Monthly Archives: November 2013

25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 21, Snowglobe Mason Jar


This little project started out as a fun holiday craft with my kids BUT since one of them was to sick to participate I decided to create one 🙂

I cut out and coloured in some of the stamped images from the Christmas Village stamp set (such a cute set!!) To colour them I used our alcohol based markers as I really wanted my colours to pop! I then glued them on to the outside of the hear and added some ribbon to the bottom to cover the lid.

The inside of the jar has some large glitter flakes in it (about 5 heaping tablespoons) and then is filled with water).  A great little craft that would make a great gift for a child to give to someone. 

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop- Special Care

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop – this month we are featuring the stamp set “Special Care”- so cute and compatible with our Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. If you have come from Sarita’s blog then you are on the right path- enjoy and read on and be sure to leave some love!

For this layout I used a mixture of elements from some of our cartridges- the stamp set ones are from art philosophy and the others are from artbooking.  The paper I used is Laughing Lola- accented with Laughing Lola assortment and some sparkles- it all came together perfectly to help tell the story of my ‘little Mom’!!

Now hop on over to Lalia and see what she has in store to inspire you!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 20, Gingerbread play dough

Today’s post is a little different as it the focus is the inside of the gift- I did work in some Close to my Heart product in the wrapping of my gifts as you will see in the second photo.  Gingerbread play dough is the BEST handmade gift idea for small kids.  All natural, home made and it smells soooooo good!  To make your gingerbread playdough you will need to mix the following items into a large bowl:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 tablespoon of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 cup of water

Mix it all together and when it becomes hard to mix with a spoon you can knead it with your hands.  Then you are done!! 
To wrap my gift I placed the dough in mason jars- covered the lid with some of the CTMH sarita fabric and tied it off with seam binding ribbon.  I tied a gingerbread man cookie cutter onto the ribbon.  To top  off the gift I added a scallop circle to the top and a while circle stamped with a christmas sentiment.  I cannot wait to give these to the many special little people in our life!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 19, Christmas Tree Apron

I want to start this post by stating that I am NOT an expert sewer- I know how to work my sewing machine and once upon a time I was able to even make a pair of boxer shorts from a pattern (sadly that skill is lost- ha ha).  BUT, I had this idea and I really wanted to see it through to the end!

I am VERY pleased with the result! I bought the basic apron at Michael’s and wanted to use only some small scraps of fabric leftover from my other fabric projects- it worked out beautifully! I mixed bits of our sparkle and shine fabric, sarita fabric and even our Chantilly fabric.  My tree truck is a piece of our jute ribbon.  I know a little cook who collects aprons and plan to gift this to her pint-sized assistant (it is a child’s apron).  

braemontgomery.ctmh.com

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 18, Seasons Tweeting’s Kit

Welcome to Day 18!!! Today I am showing you the same bags we saw on Day 5 but this time using the Kit pieces. The Seasons Tweeting’s Kit comes with 8 gift bags, 8 tags and an exclusive stamp set for making your tags (you can see the stamp used on the tags).  To colour in the images I used the CTMH Blending pen and ink from our stamp pads.  
See the kit on my website here!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 17, Christmas Kraft Container AND my Holiday Team Blog Hop

WELCOME!! Today we have two things going on in one post- it should prove to be lots of fun!! If you are here for my ’25 Days of Handmade Gifts’ then stay and read on- not only will you be able to enjoy and be inspired my by project BUT my team is doing a blog hop! If you click on the link at the bottom of my page it will take you in a circular hop to other blogs run by my team- each of us has an inspirational holiday project to share with you!  You may know all that already if you came to me from Heather’s blog 🙂

I am sharing with you these Christmas Kraft containers- perfect for homemade baked goodies or other yummy treats! Our kraft containers are easy to decorate and for these I used some of our sparkle and shine paper, sparkle and shine washi tape, sparkles and the stamp set from the Frosted Cardmaking Workshop on the Go.  I finished them off with some ribbon from my stash.  AND each container is adorned on top as well- look below to see what I made for the lid!

These were both cut using our CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge- easy and a very cute addition!  
Now if you would like to HOP along with my team please click here to go to Sheri’s blog.  The complete list of blogs are below as well just in case you get lost along your way- have a great time and Happy Holidays!!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 16, Cards in a Card Holder

Every year I gift my husband’s Grandmother with handmade cards- they are here fav! She loves to see what I have created and uses them to send cards to her friends (who always compliment me on them when they see me).  This year is no different and these cute cards will make up a small portion of what she receives.  

The two card samples are made from an older paper kit that we no longer sell (but I needed to use up my stash!)  The patterns for these cards can be found in our ‘Make it from the Heart- Volume 2’ book (full of great recipes for layouts and cards).  I used two of our M-sized stamps for the sentiments on the cards and then added some sparkle and shine with sparkles, shimmer trim and buttons.  My ballon is cut using the CTMH Artiste cartridge.

Now no gift is complete without some cute packaging and our CTMH Artiste cartridge also cuts out the cutest file folder! I cut mine out at 51/2 inches- there are two pieces to cut (one for the base and one for the sides)- they fold and attach easily.

I finished it off with some baker’s twine and a tag! 

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 15, Rosette Christmas Tree

This beauty of a project was almost the straw that broke the camel’s back! I planned to reveal this much earlier in this process but it took a LONG time to create even this small tree. So, if you decide to create this (and it is beautiful) then buy a small foam tree and buy LOTs of paper and be sure you have lots of time 🙂 

I cut my rosette’s using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge- they are cut at various sizes as I filled the tree  – the bottom ones are at 3 1/2, the middle at 3 and the top at 2 1/2.  I also used a variety of flower types and tried to stick to the same papers for a more uniform look.  For this tree I used papers from the Sparkle and Shine paper pack.  As I rolled my flowers I used glue dots to hold them together and then to hold them onto the tree itself- I then added liquid glass to give it some real hold!  I topped off my tree with two snowflakes cut out on our glitter paper and glued to a pin back to back.  It really is a cute tree and even my 9 year old son was impressed!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 14, Hip Pic Album

So you know those gifts that start out as gifts and by the end you just want to keep them for yourself?! This is totally one of them!!!!

I created this mini book using our CTMH Hip Pic Album kit- it comes with the album, four sheets of die-cut shapes and an exclusive stamp set.  I also added in some sparkles and washi tape (you can never use your washi tape enough!).  
Look on for a page by page view of this book and if you want your own kit be sure to visit my webpage at braemontgomery.ctmh.com 

Oh and did I mention this was only $12.95!!!! Seriously! 

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


25 Days of Handmade Gifts: Day 13, Pillow Box

Have you seen our cute clear pillow boxes? They are so sleek and make the perfect thing to wrap smaller gifts in- jewellery or homemade treats, so many ideas!  I made this pillow box up in a few seconds!  I added a large piece of our grey satin ribbon and cut two images on the CTMH art philosophy cartridge- one in silver glitter paper and one in colonial while card stock. I then stamped on the image with a stamp from the Sparkle and Shine Workshop on the Go kit- easy and gorgeous!

What’s that? You didn’t realize you can use our glitter paper in your cricut machine? You sure can! Just place the paper on the mat (I do glitter side up) and cut like usual- if I am doing an delicate cut then I use the mulitcut function to ensure it cuts out the first time.

Until we craft again, The Brae-er