Monthly Archives: October 2012

Stampin’ Up! October Promotion–Free Festive Paper-Piercing Pack

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Festive Paper-Piercing Pack October Promotion

Don't forget about the Stampin' Up! October Promotion! Purchase a combination of Christmas products and get a FREE Festive Paper-Piercing Pack. Paper-piercing will enhance your stamping projects and is a trendy technique to use these days!

You have a couple of choices for receiving your free Festive Paper-Piercing Pack:

  • Purchase the Ornament Keepsakes Stamp Set (in wood- or clear-mount) AND the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper and get the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack FREE.
  • Purchase the Ornament Keepsakes BUNDLE and Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper and receive the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack FREE. The Bundle includes the stamp set,the designer paper AND the Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies. Check out the Bundles in the Holiday Catalog just inside the front cover and throughout the catalog.

Be sure to use the special order numbers in the flyer above (click on it to enlarge) to receive the special offer.  You can order online at my Stampin' Up! Online Store here or just email me and I will put your order in for you.

This is a beautiful stamp set and beautiful designer series paper (one design is like a clear window sheet with flocking!) so it is well worth taking advantage of this special offer. The Bundle that includes the framelits dies makes cutting out those stamped ornaments, or just the ornament shape from designer paper, so easy…and the bundle is a savings in itself! Please check it out and get your order in before Halloween night!!

This early Christmas Gift with Purchase to you from Stampin' Up! is only good during October!

 

Tips for Taking Great Halloween Photos!

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Today I read an interesting blog article written by Suzanne Kantra about taking great Halloween photos . I admit most of these tips are over and above my point-and-shoot photography skills, but you might be more capable when it comes to cameras! And they're not all advanced tips, so I think we can all benefit.

This article talks about how to get those after dark shots on Halloween night, including how to capture a few ghosts in your photo! She has tips for eliminating blurry shots in the dark and how to get some good shots right at dusk. Maybe you will even want to capture some ghost writing!

To read the full article, you will find it here. I hope this gives you good ideas for Halloween photos!

Plan ahead for your Halloween photos and create some scrapbook pages, traditional or digital, so you can just place those photos right in their places the day after Halloween! If you need some Halloween ideas for scrapbooking, please contact me.

Full-Moon-With-Tree

Toxic Treats Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper

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 Toxic Treat Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper

It was fun to play around with the Toxic Treats stamp set and the Champagne Glimmer Paper….and all the other elements on this card!  First I used the Spider Web Embossing Folder for the front of the card and then lightly rubbed the new Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Stampin' Pad over the web to give it some shimmer.

I stamped the witch image on Glossy White Card Stock and then sponged the Daffodil Delight moon in the background using a Post-it Note for a stencil.  Then I covered the moon with the punched out circle from the Post-it Note to mask it while I sponged some More Mustard ink around the moon…and then around the rest of it I sponged Cajun Craze. I also used the Labels Collection Framelits to cut out the Toxic Treats image, the Cajun Craze layer and the Champagne Glimmer Paper.  LOVE the glimmer paper!!!  I HAD to put a little spider in the web, although I'm not sure he matches…but oh well, it's Halloween!

Oops, almost forgot to show you the inside of the card, since the card base is black. I just added a layer of Whisper White card stock that I stamped with some images from Toxic Treats stamp set.

  Toxic Treat Halloween Card with Champagne Glimmer Paper _Inside

I hope you will make some fun Halloween cards or projects for your family and friends or maybe neighbors.  It is 90 degrees here today in Houston so anything I can do to make me think it is actually fall here makes me happy!

If you need any Halloween stamping supplies you can find plenty in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog AND the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog!  Find everything you need in my Stampin' Up! Online Store!

Snow Festival Designer Tag Reindeer Christmas Card

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Snow Festival Designer Tag Reindeer Christmas Card
These Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags are so cute and easy to add to Christmas cards!  This card took just minutes to make. I used Cherry Cobbler for the card base, punched a strip of Gumball Green card stock with the Scallop Trim Border Punch, and used a strip of the Snow Festival Designer Series Paper.  And for a little extra razzle-dazzle, I added some Rhinestone Jewels to the ornaments on the reindeer antlers, plus a little dot of Dazzling Details on his red nose!
Order yourself a pack or two of these Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags! You'll be glad you did!
Shop at my Stampin' Up! Online Store or email me!

