Non-Madras Madras Bag

Once I finished making the girls' library tote bags I really wanted to make my own tote bag out of some fabric I bought over a year ago and have just loved simply looking at. After seeing Noodlehead's Madras bag tutorial I figured that it would be perfect for what I was looking for and fit within the amount of fabric I had on hand. I call it my non-madras madras bag. I made the straps long enough to go across the chest for heavy lifting and I can tie them together to make it just the right length for a shoulder tote ;)  Gotta love versatility in your bags! It's been great for the summer and I've used it for everything from pool trips to museum outings to long shopping days and of course library visits. Love it!

Library Book Bags

The semester is finished, yay! I've got some crafty plans - scrapping our zoo pictures, playing in some card challenges, and of course lots of sewing - and I've got some family plans - days at the pool, picnics and park visits, plus some light hiking. I'm excited for my next couple of weeks off ;) Earlier this year I had picked up a Central Park charm pack by Moda from my favorite quilt shop. I have loved just looking at all these little 5" fabric squares but it was time to use them on something and the girls and I decided that something would be library book bags! I'm simply separated 2 sets of 9 charms for each bag, focusing on a blues and oranges for A's and purples and yellows for C's. I lined the insides with solid fabric I had on hand (A's is pale blue, C's is deep purple) then used some fat quarters for the straps. I also added some interfacing to make the totes a bit more sturdy. The girls and I love how they turned out!

At the beginning of June the weekly reading activity started at the library. The goal is to read 10 books a week (for the younger kids). Being that we usually check out anywhere from 12-18 books and I end up carrying about 9-15 of those, I thought some cute book bags would help encourage my little readers to help carry at least a few more of their chosen stories. Though I'm just getting to post the bags now, they've been well loved the past couple months and I'm glad to say that the plan worked out great! Now each of them can carry at least 5 books. Anyway, thanks for popping by to see what we've been up to and have a spectacular Saturday!

Little Spring Purses

I've gotten back into sewing lately and though it's coming along a bit slowly, it's been fun to do something different. My girls love purses and bags, they get it from me, so with some fat quarters I made them each a little purse to put in their goodies - usually littlest pet shop toys and lipsmackers ;) I didn't use a pattern or anything since they are so simple. The top purse is Audrey's and the bottoms Cait's. I love that the fabrics fit them so well. I tried to get a little bit of the inside in the second picture to show the fun lining. Both of them have been loving their purses, especially Audrey, she takes it everywhere! She even wears it when she rides her scooter, lol. Thanks for visiting!

Quick Wrapping!

Supplies : Tiny Treats Valentines, Polka Dot Basics, Borders and Corners Circles, and Everyday Classics stamp sets, Ink, and button twine by Papertrey Ink;

I had a baby shower to go to last Saturday and being the scatter-brained mom that I am I completely forgot about it until that morning. So I rushed out to shop for the new baby boy and found a couple darling outfits (didn't get pictures, oops!). The colors were orange, brown, and khaki in both outfits, one sporting a truck the other a puppy. I got home with about 20 minutes until I had to leave for the shower and so I made quick work with a simple tag and card.

I've been trying to be more earth conscious with my wrapping so I used a repurposed kraft bag from the quilt store and some of the packing paper from an online order. I grabbed some kraft and rustic cream scraps, pulled out the orange zest and dark chocolate inks and went to work. I kept both the tag and card very simple, the dog and welcome circle elements pop dotted up for some dimension as the only real embellishment. For just a few minutes I think it turned out very cute! The pictures aren't that great since I just propped everything on top of my armoire real quick to snap a couple photos before running out the door with the girls. We were about 10 minutes late but it ended up just fine since the guest of honor wasn't there yet ;) Anyway, enjoy and have a lovely Sunday!

