It’s Never Too Latte For a Friend

Hello friends!  Hope that your week has been going great so far and you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving Day for my friends in the U.S. that celebrate.  So since Christmas is coming up quickly, I thought it would be fun to share a couple of little gifts for a friend you might like to share coffee/cocoa with:

Aren’t these little mini coffee cups with the gift card holder so fun?!  I had fun making and gifting them!  Of course I love coffee, but if your friend would rather do a cocoa, that will work for this too!  I’ve used this adorable Inky Stamper Latte stamp set to create my project here with that adorable “Rosie” character popping out of the cup.  I colored and cut her out with the coordinating die.  For the “candy cane” image on the front of Rosie’s cup, as well as the “coffee ring stain” image on the coffee cup sleeve, I used the Inky Stamper Warm Beverages stamp set to accompany my design.  (There are some great cocoa images in there to trade off for the coffee too!)

These little mini coffee to go cups were found on Amazon (4 oz cups pack of 50 with lids) and there are tons of videos on You Tube on how to construct the holder for these. (Check out several from search here)  I sort of tweaked mine from a die set that I’ve had for years, but there’s no reason to buy a die if you can create without an additional purchase.  I’ve added an additional backing with a pocket and thumb opening to hold a Starbucks gift card in.

And then when you open the coffee cup, there is a great place to add some extra treats inside!  I chose to add some Bailey’s chocolate truffle candy inside of these cups.  You can also see how I decorated the cups with papers that has peppermint candies on them as well as the top of the lid, the cup sleeves with stamping and the red twine wrapped around the lid as well.  The little peppermints that I’ve added on the top of the lid as well as on Rosie’s head came from the Inky Stamper Christmas Candy Mix…love that container!  The Doodlebug red Gingham/Linen papers come from the Inky Stamper store as well.

And since the lid on the cup was not as secure as I would’ve liked it to be, I decided to wrap the entire thing inside of a gusseted cello bag and tie it up with some more of the red twine, which also made it look like a gift wrapped present too!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my project(s) today and have been inspired to create a fun gift for Christmas too!  Thanks so much for stopping in and have yourself a very grateful Thanksgiving Day!🦃

Challenges:

  1. Double D – Hot Beverages
  2. Sparkles Monthly – Dies and/or Punches (both used!)
  3. Creative Knockouts – Anything Goes
  4. Colour Crazy Craft – Anything Goes + coloring
  5. Crafty Catz – Anything Goes optional Christmas
  6. Creative Fingers – Anything Goes

*Vicki*20 Comments

“tis the Season for Holiday Chaos and Update on Christmas Cards for Danny🎅

Hello friends!  This is my second post for today, so please scroll down to see it or CLICK HERE for the {Cupcake Inspirations} Reminder post.

I have several creations to share with you today because while I’m working on trying to get some last minute Christmas projects finished, I thought that I would join in the fun week long “Holiday Chaos” challenges over at the Catch the Bug Blog for Bugaboo Stamps.  I’ve caught up with all of the challenges up to today and then hopefully later this week I’ll be able to post the remainder of them:

This card is for the Day 1 challenge of “Reindeer Games”, so I had this really cute Bugaboo image called Little Penguin Reindeer and colored him up for my card.  I had these fun reindeer papers in my stash to pair with him and then found this fun sentiment strip to add with it as well.😂

I’ve used some gold glitter paper and added some gold glitter enamel dots in the corner.  The bells on the penguin’s waist was covered with a gold glitter pen and then I added some faux snowflakes along the circle image border too.

This next card was created for Day 2 Challenge of a sketch.  I’ve colored up this adorable Bugaboo image called Christmas Teddy 2 Ornaments all in blue colors!  Hard to tell in the photo, but I’ve used glitter gel pens to color in the stripe of the ornament and the silver tops.

I have been itching to pull out my Martha Stewart papers that have been lurking in my stash and I really love the colors in them along with the silver foil!  I white heat embossed the sentiment from the Brutus Monroe “Holiday Essentials” stamp set and cut it out as a banner with my scissors and popped it up over the card with foam tape.  I finished the design with some Drip Drops from Taylored Expressions.

And of course here’s my project for today’s challenge Day 3 ABC/Anything But a Card.  I make these little “snowman soup” containers every year for my family and sometimes sneek in an extra “surprise” or 2 inside!  You may have recalled these on my blog before, but they’re just recyled Crystal Light containers and they fit the hot cocoa, candy cane, marshmallows and a few chocolate kisses all in there perfectly together.  I’ve decorated them in many different ways.  CLICK HERE to see a previous post that shows another way I’ve made them in the past.  This time, I just made tags to attach around the containers.  I have made another set of 3 of these containers (different images) that I will show in a future post too!

