Last weekend I held the penultimate classes for 2013 – the theme being Christmas Gifts and Packaging. It turned out to be a bit of a chocolate fest because three out of the four projects involved chocolate in some shape or another.

I’d like to share three of the projects (only two of them involved chocolate) because I’ve already shared one of them – the Table Treats, see my blog of 30 October (there is a link in the comments section of that post to the instructions).

This one involved chocolate
and a piece of 12″ x 12″ Old Olive card stock

The cracker was made with the help of the Envelope Punch Board. On first sight the instructions looked a little daunting but everyone soon realised that they were in fact pretty straight forward. The difficulty (all mine) was working out the scoring and punching measurements so that the box of chocolate (Maltesers, and I guess I should add other forms of chocolate are available!) fits into the middle section of the cracker leaving enough card stock for the ends.

This too involved using the Envelope Punch Board
This little project can be used as a treat holder to go on the Christmas Table or as a Stocking Filler. It has three chocolate balls in it, but it is the right size to put a lip salve or other small item in it. Once again we used the Envelope Punch Board but this time a piece of 4.5″ x 4.5″ Designer Series Paper and the first score and punch on the board was at 1.5″.
I saved this project to last
There was no chocolate involved with this project just some scoring and cutting of a flat Tag a Bag Gift Bag to make it into one that has a flat bottom and can then be stood up.
Stampin’ Up supplies used:
Cracker
Stamp set : Very Merry Tags
Ink : Baked Brown Sugar
Card stock : 12″ x 12″ Old Olive Textured and a scrap of Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White (the other class used Cherry Cobbler  12″ x 12″ and a scrap of Old Olive).
Designer Series Paper : Season of Style Designer Series Paper
Accessories : Whisper White Organza Ribbon, 1-3/4″ Circle and 2-3/8″ Circle Scallop Punches, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Envelope Punch Board and Simply Scored Scoring Tool or Stampin’ Trimmer
Treat Holder
Stamp sets : Label Love and Petite Pairs
Ink : Smoky Slate and Coastal Cabana
Card stock
Whisper White
Designer Series Paper : Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack
Accessories :  Envelope Punch Board, 7/8″ Scallop Circle and 1″ Circle punches, and Basic Rhinestones
Tag a Bag Gift Bag
Stamp set : Mixed Bunch and A Round Array
Ink : Island Indigo
Card stock
Whisper White, Pool Party and Island Indigo
Accessories :  Simply Scored Scoring Tool or Stampin’ Trimmer, Blossom Punch and Word Window Punch, Island Indigo Baker’s Twine, and Basic Rhinestones.

The next few days are going to be busy and very exciting as I am off to my first Stampin’ Up! Convention. All my swaps are finished, and we are driving to Manchester tomorrow (Thurs) for two and a half days of Stampin’ Up! fun. I’ll share my swaps later this week and will try to write a quick post while I am there. I can’t promise lots of photos. I hoping that we might get some sneak peeks and I know I will be sworn to secrecy about those.

My last class of the year is being held on 13 December at 7.30 pm. I have some places left so if you are interested in coming along drop me a quick line via email at fiona.whitten11@gmail.com