Holiday Gift Tags

Only needed a few gift tags at the last minute for my holiday gift baskets this year so I pulled out my Karen Burniston Poinsettia dies to embellish tags. Flower petals were cut from red foil board and glitter cardstock. I used green foil board for the leaves.  Pearlescent and glitter gold cardstock was used for the flower centers. The tags were cut using Lawn Fawn Stitched Circle Tags die from red cardstock. Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities dies were used to cut the white inner circle.

I made bag tags again this year to help me identify and deliver the correct bags of gifts to the correct families. 

Last year I used paper clips to attach the tags to the bags but I found they slipped off the bags too easily so this year I used ribbon to snuggly tie the tags onto the handles of the bag where they could easily be spotted and read. This year I used a different Doodlebug polar bear print and cut image, adding the family name to each prior to cutting and small holes at the neck to thread the ribbon through. This worked out very well with no errors in gift deliveries again this year. Will definitely continue making these tags every Christmas.

 

Low Poly Polar Bears

Each year at Christmas I try my hardest to come up with a different way to give gift cards as gifts to family and friends. I'm not very good at buying gifts so I generally prefer to give gift cards so everyone can choose what they want. But since giving and getting gift cards sounds pretty boring, I like to make it  interesting by presenting them in some fun way. This year I decided to make polar bear gift card holders.

These 3 dimensional paper polar bears were put together using a modeling technique known as "Low Poly" named for the different polygons that comprise each piece. If you search the term "Low Poly" online you will come across hundreds of beautiful, and intricate 3D paper sculptures. My low poly polar bear is definitely beginner level but still challenging and fun for me to assemble. I purchased the svg template for this bear from Form You Design on Etsy. 

The biggest challenge I faced with this template was that for whatever reason, I was unable to import the svg file into Make the Cut Design program. This meant I had to finally bite the bullet and sit down to learn how to use Silhouette Design Studio. I probably only learned just the bare minimum to be able to import the files and group and ungroup as needed. Most importantly I was able to cut the 21 multiple scored pieces needed to assemble each polar bear.

Polar bear pieces were cut from textured pearlescent cardstock. After cutting, each piece and every scoreline on each piece had to be numbered and meticulously mountain or valley folded. Although assembly of the bears was slow and took time, I found it curiously enjoyable and relaxing. After finishing the assembly of 14 polar bears I thought they all looked  like they were missing a little something so I cut strips of red felt and fringed the ends to make scarves to wrap around their necks and warm them up a bit.

I needed a place to attach the gift cards so I made tapered  hexagonal "glacier" bases for each bear. I used pearlescent blue cardstock for these and added tabs underneath each base to hold a gift card.

The finished size of each polar bear together with the glacier base measured approximately 13 inches in height and 7 inches in width.

The bears were wrapped in cello bags with a silver taffeta bow. I made simple gift tags with a stamped sentiment and die cut glitter snowflake embellished with flatback rhinestones.

And just for fun... a photo of our furbaby "Polah Beah" together with her namesakes. I just couldn't resist taking of picture of them together!

 

Sweet Holiday Treats

This year my  holiday Chex Mix carrier featured a cute snowman from My Scrap Chick. I used "Frosty the Snowman Candy Bar Wrap" file, enlarging it to fit onto the front of my carrier. I swapped the snowflake in the file with one I die cut from glitter cardstock using "Let it Snowflake" die from MFT Die-namics.   
 

The carrier design is a simply a shallow box made to fit the bottom of my bag of Chex mix with two panels as tall glued on to the front and back. Holes are punched at the top to thread a ribbon through so a bow can be tied to keep the carrier closed.

For smaller bags of Chex Mix made for hubby to share with golf club friends, I simply printed up labels with an image of a golfing snowman.

I made several of these Hershey Kisses candy gift card holders which I had been wanting to make for the longest time. I followed the video tutorial by Kelly Acheson on her blog A Stamp Above to create a cutting file for my template. 

The back panel of this candy holder serves as the pocket where you can slide a gift card. Had fun decorating the boxes with a polar bear die cut using Marianne Designs "Eline's Arctic Bear" dies and Merry Christmas greeting cut using an Elizabeth Craft Designs word die. I thought this was a cute and easy way to make giving gift cards not seem so boring.

Arch of Leaves Pop Up Card

As the days begin to get noticeably shorter I'm realizing the holiday season has already begun. I found myself scrambling for ideas for a card to include with our Thanksgiving "care package" that we send to our granddaughter each year. When I came across Jennifer Webster's beautiful fall themed arch pop up card posted on her blog, I knew I wanted to try something similar.                                                         

I kept the front of my card simple by only adhering a sheet of pretty patterned paper with autumn leaves to it. Since this card ended up being quite bulky, I decided to use a belly band to help keep it closed. That meant both the label with my greeting and the paper pieced deer I wanted to put on the front had to be glued on to the belly band.

Inside, I installed the mechanism from  Karen Burniston's  "Arch Pop Up" and added lots of die cut leaves, acorns, and even a couple pumpkins cut using Karen Burniston "Autumn Elements" set. Smaller leaves were cut using very old Carl and Marvy Uchida punches. Marianne Collectable dies were used to die cut and piece together the two deer for this card.

