Hey-Ho-Ho....
Often wonder what to give as a small token of your appreciation ....and at this busy time of the holidays?

Look no further than the ever-useful GIFT TAGS!

They may be the 'small touches in life' but as hand-made gifts - they are perfect for saving your friend time and money!

Recently I had such an opportunity to give a lovely person a wee gift - a Mom - who gave a group of young teens a very nice afternoon of crafting and lunch.  To offer up a note of appreciation I used the following:

1. Stampin' Up! Tag and Curly Label Punches 
2. Stampin' Up! small size stamps - from A Cute Christmas {retired}
3. Stampin' Up! Real Red / Whisper White / Marina Mist Cardstock
4. Stampin' Up! Markers {various}
5. Stampin' Up! Espresso Bakers Twine
6. Stampin' Up! Dazzling Details 
7. and the ever useful sparkly shreds!  whoooo! 

  I thought a group of 6 tags was a nice set - but you stamp and colour away onto white cardstock  as many heart-warming scenes as your heart desires!  I love snowmen and the stack of gifts were real fun to colour - then its a glob of Dazzling Details on each - let dry then its time to package them together! 

Here they are getting their colours on!  

String em up together!

Let's bag them with good ol' sparkly shreds and a plain bag... 

and finally pop them in, staple a folded 'topper' on and voila...!

HOSTESS GIFT TAGS

 * So hope you have a special Hostess in mind! *

* I love crafting with the 'young' ones - it always is a pleasure as I soak up their enthusiasm with relish!  Here is a young friend who made a tag for her special teacher!  


I find offering them choices is the best way I can share this craft with them and hopefully encourage them to consider this hobby - you never know what 'seeds' are laid through these experiences, you might be responsible for the birth of a new stamper, lol! 


So I will offer up suggestions but keeping them contained to just a few and add a very brief explanation describing the effects or the physical nature of the suggested products - this way the young person can make informed choices.  First I recommend about 3 colours and then ask which one they'd like to choose. 


Then we talk about the type of project: card, or tag {keep it simple!} and depending on the age, I will then decide how elaborate we will decorate the project. In this case, this young person has a lot of creative experience, so we are good to go! 


We embossed, we smooched, we glittered, we punched, glued, pop-dotted our way around this tag!  We even customized it by punching out the letters to spell the teacher's name - how cool is that!  It took us about an hour but I could tell she was never bored :)  In fact, I have sold her mother on one of the punches, which is arriving tomorrow and she will be on her way to making some more very cool projects - sweet! 


Here's her result - awesome Carrie! 

A big beautiful tag for teacher :)

Crafternoons!


I decided to add some 'more' to my friend's Get Well card [see previous post below] and I settled on making a tag using the same stamp set, since I am exploring all my new stamps!  Then I got a little more energy and went and grabbed my mist bottle which I had used on the get well cardstock, and misted up the tag just as well.


Not satisfied with the tag - I looked around the craft room til I spotted a bottle of plain white fabric flowers - aha!  So I inked up the outer edges of the flower and then on others, I would mist the centers. Either way, there is a little 'spreading' - so if you decide to do it, just be aware if you're trying to leave some of the original colour intact.


I also ROLLED the dyed flower up, and secured it at its tightly rolled-end. One I place right on the tag with glue dots and the other is dangling off a bit of twine. I will add some more to that one in a bit :)


Anyways here's the 3 tags pictures - since you have everything out, why not make more, right?  I am trying to decorate each one a little differently, and one remains undone yet - that's for another afternoon!


I like them - hope you like them - and have a great FRIDAY and LONG WEEKEND (for some - yah, I know!)


crafty hugs,
TAYLOR :)

CLICK ON PICTURES TO SEE THEM LARGER

BIRTHDAYS - GIFTS - HOW CAN WE PERSONALIZE GIFT WRAPPING?  Consider using supplies from our personal craft collections or altering commercial gift wrap products - and it's not too hard if you look at it from a new perspective. What do you possess on hand that could help make your gift tag more 'custom' or add more pizzaz to your gift wrap?  Myself - I'll experiment with just about everything.

