Happy New Year's Eve!!

Hi all
Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday.  My family and I are not into taking on the crazies on New Year's Eve, we prefer to be home and so I am here enjoying some new DVD's ..later we will jump onto the TV and catch the ball dropping at midnight. 

This picture I am sharing is actually a variation on a theme from a project from earlier in the season.  As Christmas presents for my sister and my MIL, I made shadow boxes like I had done earlier in the season with my coworkers from one of my schools.  But the boxes were slightly different from the original ones so I changed up the bottom row a bit and included a manger and an angel.  They were very nicely recieved by my family.  The manger was made from rectangles of cardstock and the head is two layered half circles.  The angel is made from a pennant punch, a circle punch and a heart punch.  cute!
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 8

Hi all
Where we are almost there!! Christmas Eve!
Today I want to show you one of the last (second to last?) tags from the class. We used a tag board CD folder.  This would be great to hold a gift card as well as some literature about the place where the gift card can be redeemed or a photograph.

The cover has a ribbon tied on the side to keep the folder closed.  The white medallion was made from two scalloped circles, scored, folded and joined together.   The center is a corduroy button.  Here's the inside....

Hope you have all your Christmas preparations done so you can enjoy time with your friends and family.
Warm wishes!
I'll still be posting through the holidays so pop back when you get a moment.  Also, I'll be stamping on Thursday,  I'd be happy to have you join us.
Peggy

happy hanukkah!!

Hi holiday crafters!!
In honor of the beginning of Hanukkah, I wanted to make a simple but special project that I saw on the internet at the Parents.com site.  I thought this was such a cute idea for a child so I decided to make two of them for my friend whose daughter had twins about three years ago.  Take a look....

First I painted each of the little spools (pale blue and medium blue)) and a stick (white) about a foot long.  Then I hot glued each spool to the stick. (It is easiest to get them aligned if you attach the center one first. I used glue dots to add the little snowflakes to the front of the spools.  You could also number each spool.  Now what you can't see in the picture is the colorful (and glittery) pencils (unsharpened).  You put the pencils in the spools and each day you "light" the candle by adding an arrowhead pencil eraser to the top (ie fake flames - mine were yellow and orange).  My friend's kids are in a family of multiple religious associations so it seemed like a simple way to introduce some of the Jewish traditions to the girls.  To my delight, my girlfriend really seemed happy with the gift and said she will overnight the menorrahs to her daughter - I thought she might want to wait til next year when the girls are a bit older but she seems eager to send them right away.  It is such fun to make a gift and have it well received.  I was delighted too.
Soon I will get back to the gift tags and I also have some holiday treats and a special calendar for you as well.   As I said yesterday...busy times!!!
If you are feeling a bit overwrought and tired, consider coming to my fun stampin session next Thursday.  I have scheduled both a day and an evening session so you can pick the one that fits your schedule. Be sure to make your reservation by Tuesday of next week.
Remember the big discounts are still available in the store on my Stampin Up website:   http://peggyouten.stampinup.net
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 7

Hi all
Sorry I'm a bit late tonight - lots to do ...cookies for swaps...treats for staff....gifts for friends!!

Here is a wonderful gift card holder - sometimes these are made from envelopes.  I didn't have any kraft envelopes so I just made if from cardstock.

This cute little guy is from the Kidoodles set - the one that benefits the Ronald McDonald house.  Won;t you consider adding it to your collection to help RMcD too?
I love that yo'al visit my blog ...if you enjoy seeing my work, how about leaving a comment?  Admittedly it is sometimes hard for me to stay motivated to post every day when I so rarely get to enjoy a comment from my visitors.  If you are coming back over and over there must be something you like!!!!
Peggy

holiday treat

Hi all
I am interrupting the presentation of my holiday tags and gift cards to show you a little project I put together for the students at one of my schools.  Last week they had a fund raiser at a local branch of a book store.   I offered to prepare a craft project and had 75 kids make the project in two hours.   Man were we busy!  It isn't a very involved project but the kids really enjoyed making it.

