Maculine birthday card ...

Even with all the stamps I have, I always find it a bit of a challenge to make a masculine card ... especially, when I'm trying not to use any of the Penny Black Inc. or Stampscapes stamps.

After looking through my stamps and dies, I finally settled on using this stencil from Tim Holtz.  Basically, I taped the stencil down with painter's tape on Neenah Solar White cardstock and applied Distress Inks using the mini blending tool.  I just love that tool ... it's so easy to add colour!  I opted to omit spraying the piece with pearlized water since it is suppose to be a masculine card.  Hubbie thought it was a wise decision :)

Here's the final result ...

I love how the 2 colours blend together.  The mini blending tool makes blending so easy!

Something different ...

My colleague at work does stain glass at this place in Old Montreal.  She asked me and another colleague if we would be interested in taking a Mosaics class.  I figured why not ... so in December, I had the opportunity to work with a different medium ... glass!

We had the choice putting pieces of glass on glass or wood.  I opted to do glass on wood ... no, it's not because I need to use some form of paper or something when I create :)  It was for a practical purpose ... I could use the finished piece as a coaster ... instead of just a decorative piece with the glass on glass.  I think that's another thing I get from my mom ... practical ... sometimes ;)

The 1st step was to draw a design for your "masterpiece" (I'm using this word really loosely!).  I knew what I drew would be just the idea, and it would definitely not be exactly like that ... at least that was what I was hoping for.  My drawing was very geometric ... and quite primitive as you can see!  I just wanted to get the shapes down ... I really did not know what I was doing :)

The end result is definitely not like the drawing ... thankfully (I think)!  However, you can see the basic idea is there.  We had a lot of fun chatting while we cut and glued the glass.  I would definitely consider taking another class ... but I don't think this would be a new hobby as I would have to sell off my paper and stamps to make room, which I'm not willing to do!  Hubbie said I can only fill up one room in the house :)

Box inspired ...

After making those boxes for the chocolates over the holidays, I was inspired to make some containers for my alcohol inks.  I'm been looking for a container the would fit my alcohol inks perfectly for some time now.  I was going to get this tin container I saw at Emballage Tout but decided to see if I had something better at home ... I did ... paper :)

Yup, I made a container ... 4 to be exact ... to store my alcohol inks.  Guess what, my inks fit perfectly!!  I started by grouping my inks to figure out the size of the container.  Using the thickest watercolour paper I had, I cut, scored, and decorate ... there you have it!

I decided to emboss the piece of brown cardstock I put on the sides to give it a more decorative look, but the real purpose is to reinforce the sides to make the container sturdier.  I also put a piece of cardstock at the bottom.

Between my new containers and the Distress Inks, I had my mini blending tools ... so, I decided to make a couple of containers to put them in :)

I decided to put the same brown cardstock on the sides ... matching set :)  I just love these mini blending tools ... they make blending inks so easy!

Everything in it's place :)  Is this not great?!  I just love organizing ... yes, I'm weird I know.

I ended up making 3 more containers to store my reinkers :)  They are stored in a desktop cube with 9 compartments that I got from Michaels.  With these containers, my reinkers are more easily accessible as I can now just pull out the container and get what I want instead of taking each item out one by one!  I haven't made any containers for my stickles at the top, but it doesn't mean I won't in the future :)

Da dum ... easy access!

Boxes ...

For a few years now, hubbie and I buy Lindt chocolate and put them in handmade boxes as a little treat for the family during the holidays.  I try to make different boxes from the previous year or at least decorate it differently.  This year, I decided to make a box with a separation inside the box.

Here's the 1st box I made for Stephane's mom ... my mom asked me to get a box of chocolates, so she could give it to Stephane's mom since she was joining us for the family dim sum on Christmas day.  I based the colour scheme on the gold ribbon I wanted to use :)  I ended up using the paper I used for my brother's wedding invitations.

I embossed the paper with snowflakes to go with the holiday theme :)

I made dividers to separate the box in 4 sections ...

I put a ribbon and tag on the box ... and all done!  I love this paper ... depending on the angle the light hits the paper, you get different colours :)

I made a few more boxes ... for Mei Mei & Stephane, my brother & Holly, my mom, and my dad ... so another 4 boxes.  I must admit I had a lot of fun making them ... I still wanted to make more but then what would I do with the boxes!  I guess I'll wait until next year to get it out of my system :)

I made 2 boxes with a thick scrapbook paper that I got on sale from Michaels.  The paper on this 1st box already had glitter on it, so I did not need to add any :)

I just love the stamp I used for the tags.  It's a stamp set from Wild Rose Studio ... I love their stamps!

Here's the 2nd box ... I added some stickles to the center of the snowflakes, but I don't think you can see it.  I love this colour combination ... the paper is from the same pad of paper as the one above, which is why the similar colours.

 

I decided to use a more traditional colour scheme for the other 2 boxes ...

I added some stickles to the white part of the stockings and the center of the snowflakes but did not retake the pictures.