Aloha, all!

     There are so many wonderful products in this year's Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog that I haven't been able even to start to use them all.  One that I finally decided I had to use (because I have grandchildren who are young enough to still believe in Santa) was the stamp set, Dear Santa.  I actually bought the set because I just had to have the "To:  From", Holly, and Snowflake stamps in the set.  I wasn't so sure about the "Dear Santa," but now I've figured out how to put even that stamp to good use.

     These are two "Letters to Santa" books that I've made for two of my grandchildren (would you guess that their names are Morgan and Kiara?).  These books are made from the 5" x 5" On Board Journal sold by Stampin' Up!  I covered them with paper from the Designer Series Paper Set, Holly Berry Bouquet and decorated the front with the Dear Santa Stamp Set.  

     Inside each journal, I decorated pages on which the girls could write their letters to Santa – or this could be their Christmas Scrapbook!  Most of the pages are decorated with either the snowflake or the holly sprig from the Dear Santa Stamp Set.  But other pages I decorated with some of the stockings from the Stitched Stocking Stamp Set (also – you guessed it! – from the Holiday Mini Catalog!).

     I actually got the girls to help me out with this.  Last month, when I was visiting them, I asked if they'd each write a short letter to Santa so that I could use it when I was blogging about this project.  They jumped right into it – and they both wanted a puppy!  It was so touching, as they'd lost their last dog to an illness this summer, and you could tell right away that this was to be THE thing for this Christmas!

     For the very young people in your life, they wouldn't even have to write in the book!  Think about having them draw pictures of what they'd like, as Morgan drew a picture of the puppy she'd like.  Or have them cut or tear pictures out of catalogs and paste them onto the pages.  Hmmm, I might just have to cut some pictures out of the Stampin' Up! catalog to show Santa what I'D like this year!

     Finally, you could use the pages that are the journal as the basis for a Christmas Scrapbook.  You could make this into a fun 6" x 6" Scrapbook or even put the pages on a large 12" x 12" scrap layout.  This is a hybrid project – the background and lettering is done with My Digital Studio and the rest is the "real" stuff.  The stocking uses the Stocking Builder Punch and the candy cane is from the Sizzix Stocking Accents Die (both in the Holiday mini, of course!

     And as for that puppy that my granddaughters had asked for for Christmas this year?  It turns out that this year Christmas came two and a half months early.  Their new puppy arrived three weeks ago and the whole family is absolutely thrilled. 

          I hope you've enjoyed reading about my idea for the Dear Santa Stamp Set!  I had a lot of fun with it and I'm sure that you will, too. 

If you're a member of the SUDSOL online Stampin' Up! Demonstrators group, click here find in the patterns section of the website a set of instructions for you to use as a tutorial or class handout, including a template to use to cut the holes through which the binding wires go and the measurements for the paper to use for the cover.  Demonstrators who are NOT a member of SUDSOL can access the instructions, too – with a FREE two-week trial membership to the group!  Why not try it out TODAY!!

     To begin, I hope that you all know that any time there's a challenge at the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge blog site, ANYONE can join in!  You don't have to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator or even have a blog.  There's a group called Split Coast Stampers that's a great place for you to post a photo of a card that you've made, and then you can link that photo back to the Challenge blog.  In fact, I think I may just have to write a tutorial on how to do that – just one more thing to add to the list of things on which I'm procrastinating (I don't know if I should be making a smiley face or a frowny face after that statement).

     OK – now here's my card for this week's SU-Only Challenge to make an invitation to a party.  As I said in the SU-Only Challenge blog, it can be any kind of party at all.  Well, one of the parties that I, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, occasionally have is a "Crop" or "Scrapbooking" party.  What better set to use to advertise such a party than the 2011 Summer Mini Catalog Stamp Set, Travel Log.  This stamp set is the PERFECT scrapbooking stamp set for scrapbooks about trips that we've made.  I wish I'd had more time to scrapbook this summer so I could have done more to demonstrate this set.

     One of the things that I did with one of the stamps is something that I do on occasion – I cut it up into separate stamps.  The three phrase stamps are all part of one stamp, but I cut them up so that I could easily stamp them individually if I wanted.  I was also having difficulty figuring out when I'd want to use the stamp set with all three phrases together.  Usually that would come to my mind immediately after I cut the stamp apart.  But that didn't happen this time, so I guess I'm good with them split up.

