Dannie's Designs

Valentine's Day Mailbox

Today I pulled into my stamping stash so that I could make a Valentine's mailbox.

I bought these mailbox tins years ago in the dollar section of a store.  They have been collecting dust waiting for me to alter them.  I don't have any current Valentine's Day packs of DSP, so I used the Polka Dot Parade DSP.  The strip that wraps around the mailbox is 4" x 12".  It fits perfectly. 

The only tricky part was getting the strip of DSP to fit around the "flag."  I loosely wrapped the DSP around the mailbox (with the flag in the down position), lined it up nicely side-to-side on the mailbox, and marked where the metal post is that's attaching the flag to the mailbox (the silver circle at the bottom of the flag).  Once I had it marked, I used the Circle Punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and punched out the hole.  I took a pair of scissors and cut a line from the closest edge of the DSP to the punched out circle.  With some gentle coaxing, I wrapped the punched-out hole around the base of the flag and attached it to the mailbox using sticky strip.

Even with a close-up look at the flag, it's difficult to see where I cut the DSP.

For the front and back panel of the mailbox, I traced the shape of the panel onto DSP and then cut them out.  I attached it to the mailbox with Sticky Strip.  I also put a piece of Sticky Strip around the edges of the front and back panels and attached some ribbon.  Of course I made sure that all of the seams from the ribbon and the DSP (the piece wrapped around the mailbox) were on the bottom so it looks nice.  I finished off the front with a Rosette and a button.

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Happy Valentine Heart
Paper:  Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink:  Real Red
Accessories:  Sticky Strip, Real Red Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Ribbon, Whisper White Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Button
Punches:  Full Heart, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack
Big Shot:  Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit, Designer Rosette Die

Three More Projects

As promised, I'm back to share with you the last three projects I made at a stamping event I attended while at convention.

The sentiment layer for this card was made using My Digital Studio.  They already had it printed and cut out so I just had to layer it on the card.  I roughed up the edges of the So Saffron cardstock behind the sentiment and then dragged the edges through an Early Espresso ink pad to give it more of a weathered look.  I took a sanding block to the head of the vanilla brad to "weather" that as well.

The Chocolate Chip layer was run through the Big Shot using the Houndstooth Embossing Folder.  Then I took a sanding block and rubbed it over the raised parts.  Although Stampin' Up!'s cardstock is NOT white on the inside (it's dyed all the way through), it still made the raised images appear lighter in color.

I really liked these tins we made.  Before you ask, I'm not sure where they purchased these from.  One of the ladies said that they searched all over the web and couldn't find any more of these round tins with the clear windows.

This was a really quick and easy project to make.  It's a simple belly band with several scalloped circles and circles layered on top of each other.  The most difficult thing to do in this project (which wasn't that hard at all) was threading the ribbon through the button holes.  Super easy to do and it would make a great tin to put some of our stamped cookies in.

Here's the last project we made.  The Tempting Turquoise layer was run through the Big Shot using the Polka Dot embossing folder.  The Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight pinwheels were stamped directly on the Whisper White cardstock.  For the striped pinwheel in the middle, I inked up the outline of the pinwheel in Basic Black ink, stamped it on the striped piece of DSP, and cut it out.  I attached this pinwheel with a dimensional.  All three of the pinwheels have one of the small silver brads in the middle.

That's all of the projects we made.  I had a lot of fun stamping and the best parts were that I didn't have to design the projects and I didn't have to clean up!  It can't get better than that.  Thanks for stopping by!

May Valentine's Day

I was recently cleaning and found a heart shaped notepad that I bought forever ago.  My youngest daughter confiscated the notepad and decided that she needed to color every heart in the entire notepad.  She has torn the individual pages apart and has taped hearts to all of my cupboards, doors, and cabinets.  She said (and I quote), "Jesus told me to color these and decorate for Valentine's Day." 

She has officially declared today Valentine's Day and is ready to celebrate.  She even wants me to go and pick up her older siblings from school *right now* so that they can come home and celebrate with her.  She said, "On Valentine's Day Santa Claus told me that you need to go to school and pick up the kids."  How do you respond to that?

