Here’s to a very Happy New Year to you and your family!
And here’s to a very Happy Stamping New Year to all of us!
Happy New Year 2020!
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Pressed Petals Journal For the New Year 2020
I made this Pressed Petals Journal for a gift for someone, but haven’t mailed it yet! However, it made me think, with the 2020 New Year approaching, if you were looking for just a little journal to begin the New Year, this could be perfect for you!
The Pressed Petals Journal is pretty nice just the way it comes from Stampin’ Up!. The cover is already embossed (or “debossed”) with kind of a floral design and comes spiral bound. The pages inside have some designs already printed and prompts (just several used over and over again). But then you can decorate it however you like! I tried to leave at least some of the cover showing a bit since I like that design.
I changed my mind a few times but ultimately settled on just using the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper because it would match the inside of the journal. I just chose one of the printed panels in the paper selection that would be small, especially after I cut it down close to the flowers. I layered it on the coordinating color of Rococo Rose Cardstock. I thought it needed a little brightening up so I added a layer of Whisper White.
The greeting is from the wonderful stamp set Beautiful You. I have always loved this saying and thought it would be a good thought to go on a journal for 2020! It is stamped in Rococo Rose Ink and die cut with a die from the Ornate Frames Dies, then layered the greeting on the frilly Ornate Frame die in Rococo Rose Cardstock. (I told you those dies weren’t just for Halloween!) And I also added a couple of little pearls that may be retired. Inside I even added a few embellishments, like a punched daisy, sequins, and other Flower Faceted Gems.
You’ll find this Pressed Petals Journal in the Memories & More section of the catalog or Online Store. One special thing about the pages in the journal is that they can be torn out and used on card fronts or memory-keeping pages, whatever you like!
Here’s another journal that I decorated last fall.
At the beginning of each new year, we often feel we want to start something new or resolve to have better habits of all kinds. If you feel like to want to do some journaling in the new year, get this Pressed Petals Journal because it’s not intimidating with expectations at all. It’s small, so you barely have to write anything at all, but if you jot down some memories or thoughts, you might be very happy you did in future years to look back on!
Have a Safe & Happy New Year’s Eve!
Sign Up For the January Paper Pumpkin About LOVE!
Paper Pumpkin’s first kit of 2020 is all about L-O-V-E. Whether you want handmade favors for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or a remarkably romantic wedding, this month’s kit has everything you need to help you celebrate your favorite friendships and love stories. So make it a “LOVE”-ly year with Paper Pumpkin!
Kit details:
- Makes 20 treat bags + 10 mini cards and envelopes
- Card size: 3″ x 3″ (7.5 x 7.5 cm)
- Envelope size: 3-1/8″ x 3-1/8″ (7.8 x 7.8 cm)
- Bag size: 3-1/4″ x 4″ (8.2 x 10 cm)
- Coordinating Stampin’ Up! colors: Crushed Curry, Highland Heather, Mint Macaron, and Rococo Rose
Get more from the I’ll Bee Yours Kit when you buy the Heart Punch Pack (item 151292) from the 2020 January–June Mini Catalog. Both punches coordinate with the heart stamp in the kit so you can craft for love-filled occasions now . . . and later! Think: weddings, showers, birthdays, and more! Check out the flyer advertising this super-versatile punch pack in your January kit!
Heart Punch Pack (item 151292), $34.00 USD
Check Your Mail For These New Stampin’ Up! Catalogs!
Check your mail for these new Stampin’ Up! mini catalogs, for the spring Occasions Catalog and the new Sale-A-Bration Brochure! I hope you got lots of Christmas cards and sales brochures for bargains, but don’t miss these two new catalogs from Stampin’ Up!
There is something different about the Occasions Catalog, which might even cause you to not notice it is Stampin’ Up! Did you catch it? It is “landscape” position so the pages open from the side longways! It might take some getting used to but it allowed Stampin’ Up! to present the products better in the catalog. So we will try it and see how everyone likes it (or not!).
Sale-A-Bration and the Occasions Catalog both begin on Friday, January 3rd so circle that date on your calendar! It’s a big one for us stampers! If you are new to Stampin’ Up!, Sale-A-Bration is the time period during which for every $50 you spend on Stampin’ Up! products, you get to choose one free product from the Sale-A-Bration brochure! There are some special offerings for $100 purchases, too.
