Sizzix Fresh Vintage Featuring Angelica

  

Hello, hello! Angelica here, welcoming you to 
another AWESOME day in the 

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Showcase Hop!


I am THRILLED to be representing The Twinery 
and for the opportunity to design along 
so many incredible designers!


Haven't heard what it's all about?
Here is some info from Julie Ranae's Tuesday post:

For the next six weeks, sixty amazing designers from all over

the creative spectrum will be sharing their work using the newest

dies from Sizzix, designed by Eileen Hull.

The Twinery is proud to be a sponsor for this event

and

several of our very own designers will be sharing their work.

Throughout the next six weeks,

whenever you see the badge featured above, just click 

on the designer's name and you can begin the hop.

Today I am featuring the adorable Fringed Flower 3D Sizzix Die

and the yummy Cappuccino Twine from The Twinery.

This is my go-to neutral twine color. Everyone should own a spool!

 Anxious to see more? 
Be sure to pop over to my blog,
Handmade by Angelica
for more photos, project details, 
and what makes this project extra special.
I'll give you a hint - the sweet flower has a hidden purpose! 

You'll find instructions on my blog on how to participate in this 
huge, fabulous showcase as well as how to get in on the giveaways!


Thanks so much for stopping by!
Enjoy the hop!

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Featuring Julie Ranae

  

 Hi everyone!  Julie Ranae here.

 It is a terrific day here at The Twinery as we participate in the

Sizzix Fresh Vintage Designer Showcase.

For the next six weeks, sixty amazing designers from all over

the creative spectrum will be sharing their work using the newest

dies from Sizzix, designed by Eileen Hull.

The Twinery is proud to be a sponsor for this event

and

several of our very own designers will be sharing their work.

Throughout the next six weeks,

whenever you see the badge featured above, just click 

on the designer's name and you can begin the hop.

Today....I am representing our beautiful bakers twine 

from The Twinery.

I've featured the beautiful shades of our 

Honeydew bakers twine

to embellish this amazing project.

To see the completed project along with the rest of the

designers participating on the blog hop,

make sure you visit my blog at

Julie's Open Window.

There you will find instructions on how to participate

in the hop and have  
a chance to win a wonderful

bakers twine giveaway from The Twinery!

The winner of the

Design Team Blog

Ultimate Bundle Giveaway is....

Lisa Petrella!!

Lisa....please contact Julie Ranae at julieranae@hotmail.com
to claim your prize.

Thank you to all who hopped with us.
We hope you enjoyed the bakers twine inspiration
from our Design Team!
 

Design Team Blog Hop - Final Day!

  

Hey Everybody!!!   
Julie Ranae here and it is
Day Three of our 

Design Team Blog Hop

and we have had the best time this week.
You are at stop #1 for today!

We have some of the best designers who work
with the best baker's twine and bring
their creativity to you each week.


We love having you here! 
Be sure to visit Days one & two to see everyone's AMAZING twine projects and crafting ideas...plus, you don't want to miss out on all the giveaways we're having - we should have called this hop Twine-palooza!!

We're giving away lots and lots of twine!!

Everyday of the hop, each blogger featured will not only have a fabulous idea or project featuring our twine, but every blog will also have a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY as well! YES...every blog will have a giveaway! 
 

You'll need to visit 

each blog of each designer

all three days

(19 blogs including The Twinery)

to enter to win the various prizes.

And plus...if you hop along with us for all 3 days of this blog hop and comment on each blog post along the way...you'll be entered to win the BIG DEAL...

An Ultimate Bundle Twine Pack! 

It contains all 14 spools of our twine - which sells for over $160 in our shop! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day Three of the Blog Hop starts...here!

 Today is the first official day of Autumn, so

I created a couple of clean & simple 'fall' cards

to inspire you for the change in season.

Using our baker's twine for a quick

and easy accent, is so easy and always

adds dimension to an otherwise 'flat' card.

For this card, I used our *yummy* baker's twine

in Cappuccino.

When you stop by my blog, I'll have another

variation on this card for you there.

I hope these past few days have inspired you

to use our baker's twine in new & creative ways.

