At the end of every school year I like to do a little something for the kids in my big girl’s class at school.  The trouble is, it gets harder to do something ‘different’ each year, especially as they’re getting older and more discerning!

This year, was made a little easier by virtue of the fact that a few weeks ago, a fellow demonstrator posted a message on our demonstrator forum (FAB resource that it is!) that she had loads and loads of long, thin self-sealing plastic bags that she’d be happy to offload in packs of 100 to any interested parties.

Turns out there were a lot of interested parties, so it’s a good thing she really did have loads of them!

I relieved her of 10 packs, which if you bother to do the maths, is a whole BUNCH of bags, but I had never seen them anywhere before and they’re perfect for fun little gifts of the classmate variety, and with my small girl starting Kindy next year, I’m all of a sudden going to find myself needing to make double of everything at gift time.

As it turns out, another demonstrator on the forum alerted us all to the fact that Woolworths had packs of red, green and white jelly beans available for Christmas, so after picking up an armful of those, sitting with my big girl on the floor, first sorting the jelly beans into colours, then loading them into the bags, a stamped and folded tag punch later, this is what we had….!

The Sparkly and Bright stamp set would have to be my favourite Christmas set for this year – SO cute and whimsical and perfect for this particular job

I arrived at the little folded over tag at the top, as it gave me a place to stamp something, without being so labour intensive that I would start to hyperventilate when the crowd of seven year olds in receipt of the jelly bean packets started ripping them apart and throwing them away.

I put together an impromptu little tutorial in case you’re wondering how to achieve the folded over tag idea for yourself.  Please keep in mind the word impromptu when considering the quality (or not) of the pictures…

Start with a piece of cardstock folded in half.  I used Whisper White, which is a bit thinner than the regular cardstock so the double width is easily punched through.  Not sure how the thicker stuff would go…

Now slide the folded cardstock into to the punch so that there is a tiny (1mm or so) gap between the cardstock and the top of the punch…

Now punch!  And this is what you get…

And if you’re doing a whole batch of these as I was, you can cut strips of cardstock (I cut a piece of A4 Whisper White in half lengthways, then folded it in the middle, lengthways again), you can punch out a whole series of them…

To attach them to the bags, I simply stapled the back of the tag to the bag, then stuck the front of the tag down with a Stampin’ Dimensional.

Since I have a truckload of these bags now, I’m going to give a pack of 100 away to one of you, but you have to earn it!

Tell me your ideas for little stamped gifts so that I can be ready in advance for next year – I have double the amount to make from 2011 onwards remember, so I’m going to have to get myself prepared well in advance!

Winner will be randomly chosen on Monday!

“Merry and Bright Classmate Gifts”
Stamps: Merry & Bright
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso, Real Red
Accessories: Early Espresso, Real Red & Wild Wasabi Markers

I promised I would be back yesterday with information on how you could get my tutorial from Friday’s post and thoroughly intended that I would be, but between dropping my girls off at the theatre to see the Nutcracker ballet with their grandparents – somewhat of a Klass family Christmas tradition – doing a spot of Christmas shopping while I waited for them to come out again, going home to check out the newly painted bathroom floor that is the final stage of our three month long bathroom renovation, picking up clothes and heading to Nanny’s for the night so that we didn’t have a need to disturb the newly painted bathroom floor, packing two exhausted but elated girls off to bed then discovering that Anne of Green Gables the sequel was on TV (Oh Gilbert!), I sort of ran out of hours in the day.

But I’m here now and surely it’s still Saturday somewhere

So if you’re interested in a pdf tutorial so you too can create a little boxed gift set of ten love notes and envelopes, all you need to do is subscribe to my email newsletter and it’s yours as my gift to you for signing up!

And as an added bonus, signing up to my mailing list means you will score a monthly newsletter in your inbox containing information on Stampin’ Up! promotions, classes and workshops, special offers just from me plus loads of stampin’ inspiration!

You can even elect to tick a box for the month of your birthday so you will receive a special gift from me when your big day rolls around

Sounds like fun, right?

If you already subscribe to my mailing list, then you would have received your December newsletter late last week with information on how to update your preferences so that you could include your birthday month in your subscription and many of you have already done just that.

If you’re not already on my mailing list but would like to be, click on the image below to enter your details and complete the sign up process…

I look forward to turning up in YOUR inbox soon!

Almost every year, I get to around the beginning of December and start freaking out about Christmas cards.

