Birthday

I believe that my love language is gift giving because I take great pleasure in making things to give away. The reaction on people's face when they get something handmade is priceless. For instance, yesterday was my neighbor's birthday and I could not let it pass without giving her a handmade card and a little gift. That made her day.  Today is your turn, and I'm posting that card for you here.

 Supplies used
Paper: Red, black and white cardstock (the Paper Studios).
Stamp: Happy Birthday (Stampabillities) and Little roses (Stamping Up)
Tools: Cutting/embossing machine (Sizzix), Polka dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), 1" circle punch (for corners), glitter marker (for roses), green marker (stems and leaves)
Embellishments: Red and white ribbon, pearl gemstone.
Make someone feel special today, give them a 'just because' card that you handmade.

Thank you for checking out my blog. Happy crafting.

Vanias Reed       

Silver Anniversary

A dear couple, related to may family, just celebrated their silver anniversary. What a special occasion! So the card and the gift wrapping tip I'm posting today are the very ones I made for them. Here is the card first.

 Supplies used
Paper: White, silver and black carstock (the Paper Studios)
Tools: Cutting/ embossing machine (Sizzix), embossing folder (Darice), scalloped heart puncher, plain heart puncher, 1" circle puncher (for the corners of the sentiment phrase label), computer and printer
Embellishment: Silver numbers 2 and 5, clear gemstones, silver glittered letters, see through white ribbon, silver twine, pearl dove stickers

 The gift wrapping

The paper I used had 2.5" silver stripes, so I could use them to embellish my wrapping by folding them in on both sides. 
Supplies used
Paper: roses and silver stripes wrapping paper
Tools: Cutting/embossing machine, standard circle dies (Spellbinders), 3D 7/16" foam mounting circle.
Embellishment: Wired silver ribbon, 1/2" heart white lace, silver and white card stock paper, silver numbers 2 and 5

I put a circle of silver paper on the back of the lace before attaching it to the bow with the foam mounting circle.
As you can see, I try to make my presents, wrapping and cards as personal as possible. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. God bless you.

                                                                                                                              Vanias Reed

Christmas Gift Tags

On August 10, when I posted a 'homemade Christmas gift', I said I was going to post some gift tags. So this is what I'm doing today. I made these tags last year. Later I'm going to post some new ones. Enjoy.

 Supplies used
Paper: blue, hollies, red and white stripes, light blue with snowflakes, glitter white and white card stock
Stamp: To/from (Stampabilities)
Tools: Label puncher (Recollections), small hole puncher, small snowflake puncher, eyelets and eyelets settler,  glittered glue.
Embellishments: Christmas lights, Christmas tree and holly stickers, snowflake punch. Gold, silver and red decorative elastic, green twine.

These are suggestions. You can create your own, of course. 

Note: Recycle. Use the leftover paper you have. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. God bless you.

Vanias Reed          

Thanksgiving card

Sometimes I get carried on making my projects and forget that, like me when I began, there is someone out there who is just starting and needs simpler and easier projects. So today I decided to post a card for you who would love to start making your own cards, but are afraid of not knowing where to begin. Start clean and simple. Here is a Thanksgiving card for you.

 Supplies you will need for this card
Paper: Embossed rusty and orange; decorated rust color cardstock, and white paper (inside)
Embellishments: A thanksgiving sticker, brown ribbon, and brown gemstones.

Detail inside: two acorn stickers

Sometimes clean and simple is better. I made this card last year for a dear friend whom I know to like clean looking things. Sure enough, she loved the card and kept as part of her thanksgiving decor.

Thank you for stopping by.

Vanias Reed                 

Napkin Holder

Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday. Most people start focusing more on family and friends during that season. So, in order to avoid the "huffs and puffs" of Thanksgiving and Christmas season, I like to start preparations and gift shopping as early as possible, and in order to help you to do the same I started posting ideas for the holidays. My last post was about name cards and name card holders. Today, as I promised, I'm posting the napkin holders. Now remember that my posts are suggestions. It's always best if you create your own style. The more personal, the better. 
Here are my ideas.

You can use just plain napkin holders like these

Or even curtain rings like this ( white ones will do great too).

