Category Archives: 3-D, Gifts & Things

Make a Cute Mini Album For A Friend

I thought you would enjoy seeing this cute mini album a friend sent me recently that she made! You can use it for inspiration to make an album of your own! I think mini albums are one of the cutest things we can make with all our stamping supplies!

I’ve often said one of the best things about being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator is the people you meet. It was just chance that another Demonstrator saw my name on an email group I was part of and noticed I lived in Houston. She invited me to come join a group of them for stamping, swapping and lunch out! What could be more fun than that?! We all got together once a month for a few years. It was great because most of us would never have met any other way. Most of us are still in touch one way or another even though some have dropped as Demonstrators or moved away. We just enjoy talking about stamping and Stampin’ Up! and having lots of laughs together. I wouldn’t have met these people without being a part of Stampin’ Up!

When you open the album completely, this is what the inside looks like. So fun to discover all the cute tags and sayings my friend slipped inside!

In the photo below, if you fold the right portion back to the center, you see another pocket and cute little tag and envelope.

Such cute little things in the small envelope, not to mention a unique clasp for the envelope flap, tucking it behind the punched flower!

And even on the back of the album is one more surprise!

You can make something like this and put photos inside of your family or whatever occasion you are making the album for. You will find many ways to make mini albums online. This one is the same size as a regular card.

Just as I was thrilled to receive this from my friend and know how much thought and love she put into it, imagine how much one you make will make to someone special!

Join the Stampin’ Up! family and make new friends!

Tomorrow is the last day for Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals as we have known them! After tomorrow we will have occasional “Special Offers” instead. Lots of deals to choose from! Be sure to check it out!

Tomorrow also begins the transition to the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog! Demonstrators who attended the OnStage convention in Salt Lake City the past few days already received theirs and get extra-early ordering opportunities! Demonstrators who did not attend will be able to view the catalog online tomorrow and we’ll all be able to see projects made with new products. Customers will start receiving catalogs about mid-May and the new catalog goes into effect June 1. That means the Retiring List will be released tomorrow afternoon, 1:00 pm MT! If there are things you want, you can get a jump on ordering today or be ready to order as soon as the list is released. Some things will sell out most likely, you never know. More details will be released tomorrow about the Retiring List.

Join my Mailing List to keep up with all the news coming out from Stampin’ Up!

Try your hand at making a mini album for someone. You’ll have fun making it and they will appreciate it!

Make a Paper Tassel with Stampin’ Up! Cardstock!

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Did you ever think about making a paper tassel with your cardstock? I didn’t until I saw this idea in a magazine! Tassels seem to be the trendy thing right now, especially in jewelry. Why not add them to your papercrafting?!

I’m sure you can modify these instructions to suit the look you want as you play around with the idea.

Cut card stock 6″ x 10″.
Cut strips 1/2″ x 10″.
Measure the center of each strip and put a pencil mark (just if you want something closer to perfection! Otherwise just eyeball it!)
Lay the strips in a starburst pattern, glueing each one on top of the other. I used the Multiipurpose Liquid Glue (sometimes know as the “green” glue for the color of the bottle!). Let dry. (See photo below)
With the center of the starburst in the palm of one hand, gently cup the strips together to form the tassel.
Take a piece of ribbon and lay it through the inside of the tassel so that you can tie it on to something later if you want.
Take another strip of cardstock (I used Gold Foil Sheets) and make the piece that ties around the bundle about one inch down from the top of the tassel. I used Fast Fuse to adhere the ends of the Gold Foil sheet.
That’s it! Tie the tassel on to a package, a gift box, a banner, whatever you like!
Try variations like using different shades of the same color card stock or designer paper.

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!! GET A FREE STAMP SET IN YOUR KIT!

To celebrate shipping one million Paper Pumpkin kits, Stampin’ Up! is putting a bonus stamp set in the April kit! The only way to get it is to be a subscriber and today is the last day to sign up to receive the April kit! They will ship by mid-April so sign up today (April 10) to be a current subscriber! No risk, no obligation! Pause your subscription for a month or two when you want to (just don’t do it for April or you will miss the bonus stamp set!).

