Playing with Papercrafting

Friday, December 6, 2013

As You See It Challenge 014 - Grunge Greetings

I still haven't used all my Christmas stamps! It's not for lack of trying! But I'm determined to by the end of this season! For my As You See It Challenge card this week, I was able to tick another stamp off my list! Here is the challenge sketch, by Amanda!

It is so cute and it made me think grunge right away! Must be the splotches in the back ground because Amanda's sketches often have the same affect on me! I wanted to do a Christmas card for the reason stated above, but I haven't wished anyone a Happy New Year yet, so I combined the two, just like one of the Christmas Messages stamps.

I decided on a palette of Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White, with silver accents. That's a whole lot of colours for me to use, but I really like the way it turned out.
The sentiment is from Christmas Messages, one I hadn't used yet, but can now cross off the list!
The background of the main panel is brought to you by the stamp set, Gorgeous Grunge and by the Encore Metallic Silver Ink pad.
If you notice the edge of the Whisper White panel, you will see that I finally took my rotary trimmer out of the box and used the small scallop blade to create that wavy effect. It was way easy to change the track and the blade. I see another video coming up!

I had to cut the tag shape out by hand, but there are some punches coming in the new Occasions Catalogue that will do that job for you!
I used a stamp from Mosaic Madness to create the little ornaments stamped in Sahara Sand and Silver Encore Ink, stamped off once first. The sentiment is stamped in StazOn Jet Black to show up.
I love the little touch of the three panel behind the tag, and in using the Silver Glimmer paper for the top one, I was able to try out a technique I saw on someone's blog. (I can't remember whose! -Head hung down in shame!) You know how hard it is to adhere the Glimmer Paper with Snail either to the front or the back of it. This person suggested separating off the back ply of paper and then you can at least use Snail on the back. It makes it more flimsy, but it sure works!
The silver 1/8" ribbon is the perfect accent.

Hope you enjoyed this little card, and each product listed below is linked to my Stampin' Up On-Line Store where you can order it with ease!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

With Grateful Thanks for My Team for One Night in Bethlehem

I've mentioned that I direct a Christmas outreach program called One Night in Bethlehem, where we turn our church into a Bethlehem marketplace and let people roam through, taking part in the interactive displays and crafts. Then we perform a play based on the first Christmas. That's coming up this weekend and it is an incredible amount of work, but very satisfying to see it all put together. I have an amazing team who each use their gifts to organize one or more aspects of the evening and I really wanted to thank them, so I designed a card which I will make enough of to give to the team.

This is also created for the Challenge #81 over at Dynamic Duos this week. It's Your Choice week, so we are to work with Midnight Muse and one other colour of our choice. I chose silver for the festive sparkle.

I used the elegant Dove from Calm Christmas and heat embossed it in Silver Stampin' Emboss powder. I wasn't sure how that would work with all those fine lines in the stamp. I thought they might be obliterated with the embossing powder, but as you can see, it worked brilliantly.
I added a panel of Midnight Muse on the card base, but embossed it up to the ribbon with the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder for a little texture on the bottom.

This view gives a little better look at the sparkle and shine from the silver embossing powder (which is on the sentiment from Lacy and Lovely, too) and the Silver Glimmer paper.
The Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon is beautiful layered on the Silver Glimmer paper.
I added some Rhinestone Basic Jewels on the dove for a little added dimension and shine.
The sentiment is also heat embossed and punched out with the Large Oval punch and layered with Glimmer paper punched with the Scallop Oval punch.

I hope this helps my committee to feel my appreciation for them and all the work they did. I'll let you know how it went after this weekend. Thanks for dropping by!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

One More Sneak Peek

Here's one more sneak peek at some of the new products before I go back to Christmas stuff again!

What you're looking at is a little of many different packages and products. The base is one of a variety of the Watercolour Wonder Designer Notecards and Envelopes.
The hello is from the Simply Celebrate stamp set and the flower is an old favourite from the Oh, Hello stamp set from the currant catalogue.
The DSP, both the mini Fancy Fan Crisp Cantaloupe and the gold foil are from the Calypso Coral Add on Kit for the Celebrations Basic Kit - fantastic stuff for throwing a party or celebration of any kind!

The self-stick label is also from the Celebrations Basic Kit which you will be able to purchase January 3!
The ribbon is currant - the 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim in Crisp Cantaloupe and I used some Calypso Coral Candy Dots to add some balance and take away from the all-too symmetrical look of the card.

It was a quick card to make and lots of fun. I know you're going to love so many of the new products. I'll share more when my first order arrives!