Your next stop on the hop is my blog

Julie's Open Window

Remember to visit & leave comments

on all of our designers' blogs

to have a chance to win!

Here is a complete list of designers who

you should be visiting on Day Three:

Here is a list of stops on today's hop:

The Twinery

Julie Ranae 

Katrina Hunt

Jordan Bariesheff

Jessica Diedrich

Additional Products Used for Today's Projects:

'Acorn Die & Stamp Set' from Lil' Inker Designs

Designer Paper from Imaginisce

'Tuxedo Black' Ink by Memento

 

Design Team Blog Hop - Day 2

It's day two of our Twinery Design Team Blog Hop!

We hope you thoroughly enjoyed all of yesterday's projects and goodies we shared with you...because we have more totally fabulous things in store for you today!

 

If you're just joining us for the first time today...that's okay! We love having you here! Be sure to pop over to yesterday's post to see everyone's AMAZING twine projects and crafting ideas...plus, you don't want to miss out on all the giveaways we're having - we should have called this hop Twine-palooza!!

We're giving away lots and lots of twine!!

Everyday of the hop, each blogger that is featured will not only have a fabulous idea or project featuring our twine, but every blog will also have a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY as well! YES...every blog will have a giveaway! You'll have to visit each blog to enter to win the various prizes...and be sure to back track to the previous day's hop if you didn't already go through it as well...remember - every blog has a giveaway!!

 

And plus...if you hop along with us for all 3 days of this blog hop and comment on each blog post along the way...you'll be entered to win the BIG DEAL...

 

An Ultimate Bundle Twine Pack! 

 

It contains all 14 spools of our twine - which sells for over $160 in our shop! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day Two of the Blog Hop starts...here!

Halloween is just around the corner...and it's such a fun holiday to celebrate with a Spooktacular Bash! Tricks, treats and spooky things are all the rage if you have made it into any local store...they don't waste any time prepping the shelves for this upcoming holiday!

Take a peek at a fun Halloween Bash invite we created! 

Inspired by the Martha Stewart Line of Halloween craft products...we used their Spider Web Punch Around the Page product...and then added our twine and a few other embellishments to create a spooktacular invite!  

Make them yourself too...they are easy peasy!

Just start with the black card stock - cut it to any size you'd like. Some common card sizes are 4x6", 5x7", or even larger - it's totally up to you! Then use the spider punch to create the border on the black card stock. Use the patterned paper as a backing to the vellum to add dimension - create the invite in any computer program (Word, etc.) and then print it on vellum. Layer and attach the card stock and vellum....then add the twine and spider stickers to the finishing touch! You'll have a perfectly spooky invite for your Halloween party! 

 

Recipe for creating these Spooky Spider Invitations:

1 sheet of Black Card Stock - any size (this will be the overall size of your invite)

1 sheet of patterned card stock

1 sheet of vellum

Adhesive (double sided tape or adhesive runner works best)

Baker's Twine - we used our twine in Charcoal

Spider Stickers - we used Jolee's Boutique Glitter Spiders

Spider Border Punch

We hope you enjoyed this fun Halloween invitation!

Please continue to visit the other design team members blogs to follow along on our hop!

 

THE NEXT STOP on the HOP IS...

>>>>   Monique Hansen   <<<<<

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In case you get lost along the way, just come back here and follow the links below...

Here's Day Two of the hop...

The Twinery {You are here}

Monique Hansen  <<<  NEXT STOP  <<<

Linda Smith

Ivona Foster 

Sheri Twing

Angelica Suarez

Tifany DeGough

Be sure to come back tomorrow for some more blog hop fun (and if you haven't already...remember to peek at yesterday's hop as well)!

 

Design Team Blog Hop - Day 1

We have something super fun to share with you today! 

The Twinery's Design Team members have finally teamed up to present...

The Twinery Design Team Blog Hop!!!

  

We're always so busy having fun playing with other amazing companies and products to feature along with our twine, that we hardly ever take the time to just celebrate our own Design Team in all it's glory! So today...and tomorrow and the next day...we're doing just that! 

All twine...from the world's best design team (What?! We can be partial, can't we?!)

We hope you'll come along on the hop with us over the next few days...enjoy the ride...get creative ideas...be inspired...and, of course, enter to win some FABULOUS PRIZES! 

