A Moment in Time

Summer Fruit

Hello everyone on this lovely first day of May! Here's a little gift idea for my kids I did using the newest set from RBD called Summer Fruit.  Isn't it darling!? Every year I always do a bunch of canning and make a lot of jelly and baking as gifts. I will be using this set this year to pretty up my jars and tags and packaging.

I found these cute little pails at the dollar store  a while back and I knew someday I'd have just the right thing to put in them.

The other day I came across some packages of Allan gummy candies and since I've been playing with this stamp set for the last few weeks, this project was born!

Check back later in the week for more cards and ideas using this set!! Have a great day people, and Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!

Cinnamon Ornaments

If you love the warm inviting smell of cinnamon during the holidays this is a must do for your ornament collection.

What you will need:

1 C ground cinnamon

1/2 C applesauce

2tbs white glue

rolling pin

drying/cooling rack

cookie cutters, a straw

ribbon and embellishments ( I used liquid applique and red stickles)

tin for packaging (I used RBD's 8oz square clear top tin)

add the three main ingredients together, cinnamon, applesauce and white glue. Mix together until a dough is formed (don't breathe in or you'll be sneezing for days!!!), if it is too dry add applesauce, too wet, add cinnamon. Knead dough until it is soft and has a consistency of gingerbread dough.

roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick. I like them to be just a bit over 1/4" thick. Cut shapes out using cookie cutters and veiners if you have them. Use the straw to cut out a hole to use for hanging later.

Lay out your shapes (I used snowflakes but gingerbread men look absolutely adorable!!) on drying rack and let dry for 48 hours. If you are in a hurry you can heat your oven to 200F degrees and speed up the process. If the edges are rough after they are dry, use a file or sandpaper to smooth them.

Decorate your shapes as you like, I used liquid applique and red stickles. Add your ribbon for hanging.

I wanted something to keep these in from year to year or something to give them as a gift in. I painted one of our square clear top tins and distressed it a bit with sandpaper. I stamped the star image from RBD's stamp set Season's Best on the sides. I stamped the sentiment on top in staz-on ink. I lined the inside on the bottom in a nice striped pattern from the Piggy Tales line.  

I find that 6 decorated snowflakes fit in perfectly. These smell delicious and look fabulous on your tree. Stay tune for more homemade ornament and decorating ideas!

Happy decorating folks!!

~D

Paper Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Hello everyone! Here is the first installment of our Homemade Christmas section. Today I'll show you how to create these simple but stunning paper Christmas tree ornaments.

Of course these ornaments are not limited to using on Christmas trees alone, I've put them as a group in a bowl as a table decoration, made them smaller to use on wreaths or made many of them and attatched them to garlands! There are really a lot of options for you when making these little things!

What you'll need to make these:

8.5"x11" piece of cardstock

stamp of your choice, I used the trio of snowflakes from the  'tis the Season set from RBD for this particular one.

ink

paper trimmer, scissors and any embellishments desired

First start with your 8.5"x11" piece of paper. You will be cutting across it in a minute. Now take your background stamp and stamp randomly on your cardstock. I find that by turning the stamp 180 degrees each stamp it creates more of a random pattern.

(Please click on any of the images to enlarge and get a closer look)

Cut your cardstock crosswise into 0.5" strips, you'll need 6 strips measuring 0.5"x 8.5" for each ball

Use your scissors to cut small slits on each end of each strip half way in and about a quarter of an inch from the end. Do this at the end of each strip. You should make sure that all of your slits go the same direction and that each strip has one slit coming from each direction.

Take ONE of these strips and form it into a ring by tucking the ends inside and joining the slits.

Here is what your ring will look like.

Lay out the remaining 5 strips in a star shape, PATTERN DOWN, as pictured. Each strip should go over, under, over and under the others.

Be patient, this can take a bit to practice. Once you have them set, try to squeeze them in to form a tighter weave.

Take your ring that you made in the previous step and set it on top of your star in the centre (I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step).

Take each UNDER strip and draw it up through the ring, there should be 5 of these.

Take each strip left outside the ring and bring it up outside the ring and cross the inside pieces with it's partner outside strip to "lock" them in place.

This can get tricky and you may have to play with it a bit to get it right. I'm telling you, once you've done a few they get easier!

Now take each strip, and find it's own end on the other side and hook them together as you did the first ring continuing the pattern.

I feel as though I should add some words of encouragement here because the first one that I made had me cursing mad and wanting to throw the lot across the room. Don't give up! This too comes with patience and practice!

THERE YOU GO!!! Add your embellishments as you like, I added a stamped and punched snowflake as well as the "Let it snow" sentiment from 'tis the Season.

I also added some glitter and silver cord for hanging!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial, I'd love to see what you've done with these fun little things!

