all three together

I'd like to enter these into the

Glory of Christmas Challenge - anything goes
Crimbo Cracker - festive red
Christmas Stamping - anything goes
Crafts 4 eternity - use a die cut

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week.

Hugs
Carol x

Silhouette Cameo and Papertrey Ink Pillow box

Hi everyone,

I'm back for the final post for the



and this time I want to share a little pillow box I made

I cut the pillow box on my Silhouette Cameo, and stamped and embossed the word 'Christmas' from the Christmas Labels stamp set. I then added the Wonderful Words, 'merry' die cut. I cut and stamped a couple of bells from Bells and Boughs, backed with some ferns from a punch, and added a a little bow cut with a Memory Box die.

And lastly, here is a fun little money holder, once again cut with my Silhouette Cameo using pure poppy card.

Well that's all from me today - I'm off to make turkey sandwiches for everyone now!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Coffee Cozy for December PTI Blog Hop 2

Hi again,

I just wanted to add other post for the PTI Blog Hop



which is all about creative packaging. I had fun with my packaging this year because I was more organised than I have been for years, so I had a little time to play.

In the last post, I shared a coffee themed gift, and I made another Coffee Cozy - this time a pink one,

and I don't know if you can see, but I stuffed the little heart with some toy stuffing to give a little dimension, and packaged it like this :-

I used the Edger 1 die to trim the end shapes and then cut the edgers out of raspberry fizz card and added them to the ends as a kind of frame. The Boutique Accessories stamps came in useful again and I selectively inked another stamp to get the 'for you' at the bottom.

I took the photo before I put it in the cello bag because the camera didn't like the reflection.

This is how it looks on the cup

I was really wishing that I had Sweet Blush felt, but I don't think it is available yet, so the bright pink had to do!.

I'll be be back with one more packaging post later.

Thanks for stopping by

Hugs
Carol x

Coffee themed gift set for Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day and are settling down to enjoy Boxing Day after all the hard work is over. I had a lovely day with my family and received some nice crafty gifts and some vouchers to spend on more so I am very happy.

Today is the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop



and we were asked to show how we use our creativity with packaging, which is a great idea for after the holidays.

I made some coffee cozies with the PTI coffee cozy dies to go with a coffee themed present for my daughter who is Costa Coffee mad.

I used scarlet jewel and white felt to make the cozy and then packaged it up to look pretty. I used kraft card and the Latte Love stamp set to decorate the background, along with a stamp from the Boutique Accessories set. A strip of stripey scarlet jewel paper was cut with the heart border die to finish it off.

I also used the gift card die to tuck away a Costa Coffee gift card

and placed a coffee travel mug in a clear bag

with the addition of a tag and some ribbon.

The whole gift, along with some coffee pods,  was popped into a gift bag

I also have some other packages to share if I get time today. Enjoy seeing all the crafty inspiration along the hop!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x