It goes without saying that I must send out Christmas cards.  It also goes with saying that I must make them with my own hands.  I’m a card maker for heaven’s sake.

And hence the freak out, because December is busy enough with end of school year activities, teacher and classmate gifts, Christmas preparations and all sorts, so the additional stress of “what the heck am I going to do for my Christmas cards this year?!” and the resulting frenzied session(s) of creating them is something I can really do without.

This year I decided that I would get organised early, something that I’ve “decided” in previous years too, but never managed to follow through with.  This year I did manage it, and have been making batches of Christmas cards almost every month this year during Stamp-a-stack classes, so not only am I more organised this year, but so are many of my lovely stampin’ customers!

If you’re approaching the silly season with the idea that you’d like to send out your own handmade Christmas cards but not so much of an idea of how to go about it, I’ve put together a product bundle, along with instructions on how you can create a minimum of 48 adorable cards to wish your nearest and dearest the merriest of Christmases.

And so I bring you my….

Sparkly and Bright Bundle – $99.70
121568      Sparkly & Bright woodmount stamp set -$31.95
119982      Soft Suede A4 cardstock – $13.95
106576     Old Olive A4 cardstock – $13.95
106578     Real Red A4 cardstock – $13.95
121685      Crumb Cake A4 cardstock – $13.95
119256      1/8” Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon – $11.95
Total (FREE shipping) – $99.70

A-la-carte items
You will also need the following items to complete your cards, but there’s a good chance you may  already have some of them, so just add what you need to your bundle order…
119850     1-3/4”  Circle Punch – $33.95
102283     Versamark Pad – $13.95
119680     Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Marker – $5.75
100052    Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker – $5.75
100079    Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker – $5.75
105021     White Gel Pen – $7.50
104430     Stampin’ Dimensionals – $7.50
104332     Snail Adhesive – $12.95

This bundle will create a maximum of 48 Christmas cards, but with each additional pack of Soft Suede cardstock (119982 – $13.95) and  roll of Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon (119256 – $11.95) that you order you can create another 48 cards.

Contact me today to order your bundle and any additional items that you require.  Your order will be sent to your door, with instructions for creating your simple but stylish (and CUTE!) Christmas cards emailed to you from me!

AND, if you like the idea of a monthly Christmas card stamp-a-stack so that you can be organised ahead of time next year, make sure to sign up for my mailing list so that you can be informed of my class timetable!

If you’ve been playing or following along at Just Add Ink for a while now, you would be aware that each week there is a new challenge posted.  Well this week there’s a fun twist on our regular challenge, and I’m sure you’re going to love it!

Before I get into the details of the challenge and my own entry, here’s a little how-to on the whole blog hop scenario in case you’re as new to this as I am….!

There are ten stops on the hop – all of the Design Team members and the Just Add Ink site itself – and it’s arranged in a loop, so it doesn’t matter where you start, just follow the links at the end of each post so that you get around the whole lot.

Chances are you’ve come here from Amanda’s blog or perhaps you’ve just popped in on the off chance that there’s something new to see.

Either way, it’s great to have you here

You’re going to want to make sure you see everything, as at each stop there is a technique tutorial!  The challenge from Just Add Ink this week is to incorporate a technique from one of the tutorials into your challenge entry!

I told you this was going to be fun!

Alrighty, let’s get started shall we…?!

My tutorial is all about a technique that I just love and never get tired of…

Watercolouring

The cast of characters

First stamp your image using Staz On ink onto water colour paper

I like to use the Classic ink with an Aquapainter for watercolouring, so to get my 'palette', I squish the lid of my ink pads a bit.....

...and some of the ink is transferred to the inside lid of my inkpad, from where it can be picked up with an Aquapainter

Because you only want a very light covering of ink for the first layer, pick up the ink from the edges of the colour "puddle" with your Aquapainter and make sure it is quite diluted

This is the first layer of colour - very light. It's important to ensure that each section is dry before moving onto the next section so that the colours don't bleed together

For each subsequent layer of colour, start with a more concentrated line of ink towards one edge of the image (see the centre of the large flower on the left), making sure to work in small areas at a time and only once the first layer is completely dry. For this image I am imagining that there is a light source coming from the right, hence my shadows will be towards the left of the image

Remove the excess colour from your Aquapainter by brushing it on your scrap paper

Return to where you painted the darker strip of colour and blend it outwards in a circular motion so that there are no hard lines. This is what your image will look like when each section has a second layer of colour

Continue with a third layer of the same colours, each time using more ink and upping the saturation of the colours

Now I have chosen slightly darker colours and gone over the same areas again in the same way as before - paint a strip of colour towards the left of the image, get rid of the excess colour from the Aquapainter and blend outwards with a circular motion. This is the fourth layer of colour (gotta love watercolour paper!)

