Easy Peasy Packaging

ETA: oops!! How could I forget to announce the winner of our last giveaway?....It's Saskia!!! Email me your address, Saskia...and I'll get your stamps to you!!!!

Ready for more new designs? Today's project features my Fuzzy Dog with a Wreath stamp (we really should come up with a name for him!!) . And the project is a really simple and fast gift wrap. I don't know how many times I've frantically searched for a box to wrap last minute gift (I KNOW I have one somewhere in this closet?!?!) When I can't find one, I usually improvise with something like this (actually, this first one is a gift card...I'll show you a gift wrap for a small gift later in this post):



To start, I cut a 4" x 7" piece of card stock...I placed my gift card a little lower than center and put a little mark just above and just below the card. I ran the paper through a crimper from each mark toward the edge of the paper(just a little bit)...it should look like the picture below:



This crimped section will act as the "hinge" for the wrap. Next, apply double stick tape to all 4 sides of center area:


Cut 2 pieces of tissue to 5-1/2" x 5-1/2"...attach as shown in the following pictures:





Wrap the gift card in one layer of tissue:



And then the other...hold it closed with a stamped seal:



Then I just wrapped a strip of paper around the whole thing to keep it shut. Now, here's the gift:



I don't know if you can tell...but, this holds a 6 month onesie, and the paper is cut to 5" x 12". Follow the same instructions as for the gift card (this time I'm holding it closed with a ribbon).



This stamp, "Expecting" was inspired by Yuki who's expecting her second baby in October...Congratulations and hang in there, Yuki!!!

Here are the stamps I'm giving away today:



Leave me a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) on Tuesday, August 31...give me some ideas of what to name my new fuzzy dog!!! I'll pick one winner at random and announce their name on Wednesday, September 1. Good luck!!!

Easel Box

Hi!! I'm back with my next project!! I love the easel cards I've been seeing around...thought I'd give it a try as a box. Click here for the pattern. Cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines. Apply double stick tape on the 4 tabs. Below is a picture of the box closed (tied shut with a ribbon):




And here's a picture of the box opened:



This side view shows how the easel part works:



Of course, I had to do one for the holidays:



If you look closely, you can see where I've been having fun with Flower Soft (to make the stocking look fluffy). I wonder if it comes in brown...that might work well on the bear!!



I can imagine handing these out at the office for your co-workers to keep on their desks!!! Are you starting to get your holiday mojo? This next card is a little departure from the easel boxes, but I threw it in today because I was playing around with my "chick" stamps and wanted to share it. The only new stamps are the chick carrying the candy cane and the "Friend for all seasons" stamp...the rest are from previous releases. When I was designing my holiday line, I noticed that I had a chick stamp for every season but winter. Then I thought..."friend for all seasons" and knew I had to do a winter chick!! Here's the card:



Here's the giveaway for today (I know the 3 chick stamps are not new...but, how could I break up the set???):



To win these stamps, leave me a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) on Sunday, August 29...tell me a little about your "friend for all seasons". I'll pick one winner at random and announce their name on Monday, August 30.

Joy, You're the Winner!!!

Congratulations, Joy!!! Email me your address and I'll get the 3 face stamps out to you!!! I'm working on another project...but, I'm not sure if I can finish by today...we'll see how that goes!!

By the way...did you notice I'm on Facebook now? Please be patient while I learn the ropes...but, if you become a fan by September 15, I'll do a special giveaway for one lucky winner. I'll post more details later on my page.

Have a great Aloha Friday!!!

Today's Winner is....

Debbie!!! Congratulations, Debbie!!! You know the routine...email your address to me and I'll send the stamps out to you!!! Debbie's comment said that she had ZERO stamps...WHA-T?? Well..I'm honored that Dandelion will be your first stamps, Debbie!!!

Now, on to today's project. From your comments, it seems like most of you are at least starting to think about the upcoming holidays. With that in mind...here are more ideas for the holidays:

Oh...before I begin...let me share the inspiration behind this project. Everyday when I run my errands, I pass by a house that's surrounded by a fence. Just over the fence, I can catch a glimpse of the backyard with a big mango tree...from the tree, they have a bunch of paper lanterns hanging here and there, at different levels. I don't know why, but it always makes me feel happy to see that. Anyway, here's my attempt to re-create those lanterns using 3 of my new "face" stamps for the holidays:



Can you imagine a bunch of these hanging on your trees leading the trick-or-treaters up to your front door?



Or some of these decorating your home or Christmas tree?



Or some of these as a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving meal?



They're so easy and fast to make!! I picked up the battery-operated candles at Ben Franklin (put a strip of double stick tape around the base of the candle (as shown below):



Cut a piece of vellum (I'm on a vellum kick!!) to 4-3/4" x 3-1/2" (of course, you can change the second number to vary the height of your "lantern"). I don't know if you can see it, but there's also a piece of double stick tape down the length (left side in photo, above) of the backside of the paper. Simply wrap the vellum around the candle (PLEASE, don't use real candles!!) and tape the 2 edges together in the back.

A few extra notes: When working with vellum, I stamp with Staz-On permanent ink and color the image from the backside of the paper. For the turkey candle, I used a handmade mulberry paper instead of vellum. To get the torn appearance at the top of the candle...I simply wet the top edge of the paper (i just put a little line of water with my fingers)...then carefully tear off the edge.

Here's today's giveaway:



To enter the drawing for these stamps, leave me a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) on Thursday, August 26...tell me something that gives you inspiration when you're creating. I'll pick one winner at random and announce their name on Friday, August 27.