I’ve used these adorable snowmen from Bugaboo Stamps called “Snowman Snowflakes” (right) and “Snowman Snowballs” (left).  I colored them up with Copics and added a sentiment that was stamped at the bottom from Whimsy Stamps Holiday Mini Sentiments stamp set.

I’ve had this “snowman soup” poem for years and years and just printed it out on my computer and attached it to the back of the containers.  The top of the lids are also covered with pattern papers.  P.S.  If you haven’t tried the “Hot Cocoa Hershey Kisses”…oh my goodness they’re so good!😋

UPDATE:

I also wanted to share an update on the “Christmas Cards for Danny” post you may remember that I posted about a few weeks back.  I’ve actually seen an update in my own hometown newspaper about all the cards he’s received and as of December 10th, he’s received 2,544 Christmas cards from ALL OVER THE WORLD! How cool is that?!  Please CLICK HERE to read the newspaper article about the overwhelming support and heartfelt Christmas wishes people have sent him!  This really touches my heart and uplifts me about the kindess in the human spirit.  Thank you to those that took the time to send a Christmas card his way!  It’s really what Christmas is all about.

Challenges:

  1. Catch the Bug – Holiday Chaos Day 1: Reindeer Games (card 1)
  2. Catch the Bug – Holiday Chaos Day 2: Sketch (card 2)
  3. Catch the Bug – Holiday Chaos Day 3: ABC Anything But a Card (snowmen soup)
  4. Christmas Crafts All Year ‘Round – December Gifts/Containers (snowmen soup)
  5. 2 Crafty Critter Crazies – #45 Anything Goes + critter (card 2)
  6. Crafty Animals – #45 Anything Goes + animal (card 2)
  7. Daring Cardmakers – Animal Antics at Christmas (card 1)
  8. The Sisterhood of Crafters – Anything Christmas/Winter (snowmen soup)
  9. Crazy 4 Challenges – C4C565 past sketch from 2020 (I used sketch C4C553 for card 1)

*Vicki*33 Comments

Color Challenge Reminder Bagged for {Cupcake Inspirations}

Happy Monday morning to you friends!  As I have pre-scheduled this post, I’m sure that I’m probably worn out from a weekend of crafty fun!🥱  Sleeping is over-rated anyway, right?!😆  (I will share some fun things with you all later though!)  But for now, I’d like to remind you about our color combo challenge for {Cupcake Inspirations} and hope you will join in the fun with us using Olive, Red & Lavender:

From my last post, I’m continuing on with making Halloween treat bags for my grands so I thought I’d pull out the colors that would work for this color combo challenge too! Plus, I’m also adding this to another entry for the Whimsy Stamps 31 Nights of Halloween:

 

I fell in LOVE with those Whimsy Stamps Haunted papers!  I thought it would be a fun backdrop for this darling little Whimsy Stamps Frankie digital stamp to be in front of!  I colored her up with Copics and fussy cut her out and popped her up over the background paper.

Before I placed the background paper over the bag, I took the Batty Stencil from Brutus Monroe and went over the paper sack with some Black Soot Distress Ink.  I cut a couple of strips of cardstock to go with the color combo and white heat embossed the sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Corny Candy Corns stamp set.  I’ve also added a couple of the silver mirror cardstock stars around it and then used some foam squares to pop up the Frankie girl with.

To close up the treat bag, I folded over the top and then punched a couple of holes in the top and added a tag from a paper pack in my stash, rubbed some Black Soot Distress Ink around it and tied it on the bag with the olive colored yarn string that was tied in a bow.

Here’s a closer look at the colored up image and how I’ve incorporated the colors into it.  I did use a silver metallic gel pen to color in the “bolts” on the sides of her head and then used a white gel pen to dot her eyes and cheeks with.  I think that hair is my favorite part about her!  She’s just too cute to spook, I think!😁 

Thanks so much for dropping in today!  I hope you’ve enjoyed my project and I’ll be seeing you again soon!

Challenges:

  1. The Cutie Pie Challenge – Too Cute to Spook
  2. Aud Sentiments – #262 Halloween/Fall Sentiment
  3. A Bit More Time to Craft – #126 Anything Goes
  4. QKR Stampede – #406 Anything Goes
  5. Crafty Catz – #523 Anything Goes
  6. Creative Fingers – #195 Anything Goes
  7. My Time to Craft – #443 Halloween or Cats
  8. This is Halloween – #2 Anything Goes Halloween (3rd and last entry) NEW!!!
  9. Two Old Bats Halloween – #1 Anything Goes Halloween “Jump Start” (3rd entry) NEW!!!

👻🦇🕷👁🎃(Please support the Halloween challenges and get them going!  All lovers of Halloween unite!)

*Vicki*32 Comments

Ghostly Haunts with Digi Doodle Studios + a Bag-a-lope Video Tutorial!

