Christmas Tic Tacs, So Cute!

Hi Everybody,
One more quick post. Just 5 days till Christmas and as always I am so not ready. It has been such a strange season.  The weather is so warm that it does not feel like the holidays at all.  There is not a bit of a nip in the air. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with the back sliding door open and something tells me Christmas dinner will be the same.  Once I get this post up I am off to start wrapping. I love to wrap and try to make the packages as pretty as I can.  My little favors this year that I leave on desks at work are cinnamon tic tacs.  Not to exciting but look how cute they are.

I saw these on a SU demonstrator website called Pink Buckaroo Designs. Her name is Erica Cerwin and you can find her here:
http://pinkbuckaroodesigns.blogspot.com
 I found the tic tacs at the Dollar Tree and I used Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and a non SU Kraft paper. I just love the way they look.  Here is another pic:

The tic tacs are super mini's and they come 3 in a pack for $1.00 so I made 30 of them to pass out. Pretty darn cute for 33 cents a piece.
I just want to send out Best Wishes to all for a Very Merry Christmas and A Happy and Healthy New Year.  I hope next year I can find my way back to more steady blog posts and file sharing.  The year ahead will be busy because of my Daughter's wedding.  I so hope to share the crafty goodness I plan to be working on for the wedding. Again a Very Merry to All!!
Lysa

Just A Quick Post

Hi Everyone,
Oh my how the days pass. I have not posted for so long that it appears as my crafty life has fallen to the wayside.  Truth be told I have been busy as a bee and all is well here on my end.  Christmas is upon us and I have been crafty but I just have not had time to post.  I haven't really designed anything new but I have been crafting. My story for today was quick and easy craft from days gone by that was designed by someone else.  Rory needed some Christmas gift for school friends and we needed to get them done fast. I am sure you have seen these in the past as they were a holiday fair item from about 2009 or so.  The snowman candy wrapper is a classic and adding a pair of gloves from the dollar store make them an awesome and affordable gift for tween school friends.  Here is the picture of the eight I made:

The face is a download that is available online.  The Hershey bar is the 4.4 oz. size. It is huge!! The gloves came from Dollar Tree. I did sacrifice 1 pair of gloves to make the scarves. I hope you like the way them came out.  Hoping after the holidays I will get into the routine of posting.  In the meantime best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!!
Lysa

Package For Bracelets, DONE!

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick post to show off the way I packaged the bracelets.  I just love how they came out.  All that is left to do is for Rory to add the To - From tags. I decided that a pull up package would be perfect for the bracelets and I think the girly-girls will love it too! The graphic and paper is Stampin' Up and the pull up fold over was easy peasy. Here are the pics:

How Cute are they?? I Just love this awesome SU stamp set!  This fold over was so simple after scoring it I hand colored the stamps and they look awesome. I really think these bracelets will go over big, I have been wearing one for a few weeks now and I have gotten a lot of compliments. I see A.C. Moore and Joann's are now selling completed bracelets for $14.99.  I think Rory and I did a great job and brought them in for less.  I bought the charms at retail, mostly from Oriental Trading and Joann's and when I did the math the charms worked out to be just under $1.00 a charm. If you add the in the retail value of the bracelet, which is about $3.50 and the fact that there are 9 charms, the cost is $12.50. So in my book we made an awesome gift from the heart that was affordable and nicer looking than the $14.99 bracelet (because of the amount of charms) that was being sold at the craft store.  Our theme was snow and the theme carried through from the bracelet to the package.  I am so happy with the way this all turned out that I have made them for my work peeps as well.  I also now have a new addiction for charms.  I have already been buying Halloween themed charms for next year!  Hope you all are having a festive weekend.  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Christmas 2014 - We Making Bracelets! How Charming!!

