Adornit Blog Hop

When Georgana announced she was going to have an Adornit “make it merry” blog hop and wanted people to participate I jumped right in. Who doesn’t love a blog party? She also asked me to host a give-away! That’s right – one of you will win a collection of Adornit Christmas Supplies. Be sure to leave a comment on this post so you are entered to win! I will draw a winner Monday the 16th.

and since when do I say no to anything Christmas related?

If you are visiting me first (or don’t know about this cool hop) you can follow the blog-hop trail beginning to end by visiting here: http://www.adornitscrapbook.com/bloghop/ We’ll each be linking to the next person’s blog – so if you start at #1 you will go all the way through! (How fun is that???)

Now the really fun part. I’ve gotta “make merry” to share with you here. I couldn’t quite decide so I’m sharing both of my ideas!

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So November is always very MERRY here because I do a lot of holiday prep so that I have a more restful, family oriented, cherish all the details and moments December rather than rushing through the holidays.

Step #1: Photo to include in cards.

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I’m going to try and get them together, but if not something like this will do. When I had 3 dogs they were much easier to get attentive faces looking in my direction at the same time. If I waved a milkbone and had good natural light a fabulous photo was guaranteed. These two? GAAAAAAH! Not even chocolate could get them to behave together. But I could get one or the other, and so I think I’ll creatively combine like shown here to get the best possible pics.

Of course I had to scrap the outtakes.

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I used mostly Pink Paislee mistletoe & co line. Have I mentioned I love that line? I do. I know it doesn’t have green in it like traditional lines and I love that. LOVE. Why? Because I always have trouble matching up greens. 

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I made the photo strips in photoshop, but you could insert/resize pics in a word document for same effect. It’ll just take longer. Another thing you should know – I de-saturated my photos by about 50%. I just ADORE playing with saturation. When somebody’s face is super red or colors are just wild I pull the little bar down until it feels right. Plus it give kind of a “ye olde times” look I LOVE. I actually didn’t NEED to do it for this page. I just wanted to.

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I have more fun with the photos not used for ‘official holiday photo’ vs the one that does get used. I love looking back at layouts from previous years and seeing how the subjects – and photography – changes.

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I want some cocoa and holiday decorations now please.  So in the mood.

Well, maybe I could use some leftover rub-ons to show you something else instead…

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So I was in Borders and “aw how cute”-ing over their felt gift card bags. But then I was like… “I could so totally make my own!” and I have been. What would make a gift card more personal than a special made with love bag or packaging? Just think- tuck a sweet little note in there with it and it’s all warm & fuzzy and not at all impersonal. You can see my first attempt HERE, and today I want to show you my third and newest one.  

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So I really liked the envelope that this gift card came in because it’s got a spot for a note and some details like value of card inside. I wanted to keep it so I sized my holder around it. I folded a piece of felt over (so that when I cut with acrylic ruler + rotary blade it’d be front + back, and so I don’t have to stitch bottom) and cut so that I had about 1/2″ WIDER than the gift card. (felt size cut is 4 1/2 x 11)

Then I set it aside and went to work on a decoration for the front. I had a scrap of sticky-back canvas that I decided to use with some rub-ons to make a cute and quick decoration. Now the rub-ons were not going to stay on forever to that canvas so I coated lightly with glue.

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Then, feeling the Christmas flow I added some white glitter to give it a snowy look. LOVE!

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The adhesive back of the canvas works great to hold it onto the felt – but I still advise stitching or it’ll fall off. I folded up a scrap of fabric to use as a handle and attached it before sewing up the sides too – see below.

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Now you’re ready to sew some lace! Sew the top/front first – THEN sandwich lace between the sides and stitch them shut.

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note: if you’re spazzy like me you’ll forget to leave enough lace on BOTH sides of the top for sides. It’s ok. Just add more and overlap to disguise your whoops.

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One more tip – I left a bit more (about 1/2″) lace than I needed on each of the ends so that I could tuck them in and not have a raw edge hanging out.

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Here’s the inside-out view –

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Well, you’re done! At this point I felt the need to stitch a red bow on the front, but really the thing about this project is that you could simplify to the point of just hand stitching both sides – or create whole felt piecings complete with beads hand sewn onto the front.

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Whatever you do – just enjoy putting some hand-crafted love into your holidays. Before I go I’d like to share a few of the merry things I used today – and a few things that help me enjoy my holiday crafting time.

  • Heather Bailey’s felt – it’s so very nice and really makes me want to craft with felt so much more.
  • Pink Paislee’s christmas collection – I think the scrap police are gonna fine me for using too much of it this year!
  • Sticky Back canvas by Claudine Hellmuth – so great for so many things
  • Peppermint Bark (Ghirardelli or Williams Sonoma kinds)
  • German Glass glitter – seriously makes a world of difference
  • Harry Connick Jr Christmas songs
  • Visiting blogs for new ideas & inspiration

That’s all from me – don’t forget to leave a comment here so you’ll be entered to win goodies from Adornit!!! When you do go – be sure to go check the next blogger on the merry hop – http://www.jenniekader.blogspot.com/

141 thoughts on “Adornit Blog Hop”

  1. I have never done a blog hop before- looks like fun! I have never scrapped outtakes before, and we have plenty of them around here!!!

  7. I really love the glittered tag!!! was it hard to get the rub ons to stick to the canvas? what kind of glue did you use on top?

  8. Your layouts (and the out-takes) are just adorable, May (it sure helps that you have adorable girls too!). Love that gift card bag – will make me some of those!
    (And as usual, if you draw my name out I’ll help pay the postage to New Zealand) – thanks for the chance to win!

  10. I love the photos of your girls – seeing their expressions just cracked me up as my 2 (similar ages) girls do exactly the same. Might have to scrap-lift the LO !! 🙂

  11. beautiful beautiful girls you have, I wished I could get Bella to sit still for even a second and look at the camera but she won’t..she was diagnosed with autism on monday..so I have a long journey to go with her..but she is and will always be my perfect angel.. I was thinking about my Christmas cards tonight and what I might do..would be nice to win a stach before I get started.

  15. Awesome projects May!!! You are always so inspiring.
    I have been struggling for a couple of weeks trying to find the perfect xmas papers to make my xmas cards….I must find it asap now…..maybe I’ll be lucky enough to win!

  18. Love your fab layout and felt bag – the Pink Paislee is perfect. I’m going to have to set the timer, or I see the whole morning spent blog hopping when I have other things I need to do, LOL.

  25. I love seeing your Christmas pictures of the girls. Love the felt bag. Thanks for sharing the tutorial.

  28. Love your little bag! Thanks so much for the step-by-step. And I had to tell you…outtakes are my favorite. We had my folks over a few weeks ago, and trying to get a picture of them with the grandkids had me busting a gut! I just kept taking pictures, and my sister asked me why I was taking so many bad pictures, “they weren’t posed yet!” She obviously doesn’t scrapbook 🙂

  29. I pressed firmly and they did stick, however I could tell that if scratched or rubbed they might move around or flake off because of the uneven surface of the canvas.

    I use ppa by usart quest for ALL my liquid adhesive/sealant needs – it’s great!

    May

  33. Those girls are absolute dolls! Loved your outtake idea and the felt pocket looks like it could be adapted for a non-sewer like me. Good stuff…

  35. love the felt bag (especially the glitter and the gorgeous handles) but some of us are so sewing illiterate-I’ll have to wait for you to make me one!

  36. I live gift cards but the “experts” always say they are too impersonal. Well, you have found a way to shut them up! There is nothing more personal that hand made “wrapping” for a gift. Thanks for the details on how you did it.

  44. the gift card bag is adorable…but the outtakes of your girls holiday photos = PRICELESS!! Love the layout you created with them!!

  45. Wow, those are so darn cute. Im going to have to try and make that felt card holder, I love it. TFS! 🙂

  46. Love love love the bags and the girls outfits are just the RIGHT Christmas green and the LO to remember the fun and goofy times! Great inspiration thanks can’t wait to get home to my craft area!

  48. WOW May, you have truly inspired me!! I love that you scrapped the outtakes of your cards – I will definitely do that this year! And that gorgeous felt gift tag is amazing!!! Thank you so much for participating! Online Hugs from Adornit!

  50. That’s so awesome that you are part of the blog hop. I’ve been following all of the fun there. I am so behind on my holiday crafting this year that I’m afraid that I will be in such a rush to get it done that I won’t have any fun. Hopefully some new goodies will stop that from happening.

  51. Good Morning May-
    I have that exact tag, but didn’t think about the glitter. Will get into my old stamping supplies and grab that Prisma Glitter.

  54. May – the girls are darn cute! Love the way you used the outtakes on your layout. Cute idea for the gift card too – if only I was a sewer ….

  56. I love the gift card idea. I keep hearing about Heather Bailey’s felt. I will have to check it out.

    Also, love the outtakes! What cuties!

  58. Adorable girls! I love the decorated photos to insert into your cards. That would add a homemade touch to cards that you purchased…great idea

  59. My first Bloghop!!! gives me something to do on my down time at work and I’m always looking for new ideas. I’m somewhat creatively challenged so this is perfect for me!

