Gingerbread House Part 2 - The Windows are Full of Surprises

It's time for Part 2 of my Gingerbread House series and here I'm going to show you the house when it's all decorated, embellished and filled with fabulous Christmas embellishments from ItsyBitsy. To see Part 1, click here.

The first thing I did was to make this fabulous little fence around my Gingerbread House. I found this fabulous fence embellishment at the ItsyBitsy store. It was pink or purple. I used some white paint to white wash the fence all around the house and I literally felt like Tom Sawyer, the job was endless and I had no friends to manipulate into doing it for me!

Then I filled the windows with some fantastic Christmas embellishments from ItsyBitsy. If you haven't seen these, you're really missing out. I mean they are just adorable!! So many different designs and varieties, great for cards, tags or Gingerbread Houses. To see some tags I made with these last year, click here.

Each window is filled with a different embellishment so that each day as my son opens the window as he countdowns to Christmas, he will get a new surprise. It's actually going really well. Every day he jumps out of bed to run to the Gingerbread House and open the day's window!

As a final touch I added some Christmas craft in the garden of the Gingerbead house. The base layer is a green jute sheet to depict grass. I scattered some white foam spots all over the 'garden' to make it look like fallen snow. I also made a cute little snowman out of thermocol balls and a 3D Christmas tree on the corners.

I am really quite delighted with this project. I was a huge success with my kids and it's always a pleasure to craft with the little ones. Their glee and delight makes it all SO worth it!

Are you crafting for Christmas? Would love to see your work. Leave a comment and let me know and I'll be sure to stop by!

To see the fabulous Christmas range of embellishments, click here. All other supplies for this project can be found on the first part of this series.

A Decoupage Jewellery Box with Mod Podge

Deriving from the French very decouper, meaning to cut out, the craft of decoupage involves cutting and pasting cut-outs on to a surface to create a picture or a pattern. Originally intended as a form of furniture decoration it has evolved into a popular past time, greatly satisfying to the crafter. Whether you cut from specially printed decoupage designs or from other sources like napkins or magazines, the options are literally limitless and the outcome is sure to be original and one of a kind. 

I have always been interested in decoupage, numerous craft books in my stash have depicted tutorials on creating really pretty trays, frames and even tables using this fantastic form of craft. So when ItsyBitsy launched their decoupage range, I eagerly got to work. 

Decoupage begins with a blank base which you will decorate. ItsyBitsy has introduced a variety of such MDF blanks - photo frames, pen stands, tissue boxes and jewellery boxes. I was naturally drawn towards the jewellery box so that's what I chose. 

Then you can begin decorating. You can literally do anything you like. In my case, I painted the edges of the box white using some regular poster colours. Then I laid over some DCWV Decoupage distressed textured paper. This range is awesome as it is naturally distressed, perfect to go with a vintage themed project. I glued the paper in place with Mod Podge which is a decoupage glue. It works as a glue as well as a varnish.

Then I took a sheet from the DCWV Heirloom stack that was filled with vintage emblems like a chandelier, a gramophone player, Eiffel Tower and so on. I cut out each of those emblems and glued them on to my box using the same Mod Podge glue. Once everything was glued in place, I added another layer of glue all over the top of the box, over the glued down base paper and the glued down emblems. Mod Podge acts as a sealant, a varnish and a glue. 

At this stage, the decoupage part of the project is done. It was time to embellish the box and make it look a little more elaborate and detailed. I added one of the new fabric tapes as a border all over culminating in a large bow at the top edge. I also used my Tattered Floral die to make some pretty lush roses as a decoration on the lid. I used the Intricutz rose die as a flourish to continue the rose theme.

It was almost impossible to stop right there, but I forced myself to take a step back. My decoupage box was looking perfect. It was time to just let it be! I'm pretty thrilled with all the vintage elements and given this was my first real attempt at decoupage, I think it's pretty darn neat.

What do you think about my project. Are you still confused about Decoupage. Not to worry, I have done a video of how I put this box together so watch this space for all the details.

Supplies Used:

Announcing the Grand Opening of the Newest ItsyBitsy Store in Phoenix Market City Bangalore!!

Folks we are thrilled to announce that the newest ItsyBitsy store will be opening in Phoenix Market City Mall tomorrow Sunday 8th December 2013! As always with all our new stores, there will be fabulous discounts on offer, amazing craft workshops and a variety of craft supplies! So if you're in the vicinity, spend your Sunday with us at Phoenix Market City Bangalore!!

Check out the fabulous deals! Boutique Elements embellishments are a massive 50% off!! Quilling supplies too - 50% off!! Punches and more at 20% off and the fabulous Teal Big Shot is a whopping 30% off!!!

We're also stocking a variety of Christmas related decorations and other delectable delights!  

Hope to see you there folks!

Christmas Begins with a Gingerbread House Countdown to Christmas - Part 1

The festive season has begun and I just love this time of year. I guess it's all the more exciting because I have two little children and their anticipation is so infectious. Every day my son would ask me, 'how many days let for Santa Claus to come' so to make it easier for him, I decided to make a little Countdown to Christmas project in the shape of a Gingerbread House. It could also be called an Advent Calendar and helps the little ones look forward to the Big Day!

My Gingerbread House Countdown to Christmas is in the shape and colour of a Gingerbread House. It has 24 windows on it, on the front, sides and back. Each window has a number corresponding to the date. Each day from December 1st to December 24th, my kids will open the respective window and in so doing will be able to tell how many days are left for the Big Day. The 25th number is on the front door of the house and when they open this, they know it's Christmas morning! Here's a look at the side and back of the house. 

I numbered the windows totally randomly so that each day my kids will have to hunt around for the  appropriate window. Each window is cut using the Sizzix Mini Openings Die and embossed with the ItsyBitsy Spots Embossing folder. A silver ribbon ensures that the window is tied shut until the date it can be opened. For the numbers on each window, I used the scallop circle combined with regular circle dies from ItsyBitsy to cut the base. Then I glued  some die cut numbers on top. I finished with a layer of Mod Podge Satin Finish for that fabulous gleaming label! here are some closeups of the labels. 

For the snowy trim all over the Gingerbread house I used the  Rotary Cutter in a totally random manner ensuring that some parts were longer and others shorter much as snow would look. I also added a rim of pearl stickers all over the border just to glamourise it a bit. 

And if you're wondering what I used to make the house, guess what! I used one of my Itsy Bitsy courier cartons! I just covered it with card stock and made a peak. Check out the pictures below!

So what's inside the windows? Well that's going to be in Part 2 of my Gingerbread House Countdown to Christmas post. You can also look forward to the front garden all of which is still in progress and will be published very soon so watch this space for all the details!

How are you gearing up for the festive season? Would love to see your work! Leave a comment and I will be dropping by very soon!

Supplies Used

Introducing Little Darlings Stamps at ItsyBitsy

We at ItsyBitsy are SUPER thrilled to introduce our fabulous new range of Little Darlings rubber stamps at our stores and online! Now you can make beautiful cards, scrapbooks, notebooks, frames and whatever you like with adorable images to stamp and colour. And the best part is that they're so affordable! Starting from as little as Rs. 499, you can have a variety of designs to choose from to make exactly the kind of project you have in mind. Here's just a glance at the options available!

And if you need some project ideas on how to use these stamps, here are some pictures of cards created using different Little Darlings stamps! Aren't they just darling!!

I too got bitten by the Little Darlings bug and picked up one for my notebook project last week. Here's what I created with the Little Darlings Go Girl Go stamp as the focal point!

Have you tried any of these stamps yet? Would love to see your work. Leave a comment and let us know and we'll be sure to drop by!

Jewellery Inspiration for the ItsyBitsy Picture Inspiration Challenge

Folks, we hope you're hard at work with your creation for the ItsyBitsy Picture Inspiration Challenge. Our design team at ItsyBitsy loved the picture to bits and put their creative juices to work to make a fantastic Jewellery project! Here's their fabulous creation!

Wow! Isn't it a stunner! What a fantastic use of beads and ItsyBitsy findings. I just love it to bits and I guess what I like the most is that they have picked out different shades from the inspiration picture than is most evident! Love that! Here's the inspiration picture for you again.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing folks and really looking forward to seeing your creation! Click here to for details on the challenge and how to enter. 

Girly Girly Notebooks

Today I have a seriously girly project to share with you. The concept took shape when I first saw the new fantastic range of stamps here at ItsyBitsy. The collection is called Little Darling and ItsyBitsy is stocking such adorable designs that I knew I wanted to do a really girly project. I picked up a fun stamp of a girl enjoying a hula hoop and then based my project on that. 

I started with colouring the stamp. I decided to go for a pink and blue scheme and consequently that became the theme for my notebook. I chose papers from the DCWV French Country Stack to support my palette. I got this smart fence embellishment from the ItsyBitsy store which I laid on the lower portion of the notebook cover. Then on top I added my coloured stamp cut out on the Victorian Rectangle Die. I added a whole bunch of pink and blue flowers to make it as pretty and girly as could be. Then right at the end I placed a pretty pink bow and topped it with this super sweet photo frame locket charm from ItsyBitsy. It's really cool! You can actually add any picture you like into that charm!

Of course as with most of my gift projects, I end up making a box for it. I don't know how to end this compulsion but at the moment it's become almost uncontrollable. The same fence embellishment was added to the box cover and an ItsyBitsy Gardenia bloom at the top. 

I decided to make another girly notebook with the same stamp albeit with a different colour scheme. This time I went for pink and beige so my book has a slight vintage edge in its design. The base paper is all from the DCWV Fabric Paper range so when you touch it, you can actually feel the texture of fabric. The stamp was coloured using the same shades and to embellish it, I used a die cut from the Intricutz Flourish die and a chipboard lasercut as a frame. A bunch of flowers and an organza ribbon bow finished off the book which was now ready for its box. 

The box again has the same fabric paper for the lid and I restricted my urge to embellish it heavily. Just an organza bow and an ItsyBitsy Bloom did the trick.

Both my notebooks are punched using the Cinch Binding Tool and bound using the We R Memory Keepers Binding Wire series. The Cinch is so convenient for such projects where you have to punch so many coordinating holes and the binding wire is awesome as it comes in different sizes and colours. 

I personally LOVED my girly notebook project. Love the books, the coordinated boxes and of course that fantastic stamp! What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know!

Supplies Used

Winners of the Anything Goes with ItsyBitsy Challenge

Folks! We are here with the winners and finalists for the Anything Goes with ItsyBitsy Challenge. This time we continued with the new methodology. We invited all your fabulous entries and then opened the gallery to audience votes. The judges made their choices after considering the audience feedback as but  bear in mind that audience feedback was not the sole deciding factor, it was used to help choose a winner.

 

So without further delay your winners are Sathya for this exquisite White on White Card for Paper Crafting and Smita for this fantastic Terracotta jewellery set. Satha used the ItsyBitsy Spots Embossing folder and the ItsyBitsy Thin Cuts Venetian Panel Die in her beautiful creation. For Smita's creation, the paints and findings are from ItsyBitsy. Well done Sathya and Smita. You both get a voucher of Rs.1000 from ItsyBitsy so write in to info@itsybitsy.in to claim your award and winners badge.

Now on to the finalists. For Paper Crafting the creations that really stood out for us in no particular order were:

Rupa for this gorgeous altered liquor box. Rupa used the scallop square die, TH tattered leaves die and Pattern Paper all from ItsyBitsy. 

Tanvi for this admirable book box! Click on her link to see the project, it's really fabulous. Tanvi used red embossing powder and pattern paper from ItsyBitsy in her creation.  

 Viola for these adorable quilled Santa's. Viola used different sized quilling strips and pearl stickers from ItsyBitsy in her project. 

Durga for this beautifully constructed card.  Durga used ItsyBitsy Embossing folders in her project. 

Sridevi for this clean and captivating accordion card project. Sridevi used crepe paper from ItsyBitsy in her project. 

Shilpa for this adorable and innovative card! The toads and the grass embellishments are from ItsyBitsy. 

Now on to the finalists for Jewellery Making. Since there were just 15 entries, we've shortlisted 3 finalists whose work really stood out in no particular order. 

Pratyusha for this extremely original set. Pratyusha used quilling strips and jewellery findings from ItsyBitsy in her project.

Radhika for this innovating and attractive creation. Radhika used a number of products from ItsyBitsy in her project but the most interesting is the pendant which she created using one of our cling stamps. Fantastic stuff Radhika!

Viola for this striking terracotta set. Viola used terracotta beads and paints from ItsyBitsy in her creation. 

Well done to all the crafters mentioned in this post! Congratulations on your fine work! We're thrilled to see such wonderful creations arising from ItsyBitsy products! Please write in to info@itsybitsy.in to obtain your badges. 

Looking forward to seeing your entires in our current Picture Inspiration Challenge. See you soon!