TODAY, June 30th is the last day to get these select designer series papers discounted at 15%! Every little bit helps! Check your inventory and either replace what you have used up so far or get what other papers you want just because!
SHOP THE STAMPIN’ UP! DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SALE!
Those are your choices! Pretty ones! Have fun shopping!
Have you signed up for my Stamping With Karen Mailing List yet? If you like visiting my blog or if this is your first time here, please join us by signing up in the Mailing List Sign Up Box! You will receive an email newsletter on the first Tuesday of each month with the latest Stampin’ Up! news and any special offers, plus at least one tutorial for a card or another project or tip. Each following Tuesday I send an email, again with some kind of stamping idea or review some projects I have recently had on my blog, plus any news or reminders. Stampin’ Up! generally updates us on Tuesday mornings so that is why Tuesday is a good time to get in touch with you!
If you like getting new ideas for stamping, then this is for you! These projects are exclusive to my newsletter. As a special gift for signing up, you will receive a PDF called “A Dozen Creative Gift Wrap Ideas”. Who doesn’t need some quick and easy way to wrap a gift at the last minute?! This might save you a trip to the store for gift wrap! You can change the stamps, ink, paper, and embellishments to current products but the basic idea is the same.
Once you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email very shortly and after that, you will get another email with a link to your FREE GIFT!
And one of the best parts of being on my mailing list is something that will be coming up soon! This may be hard to believe, but we are inching ever closer to Christmas, even as we are suffocating in the summer heat! Something very popular with my subscribers is my “12 Weeks of Christmas” newsletter. Each week leading up to Christmas, I send out a special email with an exclusive project in it. We start with cards, move on to gift ideas, and end up with tags and bags! This makes it handy for my subscribers to get ideas or just be inspired to create something of their own. Make some cards, make a few simple gifts, and then be ready with some wrap ideas and cute tags! It’s all fun! Only my subscribers receive these newsletters each week leading up to the holidays so make sure YOU are signed up! And tell your friends! Before we know it, the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog will be coming out because we crafters need to get an early start on the holidays starting with fall.
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This is one of my favorite things to do with my stamping skills, making this Fresh As a Daisy Recycled Gift Bag! Actually, there isn’t even any stamping on this project and it probably only took me ten minutes are the most to make it. This is one of those quality shopping bags that I got at one of my favorite gift shops. Of course, on the front and the back it has the name of the store printed on the bag. But I love to take a shopping bag like this one I got from a store, and then decorate it and use it later as a gift bag. You can decorate it for any occasion. If every time you got one of these handled gift bags from a store, or even purchase a pack of them at the big craft stores, you stopped and decorated the front, covering up the printing, you will have a nice selection of gift bags that you personalized for a certain occasion or a certain person. It’s always handy to have gift bags in your stash for when you need one!
For this bag, I thought I would like to use the Fresh As a Daisy Designer Series Paper. I thought I would use the pattern with the green background and white daisies, but when I came upon this pattern, I chose it! For this bag, to cover up the store name, I cut it at 4 1/4″ x 7″. Of course, your measurements have to be appropriate for your bag.
I layered the daisy designer paper on a piece of Copper Clay Cardstock (one of the new In Colors). Because the handle was made with white ribbon and because of the white border around the edge of the bag, I decided to layer the designer paper and Copper Clay cardstock on a piece of Basic White Cardstock to help it all stand out on the kraft-colored bag.
For just a little embellishment, I added three of the Brushed Brass Butterflies flying around the daisies.
You could use any of the daisy patterns in the Fresh As A Daisy Designer Series Paper on a bag like this! Remember, Stampin’ Up! is having a sale on select Designer Series Papers during the month of June, so if you don’t have this summer Fresh As a Daisy Paper, or if you need more, be sure to order while you can get 15% off!
It’s a beautiful day wherever stampers live because the brand-new, shiny Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog for 2023-2024 is LIVE! It’s the day we have been waiting for! You can view the catalog online by clicking the photo above or the link below OR you can see all the products in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE or in the link below!
