Category Archives: Christmas

Make Your Own Christmas Gift Cards

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Snow Festival Designer Series Paper Squares

Did you know that the Snow Festival Designer Series Paper #126908 in the Holiday Catalog has a sheet that looks like this in the package? I think the first thing everyone thought when they saw it was "gift tags"!  Just cut the whole page apart into the individual 3"x3" squares and mount on 3"x3" Whisper White cards (3" x 6" folded in half).

Snow Festival Christmas Gift Tags

Now these are just basic…and just fine!  If you want, you can punch a hole and tie on ribbon. You could stamp some greetings and adhere to the front if there isn't already a greeting.  You could probably jazz these up even more….maybe add some glitter! Make a bunch and put them in a cute gift box for a present to someone.  Who doesn't need more gift tags?!

To get your paper, card stock, adhesives and ribbon, just shop online at my Stampin' Up! store here!

Lovely As A Tree Christmas Card

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Lovely As a Tree Card

What would Christmas be without a Lovely As A Tree card? This stamp set was popular when I started stamping with Stampin' Up! over ten years ago and it is just as popular and beautiful today!  Talk about a timeless classic!  If you don't have Lovely As A Tree in your stamp collection, you really need to get it. It could retire some day (gasp!!) but I hope not any time soon! I've made countless Christmas cards similar to this….just stamp the tall evergreen, stamp it again without reinking…and repeat. Then just SQUIGGLE side to side from the top of the tree to the bottom with the 2-Way Glue Pen and sprinkle on Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  Elegance as easy as can be!

Stampin’ Up! Christmas Keepsake Box Kit

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Christmas Keepsake Box

Stampin' Up! came out with this Christmas Keepsake Box a long time ago…maybe over a year ago. First it was an incentive gift, but then they began selling the extras. Now you can find them on the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack. These boxes are SO beautiful when you make them I can't believe they have any left.

I've had mine for awhile…sitting out so I wouldn't forget it…the retired stamp set not put away…ready to go any minute….well, that minute finally came the other day! It didn't take too long to put together and isn't hard for as elaborate as it looks.  I watched the video that Shelli Gardner and her daughter Sara made while assembling this Christmas Keepsake Box, which is entertaining enough in itself! And then I started working on my box, looking back at the video if I wanted. You can follow their directions exactly, but it doesn't matter if you do it differently or mess up on something. It will all look beautiful in the end! I actually have my bow and flowers on the opposite end of the box than what the directions say….I guess I put the centerpiece on upside down!  But it doesn't matter!  The only thing mine is missing is to apply some spray adhesive and sprinkle on some glitter. I'm sure it will really add the finishing touch!

If you would like to add a bargain to your Stampin' Up! order, just head to the Clearance Rack and add Item #129024. I can only assume a product is still available in the Clearance Rack as I write this; everything in the Clearance Rack is while supplies last and could disappear at any time.  But what a great gift box to make as a gift itself for the holidays!  Put a few handmade cards or a special gift inside and the recipient will be wowed!

Just go to my Online Store to place your order for any supplies you need for your Christmas and holiday giving!

Ornamental Elegance Kit…Order Yours While Supplies Last!

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Ornamental_Elegance_Banner(1)

If you have admired the beautiful paper ornament on the cover of the Holiday Catalog, here is your chance to get a kit to make TEN of them! What great gifts for people and it saves you the work of stamping and cutting out all the ornament shapes! I made one from scratch and it certainly wasn't hard but it took some time to use the framelits on each shape. If you don't need all ten ornaments, then you can use the shapes as tags for your packaging.

The Ornamental Elegance Kit (132832) is $14.95 and includes:

  • Die-Cut Cardstock Elements
  • Cherry Cobbler 3-1/2" Scalloped Tulle Ribbon
  • Natural Linen Thread
  • Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons 
  • Large Pearl Basic Jewels

Stampin' Up! has added a new category in my Online Store called "New Arrivals" so that is where you will find the latest things!

 

Scentsational Season Card

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Scentsational Season Mug Friend Card

Scentsational Season is such a cute stamp set in so many ways! There are so many ideas for cards and gift ideas for the holidays.  But the coffee mug in the set can be used for cards other than Christmas, as I have done on this card. You can make it a "Friends" card, "Thinking of You", "Get Well", "Encouragement", even "Thank You" for after the holidays. Just change the greeting to whatever sentiment you want to express.  

