Christmas Gift Idea

I wanted to show you a close up picture of my personal Stampin' Up! "hand stamped by" stamp. These would make great Christmas gifts for family and friends. THIS link will take you to the Stampin' Up! catalog to this item. It is found on page 162 of the Fall/Winter Catalog, so you can just go to that page and see all of the other choices that are available. You can also purchase name and address stamps which would be wonderful gifts for anyone. Add a Basic Black Classic Stampin' Ink Pad and you have a the perfect gift----and easy shopping!! Remember that I will be ordering on December 3rd, so get your order to me as soon as possible.

This is a gift package that I made using THESE directions from Splitcoast Stampers. It is called a 2-5-7-10 Box with Flap. These are fun and not too challenging to make. This would be the perfect packaging for that personalized stamp and black ink pad that you get for everyone!! For my sample, I used the Baroque Motifs stamp set. I am still loving this stamp set!!! It is just one of the most versatile sets that I have ever bought. I used Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue and Whisper White cardstock; Ballet Blue and Brilliant Blue ink; Scallop Circle Punch and Corner Rounder Punch; and embellished with White Grosgrain Ribbon. I hope that you will take time to try one of these soon!!!

One last creation to share for today. This is an acetate card that I finally got around to trying. This type of card is just so elegant!!! HERE are the directions from Splitcoast Stampers (SCS, for short). I really liked how she showed making the inside front flap piece a little larger to give a wonderful layered effect. I used the Snowflake Spot stamp set for this project. White Stazon was used for the acetate background. My colors are Bayou Blue and Soft Sky. Then I embossed the large snowflake and "Joy" with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. Very sparkly!!

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the things that I have shared with you today. I would love to see some of the things that you have created. Just e-mail me a picture or send me a link to your blog! Don't forget about quick and easy gift ordering through me and Stampin' Up! Happy Stamping!!

I've been busy!!!

I've been having so much fun yesterday and today. If you guessed that I have been stamping, you are right! I wanted to show you some pictures of the things that I have been doing. First, for the Gifts Galore Class tonight, I have made this really cool notepad holder. I started with a manilla envelope measuring 9" x 12". Then I picked out the Petals and Paisleys Designer Series Papers and Turquoise grosgrain ribbon for this project. You can use the inside pocket for coupons (or receipts or whatever you want). The pad of paper is replaceable once you use up the first one. I also made a matching ink pen by inserting scrapbooking paper in the barrel of the pen. I love this project!! The basic idea came from my up-up-upline, Melissa E., in VA Beach, but I modified it for my use. If you are coming to my Gifts Galore Class tonight, you will be making this yourself!!!



Project #2 is a cute ornament. Punch 6 punches out of Designer Series Scrapbooking Paper (I used Cerise, see all designs on pgs 170 to 173) using your Stampin' Up! Scallop Punch. Attach them together with Sticky Strip and a little SNAIL adhesive, leaving one side open. Then cut your string for the hanger and insert in open side of ornament. Use a little Crystal Effects or other strong liquid glue to keep ornament hanger in place. I also had some fun gold beads from a local craft store, so I tied that at the bottom of my hanger, but you could use a bead from the Pretties Kit also. Then attach the last side of your ornament. Let the glue dry before handling a lot. And that is the whole process!!! How easy is that? And so cute and fun. Give it a try today and send me a picture of yours!!










Project #3---I made this "Welcome" Name Frame for the Christmas season. I love how this turned out!! As soon as I saw the great shiny red frame at a local dollar store, I snapped it up knowing that it would be perfect for this project. The background paper is Basic Black and I stamped "Merry Christmas" in White Craft Ink. My letters are Real Red and Glorious Green ink. For the letter "O", I used the Season of Joy stamp set (in the Holiday Mini Catalog----only available through the end of November!!!). The paper behind each letter is also Basic Black, but I ran it through my Xyron machine, then stuck my letter on, then sprinkled the remaining area with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter!! I wish that the picture showed how shiny these really are in person. Here is one more picture, click on it to enlarge it and you can see a little bit more of the shine!








I hope that you have enjoyed looking at my projects as much as I enjoyed making them. I would love to teach YOU more about stamping and creating these projects yourself.



Happy Stamping!!!

Stampin' Up! Holiday Special

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We went to my sister's house and had a wonderful meal and lots of fun with family. I am thankful that we had the opportunity to get together with at least part of my family.

