Celebrating Sale-a-bration

Yes, that's right!  It's Sale-a-bration time again.  For those who aren't familiar with Stampin' Up!, Sale-a-bration is that special time of year when, for each $60 you spend (before shipping and taxes) you get a choice of free product from the Sale-a-bration brochure.  And what a choice!  Some of the items in the Sale-a-bration brochure would normally cost anywhere from $9.95 to $26.95 (if they were even available in our catalogues).  And from January 28th to March 31st, you can earn them for free just by buying the products you would have bought anyway.  Talk about a win-win!

Today I'm going to showcase the cute (and very versatile) Decorative Dots embossing folder that is only available through Sale-a-bration.  What I like most about this embossing folder (besides that it's free) is the way the large dots are randomly placed.

You may remember that I used the Decorative Dots embossing folder for that gold foil Wedding card in my blog hop post a few days ago.  To refresh your memory, here's a quick look at the card.

For a larger image, you can click on the card.  Doesn't the gold foil look like real gold because of the embossing?  It makes me think of hammered gold.  Love the look!

But this embossing folder is incredibly versatile.  Used along with the playful See Ya Later stamp set (also free in the Sale-a-bration brochure), we get a totally different result.  Looking at this card, you wouldn't think it was the same embossing folder that was used for the elegant card above, would you?

I can see so many other possibilities, too.  What about bubbles coming up in a glass of ale or air bubbles in water.  Both of those would be great used with the Core'dinations paper, wouldn't they?  Sand the embossed paper a bit and you wind up with the lighter bubbles.  What do you think you will do with this embossing folder?

Scrapbooking for Optimism

Here in Blackfalds, Alberta we have a very busy club that is part of the Optimist International Organization.  Among the fund-raisers which I support, is the Scrapbooking for Optimism for which I put together make-n-takes.  It helps make me more visible as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, of course, but it also helps out the Octagon Branch of the Blackfalds Optimist Club.  I love the slogan of the club:  "For the future! Optimists bringing out the best in kids."  It's a worthwhile cause.

For the crop that was put on this weekend, I created two Valentine's projects.  They were relatively easy but a lot of fun.  Since doing the make-n-takes gives participants a break from the concentration of working on their gorgeous scrapbooks, they need to be easy and fun.

The first one we did, early in the day on Saturday, was a little Valentine's chocolate holder.  For a lot of people the word chocolate was all they had to hear to become part of the group.  I provided the ice chocolate squares.  Many of them didn't make it into the project---but their kids may just want something sweeter and more familiar anyway.  (Let's go with that.  Yes, the chocolates were delicious.  I felt it was my duty to do a taste-test.)

Using the brand new and incredibly useful Scalloped Tag Topper punch, I punched both ends of a strip of 7 1/2" x 2" Smoky Slate cardstock.  Then I scored it at 3 1/8" from each end.  I cut a piece of the dotted Strawberry Slush design from the 2013-2015 In-Colors Designer Series Paper Stack and cut a 6" x 1 2/3" strip.  After rounding the corners using my Envelope Punch board, I adhered that to the base cardstock.

Next, I used that wonderful new Sizzix Originals die, the Spiral Flower, and used it to cut a piece of Strawberry Slush cardstock.  After using the bone folder to break down the fibres and scrunching the cardstock, I rolled it and created my flower.  Using hot glue, I set the flower and also adhered it to the project.  Next, I used the "V is for Valentine" from the very versatile Occasions Alphabet stamp set and cut that out using a thinlit from the Circle Card set.  Finally I used some Silver foil Baker's Twine to attach that tag to the little chocolate holder (after adhering the chocolate using two glue dots) and the project was finished.

 

Later in the day we made a Valentine's card.  I love the musical note paper in the Modern Medley Designer Series Paper and thought it would be perfect used with the "A Little Love Note" sentiment from the new Love You to the Moon stamp set.  Along with that I used a base of Originals Ivory cardstock, a layer of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock and then a layer of Very Vanilla embossed with that cute Decorative Dots embossing folder from the new Sale-a-bration brochure.

A strip of the polka dot Gold Foil vellum cardstock, a circle of the Modern Medley paper, a pretty Crisp Cantaloupe scalloped heart using the framelit from Hearts a Flutter, and all I had to do was cut a heart using the second smallest framelit from the Hearts Collection and stamp it with the sentiment.  Finally I added three Goldl Foil hearts cut out using the Small Heart punch.

Everyone loved the projects.  We made money for the club.  What more could I have asked for?

