A Sneak Peek... and yes, ANOTHER accordion file purse... (I know...)

but they are just so addicting! I'm especially in love with the 3D crumpled flowers. They are just so yummy!

You're all getting a sneak peek at something special from CTMH coming in December... it's called Felicity... and that's all I'm gonna spill for now. ;)

You can find the links for both the Accordion File Purse Tutorial and the instructions for the Crumpled Flowers on the post below this one.

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted): Felicity B&Ts; Felicity stamp set; Cocoa, Sorbet, Desert Sand CS; White Daisy pigment ink; 2 1/2" Mega Scallop Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida); 1 1/2" Circle Punch (EK Success); Brad; Paper Crimper (other); Magnetic disc (Basic Grey).

Grace Accordian File Purse

Isn't this the cutest? I found the tutorial for the Accordian File Purse on Maria Bell's blog HERE. It is 4" tall, 6" wide, and 3" deep. I just might have to make some cute cards to put inside...

The crumpled flower is also adorable and oh-so-easy to make! A fast way to create a coordinating 3D element. I found the instructions on Wendy Smedley's blog HERE.

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted): Grace B&Ts; Twilight CS; 2 1/2" Mega Scallop Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida); 2" Circle Punch (Fiskars); Brad; Paper Crimper (other); Velcro Dot (other).

My Little Holiday "Starbucks" Style Cup Card

Doesn't this card remind you of Starbucks? I think their cups are a little different for this year's holiday season, but I think last year they were red with white snowflakes... Anyways, I love how it turned out and thought I'd share with you.

(The stamp set is from Inque Boutique - Chai Latte, and the patterned paper is from Imaginisce - Polar Expressions.)

Snowflake Christmas Tree

I totally cased this card from one done by Debbie Olson. You can see her card HERE. Love how it turned out, so I thought I'd share...

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted): Holiday Jingle, Card Chatter - Christmas, Somethin' Special, Chocolate Alphabet Small stamp sets; Twilight, Cocoa, Colonial White CS; Twilight, Tulip, Creme Brulee, Chocolate inks; Cuttlebug Snowflakes A2 Embossing Folder (Provo Craft); Paper piercer; Make-up sponge (other); Sanding block (other).

Gum Treats...

I can't take credit for this idea... I found these ones made by Becky Roberts (who in turn got her idea from someone named Kris on SCS) for Halloween, and I knew I had to keep this idea for creating classroom treats for future events. So with Christmas coming up next (we already had Thanksgiving here in Canada, for all my US viewers), I got a little jump start today.

So far I've only made this one as my 'trial', and I will make the ones my son will get hand out to his classmates a little closer to the end of school, before the Christmas break. That way the gum will be fresh. My son is in a Grade 4/5/6 split, and his teacher actually allows gum --- or at least that's what my son told me... lol. But I guess for those teachers who don't allow gum in class, the kids can take them home with them for later.

The base cardstock piece measures 1 1/2" x 3 3/4". I have no idea if different types of gum has different widths or lengths, so make sure you have your gum to make sure this isn't going to be too small. I used Wrigley's 5 gum for this one.

The B&T to wrap around the wrapped gum measures 2" x 2 3/4".

I think these would make easy and very inexpensive treats for any time of year. :)


Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted): December Word Puzzle, Peace On Earth stamp sets; Creative Basics Jingle B&T; Juniper, Tulip, White Daisy CS; Black, Juniper inks; Corner rounder; 1 1/2" circle punch (EK Success); Scallop circle punch (SU); pop-dot (other).

Clutch-style A2 Card Box and Cards

I have a new card box tutorial to share with you all. I saw a card the other day that made me think of making this box like a 'clutch' purse. You know the kind that the flap comes over top and hangs most of the way down...



I managed to leave a little detail out of my instructions, though. I used a velcro dot for the closure. But I know of some great magnetic closures made by Basic Grey that would be perfect for this project. Mine are on order and they still haven't come in yet, so I used my trusty velcro standby.



I made up 8 very basic cards (meaning flat, no pop-dots or ribbon or even brads for goodness sakes!) and was able to fit those along with 8 envelopes into the box. So you could either keep your cards basic for workshops, or fancy them up some more and just make fewer for your box. The other option is to adjust the instructions to make the box wider. For those of you familiar with making boxes, it would be very easy to do. Oh, and for the cards, I used a pattern from Sheetload of Cards from January 2009, which gives cutting instructions to make 8-A2 sized cards. I just changed it up a little.

