Hand Sanitizer Holder

The last day of 2012~~time does fly, even faster as you get older!  When I was at Bath and Body Works prior to Christmas, I purchased a few of their little hand sanitizers, including one that contained red sanitizer and the label said "I  (heart) You".  I went back Saturday and purchased a few more as we will be making these at our next class and the labels were perfect for Valentine favors/gifts.  So if you need little gifts for teachers, co-workers and others, drop by your local Bath and Body Works store and pick up a few.   By the way, the hand sanitizers were five for $5 and come in a wide variety of  colors and themes including PARTY, Island Margarita, I Love Bling and more.  After attending  my card class and making one holder, you will be ready to make the holders not only for your Valentines but also to use as  favors for your next event.  Enjoy this last day of 2012.  If you are going out tonight, be safe!  Happy New Year!

Love You Forever

Happy Friday!  I saw a photo of a quilted heart card and wanted to see what I could do with that idea.  So I took out my Heart Framelits, using the middle one.  I used scraps from the Festival of Snow DSP pack that is in the Holiday Mini.  The little "love you" banner is from the Itty Bitty Banners set and the "forever" is from Fabulous Phrases.  We will definitely be making this card in the next class, but using a different color/print combination.  Have a great day and an enjoyable weekend.

Some SU/Some Not

 I received some very nice crafting Christmas presents that are not SU products.  I wanted to share a couple of those products with you so today's cards include both SU and non-SU products.  The stamped image on the Calypso Coral card is a Flourish image colored in with my Stampin' Up markers and layered on Gumball Green cardstock.  I added some texture using the diagonal plate on my Simply Scored board.  (By the way, the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate is one of the Sale-a-bration choices.) The Calypso Coral baker's twine is a nice finishing touch for the bouquet of flowers.  The Valentine is a very clean and simple card to create.  The scroll flourish is a Memory Box die which I think is just so pretty.  This die cut is very delicate so you need to be careful when removing it from the die and releasing it from the cardstock from which it was cut.  The stamped image is one of the images in the Stampin' Up set  You Are Loved.   A little embellishing with rhinestones is all this card really needed.  Have a wonderful day!

Very Merry

We had a wonderful Christmas with our children on Christmas Eve and our dear friends on Christmas Day. Today will be a reorganize the house day--not my scrap room for a change!  (Well, the scrap room needs a little help, but not a priority--lol.)  Over the weekend I did find time to play with something new--SU's little pinwheel Sizzlit.  As you can see, it is just adorable.  The Very Vanilla card uses DSP from the More Amore pack in the Spring mini while the black and red card uses products in the annual catalog.  A very cute item, it has little holes to insert the brad and therein lies the challenge.  My old, chubby fingers had a problem holding the formed pinwheel and getting that mini brad in.  Thanks to a fellow demo, her solution was to line up the tiny holes on a paper piercer and then add the brad. You will have the joy of playing with this little toy at the January classes.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Enjoy your families, friends and the peace of this wonderful celebration of the birth of Jesus. 

 

Another Love Card

We had our first real snow of the season and happily it wasn't nearly as bad as predicted for our area. The snow has stopped, the ground is covered and icy and I sit here listening to the strong winds. Today will be a stay-at-home day so that I can spend time organizing my Christmas chaos~~ and playing with ink and paper, too!  The image on today's Valentine is  from the You Are Loved stamp set and coordinates with the Decorative Label punch.  I again matted the image on top of one of my Sure Cuts A Lot labels and added a tiny red heart.  The embossed heart detail was created using one of the embossing folders in the Adorning Accents collection, something I don't use very often and which I should.  To finish off the card I used my corner chomper (not SU) as it goes so well with the decorative label.   Have a wonderful day and find yourself a little time to soak up the sounds and scenes of this last weekend before Christmas.  And for those traveling~~safe travels.

