Brag Books

I spoke too soon in the previous post, I can not upload photos once more = argh !

I managed to get a few up before I ran into problems again.......

More class leftovers, originally bought for $1 each, that I tried to sell at the festival. I made six totally different brag books. Originally priced at $2, I sold three of them (the bottom three in the above photo) when I dropped the price to $1.50 at the end of the day. I was told that there was another booth that had brag books, although I never did go look at them to see what they looked like or how much they were.

Perhaps mini photo albums won't sell since people don't carry them anymore, everything is digital now ?

Various stamp sets, inks, card stocks, punches, Top Note die from Stampin' Up!
Some items from other companies as well, such as Karen Foster Snap Stamps.

Enjoy Every Moment, Top Note Die, Fancy Flower Punch

Elements of Style, Word Play, Eyelet Border punch

Jane's Type Alphabet, Elements of Style, retired daisy punch

Outline Alphabet stamped in yellow on yellow decorative paper then cut out

I've used a couple of these books to hold my brass templates; I guess I'll need to think of another use for more of them now since I have leftovers.

Thanks for looking =)

ColdPlay Mini Box

Hooray!!!! I tried one more time to upload photos today and it worked for this post! For whatever reason I've not been able to upload the past week, so frustrating. The next several posts (I hope, keeping fingers crossed that I can upload more pictures!) will be more items from the booth at the festival.

I found these plain blue boxes for $1 each. I used leftover stamped images (Cold Play, retired from Stampin' Up!) from another project and Real Red card stock to create toppers for these plain little boxes. I also stamped the sides with the retired Snowflakes set using white Stazon ink and added a little glitter to the snow. Each one was packaged in a cellophane bag. Nearly all of my items were bagged, I wasn't going to take a chance on grubby hands ruining the items. I left one out of each project so people could handle it, see what was inside.

I knew no one would buy this little empty box for $1, so I added 20 various stamped gift tags with the idea that the purchaser would color the tags themselves. I could have put in chocolates wrapped in stamped address labels if it had not been so hot outside. The festival I attended was outdoors from 11-7 (which really meant 9:30am - 8 pm for me) and of course it had to be a 90+ degree, humid day - ugh !

Priced at $1 each, they never sold.

Thanks for looking =)

Desktop Post It Note Box

Another item from the booth I had at the festival last weekend. These little trinket boxes came from the dollar store. I stamped images that were colored directly to rubber with Stampin' Markers. Some I stamped in Basic Black then water colored them with an aquapainter and various classic inks; I made several different styles. The stamped image was inserted into the top "frame" portion of the box. Inside I added post it notes, a mini ink pen, a mini mechanical pencil and mini scissors. These mini items were all leftovers from another project I did for a craft fair years ago.

A bit of ribbon, added a few prima flowers to a couple of them, wrapped in a cellophane bag and priced at $2 - I sold one........... No more sold even at $1 at the end of the day. I was sure to tell people that looked at them they could easily remove the stamped image to insert a photograph and what was in the box. I did have one open as a sample so they could see inside.



Here is a project made with the same box a couple of years ago - a miniature bath set stocking stuffer:

 

 
 
 
Thanks for looking !

Happy Fall !

I LOVE fall ! Cool, crisp days with no humidity; opening the house to let in fresh air; colorful leaves on the trees against the bright blue skies; apple picking and apple pie making; attending car cruises and festivals  =)



I imagine someone has made a card like this already..... It is inspired by the numerous crafts projects I've seen (and some that I've completed) over the years. I entered it into the soshelli.com Fabulous Fall challenge.
Happy Fall !



SUPPLIES:


Background stamps, retired, from Stampin' Up!:

Paisley

Crackling

Just Jeans

Flannel Plaid



Various card stocks, some retired, from Stampin' Up!:

Naturals Ivory for the face

Barely Banana for the hat

Cajun Craze for the nose

Whisper White and Basic Black for the eyes

Crumb Cake for the shirt

Whisper White for the overall straps

White copy paper for the bandana

Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip textured and True Thyme for the sunflower



Classic inks, some retired, from Stampin' Up!:

Creamy Caramel and Crumb Cake for the hat

More Mustard for the sunflower

True Thyme for the shirt

Cherry Cobbler for the bandana

Buckaroo Blue for the overall straps

Cajun Craze and an aquapainter to add the dark edge to the nose



White gel pen - eyes and nose highlights

Basic Black marker - stitching on nose and mouth

Stampin' Pastels - for the cheeks

circle punches for the eyes

large heart punch, top double humps trimmed off, for the nose

Boho Blossoms punch for the sunflower and leaves

Stampin' sponge - for sponging the hat, sunflower

raffia

dimensionals - under hat

sticky strip - to hold on the raffia

Tombow white glue



I'm sorry, but I do not have a pattern. This is a standard sized 4.25" x 5.5" card.


