I finally got some swap cards made for Stampin’ Up! Leadership today!  I did lots of embossing with my Stampin’ Up! Heat Tool and Gold Embossing Powder! This is the Flowerfull Heart, one of the Valentine sets in the Online Store and the greeting is from the cute set Yippee-Skippee.

You can’t see too well in the photo but the card base is Baked Brown Sugar card stock. And for the finishing touch, I used the new Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape in the corner.  Washi tape is so easy and fun to use.  Just tear it off the roll or cut it.  It’s even repositionable.

I’ll let you know what fun I have at the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference today! It’s always exciting to wonder what new products or announcements they will have for us. It’s always a good time when you are at a Stampin’ Up! event!  Think about signing up to be a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and be part of all the fun while running your own business!

Here’s a Sale-A-Bration sneak peek preview for you!  Sale-A-Bration is the biggest promotion of Stampin’ Up! With every $50 you spend, you earn a free product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure!  The designer series paper you see on this card, Sweet Sorbet #133521, is one of your choices.  Although it is valued at $10.95, you would get it FREE with a $50 purchase. The flower stamp is also one of your choices, the Petal Parade stamp set.  I stamped it, cut it out, and popped it up with a couple Stampin’ Dimensionals. The greeting on the card is from a great set, Yippee-Skippee. The washi tape across the paper is from the Occasions Catalog, Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi Tape. I actually got the “coordinating colors” mixed up as the paper matches Crisp Canteloupe and the tape and ink are Tangerine Tango.  But it all still looks good together! And I love the saying on that stamp!!

You won’t be able to get your free products until Sale-A-Bration starts January 28, but there are lots of great products available in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store! When you order, be sure to check the categories listed in the left sidebar of the store page – Weekly Deal, Clearance Rack, Valentine product, etc. You don’t want to miss a thing!

I found myself drawn to this stamp image again from So Very Grateful in the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog. This time I stamped it and colored it in and cut it out with my Paper Snips. (Paper Snips are great for this kind of intricate “fussy cutting”! If you don’t own some, put them on your next order.) I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it and played around with a partially gold embossed paper doily. But what I decided to do was layer a piece of the Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum on Whisper White, adhered my cut-out flowers on top and tied some new Gold Baker’s Twine around the layer. I didn’t see a good spot for a greeting, just couldn’t figure out that part, so I just left the card plain. Nothing says you have to have a greeting on every card you make! I can always add one later or just use it as a notecard with no specific sentiment.  I LOVE the vellum with the tiny gold hearts – and all the rest of the sheets in the package!

You can find the products in the new Occasions Catalog (By the way, it’s not called the “Occasions Catalog” but it is referred to as that. It’s actually titled “Celebrate The Everyday”). You can shop at your convenience at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE or contact me and I can put your order in for you.  If you are shopping today, don’t forget about the current Weekly Deals, only good until midnight tonight MT.

This thank you card made with the new So Very Grateful stamp set in the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog 2014 might bring a hope of spring to those of you snowed in in many parts of the country today! Personally, I am a little jealous that I am not in a winter wonderland with lots of snow – as long as I could be home with my family and baking cookies, stamping, or going out to play in the snow! The cold air is even supposed to reach way down here in Houston but just for a night or two and then it will get up to a balmy 72 degrees later in the week (they say!).

This is also a sneak peek at some designer paper you will be able to get FREE during Sale-A-Bration beginning January 28. It is called Sweet Sorbet #133521 and will be beautiful on your springtime projects! You can see the strip of it on the side of my card layer with a strip of Pool Party punched with the Scallop Edge Border Punch. The card base is one of the 2013-2015 In Colors, Crisp Cantaloupe. I haven’t used that color very much but I think it will be pretty for spring and summer coming up!

I stamped the flowers in Stazon Black ink so I could watercolor with my Blender Pen and ink pads.  I used the colors Pool Party, Crisp Canteloupe, Pistachio Pudding, and Summer Starfruit. All these colors coordinated with the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper.

In case you are new to Stampin’ Up!, Sale-A-Bration is the company’s biggest promotion. For every $50 in merchandise that you purchase, you earn one FREE product from the special Sale-A-Bration brochure. This promotion runs from January 28 – March 31.  You will want to take advantage of it! If you are new and don’t have a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator you are already working with, email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com if you would like the Sale-A-Bration brochure or the new Occasions Catalog just out!

