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I’m really starting to feel the Christmas Crunch over here and no, it’s not the dried out Bermuda grass of my lawn!  Between gifts for teachers, coaches, neighbors, and friends….and that’s just my kids!!!  I was also put in charge of the Middle School Christmas Party at the last minute!  As in, for the ENTIRE Middle School!!!  YIKES!  Normally, I stamp all the goodies that leave my home but this year, this Diva has got to cut some corners…just to save her sanity!  I was cleaning out some computer files last week and I came across this snowman graphic that I had downloaded aeons ago and today I decided I would run off a couple of sheets and my daughters could make these for their friends at school, teammates, etc.  The graphic was really cute enough to use alone…but we added a strip of torn plaid, fabric as a scarf (you can make a ton of scarves for 99 cents worth of fabric!) and we raided our orphaned sock basket to make colorful hats.  Simply roll the cuff over 2-3 times for the brim, tie with some yarn, trim off the toe and cut slits down to the yarn to make the funky fringe!  They look even cuter once they’ve been stretched a few times.  *Note:  It helps to anchor the hat with a glue dot on the back.

Now, if you’re looking for a last minute gifty for the whole class or for everyone in your office, CLICK HERE for a PDF version of the wrapper (each sheet makes 2 snowmen…aren’t I thrifty?), grab a box or 2 of candy bars and start wrapping!

Happy Holidays!

Just in case you thought I couldn’t create unless paper was involved, I thought I should post this project.  I am in a Christmas Swap with some girls from across the country and I was very tempted to do something paper related.  I considered cards, ornaments, planners and scrapbook pages but then I remembered making these stars as gifts the very first year my hubby and I were married (16 LONG years ago)…Well, I knew I just had to share this idea!  They can be a little tweaky/time consuming/complicated but when they are done, they are so neat! 

I think they capture the child-like essence of the holiday while still looking elegant and even evoking a little of the true meaning of the holiday.  I hope the other girls are pleased….come to think of it, I hope the other girls don’t read this before they get their box of swaps!!! 

For those you who are curious, I made 10 of these for my swap and I sealed them with Krylon Triple Thick spray.  They are held together with a TON of hot glue….no, I didn’t burn myself (thank heavens!) and yes, they are butt-ugly from the back (glue globs, etc.) but that’s ok because nobody needs to see that part

I’ve given up trying to guess what you guys will love and what you’re not interested in…because just when I think I’ve got a handle on things, y’all throw me a curve ball!  Like this…my son was playing with my scraps and I thought I’d whip him up a little "Punchie Person" to play with while I was working.  After messing around for a little while, this is what I came up with.  As I mentioned before, she is based on a Peanut Butter Cup Witch’s Hat I had seen this year around Halloween….I know, I know…"How do you look at a witch’s hat and end up with an angel?"  No idea….my brain obviously works in strange ways but in this case I was looking at the basic shape.

Her dress is a Coluzzle Circle cut in half, her arms are the small oval punch cut in half.  Her hands are petals from one of the larger flowers of the 3 Flower punches (?) Her head is a 3/4" circle with a 1/2" circle for the bun in her hair, her bangs are part of the 5-Petal Flower punch.  Her halo is a 3/4" circle with a 1/2" circle cut out of the middle.  Confused?  I hope not…once you start playing with your punches you’d be surprised what you can come up with!!!

This little Punch Art angel is based on the Witches Hats that were so popular this past Halloween.  Her body is a half circle made with the Coluzzle and can be wrapped around a Rollo, Mini-Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or other small, round candy.  I just thought it would be cute to have a whole village of little Candy People for the holidays…maybe 25 to use as a Countdown ’til Christmas? 

Stampin’ Up! has the "All in the Family" set that would be cute to stamp faces and clothes on these little guys…if I owned the set myself I would have tried that already!  Ohhhh!  Isn’t it on sale 50% off until Dec. 1st?  Better grab mine before it’s too late!

Sorry for the delay….I’ve had some re-occurring trouble with my ISP (that’s internet service provider for those who may be wondering )but here is yet another treat box I came up with:

File this under "Well, why didn’t I think of that sooner?!?!"  The shape of the Triangle Treat Box is a natural for a Christmas Tree and you can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like.  Here I used a 5-pointed flower layered on another flower with a rhinestone brad as the star. 

I double punched the Scallop Circle over and over again to give the tree its texture…of course this could also be accomplished with sponging or dry embossing…the Cuttlebug embossing folders would work for this too!  The ornaments are simply 1/4" circles…but you could easily use a different punch, stamps, glitter…the possibilities are endless…

Are you ready for today’s version of the Triangle Treat Box? 

Anyone tired of these yet? 

