Bidding Adieu to the 2012 Holiday Catalog

Hello, Studio Visitors!  This weekend's projects mostly came from the Holiday Catalog, which expires on January 2...  Please contact me soon if there's something you need (or click on the {Shop} button to shop 24/7)!

The centers of these flowers are from the Snow Flurries Bigz Die.  The inspiration for this card came from one of my favorite linen catalogs...

These elliptical shapes are from the Ornament Keepsakes set (and coordinating Framelits):

In an earlier post, you've seen me tuck some starlight mints inside this canning jar (aside from the fruit that the set comes with).  Here's another way to use it to make it a versatile set for your stash:

I loved using this Merry Minis set and its coordinating Punch Pack this season.  Here's a quick and simple New Years' card:

Thinking ahead to Valentine's Day, here's a card made with two sets.  First, the sweet Hostess set, Mixed Medley (lots of cute scalloped circle images and smaller 3/4-inch images to fit inside!) can be found on the ribbon.  I used the sentiment from the Seasonal Sayings set on the Melon Mambo piece that I then fed through my Big Shot for the polka dot embossing...

The cupcake liner on this sweet and simple card comes from the Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper stack (which I'll sorely miss)...  The Cupcake Builder punch makes for such a quick and easy project!

This "Thank You" project is actually a gift box; I've got a video that I'll post this week to show you how quick and easy it is.  

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2013!

{12 Weeks of Christmas} -- Hostess/Teacher Gift

This year's gift to teachers, hostesses, service providers, girlfriends, etc, was a jar of hand-stamped notes.  One can never have too many Thank You notes, so that was my thought here...

From the 2012 Holiday Catalog, I used the Designer Series Fabric to decorate the top of the jar (I included a bow around the lid, as well, but forgot it before I took this picture).

This card is a re-run of what I've made before.  I used the Festival of Prints DSP in the Holiday Catalog to make the easy strip.  Once the entire card face was assembled (minus the ribbon embellie), I fed it through my Big Shot for the texture...

I love the look of this 3-D ornament from Tags til Christmas!

You might recognize this technique from my early "Negative" post.  This card also uses the Festival of Prints DSP from the Holiday Catalog.  What a snap!

My bows and knots look so good when I tie them using the Seam Binding Ribbon!

Hope you're enjoying the magic of the season!

{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.

{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)

{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}.

It's Canning Season with Perfectly Preserved

This project was created for a couple of challenges:  365 Cards' Super Sketchy Sunday and the Friday Mashup Challenge  77 (fall-themed with Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade and Early Espresso).

Studio Suggestion:

--Stamp your images first when using the Cannery Framelits (available as a bundle with the Perfectly Preserved stamp set in the Holiday Mini Catalog).  Use a sticky note to hold the framelit in place over your stamped image and run it through the Big Shot.

--Save those scraps!  I used scraps of Cajun Craze over the polka dot embossed Early Espresso piece on the left.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Perfectly Preserved (W126690, C126692) *Purchased as part of the Perfectly Preserved Bundle, (W129943, C129944) with a 15% savings*

Papers:   Cajun Craze (119684), More Mustard (100946),  Lucky Limeade (122926), Whisper White (100730) and Early Espresso (119686)

Inks:   Cajun Craze (126965), Raspberry Ripple (126859), and Lucky Limeade (126984)

Accessories and Tools:  Big Shot (113439), Cannery Framelits Set (127822) *Purchased instead as a part of of the Perfectly Preserved Bundle (W129943, C129944), Perfect Polka Dots Folder (117335), Scallop Edge Border Punch (119882)

Halloween Card with Dynamic Duos, Sponge Grunge and MOJO

Boo!  :) How is it that I'm already making cards for Halloween and Christmas?  I guess it's because the challenges made me do it.  First, I blame the fab gals at Dynamic Duos, who encouraged us with their Black Tie combo this week to use Basic Black and Lucky Limeade.  

Next, I blame 365 Cards for the Sponge Grunge challenge, for which we were to add accents of color with our sponges...  You can see I added some to every shape on the card... 

...including the opening edge.

Of all my weekend's "toil," I'd say this project is one of my favorites (I hear MacBeth in my head now -- a witch's caldron project is sure to follow!).

Finally, I give blame credit to Mojo Monday (specifically MOJO258) for this great sketch...

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Googly Ghouls (W128060, C128063)

Papers:  Lucky Limeade (2011-13 In Color -- 122926), Basic Black (121045) and Whisper White (100730)

Inks:  Lucky Limeade (2011-13 In Color -- 122984) and Basic Black (126980) Classics

Accessories:  Chevron Textured Impressions embossing folder (127749), Big Shot (113439), Finishing Touches Edgelits (127010), 2 1/2-inch Circle (120906), 1 3/4-inch Circle (119850) and 1-inch Circle (119868) Punches, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (for the eye -- 118309), 1 1/4-inch Square Punch (for the flagged ends -- 119865), Stamping Sponges (101610), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Sketch-Inspired Christmas Card

I know fall is just barely in the air, but there have been a lot of Christmas-themed challenges out there and I couldn't resist!

This card was inspired by the great sketch provided by Pam and the gals at 365 Cards for the Super Sketchy Sunday challenge.  

The fun challenge blog, Cute Card Thursday, challenged us to make this week's project Christmas-themed, so here we are!

I used my Scallop Trim Border punch to mimic the scalloped sides in the sketch.

**STUDIO SUGGESTION**:  I added a quarter-sheet of Very Vanilla Card stock to the inside of this card to make the scalloped border of the front half stand out more.  With darker card stocks (or recipients who might have trouble reading), it's often a good idea to use a lighter card stock inside on which to write your message.

Ribbon scraps are kept in a glass candy jar at my work station and I was thrilled to find this combination (I especially love the texture).

The pretty medallion in the upper right corner was created using the Hostess Set found in the 2012 Holiday Catalog, Mixed Medley. I stamped tone-on-tone with Cherry Cobbler for the big circle and again on Very Vanilla.

Paper Snips make cutting the flagged edges on my ribbon scraps super-easy.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps:  Mixed Medley (W128054, C128057)

Papers:  Soft Suede (115318), Very Vanilla (101650), and Cherry Cobbler (119685)

Inks:  Cherry Cobbler Classic (126966)

Accessories:  Scallop Trim Border (118402), Crochet Trim (118481), So Saffron 3/8-inch Taffeta (122982), and Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (120992), 1-1/4 (119861) and 3/4-inch (119873) Circle Punches, and Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).