Happy crafting folks!

~D

Spider Eggs!

Here's another cute idea to dress up your typical Halloween candy.  One of the great things about our glass test tubes is just that! They're glass! What's so great about that? Well, firstly it means that you can heat emboss on them!!  Although I will caution you now they get HOT when you do this!!!! Make sure to have handy some sort of utensil to hold the tube while you heat it (I use a long handled wooden spoon).  Another must have for this project is an embossing buddy or static cling sheet such as Bounce to prepare the test tube before embossing. Glass is has a lot of static to it and if you don't eliminate it before hand you'll regret it later!

Firstly, prepare your tube with your embossing buddy or static cling dryer sheet. Next, carefully ink your image, I like pigment ink for test tubes and glass. Now here's the tricky part; place your test tube on your table surface and sort of "roll" it while you stamp your image onto it. This can take a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it it's fairly simple. The good news is... if you have trouble here, just take a moist paper towel or rag and wipe the tube clean and start over! I used the spider and Happy Halloween sentiment from RBD's Happy Halloween set.

Next, cover your image with embossing powder. Here's where you'll see how successful you were in removing the static! 

Now, insert your tool (my wooden spoon) into the tube and hold vertically. Heat emboss, being careful not to touch the glass!!!  Also, it does need a bit of cooling time before it is handled or filled with candy (it'll melt!!) I also punched out a matching circle with my 3/4" punch to add a little something to the corks.

Voila!!! There you go! A quick and super cute idea.

Wooden box gift bag

 
Good snowy afternoon to you. I can't believe this weather! Last week I was sweltering in flip-flops and tank tops and considering the lake, and today I wake up to mother nature's sense of humor and a blanket of thick snow. WOW, makes me feel like I'm already behind on my Christmas shopping!

So we are officially up and running at RBD once again and if you've stopped by the site you'll se we are offering a coupon for 20% off your entire order for being such patient customers! Many other markdowns throughout the store as well so go have a look!

This little wooden gift bag is a little something I created this morning using the vine from Blossom & Wilt and the other images from the Happy Halloween set. I stamped three of the pumpkin image and then cut and layered them to give the 3D effect. I tried to take the picture from the side to get the effect but it may be a bit tough to see.

I'll be back early next week with more projects for the season!

I will be finalizing all of the monogram winners' proofs this weekend to send off  for production so if you are a winner and have been wondering when I'll get back to you, you can expect me soon!

Keep warm!

.....drumroll please!

BACK AGAIN!!!!  Talk about when it rains it pours eh? (that little "eh" was added just for my American friends! Maybe I do say it more than I think! haha) Don't miss all the happenings today, there are multiple posts so be sure to scroll!!! 

OKAY!!! SO the winners for the monogram stamp draw are........   ALL OF YOU WHO COMMENTED!!!  There were a total of 7 entries, and really I couldn't just pick 6 people now could I!? That is just so not me. SO....

all who commented on THIS post please get in touch with me via email at info@renaissancebydesign.com, please type "Monogram giveaway" in the subject line. Please be sure to reference which number comment you were.

Please include:

• Your choice of monogram design and the size you would like (this offer is good for up to the 3" size).See a list of designs on the RBD website, if you do not see one you like but have something in mind, please describe it or attach a picture.

• Your choice of format for your monogram. ie. clear stamp, or digital printing file

• Your initials and/or the names and dates required on the stamp... be sure to check spelling!!!

I will then respond to your email and attach a proof for your acceptance and review (please allow a few days time for this). If you do not like the sample shown, please let me know and we will make sure you love it!

Once I recieve all of the winners' confirmations I will respond with a turnaround time for delivery. Please keep in mind, if you have won, there will be other contestants who are relying on you to be prompt in responding.

I will include any further details in my communications with you.

CONGRATULATIONS winners!!!  I hope you love them as much as I do!!!

Cheers! 

~Devon

Please note: the monograms which appear in the grey as well as the black are actually a two-step stamp (two stamps, one for black ink, one for the grey)

September Release!

Hello hello!  Here I am to unveil the newest set from RBD Happy Halloween. I wanted to design something which could be used both by the scrapbooker and the gift or treat giver. Since I haven't been able to play with this set myself (see previous post about the chaos while I move!) both Tina and Deb have done a beautiful job in using this new set.

Here are a few projects created by our talented guest designer, Deb. Please visit her blog and tell her what a fabulous job she's done! Don't you just LOVE how she incorporated our scrolls into her designs? Fabulous job Deb!

For all of you interested in purchasing this set, the shopping cart access will be restored on September 15th! Don't forget to order all of your bags and tins and alterables for those special goblins this year! Remember, if you spend over $50 CDN you receive FREE shipping within Canada and the US!

