Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Hostess Gift Wine Bottle Tag

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Wine Bottle Tag

Often a good host or hostess gift to take to a party is a bottle of wine. When you are a stamper, you want to jazz up anything you can with some stamping! Here is an easy wine bottle tag to make in just a few minutes. And of course you could make the same kind of hanging bottle tag, but smaller, to go over water bottles or soda bottles or whatever!

You will have to tailor the size of your hanging bottle tag according to the size of your bottle but these are the measurements I used:

  • Cut card stock 8 1/2" x 2 1/2"
  • Score at 2 1/4". Use the 1 3/8" Circle Punch to punch a hole in that area to hang over the top of the bottle. Fold on the score line.
  • Decorate your wine bottle tag!

Wine Bottle Tag for Hostess Gift

I used the Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper for a layer. The "thanks" stamp is retired but seemed perfect for this project. It is cut out with the Window Frames Collection Framelits Dies (carried over from the Holiday Catalog) and layered on Champagne Glimmer Paper, also still available from the Holiday Catalog. The ribbon tied around the tag is the Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon #126847.

Next time you are taking a bottle of wine as as hostess gift to a party, or even just decorating water bottles for a get-together, consider making a cute tag for the bottle!

Stampin' Up! has all the supplies you need at my Online Store here!

A Framed Birthday Collage for a Friend

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Framed Birthday Collage for a Friend
I love how this framed collage turned out for a dear friend's birthday gift! I often pick up frames that I like just in case I come up with a stamping project I can use them for. This white frame intrigued me because of the extra space at the bottom. I thought maybe I could stamp something in that area or do something with it. There were lots of possibilities, but it took having every ribbon I owned out on the table until I came up with this ribbon design that I liked! Of course, the frame would have been fine even plain.
When I need a gift for someone, I often try to see if there is something I can make. With stamping I can make a personalized gift. It saves a trip to the mall for the same old/same old kind of gifts, and I can make something I hope they will like and will be a unique gift that no one else will give them. Rubber stamping opens so many creative opportunities to you and it is an easy skill to learn and do.
To make this I just measured the frame opening and did a little math…and just cutting some scrap paper samples…to see what size to make my squares. Then I just decorated each one with whatever idea I found or thought of. Don't ever let not having an idea stop you….once you sit down and play a bit, your creative juices will start flowing! And often, they overflow once you get going!!
Here is a close-up of the collage.
Framed Birthday Collage for a Friend Close-up
And here is a close-up of all the little tags I made to go in the tiny envelope.
Framed Birthday Collage Tags
Making collages like this to frame is a great gift idea because it is a personalized gift and can be as large or small as you like. Try one!
You can find any supplies you need at my Stampin' Up! Online Store here!

Sent with Love Designer Series Paper

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SentWLove_DSPs

Click image above to go to page and then click "More Images"

Don't forget about the Sent with Love special offer! It runs until April 30, 2013.

What is it?

Sent with Love Travel Special Flyer

Click on the image above for the full flyer or click HERE.

To do ALL your Stampin' Up! shopping, please go to my Online Store! With any orders of $50 or more you will get FREE Sale-A-Bration products, too!  Don't miss it!!

 

Last Minute Valentine’s Day Candy Treat Ideas

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In case you are scrambling for a few last minute Valentine candy treat ideas, here are a few for you!

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Top Note Candy Treat Bag

This is super easy! Just fill a cello bag with Valentine candy and make a topper for it! I used the Top Note Die (so versatile), folded it in half, and decorated it with punched hearts. You could add a Valentine greeting, too, if you wanted. You can staple the bag inside or use SNAIL adhesive.

Valentine Scallop Envelope Candy Treat

The Scallop Envelope Die makes it easy to make a little treat holder. A Ghirardelli chocolate fits just right inside! Wrap a ribbon around the bottom to hold it closed and add a Valentine greeting! This greeting is from Got Treats. If you don't have the Scallop Envelope die you could fold up your own little envelope with paper.

Valentine Candy Treat Matchbook

One of the first cute things I ever learned to make when I first heard of Stampin' Up! was a matchbook! We put post-it notes inside then, but candy works well, too! Mine measures 2 1/2" x 7" and is scored at 3", 3 1/4", and 6 1/4" to fold around a Ghirardelli chocolate.  It you have some other candy, you might want to make it larger. The stamp on the Whisper White is from Easy Events, a very versatile stamp set for lots of occasions.

