Christmas Gift Boxes

I have some little Christmas gift boxes to share today. They were made using my We R Memory Keepers punch board...and once assembled measure 4x4x4 inches. I make some of these every year, and this time I didn't have enough suitably thick 12x12 papers, so used sheets of American Crafts card, and then decorated them with snippets of papers from my 'Wonderful Winter' and 'Countdown to Christmas' pads by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges of the papers a little, then added some faux stitching using my Cutterbee Bug and a black gel pen. I made a small tag to match each one, decorating each with a matching piece of paper, then attached them to the boxes with some twine.

(Click the photos for a close-up view)

Challenges for these boxes:

• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Cardmakers - Christmas
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Christmas
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Wrap it Up
• That's Crafty - Anything Goes
• The Ribbon Girls - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Think Small and/or Coloured Pencils

It's the third Sunday of a new month, so that means we an additional theme for this month's Pile It On! Challenge. Our themes for April are:

'Think Small'
and/or
'Use Coloured Pencils'

Our sponsor for this challenge is A Day for Daisies:

Prize - 3 Images of the Winner's Choice!

I combined the themes and made a simple little gift tag for part of my brother's birthday present. The tag is from Hobbycraft and measures about 1.5 by 3 inches. I stamped a cute little Penny Black pup (called 'for you!') on to it, then coloured him using watercolour pencils...but without using water. I tied it to the present using some multicoloured twine (from TK Maxx).

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Think Small and/or Coloured Pencils
• Addicted to Stamps - Balloons/Bunting/Presents
• CCEE Stampers - Pets
• Fab 'N' Funky - Cute Critters
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Simple Stamped Butterfly Notecards

I have some simple stamped notecards to share today...these were Christmas gifts, so it's safe to show them on here now! I used the 'Pen Pattern Butterflies' set by Stampendous...stamping each one in several similar shades of Distress Inks. I used my Tim Holtz stamp platform which made mass production easy! There are four of each butterfly in each colour-way...making two sets of 24 notecards in total!

(Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Scattered Straw & Wild Honey)

(Distress Inks: Spiced Marmalade & Fired Brick)

(Distress Inks: Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet & Seedless Preserves)

(Distress Inks: Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon & Broken China)

I bundled each set of notecards together with their envelopes, and tied them securely with some multicoloured twine.

Challenges for these notecards:

• Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Use Your Stuff - Anything Goes

Snowflake Gift Bag

I'm just popping on the share a simple decorated Christmas gift bag. The bag came from Hobbycraft...and I stamped snowflakes from the 'Detailed Snowflakes' set by Stampendous using white pigment ink all over the front. I used my Woodware ribbon slot punch to punch holes at the top, then threaded some ribbon (from TKMaxx) through, tying it in a bow to close it, then added one of these gift tags.

Challenges for this bag:

• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Craftaholics R Us - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Anything but a Card
• Sweet Stampers - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Silly Birds!

Today's card was inspired by the 'Rainbow' challenge over at AAA Cards...and by this double rainbow that I could see from my craft room window:

I picked an image from Hambo Stamps called 'Silly Birds', and coloured them using watercolour pencils. I kept the layout of the card really simple...adding the image to a piece of kraft card stamped with a sentiment (from a set by Lili of the Valley), with some rainbow twine (from TKMaxx) wrapped around it, mounting the panel on to my card blank using 3D foam.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Rainbow
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Party Time)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - String Theory
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Spooky Treat Boxes

I have some more Halloween treat boxes to share today...to match this one that I made  couple of weeks ago.

Once again, I used my We R Memory Keepers punch board and some Core'dinations 'Black Magic' card. I used a 12x12 piece of card, and made the largest size of box (a 4x4 cube). I sanded the edges of the card to reveal the coloured core (they're all different)...then added some pieces of the same card embossed with a selection of 'spooky' embossing folders...I scuffed up the edges a little and then sanded over the raised surface to reveal the coloured core. I added a little tag made out of more of the same card...decorated each one with a different Penny Black image (from the 'Be Very Scared' & 'Spooky' sets) and tied them to the boxes using a variety of co-ordinating twine.

Here are some photos of each of the boxes...fist the 'white' one:

And...the embossing on the back:

'Yellow':

'Blue':

'Purple':

'Red':

And, finally...with their 'green' buddy:

I'm entering these treat boxes into the following challenges:

• Amusing - Halloween
• As You Like It - New or Old Stash (Old...I  find it terribly difficult to use my new stash...especially papers...and it's always lovely to discover forgotten gems amongst your old stash...like this Core'dinations card that I've had for several years...and these cute Penny Black stamps that I get out each Halloween)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Embossing)
• Crafty Creations - Not a Card
• Creative Inspirations - Halloween/Fall
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes (Pumpkins)
• Cut It Up - Pumpkins
• Cute Card Thursday - Halloween
• Daring Cardmakers - Add a Tag
• Fantasy Stampers - Halloween Fun
• Give a Crafter a Cookie - Photo Inspiration
• Inky Chicks - Too Cute to Spook
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Halloween
• Ribbon Girls - Use Any Image
• Shopping Our Stash - Halloween
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Treat Bags & Boxes
• Sparkles Forum - I Put a Spell on You
• Stampavie & More - Halloween
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Autumn/Halloween

