Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Use Your Scraps for a Thanksgiving Sunburst Card

Thanksgiving Sunburst Card

The sunburst technique that I used on this card is easy to make with scraps of designer paper. Using the beautiful Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper with this technique makes a nice autumn or Thanksgiving card.

The card base is Chocolate Chip card stock and the layer is Crushed Curry.  I chose three papers from the Sweater Weather series and cut a 1 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ piece from each pattern. Then I used my Stampin’ Trimmer to cut each rectangle in half on a diagonal. Because I wanted seven “rays” of the sunburst, I cut one more half. You can use both sides of each piece or cut extra pieces.

Lay out the pattern you want and move the pieces around until you like it! Then adhere to the Crushed Curry, keeping in mind some edges of the papers will hang off the edge.  Just kind of judge where you need to put adhesive.  You can always go back and lift up edges to apply more adhesive if you need to.  The points of the papers will be covered by the focal point of the greeting or whatever you put there. Once you have the sunburst adhered the way you want it, just trim off the overhanging edges.  Use the Stampin’ Trimmer or Paper Snips.

For my greeting on the front, I stamped the Thanksgiving sentiment from the stamp set Tags 4 You and punched out with the Bracket Label Punch. And good news:  You can purchase that stamp set and the punch in a Bundle!  Save 15% when you buy them together!  

There are various things you can do with this greeting. You could trim off the border to make it smaller and then punch the same shape out of another piece of cardstock. You could use any of a variety of punches for a background for the greeting.  On this sample, I used the Large Oval Punch and the Decorative Label Punch.

Try this card and then get out some other designer paper and make another sunburst pattern card for a different look and occasion.  You could also use this technique in scrapbooking, just cut longer pieces!  Try it!

Cupcake Birthday Flip Card

Cupcake Birthday Flip Card

Using the new Circle Card Thinlits Die from Stampin’ Up! is my newest favorite way to make a card! These are so cute and so easy!  Hopefully the recipient will also find it a fun card! Bet you can’t pull and “flip” it only once!  So fun to play with!

The card base is Bermuda Bay card stock with Birthday Basics Designer Series Paper decorating it. Be sure to order this Birthday Basics paper because it is really cute, great colors – you will love it! The cupcake is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set and the little banner is from Itty Bitty Banners and cut out with the coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits DieI had to add two little Rhinestones on the banner!

The Silver Glimmer Paper is cut out with the 2 1/2″ Circle Punch, but the scallop is cut out with a die that comes with the Circle Card Thinlits Die.  On the cupcake frosting are three Candy Dots.  Talk about cute!  You’ve got to have Candy Dots in all the colors!

Be sure you put one (or both) of the Thinlits Dies on your next order or Wish List! And Candy Dots! Oh, and don’t forget the Birthday Basics Paper, too!

You can shop at your convenience at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store or you are always welcome to contact me.

Make Your Own Holiday Gift Tags Easily and Early!

Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2013

The other day I told you about the new Stampin’ Up! Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags and the coordinating Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set and the combination bundles you can purchase. These all look to me like a fun way to get a head start on your gift wrapping by making these tags NOW so they will be ready when you start wrapping your holiday presents!

Watch this video from Stampin’ Up! that shows you what you get with this new product and then go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store to place your order!

New Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags and Matching Stamp Set

Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2013

It’s not too early to start Christmas preparations! Just think how great it would be to sit down and stamp some tags now for fun before we really get into the craziness of the holidays and then you have one project already to go when it is time to wrap packages and gifts!

The new Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags come in a booklet of 70+ tags in five designs–created from our existing punch and die shapes. These tags coordinate with the Season of Style products in the 2013 Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog.

There is also the coordinating photopolymer stamp set, Christmas Tagables, that you can use to stamp the tags. It has many traditional sayings for gift tags with an updated style, including a funny one about “no peeking” and the best one of all about it being a handmade gift!  Check it out!

  • To make it easy for you, you can purchase the Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Book together with the Christmas Tagables Stamp Set here in this Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Bundle.
  • And for a new stamper, choose the Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Starter Bundle which includes Includes the tag book with 70+ tags, coordinating photopolymer stamp set Christmas Tagables, a Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Spot, and Clear Block C.

Get one for yourself and one Starter Bundle for someone as a gift!  Then sit down together and make a bunch of Christmas tags!

Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags

Click to Enlarge

Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Bundle

Click to Enlarge

Item Description Price
134975 Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Book $9.95
134623 Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set $13.95
135921 Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Bundle includes

  • Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Book
  • Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set
$19.95
135290 Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Starter Bundle includes

  • Pop & Place Holiday Gift Tags Book
  • Christmas Tagables Photopolymer Stamp Set
  • Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Spot
  • Clear Block C
$24.95

Shop for anything you need at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Hello Card

Halloween Hello Card

Happy October!  October sounds a little more “fallish” than September, doesn’t it? Time to start making those Halloween cards and decorations!

