Pin Ups and Poppers

I'm sure you are just like me right now, with the flurry of activity in your craft rooms getting ready for the holidays. In the past, I've left everything to the last minute ended up SUPER stressed. Trying to avoid that this year. So I'm busy, busy now. Which is good...I have the creative energy for it. And I'm happy to share what I've been working on here on the blog. So pop back frequently, there are going to be lots of new projects using all manner of PTI supplies for the holidays.

Today I've put the uber adorable Holiday Pin Ups to work. Everybody loves these things...for good reason. So cute I can hardly stand it! I just want to keep making them. I found that they are the perfect size to hold up a Tag Sale #9 on my oldie, but goodie, Favor It Box 8. 

I've stamped the Tag Sale #9 with stamps from both Bitty Blocks and Bitty Blocks 2 and Season's Greetings. The shorter pattern stamps are from Building Blocks and had to be masked off a little bit so they are the same width as the Bitty Block patterns. But no biggie.

I think the "Holiday Calories" stamp is my favorite. So funny. I used the new Pure Poppy and White Basics Patterned Paper Packs for the main body of the popper and the ends are cardstock that coordinates with the Pin Up character. And I had to bust out Tree Tops Glistens for that one sentiment too...such a delicious, on-trend font.

I found that the Favor It Box 8 is the perfect size for a three back of Ferrer Rocher. YUM! The perfect little treat. And now I have these cute little packages all ready to go for holiday gift giving. On to the next project! 

A New Match Up

Ya'll know I love using old products with new ones. All about finding the "perfect matches" that make two entirely separate things look like they were designed to go together. Found something that's spot on to use with my new Small Stitched Alphabet that was just released. Check it out...

...the Alphablocks Die, which was released almost six years ago! Fantastic. A lot of play here. I'll be doing this a lot. 

Working on some other "perfect matches" in my office that I'll be sharing here real soon. Also found a new way to use my stitching dies. Busy, busy, busy. It's just the season, so many projects to make. And I'll be sharing them all along the way, so check back:).

Supplies

Stamps: Enclosed Leaf, Four Square

Dies: String Frame, Small Stitched Alphabet, Alpha Block, Enclosed Leaf, Four Square

Cardstock: Terracotta Tile, Dark Chocolate, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise

Softie Sweaters!

It's Softie Sweater Day for me on the Papertrey Ink Countdown. You saw how I used the Softie Sweaters to make ornaments back on Day 2. We've got the softies wearing them today and looking quite cozy if you ask me. Along with all that fun, I've got a few tricks along the way to share with you. 

I made two softies this month, we've got a hippo and a kitty with patches. Both were made with specific little kids in mind. Makes it so meaningful when I'm stitching away. 

I've put together a video for you on how the sweaters come together. Just click to learn more.

Here's Snowflake the Hippo. She's for my Eliza. One of my favorite holiday songs is "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas". All last Christmas, Eliza would sing along to it. And we teased her horribly about getting an actual hippo from Santa. After all, she was saying the words, right? I did end up getting her a plush hippo last year wearing a tutu to fulfill her "wish". Figured it might be fun to make a softie one as well.

Miss Snowflake is made out of the new Soft Blush felt, of course. All hippos should be pink. I used Heat-N-Bond to treat pink polka dot fabric for die cutting on her inner ears and snout. Because she is a girl hippo, big girly eyelashes were a must. As for her teeth, I used the Rounded Label Dies. Just one cut which I trimmed in half did the trick and it is sewn in between the snout and the face.

 

Her sweet sweater is out of Simply Chartreuse felt and beaded with a motif from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. I added a lot more bugles and beads than the original design. It's all up for interpretation. Once her sweater was sewn on (side note: these are not removable, you literally sew them up with the softie inside), I turned up the cuffs and hot glued some dot trim. I think if you use a wider laced trim here, you could create the look of a "skirt" very easily. 

I added a little holiday touch to her ear using leaves from the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath die. A sequin and bead carry over the theme from her sweater. A girl has to coordinate after all, even if she is a hippo. 

Next up, a patched cat softie. Hank didn't receive a handmade softie back when I was working on making samples for the Design-A-Softie Stitch Kit. And I've been hearing about it ever since. He had requested that I make one that looked like our cat Hamweenie. Now that's a bit of a tall order, considering Hamweenie is black and white. We call her a "cow-kitty" because she looks just like a Holstein. And the personality to match, I might add. Trust your own kid to lay down a big challenge like that. I don't think anybody else would have the audacity. 

