I haven’t been able to post last week due to the kids’ crazy end-of-the-schoolyear schedules and one kid getting sick. So this week, I’m posting several projects to make up for the non-post, LOL.

First up is this classy pink and black gift bag. I really like this color combination, and although it doesn’t show very well, the white strip is embossed with swirlies. The paper flower is made from 15 1-inch punched circles, arranged in 3 circular layers with 5 circles per layer. I wanted to lighten the color of the petals for added interest, so I bleached some parts of the flower. Yes, that’s right, bleach, LOL!  I dipped a paint brush in liquid bleach, then stroked on the areas I wanted to highlight.

This second colorful bag uses a paper carnation. The how-to link for this paper flower was shared by Shelly/catladyof5 on the PCCrafter message board. She used these instructions from Lynn Larson of Learn to Stamp and Scrap. Thank you, Lynn for the fabulous idea and instructions!

Here are two more:  instructions for the yellow paper rose can be found here - big thank you to Maria of Imagine, Create, Inspire! Thank you also to Nancy/Nanc on the PcCrafter message board for sharing the link! For the pink rose, I followed the instructions by Helen Croft of Scrap a Little – another big thank you!

Hmmm, I can see you’re getting impatient, LOL,  how did I make these bags? These were done using my trusty ol’ Cricut with SCAL2, but you can also use the trusty ol’ scissors. For those with a Cricut/SCAL2 (or MTC), trace the images below to produce the cutting files.

For those using scissors or who like to do some digital decorating, here are the templates:

You can see from the side view shots of the gift bags that I just used a purchased white lunch bag with the top cut off. It is really the easiest way to do, although you can also glue/tape a long strip of paper in between the two bag pieces.

Whew! This is one long post! I will be posting the entire instructions tomorrow (with pics and everything), but I’m betting that a lot of you can pretty much figure out what I did already, LOL!

Tags: gift bag, gift bag template, paper flower

The Card Swap hosted by Mary/MEW  on the PCCrafter message board just finished another month of card making with rain  as the theme. I was almost late getting my cards to my swap partner, DeeDee, but I hope that by this time, she already got the cards I made. 

While thinking of what cards to make, I realized that while living here in Southern California,  I’m almost always asking for it to rain.  The lack of rain has left most of California in drought conditions for several years already. When it does rain (and it has rained a bit more than usual this spring), my family and I just love it! We open the door and watch the puddles become bigger, or we watch the rivulets of water trace paths on the windows. 

I confess that I did not always feel such affinity to the rain – growing up in the northern mountainous region of the Philippines, there were times when it would rain for three months straight (monsoon season). Everything was wet, gloomy and muddy, but the plants loved it – the whole landscape was green. I guess that most of us have mixed feelings regarding rain – and that is the  inspiration for these two cards I made:

Inside the card, it says “You’re a friend of mine!”, note that the little girl is smiling!

This is the second card:

The sentiment inside the card says, “Feeling under the weather? I hope you’ll feel better!”, and of course, the little girl does not look happy.

I added glossy accents to the raindrops and puddles for dimension on both cards. The cardstock I used for matting and card base are by Best Occassions, the embossed white card stock is from my stash and the cheerful yellow ribbon is by Martha Stewart. How about the digital images of the little girl? Well, you can get both graphics (already colored) by posting a comment below. If you prefer to color it yourself, please request the line art/digital stamp in your comment.  I will e-mail it to you as soon as possible.

Tags: girl with umbrella freebie graphic, rain card

Doesn’t that cupcake just look so…yummylicious? And yes, I promised that this cupcake tote template will be available at Gem’s Cottage by May 4,  it’s now May 5 and it’s still not in the store! 

I am so sorry that it’s late… Yes, I was busy (kids!!!), but  usually, I can finish everything I need to get done. However, I didn’t figure that migraine would wreak havoc on my schedule… the teacher appreciation ”care packs”  and Mother’s Day gifts for family and friends that I was planning to  make all went down the drain.