If you are snowed in this weekend, get out your flower stamps and light-colored card stock and stamp and think of spring! This So Very Grateful stamp set, available in clear- or wood-mount is going to be able to used in many ways and comes with three nice greetings! Check out the new Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog in my Online Store right now.

Happy New Year 2014!!!

It’s happened! It’s January 1, 2014! I hope you had a happy New Year’s Eve and now are full of optimism and happiness for the New Year!  It’s nice to have a fresh new start whether you are making grand resolutions, reordering your life, shredding your past year’s bills and paperwork, or cleaning out your closets! Maybe you are organizing your stamping supplies! Maybe you are scrapbooking those Christmas photos or making a new calendar for yourself.

Here’s a card I made for the gold and shiny New Year! It’s a piece of new Fancy Foil Designer Vellum #133363 coming in the new Occasions Catalog in two more days! I used one piece with little gold hearts as the layer over Whisper White card stock for the card base and cut some strips of the striped vellum for little banners. The greeting is from the stamp set Happy Day, backed with a piece of Gold Foil.

Start your New Year off right!  Stamp something, scrap something, make something!  It does your heart good!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Supplies:

Fancy Foil Designer Vellum #133363 (coming in the Occasions Catalog January 3, 2014)

• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Happy Day Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder
• Versamark Pad
• Heat Tool
• Gold Foil Sheets
• Mini Glue Dots
• 2-Way Glue Pen
• Bone Folder

My little turkey favor looks a little spaced out, I think!  Maybe I need to do his eyes better! This is a fun favor to make for your Thanksgiving table with the Circle Treat Cups. It’s actually  a little card 3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ that can stand open on the table at each person’s plate. Use a 1 3/4″ Circle Punch to punch a hole for the Circle Treat Cup. I used Mini Glue Dots to attach the front edge of the treat cup to the inside of the card. Rather than just cover up the back of the treat up after the candy was inside, I cut a slightly smaller piece of card stock to fit on the back and punched a hole in that to line up with the treat cup. I only put a thin line of glue on three sides of that card stock so one side would be open. Next I cut another smaller piece of card stock to slide inside to cover the hole.  You can see the little tab I cut out so the person can pull that piece out and retrieve the candy easily ( I meant to put it on the opposite side, but it’s fine!).

Once you have that basic treat cup construction finished, you can work on your turkey on the front! Just use a circle punch for the head and oval punches for the tail feathers.  I used the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper but you could also just use card stock, perhaps embossed or stamped. Instead of putting the Thanksgiving greeting at the bottom, you could write the person’s name there and use it for a place card. I might even add a little turkey hand holding a sign on which I can write the person’s name on black card stock with my Chalk Marker!

I seemed to get a lot of blue M&M’s in my Treat Cup! You can pick out the fall colors and put those in there or even some nuts or something that goes with Thanksgiving! I think a little party favor for everyone is always a nice touch at the table!

Don’t forget the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Sale going on right now! Just go to my Online Store or you are always welcome to contact me with your order!

SUPPLIES USED

• Circle Treat Cups
• Large Oval Punch
• Owl Punch
• Punch Pack
• Small Heart Punch
• Word Window Punch
• Modern Label Punch
• Crushed Curry 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock
• Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Chocolate Chip 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• 1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch
• Mini Glue Dots
• Tombow Multi-Purpose Adhesive
• Teeny Tiny Wishes Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock

Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2013

Almost forgot!  There is a new photopolymer stamp set from Stampin’ Up! this month! You’ll find it under “New Arrivals” in my Online Store.  It’s called Eye-Catching Ikat Photopolymer Stamp Set. When I first saw this set, I wasn’t too interested, to be honest. Not my type of design.  But now that I have a done a little research, since I wasn’t familiar with “ikat” it is a lot more appealing! First of all, “ikat” is pronounced “ee-kot”, not i-kat. Ikat is a fabric where the yarns have been bound in places (much like tie-dye) to resist the dye and then woven together. That’s how they get the interesting patterns. This ikat trend is popular in fashion and in home decorating right now so you’ll be right in style with your papercrafting and stamping as well!

The photopolymer stamps are the clear ones that you can see through that you use with the clear blocks. They are super sticky so stay on the blocks well. Just another option for those who are interested.

If you would like to try out this trendy ikat design, you can purchase these stamps in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store.