Before I go, I wanted to share some goodies I got in the mail from Carole:


Aren't they too cute? She's already used some of my new stamps!!! (I'll be using that Fuzzy Bear in an upcoming project). Can you believe that she created all 3 projects from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper?? Thanks for sharing your creativity, Carole!!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

2nd Half

If you're checking back to see the second half of my post from yesterday....here it is:



A Halloween version of the Christmas favor from yesterday. The directions for these little candy pouches are in the post below. Here's a closer look at this Halloween treat:



Before we do the giveaway for today...I just wanted to thank everyone who left a comment about the "stars" they were reaching for...I hope each and everyone of you reaches that star!!!

ok...here's today's giveaway:



To enter, please leave a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) on Tuesday, August 24...tell me if you've started prepping for the holidays...are just thinking about it...or you want to sock me for even bringing it up!! (ha! ha!...please don't). I'll pick one winner at random and announce their name on Wednesday August 25. Good luck!!!

Oh...one extra note: if you've already left me a comment on yesterday's post...you don't have to re-enter...I'll just add your names in the drawing.

Half a Post is Better Than None?

Made it just in the nick of time!!! I had every intention of getting this post up earlier today...but, sometimes things just don't go as planned. Oh well... Here is what I finished (I'll share the other half of my post tomorrow):



I made these little candy pouches out of vellum (cut to 3-1/2" x 7"). Then I put 3 strips of double stick tape as shown in the photo below:



Form a "tube" and adhere...close one end, fill with candy, then close the other end. Use a paper crimper to finish off the two ends. Here's a closer look at the topper:



ok...I'll be back tomorrow with more samples and a giveaway!!!

Today's Winner!!

Just popping in today to announce the winner of our latest giveaway...it's MC!!! Congratulations MC!!! Send your address to me at dandelion.designs@hawaiiantel.net, and I'll get your stamps out to you!!! Check back tomorrow for my next project!!!

Good Morning!!!

Hope you're all having a great Thursday morning!! If you're checking back to see who won our giveaway...the winner for today is Tammy!!!!!! Congratulations, Tammy!!! Please email me at dandelion.designs@hawaiiantel.net with your address and I'll mail the stamps to you pronto!!!

For the rest of you...stick around...there are more stamps to be won!!

Today's new stamp is featuring Buddy, the monkey. Whenever I can I like to create stamps that can be used for the holidays, but also throughout the rest of the year. That was the thought behind this stamp called, Buddy's Star. In the photo below I made a shadow box/gift card holder/ornament of Buddy putting a star at the top of the Christmas tree:


*Note: The other stamp in this project is from a previous release...it's called Christmas Lights (#A112).

And...below, using the same Buddy stamp, I made a card that could be used for graduations, promotions, etc.:



Pretty versatile, huh?

Here are the details for making the gift card/ornament. Real easy!! Cut a piece of cardstock to 3" x 12". Score at 3", 3-1/2", 6-1/2" and 7". Punch out a hole and apply double stick tape, as shown below:



Fold along the scored lines...remove the backing from the double stick tape and attach. The space between the two strips of double stick tape forms the pocket for the gift card (behind the shadow box). It literally takes just a few minutes to put together. How great would that be to get a whole bunch of gift card gifts taken care of in August???

Here's the giveaway for today:



To enter the drawing...leave me a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) on Friday, August 20...tell me what "star" you're reaching for right now. For me, like many of you...it's helping my son get into a great college!!! I'll draw one winner at random and announce their name on Saturday, August 21. Good luck!!!

Here We Go...

Welcome to Day 1 of our new designs...we'll start off with a little project using food storage bags. Who knew that wrapping up your leftover dinner could lead to a new project?



They're not air tight, but I thought it was cool to use the sliding mechanism from these plastic bags to create some useful bags. Here's one made into a pen case (to carry to stamping dates, or to give as a gift):



And another made into a Halloween treat:



To make this project, I cut off just the top of the plastic bag. I put double stick tape on both sides of the plastic bag (you'll have to play with the slider to get the double stick tape underneath it...see photo, below).



Click here for a pattern. I'm using a quart-sized plastic bag for this project...and the pattern is for a bag with a finished size of 8-1/4" x 3"...of course, you can adjust the pattern to make the bag deeper or shallower. Cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted ones...use double stick tape on the two tabs to put the paper part of the bag together. Then simply remove the backing paper from the double stick tape on the plastic bag (one side at a time), and adhere to the paper bag. You'll have to fiddle around with the slider again to get the paper under the slider.

And now for the giveaway...here's what's up for grabs:



Leave me a comment by midnight (Hawaii time) tomorrow, Wed. August 18...help me catch up on what you've been up to...tell me the highlight of your summer. I'll pick one winner at random and announce their name on Thursday, August 19.

Oh...one more thing. I've been meaning to share with you some cute projects done by Karen on her blog, Have a Scrap Happy Day using Dandelion stamps!!! So cute...thanks for sharing your work, Karen!!!

New Designs

Hi All!!! Sorry that I've been MIA all summer...I just don't know where all the time went!! Really!!! But, now I'm finally ready to share my new designs with you...a little bit of Christmas...little bit of Halloween and Thanksgiving...and a little bit of everyday!!


This is just a sampling of the new designs...you can click on the link to our website to see the whole collection...OR...check in over the next few weeks as I introduce the new designs, along with new ideas for the upcoming holidays!! We'll start off tomorrow...until then, have a great night!!!