Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share (Day 1): Thanks for the Memories....

Hi All! Welcome to Day 1 of the Kraft-y Hearts' June Blog Share. This month it's all about creating for "him."

So school's finally out for folks in the Hill household, and the end of school naturally means teachers gifts. However, since my children now have roughly 16 teachers between them, I made the executive decision to only give gifts to their advisory (think homeroom) teachers.  This year, my son's advisory teacher happened to be a guy. (Handy for the Kraft-y Heart June blog share!) So I decided to do the same gifts for both teachers, but just in masculine and a little more feminine versions. Lets take a look.

These gifts, including the bag, were inspired by Angie Judah at My Chic 'n Scratch. I changed up a few things n them, but I can't take any credit for the basic ideas. (The card is my own though...just the good ol' easel card!)

The gift bag is made from two 8 x 8-inch sheets of Kraft cardstock. I had originally used two sheets of houndstooth paper from the Paper Fundamentals Basic Assortment paper pack, but I messed up the bag. So I had to start over with the Kraft. I also used Score-Tape to hold it together. (If you have the patience, you could use a wet glue. I don't recommend using a tape runner or ATG adhesive. It doesn't seem to be strong enough.) Also, I punched the holes in the top of the bag before I put the two pieces together. If you don't do that and are using a Crop-a-dile, make sure that side of the bag you aren't punching isn't caught in the opposite side of the tool. I didn't do that, which is why I had to start over. (Live and learn...) I decorated the bag with pennants and circles cut from Black and Kraft cardstock and the houndstooth paper. The sentiment is stamped in Black Stāz-On ink (I thought I might color it in, but decided not to) on White Daisy cardstock, using the July Stamp Of The Month. (You're going to love this set!) Finally, I added a black button from my stash with a metal stud from the Mini Medley Rosewood Collection attached to the middle of it for just a little guy-style bling.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the gift bag details:

Now for the box:

The box is made from the houndstooth print. I added a 2-inch scallop from Black cardstock that was layered with 1 1/2-inch and 1 1/4-inch circles to close the belly-band. The initial is stamped in Black Stāz-On ink on White Daisy cardstock and is also from the July Stamp Of The Month. I then filled it with fantastic Vermont maple candies.

And the note keeper:

For the little note keeper, I used Kraft Cardstock with houndstooth and black accents. Angie's example used post-it notes, but I decided to change that up a bit. I added a little scratch paper tablet instead. It's a perfect fit! And the pages also fit in the little pocket to the left. (Very cool!) I used the monogram for the outside once again.

And Thanks for the memories...

Finally, the note card is a simple 3 x 3-inch easel card that coordinates with the set. The sentiment is from the April Stamp Of The Month set. If you don't have that, any thank-you sentiment will do. The envelope, by the way, is on sale in the While Supplies Last section at Close To My Heart. I highly recommend picking some up. It's quite a deal!

Here's a quick look at the female version of the set. I used Free To Be paper on it and some retired embellishments. You could also give this to a guy if you just switched out the embellishments to something more masculine.

So I hope you enjoyed the teachers gifts. Tune in tomorrow for day two of the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share. And don't forget to pop over to From My Bungalow and see what inspiring creations the über-talented Lynn Darda has for you.