Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Alternate Projects

A couple days ago, I showed you these treat bags I created with the Mini Treat Bag die.  Well, when I started using the die, it occurred to me that if I cut pieces and put them together in different ways, I could get some different types of treat bags. 

If you cut two of the largest pieces of the treat bag (a side and flap), score on each flap, then attach the flap of one piece to the side of the main piece, you can end up with a basket that looks like this:

I attached a base in the bottom (using the bottom flaps from the treat bag to hold it in place).  The paper used on this basket is from the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (available during Sale-a-Bration, or now until April 30th, if you purchase a Butterfly Bundle).  The flower is cut with the Bouquet Bigz Die.

If you take two of the flap pieces and attach them together, you end up with a cute little treat bag like this, that's the perfect size for some pencils or candies (maybe licorice or pixie stick type candies):

The paper used here is the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper.  The tag was cut, using some of the "extra" dies that come with the Mini Treat Bag Framelits, out of Strawberry Slush and Soft Sky card stock.  Ribbons are Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon and the Soft Sky from the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine.

At a workshop I attended, one of the gals suggested that it would be fun to create a treat bag out of Window Sheets, and so I tried that and created this; however, I don't know that I'd recommend it, as the Window Sheet was a bit too thick for the die (I'm afraid my framelits haven't cut quite the same since . . . ).  I do like how the bag turned out, though:

After die cutting, I embossed the Window Sheet with the Happy Heart Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  To adhere the Window Sheet pieces together, I used Fast Fuse -- clear and strong, so it did the trick well!  I added a strip of Beach House Washi Tape (retiring) around the outside of the bag.  The hearts on the front are Real Red and Pink Pirouette Card Stock, die cut using the retiring Hearts a Flutter Framelits.

Hope you like these ideas!  Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Retiring Favorite: Bloom with Hope Card

Bloom with Hope has been one of my favorite stamp sets from the 2014-15 Annual Catalog, so I'm sad to see it retiring (though, since it is a hostess set, I knew it was coming!).  Anyway, one of the first cards I made with it was this flip card, and I wanted to (finally) share it with you!!!  Here it is:

This was inspired by the white embossing on the boxed note card sample on page 240 of the Catalog. I decided to change the color to Lost Lagoon and make my card a flip card using the awesome Circle Thinlits (not retiring!).  The butterfly is from the Papillon Potpourri set (also not retiring!), stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, colored with Blendabilities, and cut with the Elegant Butterfly Punch.

If you'd like to check out the other retiring items, you can see the lists here or in my online store here.  My Digital Studio is also retiring, and you can see the list of everything going away along with that here.   Retiring products are only available until June 2nd, or while supplies last (and some items have already sold out -- particularly card stocks and ink refills).

Stampin' Up! has also created a video with their favorite retiring products, which you can see here:



What are your favorite retiring products?

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

The Butterflies Have Landed

Hi!  Those of you who get my e-newsletters already know that the Butterflies Thinlits and Bundle are back in stock, so wanted to be sure to share that for those of you don't (if you'd like to sign up, please leave me a comment to let me know or send me an email using the link in the sidebar).  For those who've been waiting patiently for these great products, Stampin' Up! has special offers from now through April 30th:

1. Get the Butterflies Thinlits at a 15 percent discount--just $21.20!  OR
2. Buy any of the Butterflies Thinlits Bundles at the already-discounted price and choose one of three FREE Sale-A-Bration items (only available while supplies last)!

• Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (item 138633)
• Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (item 138634)
• Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (item 138635)

Anyway, I have some projects I've been waiting to share with you until the butterflies were back, so here goes!  Both of these projects are created using the Mini Treat Bag Framelits in combination with items from the Butterflies Thinlits Bundle. 

The first is a treat bag cut from Wisteria Wonder card stock.  Images are stamped on it in Wisteria Wonder and Blackberry Bliss ink.  The butterfly is cut from Blackberry Bliss card stock, and the "for you" is cut from Wild Wasabi card stock, using one of the dies that comes in the Mini Treat Bag Framelits.

For the second project, I cut the treat bag out of the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (a Sale-a-Bration item, but available again now with the purchase of a Butterfly Bundle).  I love this pattern -- so soft and pretty -- and the colors are great -- shades of Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, and Soft Sky.  I stamped the flowers on the designer paper using Coastal Cabana ink, which I also used for the pattern on the tag (cut with another die from the Mini Treat Bags Framelits). 

The butterfly is cut from Daffodil Delight for the top part, and the smaller die cut underneath is Crisp Cantaloupe Card Stock, stamped with Calyspo Coral.  Coastal Cabana ribbon from the Best Year Accessory Pack is tied in a bow around the treat bag.  And, the tag is held on with one of the 2014-16 In Color Clothespins (on the retiring list, so only available while supplies last).