Click HERE to join Paper Pumpkin today and enjoy some crafting time for yourself! You deserve it!

Remember the large selection of Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals that will come to an end in another week!

Make a Mother’s Day Gift Box With the Gift Box Punch Board

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It might be a little early to be thinking about Mother’s Day, but it’s only a month away, and it’s easy to make a Mother’s Day gift box and tag with the Gift Box Punch Board that is on sale on the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals until tonight! Be sure to check it out and add it to your order today!

I loved making this gift box with the Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper. This is heavy Kraft paper, patterns on both sides and one side has a silver foil design. So whichever side you choose, it will be lovely! The colors that coordinate with this paper are Bermuda Bay, Cucumber Crush, Kraft, silver, and Watermelon Wonder.

The tag on the Mother’s Day Gift Box is made with the Whisper White Thick Cardstock, punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and embossed with the Big Shot and Happy Heart Folder. I happened to grab the Circle of Spring Photopolymer Stamp Set to look at the greetings and that’s how I jumped to “Happy Mother’s Day”. The heart is punched with the Sweetheart Punch. The little flowers are cut from the Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper.

Watch this video and see how easy it is to make a Gift Box with the Gift Box Punch Board on the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals only until 11:50 pm MT tonight!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online 24/7

Give Yourself a Gift Today! Order Before Sale-A-Bration Ends!

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Give yourself a gift today! Order from Stampin’ Up! and earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration product with every $50 purchase! Sale-A-Bration ends today at 11:50 PM Mountain Time so do not delay! Go ahead! You deserve a treat!!

(Sale-A-Bration items only available while supplies last!)

Shop Stampin’ Up! Today!

Coaster Board Magnets

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These little Coaster Board magnets are an idea that I found in our latest issue of Stampin’ Success, a magazine sent to us demonstrators every quarter. I’ve mentioned this magazine a lot in the past, one of my favorite perks of being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator! We used to get an issue every month, but unfortunately, times change, and now we get it once a quarter. But it is still a fun source of stamping ideas and business tips.

You might not even know what Coaster Board is or that Stampin’ Up! carries it! What in the world is Coaster Board??! Stampin’ Up! describes it as thinner than chipboard but sturdier than cardstock. It makes it the perfect material for any projects where you want something stronger than cardstock. You can stamp it, die cut it, and make 3D projects with it.

These magnets are cut 2 1/2″ x 2″. Of course you can make yours any size you want. I was going for small and cute! Decorate the front like a tiny card or adhere a photograph, attach embellishements or do some stamping on them! Then just attach a magnetic strip on the back (you can pick up all kinds of magnets for crafts at a craft store). This is a good way to use up some of your small scraps, leftover embellishments, etc. etc. Just have fun with it!

Coaster Board also works really well with the Berry Basket Die to make baskets that are stronger than cardstock. You can see the basket I made and the details HERE in this post.

And if you would like to receive the magazine for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators, Stampin’ Success, plan to join the Stampin’ Up! family yourself, especially now during Sale-A-Bration! Purchase the Starter Kit for only $99 and during Sale-A-Bration, get an extra $30 in product! Than means you will get $155 in product for only $99! Run your business as big or little as you like. You also receive some Stampin’ Up! Catalogs and business supplies to get you started!

For more information and to answer your questions, just email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com or click HERE on the website for more information. Signing up is easy! You can do it online in a matter of minutes and have your Demo number to start looking around the Stampin’ Up! website for Demonstrators while you wait for your Starter Kit to arrive!

Put some Coaster Board on your next Stampin’ Up! order and make some cute Coaster Board magnets and other projects with it!

St. Patrick’s Day Gift Bag and Tag

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If you have a little treat for someone today on St. Patrick’s Day, you might want to make a little St. Patrick’s Day Gift Bag and Tag like this one! I pulled out the Stampin’ Up! Gift Bag Punch Board and the Shine On Specialty Designer Series Paper. This paper has a printed pattern on one side and shiny pattern on the other side, so that presents a dilemma of which side to use because you will like both sides! This is heavier kraft paper so great to use for boxes and bags and such.