Tag Box + Tags

Supplies : Rustic Cream Cardstock; twine; 2008 Holiday Tags, Winter Swirls, and Borders and Corners Circle stamp sets by Papertrey Ink; Cranberry Button, Tulip Cardstock, Tulip and Ocean Ink by CTMH; 2" Scallop Circle Punch by EK Success; repurposed organdy ribbon; acetate

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been using tags like crazy this year! It's a good thing I've had so much fun making them ;) So I came across this tutorial for a tag box on Splitcoast and thought it would be perfect for all my tags, plus I would get to make more! I used one of my favorite color combos of red, blue, and cream; and my go to tag stamp set as well as the Winter Swirls which I hadn't really played with yet. On the back I stamped To and From and made a total of 40 tags with 10 quick and easy different designs. I made the box first, it came together a bit quicker than I thought it would, and then I worked on the tags. I punched out 2 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11 inch cardstock, you get 20 2" circles for each sheet. Then I stamped each design on 4 tags. You could make just 4 different tags or all one style tag. Wouldn't this make a cute gift too? To finish off the box I used more repurposed organdy ribbon. Caitlyn's class had done a fundraiser with a local baking mix company. One of the sets I ordered for us was actually a gift set so I've been using the ribbon for other stuff since I'm planning on making those particular goodies for us - pecan pie bars and apple crumb cake - yum! Below are the tags just for fun ;D Enjoy and have a fabulous Friday!

Holiday Purse and Tags

Supplies : Paper and Elements by Cosmo Cricket; Buttons, Jute, Rustic Cream Cardstock and 2008 Holiday Tags stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Ribbon by We R Memory Keepers; Marvy Snowflake Punch; Shimmer white CS from Pebbles; Tulip Ink and Brads in Holiday Red and Cranberry from CTMH; 2" scallop punch from EK Success

I used more of the Cosmo Cricket sampler I used to make the card yesterday to make some simple and quick tags. I'm loving the fun colors in this paper kit. They look like scrumptious Christmas candy! The tags were very simple, I just punched out some scallop circles from the rustic cream cardstock by PTI and then stamped some of the holiday tag images in Tulip on them. Then I added some ribbon and buttons since the patterns were already striped! Easy peasy, yes? Splitcoast Stampers had this fun template up for a little holiday card purse and I thought it would be fun to make with some of the scraps from my holiday layouts to put the tags in. My purse is actually shorter since I was using scraps and I housed some tags rather than the A2 size cards the template was for. This was so easy to make and pretty quick as well. I'm going to be putting together some little stocking stuffers for Caitlyn's class today. We're doing a Christmas story each day now with a stocking stuffer to go in their little paper stockings each day until Winter Break and mine is on the 14th. Very fun for the kiddos and I think the hardest part for me will be picking out a book to read. I want to find one that is fun, but not one that will have already been read. I'll be hitting the book store today as well to see what I can find ;D Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting!

More Valentines!

Supplies: Mini Mail Box from Target $1 Spot; Pattern Paper by My Minds Eye; Cardstock, Clear Buttons, Ink, Markers, and Say it in Style stamp set by CTMH; Poppy Ribbon and Heart Prints stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Thickers Alpha Stickers and blue garter ribbon by American Crafts; Various Ribbon Unknown; Heart punch by Marvy; Giraffe by Gina K; white gel pen by Sakura

This first set I'm sharing with you is Audrey's. I let the girls pick out a box from the $1 spot at Target and Audrey picked one of these darling mini mail boxes. I covered it with rainbow/glittered dot paper by MME. I thought this was going to be a lot harder than it was. It turned out very easy to do though a little time consuming ^_~ But it was totally worth is as she loves her little mail box! You can click on any of these images for a larger pic if you need to :D

A close up of her card. I haven't used these darling Gina K stamps since last year around this time! Audrey has had a thing for giraffes the past month and it's so funny because for the longest time she was calling them either reindeer or cows, lol!! She's finally consistantly getting the giraffe right now though ^_~ So I thought this would be perfect for her!

This is the flag side of the mail box. Honestly, I had more fun creating this altered project than any I've made before.

Here is the front of the box with a single Thicker monogram to show that this is Audrey's box. Even though the punches I got didn't quite fit the stamps they sure have been handy to just punch out hearts from cardstock and pattern paper :D

And this is the other side. I'm loving how darling her mail box came out!

