StarLitStudio

the gifted stamper - win a class!

a fun and exciting announcement!!

How about a go-to place for unique, exciting, yet easy-to-make gifts...and not just for the holidays, but gift ideas for all year long?

YES!

How about an interactive, online class, taught by Julie Ebersole, Her Royal Rubberness?!!

I first met Julie back in 2004 when we were demos for Stampin Up - she is as hilarious in person as she is in the videos on her blog.  She is an amazing teacher and her class is entitled:  The Gifted Stamper: One Dozen Easy-to-Make Gifts For All Occasions.  This is the very first class in a spectacular, brand-new, online classroom developed by Ellen Hutson...

Julie's class will walk you through creating twelve, amazing, unique, easy-to-make gifts - for all occasions - all at your own pace!

Video tutorials, detailed and downloadable PDF instruction sheets.  For more info please click on the logo.

Registration is open now - this class starts December 1st and is $36 for the class.  I've bought my spot and can't wait!  This class closes on December 12 but all registered students for the class can view the class online...anytime!

You can WIN a free spot right here! Winner will be selected via the random number generator from all comments left on this post by Saturday morning, December 3rd!  Good luck!!!

~comments to this post are now closed~

tag storage

I enjoy using tags and keep them where I can see and reach them easily.  The 7gypsies Mini Library Drawer works very well for organizing and separating the tags I use most.

Metal rimmed tags that fit two-inch and 1-3/8" circle punches are in the first section, followed by #5 manila tags in the second section. 

Various walnut stained tags, coin envelopes are in the third section, and small metal rimmed ones are in the watchmaker's tin.  The mini ziploc bags house tea dyed and white mini tags. 

Thanks for stopping by today and best wishes for a great week!

nuts and berries drink recipe

I'm sharing my drink recipe for a (very) sweet martini I love to make but only in the winter - it's called nuts & berries, and the recipe is from our amazing local bartender named Dylan from the Sergeantsville Inn.  The Inn is a delightful local restaurant/tavern in a historical building and my husband and I really enjoy an evening out there.

Please know I used to tend bar in my college days, so mixing drinks is still a very fun thing for me to do.  Here are the names and what type of liqueur they are:  Chambord is raspberry, creme de cassis is (sweet) currant - these are the berries...Frangelico ('the monk', as we call him - said with hands together, fingers pointed towards the heavens and a slight nod of the head as in prayer - lol) is hazelnut and Nocello is walnut (love the bottle cork - yes it's a real walnut) -  those are the nuts.

Get a martini glass, your shaker with cap and strainer, and add some ice to the shaker.  Add one part of each of the liqueurs, cap it and shake the heck out of it - you want bits of ice to be strained into the drink.

The outside of the metal shaker will get ice cold and frost over.

Strain into martini glass.  Beautiful color for winter. 

Tomorrow's post is all about tags and storage.  Happy Saturday and cheers!

merry gift card pockets

If you celebrate turkey day in your neck of the woods, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!  Whisker Graphics polka dot bags were folded in half and sewn into a little pocket like this one for today's projects.  If I see Dan, my UPS driver, hopefully he'll have more of their Divine Twine spools today, along with more of these bags and those adorable notebook bags for the store.

I'm using these as gift card holders for the holidays!

A Martha Flower Bed punch was used along the bag tops.  Very inspired by Anabelle O'Malley's bags.

Folded a trimmed polka dot bag in half horizontally, then adhered two English doilies.  Machine stitched three sides to form a pocket.

Centered the Martha punch along the opening and punched the bag top.

Die cut merry (Papertrey Ink) sentiment from Cranberry cardstock (Memory Box) and adhered using foam tape.  I used the foam tape sparingly - dear husband might consider purchasing stock in 3M with the amount of foam tape I personally use (haha), but one does not need a lot of it to secure this small die cut firmly.  The ornament die is also Papertrey; patterened paper is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, as are the buttons.  White cardstock insert was cut to fit.  Just add a gift card and - bam!  Done.

Anyone going shopping today?  Already done?  I do not venture out on Black Friday... I much prefer visits by Mr. Dan/UPS and staying warm - inside!  Have fun if you are going and hope it is warm where you are at!

altered mini chest tutorial

Here's how I did this chest - more photos in yesterday's post.