For some additional pop up fun, I glued a rubber band activated Karen Burniston "Small Scenes Bam Box" to the back of the deer so it would pop up to its upright position as the card is opened.

Really had fun putting this arch pop up card together. I ended up adding more leaves to the arch than I initially thought would be needed, which resulted in quite a bulky bulgy card... next time I think I will add at least a quarter inch spine to the center to help the closed card lay flatter. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit today; relax and enjoy Thanksgiving... Christmas holiday madness starts tomorrow!

Kokeshi Platform Pop Up

I have another milestone birthday card to share today, put together for a dear friend who recently celebrated her 70th birthday. I was running late and was a little short on time so I decided I would try to make a card using older cut files I made for past projects instead of trying to create new files. I wanted to go with a kokeshi themed card, so I paper pieced a few kokeshi girls dressed in washi paper design kimonos. Arched and shadowed "Celebrate" greeting in Benson font as well as the fan shaped background are older cut files created for cards in the past. The patterned paper I used for the card and gift card holder come from a digital paper collection purchased many years ago, "Happy Spring" by Nancy Kubo.
 

Inside the card, I installed the bottom layer from Karen Burniston's "Cake Pop Up" die to create a mini version of a hexagon pop up platform. 

The double fans and large cherry blossom are from a very old Cricut "Pagoda" cartridge, and the bamboo is also an oldie I created in the past. I used a Lawn Fawn "Happy Birthday Border" die to cut the greeting added onto the fans. The number "70" was cut from glitter cardstock using Beach font.

Here's side view of the pop up platform where you can see the acetate strips used to hold the fans and kokeshi doll in place.

I kept the matching gift card holder very simple, allowing the patterned paper to do most of the work. "Just for you" was cut from gold foil board using a die from Lawn Fawn's "Gift Box" die set and the white shadow layer for it was created in Make the Cut design program.

Whimsical Teddies Birthday

Inspired by the adorable cards created by Karen Burniston Design Team member Suzanne Smit, I wanted to make a card with a whimsical spirit like so many she's shared on her blog, Knutsel Suus. For my card I used Marianne Designs dies from "Arctic Bears", "Daisies", and "Happy Daisies" sets and a very old Stampin' Up Embosslits die for the tiny butterflies. Fishtail "Happy Birthday" sentiment banner was hot foiled and cut using Spellbinders "Hexi-Gems Sentiments" Glimmer set.

Inside, I used Karen Burniston's "Triple Platform Pop Up" die set to animate the giant daisies, teddy bear and even a double layered birthday cake. Sounds crazy but very whimsical and fun!

Here's a short video of what it looks like when a card using this mechanism is opened...

I thought it was pretty cool how all the seemingly oversized elements folded down, hidden within the confines of the closed card.

To decorate the gift card holder, I used the smaller daisy dies, butterflies and a stamp from Lawn Fawn's Tiny Tag Sayings set.

Butterfly Collage Pop Up

I took out what could be considered my two most favorite dies; Karen Burniston's Photo Collage Pop Up, and Spellbinders Delicate Butterflies to create two more landmark birthday cards for friends who celebrated the big 7 - 0 this year. I cut the butterflies from pearlescent cardstock backed with white glitter paper and the bodies from gold foil cardstock. Happy Birthday sentiment was hot foiled and die cut using "Perfect Sentiments" set from Pink Fresh Studio. I added an additional gold foil shadow layer behind the sentiment and a wavy background border layer, both created in Make the Cut and cut on my Silhouette. Opalescent sequins were then randomly adhered for an added fun shimmer.

Inside the card I used the Photo Collage Pop Up die to animate eight die cut butterflies and the number "70".  Four additional butterflies were also glued on to the base card. Cutting file for "70" and shadow were created using Beach font.

Although I've used the Photo Collage Pop Up countless number of times to make cards, just realizing now that I have yet to post a video to show this pop up in action.

Cutting file for "70" and shadow were created using Beach font.

I included a gift card holder decorated with the same elements from the front of the card. Spellbinders "Hexi-Gem Sentiments" glimmer plate and die were used to create the fishtail sentiment.

Halloween Demon Hunters

 In keeping with the recent worldwide sensation of Netflix KPop Demon Hunters, our granddaughter announced that she wanted to dress up as "Zoey" from "Huntrix" for Halloween this year. Happily Gramma found lots of Demon Hunters clip art online as well as candy holders designed "by Yeni" to fit the theme of her costume.

For the Halloween card, I created a cut file of the "Huntrix" logo and cut it from layers of silver metallic and glitter cardstock and two shades of lavender shimmer cardstock. I used clipart of "Derpy" the demon cat together with pumpkin clipart from Doodlebug "Boos and Brews" set (purchased from the Lori Whitlock store) to create a print and cut image, and matted it with shadow layers of black and shimmer gold papers. Then wanting to convey the playful vibe of an anime graphic novel, I added a speech bubble to get "Derpy" talking.

