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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

Blog Candy

To celebrate my blog getting 30,000 hits, I am giving some Stampin' Up goodies away to one random reader.  All you have to do is comment on any blog post sometime between now and January 10 to be entered.  I will select one comment randomly to choose the winner.  Thanks for continuing to visit!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Sneak Peek Easter Card

So what am I stamping on the day after Christmas?  Easter cards!  Here's a sneak peek of the swap card I am making for the new Occasions catalog starting soon.  Come back soon to see the finished product. 


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas Bow Die

I used the bow die for the first time on these gift card holders.  After that, I was hooked.  There are a few ways to put the bow together, and if you flatten it, it will go thorough the mail on a card!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Quick Christmas Thank You Note

 
Here's a quick thank you note I made to send to the kids in my class.  It's 1 inch strip of black paper, a punch of glimmer paper, and a 1 inch square punch and done.  Quick and simple but it makes a cute card. 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Festive Flurry Gift Card Tin


 
My friend, Shirley, designed a gift card tin years ago, and all I remember is it had snowflakes and it was very pretty.  So when I bought this Festive Flurries bundle which had stamps and framelits, I knew this was the year to try my own.  The snowflake is a version of the one you see in the holiday catalog.  To give it the 3-D look, score the middle snowflake 6 times.  Punch the center out with the ½” circle punch.  Score fold lines so there are peaks and valleys and scrunch to the center to create 3-D snowflake and hot glue in place.  Finally you hot glue the third snowflake to the top and a Frosted Finished Embellishment to finish it off.  Attach a piece of coordinating Designer paper with sticky strip to the inside of the tin to hold the gift card and now all you need is the gift card! 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Pop Up Gift Card Box

 
 
 
Brenda's tutorial is on Splitcoaststampers.com and made this box very easy to create.  She even designed it with a little room for a small candy treat!  Not sure the candy will ever make it into mine :-).   

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Pop' N Cuts Gift Card Holder


 
The Pop' N Cuts Card Base can do so much more than just that one card you see in the catalog!  Here I have made a gift card holder.  It's similar to one I made some time ago but with the new die, it gives it a slightly different look.  Score at 3 ½”, 5 ½” and 7 ½”.  Fold like a mountain and punch across the center fold to create hole for the gift card using any punch you like.  Attach the bottom with Sticky Strip and assemble and attach bow.  If you were mailing this card, you could easily flatten the bow to fit it in an envelope. 
 

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Santa Gift Card Holder


I seem to make a red Santa's belt project of some sort each year.  This year it may be a card, gift tag and gift card holder!  Since the Stampin' Up! envelope punch board came out, I have been seeing all sorts of these gift card projects on Pinterest.  I thought the Santa suit would be a perfect way to hold the bottom flap shut and put my own spin on it.

  • Start with 4 ¼” x 11 red cardstock.  On 11” side, score at 2”, 7 ¼” and 7 3/8”. 

  • Fold on score lines.  On the end of the 2” flap, punch with Envelope Punch Board 1” from each side.

  • For insert piece, start with a 6 ½” x 3 ¾” piece of red cardstock.  Score at 1 ¾” x 6”. 

  • Attach insert piece right above the 2nd of the two score lines.

  • Wrap the 1” wide strip around the bottom of the card.  Washi tape would also work, but there must be something there to keep it closed or the finished product will not stay shut.      
To make the belt the easy way, use a 1" strip of black paper.  Then after you punch the glitter paper, glue a 1" black square in the center - no extra punching!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Holiday Gift Card Holders



By request, I am having a gift card holder class on Tuesday.  At first I was a little concerned I couldn't come up with 4 that were different enough.  But once I got started, I think I have a little something for everyone.  Check back this week for more details on each gift card holder and if you're local, come by and make some for yourself. 

Christmas Gift Tags

I had my annual Christmas tag class over the weekend.  It's always a challenge to have enough supplies when making Christmas tags since they all use the same basic colors and we need tons of the acrylic blocks.  I grouped the tags with like colors together in a box, and it went great.  Note to self - remember that for next year! 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Holiday Sale


Starting tomorrow, Stampin' Up is having a fantastic holiday sale!  Selected items are 25% to 50% off.  The holiday sale will be November 20 - December 2, but don't miss the 24 hour DOORBUSTER SALE November 20! 
 