1.  The naked unit came with simple wooden knobs that I removed, using a hammer, craft blade, and pliers.

2.  The unit was sanded very lightly, and stained with Peeled Paint Distress Stain.  Note I did not stain every inch of the unit - some parts will be covered with patterned paper, so I opted not to waste time nor stain on those areas; I stained the edges only on the sides, back and top.  I utilized a paintbrush to get into the nooks and crannies underneath and on top.

3.  I allowed the unit to dry 24 hours.  Not sure if you need to wait that long, but it was when I had time to get back to it.  Next, I cut October Afternoon Sidewalks 8x8 paper to fit the drawer fronts, the unit sides, back and top.  The edges were lightly inked with Distress ink in Walnut Stain.

4.  The drawers are 2" in height, so I used 2" wide Scor-Tape along the back of all cut and inked papers.

 
5.  Peeled off the backing of the Scor-Tape and adhered to each drawer.  Note the pearl headpin in the drawer - this view is looking down on top of the drawer back and inside the drawer - I used the pin to poke through the patterned paper on the drawer front to mark a visual center placement for the curio knob.

6.  The screws that accompany the idea-ology curio knobs are too short - these knobs are meant for journal covers, not 'real' hardware...if I make another one I will visit Home Depot or Lowes and use real knobs so they can be screwed into place.  I was tempted to run the drawers over to my handyman, Bob, and have him drill a hole on the inside of the drawer to sink the screw.  Or one could source screws that are a bit longer.  Ultimately I decided to adhere the curio knobs in place (discarding the screws) using an industrial adhesive - E-6000.  I can always go back in insert longer screws if needed.

Note: I applied the adhesive to each knob and waited about two minutes, then applied a knob firmly to a drawer and repeated for the five drawers.  Better results using this method - detailed verbaige regarding this is in the product listing in this link.

I allowed the E-6000 to dry 24 hours then inserted the drawers - such a fun project!  Thanks for stopping by today!

altered mini chest of drawers

This five-drawer mini chest was purchased at a local Michaels store, and I've covered it with October Afternoon Sidewalks papers.

The chest measures 4-1/2" in width, about 10" in height and is 3" deep, not including the protrusion of each knob.

I'll detail how I did this in tomorrow's post - here's her rear shot:

and a look down her front - oh I'm on a roll with the wordplay today...

The knobs are idea-ology's curio knobs.  Best wishes for the rest of the week!

The unit was first stained with Peeled Paint Distress Stain.  I'll have to show you how I store these stains in another post, as I use them frequently.  Hope your week is going well!

another butterfly bag

The first butterfly bag I did was a few posts ago - very inspired by the bags of Anabelle O'Malley.

I used Spellbinders' Wonderful Wings dies, and paper from a 12x12 pack of Amy Butler for K & Co.   The edge punch along the top of the bag is a Martha Flower Bed punch. 

The bag was made by cutting a 9" x 6" piece of patterned paper, folding in half so the unit measured 4-1/2" x 6", adding the two doilies then sewing three sides to form a pocket. 

White cardstock tag was hand-cut to fit the bag; the big pink butterfly brad is from K & Co (this same Amy Butler line), and the butterfly body was created by wrapping 20 gauge silver wire around an idea-ology pen nib, then using Mini Glue Dots to adhere the body to the die cut. 

Creating and making these pocket cards is addictive...

Thank you for stopping by today!!

matchbox for earrings

Today is a step-by-step of how I made the matchbox case for a pair of handmade earrings from this post - photo above is the matchbox interior for today's project.

When I learned how to gift wrap a present with wrapping paper, one thing that was drilled into me was how important it was to fold over the raw edges, and not to leave a cut edge exposed.

The same rule applies for these.   Or maybe I'm just a tad OCD.  I think you knew that already...

But folding over does make for a more finished product.  Professional.  Yeah.

October Afternoon 5 & Dime line was used for this project. 

Begin with a long strip of scrap patterned paper - this one is about 3" wide and 12" long.  We'll refer to this as 'the matchbox'.  We will adjust the 12" length later. 

Increase the 3" width to accomodate your needs.

From the bottom, score at 1/2" and again at 1-1/2".  Adhere the 1/2" flap down.  Nice & neat.

Get another strip of scrap cardstock that coordinates with the outside matchbox, and cut it down to 2-1/2" wide (this is maybe 10" long - we'll trim it later - better to be too long than too short).  We'll refer to this as 'the insert'.

Score the insert in half and fold.  Punch two holes for the earrings - and punch the holes askew - near the fold, using a 1/16" hole punch.