The tag is first punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch with Cucumber Crush card stock which matches the Shine On DSP. To make the little pot of gold, I punched a circle of black with the 1 3/8″ Circle Punch and cut it in half. You could use a larger circle punch or even a large oval punch if you wanted a bigger pot. The rim and two legs on the pot are punched from the Word Window Punch. What would we do without the Word Window Punch?!! For the gold coins, I pulled sequins off the Gold Sequin Trim. The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set and the word “lucky” is from the And Many More Stamp Set. I inked up only the word Lucky on the stamp (it says Lucky You) and punched it out with the Word Window Punch. To make it smaller, I inserted the punched out piece back into one side of the punch coming in from the top so just the one end would get punched. It fits perfectly on the pot of gold!

So there you go! Make someone a St. Patrick’s Day Gift Bag and Tag and surprise them!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

Playful Pals Easter Bunny Pyramid Treat Box

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If you get the Playful Pals Photopolymer Bundle, which includes the Playful Pals Stamp Set and the Pyramid Pals Thinlits Dies, and you spend some time playing with it, you will just become more and more creative playing with all the stamps and dies and thinking of all the possibilities, such as my Playful Pals Easter Bunny Pyramid Treat Box. I didn’t even know if there were proper “ears” in the set, but there were, and then I die cut a bunny ear out of orange card stock for a carrot and a green piece that is probably most like a frog’s foot for the leafy top of the carrot. I just drew in the little lines on the carrot and the leafy top with a black marker. A lot of times I find that the more I sit and play with my stamps and accessories, the more ideas I can come up with.

Bunnies aren’t just for Easter! You could make Playful Pals bunnies out of other colors, even designer paper, just for fun. How cute will they be for babies or baby showers or gifts?! Little kids will like them as a birthday party favor.

With this Playful Pals Photopolymer Bundle, you can just stamp on the pyramid box or you can stamp and use die cuts to make things a little more 3D. So many possibilities! You can copy ideas you find online, but I also challenge you to just play and stamp and stamp and play and see what you come up with all the little pieces and parts!

Don’t forget the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals that end tomorrow! You might for sure want the Ornate Tag Topper Punch and especially the very cute Tin of Cards Project Kit by Stampin’ Up! You might also want to add the Tin of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set that has great greetings and little doodles that I’ve used on other projects, not just the Tin of Cards.

If you want to make fun little animals and other projects like my Playful Pals Easter Bunny Pyramid Treat Box, be sure to check out my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online 24/7 or email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com if you would like me to put in your order for you.

Make an Easter Basket with the Berry Basket

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Make an Easter Basket with the Berry Basket Die and the Big Shot! Choose your favorite card stock color for the basket and die cut. Decorate the outside of the basket however you like, and fill with some grassy material. Just like that, you have a cute little Easter Basket for a gift, a decoration, or a table favor.

This Easter Basket is made with Crumb Cake card stock to be neutral and then I used the Easter Lamb Stamp to decorate it along with some Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper. I absolutely love this little lamb stamp! It’s just one single stamp, which makes it so cute just by itself! I just colored in a bit with some Stampin’ Write Markers and punched out with the 2″ Circle Punch. The Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper is punched with the 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch. So easy and so cute! Fill your basket with candy!

Don’t forget about the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals, good through Monday, March 7.

Shop Stampin’ Up! for stamp, ink, paper, and accessories for making all kinds of fun cards and projects such as this easy Easter Basket made with the Berry Basket Die.

March Comes in Like a Lion Playful Pals Card and Pyramid Box

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The saying goes, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” I don’t know if that saying will be true today or not for where I live and where you live, but I made some lions with the Playful Pals Photopolymer Bundle of stamps and dies in honor of March 1st.

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Help Bring Birthdays Back!

Maybe you recall THIS STORY posted on the Stampin’ Up! blog a little while ago about Shannon West, an employee at the Stampin’ Up! Home Office, realizing that people were just posting their holiday and birthday greetings on social media and not sending cards, and she decided to do something about it. Stampin’ Up! joined in and now we have a new stamp that you can purchase and use on your cards or envelopes as Shannon is doing!