Hi Everyone,
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas is in full swing at our house it is time to get our craft on.  I have been working like a mad woman trying desperately to stay one step ahead of things.  Truth be told I am racing just to stay in step let alone a step ahead.  The house is now decked from top to bottom, outside lights are glowing and the "big giant wreath" is hanging. The wreath is a story in itself as it takes a team of three people to get it in place and wired to the house via bedroom windows in two different rooms!  The Christmas/winter dishes are cleaned and in place so that we can enjoy all the caloric holiday frenzy on festive snowman themed plates. They surely make everything taste even better.  In order to clear the decks for the decorations my craftroom is a sight to be seen.  There is a line of boxes dividing the room in two.  Stuff is just piled everywhere and you have to move boxes just to get into a drawer or cabinet.  It really is awful and not a creative space at the moment. This bit of mess can't stop me from having a some crafty fun with the Granddaughter.  Rory and I had decided about a month ago that we wanted to make some charm bracelets for her friends as this years gifts.  Rory and her Mom love their Alex and Ani bracelets so we decided  that was the style we wanted to make. At first I looked into bending the wire bracelets myself.  I was able to find the wire and the mandrel that was needed but the start up cost was a to much for me for a craft that I might only make once.  I have to keep reminding myself  "I am a papercrafter, I am a papercrafter" This is why I am out of space in the craftroom.  So with a bit of searching I found some bracelet blanks online.  Actually I found a lot of sources for the blanks.  Some high end in precious metals and some in coated brass, stainless steel, etc. that were reasonable in the pocketbook department.  I chose to order from a lovely Etsy shop.  The name of the shop is The Jeweled Box and you can fine it here at this link:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheJeweledBox
Anne is the owners name and she is located in Georgia.  My order arrived quickly and everything was as pictured.  I even placed a second order because once I made the first bracelet I knew I needed to make a lot of them!!
I bought most of the charms from Oriental Trading but there are charms all over the place online and in stores.  I saw many at AC Moore and Joann's.  Rory and I sat online at Oriental's website and she chose the charms for her friends.  Then I hit Joann's and chose some too.  Here are some pic of the bracelets that we made.  The pictures are not the best but you can get the idea of how great they came out. I also had to add pics of Rory at work.  I just love my little crafty good bud!

Not the best work surface I know, but like I said the craftroom is one hot mess!

Look how many we made in just part of an afternoon

Each bracelet has 9 charms. Can you see the angel and the made with love heart? So cute! Now I can't wait to make the perfect packaging  for these cuties to go in.  I was amazed how easy it was for Rory to work with the jump rings and the pliers.  It did not take her long to get the hang of it.  This project would be an awesome fund raiser for a Girl Scout group or other community group. These charms are all cheap alloy metals and can be purchased in bulk.  I saw everything from book themes to medical themes.  I think I need to make a cancer ribbon one for the girls in the Oncology office where my daughter works.  I don't know you guys . . . it just might be time to buy the wire and the bracelet mandrel so I can start bending the wire bracelets myself, oh but remember "I am a papercrafter, I am a papercrafter"!! Thanks for visiting and enjoy getting your Christmas craft 2014 on!!
Lysa

Ahhh, The Warm Glow Of Christmas!

Hi Everyone,
Yet another addiction of mine is flameless candles.  It's true I have them in every room in the house. I buy CandleImpressions brand and they all have timers so by the time I arrive home from work the whole house is glowing. I also buy them for Christmas hostess gifts each year. I buy them from QVC and when the candles are shipped they arrive in cardboard shipping boxes so I always try to re-package them in a pretty way.  This year I bought sets of 5 little white glittered trees. They are pricey but I really like giving them so I make sure that I budget for them in my holiday expenses. Here is a picture I grabbed from the QVC website of the little candles:

They are so sweet and they have a lot of glitter on them.  During the day when they are not glowing they just look pretty sitting on the table.  I wanted to break up the sets so that I would be able to make a number of gifts out of the 3 sets that I bought.  Some peeps are getting 1,  some 2, and some are getting 3 of the little trees. When they first arrived I wasn't sure how to package them but I did remember that I had bought some nice boxes from Stampin' Up that had a clear plastic sliding sleeve top.  I think they designed this box to hold cookies.  Here is a picture from the SU website of the boxes:

I loved the box but of course the candles were to tall to fit.  Not a problem as with a bit of a crafty good remake I was able to use the box.  Here are some pictures of how they came out:

