It's Christmastime.... on the blog!

Hello sweet stamping friends! How has your week been? Are you starting to make your lists and check them twice? Do you know who's been naughty.... and who's been nice? ;-)

I am not sure if you've been following the flurry of activity over on the Power Poppy blog this week but, if not, I strongly urge you to check it out! Each day this week -- actually since the first of December -- a different designer has been a guest blogger on the Power Poppy Blog, showcasing a fun-filled project to get you in the spirit of Christmas! And, I actually tried one of them today!

On Day 2 -- Stacy Morgan challenged us all to make a gift card holder and gave a step-by-step tutorial on one of her favorite ways! You can click HERE to check it out! Well, I decided to try this and made mine into a card. So, needless to say, my dimensions had to be a bit different. The good news is, I am sharing that with you today!

Here's a peek at how the project turned out!

I will point out, right off the top, that this project was one that I wanted to create in a jiffy. You might notice that the coloring on this is a bit all over the place. Well, that was my intent! Just a quick watercolor wash using my trusty (and very old) Twinkling H20s. I got these paints when they first made an appearance on the scene and I really need to drag them out more! It was fun to just color outside the lines and get that dreamy look with a bit of sparkle as well. Here's a little close up for you! I wish you could see the sparkle!

And, just to let you know, I used the hellebore image from Power Poppy's Heaven & Nature Sing stamp set - stamping with Versamark and then embossing with gold detail powder! Okay... moving on! Here's how I created my gift card holder!

I started by cutting a strip of paper to measure 4-1/4" by 11". From there, I scored 4" in on each side. After you do so, You have a 3" section in the middle. I added another score mark at the 5-1/2" line to create my mountain fold in the center. This will become my gift card holder!

From there, using the Heaven & Nature Sing stamp set from Power Poppy, I stamped all over this piece using a tan water-based ink.

Once I was done stamping, I did go over all the stamped areas with a water brush to give some depth to the stamped flowers....

And I also stamped the sentiment from Holly Golightly in Versamark Ink and then heat embossed using gold detail powder. The sentiment on the front is from the Under Glass: Christmas Traditions stamp set. 

Now, you can see that once I taped it all down, it created that mountain in the center of the card. I even put a line of tape at the far edge of each side of the mountain fold so that it would stay together and keep that gift card in place. One more note! Before I stuck that down, I did use a large oval die shape to create the slot for my gift card. See?

Once cut, you can see that the gift card fits in that little slot perfectly! From there, the rest is just matting up your card. I used a window die for my front, setting the stamped sentiment inside and that was pretty much it -- an easy and earthy gift card holder that is now ready for me to share the spirit of Christmas!

And that, my friends, is it! Like I said, check out Stacy's tutorial HERE and if you are looking for a few more ideas, I did a gift card tutorial last year, just in time for the holidays, HERE! 

Now, keep in mind, if you run through all the tutorials and decide to give one of them a try, don't forget to link up your creation on THIS POST. Every project linked up will be in the running for our 12 Days of Christmas Power & Spark Challenge. Winner gets a $50 Shopping Spree to the Power Poppy Shop! Oh, what fun!

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I've been up to! Now it's time to check in not only with the Power Poppy blog HERE for today's tutorial with the oh-so-fabulous Cindy Lawrence but the other Bloomies below!


Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all back here real soon!
~Julie

Sweet Little Sumpin' Sumpin'!

Hi all! How's your September starting out? I hope that a new month brings a whole new spark of creatitivy and what better way to get that mojo a flowin' than to usher in a new  Power Poppy Power & Spark Challenge! This one is hosted by the amazing colorist and super sweet designer.... KATIE SIMS! 

HOW TO PLAY: This month Katie would love nothing more than for you to get great ideas for your gift giving season! Here's what Ms. Katie had to say about her September Challenge!

"Hello and a happy September to you!  This month’s Power & Spark challenge is all about giving.  We all know the paper crafting community has some of the biggest, giving hearts around so let’s celebrate that with “Gifts from the Heart." Show us your creative gift presentations or a hand crafted gift….or both!  Try stamping  your own wrapping paper, decorate your own gift bag or tag, craft a gift set of note cards....you choose how to show your art and heart for a special someone.  Even though the holidays are just around the corner, any time is a great time for gift giving so this challenge is open for any occasion." 