Remember the virtue of patience when you try to shop today, with everyone trying to get a look at all the new products and trying to order! Hopefully, you won’t have any website problems but it often happens on a big release day like today! Just keep trying! You’ll get in!
Also, as excited as we are to get our orders, I have to warn you that shipping has been SLOW and is likely to be that way for a while with all the new catalog orders. You do have the option to expedite your order for an additional charge but that is on top of regular shipping so a bit pricey.
VIEW THE STAMPIN’ UP! CATALOG ONLINE HERE!
SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!
There is one Spanish Suite available, if you are interested. Click the photo below to view the flyer or the link below to shop and see the Suite. You can purchase the products individually as well. Just Search for the name.
SHOP the TEXTURAS NATURALES SUITE!
HAPPY NEW CATALOG DAY!
If you need some last-minute Easter ideas for this weekend, here are some from the past. Maybe you have these older supplies to use! Of course, you can always substitute papers, colors embellishments, etc. Use what you have! Just click on the link below the photo to go to my blog post with information and directions.
Someone asked me to make two Easter treats for her nephews, so I copied a bunny treat box I had made earlier! If you don’t have this old die to form the box, just make an ordinary box (or maybe you have a small gift box around the house you could cover or decorate with designer paper).
Make an Easy Paper Easter Basket
You’ve likely made these little baskets before. Use cardstock or designer paper and just decorate!
Flowering Fields Z-Fold Tulips Easter Card
Use the retired Flowering Fields Designer Paper if you have some in your stash or ANY pretty paper, layered on a rectangle of some sort. Make it a Z-Fold card for extra pizzazz. Add a greeting or write “Happy Easter” by hand if you don’t have a stamp. “Just For You” always works, too!
Triangle Box Easter Bunny Treat
Here’s one of those easy Triangle Boxes that I like so much. This one is decorated to look like an Easter Bunny, of course! You just need some ovals for ears and maybe a little heart or circle for the nose plus some whiskers! Draw on a face. Fill with treats and tie at the top.
You can find even more ideas if you click on the “Easter” in my Categories drop-down box. It probably goes back MANY years!
If you have been around for a while, you know I have made MANY of these triangle boxes for various occasions and made them in multiple sizes! They are so easy yet look so cute! If you want an Easter treat box, try this Easter Triangle Treat Box with Bunny.
Here’s how to make one and then just decorate however you like!
For this Easter triangle box, I used a piece of the Country Floral Lane Designer Series Paper. (It’s not just for Valentines!) It is cut at 4″ x 8″ but you can vary the size. Use the diagram above to see how to score, but it is simple! At each end of the paper, put a light pencil mark at the halfway point which in this case would be 2″. Score the paper in half at 4″. Then in that awkward manner, with your Paper Trimmer, score from that 2″ middle point at one end down to the middle score line which will be on a diagonal. Do that on both sides of one end, then turn the paper and score at the other end in the same way.
Now fold and crease all the score lines. You will see how it will fold together to make the triangle box. Determine which side will be the front or top of your box that you will want to decorate and how the flaps will go so that the top view of the box will have the fold of the flaps showing and not the open side. Pay attention to the pattern direction if it matters. Once you see how it folds together how you like, you can use any hole punch to punch holes in the sides near the top. You want the two holes on each side to align. This is how your paper should look creased and with holes punched.
To decorate, I stamped one of the bunnies in the Easter Bunny Stamp Set in Memento Ink and colored with the Soft Suede Combo of Stampin’ Blends markers. I cut out the bunny and popped him up over a Balmy Blue scalloped circle die in the Layering Circles Dies. I already had some extra stamped and colored Easter eggs and a carrot from another project so I just adhered those to the front.
After adding some treats or a small gift inside the triangle box, just close it up and tie a ribbon through the holes you already punched. I used the White 3/8″ Glittered Organdy Ribbon because it’s white and it’s festive and pretty!
You can see what the triangle box will look like from the side.
I’ve made these triangle boxes for Halloween, Christmas, and just for fun! Here’s a Halloween one if you want to see another idea! You really could make an extra-long box, also, just follow the basic scoring directions – score in half and score diagonally from there to the middle point of the end, on each end.
