My Sweet Friend + a WINNER!

Hello and Happy Friday to you! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas with your families. We certainly did, and now we're having a lovely time just being home together. That's the best!

I have a little DeNami project to share with you today. This was part of one of the last gifts I put together this year. It was for a dear friend of mine whom I was thrilled to see for a while on Christmas Eve.

Now, here's the story:  my husband and I both grew up in Ohio, the Buckeye State. We both remember our families making these partially chocolate-dipped peanut butter candies at Christmas time when we were growing up. They are called Buckeyes for their resemblance to the nut of the Ohio Buckeye tree (the state tree of Ohio, of course!). Here's a photo for comparison:

Can you kind of see the resemblance?

Anyway, a few years ago my friend discovered a boxed candy mix from Betty Crocker for Peanut Butter BonBons. She bought the mix to make up for a party we were both attending, and the entire platter disappeared within 10 minutes!! When I gave one to my husband to try, he remarked about how similar the Betty Crocker BonBons were to the Buckeyes we ate as kids.

I made up a big batch of Buckeyes this year as a surprise treat for my family on Christmas Day, and as I was packing them up to keep them out of sight, I remembered how much my friend had liked the BC BonBons. So I whipped up a special little box to package a quartet of Buckeyes to include in her present. I really hope she was surprised and pleased (and "got" the connection!!)

I decorated a DeNami 3x3 Boutique Box using Staz-On inks (Jet Black and Cotton White) to stamp on a Leafy Vine Wreath and an Arched Sweet Friend sentiment. I glued on a few red sequins to decorate my wreath and sealed up the box with some White/Red Dots washi tape. So quick and cute!

And now it's time to announce the winner of my washi tape giveaway! I used Random.org to select a winner. It was lucky number 18, which was

 Sue D! 

Congratulations, Sue! I've emailed you.

Well, thanks so much for dropping by today. Enjoy your last weekend of 2013!!

Hope your day is filled with bliss,
Emily

Ways With Washi: WREATHS + a Giveaway!

Greetings, DeNami friends! It's time for my December edition of Ways With Washi over on the DeNami Design blog!  Today I thought I'd show you a couple of ways that you can use washi tape to build your very own DIY wreath embellishments. Let's take a look!

For my first project, I used two green DeNami washi tapes to build a wreath. I started by punching out two nesting circles from white card stock. Then I used scissors to trim fringe along one side of a long strip of Green Graph Washi Tape and adhered it around the perimeter of the larger circle with the fringe pointing outward. I gave the same fringe treatment to a long piece of Green Stripes Washi Tape and adhered it around the smaller circle. After stacking the smaller fringed circle on top of the larger circle, I filled the center of my wreath with a tiny sentiment from the Christmas Greetings Petit Four stamp set.  At this point, I simply added a few red sequins and a loopy bow tied from baker's twine, and my wreath embellishment was done!

Other supplies from the DeNami Design store: Polka Dot Background, Satin Red Versafine Ink

I love pairing pink with green as a nontraditional color scheme for Christmas! Next up is a larger wreath created with my favorite Christmas color combo. For this wreath, I adhered strips of Pink Stripes Washi Tape and Green Graph Washi Tape around a cardstock ring created with punches. Once all of the tape was securely fastened in place, I used my trusty scissors to trim swallowtail notches in the end of each little banner. Sweet, don't you think?

Other supplies from the DeNami Design store: Rich Cocoa Memento Ink, Arched Sweet Friend, Sugar Cookies Stamp set

And that brings this Ways With Washi to a close! It's so hard to believe that this is my last DeNami monthly feature for 2013. It's also my last Ways With Washi feature. I've nearly exhausted my list of interesting ways to use washi tape in papercrafting projects! But never fear, I'll be back with a brand-new monthly feature here on the DeNami blog in 2014!

In the meantime, I'd like to offer you the chance to win a roll of washi tape to play with!

GIVEAWAY

I have a brand-new roll of Green Stripes Washi Tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "CHRISTMAS." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 26, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Friday, December 27, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for checking out Ways With Washi today!
Emily

A Poinsettia for Christmas

Hello and welcome to my little slice of bliss! Today I am posting for the DeNami Design Team's last Pinspired feature for the year. This month we were inspired by this beautiful seasonal photo:

Sigh, that just makes me happy to look at!! I was completely captivated by those bright and beautiful colors for Christmas and that lovely layered red and pink poinsettia. So here's what I came up with:

What do you think?

