Hershey Nugget Gift Boxes

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Last weekend I went with Pat G., Pat C. (both angels) and my husband, to visit Rita K. (also an angel) at her home in Ohio. We had a wonderful time visiting, talking, shopping and learning. We also helped Rita set up for an Expo she was working.

Rita is super talented, and I learned so much from her over the weekend. Rita is currently one of the designers for the Scor-Pal website, and she gave us all an impromptu class on the Scor-Pal. I don't have one yet, but you can bet I will get myself a half-price Scor-Pal when I place my next T.A.C. order. Once I have my own Scor-Pal, you'll probably see a bunch of posts of cards I made using it. But if you don't want to wait that long, check out Rita's blog (http://ritasangels.blogspot.com/), or the Scor-Pal website to see Rita's work and get some great ideas.

One of the the other ideas I got from Rita, was for this little Hershey Nugget Gift Box that she made for the Expo.

Here's the one I made based on what I learned from Rita:



It's such a nice little gift to give someone, and it's really very easy, AND...it uses paper scraps. I love it when I find ways to use my scraps! Here's what I used to make mine:

• GWP box (If you're not familiar with The Angel Company, you get a FREE Gift With Purchase stamp (GWP) for every $30 in product you purchase if you place your order through a demonstrator [me]. Use the box this free stamp comes in to hold your decorated Hershey Nuggets)


• 4 Hershey Nuggets


• 4 pieces of coordinating scrap paper 1 inch x 3 1/2 inches (can be all the same, or can be four different patterns/colors). I used paper from our Gentile Beginnings paper collection


• 5 small flowers made using a small flower punch on solid paper that coordinates with your scraps


• 1 medium flower made using a medium flower punch on a scrap of paper different from your small flowers


• Adhesive


• Stickles


• Ribbon


• "For You" phrase from The Angel Company's Tag Tidbits Stamp Set


• Noir Palette brand Ink Pad

And here's how you do it:

• Wrap each Hershey Nugget with a piece of your 1 inch x 3 1/2 inch paper and adhere ends of paper with adhesive


• Place a dot of Stickles in the center of FOUR of the flower and set aside to dry


• Stamp "for you" on the top of the fifth small flower with Noir ink


• Adhere the "for you" flower to the center of the medium punched flower


• Use your finger to curl the edges of the medium flower up a bit to give the petals dimension


• Adhere medium punched flower to top of GWP box


• When Stickles on the remaining small flowers are dry, adhere one to the top of each of the wrapped Hershey Nuggets


• Place Hershey Nuggets in GWP box


• Close GWP box and use the ribbon to tie a bow to the top of the GWP box where the hanging hole is

Voila - Done

For....

Ever think of all the things you do something "for"? Since last fall, just about everything I've created was "for" something. I created "for" The Angel Company's Take 3 on the website, "for" the catalogue, "for" Christmas, "for" my window decorations, "for" the Stamp of the Month, "for" various classes, "for" my Madison Mingle project, and "for" the usual variety of birthdays, baby showers, wedding events and sympathy needs of family and friends. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I felt honored and privileged to be able to make all of those things for the company and my friends and family. It's what I do. It's what I LIKE to do. But this weekend, I got to create "for" FUN! And I realized how much I missed it.

It started with my creation for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge, which I already posted. But my Stamping Bella stamps came in over the weekend too and I was dying to play with them. My husband plays guitar, so I had to get the Rockabella stamp, along with a few others. Of course, Rockabella is the one I started with, and I made four cards just using her and some scraps of Angel Company paper I had left over from some of the "for" projects. Here are my fun-time cards.



This was my first one, and I actually think it's my favorite. I think I like her best because of the polka dot guitar. It was just fun to make.

The next two were also fun, and used the same "Kaleidoscope Boys" paper:

On this last one, I stamped "ROCK ON" in a green ink just a shade darker than the paper, but it's very difficult to see in the scan.
This one I did using some of T.A.C.'s "Uptown Girl" paper collection, which is actually one of my favorite collections, and she and her sparkly red Stickled guitar will be put to use right away.



They were just so much fun, I had to share. Hope you liked them.

Taylor Vanbruggen Blog Challenge

Tonight was "come stamp with me night". Once a month, I plan a Friday evening for stamping, and invite all of my customers and friends to visit and stamp as well. One of the things I worked on tonight was a challenge posted on Taylor VanBruggen's blog. I visit Taylor's blog frequently and sometimes pick up some neat tricks or ideas. Today, Taylor posted a sketch and challenged readers to create their own card from that sketch.

Here is the original sketch Taylor posted.