If you want to do something different than an Easter basket, try making something like this Easter Triangle Box with a Bunny on the front!
These little Easter baskets are fun and easy to make! Make them for a treat to give someone or for table favors on your Easter table at dinner. Decorate as simply or as fancy as you like.
This An Easter Treat Easter Basket is made with both cardstock and designer paper. What I meant to do was make a basket out of cardstock and glue on pieces of designer paper. But I accidentally cut and scored the designer paper first and then realizing my mistake, I just cut a piece of cardstock and glued the designer paper onto it. It worked out fine and made it sturdier than if I had just used designer paper.
This basket is made with Balmy Blue cardstock and a polka dot pattern in Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper. This designer paper was a free product in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure with a $100 purchase and has all this great paper in it. I spotted the polka dot pattern and thought that would be perfect for my basket. Of course, you can use anything you like or even just cardstock.
The way you make a basket like this one is to cut a piece of paper (cardstock or designer paper) at 6″ x 6″. Then score at 2″ and 4″. Turn the paper and score at 2″ and 4″ This will look like a tic tac toe pattern so you know if you have it right! Then cut the two vertical score lines top and bottom to the horizontal score line. Crease all the fold lines. You can see the diagram below.
Fold the sides together at angles as you will see in the photo below. Have the basket handle ready to sandwich in between the layers. I cut my handle at 8 1/2″ x 3/4″. Or if you forget, just adhere it to the inside of the basket.
Decorate the basket however you like! I stamped one of the bunnies in the Easter Bunny Stamp Set on Basic White cardstock and colored him in using Watercolor Pencils in both Assortments and smoothed out the coloring with a Blender Pen. I also stamped and colored one of the carrots for the bunny and cut it out by hand. The bunny was punched out with the Easter Bunny Punch. It was so popular it’s been out of stock for a while but more punches are due back in the week of May 15. I diecut a plain circle and a scalloped circle out of the Layering Circles Dies for the side of the basket. There was not enough room for a little Easter greeting, but I used this one in the stamp set and just cut it apart to fit it on the decoration in a way that it would fit! The bunny and the circles were all popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Since I hadn’t done anything fancy with the basket handle, I just tied on a bow with the Silver 3/8″ Metallic Edge Cotton Ribbon. Then just put some “shred” or tissue paper in the basket and add your Easter treats!
Here is a blog post from a few years ago showing three different Easter baskets I made!
Have fun trying out these Easter basket ideas for a cute Easter treat!
Here’s a cute Easter treat bag or even an Easter decoration for your home….or both! Make this super easy Easter Bunny Treat Sack in minutes!
Use a lunch sack, either kraft or white. I would have used kraft but I couldn’t find any in my house! But I did have white and there are white bunnies, too!
To begin, fold the lunch sack in half lengthwise and simply draw the bunny ear from the top down a little way or as far as you like it. Then cut with scissors, keeping the bag folded and flat so it will cut both sides the same, just like when you cut a heart for a valentine.
If you are giving it as an Easter treat, put the candy or gift inside, maybe adding some shred or tissue paper to fill up the space to shape the bag. If you are just using it as an Easter decoration for your house, stuff the bag with tissue paper or newspaper or whatever you have. Then tie a ribbon around the sack below the ears to make it look like a bunny. Add a cotton ball or pompom to the sack for the bunny’s cottontail. Add a Happy Easter tag if you wish or the name of the person you are giving the treat to.
This style shows the back of the bunny with his cute cottontail, but if you prefer you could draw on the bunny face and have it be the front of the bunny. Either way is cute!
Just a fun little Easter thing to make that is so simple you may as well make one!
If you are still looking for Valentine ideas, you will find a lot of ideas here from years past. I’ve picked out some I thought you would like but you can also click on “Valentine” under Categories on the right side of my blog and find a whole lot more!
Just click on the photos below or the title to go to that particular project on my blog!
Sweet Talk 2-4-6-8 Valentine Gift Bag
Sweet Little Boxes For Valentine’s Day
(Get these “Sweet Little Boxes” on the Clearance Rack right now for the future!)