Note that the Holiday Catalog ends on Thursday, January 2nd so get whatever you want from that. Remember, the Year-End Close-out ends on December 31….a few discounted items. And the Clearance Rack had items added to it before Christmas and you might have been too busy to check it out, but there are still a lot of choices left, so check that out as well!
I ordered both catalogs for my regular customers, as I always do. They will arrive separately, perhaps at way different times! My Sale-A-Bration came way after my Occasions Catalog. Give it a little more time and keep checking your mail and catalogs and holiday junk mail you have gotten and see if you received them. If they never come, I’ll have Stampin’ Up! send out another one.
If you are new and interested in Stampin’ Up! products and would like me to be your Demonstrator to help you with any orders, just send me a note with your contact information so I can send you the catalogs. They WILL be available online on January 3rd if you just prefer seeing them online. Also, let me know if you want/need the annual Stampin’ Up! catalog as well.
Ask your mailman/maillady if they are reading your Stampin’ Up! catalogs at the post office and if so, to please deliver them to you promptly! It’s always a good feeling to change over to some brand new products after all the holiday projects (as much as we loved the Holiday Catalog!).
Merry Christmas to You!
Have a wonderful Christmas holiday!
Last Minute Christmas Ideas
Here are some last minute Christmas Ideas from years past! To make it quick and easy, just click on the photo to go to the blog post with details!
And HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Don’t forget to put out cookies for Santa tonight!
Use Let It Snow Scraps To Make Christmas Cards
By now you have probably used up most of your fun Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper unless you are a paper hoarder! And we all want to hoard this fun paper with the glittery snowmen on it. However, if you did actually cut up the sheets with the snowmen, you know it required drastic steps, perhaps destroying parts of the snowmen design. I know you didn’t throw away a bit of the scraps, so look through them now and see what you can make! You might still be able to salvage some snowmen!
On this first card, I had a smallish piece of designer paper with the two snowpeople on it. I just added extra layers so it would make a full card. And I jazzed up the snowmen by adding some stick arms and a scarf and hat. These pieces were from the Let It Snow Embellishment Kit. Don’t forget to use the cardstock cheat trick by punching out or die-cutting some pieces from the center of the cardstock that is going to be covered up anyway. No one will ever know!
On this card, I was able to save these two snowpeople and just made a smaller card! Make a 4 1/4′ x 4 1/4″ card or 4″ x 4″ size, whatever the piece of designer paper will fit best. On this one, just a little designer paper at the top and bottom of the snowman paper was enough to set off the focal point snowmen. Once you add a greeting and embellish the card a little bit you will have a great card even with a smaller piece of designer paper than you might have used.
Remember, sometimes the opposite side of the paper can be used long after the holidays. Often, we aren’t as familiar with the other side of the paper as we are of the well-known image.
If you have really small pieces of this Let It Snow Designer Paper, remember, you can make tags for gifts! Usually we run out before all the packages are wrapped, so it’s a good idea to make extra tags! Especially if you haven’t started wrapping packages yet1
Have fun making your last minute holiday cards, tags, and treats!
Christmas Gleaming Holly Leaves Christmas Card
Here is a card I mostly copied from one I found online except I think she die-cut all the holly leaves and adhered them to the card. I simply stamped them randomly on the card front and colored them in on my Christmas Gleaming Holly Leaves Christmas Card.
The card base is Garden Green although you could also use Cherry Cobbler as the sample I saw did. I used Shimmery White Cardstock, one of my favorite papers. I think you can kind of see the shimmer in the photo a little bit on the colored areas. Even in person, you can barely see it, but it is there! It’s also the next best paper on which to watercolor if you don’t have real watercolor paper.
I stamped the holly leaves and berries in Memento Ink and colored in with Stampin’ Blends. It takes a little time to color even only using green and red. I used two shades of green to give a subtle bit of variation in the leaves.
There is a stamp in the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set that makes those little dots. I stamped some of those around in Garden Green just to fill in the space a little bit around the leaves. I didn’t want to stamp too many holly leaves because then I’d have to color them in!
The greeting from the same stamp set is stamped in Cherry Cobbler Ink and die cut with a Layering Circle Die and Scalloped Circle Die in the same set.