Supplies: Tote box from Target $1 Spot; Cardstock, Ink, Buttons, and some Ribbon by CTMH; Poppy and Raspberry Fizz Ribbon and Heart Prints stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Hippo and sentiment by Gina K; Thickers Alpha Stickers and some ribbon by American Crafts; Other Ribbon Various Unknown; white gel pen by Sakura

Caitlyn's box was such a bright, fun project to add to. The box was cute by itself, but since I was altering Audrey's mail box I wanted to do something special with Caitie's as well. I used the CTMH colors of Tulip, Hydrangea, Bubblegum, and Amethyst - a totally awesome color combo I wouldnt' have thought of! The hippo is a stamp Caitlyn has always loved. It cracks her up and since last year she made and gave out these hippos for Valentines Day, I thought it would be fun for her to get a hippo of her own finally ^_~

The card was a lot of fun. I stamped it twice on Amethyst cardstock, cut out one completely and then just cut out the behind on the other to pop dot her behind. She turned out so cute! I used my amethyst marker for some shading as well as the white gel pen and then gave her a little heart tattoo with the mini heart from the Heart Prints stamp set. Then I used the solid hearts from that stamp set to create the background paper, mimicking the tote's pattern.

Caitlyn picked out this tote box which is totally her! She loves bright colors and adores hearts. I had tried to convince her to get a mail box but in the end I'm glad she picked this instead! It was way more fun to alter two different boxes than two of the same and the boxes each fit their personalities more! This was one of those projects that forced me to not hoard stuff as well. Usually I'm bad about hording ribbon. It's one of those things I buy all the time, but rarely use, lol! So I used up some ribbon giving her cute box some frills tied to the handle.

Supplies: Pattern Paper Basic Grey; Light Green Cardstock by Bazzil; Inks, Markers, Cardstock, and Buttons by CTMH; Frog by Snag Em Stamps from Imaginescence; Raspberry Fizz Ribbon and Heart Prints stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Waxy Flax; White Gel pen by Sakura; Green Ribbon unknown; Prince sentiment by Ellzybellz (RAKed)

Last but not least is my hubby's card and box. I loved playing with the Sultry papers so much that I just had to continue. I don't have any qualms about putting pink on his cards since we always joke that pink is totally his color, lol. This was such a fun little set to make as I usually don't make super cutesy things like this for him! I had a blast and just made the box for fun and because I could :D

Here's the card close up. Remember yesterday, how I said he reminded me that he really likes frogs. Well I had gotten out the prince Ellzybellz image and sentiment, ready to make a card when I suddenly remembered that I had this darling frog prince stamp from Imaginesence! I had gotten him over 6 months ago without having any idea what I would ever use it on but figured for a $1 it didn't matter. He was just too cute to pass up! I did the same thing with the frog as the hippo, stamping him on green cardstock as well as the white and then using the kiwi marker to shade him in. He's also pop dotted. I just adore how this came out. There is also some gold glitter sparkle on his crown!

And my hubby's treat box for his desk. I decided to keep this one all green since that is his favorite color and he will most likely keep this out on his desk. He's such a sentimental sweetie. He had all the cards I made him laying around on his desk until just a couple months ago when I gathered them up and put them in his drawer to tidy the space up a bit, lol. Inside is yummy raspberry centered chocolates as he loves raspberry :D Anyway, these were the Valentine goodies I had created for today. I hope you all are having a wonderful Valentines! Thanks for stopping by ^_~

Caitlyn's Valentines

We have been so busy this week with Caitlyn's speech therapy home work and then trying to get Valentines made for her class for Thursday, but I finally have a little to share with you :D Caitlyn finished her Valentines!! I like to break up how much she has to do each day so that she doesn't get overwhelmed. On Monday we made the Valentines for her classmates.

Here she is showing off two of her cards. I did all the cutting of course and then matted her colored images. With help, she glued the rest on. We used glue dots for the hearts and buttons to make it easier for both her and mommy ^_~ I tied the bow and then stapled the little clear treat bags to the fold over card. These were so easy and fun.

Here is the back. We used the tiny clear treat bags (found in the wedding/party section) and put some chocolate hearts in them. The pattern cardstock is cut 3 x 6 so we got all 8 of her Valentines with just one 12 x 12 sheet. This leaves a two inch fold over the back where we were able to add the Happy Valentine's Day stamping and where Caitie could write her name. She's just gotten the hang of it a couple weeks ago, I'm so proud of her!

