Christmas Joy

I have been quite the lagger lately haven't I?  I haven't been feeling well lately so I have had no urge to craft.  I did get DT project done yesterday though.  Today's post is a card you may have seen before.  I was in a Christmas card making frenzy awhile back for that craft fair I participated in and this is one of the cards I made.  Super easy card to make.

Gifts From the Heart Blog Hop

I am so excited you decided to join myself and all the SVG Attic Design Team members for this amazing hop.  Each project featured in the Gifts From the Heart Blog Hop will be an item that can be given as a gift for the holidays or any other time.

If you came from Ruthie's blog then you are on the right track!  If not, head on to the beginning (SVG Attic's blog) which can be found here.

I found some inspiration online and made a cocoa mug gift box...err, gift mug.

Uh Oh!

Packaging

Goodies!

Tag

The handle

And what exactly is in the mug o' goodies?

A little bit of this and a little bit of that to make some yummy hot cocoa!

Here's a closeup of the top of the marshmallow baggie.

For the cocoa mug I used the pillow box SVG from SVG Attic's Holiday Cheer Gift Boxes.  I got the instructions on making the mug from Split Coast Stamper's.  You can find the instructions here.

The tag in the front is from the Holiday Cheer Gift Boxes as well.

The cute gingerbread man is from the Santa's Little Helper SVG collection.

I made the baggie top myself by just cutting a strip of cardstock, folding it over on a sandwich bag and then stapling it.

Now on to the good stuff!  

Want to win some goodies?!  Enter for a chance to win one of two $50 gift cards to SVG Attic.  All you have to do is the following:

Rules:

1. Become a follower on the SVG Attic blog

2. Become a follower of every blog on the hop

3.Leave a comment on every blog 

Extra entries:

1.  Become a follower of SVG Attic on Facebook (1 entry)

2.  Share on Facebook about our blog hop and tag SVG Attic in the post. (1 entry per share)

To get started on your SVG Attic-inspired Xmas gifts use the coupon code "GIFT" to save 50% off your purchase!

Now it's time to keep on hopping!  Head over to Jessica L's blog next!

Here's the line up in case you get lost:

SVG Attic: http://svgattic.blogspot.com

Jessica B. - www.thecrafterscottage.blogspot.com

Ruthie - www.septemberninth.blogspot.com

                 Kasi 19eightyexpressions <--YOU ARE HERE

 Jessica L - http://craftyrktsci.blogspot.com/

Laura - www.makinprettythings.com

Lisa B - www.our2angelsinheaven.blogspot.com

Jearise - http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com

Corri - www.buglvr.blogspot.com

Katie - http://ktsangels.blogspot.com

Sandra - http://365daysofcricut.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoyed my project!

~Kasi

Twine Ornaments

I mentioned awhile back that I would be starting my stint on Trendy Twine's design team in January.  Well, they have graciously asked me to post as a guest designer this month.  Of course I said yes!  

For my first Trendy Twine project I decided to make something a little different than I normally make, ornaments made out of twine! Oh yea, you can make some pretty stuff with twine!  It's a perfect project to do with the kids.

I made some in traditional colors.....

Peppermint Stick Twine

Twisted Lime Twine w/a hint of Peppermint Stick

And some in not-so-traditional colors....

Blueberry Twine

Blue Berry Twine

My husband helped me make them.  He thinks his is better!  Hmmph.  He really enjoyed making them and actually sad he wants to make more.  Crazy...my husband want to help me with a craft project?!  Unheard of!   

 I was thinking of glittering up these babies but decided against it since it may hide the pretty twine and unfortunately I didn't think to adorn these with pretty buttons or other embellishments until after I took these pictures (you know how time-consuming that is!) so here they are in all their naked glory.  I think adorned or not they are super cute.

Keep on reading to learn how to make these cute and simple ornaments!

HOW TO:

Ingredients

• Small water balloons (yea, I made a mistake and used bigger balloons.  Unless you want giant ornaments or to use a ton of twine then use water balloons.) 
• White glue
• Water
• Small bowl
• Trendy Twine
• Wax paper
• Ribbon

  

1. Blow up balloons to to desired size and tie ends.

2. In a small bowl make a solution of 2 parts glue and 1 part water.
 

3. Coat the twine with glue and squeeze out the excess.

4. Wrap twine around balloon in in desired pattern, leaving some openings all around.

5. Lay twine ball ball on wax paper to dry and rotating every few hours to allow all sides to dry.

6. When completely dry, pop balloon and remove the deflated balloon from an opening in the cording.

7. Loop ribbon or additional twine through an opening in the ornament to hang.

8.  Embellish with glitter, buttons, etc.

You can use multiple colors of twine to make it a colorful and even more interesting!

I hope you try it out.  There's so much you can do to decorate these and pretty them up some more.  They'll look great on your tree and you can color coordinate them to match your decor!  Actually you can even throw these in a bowl or something and place in the middle of a table as decor.

ENJOY!!

