Beginning today, I’m trying to get back to some basic stamping and card making.
When the Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog first came out, I was really taken by the Eastern Eclectic theme of many of the stamps and papers. For a Christmas gift to a special friend this year, I made a set of stationery using one stamp set–Eastern Blooms (111626)–and my favorite Designer Series Paper set-Green Tea ((112040). For those of you who have been using Stampin’ Up! Products for awhile, you probably noticed that the Green Tea paper is the same design as the Ginger Blossom design in the Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog. But Green Tea uses the new colors for the 2008-2009 Stampin’ Up! year. Whatever year it is, I just love the design.
I am especially exciited about the way that Eastern Blooms works with the Green Tea paper. So I’m going to be featuring some of that over the next few days. On January 1st, I’ll share how I used the papers with one of our newest stamp sets from the 2009 Spring/Summer Idea Book and Catalog. Just a quick peak to picque your interest in what’s to come!
Today’s card uses one of the designs from the Green Tea DSP, as well as one of the stamps from the Eastern Blooms stamp set. It’s accented with the 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in the Baja Breeze color (111375), along with the Certainly Celery card stock. While it may not be easy to see with this photograph, I dry embossed the flowers from the stamp set using the Floral Frenzy Classy Brass Template (111807). I’ll be using this template throughout the next few days. The Classy Brass Templates are so exciting to use with the coordinating Stampin’ Up! stamp sets!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed using your Stampin’ Up! products for your Christmas and other holiday projects. And I’m sure that you’ll enjoy continuing to use them in the New Year. I can guarantee that they will be many new stamp sets and accessories for us all to use as we enter the Spring! Stay tuned here for news albout them all!
Ah, my last Christmas Card design of the season! And a good way to wish you and yours the happiest of holidays! (Actually, it’s just part of a card–the middle of another card made with Tuesday’s challenge. But I wanted the greeting to stand out!
Yesterday I participated in an online design challenge hosted by a group to which I belong. It was fun to just stop what I was doing in the middle of the holiday rush and make the challenge card. It was even more fun to drag out the long hidden stamps and papers that were NOT related to Christmas!
The stamp set is called Eastern Blooms (111626), and it coordinates with an entire style theme in the 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog, Eastern Eclectic. It also coordinates well with the Designer Paper, Green Tea (112040) , which is the paper I used in this card. The same piece of paper is used, with opposite sides showing on the top and the bottom. I used Baja Breeze card stock (111352) for the background, and stamped the flowers on Whisper White card stock (100730).
To make the flowers one color and the stems another, I stamped the entire stamp on Baja Breeze. Then I used a Blender Pen (102845) to wipe the blue from the stems and then inked them in with an Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker (100079). A little moistening "huff" breath, and then I stamped it!
The finishing touches are a bit of Certainly Celery 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (109031) and the Scallop Edge Punch (112091).
If you’d like to try any of these products, you can order online at any time. Just click here, click "Shop Now" and enter the number in the "Search the Store" box on the right of the new screen that opens.
Or, as always, you can call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me and I’ll be glad to place the order for you!
Hooray!!! All my Christmas cards are done and mailed!! The day did have one little glitch, though, as I realized the 5 small children on my list needed something a little cuter than my Diagonal Double Pocket cards with bookmarks (though it would be a good thing if they knew what a bookmark was for, I guess).
So out came the Sock Monkey stamp set (111550), which also has an Accessories set (111552). The set is new with the 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog, and it was one of the first stamp sets I bought. Actually, it was a preview set for demonstrators, and there seemed to be a lot going on with it. So buy it I did. But, with the Christmas Season, I totally forgot about it. When I went to hunt it up, sure enough the Accessories set had a Santa Hat, and I was off and running to make these 5 cute cards! I used scraps that I had left over from the Diagonal Double Pocket cards to make up the main part of his body, then layered everything up so he could offer up a cute little present. Some cute little $1 bills were tucked inside the card. I know there’s a way I could have made them pop out of the gift box. But, hey, it was the Saturday before Christmas, and my creativity was already starting its vacation.
If you have this set, it’s not too late to make some cards or gifts for those little ones on your list for Christmas! If you don’t, you might want to consider this little critter. He comes with a heart that would be great for Valentine’s Day; there’s also party hat, a flower, a cupcake, a balloon–great for birthdays! The Sock Monkey Accessories set has even more for the spring, with bunny ears and an Easter basket, a graduation hat, and other great every day accessories.
You can order online–in fact, this would be a great addition to your Free Shipping package if you’ve been trying to figure out what to add to your order to bring it up to $70 for the Free Shipping Offer!