This card was easy to create with just the Halloween Hello stamp set, some Witches’ Brew Designer Washi Tapeand a 1″ Circle Punch. Just stamp some Halloween skulls around on the card front and on two scraps of Pumpkin Pie card stock. Punch a couple of circles out of the card layer and adhere the Pumpkin Pie stamped pieces underneath.  Stamp the greeting and adhere some Washi Tape (It’s repositionable!). Adhere the Whisper White layer to the Basic Black layer with Stampin’ Dimensionals and adhere that to the Pumpkin Pie card base. If you have some Googlie Eyes in your stash or left over from last year, just stick a few of those on! Fun, fun, fun!

The Halloween Hello Stamp Set is a cute little one:  7 images plus two greetings!

If you want to stock up on some Halloween stamps and accessories, please just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store today and order! Or if you prefer, just email me and I’ll put your order in for you.

Halloween Hello Card Inside

Magnificent Maple Card for Thanksgiving

Magnificent Maple Leaf Thanksgiving Card

The Magnificent Maple stamp is great for you to use for fall cards and projects, and of course it is great to use for a Thanksgiving card. Here is another card you could make with the random stamping of the Magnificent Maple stamp all over your paper in different colors, sometimes known as a “one sheet wonder” because you stamp all over one sheet of card stock and then cut up the paper for individual projects.

I used the Stampin’ Up! 1 1/4″ Burlap Ribbon in the Holiday Catalog on this card with a piece of 1/8″ Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon down the center.  The Burlap Ribbon is actually frayed on each side, which doesn’t show very well in the photograph. Just pull off the binding on the edge and then pull off several threads from each side. It’s very easy to do. Burlap is quite trendy right now!

The Thanksgiving greeting is from the stamp set Tags 4 You. You get five stamps for four occasions:  Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day, plus a little to and from stamp if you are making labels. There is a matching punch, the Label Bracket Punch that fits these stamps perfectly!  In fact, you can save 15% by purchasing the Tags 4 You BundleThe stamp set is available in wood- or clear-mount.

Here is a punch tip: The Label Bracket Punch only comes in one size, of course, but if you want to layer it, as I did on this card, you can use your Paper Snips to cut around the stamped image to make it smaller and then layer it on top of the punch in another color. Cutting something like that is much easier with the small Paper Snips rather than a regular scissors.

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Magnificent Maple Card for Fall

Magnificent Maple One Sheet Wonder Card

If you saw my post here about one sheet wonder stamping, this is one of the two cards I made with the scrap of Very Vanilla I decided to stamp randomly with the Magnificent Maple stamp. I inked up the stamp and stamped it on the Very Vanilla, then without reinking stamped it again in a different spot on the paper. Turn your stamp in different positions, even off the edge of the paper, even just stamping a tiny bit of the stamp on the edge of the paper. It doesn’t matter if you stamp over another image, it’s just random stamping.

I love the strip of Natural Trim Ribbon! It goes so perfectly with fall colors and with the Naturals Designer ButtonsIn another post the other day I showed you how I frayed the new Burlap Ribbon and used some of the threads to tie on the button.  The greeting, as it often is, is from the stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I can’t believe that the beginning of fall finally came and it actually is feeling a little like fall here in Houston!  I think the Magnificent Maple stamp is just beautiful to use on your fall and Thanksgiving projects.

What stamp do you have that you could use for a one sheet wonder project?

Birthday Beer Stein Card

Birthday Beer Stein

Yesterday was my husband’s birthday so of course I launched a search for masculine cards and found this birthday beer stein card idea on Pinterest. I copied it exactly except for the greeting. There are other versions similar to this but this one was made by a demonstrator named Tammy.

You’ll need a piece of Whisper White for the card base and Soft Suede for the layer. Mine is embossed with the Stripes Embossing Folder (hard to see in this photo!) but you could use something different or leave it plain.  The beer stein is a piece of 3″x 3 3/4″ Whisper White with the bottom corners rounded (you can use the new Envelope Punch Board!) with three strips of So Saffron 7/8″ x 3 1/2″, again with the bottom edges rounded.  I stamped the greeting from the stamp set Four You.  Everything is sponged with a little bit of ink around the edges on the card.

Then for the “punch art” part!  Make the beer foam bubbles with three circles from the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, five circles from the 3/4″ Circle Punch, one circle from the 1/2″ Circle Punch and five scallops from the little scallop punch in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  That’s what I used but you could certainly use lots of other things to make the bubbles, such as other scallop punches or circle sizes.  The beer stein handle is the Large Oval Punch, then punched over with the Extra-Large Oval Punch.