Okay! Back to unpacking! I can't wait to ink this set up and post some ideas for this one!!!

A few more ideas

Just thought I'd pop on and show you a few things from the design team.

First is a cute little emergency list by Tina using the new Listed set. Check out her blog and let her know that you love it! There is added versatility in this project because she has added a magnet from her junk mail onto the back to stick to her fridge if she didn't want to keep it on the counter... great idea.

Secondly, another fabulous project using the listed set made by Amber. This cute little purse buddy is just the thing for on-the-go organization.

Click on the picture to see the entire book. It is cleverly designed with sectioned dividers and perforated pages!! Another great idea to use up some coasters.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! It seems spring has finally sprung around here and so we got a bit of spring cleaning taken care of this weekend.  I can't wait to get my garden going! I will drop by later in the week and show you a few more things for inspiration!

~D

Introducing..... Listed

***********Second post today so make sure you SCROLL DOWN!************

Hello everyone! Happy April Fool's Day! I was lucky, I only almost fell for something but I caught myself!

For some reason we are having some technical difficulties with the store today but I am told the host is working on fixing the problems.. please be patient!

Here is the second part of today's release from RBD, the new set Listed. I think this will become a staple in my collection because I am a compulsive list maker and post-it writer.

I created this little purse pal today using crafty board (in the RBD store).

I used the Bold Blossoms set to create the subtle flower pattern on the outside cover of my case.

I then took the lines stamp from the Listed set and created my own little notepad. I used the Shopping List heading because that is mostly what I will be using this for. Of course you could change this to any other requirement that you would have!

Don't you just LOVE how easy it is to make beautiful lists!

I then repeated the pattern on a long envelope (from SU!) and used the "Coupons" stamp on the flap.

I adhered this to the other inside flap to hold all of my various coupons that I carry when running my errands.

I of course had to add a pen handy and punched a hole (do this before covering with paper) to tie a ribbon through to hold my pen in place. I think this looked prettier than having a pocket. An elastic loop would've also done the job nicely.

Here is a close up of the inside view. Click to enlarge

I think I am going to try my hand at a wedding planner version of this later which lays out the guest list, table seating planner etc.

This set has so many possibilities that I can't wait to try!

Thanks for stopping by today, I've got a few more posts lined up to show a few things the design team has created using the new sets from April!

Cheers!

Introducing...... Coffee and Tea!

WOW, can  you believe it is APRIL!! You wouldn't know it by looking around here though! We got another dump of snow, the only bright side I can see to this is that I can delay my spring cleaning a little bit longer.

Since it is April first I suppose that means I should reveal some Stamp sets!!!  You may have caught the teaser on Keri Lee's blog for this first set I am revealing, Coffee and Tea.  I am in love with the thousands of options this set has to offer.  It is divided into two for coffee lovers and tea lovers. Then, to make this set even MORE versatile, there is an add-on set which extends it even further by adding a cocoa sentiment and marshmallows!!

For my first project I made this sweet little tea gift set. I found that cute little white teapot for $1 at the local dollar store!! It's perfect for two cups of tea.

I also found that cute little tea infuser at IKEA for a steal of a deal to complete the set.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

 

For the tea, I purchased loose tea in bulk and put them into our square french glass bottles and labeled them with my rectangle nestability dies. I modified a template I had to fit 2 bottles perfectly. Just print out this template on the wrong side of your cardstock and assemble! I lined it with the gorgeos vellum from SU!.

Download Square bottle caddy box 

If you like the little curly accents under the main focal point and on the cardfront and tops of the jar labels you may* want to keep an eye out for the May stamp set release *hint hint*

I acheived that variation in the color on the tiny cups by stamping the image in the lighter blue color first and then sponging on some cocoa colored ink onto the edges. I also put them inside the scribble circle from the pampered package set and punched them out and put them on the caps of the bottles.

I used the "Enjoy" sentiment from RBD's Pampered Package set as well.

To make this teapot (don't you just LOVE that teapot!?) I simply used the same technique on the teapot as I did for the cup image above. Stamping it in the lighter color first and then sponging the darker color around the edges. I pierced a few little designs in the corners for some interest and used the secret stamp as a border behind the focal image (that stamp is from a set to be released in May).

I tied one of my favorite types of bows here, it's a little tricky to get the hang of it at first but basically, what you do is when you are looping your ribbon around your rabbit ear instead of going around clockwise, go around counter-clockwise and you'll end up with one loop on top and the other loop and two "tails" on the bottom. It takes a bit of practice but once you get it you've got it for life! hahah I love how it makes the bottom of the bow a bit heavier allowing me to stick in two pearl pins for balance on top.  

Have a great Wednesday everyone!!!

I will have a few more posts in the next little bit using this set to show you some other ideas to put it to good use!!