Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop Day 2


WooHoo! It's Day 2 of the Kickin' Off Christmas Blog Hop. Hope you are enjoying all of the fabulous projects using products from Chomas Creations mini gel pen and marker holders and the fab embossing tip, iCopic and SP&Company Stamp line and be sure to comment on each and every post to increase your chances of winning the prizes along the way. If you've arrived from Amber's Blog you're on the right track. If not, you might was to start at the beginning to hear about the special giveaway on Amy's Blog and the fabulous Black Friday prices on all of her wonderful merchandise. Hurry though, the prices are only good through 11:59 pm EST tonight!

For my project today I've created custom gift wrap using the mini gel pen holder and Cricut Design Studio. I have to admit, I really had no idea the time it would actually take to fill a 12x12 page using the words Merry Christmas (from Plantin Schoolbook roly poly font) but once I got started, I was determined to finish.

I typed each word separately because in the end, I wanted Merry in one color and Christmas in another. That required 3 full pages in Design Studio and tons of cutting and pasting. This first shot from Design Studio is the entire 12x12 mat filled with Merry Christmas.


Then, in order to have Merry in Red, and Christmas in green, I had to cut and paste all of the Merrys onto one page and the Christmas' to another. I did hide the contours of the letters that were off the margins when I finally began drawing to make sure the glue on the mat didn't gum up my pens. First I loaded the mini gel pen with the red and clicked "cut" to draw the Merry page. Then removed the holder and changed the pen to green (very carefully so as not to drop it on my paper) and drew again on the Christmas page. I really thought the paper came out cool, but did not anticipate how long it would actually take to do the full page. Let's just say you might plan to eat breakfast, exercise, shower, do your hair, etc. instead of just waiting around for the Cricut because I forgot that Design Studio has a mind of it's own when it comes to speed. It takes it's own sweet time. Not necessarily practical, but if the wrap were customized with a person's name? Pretty darn cool.

For the tag I used the Embossing tip and 10 Seconds Studio metal. I taped the red side down on the embossing mat and embossed the jingle bell from the Christmas Solutions cartridge. Then I sanded the embossing to show the silver underneath and cut the bell out with my scissors. I used the blackout version of the same cut (because the shadow cut out the bottom of the bell) and sized it larger for the back of the tag.
Then I used the Mini gel pens and holder to write the To: and From: on the back. (Again 3 mats in Design Studio or your gypsy). One for cutting, and one for each word because I wanted one red and one green.) The embossed metal easily attaches to card stock with Scor-tape. Please scroll down to Day one if you're interested in a link to a tutorial about using the gel pens (Mine is actually with Cricut markers, but they work the same way) And also the entire list of hoppers in case you get lost. Rough day today, and I'm honestly too tired to type it all in and link it again, but if you're following the hop, your next stop is iCopic. Thanks so much for visiting and for your sweet comments. Happy Thanksgiving to you ALL! xxD

58 comments:

  1. Wow, just awesome, I so like this idea. Thank You

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  2. fantastic and it would look amazing with the personalisation like you said, the tag is brilliant looking x

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  3. Hi Donna,
    This wrapping is fabulous. There is obviously a lot of work involved in this. Really classy.
    Hugs,
    Fiona x

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  4. LOL Donna you crack me up! But you are so right about Design Studio, sometimes it is sooo slow! Your paper is soooo cute, and what a great idea! Love the bell tag to, isn't that Ten Second Studios metal awesome? I love the look you get! Thanks for being part of the hop! Amy

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  5. You are a genius!!
    So going to try this one!
    Maria

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  6. This is so cute. It really is work of art.
    stuff@gt.r.com
    http://cricutmimi.blogspot.com

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  7. I love that bell tag!
    ra6352 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  8. Wow! So much work but it came out beautifully!

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  9. OOOOHHHH, anybody would love to get a present this great. Thank you for the tips.
    Cherylann (prinkles)
    prinkles@woh.rr.com

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  10. Wow, you would hate to have to open the package, great job.