Everyday of the hop, each blogger that is featured will not only have a fabulous idea or project featuring our twine, but every blog will also have a SURPRISE GIVEAWAY as well! YES...every blog will have a giveaway! You'll have to visit each blog to enter to win the various prizes...but we KNOW you won't be disappointed! 

Let's start here...on our own blog! We are going to start things off with a bang!

 We're giving away one ULTIMATE BUNDLE TWINE PACK which includes one full spool of each of our twine colors - that's 14 full spools altogether and sells for $168.00 in our shop - to one lucky winner who leaves a comment on every blog post in the hop over the next 3 days. You must comment on every blog in the hop in order to be eligible to win this prize. 

A winner will be chosen randomly and will be announced on Saturday, September 24 here on our blog! 

Be sure to stop by The Twinery's Facebook Page to let us know you're hopping along with us as well!

And we'd love if you tweet about our Blog Hop as well...tweet, tweet! If you do, let us know...we'd love to follow you on Twitter as well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sound fun?

Well...if so, you've come to the right place!

The BLOG HOP STARTS HERE! 

With Autumn finally here...many of you will be gearing up for the Fall Holidays. Thanksgiving, anyone? 

It's one of my own personal favorite holidays...food, family and friends...it doesn't get much better than that. 

 We thought you might be planning a holiday party, so we wanted to share an adorable way to dress up your holiday table with...

Mini Hay Bundle Name Place Cards

Wouldn't they look adorable sitting at each place setting on your table set up for Thanksgiving dinner?! 

The best part is...

They are super easy to make!

 To create each hay bundle, you'll just need two 4.5" x 12" pieces of card stock. We used Core'dinations paper in Tulip {Essentials Collection} & Burnt Sugar {Vintage Collection}. Then, you'll just need to score two lines down the center of the card stock - leaving about a 1 inch gap between the two lines to create the "center" of the hay bundle. You'll then cut about 1/4" slits on either side of the "center" of the hay bundle until you reach the center of it. Please see diagram below for easy instructions...

 

If you don't mind a "thinner" style hay bundle, you could easily use Fringe Scissors to create the same effect without having to make individual cuts to create the "hay".

Then just roll the fringed card stock into a tube, secure the end with tape or glue (we used Tombow Permanent Adhesive Tape). Wrap baker's twine around the center (middle) of the hay bundle and attach a small name tag with twine to the center.

We printed names on card stock (but you could also easily use alphabet stamps), then used a mini gift tag paper punch to punch out the names. 

Be sure to fan out the hay bundles to create a fun, finished look!

Recipe for creating these Hay Bundle Place Cards:

2 sheets of Card Stock (each measure 4.5" x 12")

Adhesive (double sided tape or adhesive runner works best)

Baker's Twine - we used our twine in Lemondrop, Cappuccino & Mandarin

Mini Gift Tags

Scissors 

Bone Folder (used to create the score lines)

We hope you enjoyed this fun, holiday-esque idea for Fall! 

Please continue to visit the other design team members blogs to follow along on our hop!

 

THE NEXT STOP on the HOP IS...

>>>>   STEPHANIE JOHNSON   <<<<<

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In case you get lost along the way, just come back here and follow the links below...

Here's Day One of the hop...

The Twinery {You are here}

Stephanie Johnson  <<<  NEXT STOP  <<<

Deena

Monika Wright

Jenny Suchin

Grace Hester

Jen Carter

Hera Frei

Emily Leiphart

Be sure to come back tomorrow for some more blog hop fun!

Fun & Creepy Halloween Treats

Glory of Glorious Treats here with some fun Halloween treats sure to raise a few eyebrows  =)

 

The dishes of treats above might look harmless enough, but look closely and you may realize that these treats are actually... rat eyeballs (also known as red sixlets), spider legs (also known as pretzels), and ghost poop (also know as marshmallows)! 

I recently thought of the idea of transforming innocent snacks into fun, creepy treats perfect for Halloween.  I designed a free printable to use as a treat bag topper, and gave the bags a perfect finishing touch with The Twinery twine, in stone. 