Hello friends and happy weekend to you!  Hope that you have some fun included in your weekend.

Today I’m sharing this really adorable digital stamp set from Digi Doodle Studios called “Ghotstly Haunts” and I had SO much fun with it that I made several projects using it including a fun video tutorial that may give you ideas for not only your favorite goblin, but for other fun ideas that I’ll reference:

Vicki-DDS-Bag-a-lope video

Now how cute are the ghosts in this set?!  As you can see, I had tons of fun creating several projects using the Ghostly Haunts Pairables digital stamp set!

The two projects on the ends are actually what I’ve created for the “bag-a-lope” video tutorial.  If you’ve been crafting for as long as I have, then I’m sure you’ve heard of this idea somewhere along the way.  People buy up those dies, but this way seems so much easier and cheaper to deal with to me.  Here’s the project idea that I share in the video:

Vicki-DDS-Bag-a-lope1

This is such a fun and easy bag to create and fill with treats for your favorite goblin!  You can fill with yummy treats or a small gift.  It would be great to put a gift card inside with some tissue or bag fill too!  Not only for Halloween, but for Christmas too!

In the video below, I share how I created this bag along with another fun project using the same idea with just a plain old envelope!  That’s all you need to make these along with your own ideas!  I’ve used the Ghostly Haunts Pairables set to create the fun spider web paper in the background as well as the spider and sentiment.

If you’d like to see how to create this treat bag along with some other fun ideas with tips and tricks, then be sure to watch my video tutorial below or CLICK HERE to view it on You Tube. – If you haven’t yet, please be sure to hit “like”, comment and subscribe to my channel!

Vicki-DDS-Bag-a-lope2

As seen in the video, I have also used this adorable set using the same “bag-a-lope” idea to create a fun Lumiere using a vellum envelope.  I have printed out an additional ghost and attached him to the clip on the top of the bag.  LOL!

For the spider web strips at the top and bottom, they were the same left over papers that I’ve used on the treat bag above, but for these strips I’ve heat embossed over them with some clear sparkle EP.  It’s hard to see in the photos, but I’ve taken a sparkle glitter brush pen and covered every single ghost on my projects.  I’ve used my Copic markers to color in all of the images after printing out my scenes from the computer.  The sentiment for this project was actually made by myself using a font from my computer.

Vicki-DDS-Bag-a-lope-candle

Here you can see how the battery tea light candles are glowing through the vellum Lumiere bag.  I also thought this would be a fun idea for Christmas time as well!

Vicki-DDS-Ghostely Haunts

Lastly, I HAD to create a card using this adorable digital set too!

For this card, I created the scene on my computer and printed it out.  I printed it out again over some masking paper.  I cut the images out of masking paper and put them over the printed out scene so I could do the ink blended background.  I actually fussy cut the ghost and popped him up over the tombstone.  I covered him with a glitter brush pen too!  (I’ve also added a touch of “moon glow” on the top of his head.

I die cut the scene and attached it over a piece of purple glitterstock and then die cut the black frame to go over top of the card.  Before adding the frame, I attached the die cut fence and a couple more pieces of “grass” from the digital stamp set.  That sentiment cracks me up!  I sponged over it, added to a black strip and attached it over the card front panel.  This was all attached to an A2 sized top folding card base.

Hope you’ve had as much looking at my projects as I had making them! Thank you so much for dropping by today and I’ll be seeing you soon!

Challenges:

  1.  Try it On Tuesday – Witches/Wizards/Halloween
  2. The Creative Crafters – Anything Goes
  3. Creatalicious – October Anything Goes with optional Autumn/Halloween
  4. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Halloween
  5. The Male Room – Halloween
  6. Krafty Chicks – #477 Ghost Card
  7. CRAFT – Box or Bag
  8. Creative Knockouts – Halloween
  9. TGIF Challenges! – #tgifc234 – Happy Halloween

*Vicki*28 Comments

Fairy Princess Bunny With a Pocket!

Hello friends!  Hope you have enjoyed your weekend.  Yay!  We are finally getting some decent weather to be outside in!  It’s been rainy and chilly for a while, so it’s been nice to see some sun the last few days!

Today I have this really sweet image to share from Whimsy Stamps May Digital release and a fun extra added element with it!

Vicki-PC Fairy Princess Bunny Tag

I have made a tag using this really sweet Pollycraft image from Whimsy Stamps called Fairy Princess Bunny.  Isn’t she so sweet?!  I found some pretty papers to go with her and placed it over a purchased kraft colored tag that I sponged some white ink around the edges.

After placing the papers where I wanted them and trimming it down, I also attached a lace trim on each end of the papers over the tag.  The papers also had a bunch of sentiments included in the pack, so I added the circle sentiment to the tag and then die cut a kraft piece to layer behind it.  I also added some flowers and the ribbon at the top and then finished it off with some clear sequins.

