1/4″ Hand Held Punch

Fear Not

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This was something new for me.  I knew I wanted to have water colored bookmarks, but thought it would be smarter to make one large background piece and then trim it down to the sizes I needed.  Such a large piece of blank paper.  It was a bit overwhelming for some time.  Like the stamp says, fear not.

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After a while I felt a little more comfortable, but not all the way there.  Distressing such a large piece was kind of confusing.  I stuck with it, dried it and took it to the cutting board. When they were smaller I knew they would be wonderful.  The edges got a gentle sponging along with light stamping from the same set.

Then a quick layering on elegant eggplant cardstock, the main color I painted with, and some new solid bakers twine to coordinate and it was all done.  These will be wonderful to share with the young women I teach.  Love those girls.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Affectionately Yours

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One sheet of awesome designer series paper can really do so much.  These bakers boxes are made showing similar embellishments, cut from the same die cue, but just different sides of the paper.  That is one thing I really do like about Stampin’ Up! designer paper.  They are two sided, so even if you might not favor one pattern, odds are you will like the other side. I have not been disappointed over the years, so let’s keep that one going!

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The bakers box thinlits die is so fun.  It also comes with a lot of other dies to add some fun, but I opted to not use them this time around.  I stuck with a floral theme throughout.  It has been a while since I pulled out my lovely little petite petals punch, such pretty little flowers. I like to give them a little texture by ‘coloring’ on them with a large rounded stylus on both sides.  Love that technique so much.

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This one got two little pansy punch windows put in to show the treats inside.  I added small pieces of window sheet to keep the treats inside, but decided to add a flower to the middle as well.  Cascading flowers down a gift box really make me smile.  I guess that is why I have been doing them for so many years.  Flowers never go out of style.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

English Garden with Rose Wonder

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The morning may be trying to run away from me, but I am trying to keep up.  I did get this set made yesterday, but haven’t had the chance to get it shared yet.  Let’s hear it for lunch breaks, everyone needs one.

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The card was the beginning of this trio, and the paper was the focus.  It is sad to say that this paper is retiring soon, I sure have loved using it.  What can be better than water colored floral paper?  With my kind of projects, not much.  Unless I sit down and paint my own, with paper this pretty I don’t have to.

The designer paper is layered on a piece of blushing bride cardstock and then on a pear pizzazz card base.  Old olive is actually the light green used in this paper, but I wanted a lighter tone and thought it looked nice.  All of the sentiments come from the Rose Wonder stamp set, there are some lovely ones in there.  I stamped, did a banner punch, sponged and then sponged another one to layer underneath.  The strip is 1/2″ wide and was left over when I cut the piece of whisper white for the inside card panel.  I love those little leftover strips, they always come in handy.

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I made a couple of gift bags with totally different dimensions in mind.  I usually work with tall rectangle shapes, but went with a short clutch concept.  The cardstock version could hold heavier tall items, but the designer series paper needs to keep it light.  I had several ideas of gift items that would fit inside easily inside, lots of chocolate to be honest.  I love sharing a chocolate treat or two, you should give it a try.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Sandlot Inspired Card

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

What sandlot do you think I am referring to?  Well, the awesome kids movie about baseball and friendship of course.  This movie was just watched in the P.E. classes at the school I work at and I thought of a card to go with it.  New for me, a movie inspired card.  It was sure a lot of fun to create.

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The card base and the fence is made from soft suede.  I stamped the hardwood image in early espresso and sponged the planks as well.  I also punched out a knot in the wood with the 1/4″ hand held punch to make a spot for a peephole.  So cute!  The grass is from a strip of garden green, snipped with the fringe scissors and sponged with early espresso as well.

The light paper is water color as well as the tiny little baseball in the grass.  It was a bit tricky to get the fence in the right place to let the boys peek over, but I did okay.  The interesting part was stamping an image to let a boy peek through the hold in the fence.  I think it would have been easier to just draw with a pen instead of trying to adjust my stamp, but I ended up having to do both anyway.