Stock up on Stone or Charcoal Twinery twine for Halloween, then head over to Glorious Treats for the free printable treat bag toppers!

Happy Packaging!

 

 

 

Operation Julie's Smile

Hi everyone!  

Hope you are having a wonderful start to your weekend.

Many of you who have been long-time followers of our blog

know that we have a terrific design team...so very creative

and so dedicated to sharing their work with you.

Our Design Team Coordinator Julie Ranae holds a special

place in our heart here at The Twinery and has recently

experienced a 'personal need' that we would like to share....

A few weeks ago, Julie Ranae had to have emergency oral surgery resulting in the removal of her two front teeth.  The dentist at that time believed the best course of action would be to remove the rest of her teeth and replace them with permanents. (avoiding *years* of dental work) Relieved at finding a solution to this major dental problem .. she visited the office for dental surgery the week. Unfortunately, it wasn't the visit she was expecting.  After the consultation and scheduling the surgery, the surgeon's office informed her that she would need to bring $4000 back to the appointment and they would proceed.  
This amount would not include the 'dentures' to follow.

Here Julie is today, sitting without front teeth that were pulled with the belief that they would be replaced immediately.
It is an overwhelming experience for our dear friend and one that I hope our creative community can help with.  

There will be a benefit blog hop called

'Operation Julie's Smile' 

that will take place Oct 7-9.  

There are a variety of companies and design teams who will be 

participating in this hop to help raise funds for this benefit. 
So far, over $1500 in prizes have been made available 
and will be awarded 

for both participants and those who donate.
 

'Operation Julie's Smile'

is now asking for designers/teams 
who would like to be a part of the benefit hop.  

If you are interested
in getting involved in this creative fundraising event, 

please contact Sweet Stamp Shop's Nicole Rixon at nicolehrixon@gmail.com    

The deadline to be a part of the hop 

is Wednesday, Sept 28th.  

Participants will be notified of the blog hop order 
between Oct 3rd-5th.
 
This blog hop is an opportunity to have fun, 
feature your blog

and raise money for a friend in need.  
A donation button
will be made available to all who participate.

If you would like to make a donation and be a part

of bringing a NEW SMILE to our sweet friend Julie,

you can click our easy PayPal Donation option now.

 Operation Julie's Smile

 

We at The Twinery look forward to this event

and hope you will participate as well!

Team Talk Tuesday

We'd love for everyone to get to know the faces & creative geniuses behind our amazing Design Team here at The Twinery! 

So we hope you enjoy our little weekly blog segment called "Team Talk Tuesday" where you can meet our design team members in more depth! Be sure to visit their blogs and say "hello" - they'd love to hear from you! 

ENJOY!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meet Caroline!

Hi everyone! My name is Caroline Stender! God has blessed me with a wonderful husband of 17 yrs. and  3 great kids, 12, 10 and 7. 

During my time as floral designer, I had the opportunity to work for Marley's at the Townsend Hotel. We designed flowers for weddings, bar mitzvahs and for numerous celebrities who stayed there. Wanting to be a SAHM, I started doing floral work out of my home.

 

Like many others, I was invited to a Stampin' Up! party in 2001, I loved it so much that I  joined as a demo shortly after.

Having to do the in home parties and needing lots of ideas,  led in discovering Splitcoast Stampers.  I was on their design team for about 8 months. 

 

In February 2008 I launched a new venture on Etsy, Paper Treats! I loved being there from the start, and did my best to make high quality products.  Little did I know, my tags would get noticed by a producer from the Martha Stewart Show! 

 

In December 2008, they asked me to come to NYC and show Martha how to make my tags! 

 

 Take a peek at Caroline's segment on Martha Stewart {HERE}*

 

 

I'm very excited to be a part of the Twinery DT, and look forward to designing with this fun baker's twine!

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

You can visit Caroline's crafty places....

{BLOG}

{SHOP}

Now...take a peek at what Caroline has created with our baker's twine!

 

Hanging Paper Treat Cups

 

 

Confetti Popper Invitation

 

 

Mini Pom-Pom Tutorial

 

 

 

* To actually see Caroline's video Segment on Martha Stewart...click {HERE} and then go scroll through the "More Clips from This Show" section on the right side of the screen and click on the "Holiday Gift Tags" video. ENJOY!

