A New Beginning - WELCOME!

Welcome to The Paper Horse and thank you to my wonderful friend / team member Amber for helping me come up with the perfect name.  It really does suit me. I have been around the stampin'/craftin' world for a while but this is the first time I've done a dedicated blog.  This is the first of what I hope to be weekly postings.  I will be posting project ideas, instructions, specials & promotions, videos, club & class updates and anything else that happens to be rocking my world at the moment.  

To start things off and because Valentines Day is but one itty bitty week away, Personalized Chocolate seems to be the perfect launching point. 

Here's what you'll need:

• A sheet of white mailing labels (1" x 2-5/8")
• A bag (or 5) of Chocolate. 
• Ink of your choice.
• Stamps that scream Valentine's Day (or the holiday/occasion of your choice).  I'm using I {Heart} Hearts by Stampin' Up!
• Acrylic blocks if you're using clear stamps.  We can't leave out the obvious in stuff like this.

a note about the stamps: This is a classic project that has been around for a long time.  You can use (and most do) a stamp wheel and the project will go quite a bit quicker, but this is just as simple if you don't happen to have a wheel.

Ready?  Here we go:

 Stamp the image on the labels.

 

 

Keep stamping until you've filled as many labels as you like.  I would also like to point out right here how my hand suddenly looks about 30 years younger.  Amazing, isn't it?  I'll share my instant youth skin care technique another time. 

Because I used a stamp set instead of a wheel, I had a lot of empty space left on my labels.  To remedy this, I used a tiny stamp in the same set to fill in the blank spots.

 

This is what I ended up with.

Now, go get your chocolates.  

 

 Peel the label.

 

 Stick the label.

Wrap the label.  Those last few steps can get a little tiring.  I find it helpful if I keep myself fueled up by eating every other chocolate.

TA-DA!!

A cellophane bag and a red ribbon and you're everybody's favorite co-worker.

This project is the perfect example of why everyone should have simple, basic crafting supplies on hand.  The whole project, including pictures, took me less than five minutes.  Quick, easy, inexpensive and leaves the recipient smiling for the rest of the day.  It doesn't get any better than that. 

Come back next Monday to see what's new.