I think this may be one of my favoritest holiday cards yet!! I used some gorgeously textured fuchsia cardstock (formerly available thru DeNami, but sadly no more--sniff, sniff!) as the base for this card, and I just LOVE how it sets off the other colors in the design. (I hope it looks fuchsia to you and not red on your device. Fingers crossed!)

I used a bunch of DeNami products to put this together:

Solid Flower Accents Set

Solid Petals Set

Merry Christmas

Elegant Word Plate

Satin Red Versafine Ink

Onyx Black Versafine Ink

Pastel Boutique Buttons

Want to see what the other designers did with this inspiration photo? Be sure to check out the DeNami blog today!

Thanks so much for visiting today! May you have a day filled with bliss!
Emily

Holly Jolly Christmas

If you came by my blog on Friday, you will recognize the gingham gift bag in today's project. Yes, it's true--I got a super deal on those kraft/gingham gift bags after Christmas last year at JoAnn Fabrics!! I'm having a blast finding different ways to dress them up. :)

So today's gift bag is brought to you by Purple Onion Design Rubber Stamps! I made this bag for my stint on the the P.O.D. 2013 Holiday Design Team. Sadly, it is my last official project for the holiday DT, but you can count on seeing many of the P.O.D. stamps I acquired again and again! Anyway, let's take a look at the gift bag:

I am so in love with Purple Onion's noteblock stamps! These subway art-style sentiment panels are very cool, and have been around long before they became "in" recently. The one I used on this bag is the Happy Holidays Noteblock. I also used the sweet snowman from the Hanging with Pete set, a sentiment from Handwritten Holiday, and the smaller frame from the Deluxe Labels set as my gift tag.

I stamped the noteblock and label with Crimson Red Versafine ink and colored Snowman Pete with Copic markers. A few red rhinestones and Martha Stewart holly leaf punches were the perfect embellishments!

I can't believe that we have just one week of school left before Christmas! I've got a lot to accomplish this week. Here's to being a merry and productive little elf!!

Thanks for stopping for a little slice of bliss!
Emily

Gingham Noel Gift Bag

Welcome to Friday!

Today is the first day of the Girl Scout Cookie sale in our regional Girl Scout council! Tomorrow morning and Sunday afternoon my 14YO daughter will be out selling cookies in her senior troop's first booth sales of the season. Both sales will be held outside the front entrance of our local WalMart, which is always a good place to sell during the holiday shopping season ;). Snagging booth sale time slots on the first weekend of the cookie sale will also bolster business (just think of all the hoards of Thin Mint lovers who've been drooling in anticipation of the return of the Thin Mint for all these months!). The only problem is the weather forecast!! I'm in charge of the 3-hour time slot on Saturday morning, and the forecast is for single digit temperatures overnight. Did I mention that we'll be setting up our pyramid of Girl Scout Cookies on a table outside?? I'm a little concerned about the potential for frostbite, quite frankly. None of that on my watch! I just picked up a 20-pack of handwarmers so we can stick them in our boots and mittens. I think that dressing in layers (upon layers upon layers) will be the order of the day!

Next thing on my agenda for this morning is picking up all those packages of glorious cookies to sell. I've got 41 cases of Girl Scout Cookies on order from our council. That's 492 packages of cookies, folks! I think that lugging those around will count as my workout for today. Anyway, wish us luck this weekend!!

Well, but that's probably not what you came to my blog for today! How about a little Christmas papercrafting cheer? I wanted to share a gingham gift bag (from JoAnn Fabrics that I picked up on clearance after Christmas last year) I gussied up with Unity stamps for today's Friends With Flair hop.

I used the frame from the Just a Note itty bitty and a sentiment from Gingham Christmas Greetings. The chipboard trees and felt rick-rack are from My Mind's Eye.

Well, that'll do it for now. Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!
Emily

More Holiday Treats

Today I'm continuing to share some of the projects that I've made as a member of the Purple Onion Designs 2013 Holiday Design Team. This December I'm making lots of holiday treats to give as gifts to teachers, friends, and neighbors. You've already seen my packaging for my homemade caramel corn and chocolate peanut clusters. Today I'm showing off more holiday treats. Let's start with some peppermint bark!