Needless to say, I don't have the heart to burst her bubble and tell her that she needs to wait nine more months for the real Valentine's Day.  So I went through my stash and decided to make her a Valentine's Day surprise.

I bought these tins a couple of years ago at one of the local craft stores.  I added a small piece of Designer Series Paper to the sides and a ribbon around the edge of the lid.

I tied the ribbon in a simple bow at the top.

I finished off the tin with some rub-ons on the window.  Because it's May and stores no longer have any Valentine's Day candy, I had to go with the next best thing...red and pink jelly beans leftover from Easter.  She didn't seem to mind at all. 

I need to run and go entertain my daughter.  She just put her shoes on and is literally standing at the front door as I type this demanding to go pick up the kids from school.  She doesn't believe me that they still have two more hours of school.  It's going to be a long two hours!  Thanks for stopping by!

Paper:  Love Impressions DSP
Accessories:  Pretty in Pink Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Love & Happiness Rub-ons

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Tin

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  Mine was very busy with something big happening every day.  I got to spend lots of time with family and friends and I really enjoyed myself.  Now that it's Monday I find myself wondering where the long weekend went and how come it's December already?!

I have a new project to share with you today.  It's a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup tin.

I used the Deer Friends hostess stamp set along with my 1 1/4" and 1" circle punches to make decorations for the top of each mini peanut butter cup.

I stamped each image twice--once on Very Vanilla cardstock and a second time on either Riding Hood Red or Old Olive cardstock.  I punched out the central image with the 1" circle punch and mounted it on the colored cardstock with a dimensional.

For the tag on top of the tin, I used the Punches Three hostess set.  I stamped the image in Riding Hood Red ink on Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla cardstock.  I punched out the Riding Hood Red cardstock with my Scalloped Square punch.  I cut out the "A Very Merry Christmas" part from the Very Vanilla cardstock and adhered that on top of the Riding Hood Red scalloped square.  Last I punched a 1/8" hole in the top of the tag and threaded about 5" of Rope Twine through the hole and tied it in a knot.

I wrapped some 1 1/4" Riding Hood Red/Very Vanilla striped grosgrain ribbon around the tin and tied it once.  I took the "A Very Merry Christmas" tag and threaded the loop from the Rope Twine around the bottom end of my striped grosgrain ribbon (see photo below).

Once I had the Rope Twine in place, I tied the striped grosgrain ribbon again to finish forming my knot.  This knot held the Rope Twine and my tag securely in place (see photo below).

I trimmed the ends of my ribbon and it's done!  If you're looking for where to buy the tins, you can find them here.  Thanks for stopping by!  ~Dannie

Stamps:  Deer Friends, Punches Three
Paper: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Dimensionals, Rope Twine, 1 1/4" Riding Hood Red/Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon
Punches: Circle (1 1/4", 1", and 1/8"), Scalloped Square

Snowflake Tin

Can you believe Thanksgiving is this week?!  Time is flying by too fast.  I've already started working on some stamped holiday gifts and I'll be sharing those with you over the next several days.  Earlier this month I posted these scalloped notecards on my blog (you can read the full post and get directions on how to make them here).

I wanted to give these as a gift set so I decided to alter a tin that the cards could go in.

This is a tin that I bought in the dollar section of Michaels at least six months ago.  I knew it would be great for altering, so I bought several of them and this is the first one I've used.  Yes, I hoard stamping supplies!  The original color of the tin is the blue that you see peeking through in the metal tag section.

Speaking of the metal tag section...here's how I cut out my designer series paper (DSP) around the tag.  I took a piece of vellum and placed it over the top of the metal.  I traced around it with a pencil and then cut out the center leaving a tag shaped hole in my vellum. 

Next I cut my DSP to size (measuring from the bottom metal rim on the tin to the bottom of the lid).  I placed the vellum over the DSP and then traced the hole into the DSP.  I took a pair of scissors and cut out the hole.  I placed the DSP over the metal tag and had to make a few minor cuts to get it to line up just right.