     The colors in this card, besides the Whisper White Card Stock, are Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy.  I accented each of the phrases with pennants cut using the Petite Pennants Building Punch.  This is a great punch because you can punch both the straight-edged pennant and the scallop-edged pennant with the same punch! After I layered up the pennants, I tied them all with a bit of the Cherry Cobbler/White Baker's Twine.  This is one of the products from the Summer Mini Catalog that's been carried over into the 2011-2012 Catalog.

     Now I just have to figure out when I'm going to have that scrapbook party so I can make up more invitations!  If you'd like to come, just let me know when.

     And today I have a sketch for this card.  After having had quite a few posts based on the sketches of others, I finally have one of my own that I can share with you!

     I hope you have fun with your stamping this week!  And don't forget to post one of your fab cards on the SU-Only Challenge blog!

     Have you recovered from the "Spring Forward" time change of the past weekend?  Here in Hawaii it's not something about which I have to worry – except everyone I know on the U. S. Mainland had their time changed, so I have to adjust to that.  And I do mean that I have to!  I have 5 clocks that I need to change twice a year!  I'm probably the only one within miles that has to change so many clocks when Daylight Savings Time comes and goes!  Here's what I see above the doorway to our office every day:

     So I definitely am aware of when the time changes.  Behind every clock there is a scrap page that shows something about the time zone and the particular place within that time zone where we're likely to have an interest.

     But I digress from the challenge of the day!  A stamping group to which I belong – Late Night Stampers and not limited to Stampin' Up! demonstrators, I might add; so you're eligible to participate! – has a weekly challenge, and the challenge this week was to made a card or other paper-crafting project related to Spring.   A few weeks ago I finally broke down and bought the Build a Blossom Stamp set and the coordinating Blossom Petal Punch.  I say, "broke down," because there were so many other products in the 2011 Occasions Mini Catalog that I've wanted to buy.  This was way on down my list – and I finally got to that part of my list!

     While I've not had this set of products in my own possession, I nonetheless have been watching what people have been doing with it.  So I knew what steps I wanted to take for my first try. 

• First I stamped some Whisper White paper with the solid medium size petal stamp using Pretty in Pink classic ink.
• Then, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner, I stamped over those stamped images with Melon Mambo.  So now I had a two-color flower petal.
• I punched these petals using the Blossoms Petals Punch.
• I repeated this process with the smaller petal stamps, again using Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo.
• I punched a 1" circle out of card stock (I used Whisper White, but any color will do as it will be hidden) and covered it in SNAIL mono adhesive. 
• I then applied the tip of each of the large petals to the circle.
• When that was done, I used my paper piercer and curled the petals slightly to make them appear more natural.
• I applied some snail adhesive to the center of the circled petals and then applied the small petals the same as the larger petals.
• I used my paper piercer to punch a hole in the middle and used one of the Sweet Stitches Fabric Designer Brads for the flower's center.

     Once my flower was done, I had to decide what to do with it – it couldn't just sit there on my craft table, after all!  At the same time that I'd ordered these new products, I'd also ordered the First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper, also from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I have a recollection of having wrapped flower bouquest in newspaper from my younger years, and that paper seemed just the thing to wrap a bouquet with this flower!  So I added some leaves to the flower, and trimmed a few pieces of Old Olive Card stock to look like stems and wrapped the whole thing together into a bouquet.  Just darling if I say so my self.

     To complete the card, I made a card base of Old Olive Card Stock and layered it up with a piece of paper from the 2011 Sale-A-Bration Catalog – part of a set of FREE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER offered this year to anyone who purchases $50 worth of Stampin' Up! products!  Is that a deal, or what?!  Then I tied it all together with a bow made of Pretty in Pink 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  A darling bouquet for a Thank You note!

     Don't forget that Sale-A-Bration is over in just two weeks!  If you've been thinking about purchasing something that would allow you to get your free products, don't delay!  You can call or e-mail me, or even order online anytime 24/7!  www.RobinStamps.StampinUp.net!  If you order the Build A Blossom Stamp set (either in wood (121923) or clear mount (121994)), the Blossom Petals Punch (121808),  the 1" Circle Punch (119868), the Sweet Stitches Fabric Designer Brads (121880) and some Snail Adhesive (104332), you'll have more than enough to get that free paper set – or a stamp set or anything else in the Sale-A-Bration Catalog!

     And you definitely can have a lot of fun with all those wonderful Stampin' Up! products!

