Baby Diaper Shower Invite / Baby Shoes Favor

Hello Paper crafters!  Today I am sharing projects that are just perfect for a baby shower / gift!

I went a little shabby with this ensemble.  Aren't these so cute!!  I used the Diaper Card with Pin, the Baby Shoes, and A7 Fancy Frame Window with Clear and Simple's "Little One" stamp set.  And I just hopped over and found another baby set called "Rock-a-Bye".  It has the cutest little rocking horse!

 

This "Diaper Card" die comes in 2 pieces, pre-cut and pre-scored, the actual diaper and the diaper pin.  When you order make sure you note that you get to select different colors for each one.  It does not come with the inside card.  I decided to make mine a mock baby shower invite.  I covered it with old book paper and inked it up with some brown ink.  I love the lace along the legs.  The button is part of the Clear and Simple "Little One" stamp set.

This is the A7 Fancy Frame Window Card.  It's so much fun to design the inside of the card creatively as well with just a little part peeking through the window.

I used one of the words from the "Little Ones" stamp set to create my background border.  I used the old book paper again.  I fan folded it to create the border.  The buttons are from the stamp set and I colored them with chalk.  The paper for the buttons is Jenni Bowlin. 

See the little heart.  You can't tell from the photo, but it is made of velvet paper!!  Yes, Creative Cuts and More sells velvet paper.  It's so cool.  I just used my Spellbinders die to cut it out and inked the edges.

And here's the inside.

Tutorial for Shoes

They come in your choice of card stock and color.

I guess you can see, that I like running mine through the Big Shot with my polka dot embossing folder.  Here are some photo's of how to do that.

Then you just turn the die around in the folder.  Here is the tricky part.  There is about a 1/4" area along the end of the folder that doesn't emboss.  When you emboss the 2nd half of the shoe, that strip will flatten out a few of your dots on the other end.  So, try to roll the foler through up to that point and then bring it back out. *** Do not roll it all the way through.***  I didn't know this when I made the first pair, so I used my stylus to re-indent the dots that were flattened when I did the second half.

Next I add a little ink around the edges and lightly over the shoe.

Wrap the shoe around as shown and adhere.  I highly recommend the Killer Red Tacky Tape for this project.  Next I bend the little tabs at the score line so that they are ready to be adhered.  There are some longer ones and I cut them into 3 tabs.  The kit comes with outer and inner soles.  Lay the top of the shoe on top of the outer sole as best you can.  I'm sure there are some people who can do this perfectly.  I'm not one of them, teehee.  If there is and sole extending from the shoe I just trim it off.  Now if I had adhered the shoe top to the outer sole perfectly, then I'm sure the inner sole would have fit perfectly.  But mine didn't.  So I turned the shoe over to look at the shape and trimmed my inner sole to fit just inside the shoe.  When I go to insert it, I pinch it up a little (squeeze the sides of the inner sole to make it concave a little).   This makes it easier to slide it into the shoe. 

You can check out more of my baby creations HERE.

Creative Cuts and More "Cancer Awareness" Blog Hop



Hello everyone.  I am sick so I did a real quick card for this one.  I really thought the DP expressed the sentiment wonderfully and honestly didn't want to cover it up.  This one is for today's Creative Cuts and More Blog Hop for "Cancer Awareness" and we would like to invite you to join us.  The hop begins at 9:30 EST.  I'm posting a little early so I can make sure mine is up and running before I leave for work. 

There are prizes, so make sure you read through the post to find out how you can win!  And even more wonderful, CC&M will donate 20% of all sales of Awareness Ribbon products in September and October!!  10% to American Cancer Society and the other 10% to Susan G Koman Breast Cancer Foundation.

For my project I used "Awareness Ribbon Window - Square Scallop Card Horizontal".  You can check out all the Awareness Ribbon products HERE.

Did you know that different cancers have different colors to represent them.  I sure didn't.  Terry put together a wonderful list for us HERE.

If you arrived to my blog from Kayla's great.  If you didn't arrive from Kayla's blog you don't want to miss what our designers have in store for you! The CC&M Cancer Awareness Blog Hop starts at http://die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/

If for some reason one of the links is broken along the way do not worry, just HOP back over to Die Cut Diva Blog where the complete list will be.

This month’s prize will be an assortment of awareness ribbon products, including an awareness ribbon album, awareness cards and maybe a box or two.  You can read all the guidelines for playing along over on the Die Cut Diva Blog.  You have until Sunday September 19th, 12MN.  The winner will be announced on Monday September 20th.

