gingerbread men cupcake projects!!

these are christmas cupcakes with vanilla frosting (you could do brandy flavoured buttercream instead) and a mini gingerbread man on top. i bought the gingerbread men from marks & spencers i was so excited, as you can well imagine due to the cuteness of these little fella's!!

 

the gingerbread men come in a cute house shape tin with characters on and you get 3 bags of gingerbread dudes in so i was really pleased, i have big ideas in mind ...  a little too big its scary where my brain goes sometimes , i ask is a gingerbread titanic over the top??

 

have fun

Mx

gift bag project

so i know i did the matchboxes yesterday as cute gift boxes and a gift bag today, but its christmas and handmade is better than shop bought. plus the same applies with gift bags as with handbags

- a girl needs choices!!

front

back and sides with tag

martha stewart punch, digi cardstock from craftwork cards, christmas greetings stamp from lili of the vally,

kraft gift bags (un-stamped) from the range, raffia, various colours of ink pads (distress & archival) rest of products used are from stampin' up!.

 

hope you like the project

Mx

matchbox project!!

so i had a day off doing the christmas projects yesterday for my dads birthday, this was his cards

hope you like as much as he did... it uses tim holtz distress ink pads and apothecary stamp set.



not sure where i got the dad stamp think it's a docraft/ papermania

well on to the match boxes

i have done this project for christmas as i think they make great gift boxes as you can see from the picture the blue one has a pair of earrings i made in it and the red one has some candy canes but you could put anything small enough to fit in a large matchbox. alternatively you could make a matchbox style box any size you wanted to fit your gift.

heres how i made mine...

first empty the matches out and remove the divide card if your matchbox has one

make a paper template of your matchbox

cut and fold your base paper according to your paper template. i have used some hot off the press paper

 glue this around your boxes using strong adhesive. i have inked the top and bottom edges too.

 measure and cut mats out of a patterned paper, i used the christmas village first edition paper pad.

glue these in place onto your matchbox,

stamp your focal image using memento, i used a magnolia stamp

colour the image with promarkers and cut out.

use your image and the matchbox to size up a mat, i also punch the bottom with a decorative punch from martha stewart, then make a smaller mat to layer on to in a lighter shade (i used my base paper).

glue these together and to the matchbox. remember you can layer the focal image with foam pads or silicone glue. i added a message from hot off the press in matching colours to my papers.

add mats of paper in your base colour to either end of your box. poke a hole in 1 end and i have added a loop of string for this matchbox (i added a brad to the blue matchbox instead).

 

now you have finished!!
Mx
 



christmas wreath project!!

 for todays project i have made up one of the craftwork cards  christmas wreaths kits, these are fab, it comes with instructions and its says there is enough flowers to make 3 (i think it depends how layered you do

your flowers though).

kits contains

i have 3 different coloured packs. on www.craftworkcards.co.uk they have 6 colour options at £7.50. but i could only find 2 options on www.theglitterpot.co.uk at £7.49 .

these are my other coloured kits

basic equipment is water in a spray bottle, a bone folder or something to shape the flowers, glue (pva or silicone) something to colour the ring (i used a distress ink pad). then once you have completed the wreath you might want to embellish some more. i sprayed with prefect pearls mists and added crystal gemstones.

it was a fast and easy to make project that could easily be done with the kids, ace little festive project.

mine is hung over the fireplace, but they would look nice on a 8x8" card or as a table decoration with a large candle in the centre.

Mx

xmas tag project!!

TAG 1: tim holtz distress ink pads, tim holtz mini holidays stamp set, tim holts/sizzix snow flurries on the edge die, tim holtz crackle paint (clear), heat gun, magnolia stamp (ticket- a merry christmas & winter tilda) , promarkers and various ribbons.

 

ink up the manilla tag using blue tones, i then sprayed with perfect pearls mixed with water (in a little spray bottle/mini mister) heat dry. stamp the snowflake stamp a darker blue. die cut the snow flurries dies in white card. i painted on the crackle paint you can either leave to dry naturally like the instrustions or heat like i did !! it was a mistake the first time i did it, now i do it because it bubbles up and i like the effect. once you have a few bubbles leave to dry. stamp and colour your main image then cut it out. stamp and cut out the tag and ink using brown distress inks. once your paint is dry you can glue it all together however you like (i glued the snow flakes on flat and the girl and tag with different sized foam pads. add ribbons to your tag to finish i added 3 different ones for different textures!!