 I needed a Plan B – and I think this jumbo chocolate cupcake in the tote is it! Nope, I didn’t bake this myself (I cheated and got this from the store again, LOL! ), but I did add the frosting and the strawberries. Of course, I had to make sure that it tasted good… and it did! 

BTW, to those who are patiently waiting for the template or the cutting file to be uploaded in the store, it will be available by tomorrow, May 6 (really! cross my heart!).

Tags: birthday cupcake, Mother's Day, Teacher's Appreciation Day

I hope you’re not yet tired of my totes, because here’s one more, LOL!  I did not think of making a cupcake tote at first, but  here’s a little story of how it came about:

Last month (mid March), I was planning to bring cupcakes for my son’s birthday party in preschool. I didn’t know exactly what they did in class when someone has a birthday, so I asked. “Well,” his teacher said, “during circle time, we sing Happy Birthday to the celebrant, and that’s about it. If parents bring cupcakes or any other food, we put them in ziploc bags then send them home. We don’t really have time to eat them during class. Of course, the cupcakes end up getting smushed…” I was just about done with the construction and design of tote box 1 and 2, and what my son’s teacher said got my creative gears a-whirr (you know what I mean, LOL!). 

I wanted to put a cupcake topper that says “William is 5, yay!”, so using a cupcake box was out of the question (not tall enough).  Tweaking and adjusting the combined templates of tote box 1 and 2, here are the cupcake totes I came up with (and yes, it’s still made entirely out of cardstock!):

Not bad, eh? That’s Laurie Furnell’s adorable monkey from Monkeyin’  Around at www.pccrafter.com.   I ended up making 18 of these (thank goodness I have a Cricut with SCAL2!) since each kid must have one (plus the teachers!):

When I was done making them, that’s when one of my daughters remarked, “Wow, Mom, Martha Stewart will be proud, no, jealous!” That really made me laugh, but I disagreed.  If you look again, the cupcakes I put in there are store-bought (gasp!), and I know for sure that Martha will be aghast (or maybe even outraged?) once I confess that tiny detail, LOL!  It doesn’t really matter, the kids in my son’s class were so excited with their cupcake totes,  they all walked out of their classroom beaming, holding the handle tightly with their little fingers. William, of course, was so happy!

More than a month after William’s birthday, his cupcake tote is still on our bookshelf. Well, there’s no more cupcake, but it holds his crayons. One morning while he was getting his former-cupcake- now-crayon tote to color something, he observed, “Mom, I really, really like this…uhmm…pot you made.” I consider that as equivalent to Good Housekeeping’s Seal of Approval!

By the way, if you’re wondering, the template and cutting file for the cupcake tote will be available by Monday, May4 (at the latest) at Gem’s Cottage.

I have a good friend who practically has everything she needs and can buy anything she wants, so when it’s gift-giving time, I always have to think long and hard… what am I going to get her? Well, this year, I’m going to have it easy! She loves fruit, and would usually get up early in the morning  to go to the farmer’s market just to get the freshest ones. So… I’m going to give her these :

I hope she’s going to like them! The pink basket will be filled with strawberries, I will be buying them on the day I give the baskets.  These were made from the newest template at Gem’s Cottage, Tote Box 2, and the images are from Doodle Heart – Blooms and Bugs by Laurie Furnell at www.pccrafter.com . These are made entirely out of cardstock and just took me about 20 minutes to cut and assemble (didn’t use my Cricut for this one, although Gem’s Cottage also sells the cutting files). As for being sturdy, the picture below answers the question:

By the way, would you want to get this template (or Tote Box 1) for free? E-mail me at gem@gemscottage.com for details. This offer is good for the first 5 people who e-mail me and agree to the (really easy!) terms.

***Update: I have the first 5 (and a bit more, LOL!), thanks, everyone!

I just wanted readers to see what I’m working on this week: yup,  these tote boxes made entirely out of card stock (well, plus glue and tape)!  And, this is just one style, there are other styles on the works, too! What’s more, these tote boxes can be done by using a pair of scissors or with a cutting machine that uses SVG files.  Since these are digital templates, you can make them in the exact size that you want. Then, decorate and embellish as you wish!

