Tea gifts

Today I will show you the outstanding little omiyage gifts that Brenda, Gail and Mel made for our tea get together:

Clear Gable box with a red tea and saucer diecut holding tea bags, Cookie Corner Lilikoi and Lime Bars (Mmmmm!) and a Starbucks gift card from Gail whom is visiting from the mainland.

Whole bunch of goodies from Mel:  A box of tea bags decorated with a Spellbinders Tea diecut; desk calendar and a green box . . . .

filled with a Kagami Mochi cell phone chain that she made!  Ca--yuuu--tte!!

Tea stickers, B&B hand sanitizer and Big Island cookies completed the gift.

Brenda created a matching set of 3:

The Bag held a gift holder and inside was a Home plaque.

The box (shown above) held this . . .   OMG,  I guess I can only say it reminds me of a tri-shutter card.  If anyone knows what the exact name of this is, please let me know!! 

Brenda filled each box with goodies:  Bling, tea a magnetic clip.  AMAZING!!  She said you can buy it unadorned at Ben Franklin . . .  now don't everyone run there to pick them all up!!  I need to pick a couple of them up for myself!!  LOL!!

Thank you, Gail, Mel and Brenda, for such memorable gifts.  Love them all!!! 

Tea at 1024

I had a WONDERFUL time celebrating high tea with friends:  Brenda, Gail and Mel (we missed you, Dori!).

 If you are in Honolulu, you must visit Tea at 1024 (Nuuanu), in the middle of Chinatown and downtown Honolulu.  It was the gals first time there and they all agreed the service, food and ambiance of the restaurant deserve 3 stars!!  In fact, every time I have been there, I have enjoyed myself!

 I didn't realize until later that I only took 3 pictures (sorry!).  When you arrive, you choose your tea and saucer.  Here is Brenda.  She chose one that matched her outfit!  I chose the pretty brown floral one above.

The whole restaurant is not what you would expect.  It is a vintage atmosphere that makes you forget time and location.  Here is Mel.  In the background you can see a portion of the restaurant.

We had a wonderful time having tea, lunch and enjoying each other's company.  I neglected to take a picture of Gail but you can see her in our group picture.

My only regret:  Not spending enough time.  My two hour lunch went by too fast and there were still so many things to discuss and talk story.

Thank you, ladies, for a wonderful, albeit too short time.  It was fun and we will do it again!!!  Tomorrow I'll post all the wonderful omiyage gifts these ladies made.

For more information on Tea at 1024, check out this link.

Mariko and the Carry All Box

Yesterday I had high tea with friends and had to a create a little omiyage gift. Unfortunately, with Christmas and the flu, I waited until the last minute to think of something to create.

I decided to use Mariko from Sister Stamps and found one sheet of pattern paper that I liked.  I decided to create my gift around these two items. A circle was cut with the Nesti and embossed with A Place in Time Cherry Blossom Border 2, colored with Copics, and adhered to a Nesti scallop mat.  Foam dots, Liquid Pearls and Stickles completed my image.

Last year I received the Sizzix Carry All Box from a sweet friend and decided it need to be put to more use!
3 Carry All Box is filled with Big Island Cookies, tea, a stamp and Pearl adhesives.

My son had a candy fundraiser last week so I wrapped a bar in the pretty pattern paper and stuck it under the box.

Everything was wrapped with gold ribbon.  Little Mariko is a quick, simple, adorable stamp to decorate and to have in your stash!

Remember Gail's gingerbread man gift holder here? I repurposed it here.

I thought it would match really well on a friend's gift. A little gift card behind the gingerbread man and another gift in the bag.

Another snowman topper

Here is another take on the Snowman Goodie Bag Topper I made earlier.

How about a PAPER BAG TOPPER? I purchased these white paper bags at Ben Franklin last year knowing I wanted to try some type of topper for them.  They turned out SO CUTE!!!


