Category Archives: Cards

Easy Red, Black and White Valentine Card

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Easy Red, Black and White Valentine Card

Since I’ve been talking about using up scraps recently, I had to show you this card I made in minutes from a few extra pieces I found on my table. They turned into my easy red, white and black Valentine card! Some other day when I was cutting out hearts with the Hearts Collection Framelit Dies I just saved these scraps. This card began when I just paged through the Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack and chose this paper with the x’s and o’s. I was debating exactly what to put on the front when I remembered these spare hearts and things over at the corner of the table. When I found them it was easy just placing them on the card and feeling satisfied with my creation. Then I just added a little bow with the Real Red 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon. The greeting is stamped with the You Plus Me Stamp Set. I suggest the Bundle of Stacked with Love Paper Stack and the stamp set and save 15%!

Don’t forget the new stamp set, Better Than E-mail Photopolymer Stamp Set! If you are making and selling cards, even if you are not a Demonstrator, you must add the Stampin’ Up! copyright stamp to your cards or any Stampin’ Up! images you are selling per the Angel Policy. Even if you are just making cards, I think these are great to stamp on the back just like the big card companies! Then sign or initial your card and put the date if you like.

Better Than Email Stamp Set

These can be ordered in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!  And with a $50 purchase you can choose a FREE product during Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration!

Make a Card From Scraps

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Make a Card Out of ScrapsOver the weekend, I found a plastic bag full of paper scraps, and I made this Valentine card mostly out of those scraps! My “system” is to shove scrap pieces into the card stock package, but these must have been some that were just loose for a long time and finally got collected into one bag when I HAD to clean up. Some of the colors were even retired! These Mixed Bunch stamps were already stamped on some scraps so I punched those out with the Blossom Punch. For the flower centers, I copied an idea I saw on Pinterest, making centers from little hearts! I used the heart punch in the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and the 7/8″ Circle Scallop Punch.  The Honeycomb Embossing Folder was also in the bag of scraps so I used that as my background layer on a card base of Tempting Turquoise since the weather has warmed up and the sun has come out.  I thought we needed a bright card! The designer paper on the card is from the Stacked with Love Paper Stack in the Occasions Catalog. The greeting is stamped with the You Plus Me Stamp Set. There is also a bundle if you like that paper and stamp set, the You Plus Me Bundle.

Find some scraps that you have and make an effort to use them in a card or other project today!

Weekly Deals

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for January 20 -26, 2015!  If you need markers or baker’s twine you are in luck this week!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Jan 20 2015

 

Find all these good products in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE! 

Make a Pretty Love Card

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Pretty Love Card

Make a pretty love card or Valentine or whatever nice occasion card you want to call it with a simple heart and embellishment on some pretty background paper.  This paper, layered on Coastal Cabana on a Sahara Sand card base, is one that you can earn FREE during Sale-A-Bration going on now through the end of March.  The paper is called Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper #138633 and you can find it on page 4 of the Sale-A-Bration Brochure HERE. With just a $50 purchase of any current Stampin’ Up! merchandise you can choose any of the free items in the brochure. No limits! You can choose from ribbon and buttons to paper to stamp sets to Project Life by Stampin’ Up! to EVEN Blendabilties Markers on page 20!

As I was cutting and working with this pattern from the Best Year Ever DSP I really noticed how pretty it was! Such soft pretty colors designed into tulip or flower shapes! I didn’t want to detract too much from the paper so I kept the hearts simple and stamped a small size greeting from the Something To Say Stamp Set in the Annual Catalog, page 104.

Of course I had to add some kind of embellishment, so I decided to get out the Artisan Embellishment Kit in the Occasions Catalog. I decided to use one of the doilies in the kit and one of the soft flowers. The ribbons and other embellishments in the kit are really pretty. Just a special touch to add to any card or project!

