Simple yet beautiful card kits in bulk

With the use of Queen & Co foundation and sentiment dies, I find that it's very easy to make simple yet beautiful card kits in bulk for a fun card-making gathering.   I recently made 30 of these (1 card kit, 2 styles)  for our church's women fellowship, and the feedback from my gracious friends was very positive!   Similarly these can be used for teenage outreach program or nursing homes.   It is a fun way to get everyone together and craft.  

It is particularly useful during this time of pandemic since it's hard to have large group congregate (we don't want any super spreader events though we do want to spread the love) and many gatherings have to be on Zoom.  As we can't share tools in person, having these card kits ready makes crafting a breeze.  It is easy to include a simple instruction or video along with the kits.  I think I will do more of these in the future.  

DeNami Gift Wrapping Blog Hop

Welcome to DeNami's December Blog Hop!   If you are following the blog hop, you must have come from the Amber Daigre's wonderful blog!   If you missed the previous blog stops, you can hop back over to the DeNami Blog to start from the beginning.  You have until December 12th, 2011, 11:59pm PST to leave comments on all the blogs in order to be eligible to receive one of the two $20 DeNami gift certificates.  Winners will be chosen randomly.  Good luck!

This month's theme is gift wrapping.  The first thing that comes to mind is Christmas gifts.  Many of my friends enjoy a cup of premium coffee at their favourite coffee house, so I'm planning on getting a few coffee gift cards and making gift boxes to hold them. 

I made the box using a Sizzix XL die.  Making the tag is the fun part.  I used another Sizzix die to make an ornament, and stamped the coffee image (from the DeNami espresso petit four stamp set) on it.  Then I used some Stickles to add the 'snow flakes' and to accent the ornament.   Lastly, I tied the ornament around the gift box and I've got a wonderful Christmas present for my friends!

Thanks for looking!  Next stop is the talented Kimberly Kendle's blog. 

Supplies List:
DeNami Petit Fours Stamps (Espresso Stamp Set)
Sizzix XL gift box template, Sizzlet Christmas Ornament
Cuttlebug
Ranger Ink Stickles Glitter 
GlueCopic Markers
Technique Tuesday stamp

Valentine's Day Project

I wanted to make something 'sweet' for my little helpers.. besides those baked goods. I came across this beautiful sparkly ribbon that was on sale at Michael's and got an idea. Why not make something sweet with this ribbon that reminds me of frosting or icing?

I also needed a gift bag for the little puppy keychains I bought for my sweet ones. A while back, I was very excited to find a Sizzix XL die for making takeout boxes, and got even more excited when Cuttlebug came out with this new extended cutting pad that will allow users to use Sizzix XL die. I decided to make a gift box out of the takeout box. The die makes one half of the box only, so I had to run another strip of paper through again to make the other half. I also trimmed the top of one of the halves to make the top close easily.

I used a tape runner for gluing the box together, and it was not strong enough. A wet glue would work better in this case... or a couple of glue dots might do the trick. As for decorations, I used more stickers on one of the boxes, and used the Sizzix 3-D flower die to make the roses on the other box. The Imaginisce petal roller tool helped me roll up the petals easily to form the rose.

I hope my kids love these sweet treats.

Supplies List
Card:
Pink cardstock
Pink Stickles
Jolee's Boutique Valentine's stickers

Take-out box:
Pink cardstock
Sizzix XL takeout box die
Sizzix Bigz 3-D flower die
Cuttlebug with extended cutting pad
Jolee's Boutique Valentine's stickers
Pink Stickles

Baby Baby Baby

Congratulations to a lovely couple - they are expecting a baby girl! So, our friends threw a baby shower for them, and asked me for help to make a guest book since I have , oh, you know, just surplus of papers! And I decided to make them a diaper cake because every baby needs a few diapers, a few washcloths, burp cloths, blankets and onesies...

Fabric Flower (hairpin or brooch)

Welcome to the Sassy Blinging Babe's BlogHop! You must have just visited Kelly's Paper Dreams Blog, isn't it fun? Now on this blog, I'd like to share a fabric flower that I made as a Mother's Day project.

There are many uses for making fabric flowers. Estelle once told me that she used the Sizzix to make fabric flowers for brooches. Since I have some Sizzix flower die as well, I decided to give it a try.



I started out with 4 quilt squares I got from the local fabric store. I then used the Sizzix Flower die and the Cuttlebug to cut out flower pieces. For this thick die, I used a stack of two Plate B and an envelope to cut the fabric. The addition of the envelope underneath the smooth side of the die gave me the right thickness such that the cuts are clean. You can probably skip the envelope if your fabric is thick enough.



I stacked about 5 to 6 flowers together. Then I cut a thin strip of fabric to make the center of the flower. I found this tutorial which is very easy to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-upodt7jic

Since the flower center is very small, I did not fold the strip 3 times, instead, I just folded it once, and kept twisting it while going around. The result is a small flower center:



After this is done, I inserted a small pearl brad at the center and adhere the center to the stack of flower petals I made earlier. Then I glued the flower to a small piece of felt so that it'll go on a hairpin or a brooch easily.

Thanks for looking.. if you leave a comment, you have a chance to win! I will pick one random commenter and one random Sassy Blinging Babe commenter to receive a small RAK. Check back on Apr 24th to see if you have won (and let me know how to contact you)!

Now it's time to check out the next hop stop: Cyndi's Place! Have fun!

Happy Birthday, Brian!

It was Brian's birthday last week. I baked him some cupcakes and also made a cupcake giftcard holder for him.




I've seen these cupcake gift holders before, and found the instructions from Tresa's Fabulously Artsy Blog at:

http://www.fabulouslyartsy.blogspot.com

It is surely a fabulous blog! Just follow her step by step instructions at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkVm1Tif6gI

For my version, I found these fabulous blingy sequin ribbons on sale at Michael's. I cut the sequins loose and glued them with glue dots onto the styrofoma ball.

For the cherry topper, I used a red pom pom and some white lace ribbons. Brian would like to eat it, but I told him it's for holding a gift card! :)

Special Delivery

It's been a great couple of weeks. Our friends have given birth, brought back adopted babies .. there are just lots of babies and lots of love... and we have 3 more friends who are expecting! Can you say Baby Shower? Bring on the cake, the confetti and the shower goodies!

This is the 4th diaper cake I've made and it is a bit more compact because I needed to transport it in my car. So I used #1 diapers. Just one package, plus some goodies such as burb clothes, wash clothes, onesies and 2 sets of outfit. There is a baby blanket that's wrapped in the center to give it more 'volume'.

I love Michael's $1 ribbon spots.. that's where I get most of my ribbons! :) However, even after that, it looks a bit plain. Since I don't have time to fully embellish the cake, I took a short cut!

I found that the K&Co tags (or any tags) work great as a simple embellishment. I already have a set of baby girl tags from my last creation, so this time I have to buy a set of baby boy tags. And I'll get to use them on 2 more cakes. Good deal!