Quick Stop

Sorry folks- no new projects yet- working my behind off for quite a few gifts: babies and birthdays and grads OH MY! LOL- I have some b-day cards, invites and favours to work on for my daughter, a customer and my darling neice who is ONE today :) I can't wait to show you new cake topper ideas that can co-ordinate with your favours and invites and are SUPER quick to put together :) So simple- I am so excited! And? They last so much longer than candy 'happy birthday' peices or icing decorations. Then I have some wedding and grad cards for a friend, grad for one of my Sunday School students who is graduating from high school this year and a precious little baby needing thank you cards. I've been so busy with personal projects for other people and some customers that I have yet to make any more samples for my webstore.
BUT!
I am so stoked :) I had my Stampin' Up party last night and in two weeks (OR LESS :D) I'll be playin' with some new toys! I also am ordering a stampin' up personal stamp so I can sell my stuff and still adhere to their angel policy- SO IMPORTANT! I never thought of stuff like that until I was checking out some company sites- glad I found that out BEFORE selling :) I am also stoked cuz I am not ready to become a demonstrator yet- I want to save up for the kit and learn how to drive first (nope- still don't have my learners even- planning on remedying that this summer!) so I have my own demonstrator and I have worked it out so I can set some cash aside each project and paycheque to get some goodies each time a new catalogue comes out. I admit it- I am NOW offically addicted to stampin' up! AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN MY ORDER YET! lol- so that's it for now- better get back to work so I can get my projects done for everyone and have something other than 'news' to blog- laters!
~Brandie~

Easter Baskets

Okay- I'll get to the post in a minute- I just want to share something exciting with all of you...... hehehehehehehehehe I am going to have Stampin' Up! Stuff!!!! Yea- I know!!!!! and No- I don't own any SU! stuff yet. I have been wanting, for the past year, to throw a party and place my very very first order. See- when I started papercrafting- it was as a scrapbooker (and oh- was I SO not good at that!) and I didn't think throwing catalogue parties were anything to write home about. I didn't stamp on anything- so why bother buying stamps and ink and buying packs of paper when I can go and buy paper at my local SBS? Then a couple of years ago I started getting into card making (also- very very bad start- I like to think I'm improving tho!) and that expanded to papercrafting/gift making as I wanted to make my own boxes. I stumbled upon candy making during this time because I wanted the whole gift to be personalized and I started buying Papercrafts Magazines to find templates for different box patterns. THEN while doing a internet search for various templates- I wonderfully and magically came upon Splitcoast Stampers and have been inspired, amazed and in love ever since. That was about a year ago- and I found blogs and wonderful inspiration from fellow paper crafters. And most of them had this in common: products from Stampin' Up.

Now- I'm an all or nuthin' kind of girl- so I wanted to wait til I could place a HUGE order (meaning have the money to afford a huge order) and that has brought me to here. A year later- my FIRST party is in two weeks and my wish list is GINORMOUS with inks, stampin' around wheels, paper, cardstock, stamp sets and punches. *sigh*. I'm so happy- AND eager to play with my new 'toys'! hehehehehehe

OKAY now that THAT'S said and done- on to today's post :) Easter is just around the corner and today, for many, is the last day before the holidays for the kiddos. So I never whipped up any Easter gifts for teachers before- it's always been cupcakes for the class. I think class gifts are cute and all- but really- kids at that age are just going to tear them apart and eat the goodies inside. Sure it was fun to make all that- but all the time and money FLOOSH down the drain. I never thought of making something just for the teachers before- and when I did- it was always too late (again- it typical Brandie fashion) SO this year I actually did it and here's what I came up with:

So I sort of got part of this idea from clearlyistamp- (I don't know the blog address- but they have some amazing ideas on there!) but I did mine a bit differently. Where their's was a basket- mine is more of a box. Not what I had sketched- but hey, it turned out okay :) So taking a 4x4 inch peice of cardstock patterned paper (you want the strength) score at .5 inch all the way around and just cut and paste a basic box bottom. Using acetate- 2.5x11- score at 2.5,5,7.5,10 and glue in the tab. (make sure you have about 1/16th of an inch on each side to shimmy in the box bottom). Put sticky strip along the bottom of the acetate and squeeze it together as you slide it into the box bottom. Press to adhere. I made the lid the same way- but I didn't glue it on. I made the picket fence REALLY easy and DID lift that from clearlyistamp. I cut some white CS into 1.5x0.5 strips and pointed the edge. Pretty simple :) For the flowers and butterflies I used my Marvy and Fiskar punches. The paper was fun: take some white vellum, and ink a slab of it (maybe 3x3 in square?) and while the ink is still wet- pour a mix of 1/2 fine glitter, 1/2 fine embossing powder (have it pre-mixed). Shake off the excess and then use your heat emboss tool to emboss it. Go over it slowly- as I have blistered MANY a vellum :) Careful when you punch it tho- sometimes the ink will lift off. Then I just added stickles, a tag and some sheer ribbon and done! I even covered the mini chocolate bars!

I am happy with it :) I just hope the teachers like them- they seemed to. I added some Easter grass to give the chocolate some 'lift'. Ohhh- I'd LOVE to find a chocolate bar cavity like these little nuggets so I can make my own. I would also love it if Wilton had different colours of foil. Maybe they do and my local Michaels is just too red neck to carry it lol.

SO! There I am :)

I am thinking of making a few more for my neices and nephews as a quick easter gift. They are older so they'd appreciate it better than younger kids would.

Now if I don't blog before then- I wish you all the best this Easter season- may the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus be with all of you as we remember His death and celebrate his ressurection- peace!

~Brandie~

Nightmare Before Christmas

So completly by surprise and not expecting it at all, I opened my facebook page to find aNOTHER message from a complete stranger wanting me to make her favour boxes for her child's thrid birthday. Well, I can't tell you all how exciting that is for me. I had planned on doing business for myself- but I sure wasn't expecting to be approached out of the blue like that! So- this woman's FAVOURITE movie happens to be A Nightmare Before Christmas- it is a great movie :) I watched WAY back when it first came out and would love to watch it with my kiddos. She already had invites and other things ordered from elsewhere- which was a bit of a bummer cuz I could have done those too- BUT work with what you have, be thankful for what you get and realize that when something DOESN'T happen.... it's probably for the best. I could tell that if I took on too big of a task I'd be over extending myself.

So here is what I came up with:

She wanted black and dark purple, so I came up with this. It's a simple 2-5-7-10 box that I cut the center out with my Fiskars circle cutter using the oval template. I put acetate behind it and smudged with white ink to make it smokey. Then I added purple pannels that I stamped and inked. I bought some new stamps from Inkadinkado found at Michaels. They have some amazing clear stamp sets now- and I bought the Hallowe'en one and used the super cute spider one that came with it. Inking in white- then embossing with my mix of glitter/embossing powder gave the webs a bit of shimmer. Then I just added stickles in Starry Night. It was really simple. I just finished with some sheer purple ribbon and inked the edges with silver ink by colorbox. The center was really simple too, I just found a photo from the movie online, copied and pasted to Microsoft word and manipulated the shape to an oval, used dimmensionals to adhere it to a scallop oval and put that over the 'window'. I thought they were simple, yet cute. I got alot of positive feed back from friends and the customer herself loved them- so that's all that really matters :)

So I am happy that people are coming to me- tho I am still eager to start up a Facebook group of my own that I can advertise and sell stuff on. I do like the idea of doing it locally, plus I don't HAVE to make a lot of stuff like I would for a farmer's market. I can just take local orders, fill them and VOILA satisfied (hopefully) customers! Facebook- it's the new ebay lol. Well- not really- but for me. I wouldn't do ebay because shipping can be QUITE costly. BUT the kids are fighting and I can't concentrate. NOT a good time to blog- but a great time for some air. We still have snow- but it's slooooooowly melting. Here's hopein' for spring!

~Brandie~

Double Acetate Box

Hey crafters :) Hope all is going well. I am just whipping up things at my desk and having FUN! For me personally- I DO like having a reason to make something BUT sometimes, it's nice to just play. Sometimes my playing turns into something beautiful- sometimes it's the start of a great idea and other times it's just a volunteer for the recycle bin :P So here's one that I made up- snatching the idea of some beautiful packaging found at Starbucks. Is it just me or is coffee packaging now-a-days just gorgeous or what? And for the cost of making your OWN coffee/cocoas, chocolate truffles and papercrafts- you can make a few cute gifts for a lot less. But starbucks is still good to go for inspiration or a caramel coffee :)

Okay- so I'm not the most clever at thinking up titles or names for my creations :P Here, I'll show ya what I made and you can tell me what I should call it!