This is the fifth layer of colour - darker again. The centre of the flowers now have three layers of More Mustard, one of Close to Cocoa and one of Chocolate Chip. The flower pot has three layers of More Mustard, one of Really Rust and one of Chocolate Chip

I also like to colour the background of my watercoloured images to add more depth and realism to the picture, so making sure that your previous colouring is completely dry, let’s move onto the background….

In the same way as we did with the stamped image colouring, the background also starts with a very light layer of colour

For the second and subsequent layers of background colour, start with a stronger line of colour at the edge of the image, remove the excess colour from the Aquapainter and blend out in a circular motion - same as before

When you've finished colouring your image, this is what you'll have....

...also this...

..but the most exciting thing you will have is this!

Layer upon layer of ink upon the very absorbant and forgiving watercolour paper takes you from this to this!

Here’s a quick frame by frame to compare each step in the process….

For the final card, I wanted to keep to a fairly simple layout, so as to keep the focus on the watercoloured image and not end up with anything too busy…

I used my brand new Tiny Tags set with the matching Jewelry Tag Punch for my little greeting, but as it is so tiny, I felt that attaching it with a standard brad would be a bit overpowering, so I made my own, slightly smaller one…

Using the smaller of the two Crop-a-dile hole punches, I punched out a tiny bit of Chocolate Chip cardstock and stuck it in place using Tombow Mono Adhesive.  Then I squeezed a drop of Crystal Effects onto it to make it shiny and brad-like.

It’s actually still quite cloudy and not quite dry here (in fact not dry at all!) as I was too impatient to wait to take the photo’s and get started on my tutorial.

Should you  have a go at making your own brads, you will notice that they do end up a nice shiny version of the colour of the cardstock underneath, as opposed to the murky, cloudy whitish/brown number that you can see above

So there you have it, my contribution to what is a bumper week of tutorials!

Don’t forget once you’ve finished the hop, your challenge is to choose one of the tutorials, make a project using it as your entry and link it up over at Just Add Ink.

I’ve seen a few of the projects already and my guess is you won’t be able to stop at just one…!

To continue on the tour, just click the image below and keep on truckin’!  Next up is Delys…

Enjoy!

“Just Add Ink Watercolouring Tutorial”
Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Tiny Tags
Paper: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Patterns DSP – Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Paper
Ink: Staz On Jet Black, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White (sponged around edge of Kraft)
Accessories: Aquapainter, Jewelry Tag Punch, Crop-a-dile, Crystal Effects, Stampin’ Dimensionals

As I mentioned in my previous post, I do have plans to show you a lot more in the way of Spring Mini catalogue projects, but I must interrupt those proceedings momentarily to bring you something that I am very excited about!

In the comments on the post about the Shirt and Tie chocolate box that I made for my daughter’s male prac teacher, many of you asked, some pleaded and others simply demanded a tutorial so that you could make your own.

Well I’m happy to report that I have indeed constructed a tutorial, along with a printable template that you can download for the bargain price of $5 and assemble to your little hearts’ content

I altered the dimensions of the original box, as that one was sized specifically for the Lindt chocolate that I was packaging, and I figured that a more generic option would be more practical.

The size of the completed box above is 14.5cm high by 8.5cm wide by 5.5cm deep, so it could house anything from chocolates or sweets, to socks and jocks, a neck-tie or two, golfing paraphernalia, the list goes on…

I also altered the arrangement of the collar, so instead of it flipping up to open the box as in the original, this collar remains in place and the lid opens simply by lifting the Blush Blossom part and closes by tucking back into the front of the box.

To get your own copy of the template and tutorial, simply click on the Add to Cart button below and away you go!  Unless you’re in my ‘A Klass Act‘ stamping team, in which case you can download your free copy at the team forum

Shirt & Tie Box – Template and Tutorial
Price : $5

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Thanks so much for your enthusiasm about my little project and I hope you enjoy the creating the boxes as much as I enjoyed (albeit with very occasional cursing and hair pulling) putting together the template for you