Tuesday, December 25, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Note Frame

This clear easel style frame can quickly become an adorable gift project!  Decorate an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper and insert into the frame.  Then add a little paper to the top of a 5x7 notepad and a black binder clip.  Adhere a loop of ribbon to the bottom backside of the notepad and clip to the top of the frame.  Slide a pen into the loop and you've got a quick and easy notepad frame!


For this frame, I used the CTMH La Belle Vie paper pack (x7158B) and La Belle Vie Stickease (X7158C).

Monday, December 24, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Composition Book

Another of my favorites!  So simple, so easy and you can truly personalize to match the recipient!

Take a composition book, cover with paper (front and back) and embellish as desired.  I'm forever writing notes and carrying notebooks around...but I love it when my notebooks are mine and these are the perfect!!


Keep an eye out at the beginning of school years, sometimes you can find a sale on composition books for only $.25 each (or even less!)  I snap up a collection knowing I'll have reason to decorate and gift some throughout the year!!

For this composition book, I used the CTMH Scholastic Paper Pack (X7159B) and Scholastic Stickease (X7159C).

Sunday, December 23, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Magazine Card Holder

Any collection of cards can be beautifully gifted using the CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge and this adorable "magazine rack" holder!  

This collection was created using the Avonlea Cardmaking Kit Workshop on the Go (G1041).  The holder was embellished with the CTMH Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon (Z1802).

 Cut at 6" <u><Accent3> and <u><Shift><Accent3>







Saturday, December 22, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Emergency Card Kit

If you're like me, you have plenty of greeting cards made from all the "scraps" of your papercrafting!  For a cute gift idea, bag up a collection of cards (birthday, thank you, congratulations, thinking of you, etc.)  Add a quick bag topper and some instructions on back and you have an incredibly useful and fun gift idea!






Be sure to include envelopes!  Staple the topper to the bag (making sure to avoid stapling the cards).  Then adhere the instructions to the back!

Friday, December 21, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Snowman Soup

An oldie, but a goodie!!  Especially nice for co-workers this time of year!  Grab a holiday mug, a packet of cocoa mix, a baggie of marshmallows, a small candy cane and a little tinsel to bling it up!

Create a quick tag and add this little poem:
Snowman Soup
Was told you've been
real good this year.
Always glad to hear it!

With colder weather
drawing near
you'll need to warm the spirit.

So here's a little
Snowman Soup
complete with stirring stick.

Add hot water, sip it slow,
It's sure to do the trick!



The mug can be an added touch, but not necessary!  Just bag it up, add a bow, and you've created a quick last minute gift!


Thursday, December 20, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Journal

The Close to My Heart My Creations Canvas Journal (Z1774) is a wonderful gift idea for just about everyone!  The Journal is hardbound with stampable canvas and 80 lined pages!  Embellish to personalize it for that special someone!


I used the La Belle Vie Paper Pack (X7158B), the Smokey Plum pigment ink (Z2502), Quick Cards - Butterfly (A1120) stamp set and the Sparkles Black Flourishes (Z1745).

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Cupcake Treat

Enjoy baking and giving out treats?  This is a nice way to dress-up a cupcake, and make them easier to transport!  The Close to My Heart Cricut Artiste Cupcake Box!  

 Cut the box, lid and stabilizer at 2.75" (page 69):
<BdayGirl><3dObject>
<BdayGirl><Shift><3dObject>
<BdayGirl><Shift><Accent4>

To cover the lid opening, I cut a piece of our 4x6 Flip Flap (Z4114) and adhered to the inside of the lid.
 You can also select an appropriately themed cupcake wrapper from the Artiste collection and cut at 2" to give your treat an extra level of decoration!












Tuesday, December 18, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Shadow Box

This time of year, we typically have our family photos taken and of course send them out to family and friends.  This is a nice way to dress up those pictures and make them wonderful for display!


Using the CTMH My Creations Bracket Frame (Z1797) and the Flirty Paper Pack (X7160B).  You can  cut the bracket out using the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge <Square4>.  Cut the bracket at 10.8", then place on bracket with repositionable adhesive.  Flip the bracket over and cut out the center on a Versamat (Z1279) and the Cutting Knife (Z1252), then adhere with permanent adhesive.  (If you have a Gypsy or are comfortable with the Center Point button on your machine, you'll be able to use the Cricut to cut the square from the center of the bracket.

To create the shadow box effect, you can adhere the photo to the back corner pieces of the frame.  Or, stack pieces of our 3D Foam Tape (Z1151) to adjust how far back you'd like the photo from the opening of the frame. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Mini Cards & Tote


For this project, I created 12 - 3" x 3" cards to place inside this little tote!  

The tote was cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy <FontLayer><Shift><Square1> at 6.5".

I used the CTMH December Stamp of the Month: Year-Round Cheer (S1212), which has a cute image for each month of the year!  The cards/tote were created using the Flirty Paper Pack (X7160B) and Kraft Cardstock (Z1735), and were embellished with the Autumn Lane Assortment (Z1749), Burlap Ribbon (Z1760), Sparkles (Z1752) and Boutique Assortment (Z1763)


 I stamped images with Sky (Z2194), Ponderosa Pine (Z2145), Ruby (Z2170) and New England Ivy (Z2135) ink pads.