Artisan Kit

The back of every package of designer series paper has a listing of the colors that coordinate with that paper.  You can use that list as inspiration to help you design your project by choosing coordinating colors. I used to write the names of the colors on the back of the package after someone else figured it out! Now it is nice that Stampin’ Up! just adds the list to the package!

To shop and earn your free Sale-A-Bration gift, just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!  Be sure to check all the categories in the left sidebar of the store, such as the Clearance Rack and the Weekly Deals, so you don’t miss a thing!

Email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com  if you want any of the Stampin’ Up! Catalogs!

 

Show People You Stamped It!

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Better Than Email Stamp Set

Stampin’ Up!’s newest photopolymer stamp offering is this set, Better Than Email, which you might think is only for Demonstrators, but it is not. The main purpose of the stamp set is to provide new images for ANYONE selling items with a Stampin’ Up! copyrighted image on them. Each item must be stamped with the Stampin’ Up! copyright.  This is known as the Angel Policy. From Stampin’ Up! “Stampin’ Up!’s images are copyrighted, which means that they cannot be copied without permission. To help protect that copyright, all items for sale using our images must be marked with an official Stampin’ Up! Limited License stamp set.”  If you need more information about this policy, please let me know.

Even if you are not SELLING items you have stamped, wouldn’t any of these stamps be fun to stamp on the back of your card (like the BIG cardmaker?) or your project to let people know YOU made it yourself?! I’m still mostly using my original stamps for the Angel Policy or just for my own personal use (when I remember) to stamp on the back of cards and maybe put my initials or name and date. But this stamp set has great creative images so I think it will be very fun to use! If you want these just for personal use and really don’t want or need the brand name and copyright on it, you can cut those words off. (If you can stand to alter a stamp!) Or use a marker and only ink up the portions you want. I think stamping something like these images on the back of your cards really adds a professional and personal touch!

This stamp set is a direct result of feedback from demonstrators and customers wanting more images for the copyright and Stampin’ Up! listening and challenging department members to come up with fun and versatile ideas that would appeal to demonstrators and customers. I know it is going on my next order!

Here are some ways to use these stamps!

Better Than Email Samples

You can purchase this stamp set Better Than Email #140463 at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store! You’ll find it under “New Arrivals”.

Make a Chalkboard Paper Birthday Card

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Chalkboard Birthday Card

I’ve said before one of my favorite things in the world, perhaps becoming obsolete, is a chalkboard, and this Chalkboard Paper Birthday Card gives me a chance to sort of play with a chalkboard again. Two new products in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog are the Chalkboard Paper and the ColorBox Chalk Ink Pads. The color of Chalk Ink I used is Rose Coral. I cut the Chalkboard Paper 2″ wide so that I could use the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch and the stamps fit just fine. Using the clear-mount stamps means you can place two stamps you want to use on one larger block and stamp them both at the same time. This stamp set, Big Day, is available as a FREE product earned during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 purchase of Stampin’ Up! merchandise! The background paper, layered on Coastal Cabana card stock as the card base, is also available FREE during Sale-A-Bration. It is called Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper #138633. For a little added glitz and to complement the “bokeh” design of the background paper, I punched various sizes of circles from the Silver Glimmer Paper and put a little bow on top of the tag with the new Painted Blooms Cotton Twine (3-pack) in the Occasions Catalog.

It is recommended that you purchase the refill for the Chalk Ink right away because your pad needs to be juicy for it to stamp well.

If you need any stamping supplies, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Store. And be sure to check the new deals below!

Here are the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for January 13 – 19, 2015.  As usual, some good things I would recommend and would buy myself (if I didn’t already own them!). Small as they are, I use the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack a lot. One thing I don’t own is the Angled Tag Topper Punch, which I might have to consider now that it is on sale. I know the ribbon is beautiful.Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Jan 13 2015

 

 

You Plus Me Confetti Hearts Valentine Card

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You Plus Me Confetti Hearts Valentine Card

As I paged through the Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack this black and white pattern caught my eye, and that was the start of this card.  And just because I wanted to use the Stacked with Love Designer Washi Tape I put a strip of it across the bottom of the card and I think it looks okay! The sentiment is from the You Plus Me Stamp Set in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog. It is punched out with the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, layered on Gold Foil die cut from the Starburst Framelits Die and then layered again on the 2″ Circle Punch.