The ribbon is the Cherry Cobbler Diagonal Stripe Ribbon (no longer available). The greeting is then popped up over the ribbon using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
This is a relatively easy card to make except for the coloring taking a little bit of time. But coloring is relaxing and therapeutic!
Have fun finishing up your Christmas cards, if you are still working on them!
Little Wooden Decorated House Blocks
Little houses seem to be trendy this Christmas from what I have seen in the stores and on social media. Mostly the houses are wooden blocks and then painted with one embellishment on the front like a wreath or a heart or something. So here are my Little Wooden Decorated House Blocks that I made one evening and, if I do say so myself, I think they turned out pretty well! At least everything is still stuck on so that is good!
When I was at Hobby Lobby I came across these wooden house blocks although they were painted (printed?) on the front with a word like “Joy” and a painted wreath. I should have taken a “before” photo! When I saw them, I thought why not cover the front with designer paper and then add a wreath or something.
I didn’t know “how” I was supposed to do this project so I started with ModPodge, but I think mine was so old and stinky when I came back to the block the paper was all discolored. I was able to rip it off and wiped off the block and started over. I sanded the fronts of the blocks just a little bit and then just used our Multipurpose Liquid Glue to adhere the paper to the block.
I looked through my designer papers and chose what I thought would work. I used the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper, the Wrapped in Plaid 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper (sold out). I laid the side of the paper I wanted to show face down on the table. I spread out the glue all over the front of the block (I think a foam brush works well and then you can just throw it away) and then laid the block face down on the paper. Sometimes I lined it up with the edges at the bottom and one side and sometimes I didn’t. After the glue had dried, I used an exacto knife to trim away the excess paper. Just cut off the large excess with scissors first to make trimming easier. If you still have slight edges to trim off, try a sanding block or very fine sandpaper or a nail file to sand the edges. You can even do more sanding for that distressed look along the edges.
You can either buy some tiny wreaths at the craft store or get some greenery that you can twist into a wreath. I also bought a little bag of red berries and twisted those around the greenery. Once I had the wreath made, I adhered each one to a house with hot glue. Then I used some retired twine with a sparkly red thread in it to tie a bow and adhered that with the Multipurpose Liquid Glue. You have to hold it on for a second or you could use hot glue.
On one house I put the bottom blob of hot glue in the wrong place for the bottom of the wreath so that it showed through the center of the wreath. Then I remembered I had these little Christmas trinkets from Stampin’ Up! from a year or two ago, so I held the hot glue gun on the blog of excess glue to soften it and stuck on the gingerbread man! “There are no mistakes in stamping!” It was so cute I added a trinket to each wreath!
I ended up adding just a bit of white acrylic paint on the house sides but you might not need to unless you have the raw wood. For the back, I ended up adding Real Red Cardstock just like I did the designer paper. I guess I could have just painted that area too.
Finally, the roof just begged for some snow, so I used my Shimmery Crystal Effects as the adhesive and sprinkled on some Ice Stampin’ Glitter (not available). I didn’t cover the roof fully but just did some swirls all around.
I think these will be cute for gifts and holiday decorations! You could probably even use some generic design of paper and then have different things to hang on the front of the house for different seasons or occasions so you can change them out.
Don’t forget to shop at the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack and Year-End Close-Out for some bargains!
Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack Updated Today! Get Shopping!
The Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack was updated overnight! Just in time to buy some stocking stuffers for YOURSELF!
I see lots of dies available, lots of pretty ribbon, some designer paper, various embellishments, embossing folders…and more!
But don’t read about it here!
You know the best things will go fast! Well, it’s all the best stuff, just depends on what YOU want! And even if it arrives after Christmas, if it is for YOU, it doesn’t matter, right?! Your treat, either way!
Easy Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Gift Bag
Almost every year I have been making one variation or another of a Rudolph gift bag so here is my Easy Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Gift Bag! Usually, I have decorated a kraft shopping bag like in this popular post HERE. Another year I made a smaller 2-4-6-8 bag to look like Rudolph HERE.
This is a similar bag, but a little larger that you make with half a sheet of 12″ x 12″ paper. It’s good to have at least the assortments of each color family of 12″ x 12″ paper on hand because even if we don’t use this size paper real often, sometimes you need a large piece for a project.