The Wacky Watercooler Welcome 2014 Blog Hop

Welcome to our brand new Blog Hop.  There is something particularly exciting about welcoming in a brand new year with a blog hop.  I know we're all excited about the new Occasions mini catalogue and, of course, Sale-a-bration.  Hopefully all the wonderful creations in our Blog Hop will make you just as excited about the new Stampin' Up! products as we are.  If you've just come from the talented Marsha Reed's blog, I know she'll have gotten your creative juices flowing.  Isn't her blog wonderful?  

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It's threatening to snow again and we already have way too much snow on the ground as it is.  Under the circumstances, I had to lift my spirits and work with some bright and spring-like colours just to escape the winter outside my window.  I love the watercolours featured in the new Occasions mini.  The Designer Paper is lovely and the stamp sets simply make me smile.  For my first project, therefore, I decided to use a mixture of my favourite images and products inside a frame.

I chose a frame with a 10" x 10" opening.  I also chose to leave the glass behind the art to allow the full 3-D effect.  For my base layer, I used a 10" x 10" piece of Core'dinations Very Vanilla.  The next layer was an 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" piece of Basic Black cardstock onto which I mounted an 8" x 8" piece of the lovely Modern Medley Designer Paper.  Then I created four pretty 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares of watercolour paper mounted on 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" squares of Basic Black cardstock.

For each square I used the brand new Happy Watercolor stamp set to create the background effect.  For square one I added two colourful vellum butterflies using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and the matching Elegant Butterfly punch and Bitty Butterfly punch.  That glossy black down their bodies was created with the Crystal Effects and Basic Black ink.  For square two I added sentiments from the Happy Watercolor stamp set which I cut out using the new Word Bubbles Framelits dies and then sponged along the edges using Basic Black ink to make them stand out.

For square three I used the beautiful poppy from the Happy Watercolor stamp set.  Before I did the background, I stamped the poppy twice, using a mask to allow one to appear behind the other.  Then I used a mask over the stamped poppies to avoid getting the background colours onto the flowers.  Finally, I used my Aqua Painter to colour the poppies.  The centres of the flowers are glossy thanks to Crystal Effects.  For my last square I decided to first do the background using the Happy Watercolor stamp set but then covered that layer with a square cut from So Saffron cardstock using the new Hexagon Hive Thinlits die.  Then I stamped the bee from the new Springtime Hello stamp set on several of the solid hexagons.  Finally I painted "dripping" honey using a mixture of So Saffron ink and Crystal Effects.

I love the finished frame and, yes, it does make me happy to look at it rather than the snow outside.

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You've probably seen one of those "cards in a box" which Tanya Bell created.  I believe she originally got her idea from Monica Gail and adapted it to a smaller Australian envelope size.  Well, their envelope size is larger than our usual size (for a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card).  So I played with the measurements and brought it down to that size.  Yes, it does save a bit in materials and, more important, I have a lot of that size of envelope and so do my customers.  I've provided the template and measurements here to save space in this post.

I needed a birthday card for my nephew and thought this would be a fun change from the "normal" card.  I kept the main colours neutral to let the explosion of images take centre stage.  For the base, therefore, I used the Naturals White and followed by a layer of Baked Brown Sugar.  For the lower portion of the box I then did a layer of Whisper White and finally a layer of Venetian Romance Designer Paper.  For the folded-over upper portion of the box, I stopped at the layer of Whisper White, onto which I stamped an image for each section.  Using the elephant and balloon from the You're Amazing stamp set kept the feeling festive, as did the sentiment from the Label Love stamp set.

Finally I finished up with images stamped from the Banner Blast, Peachy Keen, Just Sayin', and See Ya Later stamp sets.  The inks I used were Early Espresso, Real Red, Crushed Curry and Smoky Slate.  I used strips of Window Sheet to hold each element up in place.

The long rectangle of Whisper White at the back leaves lots of room to write under the sentiment from the Yippee-Skippy stamp set.

There is a real "explosion" of elements coming out of the box.  If you look closely, there is some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details at the top of each candle.

 Believe it or not, this box folds down easily to fit into one of our standard envelopes.

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My final project for the Blog Hop is a wedding card.  I may have gone a bit over the top with the dazzle, but that's easy to do when using that gorgeous Gold Foil sheet as well as the Gold Glitter.  I nearly had to wear sunglasses to work on the card!

For this card I began with a base of Shimmery White cardstock.  There is such a subtle lustre to this paper that makes it perfect for special cards.  To create a sharp border around the Gold Foil, I used Basic Black cardstock as my next layer.  I love the way it frames the gold!  The foil was too flat and polished for the look I wanted, therefore I used the fun Decorative Dots embossing folder that is one of the free Sale-a-bration items this year.  Doesn't the texture look terrific?