I suppose I was influenced by the star confetti in the shaker cards I was making with my December Paper Pumpkin Kit, so I punched a few hearts from Real Red and Gold Foil with the heart punch in the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.  I dosubt you can have too many hearts on a Valentine!

If you need any Valentine supplies, remember with every $50 purchase you get to choose a FREE item from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure!

Shop for everything right HERE at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Paper Pumpkin Dec 2014 Kit Birthday Shaker Card

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Paper Pumpkin Kit Confetti Birthday Card

It may be cold, dark and rainy outside today, but inside it’s fun and happy making the cards in the December Paper Pumpkin Kit! The colors are cheery and the cards just brighten up the afternoon! All this star confetti plus turquoise-colored sequins make a shaker card using a window sheet adhered in a frame using long dimensionals provided in the kit so the confetti has room to move around inside. You get to make 3 Thank You cards, 3 Happy Birthday cards , and 3 Hello cards! What a helpful and happy kit to have to start off the New Year!  All supplies are included, even the toothpick!! In other kits you may need to provide your own adhesive.

Paper Pumpkin is the papercrafting kit from Stampin’ Up! that shows up in your mailbox once a month with a surprise project inside. While it is past time to receive this particular kit, there is a new one every month and all you have to do is sign up.  Once you are a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, you do have access to any past kits that you missed based on availability. Sometimes there are extra entire kits and sometimes just the supplies but no stamps.

Here is my finished Happy Birthday card with the confetti and sequins inside the shaker window!Paper Pumpkin Dec 2014 Kit Birthday Shaker Card

Right now during Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration you can purchase a prepaid 3-month Paper Pumpkin subscription and save $5 . Not only is that a little bit of a special deal, but since that subscription on your Stampin’ Up! order will cost $54.85, that will qualify you to earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration item from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure!  You can order other Stampin’ Up! products along with it, or give an extra Paper Pumpkin subscription to a deserving recipient for a gift, and for every $50 in merchandise you spend, you will receive a free Sale-A-Bration product!

Browse through the Sale-A-Bration Brochure right now, find the items marked FREE, and choose what you would like to receive as a bonus for every $50 purchase!

Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like copies of the Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog, Annual Catalog, or Sale-A-Bration Brochure! Email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com.

Cheerful Critters Happy Day Card

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Cheerful Critters Happy Day Card

The Cheerful Critters Stamp Set is a cute set in the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog! The critters are cute and there are choices of what to stamp on their signs – or I suppose you could write in your own saying! This critter I stamped with Memento Ink so I could color him in with the Blendabilities Markers. There’s not a lot of room for blending shades and all that but I just like coloring with those markers!  Did you know there are new colors of Blendabilities in the Occasions Catalog as well as the chance to get a set free in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure?!

Since it was an ice cold day yesterday and today for so many people I wanted to make a happy card, so I added some little hearts from the You Plus Me Stamp Set, also in the Occasions Catalog. For a little something at the bottom I just chose a small strip of the new Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper and added a bit of Gold Baker’s Twine.  The card is 4″ x 4″ so it is a little different size but still fits in the standard Whisper White Envelopes.

The Cheerful Critters is a stamp set that you might initially overlook when looking at all the gorgeous things in the new catalog, but it’s cute and a little bit different and I think we’ll have lots of fun playing with!

Shop for all these fun Stampin’ Up! products at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store.

Don’t forget the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals! They are especially good ones this week, I think!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Jan 6 2015

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New Catalogs! New Products! Free Stuff! at Stampin Up!