Valentine Candy Treat Matchbook Inside

I stapled the edge of the candy to the bottom flap or you could use a mini glue dot. The ribbon will hold the front flap closed.  Or the flap can go on the outside. However you want!

Valentine Candy Treat Matchbook Side

Matchbook from the side.  You can see how the scoring makes a little space to hold the candy.

Have a fun Valentine's Day doing something YOU love!

You Are Loved Valentine for Valentine’s Day

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You Are Loved Valentine for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is only one day away!  Did you make a Valentine for someone special? This one came to mind when I saw something similar online with non-Stampin' Up! materials. I decided to add texture to the Cherry Cobbler base of the card with the very popular Honeycomb Textured Impression Embossing Folder #1293778. (I never remember it is called "Honeycomb"….I think most of us think of it as the 'hexagon' embossing folder!) I used the Labels Collections Framelits Dies #125598 to die-cut the First Edition Specialty Paper #121878. I stamped on it with Cherry Cobbler ink and sponged the edges a bit with Soft Suede to give it  a little aged look. Couldn't you also see this as a wedding card?

Originally I stamped the "Love" image directly on the First Edition paper as I did the flower from the stamp set You Are Loved, but the design just didn't do enough for me. So I relented and stamped it on Very Vanilla and cut out with the Decorative Label Punch #120907. I stamped it again and punched out the word "Love" with the Large Oval Punch #119855.

Since I already had the Champagne Glimmer Paper #127885 out on the table, I couldn't resist using it! Once you see that glimmer paper in person, you just can't resist it! The Champagne paper is still available to order even though it is not in the Spring Catalog. I originally tried it as a large Label die-cut behind the First Edition paper but changed my mind.  But once I was using the Decorative Label Punch, it was easy to layer it behind that! There is a trick to doing that….just punch out two and cut each in half, one vertically and one horizontally, then layer behind the punch on all four sides.  You'll see how they fit. And for a final touch, I wrapped some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine around the front of the valentine.

We often don't get a peek at the inside of the card, but since this You Are Loved stamp set had a nice saying in the set, I used that as well as stamped the flower on the inside layer.

You Are Loved Valentine inside

Now that's another Valentine card ready to go on February 14th! If you make a Stampin' Up! valentine, send me a picture and I'll put it on my blog!

Oh Hello Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Card

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Oh Hello Mardi Gras Card

Today is known as Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, which refers to the rich, fatty feasting during the carnivals before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent and fasting leading up to Easter Sunday. The colors of Mardi Gras are purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.

I made this card with the Oh Hello stamp set using Mardi Gras colors to commemorate the day. The Champagne Glimmer Paper stands in nicely for gold. (Champagne Glimmer Paper IS still available #127885). The more I used the Oh Hello stamp set the more I love it!  I colored in the chevrons using Stampin' Write Markers with three different colors: Elegant Eggplant, Gumball Green, and More Mustard. Maybe I should have used Summer Starfruit so I would have ribbon to match, but sometimes colors appear lighter when you stamp with markers. To easily cut out the ovals, use the Ovals Collection Framelits Dies.  Purchase them with the Oh Hello stamp set in a bundle and save 15%!

If you want to scrapbook your Mardi Gras photos and memorabilia, Stampin' Up! has all the stamps, ink, paper, and accessories that you need!  You can shop online here any time! Or email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com.

If you want to read more about Mardi Gras, check out this article from the Times-Picayune of Greater New Orleans.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

(Let the good times roll!)

 

Valentines for Boys (or Robot-Loving Girls!)

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Robot Valentines for Boys

Valentines are sometimes all "mushy" but here is a cute idea for valentines for boys! Not that they can't be for girls, too, of course…but in the craft world, it's often more difficult to find "boy" things. Anybody who loves robots will like these valentines…and not just for Valentine's Day either!  They would be just as cute for birthday cards or some kind of birthday party favors. The only bad thing is that the chocolate candy making up the body is pretty tempting and then the robot is kind of destroyed! But that's okay…we have to remember, it is only paper!

Of course I copied the idea from a couple I saw online a long time ago and then made them up my own way. On two, I embossed aluminum foil (the heavy duty kitchen kind) in an embossing folder in the Big Shot.

Embossed Foil

Here are close-ups of the robot valentines. The glare of the foil makes it a little difficult to take photos!

Robot Valentine
Here you can see the two chocolate nuggets forming the body (stuck together with one mini glue dot near the bottom of the candy and some Sticky Strip on the back.