P.S. If you try this out I would love to see your creations!

~Kasi

SVG Attic December Color Challenge

SVG Attic holds monthly color challenges which are super fun to join in on.  It's super simple to get into.  Head to the blog challenge post which can be found HERE, check out what colors are announced, the rules, and create away using those colors and SVG Attic files!  Once you're done link your project and enter for a chance to win some cool prizes.  Remember, this is monthly so you have plenty of chances to participate and win.

Before I go on with my project I wanted to remind you to join SVG Attic for the Gifts from the Heart Blog Hop next week starting December 9th!

On to the project!

I decided that I wanted to take a break from traditional Christmas colors so for the December SVG Attic color challenge inspiration I made a quick Christmas card...in pink!  

Cute right?  I used the stocking gift card holder from the Cookies for Santa SVG collection for the pretty pink stocking.  I tweaked it a bit to make into a regular die cut rather than a gift card holder. 

The twine is from......you guessed it.....Trendy Twine.  I used the Strawberry Cupcake twine.  Love that color!  By the way they came out with two new Christmas colors.  Check them out.  I can't wait to play with them.

The paper is from the Jingle Bells paper stack by Recollections.  I topped off the pretty in pink card with some buttons I scored at Scrapbuck.com for $2 a pack.  

Ooh, so you like the little clothespin do ya?  Wanna know where I got that cute thing?  I actually got it from a local scrapbook store but found out and confirmed that Walmart has them in the kids craft section for pretty cheap.  I think you can get 50 for $1.99!  I know you want to stock up on them.  They are the cutest little things ever. 

So awhile back I mentioned I joined the Trendy Twine design team.  Well, this Friday is my very first post.  I'm *technically* not official yet and will be posting as a guest designer but come January 1st I will be the real deal!  Woohoo!!  I will be doing a twine giveaway along with my post so make sure you stop by for your chance to win! 

~Kasi

Christmas Is Upon Us

This past holiday weekend I got a little taste of Christmas.  My mother-in-law came down from Utah and brought us all gifts.  I had to think quickly as to what  should give her.  I am one of those last minute people so that morning I set to work thinking.  It was either get her some type of scrapbooking item (she's a crafter as well) or make her something I love giving her handmade gifts because she really has a deep appreciation for them.  

I chose the harder route and made her something.

I ALMOST didn't give this to her.  I wanted to keep it so bad!  It tuned out so pretty.  The pictures don't do it justice at all.  When she saw her gift the my sister-in-laws ooh'd and aww'd over it too and said they were putting in an order for one too.  Funny ladies. 

I purchased the frame at the Salvation Army for under $2.  It actually is supposed to have two more picture slots where the tree and tag is but I decided not to cut those out because it looked too over crowded with three pictures in one frame.

I used DCWV's Mrs. Claus' Kitchen Stack for the background paper and the tag and Mod Podge to seal the paper onto the frame.  I threw in some buttons, ribbons, bling, and Trendy Twine's Peppermint Stick twine.  I also used one of my favorite tools, Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio for the yellow epoxy star and the round green embellishments on the tag. 

BTW, the links above, except the one for Trendy Twine, lead you to Joann's website because each item I linked is on sale with free shipping.  Take advantage of the sale while you can!

Trendy Twine is having a sale as well.  Use coupon code "AFTERTHANKSGIVING" to receive 15% off any $25 twine purchase now through Monday.

Now onto my next item.  I received a laminator from my mother-in-law...what can  use it for?  I can laminate bookmarks...that's all the ideas I have.

~Kasi

Snowman Frame

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (for those of you who celebrated).  My day was full of family, food, and fun.  I tried my hand at some 10pm Black "Friday" shopping (on a Thursday!) and turned my happy butt right back around and drove home when I saw the people lose their minds in Walmart over some video games.  It was nuts.  I used to be a seasoned Black Friday shopper but I just can't handle it anymore.  Anyway, for those of you who braved the madness, I hope you got what you wanted!

Today is my SVG Attic design team project day.  Yippee.  I made a bit of home decor since I have absolutely none for Christmas.  Sure I have a tree and ornaments but...well...that's about it.  I decided it was time to make something festive to display in my barren house.  

I got the very pretty white frame from the dollar store (score!) for a whopping $1 (duh).  Not too shabby eh?  It's about 7"x7" in length and width.  

The background paper came from DCWV's Christmas & Winter Stack. 

The snowman is from SVG Attic's Build a Snowman collection.  Isn't he adorable  I stamped Mr. Snowman's eyes on using Peachy Keen's Simple Sallies ou Face Assortment. 

I had cut the "BELIEVE" that's at the top of the frame for another project I did this past weekend and I saved all the cutout letters.  Good thing I did because it goes perfectly with this framed snowman.  

The snowflakes are confetti-like pieces I've had since last Christmas.  I knew those babies would come n handy again one day!

I hope you enjoyed this project.  Look for my next project very very soon!  I made a gift for my mother-in-law which I think you'll love.  I seriously did NOT want to give it away.  

