Sep 12, 2012

No birthday would be complete without a random giveaway!


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Hello there friends! Hope you have been inspired by the design team projects for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! We did say we would be having some fun activities all month long to celebrate our first birthday. So how about a random giveaway? Yep, design team member Lynnda Hosni is sponsoring this awesome giveaway of two sets of Lawn Fawn stamps! Woohoo!


Lawn Fawn stamps: Fanciful Frames and Say Cheese


For a chance to win these two sets of Lawn Fawn stamps, please

1. Support us by becoming a Follower.
2. Leave a comment telling us why you like to stop by the LESSology blog.

A random winner will be picked at the end of the month! :)



Sep 10, 2012

LESSology Challenge #17: Fun with envelopes winners!


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Hello there friends! We interrupt our first anniversary celebrations to announce our winners for LESSology Challenge #17: Fun with envelopes! :)  Our winner is ....


Check out her cute little doiley envelope! :) Congratulations Jess! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #17: Fun with envelopes.  Please email us so that we can get your RAK out to you! [Please grab your winner badge from the sidebar!]



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And now for our Top 3....




 



Lydia

Congratulations Lizzy, Lalo and Lydia! [Please grab the Top 3 badge from the sidebar!] 

Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #18 It's a Wrap! It ends on Sunday September 30, 11.59pm EST. Please read our challenge rules to ensure eligibility for our prizes. :)


Sep 7, 2012

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

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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! :)


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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.


       







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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.




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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.




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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!:)





Sep 6, 2012

LESSology Challenge #18: Creative inspiration from Amy Tsuruta, Shahrul Niza, Audrey Pettit and Mandy Dodd


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Are you enjoying the gift-wrapping ideas so far for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! ....and working hard on your own projects? Today we get to see even more amazing projects from design team members Amy Tsuruta and Shahrul Niza. And to sweeten the deal, we also have projects from alumni team members Audrey Pettit and Mandy Dodd! :)


Hi All....Amy T here to share my It's a wrap project!

I'm a huge fan of altering tins...combine them with an upcycled Starbucks coffee sleeve and they make wonderful packaging for a gift:


The sleeve, deconstructed, makes for a perfect 'belly band' on the hinged tin:


The exposed corrugated cardboard is a wonderful starting point for any type of embellie!

I loaded it up with Basic Grey's Paper Cottage Collection!


Do you see the inner wrap?  It is actually an upcycled department store bag from Japan!  My mom gave it to me with something she was returning to me...she had it in her stash which came over to my stash:)



Peel back the inner wrap and  BAM....Tea for Two!



I can't wait to see how you're inspired by LESSology Challenge #18: It's a wrap!




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Hello all,
Who wouldn't be excited about making gift boxes and prettying up packages?. Thrilled to come up with some unique gift wrapping ideas, I've been busy searching for old containers to be used for this month's up-cycling project!. Armed with some of my favorite fabric yoyos and paint, I started working :). Here is what I made...


Basically, I primed the round box with black gesso before painting it all with white acrylic paint. Sanded the edges to give it a worn-look. Then I glued on some pretty fabric yoyos around the box and later tied them up with waxed string. The fabric yoyos are practically my 3D gift wrapper!. Lastly, I secured a large silk rose with a brad onto the lid.


This little banner of fabric yoyos tied up with string simply makes me smile.

A silk rose on top. 

Inspiration behind this project is actually those pretty fabric yoyos themselves!. I have always kept them in my stash for a quick embellishment on mini albums. Every now and then, I would make some whenever I found beautiful fabrics. And now, they give a unique 'homemade' feel to my gift wrapping project :). 

Can't wait to see all the creative goodness from you next. Have fun wrapping!

Audrey Pettit 

My daughter recently made a small electronics purchase that came with a nice, sturdy box just perfect for gift giving. 




Although the box had printing on it from the manufacturer, I knew I could cover that with a few coats of gesso. Then it was quick work to add a strip of box-pleated patterned paper trimmed with paper doily to the top and tie it all up with a piece of satin ribbon I had saved from a previous gift box. 




I added a snowflake topper to the bow made from layered die cuts and strips of recycled corrugated cardboard. The topper is super easy to put together, and makes a great removable ornament that your gift recipient can enjoy for years to come.




To make the snowflake, simply cut 4 strips of recycled cardboard to your desired size. My strips are approximately 1/4" x 5", but you can change the size up to make larger or smaller ornaments. Lay the strips in crosses and staple the center to hold all the pieces together. Paint the ornament, if desired, and add touches of crystal clear glitter to each arm. Layer die cuts together using foam adhesive between each layer. Top with a button tied with twine and add the die cuts to the center of the ornament. Add a cardstock sticker banner and tie the ornament to the center of your bow.
Enjoy!

  Mandy Dodd




Do you love tissue paper for wrapping gifts?  I LOVE it, and whatsmore, I’ll recycle it.  (Nothing a hot iron can’t un-crease!) I also LOVE confetti – there’s something about the ‘joy’ it represents!   Confetti almost always accompanies a celebration oozing much happiness.

So thinking, thinking, thinking – how can we work the two together!


Make some confetti with the hole-punch in colours you love, and make the confetti out of the scraps we all have in a box or folder somewhere!

Out with the sewing machine…. 


Fold a full piece of tissue paper together and using zigzag stitch, sew around the edges.  It’s quite striking. Leave a little gap as this is where you will pour the newly made confetti through, then sew the gap up and also sew down the side where the fold is to give it a ‘finished’ look.





Shake the confetti around inside the enclosed tissue paper so it evens out….


Finish off with a little gift card printed from a piece of Lino from an art shop – carved into a line of little Christmas trees. (tutorial for this shown here). 

Ooooh...don't you just love how different and awesome each of these projects are? We would love to see your version of gift-wrapping! Come join us for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! :)

Please leave a little love for these lovely talented ladies! 

P/s: Come back tomorrow for another round of creative inspiration - this time from our guest designers....and a special giveaway! :)


Sep 5, 2012

LESSology Challenge #18: Creative inspiration of Julie Tucker-Wolek and Lynnda Hosni!


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Today we get to see how design team members Julie Tucker-Wolek and Lynnda Hosni gift-wrapped their pressies! :)

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Hi everyone! I just love this concept of creating your own wrapping paper!

I started off with a jewelry box I got from one of those jewelry shows and a vintage dress pattern!



And here is what I turned it into :) 





And I made a little card to go inside :)




Can't wait to see what you create!!
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Hello everyone… 
How time has flies… especially when you are having way too much fun …eh… 
Don’t you agree?

Okay… in conjunction with LESSology one year anniversary…
Challenge #18 ~ it’s a wrap… [So coincidental eh: wink]

Since I dare say, I’m a hoarder junkie now…
You know… those nice little boxes or nice paper bags, you received instead of throwing them …I kept them for “raining day”…
Ahem… since it’s raining today…  I’ve got to use those eh... {{WINK}}

For 1st gift wrap idea…
I used a paper bag I’ve got when I went shopping @kaisercraft
I like the size and the white-ness…
Perfect to turn it to a nice cutie gift bag…. [Good for kids]

 

And here is my 2nd gift wrap idea…
I’ve got this nice & neat box from a wedding I attended…
Since it’s nice and neat… I don’t need much to beautify it…
I used PP to create that faux ribbon…

 

So now it’s your turn….

I’m so excited… I can’t wait to see what everyone creates….


Ahhhh...fabulous gift-wrapping ideas from our girls eh? Have they inspired you to "gift-wrap" something? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #18: It's a Wrap! :)

Please leave a little love for our design team! :)