Happy Tuesday, Unies!
I cannot believe it, but Christmas Eve is only ONE WEEK AWAY! Are you on the Nice List???
I have some inky friends who were good all year, and because I have a huge stash of fun stuff I thought I would create something extra special for a couple of them – a loaded envelope filled with all kinds of crafty goodness!
We have been stuck in the middle of a postal strike here in Canada and alot of the gifts I ordered (including a few Unity orders!) are stuck in limbo – this is a great way to give something to those friends who are waiting patiently for their supplies!
I found a fantastic video or two to help with this project – and they explain how to make not just the envelope to stuff with things – but this fun “off the edge” card I created too!
First, let’s get to this fun loaded envelope – I think this is a great way to use up all of your 12×12 patterned paper AND I incorporated a few scraps of paper from Unity’s Minty Christmas paper pack.
Watch the video I used from Diane Evans HERE.
I love that you don’t need scissors to create this AND you can add scraps to dress it up!
There are so many ways to embellish it as well – I used some simple ornament chipboard ephemera I had in my stash, and Unity’s Greetings of the Season die set.
The BEST part of this was loading it to the brim with a few fun things including embellishments, a Mica spray, some Unity ephemera and tags… and Unity itty bitty stamps! It is PACKED with things to create with!
There are so many things you can add to this envelope but I wanted to make a couple additions, including a desk calendar-card for my buddy to use all year long!
I inked up Unity’s Winter Awaits stamp set with some Granny Apple Green ink and “kissed it” by tapping another ink from SU called Shaded Spruce in little spots… then I lightly spritzed it with water and stamped on watercolor paper. I used an aqua painter to add a little Stormy Sky distress ink and splatter and then I heat set the layer before adding the sentiment with Stazon ink. I then added a piece of adhesive foam cut to size on the back of this panel and mounted it on an A2 card base. The tear-off calendar (Taylored Expressions) is attached with two-way tape. Once the year is done, if she would like to keep the card, we can always add another calendar 🙂
I had another idea to add a card that was “peeking out” from one of the front pockets – and I had my eye on another video, this time by none other than Jennifer Maguire! This “off the edge” technique using a die and coordinating stamp was going to work perfectly! Would you like to watch her video? Check it out HERE!
I wanted my crafty friend to have a giggle with this gift and she loves Unity’s Grumpy Bird Club stamp set – so it was the perfect choice – especially because it has a coordinating die that works like a charm! Any of Unity’s new stamps and coordinating dies would work wonderfully for a card using this technique.
This fun little card also includes the sentiment from the Dear Santa stamp set (discontinued) – another giggle for her as waiting for the postal service to resume has been a running joke this season when it came to mailing gifts and cards!
I had so much fun choosing all the goodies to load into this pocket envelope and I can say I shopped my stash as I had SO many duplicate stamps and bits of ephemera that I included – from the holiday strips to Unity paper I cut down to fit.
This gift was fun to make!
It’s my final Blog post for Unity and I had a blast this year designing cards and projects! I hope the holiday season is good to you and the next year is filled with all good things!
Peace, Love n Ink
Amber