 
24 Hour DoorBuster SALE -  30% off these big ticket favorites!!
 
Click here to see a list of sale items.  You can get any of these specials beginning tomorrow (November 20) by ordering through my Online Store.  Feel free to call or email me and I can place your order for you. 

  • Orders of $150 or more receive Stampin' Rewards of $25 and up!
  • Shipping is $6.95 minimum or 10%

Monday, November 18, 2013

Festive Flurries Christmas Card

At my last stamp-a-stack I made a couple of cards with traditional Christmas colors so I decided to be a little more non-traditional with this one.  I used my new Festive Flurries stamp set and framelits.  I also used my new Joy to the World stamp set with the Metallic Encore silver ink pad. 

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Warmth & Wonder Christmas Card

 
Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler have become one of my favorite Christmas combinations.  I seem to work some snowflakes into most of my Crumb Cake cards too!  This card was for my last stamp-a-stack and was one of three Christmas cards.  So needing to create a variety made it easy to work in this color combination.  I used the Warmth & Wonder hostess set from the holiday mini catalog and added a little Dazzling Diamond for some holiday bling.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Modern Mosaic Christmas

Now that Halloween is over, it's time to get serious about Christmas projects!  At my weekend Stamp-a-Stack, we made 3 Christmas cards, and here's the one that I think might have been the most popular.  We used the Mosaic Madness stamp set, coordinating punch and Modern Mosaic embossing folder.  I think that is why it was so popular with my stampers --everyone likes that stamp set!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Mojo Monday 316 Halloween Card

 
I was feeling like a challenge so I went over to Mojo Monday to check out their layout.  When I saw it, I immediately thought of September's My Paper Pumpkin kit. 
 
My finished card isn't quite like my vision, but it was fun creating anyway!  I used the base with the spider web-ish design from My Paper Pumpkin and added stamps, ribbon, washi tape and a button to it. 


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Halloween Tag a Bag Gift Box

These eyeball soaps are going to my niece and nephew for Halloween.  I knew when I saw them in the store they would be perfect for a Tag a Bag gift box!  I folded the box up stamped a tag and was ready to go.  The hardest part was tying the bakers twine without flipping the eyeballs upside down in the box. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving Flip Card

Aft first this card looks a little intimidating but with the new Circle Card Thinlits Die it is so easy.  I designed this card as a Thanksgiving card, but it also worked for some of my stampers as fall birthday cards.  I added a piece of my favorite retired Designer Series Paper for some additional color.  There are several papers in that package that worked great with this card. 

133479 Label Card Thinlits Die $32.95
122480 Circle Card Thinlits Die $32.95

Monday, October 14, 2013

Gently Fallling Card

This card was inspired and mostly CASED from Christina Achziger.  I promised a Halloween, Thanksgiving and a fall card for my last stamp-a-stack.  So I looked to Stampin' Connection which is a demonstrator only website with tons and tons of demonstrator created samples for my fall idea.  I had to make a few changes in the colors and left her greeting off of the front, but this card jumped out at me right away!  A lot of my stampers left it blank for a handwritten note and others made it into birthday, get well, sympathy and thinking of you cards.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Join Now for $25!

 
When you join as a demonstrator with the $25 kit, you’ll pick out $25-26.95 in Stampin’ Up! product of YOUR CHOICE. Plus you’ll get catalogs and other business supplies with your kit.  Email or call me today if you have questions, but don't wait to join!  You decide what kind of demonstrator you want to be:
 
 Discount Purchaser-Likes the idea of buying stamps for personal use at a 20-30% discounted price. Occasionally sells to neighbors, friends, and relatives.
Short-term Demonstrator- Sells for a short period of time. Wants to earn a specified amount. Stops demonstrating when the goal is met.
Seasonal Demonstrator- Works at the business during October, November and December, doing demonstrations for seasonal money. Takes minimum orders and sales during the balance of the year.
Hobby Demonstrator- Loves doing demonstrations and earning money when it’s convenient. Works a lot some months and very little other months. Likes to do demonstrations that are easy to book.
Career Demonstrator- Views Stampin’ Up! as a viable income with a long-term career potential. Pursues management and wants to move up the career ladder. Loves attending Stampin’ Up! functions. Has developed close relationships within the business. Works at her business in a consistent and ongoing manner.

There is no pressure with the Demonstrator Kit. To remain a demonstrator and keep your discount, you’d just need to have at least $300 in orders/sales between now and April 30, 2014. Pretty simple. And if you don’t make the minimum,  you’ll just be inactivated as a demonstrator. But you can always sign up again later, with no penalties.