This is another super easy candy to make at home! And the results look (and taste!) so impressive. Once I've made my peppermint bark, I package it in small cellophane treat bags and slip it into one of these sweet little gift bags. I made it using a downloadable template for sale from DeNami Design. Simply print onto the back of a piece of patterned paper, cut, fold, and adhere. Done! I dressed up the tote with a fun tag I made with Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: label from Vintage Journaling Set, Holiday Treats Logo, and Treat Word Set. Have I told you how much I love my Treat Words??? I've used them to label lots of candies and treats, but this set is perfect for cookies, too, with words like "linzer," "sugar," "gingerbread," "snickerdoodle," "thumbprint," and "shortbread." YUM!! So perfect for holiday baking!!!

I'm also making chocolate-dipped pretzel logs as edible gifts this year. Here's a peek at how I'm packaging them.

I'm using my beloved Treat Word Set again, of course! I also used the Homemade Treats Logo and the largest label from the Plain Jane Labels set.

How is your holiday goodie making coming along? We did the bulk of our baking last weekend, making our traditional stash of Christmas cookies that we'll keep for our own munching. We made (and decorated!) cut-out sugar cookies, holiday chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and satin-glazed date cookies. Everything is so delicious! I just love having a variety of cookies to indulge in :). You know, it's funny, we always do a ton of baking in December but do tend to keep it to ourselves. It just seems more practical to give candies and treats as gifts instead of cookies--I always feel like they are less likely to go stale than cookies (and who wants to receive a stale cookie as a gift???). And I'm not going to lie:  candy & treat making (or at least the ones I tend to make) require fewer ingredients and a bit less effort than cookie baking. And when you are mass producing for gift-giving, that really seems to pay off!!

I hope your day is going just swimmingly today! Thanks so much for dropping by for a little slice of bliss,
Emily

P.S. Just in case you are interested, here is my recipe for peppermint bark.

Peppermint Bark

1 14-ounce bag of Make 'n Mold White Vanilla Flavored Candy Wafers
7 candy canes, crushed

Simply melt the vanilla candy wafers in the microwave according to the package directions and then stir in the crushed candy canes. Pour onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and spread out out into a "puddle" of uniform thickness. Allow chocolate to harden at room temperature and then break into bite-sized pieces. No need to refrigerate!

For a different size bag of candy melts, simply use 1 candy cane for every 2 ounces of candy melts. So for a 12-ounce bag of candy melts, use 6 candy canes; or for a 16-ounce bag, use 8 candy canes.

Christmas Wreath

Today is the DeNami Design team's final Product Spotlight for the year. We are featuring the Winter Wreath cling stamp. Just wait until you see how versatile this stamp is!

I stamped my Winter Wreath in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and then decided to dress it up by overstamping it with images from the indispensable Classic Christmas stamp set in Vintage Sepia, Olympia Green, and Satin Red Versafine inks. 

I broke up the beautiful Christmas Wishes sentiment into two lines so that it would fit in the center of my wreath ;).  All I needed to finish off this card was some pretty patterned paper, a DeNami Boutique Button, and a bit of red & white baker's twine. Easy!

Looking for some more ideas for this lovely wreath stamp? Be sure to check out the rest of the team's marvelous creations today on the DeNami blog. Like what you see? Then you can score a great deal on Winter Wreath--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

The Snow-la-bration continues . . .

We've got more snow on the docket for today, so I've still got snow on the brain! Recently my son celebrated his 11th birthday (how could that be?? He was a toddler just only yesterday--I'm sure of it!!), and it's time for him to write his thank-you notes. Today I'm sharing one of the six that I made for him to use for that task. Who wouldn't love to write  a note of thanks on a sweet snowman note like this one?

I used a bunch of fine products from the DeNami Design store for this creation: the snowman's face comes from the Seasonal Faces stamp set, You're the Best sentiment stamp, Snowflake Swirl embossing folder, and some pretty blue baker's twine.

My sweet blogging friend Pam started a fun new papercrafting challenge last month. It's called Just Punch It and the challenges are all about punch art! I was so bummed that I was never able to find time to play along with her first challenge (the timing lined up with my crazy run to get ready for Thanksgiving), but I was hoping, hoping, hoping that I'd be able to play along with the next one. The latest challenge is an easy one: Christmas! I'm so glad that I was able to join in!

Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

Snowflake Thank You Note Gift Set

Good Monday morning to you! We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning--our first tracking snow! Only about an inch or so, really, but everything is white and pretty. The snow is to turn to sleet and rain later in the day, so I know this won't last, but still--it makes me happy to see it!

I'm going to celebrate by sharing a little snow-themed gift this morning! I made this snowflake thank you note gift set for the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team. It's a set of six one-layer thank you notes with three each of two different designs. I used both gorgeous snowflakes heat-embossed in white, from the Vintage Snowflakes Set, both embellishments from the Vintage Journaling Set, and a beautifully scripted Thank You sentiment, all from Purple Onion Designs.

I slipped the set of notes along with six envelopes into a clear note card box and set about prettying up my packaging. I used the smallest label from the Plain Jane Labels set to make a gift tag just the perfect size for the "let it snow" sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday set. I decorated my tag with a little blue rub-on snowflake embellished with a tiny pearl. Finally I stamped the Merry Christmas tape from the Holiday Border Tape Set on a cardstock band to wrap around the base of the box.

And there you have it:  a snowy little card set all ready for holiday giving!!

I hope you have a fabulous day in your neck of the woods today! Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

You'd Better Not Pout . . .

. . . I'm tellin' you why: Santa Claus is comin' to town!!

I've got a super-busy day ahead, but I just had to share this fun card for today's Friends With Flair hop over on the Unity Stamp Co. blog today. I used two different Unity stamp sets: the scallped circle and arrow are from All About Today and the background is Gurnsey Gingham.

I've got a parent-teacher conference this afternoon and then a whole list of errands to run, so I really must scoot. I hope you have a super weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Pure Poppy, white) Papertrey Ink
Patterned paper:  (Fat Quarter, Running Stitch from Handmade collection) Lily Bee Design
Rubber stamps:  (scalloped circle, arrow from All About Today set) Unity Stamp Co.; (Gurnsey Gingham background) {ippity} by Unity
Pigment ink: (white) Clearsnap; (red) Tsukineko
Accents:  (red buttons)
Fibers:  (red/white baker’s twine)
Font:  (Sketch Block) dafont.com
Tools:  (circle punch) EK Success

Snowy Christmas Wishes

Greetings and salutations! It's my turn to share a little somethin' somethin' over on the DeNami blog today. A few years ago I picked up a sweet dimensional snowman sticker at our A.C. Moore store on clearance after Christmas. He definitely takes center stage on this project, but I used my DeNami stamps (Christmas Wishes, Medium Polka Dots) to dress up this holiday card and bring an appropriately whimsical feel to the design. I love how the Medium Polka Dots stamped in white really stand out against the turquoise card base. Those sweet dots look like snow falling! And speaking of turquoise--red, turquoise, and white make such a fun combo for Christmas, don’t they?

Thanks so much for stopping for a visit today!
Emily

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (white, Hawaiian Shores) Papertrey Ink
Rubber stamps:  (Christmas Wishes, Medium Polka Dots) DeNami Design Rubber Stamps
Pigment ink:  (red) Tsukineko; (white) Clearsnap
Stickers:  (layered snowman) A.C. Moore
Fibers:  (red/white baker’s twine)
Tools:  (snowflake border punch) Martha Stewart Crafts

Holiday Treats

Today I'm continuing to bring you ideas for holiday gift-giving using Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps as part of the 2013 Holiday Design Team! Today the team is focusing on holiday food gifts, and I have a couple to share.

My high school freshman daughter loves to give her teachers a little something at the holidays to say thanks for all of their hard work! She has 8 different teachers this year, so we had to come up with something that has a low cost but a big impact. We decided to go with small bags of homemade caramel corn this year, and here's our design for the packaging:

I decorated a small white paper bag by stamping POD's Candy Cane Background in red, topping the bag with a punched red border, and then centering an embossed label stamped with the awesome Celebrate the Season Noteblock over top of the whole design. So festive!

The tag I tied onto the bag of caramel corn was so easy to make! All I needed were the ever-useful Holiday Treats Logo stamp and accompanying Treat Word Set. I stamped the logo in red on white cardstock and then had fun stamping the "caramel" and "crunch" words to complete the package :).