Hope you enjoy my template, and I'd love to see what you create with it! :)


Clutch-Style A2 Card Box - Vicki Wizniuk

Trim the Tree...

This is a pretty quick card to put together, and I like how the little white gel pen details added the perfect finishing touch.

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted): Cheerful Season petite perks, Adorning Corners, and Peace on Earth stamp sets; Evensong B&Ts; Olive and White Daisy CS; Olive and Black inks; Copics: G94, Y17, R46, E47; White Daisy grosgrain; Cranberry waxy flax; Olive button; Signo white gel pen; 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" circle punches (EK Success); Cornice edge punch (Martha Stewart); Pop-dots (other).

Christmas Layout for 2009

I found a great sketch in the new CK magazine that I used for this layout. It's hard to see in my not-so-great photos, but I scored the Twilight base cardstock to give it some texture.

Double-Sided 3x3 Note Box

I'm a lover of boxes, can ya tell??? lol

I found some great instructions on Becky Robert's blog HERE for her Giant Nugget Boxes, and I changed it up a bit. I couldn't find Hershey Nuggets like those, ours in Canada seem to be flatter and longer, so they wouldn't fit into the box with the dimensions that Becky gave. (Maybe we do have the right kind of chocolates around, but I sure haven't come across them!)

Anyhoo, that led me to change the instructions to omit the chocolate holder area (WHAT??? Me get rid of the chocolate???) It turned into a rather cute Double-Sided 3x3 Note Box. Thanks to Becky for the initial idea, I love how it turned out. I used more of my simple 3x3 cards that I made on Monday to fill it, but I stamped a different sentiment on each of the 8 cards for this project. It would make a nice little gifty for someone!

Here's my dimensions, but using her instructions (Note: I also made it larger to be able to hold the envelopes, too.):

CS box: 5 1/2" x 9", scored at 1/2" and 1" along each side
CS insert: 3 3/8" x 8", scored at 3 1/2", 4", 4 1/2"
Transparency: 7" x 8 11/16", scored at 1/2", 4 1/16", 4 5/8", 8 3/16"
Belly band: 1 1/2" x 9", first edge punch it, then score at 2", 2 9/16", 6 3/16", 6 3/4"
Ribbon length: 13"

Hope you enjoy making one of your own! :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And now on to the Good Stuff!

Isn't this a cute little boxed set of simple 3x3 thank you cards?

I made the random stamped cardstock almost a month ago, knowing I wanted to create some cards out of it. I finally got some time yesterday to do just that. I am low on my 3x3 customer thank you cards, so I made some for that purpose.

Plus I found a great template for the box that I found HERE by Andrea Walford.

And I have another project to share (hopefully tomorrow) that I just need to put the finishing touches on, using more of these 3x3 cards.

With my 12x12 random stamped cardstock, I was able to make 18 cards, plus I still have some left over for at least one standard sized card. Gotta love that!

This is what the sheet looked like before I cut into it...



So please come back tomorrow (maybe even later today) to check out my other project made with these cards...

Grace Birthday Card

This one was another purhcased card. I like how it turned out and I am surprised how much I am liking the Grace papers. They weren't one of my favorite lines from the new catalog, but they are really very pretty in person. Can't wait to play with them some more....

Halloween post... yes, I'm a little late posting!

Life around here seemed to have gotten rather busy over the last little while, so now I'm playing catch up.

Here's pics of the matchbook treats that Cole handed out to his classmates for Halloween. The Dracula one was for his teacher. (The original idea for the Lifesavers candy eyes in a Matchbook came from Carrie Gaskin, and the idea for Frankie and Fangs cover designs came from fellow CTMH Consultant Kimberly Nielsen.)

This is what 30 matchbooks look like...

And this is Cole in this year's costume. We couldn't find a costume his size in town (go figure), so he picked out one online and we ordered it for him. I think he liked the idea that it had oozing blood. All he had to do was squeeze a hand pump shaped like a heart, and it pumped fake blood through the chest making it look like it was oozing from the bones. Gross! But he thought it was cool... which I guess is what matters.

I'm still here...

Just been busy the last while...

I do have a few items to post, and will hopefully get a chance to do that tomorrow. See you then! :)