You can add a ribbon and a fall decoration to the plain napkin holders like shown below. I like this idea because I can reuse the same napin holders for different occasions.

To decorate the napkin holder, I  just passed a ribbon through the holder, tied a bow and added a resin fall leaf using a 3D adhesive dot.

For the curtain ring I crocheted a fall leaf to go with the name card holder. That has to be glued to the ring to stay in place. 

You can make the leaves in different colors to be more festive.

Make the card name and napkin holders for a gift. I'm sure you'll make someone very happy.

Here is the crochet fall leaves pattern

Magic circle

Round 1: Ch 1, 6sc in magic circle, sl st to join, ch1 and turn

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around (a total of 12 sc), ch1 and turn

Round 3: 3 tc, ch2,st st in the top of 3rd tc, 2 tc, ch1, st st in next sc. Repeat this 2 more times. 1sc in next st, *2hdc in next st. 

Stem

* On top of second hdc
ch 5, turn, 1sl st in each ch, 1 hdc in next st, 1sc in last st. sl st to join. Fasten off and weave ends.

If you want to crochet the napkin ring, then leave a long tail at the end of leaf to sew it to the ring.

Thank you for stopping by. Blessings unto you and yours.

Vanias Reed    

Name Place Cards + Crochet

Can you believe we are only a month from beginning of the autumn? Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here, and I want to be ready. So today I started to work on a few things like place cards, place cards holders and napkin rings - which I will post later. Here are the place cards and one place card holder.

Place card 1

For this place card I used a 3x5 in index card. Cut it in half and pasted the halves together with lines facing each other. Then I added a ribbon and a sticker. This card can also be used to describe the dishes and/ or desserts you will have on Thanksgiving Day.

Place card 2 and holder

Card supplies:
Paper: Maroon and white cardstock 
Stamps: Clear 'happy' (studio g), Thanksgiving (Stampabilities)
Ink: Cherry and Brown stamp markers (Recollections)
Tools: Metallic green and orange gel pens.

Card holder supplies and pattern below.

Place card 3

Card supplies
Paper: Brown and white cardstock
Stamp: 'Thanksgiving'  from Happy Thanksgiving (Stampabilities)
Ink: Brown stamp marker (Recollections)
Tools: Metallic green, orange and brown gel pens

Pumpkin Name Card Holder Pattern

Rust and Patty green yarn (Red Heart Super Saver)
Hook size F 
Tapestry needle
Cotton balls

Chain 11
Work in back loops only
Row 1: SC in second ch from hook, SC in next, HDC in next 6, SC in last two, ch 1 and turn
Row2: SC across
Row 3- 17: Repeat row 2
Fasten off, leave a long piece of yarn.
Using a tapestry needle, sew the short sides together, go with yarn through one of the openings, and pull together in a circle. 
Fasten off and weave ends.
Use the opposite hole to stuff your pumpkin with cotton balls. Using the tapestry needle, go through the stitches in this hole, pull together, fasten off and weave ends. 

Stem
Magic ring
SC 3 in magic ring. 1ch, turn
2 sc in first stitch, sc in the next st, repeat around
Continue to sc around until stem is to the desired length

Pumpkin Coil
Ch 8 and sc 2 in second ch from hook and all the way across. Fasten off, leave a long tail to sew it with stem on pumpkin. It is the coil that holds the card in place.
I hope you have fun getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. I know I have lots to be thankful for, including you. Thanks for stopping by. 

Vanias Reed    

Bridal Shower Invitation

Today I'm posting something I have not posted yet, an invitation idea. I was asked to make invitations for a bridal shower that had the peacock colors as a theme. So here is what I came up with.

 Supplies Used
Paper: leaf green, gold and medium purple card stock (the Paper Studios)
Tools: Cutting/ embossing machine (Sizzix), Twirl embossing folder (the Paper Studios), computer and printer, spray adhesive (to glue the peacock feather to the paper)
Embellishments: Peacock feather, white lace and ribbon, pearl beads, and seal with the bride's and groom's names initial (in this case both names start with the letter B). 

There is more to creating with paper than greeting cards. Have fun creating and hand making. And thank you for visiting my blog

God bless you.

             Vanias Reed