Monthly Archives: December 2013

Last Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal for the Year 2013

Can you believe today is the last day of 2013? Time goes by so fast!  I heard someone on TV say that since most of us don’t write checks as much these days with all kinds of online bill-paying or automatic payments, etc. that it’s harder to get the idea of a new year in your head! You know how it was always hard to remember to write the new year on your checks?! (Which reminds me I do have some bills to pay today!!) I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve planned or just a quiet night at home with your family and snacks!

One of my favorite New Year’s Eve stories is the year my mother started calling friends the afternoon I think of Dec. 31 when I was 16 and found out not “everybody” was going to fancy parties and events. She invited everyone to my grandparents’ house (because it was a little bigger than ours and newer and we loved being there!) for New Year’s Eve.  My grandma always had plenty of food in the house and I’m sure we made some snacks and things and people probably brought things and we had the best party there on the spur of the moment! It was my parents’ friends and neighbors, my grandparents’ neighbors, some kids, probably my other grandmother–it was great!

So if you are not out partying tonight, visit my Stampin’ Up! Online store and check out the new Weekly Deal announced today, plus the Clearance Rack, plus the Valentine products out already! Be sure you check the second page as well or click “Show:  ALL”. Check over the Holiday Catalog again to make sure you have all you need out of it before it comes to an end January 2. The new Occasions Catalog begins January 3. Pay attention to your mail if you are one of my regular customers because the Occasions Catalog should be showing up in your mailbox right now! If you do not have your own Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and would like a copy of the Occasions Catalog, please contact me.  I have a few extra copies right now. Sale-A-Bration is coming soon in January as well!!

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals!  Be sure to check page 2 as well or click on “Show:  All”.

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Dec 31 2013

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Dec 31 2013 Page 2

Notice there is Silver Glimmer Paper on the Weekly Deal!  Time to STOCK UP!!  Love that paper!!

Have a safe and fun New Year’s Eve however you decide to celebrate!

Have You Seen the WestJet Christmas Miracle?

Today seems like an odd day to me! It’s still in between Christmas and New Year’s so it’s still the holidays, yet it is Monday and the kids are all gone so it seems back to “normal”. Once I unload the dishwasher and refill it with all the dishes on the counter, I might be caught up in the kitchen. Except for all the remaining “goodies” on the counter; a few cookies, pieces of candy, and other treats. There’s starting to be room in the refrigerator again (thank goodness we finally have a new working refrigerator!) (knock on wood). There are still sheets to wash on the “guest” beds. My Christmas stuff is all still up because my family always left decorations and the tree up well past New Years. Rolls of wrapping paper are still on the dining room table (we never got it cleared off and just squeezed ourselves around the kitchen table to eat!) where the last-minute wrappers worked!

You may have heard about this story on the news, about the WestJet passengers getting their Christmas wishes granted by Santa when they arrived at the luggage carousel at their destination, but today was the first time I watched the actual video!  If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it and continue to warm your Christmas season heart before the holiday is over!

One More Christmas Present to Wrap!

Winter Frost Gift Box

Last night I had one more gift to wrap even though it was after Christmas. But the Extra-Large Gift Box made it easy to be creative quickly! I just cut out some of the beautiful Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper to fit on the sides and top of the box. The box comes flat so great for storage to have on hand and then all you do is crease the score lines and make it into a nice box! I tied a piece of Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon around the sides with a bow in front. And for the great finish, one of the ornaments I had already made from the Festive Flurry Ornament Kit went on top! I only attached it with a Stampin’ Dimensional so the recipient can take it off and hang it on the tree next year or save it for another package. Easy peasy elegant gift-wrapping!

Don’t forget to check the current Weekly Deals which end on Monday night December 30 and the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack with some new items while supplies last — or take a chance and wait until Tuesday and see if there are new Weekly Deals you are interested in!

Go shopping online right now!

New Items on the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack Today

Clearance Rack Blitz2

Stampin’ Up! added new items to the Clearance Rack today!  Remember, they are only available while supplies last!  For easiest viewing, click the “Show:  All” button to see everything without having to go to the next page. And remember, if it looks like you have reached the last page but you know you haven’t, click the arrow to the side. Some people today were having difficulties seeing the new items and had to switch to a different browser or device. So if you feel like you aren’t seeing anything new, try another browser. There are a lot of things so it is hard to remember what you’ve seen before and what you haven’t!