We would also like to invite you to join us next Tuesday and Wednesday for the Clear and Simple / Creative Cuts and More blog hop!

Oh and one more thing.  Terry just added the cutest retro handbag to her die line-up and you can check it out HERE!  Have you checked out the Card Kits yet.  Terry has added Christmas and Fall themes.  You can check out all the Card Kits HERE.

Your next stop on this hop is the very talented
 Becky

And I can not close without mentioning that today is Creative Belli Challenge day as well.  The Challenge for the next 2 weeks is to use something old and forgotten from your stash that start's with the letter "B" (button, bling, blooms, etc).  We would love to have you join us!  You can check out what all the DT members created HERE!

I hope all of you stay well this week!  It's no fun running a fever.  And I have to go to work tomorrow.  I hope it's a short day!

Playdate Cafe Color Challenge

Good Morning.  This week Creative Cuts and More is sponsoring the Playdate Cafe Challenge.  So some of the DT have decided to play along.

The challenge was to use white, black, pink, gold.

Here's what you can win if you play along!

Christmas Card Kit

I used Creative Cuts and Mores Tuck and Close XL in one of the Curious Metallics - Gold Leaf.  I like this color because it's not a yellowish gold.  It has just a little sheen to it.

Patterned Paper - The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)

Border Punch - Martha Stewart

Ribbon - from recently purchased bedding

Gems - unknown

Metal embellishment - Making Memories

Tips and Techniques

I have a couple of tips for you with this project.

1.  The openings along the bottom from the border punch were not showing up against the gold bag.  So I used a Dove Blender Replacement tip to apply black ink.  It's tiny on the tip, so it fits in the holes perfectly.

2. I find it really difficult to cut the "v" shape in the end of the ribbon.  I did 2 things that made this easier.  First I created a template.

The template should be the length you want the end of the ribbon to be from the center knot x the width of the ribbon.  Mine is 2.5" x 2".   Now create the V.  I measured 1/2" from the end back toward the center knot and 1" from the sides (center of the ribbon).  This is where I placed a dot with my pencil.  Then cut from the outside ends to the dot in the center. 

Fraying can really be an issue, so before I cut the "v"s I lightly dabbed some white glue on the back along the area I was going to be cutting.  This stiffened it up, making it easier to cut, and helps prevent fraying.

I hope you learned something that can help you on your crafty projects.
Thanks for stopping by!

Inchies and Twinchies

Hello Papercrafters.  I spent the day yesterday working on inchies and twinchies.  Not familiar with the term??  They are little mini works of art either 1" or 2" square.  There are lots of paper crafters out there that swap them.  Some collect them as is, but they can be used on other paper projects as well.  There are even 2 challenge blogs that focus on these little pieces of art.  Inchy by Inch and Small World of Inches and Twinches.  I have designed 3 cards with inchy layouts, and 3 twinchies.  I also have a tower of inchies that I made last year and adhered to wooden blocks.

This was so easy to put together.  I used a leaf stamp from the "Vintage Roses" set by Layers of Color and one of the sqaure window cards by Creative Cuts and More.  CCM makes wonderful pre-cut window cards for inchies and twinches.  This one is the A2 Square Borders Window Card.  I adhered my 3 inchies inside the card. Isn't it cute how they peek through the window.

Other inchie window cards are :

Four Pane Window Card

Four Pane Scalloped Window Card

A2 Square Mini Window Card (one inchie)

Check out this page for even more Square Window Cards for inchies and twinchies HERE.

I'm linking this one to :

Let's Ink it Up's Anything Goes Challenge

I used 6 inchies on this one.  See how versatile these little cuties are.  For this one, I used 4 of the inchies with one stamp.  I adhered them on the brown cardstock and then stamped the clam shell onto them.  If you have an even larger stamp you might consider using 6 inchies.  Stamps are "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color

I'm linking this one to :

The Shabby Tea Room (metal starfish charm)

and Stampin' Sisters for Christ ( A special moment spent with Jesus - when walking on the beach in Jacksonville, it was so peaceful and quite and I would just walk and pray)

This one includes a twinchie and 2 inchies.  Stamps are from "Under The Sea" by Layers of Color.  Are starting to see all the fun options with these and how easy they are to put together??

I'm linking this one to :

Cowgirl-up Sunday Stamp'en Challenge (summer theme)

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge (more than one stamp)

Papercutz Challenge (anything goes)

This is a twinchie set I created.  I didn't have time to make cards with them.  I used "Butterfly Collector" by Layers of Color.

Here is a close-up of one of them.  I bought some 2"wooden blocks and I was thinking about putting them on those.