It ended up being easy enough to do. Once I had a white cat all sewn up, but before I added the sweater, I hand cut black patches out of iron-on transfer material from Silhouette America. Then I just ironed them on, even over the stitching in some places. Worked like a charm. And thus, here you go, Hamweenie in softie form. 

The sweater on this cat is the one I demo in the video. I stitched on a monogram using the Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and 2. Does the "H" stand for Hank or Hamweenie? You decide. 

If you are new to this blog and Papertrey Ink and wondering what I'm talking about with these softies, let me provide you a little more info. I introduced the Design-A-Softie Quick Stitch Kit in May. My original blog post is here and Nicole's, providing even more info, can be found here. The kit did sell out, but the majority of the dies are now available in the Papertrey Ink store. Here's a list of what is available:

Softie Die

Softie Ears Die

Softie Expressions Die Collection

Softie Glasses and Mustaches Die

Softie Kerchief

Softie Collar and Tie

Softie Patches

Yesterday was video day at my house and I thought it was needed to make a quick video on some tricks putting together the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath Die. I made this ornament in the video. The main body of the ornament was created using the Stitched Circles and the Limitless Layers 2.5" Circle Dies. Too add some variety, I added beads as berries. You can do this with any color theme you want. And I've even seen little flower sequins here and there, which could expand the seasons this die would be suitable for. 

To learn more about the Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath, just click play. 

And lastly, I put together a very quick video on how to put together the Softie Hanger Die so you can turn your Softie Sweaters into ornaments. Click play below to learn more.

Thanks for joining me this week. I hope you are inspired to get crafty. All my new dies will be able on November 15th at 10 PM EST at www.papertreyink.com.  

For more inspiration on the November Countdown, click on over to Nichole's blog. 

Get Your Elf On

I've got a fun project for you today featuring the new Stitched Medallion 3 Die I have releasing at Papertrey Ink on November 15th at 10 PM EST. Like the previous Stitched Medallions (here and here), there is a bit of variation in how you choose to interpret the design. This one has a bit of snowflake within its design. More options is always, always a good thing. 

A week or so before Halloween, I posted a clothespin Halloween wreath I had made with various stitching dies and Betsy's Pin Up kits. You can see the post here. Today I've got a holiday version for you. How fun are those elf feet made from the Beaded Stocking Die from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit? I had so much fun coming up with these. And with elves being such a big thing in my house (as well as yours, I'm sure), it is sure to delight when I hang it from the door. After Thanskgiving, of course. I'm a stickler for that! LOL! 

Here's a close up of the main focal point of my wreath. Two stockings, stitched with a design with Stitched Medallion 3. They are backed in Pellon Ultra Firm Interfacing that I like to keep things super economical. New Leaf Grosgrain Ribbon and bells and additional elfin flair. 

Here's a close up of how I used the Stitched Medallion 3. To make the design really stand out, I used all six strands in my floss when I stitched it up. Looks quite different from when I used it on the star ornament from the other day, doesn't it? Same die, two completely different looks.  And this one, just like the other two Stitched Medallions, fit perfectly on the Beaded Star, Beaded Mitten, and Beaded Stocking from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. Yeah...I might have done that on purpose. Who knows what I'll create in the future that will work as well. I like to keep you on your toes:). 

To help you visualize and create your own projects, here are the two variations I've presented side by side. 

I had picked up two paint stir sticks from the hardware store that I was planning on covering with the new patterned paper packs to sure as my "elf legs", but for the life of me, couldn't find them yesterday. I think they feel out of the bag in Matt's car and won't you know it, he was at work. So I had to improvise. And I think it ended up better. Much simpler too. I just cut a piece of patterned paper in half, rolled it up, and flattened it. That's it! Super simple. 

I used the Layered Banner Banter Die and stamp set to add some stamping. There are some supporting elements from Monthly Moments: December stamp set too. 

As for the wreath, it is made out of approximately 65 clothespins covered in New Leaf Patterned Paper using the dies from Betsy's Halloween and Holiday Pin Ups. I have both kits, so that's eight dies to cut clothespin covers. Very quick work.  Four half sheets of patterned paper is all it took to cover all those clothespins and after hot gluing them all onto the chipboard wreath base,  I had it done in under a hour. Can't beat that. 

