Monday, December 26

Tape Origami Star

It has been a tradition of mine to make ornaments to give as gifts.  This Christmas, the star of my projects are... yes.  Stars.  

Back in Japan, my sister and I went to a big craft show in Tokyo, and we bought this Origami Paper Star kit.  I remember us making these stars on the bus ride home.  I still have those stars, and I used them to decorate our wreath this year:




There were still some left, so I thought to use them for my ornaments this year.  I dug out the original instruction which is, by the way, in Japanese.  I asked our exchange student what the title said, and she said Tape Origami Star.


Then I have several of these which I bought on a separate trip - I think in Thailand.  I knew they were for making Origami Stars. And I was right.



It did take me a whole day to make the stars I needed for my ornaments.  The size was perfect to put in the empty ornaments I got from a craft store.  Then I added small bells for a final touch.  I sure am very happy with the result.







Then I had some nice bags which I folded and tied with a string with the ornaments attached.  It's perfect to put gifts received during our Christmas party.  



These ornaments were a hit.  I'm glad!

Merry Christmas everybody... 'til next blog!

Saturday, December 24

Handmade Ornaments

I consider our Christmas Tree a scrapbook.  I hang ornaments that has a meaning or tells a story.  For this post, I want to share with you the latest addition to our Chrismas tree:

This is a real pine cone ornament we got for free at Ashley's Country Christmas in Michigan.  We got to ride the Magical Polar Express Ride to that beautiful place where you can really feel the magic of Christmas.


And speaking of  Polar Express, I made this ornament which commemorates it's 75th year.  The silver bell and the commemoration pin came with our tour packet, and I put them together as a reminder of this special year.


Another great thing about this year is my discover of pure essential oils.  I went to an EO party and they had this ornament as their make and take.  We did the wood burning too... my first time to do it so I chose a simple design.  Yeah, I was too chicken!  You can add a few drops of essential oil on this wood piece, and have that wonderful smell each time you pass by your Christmas Tree.  


And finally, I got this ceramic ornament in a Christmas Craft Show.  A vendor had these custom-made, and I thought it would be a great thing to hang in our tree with an exchange student staying with us.  



I hope you all have a great Christmas celebration... we are already!

Sunday, December 11

Merry Christmas!

I have mentioned in a previous post that we have a Japanese student staying here with us, who is very talented.  I wish I can draw and color like her!  For Christmas, I asked her to draw something to insert in our Christmas cards.  This is what she drew:


She used Copics to color her original drawing.  I am really impressed.  This will make my handmade Christmas cards special this year.

Thursday, November 3

Baby Girl First Year Scrapbook

It has been a while since I made a scrapbook.  I challenged myself and offered to make one for my friend's first baby girl.  This is also my first time to give Project Life a try.  The innovations in the crafting world has been really amazing, which makes projects like this a lot easier to do.  And since this is a gift, I made a page for each month of the first year, plus a page for the different occasions.  I also placed sticky notes to guide my friend on what picture, size and/or journaling to add to the page.

For the album itself, I just adhered various alpha die cuts right in the front.




I intended the first page to be traditional and it's about before the baby was born.   


I still have slides in my stash from many years ago.  I'm glad I was able to use them.


And to make it look like a 2 page-spread, I attached various Project Life cards which have the baby girl theme.


The next page is intended to be the baby's first picture.





The following pages will involve Project Life.  I am really glad we have this in the market now.


You will see here that I also added embellishments and attached it on the sleeves.  I still like texture and dimension on my pages.


For this sleeve, I used an edge punch on each of the insert to achieve this look.


Second Month Page

Independence Day Page


I used a whole 12 x 12 background page, then cut them accordingly to fit each of the sleeves.

First Summer Page


For this page, I deep-edge punched a strip of cardstock, then cut to fit the sleeves.  I really like the way this looks.

Fourth Month Page


Fifth Month page


Sixth Month Page
See the inchies in the middle of this page?  I got them from an inchie swap in Splitcoaststampers many years ago.  
Halloween Page


Thanksgiving Page



Christmas Page
 

New Year Page

Ninth Month Page


Valentine Page
 This is an actual 3D frame.  The Let It Snow background paper you see is from the previous page.


Eleventh Month Page
This is the last sleeve page in this album.  To make it a 2 page spread, I added a big frame on the back cover.





And for final touches, I put the baby's name on the spine of the album.



I really had fun making this album.  The Project Life line really made a difference in finishing this just in time for the baby's first birthday.  I hope my friend likes it!