Well it's been another busy few days here in the James household with a trip to the movies on Friday, a fun trip iceskating yesterday and swimming, grocery shopping and a pre-Christmas festive family get-together this evening. The big day is almost upon us, but I finally managed to get some photographs taken today in between all my last minute Christmas preparations and today would like to share some of my quick but attractive festive packaging ideas for stocking-fillers and small gifts. Here's the first one - a simple pouch made using the envelope punch board:

I made lots of these in various colours to tie in with the Winter Frost DSP stack to package some little gifts for the lovely ladies who have attended my classes over the past year (I can't tell you what's inside though - it's not Christmas Day yet ;-)! )

The second of my projects is a little stocking filler I made for my daughter - a pair of hairclips decorated with Frosted Finishes Embellishments and packaged in a cute little triangular carton that I made using a sheet of the Winter Frost DSP stack:

I embossed the 'warm wishes' sentiment from the 'Snow Day' stamp set using silver embossing powder and it added a real feel of luxury to the finished packaging. For the clips, I simply adhered a Frosted Finishes Embellishments using Crystal Effects to a couple of standard hair clips.

My last packaging idea that I'm going to share today is one of the lovely little muslin bags, which I stamped with the 'Love and Joy' single stamp and decorated with another Frosted Finishes embellishment, a ribbon tie and a little Dazzling Diamonds for some extra sparkle:

These bags are a great size and perfect for a little sweet treat or a small gift such as nail polish or some candles, or maybe a miniature bottle of a favourite tipple, a pack of playing cards or a micro torch for a more masculine gift.

So some easy ideas to make those little gifts extra special.

I have a date with a very large ironing basket tomorrow evening (the exciting life I lead!), but all being well will be back with another post as I've a few more Christmas-themed things to share and am running out of time in which to do it.

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Envelope Punch Board	Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Silver Glimmer Paper
1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch	1 Inch Circle Punch	Merry Minis Punch Pack	Frosted Finishes Embellishments	Silver 1/8" Ribbon
Linen Thread	Versamark Pad	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Mini Muslin Bags
Love & Joy Wood-Mount Stamp	Marina Mist 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad	Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details

Evening all! I've been busy in the kitchen today icing biscuits that I baked yesterday in readiness for end-of term teacher gifts later in the week. More to do tomorrow and I will endeavour to share some pictures later in the week, but for today something fun! A little while ago I entered a competition to create a video advertising a Stampin' Up! event or product. The winners were announced at this year's European Convention and whilst I didn't win, today I thought I would share with you my entry as it features - yes, you've guessed it - the Stampin' Up! Gift Bow Bigz Die!

This really is a great product, as there is so much you can do with it, including, but in no way exclusively, make the most beautiful bows. In addition, as with all Stampin' Up! dies, it will cut cut not only cardstock, but other materials too: cork, coaster board, fabric, felt and lots more. The inspiration for my video came from Bryony the elf, who features in one of my favourite Christmas movies, 'Arthur Christmas'. She is an ace gift wrapper whose catchphrase is "there's always time for a bow!". Here she is doing her thing:

And here I am, doing mine:

Did you spot the 'make' that I haven't shared with you separately? It really is so easy to use the Gift Bow Bigz Die to make so many different projects. I still have more I would like to share with you; I just need more hours in my day to make them all!

I hope you enjoyed today's fun video - back next time with more creative inspiration. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

Standard Cutting Pads

Gift Bow Bigz L Die

Sticky Strip

So today is the start of the last week of school for the James' juniors, so there are lots of daily activities with Christmas in mind. I've just returned from watching my youngest in his Christmas school production, having given a stellar performance as the 'Bethlehem Census Man' (imagine town crier!) and delivered his one line with true dramatic style: "Hear ye, hear ye - census in Bethlehem! Your country needs you !" There's nothing like a Christmas production to make you feel like the festive season is upon us.

