Project 365 Challenge/ Day 44 - Valentine Love Folio

At first when I spied these folios in Staples, I thought about making a jumbo size card to put 

inside, but then I had a different plan in mind for my husband’s Valentine’s Day Gift. 

I still have an IOU out on that gift so I can’t share right now what I planned to put inside, 

but he is going to use it to store some assorted prints he has of the girls.  

The collage at the bottom is made up of some of the things he loves...cycling (chipboard 

from Crate Paper’s Restoration collection), Family (this stamp image and the love one 

are from K&Company Que Sera, Sera clear stamps) and the beach (a retired shell stamp, 

blender pens and markers from Stampin’ Up!® - also the embossed heart die used 

on two hearts is from SU!). I decorated the folio further using border stickers, 

CS matts and cut outs (like the pretty flower) from the beautiful papers in Crate 

Paper’s Restorations collection. For adhesive, I used my Glue Glider Pro with 

high tac adhesive along with some micro extreme adhesive squares for 

the buttons and some U Cut It foam to raise up the white heart die cut.

A closer view of the bottom stamping, die cuts, etc.

Just think of ways that you can use this same folio concept to create great gifts for 

other occasions. It would make a great teacher appreciation gift with cards or 

drawings inside from the class or it also would make for a fun way of 

presenting a gift certificate to a boss or co-worker! 

My challenge to you today is to find an ordinary office supply 

and turn it into something creative!

Live Life Creatively!

Valentine Hoot Box and Mini Card

Using my SU bitty box and envelope die with my sizzix big kick, I created this adorable gift box and card set for Valentine's Day. The owls are from Sassafras' Olivia & Pals clear stamp set, the flower petal is an older SU punch, the heart is a Marvy scallop heart punch and backround flower is also a Marvy Punch. The cardstock is a personal favorite collection called Classic K McKenna from K&Company along with Soft Vanilla from Stampin' Up!® and Tan CS from The Paper Co. Other supplies used: Brown satin ribbon, light and dark pink rhinestones, Chocolate Chip ink, Regal Rose Marker, stamping sponge (to distress edges), Glue Glider Pro with high tac adhesive, Glue Arts' ribbon adhesive and mini adhesive squares. I displayed this project at the CHA Craft SuperShow this past Saturday. This is a close up view of the gift card and box top. Scroll down for more photos.

Some design notes: I used mini adhesive squares to make & attach the ribbon loop under the punched flower. If you don't own this punch, you can substitute with a similar size flower. To create the 2 toned owl, I stamped once in chocolate chip, then once using the Regal Rose brush marker to color and stamp. I trimmed out the heart shaped face and adhered to stamped brown image. I trimmed around owl shape and mounted to layers on mini gift card. For edging on card, I used a stamping sponge dipped into ink pad. I drug along CS to distress. I freehand cut the mini pink heart from the wing portion of the owl I stamped in Regal Rose.

Don't forget to dress up the outside of the envelope. Here I used the scallop heart punch with a lightly patterned solid CS from the collection so I could write the name of the person I was giving it to inside the heart. Again, I edged in brown ink to make it pop!

This shows a view of the inside of the mini gift card with the ribbon wrapped around the inside. I added a tiny verse from a retired SU set, called Be Mine, but you can add in your own stamped verse or set up a message on your computer and print out. I edged Vanilla CS with rose marker.

Life is Music...Play it Louder!

Isn’t it so cool when you are working on a project and find an embellishment that has just the right sentiment or feeling you want to convey? When working on this Birthday gift for my friend, Heather, I wanted to make a cover that would bring a smile to her face and give her some inspiration. I found in my stash this wonderful deck of journaling cards from Fancy Pants Designs that have the coolest art and sayings. This stack of Designer Trading Cards “Creative Cards” was Simple Sentiments. I knew immediately the Life is Music...Play it Louder card was perfect to use on the cover. Everything else clicked from there. Most of the inside papers are from K&Company. Just love their stuff!

This is the second accordian-fold mini album I have made with one of these Martha Stewart Collection albums. I love how they fold flat, have the strap to hold them closed, and can even be taken with you. The other album was made for my husband for Father’s Day a few years ago. It is still his favorite gift to this day cause the girls and I worked on it together. 

The album and the card feature products from some of my favorite companies: K&Company, Basic Grey, Fancy Pants Designs, Glue Arts and Stampin’ Up! To see this album in entirety, click on this link to see it in my photo Gallery. Hopefully, Heather won’t see this before I get to give it to her. It has only been a couple months that we have been trying to get together. Life is kooky like that. You sometimes have the best intentions, but schedules get in the way!

So today, as Easter Sunday draws near, hopefully you have a little free time to play your “music” a little louder!

Day 14 - Snuggling up with Santa

I couldn’t resist scrapping this moment when I caught our irresistable Wheaton Terrier, Bella, snuggled up on this old stuffed Santa. It is an heirloom from my husband’s childhood and we put him on the couch each Christmas. I came out of my studio and saw that she had used him as a pillow. It was too sweet. I grabbed my camera knowing I would have to make a page layout from this. The stamped images are from Inque Boutique’s Arabesque set, the adhesives are from Glue Arts and the chipboard is K&Company Glittered Twinkle Type. The top and bottom border were a freeform design I cut from patterned paper.

Hope this puts you in the mood to scrap your photos on Santa’s Lap!  ho, ho, ho!