A Frugal Journey Through January Day 25

Welcome back to my Frugal Journey where I will share an idea for a pretty little gift set from just one 12x12 sheet of cardstock, a double sided cardstock is great as it gives you more options to mix and match and, if it is sturdy card, you can also use leftovers from a 6x6 paper pad.

When my children were young they were as resistant as most to the small matter of thank you letters, so at Christmas I would make them each a different set of thank you cards in a little custom box so they could be persuaded to dash off a quick note the first time they slowed down enough to sit at the table for a few minutes. They also make a great little gift for a non card making friend if you add a range of greetings for different occasions.

The base of the box is a piece of cardstock 51/2" square scored at 3/4" on each side and the lid is 6" square also scored at 3/4" on each side. Snip into where the score lines cross on two opposite sides to make tabs and fasten with tape or glue to assemble your box and lid. If you want to create an acetate window in the lid, then you need to do the necessary die cutting with two sizes of the same shape die before you assemble it.

Cut the acetate and the frame for the window from the larger die, then the centre of the window and the box lid with the smaller one so when assembled the acetate is sandwiched between the window frame and the box lid to give a neat finish.

I used the remaining cardstock, this paper is 'Loyal' by Authentique, with 3" square cards and envelopes plus some favourite stamps, these are all JOFY Minis for PaperArtsy, to create pretty paper pieced cards to go in the box, four fit perfectly.

It is amazing how different they look in different papers, this set was made from Finnabair's Dreamer for 7Dots Studio,

 

and this one was Carta Bella's Beautiful Moments.

 

That's my frugal project for Day 25, I hope you enjoyed it and will join me again tomorrow for another thrifty idea on my frugal trail xx

 

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A Simple Little Gift

Hello there,

just a very quick post today.

I recently came across a version one of these simple little boxes of cards from many moons ago when our children were small and I used to make them to sell at craft fairs. Each year I would include a set, with simple thank you cards inside, for each child in their Christmas stocking so the means were always to hand when the thank yous had to be written - each having a different design/colourway saved squabbles, and I think relatives enjoyed the variety of handmade happy mail.

 

The red version above, which was Wednesday's workshop 'for instance', is made with just the signature sheet from Carta Bella's Beautiful Moments collection,

 

 

and the blue version, which I made during the class, features Authentique's Loyal collection.

 

 

The stamps I used in both are by JOFY for PaperArtsy, part of the new seasonal release, not necessarily Christmas although the parcels certainly could be and all the cards were simply stamped and paper pieced.

 

There are always lots of fairs and other events in aid of various charities at this time of year and this is a simple little project that makes a great gift for a non card maker, (I sometimes just include the greetings already on foam tape so the recipient can make the cards suit the person/occasion they need), or donation to a local charity to help them raise funds.

 

I have been asked to run this one again and will try to find a slot very early in December, so look out for the December timetable published towards the end of next week.

 

back soon xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's that time again.......

 

 

Can you believe it's time for another DT kit reveal? Where did the last five weeks go to?

 

Actually, I can tell you. They disappeared in a fantastic flurry of amazing projects from the team using the Teresa Collins Christmas Cottage collection of double sided papers, stamps and brads. Soooo..... if you haven't already had a peek you need to pop on over to http://snazzysdesignteamblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/design-team-project-1-featuring-teresa.html to admire all their wonderful inspiration - I'd suggest a cuppa alongside whilst you enjoy - you may be some time!

 

Another really good reason for following the link is there are goodies to be won, and as it is nearly December we are giving away November's entire DT kit to one lucky person who leaves a comment on Gillian's first post. This was the kit,

 

 

so when you follow the link above, leave a comment before midnight tonight to be in with a chance of winning this lovely stash in the November comment draw.

 

Now to the new DT kit, with inspiration from the team starting tomorrow. The paper collection is from Carta Bella, called Christmas Day, and has quite a traditional feel with nine double sided textured papers, plus an Element and an Alphabet sticker sheet. We have combined it with a set of Hero Arts clear stamps, Believe (CL634), and topped it off with Tim Holtz Ideaology Christmas Muse Tokens. 

 

 

You will be able to buy the December Kit for just £31.95 from midnight tonight over at http://www.snazzysstore.com/snazzys-dt-kit-december-2012/ and, as it will be Christmas before you know it, we will be giving away one of these kits too, so be sure to leave a comment as per Gillian's instructions to be in with a chance of winning in the December comment draw too.

 

Now if that isn't reason enough to checkout Gillian's post at the DT blog tomorrow, we have to confess we have been keeping a secret and Gillian will be spilling the beans tomorrow........

 

I will be back on Tuesday with all the details plus I will also be here on Wednesday showing some quick and stylish Christmas card ideas from our recent Bumper Christmas Cardmaking workshops. 

 

Take care xx

Halloween Greetings Part 2

Well, better late than never eh? I totally messed up the scheduling of these posts so I hope you will forgive me for being a little behind the times.

At least both yesterday's project and today's could simply have all the references to Halloween removed and would then make great gifts for the teen with Gothic leanings.

