All Things Alicia

Birthday Card for a Friend

I have a confession to make.  I made this card last year, and never sent it.  My friend, April, used to sew things so I made this for her birthday because it has buttons and denim trim and things that remind me of sewing! 

 

What I forgot to take a picture of was the envelope.  I put button washi on it. ;)

I remembered this card and decided to send it with the reminder from Jennifer McGuire and her 'Share Handmade Kindness' challenge.  Thanks Jennifer!

 

This was pretty much made with a bunch of Stampin' Up! scraps.  Easy and quick, and reflective of my friend. 

 

I have another project in mind for this week as well.  It's a birthday calendar for mother in law.  She had her eye on one that a friend of her got. I think I'll make her one that matches her house for her birthday, which is also this week.

End of Year Teacher Gifts 2015

I had a problem this year.  I normally make something cute, but not necessarily expensive, for my kids' teachers.  This year I haven't been in my craft room.  I got a late start in January, and then my MIL had construction done on her house (where my craft room is), and what was supposed to be a month in construction turned into 4 months.  Now my kids are out for summer so I'm not sure I'll get over there until September.  Arg!

So this year I had to go the gift card route (pricey with 3 kids) and pick up something to make them cute.

Here's what I ended up with:

I went armed with my coupons to the local Michael's to see what card kits or other cute but cheap items I could get to jazz up the cards a bit.  I ended up with these economical gift sacs that were on clearance.  The Happy Day stickers were already assembled and on clearance as well.  (The last day of school is always happy!) I used the coupon for the chalkboard garden markers.  The twine I had in my garden stuff.  The tags and burlap flower I paid full price for, but they were cheap.

The variety you see above was just because I couldn't make up my mind. ;)  I also had to buy foam adhesive dots to get it all sticking together.

I used the backing cardstock the Happy Day stickers came on to keep the insides stiff enough for the gift cards.

I just glued on torn strips of copy paper to cover the bar codes and such on the thicker backing and attached the gift cards to one side.  I wrote a message on the other side.

Two of them had Michael's gift cards, because those teachers like to craft and scrapbook.  One of them had a Target gift card because she's not crafty and loves to shop at Target. 

And there you have it, how to make three cute crafted gift card holders in less than 15 minutes!

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A Few Cards From My Stash

I had a few things going on last week and needed a few cards, but had no time to make them.  So I went to my stash to see what I could find.  Here's what I pulled out.  Sorry for the poor backgrounds and lame shots.  I was in a hurry. :)

This one is for my friend Liz. She just graduated med school, moved to start her residency, and had a baby!  Busy lady.  The card is totally her style with the vintage feel just like the wedding invitations I made her a few years ago.

This next one is for my Mother In Law's birthday this week.  She leans towards simple clean lines.

And I had one more for my friend, April, but I can't seem to find the pic.  And the card is already sealed and waiting for me to drop it off at the P.O. 

All oldies but goodies.

 

Baked Good Birthday Gift

My friend Kristina had a birthday friday.  I wanted to give her a little something 'cause I love her, she's so awesome, but we're on a very strict budget.  Lucky for me, Kristina loves everything I bake.  :)  I remembered her loving some peanut butter cup rice crispy treats I made a while back so I whipped up a batch to take to her.

Of course the best way to make a baked item look more special than just a baked item is to package it up all pretty.  Kristina also likes pretty things. :)

I put these in an old Stampin' Up! box.  I can't remember what came in this but I save boxes like this for just such occassions.  I wrapped up the treats individually in parchment and tied a cute pink string around each one.

Then I set out to decorate the box top itself.  I only had about 3 minutes to do this and my 5 year old was with me so I turned to my scrap bin of patterned paper and started taping.

I tied a ribbon around it all and pulled a card from my stash.  I didn't even try to find a birthday card.  I went with this one that says "Life is a matter of moments" and wrote "I am thankful for the moment you were born!" on the inside.

And viola!  There you have an inexpensive, but from the heart, gift, packaged nicely and quickly.

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Vintage Style Wedding Invitations

My friend Liz is getting married this year and I was blessed with the opportunity to make her wedding invitations for her. 

She wanted a kind of vintagy feel to them and this is what we came up with.  The outside is wrapped with a doily sleeve.  I got a big pack of them at Smart and Final.  Everything else I used in the invites is from Stampin' Up!.

I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of it with the doily sleeve off but the front of the card!  I'll upload one to my facebook page later.  The wrap is from crumb cake seam binding, a keyhole punch with their names on vanilla cardstock, and tied on with linen thread.  Those little tags were so easy.  I just used the small return address label setting on my word processor and it put 80 on a page in just the right size to punch.

 
The base of the invite is crumb cake, 12x12 cardstock, cut in half.  I used smaller pieces of the crumb cake to put pockets on the sides for tucking info into (like registry and reception info).  I sponged the base with the doily die cut cut with my big shot and white craft ink.

 

I printed the wording on vanilla cardstock and mounted it over the early espresso that covered the middle portion of the invite.  The espresso was on the crumb cake when I sponged those doilies so you can see a bit of a frilly edge sticking out under the wording.

Simple postcard RSVP stamped with Hello Doily and printed with their names, white craft ink run along the edge over soft suede, just to age it a bit.

Same treatment on the other side of the post card.  That "post card" stamp is from the Winter Post stamp set that is now retired.

And the envelope is the last part.

I stamped and inked the edges of the envelope the same way I did the post card.  These were a slightly shimmery vanilla envelope I picked up at Staples.  The bride had a friend (or maybe it was her father?) make address them with caligraphy and they were awesome.

And there you have them!

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Convention Swaps 2012

I know, I'm way behind!  But I am finally getting around to posting my swaps from convention! 