If you'd like to read up on the Official Rules, just click on over to the the challenge post HERE!Remember, if you play along, you just might win a free clear or digital stamp set of choice from the Power Poppy Shop! You have until September 30th to enter!


ON TO MY CREATION!

For my little bit of show and tell today, I decided to share one of my favorite gifts of all time -- my favorite Lavender Coconut Oil Lotion. This stuff smells absolutely delish and I love the fact that it has three ingredients in it -- all of which I can pronounce! I use it every day and in addition to making my skin soft and glossy, it brings a dose of aromatherapy as well! Who doesn't love the smell of coconut and lavender? ;-)

So, here's a peek at the gift set -- a cute little 4-1/4" square card to serve as a little gift note! And then, the mason jar can be dressed up by stamping the lavender onto a 2" punched circle that fits -- oh so perfectly -- on the top of your mason jar!

For the stamps, I used Power Poppy's Lavender stamp set -- perfect! After stamping in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I grabbed my Copic markers and used BV00, BV02 and BV04, G20, G21, G24, BG0000, BG000, BG01, and G0000. For the jar topper, I used the same marker colors but added the little background lavender stamp with Vivid Violet Mist and then stamped the word Lavender in Lavender Vivid ink.  

Here's a peek at the card...

Here's a look at the jar topper -- sweet and simple with a little bit of glitter glue sparkle and a little bit of gingham ruffle! 

And, since I know you'll love this recipe, I thought I'd share! It's super dooper easy! 

LAVENDER COCONUT LOTION 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil. I bought Nutiva Coconut Oil at Costco and it will likely last me forver!
• 1 teaspoon of Vitaminn E Oil
• 6 to 10 drops of lavender essential oil 

DIRECTIONS

Because coconut oil is a hard oil, you need to heat the oil to get it more fluid to mix the vitamin E and essential oils with it. I soften by sticking in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. Mix in additional ingredients. Stick in fridge until it solidifies to a soft butter feel. Using a hand mixer, mix until lotion is whipped. Store in a cool, dark place in a jar of choice. Keep in mind, coconut oil has a very low melting point, so on hot days, this lotion may return to liquid form It's okay! Just let it harden and rewhip if desired. I usually just let it set back up and use as normal. 

And that, my friends is it! I hope you whip some up and know that you can always turn to Power Poppy to make your gift extra special with our Lavender stamp set! 

Now it's time to hand the baton to my fellow Bloomies so that they can run off with all their creative ideas and inspire you ALL! So, stop by, say hi, and let that inspiration fly!

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber >>> you are here!

Katie Sims

Leslie Miller

Stacy Morgan

Tosha Leyendekker

Thanks for sharing a bit of your day with me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead and for those of you in the States -- Happy Labor Day! Enjoy some rest and creative relaxation! ;-) See you back here soon!

~Julie

Celebrating the Holidays!

Hi all! I have a festive post for you today and it's one with a challenge tied to it as well! The Impression Obsession gals are challenging YOU to create something that reminds you of the holidays! The challenge starts now and runs through Wednesday, December 12. You can click HERE to find out all the details! 

On to my creation! I have to say, when I think of the holidays, I think gift giving -- usually things that I make either in the kitchen, in the stamp room or something taken off my knitting needles. I am always making little boxes to pack up some treats in. So, I put on my thinking cap and came up with this......

This was an easy breezy creation that was really fun to put together! I started with the die set called Mitten Die Set. It has not only the mitten, but the snowflake and a little string tie as well (that one I didn't use here). After I cut out my mittens out of decorative paper (making sure to cut one right side up and the other face down (so I have the mittens going the same way), and my snowflakes out of basic white card stock, I inked up the Cover-A-Card stamp called Nordic Stripes. I wanted my mitten to look, well, mitten-like! I matted my flake on a red circle that was embossed and then sanded to reveal the white core of the paper and then, the whole thing was matted again on a scalloped circle. After I had done all of that twice - once for the front and once for the back, I worked on making my little box that would serve as the inside of my container. 

I took a piece of card stock that measured 7-1/2" square and then scored on the 2-1/2" and 5" lines. I flipped the paper 90 degrees and scored at the same measurements. Cut and fold in the flaps and you have a box bottom. I used some heavy duty glue to make sure the mittens stayed put. 

Here's a peek!  

And here's a look so you can see how tall it is.....

