Celebrating Christmas with the Control Freaks!

Welcome to the Control Freaks November blog tour! We’ve created Christmas projects for you to enjoy this month. If you’re following the tour, you’ve just come from Patty Bennett’s blog.

I have four projects to share with you this month — two Christmas cards and two 3-D projects.

I kept both cards very simple and monochromatic — I think I’ll be using both of these as my Christmas cards this year. 😉

PROJECT #1 – Raspberry Ripple Christmas Card

Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes

Paper: Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White

Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Black StazOn

Accessories: Holiday Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Holiday Ornaments Framelits Die, 3/4″ Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Basic Black 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestone, Stampin’ Dimensionals

PROJECT #2 – Melon Mambo Christmas Card

Stamps: Ornamental Keepsakes, More Merry Messages

Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Brights DSP Stack (Melon Mambo), Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink: Melon Mambo, VersaMark

Accessories: Holiday Ornaments Framelits Die, Big Shot, Framed Tulips Folder, 3/4″ Circle Punch, Silver Embossing Powder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Rhinestone, Whisper White 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon

PROJECT #3 – Holiday Hershey Bar Covers

I am celebrating my 10-year anniversary with SU! this month and had a big party last weekend; these Hershey Bar covers were among several of the door prizes I gave away. They’re super easy to make using paper from the Festival of Prints DSP pack and the Window Frames Collection Framelits dies.

Here’s how to make them:

• Cut a piece of cardstock measuring 6-1/2″ x 6-3/4″.
• To score this piece, hold the cardstock so that the 6-1/2″ edge is running right to left and the 6-3/4″ edge is running top to bottom. Score at 3″ and 3-1/4″.
• The next step is to punch one 6-3/4″ edge with the Scallop Edge Border Punch, but make sure to punch the smaller-width panel. The best way to explain this is to fold the cover on the score lines — you’ll see that one flap is wider than the other (before punching with the border punch, the front flap will measure 3″ and the back flap will measure 3-1/4″). Punch the 3″ flap, which will then measure 2-3/4″ after punching.
• The front DSP panel measures 2-3/8″ x 6-1/2″. The inside DSP panel measures 3″ x 6-1/2″.
• The ribbon is tied around the entire cover to keep it closed.

Stamps: Friendship Preserves

Paper: Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso, Festival of Prints DSP

Ink: Lucky Limeade (marker), Early Espresso

Accessories:Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies, Festive Paper-Piercing Pack, Scallop Edge Border Punch, 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon (Real Red, Early Espresso, Old Olive), Stampin’ Dimensionals

PROJECT #4 – Holiday Hand Sanitizer Covers

These holiday hand sanitizer covers were SO MUCH FUN to make! I ended up making nine of these using the Snow Festival DSP to decorate each one — there are several adorable images of cardinals, owls, reindeer (and what I think is a hedgehog) to cut out and use as the main image. 🙂

There are many hand sanitizer cover templates around the internet, but I ended up making my own template to fit the bottle size that’s currently offered at Bath & Body Works. I do want to note, however, that the little button treatment was inspired by Kimberly Van Diepen.

Here are the directions:

• Cut two pieces of cardstock with one measuring 2″ x 11″ and the other measuring 2″ x 3-1/4″.
• Score the longer piece at 1/2″,  2″,  3″,  4-1/2″,  7-3/4″  and  9-1/4″.
• Punch this piece as shown below with the Curly Label Punch (I punched a piece of Post-it note paper and attached it to the cover to serve as a guide).

• Crease all score lines with a bone folder and then attach the 1/2″ flap to the back of the template with Sticky Strip. Attach the second panel that measures 2″ x 3-1/4″ to the front of the cover. Small pieces of Velcro were used to keep the cover closed.

Here’s a side view with it closed and standing upright:

And here are the other six covers:

Stamps: Tiny Tags

Paper: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Snow Festival DSP

Ink: Black StazOn, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze

Accessories: Curly Label Punch, 2-3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Brights Buttons, Subtles Buttons, Regals Buttons, Vintage Trinkets, Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals

To see the next blog, please click the link below. Connie Babbert is next! Thanks so much for taking the tour!