Valentine’s Day Chocolate Holders
Valentine Treat Bag with Scraps
Just fill a little cello bag with treats and make a cute little tag!
Mini Mailbox For Valentine’s Day Candy
I hope these ideas help you out! There are PLENTY of Valentine card ideas, too, through the years. Again, just look under Categories and click on Valentine. I think Valentine’s Day is one of the most fun holidays!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Last week I made a couple of other decorated candy bars for Valentine’s Day and now today I have these Rain Or Shine Valentine Candy Bars to show you! It is so fun and so easy to make these little treats! Of course, they don’t always have to be for Valentine’s Day. Wouldn’t these be cute for birthday party favors if you just changed the greeting?
These Valentine candy bars were decorated with two of the characters in the Rain Or Shine Suite in the Spring Mini Catalog. You can stamp these characters or you can cut them out of the Rain or Shine Specialty Designer Series Paper. Not only is this paper cute with the charming characters and umbrellas and raindrops, but parts of the images have a glossy coating on them making them a little bit shiny and adding some unique texture. You can cut out these images yourself or there are some dies that line up with the paper.
You can use almost any kind and size of a candy bar for this project. You will just have to modify your design accordingly. I used the regular size of chocolate bar and wrapped a piece of cardstock around it. I didn’t prescore the cardstock because the candy bar is not perfectly flat. I found it better just tightly to press the cardstock around the candy bar and when you have it how you want it, press the creases with a Bone Folder or at least your fingers on the edges of the candy bar to give it a good crease. If you want, you can score it on those lines, but it could still be off a little bit. It’s just as easy to do it by hand. Use a strong adhesive like Tear & Tape to hold the cardstock closed around the candy bar. Try not to get adhesive of any kind on the candy bar.
On the turtle candy bar I used Granny Apple Green cardstock to wrap around the candy bar and then a layer of green striped paper in the Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper. You will find this paper in the Sale-A-Bration 2023 brochure on page 14. It’s actually FREE with a $100 purchase. Remember, Sale-A-Bration comes to an end this month! And it’s the only one for the year. In this paper pack, you get 48 sheets, 4 each of 12 designs. It’s a LOT of paper and certainly the kinds of patterns lend themselves to almost any project, as well as being great for scrapbooking. The turtle is cut out of the Rain Or Shine Designer Paper, as I mentioned and layered on a stitched circle die in the Stylish Shapes Dies. This is a great set of dies that you can use all the time! The greeting is in the Country Bouquet Stamp Set and stamped on just a strip of Basic White with the ends flagged. I also punched a red heart with the Country Bouquet Punch for the turtle to hold.
The foxy candy bar uses Crumb Cake cardstock to wrap around the chocolate bar with another pattern from the Dandy Designs Paper, the Mango Melody with stars to cover the Crumb Cake cardstock. I cut off the umbrella the fox was holding on the designer paper because this isn’t a rainy day theme. Instead I gave him a red heart to hold just like the turtle has and layered him on a stitched square, also in the Stylish Shapes Dies. On this candy bar I did the greeting a little differently. After stamping it on a strip of Basic White cardstock, I cut the words apart and separated them. I think that is a fun look to do for the rare times I think of it!
As for the candy bars themselves, I used the Real Red & Burlap Ribbon Combo Pack to tie a ribbon around the length of the candy bar so the recipient can just pull it out of the wrapping around the bar. On the fox candy bar, I used the Real Red ribbon and tied it at the top with a piece of twine. For the turtle, I used the Burlap ribbon and tied it with the Real Red Ribbon to hold the ribbon in place.
If you want to see the other Valentine candy bars I made, just click HERE. Those used the paper, stamps, and punch in the Country Floral Lane Suite. But it doesn’t matter which suite, it only matters if the candy is chocolate!
From Christmas house to Valentine house! The Christmas house on the left is one of several I bought at Christmas time in one of the big box craft stores. A year or two earlier I had bought something similar, put designer paper on the front, and adhered a little wreath and ribbon. I didn’t get more made this year for Christmas so I got the idea to make a Valentine house out of the wooden blocks I had. Click HERE to see the ones I made previously.
