Hershey's Nugget Boxes!

I really wanted to do those Hershey's Nuggets that everyone has been making, however I never ordered any of the tins and really didn't want the extra expense of the tins. While at the store yesterday I bought a couple of bags of the Nuggets and figured that I would decorate them and just put them in some decorated bags to give as little gifts for the holidays.

While running through my supplies in my head trying to think of which bags I might use to put them in, it dawned on me that I have all of these little plastic boxes that I have saved from The Angel Company's gift with purchase (GWP) stamps. If you don't know what the GWP stamps are, they are the ones you get free with every $30 in orders. I always save the boxes that mine come in because they are great for storing little embellishments, etc. Turns out they work well for nuggets too!

Here is the outside of the box. I just cut a piece of cardstock to fit the top which is about 2 1/2" x 2 3/8". For this one I embossed a piece of cream cardstock with one of my holiday Cuttlebug embossing folders, punched it out with a scalloped circle punch, and added some Crystal Stickles to the snowflakes to give it some sparkle. Easy!


I used Papertrey's Holiday Treats stamp set to decorate the nuggets by stamping on the Avery address labels. Just stamp your label and wrap one around each Nugget.

I also made a small card to attach inside the bottom of the box. This was cut to the same size as the piece for the lid. I stamped a little holiday message on the bottom. For this one I used stamps from Tis The Season. My inks for the labels and the card on the bottom were Palette Moulin Rouge and Jardin Moss. These two colors are beautiful for Christmas!

And there you have it...so, don't forget to save those little GWP boxes!

Reindeer Joy

Here is the card that I made for this week's sketch over on the 2P's board. If you want to see the sketch that Dawn posted, just click here. I'm always keeping all of those little scraps of paper and I hardly ever use them. This particular sketch provided a great way to use them.
I embossed the front of the card with the Snowflakes Cuttlebug embossing folder. The Reindeer and the "Joy to the World" stamps are from the Tis The Season stamp set. The reindeer was colored with Prismacolor Pencils.

Swap Card & Blog Candy Winner!

Here is a little card that I made for a Snowman swap that I got into. This one was just for a single card, so it was nice and easy...which is about all i'm up for right now so this was perfect!

The snowman on this one is from the Tis The Season stamp set, I used the Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder for the snowflake background.

And, random.org picked the #20 as my winner for the Blog Candy! The 20th post was from linda ss, so please send me your address so I can send out your prize.

Tutti Frutti Kit & Kaboodle!

The December specials are now available from The Angel Company. This month's exclusive kit is Tutti Frutti Kit & Kaboodle. In it you will receive the Tutti Frutti 12x12 paper collection...
Plus, you also receive this limited edition stamp set...

Retail value of the kit is $35.90, but you can get it until December 31st for $25.95. This stamp set will NOT be available after December 31st! Click here to order your Tutti Frutti Kit & Kaboodle!
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December SOTM - This months SOTM is "Let's Toast". Get this stamps set for $1.95 with any $30 purchase. Click on the picture to order...

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December Vintage Set - For a limited time, the Snowflake Blocks stamp set has been brought out of retirement. You can get this stamp set for $6.95 with any $30 purchase, but only until December 31st. After that, it will go back into retirement. Click on the picture to order...

Blog Candy Time!

With so many bloggers doing 12 days of Christmas activities, I thought I would join in some of the fun. With that, I will give away my first ever blog candy. The winner is going to get some button brads, no-set eyelets, some really cute chipboard tags, a cherries stamp, and a set of 5 little word stamps which are...explore, discover, imagine, dream, and journey. Here is a picture of all the little goodies...

So, what do you have to do to win? Just leave a comment on this post. In your comment, you have to tell me two things.

1. What is the #1 stamping/paper crafting thing on your Christmas wish list this year?
2. What is your favorite, yummy holiday treat? I'm looking for ideas, so recipes are very much so welcome! :-)

My answers?

1. All the Tim Holtz stuff. The Distress Inks, and powders, and some of the unmounted stamp sets. Cool stuff!

2. Chocolate Chip Cookies - Yes, I know, boring. My second is probably the cheesecake that I only ever make for Christmas. I always look forward to that.

I will draw a winner from the comments on Sunday, so check back to see who wins!

