LESSology Challenge #29: Creative inspiration of Sandi Taloumis

We are so happy to have guest designer Sandi Taloumis join us in our birthday celebrations. Let's see what she created for LESSology Challenge #29: Birthday Party! :)

How exciting ...LESSology turning two! Yippee! This is a time to celebrate! 

In keeping with what Lessology is all about, I decided to celebrate with an ordinary paper towel roll, and then I threw in a lemon packaging bag, bits from a Prima flower pkg., and an old check for good measure....like the pinch for good luck...lol!

First I cut the paper towel roll down a tad, painted it white, and then I wrapped tissue around it and tied both ends. A small gift could be inserted and removed by untying one side. 

Next, I simply added small embellies and my repurposed items and voila, I have my party gift package, ready to celebrate Lessology's two amazing years of up-cycling! 

Come join in the fun....take that ordinary, and make it extraordinary!

LESSology Challenge #18: Creative inspiration from Heather Jacob, Sandi Taloumis, Lalo Ik and Mitra Pratt....and a giveaway!

We were lucky to have had so many talented guest designers inspire us with their awesome projects in LESSology's first year. And some of them were generous enough to share their inspiration with us once again. Please join us in welcoming Heather Jacob, Sandi Taloumis, Lalo Ik and Mitra Pratt as they share their gift-wrapping ideas for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! :)

Creating tags is a fave of mine and I love the idea of creating with recycled items so I decided to create an embellished tag to go with the gift. It can be recycled as well...ready to hang in a scraproom or study.

1. Cover the chipboard with sheet music, gather the lace, using double-sided  tape.

        2. Place this at the bottom of the tag.

        3. Border punch the strip of Tim Holtz paper and overlap above the lace.

        4. Add the German scrapware.

        5. Ink the flourish heart and glue to tag.

        6. Cover the heart with old text paper from a book, ink and stamp.

        7. Add the floweres and lastly tie the ribbon through the holes ready to hang.

       

The minute I was asked to do this project, I thought I would do a Christmas gift because of my love for the Christmas spirit and all that goes with it. I love putting all kind of decorated gifts under the tree, so this one gives me a head start...yeah! When I think of Christmas, I am brought back to my childhood and my love for the simple homemade retro/vintage style of gift wrapping and related decor. This is what I tried to capture here...a simple gift with the look of vintage by using a recycled shopping bag and string and then prettying it up with a fun vintage tag.

Have you been trend spotting?  Berries are everywhere in scrapbooking.  I've seen several companies rolling out the berry stamps and papers.  Even berry containers are hot in the papercraft world.  You can even get a berry container die-cut.  Love this trend but love it even more when you don't have to buy new supplies.  I'm talking about up-cycling the containers that hold your berries when you buy them in the store.  Now every summer my family looks forward to having yummy berries to chop on.  My kids just love all types and I buy them in bulk every year.  The plastic containers that hold them come in all shapes and sizes.  They also all have lids and are very durable.  Here are three totally different shaped berry containers all jazzed up and ready for a gift.

My favorite type of wrapping is something that can be reused for another purpose. I designed this box to hold a nice present for Christmas, yet be something that can be reused. I stuck with Christmas colors  that were subtle enough to be paired up with other items for year round use. Tying a tag on the handle of this box can make it appear Christmas like at the time, yet allow it to be repurposed! Many items for this box were reused! Total cost was under $10.

There you have it! One week of awesome gift-wrapping inspiration. 14 amazing projects to help you get those gifts wrapped for the holiday season. Have you enjoyed the visual feast? Are you inspired to join in the fun? We would love for you to play along with LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! 

And now for our fabulous giveaway....as a "thank you" for your support for the past year, we have put together the LESSology First Anniversary - It's a Wrap! Ebook just for you. It contains all 14 of these fantastic projects, with complete supply lists and links to all 14 contributors. You may choose to view it online OR download it to refer to at your own leisure. Here is the link to the LESSology First Anniversary E-book. Enjoy!

Please leave a little love for our awesome designers!:)

LESSology Challenge #7 Guest Designer: Sandi Taloumis

Our guest for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail is Sandi Taloumis.

Thank you so much for this wonderful invite...such a honor! I had a lot of fun and I'm so pleased that I could be a part of your very talented DT's showcase!

For this challenge I decided to take a Priority mailing box, that I received in the mail, and pretty it up to send it back out as a gift to my sister at Christmas time.

I took the box, painted it with a sand color paint then when that was dry, I put on a thin coat of modeling paste, so that the scene would be pressed into it, so that when I mailed it nothing would be torn off the package. I then glazed over the entire scene with mod podge to seal everything. (please note, I left the back and left/right sides in it's original form for mailing purposes. The front and top/bottom side is painted).

Since I'm sending the box, I needed to put something in it so I created a mail holder. I thought that this would be a pretty way to store received mail until you're ready to go through it. Once again, I took another priority box, that I had received in the mail, opened it up and then cut it into the shape and length that could hold mail. Then I added some paint, sewed it, decorated it, put a button on the front for a closure, and added ribbon to hang it. Inside is something special...I took a birthday card that she sent to me, with a kitty on it, cut it and sewed it to the holder...she will love this because she's such a cat lover and it's a form of sharing an image that we both love!

Thank you once again LESSology for this wonderful invite! I can't wait to see what everyone creates for this fun challenge!

Isn't this a fabulous creation? Thank you for sharing Sandi! Please leave a comment for Sandi.

Hope you are inspired to play along with LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! The deadline for all entries is Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.