I"m linking this one to:

Allsorts (Minature, less than 3")

Here is an Inchie tower I created using 1" wooden blocks.  I created these last year.  I wanted a set with red and black to match my craft room. 

Did you know there are stamp companies that sell inchie images?  Lockhart and Inkadinkado.  But you can create an inchie from a larger image by trimming it down.  When I'm trying to decide if part of an image will work as an inchie, I use this little window template:

I lay it over the image to see what part might work.  For instance the 2 ladies are from much larger images by FCD.  The set is called "Leading Ladies".  Isn't the ballerina cute??  She is a cupcake topper image from "Vintage Cupcake" set by Pink Persimmon.  The apples are from one of my fall GinaK sets.  I bet if you started going through all you stamps you would find parts of larger images you could use as well.  The backgrounds behind the 2 ladies are from Inkadinkado.  They sell themed inchie clear stamp sets and you can find them at local craft stores.

Check out Lockharts "Itty Bitty" collection HERE.

So are you ready to make some inchies and twinchies??

You should set up a swap with your stampin' buddies.  Set up the guidelines that require them to create them with card making in mind if that is a concern.  You could ask them to create 3 inchies with the same theme to use on a card.  What fun it would be to see the different interpretations!

I hope you learned something new and are inspired to create something this week.  If you decide to do some inchies or twinchies, let me know.  I would love to see how you were inspired.

***  It's not to late to sign up for my August Blog Candy.  Go  HERE to read about all the details to qualify to win a Crafty Secrets stamps set!  ***

Woowhoo, the weeked is almost here!  Do you have any fun plans??

Back to School Teacher Gift Card and Gift Box

It's that time of year again.  This weekend is the tax free weekend for shopping since the kids here is Spring go back to school next week.  My DH ask if I was going to go out and do any shopping.  I quickly responded "have you lost your mind??".  teehee.  I do not like to shop in crowds and this weekend it going to be crazy with everyone getting ready for the start of new school year.  Instead I thought I would just stay home and create something with the Back to School theme.

Today I'm sharing with you these really cute apple window products from Creative Cuts and More.  It's important to start the school year off right by letting our teachers know how much we appreciate them.  This ensemble includes a card and gift box.  I created the sentiments using word boxes.  I sharing it over on the left column under "Word Art".  Click the link and you will be able to download it and print on an 8.5 x 11" cardstock sheet.  I don't have a way to seperate each sentiment, so you have to print the full sheet, sorry.  But, hey, it's free.  If you choose to download it, please leave me a comment.  I'm just wondering how many people would be interested.

This card comes with the apple window and scalloped border across the front.  I also used an Apple die cut as well.  It's actually attached to the inside of the card so you can see it through the window.  I lined the circle tag on the inside with the one on the outside, so that it can not be seen through the window.  CCM also sells Apple Window Mini Scrapbooks as well.  Check out all their "Apple" products HERE.

These gift boxes are so cute!!  They come with a variety of shaped windows.  It's called Apple Window Square Box 01.  And it comes with the acetate.

Tutorial

To get create a patterned paper panel for the front of the box or card:

Trim your pattern paper down to the size square or rectangle you would like on the front.  Slide the pattern paper inside the card in the position you would want it on the outside.  I secured the one for the box with 2 pieced of tape to keep it in place.  Then trace the window shape on the patterned paper.  Pull patterned paper out and lightly trace another pencil line around the edges of this one, approximately 1/8".  This will be your cut line and will give you a border.

Ink edges of patterned paper panel and along edges of inside of window.  Use a border punch to create a border.  The one I used is by EK Success.  It has this tiny little scalloped border.  Create sentiment tag and adhere.

Fold the edges along the score lines and use a bone folder over them to get a good crease.  Use your Killer Red Tacky Tape (also available at CCM) to adhere the flaps, creating the box top.  Do the same for the bottom portion of the box.  Adhere acetate on the inside of box.  Now that I'm done with mine, I realize that I could have adnered the acetate down on top of the apple window on the outside of the box before adhering my patterned paper.  This would have been neater.

I hope you were inspired today!!

I will add more "Word Art" over in the left column as I create them.  They are free, but I would appreciate a comment letting me know you downloaded, if you do.

I hope you are having a beautifully blessed weekend!!

hugs,

Melisa

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You can view more of my Back to School / Teacher Appreciation projects HERE.

You can view more of my Containers / Gift Boxes HERE.

You can view more of my Creative Cuts and More projects HERE.

Mini Album #2 : Baby Albums

Good Morning stampers!  This morning I am thrilled to be a part of the Creative Cuts and More Baby and Bridal Blog Hop! 