     Last week I published a video tutorial demonstrating how to make my Mini Flip Fold Album.  (The video is on my Facebook page.  Just click here and you'll see it in my February 25, 2011, post.)  Those of you who have had a chance to view it may have noticed that I started out using lots of adhesive as I would with a "real" project.  Then I realized  that this was just a demo album which I had printed with the letters A, B, C and D to show you how I was putting the album together.  So it was a demo project; no need for all that adhesive!

     This afternoon I proved myself wrong in the latter thought.  I was cleaning up my table to make another video and was about to toss the sample project.  But wait – that was a piece of Confetti Cream Card Stock I'd used to make that sample!  And, yes, it had stuff printed on it.  But I could cover up the printing with some Designer Papers!  And so I did, and here is the final project.  The stamps on the cover element are from the Level 2 Hostess Stamp Set Apple Blossoms.  Love this layout – I used it in the first batch of thank you notes to those who bought my Card Layout eBook.

     But I digress.  On the inside, I didn't need to add any papers to the small flaps (that I like to use for journaling) because the paper is a nice light color.  But I did add a stamp from the Stamp Set, Artistic Etchings, to decorate the flaps a bit.  And I decorated the remaining pages of the album with some more of the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Papers – the paper is nice and thick and hides those printed letters beautifully!

     Those of you who might have paid really close attention to my video may have noticed that the last few "scenes" showed the pieces of card stock with the circled letters, but without the dashed lines that I had originally shown as the locations for scoring.  The story behind that is that I put the first set of papers together – adhesives and all – without remembering to turn on the camera.  Stupid, stupid.  Those pages I DID throw away.  They weren't going anywhere but in the trash, especially as I crushed them when I realized I done all that demo for nothing!  And it was a better job, too!  OK, take a deep breath, Robin.

     So – no dashed lines here that I had to cover up.  And I have yet another lovely album to give away as a gift!  Just need to add some photos.

     I hope you had a great weekend with lots of crafting time!  I'm about to get very busy with all the challenge projects that I have to get done before I leave on a trip next week.  But I'm going to have fun with them all – as I hope you do with all of YOUR craft projects!

     The last time I posted I said that I was so OVER snow.  And I just sit and read about snow, I don't live in it.  I can't imagine what you gals and guys who've been living with so much of it this winter are going through (well, yes, I've been there/done that – 50 inches the last winter we spent on the mainland).

     But when there are grandchildren involved and their mother (a photographer) takes pictures of them, I have to give in.

     Both of these scrap pages are made with Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio, and both feature photos of one grandchild each.  The photo layout is one of the built-in layouts provided in the software package that comes with My Digital Studio.  I modified it just a bit, added the background paper, some snowflakes from digital "stamp sets" and some journaling backgrounds made with digital "punches."  All digital!  Not a speck of paper wasted trying out different colors for the mats!  And (best of all) no added clutter in the craft room!  That's the real plus because it seems to be in a constant state of disarray as I am cleaning up after Christmas and getting the new Occasions Mini Catalog stuff set up.

     If you have any questions about My Digital Studio, I'll be glad to help you with them!  I've taken all of Stampin' Up!'s tutorials and have a lot of practice doing lots of fun pages (fun is my mantra for 2011!).   There's also an online resource for everyone who uses My Digital Studio – MyDigitalStudio.net.  Lots of great samples and discussions!  If you're not quite sure you want to buy this software, go check that website out – you'll be hooked!

     And whether you're making cards or scrapbook pages or anything else creative today, have fun with it!

     While I promised that I would post every day between December 1st and Christmas Day, I am about to be the recipient of a surprise gift from my dear husband, who is whisking me off to the island of Kaua'i tomorrow.  I've known about this for over a week, but I really thought (in this busy season, no less!) that I'd have time to make projects and post them while I was gone.  Hah!  I can hear my dear late mother saying that as I say, "I've got another think coming!"

     So I will be absent from my craft room and my computer desk until Thursday.  I'm even probably going to miss the Diva Coffee Break Challenge this week, but I'm still not certain about that.  Depends on how quickly I can pack this evening.

     For today, though, I thought I'd share a new take on an old pattern, which some call an "explosion" album.  I'm not sure what's exploding, but it sounds fun!  I'd thought of it as an Accordion Album for a long time.  So now I've decided to call it an Accordion Explosion Album, and I've had the tutorial here on my blog for quite some time.  I even updated it a bit last spring. 