In the meantime, Stampin' Up! has released three new Valentine's stamp sets, some pre-printed Valentine products and the final Best of 25 years stamp set. Here are the Valentine sets:

Flowerful Heart Stamp - Wood $11.95

Follow My Heart Stamp Set - Wood $19.95 Clear $14.95

Love You More Stamp Set - Wood $26.95 Clear $20.95

Monster Hugs for Boys Kit - $7.95

Monster Hugs for Girls Kit - $7.95

Sweet Sayings Cards and Envelopes - $7.95

Sweetheart Treat Bags Kit - $6.95

The new Best of 25 Stamp set is called Best of Sale-A-Bration:

Best of Sale-A-Bration - $17.95

If you have been purchasing these all along, make sure you remember to redeem your free stamp set for every 6 Best of sets that you have ordered. All the Best of sets are available until March 31, 2014.

Thanks for dropping by again! Have a great Wednesday!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Best Thing About Being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Quick! What do you think is the best thing about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?? The cute little black apron? (I'm quite fond of my black apron, but that's not my favourite thing.)

The 20% + discounts?? (Those are great - definitely more product for your money, but no.) How about the Stampin' Up trips and incentives? (Oooh, now you're getting warm.) Maybe the awesome people that you meet and get to spend crafting time with?? (Definitely one of the best, but not quite THE best.) How about those awesome conventions those crazy demos get to go to?? (Ahhh! So close, but no cigar!) Well, then, what is it?

I'm glad you asked! The number one best thing about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is getting those sneak peeks at the new products each time a new catalogue comes out, and then getting to preorder from them a full month ahead of everyone else!

Now you should know that we've been drooling over the new Occasions catalogue for a month and we can finally order from it as demonstrators, and we can earn Sale-A-Bration rewards as well! I actually had some of the product in my hand ever since my Rising Star trip to Home Office, but I haven't been able to share until now. Even now, I can't show you products themselves until the new Catalogue goes live January 1, but I can show you projects made with new products. Here's one of them:

It's so nice to create a non-Christmas card, I can't even tell you. I've been making them since August. This one definitely says, "Spring!" to me. Nice, on a cold wintery day like today.
The Design Series Paper you see on the Summer Starfruit base is called Sweet Sorbet and I just love the colours and designs. Can you say Flag Framelits Finally five times rapidly? No, neither could I. But there they are! Yay!

How cute is that little flower? Can you tell it's made of cork? Great idea!
The stamp image is from a set called Peachy Keen. It's stamped here in Smoky Slate.
Notice that Pool Party Twine? It's thicker than baker's twine and packaged in a very cool way. (TOP SECRET!) That along with the cork flower are some of the Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack.

Are you excited yet?! There's lots more where these came from, so I can whet your appetite for some new stuff! Do you want to have access to the best thing about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator? It's easy. Just click on "Join My Team" and follow the links! I'll be happy to help you take this business where ever you want it to get you to. I can help you achieve Rising Star yourself!

Here are the links to the products available to you right now:

WEEKLY DEALS

Here are this week's weekly deals. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

	Fun Flowers Bigz Die Item # 121812 Regular Price: $40.95 Discounted Price: $30.71 25% off
	Hearts Collection Framelits Die Item # 125599 Regular Price: $32.95 Discounted Price: $24.71 25% off
	Paper Doily Sizzlits Die Item # 125592 Regular Price: 26.95 Discounted Price: $20.21 25% off
	Merry Minis Punch Pack Item # 126882 Regular Price: $22.95 Discounted Price: $17.21 25% off
	1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch Item # 127811 Regular Price: 21.95 Discounted Price: $16.46 25% off
	Think Back Photobook Template Item # 133021 Regular Price: $21.95 Discounted Price: $13.17 40% off
	Wisteria Wonder 3/4" Chevron Ribbon Item # 130017 Regular Price: $12.50 Discounted Price: $9.38 25% off

Monday, December 2, 2013

Make a Beautiful Gift Card Holder for Someone

How's your Christmas shopping going? There's only 23 days left!

Wait, don't shoot the messenger! I dislike the relentless passage of time as much as you do, but I'm asking because there are always one or two people on your list that are hard to buy for. Either they have everything and don't seem to have any hobbies or interests other than work, or they are really choosy about their stuff and you always worry that what you're planning to get them won't make them happy!

The solution, of course, is to give them money to buy what they want, but handing over cold, hard, cash seems like such a cop-out! Where's the thought and personalized effort that makes a gift special? But what if you gave them a gift card, either to a specific store, or a general one to a mall? And what if you put said gift card into a fabulous gift card holder that demonstrate a lot of effort on your part to make Christmas special for that person?

