Halloween Treats - October 2007

I made a ton of cello bags filled with miniture bite-size candy bars with this topper on them for halloween treats. The majority of the treats were suppose to be given to my husband's Schwan's customers but he had a change of jobs at the beginning of October so we ended up having a ton left over. It's okay. We just took the candy out of the cello bags and used it for other things. I did not eat it though if that's what you were thinking. He took it to his new job. I was so happy that he got a new job when he did though a bit frustrated as well just because I had spent so much time and energy on these darn treat bags just to have him not need them anymore. It's okay though. It's all working out for the best. At least this time he didn't complain the whole time we were making them because he was tired of coloring in all the House-Mouse designs like he did at Valentine's & Easter.

Topper Recipe:

Stamps: Batty For You, Arachnophobia
Paper: Only Orange, Vintage Violet, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Scallop Punch, 1 1/4 Circle Punch
Techniques: Bag Topper
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 1

Directions: To make a bag topper is quite simple and you can make a huge variety of them. I use the small/medium cello bags. They measure about 4 inches across the top. You can fill the bags with just about anything and you can get them from SU, your local hobby stores, and online. I prefer the ones from SU. Anyway... to make the topper it is best I find to use 12x12 paper but you can use other sizes as well. You just end up with extra paper. You start by cutting the paper in 4x4 squares. I then score at 2" and fold in half. Once I do this I put it over the top of the bag and put one staple in the middle. For this halloween design. I took the Batty For You set and stamped in Basic Black on Whisper White paper. I then punched out the design using the 1 1/4" circle Punch. It's easier to stamp and then punch then to try to stamp on the little punched circle. Once I got that done I then punched out vintage violet using the scallop punch. I then attached all the circles to the middle of the scallop punch outs. I put the endorsements over the rough side of the staple so that it can't catch on other things or on the little kids fingers. Just about anything can be used. If you notice from past posts I've attached square images as well as this smaller scalloped image.

Easter Mice - March 2007

I made a ton of these... 600 or so... for my husband to pass out to his Schwan's customers. It will be the last time I make treat bags for him to pass out that require coloring. He complained the whole time even after promising not to when he talked me into it.

I love these as nice little goody bags for parties and such... I just don't think they're a very good idea for mass quantities anymore. I guess they could be depending on how many you need and what supplies you're using. I wouldn't recommend them though if your stamped image for the front is one that needs to be colored in. My husband has already started to check out the House-Mouse Halloween designs, but it's not going to happen. If I make these again at Halloween I'm going to use a roller to put the design on the 4x4 paper and some other stamp on the front that doesn't require coloring, so all I have to do is cut, punch, stamp and attach everything together.

There were 2 House-Mouse Easter Mice designs stamped on White paper. Then I took those stamped mice and attached them to 3 different colors of paper (purple, green, & yellow). I stamped the Easter eggs from the SU set Tag Time onto 4x4 squares in the 3 same colors as the mice were attached to, and folded them in half. Once all the bags were filled with pastel/Easter M&M's I put the pieces of paper that were folded in half over the top and stapled them close. The mice were then attached over the rough side of the staple.

RECIPE:

Stamps: House-Mouse, Tag Time
Paper: White, Green, Purple, Yellow (all Non-SU)
Ink: Basic Black, Marigold Morning, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst
Accessories: Markers & Colored Pencils
Techniques: Bag Topper
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 1

Birthday Gifts for Rebecca's Kids - Feb 2007

I made all of the following items quickly for Rebecca's kids. They have birthdays near Christmas so they don't celebrate until the end of February. I was able to get these made just in time to send out and get them to her before the birthday party. I made 8 bags and 8 bags and then individual birthday cards of the kids. I believe I missed on birthday card but was able to just send a pre-made one that I got with my house-mouse order. Next year I'll be prepared and will come up with a hand-made design for all of the individual birthday cards. I'm only going to post 2 of the big bags because posting all 8 when they're basically the same would just be a waste of room in the blog and would take alot of time and since I have so many more things to post I don't want to take the time to do that.

Valentine's Day Baggies - Feb 2007

Since my hubby liked the Christmas treat baggies so very much he decided I should make some for valentine's day too. I said okay and asked if 50 or so would be enough... yeah.... I wish that was all he needed... I ended up making just over 500 of these cute little mice baggies filled with 2 shades of pink, red, and white M&M's. Thank god they were on sale or else it would have cost me a small fortune. I think it still did but it has been well worth it the cost and headaches, which I'm not going to get into. Regardless, now he wants me to make him some for Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, etc. I must have been crazy when I agreed to do these but now he thinks because he's given candies to 1 of the 2 weeks on his Schwan's route that he should give them to the other week now for Easter. I'm not so sure but I can tell you one thing I'll start working on them and if he complains even one little bit about coloring the darn mice in that's it, I'm not finishing them and I'm sure as heck not going to agree to make any more in the future. He's already picked out 2 different Easter House-Mouse Designs to use on them, and I've agreed that while at my parents this weekend I'll work on getting some of them stamped and more cut out so he can start coloring now for instead of the last minute like last time. I think if this goes well and he thinks he's wanting to do this for Halloween or any other holiday that I'll get a container and start putting the cut and stamped pieces in there in advance for now one. It sounds like a wonderful idea. I know it will be worth it because when we did it for valentine's day his Schwan's sales went up and when you're paid solely on commission as he and every other Schwan's man is any increase in sales is a good thing. Keep this in mind the next time a Schwan's man comes to your door and tries to sell you some of their delicious food. Also... just because you're on some sort of diet doesn't mean you can't eat their food. It is really easy to figure up the point values on the sides of the boxes, if you're doing flex plan through weight watchers. It's probably a little trickier if you're on core plan or some other diet but even then there is something in the book you can order. Just keep this in mind next time, I know I appreciate it because without buying customers it becomes really hard to pay our bills. They always get paid because I too hold a full-time job but it's still very difficult.

Christmas Candy Baggie - Dec 2006

I can't believe I forgot one of my favorite projects. I guess that's what I get for putting it in a different folder. I love making these little baggies of candy. At first I was really closed minded about them and thought you can only put candy in them by since then I have opened my mind and realized that I could put just about anything in them.... all I would need to do is get a different size baggie and that wouldn't always be the case. These are so quick & easy to make that I plan on making more to pass out at Halloween. The best part is they can be customized to fit any occasion or holiday. You just change the colors of the paper, ink, and the change the stamp set and you're all ready for the next holiday. It's great fun too. They would make great baby/wedding shower favors, school treats, party favors... the list could go on and on. If any of my friends are interested in making some for any event they have coming up let me know and I'd be more then happy to help you out. For the baggie pictured here I used Stampin' Ups Quick Cards Set and Snow Flurries Set. I used Bashful Blue, Whisper White, and Certainly Celery card stock. Of course the ink is also Certainly Celery. Got to love the SU Color names.

My First Technique Class - Nov 2006

Shortly after attending the stamp camp... like 3 days... I signed up for a techniques class in Springfield. I thought if I was going to take the hobby of rubber stamping seriously and continue to make cards that didn't look like cheap art projects that a
2nd grader might have done then I as going to have to learn some of the fancy techniques and get into some groups with other stampers. It was clear to me after attending this class that I was hooked and there would be no easy escape from the stamping world. These are the items that I created at my first techniques' class. I had a blast and of course I ordered more supplies so I could duplicate some of the projects. Though I haven't created any duplicate items I have used the pattern layout of the snowman bag and the candy baggie to make items that are similiar yet very different. Those pictures will be showcased in another blog entry.