Mini Albums Galore

Loads and loads of postcard size mini albums of the simple kind. A single stitched signature made from 160g card stock, attached to the cover with an end paper. Add a bit of embellishment, and there you go.

Xmas Cones

Talk about quick and easy... I whipped up a bunch of these cones yesterday, in next to no time. These are three sided, but I also made a batch of four-sided cones and had a spark of insight in the process.

Instead of painstakingly measuring and marking degrees with a protractor and compass before cutting, I did this: I used my nifty circle cutter to cut out a circle which I then sliced it into quarters (4x90 degree segments). Then I took a ruler and laid it corner to corner (the end points of the straight lines) on the quarter circle. I measured the distance between the points and mentally divided it by nine (9x10 degrees). You can also use a calculator for the division. I then marked off four equal two-ninth (20 degree) sections for the sides of the cone and left the remaining one ninth (10 degree) section for the glue flap. The process may sound complicated, but it's not. The moment you try it, you'll see how quick and easy it is.

Money Cards

Now the Xmas bazaar season is underway, I've been checking out what's on offer and where there might be gaps to fill. I've seen cards of various kinds, though there seemed to be nothing on sale that was much like the cards I (and the other women I know) make. I saw a lot of 3-D (the kind you do with pre-printed sheets of images), some intricate scherenschnitte, and lots of photocards, usually matted on plain, untextured card stock. There was nothing scrapbook style, no bright, patterned, shabby chic, retro, or stamped offerings.

Another thing I didn't see were cards for the money/store card gifts that are so popular with youngsters, so I've focused on making a bunch of those. Here are two examples. Each card has a pocket inside for the loot/card or for a photo or a letter, or whatever.

Red Tins

When I'm not feeling particularly arty, I can at least use my time well by being crafty. Here are two more tins, this time in red. I particularly liked the clear half-beads, To me, they look like raindrops.

Bazaar Crafts

The banana boxes are piling up in my apartment, filled with goods I've made (and am still making) for the Xmas bazaar on 30th November. I'll be uploading photos of other items over the coming days.

Alongside things I know will be useful and recognisable, I'm making items that won't be quite as familiar to people around here. This explosion box is one of them. I'm going to need to make some "whatever-is-that-for?" examples, so I'll visit the drugstore and print off the photos for those today.

This box is made from pre-printed photo card stock. I guess everyone and her dog has seen the templates plastered over the Web. All it takes is three squares, each a little smaller than the one before and another square for the lid. After that, all you do is trim up some coordinating card stock and embellish as desired.

Once you've made a couple of these, you can whip them up in no time.

Christmas Tins

Each of these tins originally contained a marzipan loaf.

I sanded the metal, to give it some tooth, then glued on strips of Basic Gray "Dasher" paper. That done, I raided my ribbon stash and found a few lengths that coordinated nicely with the paper.

For the topper, I sandwiched together scalloped circles, using foam stickies for dimension, and decorated them with circles punched from the same paper used for the tins, then slapped on a snowflake sticker. Stickers are not really my thing, but (a) I'm using up my stash, and (b) these actually look great. I know they will appeal to potential buyers hereabouts.

Three Red Boxes

I'm trying to use up as much as possible of the "stash of years" to make goods for my stand at the upcoming Xmas bazaar, which takes place in a residence for the elderly later this month. Many of the people who will come to look have conservative tastes, so, I decided to make these traditional style boxes and incorporate the fabric poinsettias.

I painted three paper mache boxes crimson, added four little wooden half-bead feet to each box, and affixed Christmas style paper around the sides. For the lids, I pulled out my glue gun...

First I glued a large white felt snowflake (around 12 cm diameter) to the lid of each box. The snowflakes are cut from a felt table runner I picked up at a euro/dollar store. Next, I cut silk vine- and holly leaves from a garland and stuck them on. Then came the flowers. The poinsettias have a plastic "cup" under the blossom, which means they can't be stuck on flat, so I glued them on at an angle and covered the cup with beads and the like.