I added a bow around the outside for a little something extra and then... added some white crystal bling to make those snowflakes sparkle! 

So, you might ask, what would I do with this box? Well, actually, I plan to make a mini card to fit inside and will put 4 of my homemade truffles inside. If the person is really special, they might get a gift card too! After all, who doesn't love spending money AND chocolate? I would guess very few! :-)

Want to see how the other IO gals created to celebrate the holidays? You'll need to hop on over and see...

DANIELA DOBSON
DINA KOWAL
JEANNE STREIFF
JENNY GROPP
JULIE KOERBER --- You are here!
KITTIE CARACCIOLO
LAURA FULCHER
VICKI GARRETT

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow with another fun-filled post, so be sure to check back! Until then, make today great! 

~Julie

Window Treat Bag Tutorial

Hi all! For those of you celebrating the holiday this weekend, I hope you had a joyous and restful one! It's back to business and to jump start your creativity, I thought I'd share a little project that I featured on my blog a few weeks back, only this time - with step-by-step instructions! It's a little window treat box that could be decked out for all occasions!

To get started you need:
Flourishes Classic White Paper
Decorative Paper
Decorative Edge Punch or  Border Die
Flourishes Clear Card Stock 
Mother's Words of Wisdom Stamp Set and Tiny Flowers and Tags Set
Copic Markers
Tuxedo Black Ink 
Ribbon & Silver Cording
Small die cut shape for tag
Scor-Tape   

Here's a peek at what we're going to be making....

    

We'll start with two sheets of Classic White Card Stock - measuring 8" by 8-1/2". On both pieces, you will score 2" around the two longest sides and only one of the shortest sides. As you can see by my example below, score down the 1" line on the two longest sides ONLY to the bottom score line and then stop. On one piece, you will cut along the bottom score lines creating flaps  - you can see that in the picture below.

   

On the second piece follow the same instructions, except instead of cutting flaps, you will actually notch out both 2" by 2" segments on the bottom on both sides, like this....

   

 I wanted the front of my bag to be somewhat more colorful than just plain white - so I trimmed a piece of decorative paper to measure 4-1/2" by 6", added some decorative stitching and secured it to the front of my box like this...

   

 Now, the fun begins because we get to start to build our "window!" I took a circle die (Spellbinders Classic Circle Lg.), lined it up and used a post-it note to keep my die secure...

   

 Here's what it looks like after I've run it through my Grand Calibur...

   

 From here, flip this panel over, trim a piece of Flourishes Clear Card Stock down to fit over your circle window and secure using Scor-Tape.

   

 Next, stamp the wreath from the Mother's Words of Wisdom stamp set onto Flourishes Classic White and color using Copic Markers. I used these collections for my creation!

After coloring, I used a mix of detail scissors and a craft knife to trim the opening on the inside of my wreath like so....

And afterward, I used detail scissors to trim along the outside as well, creating the window for my window box! I secured with Scor-Tape and here's a peek at the work in progress!

Next, it's time to assemble the box.... you'll need some more Scor-Tape and you'll want to add tape just like I did below...

From here, you'll undo the tape on the bottom and on the two flaps and secure so that the finished front looks like this...

Then, securing tape to the bottom of the flap on the other part of the box, you are going to connect both pieces like below. You can also see from the photo below that I trimmed 1" off each side of this other part of the box - basically cutting along the score line.

From here, add some Scor-Tape to the flaps on the part of the box above that is laying down and connect both sides. The next part is adding all the little extras! To create the top of my box, I took a 4" by 4-1/2" piece of decorative paper, scored it in the middle at the 2" line and then added a punched decorative border....

You'll secure this to the back of your window box using Scor-Tape...

Add the wreath to the front, a little band of ribbon that's tied up in a bow and a sentiment tag made with the help of a die cut circle and sentiment from the Tiny Flowers and Tags set (added with a snippet of silver cording).

Here's a peek at the box from the side.....

And... a close up of the tag!

Now all this little bag needs are some goodies to stick inside. A certain friend of mine hinted that she might like some cookies in this little window bag -- so we'll see what we can do! ;-)  Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and if you make one of these boxes, be sure to link it up here, I would love to see what YOU create!

Happy Creating and happy Monday!

~Julie

Free For All FRIDAY!

TGIF! Today feels extra special because the kiddos have the day off which means, I think I will too! ;-)  And, being Friday, it's a free for all day for the gals over at Flourishes. All the gals are showing off some of their favorite projects using one of the two new sets that Flourishes just released last week.