Here is a picture of the pieces I used to create the Paper Bag topper.  It is very similar to the other goodie bag topper but on a larger scale.  Also, there is a slit in the hat that comes over the package handles.  It works so well to cover the gift.

I must be in a Snowman mode because I just noticed most of my tags and wrapping are snowmen themed.

I forgot to take pictures of some of the other matching tags I created and I have only a couple presents to wrap. HURRAAYYY!! I'll try to take pictures of them so you can see more of my addiction!! LOL!!

Only 5 more days to Christmas!! How are you doing??

I have an addiction . . .

My name is Fran . . . and I have an addiction . . . .

It's actually a holiday addiction . . . . and . . . it's not really bad . . .  It's just that . . . .


Got your attention!!!  I have a compelling need to match my holiday tags to the wrapping paper!!!

Drives DH nuts!!  He finishes shopping, wrapping and sending out gifts before I even start on my list, and he can NEVER find tags (because I haven't made them yet!). 

 I just finished wrapping 3 gifts.  Took me an hour!!!

But DARN, it looks good!!!

30 presents more to wrap . . . .

LOL!!!

Supplies used:  glitter, ribbon, fiber, MS Snowflake punch, cardstock and gold foil paper

(actually, I have no idea how many more presents need wrapping)

 and to answer your questions, yes, DH uses store bought labels!

Giving thanks . . .

While I was busy with the craft fairs, I received a couple of creations from dear friends.  I'd like to share them with you:

First, a VERY thoughtful Blessing RAK from Colleen with pack of Ovation (Choco?).  Such a sweet little gift to help me relax during this busy season, esp. when least expected and well timed!!!! 

Cheerful Gingerbread man which is a gift card holder . . . Clever, Gail!!  Love how you used this Sizzix die!! ;o) You are just sooo talented!!

and last but not least, this BEAUTIFUL vintage Christmas holder from Leslie which holds . . .

a Christmas tag and 4 bags of Twinnings Tea.  L-O-V-E It, Leslie!!  Leslie sold these adorable tea bag holders at a recent craft fair.  Soooo cute!  I just know these were picked up quickly at the fair.  I have never seen anything like it!

Thank you so much, Ladies, for thinking of me.  I love each gift and appreciate the talent and time it took to create them.

{Hugs}
//fran

A Child's View

Today's post is a little different. It isn't something I created from scratch but something a 5 year old and an 8 year old created.

Several weeks ago, my aunt called asking for my help.  This year she wanted her two granddaughters to make Christmas cards for their classmates.  They were baking goodies this weekend and wanted a handmade card.  We discussed several ideas:  Did she want me to make simple card kits or would they like to draw a picture for the card. 



Long story short, the girls decided to draw their cards and they did a BEAUTIFUL job!!  I just love it!! This one was done by the 8 year old.  I scanned the original, shrank it down, printed it in color.

Here is the inside of the little tag. 

This one was done by the "almost" 5 year old.  I was very impressed!

And the inside, written by her.

I cut and matted 20 tags of each card.  Punched a hole at the top and put gold fiber.  At the back of each tag is a label stated "Drawn by ____, Chrismas 2012".

I included 3 stickles to their kit so all they would have to do would be to add the stickles to the ornaments and the star on the drawing, then sign their name and attach it to the goodie bags.

They came out soooo cute!!!

Holiday Inspired

Inspiration comes from EVERYWHERE!!!  

Last month I received a CTMH email from Karen which had this picture in it:



I was in love!  I immediately thought of my SU Petal Cone Die which was collecting dust in the closet.  So I saved the email until I had time to create.  A month later, after seeing that email so many times, I finally was able to get to work:

Here are my simple little candy holder/decoration boxes:

I was very happy with the result, especially when these only took a couple of minutes!!  I used the SU Petal Cone Die, Sizzix Poinsettia flower and leaf, Liquid Pearls, SU Label Punch, MS Snowflake Punch, Cheery Lynn Designs Fanciful Flourish die, and some Bling. 

