My Mind's Eye Blog

Vintage Christmas Gift Tags

Hi everyone,  Laurel here with some more gift tags for you.  This time around I used the Vintage Christmas collection to create a set of gift tags.  I love making tags as they go together so quickly, use up some scraps and are such an easy way to dress up a package.

 

Supplies:Vintage Christmas: 6 X 6 pad, Chipboard Accessories, Faceted Gems, Layered Stickers

 

I just layer bits and pieces of paper until I am happy with how they look, add a bit of stitching and then finally the embellishments. 

 

Once the tag is complete I like to back it with some plain card stock.  This serves a couple of purposes: it hides the stitching and staples, makes the tag more sturdy and gives a place to write a special note to the recipient. 

 

 Happy Holidays to all!

 

Laurel

 

Vintage Advent Calendar

Danni Reid was asked to create this project (using Vintage Christmas)  for Simon Says Stamp.

We just had to share it here, too!  Enjoy and have a beautiful and blessed weekend!

Mini Albums with Stephanie | December 2013 Edition

**ETA** It has come to our attention that the video is still private. We will resolve this issue today. Thank you! **Supplies: Mistletoe Magic, Vintage Christmas

Hi everyone!  Stephanie here with you today to share an extra little mini album this month!  It's an accordion mini album and it fits nicely inside of this small box.  

I put together a video showing you how to assemble this little album using the Mistletoe Magic and Vintage Christmas lines.  It would be perfect as a Christmas gift, stocking stuffer or even a Christmas card!  I hope you enjoy the video and please let me know if you have any questions!

My MInd's Eye Mini from stephaniebryan on Vimeo.

Christmas Garland

One of the things that I really enjoy about the Christmas season is making a few home decor pieces.

Supplies: Vintage Christmas- "Dictionary" paper, 12x12 Chipboard Accessories, Layered Stickers, Decorative Buttons, Faceted Gems  Lost & Found Record It "Heirloom"- Enamel Dots

 

The colors and old world feel of the Vintage Christmas collection work perfectly with the decor of my house.

Love the way the glitter adds just the perfect touch of holiday sparkle!

Have a wonderful weekend and a beautiful holiday season!

Tonya

Paper Ornaments

Supplies: Mistletoe Magic: 6x6 Paper Pad; Follow Your Heart: Blue/White twine: Misc: Floral wire, beads, Crop-o-dile hole punch, small pliers.
 

There is nothing like making handmade christmas ornaments.  It is a classic tradition as well as a gift of love from the heart. 

For these double ball ornaments, I used the new Mistletoe Magic 6x6 paper pad.  The smaller prints are perfect for ornaments.  I made two different sizes; the smaller one has 2” and 3” strips, and the larger ornaments have 3” and 4” strips.  You can vary the sizes as you desire.

Wouldn’t a dozen of these strung together make a beautiful garland?  

First, I laid out my papers and decided on the patterns that I would match up for each ornament. I love the tiny chevron patterns!

For the smaller ornament:  Cut  6 – ½” x 3” strips of EACH paper – you will have 12 strips total. Cut 4 – ½” x 2” strips of EACH paper – you will have 8 strips total.

For the larger ornament:  Cut 8 -  ½” x 4” strips of each paper – you will have 16 strips total.  Cut  6 – ½” x 3” strips of EACH paper – you will have 12 strips total.

Punch a small hole in each end of the papers.  I like to stack them in order, varying the pattern every other one.  I use a Crop-O-Dile hole punch on the smallest setting.

Cut a 5”-6” piece of floral wire, twist a loop at the end for the string or ribbon.  Thread beads through the wire, then thread the top hole of the stack of 12 – 3” x ½” papers.

Take the paper strip from the BOTTOM of the stack and thread the wire through its hole.

 Then take the NEXT paper on the BOTTOM and thread the wire through.  

Follow with the rest of the paper strips until the ball is complete.  Spread the strips evenlyto close and gaps between them.

Next, place the stack of 8 small 2” x ½” strips through the wire.

Take the BOTTOM strip and thread the wire through, and repeat until the second ball is complete.  

Thread additional beads through the wire, cut off the excess wire and twist the end in a loop to hold the beads in place.  Turn the ornament upright and thread twine or ribbon through the top and hang on your tree.

I hope you give these paper ball ornaments a try. They are very simple to make and go very quickly once you get the hang of it.  Happy Holidays!

