Stamp To It

This is going to be a quick post, because there are so many good things I could say about these stamps that I could ramble on and on.  But there are some wonderful and creative sites I want to share with you, and I think the versatility will begin to speak for itself.  Today I want to talk for a moment about my PSA Essentials stamps. 

I first came across these a couple of years ago on another blog.  I had considered purchasing a return address embosser, but this stamp looked as though it gave me many more options.  I checked out the Expressionery website and considered it for a couple weeks more.  Then much to my surprise and excitement they were 60% off.  I had to pull the trigger on this one. 

My first stamp was a monogramed return address stamp.  Then I got to thinking I needed some accessory packs to use my return address for different occasions by changing out the center. 

 

 

Next I wanted to use the stamp for gift tags and other things.  I got tired of disassembling my address stamp and at the next 60% off sale I ordered the stamp kit only.  

 

And of course the one you saw featured here was the last one, my kitchen stamp. 

 

I purchased a couple as teacher’s gifts, for my son’s kindergarten teachers. I had one that had Ms. Smith’s Class around the Edge and had her monogram in the center; I also purchased the teacher's accessory pack to go with it.  For her assistant I purchased the monogram gift set. 

I gave one of these to my sister as a birthday present.  Remember how I said I can’t stand to wait to open presents, well that goes for giving them as well.  I wanted to give it to her the day it came in, but she made me wait until her actual birthday.  I mean what’s a couple of weeks anyway, but she insisted so I had to wait. 

I subscribe to the Expressionery website, so I get the email alerts for sales and special offers. I use these quite often for return addresses and gift labels but I have to realize that the possibilities are endless.  I find that most newlyweds these days own a house and it makes a nice wedding or housewarming gift. 

There are a number of websites where I have gotten so many fun and fresh ideas.  Have a look and see if your mind doesn’t envision all kinds of crafty uses for these stamps.

PSA Stamp Camp

Mrs. Mommy Product Blog

Expressionery Blog

 

Pumpkin Bread & Gift Giving

Hello all, I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  Mine didn’t go quite the way I planned, but I stilled managed to get everything done that I set out to do.  This included making and wrapping pumpkin bread to share in a post with you all today. 

I have been making this bread for the last three years after stumbling on the recipe at Décor Chick.  I am not going to reinvent the wheel, and all the details for this recipe can be found on this amazing blog.  Here are a couple of shots of me lining up all the ingredients and into the oven they went.  I made 8 mini loaf pans from this one recipe. 

After they baked and cooled I got started on the fun part, wrapping.  The holidays are fast approaching and regardless of what you celebrate in your home, I’m sure there is a fabric or scrapbook paper out there to suit your needs.  I made these for Thanksgiving and Christmas just to give you some ideas.  

I began by picking out some fall colored and Christmas themed scrapbook papers, and some coordinating colors of card stock.  All of these were 50% off at Hobby Lobby.  I also purchased and pair of fancy scissors, a circle template, raffia, some scrapbook mounting squares, and clear cellophane treats bags.  The fabric I bought at the local fabric store around the corner from my home. Out of my own closet I got out the paper cutter, pop-up tape strips, and my favorite PSA Essentials stamp.  The one for this project says “From the Kitchen of Marta”, but I’ll get into more detail on these later in the week. I’m a little obsessed with them. I usually stamp an entire sheet of Avery circle labels and keep them in the front pocket of my recipe binder. When I give food trays or bread to others I pull one out and pop it on top.   

I began with the easiest and that was to place the loaf in a cellophane bag, fold the end under the bottom and secure with tape.  I cut a 1 inch strip of the scrapbook paper and wrapped it around the center of the loaf and secured it with a circle label. 

Next with this same theme I wrapped the strip around the loaf, but this time secured it with a coordinating color card stock label.  I stamped the cardstock and carefully cut the circle out with the decorative edge scissors. I used a mounting strip to secure the label on top.   

 

I wanted to purchase a punch, but dang it all they weren’t on sale this weekend, so that will have to wait for another day.  The scissors were $1.99 and did the job quite nicely.  I liked the look of both of these and the possibilities are endless really. 

 

Next I dusted off the sewing machine and got to work on the next wrapping technique by sewing up some festive gift bags.  This was a trial and error process, and unfortunately there was one error. After I made the bag below I cut it a little too short for the loaf of bread, but hey don’t sweat it I’ll just have to wrap something smaller with that bag.  Nothing goes to waste around here. 

I used a clean loaf pan as my gauge for this project and found the measurements that suited me best.  I cut the fabric to a 14” square.  The 7" picture below is folded over.

 

I folded the right sides together and hemmed along the long side and one short side. I cut the opening with my pinking shears and I was finished.  This makes a nice little bag for giving the bread as gifts, and if you are not on speaking terms with your sewing machine, this is more than enough and you can stop here. 

But if you have developed a rapport with your machine as I have then move onto this next step to dress it up just a bit more.  I cut the next bag the same as before. After sewing the side and bottoms seam, I folded the sewn end to a point and secured it with a pin.  I eyeballed approximately 1 inch from the corner and sewed it straight across. 

 

I did this for both sides and when it is turned right side out it created it nice square end.  Because I wasn’t going for the cover of Craft Weekly, I cut the open end with my pinking shears and voila.  There you have it, quick and easy little gift bag for yummy gift giving. 

I made a couple of gift tags to coordinate and prepared to shower my neighbors with pumpkin bread.  Anyone who lives near me has come to enjoy this time of year because they know goodies will soon be coming their way. 

 

 

A couple of them were thrown off by the early Christmas present, but they all follow the blog, so they understood completely why I jumped the gun a little. 

 

We enjoyed some pumpkin bread for breakfast this morning, warmed for a few seconds in the microwave. I would like to tell you it was on fine china, but I would be lying.  In reality it was a paper plate with a smidge of Redi-Whip on top of the slices, cause in this house that’s how we roll.

Enjoy and remember to share it with a friend. Come back later this week for another simple sewing project and some stamping fun.