2012 Gift Ideas Part 1

As it gets closer and closer to my favourite time of year, I have started scouring the web looking for some cute little gift ideas that are budget friendly and to also use up my mountain of stash. I have found that one of the easiest gifts is filling up a pretty gift box with sweets. First up are these ADORABLE little owl pillow boxes.

I wish I could take credit for the original idea, but I found these adorable ones on Pinterest and had to have a go! I didn't follow the instructions given to the letter, I simply cut a pillow box, circles and the wings on my Silhouette, punched some hearts for the beak and feet and they were ready to go!

With big tins of sweets such as Roses, Quality Street and Celebrations on offer in most supermarkets for £5 I could have filled 6-7 of these with goodies, and standing at 7.5in tall and 4 3/4 inches wide they make a substantial looking gift.

Well, with those finished, I'm off to look for some more inspiration!

Have a great week :)

In Love....

With My Minds Eye Sweetest Thing Lavender paper collection, specifically the 6x6 pad (of which I bought 2!). I cannot remember the last time that I had so much fun creating with just one paper line, the colours are soft and pretty and the patterns are just perfect!

I decided to embark on, what turned out to be, a marathon card making weekend and I can't believe how many I managed (considering I am a slow cardmaker!) Without further ado here are the *11* cards I came up with:

I'm still 'experimenting' with embossing powders, it just seems to be the one thing I can't seem to do properly (as evidenced by the faded doily edge at the bottom). This was made using the Lavender 'Cutie Pie' stamp set which I adore.

They are just so delicate and lacy and look fabulous when stacked on top of one another. I intend to make these into a cut file on my silhouette so I can die cut and stamp to my hearts content. I do love the colours on this, especially the new Morocco memento ink.

And they look great when stamped with kraft coloured ink on kraft paper. This card was made to use up scraps from the first card.

I went with a clear cardstock base on this card, not a good choice as I completely covered it in paper. I think the stamps look so fresh in these colours.

Love ruffly seam binding ribbon!

I love the sentiments that come on the tiny word stickers. One in particular 'tender hearted' I am saving for a card for my mum as it is such a great description of her.

I started playing with scraps, cutting them into matchstick strips and adhering to the card base.

A sweet card, perfect for valentines day (it's not that far off!)

I made this fabric flower a long time ago, not knowing what to do with it, until now! It is a perfect match to the paper. I love it when a plan comes together ;)

I am always in need of cards for birthdays and the die cut #1 seemed to be a perfect fit when coupled with the tiny word sticker and label. I think this one is quite girly so I tried a more 'unisex' version here..

Have I exhausted you yet? There are another 4 cards that aren't shown as they have been submitted for a publication call, which brings the grand total to 15 cards made!

I am now about to embark on a little scrapbooking action using the same paper. Thanks for looking and have a great week :)

Supplies used - Paper, Tiny Word Stickers, Chipboard Elements, Stickers and Stamps are all My Minds Eye Sweetest Thing Lavender collection. Embellishments (Wooden Stars and Butterfly) Studio Calico. (Pins) Dainty Paperie

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Birthday Sprinkles!

After a little holiday break I am back again with November's Crafty Templates card kit 'Sprinkles', filled with sugar sweet papers and cardstock, tickets, tags and some scrumptious ribbon. I used the fun stacked cakes template for the first card

The cakes look so adorable at a jaunty angle, I think this is one of my favourite templates! The second card features the stack of gifts template and can be used for so many different occasions, change up the papers and you have got a great card for those difficult men's cards :)

I know I sound like a stuck record but I really cannot say enough good things about Leo's kits. The Quirky kits are perfect for scrapbooking and have such cute little touches, the Card Making kits are a joy to work with and the Crafty Bales kits sell like hotcakes, so much so that I missed out on getting one they sell so fast, they are filled with paper crafting goodies and can contain components for mini books, fabric and much more.
Take a look at fellow DT Kathy's blog to see what she has done with this month's kit!

Hope to be back later in the week with a little gift box tutorial (it's new to me but may be old to you but they will be great for xmas!)

Summer Fete June Card Kit - DT Crafty Templates

So many gorgeous templates this month and the cardmaking kit Summer Fete can only be described as yummy! Go to Crafty Templates to get yours!

First up is my favourite - A British Tea Party using the union jack bunting and teapot templates. I added in the cake stand, cake slice and crockery. The pretty polka dot paper and twine were from the kit.

Next is Today's Your Day using the second bunting template with twine and sentiment label from the kit. I used extra bunting to decorate the envelope.

This one is also a favourite of mine. I used the bunting template, AC papers, little ladybug pegs from John Lewis and more of the lovely polka dot, twine and flowers from the kit.

This one Mr Paper declared was his favourite, Ice Cream Wishes. All papers and sentiment were from the kit, I used a sheet of the paper to weave the cone and also added a touch of glitter :)

and lastly there is Tea for Two, using the prettiest paper I have seen in a while, doily and teapot template from the kit. I used promarkers to colour in the teapot and added a punched accent and pearls.

Leo really does put together some amazing kits. If you prefer Scrapbooking have you seen her Quirky Kits? Gorgeous papers and carefully considered accents, you'll have to act fast though as these sell out quickly!

Be back later this week, hope you all had a wonderful weekend!