Yesterday I had her color in some images for her teacher, the aide, and her speech pathologist. Using the same line of MME papers I let her help put together some cards for them. Inside there is a heart stamped and under it Happy Valentine's Day, then Caitie signed her name on these as well. She was so cute coloring in the bellas saying 'This is my Teacher Kat' and then for the other one 'This is my Breanna! She has black hair.' The aides sometimes change around so I thought to play it safe and just use one of the darling CC Designs Animals.

And here are the finished baggies for them :D I used the Heart Prints stamp set from Papertrey Ink for the tags and insides of the cards and we hid most of the chocolates behind the cards to show the cards off. Caitlyn had so much fun helping put her Valentine's gifts together. It was about an hour each day to make them with her and that seems so much more meaningful to me than just buying those ones from the store. Hopefully I'll be able to get my Valentines finished in time now that these are done, lol. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Papertrey Cocoa Gift Box Tutorial

Supplies:
1 sheet patterned cardstock paper
1 sheet neutral cardstock
1 sheet (or a half sheet scrap) dark coordinating cardstock
1 sheet (or ¼ - ½ sheet scrap) light coordinating cardstock
Scoring tool (Scor-pal or scoring blade for your paper cutter)
Scissors
Strong Adhesive
6x6x1 inch acrylic box or empty Papertrey Stamp Set Box

Other misc design supplies:
Circle punches
Scallop circle punch
Snowflake punch
Ribbon
Embellishments
Stamps and Coordinating Ink

Starting with the Cocoa Box, cut a 5” x 9 ¾” piece from your neutral cardstock. You will be scoring across the long way of the paper at ¾” , 4 ½” , 5 ¼” , and 9” . Here is a quick glance at where the score lines should be on your paper: Now you can turn your paper over to stamp whatever design you wish. Your scored lines should be raised on the side you are stamping.

After your paper is stamped, crease your cardstock at the scored lines like so and then glue the side flaps together. This is what your middle piece should look like after it’s done. You may notice that I didn't stamp all the way to the bottom. That is alright because that part will have the bottom cover glued to it so it won't show up in the finished design.

Next is the lid and bottom. Both are exactly the same for the cocoa box. Cut two pieces 1 13/16” x 10 1/16” from your patterned cardstock paper. One for the bottom cover and one for the lid. Starting long ways, scor on the wrong side of you paper at 13/16” , 4 5/8” , 5 7/16” , and 9 ¼” . Then score down the paper vertically at 1”. Here is about what it should look like.

You are going to cut on the red lines, following your score line. This will allow you to fold the base of the covers. The 13/16” flap will fold over to create the ends so make sure you are cutting the right score lines. Trim the extra flap on the right for easier construction. I fold the little flaps in first and glue the large center flap over them. Then I fold over the other large center flap and glue it.

Do the same thing for the other piece to create both top and bottom for the cocoa packet holder. Glue the bottom to the center base to create the cocoa holder. Do not glue the top. You want them to be able to get into the cocoa without tearing up the box. It helps a little to put the cocoa packs in it as soon as you get it together, that way the adhesive stickes better to the edges.

Lastly embellish it the way you like. I used the 2008 Holiday Tags stamp set by Papertrey Ink, CTMH cranberry ribbon, topiary safety pins, and cardstock, a pink marvy scallop circle punch and other circle punches to create my tag. Two coordinating colors of cardstock scraps were used to layer the tag and I punched the stamped image from the neutral cardstock I’m using for the centers. Glue dots were used to keep the ribbon stationary and I carried out the safety pin theme on the ribbon throughout.

The Candy Cane holder will be made exactly the same way but with different dimensions for it’s box. Note that with the candy cane holder the lid is larger than the bottom though. Let’s start with the center base piece again. Cut from your Neutral Cardstock a 6” x 6 ¼” piece. You are going to be scoring across the 6 ¼” length at ¾” , 2 ¾” , 3 ½” , and 5 ½” .

