I Love SRM!

It's no secret that I absolutely LOVE SRM! From the stickers to the containers, chalk markers to stamps - I love it all! I am thrilled to share that I am now a part of the 2015-2016 design team!

I have designed for SRM for various lengths of time over the past several years and I am looking forward to the best year yet :). To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to share some gift bags and cards that I made recently:

I purchased the gift bags at Target. I loved the gold stripes! I purchased the cards from the dollar spot at Target and dressed them up with some washi tape (gold, polka dots) and SRM stickers. I clipped the cards to the bags with a piece of patterned paper layered behind for more pattern and color.

I also purchased these bags and cards at Target, too. I just can't get enough of that gold stripe foiled tissue paper!

This time I placed the SRM stickers over the washi tape layers. Mixing washi tape and SRM stickers is one of my favorite techniques.

Speaking of washi tape and stickers, I made almost 30 of these cards for the teachers at my kids' school. SRM made the easiest and most perfect sentiments.

Be sure to follow SRM on Facebook, Instagram and on their blog here. I'll be sharing a card next week with a fabulous new product :). Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Easy-peasy Mini Glittery Garland - Love My Tapes

At this moment, we are experiencing the worst storm we've seen in six years. Winds are supposed to reach 70 miles per hour, and right now, they are knocking over my backyard fence. We've got sand bags around the house's low spots, the trampoline is upside down, and we're bracing for several inches of water. Winter in California :).

Since the only errands I need to run today are school runs (yes, school is still in session), I'm getting ready to settle in with some wrapping and crafting. I have an easy gift wrap idea and tutorial up on the Love My Tapes blog:

Using Love My Tapes' Glitter Paper, I punched an even number of pinked circles (from the prize ribbon punch by Jenni Bowlin). The paper is adhesive backed, so I simply peeled off the backing and sandwiched the twine between two shapes. Easy-peasy:

This box is from DCWV. If you have a local JoAnn store, go check out the boxes. They have several sizes in several colors. They also have nesting boxes. I'm using them like crazy this holiday season for gifts. The quality is awesome and the price is great, too.

Thanks for stopping by today! Stay warm and dry :). Tessa

Upcycled Easter Gift - Epiphany Crafts

I love to reuse things if I can. I hate to throw away perfectly good boxes and bags if I think I can repurpose them later. When I was challenged by Epiphany Crafts to create a last-minute Easter gift, I thought instantly of an empty stationery box that I had:

The orange stripes were original, and since the box was in perfect shape, I didn't change a thing. If your box is a little worse for wear, you can recover it with pretty scrapbooking paper.

To dress it up, I simply added a fabric flower (like these from my Etsy shop - this particular fabric will be available very soon!). I made a flower center with my Epiphany Crafts round tool and a vintage setting. I love the pop of green!

Lastly, I added a tag (SRM Stickers labels by the dozen).

Filling the box with pink grass and yummy Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs was my favorite part. If you look closely, you'll see that the wrappers of the candy actually inspired my colors. All in all, I'd say the project took about ten minutes :). Easy-peasy.

Visit the Epiphany Crafts blog for more Easter projects and the chance to win some great Epiphany Crafts product. I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! I'm excited for the egg hunts, family time, and Sunday services. What a great time of year! Have a good one :). Tessa

Wrap it Up Wednesday - Cupcake Poppies and Washi Tape

Hello and welcome to my last installment of Wrap it Up Wednesday :). I created today's gift wrap for my mother-in-law for her birthday gift. I had fun with this one because it features a new product for my Etsy shop - Luxe Cupcake Poppies.

I was making a batch of these new flowers and my mother-in-law stopped by. She saw them and commented that she thought they were pretty, so of course I had to adorn her gift with one! This is the pink bloom.

I wrapped her present in kraft paper (what else? You know I love it!), then dolled up the paper with washi tape. This coral and gold metallic quatrefoil tape is by K and Company for their SMASH line. It's my new favorite tape. I layered it with a yellow polka dot.