So here is what I did, I cut the box down to just under 2 inches with a decorative edge so it would be below the widest part of the tree, I made a belly band with the same edge using some K&Co. paper that I had in my stash. I cut one side of the plastic sleeve cover off so that it fits to the inside of the box and rests just on the top of the tree. All the parts are inked up with SU crumb cake ink. The tag was made in CA2 and punched with the SU bracket label punch.  I used my SnC to make the shadow shape for the punch.  I get my raffia ribbon at Joann's.  I just love craft and hunter green as Christmas color combos.  I think they all look so pretty sitting on the table waiting for me to grab one when I need a little gift to bring to someone. Now I have to get the favors for the work peeps done and I am running out of time!!  Enjoy this last weekend before Christmas and I hope you all are done with the shopping and enjoying the fun side of the season. Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Reindeer Food 2013

Hi Everyone,
Christmas is starting to come together here in our house.  I was able to get to some gift buying and that always helps to get my spirit flowing. Every year I make a check list of the things I need and want to do during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It's funny how I put the word "annual" in front of so many of the things.  Like "annual" Target run, "annual" mall trip, "annual" Joann's run, etc. but my most favorite on the list is "annual" Reindeer food!  Every year Rory and I make reindeer food.  It is our tradition.  This years batch came out great and I will say Rory now has more creative control than ever.  I really think this is a craft she will bring to her own family years from now.  We have a great time each year planning the project.  We have a special tin where we keep our supplies that we use.  I just love it.  Here are our pictures of this years batch:

  I have so much going on in the craftspace that we needed to use the ironing board as an extra table top.  Rory used the Xyron to make stickers for the tag.  I call my Xyron vintage because I think I have had it for more than 10 years. It never lets me down.

Rory is getting better at the layout and by next year maybe the rows will be closer together for less waste.

She did an awesome job attaching the graphic to the tag shapes.  She is getting a better hand for centering things.  Practice does make perfect just like our Mom's told us!

Mixing up the ingredients is the most fun of all.  I think its the colors of the sugar that makes us smile.

 Once the containers are filled it is back up to the craftspace for a belly band and tag attachment.  I added the belly band and Rory tied the tags on.  The backside of the tag has the standard Reindeer Food poem.  Notice our ingredient list on the bottom.  Our Reindeer food contains no GLITTER and is non toxic.  Every year I beg people not to use glitter in their food.  No animal, person or the environment likes glitter in Reindeer food!!!

 And there they are happily on our reindeer by the front door just waiting for friends to take one as they leave after a play date.  I love when I hear Rory say to someone as they are leaving "Oh, I made some reindeer food, Please take one"  Don't they look great?!
Today is "annual" card day so I am off to get the Christmas cards done and out in the mail for Monday.  Thanks for visiting and wishing you all a crafty good weekend,
Lysa

I (heart) SU Festive Flurry!

Hi Everyone,
I am racing to get a blog post up before I have to return to work after the 3 day weekend.  Thing around here are good. Halloween is up in the attic and Christmas buckets are everywhere all over the house.  I haven't opened them yet but they are at hand and ready to go.  I am in love with the SU Festive Flurry stamp set and knew the minute I saw it that I wanted to use it for a few things this holiday season.  I had known for sure that I want to use it for gift wrap and for a paper ornament.  But, then I decided to use it for the Board's Holiday Dinner invites that I make each year.  Here is how they came out:

 I just love them. I used my CA2 to weld the snowflake outline to a rectangle and cut it with my SnC.  I used the new online converter that was released this past Friday. I made the four layer snowflake with the purchase .svg file from SU and printed them through CA2. I used the the SnC in direct cut mode to cut them out and glued just the upper part of the snowflake to the base so that it would act as the closure for the card.  I made the text insert in CA2 as well.  Everything is dusted with Ranger Perfect Pearls and they look awesome. I hope I get a moment during this week to try to layer this stamp set to a paper ornament. I know I want to use it for gift tags too.  So pretty and the svg download from SU worked out great for both printing and cutting.  I have such a busy week ahead I just hope I can get back into the craftroom to keep playing with this set. The Holidays are upon us people and it is "GO TIME"!! Hope everyone is getting the Holiday Craft Mojo going and I sure hope I can come up with some crafty goodness to share!  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Let's Play What's Wrong With This Picture!