So I teach Sunday School a few Sunday's a month and I have a trio of beautiful, giggly 13/14 yr olds. Over the past two months, one of them has been horribly ill with migranes and fevers- so Sunday School has been a bit quiet and you realize just how much you miss someone- even if you don't know them THAT well- when they aren't around for a while. SO I whipped this up after seeing the idea at Starbucks and wanted to have a sort of feel-better package for her.

Now- I recently bought some projector sheets and LOVE using them :) Thank you to whoever you were -whichever blog I hopped too- that suggested finding CHEAP acetate in this way :) SO, now that I'm done babbling- I'll give you the lo-down with more pics :)- and some recipes if you'd like!~ well- I'll post them anyways- I'm in a giving mood :)

Materials:

2- 8.5x11 acetate sheets

2- sheets DSP or PP- I used 2 sheets of 12x12 by Making Memories

3-different colours of scrap paper for lable

1- 8-9 inch peice of ribbon (I used sheer ribbon- found at Michaels- very inexpensive for LOTS!)

stamps, ink, embossing powder

Tools: hole punch, adhesive, paper cutter/scorer, bone folder

Cutting:

Cut both sheets of acetate to 11x6. Score each sheet lengthwise at 2.5,5,7.5 and 10

Cutting your DSP- I cut 1 sheet is cut at 9x6.5 (please add an 1/16 of an inch on each side for wiggle room- sorry, I'm not good at measuring at 1/16 incrimints) and 7x6.5 (again- please add 1/16 inch on each side for wiggle room). The larger one is your bottom peice- smaller one is the lid. You SHOULD have a 2.5x12 inch strip left- trim that in two (if not- cut 2.5x6 with some other paper)

Cut your other peice of DSP into 2 peices of 8.5x2.5- they are the band to go around the entire box and will overlap on the sides.

So build your acetate boxes- which will really just look like long rectangle tubes, and add sticky strip to the one inch tab and tuck that inside. Now build your bottom by scoring at 1 inch around each side, and then at the 2 inch mark at each side. Now- I took time out to take pics of a BAD box bottom (lol) cuz I tried to explain- and couldn't - so here are the photos to help explain it for me:

So as you see, you cut 2x1 inch off each side and trim the other 2x1 inch in all four sides into tabs. You then fold on the score lines and assemble. It gives the box a sturdier bottom because then the sides are 'doubled' up. :)
I did the top the same way- but only doubled up the far sides- not all four as I didn't have enough paper :) On a note (as I did it later and it was a bit tougher) BEFORE you assemble the lid- use your hole punch and punch 2 holes in the top of the lid to weave the ribbon through. You can also add eyelets for strength if you wanted to.

So I had the box bottom, I stuck both acetate boxes together and then slipped the 2.5x6 DSP on the inside side of the box to hide all the adhesive. I did that to both sides- so now you have 1 6x5x2.5 box with a divider in it, essentially. Add sticky strip to the bottom- no more than 1 inch from the bottom and squeezing the acetate together, set it in the box bottom (if you squeeze it on all sides, you don't run the risk of it sticking to the bottom sooner) and then press all the sides against the bottom to stick it together.

Then I took the 8.5x2.5 sheets and scored at 1 and 3/4 on each side and then just over lap the peices on the side and adhere to the side of the box. For the lable, I just used my Storybook cricut Cartridge and cut out 1 oval at 2, 1 oval at 2.5 and a scalloped oval (w- I think- check your book) at 2 (yes 2- it made it large enough to layer). But you can lable yours however you wish. Creativity is key :) So here are some other shots:

So it was a lot of fun to make these little pouches. Now I am also a candy maker- as I've shared before- and in the candy/wilton aisle in Michaels- they had these lollipop bags. I bought them to make lollipops (FAIL) for valentines a couple of years ago. I still had them and they are PERFECT for adding 3-4 rounded tablespoons of coffee mix. SO I made the lables with my cricut (George and Mini Monogram cartridges) and for the top I had a 2.25x3 inch peice of DSP and scored it at 3/4, 1.5 and 2 1/4. I folded the edges with the top of the pouch, punched a couple of holes and wound the ribbon through and tied a bow. Very simple- but works with the box and is SO cute for single packages!

