Weekly Challenge #51

#51

Challenge: Anything Goes Using Leftovers

December 24th - 30th, 2013

Hi, this is Cheryl. I am hoping everyone had a blessed Christmas. I could not have asked for a better Holiday. We had a wonderful day with our girls and lot's of yummy food to eat. Santa was good to us all too.

For today's project we were instructed to use any of our leftovers from previous projects. I chose to use my well loved Paper Smooches Winter Groves stamp set and some random papers from my leftover stash. This was a great way to get more miles out of our papers and embellishments. I tried to think ahead and use what I had for a Valentine Card. I hope you enjoy my card!

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I would love for you to also visit the Cuttin' and Stampin" blog here. If you wish to purchase the stamp or papers used, please visit their Facebook online store at Cuttin' and Stapmpin' Scrappy Supply Store  We would also love for you to like their group on Facebook here.

Happy Scrappin...........Cheryl

Please make sure your creation post has a link back to Cuttin' and Stampin'. 

Thanks for playing along!  We will be announcing the winners on January 3, 2014.

Cuttin" and Stampin" Weekly Challenge #49

#49

Challenge:Anything Goes with a Pocket

December 10th - 16th, 2013

Hi, this is Cheryl. Today I am posting my creation with Cuttin' and Stampin". All of the Designer Team was given the Simple Stories Snap December Documented paper collection for this week's challenge and were instructed to use some type of pocket for our project. For Christmas my husband and me give gift cards to our kids and I am always looking for some type of holder for their stocking.

I started with a solid kraft card base measuring 4.25" x 11". This was scored at 1.50" and 7".  Fold and burnish on both score lines. Add a thin line of liquid line of glue to both sides only on the 1.50" scored line and fold over and press. Do not use a tape runner. Anything you insert in this pocket will continue to get caught in the glue. The liquid glue will firm up much nicer. From there I cut two pieces of a December Documented paper at 4" x 3 7/8" and another at 4" x 1.50". On my example I cut down one of the journaling pieces and used it in place of the second smaller piece. I inked my edges and adhered them to the card front. I cut another coordinating piece at 4" x 2" and used a border punch on one side. From there I cut the strip down to a 1" piece, inked the edges and adhered it to the bottom 1/2" area of the non-folder end. Apply your adhesive to the middle of this strip only in order to leave room along the top edge to tuck your tree and gifts under. From there I used the Paper Smooches "Winter Groves" stamp set and stamped the tree image on another piece of coordinating paper, fussy cut it out, and adhered it to the front of my card, tucking the base of the tree under the edge of the punch bordereed strip. I also used three colors from the journaling pieces and stamped and fussy cut my gifts. I then staggered the heights of these gifts under the strip edge. From there I was not sure if I wanted to add a ribbon on the bottom of this card or not. I took a picture of all three choices. I think I liked it best with just using a bow made from Baker's Twine. This nice paper collection has many small journaling cards that can be used in place of a gift card. I have taken pictures of both options. .

I used the clear Wink of Stella pen on the tree and gifts

My finished gift card holder. Enjoy!

Wishing I had a ribbon half as wide, I think I would have liked it better 

This ended up being my favorite cover for the card. Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting my blog today. Please don't forget to check out the Cuttin' andf Stampin" Blog. If you wish to purchase the Simple Stories Snap December Documented paper collection, the Paper Smooches Winter Grove stamp set, or the Wink of Stella pen that I used, please visit their online Cuttin' and Stampin" Scrappy Supply Store here.  We would appreciate it if you will also "like" and follow their Facebook page by clicking here. 

Happy Stampin...........Cheryl

We would love for you to participate in this weeks challenge. To do so please make sure your creation has a link back to Cuttin' and Stampin".  Please click HERE to link your project. 

This weeks winner will be anounced on December 20, 2013

Merry Christmas Snowman Family

Hi this is Cheryl. Well, I think Texas has finally thawed out. Our schools were closed for three days. Most businesses lucked up with it hitting Thursday night and were only closed or disabled on Friday. The Fort Worth area had three to four inches of pure, solid ice on our driveways, local streets, and highways. It was pretty challenging for any experienced driver. I never moved my car until Tuesday. Today, six days after the winter storm, most yards are still covered with snow and ice, but thankfully the roads are clear.

For my Designer Team project today with Flamingo Scraps, I made a family of Snowman treats. Each one can hold a snack size piece of candy. I used the Echo Park "Merry Christmas" paper collection. As you know I have a stock of these papers. So beware, I have not gotten tired of it yet! I also used my awesome We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board. I just love using this and everyday I am discovering new ways to use it other than making an envelope. For the month of December in the online store this is on sale for only $14.99!! What a nice stocking stuffer!  