These Valentine houses were fun to make! Bet you can’t make just one! It was easy to measure the bottom portion of the block and cut out a piece of designer series paper to cover it. Then I traced the roof area onto a piece of cardstock, cut it out, and embossed it. I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue for the whole project. The back of each house has a solid piece of cardstock that I just traced from the block and cut out. It’s best to use the Liquid Glue because you have a moment to get the paper perfectly placed. If necessary, you can trim off an overhanging edge with scissors or use a craft knife carefully.
These two houses were the first ones I made! The house on the left uses a piece of the Sweet Sorbet gingham paper in the Country Gingham 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper on the front. The roof is Sweet Sorbet cardstock embossed with the Gingham Embossing Folder. The door is die cut with the door in the Warm Welcome Dies. The door is rather tall for this project so I made it shorter. I used gold foil to cut out the door knocker and door knob with the same die set. For the plants on each side of the door I just chose some greenery dies. The little flowers are the teeny tiny Loose Daisy Embellishments. I just put a tiny drop of glue where I wanted the flowers and carefully placed them.
The house on the right is decorated with the little hearts page in the Country Floral Lane Designer Series Paper. The roof is a piece of gingham paper in Petal Pink. The door is Petal Pink. On both houses, the hearts are Basic White and Flirty Flamingo, diecut with the heart in the Warm Welcome Dies.
Here are two more houses decorated in the same way using designer paper, embossing the roof paper, diecutting doors, accessories, hearts, and plants.
You may notice the door on the house on the left is taller than the door on the right. I had made the other houses the other day and forgot I made the door shorter so I would have room at the top for hearts. But that’s okay (because there are no mistakes in stamping!), I just made smaller hearts! Those smaller hearts are cut out with dies in the Teacup dies.
Here are four of my houses all lined up! Something different to do with our paper and supplies! Use a house for a Valentine decoration in your house or on your tiered tray. You can probably find something similar at the store. Later, you could decorate one for Easter or another holiday! The important thing is to have fun making something different!
These Country Floral Lane Valentine Candy Bars are a very old project I have been making all of my stamping years! It is so easy and so fun! You can use any size of candy bars and decorate for any occasion, as simple or as fancy as you like!
I got these “regulation size” chocolate bars in a 6-pack at the grocery store. You could use the very small snack-size bars or you could use the giant-size candy bars. The brand, size, and type doesn’t matter either with a project like this. You only need to be able to wrap some paper around the candy bar or even a bag of candy.
My measurements don’t really matter to you because it all depends on the size of YOUR candy bars. But if you want a starting measurement, for my candy bars I wrapped around a 5 1/2″ x 6″ piece of cardstock, then a piece of designer paper, about 4 1/4″ x 6″ on one and 3 1/2″ x 6″ on the other. Six inches provides a fairly wide overlap for the back so you could make that a little shorter if you needed to save paper.
On the pink candy bar, I first stamped some flowers in the Country Bouquet Stamp Set using Versamark ink on the Petal Pink cardstock just for a little interest on the top and bottom. Then I wrapped around a piece of the Country Floral Lane Designer Paper. I suggest just lightly wrapping it around and not scoring it according to any measurements. Each candy bar and wrapper may be different, there is some thickness to it, and you don’t want the wrap to be too tight that you can’t pull out the candy bar or too loose. After I wrapped the cardstock around the candy bar, I held it in place as tightly as I wanted it and actually ran my Bone Folder along the sides which gave a pretty nice crease.
To decorate the pink candy bar, I used the Country Bouquet Punch to punch out the two hearts and leaves directly from the Country Lane Floral Designer Paper. As I write this, this punch is not available and will not be until April. If you want to use that design on the paper, just cut out the hearts and leaves by hand. I used the Real Red & Burlap Ribbon Combo Pack to wrap around the length of the candy bar with the Burlap Ribbon, then tied at the top with the Real Red Ribbon. This gives the recipient a “handle” to pull out the candy bar.
The Sweet Sorbet candy bar is wrapped with Sweet Sorbet cardstock and then a layer of the Country Gingham 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. This paper is cute and so versatile to use on many projects. At this moment it says, “Low Inventory” so if you want it, order it right away!
