A Clipboard for the Teacher

Recently we needed to come up with a gift for Campbell's teacher. Something that would be useful, and not too flowery and frilly.  A nice, useful, masculine gift for the teacher.  After a bit of thought we decided to decorate a clipboard, and this is what we came up with:

We decided to go with an owl theme -  decorating the back with one wise owl on a branch (chipboard from the So Tweet On Board Pack, covered with card, and papers from the Good Morning Sunshine DSP pack) and lots of eager little owls awaiting instruction covering both sides of the clipboard (another sheet of paper from the Good Morning Sunshine pack).  We personalised it using letters made with the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet dies from the Autumn/Winter mini catalogue, and then finished it off with some strips of coordinating card (pacific point, kiwi kiss) and some ribbon.  Several coats of modge podge help to seal and protect it all.

Campbell was really pleased with his gift, and the teacher was most appreciative. Best of all it was a relatively quick and easy project, and inexpensive too.  Perfect for mass production!

The kiwi kiss cardstock, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, On Board So Tweet, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, and Pacific Point Ribbon used in this project are all on the 'last chance list'.  Available only until 31 August, or while stocks last.

Box of Bargains - February Challenge

Okay, so I am sure I am not the only one who cannot resist looking through a bargain bin, seeing limitless potential in those discounted goodies, and then taking them home with the best of intentions, most often to gather dust.  I'm not the only one, right?

So here is my box of bargains with limitless potential - notebooks, post its, photo frames, wooden drawers, a mailbox (a little one!), coasters, more notebooks....

(not so bad, right?!)

And here is the challenge I set myself for this month.  Transform those bargains into beautiful things.  I may not get through the whole box, and I am okay with that, but hopefully I will get a few fun projects checked off the list (and make some room for future bargain bin treasures!)

Feel free to join me!

Giftwrapping on the cheap

Confession time.

Although I love seeing the excitement of presents being ripped open, a part of me is always thinking 'Oh no, don't rip the paper!!!!!!' It always seems like such a waste. I could use that pretty paper again!

Lets face it though, carefully unwrapping a gift so as to save the paper, just isn't as exciting as ripping it open.

Since it is probably going to just get ripped anyway, we started wrapping gifts - especially for children - using plain paper, which could then be decorated (read stamped) as desired. Stampin' around wheels are especially handy for this - and I am pretty sure I have photos somewhere of Peter in charge of decorating Bridie's birthday gift last year.

For our most recently wrapped gift, I decided to have the birthday card do double duty and decorate the present as well. Plain brown paper has never looked so good! A simple band of card - crimped - to match the card - in place of ribbon, and we hung the card from the band. That will save the envelope getting ripped up too!

So there you have it - wrapping gifts on the cheap!

Colour Inspiration #49

Kristina Werner has another 'color inspiration' challenge up, and at this rate, Kiwi Kiss is looking like becoming my most used colour!

I have been thinking about what to do for the past couple of days. Doing would have been better, but there was other stuff that needed to be done, so thinking was the next best thing. In my mind there were butterflies, and crystal effects - a truly beautiful creation! Today there is time for doing, but I woke up feeling yucky, so the butterflies are waiting for another day, and quick and simple it is. And using up scraps....

Told you it was quick and simple! Black wouldn't normally be my first choice for a birthday card, but it was a great background for those bright strips of card. The only stamping is the sentiment from 'A Little Birthday Cheer'. I started off with it stamped in black, but it was looking a little flat, so I switched to Pacific Point, and it worked a lot better.

When your card is black, you do need a little something on the inside, just so you can see the writing! A few little scraps of card stuck down the side of some white, and it is ready to go (of course, you could write with a white pen, but then you wouldn't get to do this!). Just quietly, I think this might be my favourite part of the whole card.

And that is that. Told you it was quick and simple! Might get to those butterflies in the next day or two - or maybe I'll save them for the next colour challenge...

I have got some information to post about some embellishment shares. Keep an eye out later today, or perhaps tomorrow, depending on the sniffles.

DIY Patterned Papers

Something I have been experimenting with for a while is making my own 'patterned papers' and backgrounds, using card, ink and stamps. It doesn't help with using up my stash at all, but there is something very satisfying about looking at a layout that is totally your own. Some of you got a chance to try this out yourselves when you attended an extravaganza with me. So I am wondering - have you tried it again?

Here is an example for you, using one of my favourite two step stamping sets - Petal Prints - I was sad to see this one on the retiring list. It wasn't until my Mum got this set, and I borrowed it (and struggled to give it back!), that I discovered how much I loved it. For a while there, Mum got to see lots of projects made with Petal Prints.

'What set is that?' she would ask. 'I might have to get that'.

'Mmm, same' would be my ever so whispery reply.

(You may be pleased to know that I finally bought another set and now we both have one!)

But back to this layout. The DIY patterned paper bit is the flowery piece behind the photo (okay, so that was a bit obvious, and you probably figured that out already, but just in case you hadn't - it is another bad photo afterall!). It was super simple to do.