     For this week, I've used my quickly dwindling supply of the Candy Cane Lane Designer Paper set to make an album that will be cute to hold Christmas photos of my grandchildren (assuming I can pry them out of my children's cameras!)  There is space for six photos on this album, 4 on the inside folds and 2 on the outside.  With five grandchildren, I may even be able to squeeze in a photo of our pets if I can get them both in the same place at the same time (not that pets are the equivalent of grandchildren; but they do make cute pictures).

     I made the little bird on the cover with the Two-Step Bird Punch, even using the wing part of the punch to make the little santa hat that makes him look like the other little birdies printed on the paper.  The papers that I placed on the inside squares of the album (and the outside, but you can't see the back of the album) are the reverse of the same paper that I used on the cover.

     I really do like making a cover for these little albums, more than just folding the album and using it without a separate cover.  The light cardboard with which Designer Papers come packaged are great for this purpose – just cover them with some matching or coordinating paper, and you've got a project that seems a lot more elegant than the plain album.

     If you'd like to try one of these yourself, the one-page tutorial is right here!  Lots of fun to make and even to give as gifts!

     I hope you're going to have as much fun this week as I plan to have on our little mini-vacation!  I won't be doing much crafting, but I'll make up for it when I get back!  Have a great week!

     I have something a little different for you today – a scrapbook page!

     I did this page as part of a challenge – to make a simple 6" x 6" scrap page with one photo element.  Well, the newest Stampin' Up! Scrapbook Albums are for 8" x 8" pages!  I think that this is just a terrific scrapbook size, and so I made my page that size.  I'm really hoping that we'll have plenty of Christmas photos of our grandchildren to fill up a whole album!

     This paper is from the Candy Cane Specialty Designer Series Paper from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  The whole set is made to coordinate with the stamp set, A Cute Christmas, which is one I don't yet have.  I'll probably give in and order it this week – just too, well, cute.  But the papers work well with other products, too, including the 2-Step Bird Punch which I'm showcasing here.  I punched a Real Red and a Garden Green bird, and just switched out the branch that punches with the birds.  I sponged the edge of the birds and their wings, which gives that some nice depth.

     That's all there is to this page!  And it's a great page for an album introduction.  You really don't need much more than this through a whole album.  Too many people stress over their scrapbooks and never get anything done.  I admit to doing that also, but I'm really working hard at getting out of this mind set!

     I hope you'll take some time to scrap this winter – and have fun with it!

     Well, this is it.  My last post with products from the Stampin' Up! 2010 Summer Mini Catalog.  It's been a great mini catalog from which to shop! 

     Today, something different to end it all – scrapbooks!

     Earlier this summer, when my husband became ill and was in a hospital far from our home for over a month, I made a small scrapbook with photos of his garden, his pets, and his Bridge Club friends.  He truly did enjoy having this small scale album with him to show off to visitors, not to mention the nurses and other staff!  The album, of course, was from the Summer Mini Catalog.  It holds 6" x 6" scrapbook pages, and has an Old Olive Polka Dot Designer Cover.  The papers that I used for the album from the Island Oasis Set coordinated perfectly with it.  (Oooh – think Christmas Colors for this Album, too!)  The other album in this photo is another album for 6" x 6" pages, and its cover is a Bashful Blue Herringbone.  The papers that I used for this album were from the coordinating paper set, Travel Journal.  For pictures of both sets of papers, just go back a few posts on this blog.  They're wonderful to work with in scrapbooks!

     While there are 6" x 6" scrapbooks in the 2010 "Big" Catalog, none of them has a designer cover – they have a Natural Linen cover and are quite a bit more expensive than these lovely albums.  So you might want to consider stocking up!

     You might well ask if there are going to be albums in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  Indeed, there are.  But both of them are for 8" x 8" scrap pages.  A nice size and I'll definitely be buying – and using! – them.  But for efficiency in the use of Designer Series Paper, you can get 4 pages out of one sheet for a 6" square album, while the 8" square allows you no more than if you were making a 12" square album – one!

     Here is a full description of the albums.  You have only until just before midnight Mountain Daylight Time tonight to order them!  I'll be glad to place the order for you if you'd like to call me (808.854.6145).  Or you can go directly to my website and place the order there!

     Tomorrow:  Welcome the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog with another of the Diva Coffee Break Team's color challenges!