Tamara

My Hanukkah Memories | Aliza

Yesterday we introduced our first Hanukkah guest blogger, Keshet. Today we would like you to meet Aliza. Enjoy!

Hi! It’s Aliza Deutsch here, and I was so excited to work with MME products to help document some of our Chanukah traditions, as well as to take the Deutsch Family Chanukah décor up a notch.

I worked with the Cut and Paste and with Lost and Found- Record It collections. I was pretty shameless about mixing the two lines together; I couldn’t get enough of the grays, and vintage elements in Lost and Found, and then I liberally added pieces from the Cut & Paste collection for pops of holiday color and cheer.

Among the many Jewish holidays and traditions, Chanukah, first and foremost is just, plain fun. Compared to some other holidays, the preparations are minimal, there are presents involved, parties abound, and we traditionally eat food fried in oil. You can’t really go wrong with that culinary guideline.

Each night of Chanukah we light the candles together, and sing the blessings and the prayers. In my layouts, I like to capture the event, but I also liked to add a little detail that captures a little something about us as a family. So, I felt it important to record for posterity, that we are not very good singers- especially by day 8 of Chanukah, when the novelty has long worn off.

Supplies:Lost and Found Record It: Antique paper, chipboard elements, ephemera, alpha words and stickers, sticker accessories, decorative tape;Cut & Paste: enamel dots, decorative brads, chipboard stickers, buttons

As I mentioned, Chanukah food is pretty dang tasty, and while latkes get all the press, jelly doughnuts are a family favorite. We are lucky to live a block from a kosher bakery that sells fresh doughnuts each day of the holiday, and we are usually there first thing in the morning to buy our daily dose.


Supplies: Lost and Found Record it: cardstock paper;Cut and Paste-Charm:patterned paper, enamel dots, decorative brads, chipboard stickers, journal card, labels, tiny word stickers, layered stickers

Since there are so many traditions that happen every year, I decided to make a mini album as a home for this year’s photos. And just because it’s Chanukah, I made eight topics for my album; Thanksgivukkah, candles, singing, gifts, latkes, doughnuts, chagigah (a party), and a Chanukah story.

I tore right into the Lost and Found 6x6 paper pad for the base of the pages, and layered on elements from both collections. I am not an avid mini album maker, but this process was so quick and easy- everything just looked great together right away.  All of my pages were ready before Chanukah even started, and as soon as the holiday is over, I can pick out my favorite photos and pop them right in.

Now here’s something you might not know about lighting menorah. It can be a messy ordeal. There are menorahs, matches, and candles. At our home, we also light an oil menorah, so we have a bottle of olive oil and wicks that we use each night. So, this year, after many years of good intentions, I decided to make all this “stuff” look prettier.

First I created a decorative bottle for the olive oil:
Supplies:Lost and Found Record It: ephemera, alpha words and stickers

Then a tin for all those little tiny wicks:

Supplies: Lost and Found Record It: Cardstock paper, ephemera, enamel dots;Cut and Paste: chipboard stickers;Decorative tape: Emerald and Blue

Inside that tin fits a cute, matching match box.

Supplies:Lost and Found Record It: Cardstock paper;Cut and Paste: buttons;Decorative tape: Emerald and Blue

Or the matches can be left out for this adorable little tableau.


And just because I was having fun, I made another matchbox too:

Lost and Found Record It:cardstock paper, sticker;Cut and Paste: Buttons, chipboard stickers;Decorative tape: Emerald and Blue

Thank you MME for giving me the opportunity to play with these collections! For years to come, Our Chanukahs will be prettier for it!

Happy Hoildays to All!

-Aliza

My Hanukkah Memories | Keshet

Good morning, MME fans! Today and tomorrow we have invited special guests to share their Hanukkah memories and projects with us. First up is the fabulous Keshet Starr. Enjoy!

This week marks Hannukkah (or Chanuka, as I usually spell it—there are many ways to spell this holiday!). There are many layers of meaning to this holiday in Jewish tradition, but to sum it up, we are celebrating the victory of the Maccabees, a small Jewish army, against the much larger Greek army. We are also celebrating the miracle of a small vial of oil needed for lighting the menorah in the ancient temple lasting for eight full days.

For me, personally, Hannukkah is a time to celebrate miracles—my husband I always try to remind ourselves how blessed we are and how many challenges in life we have overcome with G-d’s help.  During the eight days of Hannukkah, we light candles each night, enjoy delicious snacks (there’s a tradition to eat things fried in oil—seriously!), and usually exchange small gifts on one of the nights.