Hi Everyone,
Here I am with a quick post to check in and let you all know that I have gone completely off the crafty edge.  Yes, it's true. Here is a picture:

There, you can see for yourself I have totally stepped off the edge. What you don't see it?  Your thinking it looks just like your crafty desk, come on really! I can't remember the last time I had 3 seasons whispering in my ear at the same time. Yup, the Rainbow Loom (summer) bracelets are still going strong, I cut 20 more coffins for the nail file favors and made a bread tag foldover for my Board meeting favors (Hello Halloween) and just to keep me moving I had to play with my SU festive flurry stamps and thinlets (can you say Christmas tags 2013) I am just all over the place. Problem is I should have spent the weekend working on the mess that is still in garage from the room makeover (oh well, my car is in the garage and how bad would it be if Sam has to clean snow off of her car? hee -hee) And then there is that awesome huge (and annoying) pile of laundry and that kitchen floor (what to do, what to do) I know, I can spend another hour or so online looking for more information on the new Brother Scan N Cut die cutter that is coming out in October or better yet another hour searching pinterest for Vintage Halloween Goodness or maybe a trip to Five Below because I am running a bit low on lime green rubber bands.  Gee . . . . I am out of control . .  but the fact is I had an awesome weekend washing away my work life and playing in the craft space.  Like I always say "I 'yam what I 'yam and what I 'yam is a crafty good girl!"
Hope you all had a great and crafty weekend and have an awesome good work week for the crafty goodness is just a mere five days away!
Lysa
Here are some extra crafty good pics!

3 looms long so no extensions!

I just can't stop the LOOM'N!

Reindeer Food 2012

Hi Everyone,
Oh my!, Christmas is upon us all, I am still forging forward toward the day when I can sit down with my family, take a breath, and thank the Lord for all I have.  I have hit the holiday wall!  Have you?  I just long to be finished and to able to enjoy the season, but the mad dash is on!  It's all good though because we are pulling as a team here. Baking and Reindeer Food is now done.  Shopping is done too!  I am so lucky to have the Hubs, my Daughter and Grand Daughter here to help with all the prep for the big day!! This past weekend, Rory and I (between baking with her Mom) were able to complete our annual Reindeer Food! Here is a pic of the "big bowl":

See all that oatmeal goodness.  Please notice no GLITTER!  I beg each year that all my crafty good friends use no glitter in the Reindeer Food.  Not only is it not "GREEN" it hurts all our wildlife friends.  There is just no need for it when sugar, oats, cinnamon, and candy will do the trick!  As always Rory had a blast mixing up broken candy canes and all kinds of sugary goodness to create the magic.  You can see she was really into it, worried about just the right ratio of oats to sugar!

 Then the awesome mix was poured into tubes and decorated, and place into the perfect spot for all her friends to grab when they leave the house after a play date.  Here is how they look sitting by the door:

We created the tags in CraftArtist2 and quickly punched them with a Stampin 'Up tag punch. On the back of the tag is our standard Reindeer Food poem.  You know it. It goes
Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's Reindeer fly and roam
This food will quide them
To your home.
What a quick and easy craft we completed while we waited for cookies to cool so that they could be decorated.
I hope everyone of you is organized and moving forward to the point of a wonderful and joyous Christmas. I am almost there!  Thanks for visiting.
Lysa

Luv, This Tree Is 4 U!

Christmas Tags Done!

Hi Everyone,
I am so happy to say I have my Christmas wrap together.  I just love to shop at Joann's for my Christmas bags because they have kraft paper bags every year. This year I went with the pine tree/cardinal bag.  I bought many of them in the 3 available sizes that they had.  The one you see above was 29 cents.  I dressed it up with a tag I made using a Just Rite stamp image.  Oh I am in love!!! I just can't wait to start filling them up with goodies to give.  I have to tell you I am a bit nutty about tags.  I just love to make them.  I have this image as a digi so I made larger ones for each of the 3 sizes of the bags.   You can see I didn't take to much time coloring them. I used Sharpie ultra fine point markers for all but the white.  The white a Uniball Signo gel pen. They went super fast and I made 30 of them so far.  I used my Stampin 'Up
1 3/4 circle punch to punch out the tag and my ZING along with my MTC software provided the scallop circle.  The back of the tag has a basic "To/From" saying on a kraft paper circle as well. The tag and the bag are sprayed with with Stampin 'Up champagne mist.  Here is a close up of the tag:

Most of the white dots that you see on the tag is really gold mist.  The camera just picked it up as white. I wish you could see how they shine.  I am excited about giving these because I really didn't make to many handmade gifts this year. So at least my gift wrap has a bit of a handmade touch.  Tomorrow is my big shopping day.  I will not come home until I have completed my gift list!  Once that is done, I will be wrapping and I must tell you wrap day is one of my most favorite days!  I hope all of you are enjoying the season and are spending time with family and friends.  Our house is filled with wonderful decorations, scents of baking and filled with excitement. I am almost to the point where I can take a breath, step back and remember to be thankful for all that is around me.  Thanks for visiting,
Lysa

Teal & Mustard Are Not Christmas Colors!

****Alternative Title: Avon, What Were You Thinking!***
Hi Everyone,
As I sit down to type I realize that I am not going to have an easy go of it.  I wanted to post a lovely picture of the favors I made for the work peeps and I am still sitting here looking at them. I made 20 and I was not on board from the get go.  The "get go" would be when my adorable Avon Lady Donna L.(love her!) delivered them to me.  Now first off I love, love love Avon for that little somethin' somethin' that they have in almost every catalog.  I always buy a quantity of  either lip balms or nail files that I use for favors.  Avon even has great hand sanitizers that work great for favor making. So this year I bought a 69 cent lip balm that I knew just how to package up. O.K., so I thought I knew.  My problem was the colors.  They are teal and mustard! and they have a red Santa on them.  Really, its Christmas!  How about ... let's say ... ummm .... I don't know, maybe red and green or white, silver or gold.  Here is a picture:

Now I am not sure which is worse, the fact that Avon chose those colors or the fact that I had the perfect matching paper. Apparently I must like this color scheme because if you look closely at the picture you will see a stack of Post it Notes in the background and there are the same darn colors. Well with all that said I wanted to make a clear snowflake embossed box for these lip balms. So I gave it a try.  I made the little mini pillow box, I embossed it with a snowflake folder from Darice. I stuffed the little balm into the box with a bit of white shreds and a white bow.  It almost looked o.k. and then I made the snowflake tag using the teal and mustard. Ughhhhhh! I thought, Wow there should never ever be a mustard yellow snowflake! I know you know what I was thinking. Remember that song "Don't eat yellow snow"!  I didn't even take a picture.  So then I took the bow and tag off and tried a red bow and a white snowflake. No it wasn't a winner either. I spent way to much time switching out the paper shreds and bows. Trying tag after tag nothing was working but I had to use them.  I have 20 of them. So to save you the story of the screaming sounds that were coming from my craftspace (really, it was bad . . . but on the upside I now know how to get the family to turn tail and run) Here is a couple of pictures of how they turned out:

I still don't really love them but I at least feel o.k. about using them as favors. After all those who receive them know my heart was in the right place.  I hope you all have your crafty mojo going as there is a mere 16 days till Christmas. I still have shopping to do so it is really time to get organized.  Have a great week ahead and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa

First Of The Christmas Favors

Hi Everyone,
Whew, I have been on a bit of a holiday marathon.  It started the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and here it is December 1st. This past week was so busy with work and trying to get organized.  With all family hands on deck, we have arrived at Christmas 2012!  I am so happy to say the outside lights are up along with the big giant wreath and window candles.  The tree is glowing in the living room and I must say as I pulled into the driveway last night after work I paused and took a breath.  I was just so happy to be home so I could enjoy all the efforts we had made decorating.  Our annual "family tree day" was so much fun this year and my favorite memory is that my 9 year old grand daughter can now reach higher branches than I can.  Really, its true.  She was able to hang ornaments higher than I could.  I'll tell you this, the next time we paint she can do the ceiling! Another great memory is that this was the first year she stuck stead fast to the "No Clumping Rule"! So funny, she did an awesome job and it was so much fun for us all.  I also was able to get some favors done this week too.  I needed 20 favors for a holiday dinner that I am attending next week.  I used the single Rocher holder with the window cut out that I had posted back at Halloween.  You can view the original post and grab the file here:
http://www.lysaandhueyink.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-halloween-crafty-goodness.html
When I made it back during Halloween I knew it would be perfect Christmas treat holder as well.  Here is a picture of how they came out:

I just love how they worked out.  All the boxes, tags, and die cuts were cut using MTC and my Zing. I used plain kraft cardstock that I stamped with Stampin 'Up Crumb Cake ink and a small inkadoo clear stamp.  Don't you just love the tone on tone. You can barely see the holly leaves.  The belly strip is some old provocraft paper called holly argyle.  My favorite part is the die cut. Funny thing, I saw that exact cutout on a Teresa Collins Cricut cartridge.  But then when I was looking a Google images of holly branches I saw the exact one as clipart from Zazzles.  So who copied who?  Makes no difference to me as the Zazzles image traced perfectly in my MTC software. The die cut is less than 1.5" and it cut beautifully with my Zing. I used a multi toned piece of green paper from K&Co. and just added a bit of marker accents. I hope you like them as much as I do.  I am off to start working on the lip balms I bought from Avon.  They will be the favors for my work peeps.  It will be a simple fold over of some sort. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa 

Oceans Apart, But On The Same Page!

Hi Everyone,
Today I have a lovely story and an awesome little box to share.  I received a note from Lynne Armstrong from the MTC forum.  I am here in the States in Jersey and Lynne is over in Australia.  WOW! We are oceans apart.  But no way, no how, is a bit of water and geography going to stand between two crafty girls like us! You can see what Lynne is up to on her blog here:
http://www.doodlebuglynne.blogspot.com/
What happened was, Lynne told me Hershey nuggets are just not readily available in her area.  I come to find out that Rocher and Lindt chocolates are easier to obtain. Well after a bit of discussion we decided to increase the depth of the original nugget tag box that I had posted earlier this month so that it would hold Rocher instead of the Hershey Nuggets.  The original box for the nuggets can be found here by using the download link in this post:
http://www.lysaandhueyink.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-favorite-nugget-box.html
Now please know when it comes to candy. . . In my book if 1 piece is good, 2 pieces is great and(by the size of my pants!) 3 pieces is well. . . AWESOME! so here is a picture of the reworked nugget box that now holds 3 Rocher candies:

 

 I used a plain top on this box but I have the file available with or without the original tag. You can download the files from my mediafire site. Here is a picture of what the file with the plain top looks like.

 Simple and easy, you can make a lot in a short amount of time. Here are the links for the files. The .pdf is here:

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?s4vw9jjd3cmp1jw

And MTC fans will want this one for the plain top box:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?12v2jh4vcb6floc

and this one for the one with the tag top:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uxj6hffr71gndh8

Now the story goes on, So crafty Lynne doesn't have any Rocher candies at hand but what see did have was some Lindt chocolates.  So she takes the file and reduces it to hold 2 Lindts.  I love it and here is a picture of what she made:

This box was made by Lynne Armstong - She's Crafty Good!

Is that not awesome crafty goodness? I love it! Great job Lynne! Lynne will be making these for a special holiday dinner that she will tell you about over at her blog. I want to say the best part of these boxes isn't the paper or the candy, It's not the ink or the rubber stamp. The best part of this box is 2 crafty good girls from opposite sides of the world sharing a crafty good thought. I had a great time making this box and an even better time making a new friend. I am off to start the Thanksgiving countdown. Once again Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Lysa

Edited to add Lynne's link 

Here is the link to download Lynne's two piece box that she posted on the MTC forum. The file is available as a .mtc file:

http://forum.make-the-cut.com/discussion/28771/nugget-box-rework-now-holds-rocher-and-lindts#latest

And So This Is Christmas. . .