The pink tote box with the stripes is part of the digital template set that will be sold at Gem’s Cottage  tomorrow (hopefully!), the angels and background on the middle box are from the April 2010 Hugclub content at www.pccrafter.com, while the blue box is embellished with a cut-out circle from Over a Cup of Coffee and brown polka dot ribbon by Offray.

Last year, during our fall ATC swap on the PC Crafter Message Board, we did a “School Days” theme. The inset above shows what I did (graphics are from “Bears All Year” by Gina Jane at www.daisiecompany.com).   I decided to do a greeting card-size of the checks and stitches I used on the ATC and make a birthday card for my godson in Oregon. Well, there were other cards that I needed to make so I changed the colors and the sentiments and here are the two more cards I made:

Yup, these were very easy to make, deciding what color card stock for matting actually took me longer! The “boids” on the light green card are from Flights of Fancy by Carolyn Shores Wright at www.pccrafter.com, while the images on the blue card are from Garden Sampler by Laurie Furnell from the same company. Now, where is that freebie I mentioned in the title? Well, just right-click on the template below and save it in your computer. Change its color by adjusting the hue/saturation/lightness and fiddle with its brightness/contrast also. There’s another freebie -  if you like the graphics and design on the birthday card, just post a comment and I’ll e-mail it to you!

*** To answer Nettle’s question: the font I used for the birthday card is PC Squirrelly. If you are a PC Hugclub member, you can download this font for free.

An early Happy Easter to all of you! It’s been quite a while since I have done paper piercing on a card.  Also, for my birthday (last month), my dear brother made me a proper paper piercing tool - in two sizes, yay! So, for our Easter card swap,  I made this for my swap partner, Delores(MaDee).  This pattern is a freebie on my site and you can see the card that I did last year here.  If you have a critical eye, you will notice that I struggled in cutting the tight curves in my earlier card. Now that I have a Cricut with SCAL, I decided to have a go with it again. This time, I did the reverse: cutting away the inside of the paper piercing and the card base to frame the printed graphic and sentiment (the image is from Teddy Bears by Rebecca Carter at www.PCCrafter.com). I really like how this turned out – and I like how the curves were smoothly cut! So, I made another birthday one:

You can tell that I was really inspired to make these cards! As for my RAK, I will be picking two winners who will get: two pre-printed and pre-cut paper piercing pattern (just like the ones shown above), two pre-cut card bases and two pre-printed images. The pre-printed sentiments will be “Happy Birthday” and “Just a note”. If you want to be included in the drawing for this RAK, just post a comment below. Blessings everyone!

***Update: Just picked the winners of the RAK, and the lucky ones are…. Lori/Lorianna and Julie/JulieM! Congratulations! Please e-mail or PM me (via PC Crafter MB) with your address so I can mail your prizes.  Thanks for all the  comments, ladies – I read and treasure each one!

@ Diane – I’ll e-mail you the SVG file if you want it!

@ Edieb – I use SCAL2, but I heard that MTC is easier to use, try playing with it, it’s a lot of fun!

I admit to not being fond of  being in the kitchen, preferring to be either working on the crafting table or eating on the dining table (which is the same table, actually, LOL). I don’t know who exactly started this idea, when I Googled “sock cupcake” there were plenty of sites selling them and there were plenty of crafting boards and blogs featuring them. Well, whoever thought of this is just brilliant!  I get to make cupcakes without pulling out the mixer, bowl, measuring spoons, well, the whole baking shebang! And by the way, it doesn’t have to be socks only, creative crafters have come up with  ”washcloth cupcakes’, “flannel cupcakes” (these are receiving blankets),  “onesies cupcakes”,  “burp cloth cupcakes”, well you get the idea! It’s very easy to make, very cute to give and whoever gets it will find it useful.