A Little Love

No sneak peeks; no new products to show; just a cute card~~if I say so myself!  The branch is a die that I purchased last year when we were in Florida. To be honest, I forgot I had it until I started playing with my Memory Box dies a couple of weeks ago.  The sentiment is from the retired stamp set, Well Scripted, a stamp set that I will not be parting with in the near future as the font is gorgeous. I actually think the sentiment is what makes this card special.  Basically, I punched out hearts, drew "string" using a glitter pen to hang the hearts from the branch and that was it. (Now that I am looking at the card, I should have had a brown branch.  Oh well, next time.)  Perfect for Valentine's Day, an anniversary or just to let someone know you care!  As a matter of fact, this is a card for all of my followers and customers.  I care about each of you!  Have a wonderful day and take it easy in the snow!

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

Today's card is a cute, fun creation.  The color combination was influenced by my need to use a little more of that Pool Party Coredinations cardstock.  The stamped image is one of the images in the Patterned Occasions set in the SAB brochure and when you spend $50 during SAB you might chose this stamp set as your freebie!  I inked it up with my markers and then used a variety of circle punches for layering.  And the finishing touch is the wavy scored border on the Pool Party cardstock.  Another item being introduced in the Spring Mini is the Simply Scored Borders Plate.  Place this board on top of your Simply Scored tool and you can add a variety of embossed decorative line designs to your cards and scrapbook pages.  Next time you are here you will definitely have to play with it.  In the meantime, have a great day!

Pool Party

I have heard from a few of you that SU's Sale-a-bration brochure has arrived and I am wondering if the Spring Mini has also arrived?Today's sneak peek includes products from the Spring Mini.   I know that Valentines are usually pink or red but when the UPS man arrived yesterday I grabbed that new Pool Party Coredinations cardstock out of the box and started today's card  When SU first introduced Coredinations cardstock in the Holiday mini I purchased both the Cherry Cobbler and the Espresso.  Both were very pretty but I never created much with that product. I think it is because I did not care for the color that is revealed when the cardstock iss embossed and/or sanded.   But I love the color of Pool Party interior (a lighter shade of Pool Party) and see Pool Party Coredinations on many of my future cards.  I also used another new item on this card and that would be the Hearts A Flutter framelits.  The banner, the large scalloped heart and one of the smaller hearts are included in that particular set.  And there is a coordinating stampset, too. If you have the Spring Mini, you will be able to see the actual stamp and Framelits sets.  They are both cute products, although I do not yet have the stamp set. We will be making this card at classes scheduled for January 5th and 6th.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

A Little Sneak Peek!

Is that little stamp with the little heart cute or what?  It is one of a set of 8 stamps that is in the Sale-a-bration brochure, Pretty Petites.  The stamp measures less than 1" wide and high and it has a coordinating punch to go with it, the Petite Curly Label Punch.  Each of these can be yours free with each $50 purchase come January 22nd, the start date of Sale-a-bration.  I have been playing a bit with SU's My Digital Studio software lately, trying to learn more about it.  Since I have an electronic die cutter and I have the Sure Cuts A Lot program, I wanted to see if I could make mats for the mini curly label punch.  So I imported the Curly Label punch from the MDS program onto my SCAL mat and succeeded. I added texture by using my Simply Scored tool and used two of the stamps from the Fabulous Phrases set to coordinate with that tiny little heart. Have a great day!

Clearance Rack Blitz!

Over 300 new Clearance Rack items are being added to the Online Store at discounts up to 80 percent off retail-only while supplies last! And for the first time ever, stamps are included at up to 40% off.  Go to my SU website, click on Shop Now, Clearance Rack and then New Clearance Items.  These are while supplies last and includes dies (Matchbox Die #114890 is one of them--yeah!), stamp pads, individual markers and so much more.  Check it out.  And it goes way beyond 10 pages.  Keep clicking on the arrow to see everything. Only online orders are available, so you will need to order directly.  I am off to finish looking at the Clearance Rack items.  Have a great day!