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Artisan Butterfly Friends

 The Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog is so beautiful, it can be hard to bring yourself to cut into it!  However, I managed to do it, and used one of the pieces to create this card:

The greeting is from the Painted Petals set, stamped first in Rich Razzleberry, then rocked the bottom of the stamp into Blackberry Bliss for an ombre effect on the greeting.  It is cut out with the Decorative Label Punch.

The Rose Red lace and Blackberry Bliss thin velvet trim are from the Artisan Embellishment kit, as is the metal flower button on the body of the butterfly. 

The butterfly is due cut using the beautiful Butterfly Thinlits, soon to be available again -- and from the day they are through April 30th, Stampin' Up! is bringing you two special offers:

1. Get the Butterflies Thinlits at a 15 percent discount--just $21.20!
2. Buy any of the Butterflies Thinlits Bundles at the already-discounted price and choose one of three FREE Sale-A-Bration items (only available while supplies last)!

• Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper (item 138633)
• Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (item 138634)
• Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper (item 138635)

So, if you haven't gotten your Butterfly Thinlits or Bundle yet, be sure to stay tuned for them to become available soon (probably tomorrow)!!!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Lots of Layers of Gratitude

While my youngest son was playing in a chess tournament on Saturday, I had a chance to whip out the March Paper Pumpkin and start playing with it at last!  I love embroidery, so I've had fun with that part of the kit.  Hopefully will have some photos to show you soon of what I've been making with that.  In the meantime, I'm finally ready to show you some of my projects with the February Paper Pumpkin kit, Layers of Gratitude.  And, as a bonus, I also have a project to show you by my super-creative friend Joyce!

First up is the project I made following the kit's instructions:

Here's the first panel of the card a little closer up:

I love the crayon-box-like envelopes that come in the kit!  I dressed mine up with the baker's twine from the kit, plus some flowers, made with a combination of punches and dies.  (Specifically, the Pansy Punch, Petite Petal punch, Itty Bitty Accents flower, and the leaf die cut from the Bouquet Bigz L Die):

The largest flower on the bottom has a pompom from the Calypso Coral PomPom Trim in the center.  The other centers are Pearl Jewels (colored with Blendabilities on the Itty Bitty Accents flowers on the bottom envelope).

The kit comes with 8 envelopes and accordion cards.  As a hostess gift and door prizes at a workshop a while back, I decided to give these boxes, which I filled with note cards (you can get 4 out of 1 of the accordion-style cards in the kit):

The ribbons are from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (Sale-a-Bration).  The flowers were created with the Fun Flower Punch.  The centers are stamped with the Round Array set, cut using the 7/8" Scallop Circle.  In the center, I added a Itty Bitty Accents Epoxy Sticker.  Love how it coordinates perfectly with the center circle of the stamp!!!

The boxes opened to reveal these:

I created the envelopes using Craft Card Stock and the Envelope Punch Board.  Here's a close up of some of the notes:

I used either Pearl Jewels or Candy Dots to embellish the centers of my Itty Bitty Accents Punch flowers.

And, last, but definitely not least, is the fun St. Patrick's Day treat I received from my wonderful friend Joyce!  Here's what she created with supplies from her kit and more:

Love it!!!!  Thanks so much, Joyce!!!!

Are you a Paper Pumpkin subscriber?  If so, I hope you are having as much fun making the projects in your kits as I am.   If not, what are you waiting for?  Sign up today (you kind find out more information about Paper Pumpkin here)!  Subscribers can purchase past kits as well, while supplies last!  You can see which kits are still available here. 

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Floral Lanterns SUper Friends Project

At the March gathering of my SUper Friends (demonstrator group), in addition to swapping, we also created a project.  I'd found some fun decorative lanterns in Target dollar spot, and we used punches and card stock to dress those up.  Here's how mine turned out (apologies, didn't think to get photos of the others at the time . . . maybe my SUper Friends will share photos here or on Facebook?):

I used the Pansy Punch for the flowers, with Crisp Cantaloupe and Strawberry Slush card stock.  The centers are Daffodil Delight card stock, die cut with the Bouquet Bigz die.  The leaves are Pistachio Pudding card stock, cut with the branch from the Bird Punch.

While I like the simple and elegant look of just a few flowers, I decided to step up my lantern a bit, and after trying some different things (including a die cut butterfly embellishment, which I really wanted to work but ultimately had to admit was just too big for the scale of the lantern . . . and will have to find some other way to use!), this is how my lantern looks now:

For the smaller flowers, I punched either Pink Pirouette with the Petite Petals punch or Crisp Cantaloupe with the flower from the Itty Bitty Accents punch.  Then, I stamped the centers with an image from Summer Silhouettes in Tangerine Tango.  For each smaller flower center, I colored a small pearl jewel (I used my Blendabilities, which are sadly no longer available . . . any alcohol based marker will do the trick for this, but was nice to be able to color coordinate easily).