I did the sock cupcake above by first rolling one sock, starting from the cuff (BTW, if you are wondering, this is an adult-sized sock). Then I wrapped the other sock around the first one, starting with the toe this time,  when I reached the cuff, I turned it  inside out, which makes the whole “cupcake” secure. This part is really hard to explain (are you scratching your head already?), so this picture might make it easier to understand:

Next, cut the cupcake wrapper. I prefer using the cupcake wrapper cut from cardstock over the usual cupcake liners because it has a sturdier construction. Gem’s Cottage  has downloadable cupcake wrapper templates,  printables and cutting files if you are wondering where to get them. Note that the assembled cupcake wrapper does not have a bottom, and I’ll leave it up to you if you prefer to have it bottomless or “bottom-full” (that should be the opposite, right, but somehow it doesn’t sound right, LOL). Well, if you want it to have a bottom, just punch/cut out a circle that is a little bit bigger than the cupcake base. These cupcake wrappers I used have a 2-inch bottom, so I punched a 2½ inch circle, run a line of glue at the bottom of the cupcake wrapper, then put it on top of the circle. Presto! Bottom-full cupcake wrapper! Here is how it looks like:

After letting the glue dry, you might want to add embellishments – and that’s completely up to you!  For me, I did not like the dried glue discoloring the cardstock, so I put a bit of  ”paper lace” (I just used a scalloped border punch on white paper) to cover it  and to dress it up a little. Now, put your sock cupcake inside…voila!  If you want to dress it up some more, you can wrap the whole thing with clear cello and tie with pretty bow, like the one above. Nice presentation, eh? And not one minute spent in the kitchen, yay!

Now, of course, when I was doing this project, I cut way too many cupcake wrappers (the Cricut and SCAL make it really easy), so I’m going to hold a drawing again. If you want your name to be put in the hat, please post in the comment section and you just might win 8 pre-cut cupcake wrappers with 2½ circle bottoms. I’ll be drawing two winners next Wednesday, April 1, 2010 (nope, not pulling an April fool’s joke on this one!). Good Luck!

***Update: Thanks everyone for the compliments! Did I say that I’m going to draw the winners on Wednesday, April 1? Well, well, well, Wednesday is March 31, not April 1 – and no, I did not intend to pull an early April Fool’s joke, LOL! Now, what to do?  I decided to make all the 4 posters winners! Congratulations Maria, Annie, Lisa and Kathy! Please e-mail me with your snail mail address so that I can send the pre-cut wrappers and circle bottoms to you!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s been four days since our clocks were adjusted 1 hour early, but our whole family is still adjusting. I got up 30 minutes late, so I did a mad dash  to get the kids off to school (who also got up late, were groggy and went around with dazed looks, LOL).  It’s a good thing they already lay out their clothes before going to bed, so I did not have to remind them to wear something green. One DD wore a green blouse, the other wore a green sweater, DS had his green sweats, and of course, my dear hubby topped them all by wearing a hunter green shirt and jacket. I just looked at myself and realized that I’m not wearing anything green at all… wait… aha! the green leaves on my bedroom slippers count, right? Okay, no pinching!

Here is my next project, a coffee pot!

This coffee pot was done with Cricut and SCAL2, using the cuting files here.   The background paper I used is Coffee word art from Over a Cup of Coffee.  Pop dots and red cardstock from my stash (it’s probably from the Paper Company) were inserted inside the pot for the heart cut out, and the top was just tied off with a polka dotted brown ribbon from Offray.  Note that if you prefer to use scissors, the template for the tea/coffee pot may be found here.

How about another RAK? Of course! Just post a comment below, and I will be drawing two winners again. This time, the prize will be 3 pre-cut tea/coffee pots, all you need to do is assemble the pots, fill it up with goodies, tie it off with a pretty ribbon and you have a nice giftie!

*** March24, 20120 – Update to  announce the winners: the two names drawn by my DD are: Cheri M and Nelta! Congratulations! Please e-mail or PM (via PcCrafter message board) me your snail-mail address so that I can send you your prize. Thank you to everyone who posted a compliment – it’s very much appreciated!