Start with a 6″ x 12″ piece of Soft Suede Cardstock or whatever color of brown that you like. Score at 4″, 5 3/4″, 9 3/4″, and 11 1/2″. Turn the paper so the short edge is at the top and score at 1 3/4″. This will make the bottom flaps of the bag. Cut those short bottom tabs up to the 1 3/4″ score line. Cut off the little 1/2″ tab on the bottom. Fold on all the score lines and crease well with the Bone Folder. Adhere the tab on the end to the other side to assemble the bag. Then adhere the flaps on the bottom. I used the Tear & Tape Adhesive. (There’s a piece of white cardstock underneath just for the photo.)
Before you completely assemble the box, fold on all the score lines and SEE how it is going to go together. See which area will be the front. I found it was easier to glue on the pieces while the bag was still flat, but either way works since it is so simple!
I used a 2″ Circle Punch for the Red Glimmer Nose, a 1″ Circle Punch for the white part of the eyes and a 3/4″ Circle Punch (retired) for the black. You can use whatever punches or dies you have according to what sizes and look you want your Rudolph to have! Just glue them on to make your reindeer’s face.
For the antlers I used the Sprig Punch. I punched out 3 of the sprigs out of the Whisper White Thick Cardstock since I wanted them sticking up over the top of the bag and thought the Thick Cardstock would be a little stronger. One of the sprigs I cut apart and added one piece to each sprig. I colored all the sprigs with my Stampin’ Blends, two of them with the Light Crumb Cake and one with Soft Suede just to make it a little interesting and adhered the darker piece to the full sprig.
Just fill a cello bag with treats and tie with a ribbon! Put it inside the Easy Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Gift Bag and you’ve got a fun gift for someone!
Quick and Easy Toile Tidings Christmas Cards
I wanted some quick and easy cards the other day (because who has any time with Christmas racing to get here?!) so I made these Quick and Easy Toile Tidings Christmas Cards. I love this toile paper, probably because I have some toile fabric covering the seats of a couple of chairs.
The card base is Garden Green. I just cut the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper to fit and adhered some Garden Green 3/8″ Double-Stitched Ribbon around the paper first before adhering to the card. Nice if you can think of this before you adhere the designer paper! Don’t ask me how I know!
Then the card just needed a greeting so I chose this one from the So Many Stars Stamp Set. It is stamped in Garden Green Ink on Very Vanilla Cardstock, which was die cut and then layered on a piece of Garden Green. I made the circle one first but then I changed to the oval die cuts. The greeting is kind of large. The greeting seemed to beg for another little something so I added a couple of Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots.
That’s all there was to it, so if you need some easy cards, just use this Toile Tidings Paper. I love all the little scenes on it! In fact, you could use this paper after Christmas, during the winter for cards or to write thank you notes after the holidays.
SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!
(Did you know you can expedite your Stampin’ Up! order? There is a drop down box when you check out for shipping. It IS extra ($20 for 2nd Day Air and $35 for Next Day Air, on top of regular SU shipping) but if you need it, you need it! Warning: 2nd Day Air CAN be addicting for large orders! (What’s another $20 if I’ll get it in two days?!) You have to place your order by 11:00 am MT (that’s noon Central Time) for it to go out that day.
Do You Have Any Shiny Brite Vintage Ornaments?
You might be surprised to hear I have not completely finished my holiday decorating, but finally yesterday I came across my Shiny Brite box of ornaments. While I can’t vouch that they are all Shiny Brite ornaments, I do know they are “vintage” (which means from my childhood!).
The other day I came across an article about Shiny Brite ornaments and their history that I found quite interesting. I was pretty sure that I had an old box that said Shiny Brite. I even see a written “10 cents” on the side of the box! I know these ornaments hung on our family’s Christmas tree every year. Now I put them all in a glass bowl as a decoration rather than hanging them on a tree.
The ornaments are even in a vintage crystal bowl! Maybe I should add some greenery too. Besides my big tree in the family room, full of ornaments, I have my dad’s small tree that he started putting up when it was too much work to put up his big tree, but I have certain small ornaments on it and these are a little large. So I think a bowl, where they won’t fall off a tree limb, is maybe a safer place and makes a nice table decoration.
Here’s the box. Like I said, I can’t say for sure all these ornaments came in this box, but some ornaments must have!
If you are interested in these old ornaments and perhaps have some yourself, please read this article I came across on Facebook. (I don’t know how to embed part of the article like I used to know how to do so I’m just putting this link!)
