Dannie's Designs

Gift Card Bag Tutorial

I'm pleased to announce that I have my first tutorial available for purchase.  This tutorial will teach you how to make these Gift Card Bags.

These bags are the perfect size for giving gift cards or any other small gift.  The tutorial has two patterns and two sets of directions so that you can make a simple gift bag or a slightly more advanced gift bag.  The cost for this tutorial is $3.95.  Simply click the button below to purchase your copy of the tutorial.  Thanks!  ~Dannie

I've been really busy these past couple of days working on a Gift Card Bag tutorial for these little bags. 

The tutorial is almost done and I'm hoping to release it tomorrow.  Up until now, everything on my blog has been free--picture tutorials, video tutorials, etc.  This, however, will be my first tutorial for sale.  Rest assured that I will continue to offer free tutorials as well. 

I'm off to finish up the tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by! 

I was digging through my stash of unfinished projects from last year and came across this darling project that Donna provided at one of my downline meetings.

Untie and unthread the ribbon and you'll see...

this darling face!  Life up the flap and you'll find...

some hot chocolate!  Isn't that such a clever way to wrap this gift?  It even has a place for you to write a quick note.  Maria Bell is the person who originally came up with this project.  Donna modified it to make the entire project Stampin' Up! only.  Some people are just so creative.  I never would have thought of creating a project like this.  Thank you Donna and Maria.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry to disappear on you.  These past two days simply got away from me.  I was in the kitchen for two days baking cookies and all sorts of Christmas goodies.  My kitchen is a disaster, but the house smells amazing!

Every December I get together with a few of my girlfriends and we go out to lunch and do a cookie exchange.  It's one of my favorite traditions and my kids love it too.  We get to enjoy all sorts of cookies that I don't normally make. 

I made my plates of cookies, wrapped them all up, and realized that I couldn't give them away without a small Christmas card on top.  So, I made this little 3x3 card for each plate.

Does it look familiar?  When I sat down at my stamp desk this card that I made the other day was still sitting on top. 

I think it worked great as a 3x3 card too.  Well, I'm off to get my kitchen cleaned.  I'll be back tomorrow with more Christmas projects.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Peaceful Season
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Jolly Holiday DSP
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Old Olive Grosgrain
Punches:  Circle (1 1/4", 1 3/8"), Scallop Circle

I'm so excited to show you the project I made for today.  This was another project provided by Donna.  I don't know if this is an original idea by Donna or if she borrowed the idea from somebody else.

Isn't that the cutest project ever?  Be sure to click on the photo so you can see a larger version.  Santa's face is made of two circles on top of each other.  I layered a 4" Blush Blossom circle on top of a 5" Whisper White Circle.  This will leave a 1/2" border of Whisper White around the outside of the Blush Blossom.  This helps camouflage any small holes showing between the scallops on Santa's beard.

Santa's hat is the smallest pennant on the Pennant Big Shot die.  All of the scalloped circles are from the Scallop Circle #2 Big Shot die.  The eyes are 1/2" circles and his nose is a 3/4" circle.  I sponged the edges of his nose with Pretty in Pink ink and then popped it up on a dimensional.  I also used dimensionals under the 2nd and 4th scalloped circles on his beard.  For his cheeks I used a sponge dauber and Pretty in Pink ink.  The words come from the "Join in the Cheer" Sizzlet die.  I finished the project off with some Jumbo brads and some Whisper White Grosgrain.  I just love this project!

I'm off to get the next Christmas project ready for tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you're enjoying all of these Christmas projects.  Today I want to show you the Nugget Box that Elaine brought for the shoebox swap.

The original idea came from Dawn.  I don't have a direct link to the project, but be sure to check out her amazing blog.

Here's a closer look at the top of the box.  Remember, you can click on any photo to see a larger version.  The Soft Suede "box" is 6 1/2" x 7 3/8".  With the 7 3/8" side going across the top, score it at 3 1/4" and 4 1/8".    Both of the 6 1/2" edges were punched with the Scallop Edge punch.  The "hinges" came from the Matchbox Big Shot die. 

The three red boxes are made from the Matchbox Big Shot die (the bottom only).  I attached them to the inside of the "box" with Sticky Strip and then filled them with Nuggets wrapped in DSP.  It's such a cute project.  I will be making these for teacher gifts this year.

I'll be back on Monday to continue the Christmas projects.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Are you ready for the second Christmas project?  This time I have a card to show you.

