Friday, May 22, 2015

a handmade graduation gift | a pebbles inc. project...

Good morning, Pebbles friends! It's Wendy Sue here with you today - sharing a project I created for my daughter, Meagan, who will be graduating from high school in just a few short days and then will be heading off to the college of her dreams only a few weeks after that.

To say I am having mixed emotions about the upcoming events is an understatement. On one hand I keep wondering how my sweet baby girl (who it seriously feels was just sitting on my lap with her long brown curls and her American Girl doll and books only a few days ago) is ready to pack up her favorite clothes, books, and mementos and move out into the big big world to live on her own. And on the other hand, I marvel as I watch a beautiful young woman, who is smart, confident, and more prepared than I could ever hope, as she prepares to move on to the next phase of her life and chase after her dreams.

pebbles_wendysueanderson_banner11I knew, as soon as I opened my package with the Cottage Living" collection, that it would be perfect for a few projects for Meagan - the gold foil is one of her favorites, and the designs are perfect for her! She doesn't like a lot of frills and fluff, but I wanted to make her a little something to hang in her dorm room - so this is what I came up with:pebbles_wendysueanderson_banner2

I pulled out the photo garland kit from the Happy Day collection, which makes everything super quick and simple.

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I filled each of the photo openings with either a photo, or something beautiful from the Cottage Living collection - a quote from the sheet of 3x4 cards (which fit perfectly in the photo openings) or a beautiful piece of foiled, patterned paper so Meagan can add a photo of her choice (or not - because the paper alone is absolutely gorgeous!)

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Since the kit comes complete with the twine and clips, she can adjust the length as she needs to (I don't know how much space she will have to hang it in her room).

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I'm excited to see how she'll display it! Of course, I couldn't give a gift without creating some fun packaging for it as well. I pulled out the handy, dandy Gift box punch board and created the largest box possible with a 12x12 sheet of patterned paper. The finished box is 4x4x4 and it's perfect to hold this little gift.

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The gold tipped tags, along with a sticker and beautiful premade flower made the perfect accent for the gift box.

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The jumbo gold clip made adding the tag to the box super easy - and now she can reuse the tag and box if she wants to, because there's no tape and no adhesive residue.

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This was a super quick project, but one that I hope will be meaningful to her. I want her to look at the words on these cards each day - aren't those words powerful? And maybe, just maybe, she'll think of home when she looks at it as well!

Supplies: Cottage Living Let's Visit Patterned Paper Cottage Living Sweet Greetings Patterned Paper Cottage Living Gold Tipped Tags Cottage Living Paper Flowers Cottage Living Jumbo Paperclips Cottage Living Puffy Stickers Happy Day Photo Garland Kit Gift Box Punch Board

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

8 weeks of college treats | a doodlebug design project…

Hi there friends!  I am so excited to share a "Back to School" project with you!!  When you first look at this adorable Doodlebug Design collection, I would be willing to bet that your mind goes right to pre-school and elementary age children.  Am I right?  Well, I'm here to challenge you to think out of the box!  You see, my daughter will be graduating from high school (gulp!) in a few short weeks...and only a few weeks after that, she will be moving away to begin her college career!  We won't even talk about how emotional this makes me...instead, we will talk about a little something I created for her to take with her.  Summer semester is 8 weeks long - and I wanted to give her a little something for each week of her first college experience.  This is what I came up with:

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Yep, you read that right - there are EIGHT treats in that little tiny box!  We all know that treats are rare on a college student's budget...but how fun would it be to know that as each week ends, there's a treat waiting for you?!? 

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I cut the box from the "abc's" paper with my Silhouette Cameo.  I sized it slightly larger than the mini pickets that coordinate with the "back to school" collection.

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Next, I created a band to wrap around the box.  It's simply a strip of paper, slightly more narrow that the box, then I just folded it around the box, scored the fold lines, and secured the back with a bit of washi tape.  The top is embellished with letter stickers, rub-ons, and cute little sticker icons!

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Now here's the fun part - when the box is opened up, just look at what is inside!
 
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The mini pocket kit comes with 8 reversible pockets (you see, the universe was working with me here!) - so I folded them up to use all 8 designs.  I embellished each pocket with patterned paper, stickers, doodle pops and sprinkle shapes - it was so much fun choosing which items to use!

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After creating all of the pockets, I started filling them with gift cards or cash - things any college student (or anyone, for that matter) could use and appreciate! I love that the pockets are just the right size for store and restaurant gift cards!

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This would also make a fun "end of school" gift for a teacher - you could do one pocket for each week, or one for each month of summer vacation!

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Thanks for stopping in today - I hope I've inspired you to use the "back to school" collection in a fun way!

Thursday, May 07, 2015

teacher appreciation cards...

Hi friends! I wanted to pop in and share a project I created recently for the Pebbles, Inc. blog!  I am sharing the cards my boys will be giving to their school teachers to remind them how much we appreciate them! I always like to create cards in sets of two or three, and considering the fact that I needed two cards, this seemed very do-able. And then I remembered that the cards couldn't be too feminine OR too masculine - as one of my boys has a "Mr." for a teacher, and the other has a "Mrs." Still, I wanted to use a similar design for both cards. I was inspired by a piece of patterned paper to create these cards for the teachers:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Do you know which paper inspired me? Yep, the "Pick Me Up" paper from the Happy Day collection!

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

My Silhouette Cameo came in handy as I was able to find and download a cup shape that matched the cups on the paper. I used various papers from the Happy Day and the Homegrown collections to cut the pieces for the cups - one for the main cup, one for the wrap, and one for the lid. I made sure to use more feminine colors and patterns for one, and more masculine colors and patterns for the other. Here's a look at the pieces for the "Mr." card, before I pieced them together:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Then I trimmed down the "thanks" piece from the "Thinking of You" paper, cut it into a banner shape and added it to the wrap as well.

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Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

The "Ivy" foam letter thickers were perfect for adding words to the cup wrap:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Next, I attached the wrap to the cup with foam adhesive squares:

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

To finish up the cup, I added some stickers and a bow around the lid. And I placed the completed cup on a piece of coordinating paper and then attached the entire thing on the front of an A2 sized card.

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

But wait, there's MORE! I used my handy dandy 3x4 punch to create a coordinating pocket for the inside of the card. Remember to add adhesive along the left, bottom, and right edges - but leave the top open!

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Add additional thickers and/or sentiments to the pocket and tuck in a gift card!

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

That's it - two teacher cards - similar but different. But both will be sent with much love and appreciation for all of the things they do for my boys!

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Teacher Appreciation Cards by @wendysuea for @pebblesinc with the "Home Grown" and "Happy Day" collections

Be sure to let the teachers in your life know how much they are appreciated too! Supplies: Happy Day "Thinking of You" Patterned Paper Happy Day "Pick Me Up" Patterned Paper Happy Day "Wood Fire Pizza" Patterned Paper Happy Day "Icons & Phrases" Stickers Home Grown "Flower Garden" Patterned Paper Home Grown "Foliage" Patterned Paper Home Grown "Home Sweet Home" Patterned Paper Home Grown "Partly Cloudy" Patterned Paper Home Grown "Nature Walk" Patterned Paper Home Grown "Family Rules" Patterned Paper Ivy Vanilla/Foam Thickers Ivy Coral/Foam Thickers This to That Foam Adhesive This to That Adhesive Dispenser White Cardstock 3x4 Picture Punch Paper Trimmer Twine/Jute