So get this...you wouldn't believe how inexpensive this was to put together. I put together a list for you. Check it out: 

Felt: $2.00

Interfacing for backing on stockings: $0.50

Clothespins ($1.00/50): Used a pack and a quarter....$1.25

Chipboard Wreath: $1.99 on sale, but coupon would work too

Green Patterned Paper: 2 sheets x $0.34= $0.68

Sheet of Red Stripe Paper: $0.75

Button/Ribbon/Bells/Banner Paper: $0.75

Total: $6.92

I hope you enjoyed this fun project today! I'll be back tomorrow with some fun softie sweaters and videos to share. More inspiration can be found on Nichole's blog today and all six days of the countdown. 

All my new dies will be available on November 15th at 10 PM EST at www.papertreyink.com. And, of course, I've been having nothing but fun with the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit this release, which is available now . It goes hand-in-hand with all of the new dies. If you want to see more projects using it, here's my original blog post introducing it. It is limited edition, so when it is gone, it's gone. 

Supplies

Stamps: Layered Banner Banter, Monthly Moments: December

Patterned Paper: New Leaf Patterned Paper Pack, Pure Poppy + White Basics Patterned Paper

Dies: Stitched Medallion 3, Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit, Banner Banter, Halloween and Holiday Pin Ups Make It Market Kit

Ribbon: New Leaf Grosgrain

Pure Poppy and Fresh Snow Felt

Clothespins and Chipboard Wreath. 

Small Stitching Alphabet Fun

We're just rolling along with the November Papertrey Ink Countdown. I shared projects using all the new stitching dies over the last two days. More projects to come! I'm just stitching away right now with more ideas than time. Always the case.

I felt like I needed a bit of a break from Christmas today, so we've got some non-seasonal projects for you. Miss Eliza has been hinting around that she'd really like Mom to make her a card. Just a card? She has no idea who she's dealing with here. I got a little carried away with a whole coordinating ensemble for her. She's been doing really well in school. (When did this little girl get so self motivated? And can she rub some of it off on her older brother?)  Her sweet success was a good enough excuse to go hog wild on a little something for her. 

This was what tickled her into a big smile when she got home yesterday. There's a sparkly wand that matches a pair of barrettes and has a coordinating card. In for a penny, in for a pound. 

Check on this beauty! I have long been inspired by this wand that I found via Pinterest. Just a simple star with lots of sequins. Easy enough to do with the Beaded Star from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. And with the new Small Stitched Alphabet Dies, I could add my own little touch with the word "wish". 

There are no dies for the sequin placement, I went freestyle.  All you have to do is start. The more random and overlapping the sequins and beads, the better.  As for the dowel, it is hot glued on the inside of the back star and it was easy enough to stitch around it since it is a slim 1/4" in diameter. Ocean Tides Grosgrain Ribbon finishes it off. 

At some point yesterday, I thought it would be cute to make some matching barrettes with the Clever Barrette Covers. I also thought I was completely nuts, seeing as I didn't have a lot of time to pull this all together. (I forgot how quick these are to put together and my day stayed on schedule.)  I just couldn't resist the idea that a wand with matching barrettes would be a really nice gift for a little girl. You'd not need much more if you were making a gift yourself. 

The barrettes are out of Ocean Tides and Fine Snow felt and the larger stars are from the Coffee Cozy Details Collection. Little felt stars cut with the Star Cover Plate are held on with the same sequin and bead combo from the wand. They were all packaged up all pretty on the Boutique Accessory Card stamped with Super Stars, Simple Stars, and Boutique Accessories stamp sets. The same ribbon I used on the wand was tied through the top opening. 

The back has the same stars as on the front and Eliza's name stitched in with the Small Stitched Alphabet Dies available on the 15th. My only regret here was I used crochet thread instead of a full six strand embroidery floss. That would have helped them stand out even more. Learn from me.

As for a card too, why not at this point? Let's give the girl what she wants.Besides,  I was already invested in the whole thing. The Beaded Star Die from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit is the perfect mat for the Enclosed Star Die. You really get your money's worth out of this kit, let me just tell ya! So many ideas. I used the same sequins and beads from the barrettes and the wand to make a shaker element. And you have the same stamped stars from the Boutique Accessory Card. Just ties everything together. 

