StarLitStudio

thank you snow much

My dear children are in the process of writing their holiday thank you notes to aunts, uncles and dear friends - three individual notes per recipient...I wanted to come up with something clever to house their notes in.

Using Paper Smooches Swanky Snowdudes set, a snowman image was stamped several times onto white cardstock, each colored with Copics then each cut out.  Sentiment is from the Chit Chat set.  The label-style die is from Papertrey Ink.

Using a notebook paper bag I folded down the top two inches, then covered the flap with patterned paper and trimmed. 

A Big Bite tool punched the holes and set the eyelets for the clasp. Fine red burlap string was inserted through one of the punched holes prior to setting the eyelet to hold the string in place.

The notecards for the kids' thank yous are simply white cardstock trimmed to fit the bag, embellished with a strip of Holly Jolly patterned paper and a quote strip from the Holiday Style Word Stickers.  I may add black Enamel Accents (Ranger) to his buttons - we'll see how much time allows...hope you're having a great weekend!

holiday tags & ink pad organization

Before putting all the papers used for holiday gifts & such I gathered all scraps, and Mish-style assembled them quickly into tags.  Adhered each layer with a smidge of 2-way glue and allowed to dry, then machine-stitched down the center of all layers chain-piecing style.

I'll put the holiday stuff away now...lol.

I posted this on Ranger's Facebook wall today - Ranger's is looking for organizational ideas for their products, and I had this created by a local woodworker/artisan to easily access each Distress ink pad, blending tool and reinker.  If I like a product I'll naturally want to use it frequently, so speed in access and visibility is important to me. 

Happy Friday & best wishes for a great weekend!

happy new year!

@ Sergeantsville Inn, New Years' Eve, 2011

at Philly airport - waiting to depart to Atlanta...everyone was so quiet - I looked up from my iphone, and lo and behold, everyone was on one...lol.

Wishing you and your loved ones all the best in the New Year!!

three-page card for multiple gift certificates

My youngest daughter has an amazing and incredible fourth-grade teacher, and we collected enough funds from the entire class for two gift cards - one was credit-card sized and the other was slightly larger.

I created a holiday card for this teacher that featured various-sized pages to house each gift card.

First page was the smallest pocket, to house the credit-card sized gift card...

...and the second page housed the larger gift card to a restaurant. All chipboard, stickers and patterned papers are from Holiday Style.

The last page featured my attempt at a whimsical font, my inspiration gleaned from the many incredible calligraphers on etsy. 

Pillow boxes housed Visa gift cards for the two aides.  Miniature wooden spools and burlap string.  Amazing staff at an amazing school.  Best wishes for all the best in the New Year!

holiday matchbox gift holders for earrings

Handmade earrings comprised a couple of gifts this year - a tutorial of how I created these is here.  Papers are Holiday Style from October Afternoon.

Here's the outside of the matchbox packaging.  Tags were created using leftovers scraps from yesterday's project and inspired by Mish!  Happy Monday!

teacher holiday gifts

Started with boxes of these...double chocolate and salted caramel - yum...

Plastic tubes with metal caps are from sks.com - mini vanilla wafers are from the local grocery store, and I crushed the candy canes in a double zipper bag using a wooden rolling pin.  Even double-bagged they still made a mess.

End result!  Outer clear packaging is meant to house handmade cards and envelopes - sourced at clearbags.com and perfect for this gift idea.  Manila tag is one created from about two dozen using Holiday Style scraps, a few punches and a sewing machine.  Love using scraps this way - inspired by Mish.  Attached using Peppermint Divine Twine and ivory twisted jute from May Arts.

Lots of wonderful teachers and school staff to prep for.  Patterned papers are Holiday Style from October Afternoon.

The secret to creativity and perceived genius is to hide your sources.  So, here is my source for this idea! Oh she's in a snarky mood today...

  Happy Christmas!  More earrings tomorrow.

