Sara Jane's Studio

Gratitude in Silver

Here are two more uses of the Day of Gratitude stamp set suitable for the holidays, or even just a winter momento or gift.

This first version uses the largest image from the Day of Gratitude set stamped in silver, and embossed in silver, on brushed silver cardstock.  It was then cut to a 3-1/4" circle.  I added a large clear rhinestone brad in the center, and some smaller self-stick rhinestones around the outside. 

 

The bling at the bottom is a combination of elements from the retired Pretties Kit, and some beads from my stash.

 
The purple ribbon is also from my stash of goodies.

The image was mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals on a second circle, approximately 3-3/4" in diameter.

 

The second version of the same design uses white craft ink and white embossing powder on the same silver cardstock.  I finished it with little self-stick pearls.  It reminds me of a doily....

 

I may have to try this one again, using all white:  cardstock, image, and ribbon. Oh, if you can see the little specks of bright color on the white image, below, it is some iridescent glitter that was mixed in with the white embossing powder.

 

I think this would be great as a gift tag, which could then be used year after year as a decoration on a Christmas tree.  And it would be great for January or February birthday, too!

Gratitude Cubed

I knew when I saw the large image from the Day of Gratitude set that it would be great for so many things beyond a fall-themed card or decoration.  Here, it's stamped in blue and turned into a pretty ornament or decoration for gift packaging.

 

I stamped the largest image from Day of Gratitude six times with Marina Mist ink on Whisper White cardstock, and cut each image out right along the edge of the image.  Gently, I scored each one, four times, across the base of the outer "petals" (see below).

 

A snowflake, either punched out or made with the Northern Frost die strip, was attached to the center of each image using a small, blue Square Ice rhinestone brad. 

 
Then I started putting them together.

I used Tacky Glue on two petals, and adhered it to two petals on a second piece.  I put four pieces together to create a cylinder of sorts.

 

The last two images were used to create the cube.  I incorporated a piece of the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Marina Mist in one corner before closing it completely.

 
It's pretty and elegant, and suitable for gifting.  And not hard to make!!  Try it in red and green, or even white on white (using embossing powder on the image).  It will be pretty no matter what you do.

Seasons Greetings

OK- this card is not quite as simple as yesterday's, but it's not too bad.  Kind of gives the feeling of a close up look at at Christmas tree with the ornaments all clustered together.

 

Pear Pizzazz and Always Artichoke cardstock make the soft green combination here.  The Pear Pizzazz was textured on the BigShot using the Perfect Details texture plate, after stamping the sentiment from Many Merry Messages in Pear Pizzazz.  (If I had it to do over again, I would use Always Artichoke to stamp the sentiment.)  The whole background was also spritzed the Pear PIzzazz ink using the Color Spritzer tool.

Most of the ornaments are from the Tags til Christmas set.  The largest is in Tempting Turquoise, then punched with the ornament punch.  The smallest is Always Artichoke ink on Always Artichoked, and punched with the small oval punch.  "dec 25" is stamped in Real Red and punched out with the large oval (5/8" on the short diameter), and Christmas was trimmed out of one of the stamp images, mounted on Real Red, and then punched out with the 1" circle punch.  The small snowflake is from Jolly Bingo Bits, stamped with Pear PIzzazz on Pear Pizzazz, and punched out with the 3/4" circle.

Only the small, dark oval is adhered directly to the card.  The rest of the ornaments were mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The "dec 25" uses a real piece of thread as the hanger, and the others were drawn on with Pear PIzzazz.

To finish it off, I used tiny dots of a red glaze pen on the small Always Artichoke ornament, and some silver Stickles on the largest ornament.

 

Seasons Greetings!!

 

 

Peaceful Season

I have a hard time designing simple cards.  As a result, when I find one, I am quick to copy it so I can save it in my creative memory.  This is one of those cards, made using the Peaceful Season hostess set from Stampin' Up!

 

Isn't it beautiful?  The holly is from Bells and Boughs, stamped with black StazOn ink on watercolor paper, and then watercolored with Pear Pizazz, Old Olive, and Real Red.  The sentiment is from Peaceful Season, stamped with Old Olive in the center of the card. 

Beneath it all, is a strip of trim from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die for the BigShot.  A tiny bit of bling sets it all off in the form of self-stick rhinestones.

 

Love this card.

