CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (03/2014)

The inspiration for this little bit came from the monthly video club I now am subscribed to "The Art Society" created by Christi Tomlinson.

In my stash I have a set of Cavallini Christmas Washi tapes and a number of 4x4 inch shallow canvases, which I used to create a half dozen of these.  I covered the canvas with the tapes, no adhesive.  Shaded between each line a bit.  Covered them (I actually did 6 of these) with Mod Podge and then glittered them up with Stickles.  The "evergreen", tiny red balls and ribbon went on last.  I think these are the perfect bits to add a a little holiday decor on a shelf or bookcase, as filler in a bowl or gift basket.

Building your own "Christmas In The Bank" is easy and fun when you "save it up" a little each month!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (02/2014)

As I have done for several years now, I try to continue crafting for Christmas throughout the year so that when the holiday comes around I have "Christmas In The Bank"!  I plan to share some of my projects with you on the 12th of each month.  If you are also crafting Christmas throughout the year, leave me a comment and I will come to visit!

I was tickled to find this project!  "Vintage Mitten" ornament/tag digital collage sheet from My Artistic Adventures.  Not only has Heather created the images needed (available through instant download), she has also done an easy to follow step by step video.  Talk about value!  I loved that these were so "stash friendly", the images were provided for me, all I did was dig through my bits and pieces to embellish them.

I asked Heather if she would do just the Candy Canes (she is happy to do special requests), I think they make the perfect table favours as well as ornaments!

I love it when some bit of the Christmas "leavings" can be rescued.  These little tags were punched from a bottle bag that had seen all of it's lives used :)  I punched some card stock to back them and finished them with a teeny eyelet and a bit of baker's twine.  A few more bits into the "Christmas Bank"!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (01/2014) a

It's time to start thinking about Christmas!  I know you are rolling your eyes and groaning but honestly if you do a bit each month along the way you will be ready.  I am not going to offer challenges this year but try and keep to my goal of crafting Christmas continually throughout the year and sharing my ideas with you.  I would love to hear what you are doing!

I fell in love with Graphic 45's "Twelve Days of Christmas" and plan to use that throughout the year.  My first project is what I call a mini/mini.  It's more than a card but less than a typical mini album.  I have used two paper bags and bound it with my Bind It All.

The cover background is "My True Love", inside I have used "Joyeux Noel", the first day tag and an assortment of scraps from other G45 papers (one of the great things about G45 is the ability to mix a lot of the basics).  I have left the inside free of embellishment so that it can be personalized at the time of gifting.  I will tuck in a few scraps so they don't get misplaced or used elsewhere.  I have used a vintage snowflake as the element to build the cover upon.  Yes, I am going to use my vintage holiday stash this year!  I love the mini bottle brush tree.  (use E6000 glue)

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK #5

Not sure what CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK is all about!  Go here  to read the original post and click on the button at the right to bring up all of the previous monthly posts.  This is all about taking the stress and pressure off at the holiday season by having much of the basics done ahead of December.  Feel free to grab the button, have a look and I hope you join in.

It's time to make a gift!  If you haven't already made something and put it away for gifting next December this will make you feel terrific and even more terrific (maybe quietly smug and superior even LOL) if you have already done so.  Show off your project using Mister Linky at the bottom of this post before the 12th of June.  Remember to link your specific project and not the general address of your blog.  Don't have a blog, email me a picture and I will enter if for you.  A random draw will be done for the collage set of your choice from our generous friend Ms Heather!

The winner for April is Deb O!  I will email you Deb and link you up with Heather!

My project has been created from Nancy Maxwell James' "Parisian Dreams Fabric Book", a PDF she has made available in her Etsy Shop.   This fit a few of my "determined to do" items;  use my sewing machine and what I already have in my stash.

The front cover (the back is the same).  I used vintage glass and pearl buttons throughout my project.  You can't see here but each one is a bit of heaven and most have an iridescent finish.