So, would you like to know what's inside? I'll share soon! Have a great day! Tessa

Wrap it Up Wednesday - Doilies

I love kraft wrapping paper because it is neutral. I can embellish a brown paper package with whatever materials and colors I would like. When I wrapped this birthday gift for a friend (hi Rachel!), I chose the colors and embellishments based on what I had seen her wear recently. I thought they made a fun and festive combination.

My tip for this week - doilies! I love the way the paper doilies look against the kraft wrapping paper. To attach them, I used spray adhesive. I went outside with my stack of doilies, the spray adhesive, and a big cardboard box (to catch the overspray). I held out each doily, gave it a spray, then carefully placed it on my package. I probably should have used my tweezers to hold them, but the glue washed off just fine. My spray adhesive was a little smelly, so I was sure to let the package air out a bit before giving it away.

And yes, more yarn pom-poms! They are so easy to make, not to mention cheap and cute. They were definitely the way to go for such large packages. I wrapped each piece separately and saved the pom-poms just for the top.

For a quick card/tag, I used paper from the 6 x 12 Chickadee Stack by DCWV. These new 6 x 12 stacks are great for cards. Each one has a fun decorative edge. To make Rachel's card, I trimmed a sheet down to 5.5 inches wide, then folded it over an A2-sized, white card. I trimmed off the extra patterned paper, added an SRM Stickers sentiment, and a few enamel dots. Easy-peasy, done :).

Thanks for joining me for another installment of Wrap it Up Wednesday! I hope you have a great day :). Tessa

Wrap it Up Wednesday - SRM Stickers and DCWV

A friend was celebrating her birthday recently, so I made a card and wrapped up a box of Girl Scout cookies for her ;).

I made the card with the Magnolia Way stack by DCWV. This stack includes some sheets of paper that have a different design on each quarter, so I simply cut out the 6 x 6 piece that I wanted for the background, then fussy-cut the matching flower from another sheet. The sentiment is by SRM Stickers.

I also used SRM Stickers to cover the wrapped box. After I tied the grosgrain ribbon bow, I added stickers here and there to make it a bit more festive. 

All in all, it was a quick project to put together the card and package. I loved using SRM Stickers and DCWV to get the job done :).

My 4th grader is competing in the county spelling bee today. He won at his school, then the district level. I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, but I know one thing for certain - I am more nervous than he is! It's been hard to get his nose out of a book long enough for him to study, so who knows what will happen?! I just hope he enjoys the experience. Hopefully your day isn't filled with nervous butterflies! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Wrap it Up Wednesday - Gift for the Hubby

Hello and welcome to Wrap it Up Wednesday! I love a pretty present. Ask my family and friends - I sometimes ooh and ahh over the gift wrap more than the gift itself! My problem is that I am not very good at wrapping gifts. Time and time again I have resorted to tissue paper in a bag with a pretty tag or flower embellishment. While that is all well and good, sometimes a bag just isn't quite the right approach. So I challenged myself to wrap several recent gifts and I have lined up those projects to share with you every Wednesday this month.

First up, my hubby's Valentine's Day gift - a framed print that I found here. I wrapped the frame in kraft wrapping paper. I worked with two different kinds of kraft paper for this series. I bought some at a dollar store and found it to be the easiest to work with because it was thinner. I also liked the texture. However, if you are looking for durability, the Scotch brand kraft paper that I picked up at my local JoAnn store was thick, and it was also more smooth.

I wrapped the gift in an ombre orange-red yarn. I went with this color palette because I didn't want it to be too frilly for my manly husband, but still romantic. I tied a simple bow, then tucked an arrow behind it. I made the arrow out of a stick from our backyard. I simply cut the triangle and chevrons from patterned paper (DCWV - Coral Couture Stack), then hot glued them to the stick. I thought an arrow was a great fit for my husband - not a fancy bow or flower.

To finish it off, I splattered a bit of mist in coral, white and gray across the package. Instead of a tag, I used alpha stamps to stamp directly onto the wrapping paper.

My husband loved it :). You'll see over the next few weeks that I love my kraft wrapping paper, and I turn to yarn often. I'll be showing you a couple of gift topper options, as well as other ways to dress up plain paper. I hope you'll stop by for more! Have a great day! Tessa