To decorate this candy bar, I stamped three hearts with the Country Bouquet Stamp Set and punched out with the Country Bouquet Punch, Again, if you don’t have it, just cut out the hearts by hand. I also added two greetings from the same stamp set plus the little hearts stamped inside one of the hearts. That center heart is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals. I used the Black & White Gingham Ribbon to wrap around and pull out the candy bar.
As I said, this is a fun project! Even children can do it! If you want to see the small, Snack Size candy bars decorated, here is a Halloween example.
If you need any supplies for any projects, remember Sale-A-Bration is still going on during February and just the other day Stampin’ Up! added more choices of products that you can earn with a $50 or more purchase. Check out all the choices HERE.
Stampin’ Up! has a brand new Kit for you tomorrow, February 1st, in their Kit Collection!
The Wreath of Blooms Kit is a special addition to the Kits Collection; it comes with everything you need to make your very own home decor piece!
Available starting 1 February 2023, the Wreath of Blooms Kit is such a fun way to try new crafting techniques and create something special for your home! You’ll get an 8″ diameter wreath to fill with blossoms. Roll and shape the precut paper pieces to make three-dimensional flowers. Pin them together with brads and glue them to the wreath. Then hang it for all your friends and family to see!
You will need a hot glue gun to adhere the flowers to the wreath. Glue gun not included.
A Kit in the “Kits Collection” is different from Paper Pumpkin Kits. Paper Pumpkin is a monthly subscription whereas the kits in the Kit Collection in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store are simply kits to purchase with your regular order.
This month’s kit includes:
TOMORROW, you will find this kit in the Menu under Kits Collection.
It’s Christmas Eve and if you don’t have your packages wrapped yet or ran out of wrapping paper, you might need these last-minute Christmas gift wrap ideas! I was afraid we might run out of wrapping paper so I did several presents without the fancy stuff just in case!
For the first one, I just used a plain white shopping bag, tied on a nice tag from either a Paper Pumpkin Kit or a Stampin’ Up! Kit from a previous Christmas. So handy to have those gift tags already made up! Put that on your summertime list and you’ll be ready! I just tied on a nice tag and with the colored tissue paper inside the bag it looks great!
I started out thinking I should use some of the brown paper we have from Amazon and other packages. One Etsy gal I have ordered from wraps her customers’ purchases in this paper and ties yarn around! Such a nice presentation, especially for a purchase! I didn’t have yarn handy, but I just added, again, one of my fancy Stampin’ Up! tags I already had ready and a stick-on bow! It’s fine!
Then late last night my daughter came out with one of her wrapped gifts. She used some of my retired designer paper taking up space in her bedroom and tied some retired ribbon around it! She was thrilled that it was such a pretty package!
Hope these last-minute ideas help you if you need it! But you probably have had all your packages wrapped since December 1st!
Merry Christmas! Stay warm!
It’s time to be wrapping packages this close to Christmas! If you need something cute for a small gift or treat, this easy triangle box might be just the thing for you! I’ve made a lot of them and they really are easy. Then you decorate however you like.
These are the basic instructions for how to make a Triangle Box:
Somewhere I saw an idea like this: using a neutral color and a white pen to make the triangle box look like a Christmas tree. Of course, I couldn’t find it again, but I’m happy with my own version!
I chose Crumb Cake Cardstock for the neutral-colored tree. Before assembling, I just drew little white lines with a white gel pen to make it look like tree needles, I suppose. To tie the top closed I used a Gold & Vanilla 3/8″ Satin Edged Ribbon.
For the top of the tree, I found a retired star punch and some retired gold glitter paper (you could use Gold Foil Sheets, too). I punched a couple of extra gold stars and decided to use them on the front of the tree. It still needed a little more, so I used the Adhesive Backed Season Sequins in gold to fill in the tree.
Now the triangle box is ready to put a gift or treat inside and then tie up the bow at the top! Try one and see how easy it is! You could emboss the cardstock before assembling it if you like. Decorate one for any occasion!