I only took about 25 this year.  I have to say that the swaps at convention this year were great!  I mean, there weren't any poor ones!  And some of these are from a "bling" swap I participated in that was awesome!

These were all from my bling swap.  The upside down pink one is mine. Woops.  That purple flowered one was my favorite of the bunch.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

These were all gorgeous.  You can click on them to see them bigger if you like.  I even loved the Halloween one and I'm not a Halloween fan!

Not only are these gorgeous, but that middle one with the onsie is from one of my downline (Vanessa) and you can view her stuff here.

 
Love these.  Those snowflakes are cool and I love the Summer Starfruit with the dark blue.

After several years I'm still in love with that Elements of Style stamp set in the upper left.  And I love the double layer on the edge of the upper right.

 
I love the purple black and green for Halloween way more than orange and black.  Although a card in the next batch is also great in orange and black.

 
Howlsooth and Scaringbone is the name of that plaid paper.  And I love the new butterfly punch that perfectly matches all those beautiful butterflies!  And hello to the upper left corner!  Black and white is one of my favorite color combos (even better when you throw in pearls or rhinestones like this stamper did!).

You can get any of the items needed to make ALL these cards from my website!  And don't forget the new mini catalog is out too!  It's got GREAT holiday and seasonal stuff for the fall and winter holidays!!!!

 

New My Digital Studio Releases Today

Happy Tuesday and Happy New Release Day!  Love Tuesday for that reason! 

And before I show you today's digital releases, I thought you might like to know that MDS 2 will be released soon!  Like really soon!

And FYI - You can use these digital content downloads with most other programs!  You don't have to have My Digital Studio.  And Vis Versa...you can use other downloadable papers, etc...with My Digital Studio.

Ok, here are this week's releases!

My Digital Studio releases for July 31 2012

And here's a closer picture of my two favorites:

Chevrons are all the rage right now...I love to use them as arrows.  Here's the Chevron punch kit:

Chevron Punch digital kit

And just in case you didn't know, you can turn those chevrons any color you want!

 

And here are the Tag It Printables - at a great price!

Printable Christmas tags digital download

So cute!  And you can print as many as you need!

Remember you can download any of these and lots of other digital content from my website! 

Stamping on Glitter Video Tutorial

That's right, instead of stamping an image and then adding glitter, this one shows you how to stamp on a glittered surface!

 

Remember, you can get all the supplies you need for a project like this at my Stampin' Up! website!

Valentines Times 2!

I have two classes coming up, one for grown ups and one is my first mom and me type class!

Let's start with the grown up Valetines!

Here's what we're making:

I know : totally random how the pictures are showing up.  Arg!  Oh well, at least you can see them. :)

 

 

Here are the details:

When: January 31st, 6-9 pm - my office - $25

You'll have projects ready for you, a light snack and drinks, door prize tickets for bringing your scissors and adhesive and being on time, and a $5 voucher towards any purchases that night!

You can RSVP via my Stampin' Up! website, e-mail ([email protected]), or call my cell (951) 334-5424.  I accept cash, checks, and Paypal for classes.

I need your RSVP with payment no later than January 23rd to order your supplies!

You can also download this flyer to see all the details up close and personal!

Download Grown UP valentines

And on to the Mom and Me Class!

 You have 5 options to choose from.  Pick (or have your kid pick) the one they want to make, and decide how many you need, then use the order form to make sure I have them ready for you to make. 

You know they’d love it, and you wouldn’t be frantically looking for generic Valentines the day before the school party!  These are specially designed to be made with kids 5 and older with parent help, and without pulling your hair out!

Most of these were inspired by Pinterest and will use things I pre print on My Digital Studio for you.

I've uploaded an order form for you to download at the bottom.  RSVP with payment by January 27th.

Glow stick valentine

says: Valentine, you make my heart GLOW          $0.50 each

Pencile Valentine says:

You're just WRITE for me Valentine.                      $0.50 each

 

Heart Breaker Valentine says

Go ahead, be a HEART BREAKER                             $0.75 each

 

You rock Valentine!                                                           $0.75 each

 

 

Treat Cup Valentine                                                            $1.25 each

 

 

Download Mom and Me Valentines

RSVP for either or both classes today!

Simply Sent Makes Easy Christmas Cards!

Want to hand make some Christmas cards this year?  Need them to be easy so you can get lots of them done fast?  I have the perfect solution for you!

This month we have the Simply Sent kits on sale.  If you buy any two kits, you get one of the coordinating stamp sets for free.  But how about this...buy two kits, get your free set to use later, and also buy a different phrase set to use for Christmas!  The Everyday Elegance kit is perfect for this! 

Here are the Christmas cards I made from them:

Cute! Right?

Here's what you need:

The Everyday Elegance Simply Sent kit (get two so you can get the free set!  Then you can make more cards for other occassions later!) (#122377 - $11.95)

The Many Merry Messages stamp set (#116586 - wood only - $34.95, set of 8)  This set is perfect because it has different styles (elegant, whimsical, etc...) so it covers a lot of types of projects; and, it has small phrases that fit in the little self-adhesive frames that come with the kit, as well as longer sentiments for the inside of the cards!

Cherry Cobbler Ink pad (#119669, $5.95) and Baja Breeze Ink Pad (#111833, $5.95)

These are the two colors of cards you get in the kit.

Stitched Felt from the Holiday Mini (#124108, #9.95, 16 pieces)

You could also get Stampin' Dimensionals for adhering the felt.  And those mini jingle bells in the mini catalog would be really cute on these as well!

You can get all of these supplies from my Stampin' Up! website.

And don't forget that I am sending everyone who orders online through October 31st a pack of 4 hand stamped cards from my personal stash!