Now, the last time I shared photos of my family's "famous" caramel corn, I had comments from readers asking how to make it. So I figured it's high time that I shared the recipe! Here it is:

Oven-Baked Caramel Corn

4 quarts popped popcorn (we usually use our air popper to pop about 1/2 cup unpopped corn)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Place popped corn in large ungreased roasting pan (I use our black enamel turkey roaster! Or divide popped corn between 2 rectangular 9" x 13" cake pans.) Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in saucepan, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around the edges. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in baking soda until foamy. Pour over popped corn, stirring until corn is well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

**********

We also like to give gifts of homemade candies to family and neighbors. My aunt particularly loves our chocolate peanut clusters, so she'll be getting a batch in the mail in a few weeks. Here is the packaging I designed with Purple Onion Designs stamps to dress up them up.

The plastic clamshell container is repurposed packaging from a dozen mini cupcakes I picked up at our grocery store's bakery recently. It's perfect for holding mounded peanut clusters! After whipping up a batch of peanut clusters to nestle inside, all I needed to do was decorate the package lid. I used these Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: Homemade Treats Logo, Treat Words Set, the larger label from the Deluxe Labels Set, and the Happy Holidays border from the Holiday Border Tape Set.

Making these yummy chocolate peanut clusters is even simpler than the caramel corn! Here's my super-easy recipe:

Chocolate Peanut Clusters

1 14-ounce bag of Make 'n Mold Milk Chocolate Flavored Candy Wafers
2 1/4 cups salted peanuts (not dry-roasted)

Simply melt the chocolate candy wafers in the microwave according to the package directions and then stir in the peanuts. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Allow chocolate to harden at room temperature and then store in a covered container. No need to refrigerate!

**********

That's all I have to share for today! I hope I haven't made you *too* hungry ;). Don't forget about the Purple Onion Designs Christmas sale that's going on now:

Oh, and be sure to swing by the Purple Onion Designs blog today for lots more ideas for food from the POD Holiday Design Team! 

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Christmas Stamped Gifts

Happy December 1st, my friends! It's time to start those Advent calendars--what a happy time!

Today I'm bringing you a few more holiday gift projects as part of the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team. Today the team is focusing on stamped gifts. I think I've mentioned before that I'm trying to make as many of the gifts my family will give this year as possible. First I have another item that will make a perfect teacher gift--what elementary school teacher ever has enough thank you notes?

I started by making a set of six one-layer thank-you notes, two each of three different designs using the super sweet Laurel, Filbert, and Elm characters from Stacey Yacula's holiday rubber stamp collection and a whimsical Thanks sentiment (#PF01), all from Purple Onion Designs, of course. Stamped on linen-textured cardstock and colored with Copic markers, these simple notes will be easy for a teacher to use and mail (with lumps, bumps, or extra postage!).

Next up--some packaging to make this gift extra special! I slid the notes and six envelopes into a cellophane treat bag and stapled on a hand-stamped bag topper created with a variety of Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: an oval frame from the Vintage Journaling Set, the smaller flake from the Snowflake Set, a fantastic sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday Set, a pair of To/From sentiments for the back of the topper, and, of course, another sweet Filbert the Penguin!

 

Here's a little peek at the back of the package. You can see the tone-on-tone snowflake stamping a little better here, and there's the To/From sentiments that make this packaging gift-ready!

My fifth-grader is already excited to give this gift to one of his teachers!

For my second project, I'm sharing a snowflake Christmas ornament. I started by stamping the six-pointed snowflake from Purple Onion Designs' Vintage Snowflake Set and heat-embossing it in silver. After trimming it out, I mounted it on a snowflake diecut and blinged it up with silver Stickles and rhinestones.

I wanted to make my snowflake commemorative, so I stamped the date (using a retired mini alphabet/number set from POD) and a "Merry Christmas" sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday set on the back of the ornament.

Be sure to swing by the Purple Onion Designs blog today for lots more ideas for stamped holiday gifts from the POD Holiday Design Team!

Enabler alert!! Purple Onion Designs is running a Holiday Sale right now, with 25% off ALL STAMPS in the store! The sale runs through Tuesday, December 10, 2013. So be sure to check it out!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight November Spotlight

It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the ultra versatile Leafy Squares Set.