 

TAG 2:  tim holtz distress ink pads, tim holtz mini holidays stamp set, tim holts/sizzix snow flurries on the edge die, fantasy fibers (iron) magnolia stamp, promarkers, stickles, various ribbons.

 

ink your manilla tag using pink tone distress inks. stamp the snowflakes from the stamp set all over the tag using the darker pink.  make a sheet of paper using the fantasy fibers using their instructions, die cut this with the snow flurries twice.  glue one to the bottom of the tag, on the other one cut the snow flakes from the border and glue them on seperately making them look like they are falling off the egde of the tag. stamp and colour your magnolia image. cut out. glue her on to the tag using foam pads. add a few different ribbons for effect.

 

TAG 3:  tim holtz distress ink pads, tim holtz letters to santa stamp set, martha stewart punch, lili of the valley stamp image, magnolia stamps (ticket - a merry christmas &  loving christmas wishes), promarkers, glossy accents and stickles, various ribbons.

 

ink your manilla tag using red tone distress inks, make edges darker with brown tones. flick the tag with water and dry with a heat tool. stamp all over with the script from the stamp set. punch the bottom of the tag. i used the top row of holes to sew on the fancy ribbon. stamp and colour the lili of the valley image, cut out and add on to the tag using foam pads. stamp one of each of the magnolia tags, cut out and ink with brown tones. glue to the tag. add ribbon to the top of the tag and your finished.

 

Mx

countdown to christmas!!

i am finally ready for christmas!!

the tree and decorations have been up a few days now, the presents are bought but not wrapped, the cakes are baked but not iced and decorated and the cards are at last made but not written... maybe not that ready but on my way.

o well, nevermind !!

 

 here is a selection of the cards...

 

 

 

 

 i used lili of the valley topper, tim holtz ink pads, archival (in black, sepia, vermillion), memento in tuxedo black, stampin up! punches (oval and scallop oval) martha stewart punch and ek success border punches, message stamps from stampin up or lili of the valley, various papers (most was hot off the press or papermania) and some ribbon and card blanks in kraft, white, cream & black.

 

sorry if the green post it notes seem a bit weird in the pictures, they are attached to each card so i know who to send it too.  the chrismas card list has a number next to each person, the post it has matching number so the right card will hopefully go to the right person (with no post it's on). if that makes sense!!

 

back soon with more projects...

Mx

bulk christmas card make!

slightly different post for me a bit of a how to but you can easily adapt it for other cards or if you have the stamp sets feel free to have a go...

 

 

firstly choose your focal image, then cut all your mats the same size in stamping card. i choose a 4x4 card size so my mats are 3inches square.

once you have cut all your mats out stamp in black memento with your choosen image.

i use craftwork cards digi cardstock and 

penny black 12 days of christmas stamp set.

 

now i colour all the images with a selection of promarkers. you could use other pens or water colour, whatever you prefer but this is quicker for me!!

 

 

since i choose 3x3 mats i need 4x4 card blanks.  i then stamped the back with a hand made stamp, i used the stampin up! creatively yours stamp set, and used black archival ink pad. you could use your own logo, a different handmade stamp or just skip this step ...

 

 

i then folded my card blanks and selected the colour of tim holtz distress ink pads to match my topper/ coloured image, colour the card front fading the colour towards the centre.

 

 

now i used the penny black christmas treasures clear stamps as a background stamp. i stamped a small merry christmas all over the card (include going over the edges) to form the look of paper.

 i used black archival ink pad to do this.

 

 

 

now to add a touch of christmas i foiled the edges of the toppers. i used the indigoblu foil kit with winter dawn maga flakes (i love this colour of foil flake it has different colours of foils in it which you cant see in the picture of the pot but you can when you look at the toppers). i got my kit and extra pots (in different colours) at  www.theglitterpot.co.uk which i shop from all the time but im sure they are avaiable elsewhere if you prefer.

 

 

finally for the front i just glued on my topper using double sided tape.

then i moved onto the inside. i used my stampin up! polar party stamp set to stamp a verse again using a

black archival ink pad.

 

 

 

then i used a small holly icon from the penny black christmas treasures stamp set to accent the corner. which i coloured using a paint brush, water and tim holtz distress inks

 

 

i then repeat the holly accent on to the corner of the envelopes and colour in the same way.

 

you can adapt this idea or just the way of doing bulk cards instead of doing a card from start to finish 12 times. cut 12 mats, colour 12 cards, stamp 12 verses etc

 

and it works for anything you need to do in bulk like invites or thankyou cards but especially at christmas!!

 

Mx