The Holiday Collections Framelits are really nice to have and you can purchase the stamp set and framelits in a bundle saving you some money. But if you don't have the framelits, the stamps work just as well for stamping! The paper on this card is from the cute pack called Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack #126904.  The word "Friends" is from Sweet Essentials Stamp Set.  And what would we do without all our colors of Seam Binding Ribbon?! 

Holiday Packaging Bundles Video from Stampin’ Up!

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Here's a cute video for you from Stampin' Up!  Just the other day they put out these special bundles of bags and tags and ties for you to help with your holiday wrapping at at a 20% savings. There are two bundles to choose from!
SU Petite Treats Bundle
Petite Treats Bundle  #132770   Price:  $13.50   Value:  $16.85
SU Trimmings and Tags Bundle
Trimmings and Tags Bundle  #132769    Price:  $13.50   Value:  $16.85
If you would like to place an order for these items or any other products, please do so at my Online Store HERE.  And you're always welcome to have me put your order in for you if you prefer.

Watch Sara Douglass on the Today Show Donating to the Holiday Toy & Gift Drive

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Here's the clip of Sara Douglass, Shelli Gardner's daughter, appearing on the Today Show presenting the Stampin' Up! donation of $300,000 in paper crafting supplies to their Holiday Toy & Gift Drive.  This is the fourth year in a row that Stampin' Up! has participated. Sara was on with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford. She did a great job….but surely the Today Show realizes they should have Sara or Shelli on for a longer segment to do some stamping! I hope someday we will get to see what projects Sara had in her hands that she didn't have time to show!

Sara Douglass for Stampin’ Up! on the Today Show Today!!

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Sara Douglass, daughter of Stampin' Up! CEO and cofounder Shelli Gardner, will be delivering Stampin' Up!'s donation of $300,000 in paper crafting supplies to the 19th Annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy & Gift Drive today, November 29, 2012. Here is a photo I took last January at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference of Shelli and Sara on stage. I'm sure Sara will do a great job representing Stampin' Up! I only wish they would give her more than about two seconds to talk about Stampin' Up!  They don't know what they are missing!!

Sara will be featured during the fourth hour of the TODAY Show with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford (generally 10 AM [EST]). Be sure to check your local listings, however, as the fourth hour airs at various times depending on the market.

Shelli is with Sara in New York for the show but says she is relieved that Sara will be the one on TV! I can't wait to watch!

Donations will be distributed to the following organizations:

  • Action for Boston Community Development Inc., Boston, MA
  • Arizona Helping Hands, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ
  • Boys & Girls Clubs Harford County, Belcamp, MD
  • Cathedral Community Cares, New York, NY
  • Children's Toy Closet, New Haven, CT
  • Harlem Children's Zone, New York, NY
  • Help USA, Brooklyn, NY
  • Hispanic Federation, New York, NY
  • Making a Difference Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA
  • Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Churches, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Operation Homefront, San Antonio, TX
  • Phipps Houses, Bronx, NY
  • Project Sunshine, New York, NY
  • South Central Los Angeles Regional Center, Los Angeles, CA
  • The Christmas Box Intl., Salt Lake City, UT
  • St. Margaret's Center, Lennox, CA

Stampin' Up! invites those demonstrators who live in the New York City area, to come join them on the plaza outside the TODAY Show studios!

Hope you can watch this morning!!

 

 

Making a Christmas Wreath Card with Paper Scraps

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Wreath Card
I saw this idea in a papercrafting magazine although that one was made with washi tape and I used paper scraps! It just caught my eye! I'm not sure I would make a bunch of these cards, but to make one or a few it would be fun.
First I cut some strips 3/4" wide from the pack of paper in the Holiday Catalog called Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack.  This is a fun pad of designer papers to have since they all coordinate and are small to use on lots of projects! I made the first ones 1" long and the red polka dot batch 3/4" long for the top layer. I suggest playing around with your wreath pieces until you see how they fit together, how big of a wreath you want, what will fit on your card layer or project. In the end I used 9 of the longer pieces and "scootched" them closer together. The red ones probably the same number.  At first I was going to do the same green print but it didn't show up well enough on top although I might have tried dimensionals.
Once I had it all laid out on the card layer, I realized I didn't want to take it all apart to glue it (or even put it on Very Vanilla card stock like I intended to do!) so I left the pieces where they were and just slipped a dot of Multipurpose Glue underneath each piece. That would be enough to hold them and if I wanted, I could ruffle up the tips of the pieces.
Wreath pieces
Wreath glue

I just added a  Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding bow and stamped a greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. This would also make a nice embellishment on a scrapbook page, too, if you just made the wreath!
Don't forget the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza continues tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday….thru Nov. 28th.  Be sure to do a little shopping and get your bargains. You may add any other merchandise on to your order as well, including Clearance Rack and MDS Downloads.