Look around, get inspired!  I hope to see your inspired creation soon!!  :o)

Happy Holidays!

Thank You Card

This is a card that I designed (ala inspiration from Pinterest) for the December swap at my local swap group. We are meeting for dinner Tuesday and I'm excited with the way this card turned out!  I hope they like it.   Note: the hexagons are really spaced correctly - some are popped up and it looks distorted in this photo.

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, stamp and ink: Close to My Heart (CTMH); butterfly punches: Martha Stewart. Pearls: CTMH and Recollections; Hexagon die: Sizzix.

Enjoy!

Karen

Xmas cards swap

www.closetomyheart.com

Enjoy!   Karen



Merry Christmas!

A CAS to start the card creating. A quite download of a song sheet and start creating. Add a little embellishment(s) and "Voila"! Fun! To everyone...HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Supplies: Downloaded song sheet, cardstock, ink pad (distress edge of song sheet), ribbon, and embellishments.

Snowman Bag Topper

Wow, I'm back!!!  The last craft fair for me was last week and I am gung ho on getting some shopping done!!

Ever wake up with an idea and anxious to try it out?  Well this snowman bag topper was an idea I woke up with this week.  I was so happy that it turned out exactly how I dreamed about it!!!!

I just finished 20 of them for my son's class.  I used all types of black scraps for his hat and hat brim.

Here are some still shots of the prototype and you can easily make one of your own!

Oval circle for his face glued inside a rectangular piece, scored in half and stapled to the bag.

Here is a photo of the back.  The top hat is just glued in the back of the rectangular piece.  This is where my son will write his greetings and sign.

You just add circles for the eyes, a triangular piece for the nose, and draw a mouth.  I used EK Success Holly punch and your normal office circle punch for the hollys on the brim of his hat. Oh and don't forget one more rectangular piece for the other part of his hat.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all!!!

//fran

Awash with Flowers

Lately I have had a need of sympathy cards. The floral stamp is part of a retired Stampin' Up set called Awash With Flowers.

It is a two-stamp set and, although the card looks easy to create, it did take me a while getting used to the Stamp-a-ma-jig and making sure I didn't mix the black with the pink.

Several co-workers expressed interest in receiving card gifts so I'm making extra cards for gifts. I think I'll use this stamp set for a little while longer.  I think it has possibilities to make a really cute card set.

Thank you for stopping by.  I have a craft fair every weekend til Christmas.  If you should see me at one of them, please say, Hi!!!

Happy Thanksgiving...Almost!

Here's wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Supplies: Cardstock, Scrap dp, Studio g "Happy Thanksgiving", Dandelion turkey, PC Floral Screen embossing folder, grosgrain ribbon, pens

November tea swap & Xmas tags

I participated in the November tea swap that Fran hosts and made two of these tags for my partner Mary in MA. I hope she likes them. They went postal yesterday.

Holiday Tags and November's Tea Swap

Ooops, measurements on the bottom were incorrect.  I have since fixed it:

For November's Tea Swap, we had the option of sending two holiday tags with our tea bags. I choose to use the SU Top Note Die to create the base of my tags along with Papertrey's Winter Penguin that I received from a dear friend in California. Aren't these penguins adorable!!  The tree diecut is from a sizzix leaf diecut.  I just cut the bottom off.

Now to create the holder for my tags and tea.  I decided to stick with the penguins.  Here is the cover:

Open this A2 size card holder:

And open it again:

The holder is a 7.5" x 12" base scored up 2".  

The first section is scored at 4 1/4", the second section is scored about 8.5"

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy November!

 Happy Fall!  Attempted this twisted card . . . super easy.  
Mr. Acorn was a challenge.  Ain't he the cutest!  Hop on over to YouTube for the tutorial.

Supplies:  SU ornament punch, SU large oval punch, cardstock, dp, twine, brads, pearls.