Thanksgiving Gift Box and Tag

Is Thanksgiving here already?! That’s exactly what I thought today when I was thinking of my next blog post. I couldn't believe I hadn't even made anything for this holiday. But since I have my trusty Lawn Fawn stamps—making something in a snap isn't a problem at all. One of the many great things about having LF stamps is that you can make the cutest holiday paper crafts with their versatile sets. For instance I’m using the, Hats off to you, set and it comes with a variety of festive hats; such as, a Santa hat, birthday hat, cow boy hat, etc—and I’m using their super adorable pilgrim hat and paired it with Lawn Fawns gnome, from the stamp set, Gnome sweet gnome to create a tag. I also purchased a few Kraft boxes from Michaels and stamped the smiley corn stock image onto it with white pigment ink.

First I started off by die cutting a few tags, using the, tag you’re it, craft dies by Lawn Fawn. Next I used the coordinating stamp set, winter gifts, for the border around the tag.

Next I stamped the pilgrim hat on the tag, and also stamped the hat onto a piece of a sticky post-it note, cut it out, and placed it over the hat image (an easy masking technique).

 Next I inked up my gnome stamp and as you can see from the image I only inked him up from the head down.

 Next I simply stamped him onto the tag, like so…

 Look at how pretty that came out—once the mask was lifted!

Now you can color in your image, and I’m also using the little turkey leg from the stamp set, happy feast, and colored that in with the markers show in the image. I also show how I went about coloring him in—with the light color first and ending with the darkest color. Then you go over it again starting with the medium color and ending with the lightest.

Once I was done coloring everything in, I shuffled through all of my other LF stamps to add the sentiment and wooden fence. I think it looks so cute. I also die cut a piece of this pattern paper and I’m going to adhere it to the back of the tag.

Lastly, I took some of my white pigment ink by, Hampton Art, and stamped the corn image all over the box. I also used some of this awesome vintage looking hemp twine in orange—which is also sold by Lawn Fawn.

I think a set of these boxes and tags would make for a cute place setting at a Thanksgiving table. You can stuff these boxes with homemade treats or even a homemade gift. I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know what you think in the comments! I’d love to hear from you. 

Sending you buckets of Love...

Today I’m working with my Simon Says Stamp, stamp set and I’m having such a great time with them. This is the first stamp set that I purchased, of theirs. I really love the quality of these stamps and I’ve also already placed a huge order with them for more! I love that this set, LoveThis, has a couple different sentiments, shapes, and patterns so that we can create a line of cards that differ from one another. For instance, you can create a birthday card, an I love You card, a just because card, and so much more. 

To create this card I started off with a A2 white card base, and I cut another piece with the scraps to create the panel that will go on top of the card. Once those two pieces were cut I took the heart stamp and also pulled a few different Hero Arts shadow inks and began stamping the heart image using the generation stamping technique. Next I used some of my circle dies to cut the circle on the panel. I simply ran it through my Cuttlebug.

Next I used three of the sentiments—I stamped the, ‘Love’, and ‘sending you buckets of love. Save some for a bad day’, in some black dye ink, and the ‘Nobody gets me like you’ sentiment in some, Hero Arts, pink dye ink. Once they were stamped I let them dry completely and then I turned the panel over and applied some foam adhesive squares on the back so that the panel would have a 3D look.

Next, I placed the panel onto my card base and soon realized that my ‘Love’ sentiment was a little too far to the right, so I fixed that by placing some sequence on the left of the sentiment—balancing it.   

I forgot to mention that I used my glitter pen to color in some of the hearts on the card base—to add some shine. I love how it turned out and you can really see it in the image above. Well, that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this card. Thank you!

Gnome for the Holidays

I know Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet but I still can’t help but make holiday cards over and over again. After all, Christmas is nearly around the corner. Before we know it, Thanksgiving will have come and gone and December 25th will be coming in faster than we realize. Especially if you’re a seller like me—getting holiday cards done in advance is the only way I’ll be able to send anything to my friends and family in the mail. Once orders start piling up I won’t have time to make cards at detailed as this.