Sunday, December 16, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Post It Stand

This is another of my favorites for the simplicity and inexpensiveness of it!  Take a plastic 4x6 photo frame (shown below).  Typically less than $1 to purchase.  Design a 4x6 insert and lay the frame down.  Stick down a pad of post-it notes and wallah!


I used the CTMH Scholastic Paper Pack (X7159B), the Silver Metallics Marker (Z1768) and cut a square of the 12" x 12" Chalkboard Sheet (Z1789) to create the insert.


A first for me, this year I also added the "pen holder" by taking a piece of grosgrain ribbon and some red tape.  I placed the red tape on the ribbon (approx 1.5"), then wrapped it tape side out around the pen leave 1/4" of the tape exposed so it can be adhered to the frame.  This made the ribbon sturdier with the tape and ribbon layer, and the exposed tape was a quick and strong way to adhere it to the frame!




Saturday, December 15, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Petal Box

With CTMH Cricut Artiste, these little gift boxes are super cute and super easy!

Here I used the CTMH La Belle Vie papers (X7158B) and Stickease (X7158C).  Then used the bling from the Boutique Assortment (Z1763) and the Glitz Glitter Gels (Pink Z1770 and Green Z1771) to add a little dimension and shimmer to the Stickease.  I rubbed baby powder on the back of the wings so they wouldn't stick, allowing me to bend them up for some "inflight" action.

The boxes were cut at 1" for all pieces using Artiste:
 <Happy Mothers Day><Card> (cut 2) 
 <Happy Mothers Day><3DObject> 
 <Happy Mothers Day><Shift><3DObject> 

Add some chocolates, and you're in business!

Friday, December 14, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Notepad Folio

This project uses half of a 2 pocket folder (no prongs) and a small notepad from an office supply store.  

To decorate the front, I used the CTMH Florentine Paper Pack (X7153B), Sparkle Flourishes (Z1708) and cream organdy ribbon.  The focal image was stamped with the Quick Cards - Butterfly (A1120) in Twilight and Creme Brulée Inks using the rock n roll technique (stamping in the lighter color, then rolling the edges of the stamp in the darker color).

"Love as delicate as a butterflies wings; as strong as the circle of life"

You'll cut the folder in half at the seam, giving you two pieces to work with.  You'll trim each piece down to 10 3/4" x 8 1/4".  Rotate so the pocket is on the left and score at 5 1/4" and 5 1/2".  With one folder, you can make two folios (one folio will have a right side pocket, one will have a left side pocket).

Use glue dots or red tape to adhere the notepad on the opposite side of the pocket.  You can use a coordinating strip of paper to embellish the notepad.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Survival Pack

This is one of my all time favorite gifting ideas!!  This time of year, there are so many people we want to let know we're thinking of, without breaking the bank!  It's cute, sweet and useable!!

Our Cricut Art Philosophy Door Hanger, cut at 9 3/4", works great on a bottle of water.  Add a drink flavor and candy bar and you're in business!

I used the CTMH Pear & Partridge paper (X7162B) and Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799).  The Cricut Art Philosophy also includes a variety of flowers you can quickly cut, spin and adhere to add a little dimension to your projects (don't forget the quilling tool (Z1795) to simplify your task).


You can also put it on a soda and add a bag of pretzels or chips.  Or a starbucks frappucino with a breakfast bar.  

Fill the pocket with a small notebook and pen for a meeting.
Of course, for a crop, embellishments and chocolate are a great treat!

So many ideas for "survival" kits, and this handy door hanger works perfectly!




Wednesday, December 12, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Paint Pail


 This will be the "gift bag" for our teachers holiday goodies.  I used the CTMH Scholastic Papers (2 pieces at 4" x 12") to wrap the pail, along with a 5 1/4" circle for the top.  This is a clear plastic pail, so you can see the backside of the paper, which dresses it up a bit.  The photo doesn't show the backside of this paper so well, but it's kind of pale (no pun intended) blue gridlines.  On some of the pails, I reversed the paper and have the lighter paper outside with the alpha/numeric paper on the inside.

 I set the boys to work with the ribbons, which can be a bit time consuming, but they enjoyed the task and it freed me up to work on more goodies.

The ribbon is a hodgepodge of my stash, mixes of organdy, grosgrain and ric rac to fully cover the handle.  You can get away with just doing a couple inches on each side, leaving the majority of the handle free...but since I had free labor, we opted to cover the entire handle.

I used the star <Star 5> and layer <Star5 / Layer> at 2" and 1.5" from the Art Philosophy Cartridge and the Pinwheel <shift / P / 3D Object> at 2" from Artiste.  I've become a huge fan of the Burlap Ribbon (Z1760)...the texture and versatility really add so much to cards, pages and projects!
  I placed 3D Foam tape (Z1151) under the button (Z1371 - Blue Assortment), so I could stick the Pin Clips (Z1612) into the foam to hold the stars.  

