One of my favorite parts about our company is the wide variety of styles we are able to incorporate into our product line because of the diversity of our stamp designers. We have noticed that each of them seems to gradually build a following, a group of stampers that really connect with their individual style. To embrace this diversity, we thought it would be fun to challenge all of the designers to create a few holiday tags, all coordinating with the super jumbo (blue) scalloped circle punch from Marvy. A few of them took the challenge by the horns, and this stamp set is a testimony to that. Heather Nichols, Lisa Johnson, Melissa Bickford and myself all contributed to one simple stamp set that ranks high in creativity! Just wait until you see how versatile this set is!
I thought I would show you a super simple project today. It is something that I designed for myself to use this year in keeping up with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but it could also be used as a fun pre-holiday gift for someone special. I call it my Tag Tin.
It all starts with one of our Nugget Tins and a template. The nugget tins can be found here, and the template can be downloaded here:
Download tag_tin_insert_template.pdf
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As you can see, it is VERY simple. The only challenge for me was all the measuring & tweaking, which I have already done for you!!! You'll love how easy this comes together!
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First you want to cut the two pieces out along the solid lines. The large piece is marked to have all four corners rounded using a corner rounder punch. The small piece only has the two upper corners rounded. After cutting & punching is complete, scoring rounds out the prep work.
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You will notice that each piece has three score lines. You want to keep the printed side down of your templates (so it doesn't show on your final project) and create a valley fold, mountain fold and another valley fold. Stamper's Select white cardstock is the best weight for a project of this nature.
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You want to run a piece of double sided tape down the inside of the mountain fold and adhere the two sides together to form a a sturdy divider. The large piece gets inserted into the tin and covers the entire interior bottom. The second smaller piece is inserted in the upper half of the space that the first divider created. The *walls* of this divider are perfectly measured to fit just under the lip of the tin, making adhesive unecessary. So you might feel a bit forceful when trying to put it in, but it will fit perfectly once you are past the lip!
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The finished divider changes the space within the tin into a trio of seperate areas, just waiting to be filled!
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I used the new tag set to make a few tags to fill my tag kit. Most of them were stamped directly onto white cardstock and punched out with the scalloped punch. Others were layered for a more detailed look. The font combination you see here is one of my all-time favorites.
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I also made a batch of labels by using this stamp set with our white label sheets. These label sheets measure 8.5 x 11 so you can stamp the same image a bunch of times and then punch them out with the coordinating scalloped circle punch. It seems like every year I resort to buying those tacky peel & stick to-from labels.This solution takes all of 5 minutes, not to mention looks better too!
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The filled tin looks a bit like this. I love how everything has a place. The ribbon was really easy to coral. I cut a wooden dowel rod (about the same diameter as a pencil) to 5-inches long and ran a piece of double stick tape down the side of it. This allowed me to add one ribbon at a time, wrapping a yard or more of each type that coordinates with this ensemble. I designed the section at the front of the tin to hold this spool perfectly!
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Along with this kit, my goal is to set up a small station with kraft packaging items, such as wrapping paper, bags and boxes. By just pulling out a few of these pre-made items, I will be able to send wraps out the door that have style, but did not take much of my time. I am really excited about the ease of this process and think it would benefit so many others who usually find themselves stressed during the holiday season. This year I have sworn to get an early start, be organized and stress free. Want to join me?
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If you would like to see THE most adorable edible project in countdown history, be sure to head on over to Lisa's Blog to see what she's been up to.
Melissa has another special project to share using her new set, Merry & Bright Additions.
Heather also has some more peeks in store for you!
Lauren is sharing some more details about one of her new templates.
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Stamps: 2008 Holiday Tags Collection (available October 15th)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado & Black Noir Palette inks
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy and Ripe Avocado
Other: Super Jumbo Scalloped Circle punch, Pure Poppy swiss dot, grosgrain and stitched ribbons; Ripe Avocado satin, twill & stitched ribbons; hemp twine, nugget tin, small kraft coffe bags, label sheets