To make these sweet Snowman, there is a lot of cutting, small pieces involved, and a long list of directions. These instructions sound like it is too big of a project, but once your papers are all cut, it goes together fairly quickly, and they are soooo cute! You will end up with many tiny pieces so I would suggest that you place a small dish on your work surface to hold these.

You will be using many of the scrap pieces that are punched and normally thrown away. Use this small dish to hold the tiny piece until you are ready to use them. Both the Mom & Dad are the same size and the two kids are also cut to the same smaller size. 

Start off with a piece of 8.5" x 11" white cardstock. Use your thickest paper on hand. Cut one piece at 4.25" x 11" and another at 3" x 9".  From there cut these two pieces in half. You will end up with two larger pieces measuring 2 1/8" x 11" and two smaller pieces measuring 1.50" x 9". Score the larger two pieces at 5" and 6" and the two smaller pieces at 4" and 5". Get your Envelope Punch Board and line up each piece at the 2 1/8" mark and punch. You will do this measurement and cut on all four ends of each piece. Take a light brown ink and carefully ink the edges and score lines of all four pieces.

Now you will need a piece of black card stock. You will keep every trimming from this paper when using your score board. These tiny scraps will be found under your board. Place all of these in your dish and save them. This is a great time to get out and use your scrap black pieces. You need to cut two squares measuring 2" x 2", and two 1.50" x 1.50" squares, two 1/2" x 2.50" rectangles, and two 1/2" x 2" rectangles. The picture shown below shows all the measurements the same size for all four snowman. Once I decided to make the two kid snowman smaller, I failed to take an updated picture.

Using your Envelope Punch Board again, take all four squares and round two corners only on one end using the built in corner rounder on your board. Taking the same piece that has it's corners rounded, insert the width of this under the board, eyeball the center, and punch in the middle of each square on one end only. You should now have four squares that have two rounded corners and a middle punch. Moving onto the four retangle pieces insert all four ends into the corner rounder and round each end. Remember to keep all of the tiny trimmed pieces of the black papers.

Now we need to make a band for their hats, (if desired) a strip of paper over these bands, and their scarves. For the larger Snowman's band on the hat, I cut four 1/2" x 2" pieces and for the smaller size I cut four 1/4" by 1.50" pieces. Then four 1/8" x 2" pieces and four 1/8" x 1/2" pieces for the thin strip to lay on the middle of the hat band. For the scarves I used my crimper so I had to cut my piece 1/4" larger to accommodate for the shrinkage. Your crimper may effect your papers differently. I would cut them slightly longer than needed until you know the length needed. For my scarf pieces I cut the larger snowman piececs 1/2" x 2 1/4" and cut three total for each snowman. (six total for the large snowman)  For the smaller snowman I cut again six total of pieces measuring 1/2" x 1.75". For all of the scarves I used a piece across the neck in the front and back and then the third piece was tapered at one end and then ribbon cut on the end of each scarf. If desired you may ink the edges of all pieces.

I also used random papers and punched out buttons for their chests and used an orange paper and cut a longer triangle for their noses. The tiny black pieces that you have collected will be used for their eyes and mouths. I added two ribbon bows to the two girls hats and a holly leaf to the boys hats. 

To assemble score well on the two score lines, but don't fold. Leave flat for now. Start with the snowman of your choice and adhere the band of paper around the middle of the hat on the front side only. Layer this with the narrow strip. Take the top edge of your snowman and adhere just below the hat band, making sure these two pieces butt up to each other. Take one of the rounded black pieces and layer/adhere it just below the band again making sure it butts up just under the hat band. This will be adherred over the top of the snowman, covering up the top edge.  (You will use the other oval hat piece at the end of making each snowman) Now look in your bowl of tiny pieces and get two of the smallest scraps and adhere for the eyes. Take one of the largest pieces from punching the center of your hat and adhere it for the mouth. Cut a small orange piece for a nose. The face is complete. Now take your scarf pieces and adhere the tapered end to the middle of the neck and the end of this piece toward the middle of the bottom right side. Save your third scarf piece for later. For my buttons I used a 1/4" and 1/2" round punch. If desired you may add a bow to both girl hat bands and a holly leaf to the boys hat bands. The front of your snowman are complete! Now turn the snowman over and add some strong adhesive between the 1" scored lines and attach a treat of your choice. Add more adhesive to the bottom of the snowman edge, the same side the candy is attached. Flip the snowman back over and fold up on the scored lines and lining up both notched punches and adhere well.  Now we will decorate the back. Take your hat band and place it just above the adherred edges and then add your 1/8" strip to the band. Next take your oval rectangle and adhere it just below the hat band, making sure from the front side the back edges are not showing. From there add the back of the scarf and you are done! Are these not just adorable? I love mine. I am thinking of making another set, but adherring them to chipboard for strength and posture. I might even add a layer of Modge Podge to keep it from being damaged from being handled. You could also bling these up really cute too. Tons of ideas in making these. One last thought I had was to actually punch out the circles on the chest and add a small tea light instead of the candy. That would be really pretty for a mantal or table. Oh well....my mind is going crazy with ideas! 