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Simply Scented

Here's a way to spruce up an inexpensive gift and make it a little more personal and special!  Find some inexpensive candles, then bling them up!

 Rummage through your scraps and stash and see what you can come up with!  For these candles, our Clementine Paper Pack (X7156B) and Cottage Assortment (Z1794) made this a quick project and dressed these candles up...perfect for coworkers, teachers and other acquaintances!

Monday, December 10, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Neverending Card

 Do you ever get inspired by magazine ads, mailers, commercials, etc?  Well, about 8 years ago I received a postcard advertisement, that continually opened like a Jacobs Ladder.  I held it for years thinking I'd figure out how it worked...and here's a version I've come up with.

 I used the Christmas Love (D1492) stamp set....I couldn't resist using "The Magic of Christmas Never Ends" on my neverending card...so punny!

The first page opens left to right, revealing this:
 Notice this window opens top to bottom, revealing this:
Another left to right opening, which has a little carry-over from the previous window, and then opens to our last window at the back of the card. 

This is the fourth and final window, when you open it top to bottom, it brings you right back to the beginning, allowing you to keep on going!

You could place photos within the card as well, or little notes, messages or whatever works for you!  The biggest note is you'll want to keep each window as flat as possible since it all folds within itself.

Visit my website to download the instructions to create your own neverending card!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Poinsettia Boxes

Need some quick and simple gifts?  These are for you!  

Using the CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge makes gifting a snap!  For these boxes I used the CTMH Pear & Partridge Paper Packet (X7162B), Cranberry Cardstock, bling from the Boutique Assortment (Z1763) and our fabulous self-adhesive Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799)!


The boxes were cut on Artiste: <X><3D Object> at 2.5" (pg62) and the poinsettias <Z><Shift><Accent3> at 1.5" and 2".  I used the bone folder to score the petals to provide a little dimension, and 3D Foam Tape to layer the flowers on the box.

The silver trim works as an embellishment and adhesive to secure the bottom of the box (regardless of which side you decide to make as bottom), then a bit over the top to tie it all together.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Snowman Kisses

This is one of my favorites...there are all kinds of riddles and rhymes for Reindeer, Leprechaun, Snowman, Cupid and Bunny Poop.

None are nearly as sweet as snowman kisses...and combining this nice sentiment with the Close to My Heart Flakey Friends (C1506) stamp set makes a sweet treat!

I also broke out with our new Alcohol Markers and LOVE how vibrant the colors are...and so quick and easy to add color to any artwork!  This updated version of Snowman Kisses features our Avonlea Paper Pack (X7155B), the blues just make me think of winter fun!

You can see my previous version of Snowman Kisses by clicking here.

Click here to visit my website and download the instruction.

He's cute, cuddly,
& full of good wishes.
He wants to give you
these snowman kisses!


Friday, December 7, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Hershey Bar

Presentation always makes such a huge difference in gifting!  You don't have to spend a lot of money, but dressing up a simple "thought of you" gift, makes a huge impact!

Take a simply scrumptious piece of chocolate, like a Hershey Bar...whether big or small, you can make this delicious delight an adorable hit with a little paper and glue!


I previously posted a simpler version with patterned paper:

I scraplifted this rendition from a team member (Linda N) and thought it was so cute, I'd give it a try and add it to my 25 Days of Gift Ideas lineup!  Seriously...how stinkin' cute!!


For the larger Reindeer:
6" x 7" cardstock
CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy (Z1686) to cut the antlers, eyes and nose:
<Tag3><Shift><FontLayer> p50 at 2" (x2)
<Oval3> p42 at 1" (x2)
<Oval3> p42 at .75"
<Circle1> p21 at .75" (x2)

For the smaller Reindeer:
3 1/2" x 4" cardstock
CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy (Z1686) to cut the antlers, eyes and nose:
<Tag3><Shift><FontLayer> p50 at 1.5"(x2)
<Oval3> p42 at .5" (x2)
<Oval3> p42 at .35"
<Circle1> p21 at .35" (x2)


Thursday, December 6, 2012

25 Days of Gift Ideas: Coloring Matchbook

I really like this one for birthday parties, classroom parties, classmate gifts, etc.  A mini-coloring book with crayons instead of a baggie of candy!

For mine, I stamped images that could be colored, but you could just print clipart or coloring pages to insert into your Coloring Matchbook, especially if planning to make a large quantity.

 I used the Flakey Friends (C1506) stamp set, Outdoor Denim Ink (Z2140), Outdoor Denim Cardstock (1275), Crystal Blue Cardstock (1292) and Colonial White Cardstock (1388).

For the cover, I used 2nd generation stamping of the snowflakes to give them a softer look.  NOTE: The cover will be adhered last to hide the interior staple for the crayons.

I used part of a clear plastic envelope/bag, trimmed it down and taped it closed, then stapled the crayons inside.  After this is done, the Cover Art can be adhered to hide the staple.

These were my inside pages for the coloring book.  You can use any variety...look through your stash of stamps and see which would make great "coloring pages"!