I have just GOT to get those Christmas cards mailed! But here’s another quick project with the new Love You Much Bundle–a 20% off Stampin’ Up! Promotion that begins on December 23rd!
I just love the new punch with the three little hearts! I have been wanting a Stampin’ Up! heart punch FOREVER!! And now I own one! You can too, when you order the new bundle. Remember, if you order on the 23rd–the first day it’s available for you to order–you can also get free shipping if your order totals more than $70! So Tuesday’s the day to take a break from all those Christmas promotions and give yourself an early Valentine’s Day gift!
Once the bundle is available, I’ll let you know all the products I used in this and in yesterday’s projects. And by then I may have the Christmas cards mailed (have you heard this before) and I can spend some time designing something a bit more serious!
Well, yes, there’s New Year’s Day! But there’s also one of my favorite times of the year to make greeting cards in all shapes and sizes!
IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY!!!
Oh, I know. I don’t even have all those Christmas cards mailed out. But I just have to share with you that there is going to be a sneak preview of some new Valentines products beginning next week! This new promotion is yet a great Stampin’ Up! bundle, the LOVE YOU MUCH BUNDLE! The bundle includes Designer Series Paper, a Stamp Set, and a brand new punch! Click here to see the flyer advertising this new promotion!
In fact, the first day of the preview promotion is the last day of Free Shipping! If you’ve been thinking of trying to take advantage of the Free Shipping, but haven’t wanted to invest in more Holiday products right now (there is a $70 minimum order, after all), think about adding this bundle to your order!
I have the bundle in my hot little hands, and took some time out of my Christmas card mailing project to come up with a couple of quick ideas to show off. I thought I was going to have to wait until next week to show samples; but there’s a brand new Stampin’ Up! policy that lets us let YOU in on promotions earlier!
For those of you on the list for my Newsletter, I’ll be posting an offer for a free class using the new bundle if you purchase it before January 3rd. If you want to be in on that, just let me know (phone: 808.854.6145 or e-mail) to add you to my newsletter mailing list, and you’ll hear more from me next week!
I’ll post another card showing off more of the stamps tomorrow!
Here is a picture of a great many of the Christmas cards which I’ve been working frantically to get into the mail today (mail moves more slowly from Hawaii to the mainland, so we have different deadlines!) I have all my mailing labels printed out, and am spending entirely too much time making sure that the "perfect" card for each person or family. My husband tells me they all look nice, and I shouldn’t stress over it. But I do think that Janet should get one of the Little Felt Flurries cards; and Cindy should certainly have a bookmark–maybe two; and….
Today I finally said, "Finished!" as far as my 2008 Christmas Cards are concerned. It’s time to get them signed, stuffed and sent out!
I started making the cards we’ll send out this year back in August, in preparation for a class I was doing Labor Day Week. With all the various classes and stamp club sessions I’ve had this fall, there were plenty of opportunities to make lots of different kinds of cards, too. Most of the time, I would try two or three versions of a card before I’d decide on the one I’d demonstrate in a class. All of the various versions are just fine in their own way. Sometimes, a version that really looks cool is just too complicated for me to demonstrate at a stamp club meeting where my club members are expecting three projects. Of course, I don’t find that out until I’ve finished making it.
My last big push to get all the cards made was to make about 40 of those wonderfully versatile Diagonal Double Pocket cards. Each one will hold at least one bookmark and a copy of our Christmas letter. And there will be handwritten notes on the Christmas letter as well as on the bookmarks. But ALL will be made exclusively with Stampin’ Up! products–of course!
Now I’m off to start the signing, stuffing and sending!! I’ll be sure to take a photo of the cards and get it posted here for you, hopefully tomorrow (assuming I don’t have writer’s cramp so bad that I can’t operate my keyboard!)
Today I continue my effort to get my Christmas cards all done by the end of the week. However, I got a bit sidetracked by a friend’s request to make a card for her to give with a "Welcome Home" gift. Of course, it had to be made today! But I’m all about customer service, so today it was.
This also gave me the opportunity to use the beautiful stamp set, Snow Swirled (111690), which I’ve been wanting to use with some embossing since the day it arrived on my doorstep. This card is made with two different embossing powders. The tree is embossed using VersaMark ink (102283) and Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109029). The snowflakes in the background, both design also from the Snow Swirled set, are embossed using VersaMark and Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109130). So I got to fire up the Heat Tool (100005) twice! I just love it when that embossing starts to show up on the card stock!
I finished off the top of the tree with a Rhinestone Brad from the Circle Fire collection (109110). The card stock that I used for this card is Riding Hood Red and Handsome Hunter (Hmmm. Seems like I used that fairy tale combination before!) Finally, I added a bit of Brushed Gold card stock behind the Riding Hood Red.