Have fun shopping! Bargains are great!  Shop HERE at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Didn’t Get What You Wanted for Christmas??

Now it’s time to be good to yourself!  You’ve probably made sure everyone else was going to have a great Christmas, but what about you?  Did you get a sweater that didn’t fit, a vacuum cleaner instead of a diamond necklace, a book you already read, ugly slippers you’ll never wear?? Maybe you got some money to spend on yourself!  Now’s the time to take some time for yourself and take a little shopping trip to Stampin’ Up! Online!!

My  Stampin’ Up! Online Store is always open!!  You know there are some stamp sets you want, some cute accessories, more paper, more ink, some things from the Holiday Catalog before it expires Jan. 2nd. And the new Occasions Catalog starts Jan. 3rd.

Start your list today and then tomorrow, Dec. 27th check out the Clearance Rack and see what NEW THINGS Stampin’ Up! is adding! Then place your order!!

We had a great Christmas although we are not a family that gets up early to open packages. We got an extra late start this year and had lots of packages so we took all day, with a break for lunch! The last present I got was really exceptional but has a story to go with it so I’ll save that for another day! It was amazing. No, it’s not about babies or engagements rings, just about something I like. And not about Shelli or Stampin’ Up!

Hope you had a very happy Christmas and are continuing to enjoy the holiday with your family — or relaxing!!

And a Merry Christmas to All!

Probably no stamping today but here are my outdoor Christmas decorations!  Last year we won Third Place in our neighborhood. This year I bought a couple new things….the Polar Bear and Penguins having a snowball fight and Yoda!  Could NOT pass him up when I found him!

Christmas Lights 2013

One side of the front yard with my new air-blown figures!

Christmas Lights 2013 Yoda

Love Yoda and love my little train in the background I’ve had for years!

Christmas Lights 2013 Toy Shop

Our Toy Shop my husband and I cut out and painted many years ago now.

Christmas Lights 2013 Santa and Mrs. Claus

Another wood cut-out my husband and I made forever ago.  They could use some paint but we’re not in the mood after Christmas and don’t think of it again until time to put them out next year!

Christmas Lights 2013 Snowball Fight

Love these new guys!

Christmas Lights 2013 Airplane

And of course Snoopy in his plane!  I love Christmas lights and decorations!

I hope you have or had a very Merry Christmas Day!

New Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! And My Digital Studio Downloads Too!

It’s Tuesday, even if it is Christmas Eve, and here are the new Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Dec 24 2013

And here are the new My Digital Studio Downloads for December 24!  If you don’t have My Digital Studio, you might want to try it out for the New Year!

MDS Downloads Dec 24 2013

Click Image above for PDF of downloads

You can purchase any of these downloads and more in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Have a very merry Christmas Eve!  Hope Santa will be good to you!

Mixing Old and New Stampin’ Up! at Christmas

Ghirardelli Chocolate Holders Ornaments

It’s been a busy few days getting ready for Christmas and my work isn’t done yet! But I did take time the other day to make these cute little Ghirardelli chocolate holders mixing old and new Stampin’ Up! products! Can you guess what is what? The holder is made out of the brand new, upcoming Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, which will be in the new Occasions Catalog beginning January 3, 2014. The old is the bit of designer paper I used on the tag.  It is left over from the pretty Christmas box I finally made last Christmas, which, for awhile was on the Clearance Rack. The kit started as some kind of incentive from Stampin’ Up!, then was sold, and then the remaining ones were in the Clearance Rack.  Shelli Gardner and her daughter Sara even made a video as they assembled their own boxes.

Decorated Christmas BoxI got the idea for the chocolate holders from another demonstrator, Mary Fish, although I used a different punch. There is another one with an angled top! Of course I also used the Christmas Ornament Punch in the Holiday Catalog to punch my stamped ornaments from the Christmas Collectibles Stamp Set.

To make the Ghirardelli Chocolate Holders, cut a piece of card stock 5 1/2″ x 2″.  Score at 2 5/8″ and 2 7/8″. I stuck each end of my paper into the new tag punch to get the fancy scallop and then folded on the scored lines.  I folded back the Ghirardelli Chocolate foil and adhered with a Mini Glue Dot on each side to hold it onto the tag. Then I folded up the front part of the tag and tied with Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine.  And then I decorated the front with the old designer paper (can’t think of the name right now!). Of course you could use any scrap paper and for any season or occasion.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Holders Ornaments

 And this is what the inside looks like:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Holder

And here are some matching tags I made. All these things plus a store-bought ornament went inside the box I was sending someone.