I wanted to let you know about a new Stampin' Up! special that began on November 23rd and runs through December 15th. Here's the scoop on the special:


Item Number Description Price
112409 Holiday Tag Bundle $4.95
110380 Tags for All Stamp Set* (20% off) $24.76
110264 Designer Gift cards* (30% off) $4.55
109862 Chocolate Chip satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
109863 Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free!
112410 Tin 3-Pack $9.95
110147 Celebration wrapping paper* $17.95
110228 Hand Selected Accents & Elements (25% off) $8.21

*This item is from the current Holiday Mini Collection. Only this and other items indicated will be extended through the campaign period while supplies last. All other Holiday Mini items will be available until November 30.



To see the color flyer with pictures, click HERE!!!

HERE are some cute projects that are from the Stampin' Up! website showing these great items that are on sale! Make sure to click on the colored links above to see some pictures of things made with the items on special. I really tried to figure out how to get copies of these pictures on my blog, but I just can't figure that out yet. I'll keep trying!!! There is a definite learning curve with this blog thing....well, for me anything on the computer takes a learning curve!

Have a great day! Hope to see you at the Gifts Galore Class on Tuesday. Make sure to contact me to reserve your spot.

Go Dallas Cowboys!!!

Okay, I live in VA, but I am a HUGE Dallas Cowboys fan. What an exciting day yesterday to watch Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Redskins!! Just as I expected, it was a close game. Those two teams are such big rivals that you never know which way it might go. But yesterday, my Cowboys were the winners!! Woo-hoo!!

Now, I know that you actually checked here to see what I've been stamping lately, not to hear about football, so here goes.....

For the upcoming Gifts Galore Class, we will be making candles, too! (If you check out previous posts, you will see some of the other items that we are making.) Here is my example. I used the Peaceful Wishes stamp set, Ruby Red & Garden Green markers and Chocolate Chip stamp pad to make this. You can see the beginning of the words "Peaceful Wishes" as they go around the candle. It turned out beautifully!

I also made some bows for gift packages. These are so easy and they only take 1/2 of a 12" x 12" sheet of scrapbooking paper! HERE are the instructions from a website called Splitcoast Stampers. These are so easy and remember through the end of November, Stampin' Up! (R) has a great scrapbooking paper special. Buy 3 packs of scrapbooking paper and get the 4th pack for FREE!!!! Contact me soon to place your order. I will be planning to place an order on November 29th!!!

That's all that I have to share today. I need to go and start doing the girls' school work with them. Have a blessed day! Happy stamping and scrapping!

Gifts Galore Class

My Gifts Galore Class is coming up on Tuesday, Nov 27th. Cost is only $15!!! Make sure to sign up soon to reserve your spot!! I only have 8 spaces available for this class.

Here are two of our projects for the upcoming Gifts Galore Class. The fun little calendars are about 4 inches by 3 inches. We will add a magnet to the back, so it will be a great gift for someone to put on their fridge, file cabinet, school locker or anything metal. It is a tear off calendar for all of 2008.

The other item is an ornament made from SU!s beautiful Designer Series Scrapbooking paper!!! (Papers can be found on pages 170 to 173 of the Fall/Winter catalog----see link in left column of this page.) It is so easy, fun and cute. It measures about 3 inches high and 4 inches wide. These projects are so quick and easy to reproduce to give as teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, children's gifts, etc for Christmas.

We will also be making the great star ornaments seen in THIS previous post. Watch the blog for more Gifts Galore projects coming in the next few days....

Happy Stamping, everyone!!

Christmas Card Buffet examples

Christmas Card Buffet Examples

Here is a picture of the cards that I have designed so far for the Christmas Card Buffet coming up on Nov 15th. (One card---the pink/green one----was designed by another awesome SU! demo named Melissa S., but it is a great card so I wanted to give you ladies the opportunity to make it.) If you would like to see them a little larger, you can click on the above picture. Anyway, if I have at least 10 people sign up for the buffet, then I may design a couple of more cards for you to choose from. Please sign up for this camp by Tues, Nov 13th. The buffet hours are 6pm until 10pm. You may arrive anytime between those times, and whenever you have made all the cards that you want (at a cost of $1 each), you are free to go or just stay and chat!

