Author Archives: Karen Fontinelle

Houston’s River Oaks Garden Club Azalea Home and Garden Tour

This is the big weekend for the annual River Oaks Garden Club Azalea Trail in Houston. Unfortunately, the weather is a little iffy but I hope there is more cloudiness than rain for the weekend so everyone can see the beautiful homes and gardens. Sometimes you just tour the garden and sometimes you get to walk through the house to get to the yard and garden in back….that's my favorite part, to see the inside of the private homes! The Garden Club makes beautiful floral arrangements inside all the rooms in the house that you get to see and you often can get decorating ideas or just enjoy the lovely homes.

Our home is not on the Azalea Trail, but we do have blooming azaleas!

St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Treat Bag

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Are you looking for a St. Patrick's Day shamrock treat bag idea? This one was easy to make with the new Stampin' Up! Labels Collection Framelits Dies #125598 and the Small Heart Punch #117193. I used the Framelits Die to cut the Pear Pizzazz label and folded it in half to cover the small cello bag. Then I used the next smaller size Framelit Die to cut the Whisper White card stock and stamped with a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

The shamrock is made with the Hearts Collection Framelits Dies #125599, the smallest heart, cut out of the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper #125406 and then smaller hearts from the Small Heart Punch. The Designer Printed Brad #122940 adds a cute decorative touch!

If you need any of these new fun dies to use with your Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine for future projects, you can order online at my Stampin' Up! Store.

My Digital Studio Calendar

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Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

Here is a page from my My Digital Studio calendar. These are photos from our yard last year. I simply chose a design in the Photo Layout section of My Digital Studio and plunked my photos into the boxes. I chose a background paper and added the stamps (branches) to the page, plus some text. I love how this page turned out! My Digital Studio can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be. If I wanted, I could play around with more embellishments or borders or colors or anything and make the page even "jazzier"….and then if I didn't like it, I could just delete those items. The ease of changing any element in this program is its greatest strength, I think.

If you want to try it out, take the free 30-day trial of My Digital Studio Express! Make all the projects you want during that time and see if you don't end up loving My Digital Studio! It's not only about scrapbooking!

By the way, the River Oaks Azalea Trail Home & Garden Tour is this weekend in Houston, March 9 – 12.. This has been a tradition every year with us and we always enjoy it. My favorite part is getting to go inside some of the beautiful homes! Sometimes you just see the gardens. The weather forecast, though, is for a rainy weekend…so sad! But if that turns out to be wrong, be sure to head over and see the stops on the Azalea Trail!

Sweet Shop Stationery

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Make your own designer Sweet Shop Stationery! It's fun and it's easy and the end result is darling!! Just take some plain white paper from a tablet or cut some printer paper in half and then decorate with these adorable Sweet Shop Designer Stickers #125584 from the Sweet Shop Product Suite in the Occasions Mini Catalog. You can also use the Sweet Shop Specialty Designer Series Paper #125408 to cut a strip and adhere as a border on your plain paper. On another sheet I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch #118402 for the bottom border and then pasted a strip of Sweet Shop Stickers over it.

But don't just let this paper lay in your drawer! Make someone's day and write them a letter….yes, in your own handwriting…and let them get something delightful in their mailbox! Can you imagine someone opening an envelope and unfolding this cute paper with a LETTER from YOU?!

Add these Sweet Shop Designer Stickers and Sweet Shop Specialty Designer Series Paper to your next order and then just play, play, play! There are so many creative things you can do with these products!

Shop Stampin' Up! Online 24/7!

How to Make an Easy Bow

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If you aren't good at tying bows, here is how to make an easy bow. Back when I first started stamping and joined Stampin' Up!, these were the kind of easy bows everyone made. I guess they were actually "fake" bows. I don't remember what they were really called, if anything….maybe a "faux bow". I know my friend used these on all her daughter's wedding programs!

We used to use the Hand-held Rectangle Punch, but today I used the larger hole on my Crop-a-Dile.

Next I put my ribbon through the two holes from the front.

In the back, criss cross the ribbons and from the back, stick the ribbon back through the holes (the opposite of which side they went in). You'll have to pull the ribbon over a bit to find the space to put the ribbon through.

When they come out on the front of the tag, just play with it to get it to look right and trim the ends of the ribbon. Voila! You have a decent-looking bow!

You can use this easy bow-making method on cards, scrapbook pages, tags, bags, any projects! Try it!