This is a circular blog hop, so if you arrived from Kayla's blog, then you are right on track.  If you didn't, then please hop over to the Die Cut Diva Blog HERE.  There you will find information of how you can win a prize!!  The prize this month is a 2-Tier Cake of your choice of a smooth or textured cardstock!!  So hop over to the Die Cut Diva Blog right away!  If one of the links in the hop is broken, no worries, head back to the Die Cut Diva Blog for a complete list of participates.

Our assignment was to create a Baby or Wedding ensemble.  What a great idea.  It seems like someone in my family or at work is either having a baby or getting married.  How about you?  So hop through and see all the great ways that Creative Cuts and More can help make your gift giving a little more creative.

I decided to go with a mini-album and card.  I just love mini-albums.  And so do new mothers and grandmothers!  Nothing better than having a little brag book tucked away in your purse to whip out at anytime to show off that new baby.  It couldn't be easier to put one of these together as a gift using CCM products. 

There are several options.  You can build your own album!  For mine I purchased 2 chipboard covers and baby blue pages for the inside.  You decide what colors you want when you order.  I actually ordered enough cardstock pages to glue 2 pages together at a time to make mine even sturder on the inside.  The holes are already punched and pages already scored.  Check out all of the 4 x 4" album options HERE.  However if you like a larger album, you can check out all the album options HERE.

Here is a Baby Girl version:

My second project was created using the A7 Scallop Star Window Card.  I just love all the window card options.  I started out with a peice of DP the size of the front of my card.  I placed it inside the card and traced the star shape on it.  I used the pencil lines as my guidelines and trimmed the star shape out a little larger.  I trimed it down to a 2.5" strip to create the border on the front of my card.  Next ink up all the edges with brown ink.  I tied the ribbon around as shown, punched out my brown scalloped border and adhered all of this to the front of the card using my t-square to keep it all lined up.   I stamped the inside of the card with my sentiment and the smaller stars as shown below.

And to finish it off, I secured a little charm (Making Memories) with a tiny saftey pin and stamped the sentiment to the front.

The next stop in this hop is

Pamela Smerker

Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Cuts and More - Birthdays and Cupcakes

Good Morning!  August 1 begins my fun Guest Designer gig with Creative Cuts and More and my goal is to show you how awesome and easy these products are.

Creative Cuts and More sells pre-cut/pre-scored die cuts.  There products range from simple image die cuts to AWESOME 3-D templates to pre-cut mini albums, and much more!!  If you have ever wanted to create 3-D boxes or bags, this is the way to go.  All you have to do is fold along the scored lines and adhere.  She carries a HUGE list of colors for you to select from.   And why am I so excited?? Because I have always secretly admired all those cool boxes and bags over at SCS, but was to lazy to try it!

This project is a Cupcake Box.  Perfect to drop off on a co-workers desk or give to a friend.  It comes with this cool insert to hold the cupcake in place and an acetate window.   I put together my box and began embellishing.  I decided to cut panels in a lighter shade of pink and run them through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder.  And then I distressed with pink ink that matched the box.  Then I glued the pom-pom fiber around the edge of the lid.

Now another great option would have been to stamp the box, but keep in mind that you would have to do that before folding.

Here is a birthday card I created using the Circle Window A2 card and Cupcake #01 - Small  x 4 ( two pink and two white).  Scroll down for a detailed tutorial.

I'm linking this one to the July Caardvarks challenge to create a Birthday card.

These cards come with different shaped windows for you to choose from.  The pink glitter on the icing on the inside didn't really match, but you get the idea.  And as you can see, I lined up the cupcake on the inside so that it is not visible from the outside.

Tip / Tutorial

The Card Front

To create the embossed front of the card begin with a rectagular piece of cardstock that fits just inside the card  front, leaving a border.  Mine is 4 x 5 1/4.  Run it through the Big Shot using an embossing folder of you chose. 

Place this piece inside the card, lining it up directly in the center as shown below.  Close the card and with a pencil trace the circle on the embossed piece.  This becomes you guidelines for triming out a larger circle/ window. 

Select a Spellbinders circle die that is slightly larger than your guideline and line it up as shown below.  I use 2 small pieces of clear tape to secure the die in place.  Run it through the Big Shot creating a window larger than the one on the card.

Now your ready to get your fingers inky.  I used Regal Rose (SU) and lightly brushed it over the embossed panel.  With an eyeshadow applicator I brushed on a little Regal Rose aroung the edges as well.  Then I used an eyeshadow applicator to very lightly apply just a little black around the edges.  After it was dry I adhered it to the front of the card. 