You may have already noticed my Christmas Countdown tree added to the left side of my blog, but in case you haven't, check it out! Yes, only 48 days from today until Christmas!!! That means that you definitely want to come and get started on those Christmas cards at my buffet.....or better yet, make all that you need for this year!

Happy stamping, everyone! Have a blessed day!

Gifts!!

I had such a fun week recently. I won a prize from my Cottage Stampers group, then later on that same week, I heard that I had also won a gift from my Inky Angels group (my up-up-upline). How exciting is that? Free stamping/stamped stuff!!! So, I am sharing a picture of the cool stamped gift that I got from Kristin (my upline, head of the Cottage Stampers). It is a calendar/planner for 2008. She found the plain old calendar at the one of the dollar stores and created this beauty. I told you that she was very talented!! The top picture shows the cover of the calendar/planner and the other photo shows my entire gift (which included a stamp set also! Retired set called Mini Messages, in case you were wondering) wrapped with some of SU!s great new double stitched ribbon in Groovy Guava. I was very excited about the ribbon as well.











My prize from Melissa E. (head of the Inky Angels) was a pack of Bashful Blue cardstock. All of you stampers/scrapbookers know that you can NEVER have enough cardstock!!! I just want to say "Thank You!" to each of those ladies for being such great uplines. I couldn't do it without your help and encouragement.



Remember I have a Name Frame class scheduled for this Tuesday night (Nov 6th). It is my last one before Christmas, so make sure to sign up and make some beautiful gifts. Space is limited. If you would like to make some frames, but cannot attend that class, please contact me to set up your own special time, if possible.



Coming on Nov 15th is the Christmas Card Buffet. Come and make as many Christmas as you would like. I will have several designs with the cardstock cut and ready to go. You only pay $1 per card that you wan to make (envelopes are extra). So if you like one design and want to make 5 cards like that, you can and it costs only $1 per card!!! Please sign up in advance for this class as well.



I have my downline meeting (the Inky Dreamers) on Sat, Nov 17th from 10 am until about noon or 1 pm. Have you ever considered becoming a Stampin' Up! demo? If you are interested and would like to come to our fun stamping meeting, just let me know!!



On Nov 27th, the Gifts Galore Camp will be held at my home. I will try to take some pictures this week of our projects because I know that you will want to make these great easy (yet inexpensive) gifts!!! Christmas is right around the corner.



My last class of Nov is on the 29th and we will be making Tins. You can see an example of these in THIS blog post. These are great gifts. I should also have extra tins available for purchase if you would like to make more for Christmas gifts.



Lastly, on Dec 4th, I am doing a home school Mom's Night Out making Bible verse frames. Contact me if you are a home school mom and would like to attend and I can give you more details. Here are some examples of these type of frames. If you would like to contact me, you can either comment on this blog entry with your e-mail address or you can go to my Stampin' Up! website and click on "about me" then contact me at the e-mail address listed. Happy Stamping!!!

Upline and Downline Cards

Today I wanted to share with you one card from my upline, Kristin D., and another of my downline, Dottie F. Both are very talented stampers. Again, these are swap cards and our theme was Christmas cards using unusual colors. We were trying to get outside the box of using only green and red for Christmas!

Kristin's card uses Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, and Brushed Silver cardstock. The stamp sets that she used are In the Spotlight (Level 2 hostess set), French Flair (background stamp) and So Many Sayings (Level 1 hostess set). When I think about those hostess sets, did you know that you could get BOTH of those just by hostessing a Stampin' Up! show with at least $400 is sales? How easy is that? You get two free stamp sets, plus another $45 in merchandise for free, too. Let me know if you would be interested... Anyway, back to the card, her ink was Purely Pomegranate and then Black embossing powder for the sentiment. She used a cool new circle rhinestone brad for the flower center and the 5 petal flower punch. I love how she used her stylus (or other tool) to make the flowers even more dimensional! Can you see each petal is creased? Thanks so much for this beautiful card, Kristin! You are an inspiration to me.

The other card is from Dottie, one of my downline. She is very talented also. Her card uses the City of David stamp set (love it!). Her cardstock colors are Bayou Blue, Wild Wasabi, River Rock and Whisper White. Her ink choice Wild Wasabi (isn't that a great color name?). I see that she used the ticket corner punch on her sentiment. What an easy way to jazz up your card creations!! I find myself reaching for that ticket corner punch often! Do you have one yet? Thanks so much for the great swap cards, ladies. I really appreciate it.