How to make a Father Christmas/ Santa Bag

Every year, I gift my Nieces items for their Christmas Eve boxes, it is normally Reindeer Food and Hot Chocolate or Christmas related Chocolate. Last year I gave them Father Christmas/Santa Bags made from the gorgeous bag die from the All Dressed Up Dies. I first saw this bag on Facebook/ Instagram by the amazing Stacey Marsh. It is really simple to make and can contain Christmas Chocolates and Hot Chocolate.

I used Poppy Parade to make the bag, of course you could use any Red card that you may have, I think of Poppy Parade and Father Christmas because of the Christmas Papers from a few years ago, (Signs of Santa, it was super, super cute.) You need two of the main bag die in Red, two of the straps in red, one of the strap die in black, two black buttons. The smallest sentiment die in Basic White and the buckle in Gold Mirri/ Gold Foil.

Tips and Tricks

• use a bone folder to ensure the fold lines are burnished

• using wet glue for the seems helps manoeuvre the pieces in to place

• I used a tape pen to add the buttons and belt to make it easier to add and less likely to get glue everywhere.

I love these little bags. I definitely think that I will be making these next year as well. Which colour did you make yours out of?

How I prepare my co-ordinating dies

Although in my last post I stated that I prefer clean and simple cards, to overly complicated ones, I adore punches. But I must confess that I have a number of dies. I mainly use layering dies, however, I have a number of stamp sets that have co-ordinating dies. I feel I don’t use them enough, so have challenged myself to use them more. To inspire myself and check they are all present and working, I complete a number of actions.

I first check that all the dies are present and correct and that they are the dies I am expecting ( I am not aware that a different die set has appeared in an envelope but it is good to check). I then take a picture, some people scan or photocopy the dies to show their position or alternatively they draw round the dies to show where they go.

I then carefully remove the dies, from the backing sheet as the double sided tape used is very sticky. I usually add a piece of magnetic sheeting to the card to add the dies to. The magnetic sheet I used in the video below came from Pink Frog Crafts. I then count to ensure that I still have all the dies (some little dies can disappear, I have a magnetic wand to find the pesky things.)

I had already stamped the Hand-Penned Petals stamps in Basic Gray, I then use my die cutting machine to die cut the items, I used my Mini Stampin’ Cut and Emboss, which I call Dinky. I cut each die cut for the co-ordinating stamps and then each die in Basic Black. For layering dies, I use Basic Black for the base and then Basic Gray for the layers. I add all the die cuts to pieces of Basic white.

I love having the inspiration for card sketches in a format that I can take it with me. The inspiration could be kept in a stamp case or a notebook.

 A ray of Sunshine

It is raining here and I am starting to feel a bit like a duck, the roads are wet and I have been watching the river (the village flooded a few years ago). To avoid the rain I have been playing with the Sunshine Wishes and Sunshine sayings  stamp and die set.

I love this set, I have had it for a long time, I think it was one of the first bundles I bought along with the Balloon punch. The Sunshine Wishes contains 7 dies, a flower, butterfly, heart and the words congrats, sunshine, love and hope. The Sunshine sayings stamp set contains 26 stamps. If you search on pinterest you will find alot of examples using the heart, therefore, whilst looking at inspiration and deciding what to make i have made more with the other dies,

The stamp set gives a number of options to create sentiments, with or without the dies. I love the versatility of the set, they can be combined with other stamps, dies or punches, or used alone. The Videos below show an overview of the stamp and dies, also the examples I have made using the gorgeous stamps and dies.

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I love this set, I am off into the craft room to play with the Sale-a-bration items. What are you playing with?

Santa's Workshop Box

In my Santa’s Workshop examples, I showed a Santa Box, made using the Santas Workshop speciality DSP. It is super super cute, I must confess that I CASEd the idea from Scrimping Mommy she made an amazing castle box. Whilst mine does not look like a castle the basic design is the same. The dimensions mean that the largest die cut (the Santa and list) will fit with a boarder. I had planned to do a video but haven’t got round to it (someone stole all my spoons again.)

I used the dies to cut out Santa, the elves and Mrs Santa (Mrs Claus sounds better) from the DSP. Of course you could use the stamps and colour using blends or Stampin’ write markers. It works with either option.

The dimensions are:

Box:(Poppy Parade) - cut card to 8 15/16 x 8 15/16 score on all four sides at 3"

Lid:(Poppy Parade)- cut card to 4 1/2” x 4 1/2" score on all four sides at 3/4"

4 x Decoration Panels: 2 7/8” x 2 7/8” (5 if want to add panel to top of box.)

I hope you like the box. I love it. I hope to create a video soon.

Simple Happy Birthdays

Stampin' Up! have a gorgeous range of birthday stamps and dies. If like me you are last minute dot com then they have the perfect die to make a quick card. You just need some co-ordinating card  and some DSP. 

I chose the Broadway Bound DSP, using basic black and gold for one strip  and basic black gold and silver for the others with basic black for the layers and card base. I cut the Happy birthday in Basic Black and then added Versamark and then Gold embossing powder to add  focus and texture. I love the contrast between the two sides of the Broadway Bound DSP it is so different, with bright colours on one side and more muted tones on the other. For my second card I cut the Happy Birthday out of Lovely Lipstick, it is a gorgeous colour, but I have to confess that Grey Granite is still my current favourite!

I am not sure about the gold embossing on top of Black and gold strip of DSP. But the recipients liked the cards so that is the most important thing! I love both of these cards. Which one is your favourite?