Holding nuggets

Robot Valentine 2

Robot Valentine 3

Use your imagination and make some fun valentines like these! Once you get started, it is hard to stop!

Shop Stampin' Up! Online here at my Online Store!

Chalkboard Technique Birthday Card for a Friend

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Chalkboard Technique Birthday Card

I’ve loved chalkboards (I called them blackboards) since I was a girl, so I can’t get enough of making these chalkboard cards! This chalkboard birthday card I made for my friend (and now that I know she received it, I can show it to you!). I got the idea of using the beautiful Framed Tulips Embossing Folder #121809 as a frame for the “chalkboard” online but the card I personalized for my friend. Just stamp with Versamark Ink #102283, emboss with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder #109132 using the new Heat Tool #129053, and my favorite part, rub a little White Craft Ink #101731 on the background with a soft cloth or a sponge (lightly) to give it the look of a real chalkboard with dust!! If you want, you can draw some border lines around the edges with a white Watercolor Crayon or one of the Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils or any white pencil.

I used several stamp sets on this card!

The cute Pool Party button is from a Ribbon & Button Pack (Sycamore Street) #130812 in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure, which you can get FREE with a $50 purchase! The tiny little paper banner is also available FREE from Sale-A-Bration in the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper pack #127540. You can even get both the designer paper and the Ribbon & Button Pack, plus the coordinating Madison Avenue Stamp Set FREE in a BUNDLE if you host a $400 party! Just get some friends to order with you and you might be able to take advantage of that bundle and lots more for being a hostess!

Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and place your order at your convenience! Or email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com if you need any help or would prefer me to place your order!

Stampin’ Up! Sale-a-Bration Happy Hello Simply Sent Card Kit

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Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration Happy Hello Simply Sent Card Kit

Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration is underway and this Simply Sent Card Kit, Happy Hello, is one of the free products you can choose when you order $50 in Stampin’ Up! merchandise from now until March 22.  You get 8 cards, matching envelopes (aren’t they cute!), and your die cuts and accessories to decorate your cards.  Four of the cards have the “hello” greeting on them and four are plain so you can add what you want.  Directions come with the kit, but you barely need them….and of course you don’t have to follow them at all!  Do your own thing with your kit!

Here is the completed card and matching envelope.  Wouldn’t you love to sit down and make a few of these in no time at all?!

Sale-A-Bration Simply Sent Card Kit

Just add the gray strip across the card, tie on some Baker’s Twine and stack your flower die cuts with a rhinestone in the middle!  The die cuts already have adhesive on the back, yet you can peel them off and move them around if you need to.

Just place an order at my Online Store (or email me) for $50 or more and choose this Happy Hello Simply Sent Card Kit #130149 for your Sale-a-Bration FREE product! Get another free product with every $50 increment.  Get Hostess Benefits at $150!

Send a Card to a Friend Day

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Oh Hello Card for a Friend

Today is Send a Card to a Friend Day! I don’t know who thinks these “holidays” up, but I do like this one! If what we love to do is make cards, then sending at least one to a friend is a great thing!  I know sometimes we just hoard the cards because we hate to part with our creations.  The solution to that is to make two or three of the same card…one for you to keep, one for you to send, and one for your extra stash for when you need a card right away!

The Stampin’ Up! Spring Catalog stamp set “Oh Hello” is just perfect for this type of card!  It’s easy to use and create with, especially if you have the coordinating designer series paper, Tea for Two. You can even purchase the stamp set and the Oval Framelits in a bundle and save 15%!

Shop Online at my store anytime!  Be sure to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration….spend $50 or more and get a free product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure!

Make a card and send it to a friend today!!

Best of Love Gentler Times Heart Anniversary Card

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Best of Love Gentler Times Heart Anniversary Card

Stampin’ Up! has lots of plans for their 25th anniversary year, and one of them is to offer the “Best of…” stamp sets through the year.  February’s stamp set is “Best of Love” and includes stamps that have been favorites through the years plus one  new image! One of the stamps in this set is this beautiful heart, which I mentioned in yesterday’s post, was originally from a stamp set “Gentler Times”.

The heart is stamped on this card in Regal Rose ink (although it comes out darker than you would think the ink would be!), cut out, then embossed with Iridescent Ice Stampin’ Emboss Powder to make it sparkly (which is why I had to take a picture sideways so you could see the design in the heart without the glare). The card base and layer is Pink Pirouette and there’s even a layer of the Silver Glimmer Paper. I also added some Whisper White 5/8″ Organza Ribbon to cover the edge of the half piece of the Paper Doily. And finally I needed a rather narrow sentiment for the bottom of the card and something that would go with the elegant heart, so I chose the words from Memorable Moments.