2-4-6-8 Joy

Here is a little 2-4-6-8 box that I made for Christmas. These are a really good size for putting some little candies in, or maybe even a small ornament. All of the stamps on this one are from the Simply Christmas stamp set, and the cardstocks are from the Amelia collection.

Be Jolly Magnet

Here is a really simple Christmas magnet that I made today. I colored the hat with Prismacolor Pencils, and added some white Liquid Applique on the trim of the hat to give it some dimension.

This one is a magnet, but you could punch a hole and tie some ribbon in the top to make it a gift tag, or a little ornament, etc.

Winter Flakes

I made another card this afternoon using my sketch as a template for it. On this one I rounded all of the edges, and used circles for the main image just to change it up a bit. The white and light blue papers were both embossed using the Snowflakes embossing folder for the Cuttlebug. Plus I added a little gem to the snowflake to give it a little sparkle!

My First Card Sketch

I volunteered to do this weeks card sketch over on 2P's. I've never made card sketches before, so this is a first for me. My hubby was good enough to recommend using PowerPoint to make the sketch, and that made it a breeze - thanks honey! Being my first sketch and all, I wanted to keep it simple. Here is what I came up with...

And here is the card that I made based on the sketch...

Give the sketch a try, they are always so fun to use and are great to get the creative juices flowing. If you do make something with it let me know, I would love to see it! You can also check out the Stamping Board over on 2P's for more sketch challenges every week.

Embossed Snowman Gift Bag

I'm up to two gift bags for this Christmas now...man, i'm on a roll! I was playing with embossing some punched circles in my Cuttlebug and decided to put them together for a snowman. I used the Marvy scalloped circle punches. I can't remember the names of the three sizes, but I used the Pink, Blue, & Yellow punches. After I punched them I just ran them through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflakes embossing folder.

To decorate him I used small brads for his eyes and nose, medium brads for his buttons, and I used Scrapper's Floss for his mouth and arms. Oh, and I added a little red flower brad on his hat.

The flakes in the background are from TAC's Snowflakes stamp set, and the "Merry Christmas" stamp is one that I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

Santa Gift Bag

Since Thanksgiving is over now, I guess it is time to actually get serious about Christmas. I'm going to try to make more of my own gift wrap this year. This gift bag is the first of what will hopefully be many!

I started with a gift bag that I got from the Dollar Tree. They were 2 for $1, so the price is right! I covered the front of the bag with paper from Vintage Holiday, which I believe has just sold out. The red cardstock at the top is from the Bazzill reds pack and the green is from the Bazzill Greens pack. The stamps, Santa and Santa's hat, are both from the Tis the Season stamp set.

Now I am going to have to make a trip to Dollar Tree to get more bags to decorate!

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle!

Here is another Christmas card that I made. I've done a lot of snowman cards lately, so I was trying to stay away from those guys a little bit so I went with this ornament. The background paper is embossed with the Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder, and the sentiment stamp is one of the $1 stamps from Michael's that I picked up. The ornament is a TAC stamp from the Tis The Season stamp set.

Card Candy Swap Pieces

I got into a swap over on MWS called a Card Candy swap. I had never heard of card candy before. Turns out it is where, instead of making an entire card, you make and trade smaller pieces that can be added to a card or other project. Here are the four pieces that I made for the swap.
These were fun to make. It was a nice change thinking in terms of smaller embellishment pieces instead of a whole card. I can't wait to see what everyone else has made.

Glittery Snowflake Embellishment

I'm not really sure what to call this. Is it a star? Is it a snowflake? It could be either! In this case since I went with the blues and topped it off with the snowflake brad, mine is going to be a snowflake - or maybe starflake :-)

This morning I was pointed to a similar project made with two very specific tag punches. Punches that I do not have and the last thing I need to do is go buy 2 more punches for one specific project when I have so much here already to work with. So, I set out to make my own.

I first tried to use a tag die that I have for my Cuttlebug that is similar to those that were used in the original. The angles on the tag were different, and didn't allow for it all to line up right. Had to scrap all that.

Then I came across my Sizzix Star die. It worked very well! This is what I ended up with...

I haven't decided what to put this on yet. It would work on a card, but i'm thinking something a bit bigger. Will have to see about that later.

I'm going to make another one and will take pictures as I go to post it as a tutorial soon.