Here's a sample of what I mean:

I'm using a Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo and and Smoky Slate with silver accents for the palette.
The belly band holding the gift card together is created with the textured 12 x 12 Smoky Slate cardstock, the Festive Flurry stamps and framelits and topped with a Frosted Finishes Embellishment.
This gift card holder was made using the card base for the Pop 'n Cut dies, with no insert in the middle. The base was scored in three places and folded along the score lines in an accordion-like way and then two of the parts were adhered along the bottom to make a pocket in the middle of the card for the gift card.

Here you can see the inside of the card and the little pocket created for the gift card. It was punched with half the Modern Label punch and the 3/4" Circle punch to make the opening for the card with a little thumb grip to get the card out.

I added a cute stamp from Tags 4 You and the "to: from:" stamp from the same set. There is a punch called the Bracket Punch that coordinates with these stamps, but I don't have it yet. I had to cut it out by hand. The Winter Frost DSP adorns both the outside and inside of the card holder.
Even though the belly band holds it together well, the little tabs from the Pop 'n Cut card base add some extra security.

If you would like to make this cute project, it's one of the ones we will be doing on the next Technique Nights, which will be a week late this month only, due to my commitment to our church outreach. They will be held on Wednesday, December 11 or Thursday, December 12. Let me know if you'd like to register for one of those nights.

Remember, if you want any of the fantastic Holiday sale bargains, let me know by 10 pm tonight so that I can get the order in on time. You don't want to miss out!

Here's a list of the supplies I used: (Just click on any item to find it in my On-Line Store, where you can purchase it.)

Sunday, December 1, 2013

24 Hour Sale Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the end of the Holiday Sale from Stampin' Up! and it's gone so well that they have decided to add some bargains for 24 hours only on the last day!

Here are the items that are on sale for 30% off, tomorrow only!

Description Retail Price Sale Price Envelope Liners Framelits Dies $32.95 $23.07
(item 132172)

Expressions Thinlits Dies $30.95 $21.67
(item 132171)

Holly Jolly Greetings Simply Sent $18.95 $13.27
(item 132159)

Snowflake Season Simply Sent $18.50 $12.95 (item 132176)

Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels $6.50 $4.55
(item 129324)

Extra-Large Gift Box $4.95 $3.47
(item 132147)

Recycled Paper Pumpkin Box

It was Paper Pumpkin to the rescue again, but not in the way you might think! Yesterday was our annual Kaleidoscope Stamper's group Christmas pot luck, and we all had the opportunity to bring a gift for the gift exchange. You know the kind - everyone picks a gift in their turn or steals a gift that someone else has already chosen. Lots of laughs and fun for everyone. We were supposed to wrap the gift to make it look as attractive as possible. I chose the Pop 'n Place Tags Bundle for the gift I gave and I needed to find a box that would be big enough to fit the bundle but not too big to decorate nicely. That's when I spotted my last Paper Pumpkin box, ready to take out to the recycling bin. It was exactly the right size, but I needed to find a way to cover up all that bright orange, to make it look Christmassy! Here's how it turned out:

As you can see, I used Winter Frost Designer Series Paper to cover the top and sides of the box. What you can't see is that I used the Smoky Slate 12 x 12 Textured Cardstock to cover the bottom and back of the box.
I wanted to maintain the way the box closes, so I traced the sides and cut them out of the DSP to fit the shape of the flaps. Everything was adhered with either Sticky Strip or Tombo Multipurpose glue.\
I used the Northern Flurries Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to add the snowflake design on the strip of Coastal Cabana on the top.

Have you had a chance to play with the Gift Box Bigz L die? It creates some beautiful paper bows that look especially nice when you use the Silver Foil sheet to make them.
Do you recognize the embellishment on the front? It's one of the Festive Flurry Ornaments from the kit of the same name. They are so versatile! I told you they were. Remember? If you follow that link you'll find a video tutorial on how to assemble them.

Anyway, my box was the first chosen, so I guess Paper Pumpkin and the Festive Flurry Ornament Kit did the trick. By the way, the gift that I ended up with after my turn was done (there may or may not have been some stealing involved) was a beautiful piece of wall art stamped by the lovely Kristin Noble, one of the Kaleidoscope demos. I wanted to share a photo of it because I love what she'd done, but also because I wasn't the only one who really wanted that gift and the others wanted to case her wonderful design.

Amazing, no? Leave a comment for Kristin to let her know how beautiful this project it!

Let me remind you that there are only two days left in Stampin' Up!'s great Holiday Sale! I don't want to have to disappoint you with news that you were too late for all those amazing price reductions! I want to let you in on a little secret here - tomorrow, the last day of the sale - there are going to be some surprise 24 hour deals. This is so hush hush that I don't even know what they are, but I know they will be incredible! Visit my blog tomorrow for all the details!

Here are the supplies used to upcycle the Paper Pumpkin box. Just click on each link to take you to my On-Line Stampin' Up! Store for more information or to order:

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