Here's what I made:

I went very clean and simple with my design for this card. Quick to create and flat to mail is always my goal at this time of year when I've got a high volume of cards to send out! I needed only three stamps, two inks, and my scoring board to complete this in under 10 minutes. In addition to the Leafy Squares set, I used the Starry Burst stamp, Whimsical Merry Christmas stamp, Satin Red Versafine ink, and Olympia Green Versafine ink from the DeNami store. Unfortunately that pretty pine-green ink looks more black in my photo. Sorry about that! I really did go for a traditional red & green Christmas color palette here ;).

My very first thought about how to use this set was for a Christmas design, which I definitely ran with here, and I figured the entire rest of the team would go that route, too. Was I surprised to see the variety of ways and occasions that they used these stamps! You should definitely go and take a peek at the cool things they did with these leafy squares. And what better way than with a blog hop! If you hop along with us today, I'll have a chance to win your very own Leafy Squares stamp set, so be sure to leave comments along the way.


DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Dana Seymour
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.


Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Ways With Washi: GIFT TAGS + a Giveaway!

Hello and welcome, DeNami friends! It's time for my November edition of Ways With Washi! Today we're taking a look at a few ways to use washi tape on holiday gift tags.

For my first project, I used DeNami Red Chevron washi tape to "color in"  a stamped ornament image from DeNami. I completely covered the circle portion with strips of washi tape, being careful to line up the pattern. Then I simply used an X-acto knife to trim away the excess washi tape, following the lines of the image. I used a silver Sharpie marker to color in the cap, and glued one end of a paperclip to the back for the ornament's loop. A bit of baker's twine was all I needed to prep this tag for hanging!

Next up is a little tag that uses washi tape in two ways. I started by adhering a strip of Red Chevron washi tape on a piece of cardstock and then punched out a tag shape so that the washi tape was aligned with the bottom of the tag. Then I created a loop for hanging by folding over a strip of Red Stripes washi tape lengthwise and stapling it to the top of the tag. A simple embellishment, built from holly leaves and a red DeNami button, and a stamped sentiment complete this quick and simple tag!

For my final tag, I pressed five different patterns of DeNami washi tape into service to create a diagonal stripy background for a punch art snowman! I used Red Stripes, Green Graph, Red Chevron, Green Stripes, and Red Graph washi tapes--all from the DeNami Design store. Don't they make a festive backdrop for this jolly snow fella?

Additional DeNami Design supplies: Seasonal Faces stamp set, Christmas Greetings stamp set, Large Winter Tree, Ruby Red Boutique Buttons, Classic Twine 3-pack

That wraps things up for today! I hope you've been inspired to pull out your washi tape to try making a few tags for your holiday gift-giving.

GIVEAWAY

How would you like to win a roll of washi tape of your very own? I have a brand-new roll of Red Chevron washi tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "GIFT." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 1, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Monday, December 2, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for stopping by for my Ways With Washi today!
Emily

Winter Wonderland Notepad

Good Thursday morning to you, my friends! I'm so very pleased to be sharing my first holiday project as part of the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team! This year I've vowed to make as many as the gifts that my family will be giving as possible. Today's project will be perfect for one of my son's fifth-grade teachers. It's a decorated note pad, created entirely with Purple Onion Designs stamps. Here's a look at the front cover I designed for it:

And now here are a few peeks at the pad I made to fit inside:

Yes, I made that little notepad inside myself! And it's actually super easy to do. First, I cut sheets of printer paper down to size (3" by 4") and then stamped each page with Carolyn Draws' Doodle Grid from Purple Onion in light pink ink. Next I went back and stamped each sheet with both snowflakes from POD's Snowflake Set in turquoise chalk ink.

When everything was dry, I simply stacked up the notepad pages, stacked them on a piece of tag board cut to size as a backing, and then applied four coats of PVA bookbinding glue along the top edge of the pad to adhere all the pages together. (Allow each coat of PVA glue to dry between applications.) All that was left to do at that point was create a cover and mount the pad inside. Done!! Additional Purple Onion stamps that I used for this project: Holiday Border Tape Set (on the front cover), Handwritten Holiday Set (inside), and the medium label from the Plain Jane Labels Set (inside).

Purple Onion Designs just released another collection of holiday stamps and stamp sets. And may I say that they are all fantastic! Here's a peek at one of my favorites, called This is December:



Awesome, right? And how about this cute set? This is Holiday Sweets:




You can see the entire release right HERE. You should go check them out!!