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps…Easy Cookie Baking!

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Sweet Pressed Cookies

It may be Black Friday, but if you are not into that shopping craziness it would be a good day to stay home and read over the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza shopping list! There are so many great bargains on there, discounts from 20% – 50% off regular price! You'll notice that one set…Special Events…. of the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps is on the list at 30% off!

It's been over a year now that Stampin' Up! came out with these Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps! I'm not an experienced dough baker…..I can mix up some cookie dough and then drop globs on a cookie sheet and bake, but I've never been good with cookie cutters and rolling pins and all that. But the Stampin' Up! Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps are easy to use! I had a friend coming from out of town and of course I was making these at the last minute in between trying to finish cleaning the house….so I was under a lot of pressure!  Normally that would guarantee the 'fancy" cookies not turning out at all. But, honestly, I whipped these out with no trouble and they tasted great!  I'm not saying I took time to make them look REALLY nice (like trimming the edges if I didn't get the stamp centered properly), but they turned out! That's all I cared about….having some home-baked cookies that tasted good!

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp one

These still basically met my "drop cookie" method of baking….just take a glob of dough, roll it in a ball, put it on the cookie sheet and stamp! The main tip is to ALWAYS dip the stamp into a bowl of sugar (or maybe flour) EACH TIME before you stamp and you won't have much trouble with dough sticking to the stamp.

I didn't take much time for decorating either which would have been nice!  I might even have some special cookie glitter (not to be confused with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter!!), but there was no time for that.  I just sprinkled on some cinnamon sugar and some sprinkles and called it good!

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp with Sugar

              Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp with Sprinkles

The recipe comes in the box with the stamps, and the cookies are delicious.  My friend even commented that they lasted well over a couple of days (since we really didn't eat them all the first night!)

Before you start your holiday cookie baking, consider these Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps from Stampin' Up! While all the designs are fun, it is the Special Events set that is on sale right now during the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 30% off! Add them to your Online Order HERE.

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

Holidays Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps #125152

Special Events Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

Special Events #126903

Occasions Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

Occasions #127081

Get on My Mailing List for the 12 Weeks of Christmas!

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Winter Mail Box
As my gift to my mailing list subscribers and customers, I have been sending out a weekly email with a Christmas idea to make. We are now on Week 7 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas campaign.  You've already missed the first 6 weeks, but you can still sign up and get the remaining six weeks of emails! Just subscribe to my mailing list at the top of the column to the right!  It's that easy! We are on gift ideas now and next will be tags and gift-wrap ideas. Each is a project you can do with a supply list and complete instructions.  If you need any supplies, you can order from my Stampin' Up! Online Store. Mainly I hope the ideas inspire you to create some projects yourself as cards and gifts for those on your list. You can copy or you can follow your own creative thoughts!
Sign up now for my Mailing List to receive the 12 Weeks of Christmas emails plus my monthly email with the latest Stampin' Up! news and project ideas!

Heart of Christmas Gift Box

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Image copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

I have loved this single stamp, Heart of Christmas, in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog since I first saw it! I love the sentiment! This is a project from Stampin' Up! They made a box with Crumb Cake card stock, decorated with some Snow Festival Designer Series Paper and 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta Ribbon. To display the Heart of Christmas sentiment, they made it very decoratived with the Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies. Notice the cute little heart punched out of the bottom of the label and backed with Glimmer Paper!  What a great project!  You could also use the Kraft Gift Boxes as well for something similar. Wouldn't this be a cute gift box under the Christmas tree?!

To shop for any stamping supplies for so many projects, just shop online at my Stampin' Up! Store here.