Petite Pocket Die Pouch with Snow Festival Designer Printed Tag

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Pocket Die with Snow Festival Tag

You will find the Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog on page 17, and look how you can pair one with the Petite Pocket Die and make a cute little gift! Honestly, I passed these up when I saw them in the Holiday Catalog because I didn't know why I would want to buy tags for packages from Stampin' Up! Well, of course they were cute, but when I wanted so many other things, why would I spend money on these? But since then, I have seen so many cute ideas for using these for more than tags, that I ordered two packages of them!

The Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags come in a little pad so you just tear off the one you want to use. Each of the 25 tags is double-sided with five different holiday designs on each side, so that makes ten different designs to use in your projects!

Here is one cute project…..it was in the magazine that Stampin' Up! Demonstrators receive with craft ideas, business tips and news. Just use the Petite Pocket Die cut out with the Big Shot and adhere the sides to make the pouch. Then take a tag of your choice and adhere just the center on the front of the pouch.

Pocket Die Snow Festival Tag

Wrap the sides around to the back and adhere. Stamp a greeting or embellish with some ribbon.  I used Baker's Twine and stamped the greeting from Chock-Full of Cheer (best to stamp the greeting before you attach the tag!)

Pocket Die Snow Festival Tag Back

If you want to add on these Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags to your order, just go to my Stampin' Up! Online Store and shop!  It's not too early to get started on your Christmas projects!

And if you want to see a creative Christmas idea every week, be sure you are on my newsletter mailing list!  My next "12 Weeks of Christmas" newsletter comes out tomorrow!!  Don't miss another one! Sign up at the top of my blog today!

 

Columbus Day on My Digital Studio

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My Digital Studio Columbus Day

Images © Stampin’ Up! 2012

Happy Columbus Day!  Here’s my crude little version of one of Columbus’s ships, the Santa Maria, in honor of Columbus Day!  I made it all in My Digital Studio, with no plan, no copying, just playing!! I just used punches to make the ship and the waves, even tried the new crop feature in MDS 2! I love all the new features in Version 2 of My Digital Studio! If you either own My Digital Studio or want to learn a little bit about it, you can visit www.mydigitalstudio.net.  It’s is a Stampin’ Up! site for My Digital Studio for customers and demonstrators. It’s actually a Ning site that you can join, but you might be able to just look it over without joining. There are places to ask questions and tons of videos from Stampin’ Up! as well as other demonstrators on how to use all the features in this digital papercrafting software.

Once you check it out, go get the My Digital Studio Free 30-Day Trial and play with it! If you’ve never done digital, yes, it will take a bit to get used to (i went crazy at first not having paper and stamps in my hands to move around and try out!) but it is not hard to learn! I learned it from no experience!  The more you use it, the faster you will become proficient….you only need practice, not great computer or digital designing skills!

Give it a try today! Just go to my Stampin’ Up! store  and you’ll be able to download the free trial in minutes!

World Card Making Day! Make a Card! How About Spooky Bingo Bits Halloween Card?

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Spooky Bingo Bits Halloween Card
Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012
Today is World Card Making Day, so get in on the fun!  Join cardmakers and papercrafters and stampers all over the world and make a card! Here is one I made in My Digital Studio, the design software from Stampin' Up! for digital papercrafting of all kinds! If you don't own My Digital Studio, you can easily make this same card with some paper, some punches and the stamp set Spooky Bingo Bits! You can get Spooky Bingo Bits in clear-mount or wood-mount. Or you can purchase Spooky Bingo Bits as a digital download to use in My Digital Studio or another design program.
You can purchase My Digital Studio two ways….just get MDS 2 (the new version 2) for $39.95 which is software you can download immediately with a little bit of content and add to it as you like.  Or, purchase MDS 2+ which is the software plus over $500 in digital content for $79.95.  Honestly, this is the best deal….you get SO much content to use for that extra $40.
If you don't even know what I am talking about….digital papercrafting?  digital downloads?  My Digital Studio?? ….. (because I didn't in the beginning!!!), then do the trial version!  Yes, you can try My Digital Studio, the full software plus enough content to play with, for free for 30 days! You can download the free 30-day trial of My Digital Studio.  While you are using the trial version, you can make your projects, print them yourself or send them off to the Stampin' Up! printer.
Whether you make a traditional card, a digital card, or even a hybrid card (digital plus traditional paper additions), stop and make a card today with all the cardmakers around the world on World Card Making Day!