I've been on a real kick of making flowers like this lately, so no doubt you'll be seeing some more projects with them here soon!  Must have spring fever!!!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

SUper Friends March Swaps

Hi Everyone!  Today I have projects to share with you from the March gathering of my SUper Friends demonstrator group.  The theme for our March swap was clean and simple, and I love what everyone created -- I think you will, too.  So, without further adieu, here goes . . .

Cheryl created these adorable Easter treat holders, using a strip of paper, the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, the Designer Frames Impressions folder (retired), and Oval punch or framelits:

A bit of ribbon, Easter grass, and the cute chick chocolate (held in with a glue dot), and you have a fun Easter treat!

Nancy created this beautiful card, where she fussy-cut around butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set:

I love the calm, soothing colors she used!

For her elegant card, Agnes combined images from the Indescribable Gift set, Gorgeous Grunge for the background dots, and the leaf pattern Simply Irresistible (from Sale-a-Bration, sponged Real Red):

The circle layout is so much fun -- and the arrow clip (from Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit) is just the perfect touch.

Connie's fresh and flowery creation features hexagon-punched designer series paper and the Petite Pairs stamp set:

And, the perfectly coordinated and finished inside:

It reminds me of a gorgeous spring quilt!

Jana created her bright and happy card using the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic and the Crazy About You bundle:

She also beautifully finished the inside of her card, using an image from the One Tag Fits All set:

For my card, I also used the Hello You Thinlits Dies (part of the Crazy About You bundle), but used the reverse of the die cut:

There's a strip of Sheer Perfection Vellum along the side, and the butterfly from the Nature's Perfection stamp set is stamped in Basic Grey on Strawberry Slush paper and cut with the Elegant Butterfly punch.

Wasn't this a great swap?!  I love everyone's take on Clean and Simple.  Thanks for the inspiration, SUper Friends!!!

And, thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget that Free Shipping ends tomorrow, April 10th!!!  So, if you want to take advantage of that deal, please head over to my online store now for more information or to shop!

Baskets and Blooms

Hi again!  In yesterday's post, I showed a bunch of single-handled baskets that I'd created using the Berry Basket Bigz Die.  In today's post, I have a different style of basket, created with the same die.  The first is a basket I created as a Valentine's 3D/gift item in a swap with my amazingly talented friend Marlene Caravello:

 

For this basket, I again embossed the side with the Spring Flowers Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, but I attached the handles on the sides.  (By the way, I should mention that the Handheld Stapler makes both assembling the basket and attaching the handles a breeze.  After I saw it in this video by Stampin' Up! about how to assemble the basket, I just had to get one of my own!)

 

To create the big bloom embellishing the basket, I used the Bouquet Bigz Die.  I die cut a bunch of Very Vanilla petals using the largest of the two slightly curved, not slit, petal shapes on the die.  Then, I stamped them in Calypso Coral ink using one of the images from the Build a Bouquet Stamp set.   

 

To create the flower center, I layered a bunch of flower centers that I'd die cut from Calypso Coral card stock.  Then, I added a Pom Pom cut from the Calypso Coral Pom Pom trim for a 3D center with a fun texture.

 

The leaves were also cut using the Bouquet Die.  I used Pear Pizzazz Card Stock, stamped with an image from the Build a Bouquet stamp set, using Wild Wasabi ink.   

 



 

The bag of goodies inside the basket is tied with Calypso Coral Chevron Ribbon, and through that, I tied a little bread tag, die cut out of Calypso Coral card stock, using one of the Handpicked Framelits dies, and stamped in Calypso Coral ink with images from the From the Garden stamp set.  The white bow is made with Painted Blooms Cotton Twine, which has become one of my unexpected favorites from the Occasions Catalog.

 

 

 

The final finishing touch was a "Best Buds" pick, again created using the Handpicked Framelits and From the Garden stamps:

 

I had so much fun putting this basket together!  Can you tell?

Well, I think Marlene enjoyed it as well . . . it ended up inspiring her to create this amazing faux metal Easter basket:

The details on this are amazing outside and in:

 

To create the patina on the basket and tag, Marlene sponged on layers of color (I detect Bermuda Bay, Gold and Early Espresso in there, and it looks like she stared with a Crumb Cake base).  The gorgeous pattern on her basket comes from the Zig Zag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

 

Hope you enjoyed seeing these Berry Basket die projects! 

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

- Michelle