Finding a New Use for Christmas Shopping Bags

Did you happen to notice all of the great shopping bags this holiday season? From Starbucks and Trader Joe's to Whole Foods and Bath & Body Works, it seemed that graphic artists had their mojo on this year when creating these beautiful bags. As I was cleaning up after Christmas I took another look at these bags and decided I couldn't part with any of them. Instead, I decided to create with them. First up, Bath & Body Works. Here's the bag:

Here's the card I made with it:

I die cut that cute little house border using a Spellbinder's Nestabilities. Next, I used Glossy Accents to adhere some Martha Stewart snow glitter to the image. I'm not usually a fan of glitter but the Glossy Accents seems to keep it all in place. I added a little more shine with Perfect Pearls. Here's a closer look:

After mounting the image with pop dots, I set it aside and stamped and embossed the snowflake background. To further the economies of this card, I used ribbon from a 5-pack that I picked up at Target today for 75% off the original price!

I'll have another card to share using the Starbucks bag in a few days. I think I will save the others for next year! In the meantime, I better go shopping to see what bags I can add to my stash!

Happy New Year!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Stampin' UP! (kraft); Papertrey Ink (white); American Crafts (red);

Stamps: Hero Arts (Snowflakes; Merry Christmas Trees):

Ink: Ranger (Jet Black); VersaMark;

Ribbon: Target;

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities (Classic Rectangles Large; Classic Scalloped Rectangles Large) Fiskars border punch (Scallop Sentiment);

Misc: Zing embossing powder (white); Perfect Pearls (white); Bath & Body Works shopping bag

Christmas Joy

I have one more Christmas card to share with you before the Christmas decorations come down. I bought the paper for this card about a year ago with my mother in mind. She loves angels so I thought this would make the perfect card for her. Here it is:

This was a very simple card and came together in a matter of minutes. I started by cutting my card base the width of the angel image. I cut three rows of coordinating scallops from two-sided patterned paper, inked the edges with distress ink and added them to the card base. I went around the rectangular frame with Diamond Stickles to add some shine, tied a bow and voila! My card was finished!

As for those Christmas decorations, I won't be ready to take them down until after January 6th!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 (Christmas Past)

Ribbon: EK Success Adornments (Tonal)

Misc.: Diamond Stickles

Tools: EK Success Slim Profile Border Punch (Double Embossed Dotted Lace)

Christmas Card 2010 -- A Variation

Another quick post tonight to share the card I sent to my friends who celebrate Hanukkah. The card is a variation of my Christmas card. I apologize ahead of time for the poor picture quality. Sal got me a new camera for Christmas so hopefully the blog pictures will be better! Anyway, here is my card:

Again I used Basic Grey papers and relied more on the blues and browns for less of a Christmas-y feel. On the right side of card, I used a distressed blue paper which I stamped with brown snowflakes. I think I LOVE brown snowflakes! The snowman was paper pieced from a cut I made with Cricut's Winter Woodlands cartridge. You can't tell from the picture, but I added shine to the buttons with Glossy Accents and distressed the edges with ink. The eyes are brown pearls. Here's another open view of the card:

To answer a few questions that were left on the previous post, I made a total of 65 cards -- 60 with Christmas trees and 5 with snowmen. I started early in December and worked in an assembly line fashion. As for how long it took, the answer is way too long. LOL! The cards were all mailed (with the last few going out on Christmas eve) and my dining room table was ready for Christmas Day dinner with only a few hours to spare! All I can say is that it was a labor of love!

I'm already getting ideas for next year's card and have promised myself that I will start earlier! Now all I have to do is get Mark and Melissa to pose for a picture!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream; Pure Poppy);

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Jovial; Figgy Pudding);

Stamps: Hero Arts (Merry Christmas Trees; Snowflakes);

Ink: Ranger (Coffee: Tim Holtz Distress (Antique Linen)

Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy);

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities ( Large Classic Scalloped Rectangles); Cricut Cartridge (Winter Woodlands); EK Success punch (Vertical Slot);

Bling: Recollections

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post tonight to share my 2010 Christmas card.

This year, I was inspired to make a bi-fold card and I have to admit that the Martha Stewart Scoring Board made the job so much easier.

Here's another view of the card:

To make the trees, I first stamped the image on the cardstock. I then stamped the top of the tree three more times on patterned paper. After cutting out each tree top, I scored each triangle and folded it in half. Then I glued the bottom of the right side of one triangle to the bottom of the left side of another. I repeated this and then glued the resulting 3-D triangle down to the card.

For the ribbon treatment, I used EK Success' Vertical Slot Punch to cut a small slit in the fold of the card before feeding the ribbon through.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Watch my blog next week for a surprise guest poster!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink;

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Jovial);

Stamps: Hero Arts ( Merriest Christmas Trees);

Ink: Ranger (Coffee);

Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy);

Tools: Martha Stewart Scoring Board; EK Success Vertical Slot punch; Spellbinders Nestabilities (Large Classic Scallop Rectangles); Fiskars Punch (Apron Lace).

Cheers!

If you are anything like me, you bring a bottle of wine with you when visiting friends and family during the holidays. And, if you're like me, you forget to ask the liquor store for a cello bag and red woolie to wrap your hostess gift. I can't even begin to count how many times I've had my coat on ready to leave the house and have been scrambling for a bow to put on the wine bottle. So, this year I decided to make gift tags especially designed for a bottle. Here it is:

I cut the main tag using Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4 and then cut the hole for the neck of the bottle using the circle Nestabilities. The collar was then cut using a die from the circle and scallop circle sets. The rest is Hero Arts stamps, Tim Holtz distress inks and LOTS and LOTS of Perfect Pearls mixed in water to give it a beautiful shine!

I do have one helpful tip to share with you. Score the tag before you start spraying with Perfect Pearls otherwise your paper might be damp and you won't get a crisp score line.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink;

Stamps: Hero Arts (Merriest Wishes; Outline Bold Flourish);

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick; Antique Linen; Vintage Photo); Ranger Black;

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities (Label 4; Classic Circle: Classic Scallop Circle);