TRY THESE QUICK IDEAS:
          1)  a PAPER FLOWER made from your scallop or circle punch.  Other punches are out there that can do this as well, just look here at my ORNAMENT PUNCH tutorials or posts to see more options.  I also made a lazy paper flower by twisting a strip of gift wrap loosely and gluing to a paper circle.  I cut out leaves from scraps - she loved it!


          2)  Wire up a MONOGRAM INITIAL using thin wire and some jewellery supply beads or bugles! After adding beads, flip the wire into a small loop to close the ends.
This is spectacular in my opinion and it doesn't take long!  Go for a nice 'scroll' look for high impact!


           3)  Instead of ribbon, "Punch" out shapes and just pepper the gift wrap with the die-cuts.  Or align them in rows  or make your own design up - have fun and see what happens.  My example is I chose to do a simple row of scallop circles because my gift wrap has polka-dots.


          4)   Download a nice picture from the Internet and print onto good cardstock.  Then using a Versamark Pad - apply a coat of glue to the entire picture - and then sprinkle Dazzling Diamond Glitter all over the picture and brush off the excess.  Your picture is still visible because the glitter is clear but sparkly which gives the picture a lovely, lovely effect!   [see my picture of Cleopatra].


          5)  Wrap your tag with extra goodies - ribbon or specialty crochet floss or twine is great too.
        
          6)  Have fun with glitter!   Use several colours of glitter on one image or word!!!  This looks neat!
See my "THANKS"  tag -  its for a friend in the US, so why not show off their patriotic colours to a cool effect?   I stamped the tag with HEAT and EMBOSS POWDER, and then blocked off 2/3 of the tag with a straight edge and applied the first colour of glitter.  Once that set, I moved down to the next section and blocked off the remaining 1/3 section and applied the 2nd glitter, and finally coated the remaining section with the 3rd glitter colour.   On the opposite side, I chose our STARS JUMBO WHEEL - and inked the tag, and embellished with markers, and glitter using our 2-WAY GLUE STICK for the small sections!

Download a picture from internet, and glitter it's surface with

 clear or iridescent glitter and Versamark glue pad.

Create a MONOGRAM INITIAL using jewellery wire and bugle beads! 

decorate your tag with ribbon and floss!

Close-up of Paper "scallop circle punch" Flower.

Paper Flowers - Twist'n'Stick, or Punch styles of flowers!     

Scallop Circle Die-cuts to create a decorative row!

Jazz up a word with rows of different colours of glitter!

Use patriotic colours - here its the Red, White and Blue of the USA!

             Hope this helps you to get started with jazzing up 
                                  your gift wrapping!  
                                           Cheers, Beverly xx

We tell customers all the time - get together some friends, learn some new stamping techniques together, have fun ....and then you can earn some free items such as this 'Christmas Punch' stamp set.  Here's a cool idea with this set - create a box of tags as a gift! I know I'd love it if a friend gave me this tag set.  [See it on page 14 of our large catalogue for a closer view.]

But more than that, it means the stamps in this set are designed to work with 6 different hand-held punches in our collection. Every so often, SU comes out with these special stamp sets, which is great when you consider that your Wide Oval or Scallop Square punch can have a new purpose - yet again!

So consider this idea yourself - talk to me about throwing your own party - small & quaint or large & lov'n it - either way, you could easily be on your way to earning a  free Hostess Level Exclusive Stamp Set!  There's more than this for Hostesses but its a great start :)

I really am having a great deal of fun with shaving foam - almost cracked a rib laughing when I told a friend I bumped into that I was giving a class on shaving foam and she sort of paused and said "what kinda of class ARE you giving that involves shaving foam!?" ....and that's when I realized for the first time how it sounds when you say it that way - - and I was "NO! not like what you're thinking! Or whatever you're thinking!! ha ha!" {she's a nurse - so } - -well, anyways we both had a good laugh.

But here is some of my first results with it - I've made some lovely tags! See the background is the paper that has been marble-ized with the shaving foam and inks? Then I used some Stampin' Up Big Shot Dies {one has a flower which was cut in paper and tissue}, and some cut out pieces from various stamps to make 'chic' tags!

It's pleasant to sit and craft with bits and bobs - like decorating a safety pin with beads {pull it apart, bead it, re-shape it } and I carefully sewed on the buttons and wound the thread nicely - nothing too difficult.

So la te dah! You may come and try your hand at this fun technique - last class this month is June 27th.