I wanted to use one of those dainty Tea Lace Paper Doilies on the card and decided to use it as a frame.  The fifth size of Circles Framlits (beginning at the smallest and working out) was perfect to take out the centre of the doily.  I also took a piece of Gold Foil and "stacked" the fifth size of circle and sixth size of circle and ran that through the Big Shot to get a gold ring that perfectly fit the hole.  So I stamped the sentiment from the One In a Million stamp set onto a circle of Basic Black using Versamark and then heat embossed it using the Gold embossing powder.  You can see how nicely all that came together.

Right here I'm going to stop and tell you that I absolutely love the new Spiral Flower Originals die that is in the Occasions mini catalogue.  With it, you can make truly beautiful flowers.  I've made several using cardstock and Designer Paper but for this project I decided to try making three using the Creped Filter Paper.  The results exceeded my expectations.  I sponged a bit of the Gold Encore ink on the scalloped edges before making the flowers and then, once I had hot-glued them firmly into place, used an artist's fine brush to put a tiny bit of Tombo glue along the edges and then to add some Gold Glitter.  The result?  What do you think?

Inside, I went for simple elegance.  I layered some Basic Black and Whisper White and, besides the sentiment from the Love & Laughter stamp set, added a heart cut-out and little Gold Foil heart.

The finishing touches for the front were some leaves cut from more Goil Foil using the Little Leaves Sizzlits die, a scattering of Basic Pearl Jewels and a little Gold Foil heart cut with the Small Heart punch.  And that's where I stopped.  Anything more would have been excess.  How do you like it?

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 Well, that's it!  I hope you enjoyed my projects for the Blog Hop.  I'd love to hear what you thought of them, if you have a moment to comment.  Since we're linked in a circular fashion, your next stop will be the beginning, with the talented Jean Fitch.  Jean never ceases to amaze so I'm sure you'll love seeing her terrific projects.  Thanks so much for joining us today.

Are you ready for a treat?

That's right!  This Thursday, January 23rd after 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, you'll be able to visit the new Wacky Watercooler Welcome 2014 Blog Hop.  If you've checked our blog hops before, you'll know just how talented our line-up of participants are.  The Blog Hop will be active until Sunday, January 26th.  

Matching the new with the "old"

Okay, the Papaya Collage stamp set isn't precisely old.  It is, however, in its second year with Stampin' Up! so it isn't precisely new, either.  It's a very elegant set.  For me it carries elements of Victorian glamour and just begs to be used in a more vintage style of card.

That's what I aimed for with this card, using a base of Early Espresso cardstock and then layers of Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake cardstocks.  For the first layer of Very Vanilla, I used Primrose Petals and Early Espresso inks to stamp the leaves and rose all over (after off-stamping to give a very light image) and then used my distressing tool to age the edges before lightly sponging them with the Early Espresso ink.  For my next layer of Crumb Cake, I used Primrose Petals ink to stamp the frame and Early Espresso ink to stamp the leaves.  Then I ran the cardstock through my Big Shot using the Fancy Fan embossing folder.  To better define the inside of the frame, I used some household bleach and an artist's brush.  I love the deep vanilla of the bleached out area, don't you?

I used the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and the Primrose Petals ink for two butterflies and punched them out using the matching Elegant Butterfly punch.  Then I sponged some Early Espresso around their edges and painted a line of Crystal Effects down their centres to define their bodies.

Finally I used that terrific new tool, the Spiral Flower Originals die and some Primrose Petals cardstock.  I used my Bone Folder to break down the stiff cardstock considerably and also "scrunched" the cardstock a bit to give it more texture.  Then I simply rolled the flower and used hot glue to set the blossom.  The finished flower is gorgeous and I can see myself making many more for many, many projects.  Talk about an easy way to make an awesome flower!

This card doesn't have a sentiment and I'm not sure that I'm going to bother with one.  It looks perfect the way it is.  Can't you imagine giving this card for a birthday, Mother's Day or an Anniversary?  

Some wonderful news!

The year is starting off well.  Stampin' Up! just announced that they are introducing a brand new product called Blendabilities.  These are markers with a brush on one end and a nib on the other, alcohol-based, which will be available in addition to our current Stampin' Write Markers.  Isn't that terrific news?  Look out, Copics---we're bringing some competition!  Here is a chart of some of the initial introductory colours.

Another new item which you'll be seeing in the brand new Occasions Catalogue is the Spiral Flower Originals Die.  This die makes 3-D flowers an easy chore.  Just think, you can impress people with gorgeous paper flowers on a gift box, in a bouquet, or on a special card.  There is a great video showing the flower being made right here: the possibilities are endless.

If you enjoyed the video, you'll love making one of these lovely flowers at my upcoming Open House.

A bit of nostalgia and some plans...

