Are You On My Mailing List? The “12 Weeks of Christmas” is Coming!

Leave a reply

12WksXmasLogo2-001

Images © Stampin' Up! 2012

Only 24 hours until my "12 Weeks of Christmas" email campaign begins on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.  Be sure you are on my mailing list to receive all 12 issues. This is my free gift to my subscribers to thank them for their loyalty. Starting on Wednesday, you will receive an email from me with a free holiday project! We will start off with a Christmas card.

In order to receive this gift, you must be on my mailing list before the first email goes out! Please join us by signing up in the box near the top of my blog! It will be loads of fun! If you're like me, you love to get new ideas for Stampin' Up! projects! Even if I don't get a chance to make everything I come across, I enjoy seeing the idea!

Please sign up for my mailing list while you are thinking of it! We'll miss you if you don't!

Would You Like to Buy Single Stamps from Stampin’ Up!?

Leave a reply

Single Stamps Logo

Stampin' Up! just announced a Single Stamp pilot program! Apparently they received a positive response when they asked on Facebook if customers would be interested.They received 8,698 "likes" on their recent Facebook post!

To test this option, Stampin' Up! is offering the chance to buy single pieces from three stamp sets:   Word Play, Perfectly Penned, and Seasonal Sayings.  These are all greeting stamp sets so if you saw a stamp or two in the set that you really wanted but didn't want to pay the full price for the set, now you have the option to choose a single stamp!

*Note that these single stamps will only be offered in clear-mount, they'll come without a block, and they'll be packaged in cello bags versus the plastic cases we're used to. Also, since this is a pilot program, Spanish and French stamp sets are not included in this offer. 

This offer is available now through January 2, 2013.

Download the Word Play flyer.

Download the Perfectly Penned flyer.

Download the Seasonal Sayings flyer.

I'm very curious what everyone will think of this option!  Do you think you will like it or not?  Leave me a comment or email me and let me know what you think! You will have to do the math and see how buying just select stamps compares with buying the set. It will be an interesting experiment I think!

Merry Christmas from Stampin’ Up!….During October!

Leave a reply

SU Merry Christmas Flyer

Looks like Santa came early this year!  

Get a FREE Festive Paper-Piercing Pack when you purchase the Ornament Keepsakes Set and Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper.

Choose from the following options:

SU Merry Christmas Bundle 2012 Prices

You must use the special Item numbers to get this offer, not the numbers in the Holiday Catalog!

You may choose the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set (wood- or clear-mount) plus the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Designer Series Paper and get the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack

OR

You may choose the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle (stamp set and Holiday Ornaments Framelits Dies) plus the Candlelight Christmas paper and get the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack.

So it is stamp set & paper – or –  stamp set, framelits, and paper.

I would strongly suggest that you will want the Framelits Dies as well if you get this stamp set!  Just my opinion!  Or at least buy a Paper Snips scissors #103579 if you prefer to cut out!

You can check the various Bundles in the Holiday Catalog. This Ornament Keepsakes Bundle is on page 3 BUT be SURE you use the proper numbers for the offer as displayed above!  Click on the picture of the flyer to go to the pdf.

To order this special offer, just go to my Online Store….or email me any time at Karen@KarenStamps.com.  I'm happy to help you!

12 Weeks of Christmas Starting Soon!

Leave a reply

12 wks Xmas logo-001

Images © Stampin' Up! 2012

This week I will be starting my annual "12 Weeks of Christmas" email campaign! This is my free gift to you, a thank you for being on my mailing list. Every week, starting this Wednesday, October 3, up until Christmas, you will receive an email with a free holiday project. This will be either a card, a gift idea or a bag, tag, or wrap. You will get complete instructions to make each project and a list of Stampin' Up! supplies so you can get started now on your holiday preparations!

In order to receive ALL of these emails, you MUST be on my mailing list by 1 pm Wednesday, October 3. This will only be delivered to my mailing list!

If you are already on my mailing list (thank you!), you don't need to do anything!

If you want to be on my mailing list and receive my "12 Weeks of Christmas" emails and my monthly newsletters, please sign up in the box here on my blog. Do it now so you won't forget! Then Wednesday afternoon watch for my first project in your email!

Last year I received many nice comments from my subscribers about these holiday projects. Sometimes I even add bonus projects because there are just too many cute things to make! And nothing is too difficult for anybody!

I hope you will enjoy my "12 Weeks of Christmas"!  I can't wait to get started!!

Sign up for my mailing list at the top of my blog on the right!

Merry Minis Teeny Tiny Wishes Christmas Card

Leave a reply

Merry Minis Teeny Tiny Wishes Christmas Card

Here is my Merry Minis Teeny Tiny Wishes Christmas Card! Cute name, cute card….if I do say so myself! This is a 4" x 4" square card of Real Red that I just pulled out of my package of card stock scraps and decided to use it. I wanted to emphasize the Gumball Green 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon because tomorrow, Sunday September 30th, is the LAST DAY for the "Back to Spool" Promotion by Stampin' Up! With a $40 purchase of Stampin' Up! product from my store, you can choose a free roll of this ribbon, in any of the 5 colors.  These are the current In Colors so you will love them!