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Joy Wallhanging

Here’s the Christmas wallhanging that coordinates with this altered Christmas journal I made two weeks ago. This project was for a basket that was auctioned off to raise money for my hospital’s health foundation and the projects had to be silver and white. It was really difficult to work with no color — I kept wanting to add red and green accents. 😉 I was inspired by a wallhanging that I saw on Pinterest, as well as one I made for my daughter several years ago and uploaded to the Dirty Dozen gallery on Splitcoast here (you need to be a paying member to see this particular wallhanging).

I purchased chipboard coasters several years ago and discovered that I only had a few left. I didn’t have time to order any so I made my own by using the very sturdy cardboard backing that lines the 12×12 Glimmer Paper packs from SU!. I used a rotary cutter, quilter’s ruler and mat to cut the cardboard to four inches square. These “coasters” ended up being just as sturdy as the store-bought coasters (and they were free), so save the backing! 😉 The ring at the top is a one-inch silver book ring. The 7/8″ Cotton Ribbon was attached with a hot glue gun and then I lined the back of each coaster with a 4×4 square of Very Vanilla cardstock.

Here are close-ups of each coaster:

This is what happens when you rush a project (but mostly because you need reading glasses because you can’t see the fine print anymore) — the frame that outlines the J is upside down! 😀

The wreath was stamped in VersaMark ink with the En Francais background stamp and embossed with Whisper White embossing powder.

I LOVE the Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies and know I will get TONS of use out of these letter/number dies!

Stamps: En Francais

Paper: Very Vanilla, First Edition Specialty DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Black StazOn, VersaMark

Accessories: Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Perfect Pennants Bigz L Die, Labels Colllection Framelits, Window Frames Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Sponge, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Antique Brad, Silver Brad, Rhinestones, Pearls, Paper Piercing Tool and Mat, Very Vanilla 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Natural 7/8″ Cotton Ribbon, Whisper White Embossing Powder

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Great Sport Birthday

Birthday card for my daughter’s friend — he loves baseball! I like how the pattern in the Comfort Cafe DSP mimics the stitching on the baseball. 😉 The baseball and sentiment are embossed with black embossing powder to give them some extra shine.

Stamps: Great Sport, Curly Cute

Paper: Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Comfort Cafe DSP, Basic Black DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, VersaMark

Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Folder, Big Shot, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Midnight Muse 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat, Basic Black Embossing Powder, 1-3/8″ Circle Punch

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Happy Anniversary to Me!

This month I’m celebrating my ten year anniversary as a demonstrator with Stampin’ Up! It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years, but I knew the very first moment I looked at a catalog that rubber stamping was something I’d been looking for my whole life. 🙂 It’s the one craft I’ve never grown tired of and continues to be a creative outlet and a much-needed stress reliever for me! I am having an anniversary celebration next weekend and I’ve been working on several door prizes for the event. I altered several junior legal-sized notepads and added a matching Pentel RSVP pen.

And here are individual shots of each one:

I’m trying to decide which one I like better — I like the vintage look of the silver one, but I also like the pop of red on the second one. 🙂

Stamps: Greetings of the Season

Paper: Very Vanilla, First Edition Specialty DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper, Red Glimmer Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Black StazOn

Accessories: Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Sponge, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Vintage Brads, Silver Brad, 7/8″ Natural Cotton Ribbon, Vanilla Smooch Spritz

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Altered Christmas Journal

The hospital I work for has an annual fundraiser every year to raise money for its health foundation. Baskets are auctioned off at this event and for the last couple of years, I’ve contributed to the “handmade” basket. The theme for the handmade basket this year is silver and white holiday items. I created an altered journal using supplies from the current holiday mini. The journal measures 7-1/4″ x 10-1/8″. I am currently working on a wall hanging to go along with the notebook that I’ll post early next week.

Stamps: Greetings of the Season

Paper: Very Vanilla, First Edition Specialty DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Black StazOn

Accessories: Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Sponge, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Vintage Brads, Silver Brad, Pearls, 7/8″ Natural Cotton Ribbon, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Vanilla Smooch Spritz

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