Christmas Cards 2013

Here are some Christmas cards I made. My friend, Jane, from Love To Be Stampin' sent me a gift recently-- doilies, die cuts--some stamped with the cute hedgehogs. These motivated me to gather my stash of Christmas papers and make some easy Christmas cards.

Below you can see some close-ups and additional cards. It was fun to write my own sentiments and my friends names (not shown) on some. The printed papers had space that was perfect to personalize.

A washi tape tree.

 

 
Papers: 

My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Christmas;

Simple Stories Handmade Holiday

 Tim Holtz Paper Stash Seasonal

Stamps
Hero Arts, Michael Strong, Stampin' Up!, Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous

Christmas Card 2013 Stampfest

Lynette and I stamped together at her house on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

 For the end cards, using brown cardstock for the base, we cut 3 strips of printed papers 1-1/8" wide 5-1/4" long. We stamped Tim Holtz mini blueprints Christmas tree and toy soldier stamps twice, once on plain paper and the 2nd time using printed papers for the toy soldier and book print scraps for the trees. We fussy cut those. I used dimensional foam to attach. Lynette used double sided tape. We embellished the top layer with stickles. We made our own "background" on the center cards by stamping with a Hero Arts Christmas script.

  

Lynette found inspiration for this card on Pinterest--from Splitcoast stamper zipperc98.

In place of zipperc98's edgelet, we used a border punch punch, then a narrow embossing folder, adding 2 strips of card stock outside of the folder, to prevent the unwanted creased line.

Here is my 2013 Christmas card that Lynette helped me design. Since I send out about 100, it needed to be very simple! 

Materials used:

My Mind's Eye-Lost & Found-Christmas 6 x 6" pad

Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash-12 x 12

Hero Arts, Stampers Anonymous, Stampin' Up! Stamps

Distress Inks, Stickles

Birch Forest Card-Stampfest

Last Wednesday, Lynette and I made this card which was inspired by Lisa's Peace on earth card

After stamping and embossing the birch forest, tumbled glass ink was sponged on the background. More ink was added to the top two thirds for the sky. A torn piece of paper was used for the snow line.  A white Sakura Souffle pen was used for the "falling snow". The birch forest was embellished  by drawing little dashes here and there with a Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Stardust pen.

Stamps: Memory Box birch forest and bird trio, Northwoods peace on earth

Distress Inks: tumbled glass, gathered twigs, walnut stain, festive berries 

Clear embosssing powder for the birch forest

Clear glaze pen used on red bird, which was stamped then cut out with scissors. 

Book Purse

I made this Book Purse as a gift for my dear friend, Lori, who is retiring from a library job. 

These online book purse tutorials were useful:
DIY Repurposed Book Purse Tutorial at Amandita's Designs 
I like Amanda's technique for creating a fabric lining that is sewn together. She has a great tutorial. I used her tutorial for the most part, with some modifications. My work flow is listed below.

Arystocrafts Book Purse Tutorial
I like Arystocrafts technique of reinforcing the spine with an additional piece of cardboard cut to size. Also liked her style of button clasp.

Carefully choose a book and remove the pages with a craft knife, being careful not to cut into the book cover. To reinforce the spine, cut a narrow rectangle of cardbord that fits inside this space. I used part of a cereal box. I glued it with Liquitex Basics gloss gel medium-adding this to both the book spine and the rectangle. I used a large artist brush. Keep a glass of water nearby and place the brush in it so the gel medium does not dry on the brush.

Make a paper pattern by tracing your book as it lays flat, adding an additional 1/4 to 1/2 inch around the edges-depending on your seam allowance. Cut 2 rectangles for the inside purse. 

To determine the pattern for the side/triangle pieces, open the book, set the side on a piece of paper and draw around the edge with a pencil. Then add 1/4 to 1/2" to all sides depending on your seam allowance. Cut 4 pieces of the triangles, for the edges.

Sew the 2 rectangles pieces together, with right sides facing, leaving an opening to turn. This is the base. Sew the 2 sets of 2 triangles together in the same way, right sides facing and leaving an opening to turn to the right side. Press with iron, then topstitch along all the edges. Now there are 3 finished pieces, a rectangle and 2 triangles. Pin your triangles in place, matching the centers. Topstitch those together, on on each side of the rectangle.

For the handle straps, cut 2 strips of fabric 3" wide x 28" long. Fold edges to the inside to create a 1" wide strap. I added a strip of interfacing, 3/4" x 28"  to the inside center of the straps before topstitching. Sew finished handle straps to the fabric lining before gluing it to the book. I left about 16" of strap above the purse, evenly spacing the portion that is stitched to the fabric lining.

For the clasp, cut a 2 rectangles of fabric 3". Sew right sides together, on 3 sides, adding a piece of interfacing at buttonhole placement. Turn, press and topstitch. Attach button to center front of purse on the top.  I pierced the book with a very narrow sharp scissors. It would have been better to pierce 2 holes for sewing the button, but I only made one. So, I had to knot the ends inside, then left a long tail of thread which was glued inside with the fabric lining.The thread I used was very thick tent thread.

On the small finished rectangle, decide where your buttonhole should be placed and mark with chalk. Sew buttonhole with sewing machine, then match up your rectangle and the purse fabric lining and pin. Stitch together. You could use a fabric strip or some kind of elastic for a closure if you prefer.

With the Liquitex Basics gloss gel medium, I attached the fabric lining to the inside of the book. Again, with my wide artists paint brush, I added the gel medium to the book with a rather heavy coat and reapplied this to areas that seemed to dry. Then placed the fabric lining inside and pressed with my hands. I held it for awhile and adjusted the fabric toward the edges, smoothing the fabric with my hands. It's been 24 hours and I see a few places on the side bottom where the fabric has separated. I will add more gel medium and hope it stays glued!!!

I stamped on the front of the purse with Lumiere gold paint with flourish and flower stamps from Me and My Big Ideas. The word stamps are from Hero Arts, Inkadindado and Stampin' Up!

There are many book purse tutorials. I wanted a book purse with a sewn fabric lining. I am not sure how durable this purse will be. I'm hoping to make one for myself to test the durability factor.

Enjoy...and email me with photos if you create a book purse!

In Memory of Frederick A. Holm

Fred, Don's dad, passed away August 27, 2013. He spent the past four years in assisted living or nursing home care. He was very gracious about this, always saying, "you do the best you can". He never really complained. I am blessed that he was my Father-in-law. I love him and I know he loves me. We will miss you dad, but we know you are in perfect peace and happiness now and for all time in heaven.

October 8, 2012

 Aren't these kids sweet! Fred is the little guy with his older brothers, Carl and John.

Fred grew up on a farm. The back of this photo indicated a 4H project.

 Fred is in the back with his brothers and their little sister, Ruth.

Fred and Dorothy marry.

 

Dorothy and Fred at Eleanor's wedding which happened to be four days before Don was born.

In 1980 Fred and  Lois marry.

Fred loved to travel. He and Lois traveled all over the USA. Here they are Telluride Colorado--one of Fred's favorite states.

Lois and Fred are with Fred's brother, Carl and his wife, Ione.

 Fred and Lois welcoming my oldest daughter, Rebecca on New Year's Eve 1981.

Fred welcoming our youngest daughter, Emily on April 21, 1985

A fun memory-here I am with Fred at his home. The roof was filled with ice and snow. Getting up on a ladder, we used an ice pick to hack away at the ice in the gutters.

Fred lived with Lois for the past 17 months at Sunrise Assisted Living. Geralyn, the Life Enrichement Manager sent us a lovely letter about Fred. Click on images for larger view.

May 24, 2012