World Card Making Day Tomorrow, October 6, 2012

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Gently Falling Birthday Card

Tomorrow, October 6, 2012 is World Card Making Day! Plan now to stop everything and sit down and make a card (or two or three!) tomorrow.  If you make two, you can keep your masterpiece and still have one to send to someone! Just think how thrilled someone would be to actually receive a REAL card in the mail from you! Or take advantage of the day to start on your Christmas cards!  Plan a design today and then you'll be ready to go tomorrow for World Card Making Day!

This card looks beautiful in person.  I'm not sure the photograph does it justice. I used the Gently Falling stamp set of leaves.  It's two-step stamping:  stamp the leaf, then stamp over it with the outline stamp.  If you want it perfect, you can use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig….but usually I just eyeball it and come close enough, as I did on this card. To make the multi-colored fall leaves, I used Stampin' Write Markers of various colors and then spritzed with some water very lightly to blend the colors. Then I over-stamped with the outline stamp of each leaf with Soft Suede. And I even sponged a little bit of color in between the leaves.

You could use this card for a masculine birthday card, Thanksgiving, or fall.

For some extra jazz, I spritzed the leaf part of the card with the Gold Glow Smooch Spritz.  You'll be able to see that gold spritz in the photo below.  The key to using the Smooch Spritz is to confidently push the spray button!  Don't try to do it lightly or half-heartedly or you will get big blobs of gold.  Just spray boldly and a fine mist will come out!  Use a box of some kind to catch the overspray, just in case.

Gently Falling Birthday Card Gold Shimmer Smooch Spritz

Depending on your browser, you might be able to click the photo above and enlarge it. Then you'll be able to see the gold shimmer.

Happy World Card Making Day Tomorrow!

Snow Festival Ornament Christmas Card

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Snow Festival Ornament Christmas Card

You can take advantage of the Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas special by purchasing the beautiful Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper and the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set…or even adding the Holiday Ornaments Framleits Dies.  But today I was creatively inspired by the other holiday paper in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog, Snow Festival!  I like the Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green color scheme. The greeting is from the Chock-Full of Cheer Stamp Set (another cute set!) in the regular Stampin' Up! Catalog.

Remember, that if you want to purchase one of the Merry Christmas Bundles, you MUST use the numbers in the special in order to receive your FREE Festive Paper-Piercing Pack.

The 12 Weeks of Christmas Coming to Your Inbox Today…Sign Up Now!

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Images © Stampin' Up! 2012

Would you like to receive a new idea for a Christmas card, gift, or wrapping in your inbox every week from now until Christmas? Then sign up for my mailing list here at the top of my blog because the "12 Weeks of Christmas" starts in just 4 hours! Make sure you receive each and every issue by signing up before the first one goes out today!

The "12 Weeks of Christmas" is my free gift to you, my subscribers, as a thank you for joining me in all this stamping fun and also to inspire you with creative ideas that you can use for the holidays. Maybe something you see in my emails will save you a trip to the mall or urge you to create a one-of-a-kind gift or card for someone special!

Don't delay! The first email goes out in a little bit! And it will only be delivered to my mailing list! If you are already on my list and receive my monthly newsletters, you don't have to do a thing!

Email me if you have any questions at Karen@KarenStamps.com.

 


My Digital Studio Printing Prices Slashed!!

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MDS New Lower Prices

Stampin' Up! has lowered all of the My Digital Studio print product prices-permanently! That's right. Now you can print your photobooks, cards, calendars, and other projects for less. And that's good news, especially right before the holidays! Shipping costs for digital products have also been simplified.

View the new printing prices.

New Design Features in MDS 2
Along with lowering print prices, Stampin' Up! added four more of the MDS 2 design features:

  • CROP PUNCHES: Show off part of the punch and hide the rest
  • PAPER RIP OPTION: Create torn edges with Designer Series Paper, card stock, and photos
  • IMPORT FROM OTHER PROJECT: Toggle between projects to import elements onto current project
  • MULTIPLE PAGE VIEW OPTIONS: View your page with trimmed bleed areas (in addition to viewing in single pages and spreads)

Update Your Software to Get the Lower Print Prices & New Features
To access the lower prices and new features, make sure to get the latest update for your MDS 2 software-even if you're using the trial version. Just go to Help and then Check for Updates and in a couple minutes you'll be all set.

And if you aren't using the trial version and haven't tried My Digital Studio, what are you waiting for?  Get the 30-Day Free Trial of My Digital Studio Version 2 today!


