Stamping with Karen

Sneak Peek! New Hostess Set!

The coming of the new Stampin' Up! catalog in January 2008 means new Hostess stamp sets!  We demonstrators are so fortunate to be associated with such a fine company that appreciates us SO MUCH that they sent us all FREE STAMPS!  Yes, Shelli Gardner herself sent each demonstrator a brand new Level 3 Hostess Set that will be in the new catalog in January!  These stamp sets are always the most prized because they come with the higher workshop totals.  This stamp set is called "Time Well Spent" and even came complete with a note from Shelli expressing her appreciation for us and reasons why she chose this particular stamp set.  First of all, she knows we would all love a gift stamp set.  She also loved these particular images and greetings.  It is a very cute set, with flowers, a heart, a butterfly and two great greetings.  Stampin' Up! has already provided us with some ideas for using these stamps so here is one of their examples I have stamped.  It is so easy to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator because you don't have to have an ounce of your own creativity, you can always find easy samples to duplicate.
If being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator might appeal to you, click here to read more about it or contact me!

Easy Christmas Scrapbook Pages

Here are some examples of easy scrapbook pages to make for Christmas and how to tailor them to the size of scrapbook you want to use.   These are called Progressive scrapbook pages and really designed for a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to show a group of people examples of scrapbook pages regardless of what size page they might want to make in the end.  However, if you are new to scrapbooking, this also is a rather easy way to start small and work up to a larger page.

Actually, this 2-page spread started as a 6x6 card using a 6x12 piece of Real Red cardstock with a fold at the top.  It really could be used as a card to give or mail with a photo enclosed on one or both pages.  In my demo, I cut the card apart at the top fold and... voila!...you have a 6x6 scrapbook layout!  I used the Season of Joy stamp set from the Holiday Mini along with the Dashing Designer Paper which is so popular right now in the Fall/Winter 2007 Collection.

Next I added one of the 6x6 pages to a piece of 8.5 x 11 cardstock.  I added another photo mat and stamped some embellishments for the side.  You can modify this layout different ways, just play with it!  Now the extra space can be used for journaling or more photos.

If I wanted a 12x12 scrapbook page, I could lay the 8.5 x 11 page on top of a 12x12 page.  This leaves some space on the side, so I wheeled a strip of Whisper White with the Stampin' Around Jumbo Snowflakes Wheel.  I could also have used an alphabet set to stamp a title along this strip.  Very easily you have a great scrapbook page layout for your Christmas photos!

I think this is a good method to use even when you know you are trying to design a 12x12 page because it breaks it all down into smaller steps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  This is a fun card I made with Stampin' Up! punches!  I was inspired from lots of different demos' versions of making a turkey with punches.  I think my only original contribution was using the Scallop Circle Punch for the body!  He was fun to make!  You can click on the photo to make it larger.  I only wish I would have mailed it out to someone to enjoy for Thanksgiving!  Obviously a lot of Oval punches were used for the tail feathers and head, which I did the dotted outline with a marker.  You can either punch the hearts or cut out freehand for the waddle and the feet.  The hat can be a square punch with a little scrap for the brim.

Here is another Thanksgiving card I made and then didn't send!  It is pretty much entirely copied from another wonderful demonstrator whose name I do not have handy at the moment.  I used the Carved and Candlelit stamp set for the pumpkins of course.  I love the new designer paper, Apple Cider, in the new Holiday Mini catalog.  You can click on any of the highlighted words for a link to the catalog.  Remember, the Holiday Mini is only good until the end of November!  It has beautiful things in it for the holidays.  I also used the beautiful Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Ribbon available in the Fall/Winter 2007  Collection catalog.