All of the images are from Paper Whimsy and have been printed onto "Extrav Organza".  I used an amber mix of seed beads here and there for a bit of sparkle and shine.  On some "pages" I have pinned on mini kraft tags, stamped with StazOn "Saddle Brown"and used Prima flowers.

 This set is "under review" in my mind LOL  Begging for something more...

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK #4

"ROLL BACK THE CLOCK"

It's a good point in time to think about what you want accomplished by the 1st of December.  I know the  arrival of spring has many of you busy outdoors or at least anticipating it LOL  Make a list, ponder a bit on it and figure out what you can do when and make a plan.  Can you simplify?  Is there something you always leave so late that you regret the lack of time and then attention to detail?  Are there projects that you haven't done because you didn't leave time?  Is there a project you would like to see here?

As promised I am trying out a "link widget"!  But what are you supposed to post?  This is an easy one and will take only a minute or two from enjoying your springtime outdoors.  Ok Sandi, get to it!  Post a picture of your favourite Christmas themed project, one that you have already created.  It can be something that you have already shown, posted, entered in some other challenge etc. and it can be any type of project.  See I know how to do easy!   I will do a random draw for a Christmas themed prize and announce the winner on May 12th.  The prize will include your choice of collage sheets from My Artistic Adventures courtesy of Ms Heather!  Check out the one she did for gift bags!

Here is my "Roll Back the Clock" project.  It is one of the first "not a layout" pieces I did.  The picture is of my husband Bob sitting on Santa's lap at Woodward's Department Store (1949).  Still makes me smile and I am working on something similar for one of the girls.

I have not worked out all of the details of the "linky widget" yet..thought there would be thumbnail pics!  And I don't know how to delete mistakes...  Please do copy in the specific address of your project and not just the link to your blog.  We are all learning!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (#3)

Welcome back!  I am certainly having a lot of fun with this and hope that you are also.  If this is your first time here you are likely wondering just what is this all about?  This challenge is all about building up your holiday stash in small steps each month, and then when December rolls around you will have "CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK";  you will have reduced your holiday stress and have time for those "must do" last minute projects or even just breathing!

WINNER OF A FREE COLLAGE SHEET OF YOUR CHOICE FROM HEATHER HUDSON IS "BUSY MARTHA"!  I will send you a private message connecting you and Heather.  Congratulations!

Please feel free to take the "CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK" button for your own blog, even if you aren't participating this month.  Each participant will be eligible to win the collage sheet of their choice from Heather Hudson so please leave a link or comment so that we can see what you are doing with the challenge and put you into the random draw.

My goal is to make this as easy as possible.  I mean to generally offer projects that you can easily complete in a couple of hours or less, using items you will already have on hand.  You should be able to work on your "CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK" stash each month without taking much time away from your regular crafting activities.

The most difficult part of this challenge is for each of us to keep it simple LOL  Simplicity can be beautiful!  Try to complete the basic challenges as offered.  You can always add embellishments and personalize your items when you use them.  I encourage you to approach these challenges with a production line in mind.  Do all of your cutting, glueing etc. on each piece at the same time where you can.  Building a stash is all about production!  Numbers!

And the challenge this month is GIFT BAGS!  How many?  Six in any size.  I stopped using much bought wrapping paper a number of years ago, I save whatever gift bags come my way through the holidays and shopping bags throughout the year to recycle.  I haven't calculated how much time, effort and environment I save by using recycled bags as opposed to wrapping boxes but it feels considerable!   If you won't use this many bags yourself, consider making them for someone who does or create bags to fit what you do through out the year.

My daughter and I have used the same bag, back and forth for many years.  Our own little tradition.  I find that almost everyone receiving these bags, keeps them and reuses.

My bags were created with Christmas themed fabric ("Seasons" by debbie taylor-kerman for Henry Glass Fabrics) which I purchased on sale after the holidays, "Heat n Bond",  8x10 kraft paper shopping bags (which I also picked up at a liquidation sale, the fabric covers the original printing) and vintage trim, ribbon and tags from my stash.

If you don't have fabric in your stash of course you can use paper!  As always, use what you have.