More Square Christmas Cards

I made two more Christmas cards with my leftover Simply Square Notecards last night. They really don't get more simple than this. On both of these cards I used the Cheers stamp set. If you don't have this one in your collection yet, you want to get it now! It has been one of my favorites for the last 2 years and it is about to retire in December.

In this first card I just stamped the "Joy" stamp from the Cheers set in black ink. Stamped it again on paterned paper and cut out the ornament to piece over the image on my card.


In this one, I stamped the tree stamp from the Cheers stamp set with black ink. I used Green and Red Stickles to color the tree and Icicle Stickles on the star.

Using Up My Stash

I have been cleaning up my table today and I came across a bag of Simply Square Notecards that I have had sitting around for a very long time. Time to use them up! Here is the first one that I have done...
I'm pretty sure that the Simply Square notecards have been discontinued by DCWV. I used the snowman stamp from the Hello Seasons stamp set and colored him in with my Prismacolor Pencils. Super quick and easy!

'Give Thanks' Candle Jar

I have seen a couple of these lately that other people have made, so I had to make one! This was one of my favorite crafts that I made as a kid. The last one I made was in second grade as a Mother's Day gift, so it has been awhile. They are still just as fun to make though and will make great gifts!

The jar is covered with brown tissue paper, I glued some ribbon around the top, and the pumpkin is just on a piece of cardstock attached with a pop-dot on the outside. The pumpkin and the 'Give Thanks' semtiment are both from the Family, Food & Friends stamp set.

I took a picture of the jar while it was lit so you can see the glow that it gives off.


I have some more tissue paper that I bought yesterday to do some Christmas themed jars. I will post pictures when I get more done!

From Our House To Yours

This is a card that I made for a challenge over on 2Peas that I forgot to post. I love this set of stamps that I got from Papertrey Ink. It is called Holiday Treats. I used Hint Of Pesto and Red Magic VersaMagic Ink to do the background. These two colors go together beautifully and they are a nice change from the traditional Christmas red and green; I really like it!

November TAC Specials!

Wow! There are some amazing specials for November! I will try to squeeze them all into this one post. I think it may burst though ;-)

Spring Catalog Pre-order: I am now taking pre-orders for TAC's Spring catalog & idea book! The new catalogs will be coming out at the end of December. You can order yours now for $8.25, which includes Priority Mailing, and ensure that you are first on the list to get yours! As usual, you can expect tons of new stamps, exclusive papers, and hundreds of gorgeous samples. Send me an e-mail at webstampers@cox.net to pre-order!

Huge Paper SALE!! To make room for new paper collections, we have to say goodbye to some. Don't be too sad though because it also means a great deal! Bella Flor and Kaleidoscope Brites normally $19.95, on sale for $10.00! Also on sale: Surf Shoppe, Simply Spooky, Whimsy Blossoms, Finger Paints, Country Cottage, Metropolis, and Lap of Luxury - normally $6.95, on sale for $3.50! This is only while supplies last, so don't miss it.

Oh My Golly! In this months kit, you will get the Merry Wishes paper pack and the Merry Words stamp set for just $29.95 (retail value is $39.90)! Click here to order your November Kit.

Super Surprise Boxes: If you like a surprise, this is for you. For $50, you will get a surprise box filled with over $100 in product! I have seen these boxes before, and let me tell you that they are more than generous with what they stuff in them. These are not available online yet, so contact me directly to order one at webstampers@cox.net. These are only available while supplies last.

TAC Grab Bags Are Back! For $15.95 you will get a grab bag filled with an assortment of TAC stamps. These make great Christmas and Secret Santa gifts! These are not available online, so contact me directly to order yours at webstampers@cox.net. These are also only available while supplies last.

Holiday Notes

I'm getting started making little Christmas gifts. Here is one that I have so far. This is a Post-It Note holder.

This first picture is the outside. I used the little snowman from the Seasonal Scribbles stamp set. I pieced his scarf with a piece of green cardstock and colored his buttons with the black Souffle Gelly Pen so they are slightly raised. The paterned paper is from Merry Wishes. To cut the notch, I used the Basic Grey Notch & Die tool. I know that a lot of people bought that and didn't care for it a lot, but I have to say that I really like mine!