Vicki-PC Fairy Princess Bunny Tag-close

Here’s a closer view of the coloring I’ve done on this cutie.  I’ve used Copic Markers to color her in with using the following markers:

  • Dress, shirt, shoes, socks – B37, B34, B32, B01, B00, B000
  • Bunny, bunny ears – R11, R00, R000, C3, C1, C0
  • Wings – R00, R000, E000, BG000
  • Hair – YR30, E41, E43, E44, V95
  • Skin – E000, E00, E11, E21, R20, R00
  • Grass – G24, G21, G20
  • I used gel pens to make dots on wings and color in the crowns on the girl and bunny heads.  I also used a Wink of Stella glitter pen to go over the wings.

After I colored her in, I cut her out from a circle stitched scallop die and then sponged around the image with a cloud stencil and distress ink.  I also sponged around the edges of the scallop circle with another color of distress ink and mounted her over the tag with a piece of craft foam behind her.

Vicki-PC Fairy Princess Bunny Tag-otherside

So, when you flip the tag over, you can see that I’ve made a little pocket with the same papers I’ve used on the front of the tag.  I thought this would be a cute way to give out a gift card to your “Fairy Princess”.  The tag happens to be the perfect size for adding a pocket for a gift card to fit into.

Vicki-PC Fairy Princess Bunny Tag-flat

I hope you’ve enjoyed my little tag creation today!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR DROPPIN BY!!  HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

challenges:

  1.  Crafty Creations – Anything Goes
  2. Fab ‘N’ Funky – Anything Goes #437
  3. Crafty Catz – Anything Goes with optional twist of females
  4. QKR Stampede – Anything Goes #347
  5. Crafting By Designs – Fantasy

*Vicki*22 Comments

We’re Recycling at Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends!  I’m back to share our new challenge for Cute Card Thursday this week!  I have to say that I enjoyed this challenge, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this one.  We would like to see some “Recycling” on your projects this week!  There are so many different ways you could go…do you have a box full of “trash treasures” waiting to be used?  Now is the time to pull it out! 🙂

Here’s what I’ve come up with for the challenge:

Vicki-CCT558-Recycle-PolarBearSoup

I haven’t made these for a couple of years, but I like to save those Crystal Light plastic containers and decorate them and use them as “gift holders” or like I have here for some “polar bear/snowman soup” containers!

I try and keep the decorating somewhat simple, but I enjoy adding ribbon, glitter, etc. just for the fun of it!  I’ve used an oldie but a goodie and my fave set from My Favorite Things called “Cool Day“.  I’ve used both of the polar bear images and colored them in, fussy cut them out and attached to the containers.  I’ve also white heat embossed the sentiments from the set and cut them out with a banner die for them to stand on.  I found some matching ribbon that I’ve wrapped around the top of the container and then added the bow.  Although I didn’t take a photo of the top of the lid, I’ve also cut out some matching pattern paper to decorate the top of the lid.  I’ve used some liquid glue to add some faux snow at the bottom of the containers and then some glitter under the polar bears feet.

Vicki-CCT558-Recycle-PolarBearSoup-back

This is actually the first time that I’ve done polar bears for these.  I usually use a snowman with the snowman soup poem, but since these were polar bears, I sort of changed out the wording to make it work with my design.  LOL.  I’ve just printed it up on the computer and added a coordinating mat behind it and attached it to the back of the containers.  It slightly sticks out on each side, but I could always trim it down more if I wanted it to fit, but I was fine with it.

Vicki-CCT558-Recycle-PolarBearSoup-containters

I just wanted to share a photo of the original packaging of these containers.  I have my family save these up for me and I will create with them each year.  I have about 10 of them saved up for now.  As a crafter, we always keep our eyes peeled for something we can save and create with! 🙂

Vicki-CCT558-Recycle-PolarBearSoup-close

And here’s a closer look at the details of the polar bears.  I used my Copics to color them.  For the green one, I used the pointillism technique to create the look on the sweater.  I also made the elbow pads and the circles on the mug.  I covered the mug with some glossy accents.  I added some glitter to the top of the hat on the red one.

Thanks for stopping in today!  See you soon!

Challenges I’d like to enter:

  1.  Always Fun – Anything Goes
  2. Christmas with the Cuties – Anything but a Card
  3. Use Your Stuff – Mood board (inspired by the sweet treats, mugs and red/white colors!)
  4. Double Trouble – Thing 1:  My sweet treat is inside the containers!  Thing 2:  I used the mood board above from “Use Your Stuff” challenge!  Thing 3:  I used lots of “sprinkles” with faux snow and glitter!
  5. Crafty Card Makers – Anything but a Card
  6. Artistic Inspiration – Just for Fun Challenge – Anything Goes

*Vicki*34 Comments