Here are my sweet Snowman. I think they turned out pretty stinking cute!

The back view

A couple close up views

I just love them! Enjoy!!

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I would appreciate it if you would leave me a comment below. If you would like to do some online shopping with Flamingo Scraps, you may visit their store here, and of course they would really appreciate it if you would "like" and follow them on Facebook here.

Happy Scrappin............Cheryl

Weekly Challenge #48 Cuttin' and Stampin"

Hi, this is Cheryl. I hope everyone is staying warm and dry. Here in Fort Worth we are under a Winter Storm Warning. We are expected to receive 1-2" of snow and ice overnight and have below freezing temperatures through Monday. Not the kind of weekend I am looking forward to. It took my husband almost two hours to get home and I was very happy to see him pull in the driveway. I am already ready for spring!

This week at Cuttin" and Scrappin', we are having a fun color challenge. We were all given the Bazzill Basics Nordic Pines paper collection and are using the colors kraft, red, black, and white.

There are so many nice papers in this collection that I really had a hard time deciding which ones to use. My card is a top fold A2 size with a 1/8" black mat under the designer paper. I used another piece of the paper for the snow slope and paper pieced both the snowman and girl. I really enjoyed making this sweet card!

Thank you for stopping by Cuttin" and Stampin' today. If you would like to visit their online store, please click here. We would also love for you to visit and "like" their Facebook page here.

If you would like to join this weeks challenge, please use this link for your creation! The winner will be announced on December 13, 2013

Happy Scrappin...........Cheryl

Echo Park "Merry Christmas" Cracker Treat Box

I am taking a break from making Christmas cards and thought I would work on some gifts for my Grands to give to their classmates and teachers. My youngest Grand has twenty-two students in her class and then her teachers. My oldest is somewhat easier. They no longer have school parties! Yippee! I will only have to make something for her teachers, teacher's aids, and close friends.

Today I am going back to one of my favorite Christmas collections. It is "Merry Christmas" from Echo Park. I just LOVE these papers and bought the complete collection during the summer and then was lucky enough to receive a kit from Flamingo Scraps this fall for our winter projects. This is one paper collection that I will never tire of. Beautiful patterns and my favorite green, red, and brown colors for Christmas. For my project I decided to make a cracker treat box. These are so cute and can hold a lot of candy for the little ones or for us big kids maybe a nice piece of jewerly!

To start off I cut a piece of designer paper 6.50" x 10".  On the 6.50" width score the paper at 1", 2", 3", 4", 5", and 6". Turn the paper horizonally and score at 1.50", 2", and 2.50" from each end of the paper. Fold and burnish well on all score lines. Starting with the 10" width, Fold on the first scored line and then line up your "We Are Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board" on the 2" mark and punch.

Continue all the way down on each score line by folding and then punching at the 2" mark. When finished flip the paper over and repeat on the other side. Your paper should look like this.

Now mountain fold the area where you used the punch board. On the "right" side edge of your paper apply an adhesive along the 1/2" line.

Adhere the opposite 10" edge to this and burnish well.

Push one end of your cracker toward the center and tie using a 20" piece of ribbon.

Cut two 1.75" circles. I used a plain white cardstock. Take one of these and insert it into the short, tied end. This will help support both ends of the cracker.

Fill it with treats of your choice and then push the other end to the center and again tie it with ribbon and then insert your 1.75" circle. Other than your choice of decorating, your cracker treat box is complete! On one of mine I used two of the trees from the Fancy Pants Tiny Bottlebrush Traditional Trees collection. These would be fantastic used in a 3D shadow box too. 

These are just adorable when completed and I think the kids will be tickled receiving theirs. I hope you enjoyed my project for today. Here are the other two I made. On one of these I changed it to a rectangle shaped box. 

Here are a few pictures of the finished boxes.

I also discovered a nice YouTube video showing how to make one similar to mine. It is actually smaller in size and the perfect size for using a 6" x 6" paper pad. Here is the link if you are interested. Please check her video out, leave a thumbs up, and subscribe.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I would also love for you to check out the Flamingo Scraps Blog. Don't forget you can "like" their Facebook page here, and find everything I used today on their online store here. Also, for a short time these boards are also currently on sale at Flamingo Scraps for only $14.99!!!!!

Happy Scrappin............Cheryl