It’s fun to make your own birthday cards for your friends and loved ones!   When you make handmade birthday cards, you can personalize the cards for that person.  My husband might not be a big beer drinker, but what he really likes is to pick out assorted different beers to try, in stores where you can do that. So while I saw lots of masculine card ideas and birthday card ideas I easily could have used for him, I thought the birthday beer stein card idea was one he would enjoy! I think it is important to send happy birthday wishes to people, especially after enjoying my own best birthday ever!

Need any Stampin’ Up! supplies?  Please come shop at my Online Store!

For the Birds Circle Thinlits Card

Thinking of You Circle Thinlits Card with For the Birds

As I’ve said before, I really LOVE the new Circle Card Thinlits Die! I just made this easy card using it and the stamp set  For the Birds, one of those good, all-purpose stamp sets. I used some flowers from the Betsy’s Blossoms stamp set to add some interest to the plain card stock and on the greeting on the inside. I also added some Gingham Garden Washi Tape along the edges of the card.  Washi tape is so much fun and easy to use!  Just tear it off and then trim it with your Paper Snips.  I even pulled one piece off and tried a different Washi tape and then decided to stick with the flowery one and put it back on.  It’s repositionable!  The Early Espresso circle is punched with the 2 1/2″ Circle Punch, a perfect fit for the circle on this card. The stamped image is cut out with the scallop circle that comes with the Thinlits Die.  That’s another great thing with the Thinlits Dies is that they both come with extra elements to use in your designs!

Be sure to watch the Stampin’ Up! video about using the Thinlits Dies on the store page!

Here is the inside of the card!

For the Birds Circle Thinlits Card

The most difficult thing about this type of card is photographing it! Since it doesn’t lay perfectly flat it comes out looking odd-shaped and standing it up also makes for an odd angle.  But I assure you you will enjoy using either one of the thinlits designs. I will warn you, it will make a HORRIBLE noise going through your Big Shot!  But that is normal.

Oh, and in case you need a Big Shot, be sure to order one of those too.  Another decision you won’t regret!!

Artisan Label Punch with Butterflies Card

Butterfly Card

I wanted to play with the Bitty Butterfly Punch included in the Butterfly Bundle Special going on during September and this is the butterfly card I came up with using the Artisan Label Punch as a background for each butterfly. If you don’t already own the Elegant Butterfly Punch I would suggest getting that also in addition to the Butterfly Bundle.  Then you can layer the two butterfly sizes.  The paper is the Modern Medley Designer Series Paper.  The greeting is from the Happy Day stamp set.

To make it less plain, I embossed the Artisan Design Punch pieces with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder and the butterflies with the Flower Garden Embossing Folder. And I even added some Basic Pearls Jewels for the butterfly body and some Whisper White 5/8″ Organza Ribbon.

The Butterfly Bundle Special is available through September 30, 2013. If you need any Stampin’ Up! supplies, you can always get them here in my Online Store.

Friday the 13th Black Cat Card Idea

Friday the 13th Black Cat Card Idea

When I realized today was Friday the 13th, I came up with this black cat card idea. The cat face is cut with a Circle Framelit, the eyes with the wing on the Bird Punch. That black ear I punched with the  1″ Square Punch and then cut that square in half diagonally to make the triangle shape. Then I punched a piece of Silver Glimmer Paper in a square, cut the square in half on a diagonal, and then trimmed down the triangles so they would fit on the black.

For the eyeballs, I punched a 1/2″ Circle  of Old Olive and colored in the pupil with a black marker.

The whiskers are just cut by hand from Silver Glimmer Paper and stuck on the back of the Small Heart Punch for the nose.  The mouth is just drawn on with the new White Chalk MarkerI’m afraid people may have overlooked the Chalk Marker in the Holiday Catalog. I’ve found it very useful and think you should check it out on page 20, top right, of the Holiday Catalog. I also used it to draw the little glimmer in the cat eyes.

Do you have any Friday the 13th superstitions?  Why is Friday the 13th lucky?  My one grandfather was born on a Friday the 13th so he always considered it lucky!  My mother’s aunt considered the number 13 unlucky, so if there were already twelve people seated at the dinner table, she wouldn’t sit down. I don’t know if Friday the 13th is always unlucky, but I think my black cat turned out kind of fun looking so hopefully it will be a lucky day!

Modern Medley Bitty Butterfly Card

Modern Medley Bitty Butterfly Card

I was working on some cards with the Bitty Butterfly Punch, included in the Stampin’ Up! Butterfly Bundle  during the month of September. The Butterfly Bundle includes

* Papillon Potpourri Clear-mount stamp set and
* Bitty Butterfly Punch

Save 15% by purchasing the Bundle!