So I've used up SO MUCH room on my blog- lol. Hope the directions were cohesive enough. I know y'all are papercrafters and some of it is common sense- but I am NOT very good at the whole 'explaining' thing and I did want to share if you want to make some of your own. So I will share the website I got most of the coffee mixes from, and share the candy secrets for another day (well- they aren't that secret- got them from cookbooks and the web too! lol)

http://www.recipe-recipes.net/beverages/beverage-mix-recipes.htm

Too fun :) And very easy/inexpensive. So there ya go- enjoy! Thanks for coming.

A Spot of Happiness

So I've been gone (obviously :D) well- not on vacation or anything fun like that- just gone from the crafting table and blogging world. I was excited to have a stranger approach me via facebook and ask me if I could do some sort of invite keepsake for her daughter's first birthday. She saw some of the cards I had on sale in my local network and loved them. I said of course! I was so thrilled that my name is getting out there some how- as small as that somehow is. So I worked with her to see what she wanted and she gave me the colour pallette and gave me complete creative liberty. *sigh* isn't that the best? When you can just whip something up. Then again- it's also nice to have guidelines and such when you're in a creative slump and have something you need to make for someone.

SO in typical Brandie-fashion- I had two weeks to complete it and I left it til last minute. Which meant that the Thursday night before it was due I decided to stay up til 2:30 am detailing the cards and making the chocolates- and I still wasn't done! Don't worry- it was finished before it was due- and I had time Friday afternoon to shower and clean up the house- so that was okay. BUT if I am serious about turning this into a business, this experience has shown me that I definatly need to be better organized with my time. Tho I am please with myself in how I organized my materials and assembly-lined my production- so that aspect of crafting for profit has gotten better :) SO here is what I made:

What she wanted (now this is a sample- so the actual ones were a bit more refined) was a card that had a cute poem in it. I thought of making a pocket card with a window in which the poem could slip in and out. This was fun doing one- but once the idea of doing 25 came into play, you see how tedious the detailing really is. So the card 4.5x3.75 (the pocket) and it was simple enough to do. I had a hard time figuring out how to make the window as I don't own an spellbinder dies which would have made the process alot cleaner AND easier. So I relied on my trusty ruler and exacto knife. I left a quarter inch on the top, and half an inch around the other three sides. The font is sweetheart script in size 12- you could go size 11- any smaller and you can't read it. Any larger and it was too large for the card. So I added a cute frame with I cut from my Storybook Cricut Cartridge. I LOVE that cartridge! It was the owl one (if you have it, check your booklet and you find out how to do the frame with the owl in it) and I just cut the owl out. The I stamped it with a flourish and embossed it with my mix of embossing/glitter powder. So here's the insert:

I buy the cardstock packs from the paper company found at Michaels. There isn't a LOT of colour selection (not like Stampin' Up- I am so excited to be placing and order with them soon! My very first !!!) anyways, for the pack it's not bad- nice weight cardstock, 11x8.5, 50 sheets, 5 colours for $5.00 CND at Michaels. Nice. So I used the Dark Pink found in the Baby Girl pack, cut at 3.75x5 (enough of an edge at the top to scallop it), Mint Green found in the Seaside pack (and other packs too) cut at 3.5x4.5 and then Beige (in SO MANY packs!) cut at 3.25x5. What I did to print the poem, was: using my Windows program (I have vista) I divided my 'page' into two collums and spaced it out so I could fit four poems on one page. Cut the paper in half at 4.25 and then it was just tweeking to get it centered. Then I used a ribbon to add some detail and stamped and embossed the poem as well.