This is actually my first circle card, and I learned how to make them by watching one of Lawn Fawn’s awesome videos on the subject. You can learn how to make it by watching this video (skip to minute 7:00 to learn how to make the shaped card). I've learned so many techniques from watching card making videos by Lawn Fawn, Simon Says Stamp, and many other amazing crafters out there in the YouTube world. If you’re interested in learning more card making techniques videos by your favorites card making artists will definitely help. To create this lovely card I used the following stamp sets by Lawn Fawn: Gnome sweet gnome, Let it snow, and Trim the tree.

I also used an embossing and distressing technique to create the blue sky in the background of this card. I've never been that great at working with distress inks but watching videos on how it’s done has given me the confidence to give it a try. I also did a lot of fussy cutting and paper piecing on this card—and that’s also something I've learned from watching YouTube videos. Before Lawn Fawn videos I had no idea what paper piecing was, hehe. I used a variety of Copic makers to color in the gnome and his cute little home. I also used my new wink of Stella glitter pen (in clear) on the snowy hills but the camera didn't do a great job of picking up on that (actually it’s probably my fault that you can’t see it, not the camera’s, haha). But in person the snowy hills shine so beautifully—this glitter pen is magical. To create the perfect circles I used some circle dies that I purchased from Michaels with a 50% off coupon but you can buy those at many online and local craft stores.

The distress inks I used to create the blue sky are: Peacock features, and Broken china. If you’re new to distressing you may want to watch some videos on how it’s done there are lots of awesome videos on the subject. I hope you loved my gnome Christmas card. I fell in love with this card right away and I’m seriously thinking of making many, many more to give to mail for the holidays. 

Product Photography Tips: Using Props

 If you’ve visited my Etsy shop you’ll noticed that I tend to always use props in my images. Most of the time, they’re handmade but there are also times where I’ll head over to the dollar store so that I can have a few other options for a particular theme I’m working on. Lately, I’ve been having some trouble finding my ‘Christmas photo backdrop niche’—that’s what I like to call it, hehe. So I’ve been coming up with different ways to showcase the new 2013 Christmas items I have in my shop. Some of you may have already noticed some Christmas themed items in my shop already using the pine cone garland backdrop. I really love that backdrop but I was excited to try a few new things; and, I thought why not share my ideas and offer some seller tips on my blog? If you’re not a seller but you’re a card-maker, you could still use these tips when taking pictures of your creations (it’s so fun). I think adding props to photos makes them stand out—or at least I think they do, hehe.

You’ll notice in the first image above I purchased a Kraft bag covered with white snowflakes, a pack of green, white, and red pom-poms, candy canes, and a small box. Those items where all purchased from my local dollar store but the pine cone garland was purchased at Micheals (it wasn’t cheap but I had to have it, haha). 

The first thought I had when I found the pom-poms at the dollar store was, “this would make for a cute handmade garland”, so once I got home I just grabbed a needle and thread and began stringing them up in no particular pattern. 1 ½ packs of pom-poms made me a 5 foot long garland! 

Here’s how I used the pom-poms 2 ways:

Picture 1: I simply scattered the remaining loose pom-poms around my product. 

 Picture 2: I taped the garland to the background of my make shift photo studio.

Next is this beautiful pine cone garland that I bought at Michaels in Downtown, Los Angeles. I’m not sure if they have these at all Michaels’ but it was $14.99. I think it’s so cute.

Here’s how I used it: To show off the cards from my Winter Wonderland collection I wanted a dark background in order to make the cards appear bright, so I used some burlap fabric and hung the pine cone garland in front of it. That garland was so heavy, though, I can’t count the amount of times it fell, haha.

Do you remember that box in the first picture? Well purchased that box with the intention of never actually showing it in the images. I planned on covering it with some Kraft wrapping paper for more of a eco-friendly vibe. I also purchased this box so I could display my handmade tags on them.