 

 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hope you enjoyed getting to know Caroline a little better!

We have loved having her on The Twinery's Design Team this year! Her paper crafts and ideas are always refreshing and fun!

Come back next Tuesday to meet another member of The Twinery's Design Team!

 

Celebrating in Miniature

What's the silliest thing you've ever made with your twine? I think this might be mine! I used The Twinery's baker's twine to braid and knot some limbs for popsicle stick people!! This couple is celebrating the fact that I was finally able to purchase a house after more than two years of house hunting in this crazy hot Toronto market!

I used Caribbean and Honeydew for the guy's limbs and I used Pink Sorbet and Lemondrop for the gal's limbs. Tie knots at both ends and they are ready to glue on your popsicle stick or whatever chipboard doll you might have on hand!

You could even go one step further and add another section for feet! I hope this inspires you to get silly with your baker's twine from The Twinery. Have fun with it!!

Sources: Gina K Designs pure luxury kraft cardstock; SU Naturals Ivory cardstock; Hero Arts A Village, Essential Messages & Typewriter Letters; SU Crumb Cake, Rose Red & Pink Passion inks; Memories Black ink; popsicle sticks; The Twinery baker's twine in Caribbean, Honeydew, Pink Sorbet & Lemondrop; Craft Medley googly eyes; Stampin' Dimensionals

Halloween Treat Bags + Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED....but keep reading for a FUN TUTORIAL on how to make these cute Halloween Treat Bags! 


The winner of this giveaway is JACILYNN!
Congrats...we hope you love Halloween...we know you'll have a blast creating these treat bags!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Happy Friday Everyone! 

Halloween is right around the corner and I've been thinking about fun things to create for my daughter's friends for their special Halloween class party next month. It is always a big deal...they get to dress up in their costumes and have a costume parade, they play games and have a great time...but no candy or sugary treats are allowed. Only healthy "treats" - but they really encourage non-food goodies, if possible. So I found some really cute Halloween pencils, erasers and pumpkin shaped notepads in the dollar section at Target (can't beat that!!) and I thought they'd look so cute in small treat bags for each child. So I put my thinking cap on...

At a recent trip to Michael's Craft Store, I was checking out all of the new paints by Martha Stewart for Plaid Crafts...knew I had my answer!

I hand painted some myself!

Don't they look so cute? And the best part...they were SO easy and quick to make...and of course, I embellished them with our baker's twine to add the perfect touch!

Want to know how to make them too?

Supplies you'll need:

Muslin Bags

Baker's Twine

Acrylic Paint - I used Martha Stewart Crafts paint (with Satin Finish) in Marmalade, Spring Pasture, Beetle Black, Wedding Cake & Yellowjacket

Fabric Medium - I used Martha Stewart Crafts Tintable Fabric Medium (it allows you to turn any Acrylic Paint into a nice flexible paint that is better for use on fabrics)

Paint Brushes - I used Martha Stewart Crafts Foam Brush Tops

Stencils - I used Martha Stewart Crafts Holiday Icons Stencil Kit

Scissors & a Safety Pin - for cutting and stringing the twine through the bags

A piece of cardboard or something 'hard' to put inside the bag that will act as a "backing" while you paint...I just used a piece of a cardboard box

 Then start painting!!  

Place the cardboard piece inside the bag, then prepare your paint. Use 1 part Fabric Medium to 2 parts Acrylic Paint to create the fabric paint. Place your stencil neatly on the muslin bag, then using a dabbing technique with the foam top brushes...dab the paint onto the bags to fill in the stencil designs. Quickly remove the stencil and set the bag aside to dry. I found the Martha Stewart Paints to dry fairly quickly, but I'd still let it sit all day (about 24 hours) just to be sure. You can even 'cure' the paint once it's dry by using a warm/hot blow dryer to set the paint. Then, once you have all of your painted bags all done...remove the "ropes" on the bags and replace them with baker's twine for a super special touch! Just cut about 16-18 inch twine strings and use a safety pin to guide the twine through the bags. Tie the twine and voila! You'll have customized, handmade treat bags to hand out for Halloween! 