Again flip it over and stamp your design out, then fold it in and glue the flaps together. Remember that if you are like me and want to do as little stamping as possible, to only leave some of the bottom blank where the bottom cover will go. The lid is made to go on and come off so you will want to continue your stamping all the way to the top for it to look nice :D

For the bottom cut a 1 13/16” x 6 9/16” piece from your patterned cardstock. For the lid cut a 2 13/16” x 6 9/16” piece from the patterned cardstock. They will have all the same lengthwise scoring points. Score across each at 13/16” , 2 7/8” , 3 11/16” , and 5 ¾ “ . For the Bottom score vertically at 1”. For the Top score vertically at 2”.

The 13/16” flap will fold over to create the ends just like with the cocoa box. Fold them together just like the cocoa lid. Glue the bottom to the center base and leave the top free for the lid. Decorate as you like. Here is my finished Candy Cane box. Since it is a bit skinnier than the cocoa box I opted to just put a punched out snowflake instead of creating a stamped image. I continued the ribbon and safety pin theme and this time added a fun little spiral to the snowflake for embellishment. This box will fit four regular sized candy canes if you put them in two right side up and two of them upside down. It's already a pretty tight fit so I'm fairly certain that the fatter candy canes won't fit in this box.

Now you can use these boxes as they are in a mini basket with a couple mugs and a bag of marshmallows to go with the hot cocoa, but if you are like me and have some Papertrey Stamp boxes hanging around these two boxes fit perfectly inside and even have a little space above the hot cocoa box to put a little bag of marshmallows. I did not take off the polka dot stamp packaging. It is easier toglue your new paper and cardstock right on top of it.

You will need to cut from your dark coordinating cardstock one 2 1/16” x 12” and one 2 1/16” x 5 ½” piece. From your patterned cardstock cut one 1 ½” x 12 inch piece. Align the center of your 12” long cardstock piece to the center of the box and then wrap around. I like to crease the sides a little more before I glue it so that the paper lies more flush. I also glue down the cardstock before adding the paper. It seems to hold better that way.

The smaller 5 ½” piece will cover the space in the back. Before you put the back piece on though, glue on your pattern paper first. Once the back piece is on decorate the front as you like. I put the ribbon on right after adhering the paper then used the same two stamps I had used throughout making the mini boxes, the Snowfall set and the 2008 Holiday tags set.

You can use the scraps you had left over to create a cute matching card like I did here. You can even go a step further and add more fun dressed up recycled packaging to the gift set like I did with this empty CTMH embellishment tube filled with chocolate. The finished set:


I hope I did okay on my first tutorial, lol! Have a Happy Tuesday!!

Bella Monster Bash Challenges!

So I got on the bella forums way late Wednesday night to see if the color challenge was up yet and what did I discover?. . . That there was a Bella Monster Bash that night!! lol I think I remember reading about it coming up but totally spaced when it was going to happen. Of course it doesn't help that Cait has been out of school this week for UEA so my days are all jumbled, lol. Anyway there were only 2 challenges so I did them yesterday morning. Here is the card for the first challenge : BLSC1 - to make a Halloween/Fall themed card without using ribbon.


Supplies : Twinkle Fairy by Chichibolie from Stampingbella; Green and Orange CS from Bazzil; CS and Black Brads from CTMH; Flowers by Prima; Sakura Stardust pen

This card is for my SIL whose birthday is close to Halloween. She loves Halloween colors so I thought she'd like this ^_~. I almost put ribbon on the card too, even though I usually don't use ribbon on my cards, lol. Highlighting done with the silver stardust pen, it shimmers a lot more in real life :D

Supplies: Bubblebella by stampingbella; Green and Orange CS from Bazzil; CS, brad, and swirl from CTMH; Rhinestones; Acrylic flower by American Crafts; white gel pen by sakura

And here is my project for the 2nd challenge : make a Halloween treat box. I don't have any Halloween bellas so I had to get a bit creative. I thought Halloween bath treats would be cute and Bubblebella was just calling me to make her tub into a cauldron, lol! I found the template for this acetate treat box on the SCS forums and just went to work. So imagine there are cute little green bath fizzies in there for Halloween ^_~ Here is the top and front view of the box. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!!