I'm taking longer to de-trim my Christmas tree and take down all the decorations because somewhere along the line the bug that totally knocked down my husband and daughter just before Christmas is doing its best to bring me to my knees.  So far, with the help of some Oil of Oregano, constant rests and permanently crossed-fingers, I've managed to feel under the weather but not actually sick.  Hopefully it doesn't come to that.  I.don't.like.being.sick!  Mind you---who does?  Well, maybe hypochondriacs, I suppose.

Anyway, my firm date for de-trimming my tree has always been January 6th, or Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas.  Whatever you want to call it, tradition in our family is that Christmas decorations remain intact and on display until that date.  (This used to be hard when we insisted on having a "real" tree).

It's fascinating how long things can take when you just don't feel good.  Looking at the process purely from an objective point, it's taking a very long time.  But then with piles of snow outside that are nearly 6 feet high, being inside and slowly taking decorations down and putting them away is a good way to pass the time.  Not feeling well has undermined my creative process so I just go past my new products and sigh these days.

One of my favourite decorations on the tree are my silk white and silver butterflies.  They're on thin wires that measusre about 10 inches long and, by wrapping the wire around a branch just right, it looks as if the butterfly is suspended in the air, about to alight in the tree.  I love the effect!  I've already decided that when the silk butterflies finally get too tattered to use, I will replace them with hand-made vellum butterflies that I will heat emboss in silver and to which I will also add some silver glitter.  I may try my hand at that for next Christmas just to see how they would look.  There's nothing wrong with adding a few more butterflies to the tree, after all.

So my tree is quite icy looking.  There is occasional colour but overall, the impression is one of white and silver.  The butterflies look as if Jack Frost has frozen them and they are going to rest in my tree.

Along with the vellum butterflies that I plan to make for next year's tree, I plan to make some of those wonderful Festive Flurry snowflakes as well.  I made several for friends and acquaintances and only kept one for myself.  I really like the one that I kept but think I'll make several along the white and silver theme I already have going as well.

Mind you, I really like the Island Indigo in the snowflake as well.  The large rhinestone looks nice in the centre as well, but I love the look of the snowflake with the now-retired Frosted Finishes Embelishments in the centre.  Once I finished with everyone else's and with my classes, however, I wound up without one for this snowflake.  Thank goodness I have some more coming any day!

For those of you who didn't get the Festive Flurry stamp set, framelits or bundle, you're in luck.  Stampin' Up! is carrying over that wonderful bundle and so you haven't lost out---yet.  Right now they're still available until June 1st.  I can't make promises after that.  If you'd like some gorgeous snowflakes for your tree next year, remember to get the stamps and framelits soon.

I should have "knocked wood"!

It's snowing outside...AGAIN!  I guess it isn't enough that some of the piles of cleared snow are now at least six feet high.  We're striving for a record here and the snow is definitely cooperating.

I made a card for a swap that I entered.  The cards I committed to do for the swap are due in less than two weeks so it's definitely time for me to get started.  Designing the first card always takes the longest time.  After that, it's a snap.  Or, at least, much easier.

The stamp set which I committed to use for the swap (each person in the swap had to commit to a specific set on a very limited list) is the Best of Snow stamp set.  I love the little characters in that set as well as the snowflake and sentiment.  I've used the set a fair bit over Christmas but wanted a completely new card for the swap.  My decision was to go for blues, whites and silvers.  On a good day, when it's not overcast and snowing, I love the blue sky, white snow and silver flashes of the sun sparkling against all those combined flakes.

My background cardstock is the Naturals White but I've used a bit of Whisper White for the sentiment and also for the little snowman because nothing stamps quite as well as that wonderful polished Whisper White (or Very Vanilla).  Added to that are some Island Indigo cardstock and ink as well as the beautiful Encore Silver ink.  To top it off, I added a "frame" of Dazzling Details in Silver Sparkle and a whole lot of dimensionals.  I like the 3-D effect that having my snowman inside a cut-out gives and the additional depth of having the sentiment on dimensionals as well.

Overall, I love the card.  I don't love the snow any more so it can go away anytime.  Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have used "Let it Snow" for my sentiment without knocking wood first.

Facing the inevitable

It is four days into a brand new year.  I have stamp sets (new ones from the now-active Occasions catalogue) stacked on my crafting table.  I have a lot of left-over Christmas product on my table as well because it was easier to leave things where they wound up while I was in the throes of my final Christmas creations.

I sure loved that Festive Flurry bundle as well as the kit that has been offered.  I made cards and 3-D projects using those and, of course, those sparkly, wonderful Frosted Finishes Embellishments.  There is good news and bad news:  the Festive Flurry bundle is being carried over (hurrah!) while those gorgeous embellishments are no longer available (awwww!)

My final project using both products was a wreath for my daughter's house.  Her colours for Christmas usually highlight the whites, blues and silvers and the wreath fit in perfectly.