This second picture shows the inside. The Post-It Notes are from the $1 section in Michael's they were selling these last year so I bought several of them. I will be keeping an eye out for them again this year. They came in a package of 2; not bad for $1!

Had A Great Weekend Stamping!

I got to spend the whole weekend stamping! I packed up some papers, stamps and goodies and headed to my sister's house for the weekend. She lives about an hour from me so it's just easier to stay a couple of days. So while the kids all played together, we spent the weekend playing! She had invited some friends over on Saturday to have a TAC workshop, which was a ton of fun!

Here are a few of the cards that I made over the weekend...

These first three cards are all made with stamps from the Tis The Season stamp set. I'm really loving this stamp set. I just got it last month and it's one of those great stamp sets that has everything you need all in one. I could easily make all of my christmas cards, tags, & bags with just this one set!



In this last one, the 'Joy to the World' stamp in the background is also from Tis The Season. The little tree stamp is from the Cheers stamp set. I colored in the tree with Christmas Red and Green Stickles. Around the bottom I tied some Red and Green Scrapper's Floss. If you haven't heard me say it already, Scrapper's Floss is one of my favorite embellishments. And talk about bang for your buck...you get 30 yards of it for $2.95. It just doesn't get much better than that! I really like how this card turned out; so sparkly and fun!

Double Stuff Embossing Part II

Well, I have done some more playing around with this double embossing with the Cuttlebug. Maggieliz over on GW posted some pictures of some backgrounds that she made with Alcohol Inks and the Cuttlebug embossing folders on her picture trail site: http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=18149906&uid=750005 . They are gorgeous! She wrote me and asked if I would play around with what she had done and do a tutorial. So, here goes.

For this one, you will use white glossy cardstock. I do not have any Alcohol Inks, so instead I used my Palette Hybrid Inks. Here are the general supplies for the card I ended up making: Snowflakes Cuttlebug embossing folder, Brayer, Embossing Stamp Pad, White Embossing Powder, Prussian Blue Palette Ink Pad.


Start off by applying the ink directly from the ink pad to the glossy cardstock. Just keep working the pad across the entire surface until you have the look that you want. When the ink is completely dry, place it in the embossing folder and run it through the Cuttlebug. Letting the ink dry is very important to keep the embossing powder from sticking to it later.

Note: You can speed up the drying process with your heat gun!

Next, ink up your brayer with the Embossing ink. I have used a regular embossing pad, but you can also use a VersaMark pad to do this. Roll the ink over the entire surface, until you have all of the raised design inked.

Sprinkle on your white embossing powder. After you have completely covered the area, dump off the excess. You can clean off any excess embossing powder with a small paint brush.

Heat the embossing powder with your heat tool until all of the powder is melted.

When you are done embossing, your paper will look like this. Not only do you have those beautiful, bright white snowflakes, but if you look at the blue in the background, you can see all of the swirling color. In real life you can see all the gloss of the cardstock and it is gorgeous!

Here is the card that I went on to make with my paper. I put it on a white card so that the blue would really pop out. Because the background is so pretty I tried to keep what I was adding on top of it very simple and small so that I didn't end up covering too much of it up.

Things to try: Definitely try the alcohol inks like Maggieliz did, if you have them. On this one I just used a single color. Play around with more ink colors to create different looks.

~Michelle

Double Stuff Embossing!

Well, I have been playing more with the Cuttlebug embossing folders. These things really are a lot of fun to use! This one I have decided to call Double Stuff Embossing, as it involves embossing twice, in two different ways. Dry embossing with the Cuttlebug, and heat embossing with regular embossing powder.

Here are the general supplies that I used for this project: Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder, Scrapper's Floss, Sparkle Embossing Powder, Embossing Stamp Pad, Noir Palette Pad, Prismacolor Pencils, Snowflake Brads, For All Seasons stamp set, Anti-Static bag, small paint brush, Heat Embossing Tool. In this particular card I used white, dark blue and light blue cardstock, but you use whatever you want!



The first thing I did was run my blue cardstock through the Cuttlebug using the Snowflakes embossing folder. Rub the anti-static bag across the paper. Give it a good coat so that you will have minimal excess embossing powder sticking to the paper.


