One of our Stamp Club girls (hi, Karen!) made and gave out these beautifully wrapped candy bars as her project for stamp club this month!  Each month I give the girls a challenge that they can choose to participate in, and then I draw a winner to receive a prize.  This month I told them to do anything “Christmas”.  Karen wrapped 10 Ghirardelli candy bars in different Christmas themed looks and passed them out to each of us.  Isn’t this just a beautiful gift?  I love it!

Karen used the Cerise DSP from the Fall-Winter Collection 2007, the Christmas Punch Level 2 stamp set, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, wide oval & scalloped edge punches, and I think a lotta love to create all of these.  Thank you so much…now that the photo is taken, I can’t wait to eat it!  Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dates: November 23-30, 2009

Details: For one week only, you can get amazing discounts–up to 50 percent off–on over 40 products and product bundles! See below for complete offering.

Things to Remember:

• The sale begins Monday, November 23, 2009, 12:01 AM (MT), and ends Monday November 30, 2009, 11:50 PM (MT).
• Discounts range between 30 percent and 50 percent.
• For online orders, discounts will be shown in the shopping bag at checkout.
• The Distribution Center will be closed on Thursday, November 26, and Friday, November 27, 2009, for the US Thanksgiving holiday. No orders will ship on those days.
• Order deadline: Monday, November 30, 2009; 11:50 PM (MT)

Contact me today to order your discounted items, or shop online at my Stampin’ Up! website (click on SHOP NOW).

Product Offering:

  *This bundle is only available while supplies last.

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post anything decent of late.  Ha!  That sounds gratuitous – like I think these projects are decent - which they are - but I really mean anything at all.  I’m attempting to make up for it today by showing you 3 projects. 

It’s unusual for me to do only cards for stamp club.  I normally will throw in something shaped in there, but this time I wanted to show a couple of different techniques, too, so I went with cards so we’d have time to complete everything.  Up first here, I showed how fun the Shimmer Paints are when combined with ink to make it super pretty and sparkly.  The ornament was made this way by mixing about 5 drops of ink with 2 drops of the Champagne Mist shimmer paint, and applying it to the Delightful Decorations stamp directly with a sponge dauber.  I found this worked best by going easy on the amount of the new ink combination when applying, as not to get ink inside the crevices of the stamp.  I first rubbed very lightly all over the stamp, then pouncing lightly as usual to apply.  Keep trying if you don’t like the results, but I think that you will easily see how little you will need to get it right.  I totally CASEd this card’s layout, and more, but changed up the colors.  The girls at stamp club realized that the opposite side of the patterned paper actually look better than the snowflake side on this card!  I’m always learning from them!  Naturally, you won’t be able to see the pretty sparkle on the ornament, thanks to the ineptitude of the camera.  Just try it…I think you’ll like the results!

Next up is another layout CASE of this card, which I loved.  It measures 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″.  I used a retired patterned paper pack when cutting out the Lattice, so used the colors of that to choose my markers for the stamp on the ornament.  Which brings me to the next technique we did – creating our own Shimmer Mist with the same paint, which, sadly, is also undetectable here.  But it adds a pretty sparkle as well, although less sparkly than adding it to the ink.  I find it works even better on darker card stock.  Here’s how to make your own: Get a small spray bottle and add 1 oz (30 ml) of alcohol in the highest concentration you can find.  The one I found is 91%.  The higher the alcohol content, the quicker it dries.  Add about 15 drops of Champagne Mist Glimmer Paint, using a dropper, and shake well.  Spray your project a few inches away and let it dry.  That’s it!  Now go out and try it – it’s just beautiful.

An additional technique used on this card was creating a mask.  I recycled a piece of clear acetate and punched it with the ornament punch.  Using this as a mask, I sponged some Sahara Sand lightly onto Whisper White card stock, then punched it out with the ornament punch.  Then I stamped my image onto the ornament, punched a hole at the top and tied a piece of silver cord into a bow and used dimentionals to apply it to the card.  I used the crop-a-dile to punch the holes for the brads.

And finally, I went with a simple one-layer card and used several stamps from the Season of Simple Grace stamp set.  I love how this one turned out!  I saw how Jean had done this similar idea using the Movers & Shapers Curly label die, but I didn’t want to cut out my figures.  And since it worked to just use the Curly Label punch, it was much easier.  The punch was just lined up in the middle of the front of the card and punched down as far as it would go.  I then traced the shape onto the the inside of the card using a pencil, which I erased after lining up my image, and then stamped in Chocolate Chip.  The placement of the Shepherds works perfectly, as does the star (well, it IS off-center on this one).  On the inside, I added the Three Kings and sentiment, which completes the card.  I finished it off with simple, rustic raffia – instead of ribbon.  I felt it reminded me of the hay in which Baby Jesus was laid.