And so to today's creation with the Gift Bow Bigz Die: hot on the heels of yesterday's gift bow angel, a Christmas pudding tree ornament! Now, for my non-UK readers, you may not know that Christmas or plum puddings are a peculiarly British fayre, traditionally eaten after Christmas lunch on Christmas Day. They are eaten with either white sauce or brandy butter and are something of an acquired taste, or so my American friends told me after I sent them one for Christmas one year! So without further ado, here's a picture of the finished pudding: 

I made a few of these a while ago (tomorrow's post will explain all!) and I think they make another cute ornament for Christmas time. You could just follow the instructions to make a plain sphere out of patterned paper, but I decided mine needed dressing up, hence the Christmas pudding. I made a video showing you how easy they are to create using the Gift Bow Bigz Die from Stampin' Up!; the video also shares a handy technique for colouring your glimmer paper to match your product - did you know you can colour Stampin' Up!'s Glimmer Paper using your Stampin' Write markers? If not, watch the video to find out how:

I hope you like today's project - back tomorrow with something a little different, but still bow-related!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Simply Scored	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Standard Cutting Pads	Chocolate Chip A4 Card Stock	Gift Bow Bigz L Die
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die	Sticky Strip	Pansy Punch	Mini Glue Dots	Gumball Green A4 Card Stock
Gumball Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Sponge Daubers	Real Red Stampin' Write Marker	Silver Glimmer Paper	Real Red 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Another weekend of James family busy, busy. Yesterday: hairdressers, mad science parties and swimming gala on top of the usual homework and household chores. Today: swimming lessons, family lunch and decorating the house ready for Christmas. Finally I'm able to share today's post with a cute project: this adorable angel Christmas tree ornament made using the Stampin' Up! Gift Bow Bigz Die:

I've seen a few different examples of these angels on the internet; the first one I saw was on Tanya Bell's blog here which also included a great tip for getting even eyes. I'm not sure where the original idea came from, but as they are all a little different I thought I would share with you my version; I've been making lots of these to decorate the house this year and love that I can use my Gift Bow Die for so many more things than making bows. I made a video tutorial for you to show how I put these together; here it is:

The supplies and equipment you need to make an angel are listed below and the key measurements for the cardstock to make the main part which is the angel dress body are:

2 pieces cardstock: 10.5cm x 5cm

1 piece cardstock: 1.5cm x 8cm

These card sizes enable you to get three angels out of one sheet of A4 cardstock. Come back tomorrow for another project using the Gift Bow Bigz Die; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Standard Cutting Pads	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	Gift Bow Bigz L Die	Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Die
Sticky Strip	Mini Glue Dots	Silver Glimmer Paper	Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive	7/8" Scallop Circle Punch
1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Punch Pack	Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker
Frosted Finishes Embellishments	Word Window Punch

Where is this week going?! I am so busy and feeling like Christmas is getting nearer and nearer and I am sooo not ready! Didn't manage to squeeze a blog post in yesterday as there was so much going on, so thought I'd better do a quick one today over lunch as I'm out again later and won't get the opportunity. Which is a shame, as I've still so many lovely Christmas projects to share! Today is a super quick card and gift card holder set that was designed by my lovely upline's upline Monica Gale at a recent Convention team gathering. Both items feature the 'Perfect Blend' stamp set. Firstly, here's the card: 

This is one of those cards that requires some paper snipping, but it's not tricky and worth it for the overall effect. We also made a matching gift card holder, which is just the right size for the credit-sized card coffee gift cards available from some of the large coffee house chains:

How cute is this?! I love the colours here and the little bow clip use to secure the gift card holder shut. I have a few friends who love a nice cup of coffee, so I might have to make a few more of these - not least because I received some extra Season of Style washi tape in a parcel that arrived yesterday, one of the things I won in a recent Stampin' Up! competition for World Cardmaking Day back in October - you can see my winning card here.