Some of the kids assumed the tag said "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" but in fact it said, "Rudolph,the Red-Nosed Reader"...gotta encourage the kids to read, read, read!!!
Fun, huh?
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 7

Hi all
I am nuts about my Sizzix/Stampin' Up! dies and Big Shot.....so I used them again!!
This stocking is a tag and gift card holder in one.  Lots of times we give a simple little gift and attach a related gift card.....maybe give a friend an oven mitt  and then attach a gift card for a kitchen store.  This stocking would be perfect for that.

On the back is a scallop envelope which would hold the gift card.  I sure have gotten a lot of use of my stocking die.
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 6

Hi stmpers
Another tag from my last class.....This one was made using a Sizzix ornament die and the Stampin' Up! rounded tab punch.  Simple but cute!

Happy Holidays!
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 5

Hi all
Today I have a cute tag for you that is simply cheerful!!

The base of the tag is from the two tags die.  The head is a circle punch and the hat is the rounded tab punch.  The scarf is a piece of Stampin' Up!s Candy Cane fabric with a holiday button on top.  The greeting is from the Delightful Dozen set.  This is a fun little tag that could be used all through the winter months.
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 4

Hi all
Here is a neat little tag!!

We used almost artichoke c/s as the base with a layer of DSP from the Frostwood Lodge collection.  The tree is a die cut from the stocking accents die.   I love the rounded edges of this die instead of the sharp points often seen.  I found that we needed to put very small notches on the sides to keep the gold cording from sliding out of position.  Aren't the pearls a nice touch?  Popping the tree up on dimensionals gave it a nice shadow too.  The cherry cobbler ribbon is very special.
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 3

Hi all
Here's another little tag from the peekaboo die....  This one is special because it uses a bottle cap, with some crystal effects and beads inside, as an accent on the front.

The green die cut inside the tag window is from the Holiday Windows Movers and Shapers for the Big Shot.  Remember, little pieces of designer paper can really add a nice element  to your projects.
Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11, part 2

Hi all
Yesterday I showed you two very simple tags...those tags could be quickly made when you run short at the last minute and need a few more tags.  They are also a great way to make use of smaller left-over pieces of cardstock.
Today I want to show you one more of the tags from the Peekaboo Die.

This tag uses the cute penguin from the punch pals set.  Sometimes it is tricky to get small pieces of cardstock to line up - there may be little or no area on which to put the adhesive, so what we did was attach the white cardstock in the center of the green cardstock.  Then the red scalloped peek a boo window was glued overtop the white cardstock.  Then the image was stamped through the window. Of course, the penguin was stamped separately and punched out.
Inside is the greeting for the "to and from".

 Hope you like it!
 Peggy

Holiday Tags and Gift Card Holders 12-11

Hi all
Good class today....busy ladies!!
I prepard a collection of tags and gift card holders for the ladies today...some simple, some more involved.  Let's start simple.....

These tags use the peek a boo die for the Big Shot machine.  The cool thing is you can cut five different tags with one pass through the machine.  We used four of the different tags.  These are the simplest tags.  When you open the door there is a "to...from.." stamped inside.  More projects to see all week.
Make my day...leave a comment!!!
Peggy

Holiday treats!

Hi Stampers.
Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler temperatures and that you are feeling the preChristmas excitement building.  Tongiht I want to show you some little treats I have been working on.  The staff at one of my schools is providing dinner at the local Ronald McDonald House tomorrow night.  I cannot go with them but I did offer to make some treats for the residents. 

I started out making the white treats which were made from three ornament die cuts.  They weren't exactly cooperating so I decided to use a one inch box die cut  instead.

Inside the box is a dum dum like lollipop.  The stick of course is holding the greeting.

This is a close up of the ornament die cut.  It too has a dum dum inside.  I had hoped to use tootsie pops but they were way too large to fit. 
I will take these 50 treats and another set of treats tomorrow so the gang can take them with them to the Ronald Mc Donald house.  Hope the kids enjoy them.

Peggy