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You Plus Me Card

The stamp set, You Plus Me, to make this card is now available in the new Stampin’ Up! 2015 Occasions Catalog, which is live today! Yes, you can view it and order from it until June 2, 2015.  If my card above looks a little like the one from yesterday, it is very similar!  The same designer paper I used on yesterday’s card from the Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack is just turned over to the other side, the black and white chevron pattern. To jazz it up a little I added some Silver Glimmer Paper to each side. The background on the Whisper White layer is stamped in Real Red Ink with a stamp in the set. I thought that was very cute! The hearts are die cut with the Hearts Collection Framelits Dies even the little ones.

Click on the Occasions Catalog photo below to view.

Stampin' Up! Occasions 2015 Catalog

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And the biggest Stampin’ Up! promotion of the year begins today as well!  Sale-A-Bration! 

During Sale-A-Bration, purchase $50 in Stampin’ Up! products (before shipping and tax) and choose a free Sale-A-Bration product from the Sale-A-Bration Catalog!

Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration 2015 Catalog

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As if all that wasn’t enough, here are the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals! Really, really great items discounted this week!

Weekly Deal Jan 6 2015

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For all your shopping needs, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store today!

You Plus Me Heart Card

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You Plus Me Heart Card

This is a sneak peek of the new stamp set You Plus Me, available tomorrow in the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog, plus the new Stacked with Love Designer Series Paper Stack. You can actually purchase the stamp set and paper stack in a Bundle and save 15%! It all starts tomorrow, January 6, 2015! And Sale-A-Bration also begins, so with every $50 purchase, you get to choose a free Sale-A-Bration item. Catalogs will be available online tomorrow! If you need hard copies, please just ask. I have some extras at the moment. On this card I also used the Big Shot and the Hearts Collection Framelits Die.

That’s why I am off to a slow start stamping today!  I haven’t taken down my Christmas tree or put away all the Christmas decorations yet. In order to put up the tree we have to move a desk that is normally by my kitchen table and heaped with my current stamping stuff! So that’s in the other room and so are a lot of my stamping products. Since we actually ate Christmas dinner at the formal dining room table, I had to move my Big Shot and mess off of that. I did find my Big Shot under a chair today and the container with my dies and framelits and embossing folders underneath something else! So now, at least, I am back in business with my Big Shot and accessories!

If you wonder why I used a black heart, it’s because I was influenced by the opposite side of the heart paper, which is a black and white chevron design. Maybe I will make a similar card with the other side of the paper! I had also intended to use some of the coordinating Stacked with Love Designer Washi Tape but I forgot! Next time!

It’s so fun to have new stamping products to play with, especially after everything being about Christmas and the holidays! If you place your spring time order tomorrow, in just a few days YOU will have your new products as well!

But before you think about tomorrow, go through the Holiday Catalog another time and also check the Year-End Closeouts in the Stampin’ Up! Store and see if there is anything you want as these will end tomorrow. Go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store now and check through the categories on the left sidebar to make sure you don’t miss a thing! Remember, even if you looked at the Closeouts early on, they added more items at some point and reduced some prices even more! Really, you should check it, just in case!

Year-End Closeouts Banner

New Year’s Eve Party Hats Card

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New Year's Eve Party Hats Card

It’s New Year’s Eve, December 31!  Can you believe it??  What happened to Christmas?  For that matter, what happened to April or October?!  Time flies when you are having fun I guess!  Are you celebrating tonight?  Having a party at your house or going out?  My mother always wished she could be at Times Square on New Years Eve, so I always think of her when I see that crowd. I wish I could be there too, just without the hassle! I’m sure it is the experience of a lifetime! But instead we will be taking kids to the airport earlier in the evening (sad!) and then watching whatever New Year’s Eve shows are on TV and having a little toast and snacks at midnight.