  60. I love the glitter on the canvas tag ~ LOVE! I will definitely try that one. Thanks for the inspiration!

  67. What a beautiful gift card holder. I am planning to make some guft card holders for Christmas (gift card is the easy way out instead of buying gift) but out of cardstock. Now I may give felt a try too. Thanks for the ideas.

  68. What a darling page of your girls! I can relate to the photo woes trying to get my four kids to look somewhat “normal” all at the same time. LOL! Beautiful layout! Love the design and love all the patterns together. Just gorgeous!!!

  72. I LOVE the gift bag idea, it is the cutest!!!!!! I am going to have to make them for christmas this year. I also love all of the layouts ~ very beautiful!

  73. I love your felt gift card holder. So cute. I think I’ll have to try one, even though I don’t sew except for on my pages. Thanks for the idea.

  74. Love the felt gift card holders! I don’t sew, but I can ooh & aah over yours. Thanks for the chance to win some products!

  78. Great felt card holder and love the l/o with the out takes. I think you are trying to force me into getting out that sewing machine! Ah well, off to check out the blog hop.

  79. I love homemade things! SOO cute! All of it! This blog hop has helped me to get in the mood for christmas!

  81. I love the idea of scrapping the “outakes” of the holiday photo session. I always have so many funny ones 😉 Thanks for all the cute ideas!

  87. Have to agree – the Pink Paislee holiday line this year is Won-der-ful! Love, love, lovin’it. I’m going to use your technique with the german glitter glass over something for my December ATC trades. Very festive!

  88. that gift card holder is so so so cute!!!! love it!!! ur holiday card photo is so super cute!!! love ur ‘outtake’ LO! what a great idea! fabulous way to preserve those funny pics!! in other words — i love EVERYTHING that you did here!!! everything that you posted! its all wonderful!! & very inspiring & totally making me wish for Christmas!!
    thank you for all the great ideas!

  89. oh, your girls are lovely ~ those green dresses are
    just gorgeous! Love the outtakes idea! Great blog!

  91. So glad to get a chance to catch up with what you are doing. Merlene posted about your article on Fiskateers. I love the glitter tree pocket!

  97. More fabulous crafty items from the house of May – I just don’t know where you get all your creative juices from.

  102. What a great way to get the Christmas spirits flowing, love everything you do May always so much fun! Off to the next spot!

  104. I love your outtakes scrapbook page. I have a bunch of photos from last years Christmas card shoot that I want to do something similar with. It was interesting to see another similar page.

  107. You were busy indeed! Love the many ideas you inspired just now… got to get back to my stuff. Always love seeing what you are creating so big thank you for sharing!

    Kim

  108. Love your outakes and cuteness Layout- i am goin to have to steal that title! And i scrolled down and have to say i totally love the “I becca” LO gonna steal that one too.
    love the use of color in that!

  109. Love the blog hop idea! Your ornament is adorable and I love the step by step instructions with pics:-)
    Thanks!

  111. Love your gift card holder. So cute.

    Now I am off to visit the other blogs.

    Thanks for participating.

  112. Cute projects, such inspiration. I just finished working with the Adornit Flutter collection, would love to jump right into the holidays with their papers.

  114. Love ur Idea of the outtakes. This year I’m going with a family vaction photo , so no outtakes. Cute felt bag

  115. OMGoodness! You shared a ton of stuff…all fabulous! Thank you for having the “Spirit” of the season! I love all of your ideas…but I have to admit…I LOVE your layout of the out takes!!! SIMPLY GORGEOUS!!!

  128. I love the gift card bag and the outtakes layout. I always have a ton of extra photos from our Christmas card photo shoot and now I have a great idea for what to do with them!

  129. I love how you say you don’t sew well and then you sew up a fabulous gift card holder that is sticking cute!!!!

  130. It’s tooooo true! It’s very hard to get two cuties to smile and look happy at the same time, so the outtakes are PERFECT!!Love your felt gift card bags… and I, too, often have to piece lace or ribbon!

    Love both of your “treat” you shared with us! Many, many thanks!

  136. Oh my goodness – I love everything that you made – and your entire blog. Guess I’d like to come back and visit again! TY for the opportunity to win. I’m typing with my ginfers crossed!

  137. I can so relate to the photo session. I have 3 of those wiggly little critters. Love the felt bag. I’m going to have to try that myself now.

  138. I can so relate to your outtakes. My 10 year old twins recently hijacked our photo session at JCPenney. I told them to be playful and silly for photos, but I had no idea I’d end up with a picture of them pretending to hit each other with a ball bat and a guitar. Luckily the photographer was indulgent, we were the last appt of the day and I got the pictures I really wanted.

    Betsy
    San Antonio

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