I glued the grass in place with tombo and placed the baseball in the grass with half a dimensional.  I did water color the ball a bit and sponge it too.  I had to hold it with tweezers during the sponging, such a small piece.  I totally had to fussy cut that one out. The 1/2″ circle punch was just too big, bummer.  I did some water coloring with soft sky on the background, pink pirouette on their faces and used markers to color in the rest.  It was a bit of work, but it turned out great.  I think it would be a great card to give along with the movie, don’t you think?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Crazy About You at First Sight

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Today has started no differently than many other Saturday’s, but I was not going to let another one go by without sharing a project.  I have let my weekends get carried away and it just bugs me that I don’t keep this blog current daily.  Sharing creative projects is my favorite thing and it really keeps me balanced.  So here we go!

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I get to attend a bridal shower today, how fun right?  Well, I have gotten into giving thank you cards as my bridal shower gift.  I think it is most appropriate, since the bride is going to need plenty of these.  Sometimes though, a special thank you is in order, when someone has really been kind or extra wonderful to you.  That is what these are for.

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The steps aren’t too complicated, you can really see them from just looking at the project.  I am really bad about tracking how I score my bags and boxes.  I make them different each time because you don’t always need the same size.  I love to say that I don’t have to toss my first attempt too often, almost never.  I do tell my classes that there are never mistakes, just opportunities, so there is always something you can work out.

I embossed my card base and the bag fronts with the same fluttering embossing folder.  The blushing bride glimmer paper is everywhere.  And yes, my desk is very sparkly just now. Good thing I love glitter.  The bag fronts are raised up on dimensionals, but the card fronts are adhered down flat.  I used liquid glue to place the ‘thanks’ phrase in the middle of the card.  The ‘so much’ phrase was stamped on a 1/2″ strip of very vanilla, punched on one end with the bitty banner punch and raised up on dimensionals again.  The bitty butterflies are placed with glue dots.

The card bases and bag base were made with pink pirouette, not blushing bride.  I honestly liked how it looked together rather than blushing bride to match the glimmer paper.  Hard to tell sometimes why I like what I do, but that is how it worked out.  The bag handle was made with a bunch of satin ribbon, so very elegant.  And there you have it.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Birthday Blooms with Blackberry Bliss

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And a happy good morning to everyone!  I do love a Friday that is full of promise and enthusiasm.  The only problem is that I usually have my goals too high and get frustrated when I fall short.  Either way, I love Friday and the fun evening often in store.

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This little thank you is so adorable, yet lovely.  I used a half sheet of very vanilla for the box, scoring at 2″, 4″, 6″, and 8″.  Then turning one quarter turn, portrait now, to score at 2″ for the bottom.  I used a companion piece of very vanilla for the stamped and embossed layers. The piece is cut first at 3 1/2″ so the stamping could be done.  I just used the large floral image to create a pattern.  Then the second cuts came at 1 3/4″ each, needing four of these all together.

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Before they were attached I embossed them with the fluttering embossing folder.  Such a nice result.  I layered them up with dimensionals and thought about leaving it just the way it was, but continued on with the plan.

I made the tag from the scrap left over from stamping and punched it with the extra-large oval punch.  A added a ribbon handle and attached the tag to the under side of the ribbon tail.  A few butterflies later and a smidge of pearls and I was ready to add my treats.  So much fun, just so much fun.  Now to deliver!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Thanks for Being You

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Day two in this adorable little series finds me fortunate enough to be in Utah visiting family, family, and more family!  How wonderful is that?  It is  more than fun, especially for me.  So many fun social opportunities.

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I do love this paper.  The little dandelions dancing in the wind are so cute.  Simple and fun but it will be the perfect thank you for the person who has been so kind.  Giving cards is always so much fun.  This gift set will be fun for my daughter to use.  And use it she will.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

White Christmas

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I had intended on making a matching bag for yesterday’s card, but I spent so much time on the card I had to call it and move on.  Yet the large piece of velum was still waiting for me to finish it up.  I made an effort or two.

White Christmas

My original plan didn’t work because I didn’t punch my holes along the bag top evenly and the ribbon stitching looked horrible.  I cut off the top and tried again.  There were improvements, but it is still uneven.  It did look really nice with the card, but this is like the Where’s Waldo of crafting goofups to be honest.  Can you find them all?