It's hard to capture the dazzle with a camera.  But you know how those embellishments shine and can probably imagine what the six on the wreath are doing with any light hitting them.  For some additional detail I have three of my snowflakes suspended away from the actual wreath, invisibly supported with strips of Window Sheet.

But it's time to begin thinking about my coming Open Houses and the new Occasions catalogue.  And, of course, I'm also part of a Blog Hop for which I have to feature products from that Occasions catalogue.  Time to face the inevitable and clear my table.

I only have so much room for stamp sets and, now that Christmas is over, I plan to take the seasonal sets from my shelves and replace them with the sets from the new catalogue.  There is a certain amount of sadness to saying goodbye to those sets.  With all the snow outside, it feels as if the season is lingering.

There are some styles of stamps in the new catalogue that are different from my usual picks.  I plan to stretch my "wings" and see what I come up with, using them.  Some of the sets are supported by some very nice new framelits.  They're always fun because new shapes that I don't have to hand-cut can only make card-making easier, right?

One of the new shapes isn't even a framelit.  It's a brand new punch called the Scalloped Tag Topper punch.  I've used it already for a new card, featuring the new Love You to the Moon stamp set.  Who hasn't said that to their child?  Or grandchild?  The moment I saw the set, I knew I had to have it.  The drawings are simple, but they say a lot that touches my heart.  For this particular card, I used that stamp set in conjunction with one of my old favourites, The Open Sea.  Along with the Basic Black dotted with the silver Dazzling Details, the tag-shaped sentiment with the moon is perfect.  I love the effect.

But now I'd better get back to re-organizing my table and my room.  I have a lot of other new products to show off but I need the room to be able to create.

Hello 2014---what surprises do you have?

Well, it's a brand new year!  There is always a sense of wonder as the year begins.  What lies ahead?  Will there be happy surprises?   It's a year with promises.  It's a clean slate, soon to be filled with new stories.

My card, welcoming 2014, is a mixture of old and new.  I needed the numbers from the Memorable Moments stamp set.  The "hello", however, is from the new Perfect Pennants stamp set as are the pennant shapes.  I can see a lot of work ahead for the brand new Banners Framelits dies.  They make all the various sizes of banners so easy.  The new Hexagon Hive Thinlits die provided some added interest as well as some cute little hexagon shapes.

I played with the colours and worked in some of that versatile This and That Epic Day Designer paper along with some Tangerine Tango, Gumball Green, and Crushed Curry.  The result is, I believe, happy and celebratory---perfect to welcome the new year ahead.

Hope you enjoy the card and, more importantly, hope the year ahead is a happy one for you.

Goodbye to a grand old year!

2013 had its ups and downs.  But what year doesn't?  The ups are always so much better when you have a few downs to compare them to, aren't they?  I know they are for me.

2013 certainly left its mark on some of my friends.  Flood damages!  Major flood damages!  A lot of people are still hurting from the extremes of weather the year offered.  If it wasn't flooding, it was hail.  If it wasn't hail, it is the endless snow!  How can so much snow exist, for Heaven't sakes?  Everyone's big question these days is "where are we going to put even more snow?"

And through it all I've been playing with paper.  Even today, when I was (apparently) clearing up my crafting space, I became sidetracked and had to make a card.

The brand new Spring Occasions catalogue is just about here.  On January 3rd the public will be able to order the products in it.  I had the privilege of ordering a month early so that I could make up samples to show off.  The problem with the timing is that Christmas got in the way.  Yes, I have used one of the brand new stamp sets.  I used it in making one of those little Christmas frames that I became rather obsessed with creating.  Today while I was clearing (and cleaning) my room, I reached for the same stamp set: Life in the Forest.  Ironic that this is the stamp set I bought on a last moment's whim!

I bought seven stamp sets from the new catalogue.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to use all seven before I begin to play with any of my other products.  And no---I can't use Life in the Forest again until I've used the other six.  After all, I used it twice.

May your New Year's Eve be safe and happy.  May you be as creative as you have always hoped during the coming year.  May you never want for friends and may you stay healthy.

God bless us----every one!

Using Window Sheets

At some point during the past few weeks I came across a poinsettia that someone had made using a Window Sheet.  It was, if I remember correctly, in golds and reds primarily but I'm sure that a layer of the poinsettia was made from the Window Sheet material---unless it was vellum.

Anyway, the look of the flower obviously made an impression and my mind began "percolating" and designing in the background while I went through my normal life.  And then it was finished and demanded that I create an icy poinsettia: all layered with silvers, blues, and the requisite Window Sheets.  As I thought my way through the flower, I could tell it would be very wintery.