And here is the card I made using the "Girlie Gadgets" and retired "Retail Therapy" stamp sets from The Angel Company. The images are colored with watercolor pencils and highlighted with Crystal Stickles (which don't show up on the scan all that well).

I chose the Girlie Gadgets and Retail Therapy stamp sets because Taylor's prior post about her shoe purchases got me thinking about stimulating the economy too :). So I shopped in spirit.

You can check out Taylor's card from her sketch on her blog by clicking on the link to the right. It's the "Taylored Expressions" link at the bottom of the "Other Blogs I Visit For Inspiration" section.

Star Wedding Book

Recently I've been making star books with various themes. This is a wedding themed one that I'm taking to the Madison Mingle Angel Gathering to show off. It's got 7 different pannels, with various embelllishments.

I used a pack of Mulberry Meadow paper and coordinating ribbon and hardware, with Yellow 1 Cardstock. The stamp sets are: Wedding Wishes, BlissfullyEver After, Elegant Sentiments, More Elegant Sentiments and Rejoicing With You. All of them combined to make every page different.

I'll also be teaching a class in April where we'll be making this book.









Hopefully it will give you some ideas.

Why I Work....(a little card)

Many years ago, I was in a Hallmark Store looking at cards. I found one that I loved, because it made me laugh. I had nobody to give the card to, but it cracked me up, so I bought it and kept it in my drawer at work so that I would see it occasionally and smile. It was the wording on the card that did me in, but I never was able to figure out what I would use it for. I mean, what is the occasion that would cause you give someone a card that said: Front: "Why I work....A short essay" and Inside: "I like food"? Still, it was always a pick-me-up on the days I came across it in my drawer (as well as a reminder, on those days you just feel like quitting your job).

Recently I was able to figure out a use for the wording on the card. I have a friend that broke her ankle and had been out for surgery and gone from work for several weeks. When she finally came back to work, I gave her this card made from our seminar set from last year and our Uptown Girl paper. The font is Lucida Handwriting:



and the inside:



Now she keeps it on her desk to make her smile. Hopefully it made you smile too.

Card Sketch

I've started to build the most awesome team of angels! This past fall, I was able to get my first promotion with TAC and became the team leader of the Sassy Stampin' Syndicate. In naming my team, I was looking for something I could have fun with that also had a bit of a Chicago reference. Since one of the dictionary terms for Syndicate is "a group of friends or cronies coming together for a purpose" and the team I'm part of is called S.A.S.S.Y, I thought Sassy Stampin' Syndicate was perfect.

One of the nice things about The Angel Company is that you're not required to attend any type of team meeting, and like most people, the members of my team are out leading their busy lives. So this month I decided to start a monthly card sketch for them. I'm posting the sketch to our group website and hopefully the group will be inspired to use the sketch to make some cards that they will upload and share.

I thought I'd share the sketch and my interpretation with you too. Here is the sketch, and my card made from Juliette paper (V-839 on Pg 28 of the catalogue) and the More Elegant Sentiments stamp set (T2885 on Pg. 79). I hope it inspires you to do some creating too.

The Angel Company's Savvy Projects Blog

Have you seen TAC's Savvy Projects Blog? It's new! On Leap Day, Mischelle Smith (the founder of The Angel Company) started this blog of quick projects. Supply lists and step by step instructions, with pictures for each step are given for each project, and new projects are added on a regular basis. I thought this blog was a great idea. It's the perfect place to find something new and different.

Yesterday my good friend Leah called to ask if I'd seen the blog. I thought she meant did I know it existed; but that's not why she called. Recently I was asked to prepare samples that will be shown on the TAC website for the April Stamp of the Month (SOTM). The set for April is really cute and once I sat down and played, I was able to come up with quite a few different ideas. One of them was a thought I had for making mini matchbook cards (you can get 6 from a 12 x 12 sheet of paper). I used the SOTM to make 6 mini matchbook cards and sent them in along with some other more traditional samples. Well, Mischelle saw the matchbook cards and believed that the idea was a perfect match (no pun intended) for the project she had been wanting to post. So there's a sneak preview of two of my SOTM matchbook cards, along with Mischelle's twist on my idea on the March 9th "Tutti Frutti 'You've Got Mail' Door Hanger" post.

If you'd like to check out the matchbook cards, see the awesome interactive door hanger that Mischelle paired them up with, or learn how to make either of these items, check out the Savvy Projects Blog at

http://theangelcompany.typepad.com/tac_savvy_projects_for_de/

And remember to check out The Angel Company's Stamp of the Month link in April to see samples that were made by all Tinley Park angels: me, Leah and my up-line, Pat.