Brown Paper Package, Stitched Up with Twine

 

A fun way to wrap a small gift in an unconventional manner.

Using the star die from Papertrey Inks Quick Stitch kit: Beaded Holiday, I cut two layers of plain brown wrapping paper. I stitched about half way before putting in the pendant using Rustic Twine. Leave enough tail at the starting point to tie a bow. I used a stamped from the Make It Market Co mini kit: Holiday Pin Ups in Pure Poppy ink.

A close up of the pendant, a favorite purse project stitched entirely with French Knots and Cotswold Knots so it was easy to pick up again, like painting with knots.

Spinning is my Cup of Tea.

I love twofers. This Wool and Spindle gift basket is an entry in the Papertrey Ink's 6th Anniversary Favorite Project Contest and will also be my contribution to the spinning guild's annual auction. It's based on Melisa Phillips' Berry Basket.project. To give the berry basket a bit more stability, I folded in the first pair of flaps on the bottom and then put glue on the underside of them before folding the remaining pair.

I believe it was Ashley Cannon Newell who said she used her finger for tiny stamps. It was an especially useful technique to stamp the curved sides of the spindle whorl.

Gift Basket contents: Romney wool roving (nothing to do with the former Gov. of MA, it's a breed of sheep with awesome fleece). Toy Wheel spindle stamped with the tiny bee in Papertrey Ink's Tag-It #3 stamp set.

Berry Basket Materials:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores, Kraft, Vintage Cream Poppy Red.
Dies: Berry Basket, Simply Jane, Teacup Die.
Punch: Martha Stewart.

Hello Kitty!

I had to make a door prize for a mother/daughter event, and I was wracking my brain when my talkative cat came in and mewed at me and it hit me, "Hello Kitty"! So I made a picture and a bottle stuffed with Hello Kitty stuff (thank you crafting message board).

It was a snap to design with the Gypsy of course, but the colors were hanging me up. It's fine for me to substitute patterned paper, but I thought true Hello Kitty afficiandos might want more traditional fare. So I took some Club Stamp Basics white cardstock and used ink pads to get the colors I wanted. Ok I did take license with the sun and made the outer bit orange. I had to use terrifically tacky tape on the bottle label due to the heat and humidity. One strip on the top and one on the bottom and it worked like a charm.

I waited until I took the picture to put the glass in to keep the glare at a minimum.

AC Moore used to have a Hello Kitty section that was totally fabu, but not anymore. However, Target had a lot in their dollar section and Michael's had a section ranging from $1 to $5ish. I used a 3-liter bottle I found at a dollar store.

By the way, if you can't find your non-stick work surface, freezer paper makes a pretty durable substitute (as long as you aren't using flames lol) surface that's easy-peasy to clean up for multiple uses.