Inside, I used matted print and cut images of the three Huntrix girls and attached them to Karen Burniston's Triple Platform Pop Up mechanism. As the card is opened, three arms of the mechanism with the Huntrix girls attached pop up and forward. In the background I added matted print and cut images of Sussie the Magpie and a silhouette of the Saja Boys dressed in traditional Korean garb.

Then just for fun, I added a few lyrics from the hit song "Golden" from the movie as part of the sentiment in the card.

I also put together this Zoey candy holder designed "by Yeni", the same designer who created the original cutting files for the Hello Kitty and skeleton candy holders I made for sharing with friends. As with the previous candy holders, I used 8 cm plastic shaker domes instead of the plastic ornament balls these templates were designed for. 

I added a hole in the bottom of the base to be able to fill the globe with candy and adhered a petal style closure to access the candies.

Really enjoyed putting these domed candy holders together and looking forward to making these again in the future. They come together quickly and would make cute favors for sharing at an informal lunch with friends or family.

Although I didn't go trick or treating this year, I was lucky enough to get treated to some awesome Halloween goodies created by my dear friend Lorna.

Another trend that has taken the world by storm...the bougie Labubu Craze! Love that Lorna decorated her Halloween treat holders with this giant Labubu witch. He even has ten teeth, so he's probably the real thing! I thought her "La boo-boo" Halloween sentiment on the back side of the treat holder was so clever too.

This smaller Labubu is holding onto a candy filled 4 ounce black condiment cup decorated to look like a glowing pumpkin. So cute and creative!

For a Japanese version of a Halloween treat holder, Lorna made these fun Japanese "oni" or ogre boxes for her Bon Dance club friends. This one reminds me a lot of the ogres often seen in Japanese children's folk tale books like "Momotaro" or "Peach Boy". Once again, sweet Lorna knocked us off our feet with her amazing and imaginative creativity!

Candy Holders for Halloween

While searching online for ideas for Halloween treat holders, I came across a plethora of candy holders by several designers that use clear domed ornament balls. Honestly, there were so many that looked so cute and fun that I had a difficult time deciding on which I wanted to make. As you can see from the photo, I couldn't resist choosing Hello Kitty. 

I purchased the cutting file to create this Hello Kitty candy holder from designer "By Yeni". The original design was of Hello Kitty peeking out of a pumpkin but I decided I wanted to change things up just a little and dressed my Hello Kittys in black cat costumes for Halloween.

And for my guy and ghoul friends who aren't fans of the kitty, I made these fun skeleton candy holders, also designed "By Yeni". The crown of flowers came included in the cutting file to give the look of a sugar skull, and I created a cutfile for a top hat and bow tie from clipart found online so the guy skeleton could look dapper.

Both the Hello Kitty and Skeleton candy holders were designed to be made using 8cm plastic ornament balls but I decided to try using 8cm half ball shaker domes that I picked up from Amazon instead. As a result I had to make some changes to the way the domes were attached and how the candies inside could be accessed. I decided to create a bottom panel for the candy holder with a hole just large enough for the candies and covered the opening with a petal style closure as I have done in the past. Although I had to make a few modifications to the original design, in the end I had a much easier time using the shaker domes than if I had used the plastic ornaments. Both the Hello Kitty and skeleton candy holders came together pretty quickly so I was able to finish several of each to share with friends.

Earlier this month I decorated boxes of cookies with this cute Frankenstein wrap to share with friends we had lunch with.

The original cutting file for "Frankie" from My Scrap Chick was designed be used as a candy bar wrap. I wrapped purple cardstock around the sides of the box and enlarged the cutting file for "Frankie" to be large enough to fit onto the front of my favorite LaGrande Gallette cookies. This was a fun way to give the boxes of cookies a festive Halloweeny look.

Our furbabies are the only children we have in our home these days, and yes, we do have fun dressing them up for Halloween. Enjoy your Halloween too!

Photo Collage Pop Up for the Bride and Groom

Last month was full of fun and excitement for our family as our niece and her fiancé tied the knot here on Oahu. 

For a personalized wedding card, I used the print and cut function on Make the Cut design program to create a heart shaped window with the couple's names welded inside and the date of their wedding along the right side of the heart. 

Behind the window, I placed a photo that was taken of the couple a year ago when Sam surprised  Ashley with a wedding proposal on the beach.

Inside, I used my all time favorite Karen Burniston Photo Collage Pop Up mechanism die to animate photos of the couple from their wedding website as well as a few I had taken at their wedding shower. Kept the decorating to a minimum using only a few random glitter hearts and a die cut word "love" from Karen Burniston's Pop 'N Swap die set.

I used opalescent glitter cardstock matted onto textured silver foil cardstock for the inside panels. No skimping here on bling and shine!

I printed up a watercolor image of koi and used an envelope template cutfile to create an envelope for our gift. The red envelope and pouch were quickly put together a few days before the wedding to take to the couple's Chinese Tea Pouring Ceremony. I found a neat stylized heart shaped Chinese character for the word "Happiness" which was rendered into a cutting file using Make the Cut. I cut the characters from gold foil cardstock and backed it with  red glitter to make a tag for the pouch and an embellishment backed with pearlescent gold paper for the red envelope.