I thank you all out there in blogland, who share your amazing ideas with us.  You are all so giving and I benefit from and appreciate them.  As well as my awesome Stamp Club friends – they show up each month, oftentimes with a project or two to share with each other, and cheer each other on.  I’m so touched by this and feel privileged to be a part of such a group.  This is my favorite night of the month.  I’ll surely miss you all in December! 

Thanks to you all for stopping by today!!

{Merry Christmas/joy ingredients}

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, All Holidays, Delightful Decorations

Paper: Real Red, Soft Suede, & Whisper White card stock, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Ink: Soft Suede, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, retired (my Real Red ink hadn’t arrived in time)

Accessories: Champagne Mist Glimmer paint, ornament punch, 1/16″ handheld punch, scallop edge punch, silver cord, Soft Suede polka dot ribbon, stampin’ dimentionals, sponge dauber

{Merry Christmas ingredients}

Stamps: Holiday Best (Level 1 Hostess set)

Paper: Old Olive & Whisper White card stock, Holiday Treasures DSP (retired)

Ink: Markers – Old Olive, Ruby Red & Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand ink

Accessories: Chocolate Chip 1″ Double-Stitched Grosgrain ribbon, Crop-a-dile, silver brads, ornament punch, 1/16″ circle punch, silver cord, stampin’ dimentionals, Lattice Bigz die & Big Shot by Sizzix, clear acetate

{One layer card ingredients}

Stamps: Season of Simple Grace

Paper: Naturals Ivory card stock

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Crushed Curry &  Creamy Caramel

Accessories: Curly Label punch, sponge, Stamp-a-majig, raffia

To order Stampin’ Up! products online, 24/7 – click HERE

  Item #113490

Item #116517

 Item #116794

  Item #111778

I tried to make this little reindeer look like he’s peering around the tree, but not sure if it looks like that, or that I’m trying too hard to get you to believe it.  Tell me what you think.  Click photo for a larger view.

I used the Christmas Cocoa paper as the background, embossed the trees, and glittered the snowy hills onto Shimmery White card stock.  It’s so hard to see the shimmer from the camera’s perspective.  The antlers were made with the snowflake punch, which I saw on CeeCee’s blog.  I didn’t have a circle punch small enough to make his eyes, so I used my googlie eyes.  The nose was made with the 1/4″ circle punch.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

{be merry ingredients}

Stamps: Warm Words

Paper: Kraft, Shimmery White, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, & Real Red card stock, Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: SU! Texturz plate & Big Shot by Sizzix, silver cord, snowflake, 1/4″ circle, & small oval punches, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, googlie eyes

To order Stampin’ Up! products online, 24/7 – click HERE

         Item #116628                                                Item #115108

                         Item #116770

Eliza!  I put all the names on pieces of paper, folded them up and had my son pick one – since I had entries from 2 different posts, I thought picking the winner the old-fashioned way was the easiest to figure out.  Thank you all so much for your comments and suggestions!  Tomorrow night we’ll be making these cute bags at our church craft night, and I plan on printing up the list of suggestions you made to give them lots of ideas!

Eliza, I’ll be getting your prize out to you!  Congratulations!

Have a great weekend!

Edited to add:  This contest is now closed.  See this post for the winner.

I just went over 80,000 hits, so as a small “Thank You”, I am giving away some blog goodies to a lucky commenter!  Here’s how to win:  Visit my last post and tell me what you would give away in this cute little bag.  I plan on making lots of these and think you could give me some great gift ideas.  The measurements are given on that post, so that will help you determine what might fit.  I will take comments from both this post and the one with the bag, to make it easy on you.  And if you happened to have commented already on that post and would like to be entered twice, then you can also comment on this one and I’ll count them both!  Just a little bonus to those of you who commented without knowing you’d get something for it.  I’ll only be giving the extra bonus to those who commented before this one posts to keep it fair.  This contest will be open to all US & Canada commenters.

What can you win?  

• Tombow Multi Liquid Glue – my adhesive of choice!
• 1 roll of Whisper White taffeta ribbon (10 yards)
• 1 roll of the silver elastic cord (25 yards)
• Dazzling Diamonds
• sampling of clear rhinestone brads
• Whisper White craft ink re-inker
• On Board Book Basics, small
• assortment of chipboard stars
• mini clear stamp set (2 stamps)
• assortment of googlie eyes (2 sizes)

You’ll have until Thursday, the 12th at 9pm ET.  I’ll then draw a winner.  Good luck!

This bag, that is!  I was asked to make and teach a class for our annual craft night at church that would be free for those coming.  I immediately thought of using the Fancy Favor die to make a quick little gift bag.  I made my sample from retired SU! Christmas paper, used brads to put a handle on it, and made a gift tag.  It’s cute.  But I kept wanting to do something different. 