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Friendship

It's the first Saturday of the month...so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...and this month the theme is:

'Friendship'

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

1-2-3 Stitch!:

Prize - a $20 voucher

I picked a cute hedgie image from the 'Hugs' set...and combined it with a sentiment stamp by Funstamps. I made a one layer card, simply stamping my image on to my card blank, colouring it using watercolour pencils, and adding some mulitcoloured twine from TKMaxx.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• Aud Sentiments - Animals & a Sentiment
• Crafty Cardmakers - Sentiments
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Card Crew - CAS
• Everybody Art - CAS
• Whimsy Inspires - Ribbon, Lace or Twine

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

For Dad...

I have a couple of items to share today...both for my Dad...a wine bottle tag/giftcard holder for his birthday...and a gift tag for his Father's Day present. On the wine bottle tag/giftcard holder...I used a cute Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Mr Fixit' and papers from the 'Here & There' pad by Studio Calico. I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts, and the letters were cut using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet dies. I cut the hole for the bottle top using one of my Nesties...and created a pocket on the back to hold a giftcard...but I forgot to photograph that...ooops!

I mad e a simple tag to go on his Father's Day present using one of my oldest Penny Black stamps...'Present Pile'...and papers from the same Studio Calico pad. I inked around the edge of the paper using 'Tea Dye' Distress Ink, and 'fussy cut' the chicken image. I used some multicoloured twine (from TK Maxx) to tie around the gift.

Challenges for these items:

• ABC Challenge - K for Kritters
• C.R.A.F.T. - Father's Day/Male
• Crafty Cardmakers - Stitching (on the bottle tag)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Pink Elephant - Masculine Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Father's Day/Special Man

Fishing!

I'm sneaking on with a super quick card...I couldn't resist making something for the 'Water' themed challenge over at Less is More. I used a cute Penny Black stamp called 'Fishing!', that I coloured using watercolour pencils...simply adding some multicoloured twine that I picked up in TKMaxx.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Land or Sea (I love both, but I can't resist dipping my toes in the sea in the summer time.
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - The Great Outdoors
• Less is More - One Layer Card + Water

Christmas Stockings

I'm still playing with birthday goodies...it's the stamps that are new on today's card...it's a little set by Papermania called 'At Christmas - Stockings'. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then simply added some multicoloured twine (from TK Maxx), and a few adhesive pearls.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Favourite Embellishments (Twine & Pearls - they go with almost any theme, and don't make the card too bulky, so you can still get away with cheap postage!)
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Gifts Galore
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Cute Card Thursday - CAS
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Out of Season
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in August

Chalkboard Wishes

The stamp I've used on today's card was  prize from a challenge I won over at Sketchy Colours a few weeks ago...it's called 'Chalkboard Wishes' by Penny Black...and is totally different from anything else I have in my collection. I stamped it in black Versafine ink, then added some colour to the 'chalk' using watercolour pencils, then simply cut around the edge, and added it to a card blank decorated with some My Mind's Eye paper (from the 'Bright' pad) and some multicoloured twine (from TKMaxx).

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - CAS
• Inky Impressions - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Focal Sentiments
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Present Pile Gift Wrap & Tag

I have some simple gift-wrap and a tag to share today...it's my Dad's birthday present to go with this card that I blogged earlier this week...you may have spotted there's a bit of a chicken theme! This one is 'Present Pile' by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, simply cutting him out, and adding him to a tag covered in washi tape. I used some more of the washi tape on the present, then attached my tag using some multicoloured twine that I picked up in TKMaxx.

Challenges for this Tag & Wrapping:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - for the Guys
• Crafty Creations - All About 'S' (Stripes & String)
• Creative Inspirations - Tag It!
• Delightful - It's a Guy Thing
• Pink Elephant - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Tag, You're It!
• Sweet Stampin' - Father's Day/Special Man

Foodie Gifts & Washi Tape Wrapping

I've got something a little different to show you today...some foodie gifts:

From Left to Right: 

Olives marinated in oil with rosemary, thyme, garlic & coriander; 

Mixed nuts spiced with allspice, cayenne pepper, mustard & cumin; 

and Olives marinated in oil with basil, lemon & chilli

(The pretty jars are from TKMaxx...and I made some simple tags using a Sizzix die and some Hobbycraft washi tape, held on with twine (also from Hobbycraft).

I decorated a box to match to put everything in: 

Challenges for these items:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Food & Drink
• Craft Your Passion - Christmas (Anything but a Card)
• Crafting for all Seasons - Christmas Anything but a Card
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything but a Card
• Dream Valley - Christmas
• Inky Chicks - Christmas
• Love to Create - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas - Feasts & Treats