My first layer for the poinsettia was on Silver Glimmer paper.  I had to stamp the image of the poinsettia from the Joyful Christmas stamp set on the reverse side of the Glimmer Paper and then cut it out along the stamped lines.  To me the shape and texture looked very much like the hoarfrost that one sees covering the world on some winter days.  I decided to stamp the same image on a Window Sheet with Versamark and then heat embossed it with my Silver embossing powder.  Of course that flower also had to be cut out.  Those first two layers were of the full-sized poinsettia.

My next two layers were going to be just the centre of the poinsettia.  The first one I heat embossed in Pool Party on a sheet of Silver Foil paper and then the second one I heat embossed in Silver embossing powder on another Window Sheet.  I cut both of those smaller flowers out as well.  Yes, there was a lot of hand-cutting with this particular design.

I decided to use Pool Party cardstock for the base of my card and then cut a layer of Island Indigo cardstock.  For my next layer I chose Whisper White cardstock but for that one I used my Pretty Print textured embossing folder.  To assemble the flower I used dimensionals between each layer after first rolling the petals between my thumb and Bone Folder to add some curves and depth.  Finally, in the centre of the top flower layer, I adhered one of those gorgeous Frosted Finishes embellishments (if you love those as much as I do, don't forget to buy some before they disappear forever on January 3rd).

Finally I heat embossed Noel from the Greetings of the Season stamp set using Pool Party embossing powder on a piece of Window Sheet.  Add some Pool Party Seam Binding ribbon, and the card needed nothing more.

What do you think?

A Hexagonal Greeting!

There is a new die being introduced in the Spring Occasions catalogue.  The die is a large thinlit, not quite the size of the "flip-flop" thinlits, but close.  Its name?  The Hexagonal Hive thinlit die.  I'm thinking that we're going to be seeing a lot of bee-hive style cards after Christmas.

The die makes an amazing Christmas card, too.  I was, of course, playing around with it and suddenly realized that the hexagonal shapes in the die were the perfect size to spotlight the little Holiday Mini punches. So I had to see what might happen if I mixed in the little mini Christmas tree punch and the little mini Star punch.

Keeping the colours to a simple White, Red and Green, I began moving the mini pieces here and there, found a pattern that appealed to me, and added the little "Very Merry" from the Very Merry Tags stamp set. The finished card is just simply fun.

In real life those stars just shine---they're punched from the Silver Foil paper.

Counting down...

We're past the middle of the month, now.  It's just a bit over a week before the big day.  Are you ready?  I sure hope you are because I'm simply not.

I haven't quite finished accumulating all the gifts I had in mind.  For a couple of people that means I'd better get motivated or they're facing an empty spot under the tree.  That wouldn't do at all.  And there are those "little things" I'm still considering getting to bulk out one or two stockings.  And the time is ticking!  I can actually hear it in the background.

I've put together a few decorated boxes.  Some you've seen as I've made them for blog hops or posts.  One that I finished last week makes me really happy.  I had bought a couple of boxes from the local Dollar Store (yes, the one with those awesome little frames I've fixated on for a while) and had some thought of decorating them.  Finally, last week I tackled one of them and I'm so happy with the results.  It's a good-sized box, too, which means it can hold something special.  It's a 5" x 5" square and is 2 1/2" high.  Like I said, a good size.  A pretty scarf can easily fit inside or a goodly stash of candies (or tea).

I have been using the Joyful Christmas poinsettia quite a bit this year.  It's so incredibly beautiful and lends itself to so many cards and projects.  You won't be surprised to hear that I used it again for this project.  This time, however, I only used it to heat-emboss the poinsettia in gold in the centre of the lid.  After that I dug out my Watercolor Winter stamp set from last year and went wild.  That stamp set is a perfect compliment to this year's Joyful Christmas stamp set, don't you think?

I love it when I can use stamp sets in conjunction with each other.  It's quite an investment to have a stamp set that serves only one purpose.  When it can be used with another set or to compliment current sets, it's definitely a bonus.  I guess what I'm saying is "buy what you really love".  Most of the time you will re-use it.

So, around the gold heat-embossed poinsettia on the lid of the box, I stamped some of the pine twig and the pine cones in Always Artichoke and Early Espresso respectively.  I added a bit of Gumball Green with my markers to give the pine needles more presence and coloured in the pine cone using my Baked Brown Sugar marker.  Then I used my Strawberry Parfait marker to colour and shade in the heat-embossed poinsettia.  A bit of sponging around the edge of the lid using my Gold Encore stamp pad and the lid was looking really nice.  All it needed was one of those exquisite Frosted Finishes Embellishments in the centre to be perfect.

