A Paper & Ribbon Thanksgiving Turkey Ornament

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving Day and weekend! I appreciate all of my Stampin' Up! customers, subscribers, blog readers, and fellow stamping friends! This papercrafting hobby is so enjoyable because of all of you!

Here's a fun little turkey to make easily. I was going to put him on a card but once I got the ribbon tail feathers on I thought he was cuter as a little Thanksgiving ornament….or you could use him for a tag. Hang him around the neck of a bottle of wine or tie onto a packaged up pie or whatever food you are taking today! (as in my post yesterday!) Stick him onto a piece of candy, like a Hershey's Nugget or Kiss for a table favor!

Use the Owl Punch for the body and trim off his ears. Punch out the white eyes and just color in the dots with black marker. Cut the little beak out of a scrap. Punch the little gobble-thing with the Modern Label Punch and trim it to a point at the top. You just need the little end of the punch….or punch the little heart in the Owl Punch and adhere off to the side a little. Cut some scraps of ribbon, fold over and adhere to the back with SNAIL and/or Glue Dots. That's it! I guess you could punch another owl to glue on the back to hide the adhered ribbon and write a message.

When dinner is over and you start thinking about shopping, don't forget the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza. You can get these ribbon colors in a Bundle!

Hope you are having….will have…or have had…a wonderful Thanksgiving! I can't wait to eat my Cajun fried turkey!!

A Turkey Tag — It’s All in the Presentation (Almost!)!

Leave a reply

They say "It's all in the presentation" or "Presentation is everything!" but I do have to say "almost" because the pie inside this presentation is beautiful! Notice all the individual leaves on the crust around the edge (and the crust is my favorite part of any pie!).

This year we are doing Thanksgiving a little differently. My friend Dixie and her friend Sherrie have a cooking/catering company so I ordered a Cajun fried turkey from them as well as some chicken and sausage gumbo, a pecan pie and some chocolate Whoopie Pies! No cooking a turkey for me!!! Oh my gosh, when I saw how they had decorated the pecan pie package and whoopie pies with this cute turkey tag and ribbon I just went crazy! See how such a simple thing can make such a great impression?!! Paper, ink, and stamps! Aren't we part of such an impressive craft?!

And a peek inside the foil covering the cajun fried turkey! I don't know how I restrained myself from taking just a little taste from this turkey!

Are you hungry now? If you live in the southwest Houston/Richmond area, email me and I'll give you Dixie's contact information.

If you're taking a pie or some plate of food to someone's house for Thanksgiving, consider taking a few minutes to make some kind of cute little tag or card just for a little something special! I know it will be appreciated! And make the food look even more inviting!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza going on now until November 28th! Select products discounted 20% – 50%! More Doorbusters the last day! Check the list right now!

Stampin’ Up! Sale….Big Shot 20% Off Today Only!…Online Extravaganza!!

Leave a reply

I made this Christmas ornament with my Big Shot, the Snow Flurry Bigz Die and some roof flashing! The Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine is so useful in all kinds of papercrafting! It can cut through all kinds of materials and makes your papercrafting life so much easier and fun! And guess what?? TODAY ONLY, the Big Shot is on sale at Stampin' Up! for 20% off!! You can also pick up the Big Shot Doctor's Bag on sale today only if you think you will be transporting your Big Shot, want a spot to put it away, or need another travel bag for yourself! Yes, it is that nice! You can use it for an overnight bag and look like you are traveling in style!!

There are lots of Stampin' Up! products on sale this week during the Online Extravaganza from November 19 – 28. Today ONLY as 3 Doorbusters and again the last day, Wed. Nov. 28th.

Click HERE to shop online! Click HERE to see the List!

If you are putting in a large order ($150 or over) for yourself online, be SURE you go directly to my online store and not the Stampin' Up! general website so that you will receive your Hostess Rewards! If you see my name up in the right-hand corner, you are in the right place! If you need any help, just contact me! I can also put the order in for you, if you prefer. But the fastest, easiest way is to do it online since you can put in your own payment easily.

Decorate Your Thanksgiving Table with My Digital Studio!

Leave a reply

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

Special holidays call for special table settings and decorating your Thanksgiving table is probably one of the biggest ones! Sara Brook, of the Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio Team, put together this lovely place setting made with the Unknown Blessings Ensemble. It comes with everything you need to make these table decorations and really sounds easy! Just use the digital feathers, filling in with whatever color paper you want, print, cut out and snip to look like feathers. We all made Indian headbands in school I'm sure…just print out the headband, size correctly and add some feathers. The napkin rings are made the same way, just smaller! There's even a pie box to print and make, frameable art, menu cards, place cards….and whatever else you can think up using this digital set!