The girl was thrilled. She wanted the barrettes in right away and put her card in her special spot in her room. YAY! We had a hit.

Shifting gears a bit, I wanted to show you how well the Small Stitched Alphabet Dies work with the previously released Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and 2. Combine the two and you can have a full, classic monogram for projects. Oh man, this is going to be good. Lots of ideas here. Imagine putting this on a Coffee Cozy or a Coin Purse? 

This Scissor Keeper is a gift for my mom. I thought it would be fun to put some pretty fabric on the inside. Just a little surprise. I love linings like this. 

OK. That's it from me. See you back here tomorrow. More fun on Nichole's blog. The girls are on fire:). 

Supplies

Wand/Barrettes/Card Ensemble

Stamps: Simply Stars, Boutique Accessory, Enclosed: Star, Super Star

Dies: Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit, Small Stitched Alphabet, Clever Barrette Covers, Boutique Accessory Card, Enclosed Star, Star Cover Plate, Coffee Cozy Details

Paper: Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Stamper's Select White

Ink: Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist

Felt: Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, Fresh Snow

Ocean Tides Grosgrain Ribbon and Buttons

Scissor Keeper

Dies: Small Stitched Alphabet, Scissor Keeper, Floral Cluster 1, Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and 2

Felt: Raspberry Fizz, Fresh Snow, Harvest Gold, Simply  Chartreuse, Limeade Ice, Blueberry Sky

Pull Out Your Ugly Holiday Sweaters!

Back again with new stitching dies for the November Papertrey Ink Release. These new dies are super fun for the holidays. Hope you love them as much as I do. 

Back when I put together the Design-A-Softie Stitch Kit, I had one more dress-up option for your softies in the form of a sweater. We decided to save it until the holidays instead of releasing it with the kit. It's been killing me to see how it would look and work for the last ten months. Finally got the chance!

But...wait....I bet you are wondering where the softie is on this blog post. I've got a few done and they are wearing their cute little sweaters, but the weather did not cooperate with photos yesterday. So I'm saving those for a little later. I'll be debuting them with the video tutorial I'm going to put together in a few days. But in the meantime, I had an alternative use for the Softie Sweater Die...Christmas ornaments. With ugly sweaters being such a thing, it was a natural step to take. And probably even more exciting and cute for me than the softies! LOL! This way you can use the Softie Sweater Die even if you don't have the Softies. 

This trio of holiday sweater ornaments were made for a family we spend a lot of time with as a gift this holiday. Three different colors (Pure Poppy, Hibiscus Burst, and Tropical Teal) for three different kids. Flip them over and....

...they are personalized with the new Small Stitched Alphabet that is also coming out this month. This alphabet is the same size as the letters in the Stitched Holiday Words. Only you can spell out anything you want on your projects. I even included popular "extra" letters for helping you spell out more words in a single pass of the die cut machine.  In addition to the names, I added the year with the Stitched Years from last year. 

I'm really all about personalized ornaments as gifts. They are just something extremely meaningful that you can give. My mother still has personalized ornaments with our names on them from my childhood that still get put on the tree every year. She's changed everything else about it, but those ornaments remain. It makes me smile to see the little salt dough snowman holding a balloon with my name on it from 1983 every year. I'm hoping I give those wonderful long-term memories to the people I give ornaments to...that thought alone makes me very happy. 

And on the strictly practical side, you get a lot of bang for your buck. The felt and beads cost me around $3.25 an ornament on this trio. That's a very meaningful gift for a family of five for under $10. Got to love it

 

Also available this month to make hanging these ornaments easy, is the Softie Hanger Die. This is the first die I've designed (or seen for that matter) that's sole purpose is to be used to build up layers of cardstock for something more substantial. The pieces are cut six times and glued together to make a "chipboard-like" hanger. Think of it as the papercrafter's version of a 3-D printer, building things up one layer at a time. It fits nicely in the sweater and can then be used to hang the sweater ornament off the tree. It's a must have if you are planning on making sweater ornaments this year. 

I'll be putting together a quick video tutorial here too. Look for that later in the week. 