Are You On My Mailing List? The “12 Weeks of Christmas” is Coming!

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Images © Stampin' Up! 2012

Only 24 hours until my "12 Weeks of Christmas" email campaign begins on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.  Be sure you are on my mailing list to receive all 12 issues. This is my free gift to my subscribers to thank them for their loyalty. Starting on Wednesday, you will receive an email from me with a free holiday project! We will start off with a Christmas card.

In order to receive this gift, you must be on my mailing list before the first email goes out! Please join us by signing up in the box near the top of my blog! It will be loads of fun! If you're like me, you love to get new ideas for Stampin' Up! projects! Even if I don't get a chance to make everything I come across, I enjoy seeing the idea!

Please sign up for my mailing list while you are thinking of it! We'll miss you if you don't!

Would You Like to Buy Single Stamps from Stampin’ Up!?

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Single Stamps Logo

Stampin' Up! just announced a Single Stamp pilot program! Apparently they received a positive response when they asked on Facebook if customers would be interested.They received 8,698 "likes" on their recent Facebook post!

To test this option, Stampin' Up! is offering the chance to buy single pieces from three stamp sets:   Word Play, Perfectly Penned, and Seasonal Sayings.  These are all greeting stamp sets so if you saw a stamp or two in the set that you really wanted but didn't want to pay the full price for the set, now you have the option to choose a single stamp!

*Note that these single stamps will only be offered in clear-mount, they'll come without a block, and they'll be packaged in cello bags versus the plastic cases we're used to. Also, since this is a pilot program, Spanish and French stamp sets are not included in this offer. 

This offer is available now through January 2, 2013.

Download the Word Play flyer.

Download the Perfectly Penned flyer.

Download the Seasonal Sayings flyer.

I'm very curious what everyone will think of this option!  Do you think you will like it or not?  Leave me a comment or email me and let me know what you think! You will have to do the math and see how buying just select stamps compares with buying the set. It will be an interesting experiment I think!

Merry Christmas from Stampin’ Up!….During October!

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SU Merry Christmas Flyer

Looks like Santa came early this year!  

Get a FREE Festive Paper-Piercing Pack when you purchase the Ornament Keepsakes Set and Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper.

Choose from the following options:

SU Merry Christmas Bundle 2012 Prices

You must use the special Item numbers to get this offer, not the numbers in the Holiday Catalog!

You may choose the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set (wood- or clear-mount) plus the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper and get the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack

OR

You may choose the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle (stamp set and Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies) plus the Candlelight Christmas paper and get the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack.

So it is stamp set & paper – or –  stamp set, framelits, and paper.

I would strongly suggest that you will want the Framelits Dies as well if you get this stamp set!  Just my opinion!  Or at least buy a Paper Snips scissors #103579 if you prefer to cut out!

You can check the various Bundles in the Holiday Catalog. This Ornament Keepsakes Bundle is on page 3 BUT be SURE you use the proper numbers for the offer as displayed above!  Click on the picture of the flyer to go to the pdf.

To order this special offer, just go to my Online Store….or email me any time at Karen@KarenStamps.com.  I'm happy to help you!

12 Weeks of Christmas Starting Soon!

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12 wks Xmas logo-001

Images © Stampin' Up! 2012

This week I will be starting my annual "12 Weeks of Christmas" email campaign! This is my free gift to you, a thank you for being on my mailing list. Every week, starting this Wednesday, October 3, up until Christmas, you will receive an email with a free holiday project. This will be either a card, a gift idea or a bag, tag, or wrap. You will get complete instructions to make each project and a list of Stampin' Up! supplies so you can get started now on your holiday preparations!

In order to receive ALL of these emails, you MUST be on my mailing list by 1 pm Wednesday, October 3. This will only be delivered to my mailing list!

If you are already on my mailing list (thank you!), you don't need to do anything!

If you want to be on my mailing list and receive my "12 Weeks of Christmas" emails and my monthly newsletters, please sign up in the box here on my blog. Do it now so you won't forget! Then Wednesday afternoon watch for my first project in your email!

Last year I received many nice comments from my subscribers about these holiday projects. Sometimes I even add bonus projects because there are just too many cute things to make! And nothing is too difficult for anybody!

I hope you will enjoy my "12 Weeks of Christmas"!  I can't wait to get started!!

Sign up for my mailing list at the top of my blog on the right!