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2012

Read more of Sara's post on the Stampin' Up! website for My Digital Studio HERE. She also has more photos how you can use all the elements of the Unknown Blessings Ensemble.

Even if you don't own My Digital Studio (you don't??!) I'm sure you can get some Thanksgiving table decorating ideas from this photo above!

Interested in My Digital Studio? Well, there is the free 30-Day Trial….AND coming up, starting Monday, Nov. 19th during the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza, My Digital Studio is one of the discounted items!!!!!!

Check the Online Extravaganza list HERE….and find the My Digital Studio discounts at the very bottom of the last page!! That's the 50% off list!! You will be able to purchase the full MDS 2+ download, the MDS 2 version (less content), or the MDS 2 upgrade all for 50% off the regular price! I would absolutely recommend the MDS 2+ version even at full price but ESPECIALLY for half-price! You will be amazed at all the downloads that are included in that version. Treat yourself to an early Christmas gift!

Find all the My Digital Studio options HERE in my Online Store.

Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza Discounts….Starting Monday Nov. 19th!

Leave a reply

Stampin' Up!'s biggest online sale of the year, Online Extravaganza, begins Monday, November 19, and ends on Wednesday, November 28. We've got a fantastic selection of stamp sets, accessories, and tools that will be discounted up to 50 percent!

To view the WHOLE list of discounted products, click HERE.

Plus, you won't want to miss the first 24 hours of the sale when the Big Shot, Doctor's Bag, and Simply Scored Diagonal Plate will be 20 percent off retail price!

Here are the "doorbusters" for Monday and the last day:

Monday, November 19, midnight – 11:50 PM (MT)

Page	Item	Description	Retail Price	24-Hour Sale Price
181	125586	Simply Scored Diagonal Plate	$11.95	$9.56
186	113439	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine	$99.95	$79.96
186	113474	Big Shot Doctor's Bag	$69.95	$55.96

Wednesday, November 28, midnight – 11:50 PM (MT)

Page	Item	Description	Retail Price	24-Hour Sale Price
7	118941	Clear Block Bundle (Blocks A-I)	$66.95	$53.56
7	120279	Clear Block Storage Caddy	$16.95	$13.56
175	109127	Stack & Store Caddy	$34.95	$27.96

Once the sale starts on Monday you will be able to view all the items on my Online Store.

Here is the pdf of the Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza! You can also add other items to your order!

Texture Boutique Embossing Machine…from Stampin’ Up!

Leave a reply

Stampin' Up! is offering a test run of the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine from Sizzix in the North American markets. There are 4,000 available to be sold only while supplies last. If this product test goes well, they may offer the Texture Boutique again in the future.

The Texture Boutique works with Textured Impressions Embossing Folders to transform ordinary cardstock, paper, metallic foil, or vellum into an embossed, textured masterpiece. This machine embosses only; it does not die cut. Because this is a product test, the Texture Boutique is not branded with the Stampin' Up! logo. It comes in Sizzix packaging and is the same color and design that is sold in stores. We recommend you read the included instructions before using the Texture Boutique.

Stampin' Up! is offering a special value bundle that saves you $5.90. If you prefer, you can also purchase the Texture Boutique alone. Looking for stocking stuffers? Pick up some additional embossing folders.

Texture Boutique Bundle
Item 132700
$39.95 (a $45.85 value)

Includes:

Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, 1 Pair of Standard Embossing Pads, 1 Mylar Shim
Flower Garden Textured Impressions Embossing Folder-Stampin' Up! exclusive
Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder-Stampin' Up! exclusive

Texture Boutique Embossing Machine
Item 132657
$29.95
Includes:

Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, 1 pair of Standard Embossing Pads, 1 Mylar Shim

To purchase the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine, save yourself a trip to the store and just order online from Stampin' Up! . Get the bundle with the two embossing folders plus the machine…or if you already own those embossing folders, just buy the machine! Then start planning all the embossing you will do!

Let me know what you think. This took me by surprise! Just remember, if you are interested, it is only available while supplies last.

A College Graduation Swatchbook from My Digital Studio

Leave a reply

I may have mentioned before that I was working on a swatchbook in My Digital Studio, the Stampin' Up! digital papercrafting software, of my son's graduation photos. Finally I remembered to take some pictures of the swatchbook all made up! You can see there is a plastic cover on the front and back of the book and the whole thing is held together by the rivet in the corner. It is small….only 5 1/2" x 3 1/4", but that's why it is so cute and fun! And don't think the small size kept me from squeezing in as many photos as I could! I have a hard time leaving out any photos because I think each one is valuable in its own way!