     What would summer be without travel?  Of course, it would still be summer.  But if you have kids, there just isn't anything better than a road trip!  OK, I know that there are those of you who might have had some, well, disasters doing this.  But by and large, it's a great time for everyone. 

     And what would Stampin' Up!'s Summer Mini Catalog be without something related to travel or vacations.  I think that they outdid themselves this year, with the Travel Journal Designer Series Paper and the coordinating Stamp Set, Sentimental Journey. 

     Our daughter and her family took a road trip this summer from their home in North Carolina to our family's cabin on a lake in northern Minnesota.  What a trip they had – and grandma will be making a scrapbook of that trip for sure!  We'll be visiting later them later this year and everyone will get involved in putting the pictures in the scrapbook.  What fun!  I think I will have to take several packs of this paper with me!

     BUT – I'll have to buy it soon!  Because this paper set and the stamp set will disappear from Stampin' Up!'s repertoire on Tuesday, August 31st!!

     All kinds of travel are covered in both the papers and the stamp set – planes, cars, boats – and the colors are perfect for whatever activities and scenery you found to photograph while YOU were traveling this summer!   Here are pictures of the products that you can buy, but only until August 31st!

     Oh, and just like yesterday, a bit of a sneak peek at some 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog products!  Yup, there's that Decorative Label punch again!  What you probably can't tell at this small a resolution is that this scrap page is 8" x 8"!  That's new for Stampin' Up! AND there are two brand new albums in the Holiday Mini from which you can choose!  I can hardly wait to get mine!

     At this point, my husband is feeling quite well, thank you, and his surgeon has asked that he get out a bit if he can.  This is all while we are awaiting a date for the surgery.  It's going to be quite extensive, and requires the operating room to be reserved for a full day.  But with all the drugs the medical types are pumping into Harry, he really is able to get out a bit.  So out we've been getting him.

     One trip has been to the Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.  This is a great trip because Harry really misses his garden at home, and he can look at some plants that are similar to what he has at home.  Great for him and for us. 

     Meanwhile, Harry shows off the album I made for him that features his very own garden.  Last week I shared the pages featuring our pets, and today I'll start showing off some of the garden pages.  The overall colors throughout the scrapbook (pet pages not withstanding) are Garden Green/Certainly Celery and Pumpkin Pie/So Saffron.  The scrapping technique for today's two-page spread is one that I use a lot with the small (6" x 6") page spreads:  I take a whole bunch of photos and make them into a collage and print that as a larger photo on one page.  Then, on the facing page, I feature 2 or 3 individual pictures of the objects in question.  Here I'm featuring the tropical rhododendrons, or Vireyas, that are current blooming in our garden.  The photo at the left shows how you can get 11 nice pictures on one small page!

     The paper for this page is from the Designer Series Paper, Flocked Together.  I really wish I had "found" this set earlier!  This coming year I'll pay better attention to ALL the designer series paper sets so I don't miss anything.  The stamp sets featured on this page – as well as on the right side page – are Paradise and Tropical Party.  I originally thought this would be too busy, but I really like the effect when it's all put together in the scrapbook.  You can see that I matted the photo with So Saffron and Garden Green.  I didn't mat most of the photos in this album because of my time constraints.  But sometimes, I just had to get out the card stock and the paper cutter and mat away!

     On the right, I used a page from the Designer Series Paper Jackpot. Now, because my dear husband runs the local ACBL bridge club in Hilo, Hawaii, I already had a big stash of this Designer Series Paper.  And I'll be keeping it for Bridge Club use even after it retires.  But I digress.  The fact is that this paper is NOT just for cards and games.  Look at that lovely diamond pattern in So Saffron!  OK, it's Diamonds as in Hearts, Spades and Clubs.  But it's also diamonds as in a cool pattern!

     As the new papers come out I promise that I'll be much better at looking at them ALL to make sure that neither I nor you just discount a set because the paper that the catalog features just doesn't appeal.

     ALERT!  These Designer Series Paper sets are going to retire July 1st!  They are absolutely perfect for scrapbooking and, if you're a scrapbooker as I am, you might just want to stock up a bit before they're gone for good.

     I only have computer time late at night as the rest of the time I'm spending with my husband.  But I really hope to be back here with some analysis of the Stampin' Up! retired products lists and some suggestions for what you might want to snap up before it goes away.  Meanwhile, please keep my dear husband in your thoughts and prayers!