One of my fondest New Year’s Eve memories was when I was about 16 and my mother started calling up people and inviting them over to her parents’ house. It turned out no one had plans and everyone came over for a very impromptu party! My grandma always had plenty of food in the house, I suppose we took some things over, and we always loved being at her house! There were kids and my parents’ friends and probably my grandparents neighbors. Just spur of the moment and a really good time. I think we always assume “everybody else” is out having a fantastic time at a big party but it probably isn’t always true.

So for my New Year’s Eve card, I thought of two party top hats made with Basic Black squares and a strip for the hat brim on top of a layer of Whisper White criss-crossed with Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape.  I used strips of Gold Sequin Trim on the hat bands because what says New Year’s Eve more than sequins! The greeting is from Good Greetings (no longer available). Of course I added as much bling as possible with the Frosted Sequins (and a few snowflake sequins just in case it is cold and snowy where you are!) and the In Color Sequin Assortment.

I hope you will have a fun New Year’s Eve whether you are out and about or enjoying a quiet evening at home!  If you are staying in, maybe tonight will be a good time to scrap some of those holiday photos, especially with Project Life! Or at least get things prepared to start when Sale-A-Bration arrives January 6th!

Bright & Beautiful Christmas Card for Christmas Eve

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Bright & Beautiful Christmas Card

 

Isn’t this Christmas card perfect for Christmas Eve with the Bright & Beautiful Stamp Set stars and the beautiful Glimmer Paper to add sparkle?! The coordinating Stars Framelits Dies are great to use rather than cutting out the star shapes yourself. She also has washi tape going across the card diagonally.

This card was made by my friend from years and years ago when I was dating my husband and when we were first married and lived in Oklahoma. We haven’t seen each other in over thirty years, yet we have always kept in touch with Christmas cards every year. A few years ago she mentioned she was interested in stamping so we re-connected with Stampin’ Up! on a “stamping level”. Even though we had kept in touch all those years, it’s been even more fun to do so with our common interest in stamping and cardmaking through phone calls, emails, and cards! Never underestimate the power of stamping which goes beyond paper, ink and stamps!

If you want to do some shopping for YOURSELF today or in the days after Christmas, remember that Stampin’ Up! added more items, even from the Holiday Catalog, to the Year-End Closeout Clearance Rack.

Do you open Christmas presents tonight or on Christmas Day? Growing up my family and grandparents always opened presents on Christmas Eve – basically the presents that were at our house we opened Christmas Eve. Christmas morning Santa had come and left presents, unwrapped, and a stocking (too bad my parents were so “poor” that they could only give us one little package to open on Christmas Eve!  Ha! Ha!). In the afternoon we would go to my grandparents’ house and open the presents at their house (from them). So we spread it out and I still like it best that way but nowadays we just open presents on Christmas Day, with a pretty late start!

I hope all of your family members who are traveling today have a safe journey as you look forward to their visit, or that you have a safe trip as you travel.

However you are celebrating Christmas, I hope you have a very merry one!!  And I hope that Santa is very good to you!

Lovely As a Tree Classic Christmas Card

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Lovely As a Tree Classic Christmas Card

Here is a Stampin’ Up! Christmas card we received from my husband’s cousin! She used the stamp set Lovely As a Tree, a classic stamp set that I can’t imagine ever doing without! Notice how she stamped the center tree fully inked and then stamped each tree on the sides without reinking. For some pretty sparkle, she added a little glitter and a Silver Glimmer Star. She also added a little strip of Nordic Noel Designer Series Paper.

The Lovely As a Tree Stamp Set can be used for Christmas, for masculine cards, for many occasions. It’s just one of those stamp sets that your collection should not be without! It is timeless!

If you are interested in any of the Weekly Deals, remember tonight will be the deadline for ordering. New ones tomorrow! Don’t forget the Year-End Closeouts in the Clearance Rack. You can order the Christmas products on there and save them for next year!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Dec 16 2014