Recipe for this one:

Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Whisper white card

bashful blue, night of navy and mellow moss ink

Stamps: Petal Prints, Office Accoutrements (both retiring) and Life Definitions

Flowers from Pretties kit, rhinestone brad ('ice')

I first stamped with the background part of the daisy flower using bashful blue ink, in a random pattern around the edge of the card. Some of the flowers are stamped off the edge of the card because it just looks better with some hanging over the edge. (I didn't stamp the middle of the card on the layout because I knew that it would be covered over by the photo, but this is a sample scrap for blogging purposes :)

Next I used the daisy outline stamp, and Night of Navy ink, and went over all those backgrounds adding an outline. One of the things I love about this two step set is that you don't have to line them up perfectly. You can if you want, but if like me, you have created your own 'higgledy piggledy' style, then this set is great! For some of the outlines I didn't reink, so the navy is a little lighter, and adds to the pattern (plus more of that quick, higgledy piggledy thing!).

To fill in any gaps I used the leaf stamps and Moss ink, and ... filled in any gaps. I just inked up one leaf at a time, rather than all three. There may still be some overlap, and that was okay by me. Once again, making sure to have some stamped over the edge of the card.

And that's it. Sounds like lots of time consuming steps, but is actually pretty quick, and best of all, you just change the colours/stamps to suit!

When it came time to put the page together I added some bashful blue daisy outlines to the bottom of the bashful blue base card to help to anchor it all. It doesn't show up so well in the photo, so you still get that 'floating in the middle of the page' look, but in real life, it makes all the difference - trust me! See them there - behind the date stamp? Tone on tone stamping is super subtle.

And for the journaling and finishing touches? The handy date and memo stamps from the Office Accoutrement stamp set, and 'happy' from the Life Definitions set. What I love about that memo stamp, is that if you don't want the word memo, you just don't ink it. The perfect journallng spot every time!

Add a couple of flowers and a rhinestone brad, and it's all done. If I get myself organised, next post I will show you how I coloured that flower to match the layout. That will be my challenge.

Your challenge? Pull some of those stamps out and have a go at making your own patterned papers and backgrounds. Go on, I dare you!

Cheap and pretty pen storage!

Okay. So I am sure I am not the only one who gets in a bit of a mess when they create?! Pens and pencils especially, have a tendancy to get swallowed up. I didn't want to spend a whole lot on storage so I decided to make my own.

Cue the spaghetti/tomato/soup tins...

The key to preparing the tins is a 'safety can opener' - the kind we used for those pop up cans (if you don't know what I am talking about here, don't worry. I will make it my mission to do a pop up can in the not so distant future!) Instead of cutting the tin, the safety opener somehow gets in between the seal, so there are no sharp edges. I have found that the pull top cans can still be a little sharp, so to reuse the can, I take the rim bit off with my trusty safety can opener too.

Eat the contents. Wash out the can, and then I pop it in the oven for a couple of minutes to make sure it is all dry (they tend to rust REALLY quickly if left too long to dry).

And then on to the fun bit - the decorating. Being short on time, these ones were super simple, but I like how they have turned out. I used patterned paper from the Petals and Paisley pack, and attached it to the outside of the cans using sticky strip (1 sheet of paper did all three cans, with leftovers). Because the cans were all different on the inside, I also lined them with a rolled up piece of Taken with Teal card, to match the paper. A little bit of sticky strip to hold the cans together, and then some wide Olive ribbon tied around to make them all pretty.

I wanted to lay them on the side (remember pens should be stored horizontally!) so that is why I used three cans in a pyramid shape - you could use as many as you like - but remember, one on its side will roll away, and that would not be helpful! You might also want to measure what you are going to store in the tins first. These tins are maybe a little short for the stampin' write markers - I discovered that a little late. But never fear, there is a big old soup tin sitting on the bench waiting for some friends, and patterned paper is on a super duper special!

Now I just need to get the pens to put themselves away!

A Present for the Teacher

So last month it was Valentine's day. As well as the requirement for Hayden to bring a card for every member of his class, there was also the small matter of something for the teacher. She is a lovely lady, who had been really helpful in getting him settled in his new class, so we wanted to make her something special. So this is what we did. A simple little notebook from the $2 shop was transformed into something a little bit more special, with the help of some lovely Ginger Blossom patterned paper, card, and a few embellishments. Add in a matching pen, and boxy thing to keep it in, present complete. We were really pleased with how it turned out, and the teacher loved it. And all for under $5.

Materials used for this project:

• Ginger Blossom patterned paper (summer mini)
• River rock, groovy guava, very vanilla and ruby red cardstock
• River rock ink
• ABC Alphabet lower stamps
• Spring Flowers Bouquet punch (retiring)
• Five Petal Flower punch
• Scalloped border punch (summer mini)
• Ruby Red Brads (earth elements)
• River Rock double stitched grosgrain ribbon
• 'Love Notes' gift card (vanilla)
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• notebook, pen