The rest of the box had to be worthy of this lid.  I knew immediately that I wouldn't use the Joyful Christmas stamp set any longer.  The sides of the box were too shallow at 2 1/2" to fit that beautiful, large poinsettia.  The small poinsettia from last year's Watercolour Winter, was exactly the right size.  And so, for the sides, I used the poinsettia and the pine twig from that set.  Instead of colouring each poinsettia the same colour as the one on the lid, I chose to match the lid on two sides and to colour the poinsettias on the other two sides with my White Stampin' Chalk Marker.  I love the way the chalk marker lets you layer the colour just like the markers do.  Of course I also sponged some Gold Encore ink on the edges of each side of the box.

Doesn't it look pretty all stamped and coloured up like this?  The whole box is so stunning that I'm almost reluctant to give it up.  I just hope the recipient loves it as much as I do.

After all, this is a box that could become someone's special memory-holder.  Wouldn't that be great?

What colour is Christmas?

Too often I hear people criticize a card or decoration as not being "the colour of Christmas".  What is the colour of Christmas?  For some people it is and always will be red, green and white.  But why?  Why can't Christmas be blue and white or white and silver or yellow and green or just about any colour in the rainbow? Is the holiday diminished by the colours we choose?

My own answer is a resounding "NO!"  Christmas is whatever colour makes you happy.  Christmas can be any colour or colours that make you feel like loving everyone and giving and celebrating.  Christmas can be a rainbow.

I began thinking about colour and Christmas when I noticed that I hadn't used one inch of my Sweater Weather Designer Paper.  Believe me, here in Alberta it is definitely sweater weather at the moment.  Actually it feels more like several layers of sweaters-type-of-weather.  As I leafed through the Designer Paper, thinking that since I hadn't used it for Thanksgiving or, actually, anything, perhaps it would make a good Christmas card.  Well, those of you who own the Designer Paper know that it doesn't have what some would call conventional Christmas colours.

And I thought, what colour is Christmas---and all the stuff you've already read.

So I took a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of the Sweater Weather Designer Paper and proceeded to make a Christmas card.  The primary colours in the piece I cut were Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand and Crushed Curry.  After pulling a piece of each cardstock out of my files, I finally decided that the base cardstock would be Crushed Curry.  My next layer became Chocolate Chip and then we had the Designer Paper next.  The combination looked great---really, really great, actually.  Did it make me think of Christmas?  Not a bit!

So I began looking through my stamp sets and rejected them one by one until I came to the hostess set, Warmth & Wonder.  The deer was perfect!  I had a beginning!   So I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock with my second-to-smallest Oval Framelit and cut a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock with my third-to-smallest Oval Framelit for the backing.  First I stamped the tree from that set using Sahara Sand ink, then I stamped the ornaments in the set over the tree using Soft Sky ink, and finally I stamped the little deer using Chocolate Chip ink.  Since I wanted the deer to appear to be walking in snow, I cut another section of oval in Whisper White and tore a small piece from an end jaggedly.  I glued that over the bottom section of the Whisper White oval, covering the bottoms of the deer's feet, and managed the illusion of snow.

I adhered the stamped Whisper White oval to the Chocolate Chip oval and then, after first adhering a section of the Burlap Ribbon to the card layers, adhered the oval over that using dimensionals.  For my greeting I used a combination of the "celebrate" from my Fabulous Phrases stamp set and "Christmas" from the sold-out Endless Greetings stamp set.  I cut that using the Scallop Oval Punch and also cut a backing of Chocolate Chip using my Large Oval Punch.  That was also mounted on dimensionals.

Don't the Chocolate Chip and Crushed Curry Candy Dots look perfect as an accent?  

So, what is the colour of Christmas?  Whatever colour makes you happy inside. 

A New Frame---A Look at the New Catalogue

I decided to make another one of those addictive frames.  I'm finding that as soon as I've made one, I see my stamps sets and get all sorts of new ideas for another frame.  Of course that urge was helped along by the delivery of my new products from the Spring Occasions Catalogue.  I get to play with all those new products and make up samples to entice everyone when the catalogue becomes "live" on January 3rd, 2014.  When you think about it, that's really not very far away, is it?

So, among the products in my package was a stamp set that I wasn't all that sure I wanted.  Actually it made my order at the last minute---talk about waffling about something!  Now that I have the set, however, I am really quite pleased.  What's the name of the set?  It's the brand new Life in the Forest stamp set which has 7 stamps.  I'm not allowed to show you the set but I am allowed to make something up using it.  Strange, huh?

My first thought was to use a black frame and during the entire set-up and creating my little squares, I was aiming towards that black frame.  In the end, however, I layed the squares out on the black one and then on my last white frame and knew immediately that it had to be the white frame after all.