The MDS Swatchbook just swings open. It has 26 pages to design. So I kept my pages in order skipping every other page because those then would be the backsides of the front pages. If that is a hard concept to wrap your head around, as it was for me, make a little swatchbook out of scrap paper and label your pages so you know what you are doing! When you start doing the backsides of the pages then you are working from the end to the front….so page 2 (the last page in your series) is on the back of page 1. It's confusing to explain even though it is very simple! And if you are not putting pages in order, then it doesn't matter anyway!

And printing prices for My Digital Studio have recently been reduced! You CAN print any MDS projects yourself or at another printing company, but if you do it through Stampin' Up! you are assured of a quality product and precise Stampin' Up! colors. You can check out information about Stampin' Up! MDS Print Products HERE.

Start with the Swatchbook Template on My Digital Studio and make some cute little swatchbooks for Christmas gifts with those digital photos just sitting on your computer! I recommend purchasing MDS 2+ to get the most bang for your buck! You can get the software and "some" content with just MDS 2 for less money but the full version has SOOOO much content it really can't be beat! But you do have choices, so whatever works for you….including just doing the Free 30-Day Trial! No risk, and you can purchase downloads you want, print projects you make…everything….all during the trial period. If you really want the hard discs, those are coming out soon! I recommend the download, though, so you can get it instantly and always have access to it.

Check out the information on My Digital Studio here.

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

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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

Veterans Day November 11th

Leave a reply

November 11 has become known as Veterans Day but originally it was Armistice Day, which was the end of World War I …Nov. 11, 1918. Perhaps a lot of our grandparents served in World War I. After the second World War and the Korean War, the Congress changed the word Armistice to Veterans to commemorate American veterans of all wars. That was June 1, 1954. In 1968, Veterans Day became one of the holidays celebrated to accomodate three-day weekends. However, many did not agree with this and wanted Veterans Day to be celebrated on the exact date. In 1978, after President Ford signed a new law in 1975, the holiday was returned to its original date of November 11th. If the day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then it is observed by the government on the Friday before or Monday after.

You can visit the Department of Veterans Affairs website here.

Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day. Veterans Day is to thank living veterans for their service to all of us.

Thank you to all of our veterans!!

Owl Punch Three Monsters Male Birthday Card

Leave a reply

In trying to think of a birthday card to make for my son-in-law, I was a little stumped this year. Last year I got an idea for a Star Wars card that I probably mostly copied from an idea I saw online. I thought it turned out great and he liked it! Right up his alley! But this year, the other things I knew he liked were a little harder to come up with in a card. When I saw an idea of using the Owl Punch somewhat like this, I decided to go with a "generic" monster/sci fi/comic character/whatever card for him. This is what materialized and I like it!

The Owl Punch is one of the greatest tools you can own! Not that I think of these things, but other stampers come up with a multitude of ways to use our Stampin' Up! punches and make them worth their weight in gold for crafting! To make my little monsters (or whatever they are!) I punched the owl, drew on his mouth and teeth with a Stampin' Write Black Marker and colored in the teeth with the Signo Gel Pen. For the arms I stuck a little strip of paper in to punch just the feet of the owl and then cut the strips to make arms. I punched out the white eye circles with the Owl Punch although I colored them in with black around my Googly Eyes.

The sentiment is from the stamp set You're Amazing and die-cut with the Big Shot and the Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies. The brads are the 3/8" Designer Printed Brads.

If you are looking for a male birthday card, for child or adult, this is a good one and fun to make! If you prefer just stamping your monsters, there is the Make a Monster stamp set!

You can order any and all of these products and more from my Stampin' Up! Online Store. Go there today….and also check the Clearance Rack if you are doing an online order!

Day of Gratitude Thanksgiving Turkey Favor

Leave a reply

The Day of Gratitude stamp set by Stampin' Up! can also make a great turkey favor for Thanksgiving! If you need a little something for your Thanksgiving table, class favors for the kids, or just some fun little decorations for Thanksgiving these will fill the bill. Of course there are many variations you could do after you get started. I often think I am going to copy something exactly and end up with my own version.