Still Time

Are you wondering when you are going to find the time to make your Christmas cards?  Here is a card that is quick and easy yet very pretty.  The ornament is from the Tags til Christmas set stamped in Night of Navy on Shimmery White cardstock.  The "string" was drawn using the Night of Navy marker and the edge of a piece of cardstock.  I matted it on Night of Navy cardstock and adhered it to the card front.  After stamping the sentiment (from the More Merry Messages set)I embellished the ornament with one of our rhinestones.  I plan on making a few more of these cards later today using Raspberry Ripple.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Be My Valentine

Today's card is all about the die cut.  I recently purchased a couple of Memory Box dies.  When they arrived, I was anxious to create a card using the heart border.  The intricate cuts did require a couple of runs thru the Big Shot.  I have found that SU's Whisper White cardstock cut clean on one pass thru, but once I switched to the Pink Pirouette, I needed a shim and had to run it thru twice.  I was able to remove the little pieces rather easily.  That being said, the lines are so delicate that I had to be careful and take my time.  The next trick was adhering the border to the card front. I used my fine point glue pen and even then had to clean up a couple of little places where the glue spread beyond the die cut. And now it is time to clean up the little pieces of cardstock on the counter and floor in my scrap room.  Have a wonderful day! 

Beautiful Ribbon

Today's cards were very easy to create~~no special technique or shape.  I just wanted you to see new ribbon that is in the Spring Mini.  When I first looked through the Spring Mini, I saw pretty pink and pretty gray ribbon.  The descriptive title of the ribbon is 1 1/4" Two-Tone Ribbon and next to it are two pictures of ribbon.  Well, the  1 1/4" did not register as I oooohed and ahhhhed over the ribbon pictures.  So when I tore open the SU box and saw the ribbon, I said out loud to myself,  "Wow, this is wide ribbon!"  The minute I said it I knew that I did read that it was 1 1/4".  No matter the size, the ribbon is gorgeous and it ties beautifully.  It is soft and shimmery and looks pretty on both cards.  So when you receive your Spring Mini in the mail you will ooooh and ahhhhh over much of it, but remember--the ribbon is wide!  Have a wonderful day!

Our Weekend

was very productive.  We began the weekend having Friday night dinner with Sydney and Matthew~~always a joy, seriously.   On Saturday morning Sydney was up before me and John so she used her resources to get ready for breakfast.  She pulled a bar stool into the pantry to get the cereal and then moved it further down the counter to get the bowls.  It was right about that time when John walked into the kitchen.  She had my cereal breakfast set out and ready for me while John made her his chocolate chip pancakes--the pancakes he never made for his daughter--hahahah!!!  And then the baking began.  We actually baked, iced and decorated cookies for the entire day.  Two moments were very memorable:  Sydney's little hands were actually big enough to use the cookie press gun herself this year; and Sydney calling John (who had gone to the store) to ask him to get red Twizzlers she can pull apart to make bows for the cookie wreathes!!!  I treasure these memories and watch her grow each year, from a little girl who sat on the counter to sprinkle decorates on cookies to the beautiful young lady who can use the cookie press and tie bows made of licorice.  The cookies are good, but the love that is in the cookies means so much more.  Have a great day!

A Melting Snowman

Two posts in one day~~all because yesterday I had a vision in my head for this snowman and he was melting.  So I put it on cardstock and the only thing I would change on this card:  I wouldn't let his smiling face show when he is almost melted~~~hahaha!  Have a great weekend!

Pillow Boxes

Remember the Big Shot Pillow Box die?  It is now retired from Stampin' Up, but I continue to make use of it.  Today's photo includes two pillow boxes I made using the Coordinations cardstock.  After cutting the boxes, I ran them through the Big Shot using embossing folders.  The Cherry Cobbler was left alone after being embossed while I lightly sanded the Early Espresso box after it was embossed. What with the sparkly ribbons wrapped around them, these boxes will look darn pretty peeking out of the top of the Christmas stockings.  Use cardstock colors to match your dinner table; fill the boxes with little candies; tie with pretty ribbons and use as festive table favors and/or place card settings.  This and the matchbox die are the two dies that I wish had not retired.  They were and continue to be my favorite SU Big Shot dies.  Time for me to get going here.  This is "baking with Grandma and playing with Grandpa weekend", so I need to do a little grocery shopping.  Have a wonderful weekend and fins yourself a little stampin' time.