I made this one out of retired SU! Wintergreen Designer Series Paper.  Her halo is made using both oval punches and Brushed Silver cardstock.  Her wings are a scallop circle cut in half (again in Brushed Silver.) 

This little angel’s head is a 1" Circle punched from Blush Blossom attached with dimensionals…I added a little blush to her cheeks with pastels.  To create her hair: use half of a Tab punch for the back…her bangs are created by punching a 1" Circle in the hair color…I stick this circle to a Post-It note and use the Post-It to guide the circle into the 5-Petal Flower Punch (this gives you the perfect "V" shape!)  Her arms are Large Ovals (trimmed to create the sleeves) and the Word Window punch folded in half are her hands (sweetly folded in prayer).

If I had to make several of these at once, I would probably skip the eyelet style scallops on the bottom of skirt…but I just love how sweet it looks and the strip of paper along the base of the skirt is simply a leftover scrap and shows the back of this sheet of DSP.

I still might have another idea or two up my sleeve for these boxes so be sure to check back soon!

Once I start thinking about something in a new way, it’s like my brain gets stuck and I end up doing a series of similar projects…variations on a theme.  Those of you that have been around awhile aren’t surprised by this statement but I was surprised by the turn my creativity took last night.  Awake most of the night with a sick child, my brain kept coming up with different variations for the Triangle Box.  Today’s version is Rudolph (Red-Nose and all!)  This is simply the same Triangle Box from yesterday but turned upside down.

Rudolph’s eyes are the Oval Punches (large and cut in half for the lids, small for the pupils) and one of the myriad of flower punches, cut into quarters, give him his long lashes.  His nose is the 1/2" circle punch with a layer of Crystal Effects to make it shiny!  I though the ribbon closure looked like it might be around his neck….

The antlers were tough…I ended up double punching the 1-3/8" Circle to create these "moon" shapes.  These were layered together to give Rudolph a graceful and stylized looking antler.  His ears are the smaller oval punch with a slit cut into the middle, overlapped and glued to give them dimension…the antlers are attached to the back of the ears.

I hope that was a pretty clear explanation…no time for a a formal tutorial between doctor visits and breathing treatments, etc.  But check back tomorrow….you won’t believe what else I did with this little box!!!

Update: After looking at St. Nick ALL night last night, I decided he needed to be ‘tweaked’….

I lowered the brim of his hat (the Word Window Punch) and changed the flower/pom-pom on his hat to a smaller flower….I think I like him better now, but the original is below for you to decide…Cheers!

 I can’t imagine where this came from…I swear I was just trying to clean up my stamping area when this cute little elf just ‘popped’ into my head!  Well, it is NOT the time of year to say ‘no’ to Santa…so, I sat right down and whipped him up!  He is really just a basic Triangle Box (using a half sheet of cardstock cut to 4.25" x 11".)  His face is punch art (it’s hard to tell from the picture, but I did use dimensionals and some sponging to make his face "POP) and the twinkle in his eyes are dots of White Gel Pen.  His belt is a strip of cardstock cut to slip through a soda can pop-top!  Can’t you just see this Jolly Ol’ Elf filled with little goodies and hanging from YOUR tree???  Here’s the original:

As promised, here are some ideas for holiday gift wrapping using ordinary lunch bags.  And while this idea is not novel and the stamps I used may not be the newest, I am showing this because the idea is so quick and simple…and who doesn’t need THAT during the holidays? 

This concept can be tweaked to fit any stamp set and any style or size paper bag…the key is in the details: bright color inks, clear, crisp images, coordinating tags and tissue and of course, the candy cane closure!  Your friends and family will think you’re channeling Martha Stewart…but only you’ll know…and I’ll never tell just how easy it was!

 Call me crazy from the heat…it’s another scorcher here in the Sunshine State…but I decided to get a jump on the holidays and make an altered composition book Holiday Planner.

 I’m hoping this will help me to stay organized (and on budget!) this year…as well as keep me from losing my mind!  I’ve created pockets for storing recipes and receipts and such.   

I added tabs to create sections for "lists", "To Do", "Gift Ideas", etc.  And of course, no planner would be complete without an adorable matching pen This one is attached using SU!’s Label Punch and 2 brads (the holes were punched through the chipboard using the CAD)

With all the rain lately (and the fact that I am NOT headed to SLC for Convention this week <sniff, sniff>), my creative muse must be in overdrive!  

I made this Spirelli "ornament" for the cover (the punched shape is actually SU!’s Scallop Circle, using the Double Punch technique)…very festive!  And as a final touch?  I made paper bead bookmarks, of course  Too much?  Maybe…but I thoroughly enjoyed myself!  Just call me the "Stepford Stamper"  LOL!