Patterned Papered Dreams

Pocket calendar with Waffle Flower Crafts

Hi there! Just one more day until we wave goodbye to 2014 and welcome a new year, so I thought a 2015 calendar would be a perfect way to wrap up my Waffle Flower posts for this year!

I started by die cutting 12 tags from Surface - Tag Die - Starter Kit. Calendars are something that get pulled out a lot, so I used the sturdiest cardstock I had to make sure the tags don't worn out too fast.

 

 

Once I had the base tags, I went to town stamping! The months and calendar numbers come from Calendar stamp set. The colored strip where I stamped each month was done by inking and stamping the back of one of the many rectangle blocks from Planner:Stay Focused stamp set (you know, those blocks that say "work", "focus", "personal" "to do", etc...)

 

 

Once the months and numbers were stamped, I added the pattern using the tiny triangles strip that comes in Tribal Thank You stamp set. I've been itching to use that lovely pattern since I first saw the set and I thought it was perfect for this project! It was a lot of fun playing with different color combos for each month :)

Here are all the months displayed. Light was terrible when I took the photos, sorry about that!

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, this calendar needed some packaging...

 

 

I die cut a tag twice from vellum and patterned paper, again using Surface - Tag Die - Starter Kit. Stamped a custom sentiment on the vellum tag. Be my Guest stamp set came in handy for this!

I added two white eyelets to the muslin bag and tied the tags with baker's twine.

 

 

There's a fun little detail at the back of the bag. I gold heat embossed the sentiment square from 100% Love stamp set. It doesn't show bery good in the pic, but you get the idea...

 

 

And that wraps today's post! I wish you all a wonderful 2015 filled with love, health, joy, laughter and all things crafty. Oh, and don't forget to check on the Waffle Flower Blog on January 1, because there's an amazing new release on the way!

Gift Packaging ideas with Waffle Flower Crafts

Hi everyone! Christmas will be here in just a week, friends! Eek! Do you have all the shopping and gift wrapping done? Well, in case you still have some little gifts to pack, I have a couple of wrapping ideas for you using Waffle Flower Crafts stamps and dies.

The fist one is a very merry pillow box. It can fit jewelry or a gift card, for example.

 

I die cut the box from patterned paper with the Silhouette Cameo and then went to town decorating it. I started with a white cardstock strip where I stamped a sentiment from Holiday Labels - Merry. Once it was adhered, I die cut the leafy vine and the bow from Loved stamp set. I love that this set has coordinating dies!

 

 

The bow was heat embossed in gold. Then I added the berries. I used a tiny circle punch. Here's a trick: I wanted the berries to be the very exact red as the box, so I punched the tiny circles from a scrap of the same patterned paper. You could also use tiny rhinestones or pearls, or add dots of red glitter glue.

 

 

The second idea is a gift bag. I used the WRMK Gift Bag Punch Board to make the bag and had a lot of fun dressing it up!

 

Some green cardstock straps came in very handy to make the stripes. I just trimmed the scraps to the same width and adhered them with scor-tape.

 

For the label, I used Holiday Label 1 die to die cut the label from patterned paper. Then I stamped and heat embossed the coordinating label outline from Holiday Labels - Merry. Next, I stamped and heat embossed the big tag that comes in the same set, and trimmed it partially so I could fit it perfectly inside the label.

 

I finished the bag with bakers twine and some glittery dots that I've had in my stash forever. They're super cute!

That's all from me today. I'm currently visiting my family in Spain, so in case I don't have a moment to pop around again before the big day, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks Blog Hop

 

You should have arrived here from the blog of the talented Julia Stainton. If you got lost in the way, you can head to the beginning of the hop at Jennifer's blog.

Hello crafty friends! Oh, how I wish I weren't writing this post. This farewell post. I've gone through many different stages in my mourning: from disbelief, to denial, to a deep sadness, to rage, just to name a few. Paper Crafts Mag changed my life in many ways, and once their doors close for good, my life will change again, but most important, the lifes of an amazing group of women we all love and appreciate are taking a sharp turn too. And today we are here to let them know they're not alone in this new journey, to celebrate lots of wonderful memories and to thank them for everything.

I think we all agree that the best way to do that is using our common language: cards. So here's my Thank You card. It's a "free" rendition the first card I had published in Paper Crafts. Magazine.

 

 

Ah, the memories. I came in contact with PPC through the Moxie Fab World, at that time hosted by the wonderful Cath Edvaldson. I won a challenge, and my prize was a one year subscription to the mag. The first issue I received was September-October 2010. It blew my socks off. I studied, read, re-read and then read again all about the cards, the supplies, the techniques, the trends, and decided that I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted it so badly! Then the November-December issue came in the mail and at that moment I basically longed to live INSIDE of the mag in a life long Christmas crafting palooza.

So I started submitting. My first acceptance email, that of course I still keep, came from Susan Opel on February 11 2011. Three cards accepted for Stamp It! Cards Volume 8. I fainted. Laughed. Cried. Fainted again. Phoned my husband, my crafty friend Ana in Spain, my parents. Fainted. And fainted once more when my cards got lost in the mail and I had to replicate and Fedex them. Whoa. I was terrified and thought that I would be put on the unreliable list and never published again. But that didn't happen. Actually, I got two more cards picked for the next special issue. And my cards were lost in the mail. Again. So from then on and until this day I've always Fedex'ed them. But the important thing about this story is that this amazing people kept trusting me. Then came the private submission calls, only by invite. Come on!!! This was better than being invited to the Vanity fair Oscar after party!

 

 

Jennifer, Susan, Stacy, Kerri, Holly... you have a way to make people feel special. You've made SO many people happy and proud of themselves, and confident. You're (here it goes!) like the natural Prozac of the crafting world :) You've made an outstanding job that goes way beyond publishing a magazine. You've built a community.

And although Susan is the one I've had the most contact with, I am thankful for all of you, and hold each member of the team close to my heart. Meeting you last January was a dream come true. My legs were shaking! I cried infront of Stacy speaking about dogs. I got to hug Susan. And brought her wine because I adore her (and wine. Susan, you owe me a cocktail filled girl's night out). I giggled while speaking with Jennifer because I was SO nervous! I probably freaked out Kerri and Holly when I met them on the CHA floor and greeted them with the mandatory Spanish two kisses.

What a journey these last four years have been, ladies. Four years of excitement, of growing as a crafter, of learning both design and life lessons, of waiting for that happy emails with the same anxiety as the first time.

I already said this, and I'm repeating it now: know that you've made a difference. I won't say that you will be missed, because as friends, I hope we'll still be in contact!!! Please, please, don't be strangers! I wish you all the best, my friends, because you deserve none than that, and I can't wait to see you shine your light wherever life takes you next. I'll be cheering on you, as you cheered on me during all these years.

Your next stop is my dear friend Amy Tsuruta! See? Amy is one of the many friends I've made all around the globe thanks to this hobby. I hope that won't change and we'll all make an effort to keep this beautiful community alive. I'd also like to say a heartfelt thank you to my wonderful friend Taheerah, who has worked A LOT to put this hop together.

Thanks for hopping!