Halloween Happiness

I knew I wanted this Halloween Happiness stamp from the Holiday Catalog first time through the catalog.  It makes such a cute Halloween card with just a little coloring (directly on the stamp).  I wanted to add a little bling so a strip of glitter paper was just what I needed. 

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lovely as a Tree CASE - Sort Of

 Here's the last of our September Stamp-a-Stack cards.  The other two cards were pretty flowery so I wanted to go with a more fall-like card that could also be used as a masculine card.  We made the card with the tree by stamping it in Crumb Cake ink and then thumping it with an Always Artichoke marker before applying it to the cardstock. 

The goose card is a card I made at a local stamping meeting that was designed by Julie Davison, but since I didn't have that stamp set, embossing folder, or punch, I had to do some tweaking :-) 


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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Flower Shop Gingham Birthday

Here's one more flower card for Friday night's Stamp-a-Stack.  I mentioned in my last post we are running out of time for flowery cards, and I am really stretching it by using these springy in-colors.  But the flowers from the Flower Shop set are some of my new favorites and the stampers really liked them last month when we made this card so I thought I might get away with it ;-).  I used the Gingham wheel, but I am joining in on the trend to un-mount wheels so we could use the gingham as a stamp.  All you have to do is use a hobby blade to cut the stamp at the seam and peel it off of the wheel.  Then you can stick it to the clear-mount cling foam and use it like an clear mount stamp.  I didn't realize how similar this is to a card on my Pinterest board until after the card was done.  What a great source of inspiration!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Flowery Birthday Card CASE

 
This card is a CASE of a card swap I received at convention from Kathy Johnson.  That's one of the many great things about swapping - I had to use different stamp sets and embossing folder but was able to use the great color combination and layout she created.  I figure this is the last month for flowery cards as we are heading into fall leaves and holidays so I thought I would squeeze this one in.  Do you know how I made the leaves?  It's the wing from the Bird Builder punch!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Serene Silhouettes Convention Case

 
This was my third convention CASE for my recent stamp-a-stack.  I didn't actually get this swap card, but I thought it was a beautiful card.  I'm sorry I had to created it by memory, and I don't know who designed it.  So if it's yours please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.  It is perfect for so many different occasions.

Monday, August 12, 2013

You're the Best Card

 
Here's another terrific swap card from convention that I CASED for my recent Stamp-a-Stack.  It was made by Sue Noetzel.  It uses the Hello, Lovely stamp set which is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I think her choice of colors is what drew me to this card.  I also loved the way she combine the colors on the Thank You You're the Best stamp. 

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Black and White Thinking of You CASE

 
For my August Stamp-a-Stack, I planned to do 3 of my favorite swaps.  This card was one the first one I decided on, and to my delight, when I turned it over it was made by my friend, Faye Colwell!  My stampers loved the black and white color scheme.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Morning Meadow Birthday

I was just playing around with this Morning Meadow hostess set and created a quick birthday card. 

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Wildflower Meadows

 
I made this card last month as I was working on ideas for my stamp-a-stack.  I realized I had too many flower cards that month so I am holding on to it for another time.  As we are heading into fall, I may just hold on to it until March when we are ready for some spring wildflowers!

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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Valentine Zoo Babies

When I sat down to design my convention swaps, I played around with the new Zoo Babies set.  I like to design holiday cards if I can because we always need ideas for the holidays.  This wasn't quite what I wanted so I didn't go ahead and make it into a swap card, but I do think these animals will make a great Valentine. 

To Order Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Sunburst Wheely Sweet Friend

Here's my last convention swap.  You may remember seeing a similar card on my blog recently.  I liked it so much, I redesigned it just a little and made 25 to swap at convention. 
 

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Christmas in July

Here's another one of the swaps I made for convention using the new Wishing You set from the upcoming holiday catalog available August 1.  I know I like to get holiday cards as swaps and figured some of the other ladies might too!  I also used the Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack which is great for Christmas cards.  There are 48 sheets total but only 2 designs.  So there are 24 sheets of 2 designs so it's easy to make them all the same. 

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

Tape It Birthday Swap

I'm back from convention and still catching up on my sleep, but I had a great time with 5,800 stamping friends.  I used the Tape It and the Tag It stamp sets for one of my swaps.  We received the Tag It set as one of our free sets from Stampin' Up, but I couldn't wait and ordered it as soon as the catalog was available.  I thought it would be a good swap since everyone was going home with that set. 