A bonus for you if you purchase some of these “Best of..” stamp sets is that you will receive a proof-of-purchase sticker with each set.  When you have collected six stickers, you can send in your Collector’s Card and choose a free stamp set valued at $14.95! A collector’s card is included with each stamp set.

Best of 25 Years February Best of Love

Click on the flyer above to enlarge.

Although this stamp set was introduced in February, you do have over a year to order….although, why wait?! Put it on your next order at my Online Store and start enjoying it and using it! Take advantage of Sale-A-Bration with a $50 order or several $50 increments…for FREE Sale-A-Bration products!

Best of Love…Best of 25 Years February Stamp Set!

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Best of 25 Years February Best of Love
For Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary, they are bringing back some great stamps from the last 25 years, one set per month, during 2013. Each set also includes one brand new image! For February, of course, the theme is "Love"! Purchase the stamp set you see above, "Best of Love" #132987 at my Online Store anytime!

I remember that beautiful heart and certainly the "olive, you!" I can't believe I didn't own that stamp, being the olive-lover I have always been!
You can use these stamps for Valentine's Day, weddings, anniversaries, even just cards for friends and family….and certainly for scrapbook pages and gifts!

While Stampin' Up! is releasing just one Best of stamp set per month, all of the Best of sets will be available until March 31, 2014. (But you don't want to wait THAT long!!)

As a special incentive to collect the Best of stamps, included will be a collector's card and 25-year proof of purchase sticker with every Best of set. Collect six stickers, and send it in to redeem a FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95! Free sets must be redeemed no later than April 30, 2014.

Download your free collector's card HERE.

More Amore Laser-cut Hearts Valentine Card

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More Amore Laser-cut Hearts Valentine Card

Making valentines just takes me back to my school days! The More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper makes it so easy to get started! It comes with two laser-cut sheets with hearts, one in Real Red and one in Primrose Petals…and turn them over and you have white! You have to cut the hearts apart to use them individually, but you can create different designs depending on how you cut.  Notice on my Primrose Petals heart the extra little arch above the big heart. I used the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder (carried over from the Holiday Catalog) for the Whisper White layer on top of the Real Red card base to give it an elegant look.

Other stamps and accessories I used on my valentine were the Hearts a Flutter stamp set, Hearts a Flutter Framelits Dies, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Full Heart Punch, and Real Red 1/4″ Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon.

If you get out some stamps, ink, paper and glue you will find yourself playing like a little school child making valentines!  Be sure to stamp a heart on the envelope and mail the cards to your friends!

Remember, Stampin’ Up! is always open for ordering! Shop Online here!

Don’t forget…spend $50 and get a FREE Sale-A-Bration product!

Superbowl XLVII My Digital Studio Football Scrapbook Page

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Super Bowl 2013-001

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2013

It's here!  The big day for football, Super Bowl XLVII! Whether you're going to a Super Bowl party, having a Super Bowl party, or just have your own football pictures you'd like to scrapbook, here's an easy idea for a football scrapbook page layout and design! This page was made quickly in Stampin' Up!'s digital software program called My Digital Studio! I just chose a template that was already made up, deleted a few words, added my own football terms and footballs, and it's ready to go! If I had my own football players in the family I could put their photos in the photo boxes from my computer.  If I wanted to add photos of friends at a Super Bowl party, it's easy to do that.  If I wanted to make a page the traditional way, I can plan it on My Digital Studio first, then make it with ink, paper, and stamps. If I wanted to print out this page minus the pennants, I could do that, then cut my own pennants from designer paper and adhere them to the page.  Lots of choices with My Digital Studio!

While you're waiting for the game to start, why not download a free 30-day trial version of My Digital Studio?! Play around with it and see how you like it!

Enjoy the game!! (or maybe just the commercials and half-time!)

Dude, You’re Welcome Stamp Kit for Your Man!

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Dude You're Welcome

Be sure to check out this interesting stamp kit for your man! (And probably you would even like using it, too!) It was designed by men for use by men! It includes everything the man in your life will need for stamping a few manly cards all wrapped up in a nice box (which you will probably want to save for yourself!).

Watch the video then put it on your next order at my Online Store!