I was talking to my husband about it, much to his chagrin – he just plays along though, as if he really cares (gotta love him for that!) – and told him I really wanted to use Kraft card stock for the bag and just stamp on it.  He said, “Wouldn’t that just look like a brown paper bag?”, to which I replied, “Yes, so?”, ’cause I happen to think that would be cute.  He then added, “Well you might as well USE a brown paper bag and save the money.”  A light bulb went on and I thought he was brilliant!  (I guess he really does care).  I ran it by my friend Joy, who I’m borrowing the Fancy Favor die from (mine is on order) and she thought it would be a great look.  So I got a brown paper bag from the grocery store and tried it out.  I got 3 of these little bags from one grocery sack.  I used the Horizontal punch at the top in which to slide the Real Red polka dot ribbon into.  I stamped the back with the to/from sentiment instead of the Christmas greeting, eliminating the need for a tag.  Now this Free Craft really will be practically free.  7 inches of that ribbon is all I needed to purchase for each one.  And I can get about 50 from one roll!

I did reinforce the bottom of the bag with just an extra piece of the grocery sack glued onto the bottom.  I used the Tombow glue to put it all together.  I almost always use this great glue instead of sticky strip, as I find it works just as well on many projects, and it’s less expensive.  And for this bag, I think the sticky strip would be too strong.  I can see myself making lots of these to use as gifts this year!  For reference, this bag measures 3 1/16″ wide, 3 3/8″ tall, and 2 3/16″ deep.

Oh, I used the Holiday Collection stamp set (a retired Country Living offering from last season) for the sentiment and to/from.  For the class though, we’ll also be using the Four the Holidays stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog, as they will fit perfectly at the bottom of the bags and then there will be more to choose from. 

I know it’s been awhile since I last posted, so thanks for coming back by and as always, for your sweet comments!  And now, if you’ve made it this far, I’m giving you a head’s up that I’ll be posting some blog goodies soon!  I’ve just gone over 80,000 hits and it’s about time!

{Practically Free gift bag ingredients}

Stamps: Dasher, Holiday Collection (retired)

Paper: grocery sack

Ink: Chocolate Chip & Real Red

Accessories: Real Red polka dot ribbon, horizonatal punch, Fancy Favor Bigz die & Big Shot by Sizzix

To order Stampin’ Up! products online, 24/7 – click HERE

              Item #115965                                   Item #115608

             Item #116816

For the first time I finished my swaps (for a local swap) over a week before we meet – yea!!  I decided to use retired paper and ribbon for my project.  I have so much of it and it does me no good to just hoard it.  So that’s why you see several different Kiwi Kiss patterned papers – just using it up.

I stamped the vine in Old Olive ink.  The bird is from the Merry Details sizzlit, which is exclusive to SU!.  It was a simple card that came together quickly, which is very rare for me!  I even sewed around the edges – did you see?  (click for a larger view).  I don’t know, but maybe they are right, maybe practice really does make perfect!  Woohoo!  Cards measure 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″.

I can’t wait to see all the other cards I will receive…they are always so great.  Thank you for stopping by today!

{Merry Christmas swap ingredients}

Stamps: All Through the Year, vine stamp from Papertrey, Ink

Paper: Kraft, Whisper White & Riding Hood Red (retired) card stock, various retired Kiwi Kiss patterned papers

Ink: Whisper White craft & Chocolate Chip

Accessories: corner rounder punch, Merry Details sizzlit & Big Shot by Sizzix, stampin’ dimentionals, Riding Hood Red ribbon (retired)

To order Stampin’ Up! products online, 24/7 – click HERE

Item #116823 (Super large view!)

Dates: November 1, 2009-January 4, 2010

Details: You’ll love the convenience of our Holiday Gift-Giving Guide! With gift ideas for kids, teens, neighbors, and more, it’s your one-stop shop for all your holiday needs.

Plus, when you spend $50 on products in the guide, you’ll get a Décor Elements for FREE (up to a $16.95 value)!  And you can earn additional Décor Elements for each additional $50 you spend on products from the guide, too!

Click here for the Guide.

…but I LOVE my new blog banner!  I took a bunch of photos this week of my many Japanese Maple trees.  This one just happened to be perfect to fit on my banner.  Good thing I took the pics when I did, because after the winds we had yesterday, there are virtually no leaves left!

I just haven’t created much lately.  This is my latest card and I”m not 100% thrilled with it, but since I have nothing else to blog about, this will due.  I used a chipboard frame and inked it up with Whisper White craft ink, then used heat & stick powder, then Dazzling Diamonds and heat set it.  The sentiment is made from last year’s Christmas rub-ons.  My hubby said the flower looks like a poinsettia, which I didn’t intend but I guess it does look enough like one.

Thanks for stopping by today!

{Peaceful Tidings ingredients}

Stamps: Season of Joy

Paper: Real Red card stock, retired DSP

Ink: Soft Suede, Whisper White craft

Accessories: chipboard frame, Real Red polka dot ribbon, Heat & Stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds, heat tool, Birds & Blooms sizzlit & Big Shot by Sizzix, clear rhinestone brad, retired rub-ons