To Order Stampin' Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Blooming with Kindness Birthday

 
Here's another card I made with the Blooming with Kindness stamp set after the Mr. & Mrs. card from yesterday.  It's hard to see in the picture, but I embossed the card with the Framed Tulip embossing folder before stamping my flower and greeting. 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Mr. & Mrs.

 
Such a pretty stamp!  I colored the flower from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set, and then stamped my Mr. & Mrs. stamp over the top.  It's not a very involved card, but I don't think it needs anything else.

Friday, July 19, 2013

"Washi Tape" Baby Card

One of the first sets in the new catalog I knew I had to have was the Tape It stamp set.  As I was experimenting with ideas for my convention swap, I decided I wanted to do one with the faux-washi tape look.  This isn't the card I decided to make for my swap, but it was a fun little experiment that I will have for a special occasion.  It also gave me a chance to use my new Zoo Babies stamp set!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Swallowtail Birthday

With just one stamp, this swallowtail image fills a card in a pretty dramatic way.  I didn't order it at first when it was in the seasonal catalog, but I am sure glad I did after making several cards with it.  Here's my first card
 
I used the Finishing Touches Edgelit along the bottom to add a little interest, but then you can see in the bottom image that I didn't stop there.  We made this card at my last stamp-a-stack, and people seemed to like a variety of glittered and non-glittered depending on the occasion.
 
 


Monday, July 15, 2013

Kind & Cozy Button Jar

It's hard to tell, but this cute little jar is full of buttons.  I was looking for a quick little Stampin' Up gift and the Kind & Cozy stamp set made it easy.  The gingham ring fits the jar lid perfectly, and all I had to do was dress it up with a piece of Costal Cabana ribbon. 
 
 
 



Saturday, July 13, 2013

Ombre Technique - Happy Birthday


Isn't this a beautiful technique?  I first saw it on my friend Julie's blog.  By reusing the same 2 pieces of  Delicate Details Lace Tape and a sponge, it's easy to create this amazing background.  Because the tape can be gently removed, place both pieces on white cardstock.  Then with a sponge, rub your two different colors of ink over the tape without going too far off the second piece.  Then remove only the first piece and place it next to the still stuck piece.  Continue to leapfrog these pieces across the card as you rub on ink with the sponge.  You can even save the 2 pieces of tape for another card!  I finished the card and added a flower made with the Simply Pressed Clay.  For the leaves, I stamped the flower from Kind & Cozy and it was a perfect fit. 

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Strawberry Slush Gifts of Kindness


If I had to pick my favorite new in-color, Strawberry Slush might be it.  Who am I kidding?  I love them all.  In fact, with the color refresh, I am using all new colors all the time!  Some in-colors of the past have come back as permanent colors and have created all sorts of wonderful new color combinations. 

I'm pretty sure I have some Strawberry Slush flowers in my garden so why not pull out my new Gifts of Kindness set?  I like the flower in this set, but the added bonus is the nice variety of greetings.  I will get a lot of use out of this set!

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

3 Cheers for You!


I'm having some fun with challenges this week - this one is from ColourQ.  I knew which stamp set I wanted to use the minute I saw those colors - the Happy Hour set is perfect for summery drinks.  Many times I try to make my stamping do double duty, and if I make a card I want to use it for an upcoming event.  This week as I have been working on these challenges, all I worried about what following the rules of the challenge.  It's really helped get my creative juices flowing again so I can go back and tackle my convention swaps.  I have one set finished and another set designed, cut and ready to be assembled.  I like a variety and usually design 2 or 3 swap cards.  We'll see how the creative juices are flowing and maybe I will design one more.  Check back in a few days if you'd like to see what I came up with. 



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Mosaic Madness Christmas in July

When I return from the Stampin' Up convention I will have a busy stamping week.  I will be hosting my monthly scrapbook club, my annual Christmas in July Stamp-a-Stack and my garage sale.  Convention is so much fun, and I will be so full of ideas and inspiration that I will be sure to have some great ideas for cards. 

I have pre-ordered some of the new holiday stamps from the holiday catalog coming out in August, but they aren't here yet.  So when I decided to played along with The Paper Players Christmas in July Challenge, I had to get creative.  This stamp set lends itself to ornaments, and I have had customers call it an ornament stamp so none of them will be surprised to see me use it for Christmas.