Beary Christmas Projects

 

Happy November Friends!  Even though fall is my favorite season, I want to share some Christmas projects with you today.  I've been wanting to share these projects for a couple of months now, but life has been SO busy!

In September, I hosted a Beary Christmas craft retreat where we made six beary cute projects with the new Beary Cute bundle!

I shared how to make the following fun-fold card and two of the table gifts on a Facebook Live.  You can CLICK HERE to watch the video on how to make this card.  I also show how best to cut the DSP with these images to maximize use for other cards as well. 

Fun Fold Card Measurements (in inches):

• Night of Navy card base: 5-1/2 x 8-1/2, score at 4-1/4
• DSP (speckled navy): 4 x 5-1/4
• Basic White: 5-1/4 x 8; with 8" side at the tope, score at 4" and 6"
• DSP (balmy blue with stars): 2 x 5-1/4
• DSP (baby bear): Use Stylish Shapes Dies to die-cut a circle with the baby bear image on it
• Basic White: Die-cut a circle (I used retired Layering Circle Dies)
• DSP (sleeping bears): 6" wide.  After di-cutting the baby bear, fussy cut the sleeping bears image along the top, keeping it 6" wide

Be sure to watch the video for tips on how to put this together.

These are some of the other make & takes we made at the retreat:

A simple card where the DSP does most of the work!

This is a pouch to hold a 3 x 3 pack of Highland brand sticky notes.  
I forgot to take a picture of the inside!

This card was a labor of love with all the fussy cutting
and embossing, but I love how it turned out!

I cased the next two cards from Helen Read at All Things Stampy.

Those are the six projects we made.  If you would like the PDF and video tutorials for making all six projects, you can purchase it with the button below for $15.

My guests also received some adorable bear-themed table gifts. I showed how to make the first two gifts in the video linked above. 

First, the classic Hershey Nugget Tray (shown in the video at 23:38 minute mark):

The greeting on the brown bear version is from a retired set.

The greeting on the back is from Festive & Fun set.

Hershey Nugget Tray Measurements (in inches):

• Night of Navy (for tray): 2-3/8 x 4-1/4, score at 1/2 and 1-7/8 (or 1/2" in from each side)
• DSP strips (to go around nuggets): 1 x 3
• Night of Navy (for topper): 2-1/4 x 4-1/2, score at 2-1/4
• DSP (on topper): 2 x 2

Next I made little booklet to gift some Extra gum, Polar Ice flavor of course!  You can find me making this in the video at the 34:09 mark.

The greeting on the front is from So Very Merry stamp set.
The greeting on the inside is from Festive & Fun.

Extra Gum Booklet Measurements (in inches):

• Night of Navy: 3-1/4 x 5-1/2, score at 2-1/2 and 3
• DSP (front and inside): 2-1/2 x 5
• Greeting circle was cut with Deckled Circle Dies, inside rectangle was cut with Deckled Rectangle Dies

This final gift was not handmade by me.  I purchased these little snowflake and bear soaps on Etsy.

I hope you found some ideas in this post to inspire your creativity!  Have a Beary Merry Christmas!

Before I go, I must share the news about the Sail-Away Stampers crafting cruise I'm co-hosting with my friend, Cindy Lake.  Click on the image below to read all about it!

Please use the following host code on your November orders: PH9K94F2. When your order is over $50, you will receive a free gift from me!

Happy Stamping!

Marsha

Product List

Beary Cute Bundle (English) [162023] $42.25	Beary Christmas 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [162015] $12.50	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [147110] $9.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] $30.00
White 3/8'' (1 Cm) Glittered Organdy Ribbon [156408] $8.50	Layering Circles Dies [151770] $35.00	Adhesive Backed Glitter Sequins [162029] $8.00	Deckled Circles Dies [162286] $37.00
Deckled Rectangles Dies [159173] $30.00	Festive & Fun Cling Stamp Set (English) [162078] $26.00	So Very Merry Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [162345] $24.00	Silver & White 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Sheer Ribbon [162149] $9.00

Retreat Make & Takes, Table Gifts, and other photos!

 

I recently hosted a 4-day craft retreat with these lovely ladies at the Best Western Hotel in Leesburg, VA.  The ladies had plenty of time to work on their own projects--card making, scrapbooking, sewing, etc.--but we also had six make & takes, catered dinners, and fun times with Bingo and even dancing!  There were display tables and stations where the attendees could borrow stamps, dies, and punches.  Each morning, there was a little gift waiting for them at their spot.

I found many of the ideas for my make & takes online, in which case I will share the links below.  I also typed up a PDF with photos and measurements for my guests and made "how to put together" videos for the make & takes (not the table gifts).  If you would like to receive this PDF and the video tutorials via email, you can purchase it below for $10.

On Friday we had a birthday theme.  We made the following projects:

I found the video tutorial for the cute box by In the Pink Designs. We put Hostess cupcakes inside for a sweet little birthday treat.  We used the Circle Sayings bundle and Bright & Beautiful DSP.

For the Daisy bay window card, you can find the measurements and link to my Facebook live video on my blog HERE.  We used the Cheerful Daisies bundle and Countryside Inn DSP.

Our next project was a card with a pocket inside for a gift card. We used the Bright & Beautiful DSP again along with the Beautiful Balloons bundle.

On Saturday, we had a Christmas in July theme. We made these three projects:

We made two cards with the One Horse Open Sleigh DSP, which is an online exclusive product.  I learned the 3-panel Z-fold card pattern from Rachel Tessman.

This next card was inspired by a card I saw made by Tami White.  I just changed it slightly to make less cardstock pieces for me to cut!

Our final project used the retired Gnome dies.  I learned how to make this notebook holder from Schell Fabian.  The inspiration for the front came from a tag I saw by Tami Hewlett.

That's the end of the make & takes!  They were a big hit!  Next, I'll share what I made for table gifts/party favors for my guests:

These scissor/paper snip pouches were inspired by a smaller version I saw by Lillian Kemp using the Mini Pocket Envelope dies.  I didn't have those dies, and I wanted a bigger version, so I made my own version.  It was very simple to make.  You can see my quick YouTube tutorial HERE.

That project gave me some left-over 1" x 6" strips of the Glorious Gingham Designer paper.  I put two strips together and wrapped them around a pack of dimensionals.  I decorated it with elements from the Crafting for You bundle:

The idea for these cute candy pouches came from Laura Mellinger.  You use a clear envelope (sold by SU), put the candy in, and fold the top down and adhere on the backside, leaving space at the top for the topper.  The topper is 4-1/2 x 3, scored at 1-1/2

The final gift was a small handmade gift bag (made from retired DSP) filled with a glue eraser and Utah Mint Truffles (super delicious!).  You can find instructions HERE.

Well, that's a lot of photos for one post, but since I'm terrible about posting, I thought I better "dump" them all now! :)

Putting on a retreat is an immense amount of work, but it certainly brings me joy when all the guests are there and we are having a wonderful time together.  The next one will be January 25-28th, 2024.  Save the date and come join us!