The Cupcakes

I started with 2 pink and 2 white.  Cut the icing tops away from 1 of the white and 1 of the pink switch them up, layering the white icing over the pink die and vise versa.  Now your pink cupcake liner will have a white icing and vise versa.  DO NOT GLUE them down until you have stamped the liners.  Stamp both the liners with a decorative stamp.  I chose polka dots.  Ink edges black.  Color both candles black.  Cover the pink flame with white pigment ink.  Apply adhesive to both flames and sprinkle with glitter (Stampendous).  Now adhere the white cut out icing on the pink cupcake and vise versa.  I used Liquid Applque on my white icing but didn't like how it looked.  So I applied adhesive (Aleene's Tacky Glue) and sprinkled with glitter.  I did like that it was raised though. The dimension looks really cool.  I should have used my Puffy Paint (local craft store) instead of the Liquid Applique.  It would have been smoother and more like real icing.  Apply adhesive to the pink icing and sprinkle with glitter.  I used pink and it doesn't really match, I should have stuck with the white, because I think the pink would have still shown through the glitter and matched better. 

I used a piece of the lighter pink cardstock to create the label on the inside.  I placed it inside the card so I could plan the positioning of my sentiment.  I centered it up and helped to keep it in place by putting a small strip of tape runner on the back of it.  I was afraid I would mess up the sentiment, so that's why I waited to adhere it down.  Close the card.  Choose a birthday sentiment and slide your cupcake over the front to figure out the best position.  Stamp your sentiment.  If you got it right the first time, great (I had to do it twice).  Now you can adhere that inside label.  And adhere the cupcake to the outside.  Now you can slide the cupcake on the inside of the card until you get it directly under the one on the outside.  Glue it down  to the inside of the card.

Your done!!

Please stop back by this month to see all of my Creative Cuts and More projects.  If you miss one, go to the labels on my side bar and click on Creative Cuts and More.  This will bring up all my projects using their products.

You are invited to join the whole DT for a blog hop on August 12th.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed day!

DAY 3 - Mark's Finest Papers' Blog Hop

Good Morning!  It's Day #3 of the Mark's Finest Papers' Blog Hop and we are sharing projects with a stamp set called "Flourishes and Frame".  This one is loaded with beautiful sentiments and a wonderful set to add to your collection.

There are prizes to be won!!!  So make sure you scroll down to see all the details!

I put together a a birthday card and a little gift box.  This little matchbox is by Creative Cuts and More.  I love all the great 3-D items you can get from them.  Lots of gift containers already cut and scored.  All you have to do is fold and adhere.

Did you know that MFP carries cardstock, ribbon, and other embellishments to put the final touches on your projects!

If you like Spellbinder's then you will want to pick up a new set when you order your stamps.  Mark's Finest Papers' has 10 pages of them, so lots to choose from!

See ya tomorrow with more MFP!

Purr-fect Friend

Isn't this image adorable!  The girls on the Crafty Secrets Challenge thread are creating non-patriotic red, white and blue projects this week.  So I started going through my Heartwarming Vintage images and found this little cutie.  It is just one of many adorable sewing images from the from the "Sew Nice" Creative Scraps line.  Did you know that Crafty Secrets has an online store that you can order from??  HERE it is.

The bag is one of the wonderful pre-cut and pre-scored items over at Creative Cuts and More.  I just love that I don't have to do any cutting for these.  This one is the Tuck and Close #2.  This style comes in a larger size as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Belli Sketch Challenge #94

It's time for another Creative Belli Challenge. 
This week our challenge is to use the sketch below and make it patriotic.  Creative Belli is all about inspiring you to use some of those old, neglected supplies you have laying around.  I used this patriotic paper I have had for years and the PTI stamp set I have had for probably a year and never used.   So here is what I came up with :

DP  : Carolee's Creations, Basic Grey

Stamps : Papertrey Ink

Lace unknown

Ink : Versa Magic Night Sky

We would love to have you join us!
Hop on over to the Creative Belli Blog right now and check out what the rest of the DT came up with and how you can take the challenge!

Here's the Sketch:

While I was in patriotic mode, I decided to create another card using one of Creative Cuts and More's window cards.  CC&M produces a fun selection of window cards using various shapes.  You can check them out  HERE.   You could have alot fun creating with these!

Card : Creative Cuts and More

Stamps : PTI, Stampailities (word star), Limited Editions (title)

Ink : VersaMagic Night Sky

Thanks for stopping by!!