Christmas Gifts 2012

Like so many of you, I have a serious stack of 12 x 12 patterned papers. I have added to them, used them, moved them, stacked and re-shelved them. They are beautiful and precious to me. But of course I have WAY too much! So this year I have decided that no matter what it takes, I will use up my stash of patterned paper. It's going to take a lot of doing. So for Christmas gifts I dug out my papers and some note paper pads I have had for a very long time and set to work. 

This is a really simple but nice gift. I measured and scored my pattern paper. Then adhered the notepad to the paper with score tape.

 Folded the paper around the pad and added a self-stick velcro tab.

Voila! A little notebook holder!

 I made a slew of them. (sorry, upside down picture?!)

 I also followed this tutorial HERE to make some hand sewn sketch booklets. Same style. Folded cover with a velcro tab.

 And of course since I just can't waste paper, I made some tiny ones as well. I used some of the loose notepad pages from my first books and sewed them up like the second sketch books but they are about 4 inches instead.

 Because of the size difference I didn't think velcro would work out so I made a little sleeve to slide over the book to keep it closed. Some of the papers came with fancy edges and others I added myself. I have made a bucket load which means everyone I know is getting at least one of them this year!

Merry Christmas in just 7 more days!

Christmas Tree Decorations

This year, being far away from home and all my Christmas decorations, I opted to use my craft stash to help decorate our new tree. We left the big nice one at home and bought a little "apartment friendly" one here in Singapore. I decided to make a string banner and some snowflake ornaments. 

I started with the Spellbinders Banner die cuts and my Cuttlebug machine.

 I chose a pack of older holiday papers that I have had sitting in my stash for a few years. I went crazy with the cutting. I would love to move home without one page of old paper so I can get all new when I get back to the states ; )  

Before I cut the banner, I folded the paper so it would be double sided when they popped out. I put runners tape on both sides and sealed it over my ribbon.

 I also tried some rope as seen below. But its rounder and thicker, so the banner had a harder time staying put. I would recommend using a thin, flat ribbon of some kind. But this is what it looked like strung up!

Next I took some Papertrey Ink felt in Pure Poppy and Fresh Snow with their Snowflake die cuts and ran them through the Cuttlebug.

I took the corresponding stamp set (also by Papertrey Ink) and Palette Noir ink and stamped the image right onto the felt. It gave it a nice muted tone which I really like.

I punched holes in the top with my Crop-a-dile and added some hooks. And this is what they look like!

My tree is so small I really didn't need many. I think I ended up with 10-15 of them. Between these, the banner and a few silver globes, there was enough to fill up the tree perfectly!

And for some reason, I can't upload the final photo of the entire tree! Grrrr! Sometimes, technology just gets me, you know?! Well, anyway. It looks lovely and festive! I'm really glad I got to do it all myself this year instead of relying on buying things. Part because it is SO expensive (especially in Singapore) and partly because it really made a homespun look and it was just what I needed being so far away from my home and family. It really helped me get into the spirit of the season!