To finish the pocket, I used cuttlebug 2x6 flowers to cut out the flowers- then I dabbed them with ink (NOT a very clean process!) and embossed them. I didn't know at the time- but I thought these were invites- but she called everyone to invite them. So the pocket is cute- tho pointless :P You could do what I did, or add a photo behind the insert OR your insert could have all the party information on it with a poem or pic behind it! To compliment the cards, I also did up a sample party favour- here it is!
Again, I used the scalloped frame idea, tho this time I used a solid scalloped square from the Storybook Cartridge. I had to cut the center out, and I just did a half an inch on all four sides. Again stamped and embossed (on the real ones, I also stamped and embossed the sentiment underneath in the same green swirls). I used pop dots under the frame to give it a 3D look and added the flowers. The box is 3x3x1 and it fits four chocolate cups. I made my own for this, as I said before, candy making is also a hobby of mine. So voila! Next time I'll give myself MORE time.

Now the reason I named my blog such, is that I've been in somewhat of a funk as of late. It has to do with adhesive. Seriously. I can't find the right glue at the right price and get the right amount. I realized that that was just the tip of the iceberg. I've been feeling a bit "blah" with my crafting lately because I don't think I'm as good as all those professional crafters out there. I am very competitive and compare myself to alot of other people. I know I know- not very Christian as who I am should only be found in Christ- but it is hard not to sometimes. So I have come to the realization that I just love to craft. I don't need to own a business or be in a magazine or work on a design team to have purpose (tho any of those things WOULD be pretty cool!) so what is crafting to me? It's my spot of happiness. It's my escape. My creative outlet. My inexpensive gift giving ability :) It's that and so much more than I am grateful to God for blessing me with the ability to do these things and make so many other people happy. So whenever you yourself are in a funk- just ask yourself why? Why do you craft? What is your craft to you? Anyways- I'm done blathering on :) Take care!

I'm not Dead

Remember back when when I said I was a horrible blogger? Yea- it's really true. It's been two whole months and not that I have been that busy- it's just that I've been busy enough to not blog or to do many projects. Christmas is usually pretty hectic and last minute for me- so taking time off before the new holidays in crucial. I have valentine's, baby stuff and birthday all coming my way. PLUS? I am bound and determined to make enough stuff to work the farmer's market in the end of May- so yea. Busy busy busy.

Valentine's is long gone and past- so I wont worry about that- but I DO have a fun project for anybody who ever stumbles upon this thing- especially now that I am actually here :) I had a friend who just had a beautiful baby boy a little over a week ago. It's her first son, but her third child and I don't know what all she has planned for the baby shower or even if she'll have one (we Canadians tend to have them after the baby is born so we can buy accordingly- I have a friend who lived in the U.S. for a while and everyone she told that too thought it was weeeeeeeeeeeeird!) SO to prepare I made her this little gift:

The box is 8x5 with 1.25 inch sides. I used accetate (thank you for the wonderful hint on just using projector sheets for that! I forget where I read that- but I didn't know that so I bought a pack of 100 sheets for 20 bucks at Staples! NICE!) and I made the lid 8 2/16 x 5 2/16 (for wiggle room) with 1 inch sides. To punch it up, I cut a 2.5 inch of cardstock with a scalloped edge and decorated it with scalloped squares, stamps, ink and lables. This set comes with 10 Thank You cards and 10 Blank baby announcments. To divide the card sets I just added a dividing wall. It's really easy- but hard to explain- as I am NOT an explainer- I'm a show-er. What I did here is take a peice of cardstock 5 inches by 2.5 inches and scored in the middle and .5 at each side. I folded it in half, folded the .5 sides up and glued the sides together, leaving the edges up and then putting stick strip on the little .5 edges and gluing them down to the box itself. If you followed that- congrats to you. If you didn't- I am so sorry- bad directions- but I have no clue how to explain them better than that :( Make sure your divider is a tad smaller than the depth of your box tho- I made that mistake and the lid didn't sit as snug as it could.

So here are the cards inside:

So here are the thank you cards- yea- I am aware the squares are a bit wonky- I will work on that when I am actually selling them and I didn't know they were this bad til I saw this photo. BUT these were fun to make :) I used my New Arrival Cartridge to make the animals and decided to punch them up with stickles. Here's a hint I learned online- use a toothpick to get fine details with your stickles :) Another hint? I made ten of these and put them in the box- well, I used dimennsionals behind the squares and sheer ribbon with a knot across the top of the card- really pretty- BUT I had to squish and tie tight nine of the cards, used one for disply purposes in the box and couldn't fit the cards AND the envies in the box. So yea- don't make you're stuff too bulky unless you make the box larger- but you'd need a larger sheet of cardstock than the typical 8.5x11. And how do you all make your envies? I make my own- but use cardstock and that's pretty thick- so I dunno. ANYWAYS! I wanted to keep the theme throughout the set, so here's the annoucnements:

The cartridge is awesome cuz it comes with six little animals. they are inchies- so I think they came out pretty cute- but if you make them larger (or have a steadier hand than I do) you could always do stitching detail to make them more stuffed animal like. Also- you can use these for girls and switch the colours- or if you have the New Arrival cartridge, they have cutsie girlie dies or for a boy they have planes, trains and automobiles :) The font used for these is Quiggly Wiggly and I topped it all off with some stickle details. Set 'em in your box, finish with a ribbon and viola! Cute, quick and fun baby gift :)

So that's my fun project- I am hoping to be a better blogger, especially with all the projects I got on the go- but no promises- take care!

Happy New Years!!!

Everyone else is posting Happy New Year blog posts with resolutions- thought I'd hop on the bandwagon! Never been much of a leader- more of a follower type. That's okay tho- takes all types to make the world go round!

SO! My 1st resolution is very important to me as I've tried to do 'it' every year since I've gained the weight and haven't been motivated enough to even try longer than, maybe, two months. It's more than "lose weight and eat healthy and exercise"- I want that lifestyle change. I think most people have that for a resolution- to take better care of their bodies- but for some reason, most of us fail. Maybe it's cuz our motivations are wrong. Maybe it's cuz it seemed like a good idea at the time and we just weren't ready. I need to get ready. I've seen posts and articles and commercials (more and more it seems) regarding type 2 diabetes. Now diabetes runs rampant in my family, and if you don't take care of yourself while you're young, chances are you can give yourself this horrible, and incurable, disese before you reach fourty. I've got ten years to get my act in gear! My motivation in the past was always to be thin so I can feel sexy/pretty. In this past year I've learned to love myself for who I am. My looks (which really have nothing to do with my weight!), and more than the superficial, the HEART of who I am. I am willing to try, and succeed, because I want to be healthy! I have been munching on the not-so-healthy stuff that the holiday's offer- not sleeping well and not taking care of myself at all really. So I have been lethargic and that makes my day just go down the toilet. I want to be energized and enjoy life, my children and everything else I enjoy. I want to live well into my golden years without the pain and discomfort that I see my grandmother-in-law going through. I want to not worry about slowly killing myself with food- and being a better role model to my kiddos. I hope I'm doing it for all the right reasons now! And looking and feeling better about myself? Just a wonderful side effect.
Along with my physical well being (which is more than just food and exercise!) I want to nurture my spiritual well being. Now it's no secret that I *heart* Jesus. But I haven't been maturing as a Christian very quickly. When things get too complicated in life or I have too much on the go, my faith takes a back seat. No more praying, bible study, devotions. Nada. I want to rectify that NOW! My spiritual health is the ONLY thing more important than my physical health- cuz let's face it- our bodies will, indeed, die. Again, the side effects of being spiritually healthy are wonderful! I don't get depressed, angry, bitter or anxious as easy because I am seeing things from a Godly standpoint. I am more patient, loving and considerate. I don't get offended as easily. AND I am a good example to my children and others around me. Even Jesus said that it was important to act out your faith- that it is what will have people asking about Him. THEN you can preach! People don't nessicarily enjoy being preached too when they didn't ask.
I think if I can be on the ball with those two things- my next resolution should be no problem! See, I have a horrible time procrastinating and leaving things until the last minute. It's never good and it's always stressing me out. I found that procrastinating is really just a fancied up term for wasting time. So I am going to be more diligent in getting things done when I have the time and not to be wasting so much time.
I am also going to be better at not wasting resources so I can be more generous. That's my next resolution, to be more giving of time and money.
Next is to get my learner's permit. That's right. I don't even know how to drive. So I will definatly work on that this year as I was told that I can become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator IF I get my license and can drive myself around. I don't blame my honey for saying that :D It's not going to be too much fun for him to drive me all over the city doing girly parties :D
And lastly- I am going to try to work it out so I can work from home doing what I love- making cards and invites and favours. So I am excited to get started- but it's hard to talk on the phone and blog at the same time- so take care and good luck with the resolutions :D