 
Thanks for looking =)

Post It Note Tote

*I'll be sharing a projects over the next few posts of items I had in my booth at the festival over this past weekend*

The original idea for the post it note tote came from a Papercrafts magazine years ago, then it became a craze to make them. There were hundreds of ideas shared online at the time. This is a link I found for one of the first to be posted at splitcoaststampers.com: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/244583

I had three leftover to my surprise from the last craft booth I did several years ago. Wrapped in a cellophane bag, I priced these at $1; only sold the snowman.



Here are the original nine I made years ago:

Various stamp sets, inks, card stocks, Word Window punch from Stampin' Up!

Ribbons from various companies

Regular sized Post It note pads and a mini ink pen from a dollar store

My version wraps the ribbon around the note tote, top to bottom and up through the handles to tie it shut. I scored my 3-1/2" x 11" piece of card stock, measuring from the left side, at 5" and 6" to create a 1" flat bottom to hold the ink pen in place with the ribbon. I cut two small slits centered at the bottom two creases of the tote, ran the ribbon up through one slit then back down through the other to secure a miniature ink pen in place.

Thanks for looking !

Purse Mini Post It Note Holders

I had a stack of cute little post it notes and mini markers

leftover from a class from long ago.

I decided to recover several of them to try to sell

at the festival this past weekend.

I will never do another craft booth, especially an outdoor one. I whipped up new items for this booth, trying to use up leftover class supplies. Perhaps I should have just sold them all as is, dollar store items for 50c each without wasting my time to alter them.......... I had to "give away" the few things that were sold at the festival just to get them to move. For example the above post it note holders were not selling for $1 (they were packaged nicely in cellophane bags, I had one out as a sample so people could see it), but when I marked them down to 50c the last hour I was there, I sold all but three !  Same with the bath sets, once they were marked down to $2 at the end of the day, all but one sold ! I was surprised that three of the photo clips sold with no problem for $2, the red and black one came back home with me, and all of the covered notebooks with stretchy bookmarks were bought by three women, they loved them at $2 each (originally priced at $3). The automobile and snowflakes notecubes in organdy bags sold for $3 each, but I have three leftover because even at $2 at the end of the day no one was interested.

I've done a few craft booths with hand stamped items over the years and have never had luck. "I can do that myself" , "I wouldn't pay that for those when I could get something similar to it for $1 everyday", "I have a Demonstrator/I am a Demo myself", etc. Far too much work (although I do enjoy crafting!) for no profit and no leads.

So, enough of my whining - time for the project:

Mini Post It Note holder -

You will need a piece of card stock or heavyweight decorative paper

3" x 7". Stamp and decorate as desired. Score on the back at

2 1/2",  3",  5 1/2"  and  6". Fold along the score lines.

Use a corner rounder or decorative edge punch on the front flap if desired.

Cut two pieces of magnets (I used lightweight advertising magnets, a great way to repurpose them); adhere with sticky strip under the front flap and to the front of the cover to close it.



Tie a pretty piece of ribbon around it or add extra embellishments for a pretty post it note and ink pen holder.


Thanks for looking !

Stamped Notecubes

Bought 9 notecubes for a class (they came in packages of three for $5 each), had 5 leftover so I went ahead and stamped them to try to sell at the festival this weekend. I used classic Stampin' Up! ink on the three sides of the notecube that did not have glue. One side was left blank since the ink would not dry on the glue. The organdy gift box/bags were bought at the dollar store.  A matching stamped tag and ink pen completes the set (not pictured).

All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Stamp Sets:

Roses In Winter
Wonderful You
Terrific Tulips
Classic Pickups
Highways and Byways background
Serene Snowflakes

various classic inks and card stocks





Thanks for looking !

Stretchy Bookmark and Covered Notepads

I receive a crafty newsletter monthly that once in a great while has something that interests me. It usually contains links to crochet/knit projects or projects that don't tickle my fancy, but I won't cancel the newsletter because there may be something useful to me someday. Such was the case yesterday: a link to cute stretchy bookmarks ! And the web site it sent me to was wonderful, too; I will spend some time looking around there once I make it through this week.

Several years ago I made stretchy/no slip bookmarks with elastic from my sewing stash. They weren't anything fancy. The notebook and frame came from the dollar store, they had oriental images on them so I covered them up using card stock, ink and stamp sets, all from Stampin' Up! This particular sample uses Wild Rose, Antique Cracking and a saying from the Mini Mates stamp sets; Garden Green, Baroque Burgundy, Creamy Caramel and Summer Sun classic inks; Very Vanilla and Baroque Burgundy card stock; punches from Stampin' Up!.

The past week I've been going through class leftovers and old samples to try to sell at the festival this coming weekend. I came across 5 of those notebooks and frames so they were sitting on my work table waiting to be redecorated when I saw that no slip/stretchy bookmark idea yesterday (www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2010/08/no-slip-bookmark-tutorial.html). So much cuter than mine from 3 years ago !

A length of ribbon, an elastic hair band, a button, thread and needle are all you need. I happened to have a few unused hair bands, too small to use for making a ponytail anyway, that worked perfectly for these little notebooks. I raided my ribbon and buttons stash, paper scraps, ink pens leftover from another class and I was ready to make a cuter version of what I had planned.