So back to the card….I cut two of the Labels Collections Framelits shapes in Whisper White and Gumball Green.  Then I just punched out three Christmas trees with the fun little Merry Minis Punch Pack from the Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper (in the annual catalog) and stamped the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I was going to jazz up the card more maybe with a designer paper layer, some Dazzling Details around the edge of the framelit, maybe a rhinestone on top of each tree…but once I put just the two Basic Rhinestones on top and bottom of the label…that was it! Perfection! Keep it simple!!  Done!  I love this card!

Now I need to go my make own Stampin' Up! order so I can get some FREE RIBBON!!

Back to Spool

Halloween Medallion Decorations

Leave a reply
You can have so much fun with Halloween crafts! Here are two Halloween Medallion Decorations that I made very easily by just pulling out some designer paper, some punches, some stamps, hot glue and my Simply Scored Scoring Tool. Make your medallions (or lollies) whatever size you want, add some layers and add a stamped Halloween image of some kind to the top. Tie on some ribbon or glue onto a stick. You could make big ones or tiny ones to hang on an ornament tree.
**************
Need any stamping supplies? If you order $40 in product before the last day of September, you can choose a roll of ribbon for every $40 you spend! This offer is quickly coming to an end as September 30 is not far off!

Note from Stampin’ Up! Peppermint Embossing Powder

Leave a reply

Stampin' Up! has updated us about the Peppermint Sticks Scented Stampin' Emboss Powder (Item 127830):

Due to quality issues, this Peppermint Embossing Powder from the Holiday Catalog will no longer be available for purchase. The product will still emboss and you can continue to use it; however, the peppermint scent does not last as long as indicated in the catalog. The supplier will not be able to reformulate the powder in time for use during the holidays, so Stampin' Up! has decided to stop selling the product.

If you have already ordered this item and are unsatisfied with it, please contact me (or your Demonstrator) or Stampin' Up! for a refund or to exchange it for a different scented Stampin' Emboss Powder.

Gently Falling Card

Leave a reply

Gently Falling Card
It's fall, for two days now!  Not that we can tell here in Houston, TX and we won't have colored leaves until December. But just to KNOW that it is fall makes me feel cooler and looking forward to all the things that are autumn.

This card was made with one of the leaf sets I have….Gently Falling. It's a two-step stamping set which means you can stamp the solid image of the leaf and then stamp over it with the outline image to define it….or just leave the solid image! Or you might want to just stamp the outline image and color in…or use it as a background as I did on the Gumball Green card base.

To give the look of fall leaves, I used several Stampin' Write Markers to ink the stamps. I would start with the lightest color of marker I was using on that stamp and ink up parts of the stamp.  Then I would progress with darker and darker colors of green or brown, for example.  This gives a multi-colored effect.  Either breathe heavily on the stamp to remoisten the ink or spritz it with a little water from a distance. That helps to blend the colors on your stamp.

Just because some packages of card stock were still not put away, I thought they looked good together and decided to use them….Gumball Green, Rich Razzleberry, and Very Vanilla….and some Soft Suede ink plus a little More Mustard and Tangerine Tango markers.

The little greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (such a useful set!!), punched out with the Word Window Punch and layered on the Modern Label Punch. I almost didn't put a greeting so I could add an appropriate one later when I needed a card, but "Just for You" will do for a lot of occasions! I recommend purchasing the wood-mount version of Teeny Tiny Wishes since the stamps are so tiny.

It's fall so lets start enjoying the colors and the mood of autumn! The Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog also has many stamp and paper choices as well as inspiration to get you in a fall-ish mood! If you need a Holiday Catalog, just email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com

Canyon Scenery from the Air

Leave a reply

We arrived home last night after a week's vacation in California visiting our daughter and son-in-law. The weather was a little hotter most of the time than we have experienced there before but still not quite as bad as the always tropical Houston! And the mountains and scenery are always gorgeous!

I always like the window seat on the plane so I can look out and hopefully see something interesting. I actually wish there was a little map of the plane flying so I could see what state or area we are flying over at all times. On the way out to Burbank, we changed planes in Denver, and as I looked out the window, the scenery below was just spectacular! I took pictures from the plane hoping we could figure out where we were or if we were actually flying over the Grand Canyon. (We're typically on the wrong side of the plane if the pilot announces something to see out the window!)

We did spot a dam and some water. As it turned out, it was the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell behind it! And… as it turned out, the top Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who were rewarded with a free trip called Founder's Circle from Stampin' Up! to St. George, Utah had gone on a float trip in the same area just the day before! Stampin' Up! really knows how to treat demonstrators (and everyone!) the right way so all Stampin' Up! events are always top-notch! But for these top demonstrators, this Founder's Circle trip is always spectacular! From reading some of their blogs, they first visited Kanab, UT where the Stampin' Up! manufacturing facility is loated and had lunch with the employees. Then they took a bus to begin this 3-hour float trip which looked really amazing. If we had just flown one day earlier, perhaps we could have seen their tiny rafts (tiny from the air!) floating down the Colorado River!  :) 

Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam in center.The Founder's Circle float trip was in canyon below that.