Hi Everyone,
Truth be told it is not even Thanksgiving!  Oh poor Tom Turkey just doesn't get a fair shake! I am in total Christmas mode already.  Yet again all my fall linen and turkeys, crows and ceramic non - jack'd pumpkins won't see the light of day. Need I mention the lovely turkey salt and pepper shakers that once adorned my Thanksgiving table.  It is sad I know.  It seems I just go from Halloween black and orange right to the green and red.  I think it is because my time is so limited with working and general life.  I guess I have just come around to what works for me.  With that said, I wanted to post this file for my double sided carrier tote. Now please know that this tote was once 2 Stampin 'Up boxes that were glued back to back.  But being digi minded I knew there was a better way.  I had made this box for a wedding project in white embossed paper.  It held 6 small bottles of bubbles (3 on each side).  It was just beautiful.  The carrier was on each table so that there were bubbles all night long through the reception.  This little box can hold a lot.  Here it is holding 9 pieces of candy (6 nuggets & 3 Ghirardelli chocolates).  That's a whole lot of candy!
Here is a picture of what the file looks like:

I have the .pdf of the file posted here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?4r2o7y9s8j7kj28
The .mtc file is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?hhtz2hmnhs17op7

I hope you will try to make this carrier, I think it would make a great snowman soup holder.  If you need it to be smaller you can reduce the size as long as you maintain the aspect ratio.  If you need any tips on assembly just give me a shout out and I will do my best to explain.
I want to send out my best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving and many blessing to you all for a joyous and safe holiday.  I know how busy I get over the next 2 months so posting may be spotty but I will check in to answer any questions you may have.
Thanks as always for visiting,
Lysa

My Favorite Cocoa Packet Holder

Hi Everyone,
A few years back I wanted to make cocoa packets as favors for my work peeps.  I always thought packets items like cocoa, tea or soup was just adorable for a hand out item. I just didn't know how I wanted to package them.  I even bought a pattern for a paper mug. I made it and just did not like how the cocoa packet fit into it. It was flopping back and forth, the mug was to just to big to hold the packet I was using.  So I decided to use my pattern for a hanging pillow box.  The packet just fit so nicely in it.  I made the door knob opening smaller and created a little snowflake "charm" to hang in the center.  Now this is a two part story as I had purchased 2 - 24 pack boxes of Starbuck's cocoa, seeing the brown color scheme of the packet I knew I wanted to use one of my all time favorite papers (early espresso from Stampin 'Up) to make the holder. But I had a bit of a mishap with my Christmas cards that I had purchased. In my haste to print and get them into the mail I had made a typo in the sentiment. I didn't catch the typo prior to going to print! Well it all worked out as I recycled the front of the card as a belly band around the base box.  I found a picture of the first color scheme using the SU paper. It was sitting in the background of another picture. On this one I made a little spinning snowflake charm. The belly band was from a K&Co. paper stack. It's not the best picture but here it is:

I needed to use the cards that I had ruined.  They were so pretty and there was no way I was going to throw away the cards.  Here is a picture of a few of them:

Aren't the snowmen cute? I hand stamped the snowflakes on the lavender blueish paper with Tsukineko Brilliance Dew Drop in lavender and cut the fronts of the cards off to create the belly band around the box. I used my DSA2 and my Stampin 'Up tag punches to make the tags. They were a big hit. These were personalized tags for work. I also had a basket of them at the house by the door for anyone that stopped by.
Here is a picture of the file:

Just a note about the snowflake, I used my Martha Stewart punch on mine, but I added a basic snowflake to the file for ease.
Here is a link to download the .pdf file:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?4rn5v70nfg1bjmj
and for all fans of MTC here is that file:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ba39bv61cvdyssn
I hope you find use for this cute holder, Just think of what you can stuff into it.  You can change it up and do away with the snowflake. Make the circle cutout bigger and hang it on a door knob.  I am thinking this may just make a great holder for this years Reindeer food!  Let me know if you have any questions. Hope you all are thinking about Christmas as it is just around the corner! Have a great weekend.
Lysa