Stampin’ Up! Twitterpated Designer Buttons

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Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

I love these Twitterpated Designer Buttons in the Occasions Mini Catalog! You get two different colors and two different designs…..but I wonder if you realize how small and cute they are! Here is a card on display at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference back in January, of course made even cuter by the whole container of buttons all scattered around it!

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

Here is another example of cute ways to use these little buttons! The card on the left actually has stitching on it and real thread through the buttons, but if you weren't so inclined (I wouldn't be!) to get out your sewing machine, you would draw diagonal lines with your white Gel Pen or even score diagonally now that we have the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate. Then just stick adhere the little buttons with Glue Dots.

And if you wanted to, you could even jazz up these buttons further by adding some bling on top!

Little embellishments like these often add a lot to your project! Be sure to add these Twitterpated Buttons #125579 or something similar to your next order!

Shop Stampin' Up! Online any time here at my Online Store.

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!

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Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) was born on this day in 1904 and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you about the children's books he wrote. Either you read them as a child or you read them TO your children..or both! As I remember, one of our kids' favorites was Fox in Socks.

In honor of Dr. Seuss, here is a stamping poem I made up myself!

Stamps.

Ink.

Paper.

Blocks.

Paper and such.

You can't have too much.

Paper and ink and blocks and stamps.

Ink on stamps and stamps on blocks.

Stampers with stamps come.

Stampers with ink come.

Stampers with stamps and ink and blocks come.

Look, ma'am. Look ma'am. Sally Stamper ma'am.

Let's make cards with inks and stamps ma'am.

Let's make cards with stamps and blocks ma'am.

First, I'll make a quick trick card fold.

Then I'll make a card punch look old.

You can make a quick trick scrapbook.

You can bling out a fancy note book.

And here's a new trick, Sally Stamper….You can make a paper sampler.

Sprinkle on glitter on cards and pages.

Put ribbon and bows on boxes in stages.

Stamps and ink and paper and blocks.

So much fun, you can even stamp socks!

Stamps on blocks and ink on stamps.

Everyone can stamp and look like champs.

Here's a fun website about Dr. Seuss! http://www.seussville.com/

Stampin’ Up! Simply Scored Diagonal Plate for Simply Scored Scoring Tool

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The new Stampin' Up! Simply Scored Diagonal Plate #125586 is available TODAY to use with your Simply Scored Scoring Tool #122334. Put it on your order with some other items to reach $50 or more and earn a free Sale-a-Bration product as well!

You'll love this new diagonal plate for scoring to use with your Simply Scored! Just place it in the base and use it to make envelopes, boxes, and any number of projects.

Click to watch the video below by Donna Griffith who works in the Stampin' Up! Home Office. She'll tell you the features of the Diagonal Plate and give your instructions on how to make envelopes or add texture to your cards!

Item	Description	Price
125586	Simply Scored Diagonal Plate	$11.95

Product Features

Sits on top of the Simply Scored base
Held securely in place by rubber pads on back of the plate
Has etched grooves every 1/8"
Can score any size card stock up to 12" x 12"
Includes instructions for creating common envelope size

Be sure you put this on your next order HERE.

Coordinating products you might be interested in:

Simply Scored (item 122334)
Simply Scored Place Markers (item 125625)
Simply Scored Stylus (item 125624)
Bone Folder (item 102300)

Happy Leap Day Birthday!

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Every Leap Year it's an amazing thing to know of people who were born on February 29 and therefore only have a Leap Birthday every four years! I saw a lady on TV who said she was 11 years old, when on any other day she would be 44! So for those people with a birthday on Leap Day, February 29, this birthday cake is for you!

I started with one of those little LED candles, that just has a switch on the bottom to turn on the candle. I got the idea to make a tiered cake by using one of my many empty containers that once held Stampin' Up! brads or buttons or whatever little accessories.

You can cover these with paper and then decorate to the hilt with punched paper flowers and leaves and lots of BLING! Our Stampin' Up! Jewels make it so much fun to add Basic Pearls #119247 and Basic Rhinestones #119246!

To complete the look, place the papercrafted birthday cake on the new Stampin' Up! Paper Doily, cut with the Paper Doily Sizzlits Die.

Even if this isn't your Leap Birthday, it IS your Leap Day, an extra day in the year, so enjoy yourself and do something fun…..like I just did making this cute cake!

Sale-a-Bration Everyday Enchantment Celebrate Card

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Are you looking for some beautiful designer series paper for your projects? A lot of us think the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper in the Sale-a-Bration brochure is some of the prettiest paper Stampin' Up! has ever carried. Here is a small piece on this card I had for a project at my stamp camp yesterday. Along with the greeting from Perfectly Penned, it makes a great all-occasion card.