Next, I used the Embossing Stamp Pad and ran it across the top of the embossed design. Be careful not to press down too hard, so that you do not ink the areas inbetween the design. You will be able to see when you have a good coat of ink because it will look wet.

Sprinkle the Sparkle Embossing Powder over all areas that you want embossed. Shake off the excess and use a small paint brush to clear any areas that have unwanted embossing powder. I did find that a lot of excess stays inbetween the designs. Most of it was easily gotten rid of with the paint brush, but some will inevidibly stay.

Heat the embossing powder with a heat gun until all of the powder is melted. This picture shows you the end result. If you look closely you can see the stray embossing powder between the designs. Since the Sparkle Embossing Powder is just clear powder with glitter in it, the strays just add a little extra sparkle! I am going to play with some colored powders as well, to see how they turn out.

Now that it is done you can trim it down to the size you want and use in on a card or other project. Here is a card that I made with mine. Glitter doesn't show up all that well in pictures, so this is much more sparkly in real life. It is really beautiful!

This is my first real attempt that this double embossing, and I really like the way it turned out. Those sparkly blue snowflakes are gorgeous and really add a lot of "wow" to the card! I can't wait to try different powders and different embossing folders to see how they will turn out.

~Michelle

Cuttlebug 'Smoosh' Experiment

There has been so much talk just lately about that elusive "Cuttlebug Smoosh" technique that was in a recent Technique Junkies newsletter. Provo Craft even addressed questions about it on their blog. Since I don't subscribe to the newsletter and have only seen samples made using this technique, I decided to do a little bit of an experiment to see what I could come up with on my own.

All of my experimenting was done on plain white cardstock. When inking the embossing folders I used dye ink, which easily rinses out with water.


Experiment #1:

Here is what I used...Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder, make-up sponge, and a VersaMagic re-inker.



After I ran my white cardstock through my Cuttlebug, I simply applied the VersaMagic ink directly to the paper with a make-up sponge. Just keep applying ink until you reach your desired color.



Here is the finished product. I added more ink to darken up some areas just to make it look more interesting.

Conclusion: The paper from this first one turned out very pretty, but it does not resemble the 'Smoosh' technique.

Experiment #2:

Here is what I used...A brayer, the Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, and a Fruitcake Kaleidacolor ink pad.

I started by brayering the ink directly onto the embossing folder. Notice that I am doing it on the side of the folder that has the Cuttlebug name printed on it. Once fully inked, I put the white cardstock in, and ran it through the Cuttlbug.

This is what it looks like when it comes out. The ink does not get down into the detail, which is what ends up raised. As you can see, it is still white.

To color what was left white I just ran my brayer over the paper directly. For this one I didn't even re-ink it, there was still plenty of ink on my brayer and I didn't want it to be darker than the background.

Conclusion: This one looks really close, to me. I have noticed in some of the samples I have seen online that they seem to be done with two colors of ink. This particular way would allow for that because you could ink your embossing folder with one color, then brayer over the top with a different color. That could be very pretty!

Possible Option: Instead of brayering the ink onto the embossing folder, you could try to sponge the ink on and try to get it down into all of the grooves. Sponging the ink will probably take longer though, and your coverage is more likely to be uneven.

Experiment #3: I used the same supplies for this one as I did in #2. The Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, a brayer, and a Fruitcake Kaleidacolor ink pad.

For this one I ran my white cardstock through the Cuttlebug.

Instead of inking the embossing folder, I used my brayer and went over the cardstock after it was embossed. To hit the raised pattern and the background, you really have to push down. Use two hands if you have to, that is what I did.

When you are done, your cardstock will look like this. Notice the white areas. Because the paper was already embossed your brayer will not touch all of the background leaving those white lines around the detail, which I think is a really neat effect.

Conclusion: This one looks really good too. The result is definitely much darker since you are repeatedly going over the paper. One nice thing about this method is that there is a little less clean-up, since you don't ink the embossing folder. Plus, you don't have to worry about staining your folder if that is a possible concern.

In the end: The last two methods that I tried are definitely the closest. Are either of them completely right? I have no idea, but they have to be awfully close. The important thing though, is that I had a lot of fun playing and even if it isn't exact, I have 3 new ways to make interesting and beautiful backgrounds!

Hopefully you will give these a try too. If you do, let me know, I would love to see your creations!

~Michelle