 

As you can see from the photo above this little book is really easy to construct with six pockets and tags for inserting in them made from 12x12 black cardstock.

 

 

Then you just decorate as desired. I added some mini pockets and tags for journalling to the front of each pocket but left the backs blank as 6x4 photo mats.

 

 

The inner tags are a mix of photo mats and journalling spots.

 

 

 

The poison bottles are from Studio 490 European Art set stamped in black, white and Rusty Hinge inks with labels cut from the packaging of the paper pack - waste not, want not and all that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all from me for now.

 

Back soon with previews of the coming month's workshop projects plus news on the dates of our this year's Annual Winter Sale. Keep your eyes peeled you wouldn't want to miss it!

 

 

 

 

 

To Spook, or Not to Spook.....

Hello again.

This year is really rushing past and already it's time to reveal the new kit Snazzy's Design Team will be working with in October. We try to offer them, and you, as varied an array of products as possible throughout the year to inspire and get the mojo going so this time we are sending them a fabulous new paper kit from Carta Bella called All Hallows Eve. It features nine heavyweight, double sided, textured papers  plus a 12x12 Element Sticker sheet and a 12x12 Alphabet sheet. As an addicted stamper I must confess I rarely use stickers, but these sheets are textured too and have a lovely fabricky feel to them. Very tactile!

 

Of course, as we are very much a stamping store, they also need some stamps to work with. So, the new Halloween Blueprint set from Stampers Anonymous' Tim Holtz collection has winged it's way to them too. They are sooo cool!

 

 

We know that lots of you in the UK don't really 'do' Halloween but a sift through these papers does offer lots of patterns that aren't overtly Halloween themed, and both they and the stamps could be used to make some great projects aimed at teenagers too.

 

Now, something new starting this month. We will be offering the same DT kit as the DT receive each month, through both our bricks and mortar store and online, with discount of at least 10% on the cost of purchasing the products from us separately.

 

This month, for example, the paper kit costs £15.85 and the Tim Holtz stamps £19.95, but you can purchase both together for £29.95.  

 

To buy the kit online at the offer price you need to look in the 'DT Kits' category of the online store where the kit will be listed as a single product. (Do not click both products separately in their respective categories as you cannot access the discounted price that way.) This kit will be available from midnight tonight. 

 

Gillian will be starting the DT off on this month's trail of inspiration over at http://snazzysdesignteamblog.blogspot.co.uk/ from tomorrow, and as usual if you leave a comment during the month, following Gillian's instuctions, you could win some goodies. This month these creepy Adornments fromTim Holtz Ideaology are up for grabs.

 

 

The DT do really appreciate you leaving comments to let them know you have been by, and you never know when one of them might pay you a return visit!

 

I will be back with some very Autumnal workshop samples for October and Novermber later this week.

 

Bye for now xx

 

 

 

Sew Much To Do with Chapel Road Artstamps

Hello again Snazzy stampers!

Both this week's workshop projects featured Chapel Road Artstamps new Sew Much To Do stamp sheet..........

............... and the Tim Holtz Alteration's Sewing Room and Mini Sewing Room dies with
his On the Edge Pennants and his Riveted Metal and Flourish Texture Fades, some Ideaology Grungeboard, Studio 490 Art Part scissors and matching stamp, some Studio Sticky Back Canvas stamped with some Hero Arts label stamps (CL398), some scraps of lace, embroidery thread, trimmings and Ric Rac from my stash, and some Eco Green Crafts paints in Lake and Orchid and WOW embossing powders in Vanilla White, Olive and Burgundy.

That seems a really long list of materials doesn't it but, I bet you all have similar products in your stash that could be adapted to this type of project, and I did make two versions!

 

The original workshop 'for instance' I made using Carta Bella's Beautiful Moments papers on a Orchid base, yes I know, pink - so not me!

 

 

I then recovered myself and made a second version with a Lake base to co-ordinate with Authentique's Loyal papers.

 

Both paper ranges are double sided so, to create the faux patchwork effect for the frame insert, I only needed a scrap of 7cm x 11cm of three papers to get six different designs to play with. I then embossed each piece with the same Riveted Metal Texture Fade I used for last week's Steampunk projects - versatile or what lol. I used the embossed design to create a mini patchwork of papers, sticking it down on the insert base with Herma repositional adhesive as I went. I added a mini label from Hero Arts CL398 stamped with Versacolour Bamboo/Cardinal ink onto sticky back canvas, frayed a little around the edges and smidged with a little Old Paper Distress Ink to shabby it up a bit.

 

 

All you have to do is paint your frame back & front, make sure it is completely dry, then stamp the images from the Sew Much to Do stamp set, and the mini doily stamp from Prima's Fairy Belle collection in Versamark. I used the same colour embossing powder each time for each image and added a swipe of Inca Gold in Pale Gold around the frame edges once the Embossing Powder was cool. On the pink version I used some of the leftover embossed papers to create a little border of randomly sized strips along the top edge of the frame, and on the blue one I trimmed the top of the frame and the insert with Pennants cut from some of the laftover Loyal papers.

 

That's all for today but if you pop back tomorrow I will run through how I made all the other embellishments.

 

Take Care xx