It’s still not too late to order supplies before Christmas and before the FREE SHIPPING offer expires! Just hop online and your supplies will be on YOUR doorstep before you know it!
After posting yesterday’s tidbits from Robin’s Craft Room, I started making LOTS of Diagonal Double Pocket cards, which will form the basis for most of our Christmas cards this year.
Since I was doing so many cards, I started feeling like I really knew how to make these wonderful little cards. So, having created the Robin’s Craft Room video monster, I dug out the camcorder and made a video tutorial. So, herewith, I share the video!
As I reviewed it prior to publishing it on YouTube, I found one area that I felt needed a bit more explanation. I realized as I was making that second diagonal fold that I didn’t explain well enough why I made the fold in the steps that I did. If you fold the left side piece under the right side piece and THEN make the diagonal fold towards the center fold, it just doesn’t come out as crisp as if you make the diagonal fold, then fold the left side behind it, then complete the diagonal fold by folding that last piece up to cover the second diagonal fold. The temptation if you try to fold both pieces on a diagonal at the same time is to try to keep the edges aligned, and that can result in a not-so-crisp edge on the diagonal.
Is that clear as mud?? If so, I’ll be glad to give you a one-on-one demonstration in Robin’s Craft Room (if you’re in East Hawaii), or even make a video of that fold just for you if you’re not! As always, I’ve available by phone (808.854.6145) or e-mail!
So far, I’ve made 20 of the DDP cards, and hope to have another 20 done tomorrow morning. Then I have to get started on our Christmas letter!
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All content is copyrighted so please do not submit my work for contests or publication and/or reprint or otherwise copy my articles without permission (and I do give permission most times!).
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When the Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog first came out, I was really taken by the Eastern Eclectic theme of many of the stamps and papers. For a Christmas gift to a special friend this year, I made a set of stationery using one stamp set–Eastern Blooms (111626)–and my favorite Designer Series Paper set-Green Tea ((112040). For those of you who have been using Stampin’ Up! Products for awhile, you probably noticed that the Green Tea paper is the same design as the Ginger Blossom design in the Spring/Summer 2008 Catalog. But Green Tea uses the new colors for the 2008-2009 Stampin’ Up! year. Whatever year it is, I just love the design. 
The stamp set is called Eastern Blooms (111626), and it coordinates with an entire style theme in the 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog, Eastern Eclectic. It also coordinates well with the Designer Paper, Green Tea (112040) , which is the paper I used in this card. The same piece of paper is used, with opposite sides showing on the top and the bottom. I used Baja Breeze card stock (111352) for the background, and stamped the flowers on Whisper White card stock (100730).
So out came the Sock Monkey stamp set (111550), which also has an Accessories set (111552). The set is new with the 2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book and Catalog, and it was one of the first stamp sets I bought. Actually, it was a preview set for demonstrators, and there seemed to be a lot going on with it. So buy it I did. But, with the Christmas Season, I totally forgot about it. When I went to hunt it up, sure enough the Accessories set had a Santa Hat, and I was off and running to make these 5 cute cards! I used scraps that I had left over from the Diagonal Double Pocket cards to make up the main part of his body, then layered everything up so he could offer up a cute little present. Some cute little $1 bills were tucked inside the card. I know there’s a way I could have made them pop out of the gift box. But, hey, it was the Saturday before Christmas, and my creativity was already starting its vacation.
I have the bundle in my hot little hands, and took some time out of my Christmas card mailing project to come up with a couple of quick ideas to show off. I thought I was going to have to wait until next week to show samples; but there’s a brand new Stampin’ Up! policy that lets us let YOU in on promotions earlier! .jpg)
Here is a picture of a great many of the Christmas cards which I’ve been working frantically to get into the mail today (mail moves more slowly from Hawaii to the mainland, so we have different deadlines!) I have all my mailing labels printed out, and am spending entirely too much time making sure that the "perfect" card for each person or family. My husband tells me they all look nice, and I shouldn’t stress over it. But I do think that Janet should get one of the Little Felt Flurries cards; and Cindy should certainly have a bookmark–maybe two; and….
This also gave me the opportunity to use the beautiful stamp set, Snow Swirled (111690), which I’ve been wanting to use with some embossing since the day it arrived on my doorstep. This card is made with two different embossing powders. The tree is embossed using VersaMark ink (102283) and Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109029). The snowflakes in the background, both design also from the Snow Swirled set, are embossed using VersaMark and Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109130). So I got to fire up the Heat Tool (100005) twice! I just love it when that embossing starts to show up on the card stock!
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