Instead of the "Happy Thanksgiving" from the must-have stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes (and I do recommend for these small stamps that you spend the extra money and get the wood-mount) you could write a person's name for a place card at the table. The body is punched with the 1 3/4" circle and the head with the 1/4" circle punch. You could stamp a little texture on the circles or run one or both through the Big Shot with an embossing folder like I did on the body. I used the Lacy Brocade folder in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog. The gobble-thing is half of the Modern Label Punch. The beak is just cut by hand. The thing on top of the head is from the Boho Blossom Punch. The tail feathers are the medallion in the Day of Gratitude stamp set. I tried to get them each multi-colored but I don't think the colors contrasted enough. You could also color each section with a different color of Stampin' Write Markers. The feathers are adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals on the back of the turkey.

I would probably use some candy like Hershey Nuggets for the back, but I don't have any (amazingly!) so I used some Hershey Kisses. It worked just as well. If I used a Nugget, I would cover it with a strip of designer paper first.

For the eyes, you can just punch out black and white circles, or since I had some Googly Eyes left over from Halloween, I used those. You probably have some in your craft stash, too!

Just a fun little Thanksgiving treat! Hope you enjoy!

It’s Election Day! Go Vote!!

Leave a reply

One thing I love about My Digital Studio is the ability to create something for any occasion….even Election Day! It's hard to believe it is finally Tuesday, November 6, 2012…Election Day in the USA! Although there are lots of candidates and proposals to vote on in most precincts across the country, the Presidential election is what most people are focused on today and every four years. No matter what, we all need to exercise our right to vote today….unless, of course, you have already voted early! It is our duty and obligation as American citizens to visit the voting booth and cast our ballot in the best interests of our community, state and country.

Day of Gratitude Thanksgiving Autumn Card

Leave a reply

It's November now so our thoughts turn to autumn and Thanksgiving. The stamp set Day of Gratitude is a beautiful one for any season, but it seems to really stand out at this time of year. On this card, I took the idea from the Stampin' Up! Catalog, where only a portion of the card is shown on page 26. I don't know how Stampin' Up! made their card, but this is how I made mine! The colors used work beautifully together…Crumb Cake for the card base, Soft Suede for the medallion and Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade, and Midnight Muse. The Antique Brad really adds some elegance to this card.

To make this card, I tore off the front of the card base, leaving just that small margin you see. Then I took increasingly wider pieces of the colored card stock and tore those, adhering them to the back side of the front cover piece. Finally I took a new 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of Crumb Cake card stock and glued it to the underside of that front flap with all the colors (stamp it first!). The leaves are hand cut, but that was pretty easy with my Stampin' Up! Paper Snips.

There are lots of beautiful cards, scrapbook pages and projects you can make with this Day of Gratitude Stamp Set. If you are putting in an order, I would also add the Antique Brads, Paper Snips….and DON'T FORGET: we have a new paper trimmer…the Stampin' Trimmer! It's been in the new catalog, but just became available this month. I think Stampin' Up! improved any and every feature anyone might have complained about on the old trimmer. Click on the link for the trimmer and you will also see a video about the features of the new trimmer.

Start stamping your Thanksgiving cards and projects now so you won't be rushed!

Button Buddies Summer Starfruit Birthday Card

Leave a reply

Just playing with the stamp set Button Buddies….and my Color Coach! I started off thinking I would make this stamp look like fall flowers…and then I looked at my Stampin’ Up! Color Coach which gives you color suggestions of combinations. Usually you feel like you wouldn’t have thought of that combination on your own, but lo and behold, the Color Coach usually is right! Once I chose Summer Starfruit, the Color Coach suggested Real Red and Marina Mist….so that’s what I used for my card. After stamping my flowers, I added the new Naturals Designer Buttons in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog, tied with a bit of Real Red and Marina Mist 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon.

The greeting is stamped with stamps from the Hostess stamp set Wacky Wishes. See a trick I used for stamping the greeting over on my Facebook page.

Stamping With Karen

Having Fun With Paper, Ink, and Stamps

A Paper & Ribbon Thanksgiving Turkey Ornament

A Turkey Tag — It’s All in the Presentation (Almost!)!

Stampin’ Up! Sale….Big Shot 20% Off Today Only!…Online Extravaganza!!

Decorate Your Thanksgiving Table with My Digital Studio!

Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza Discounts….Starting Monday Nov. 19th!

Texture Boutique Embossing Machine…from Stampin’ Up!

A College Graduation Swatchbook from My Digital Studio

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

Heart of Christmas Gift Box

Veterans Day November 11th

Owl Punch Three Monsters Male Birthday Card

Day of Gratitude Thanksgiving Turkey Favor

It’s Election Day! Go Vote!!

Day of Gratitude Thanksgiving Autumn Card

Button Buddies Summer Starfruit Birthday Card