What set did I pick? From the Desk of! And, my creation began with this little guy....

I had a bunch of these ATC envelopes. I wish I knew where I got them, but for some reason, I bought a pack of 50. So, before long, I had created a group of six mini cards! (They all measure roughly 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" when folded)

This being one....

 Here was another....

And another one...

For all three I stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento on Classic White Card Stock. Then, I pulled out the Copics and used the Peony, Spring Greens, Sunflower and Flesh Tones 2 collections grouped by Flourishes. Once I was done, I shaded with B0000 and then... added some glitter glue. I also added some score lines, just to give the front of some of these minis a little extra "ooomph!" I was actually inspired to do that thanks to one of the cards in THIS beautiful post from my teammate Christine. I just loved the look!

So, when I was all done, I put all six cards and the envies in a little tin that I altered in coordinating colors. I even found a small little pen (that I stole from a little notebook I got in the dollar section at Michaels.) See?

And, this is what it looks like all together! I used a flower from the Prima Dogwood Calcutta collection to give the lid of my tin a bit of pizazz. I just love the shabby look of them! The paper is BasicGrey Eva. I also stamped "From the Desk Of" on a pennant tag to adorn the front of my altered tin.

And there you have it... a little tin full of 6 easy and ready-to-go notes with a pen for gifts, little thank yous, or little notes of encouragement! I am not sure if I will keep this at my desk or give it as a little gift. I might need some more tins to make up a bunch of these!

Be sure to hop on over and see the rest of the Flourishes gals and what they created this week!

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Dawn Burnworth
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Jan Marie Caruso

And.... more goodies to report. Have you checked out the....

Everything on Flourishes Sale Page is now 20% off! Click HERE to check it out! This is also the last day to take advantage of the February New Release Bundle -- that's where you can buy both of the new sets for 10% off! Click HERE to check that out!

Well folks, hope you have a fabulous weekend! It's my son's last weekend of basketball... :-( So, LET'S GO RAMS!  See you all back here soon!

The Beauty of a Gift!

Hi all and welcome to another Bring Back Beautiful challenge! THE CHALLENGE FOR OCTOBER: As we get closer to the season of giving, let’s take the wraps off your creativity to come up with beautiful ways to gift give. Do you have a fun template for a beautiful box? Or, do you have a beautiful presentation for gift cards? Show us what you’ve got! Link up your Bringing Back Beautiful Challenge card here on this post to enter using the inlinkz widget. If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword BBB03. You have until October 30th to enter!

Now... to my "gift"! Since we are entering cold and flu season, there really isn't anything better than a warm cup of cider full of vitamin C when you come down with a case of the sniffles. So, my creation is meant to be slipped into an envelope to share some cheer with those friends who are a bit under the weather!

When I first laid eyes on Flourishes' new Apple of my Eye set, I just knew that one time, I would want to paper piece the entire branch... leaves, flowers, apples and all! So, using the Prima Annalee 6 by 6 paper, I literally ripped page by page. The green is actually from 7Gypsies Victorian paper pack. I just stamped the branch multiple times on different decorative papers. Then... the cutting-fest began! I did decide to add some depth by adding color to portions of my flowers and leaves with the help of some Copic pens. I used RV02 and RV00 on the petals and G24 on the leaves. Add some white to the centers of the flowers with the help of an Inkssentials pen and you're pretty much done! After I added all my "pieces" to the base, I did some shading with E53, blending with a Copic Blending Pen. Mat it up on some decorative paper, add some stitching and... voila!

Now to the gift part!! Here's a peek at the tag that sits on the top sending well wishes!

And, when you tug on this ribbon, you can reveal the treat inside! I've made a ton of these in the past -- mostly with hot chocolate. But, I think, no matter what you put inside, it's a fun little surprise. To make the sleeve, you just litterally fold the paper around whatever you stuff inside. Keep the bottom open and punch some holes at the top to allow the ribbon to slide through. Easy Peasy!

Want to see how our Beauty Girls tapped into the beauty of a gift... hop on over and see....

Beate Johns
Becca Feeken
Cindy Coutts
Kathy Jones
Yvonne Hagane
Michelle Woerner

Thanks for stopping by and sharing a bit of your day with me! I'll see you back here soon!