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch Christmas Tags

You can visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE. Be on the lookout, my regular customers, for your copy of the new Occasions Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration catalog coming in your mail!  Don’t let them get lost amongst the Christmas mail and hubbub!

Christmas Fudge Candy Wrapper Poem

Christmas Fudge Candy Wrapper Poem

This is an oldie but goodie for Christmas Fudge that I came across in my stash of past projects. I thought as things get even more hectic closer to Christmas, perhaps you can make use of this idea for a gift! Just type up this poem and adhere it to a big chocolate bar which is already wrapped. You could do it with one of those gigantic chocolate bars that might feed a few people!  It makes a fun gag gift! (Or maybe it’s not so much of a gag?!)  And who wouldn’t enjoy a big chocolate candy bar even if it has a silly poem attached!  Keep your holiday sane!

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals December 17

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal December 17 

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Dec 2

It’s Tuesday, December 17 and here are the current Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! Lots of fun things this week!  Who can’t use some large gift boxes around the house that you can decorate (or not) for any occasion? The Build A  Banner Kits have been really popular -get the Refill Kit plus the Christmas Banner Accessory Kit, plus you can certainly make your own designs! Use them for birthday parties or showers or holidays. The bows, the ribbon and the album you can use any time. Or use the album for the holidays and get the Season of Style Journaling Tags to help you with your pages –  or use some for cards!

Have fun shopping! Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store to order. Be sure to check out the Clearance Rack for bargains, the new Valentine products (get a head start), and everything under “New Arrivals“.

Using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for a Snow Day Tag

Snow Day Christmas Tag

This weekend I finally was able to make some Christmas cards.  This year I am making about ten cards of each design. The only difficult part will be when I start signing and addressing the cards in deciding to whom I want to send what design! I like making different designs because there are so many cute ideas out there.  Of course I can’t possibly make them all, unless maybe I made a different card for each person.  But since I didn’t start back in July, I can’t do that!

One group of cards will have this Snow Day snowman on the front. Pictured above is a tag I made with an extra snowman and oval die-cuts from the Ovals Collection Framelits.  The scalloped edge is the largest framelit. I wanted to use it so I decided it could be a tag and the message could be written on the back.

Now if you want the features and accessories for the Snow Day snowman to be closer to perfect placement, you might want to use the Stampin’ Up! Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, It comes with a plastic sheet on which you stamp and then wipe off with some water or Stampin’ Mist and a paper towel (unless you use Stazon!). If you have a stamp set with which you will want to use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig a lot, it makes more sense to make a permanent sheet using a piece of Vellum Card Stock. Just cut a piece of vellum (or more) and use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to stamp in each corner. If you use different colors of ink, you can stamp OVER some images and keep it to one sheet! Then just keep this vellum sheet in the case with the stamp set and you don’t have to restamp these images.

Using Vellum with Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Here is the plastic sheet that comes with the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig.

Stamp-A-Ma-Jig Plastic

I bought my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig way back when I first started stamping.  Now they are black for Stampin’ Up!. You might think it is a confusing tool to use but there are good instructions and once you use it, you’ll understand. It’s very useful in certain stamping situations even for people who don’t have to have perfect placement all the time.

Try the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig! It’s a great tool to have in your stamping arsenal just in case you need it!

Don’t forget the Weekly Deals ending today and the new Valentine products you can buy now and get a head start (if you are finished with Christmas!). Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store.

A Snow Day Snowman Christmas Card

Snow Day Merry Christmas Card

Are you still working on making your Christmas cards?  Or just starting? Here’s one I made pretty easily. You could use this idea for a Christmas card, a Christmas scrapbook page element, or a tag. Just use the Snow Day  snowman for a winter theme. The word Merry is die cut with the Expressions Thinlits DiesTo make it easy to use this die, place a piece of wax paper in between the die and your card stock and the very thin word will be easier to get out. There are also tiny holes in the die which you can poke through with a pin or Paper-Piercing Tool to help release the die cut. To adhere the word to the card, I used the 2-Way Glue Pen.

I found with the Snow Day snowman, it is nice to use the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig and a piece of vellum card stock to stamp the accessory stamps on so that you can keep the vellum in the stamp case and reuse it. I even stamp over another image perhaps with another color ink so I can just use one sheet of vellum and have all the pieces right there.  You still can eyeball the stamping of his buttons or face or arms, but for those of you or those times that demand perfect placement, the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig really helps!