I had so much fun creating these projects to add to our celebration!

Supplies:Cut and Paste

Hannukkah is a great time to reach out to friends and family, and a cute card can do the trick! I paper pieced this dreidel based on my own drawing, and I love the homespun feel it provides.

Supplies: Cut and Paste

Using my circle and scallop punches to create flowers is one of my favorite techniques for cards, and I love that it adds in a less traditional element to a Hannukkah design. I also love that the navy and yellow are traditional Hannukkah colors, but the aqua and orange add unexpected pops of fun!

Supplies: Cut and Paste

For this tag, I focused on the adorable MME banner stickers as a design element. Nothing says a celebrationlike banners, right? The aqua and polka dots are cute and unexpected, and add a fun punch to classic gift.

Supplies:Cut and Paste

Although I don’t go crazy with holiday décor in my home, I love having a few pieces to put out to add some spunk during the holiday! This paper-pieced menorah is simple and classic and works well as a décor piece. I had fun thinking of creative ways to create candles—in the end, the enamel dots worked perfectly!

Supplies: Cut and Paste, Lost and Found Record It Antique, Decorative Tapes

I have a tradition of creating a layout each year on Hannukkah documenting where we are at in our life.  On Hannukkah in 2010, we were dealing with infertility and having a hard time fully celebrating the holiday. In 2011, we were expecting our first baby in just a few months and full of eager anticipation. Hannukkah of 2012 found us enjoying the day with our nine month old baby girl, who was mostly excited about the wrapping paper! Now, in Hannukkah of 2013, we are enjoying having a twenty-two month old who “gets” the holiday more and more, as well as baby #2 on the way! I love doing these yearly comparisons on Hannukah in particular.

For this layout, I wanted to keep the focus on the candles. I used a mix of washi tape and patterned paper to create visual interest on the left side, and left plenty of space for white space and journaling,

Thanks so much for letting me share my memories and projects with you today!

Keshet

Related articles

Hanukkah Guest Post - Stacy Cohen

Hanukkah Guest Post- Vivian Masket

November Sketch Winner!

MONIQUE FOX!!!

Congratulations Monique! Please email Stephanie(AT)mymindseye(DOT)com

with your address and collection of choice.

 

December Challenge | Dear Santa

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday! Tina here today and  I am kicking off December with our December Challenge, 'Dear Santa'.  It's hard to believe Christmas is less than a month away.  If you haven't had a chance to start your holiday shopping, I have the perfect little way to keep track of all of your shopping lists all in one cute little notebook.

Supplies:Mistletoe Magic:Trees Paper,Snowflakes Paper,6x6 Paper Pad,Sticker Accessories,Chipboard Accessories, Layered Stickers,Decorative Tape,Stamps,Enamel Dots;Misc:Cardstock:  Michaels Ink:  Distress Ink Die Cut Machine:  Silhouette Cameo Twine:  Etsy Adhesive:  Tombow, Imaginese Staples:  Office Max

I came across this fun little matchbox cut when perusing the Silhouette store awhile back.  When I was thinking about a creative way to celebrate our December Challenge, I thought it would be fun to create a project that would let us keep all of our notes, shopping lists, and little memories during this busy season.  These would also make super easy (and inexpensive) gifts for teachers, day care providers, and friends!

I cut the matchbook shape with my Cameo and embellished the front, to make it more festive.  I cut my note sheets with my Cameo as well, (10 sheets total), then stapled them in place.  To 'accessorize' each note page, I stamped each one with a festive  Christmas image.  Super cute!

All 3 took less than an hour to create!  How's that for fast!

I think I might keep one for myself and fill it full with items on my Christmas list.  My first entry will be:

Dear Santa,

 I wish for a video camera.  Any make/model will do.  I've been good this year.  :)
Sincerely,
Tina

We hope you can play along with us this month.  What will you create for our December Challenge? How will you interpret "Dear Santa"?

The rules (as always) are simple!

1. You can submit a layout,card,album,altered item,etc.

2. The project must consist of mainly MME. It must "look" like a MME project. :) It must fit the theme.

3. The project must be created new for this challenge. You may only submit one project.

4. Upload the project to the InLinkz link tool at the end of this post by the end of the day on Tuesday, December17.

5. A random winner will be chosen and announced with the second December challenge on December 18. The prize is any MME collection- the choice is yours.

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!