And how cute and easy is the little stamped butterfly?! Just stamp the flower from Mixed Bunch and cut out two petals on opposite sides. I also have a Poppy Parade card stock butterfly right underneath, not quite visible in this photo. Just add a brad in the center, or a row of pearls or rhinestones would do as well. The other colors of card stock you see are Pool Party, Soft Suede, and Very Vanilla.

If you are in the Houston area and would like to stamp with us, please email me at Karen@Karenstamps.com or sign up for my Mailing List in the upper left corner of my blog and get notifications of when we are having a stamp camp!

Want to Get My Next Stamping Newsletter?

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Don't miss my March "Stamping With Karen" newsletter coming out soon! It will be filled with stamping news, projects and tips! To sign up for my mailing list, just find my Mailing List Sign up Box in the upper left of my blog. Whether you want to learn new things about stamping and papercrafting or just enjoy seeing new ideas, you'll want to be a part of this! It's all fun and it's all doable!

Stampin’ Up! Build-A-Bear Cards at Leadership

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Let's not forget about the fun Build-A-Bear products Stampin' Up! offers! My kids aren't little any more, although when the Build-A-Bear store opened in Houston at the Galleria they were just young enough I guess that we were able to experience the Build-A-Bear fun with each of them making a bear.

At Stampin' Up! Leadership last month there was a nice display of Build-A-Bears in various costumes on cards….really great creativity! I'm sure you will enjoy seeing these photos!

Check out the great Build-A-Bear Workshop Suite of products in my Stampin' Up! Online Store HERE. I know you can have lots of fun with Build-A-Bear, whether you have little children or not!

Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper for Scrapbook Pages

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As I was playing with the Attic Boutique Side Notes and pulled out the Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper, this page on the right with the old-fashioned fountain pens really struck me. I know my mother used to write with pens like that. Actually, when I was in school, 5th grade second semester was when we were allowed to write in ink….and it was with a fountain pen like one of these….well, not quite as fancy!

Since I am such a fan of handwriting (I used to love to watch my mother write….she had such perfect handwriting….so did my 3rd grade teacher!) I thought wouldn't this page be perfect to dig out some of my mother's and maybe grandmothers' old letters and put some samples of their handwriting on this paper as a scrapbook page. It can be paired with another sheet in the Attic Boutique collection as I have shown here for a two-page layout.

A lot of the Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper is already "scrapbook layout-ready"……it's already so beautifully designed, all you have to do is add your photos or memorabilia and journaling.

I think a person's handwriting (good or bad) is so important and just brings the person to life when you see it. That's why I advocate having at least some handwritten journaling or samples on your scrapbook pages rather than strictly computer-generated journaling.

If you want to order products from this Attic Boutique Product Suite in the Occasions Mini Catalog, just go to my Online Store or email me at Karen@Karenstamps.com. Remember, with a $50 order you earn a free Sale-a-Bration product!

Stampin’ Up! Attic Boutique Side Notes Birthday Card

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You may have missed the Stampin' Up! Attic Boutique Side Notes #125413 in the Occasions Mini Catalog on page 24. It is a collection of die cut tags and accents that you can use any number of ways….on cards, scrapbook pages, gifts! I hadn't played with mine yet but here they are all spread out on the table. Next I got out my Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper #125407 and came up with this birthday card:

You can see that I stamped the birthday greeting on the Attic Boutique Side Note die cut with my stamp set Sincere Salutations and added a few little pearls. Very easy, and with the Stampin' Up! coordinating products it turns out beautiful every time!

To order any Stampin' Up! products, please visit my Online Store HERE.

Stampin’ Up! Hispanic Opportunity Call

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Stampin' Up! has a growing Hispanic market. Here are couple of cards on display at Stampin' Up! Leadership using stamps from the Hispanic catalog Celebrando Creatividad.

If you would be interested in being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in the Hispanic market and would like more information, please join the Opportunity call every Wednesday. Here is the information:

The calls are held every Wednesday in both English and Spanish:

11:00 AM (MT) for English
4:00 PM (MT) for Spanish

To participate, simply call 877-787-7226 (toll free) at the appropriate time.

Someone from the Home Office will speak about Stampin' Up!, the products, and the opportunity to be a demonstrator. There will be a question & answer session and a special incentive.

There is no obligation so even if you are just a little bit interested, take advantage of this call to get more information and see what you think!

Call today!!!