Oh, and Michele has also added a new mounting product called Tack 'n Peel to the Purple Onion Designs website. It's a cling sheet that is perfect for adhering to acrylic block handles for unmounted stamps. I've put this on my wishlist!! The link includes a video on how to use it, along with tips on other methods for stamping with unmounted rubber stamps. Lots of great information here!!

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look at my holiday project today!
Emily

Good News!

Greetings, friends! I'm popping in here quickly to share a bit of good news: I just got word that I've been selected to be a member of this year's holiday design team for Purple Onion Designs! Over the next two months I'll be sharing holiday projects featuring Purple Onion Designs' fabulous rubber stamps. I have some fun decorations, gifts, and packaging all planned out and I can't wait to share them with all of you. I'm so excited to be part of it all!

Not familiar with Purple Onion Designs? I first discovered POD's unmounted rubber stamps a few years ago and have loved working with them. In fact, I've been published several times with POD stamps. Here are two projects featuring POD stamps that I had published in Northridge Publishing's Simply Handmade: Holidays 2012 issue last year:

Stamps:  USA map, star circle, and airplane from Road Trippin’ set by Purple Onion Designs

Stamps:  Vintage Journal Label by Purple Onion Designs

Purple Onion has tons of fabulous alphabet stamp sets, trendy subway-style noteblock stamps, cool vintage elements, and ultra-handy scrapbooking-themed stamps. Lots of variety! Sound intriguing? Be sure to head over to the POD website to take a look.

Right now Purple Onion Designs is promoting the release of a new line of holiday stamps from the very talented illustrator Stacey Yacula. Between them, Purple Onion Designs and Stacey Yacula are giving away two sets of her Winter Wishes collection and you can be a part of it! Check out the details on the Purple Onion Designs blog and Stacey's blog. The giveaway ends tomorrow (that's October 31, 2013) at midnight EDT. Be sure to swing by for your chances to win, and if you do, let them know that I sent you {wink}.

It's time for me to get back to work, so that's it for now. I hope you have a fabulous Wednesday!!

Thanks for stopping by and take care!
Emily

Ways With Washi: CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS + a Giveaway!

Hello there, DeNami Friends! It's time for my October edition of Ways With Washi.

I don't know about you, but every year I wish I had more time to make handmade gifts and decorations for Christmas. My problem is that I never start early enough, and once I start thinking, "Oh, maybe I should make something fun for Christmas," it's too late. All my other Christmas preparations are much too pressing, and I run out of time. So this year, I decided to start early. I know that we are still three days away from Halloween, but today I'm sharing a few ideas for jumpstarting your Christmas decorating with washi tape.

So, let's get to it!

For my first Christmas project today, I made a tabletop Christmas tree. This silver-and-aqua beauty stands about 7.5" tall. Can you spot the washi tape?

Starting with a Styrofoam cone, I covered the tree with overlapping circle punches. I chose two coordinating subtly patterned papers, dressing up some with overlapping strips of Musical Notes Washi tape and stamping others with DeNami's Teeny Star Background in silver ink before punching out the circles. I anchored each circle with a straight pin from my sewing supplies stash after glamming up the stock white pinheads with a bit of silver nail polish. 

I finished off my tree with a loopy baker's twine bow (from DeNami's Summer Twine 3-pack) fastened to the treetop with a decorative stick pin and a tiny tag stamped with the Noel sentiment from DeNami's Christmas Greetings stamp set.

My second project is a Christmas tree ornament. I started with a clear flat ornament that I picked up for cheap at a local big box crafts store. Then I cut out poinsettia petals from Red Stripes Washi Tape and leaves from Lime/White Dots Washi Tape and adhered them to the face of the clear ornament. Can you guess how I made the petals and leaves look so uniform? I stamped a petal from DeNami's Whimsical Garden cling set on cardstock to use as a pattern for trimming my washi tape flower parts. A cluster of amber rhinestones creates a realistic-looking center to my poinsettia. I finished my ornament by stuffing it with some multi-color DeNami Iridescent Shredds for a bit of sparkle.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! I hope you picked up a few ideas to use in your own Christmas decorating this year

GIVEAWAY

How would you like to win a roll of washi tape of your very own? I have a brand-new roll of Black/White Dots Washi Tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "DECORATE." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, October 30, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Thursday, October 31, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for joining me today for some more Ways With Washi!
Emily