Made In The USA

I usually watch Diane Sawyer on ABC Nightly News.  In the past, the ABC Nightly News has done special segments on products that are made in the USA.  And during this holiday season, they are again showcasing companies that manufacture their products here in the USA. According to ABC,  if each of us spent just $64 on American-made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs.  So that got me thinking and I sent an email to Stampin' Up asking which of their products are made here in the USA.  The answer:  rubber stamps, wheels and ink.  That means that many SU products are manufactured outside of the USA, but at least when I purchase stamps and ink I know I am helping someone keep a job.  Today's 3x3 card offers a sneak peek of a couple new items in the Spring Mini: a new stamp set, Ciao, Baby and the new 7/8" Mini Scallop circle punch. Both items are very cute!  Since the stamp and ink are the only items on this card that are made in the USA, maybe I should get a stamp that I can put on the backs of my cards that says:  "Created In the USA"!  Have a great day.

One More Snowman!

I was having "snow much fun" creating cards for nieces and nephews and just had to share this one in particular.  Do you remember the Halloween Moon card I had made a couple of months ago?  I had gotten so many positive remarks about that one card that I challenged myself to make a winter/snowman card using a fence.  But this time, after embossing the cardstock for the fence, I even cut the cardstock so that it l had wood slats just like you see in your neighborhood.  And since this is a winter card, I added snow to the fence. Easy enough to do:  just drag the top of the cardstock pieces against the Versamark ink pad, pour white embossing powder over it and heat.  Over the next few days I will be posting sneak peeks of products that will be in both the Spring Mini (effective January 3rd) and the Sale-a-bration brochure (SAB starts January22nd).  There are a few items that I am anxious to get my hands on and when I do, you will see my creations using those items right here on my blog.  I have ordered Spring Minis and SAB brochures to be mailed directly to my regular supporters.  Not sure exactly when they will be mailed, but I am thinking you will get them mid-December.  But if I see you before you receive your copies, I will share mine with you.  Have a wonderful day! 

Snow Much Fun

Today's cards were created using the Snow Much Fun stamp set in the annual catalog.   During the Online Extravaganza the price was right and it was too cute to pass up. And look at just how cute these cards turned out!  We have a number of nieces and nephews that we send gift cards to each Christmas and these snowman cards will be perfect.  The cards with pink will be for the girls.  I will make similar cards for the boys, but will change the colors~~red and green or blue and red.  So many possibilities! The images were stamped using Black Stazon ink and then colored in using my SU markers.  I used a blender pen and Bashful Blue ink to lightly add a little "shadowing" along the outlines of the snowmen.  To finish off the card on the right, I drew a black outline and sponged a little Bashful Blue and Basic Gray along the outline to give the illusion that the tree and snowman are on snow-covered ground.  The "Happy Christmas" sentiment is from the More Merry Messages stamp set, also in the annual catalog. Hope your day is "so much fun"!

Cricut Sunday

We had an enjoyable afternoon, but no Cricut machines this month.  Instead, five of the six regulars (missed you Nancy) had a cookie exchange and played a little bingo.  These are two of the little favors, both made with the Two Tags die.  The Cherry Cobbler DSP was left over from the JOY frame class and the white favor is Whisper White cardstock which was run thru the Big Shot using an embossing folder. 

Each holds a little Hershey nugget.  (I think Hershey should send us a free bag of Nuggets or Hugs or Kisses as it seems that papercrafters are some of their biggest supporters--lol!)  A strand of red and green garland adds a very festive touch to the "sweets" bar in the dining room together with a vase filled with candy canes, a bowl with Sixlets, white cupcakes and cute little snow people.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.