I  measured out enough "Heat n Bond" (again use whatever brand of iron on backing if you are using fabric and do read the instructions LOL) to cut 6 seven inch squares.  I laid this large piece onto the back of my fabric and ironed it on, measured and penciled in the cutting lines on the adhesive backing and then used pinking shears to cut the squares.  TIP:  using pinking or decorative scissors if you are using paper, hides any less than perfect measurements or cutting!  These were then ironed onto my bags.  Production line!

I repeated this process with my second or top fabric, changing the size to five inch squares.  These were ironed onto the background fabric.  I could have stopped at this point.  With a bit of ribbon and a tag added when I go to use these, sweet enough for anyone to receive!  I had a leftover strip of the background fabric bonded and ready to go so I cut down some tags out of my stash and covered those, ready to be tied on with a bit of burlap"ish" ribbon.  The vintage pom pom trim (adhered with double sided tape) in red and cream was perfect for the whimsical fabric and added the vintage touch that I adore.

Nothing too fancy or complicated.  Cutting out the tags and covering them took the most amount of time but still six bags created in less than 2 hours!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK

You just have to check out what Heather did with the basic gift card holder!  There is a lot of opportunity to do these in your own style, from clean and simple (CAS) to over the top fabulous! Hope you have had a chance to put your own CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK this month.  Share your work  here in the comments for a chance to win one of Heathers' unique collage sheets.  In the next while I am anticipating a blog redo and when that happens I will install a "linky" making it much easier on you!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (#2) GIFT CARD HOLDERS

Time for CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK #2, what fun I have had hearing from you and seeing what your takes on the challenge were.  I so appreciate your feedback!  You can expect some fine tuning to occur as I gain some experience with this, please feel free to make suggestions.  I want to especially thank Heather Hudson and Helene Huber for  their support and encouragement.

Heather has generously offered to sponsor these challenges by offering participants the opportunity to win a digital collage sheet of your choice from her Etsy shop.  So make sure  that you have leave a comment in the Christmas In The Bank post!  Heather has also provided a short tutorial on how to include a link to your blog in a comment.  See details here!

THE JANUARY WINNER BY RANDOM DRAW FOR A HEATHER A HUDSON DIGITAL COLLAGE SHEET IS...Denise of Coffeeberry Cottage!   Denise please email (button on the right) and I will set you up with Heather!!

While I will put forward a few more detailed challenges over the year, this effort for the most part is about producing the basics in a simple and straight forward way.  It's difficult to produce in numbers when it gets complicated.  Simple doesn't mean it can't be beautiful!

I challenge you this month to create 6 Gift Card Holders.  If you don't use gift cards for Christmas, then these of course can easily be made to suit any occasion - show us what suits you!

Directions:  cut a strip of double sided paper 3.5" x 6", score across the width at 1.75" and 4 ", round the top or front corners and punch a hole in the center, fold the bottom up and slide in the gift card, fold the top over, using  approx 14" of ribbon or a double length of twine put this through the hole, wrap around the back of the holder, over the top and tie into a bow.

Tips:  I used some of my "fancy" (these are all Martha Stewart, the poinsettias are foiled and the pine cones are clear embossed)  papers and found that no other embellishment was really needed, do dig into your scrap box!  If you are going for a clean look, inking the edges isn't likely necessary depending on your paper so you save another step!  I have used patterns previously that had "wings" on the sides to hold in the gift cards, I prefer to use a reposition able adhesive to secure the card and be able to cut the pattern very quickly.

You can do these in a couple of minutes at the time you need them but how many projects do we leave for the last moment?  This is all about finding our selves in a place of comfort come the holiday season this year, take an hour now and put "CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK".

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (#1) Reminder!

You still have a few more days to play along with this month's challenge, creating 12 simple tags!


Heather Hudson has generously offered to sponsor these challenges by offering participants the opportunity to win a digital collage sheet of your choice from her Etsy shop.  So make sure if you play that you have left a comment in one of the two CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK posts for this challenge!  Heather has also provided a short tutorial on how to include a link to your blog in a comment.  See details here!  Do visit Heather's Etsy shop and make it a favourite, I know she will love that!

