Sunday, November 25, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving and a {Sneak Peek}

I hope you had a restful and fun Thanksgiving weekend!  Here's to a good start to your week...







Saturday, November 24, 2012

{12 Weeks of Christmas} Week 6 -- Easy Gift Bag


One quick way to make gift packaging for bulkier hostess gifts (that preclude you from using card stock or Designer Series Paper as the body of your project) is to adhere your artwork to the packaging.  I made this simple (card front!) panel and adhered it to a paper sack for a shabby chic presentation.

What's inside?  Mittens and a new whistle for our fabulous crossing guard at school.  She's an unsung hero and needs something toasty for her hands.


A length of the Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon (just like the one I tied around the More Mustard snowflake) ties the project together (both literally and figuratively; please forgive the pun).  I love that the Crumb Cake seam binding is just shimmery enough that it's golden!


The photo doesn't pick it up, but the Norther Flurry Embossing Folder leaves its impression on Shimmery White card stock.  Speaking of the Big Shot, I used the Snow Flurry Bigz Die for the fabulous snowflakes...

A Basic Jewel Rhinestone adds more sparkle.  


The Crumb Cake snowflake has been sponged with Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink to help it stand out against the Cajun Craze snowflake (and to also tie it together with the Elegant Eggplant snowflake on the left).

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Papers:  Shimmery White (101910), Cajun Craze (119684), Elegant Eggplant (105126), More Mustard (100946) and Crumb Cake (120953) card stocks

Inks:  Elegant Eggplant Classic (126969)

Accessories:  Big Shot (113439), Northern Flurry EF (120902), Snow Flurry Bigz Die (2012 Holiday Catalog:  127813), Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon (122332), Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Hope you have a chance to enjoy this lovely season.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Stamps and Soccer {A Sneak Peek}

Hello, Studio Visitors!  Between watching my daughter's soccer games in a very *rainy* tournament, I was able to sneak into the Studio for the following projects...  

Saturday, November 17, 2012

{12 Weeks of Christmas} Week 5 -- KISS: Keep It Simple, Santa!

Keep It Simple, Santa!  For this week's installment of my {12 Weeks of Christmas} series, I thought I'd show you a quick and simple card made with the Merry Minis set, its coordinating Punch Pack and the darling Seasonal Sayings sentiment stamp (which can be purchased singly {here}).
I started with the Merry Minis stamps, which I inked in Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery.  For some of the images, I stamped directly on the Whisper White card stock.  For others, I stamped off.  I'm submitting this card to the 365 Cards Stampin' Saturday challenge, which requires us to stamp with two different stamps and four different colors.  I'm counting the lighter Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery as Colors #3 and #4. 

Next, I punched the stars from the two pieces of Soft Suede card stock using the Merry Minis Punch Pack.  By punching the stars first, it's easier to then center the sweet little 1-1/4" Scallop Circle punch around the star.  For the middle circle, I just punched a Scallop Circle and then adhered an Old Olive star on top.  The Pink Pirouette (sorry about the blurry pic) is actually visible through the negative of the punched image in the Soft Suede.  For more on using the negatives of a punch, click {here}.

This color scheme was brought to you by my Color Coach...

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Merry Minis (2012 Holiday Catalog W127916, C127919), Seasonal Sayings (2012 Holiday Catalog W128006, C128009)

Papers:  Whisper White (100730), Soft Suede (115318), Pink Pirouette (111351), and Old Olive (100702) card stocks

Accessories:  1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch (2012 Holiday Catalog 127811) and Merry Minis Punch Pack (2012 Holiday Catalog 126882)

Friday, November 16, 2012

Stampin' Up! Has Its Own Black Friday (After-Thanksgiving) {DEALS}... And Some Happen NEXT WEEK!


Attention, Studio Visitors!  Not to be left out, Stampin' Up! is again participating in the {After-Thanksgiving/Black Friday} shopping fun!

There are two ways to participate.  First, {here} is a link to all of the lovely items on sale between November 19 and 28.  There are also some special deals which will only be available for two separate days {next week}.  Have you had your eye on a Big Shot?  It's 20% off on Monday only!  Been wanting to organize your Stamping Supplies?  There are two great products (one that's been on my list) that are discounted 20% on Tuesday only...


Shopping couldn't be easier...  Just click {here} or on the "Shop" button on the top left of this page.  

Need a Wish List to give to family and friends?  Email me (click on the "email {Sara}" button on the left) and I'll send one to you!

Please give me a shout if you have any questions!  As always, local customers can contact me directly to order; we might be able to combine orders to save on shipping!