I added some Seasonal Sayings rub-ons (from the level 3 hostess bundle) in the window of the metal tag. 

For the top of the tin, I cut out a Chocolate Chip circle using my Coluzzle and glued it to the lid.  Next I added a scalloped circle (cut from the Big Shot) and two more circles cut with my coluzzle.  I added two Little Felt Flurries and rhinestone brad to finish the lid.

Here's the whole set together.  I'll be back tomorrow with another holiday gift idea.  Thanks for stopping by!  ~Dannie

Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Ski Slope DSP
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads, Mini Glue Dots, Little Felt Flurries, Coluzzle, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Whisper White Grosgrain, Old Olive Grosgrain, Bashful Blue Striped Ribbon, Seasonal Sayings Rub-ons
Big Shot: Scallop Circles #2 Die

For You Tin

Happy Monday!  I hope your weekend was wonderful.  Kirsten received my package on Saturday so now I can show you the last couple of projects I put in her box of goodies.  Kirsten mentioned that she liked dark chocolate, so I bought some dark chocolate raspberry Ghirardelli squares.  Now I'm not a fan of dark chocolate, but those raspberry squares are exquisite!

I wanted to put the chocolates in a tin so I started by wrapping four of the chocolates in a strip of Berry Bliss DSP. 



Next I altered the tin (I bought these tins here). 



I used Sticky Strip to adhere the ribbon around the edge of the lid.  When I tied the knot in the ribbon, it gathered the ribbon and you could see the silver edge of the tin around the knot.  I untied the knot and adhered a 1" piece of the same ribbon to the front of the tin behind where the knot is.  If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see both pieces of ribbon.  Normally the tin showing around the knotted ribbon wouldn't bother me, but this little trick comes in handy when you're altering a tin with a pattern or color on it that you completely want to cover.

With the lid on my tin, I added two more rows of sticky strip to the bottom for my designer series paper (DSP).  It's important to keep the lid on the tin while you're doing this so you know how far the lid comes down the side of the tin.  The top row of sticky strip is right below the bottom of the lid.  I took the lid off and measured from the bottom of the tin to the top of my second piece of sticky strip and that's how wide I cut my DSP.  The DSP does not go to the top of the side of the tin.  There will be about 1/4" gap not covered in DSP.  That's because it won't fit under the lid. 



I finished the tin by adding some Rub-ons to the window in the lid.  This is a very quick project to make (it took me less than 15 minutes) and it's a fun way to give chocolate.  Thanks for stopping by!  ~Dannie

Stamps: One of a Kind
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Berry Bliss DSP
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: Purely Pomegranate Double-stitched Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons
Punches: Small and Large Oval

Cherry Tin

I love the Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper in the Occasions mini catalog.  The colors are so cheerful and bright.  I was "working" (can you really call this work?  It's more like play!) in my stamp room last night and decorated this tin with Summer Picnic DSP.



This is another tin from my stash that I bought over a year ago at Michael's in the dollar section.  This tin is the perfect size for 3x3 cards, so I made a set of cards to go along with it.



These cards were made using the One Smart Cookie stamp set found in the Occasions mini catalog.  I'm telling you, it's a GREAT mini catalog.  If you haven't seen it yet, click on the link in the left column of my blog.  Or email me (DannieGrvs@hotmail.com) and I'll be happy to mail one to you.  Here's a close up of each of the cards.



I stamped the little apple in Real Red all over the Real Red cardstock.



All of the circles in these cards are popped up on dimensionals.



I used our new Chocolate Chip Poly-twill Ribbon for the cookie card...again from the Occasions mini catalog.



I chose my color palette for all of these cards from the colors in the Summer Picnic DSP.



I got the idea for making these cards from a demonstration at Stampin' Up!'s leadership in January.  I changed some of the colors of cardstock, DSP, and ribbon from the original presentation.