Also, remember to enter for your chance to win a free My Memories Scrapbooking Software Suite!  Click HERE for details.   

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

~Kasi

Fall Pillow Box

One thing I am grateful for are the amazing friends I have.  I truly have surrounded myself with awesome people, all of whom I've known for many years and go as far back as junior high.  Each friendship began at different times in my life and while I've been at different stages in growing as a person.  Each friendship has held strong and I am so thankful for the support they give me in my times of need.  I made my latest SVG Attic design team project with this in mind and of course because of the time of year.

For this pillow box I used SVG Attic's Holiday Cheer Gift Boxes SVG collection which has some really really cute gift boxes.  In it you get the pillow box I used, Santa's sleigh, an ornament bag, and a gift card holder.  Perfect for the holidays.  

I also used the Pumpkin Patch SVG collection from SVG Attic to make the cutout of the pumpkin and the pumpkin die cut.  The cutout is backed with gold vellum.  I used a white gel pen to add "stitching" to the pumpkin die cut.

The right side is adorned with some Orange Truffle twine from Trendy Twine.  You can also find them on Etsy HERE.  Please note that the shop is closed until November 28th (vacation).

The sentiment is from My Thoughts Exactly's Many Thanks stamp set.  MTE stamps are for sure my favorite sentiment stamps around.  The quality is better than other stamps I have tried and they don't get discolored!  Also, the sentiment stamps super sharp and clearly. 

I added some orange buttons I bought for $2 at the Scrapbook Expo last weekend.  The store is called Scrapbuck.  They have some pretty good deals and free shipping right now with a $20 purchase.

The paper is from DCWV's Harvest Gathering Stack.  Did you hear they are opening a DCWV Deals website?  Look for that in the near future.  I am super excited to stock up on paper stacks that they don't sell around here anymore.

Enjoy your weekend and have a great Veteran's Day.  Remember to thank a veteran!

Craft Fair Prep

I was invited to participate in a local craft fair.  I was hesitant.  Sure it sounded way cool but will people want my stuff?  It took me many many weeks to come to realize that I need to get over my fear and just do it.  I sent in the payment for my space last week so I have no choice now!

I had quite a bit of stuff but not quite enough so lately I have been busting my butt working on making more items to sell.  I had no Christmas cards, tags, etc so that's what I've been focusing on the last three days.  I will probably throw in some other holiday themes and birthday themed items.

Here's a quick look at some of the things I have been working on.

Traditional colored Xmas cards and tags

Stepping away from the traditional with this tri-fold gift card holder

I'll probably throw up some more pictures as I create items.  I made some other things not pictured here so maybe I'll take some pictures of those later.

What do you think?

Christmas in July

It's Christmas in July here in my little craft room.  Yes, get those gifts ready because Christmas will be here in no time!  I have already been working on my little gifts.  To tell you the truth...the people that will be getting them probably will see this here or on Facebook so they won't be much of a surprise will they?  I can't help but show you all though! I love taking pics of my projects.  I may just end up giving these goodies to the recipients BEFORE Christmas.  Shhh....

OK, on to my project.

I decided to join in on the Paper Dolls challenge this week which so happens to be Christmas in July.  They have these super cute freebie SVG files from Kadoodle Bug Designs.  Now I have seen their files before and I have never really knew what to use them for until now!  I normally use a different style of SVGs but I think this challenge has just opened up a whole new door in scrapbook/cardmaking/SVG land for me.

Lately I have been obsessed with bookmarks (*hint?*) but I don't even know why seeing that I am a new Kindle owner.  What am I going to use a bookmark for now?  I just graduated school so there goes that idea.  I have an e-reader so what's the point?  Then the other day I took my daughter to the library and BINGO!  It hit me.  My daughter could use bookmarks since I refuse to get her an e-reader.  Oh yes, this 10 year old has already asked many times for one.  Well, seeing that she is one of the few people I know that don't own an e-reader I made today's project with her in mind.  Not to say she will be getting this baby though!

Ready for pictures?  Here ya go!

Rudolph the Red Nose Penguin

Shhh, he's in disguise!

Poor guy can't reach his headband antlers to hang the ornament

Shiny red nose just like Rudolph

I used Kadoodle Bug Designs files that you can get HERE on the Paper Dolls blog.  I used the Candy Cane Stripe embossing folder from Provo Craft (I know I know...bad name but sorry...I really love my Cuddlebug and the folders!) to emboss the green behind the penguin, uh I mean reindeer.  I used my most awesome ever tool, the Crop-a-Dile, to set a green eyelet at the top of the bookmark through which I poked two colors of Trendy Twine to be used as the tassle.  As for paper, The patterned paper is from Heidi Grace Designs and is called Jolly & Bright/Gingerbread.  I picked it up at Joann's I believe.

Well, I think that about does it for this one.  Hope you enjoyed it!  Now I'm off to return my Red Box DVD before I am fined!