Of course you can’t really have a snowman without a little bit of glitter for sparkle, so with my 2-Way Glue Pen and a sprinkling of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter my snowman has a bit of pizzazz!

The snowman and snowflakes are all stamped in Soft Sky ink for this card. And for his scarf, a few bits of Real Red 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon adhered with Mini Glue Dots (smooshed up a little bit on the sides to fit the narrow ribbon).

If you need some stamping supplies, just visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store or contact me for help with your order. Don’t forget to check the Weekly Deals and the Clearance Rack for additional savings!

Countless Sayings 1 & 2 New Photopolymer Stamp Sets from Stampin’ Up!

Countless Sayings Stamp Sets 1 & 2 Photopolymer Sets

Click to enlarge flyer.

Stampin’ Up! has just released TWO new photopolymer stamp sets.  They are named Countless Sayings 1 & 2. Lots of words to use for all kinds of projects, cards, scrapbook pages and more! Both these sets will be great for Valentines Day projects as well as many other occasions.  These photopolymer stamp sets are only available while supplies last, and two sets have sold out already, so they aren’t kidding! Click on the stamps image above to see the flyer. Click HERE to go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store to shop for these sets and other photopolymer stamp sets.  Don’t forget to check out the Weekly Deals and also the Clearance Rack that had new items added to it the other day.

Be of Good Cheer Curly Paper Wreath

Be of Good Cheer Curly Paper Wreath

I’m sure you have seen these curly paper wreaths made out of designer paper all over the internet. I finally made one, but just in case it didn’t go well, I made this first one with some retired paper, Be of Good Cheer, from last year I believe. This paper, as I write this, is on the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack, so if you like it, you can get some!

I need not have worried because there is nothing to making this wreath! I used a 10″ styrofoam wreath. It would be a good idea to start with making a hanger out of some string or ribbon for the top of your wreath – I forgot! I didn’t keep track of how many sheets of paper I used since some were probably partly used so maybe I used parts of many sheets.  I’ve heard that it takes about 4 sheets of  12″ x 12″ designer paper cut into 1/2″ strips. Then all you do is curl the paper using your Bone Folder. You actually do not have to make it that curly with your bone folder.  Just get the paper slightly curled and then you can wind the strip up better and tighter with your fingers. Then just take a straight pin and insert into the center part of that strip and pin onto the wreath!  If you are putting on a decorative rosette or big bow or something, you might want to attach that first to the bare wreath. My bow is made from the Cherry Cobbler 1″ Grosgrain Stitched Edge Ribbon in the Holiday Catalog.

When you first start pinning on the curled strips of paper, it may seem like a daunting task and not really look that great. You might even think “this isn’t going to turn out to be anything good”, but don’t despair!  Just keep working, pinning on those curled strips.  Maybe you want some tighter and some looser. There’s no need for perfection on this wreath!  Just keep pinning on the strips all over the front and around the sides.  No need to put any on the back since that part is not going to show. Just keep going until you feel it is quite full enough and you don’t have any bare spots.  Be sure to look toward the inside of the wreath and make sure that is all filled in.  It’s a project you can do while watching TV.

Here is the backside of the wreath.  You can see the styrofoam wreath I used.

Be of Good Cheer Curly Paper Wreath Back

Look through your stash of designer paper and try one out.  And if you need more paper, there is the Clearance Rack on Stampin’ Up! for great deals or the current Stampin’ Up! catalogs for the newest papers!  The wreath looks quite lovely when you get it finished so I really encourage you to make at least one!  I can’t wait to get started on another!

Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack Blitz December 10th!

Clearance Rack Blitz

Get ready for the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack Blitz on Tuesday, Dec. 10th. I don’t have any information yet but all you need to do is check at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store “probably” after midnight Stampin’ Up! time (Mountain Time Zone) and see if they have added new items.  Clearance Rack items should be UP TO 80% off, only available while supplies last!  Don’t dilly dally! Check and see what goodies they put up! 

Also, check out the new Weekly Deals that come out on Tuesdays!  These deals run through next Monday night.

You might consider these current products as well, if you want to add to your order:

Valentine Products

Festive Flurry Ornament Kit

Best of 25 Years Stamp Sets

Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit

Holiday Kits

Anything from the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog or Holiday Catalog!

Have fun shopping and let me know if you have any questions!