I used every stamp from the One Smart Cookie stamp set to make this set of 3x3 cards.  I used the same layout for each of the cards so it didn't take me long to make all 6 of the cards.  I'm going to use this tin and cards as my next hostess gift.

Stamps: One Smart Cookie, Tart and Tangy
Paper: White, Kraft, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Picnic DSP
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Real Red
Accessories: Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Crafter's Tool Kit, White Grosgrain, Real Red Grosgrain, Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain, Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill Ribbon, Wild Wasabi Double-stitched Ribbon
Punches: Corner Rounder (for tin), Scalloped Circle, Circle (1/16", 3/4", 1", and 1 3/8")

Valentine Tin

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting a neighboring town and I had about half an hour before I needed to be anywhere.  So I went into Michaels...just to look!  I didn't "need" to buy anything, I just needed to pass the time.  I was looking through all of their Valentine crafts and I saw a box of the cutest tins...and I caved.

Isn't that cute?  Can you blame me for buying them?  I used one of our new Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons on the lid.

It took me less than five minutes to decorate this tin.  I used sticky strip to glue the DSP and the ribbon onto the sides (I placed the seam of the DSP at the top of the heart).

The box came with 30 tins so I have lots of these to play with.  I just can't say "no" to tins that I can alter!

Paper: Berry Bliss DSP
Accessories: Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain

More nuggets

I'm just about out of time to get things done for my leadership swaps, so I resorted back to an idea I've done before...nugget tins.  Lots of nugget tins!  To see my previous post about the nuggets and to find out about where I ordered my tins from, click here. 

I used Ginger Blossom DSP so it would coordinate with my M&M container (in my last post).  Here's a better look at one of the tins.

I got the idea for how to attach my tag from Robin Rouch.

Isn't that cute?  I punched out Ruby Red CS in my Word Window Punch.  I folded it in half and threaded my spiral clip through the middle.  Then I glued one end of the Word Window Punch to the front of my tag and the other end to the back of the tag.  Then I punched a hole and threaded my brad through the Word Window Punch and tag to hold it all together.  Lastly, as I was tying my ribbon around the tin, I threaded the ribbon through the spiral clip and tied it down.  I added a dimensional to the back of the tag to hold it on place. 

Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Paper: White, Ruby Red, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink: Ruby Red, Cameo Coral Marker
Accessories: Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware, Groovy Guava Double-Stitched Ribbon, Dimensionals
Punches:  Word Window, Small and Large Tag Punch

Card Tin

I've finished designing/altering my tin and now I'm ready for show-and-tell.

This tin is the same as the tin I altered in this post.  I bought these tins about a year ago at Michael's in the dollar section and I have been slowly getting around to using them.

I used Bali Breeze DSP to decorate the tin so that it would coordinate with my 3x3 cards that go inside the tin.  I have to admit that this is the first time I have used Pumpkin Pie and Taken with Teal together.  I never thought of using these colors together and they have really grown on me.   The orange  paper around the base of the tin is a piece of the Bali Breeze DSP.  It has a subtle pattern on it that's difficult to see in the photo.

Here's a better look at the top of the tin.

The "green" on the stems seems to coordinate well with River Rock card stock.  It also went well with the Mellow Moss Taffeta ribbon that I used around the edge of the lid.  It seems to go well with a couple of different colors.

Here's my completed project all together.  One altered tin and six 3x3 cards (2 each of 3 different designs).  I had to make 12 sets of this project for a leadership swap (12 tins and 72 cards) and I am happy that this project is DONE!!  I hope the ladies I'm swapping with like them.  I'll be sure to show you what swaps I get in return when I get back from leadership.

If you'd like to see close-up pictures of the 3x3's with details on how I made them, look at the three previous posts to this one.  Here's the recipe for the tin.

Stamps: A Beautiful Thing, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Bali Breeze DSP, Pumpkin Pie, River Rock, White, Taken with Teal
Ink: Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Crafters' Tool Kit, Dimensionals, Rhinestone Brad, Mellow Moss Taffeta Ribbon, Sticky Strip
Punches: Scalloped Circle, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle, Corner Rounder