That's it for today. As always, if you would like to have a go at making either of the above project, the links to purchase the items you will need are included in the table below. Back tomorrow with a special Christmas project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Perfect Blend	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad
Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	Season Of Style Designer Series Paper Stack	Old Olive Simply Styled Embellishments	Season Of Style Designer Washi Tape	Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

Today I have a quick post with the last of my Convention-related makes to share with you. One of the things we have to do for Convention is make a bag tag featuring our names. Why? Well, we are each given a Convention rucksack full of goodies and everything we will need to get us through the event. The rucksacks are great, but there's only one problem - they're all the same! So it's really important that we have a name tag that enables us to identify our bags, and each other, in the crowd. I made bag tags for each of the team members travelling with me that featured our team logo - The Crafty Owl:

Cute, eh?! I made these by printing onto shrink plastic at 250% of finished size, then cut out the shapes, punched a hole for the keyring and shrunk them in the oven. I was so pleased with the result, I made a few more for some of my good friends and members of my wider Stampin' Up! team, this time using My Digital Studio (my logo was created using alternative software when UK demos didn't have access to MDS). I used the butterfly stamp that comes as part of the Creative Elements stamp set, and coloured the sections individually using the brush tool, using various shades of greens and turquoise - here are a couple of them:

What do you think? These bag tags are really eye-catching and certainly helped my team stand out from the crowd - my friends loved theirs too, especially Michelle whose team is a called the Butterfly Belles - how appropriate! I just thought I would share to show how versatile MDS can be - it's not just for cards!

The MDS shop links are included below if you don't already have it; Creative Elements is part of the standard software version so there is no product link for this, however as today is Digital Downloads Weekly Release Day I've also included the links to all of this week's new MDS downloads - some lovely festive sets here.

Right, off to attend my son's Christingle service at school; I'm hoping for a nice photo or two for my December photo journal (another MDS project that I'll be sharing with you another day!) Back tomorrow with another project - I'm thinking we might need to get back to Christmas, it is the 3rd December after all! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mds Download - Digital Download	Mds Free Trial - Digital Download	Dear Santa Greeting Card Template - Digital Download	Morning Post Numbers Stamp Brush Set - Digital Download	O Holy Night Stamp Brush Set - Digital Download
Stamp A Tag Kit - Digital Download	Watercolored Winter Kit - Digital Download

Today I have another festive project to share - this was also one of my convention swaps for some of the members of my wider team. I made a whole bunch of chocolate spoon stirrers - here's a close-up photo of the unwrapped spoon:

These really are so easy to make. All you need are some disposable wooden spoons and some small cello bags. To make the spoon, first I stamped it; I stamped the tiny snowflake in white kraft ink and heat embossed it for shine and texture, then stamped the word 'Christmas' in Real Red along the length of the spoon. This is a partial stamp from the 'Christmas Greetings' in the 'Warmth and Wonder' stamp set. This is a lovely hostess exclusive set, available when you host a Stampin' Up! party. Once the spoon has been stamped, I melted some milk chocolate in a small silicone cake mould and inserted both the spoon and some festive shaped marshmallows into it and left it to set before removing the mould. Here is a picture of the finished packaged spoons:

All you need to do is package in a small cello bag and tie with red grosgrain ribbon and attach a Festive Flurry snowflake stamped gift tag, stamped in white kraft on Crumb Cake cardstock and overstamped in Real Red with one of the other greetings from the 'Warmth and Wonder' set. So simple, yet a lovely gift for hostesses, customers, neighbours or friends during the festive season.

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies used:

Today I'm sharing a gift I made for some of my most supportive stamping friends who I met up with at Convention. One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is the friendships you make along the way - I have friends that I would never have met if it wasn't for Stampin' Up! and they are some of the most supportive when it comes to sharing successes, failures and ideas. Here is one of the gifts I made:

I found these cute little keyring notebooks in a local stationery store and customised them with stamps, punches and ribbon. I added a keyring Sharpie pen to each one, then made a little box with my Envelope Punch Board and closed with a co-ordinating belly band.

These are perfect for keeping in your handbag to always ensure you have a pen and paper to hand for quick notes.