For this card, I used a piece of the Modern Medley Designer Series Paper layered on Whisper White on a card base of Coastal Cabana.  The butterfly is mounted on a piece of Coastal Cabana punched with the Artisan Label Punch. I very lightly stamped it with the lines from the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp SetIt just adds a tiny bit of something to the background. Then that punch is layered on a piece of Silver Glimmer Paper on top of a  2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch  in Strawberry Slush.

The butterflies are punched with the Bitty Butterfly Punch as well as the larger Elegant Butterfly Punch. I stamped both butterflies with the stamp from Gorgeous Grunge that has the diagonal lines in one direction. I only stamped that once on the Elegant Butterfly.  But on the Bitty Butterfly I stamped the diagonal lines once and for the second time stamped the lines perpendicularly and that made the crossed diagonal lines!  I love how it looks! And a few Rhinestone Jewels add a little bling to the butterfly!  The greeting is from the stamp set A Dozen Thoughts.

Today, as we all remember September 11th, perhaps we should each make a card for someone and send it. It can be to a loved one, to a friend, a neighbor, a teacher, a child, anyone. The act of making the card and sending it will make you feel good today to express your feelings to someone or just to say “hello” or “I’m thinking of you!”. And imagine the good feeling THEY will have in a day or two or three when they receive it as a surprise in their mailbox.

Check out the Butterfly Bundle from Stampin’ Up! today in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store. You’ll find that Bitty Butterfly Punch rather useful as well as the beautiful butterfly stamp set. You can put it on your order tomorrow with the newly available Magnetic Platform, which goes back on sale September 12th.

Teddy Bear Baby Card on Teddy Bear Day

Teddy Bear Punch Art Baby Card

Today is Teddy Bear Day so here is a Teddy Bear punch art baby card. Teddy bears are named after President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.  The name supposedly came after a 1902 hunting expedition where Roosevelt was offered the opportunity to shoot a young bear but refused.  A cartoonist illustrated the incident and the larger bear was later redrawn as a cuddly cub. The whole story became famous and a toymaker brought out a cute stuffed bear and named it “Teddy’s Bear”. The teddy bear, of course, has become a staple with babies and children and even adult collectors.

My teddy bear is made with some punches, but also some hand-cutting was involved! Actually, I also used some of the new Circle Framelits.  It’s good to sponge the edges of the pieces with ink before you assemble so that they stand out more. My bear is made with Soft Suede and Crumb Cake card stock and adhered to a layer of Marina Mist on a Whisper White card base. The Marina Mist is embossed with the popular Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

Do you have a favorite teddy bear?  Get it out today and celebrate Teddy Bear Day!

Make a Halloween Card with Scraps!

Halloween Card with Paper Scraps

This Halloween card was primarily made with scraps after I had made another Halloween card! The background is a piece of the Witches’ Brew Designer Series Paper and the banners are scraps of the same designer paper, card stock, and the Champagne Glimmer Paper.  It was all just laying their on my table anyway!  I punched the ghost with the Owl Punch, cut off the feet, and turned it upside down.  I thought it would be funny for the ghost to be peeking out from the banners!

For the greeting, I stamped the Tags 4 You Trick or Treat image on Summer Starfruit card stock. And then I cut each letter apart with my Paper Snips!  I like the way it looks on this card!  And on that tag were two little spiders, so I cut out around those two spiders also….not super crazy but just around them.  For just using scraps, I like the look of this card.

Click on the link to go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store if you need some Halloween paper and stamps!  The time is getting close!  You can view the Holiday Catalog items in the store or view the catalog HERE.

Simply Created Spooky Halloween Banner

Spooky Halloween Banner

One thing I easily passed up in the Holiday Catalog  was this Build a Banner Simply Created Kit.  But after seeing several banners created at the Stampin Up! Convention this summer, it was one of the first things to go on my next order!  The Build a Banner Kit has the canvas pennants with grommets and all the stencils.  All you need to do is decorate it!  To make that easy for you, purchase the Halloween Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit and you’ll have everything you need!

I found it worked well to use Sponge Daubers to dab on the ink from the ink pad over the stencils onto the pennants.  Most videos show using alcohol and reinkers sprayed on (lightly!) with the Spritzers, but some people were having trouble with that, and it just seemed easier and cleaner to use the sponge daubers.  I think the Black Stazon works better than the Basic Black, although then you have to scrub that Stazon off the stencil!

This might look like a complicated project, but I really found it pretty simple and quick.  I could have made two more rosettes on my own, but I mostly stuck with what came in the kit, although I used my own modifications a little bit.

Put these supplies to make a Halloween banner on your next order!  I’m sure you will enjoy making one!

Here are some close-ups!  You can use your own imagination and decorate yours how you like.

Spooky Halloween Banner close-up

Spooky Halloween Banner Close-up end

Please order your supplies on my Stampin’ Up! website HERE or contact me with your order.