What I did was: Cut a piece of the Kraft wrapping paper; stamp it with a Merry Christmas sentiment. Wrap it around the box, and add some Christmas themed twine. I think it came out really cute. I just need to find a better spot to shoot these tags in. I wasn't happy with the yellow color I was getting from the wooden table I had it on. 

Lastly, I wanted to use this pretty snowflake Kraft bag so show off my Yeti tag. I thought the light blue and green colors would match well with this bag. I think using props for your items not only makes them look great but it also shows the potential buyer different ways they can use your item, it also shows that you take pride in your products.

Buying props for your small business photo-shoots never has to break the bank—I certainly don’t let it, hehe. I always set a budget for myself and I try to stick buy it. I’m always at the dollar store walking through ever aisle thinking, “how can I use this as a prop”, or “what can I turn this into?”. Get crafty with it, it’s so much fun and it having unique pictures definitely separates your pictures from all the rest.  

Card of the Week--Mommy to Bee

Even though it’s so gray and cloudy today in Los Angeles County, I was still able get a little sunshine from this bright and colorful card I made using some of my Lawn Fawn stamps, and paper. Nothing makes me happier than using bright and happy card stock—plus Lawn Fawn stamps always manage to put a smile on my face all on their own anyway, hehe. When I was creating this card I was a little bit worried that I might be using too much black and yellow combos—but in the end I really like how it turned out. I think one of my favorite things on this card (texture wise) is this chevron screen printed clear overlay that I received in one of the Simon Says Stamp collection kits. If you’re interested in it you can find it in the SSS April 2012 collection kit (but it might be sold out). It was my first time using an overlay on a card and I think I've fallen in love with them. I’d really love to get my hands on more, in different patterns and colors.

 I always love ‘punny’ cards and I thought this bumble bee bear would make for a cute ‘Mommy to Bee’ card. To create the sentiment I used the stamp set, Milo’s ABC’s, by Lawn Fawn. This set is great! The other stamps sets I used for this card are: Critters in Costume, Home sweet home, and A birdietold me. I’m also using the beautiful yellow and white polka dot pattern paper from the LF, Pink Lemonade petite paper pack which I think goes perfect wit this theme—and matches great with the clear chevron overlay.

If you follow me on Instagram you already know that I purchased three new copic markers and I used them to color in the bear portion of the bee image. I’m still not that great at blending and shading but I’m workin’ on it, hehe.

Other elements I used when making this card are the super cool Lawn Fawn trimmings, Silver Sparkle single cord. I love the silver in this twine, I think it’s so pretty. I also purchased a ton of sequins lately because I want to start incorporating them into my cards, cupcake toppers, and other projects. So I have lots of it now. I hope you enjoyed this ‘Card of the Week’, and if you have any questions let me know in the comments. Have a great day!

Card of the Week--Miss You

I had a blast making this card! I feel like I haven’t taken the time to make an intricate card in a while—so it was about time I did. It may not look as though this card took hours upon hours to make but it did, hehe. It’s really nice to spend a good 2-3 hours on one card because I feel like it’s a therapy for me. I think the therapy part actually comes from me making a huge mess of all my stamps, paper, ink, etc. I don’t usually get messy when I’m working on orders because I feel that keeping everything neat and organized—as I work—helps me to finish them faster. 

I used so many stamp sets by Lawn Fawn for this particular card and the list of stamp sets used is as follows: Yeti set go, Into theWoods, So much to Say, Let it snow, You’ve got mail, Plus one, and Bannerific. I also used the new LF, Journaling die, you can find it by clicking here. 

I just love how this card came out, and I’m so excited that I used the yeti stamp for something other than Christmas—that’s something I love about LF stamps. They’re usually good for all year round projects. Well, I hope you enjoyed this card of the week and let me know what you think in the comments! Have a great weekend.