Secret Santa « Nicole Stalker

Secret Santa Part 4

Well this is my last post for Secret Santa and I’ll be sharing what I made and bought to give to Marelle.

First up is the initial presentation. The Gift Bag.

I’ve decorated a standard white paper bag using some Cherry Cobbler Cardstock and Jolly Holiday DSP on both sides of the bag. I’ve then cut out ‘Merry Christmas Marelle’ using some Jolly Holiday DSP, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Die and of course my Big Shot which appears on the front along with a line of Basic Jewel – Rhinestones. All girls love bling! Don’t they??

What’s inside the bag??

Lots of goodies.

First item out of the bag is a slider which contained one of Marelle’s favourite sweets – Peanut Brittle. It’s actually one of mine too although I was good and only purchased some for Marelle.

Next item out of the bag was this.

I’ve been seeing a lot of these Star boxes around the blogging world lately and thought it would make a lovely addition to my gifts for Marelle. The box is one of Lauren Meaders wonderful tutorial creations.

What’s inside?

Another of Marelle’s favourite sweets – Toffees. Well I hope they are okay as Marelle did say ‘hard’ toffees and these are English Toffees and aren’t exactly hard.

The third item out of the bag was these little hexagonal boxes which are a tutorial from DigiChick.

Inside these boxes was my Stampin’ Up product purchases.

One contains a pack of Brights Brads and the other a pack of Brights Buttons.

And the final gift in the bag was……

One of my Tissue Box covers. I was thrilled with how this one turned out. The colours are just gorgeous and better still Marelle loved it too.

I was asked by numerous fellow team members if I have a tutorial for my Tissue Box Covers and the answer at the moment is NO but I do have intentions of doing one up. I’m not sure if it will be before Christmas though as I have more end of school things on this week, plus a holiday before Christmas, but you never know I might get enough spare time to get it done and share with you all. When it’s done it will appear in my sidebar with the other tutorials so just keep watch. I’ll also post a brief message to let you know it’s ready for those that regularly visit or follow.

One last photo of all the items together.

Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my gifts for Marelle.

Till next time….

Secret Santa Part 3

Now to share the items I made for my partner who was none other than our fabulous Team Leader, Marelle Taylor.

Here is the card I sent her earlier in the week.

Actually to tell you the truth this isn’t her card but one very similar. I went and popped hers into the Post Box only to realise that I didn’t take a picture beforehand so came home and whipped up another while I remembered what it was like……lol

I decorated the inside too with some of that gorgeous Cherry Cobbler paper from the Jolly Holiday DSP pack.

Decorating the inside just makes the card that much nicer and of course ties it all together.

Tomorrow I’ll share the gifts Marelle received at our Team dinner.

Till then…..

Secret Santa Part 2

If you popped by yesterday you would have read that we had our Team Christmas Dinner on Friday night and received our Secret Santa Gifts. Yesterday I shared my card I had received and today I’ll be sharing all the wonderful gifts that my Secret Santa, Michelle Marchant, made and presented to me.

This is how I received it.

and inside was this.

Now for a closer look at each and what’s inside…..

A vellum Fancy Favour Box stamped with that gorgeous Snow Swirled stamp set again, which has a little light inside.

And this is the boxes opened.

Inside the boxes is a sample of the 1/8” Taffeta ribbon, some Paper Daisies, Clip Assortment pack and some divine Lindt Chocolates. Did you notice the ribbon wreath on top of the larger box. How nice is that??

Thank you so much Michelle for you gorgeous gift.

Tomorrow I’ll start sharing the cards and items I made for my partner.

Till then…..

Secret Santa Part 1

I can finally come on and share some things with you. I’ve decided to split them over a few days posts so hopefully I’ll have some more to show you by then.

Each year at our Stampin’ Up team have a Christmas Dinner and we also run a Secret Santa swap. The swap involves creating a gift for your partner, which includes some Stampin’ Up product, and also to send them a card prior to the evening.

I’m just going to share the lovely card that my Secret Santa sent to me today and this is it.

There are so many things about this card that I love.

The use of Satin Ribbon is a big one. I just love this ribbon but for those that visit my blog regularly you might have guessed that already.

The Scallop Trim border punch. This punch is just that bit more delicate looking than the Scallop Edge Punch.

The Jolly Holiday DSP. Now who doesn’t love this. The colour combination of Cherry Cobber (or should I say Kerry Cobbler – little joke from last night….lol), Old Olive and Very Vanilla is just gorgeous together and add some Crumb Cake to the mix and well what more can I say.

Lastly, but by no means the least is the use of the Snow Swirled stamp set with some Basic Jewel Rhinestones just tops the whole card off.

Now I loved this card so much I ended up CASING it, with just a little adaption/omission, for my last Christmas Stamp-A-Stack for the year as well as for a good percentage of my personal Christmas Cards.

Here is my adapted version.

I’ve omitted the bow as I thought that would be too fiddly for bulk production and in it’s place I’ve added a few more stamped images. This version is so quick to put together once you have everything cut and punched.

I’ve also decorated the inside of the card like my Secret Santa had.

Thank you again Secret Santa (I’ll name her in my next post) for your lovely card and inspiration.

Till next time….

Secret Santa gifts received

Unfortunately I can’t show you everything my Secret Santa Kirrily Matthews gave me as one of the items I’ve already opened so I could show them at my launch. This item was a pack of the Sweet Treat Cups that are in the new Summer Mini Catalogue. These were wrapped in some lovely Ski Slope DSP (now retired) and some of the gorgeous Real Red Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon available in the Summer Mini.

Kirrily had made me this wonderful ornament using a Sweet Treat Cup. I loved this idea as it shows how versatile they are and that they don’t have to be used with the Sweet Something’s stamp set if you don’t wish to. Inside the Sweet Treat Cup is some of the gorgeous new buttons also available in the Summer Mini.

This little packaged contained some of the gorgeous Real Red Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon I mentioned. That’s a small sample on top under the heart.

Using some more of the Ski Slopes DSP Kirrily has made me this wonderful star ornament which is now hanging from my craft room ceiling. Kirrily assures me it’s quite easy to make but I’ve run out of time now to make some more. Maybe something to think about for next year.

Thank you so much for my wonderful gifts Kirrily. They are just fabulous.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year