 

holiday cards

Holidays got you running around like a madman/madwoman?  I am done and very thankful for that.  Had a new lower wire put in on my braces today - going to search for Advil as soon as I upload this post.

Card bases are Memory Box Kraft and measure 5" x 4-1/4".  The horizontal strip measures 5-1/2" in length, so the card is technically an A2.

Today's projects are a couple of holiday cards that will be hand-delivered with gifts using Holiday Style from October Afternoon.  I'll show the gifts that go with these cards in another post...which I'll write after the Advil kicks in...lol.

The red berry stems are from Michaels; burlap string is May Arts.  The rosette die used is from Sizzix - I used one of each rosette size on each card.

The glitter star was created by adhering a piece of red line tape (the 8x10 sheet cut down to size needed) to Memory Box Water cardstock, then die cutting.  Removed the protective film exposing the adhesive, then dunked the star into a vat of antique silver vintage glass glitter.  So sparkly! And virtually no shedding of glitter.  The OCD adult in me really likes that.

Stars are die cut from a Spellbinder die.  Sheet music is from an old hymnal (sourced on ebay) that I'm recycling.  Burlap string is from May Arts.  Husband's gift to his secretary is next.  Happy Holidays!

holiday gifts for school staff

A peek at a few gifts created for the school secretaries, school nurse, and so forth - Memory Box Country Landscape die, using white cardstock, and mounted with foam tape, backed with October Afternoon Holiday Style patterned cardstocks.  Circle Spellbinders dies used.

I started with whole spices - whole spices will last for years so I purchase them in bulk. Bay leaves, cloves, star anise, rosehips and cinnamon.

My workroom smells wonderful! 

Used these jars - short and perfect for this project.  Sourced at my local grocery store.

The progression of adding the whole spices from left to right. 

Using a Big Bite I punched holes all over the metal lid (device allows a long reach).  One could use a Crop-A-Dile and punch holes in as far as the unit will reach as well.  These holes will allow the spices' scents to permeate.

Peppermint Divine Twine and red burlap string were used to anchor a mother-of-pearl button (grlyhead on etsy), mini bells, and mulberry leaves around a narrow strip of burlap.  A dot of fabric glue anchors the knot on the bow.  Best wishes for a great week!

ladies luncheon invite

The annual holiday luncheon for the neighborhood ladies - thirty invites needed. Original invite above.  I modified the design when the two doilies proved too time-consuming and altered the design to incorporate one doily, centered.

Used a homespun bag folded in half horizontally and created a machine-stitched pocket.  Note:  Once folded in half horizontally, the bag is then stiched on three sides - one side being the fold.  The fold does not create the bottom of the pocket.

Top of stitched bag/pocket was punched with a Martha Flower Bed punch.  The invite itself was computer-generated - two per sheet of standard white cardstock.  By making the insert a little longer it still fit into an A6 envelope, but 'you're invited' peeked out of the top of the pocket nicely.

Spellbinders and Memory Box dies (Country Landscape), oodles of foam tape used.  Paisley patterned cardstock is old MME from my 'I am trying faithfully to use what I cardstock I have' pile.  Red cardstock is Memory Box Crimson.

Using assembly-line style techniques this project moved right along.  Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Julie's class winner & holiday cards

The winner of Julie Ebersole's The Gifted Stamper Class is Helen Nelson - I'll email you Helen!

A pic of just a few quick designs of my personal holiday cards sent this year - I needed NINETY cards this year...oye!  I used general designs by others to save time, and simplified them where needed - making one sample to make sure it was quick, then making five more, then moving onto a different design.

By doing it this way - six cards per design and doing roughly 15 designs, versus one or two designs and making 90-45 of each - it decreased the stress, the 'oh why do I do this every year' and the 'when will this be over'... and instead, added fun, pleasure and joy in playing with paper!

I only colored one set of six - speed was crucial and coloring with Copics quickly is just not possible for me.  But these were fun to do!  Best wishes for a great weekend!