A Favorite Nugget Box

Hi Everyone,
See those cute little nugget boxes. I made them for Christmas 2010.  They hold 3 Hershey nuggets perfectly. I made 50 of those boxes and never used them! Yup! I threw almost all of them out! So here is what happened ... Just before Christmas 2010, I got the flu and I landed in the hospital for six days.  Really from the flu! Well that is just what happened, it was horrible! Who knew the flu could take a person down like that! Well apparently hundreds of thousands of people knew and that is why they get their flu shot each year. Now I have joined them and get the shot every year as well. On a happier note I did give out some of them in early December prior to getting sick.  I was afraid to save the rest for fear I had contaminated the boxes! Well now two years down the line I thought I would remake these little guys because I liked them so much. Here is a picture of what the file looks like:

I have posted the .pdf file here:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?hy7z8a1ehr7b165
And for all you MTC fans you can find the file here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ngqjbnwqf8vennn
I hope you give this box a try as you can change it up as needed.  It also looks cute without the tree, adding a little embellishment in its place. I use Wilton gold candy foil to back the tree.  You can even do away with or change the window shape to your liking.  I use a corner rounder punch on the top corners for a bit more finished look and as you know I like to hand score.  The MTC file has the score lines on a separate layer so you can shut them off. Let me know if you have any folding questions.  Enjoy and have a great weekend.
Lysa
Enjoy

I Have Been Zinged!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope all had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Here at our house was awesome!  The friends, family and food, I sure feel blessed.  And it's not over yet because New Year's Eve is here as well!!  I can't wait! I am so excited about my (extreme) Christmas gift that Paul, Sam & Rory got me.  Now mind you I don't want to sound like a greedy gus, but this was awesome good craftyness!! Just look at the picture (Can you believe I am willing to post a picture of myself with no make up and hair not brushed on the web for all to see!)

OK, you can stop screaming "MY EYES, MY EYES" now (Are those my tonsils?).  Look at the shear joy on my face. Anyone can tell this was the right gift for me.  So what is it? It's my new cutting plotter!! I was so surprised and I could not get the smile off of my face for the whole day. In fact I am still smiling.  Paul and the Kids were so happy that they surprised me.  I have been up and cutting all day.  I just have to say if you are in the market for a new cutter this is the one check out.  If your an experienced cutter there is no learning curve at all and if your not, there are great forums out there ready to help. Here is my list of FAVS.

The Make the Cut forum can be found here:

http://forum.make-the-cut.com/
The yahoo group can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KNK_Zing/messages
The KNK website is here:
http://knkusa.com/
Sandy McCauly's Blog and tutorials are here:
http://www.iloveknk.com/
and the Paperthreads forum is here:
http://www.paperthreads.com/forum/

Now I have been a member of all these sites for a long time and pretty much all I know I learned from all these great folks. New members are always welcome and if you are into or want to learn all there is about digital die cutting these are the peeps that can teach you.  A shout out of thanks to all these great crafters.
I love the new ZING.  I can't wait to start my Valentine's Day favors. The print and cut feature is amaZING. I have been printing and cutting all day.  I hope everyone had a Christmas like mine.  Thanks for stopping by and good wishes to all for a Happy, Healthy, and Crafty New Year!
Lysa

Reindeer Food 2011!

Hi Everyone,
I am so excited to say that Rory and I are finished with this years batch of Reindeer Food.  We had a fantastic time this year with our new recipe.  I think they came out fantastic and the Little Miss can't wait to hand them out to her friends.  I just want to point out that as always our reindeer food is non toxic.  There is no glitter in it.  Please if you make it DO NOT ADD GLITTER!!!!  Our animal friends just can't handle it.  Sure, Sure the magic flying reindeer can handle it, but Mr. Rabbit, Lady Bird and Sir Squirrel will just get sick!  So please leave the glitter out and use only decorating sugar for the sparkle.  Here is our recipe.
Rolled Oats, Red & White Sugar, a bit of Cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie Spice, a touch if Ginger, Cinnamon Dots (Rudolph Spares) and Crushed Candy Canes.  Yummmmmy!!!  We even put a ingredient label and the phrase "Do Not Eat - For Reindeer Only" on the bottom of the tin.  I figure this way all the Mom's & Dad's will know it is non toxic just in case it gets eaten. Here are our pics ... Well just a couple.  Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by.
Lysa