I took it another step further and tried to make bows behind the buttons on a few of them.

I used my sewing machine to stitch the ribbon around the hair band. I turned the end of the ribbon under before sewing to create a more finished edge. I ran it along there twice to make sure it was sewn well.

I tacked the button in place with the needle and thread. A couple of the notebooks I gathered the ribbon as I sewed the button in place, a couple others I made a bow to attach under the button. I applied Fray Check to the edge of the ribbon tails to help keep them from fraying.


Each notebook has a little bag of punched tabs (Round Tab Punch from Stampin' Up!) that the purchaser can attach along the edge of the pages if they wish. I left them blank so they could write whatever they wish. One of them could be a Christmas planner, so they could write "Cards Sent/Received", "Wish Lists", Grocery Shopping List, etc. on the tabs. There is also a coordinating ink pen, easy to do with a scrap of decorative paper wrapped tightly and inserted into the barrel.

I decided not to add a stamped tag of some sort to the fronts of them. I did make one for Christmas using the So Many Scallops stamp set, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green markers, glitter all from Stampin' Up! I decided not to decorate the rest since, for example, someone may like the apple one, but not necessarily be a teacher if I added a teacher related saying. The papers are pretty "busy" anyway, they don't really need anything more.



Thanks for looking !



Patriot Day

I Remember; I'll Never Forget

 9/11/2001

http://september11.archive.org/ 

http://www.national911memorial.org/

(card was copied and slightly altered from sparklegirl on Splitcoaststampers.com )

Santa Face Card Tutorial

original design by craftysahmiam.blogspot.com

The ORIGINAL Cuttlebug Santa Card 

I created and shared at Splitcoaststampers.com in 2008  =)

I was going to wait to post this card in December, but due to the renewed interest in it, I am sharing it now.



My original creation was posted to Splitcoaststampers.com back in 2008 as well as Stampin' Connection (a web site for Stampin' Up! demonstrators).
 
I made this card a couple of years ago with the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder, everything else was from Stampin' Up!. 

In fact, the renewed interest in my card came about recently because another creative demonstrator* saw my original card and made a version using a Stampin' Up! Texturz plate then posted it to the demonstrator only web site, Stampin' Connection.



Supplies:

All items are available through Stampin' Up!, except the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder used on my sample. 

Card Stock:
Whisper White   5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Real Red   1 1/4" x 4 1/4"
Blush Blossom   5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Basic Black, scrap
Whisper White, 4 1/4" x 11"  folded in half to create a 4 1/4"  x 5 1/2" card

White Signo Gel Pen for eye highlights

Real Red ink and watercolor brush to create subtle lines on his hat

Stampin' Pastels and cotton ball to blush his cheeks and nose

Accessories:
small oval punch for the nose
1/4"  circle punch for the eyes
Divine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder
scissors
adhesive
Stampin' Dimensional

There was no pattern when I made this card a couple of years ago, I just cut it out freehand. 

Start with a 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" piece of white card stock. 

Draw your pattern; you could use something with a curved edge to trace

to make the hat brim and top swoop of his beard. 

You'll cut the middle piece leftover from between the beard swoop and hat brim,

 making it into a mustache shape. 

Be sure to run the embossing folder through with the drawn pattern side facing 

the "debossed" side of your embossing folder OR 

draw the pattern on after running it through the embossing folder. 

You want the raised, embossed designs facing up on your finished project. 

Blush Blossom card stock for his face which is also the card front base.

Blush on the cheeks and nose were done with Stampin' Pastels and a cotton ball.

You could  use ink and a sponge instead . 

The Real Red strip of card stock is 1 1/4" wide x 4 1/4" long. 

I added stripes with Real Red classic ink and a watercolor pen. 

The eyes were punched out of basic Black with the 1/4" circle punch. 

I added a dot with a white Signo gel pen.

 
 
 

Glue all of the pieces in place on top of the Blush Blossom face. 

Use a Dimensional (pop dot) under the nose and attach it on

top of the mustache for a bit more dimension. 

I just love how he turned out, my basic original Cuttlebug Santa Face Card !

This is a mail friendly card, too, requiring no extra postage. 

I've since seen several different, even more adorable, versions of him shared online.

If you make one and share it, please be sure to link back/give credit, I'd appreciate it. 

Post a link in the comments section if you'd like so I can see yours, too =) 

THANKS FOR LOOKING AND COMMENTING  !

*Barb Mann -  I sincerely appreciate you noting my card as the source of inspiration for your adorable Santa, thank you!  I love your version with the new Texturz plate, textured Blushing Bride for the flesh and sprig of holly on his hat brim. Too cute !


EDITED December 21st : I entered my adorable Santa Face card in the soshelli.com Holiday Hellos challenge. The winners were announced today. My Santa was not a winner in the contest, but it is a winner with anyone I've ever given one of these cards to !