More is More

WooHoo!  I have internet back!  I spent two days sequestered in my bedroom with Tessa while the interior of our house got painted a yummy golden color called Warm Cocoon.  The painters had originally told me to plan for 3 days, but they finished in 2 and it looks wonderful.  It’s exactly the color I’ve been dreaming of for several years.  We had one wall done in a darker gold called Sahara Shade as an accent and all the wood trim (doors, windows, base boards, etc.) are a creamy almost-white color.  They also painted the white trim in the kitchen to finish off my beautiful red walls.  And heck while they were here, might as well paint our one and only bathroom too! I am beyond excited!  The house will remain in disarray until the carpet is installed on Friday.  Then we can get to work on getting things put away and back to normal…something I have a feeling will turn into quite a long process knowing us, especially since I want to re-evaluate all of our decorative items and somewhat start from scratch.

I am so glad the painting got done so I could get access to the computer and play in today’s super fun Taylored Expressions Christmas in July Blog Hop.  The TE store has Christmas stamp sets on sale for 20% off for the next 10 days plus Taylor is debuting a brand new product!  I am super super excited to be in on this product introduction as it’s something I’ve been dying to get my hands on ever since it’s conception.  I love to make sets of cards to give as gifts and I’m always looking for just the perfect packaging to give them in.  Finally here it is!  The TE Perfect Package in A2 card size!!  I hope you are already familiar with the TE Perfect Packages in Small Square and Large Square sizes which Taylor introduced a few months ago.  The new A2 size has all of the fabulous features of those boxes, but is sized perfectly for sets of 4.25″ x 5.5″ cards and envelopes!  In case you are not already familiar with Perfect Packages here are some of the features you should know about

• made from a very sturdy thicker-than-chipboard material with a wonderful white matte finish
• fold flat for storage
• no assemby required – just a couple of simple folds to go from flat to box and just tug on the ribbon tab to go back to flat again
• magnetc flap closure
• super easy to decorate with a variety of methods such as designer paper, paint, stamping, etc.

We were challenged to create a set of cards and a decorated Perfect Package OR a Christmas gift that somehow incorporates the Perfect Package.  I had been dying to play with the Cupcake Key Ingredients so I decided to make set of super simple cupcake cards that any one of my sweet friends would appreciate as a Christmas gift.   Click this thumbnail to see the entire set.  I had so much FUN with this!  Of course you know me – even simple cards take me quite awhile to design, but this set could be reproduced very quickly – I’m thinking maybe even in under an hour.  I made 6 cards and kept them pretty much flat so they won’t need extra postage to send them.  The Perfect Package could have easily accomodated 10 cards like this, or perhaps 6 heavily embellished cards.  I used the TE Whimsical Wishes stamp set For the Love of Cupcakes for these cards, but you could also use any of the Key Ingredients even without any stamps (oops, did I say that out loud??). For the lid of the box I used the JustRite set Homemade Treats.

Something really cool that I discovered was that the 6×6 designer papers in the KI kits are perfect for decorating the top and inside lid of these boxes.  I hope you can see what I mean in the photos above and below.

I have a little confession to make…I couldn’t wait till Christmas and I already gave this set to a dear friend for her birthday and she LOVED it!!  *grin*  But I know I’ll be making lots more of these before Christmas!

There are lots more creations to see for TE Christmas in July – let’s go check out what the other players have for us today:

And of course Taylor Van Bruggen (former California Girl recently back to her Iowa roots) will have an adorable sample, but that’s not all!  Taylor also has a little prize give-away so be sure to head over to her blog and register right away!

If you are a cardmaker, you NEED some of these boxes…SERIOUSLY!  All three sizes of Perfect Packages make great gift boxes as well as storage for all kinds of things.  The fact that they store flat make them perfect buy ahead and have at the ready when you need to wrap a gift or package a set of cards.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the Perfect Packages.  This is a product I truly love and am looking forward to playing with using lots more!

Thanks for stopping by!