I have an equally simple challenge for you coming up, hope you will come looking on the 12th!

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (#1A)

Our project challenge this month is to build our holiday stash creating tags (see January 12th post).  I am sharing another idea that you can create in just a few steps and I hope using what you have on hand. I hope to provide inspiration and encourage you to let your own ideas flow!

I am not a "birder" but I think this shape is at least like a swallow LOL

I glued vintage sheet music  on the front and back of a sheet of plain cardstock, traced the pattern with a pencil and cut it out.  I marked the pattern for you with placements for both a hole to hang the tag and where to put an eye :)  I used Enamel Accent in black for the eye, edged this one in gold stickles and used Walnut Stain Distress Ink (the next ones I used Vintage Paper Distress Ink which is light and seems like the obvious choice after the fact!).  A bit of gold rick rack for the ribbon hanger.

 

In my stash I have a booklet of labels from the French General, I used one on the back to provide a bit of clear writing space.

Here is the pattern template for you, don't forget to right click and save the 2nd larger image. I printed out the pattern out once but sized it so that 4 would fit on an 8" x 10" which makes a nice size for a simple tag.  I am going to try a couple at twice this size, I think they would make a pretty spectacular treatment for gift wrapping.  Have fun and be sure to show off all your ideas!

 

CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK (#1)

Welcome to CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK!  What you ask is this all about?  My idea is based on the Christmas Club savings programs I recall as a child, a few cents (maybe it was a dollar or so, I am not that old!) were put away each month throughout the year for the holidays.

If you are like me there never seems to be enough to time to do all of the crafty sweet bits that I would love to do for the holidays.  I rarely start early enough to feel comfortable with what I have on hand.  Having the basics done so that we can enjoy making time for special projects without all the stress is the goal.

There are no monthly prizes, we are all winners in this challenge!  Of course there is a blog button for participants, please link it back here.  If you need the coding email me (see the button on the right) and I will send it along.

Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions!  I will attempt to keep the rules to a minimum and processes simple!

On the 12th of each month I will share some ideas and offer a challenge to motivate you in building your holiday stash and having your own CHRISTMAS IN THE BANK when December rolls around.  To participate leave a comment on the monthly post with a link to your blog.  If you don't have a blog, use Flickr or another site, email me a picture of your project and I will add it to the post for you.

Your first challenge is to create at least a dozen tags!  What?  Remember the goal here is to build our basic holiday stash.  Nothing too complicated or technique heavy - keep it simple!

I want a stack of tags for tying onto goodie bags for the neighbours or small gifts.  I also love using what I have on hand.  I have sorted through my vintage Christmas cards (nothing to precious) and using a 3" tag punch, punched out the small scenes inside or on the back of the cards and some blanks to adhere on for a bit of stability.  I have done the same with my stash of old photos - love the New Years party scenes!  I inked the edges with (what else?) Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I have also edged mine with a fine line of Stickles.

Tip:  holding up your project, put the Stickles nozzle right on the edge of your project and keeping the pressure even "scratch" along the edge to get a fine line.  This will give you some sweet sparkle and take hardly any time to dry.

Vintage not your style?  Use the holiday cards you received this year.  Take a look at your own photo stash, those that really aren't "scrapable" but you have been reluctant to part with might make a great tag.  Put your crafty creative cap on and share your ideas.

CHRISTMAS BANK COUNTDOWN

Would you also like to have your crafty "Christmas In the Bank" when the holiday season starts this year?  Join me on the 12th of each month as we build a holiday stash.   Bags, tags and all manner of decor, we will create it all through out the year.  When December comes, you will have "Christmas In the Bank" and the time to enjoy it all.  There will be a themed challenge each month but we are all winners in building our "Christmas In the Bank".  There will be a blog badge/button for all participants.  Hope to see you on the 12th of January as we start our "Christmas Bank Countdown"!