Christmas In July, Part I!

Aloha, all!

Yep, it’s the last week of July 2020. What a  year it has been so far. While I do wish that could be seen today as a positive statement, I hope when I re-read this a year from now, it will feel more positive than it does now.

But Christmas always has offered a note of positivity for me. Regardless where I can be or with whom I can celebrate, the joy of the season fills me with hope for the future. So I hereby declare the last week in July 2020 as a spotlight on that happiest of seasons!

First, My Delightful Customers!

As you certainly know from reading my blog from time to time, I’m an independent Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. My own love of paper crafting started me on this journey. But I still love it when I can inspire others enough that they will purchase the products that I use for their own wonderful paper crafting projects. And always a Thank You goes out to them when they make a purchase. They also get an envelope with some goodies in it whenever a new Stampin’ Up! Mini Catalog is about to be released.

The goodies, of course, include a copy of the upcoming catalog. But I also try to make something for them that includes some kind of product from that catalog.

This time I made holiday bookmarks. I love all of the Designer Series Papers in the upcoming August – December 2020 Mini Catalog. And I wanted to send them a sample of every single design. That was a bit impractical as I, myself, don’t even own all the papers – yet. So I picked the favorite of my current stash and added a sample of every design on a bookmark base. The papers shown here are from the Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper set. Don’t you just love Red and Green as Christmas colors? Well, if you don’t, just keep an eye on my blog as I show off some gorgeous blues and lavenders and metallics and more  a bit later on.

Love the Linen Ribbon!

The ribbon that I tied to the top of each bookmark is technically not “ribbon.” It’s the Real Red 3/16″ Braided Linen Trim. Because it’s “braided,” you can do as I did with it here and unbraid it to give it some fun texture. (Take out any crafting frustrations by unbraiding the heck out of it – ask me why I know that works!). This ribbon also holds itself in place better than many of the shinier ribbons.

Speaking of holding in place – I punched the top of the bookmark with a products that’s been around a while, but which I used frequently. That’s the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. It’s got a neat little grove at the top of the slit through which you put your ribbon. That groove keeps most ribbon centered at the top of the tag – or bookmark.

And I Got Out the Embossing Powder!

It’s been ages since I used my gorgeous Stampin’ Emboss Powders. In fact, although I have limited storage in my craft area, it took a while for me to find my Heat Tool. But when I did I had lots of fun stamping the sentiment – from the Banner Year Stamp Set – using Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I’m going to have to do more embossing now that I have a handle on where everthing is!

Wouldn’t You Like My Fun Mailings?

You can get on my list for my next catalog mailing just by buying Stampin’ Up! products from me when you need some quality paper crafting products. Any time you see one of the carousels with product icons at the end of any of my blog posts, you can click on them and they will take you directly to my own Stampin’ Up! store. There you can find out more about the products AND click to buy any that you’d like.

If you place an order between now and August 15th, I’ll even make one of these bookmarks for you!

Happy Stamping!