Here is a photo Sara Douglass, Interim CEO of Stampin’ Up!, posted on Facebook yesterday of the new stamp. You can put Item #143573 on your Stampin’ Up! order. The cost is $12.00. Right now it says the stamp is on backorder, but if you want it, I would put it on your order anyway. Maybe they just don’t have them all delivered to the warehouse yet for shipping.

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Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for March 1 through Monday, March 7, 2016. I think the main thing I would want if you don’t already have it is the Tin of Cards Project Kit. This kit is featured on the front cover of the Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalog. As soon as I saw the tin, I knew I wanted the kit, and the cards are cute too! You can make the cards and then wait to attach the greeting for when you need a card and then you can choose what you need. The tin also has dividers so you can store additional cards. All the other products make stamping more fun, too!

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Shop Stampin’ Up! Online for all the best in stamping and papercrafting products!

Botanical Gardens Gift Bag

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If there was one thing that made me purchase the products in the Botanical Gardens suite in the Occasions Catalog on page 26, it was the gift bag sample using this paper! I guess it was the black background that really stood out to me. Actually, all the samples at the top of page 26 are so darn cute! Did you realize the “plant” in the flowerpot is really stamped paper leaves??

Although this gift bag is not exactly the same as the one in the catalog, I used my Gift Bag Punch Board to make it with the paper from the Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper. The Gift Bag Punch Board makes it easy to make a small gift bag, especially if you want one with the creases in the side. The instructions are written right on the Punch Board and a diagram, but rest assured there is also a Stampin’ Up! video if you need a more visual reminder of how to make your gift bag! I’ve posted it below.

To make the tag, I just cut a 2″ wide piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the greeting from the set Enjoy the Little Things. This is the stamp set that coordinates with the Enjoy the Little Things Project Kit, but it’s also a good stamp set to have on its own! Then I punched the corners with the Curvy Corner Trio Punch. I sponged the edges of the tag with Pool Party Ink just for fun. The greeting is stamped with Mossy Meadow Ink. Since I had some spare die cut flowers, it was easy to add a little flower to my tag. The leaves to embellish the tag were stamped with the veins in the Botanical Blooms Stamp Set and die cut with the Big Shot and the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies. The ribbon is the soft and pretty Pool Party Glitter Ribbon.

The Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog and the Occasions Catalog are certainly good places to start when you are looking for inspiration or need ideas for a project you want to make. If you don’t want to copy it exactly, just change out the paper, or the colors, or the stamp set to make it your own.

It’s always handy to have some gift bags made up and ready to go, such as this Botanical Gardens Gift Bag which is perfect for spring and summer coming up!

Get your favorite stamping and papercrafting supplies at my

Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

(Spend $50 or more and choose a FREE Sale-A-Bration product now through March 31, 2016!)

January 2016 Paper Pumpkin Valentine Treats

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I’m getting some Valentine treats ready made from my January 2016 Paper Pumpkin Kit. This kit makes a banner for Valentine’s Day and these heart-shaped treat bags. All you need is some chocolate candy to put inside. (Candy purchased for professional purposes only, of course!!!) All supplies came in the kit including the strips of adhesive used to glue the sides of the hearts together. You can use the included stamp set to personalize your hearts and you can even write a messsage of love on the back!

Today is the day! If you would like to get the next Paper Pumpkin Kit in your mailbox in February, subscribe today or add a prepaid subscription to your Stampin’ Up! order. The 10th of any month is the date by which you need to subscribe or pause or cancel your subscription because in a few days the next kits will go out! I can picture the red boxes all stacked up in the Stampin’ Up! warehouse right now!

No worries! If you miss the 10th today and join Paper Pumpkin later on, you will just get the next kit! It’s all good! Paper Pumpkin is for experienced and unexperienced crafters and stampers, old and young, girls and boys, grandmas and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, friends and college students – whoever is looking for a little break in our busy lives to just sit down and play with a surprise project once a month without having to design something or go out and buy supplies, etc. It all comes in the red box! Maybe you need some glue and scissors, but maybe you won’t.

If you have any questions, just ask! Email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com. If you are ordering from Stampin’ Up! anyway, then add on the 3-month Prepaid Subscription and earn a free Sale-A-Bration product for your subscription because you are spending over $50. It may even boost your order up to Hostess Rewards. And if you just want to try it for a month or two and see how you like it, join HERE or click to get more information.