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  11. Love this, your bell is super cute. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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  12. Yeah! I love this idea!!! Cute, cute.

    xx Susan

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  13. Donna, you stuff is always so awesome, and this is no different! The bell is the perfect accent to your little package. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. It may have taken you all day, but it was well worth it. This is just awesome my friend... but you lost me somewhere in the directions.. probably because my head is still spinning from you slapping me. lol
    Have a SUPER Thanksgiving hugs

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  15. Wow Donna this is amazing!! i can't beleive the work that went into this..but it's such a great idea!! Your projects always amaze me! :)

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  16. What an amazing job and so much patience to do this! Love it!

    jtg0398 at sbcglobal dot net

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  17. That is such a cool idea to personalize your wrapping with pens. TFS

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  18. Ewww weeee, girl! You have patience! This is absolutely lovely! Great idea!

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  19. Donna,
    What a wonderful idea. Anyone would love paper with there name on it. The tag is adorable, too.
    JoAnn

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  20. I love the idea of making my own personalized giftwrap.

    thanks for sharing your ideas.
    patriciagrier@netscape.net

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  21. That paper is certainly a labor of love!

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  22. That turned out great. :) What a neat idea.
    Susie

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  23. I love the wrapping paper. I hope the recepient appreciates the time it took!
    simplybren at hotmail dot com

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  24. Great idea and you're right about time consuming. But then we wouldn't have time to think up new ideas if the process was quick!

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  25. OHHH WOW Donna how fantastic is this, it must have took you an age to create but beautifull.
    Hugs Linda

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  26. Oh, Donna, it looks beautiful!!!

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, sweetie!

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  27. Love the idea!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  28. Your gift wrap is gorgeous.... it turned out fantastic!

    Thank you so much for sharing!!!

    ~Ola
    okj83 at live dot com

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  29. Awesome! A lot of work but well worth it in the end. Looks amazing!

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  30. Wow this is so cool, well worth the time it took. ~Diane

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  31. that is so cool. It would be special with someones name.
    Annel
    http://annelsblog.blogspot.com/
    pud22164@yahoo.com

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  32. OMGoodness! This is genius!

    Melissa
    www.disneydreamerdesigns.blogspot.com

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  33. I really like the paper and the tag. I know how long it can take, but it is well worth it in the end. You did a great job!

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  34. Wow That took alot of time I am Sure!!!! But Thanks for the chance!!
    ilovetonkinese2athotmaildotcom
    http://ibecircled.blogspot.com
    Rexann the outcome was well worth it I bet and by the looks of it!! TFS!!!

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  35. Fantastic work and idea for a personalized package!!! TFS Donna
    Gaby
    gabycreates.com

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  36. It just makes a gift really special! Great job it shows you care!

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  37. It was well worth the effort you put into designing that paper. Looks FABULOUS!!!!

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  38. Love it! I must say, you must have the patience of a saint to do this!
    Cheers
    Sharon

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  39. well worth the time you took to do this... very beautiful!

    Lisa
    lamerlisa@hotmail.com
    http://www.lisakelly110803.blogspot.com/

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  40. Cute tag! Happy Thanksgiving! Now on to Christmas.

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  41. Beautiful...Just adorable!!!
    Thanks for the chance to win.
    annadowdy at gmail dot com

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  42. Wowser D! I guess I will never be making my own wrapping paper, 3 hours is a lot of time. Glad you had the patience for it, it came out just awesome! Glad you were able to salvage your lasagna. Happy Thanksgiving in case we don't get to chat.

    Hugz, xx

    ~L~

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  43. Wow! I just love your Tiddly Inks Christmas card, Tinkerbell card & Christmas wrapping paper. Thanks so much for sharing your creations.

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  44. This is a great way to may your own paper. I laughed with you about the speed of DS, I have waited a long time for things to get done too. Thank you for sharing all of your great projects.

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  45. wow, and Happy Thanksgiving. Hugs

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  46. Wow! You must have the patience of a saint! I don't think I could sit there and paste all of that back and forth in my gypsy. But is sure is really cool! Filing that idea away. :) TFS!

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  47. Patient...determined and totally utterly fantastically creative. You rock. Happy Thanksgiving, girl.
    Hugs
    Carole

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  48. sounds like a lot of work but a wonderful outcome. Great job.

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  49. OMG...how awesome is this! What a fabulous idea...who would have ever thought to use your Cricut for gift wrap. You are so creative! Love the bell tag!

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  50. WOW! Great job this totally blew me away! What a great idea! I love the bell.

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  51. Love your paper and the jingle bell is fabulous! What patience you have! I will def gae to try these pens! Love this project somuch Donna!
    Hugs
    Juliexx

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Thanks for making my day!