Holiday Ideas from the Archives

If you need some last minute ideas for gifts and packaging, check out these posts from the Sara Jane's Studio archive:

• Food Gift Packaging - made simple with a little cardstock, die cuts, and ribbon
• Gift Card Holder - made special
• Fabulous and easy jewelry from Style Stones (by Clearsnap) - This link has links to lots of examples
• Matchbox Momento Keepers - perfect for mom's and grandmom's
• Elegant ornaments - glass ornaments filled with mica pigment powder are absolutely radiant!
• A small, quick gift box (bag?)
• Button necklaces made easy
• The perfect pumpkin can become the perfect Christmas tree ornament - and so easy for kids to make!
• Domino jewelry is always a hit
• Easy gift card - perfect for a bottle of wine that you take to your hostess
• Here are all the links to the 2007 series of the 12 weeks of Chritmas - twelve more ideas, oldies but goodies!!

There you go - a few more ideas for those creative juices that are flowing!!

 

Quick Teacher Gift

This was a project that I did with my Stamp Club this month; it's a giftable mug with a companion coaster.

 
 
This cute project makes up REALLY quickly, and makes a great gift for someone: a teacher, an administrative assistant, or someone else that you want to thank for their services over the year.  This particular design is from the Candy Cane Christmas Decor Elements set - I bought one in Real Red and one in Old Olive, and mixed the two on this mug.  The mug itself came from the dollar store - and it really was only $1!  The Decor Elements sheet has many images on it, and you can get 11 gifts from it (hint:  use three mittens on one mug - they wrap around the whole mug)- so the cost for each mug would be only $1.35.  (There is also a large tree image which looks great on a plate for cookies!!)

The coaster is made using the 4" scallop square Bigz die, and the Candy Cane Christmas Designer Fabric.  You sandwich a piece of white felt or cotton batting between two squares of fabric, tack the corners, add a button, and you are done!

The tag is made from the Cute Christmas stamp set; the images complement the images in the Decor Elements sheet. 

Fill mug with candy, or little bundles of spice to make spiced cococa, and you have a lovely little gift.  The recipient can use the mug to hold candy or pens & pencils on their desk, and they can use it to drink from.  Just be sure to tell them that is it NOT dishwasher safe.  (But it can go in the microwave!)

For you, the readers of my blog, you can download the instructions for the mug here, and for the coaster here.  The instructions for making spiced cococa are included with the mug instructions.

And of course, change up the images and the fabrics, and you can make a wonderful gift for any occasion! 

Happy Holidays!

Easy Christmas Decorations

I have some large windows on the front of my house that just beg for holiday decoration.  Last year, I used the snowflakes from the Stampin' Up!' Definitely Decorative line of vinyl appliques.  This year, I tried the Vintage Ornaments, and love the look!

I bought two sets, one in Real Red and one in Chocolate, in the Medium size.

 
Above and below: Combination of Decor Elements, from the inside of the house.

 
 

Above and below:  Vintage Ornaments from the outside.

 
You can see that the Chocolate elements don't show up as well from the outside (even in person they don't).  And at night, even on the inside, they are harder to see than the red.

But overall I call this a success for holiday decorating this year, and I'll be looking forward to exploring next year's offerings. 

There is also a 17"-diameter wreath in the vinyl applique, and I"m thinking of putting it on the front door.  What do you think?  Too much?

 Happy holiday decorating!!

Year of Collage - December 2010

December has arrived, and I bet January will be here before we know it, too!

This month's Year of Collage calendar uses the colors of Christmas, but with a non-religious theme, so hopefully it appeals to many folks.

The background uses Stampin' Up!'s cardstock color Kiwi Kiss (retired).  The background paper with the musical theme was from my scrapbooking stash, and then I found two handmade papers, on in red and one in green, both with gold accents.  The pocket is made from a piece of vellum.  The holly in the corner and the gold border are both what Artchix Studio calls "German Scrap" - and the holly, which was originally gold, was colored with Copic markers (alcohol based - water based markers will not stick to the coated surface of the "scrap").

I stippled the month with a combination of SU's Kiwi Kiss and Garden Green inks, and mounted it on a tag made from Kiwi Kiss that had been stamped with "script" in gold ink.  The fibers in a combination of bright green/gold, dark green, and red provided the finishing touches!!

 You can see all of the other months in the series by clicking here.  Watch for my class offerings so you can make your own!!