The images in the stamp set are all little forest creatures as well as a set of trees and a mushroom.  They're all very simply drawn, which is likely the reason that I waffled about buying the set to begin with.  But all the images colour up beautifully.  I decided to use my Aqua Painter and ink from my stamp pads.  The effect was wonderful and made me love the little creatures.

You can see that I also used an image from the For the Birds stamp set as well as the presents from the Wishing You stamp set.  My colours are a combination of very subtle and nice and bright.  I knew that I wanted to use the Soft Sky and to balance that, I made two squares using the Pistachio Pudding.  I wanted each one to be on a base colour and was surprised at how much I liked the Pacific Point with the Soft Sky.  The Pistachio Pudding also looks really good on the Gumball Green.

Don't you just love these adorable little creatures?  Just think---on January 3rd they will be available and so will everything else in the new catalogue.

Framed yet again!

I can't get enough of those frames!  I managed to buy a stash from my local Dollar Store and can't stop coming up with new ideas for them.  Will the madness ever end?

One of the new frames in my stash is black and immediately I thought about using some retro images.  I haven't been with Stampin' Up! for that many years, but have some great images to fill the squares for that type of look.  One stamp set from last year, Winter Memories, provided two of my images:  the kids making snow people and the old-fashioned skates.  The other scenic image came from the older but still well-loved Winter Post stamp set.  For the sentiment I used one from this year's very versatile Christmas Messages stamp set.

I wanted the finished product to hark back to yesteryear and decided to use the least amount of colour.  I think I managed to give it that old-fashioned look by sticking to a touch of grey, red, green and blue, don't you?

The next frame I chose to do was white again.  I knew I wanted to use the Owl Builder Punch for the images in each window but had to decide just what the little owl would become for each.  So many choices!  That punch is so versatile!  If you don't already have it, I strongly suggest that you can't go wrong getting one.

My final choices for my owl images were:  a little penguin (of course), Mr. & Mrs. Santa, and a little snow (man) owl.  I decided on primarily white or green backgrounds.  For the sentiment, I turned to the retired No Peeking stamp set.  Yes, that's some retired Designer Paper behind my sassy little snow (man) owl, but it seemed absolutely right for this project.

Who wouldn't love to receive this set of adorable owl-based characters?  Don't you need an owl in your life?

Clearance Blitz! Here today...gone tomorrow!

Once again Stampin' Up! is clearing off its shelves, getting ready for the end of the Holiday Catalogue and the beginning of the Spring Occasions Catalogue.  You already know what that means...a fantastic Clearance Rack Blitz.  Some of our old favourites (and not-so-old favourites) are being offered at a discount of up to 80%.  At this time of the year who doesn't want to save some money?  If you have a friend or relative who likes crafting almost as much as you do, this is the time to get them great quality gifts without breaking the bank.

This link will take you directly to my store and the Clearance Rack Blitz.  If you don't want to view the items page by page, just change it to "view all" and that problem is solved.

Some of the terrific items on sale will be familiar to you since I've enjoyed using them and showing off my projects.  That wonderful Spider Web Embossing Folder, for example, is there and at a great discount.  Remember when I used it on this card?

Another product in the Clearance Blitz is the Scalloped Square Punch which I featured in this card.

The Silver Flourishes which are featured in this card are also being cleared out.  They look so elegant on cards, don't they?

There are also stamp sets,  buttons, brads, some of that wonderful white-core Core'dinations paper, beautiful Designer Papers, fabrics, more punches and dies.  And the savings are terrific.

Remember, these products are on sale only until they run out.  There will be no second chances or backorder lists.  When they're gone...well, they're gone.

Framed!

Last month I participated in a charity Scrapbooking Crop.  I always provide at least one prize to be included in a draw and thought it would be fun to have something purely Christmas.  A few days after making that decision, I came across some cute little frames in a store and my idea took flight.

The frame was simple.  All white, it was divided into four little frames within an outer frame.  The perfect background for some fun Christmas images, I decided.  After playing around with some images and trying to decide what four might work best together, I finally wound up with this.

I love the beautiful blues, silver and white in the Winter Frost Specialty Designer Paper and, last week, decided that I would have to make up another little frame.  This time I decided to spotlight the gorgeous Festive Flurry stamps and framelits and snow.  It seemed especially appropriate since we've had an incredible amount of snow so far.  Yes, I know it's not officially Winter yet.  That makes me rather nervous.

The frame is the same but what a difference using these cooler colours makes, don't you agree?

I'm not sure which one I like best.  Let me know what your pick would be.

ADDED DECEMBER 8th

I finished another frame and wanted to share it as well.  Now I'm hoping that I can find more of these frames because I have some more ideas and no more frames to hold them.

These frames have been a fun project and would make a great class---or a great stocking stuffer for someone special.