FYI - for the candy corn bag...I hand painted that one - there wasn't a stencil for that design, but I figured it couldn't be too hard to made a triangle! :) 

 

 And guess what?

We're going to give you the chance to make your own...for FREE!

We're giving away everything you need to make your own Halloween Treat Bags! 

ONE WINNER will receive:

12 Muslin Bags

1 Martha Stewart Crafts Holiday Icon Stencil Kit

Martha Stewart Paints - in the 5 colors mentioned above

Martha Stewart Craft Tintable Fabric Medium

Foam Top Paintbrushes

4 spools of our baker's twine - Mandarin, Charcoal, Lemondrop & Honeydew

Total Value of prize: approximately $100.00!!

To have a chance to win...

Just leave a comment on this blog post and tell us what your favorite thing about Autumn is!

For extra entries:

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK (or let us know you already do)!

FOLLOW OUR BLOG (or let us know that you already do)!

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND TWEET ABOUT THIS PROJECT & GIVEAWAY!

Sample Tweet {just copy & paste}: 

 Win $100 worth of supplies from @TheTwinery to make your own Halloween Treat Bags! www.thetwineryblog.com

BLOG ABOUT THIS PROJECT & GIVEAWAY and let us know you did!

This giveaway is open to anyone who reads our blog. The giveaway will continue through the weekend and a winner will be announced on Monday, September 12 so you'll have plenty of time to create these bags before Halloween!

Giveaway details: we were not compensated monetarily or with product by any company mentioned in this post...the prizes will be shipped directly from The Twinery & they are really...truly and honestly...our own opinion and ideas!

Printable Halloween Gift Tags & Stickers

Well...it's about that time. 

Pumpkins. Bats. Ghosts and more!

Halloween is just around the corner....believe it or not. And it's about time that we get on the bandwagon because local craft stores have been displaying all things orange and black and spooky for a few months now!

Tomorrow we have something SUPER fun to share with you...we created a pretty fun Halloween treat bag tutorial to show you...oh...and we're going to be giving away some pretty cool products too - all Halloween related! So be sure to check back here tomorrow for all of that!!!  

But...for today, we thought we give you a little freebie to hold you over! 

We created a sheet of Halloween Gift Tags and Stickers...you can choose how you want to use them. 

The tags match our Mandarin, Honeydew Charcoal & Lilac baker's twine colors...just in case you wanted to pair them up together.

 

Just print on white card stock or matte photo paper to create gift tags.

Cut, punch holes, string with twine and voila! 

(We used an Angled Corner Paper Punch to get the angled edge at the top of the tags).

To create stickers...we recommend printing on Full Sheet White Labels - we LOVE the Glossy Full Sticker Sheets from Online Labels. Cut and use as stickers! So much fun!

Halloween Gift Tags & Stickers

 ENJOY!

And BOO TO YOU!

Video Segment - Studio 5 in Utah

One of our Design Team Members, April Meeker, was recently asked by Studio 5 in Utah to do a segment all about baker's twine and she shared some pretty fun ideas on how to use it in various ways - no matter what your craft of choice is! Take a peek at the video and then click on the links below to find out how to create each project on your own!

Go to Studio 5's website to read more about what they said about baker's twine....we couldn't agree more! 

Some the of the ideas that April shared in the segment can also be found here on our blog & you can them create yourself...

 Hanging Banner or Mobile idea
 

Like this one created by Jenny Suchin  

OR

this Rocket Chandelier Mobile created over at How Does She

Balloon Lanterns

Like these twine lanterns created by Sheri

OR

a spin on that...you can create twine balls like the ones Monika created

Twine Pom Poms

Like this mini pom pom tutorial that was created by Caroline of Paper Treats

OR 

this pom topper idea by Tifany DeGough

Gift Wrap Ideas

This is the classic way to use baker's twine ...but we think our bold colors and lush cotton twine puts a twist on the "old" way of doing it...

Like this colorful gift wrapping & gift tags created by Ivona

OR

this adorable Holiday idea by Monika

OR 

using twine to create embellishments for your packages like these Twine Pansies by Jaimee

We hope you enjoyed the video segment and definitely let us know if you recreate any of the twine projects...we'd love to see what you create!!