My sweater ornaments are decorated with one of the Beaded Motif Dies from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. All three of the motifs included in the kit are a perfect fit to the Softie Sweater Die. And all three Seasonal Stitches Dies I introduced yesterday will fit as well. Lots of options. The beads and sequins look amazing on these felt sweaters, don't they?

Here's the original blog post about the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. It's still available with the amazing Beaded Motif Dies that are designed to work with beads and sequins. A gorgeous selection of beads and sequins comes with the kit and is plentiful enough to make several projects. At some point, however, you'll want to replenish and even choose your own colors. I was able to use some fun colors of beads I had picked up here and there on these sweaters. If you want to go get some of your own, you'll need 8 mm sequins, 8/O Beads, and 6 mm bugle beads. All are easy to find at any of your big box craft stores. 

More tomorrow! Thanks for joining me today. Anybody else have the urge to go find a snugly sweaters and put it on is it just me?

New Stitching Dies for November!

It's Day 1 of the November Countdown at Papertrey Ink. There are lots of good stuff coming your way. It's just awesome every month. I've got some new stitching dies coming out as well that I'll be sharing over the next few days. There's no new "big project", but rather a lot of stuff that can be used to change up the "bigger projects" of the past. I often find I do not have enough time to execute and present all the options and ideas I have for my stitching projects during a five day countdown. It is really nice to have the opportunity to revisit that all now. Because not only are you getting projects using the new dies, but there will be little twists on the main projects themselves. All new stuff people!

Today, we're taking all three of the shapes from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit (still available and there's still time to get your Christmas felt on) and changing them up a bit, while using some new Seasonal Stitches Dies. There are three new dies that fit the star, stocking, and mitten perfectly to give you whole new options.

Let's start with the stocking from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. The stocking is out of Vintage Cream Felt with an Autumn Rose cuff and toe. I had some silver adhesive trim that I added to the edge of the toe and cuff. No sewing required and it gives an additional layer of detail. It is also decorated with the new Seasonal Stitches: Holiday Wreath. So much detail here with the layering of the leaves in Spring Moss and Simply Chartreuse. It is one main circular cut with the individual leaves layered on top, which makes it very easy to assemble. And there is also a sweet bow with stitched detail. The stitching dies from Papertrey Ink are so nice because you can add so much detail in such a small design. This isn't something that can be hand cut with such precision on a small scale.

Next up we have the Seasonal Stitches: Santa on the mitten from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit. For the new twist, I've added cuff detail by stitching across the top and bottom edges of the cuff to create more of a ribbed pattern. The mitten in Simply Chartreuse was cut out of PTI's felt and backed onto the Pellon Craft and Home Decor Ultra Firm Sew-In Interfacing that I like to use as a backer. It adds both stiffness and economy to the felt designs. It also allowed me to use my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole and apply an eyelet to the top of my mitten. 

As for Santa himself, he fits very nicely on the mitten. There is a ton of layered detail from the nose and the mustache to the puff on his hat in the Seasonal Stitches: Santa Die. For skin tone, I used Fine Linen felt. There are stitching holes to place black beads or small black brads for eyes. This time I opted for tiny epoxy dots from Doodlebug. I ended up LOVING them. These in particular have a bit of green sparkle on the black. They really work well. 

And lastly, we have the star from the Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit and a new Stitched Medallion. This one is number 3 and is joining the collection with Stitched Medallion 1 and 2 from the May Release. Like the two other Stitched Medallions, they are wonderful and playful opportunities to add color with floss and felt. They make a wonderful folk-art look to the star. 

To change up the star from Beaded Holiday Stitch Kit, I cut and stitched a corner of the star out of Smokey Shadow felt onto the body of the Pure Poppy star. It is intended to look like a "hanger" for the top of the star. I also sewed in large silver beads to the other corners. You could also use jingle bells here for a truly festive look. It's only that I found the beads before the bells at the craft store yesterday and I had an impatient husband waiting on me! It was truly a case of "bird in hand". LOL! 

There you have it, a taste for now. Lots more to come. I try really hard to make the stitching dies as versatile and detailed as possible for endless mix and match possibilities. Every time I go to design new ones, I think of how they'll work with the others. I'm a girl who likes options, which is very good for you:). This week is going to be showcasing that in wonderful ways. 

Click back over to Nichole's blog for even more inspiration today and I'll see you back here tomorrow!