Happy Christmas Decorating!
Wrapped in Plaid Gatefold Christmas Card
This Wrapped in Plaid Gatefold Christmas Card is fairly easy to make especially if you just copy my design! Gatefold cards are easy enough and yet look impressive to the recipient, especially knowing that you made it! It is still the size of a regular card and you can decorate the card base any way you like.
The card base is 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ as per usual. Instead of scoring and folding in half, score from each end to fold over the center of the card. Score at 2 1/8″ from each end of the Cherry Cobbler Cardstock. Crease and fold with the two ends meeting in the center.
If you want to use designer paper as I did with the Wrapped in Plaid 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper, cut two pieces at 1 7/8″ x 5 1/4″. Adhere these to the two front panels.
For the inside of the card, cut a piece of Whisper White and stamp whatever greetings you like. I added a tree from the Perfectly Plaid Stamp Set. You could also stamp right on the inside of the Cherry Cobbler Cardstock, but since it is a little dark, you might prefer the Whisper White layer for your personal greeting and signature.
For the belly band cut a strip of Shaded Spruce 11″ x 1 1/4″ or whatever width you would like. Fold around the card, crease the folds, cut off the excess length and have the overlapping ends meet at the front center of the card. You might think you would want the belly band to meet at the back, but if it meets at the front, the tree piece that you add will cover up the ends. I added a piece of Gold Shimmer Ribbon around the belly band and held in place with Mini Glue Dots.
You can add whatever you like for the center of the belly band. I used the Pine Tree Punch to punch a tree out of a piece of Whisper White and then die cut this piece with the Layering Circles Die. Behind that, I die cut a slightly smaller piece of Wrapped in Plaid DSP that I wanted to show through and adhered to the back of the punched tree. This was layered on a Cherry Cobbler die-cut circle, which is then layered on a die-cut scalloped circle of Gold Foil.
As I was looking in my drawer for embellishments, I came up this clip-on star that had been on the Clearance Rack. Perhaps you already own these clip shapes. If not, just punch out a gold star from whatever you have. And for a little extra bling, besides the gold accents in the Wrapped in Plaid DSP, I adhered a few Gold Glitter Enamel Dots. These dots, along with the Gold Shimmer Ribbon are items that are in the Christmastime Is Here Suite.
Make Snowman Season Tic Tac Holder Stocking Stuffers
Remember! Today is FREE SHIPPING with a $50 order at Stampin’ Up!
You may have seen these on my Facebook page last week when my website wasn’t working, but I thought I would go ahead and post these Snowman Season Tic Tac Holder Stocking Stuffers here on my blog so more people will see them. They are easy and fun to make and lots of us want some stocking stuffer or little extra gift ideas for people for Christmas.
I had fun making these Tic Tac holders with the Snowman Season stamp set and Let It Snow designer paper! Just punch a hole in his belly so you can see the Tic Tacs! Or don’t. I used the 3/4″ Circle Punch (retired) since the 1″ was a little too large for these snowmen. But if you are making another design and can use a 1″ Circle Punch, it’s good to show a bigger area of the mints inside!
The first Snowman Season Tic Tac Holder is a strip of 2″ x 9″ cardstock, scored at 1″, 1 5/16″, and 4 3/16. Then turn and score from the other end with the same measurements. Punch each end with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch or whatever you like. Or leave it squared off. Kind of pinch the top together along the score lines and then decorate. You have to punch the snowman (this one punched from the DSP with the Snowman Punch), then through the DSP, then through the cardstock if you want the Tic Tacs to show. Tie at the top. I used some retired Real Red ribbon.
This snowman is cut out from the Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper. (It is no longer available but I know lots of you have it) Then I stamped, colored and punched out his hat and punched out his arms with the Snowman Punch.
The second one is kind of like a book just folded around the container. Cut cardstock at 3 1/4″ x 4 7/8″ Score at 2 1/8″ x 2 3/4″, round the corners if desired. Cut a piece of designer paper 3 1/8″ x 1 7/8″ to layer. Stamp and punch snowman. Use a 3/4″ Circle Punch for the belly. Be sure to wrap the ribbon around before adding layers to the front.
Have fun! Great stocking stuffer! There are different sizes of Tic Tac products so just modify your design to fit. This idea has been around a long time and is always fun to make!