This project was provided by Mary.  She doesn't have a blog, but here's a link to Mary's gorgeous gallery on SplitCoast.  Mary copied this idea from the talented Gretchen Barron.

Here's a look at the inside of the card (you can click on the photos to see a larger version).  The tree was made using the O Christmas Tree Pop-up Big Shot die.  I love how the Medallion stamp looks like it could be a tree skirt. 

Here's a closer look at the tree.  Mary cut out the tree and then ran each piece through the Big Shot again using the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder.  Then to make it even prettier, she added Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamond glitter along the edges of the tree to make it look like snow.  Trust me, the picture does not do justice to this gorgeous tree.

I have more Christmas projects to show you, so be sure to stop back by tomorrow.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Last December I was really struggling.  I was going through my divorce and I was an emotional, depressed mess.  Stamping was the furthest thing from my mind.  Despite that, I still had my December shoebox swap with my downline.  Everybody came with their darling Christmas projects and I just sat at the table trying not to cry!  All I could do was gather up the supplies to make their projects and I set it all aside to do "later."  Now that December has rolled around again, I decided it was time to pull out all of their projects and finally assemble them so I can share them with you. 

The first Christmas project I have to show you is this darling snowman gift bag that Donna brought to the shoebox swap.

This started out as a plain white lunch sack.  I folded over the top 4-5 inches of the bag and then put a dinner plate on top of it (as close to the top of the bag as possible) and traced the outside of the plate to give me the curve you see at the bottom of the face.  I cut on the line I traced and then I started to decorate the snowman. 

The cheeks are 1 1/4" circles sponged with Pretty in Pink ink.  The eyes are 3/4" circles with lines drawn with a white gel pen.  The nose is a triangle piece of cardstock with little lines hand drawn to give it more of a "carrot" look.  The hat is made of two rectangle pieces of Basic Black cardstock and a strip of DSP for decoration.  The large red Scalloped circle came from the Pennant Big shot die.  The leaves are from the Little Leaves Sizzlet die.  I used a Black marker to hand draw the mouth.  He's that easy to make and I think he's adorable. 

I truly have no idea where the original idea came from.  Like I said, these pieces were given to me a year ago and I'm just now putting them together.  The good news is that I have several more Christmas projects that I'm assembling and I'll be sharing them with you over the next several days.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow so you can see the Christmas project.   Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Card Bag

I've been really busy these past couple of days working on a Gift Card Bag tutorial for these little bags. 

The tutorial is almost done and I'm hoping to release it tomorrow.  Up until now, everything on my blog has been free--picture tutorials, video tutorials, etc.  This, however, will be my first tutorial for sale.  Rest assured that I will continue to offer free tutorials as well. 

I'm off to finish up the tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Hot Chocolate Packet Card

I was digging through my stash of unfinished projects from last year and came across this darling project that Donna provided at one of my downline meetings.

Untie and unthread the ribbon and you'll see...

this darling face!  Life up the flap and you'll find...

some hot chocolate!  Isn't that such a clever way to wrap this gift?  It even has a place for you to write a quick note.  Maria Bell is the person who originally came up with this project.  Donna modified it to make the entire project Stampin' Up! only.  Some people are just so creative.  I never would have thought of creating a project like this.  Thank you Donna and Maria.  Thanks for stopping by!

Quick 3x3 Card

Sorry to disappear on you.  These past two days simply got away from me.  I was in the kitchen for two days baking cookies and all sorts of Christmas goodies.  My kitchen is a disaster, but the house smells amazing!

Every December I get together with a few of my girlfriends and we go out to lunch and do a cookie exchange.  It's one of my favorite traditions and my kids love it too.  We get to enjoy all sorts of cookies that I don't normally make. 

I made my plates of cookies, wrapped them all up, and realized that I couldn't give them away without a small Christmas card on top.  So, I made this little 3x3 card for each plate.

Does it look familiar?  When I sat down at my stamp desk this card that I made the other day was still sitting on top. 

I think it worked great as a 3x3 card too.  Well, I'm off to get my kitchen cleaned.  I'll be back tomorrow with more Christmas projects.  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Peaceful Season
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Jolly Holiday DSP
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Old Olive Grosgrain
Punches:  Circle (1 1/4", 1 3/8"), Scallop Circle

Santa Claus

I'm so excited to show you the project I made for today.  This was another project provided by Donna.  I don't know if this is an original idea by Donna or if she borrowed the idea from somebody else.