Thanks for your visit...  I'll be back with another installment of my {12 Weeks of Christmas} series!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

{12 Weeks of Christmas} Week 4 -- Easy Gift Idea

I'm always in need of an easy gift to make that I can give at Christmas time.  This little gem is perfect!
With a little muscle, I punched a folded piece of card stock with my Designer Label Punch (just make your fold come in a little bit so that you don't end up with two separate punches).  


Notice that I punched the Cherry Cobbler one with the fold along the long edge of the punch; with the Crumb Cake one, I placed the fold along one of the shorter sides.

I punched the Festival of Prints Designer Series paper with my Curvy Label Punch and then snipped it to make the layered look (save the snips for the next one!).

The cute coordinated stamp and punch are from the Merry Minis set, offered in the 2012 Holiday Catalog.  Access it here or email me (use the link on the left) to contact me for a hard copy.

With the Merry Minis set and coordinating punch, your project is a snap!  It's so easy to stamp and punch these sweet little images!

I took slips of the Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack to easily cover my little chocolates.  A sweet gift for people at school, church and in our neighborhood.  Can't wait to bring a smile with these easy gifts!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Merry Minis (2012 Holiday Catalog, W127916, C127919)

Papers:  Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack (126904), Crumb Cake (120953), Cherry Cobbler (119685) and Lucky Limeade (122926) card stocks

Inks:  Cherry Cobbler (126966) and Lucky Limeade (126984) Classics

Accessories:  Decorative Label (120907) and Curvy Label (119851) Punches, Merry Minis Punch Pack (2012 Holiday Catalog, 126882), Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine (123125), Linen Thread (104199), 4" x 6" Cellophane Bags (102757)

Have you missed my previous {12 Weeks of Christmas} posts?  You can find them here:  {1}, {2}, and {3}.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

{12 Weeks of Christmas} Week 3 -- Embrace the Negative!

What?!  No, no, this is a *positive* post about Christmas...

The fact is, when we use our Bigz dies, Framelits or punches, we're often left with the negative from which we cut our shape.  How about using the "negative" as the focal point, or key feature, of our project?

Here's what I mean.  A simple punch with the Decorative Label Punch leaves us with this delicious negative in which to showcase the Festive Designer Series Paper Stack (page 20, from the 2012 Holiday Catalog).  I am IN. LOVE. with this new DSP and will be using it in our family Christmas cards this year.  I love the color palette, the designs provided and since they're double-sided, there's a lot of variety.

This card features a color combination suggested by my Color Coach:  Island Indigo, Baja Breeze and Rich Razzleberry.  I used the Decorative Label Punch on my Rich Razzleberry (which I ran through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots EF).

**Studio Suggestion**:  Stampin' Dimensionals add the lift necessary to make the punched negative really stand out.
Since I have used a couple of layers of card stock, I'm able to use smaller pieces of my DSP and really stretch my supply.  This is a great and cost-effective way to make note cards for gifts (they'll be among my gifts this year!).

The sentiment, "My friend," is inked with my Island Indigo and Baja Breeze Stampin' Write markers and punched with the Curly Label punch.

A rhinestone and knot of Baja Breeze seam binding add a little {flair} to the project.
Here's another example:
Using the Lacy Brocade EF from the Holiday Catalog (page 6), I added a classic texture to the Not Quite Navy piece.

Very Vanilla seam binding has a bit of sheen which adds another nice classic touch.
The stamp from Tags til Christmas is created to fit the Decorative Label punch, but by using my Stampin' Dimensionals, the Very Vanilla card stock along the edge of the stamped image lends a bit of contrast.
I used my Jewelry Tag punch and the Tiny Tags stamp finish off the look.

Once again, the Color Coach guided me to choose the palette:  Not Quite Navy, Regal Rose and Very Vanilla.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Project #1:

Stamps:  Perfect Punches (W117022, C120516)

Papers:  Festival of Prints DSP Stack (Holiday Catalog, 126904), Rich Razzleberry (115316), Baja Breeze (111352) and Whisper White (100730) Card Stocks

Inks:  Island Indigo and Baja Breeze Stampin' Write Markers (Can be purchased in color family collections)

Accessories:  Big Shot (113439), Perfect Polka Dots EF (117335), Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon (122331), Decorative Label (120907), 3/16-inch Corner (119871) and Curly Label (119851) punches, Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246) and Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Project #2:


Stamps:  Tags til Christmas (W120847, C121169), Tiny Tags (W118091, C118592)

Papers:  Not Quite Navy (101722), Regal Rose (105130) and Very Vanilla (101650) Card Stocks

Inks: Not Quite Navy (126971) and Regal Rose (126947) Classics

ccessories:  Big Shot (113439), Lacy Brocade EF (127819), Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon (120999), Decorative Label (120907), 3/16-inch Corner (119871) and Jewelry Tag (117190) punches, Linen Thread (104199) and Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)