In my experience, when making these matchbox holders for earrings, I recommend making the holes askew; do not make the holes parallel with one another.  Should your handmade jewelry creation be the slightest off in length it will be very obvious if you present the earrings with parallel holes.  By punching the holes askew (refer to first/top photo in this post), it gives not only an artistic air to the presentation but aleviates any minor length (or other) discrepancy between the earrings.

Insert the earrings into the punched holes of the insert and hold them up - measure the earring length and mark where to trim the insert, remembering to compensate for the matchbox fold at the base.  Remove earrings and continue.

Note about the earrings:  I created this project/earrings for a neighbor that gives me the nicest hand-me-down clothes for my youngest daughter - Swarovski crystals on sterling chain.  Simple & classic, yet artsy.

Adhere the fold of the matchbox to the insert, and staple all layers in place - use one or two staples, your choice.  Here I've used a tiny attacher and two staples.

Side view.  Note we need to adjust the length of the top matchbox flap.  Do not trim this - score where needed and adhere the flap down - creating a finished edge...

,,,like so.

If the patterned paper used has a directional quality to it, it should be upside down on the front, which will be covered/embellished...

...but correctly viewed from the back.   If you don't have time to embellish the front then either use non-directional patterned or solid paper for the matchbox, or reverse this to suit your needs/timetable.

Or don't be OCD like me...

Embellished front.

Interior.

Gift bag for the matchbox - she will love this presentation.  Bag was folded horizonally, punched with an edger punch then machine stitched to form a pocket.  Flower was made from linen fabric then formed using this tutorial and a slant cut.  Thanks for stopping by today; hope this step-by-step is useful!

butterfly bag

I used Spellbinders' Wonderful Wings dies for today's project, and a Martha Flower Bed punch.  Inspired by Anabelle O'Malley's bags today!

Folded a brown bag in half vertically, adhered two English doilies, then trimmed off the top so it (along with a tag) would fit into an envelope I had on hand, then machine stitched three sides to form a pocket.

Centered the Martha punch along the opening and punched the bag top.

Tag was hand-cut to fit the bag; patterned paper used is Fly a Kite; turquoise cardstock is Robin's Egg (Memory Box).  The big white button on the tag insert is from Papertrey, adhered to the tag with Glue Dots and embellished with bling from Jolee's.

The butterfly body was created by wrapping 20 gauge silver wire around an idea-ology pen nib, then using Mini Glue Dots to adhere the body to the die cut...

...like I did with this butterfly back in 2008.

The bling 'trail' is leftover Zva crystals.

When the sewing of the bag is complete, you will actually have three pockets, due to the fold.  Ideal for inserting additional notes (for me - three kids = three thank you notes), thin chocolates such as Andes or Ghirardelli along with the tag - only possible to ship these chocolate goodies due to the now cold weather - wouldn't recommend this in the summer months!  Best wishes for a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

loop for pencil

This how-to was requested by a few folks - here's how I add a pencil (or you could use a pen) to a notebook, like it did for this one here.

Here's a close up of the cute, pieced owl - pdf file can be found in this blog - I reduced the sizes 50% and modified where needed.   The color is off - iphone and bad lighting...

To begin I source the writing implement desired for use with the notebook.  I like these mechanical pencils from Staples.  I prefer pencil to pen, but whatever you choose get it cuz we need to measure it.

Wrap a strip of patterned paper (that coordinates with the notebook being used) around the writing implement, which I will refer to as 'pencil' from here on.  Go a few laps around the pencil and secure with a length of Scor-Tape or similar, strong adhesive. 

The width of the patterned paper strip will depend on the size of your pencil, and the look you are after.  I find the slightly larger strips seem to grip the pencil better, versus smaller widths.  As for the length, I probably started with an 8" length and cut it down after I rolled it a few times...

...but make sure you leave a nice-sized flap as shown.

The more laps or loops you make around the pencil with the paper the stronger the pencil holder will be, and will resist crushing if pressure is applied to it without the pencil in place. 

Adhere a nice sized square of Red Line Tape to the top side of the flap - you don't want this to move, so a good, strong adhesive is needed. 

Tuck and adhere the flap under the main component or a large component of the notebook front, where desired.

Flip the unit over, and this is what it will look like.  Nice and secure.

Apply adhesive to the entire unit back, and adhere to the notebook cover - kinda like adhering a card front to a card base.  The end result will look like this:

This notebook flips upward.  Vewy kewl.  The nine-year-old called dibs on this one.  Oh and the patterned papers are Simple Stories.  Thanks for stopping by today!