Lake Powell

Dam in the very lower left and looking back at Lake Powell

Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam with bridge in front of it

 

Glen Canyon

Wiggly canyon going down to lower left is where they floated

 

These photos really do not do justice to seeing these views yourself from the plane. It's almost spiritual to fly over this kind of scenery that seemed to go on and on and on.  Just magnificent!  Now that my husband and I have compared our photos from the air to Google maps and photos on some of the demos' blogs, he thinks we need to do this float trip!

You can read about the whole Founder's Circle experience on Shelli Gardner's blog!

And if you think you'd like to be a part of a company that rewards hard work by top achievers like this, then check out some more information about Stampin' Up! Even if you don't reach this level, you will certainly enjoy being part of the Stampin' Up! family from the moment you join!

 

 

 

 

My Digital Studio Halloween Card

Leave a reply

 

Hallwn-001

Here is a Halloween card I made in My Digital Studio using a designer template….and then changing it!  It was a birthday card with a little bird, but I changed the background paper, added a layer under the main panel, and added Spooky Bingo Bits images instead of the bird.  A couple of Halloween greetings, of course, change the card from birthday to Halloween!  It's so much fun!  Just start with something already designed and then you can change one thing on it or every single thing!  Whatever you like!

For the free 30-Day Trial of My Digital Studio, just go to my Online Store!

New My Digital Studio Downloads

Leave a reply

 

MDS Download Sept 18 2012
MDS Download Sept 18 2012Prices

These are the new downloads that came out yesterday for My Digital Studio, the Stampin' Up! digital papercrafting design software.  We now have the new Version 2 of My Digital Studio, and it has so many new improved features that it is really exceptional. I love it and I wish everyone would try the My Digital Studio Free 30-Day Trial!

Click on the images above to see the full page.

Halloween Glittery Spider Web Card

Leave a reply


Halloween Card Spider Web

If you need a Halloween greeting card with a glittery spider web, this is the card for you! The Stampin' Up! Embossing Folders make it so easy with the Big Shot to jazz up your cards!

For this card, I just ran my Basic Black card stock card front through the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine #113439 with the Spider Web Folder #120889 and sponged a little White Craft Ink #101731 over the raised edges.  But for some extra glitz, I couldn't resist using the 2-Way Glue Pen #100425 and some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter #102023 on parts of the spider web.

To make the label and greeting at the top, I stamped the "For You" frame image from Layered Labels (p. 103 in the Catalog) and cut out with the Apothecary Accents Framelits #127003. Since there isn't a large framelit to layer, I just cut out a slightly larger layer by hand.  Using your Paper Snips #103579  makes it an easy job. And then if you stamp the Layered Label again and punch out the words with the Oval Punch, you can layer that on top, popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional.

The little red spider is from Googly Ghouls in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog p. 27. I don't know if any spiders are red, but I thought this one would be cute in red! I just cut him out by hand, again with my Paper Snips.

For the finishing touches, I added a couple of Rhinestone Jewels to the label and tied the Gumball Green ribbon around the side of the card.  Remember, you can get a spool of that ribbon FREE with a $40 purchase in September!

It's time to order your supplies for your Halloween projects!  You can do so easily at my Online Store!

Stampin’ Up! Free Ribbon with Purchase….Back to”Spool” Time!

Leave a reply

 

Spool Promotion

Don't forget this free ribbon promotion from Stampin' Up! during the whole month of September!  For every $40 you purchase in product, you may choose one free spool of 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in the 2012-14 In Colors!  It's real "purty"!  You'll want to get some!!

Click on the image above for details.

Shop for your Stampin' Up! supplies at my Online Store!

Punch Art Panda Card

Leave a reply
Panda Punch Art Card
While in St. Louis a few weeks ago, we were able to attend the Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It was a beautiful and colorful display of wire forms covered with silk, and after dark they lit all the displays and scenes. One of the displays was called "Panda's Paradise".  My sister-in-law's friend was able to get us all tickets to go, so when I heard her say she loved pandas, I knew I would make her a punch art panda card!
I know I found this idea somewhere on the stamping internet, but I modified it a little bit and added the red glimmer heart for my thank you. I thought the Lattice embossing folder made a good background. Can you guess that the panda's face is made with the Ornament Punch with the little top cut off?
Stampin' Up! sells a great variety of punches, and plenty of talented stampers, demos and customers alike, come up with all the creative uses for them, not just what you first see! So you know you will get your money's worth out of all the punches!
You can shop here for your Stampin' Up! punches  and any other papercrafting supplies! Of course if you prefer to email me your order, I'm happy to place it for you.