Here is the supply list Stampin' Up! provided:

Stamps
• Heart of Christmas*

Paper
• Crumb Cake Cardstock
• Very Vanilla Cardstock
• Snow Festival Designer Series Paper
• Champagne Glimmer Paper*

Ink
• Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write® Marker
• Old Olive Stampin’ Write Marker

Stampin’ Up! Accessories
• Old Olive 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon
• Stampin’ Dimensionals®
• Owl Punch
• 1/16" Circle Punch
• Big Shot™
• Fancy Favor Bigz™ XL Die
• Apothecary Accents Framelits™ Dies

Candlelight Christmas Flocked Clear Strip Christmas Ornament

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Candlelight Christmas Strip Ornament

I had to play again with the design of the ornaments on the cover of our Stampin' Up! Demonstrator magazine called Stampin' Success. You can make these Christmas ornaments with just strips of paper! This time I decided I wanted a fancier one…I only intended to add some ribbon and maybe some rhinestones.  But once I pulled out the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper, I noticed the beautiful flocked clear window sheet "paper"! I thought that would make something pretty! So here it is!

Once I made the ornament, I attached a bow at the top with some mini glue dots and added just a few Rhinestone Jewels here and there.

Candlelight Christmas Paper Strip Ornament

My strips this time were 4 3/4" for the center one, two strips 6" each and 2 strips 7 1/4".  I think you just need to play with the lengths of the strips to get the size of ornament that you want. These strips are only 1/2" wide. You can read my directions for how I put the ornament together on my post the other day here. I think you can see in this photo above that I put rhinestones near the top, middle and bottom of the outside strips and one on each side of the center strip. I used Baker's Twine for the hanging thread.  Just feed it in through the center of the ornament and pull tightly for it to come up to the top in between the strips.

I might not be done yet!  I think the next one I will try will have another set or two of strips!

If you want a pack of the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper, you know where to go!  While you are there, check out the Merry Christmas special which includes the Candlelight Christmas paper, and also the Clearance Rack! New items were just added on Friday!  Although some products sold out the first day, there still are great bargains to be had, so don't miss out!

Candlelight Christmas Paper Strip Christmas Ornament

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Paper Strip Christmas Ornament
I'm playing with some more paper strips to make a Christmas ornament again, this time using the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper. I cut twelve strips, each 1/2" wide and 6" long. I punched a  circle with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch on which to glue the strips.
Paper Strip Christmas Ornament inside
Yes, I have hot glue all over the place!  Thank goodness for the Silicone Craft Sheet! There should be twelve strips glued in there but one got lost….when I found it I was able to stick it in the slightly empty space with some Tombow Multi Glue. I used more hot glue to add scallops and circle punches to decorate the outside.
Paper Strip Christmas Ornament Back
The little reindeer and the greeting are from the Joyous Celebrations stamp set. I love the Champagne Glimmer Paper scallop behind the reindeer on the front of the ornament.
Time is getting closer and closer to start thinking about making some things for Christmas! If you need any supplies for crafting, you will find what you need at my Stampin' Up! Online Store!  Be sure to check the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack for some great bargains!  New items just added yesterday!

Ornament Keepsakes Paper Christmas Ornament

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Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog Cover Ornament

I know you have seen this ornament before…it's on the cover of the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog and a lot of people have been making them! I finally stopped the world and made the hanging ornament myself! It really is beautiful in person and the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter around the edges of each little ornament really makes it look fantastic.  This is made with the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set and the Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies. The only difficult part is cutting out your stamped images of the ornaments with the Framelits as it just takes awhile to do twenty of each!  But once you have that part done (you can also just cut out designer paper, not stamped images) the rest is fairly easy to assemble and glue. Mine has Linen Thread loops in each of the large ornaments, but I think something more sparkly would be better. The Scalloped Tulle Ribbon was fun to work with and insert and twist between some of the ornaments. The rosette in the center is made with the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper.  Then a Vintage Faceted Designer Button is hot-glued into the center of the rosette with a Large Pearl Basic Jewel adhered to the center of the button.

I hope you will take some time to make something special for Christmas, just because! Just to relax and enjoy the creative side of yourself! Sometimes we all have to do that!

If you need any stamping or scrapbooking supplies, please visit my Stampin' Up! Online Store or email with your order. Don't forget to check the Merry Christmas October Promotion by Stampin' Up! which is only good until the end of October….which is sure sneaking up on all of us!

Ornament Keepsakes Christmas Ornament

Ornament Keepsakes Christmas Ornament Front

Have fun making your ornament!  You'll be glad you did!