Back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Well, I'm back from Stampin' Up! 2013 European Convention and what can I say - my team and I had a blast! We came home exhausted, but having had the best time swapping, learning, meeting old friends, making new ones, 'sneak peeking' at some fabulous new products. Normal blogging is now resumed and I have lots of lovely things to show you, starting with the general swap that one of my downlines, Barbara, and I made for everyone we met at convention. It was something of a 'case' on the tag that features in this year's autumn-winter seasonal catalogue, but with a few changes to make it our own. Here is a picture of one of our finished swaps:

We also made some in a Pool Party/Island Indigo/Embossed Silver colourway - I will have to edit this post to include a photograph of one of these as I can't find one at the moment (might have to retake!) The snowflakes in the Festive Flurry set are great for making ornaments or 3-D tags or box-toppers with and you can layer just three snowflakes or all four to get a really large one. I shot a short video tutorial to show you how to put these layered snowflakes together to create this added dimension; grab your glue gun and click on the link below if you would like to see how to achieve it yourself - the video also shows the snowflake in the alternative colourway:

 I hope you find the video useful and have fun creating your own snowflakes in lots of different colour combinations. Just before I leave you the supplies list for this project, I thought you might like to see a fun Convention picture of me with 2 of my downline team members - I'm the one in the middle with the stripey hat:

If you would like to join us for some fun - and chocolate! - at next year's European Convention in Brussels next October, get in touch for more information about the benefits of joining my team.

Back tomorrow with more swaps and gifts made for friends; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Yay - it's the weekend! I've been busy doing homework and more convention swaps today, along with other lovely items for my convention friends, all of which I will share with you another time ... because today I'm going to show you the easiest ever way to make Christmas Crackers using the new Stampin' Up! Envelope Punch Board! Not just pictures, but a video too. The new envelope punch board from Stampin' Up! has been hugely popular as lots of my customers will testify and it really is a versatile piece of kit. As I mentioned in a previous post, the board can be used not only to make envelopes, but also boxes in a variety of shapes and sizes and other 3D items such as crackers.

As we are fast approaching the start of the festive season, what better than to make some lovely Christmas crackers to decorate your Christmas tree, as table favours for the festive table or even to house a couple of chocolates as a little gift for someone special? Here are the ones I make in my video, along with a picture of some other ones that I've made:

I've seen lots of videos and tutorials on how to make them in a variety of sizes and styles, but if you want to make lots I think by far the easiest way is to use the current Designer Series Paper Stacks in the seasonal catalogue as your starting point: each sheet measures 4.5"x6.5" so it makes the score measurements really easy: 1", 2", 3" and 4" on the short side, and 1", 1.5", 2", 4.5", 5" and 5"5 on the long side. Simply score, punch stick and done - you can make a cracker in just a couple of minutes. Add a minute or two more to add some decoration and you could be mass producing these in no time. If you don't use the paper stacks, any designer paper cut to the basic measurement will do; I would avoid using solid colour standard cardstock as this is much thicker and whilst your envelope punch board will punch through a double thickness of cardstock, it is quite hard work and you risk damaging your punch and board as it isn't really designed with this in mind.

In my video, I also show a boxed set of crackers that I made using the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack - here is the photo again:

This box set would make a lovely gift for someone - if you would like to make a box for your crackers, the dimensions you will need are as follows:

Box Base: Sheet of cardstock (I used Bermuda Bay) 8 1/4" x 8 1/2". Score at 1 1/8" and 7 1/8" across the short side, then rotate through 90 degrees and score at 1 1/8" and 7 3/8" on the long side.

Box lid: Acetate window sheet size 8 1/4" x 8 1/2". Create a shim for your score board using an offcut of window sheet, then with your shim in place, score the lid to the same dimensions as the base above (1 1/8" and 7 1/8" across the short side, 1 1/8" and 7 3/8" on the long side). This will ensure your box lid fits snugly.

I then decorated my box with some embossed die cut snowflakes using the Festive Flurry Stamp Set and Framelits, Bermuda Bay ribbon and a Frosted Finishes embellishment.

So without further ado, grab your paper stack and watch my video tutorial and start making your Christmas crackers today!

Stampin' Up Supplies Used: