Teacher gift tin

It’s end of term and time for teacher gifts. I know better than to buy mugs(!) and my son requested homemade gifts, specifically a box full of cards for his teacher.  I know I should have been flattered, but I just ended up stressed!

But it all turned out ok in the end and this piece of rather spectacular Pink Flamingo paper was just the job for the lid and my new Just Perfect Alphabet set (hope it doesn’t retire in September!) was ideal for labelling. Fits inside the ¾” circle punch, too.

Stamps: Just Perfect Alphabet

Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Whisper White

Paper: Pink Flamingo

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Corner Rounder, Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, ¾” circle punch

All products by Stampin’ Up!®

Revamped biscuit tin

Take one biscuit tin from the Lake District. Eat the biscuits. Then the fun begins... this was a real last-minute job the night before my Mini Catalogue launch. Yes, back in April! I’ve only just found the pic and realised I haven’t posted it on my blog.

I just covered the tin with paper from the Sweet Pea stack and added a ruffle of ribbon attached to a strip of paper. It doesn't need much because this gorgeous paper does all the hard work for you! 

Paper: Sweet Pea Paper Stack

Accessories: Satin ribbon – Old Olive, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! ®

Kaleidoscope tin

I can’t remember what came in this tin but it was given to me by a teacher at my son’s school who, like me, struggles to throw away potentially useful objects! The lid was embossed so I had to cover the inside, too, but that’s no problem. I love this Kaleidoscope paper - it is so fab you don't need much else to embellish it.

What's the tin for? Well, eventually... when I get round to it... I could make a set of square cards to go inside.

Cardstock: Pixie Pink (textured), Gable Green, Only Orange, Tempting Turquoise
Paper: Kaleidoscope
Ink: Whisper White craft
Accessories: On Board Chipboard – So Tweet, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, corner rounder

All products by Stampin' Up!®

This tin is a hoot

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this little tin, which I made last month. It’s a band-aid tin, which my Canadian cousin brought over for me to have a play with. It’s so cute I couldn’t resist decorating it straight away – and it was so quick to cover it with some scraps of Designer Series Paper. Maybe I should add some ribbons to the handle... or maybe not.

I think it would be perfect for an “office in a tin” – it’s hard to get items small enough for an Altoid tin but the mini calculator I bought months ago would fit easily in here with some mini pens, pencils, Post-it notes and paper clips.

Don’t forget this paper – Sweet Always – is only available now while stocks last.

Stamps: Forest Friends
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the link on the right to view it online.

You've got mail!

I have some mega catching up to do here on All Things Stampy. I’m trying to tidy up my stamping stuff and keep finding projects I haven’t posted on my blog! Inevitably, they use retiring products, so I want to show you them before the end of September, so you can order the Last Chance items if you want to.

Here’s one I (half)made ages ago... I just added the tag at the top to finish it off just as I was taking the photo!

It’s a mailbox but it’s a funny shape to cover so I didn’t find it easy. I have some of the “proper” shape now, so will probably get round to those one day... you know what it’s like.

This is covered with Summer Picnic paper and decorated with ribbons and whatnot. Don’t ask me where to buy these because I have never seen them in this country. My best advice is to find an American and Canadian friend and butter them up if you want some!

Stamps: Oval All
Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Paper: Summer Picnic
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Bashful Blue, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red and Old Olive, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the link on the right to view it online.

Summer Picnic tin

This is a DVD tin, which I bought as part of a tin share with some other UK demonstrators. It’s a great size, about A5, and could be used as a pencil/pen tin, to hold cards or homemade sweets, or as a container for a small scrapbook album. I want to make another one with an album inside but my stamping “to do” list is huge, with two workshops and two parties coming up in the next couple of weeks! Eeek!

To cover this tin, I used exactly the same method as for covering an Altoid tin – there’s a tutorial here. Then I decorated it with a kind of collage of co-ordinating papers and accessories. Notice that it only took me a couple of days to lapse back into Old Olive mode!

Stamps: Tart and Tangy
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White
Paper: Summer Picnic
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Flower Fusion Felt Flowers, Silver Brads, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Pumpkin Pie, Striped Grosgrain Ribbon - Bashful Blue, Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon – Bashful Blue, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the link on the right to view it online.

Mother's Day tin

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers! I made this for my Mum and, now I’ve delivered it, it’s safe to post it here (despite her total lack of interest in crafts, she does visit my blog). It’s a Maya Road lunch tin which I’ve filled with cards for different occasions – I’ll show you these over the next few days.

The image is from a gorgeous new stamp set from the forthcoming Mini Catalogue. It’s called Soft Summer and features two sets of double-mounted Two-Step Stampin’® stamps plus two sentiment stamps.

But I’ve not used the two-step feature on this project, I’ve just stamped the apple blossom outline image with my new Basic Gray ink pad and then coloured it with Watercolour Wonder™ crayons and blender pens. I used the Regal Rose and Always Artichoke crayons from the Rich Regals set. Then I cut out the entire image and mounted it with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Tins are really easy to cover – and I only used one sheet of Designer Series Paper – it’s double-sided so I just flipped it over for the contrasting top half.

I covered the top of the tin with textured cardstock – this is available in colour family packs of 12x12 and I love it!

Stamps: Soft Summer
Cardstock: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, textured Certainly Celery (for lid)
Paper: Tea Party
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Watercolour Wonder™ crayons – Rich Regals, Striped Grosgrain Ribbon – So Saffron, Crafters’ Toolkit

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

A tiny tin

I am having a bit of a run on Altoid tins – they’re so quick and cute to alter. Click here for a tutorial if you need a reminder.

As this is a recycled Altoid mint tin, with printing on the lid and base, I covered both sides with some of the new Designer Series Paper – the bright and cheerful Summer Picnic. The striped strip is the other side of the same sheet, so I only had to cut into one, which pleased me as I struggle to cut into my new Designer Papers!

The flower stamp from Best Wishes & More co-ordinates perfectly with this paper, as so often with Stampin’ Up!® products, so I added a flower to the top.

I am running out of Mod Podge so I thought I’d test the theory that PVA glue amounts to pretty much the same thing. Well the result was is that it worked absolutely fine on the Designer Paper but made the ink of the flower run horribly. 

I tried again with Mod Podge, this time covering the flower before I cut it out. I discovered that, while the Mod Podge did make the ink run a little, it wasn’t as bad as with the PVA, so I made sure that the pink around the edges was uniform and went with it. If you look closely, you’ll see that there are two layers of flower on the tin now. I make mistakes so you don't have to!

To avoid any colour bleeding, I could have embossed the flower using red ink and clear embossing powder – I’ll do that next time.

I’m sure you’ll want to know what’s inside this one... emergency chocolate of course! These mini Bournevilles fit perfectly.

Stamps: Best Wishes & More
Cardstock: Bashful Blue
Paper: Summer Picnic
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, Sticky Strip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Mini stationery set

Hello. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and you aren't too full of mince pies.

Before today's project, I'd like to offer my condolences to the ladies of Craft Central at Derby Garden Centre. The entire chain is closing down, as I discovered when I visited on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure if any of the staff visit my blog but, if you are reading, I am so sorry that you all have lost your jobs - and just before Christmas, too.

Now, on to today's project, which is my new favourite thing to make.

I started out with an Altoid Tin - this was a plain white one but you can use a mint tin, I think they sell them in M&S.

To save going into great detail again, here's my tutorial on covering an Altoid tin - click here.

So with tin decorated, I added a coat of Mod Podge matt finish to seal it all. If you can't find it you could use ordinary PVA glue (although that will give you a gloss finish) or a clear wood varnish. Or just not bother!