Isn't that the cutest project ever?  Be sure to click on the photo so you can see a larger version.  Santa's face is made of two circles on top of each other.  I layered a 4" Blush Blossom circle on top of a 5" Whisper White Circle.  This will leave a 1/2" border of Whisper White around the outside of the Blush Blossom.  This helps camouflage any small holes showing between the scallops on Santa's beard.

Santa's hat is the smallest pennant on the Pennant Big Shot die.  All of the scalloped circles are from the Scallop Circle #2 Big Shot die.  The eyes are 1/2" circles and his nose is a 3/4" circle.  I sponged the edges of his nose with Pretty in Pink ink and then popped it up on a dimensional.  I also used dimensionals under the 2nd and 4th scalloped circles on his beard.  For his cheeks I used a sponge dauber and Pretty in Pink ink.  The words come from the "Join in the Cheer" Sizzlet die.  I finished the project off with some Jumbo brads and some Whisper White Grosgrain.  I just love this project!

I'm off to get the next Christmas project ready for tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by!

Nugget Box

I hope you're enjoying all of these Christmas projects.  Today I want to show you the Nugget Box that Elaine brought for the shoebox swap.

The original idea came from Dawn.  I don't have a direct link to the project, but be sure to check out her amazing blog.

Here's a closer look at the top of the box.  Remember, you can click on any photo to see a larger version.  The Soft Suede "box" is 6 1/2" x 7 3/8".  With the 7 3/8" side going across the top, score it at 3 1/4" and 4 1/8".    Both of the 6 1/2" edges were punched with the Scallop Edge punch.  The "hinges" came from the Matchbox Big Shot die. 

The three red boxes are made from the Matchbox Big Shot die (the bottom only).  I attached them to the inside of the "box" with Sticky Strip and then filled them with Nuggets wrapped in DSP.  It's such a cute project.  I will be making these for teacher gifts this year.

I'll be back on Monday to continue the Christmas projects.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pop-up Christmas Tree

Are you ready for the second Christmas project?  This time I have a card to show you.

This project was provided by Mary.  She doesn't have a blog, but here's a link to Mary's gorgeous gallery on SplitCoast.  Mary copied this idea from the talented Gretchen Barron.

Here's a look at the inside of the card (you can click on the photos to see a larger version).  The tree was made using the O Christmas Tree Pop-up Big Shot die.  I love how the Medallion stamp looks like it could be a tree skirt. 

Here's a closer look at the tree.  Mary cut out the tree and then ran each piece through the Big Shot again using the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder.  Then to make it even prettier, she added Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamond glitter along the edges of the tree to make it look like snow.  Trust me, the picture does not do justice to this gorgeous tree.

I have more Christmas projects to show you, so be sure to stop back by tomorrow.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Snowman Gift Bag

Last December I was really struggling.  I was going through my divorce and I was an emotional, depressed mess.  Stamping was the furthest thing from my mind.  Despite that, I still had my December shoebox swap with my downline.  Everybody came with their darling Christmas projects and I just sat at the table trying not to cry!  All I could do was gather up the supplies to make their projects and I set it all aside to do "later."  Now that December has rolled around again, I decided it was time to pull out all of their projects and finally assemble them so I can share them with you. 

The first Christmas project I have to show you is this darling snowman gift bag that Donna brought to the shoebox swap.

This started out as a plain white lunch sack.  I folded over the top 4-5 inches of the bag and then put a dinner plate on top of it (as close to the top of the bag as possible) and traced the outside of the plate to give me the curve you see at the bottom of the face.  I cut on the line I traced and then I started to decorate the snowman. 

The cheeks are 1 1/4" circles sponged with Pretty in Pink ink.  The eyes are 3/4" circles with lines drawn with a white gel pen.  The nose is a triangle piece of cardstock with little lines hand drawn to give it more of a "carrot" look.  The hat is made of two rectangle pieces of Basic Black cardstock and a strip of DSP for decoration.  The large red Scalloped circle came from the Pennant Big shot die.  The leaves are from the Little Leaves Sizzlet die.  I used a Black marker to hand draw the mouth.  He's that easy to make and I think he's adorable. 

I truly have no idea where the original idea came from.  Like I said, these pieces were given to me a year ago and I'm just now putting them together.  The good news is that I have several more Christmas projects that I'm assembling and I'll be sharing them with you over the next several days.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow so you can see the Christmas project.   Thanks for stopping by!