Lets Get Hopping | Little Stamps

So, who's ready for Christmas? I'm am extremely pleased to say that I'm almost done. Yay!! However, the chaos of this time of year has meant my poor blog has been neglected. 😔 So, I'm very excited to be able to get back into it this week with another Let's Get Hopping blog hop. This months theme is also a perfect way for me to share what I've been creating in my absence. 

Today we are all focusing on using small stamps in our projects. If you are anything like me, quite often the small stamps of a set tend to get forgotten or overlooked, but this challenge inspired me to look at my small stamps differently, and today's project is definitely different.

Three of my four children attend the most amazing school, where all of the staff play a big part in their education and wellbeing, not just their classroom teachers. So each year I like to show our appreciation by giving them a small homemade gift. This year I went with bite sized cookies presented in a decorated Acetate Card Box.

So where is the small stamp I'm meant to be focusing on? I hear you asking. Well take a closer look at the cookies. The little Christmas tree from the Watercolour Wishes stamp set are the perfect size to stamp into the fondant icing on the cookies. 

Who doesn't love it, when you can multipurpose your craft supplies? For those of you who want to have a go at stamping your own cookies, I have a couple of tips to share

• Firstly, make sure your stamps are completely clean and dry. Even the smallest amount of moisture can make your icing sticky and you'll end up with a mess.

• Before stamping your image lightly brush your stamp with a littke cornflour (or cornstarch).

• Finally, only apply moderate pressure when stamping into fondant. You want to press firmly enough to create an impression but not to hard that fondant sticks to the stamp rather than the cookie.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and wish you all a very Merry Christmas filled with family, love and Christmas cheer.

For more inspiration for using your small stamps please click on the next button below and continue on the hop. I can't wait to see what Mikaela has created.

- Tan xx

Merriest Christmas Wishes for GDP #113

Welcome. 

I'm back with another Global Design Project colour challenge project and I have to admit this was my toughest colour challenge so far. The colours for this weeks challenge are

And don't they look great together in this little graphic. 

On a card, however, I really struggled to come up with a design where the colours complimented each other. Finally, after many attempts, this is the card that I created

I'm loving the trend of embellishing cards with frayed ribbon at the moment. It's a great way to double purpose your ribbons and adds a fun detail to your project. 

My good friend Jennifer Frost gave me the inspiration to build up this section with embellishments in a recent Crafty Carrot Collective tutorial. Unfortunately I'm unable to share her design as it was part of an exclusive, subscribers only, tutorial program  but if you head over to the Crafty Carrot Collective blog you'll find details on how to join in the fun.

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you pop over to the Global Design Project blog to see how other designers have been inspired by this colour challenge

- Tan xx

Merry Little Advent Calendar | Let's Get Hopping blog hop

Welcome to another Let's Get Hopping blog hop. 

This month the amazingly creative, Jennifer Frost, challenged us to upcycle any jar we may have had stashed away, into a beautiful gift jar. Initially, I found the theme a little challenging. I wanted to take advantage of the theme to create a Christmas gift for someone but I was also really keen to do something different and none of my ideas fit the bill.

Then one night I found myself awake at 2.00am and the idea of decorating jars to create an advent calendar suddenly came to me. Our family advent calendar was in serious need of updating and I loved the idea of creating something that can be used year after year but could also easily be redecorated. 

Unfortunately, we didn't have 24 empty jars stashed away in our home so I cheated little and purchased some cheap preserve jars. But this idea would work just as well using a range of different jars that you may have lying around. 

The jars are the perfect size to fit all sorts of items. At the moment the jars are empty but I intend on filling them with a variety of things like treats, decorations for the tree and christmas activities we can do as a family.

I am completely in love with the Merry Little Christmas suite in the Stampin' Up! 2017 Holiday Catalogue. So it's no surprise that I've used both the Merry Little Christmas DSP and Merry Music Specialty DSP in most of the tags. I've added a touch of gold to the colour scheme with metallic doilies, gold foil sheets, glimmer paper and ribbons. And, of course, the Number of Years stamp set and coordinating Large Number framelits are a must when constructing an advent calendar

You may also see in the photo above that I've done some heat embossing over the top of embossing paste on one of the tags (number 9) which was a fun way to add some texture and bling at the same time. 

I've really enjoyed working on this project and I hope I've inspired you to decorate some jars yourself, whether it be for an advent calendar or as a gift for your loved ones this festive season. 

Thanks for stopping by. Next up is Nina McMillian from Nina's Southern Accents,  I can't wait to see what amazing gift jar ideas she has to share with us 

- Tanya xx