For the inside, I drew around the bottom part of the tin on to Tempting Turquoise cardstock, then cut it out. I had to trim it slightly to get it to fit. I then cut two slits in the cardstock so I could thread the ribbon through - this makes a nifty little holder for paper clips

Funnily enough, one of the hardest bits of this project was finding things to fit and then fitting them! I found these sticky notes in Wilko, the mini mechanical pencils, paper clips and mini bulldog clips in Staples. Can't remember where the highlighters came from - but it was either WIlko or Staples. I am still on the lookout for tiny pens - can't find those anywhere. I did buy a tiny calculator from Staples but that wouldn't fit due to the highlighter pen. If you could find a slimmer highlighter, you could get a calculator in, too. Oh, the elastic bands? Found those in my son's elastic band stash!

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Paper: Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Dashing tin

This was a fun project – and one which I’m hoping to repeat for a class some time (hopefully before Christmas but you know how things are).

It was a plain silver tin, originally made for sugar I think but which just happens to be the right size for a stack of handmade cards. Not sure how many you could get in with envelopes – probably 10-12.

I held my breath as I wrapped the strip of Designer Series paper around the tin but, by some quirk of fate, it fit exactly. No overlap… just a perfect fit.

Then you’re free to decorate the top however you wish. I chose to add some covered chipboard pieces. The flower shape was inked with Old Olive ink, then I punched a hole in it with my Crop-A-Dile™ so that I could thread the gingham ribbon through. I covered the monogram circle with some more Designer Series paper, then added a piece of Real Red cardstock behind letter for contrast.

That’s about it, really… but I really like it! (Am I allowed to say that?)

Stamps: None!
Cardstock: Real Red, Old Olive
Paper: Dashing
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Real Red, 5/8” Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, On Board Chipboard – Lots of Letters, Blossoms & Basics.

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

The long-awaited Altoid tin tutorial

These little tins are great for altering. You can recycle old mint tins – I think Marks & Spencer and Asda sell them in the same size. Plain ones are hard to find in this country but I’m working on it!

Of course, you don’t have to find exactly the same tins – any will do. You can get smaller tins of mints in Aldi if you don’t mind working on something fiddly.

I was lucky enough to be given some plain tins by my Canadian cousin, so I’m using this plain aluminium one for this project. You can see a mint tin in the picture, too – I’m gradually scrounging these off a mint-chomping colleague who visits the States fairly frequently.

For this project you will need:
(all measurements apply to Altoid-type tins)

1. A tin for altering
2. Piece of cardstock measuring slightly larger than the top of the tin, or exactly 6cm x 9.5cm if you have a steady hand.
3. Piece of Designer Series Paper measuring 5.5cm x 9cm
4. Short length of ribbon
5. Corner rounder
6. Glue – I used Mod Podge matt finish, but ordinary PVA should be fine

7. Glue spreader or foam brush
8. Scissors
8. Stamps, ink, ribbon and scraps of cardstock to decorate

Start by spreading your glue all over the top of the tin. I use these foam brushes – I actually prefer the smaller ones which you can buy in Wilko for about 20p (in the decorating section) but couldn’t lay my hands on one.

Lay your gluey tin upside-down on to the cardstock and press firmly. Smooth it all over to make sure it’s secure. If you’ve used an oversized piece you can now simply trim off the excess carefully using scissors.

You now have a plain covered tin. Boring! So decorate it!

I decorated mine using some Designer Series paper. I cut this slightly smaller than the top of the tin and rounded the corners using the corner rounder.

To finish off, I embellished the top with gingham ribbon and the Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set. I used the I used the two largest circle punches from the Stampin’ Up!® catalogue – 1¼” and 1 3/8”.  

Now then, what to put inside your tin? Well you could put some mints in it! Or any small gift. But for this tine I made a set of five small gift co-ordinating gift cards. Each one was made from a piece of 8cm x 5cm cardstock, scored down the centre.

Here’s another tin I covered – this time in cheerful Real Red. This tin is a recycled mint tin which had a red edge to the lid. But it was slightly scratched around the top edge, so I used Sticky Strip to attach red gingham ribbon around the rim, joining it at the back.

So go hunt down some mint tins and get altering!

All products by Stampin' Up! apart from Mod Podge and tin. Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.