I hope you will treat yourself for Valentine’s Day by joining Paper Pumpkin so you will start receiving your happy red box in the mail!

Chinese New Year Red Money Envelopes

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Happy Chinese New Year! This Chinese New Year is the Year of the Monkey. There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac and the monkey is the ninth animal in the cycle. To celebrate, red envelopes are given with money inside. Someone asked me if I could make some for her, so here are some of the envelopes I came up with. I didn’t have any Chinese stamps, but I started off choosing flower stamps that I thought would work. I did find a monkey stamp, and although I thought it might not be the right thing, the lady I was making them for liked having a monkey on some of the envelopes.

I used the Stampin’ Up! Red Envelope Paper that is no longer available and really gave the Envelope Punch Board a workout! I also gave the Heat Tool and Gold Embossing Powder a workout as well! Some of the stamp sets I used are retired. Even though they take up too much space, sometimes it is nice to have a huge selection of stamps to choose from when you have a custom project to make for someone!

These envelopes went all the way to China which is pretty exciting! I hope everyone who receives one enjoys their gift!

Check out the Google image today of the monkeys to celebrate the Lunar New Year!

Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Valentine Heart Treat Bag

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If you have ever considered getting the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies from Stampin’ Up! now is the time because they are discounted on the Weekly Deals! Quickly and easily make cute little treat bags for candy, gift cards, small gifts, or even as an envelope to hold a card. They can be for any occasion and thanks to creative people who figure these things out, you can even make them into different sizes! You just need to die cut with the Big Shot the one main front piece that has one of the back sides attached, plus the other back side. Score, fold, and glue and you have a cute treat bag!

As a bonus, you get all kinds of extra pieces to die cut to make embellishments for your treat bag or to use on other projects.

My Mini Treat Bag I made with Rose Red card stock because it coordinates with the Love Blossoms Designer Paper Stack that I used inside the heart window. I used the heart die to cut that window and then just adhered a piece of the Love Blossoms paper on the inside before I glued the bag.

Next just decorate your treat bag with any embellishments or die cut some of the pieces that came in your set for whatever occasion you are making this for! This bag I made could be for Valentine’s Day but doesn’t have to be. Make a separate card to slip inside and have the whole thing be a card rather than a bag. Fold over the top and make a bellyband to make it an enclosure. Just have fun with it and you will!!

Check out the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals and all the good products of Stampin’ Up! HERE in my Online Store!

Pyramid Pals Valentine Treat Box

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The Pyramid Pals Thinlits Dies weren’t something I initially thought I would purchase, but the cute animal samples in the Occasions Catalog were a little hard to resist! And I knew that after Demonstrators and other stamps started making things with these dies that I would see all kinds of cute ideas.

So for my first try with these dies, I just made a little Valentine box! You need to cut two pieces to form the box. There is an extra triangle piece in there that I used to cut the pieces of patterned paper from the Love Blossoms Designer Series Paper Stack (really cute papers, by the way!) to glue onto each side. You can use Tear & Tape Adhesive to adhere the sides of the pyramid together, but don’t forget to leave one side open so you can put your treats or gift inside! To make mine easy and for a Valentine treat, I just used the Sweetheart Punch to punch out a Red Glimmer Paper heart for the front. The greeting is from the stamp set Bloomin’ Love. For each side I used the heart punch in the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack to punch a red cardstock heart for just the two sides.

I could do even more to this Pyramid Pal Valentine Treat Box but sometimes you have to know when to stop! So I stopped. Lots of potential with these Pyramid Pals Thinlits Dies and the coordinating Playful Pals Stamp Set. But if you would like to save 15%, buy the Bundle!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online!

Easy Valentine Candy Jar

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I saw this idea for an easy Valentine candy jar in an online feature from Country Living and I had to try it since it looked so easy! All you need is a doily of some kind, a heart, and some Baker’s Twine or similar! I used just a dab of SNAIL Adhesive to hold the doily in place and the heart while I wrapped the Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine around and around the jar. And then the best part – filling the jar with Valentine candy!! Give it fora Valentine gift or keep it for yourself!