White Christmas

How about this obvious one.  I was chatting to my daughter and not paying attention to my scoring and the measurements got off.  You don’t waste foil velum though, so I continued on.  That is when I goofed up the hole punching the first time, and a bit again on the second time.  I didn’t bother putting treats inside because I don’t know if I can let this goof off the desk.

But, the set does look nice even if I made mistakes.  I always tell my ladies that there are no mistakes, only opportunities.  I don’t know about this one, maybe an opportunity to learn from my mistakes?

White Christmas

Have a creative day!

Moana

No Peeking

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Planning ahead and definitely working ahead is what works best for today.  As this posts, I will be heading back home from my wintery holiday with family back to sunny California.  Not really good timing to let myself enjoy early morning blogging like I do.

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For a simple card, there is a lot of dimension going on.  The ribbon and thread work great together with the tag duo and still manage to lay flat.  Three strands of ribbon were poked through the tags and then bound in linen thread.  I left the lengths of linen thread rather long and just curled them a bit with my bone folder.  Love it!  The ribbons were cut at different lengths to add interest and that finished the tag.  I thought it would be an adorable gift tag too.  Might have to make more of those.

Well, of course I sponged this lovely plaid paper before adding it to the card base.  A few wraps with even more thread were just what I needed.  I certainly have enjoyed this holiday card series, but we aren’t done yet!  Still five more cards to share.  So much fun!

No Peeking

Have a creative day!

Moana

Everyday Chic Gift Bag

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely places.  I like to ask my youngest daughter what colors to work with so I don’t go to my favorites all of the time.  Last night she said, “I don’t know.”  Classic teen response.  However, she was wearing an adorable white shirt with a gold studded neckline and a lovely long turquoise scarf.  Inspiration complete.

Everyday Chic Gift Bag

This bag is hearty enough to hold plenty of weight for sure.  I used a whole sheet of bermuda bay card stock for the bag and a good portion of  a 12 x 12 sheet of Everyday Chic DSP.  Before I assembled the bag I used a gold marker to color in random hearts for a little bit of accent.  That was actually quite relaxing.

Everyday Chic Gift Bag

This ribbon is so wonderful.  I knew I wanted a huge bow out front, so I threaded it a bit differently.  I made sure to have the ends out front, both long enough to make this pretty bow.  I just tied the ribbon together with bakers twine right at the front of the box which left two long strands of ribbon hanging down just ready to go.  I did have to fuss the bow a bit to get it where I wanted it, and used a couple of glue dots to keep the bow pulled back a bit.  Now I am ready to fill it up and give it away.  So much fun!

Everyday Chic Gift Bag

Have a creative day!

Moana

Larger Than Life Boo

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

Halloween doesn’t have to always be about scary things.  Sometimes it can give you the feel of the holiday and be totally adorable at the same time.  Kind of like a few sweet children all dressed up singing “Trick-or-Treat” at your door.  Just too cute.

Larger Than Life Boo

The project began with a sheet of the Go Wild DSP stack.  I knew I wanted to sponge it up with a faded look so I looked for patterns that had more white than black.  This pattern was perfect.  I swirled and swirled until it looked the way I wanted and then sponged around the edges some more.  No layering, just adhered it straight to the card base.

Larger Than Life Boo

These Larger Than Life Alphabet & Numbers stamps really make me happy.  The only thing that would make me happier is having coordinating framelits.  But, that is not the case.  You guessed it, I actually did fussy cutting, twice!  Once for the letters and once again when I layered them up on more paper.  Where is my brain?  It had to be done, so I suffered.  My least favorite crafty task next to cleaning up.

Larger Than Life Boo

I touch of Dotted Lace Trim added such a soft touch.  Left the bow off and just did a simple knot.  I made some little eyes using the 1/2″ circle punch, punched circles using the 1/4″ circle hand held punch, and centered them with the largest size of basic rhinestones.  I sponged those pumpkin pie eyes and raised them up on dimensionals.  I also raised up my word ‘boo’ with dimensionals, but used a double stack on the center ‘o’ to make it stand out even more.  End result, adorable Halloween card, just adorable.

Have a creative day!

Moana