Snowflake Splendor With So Many Snowflakes Dies

Brand new designer paper, dies, ribbon, and even a new die-cutting machine to make this Snowflake Splendor With Many Snowflakes Dies card for the holidays! Actually, I am hoping the snowflakes will cool me off in this very hot Houston weather!

This card is actually pretty simple! The card base is Balmy Blue Cardstock and I used the new Snowflake Splendor Designer Series Paper as a layer underneath the die-cut snowflakes. The snowflakes are die-cut out of Whisper White Cardstock (Shimmery White Cardstock would be really pretty, too!) using the So Many Snowflakes Dies. As a bonus, I now have three beautifully die-cut snowflakes to use on another card or project!

The new Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine, pictured in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog is almost available! It will be available to customers on September 1, which is coming up soon! It IS available for preorder for Demonstrators (which is always a good reason to sign up!), but only the large machine. The cute Mini is not available and we don’t have a date yet. Mine just arrived and I’ve only played with it a little bit! I will post some quick photos I took of it, but I didn’t have the handle attached to it yet!

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine Both Sides

The Stampin’ Cut & Emboss comes separately from any order you also placed with it, in a box of its own, very well packed. There are some instructions and I encourage you to read them. The handle assembly instructions are just drawings, as most manuals are these days, but there is important information in the written information just inside the cover. Please read it so you don’t void your warranty and keep it handy. Be sure to save the little wrench that comes with the machine you need to attach the handle because you may need it in the future possibly.

The machine itself is gorgeous, especially the silver embossed Stampin’ Up! logos! It’s so nice the way the platform folds up on each side for storage or just to take up less space wherever you have it. Since mine is always out on the dining room table, this might neaten things up a bit!

The platform and plates are numbered and have directions printed on the platform for the sandwiches to use for dies, thinner embossing folders and the 3D embossing folders. That is so great! Before you start, though, take a good look at your beautiful, new clean clear plates with no marks on them yet!! Just admire the beauty before they get messed up with die-cutting marks! LOL!

I found the machine to work very well and did I mention how pretty it is?! My Big Shot is still working but is ten years old and has been overhauled once by my husband a few years ago so I wonder how much longer until it konks out. I will certainly keep it as it may work for many more years, but I did have to have the new one!!

But back to the card! I die-cut the three snowflakes and then tried various designer papers underneath to see what I liked. If you want to be real persnickety, you can see if you can line up any snowflake designs underneath your die-cuts. I kind of did that and drew a pencil line around the Whisper White die-cut layer on to the designer paper and cut it out by hand, but even that wasn’t perfect so I don’t know that I would bother with that again.

The greeting is stamped in Balmy Blue Ink and die cut, as well as the Balmy Blue Cardstock layer, with the Layering Circles Dies. I was trying to make the whole greeting as small as possible to avoid covering up my die-cut snowflakes, so if you were making this same card, you might try to plan ahead with the greeting and try to arrange your dies so you have the space available that you want for your greeting. It doesn’t hurt, though, if a tiny corner of the snowflake is covered. The greeting is from the Itty Bitty Christmas Stamp Set.

Since I had just received the Snowflake Splendor 1/4″ Ribbon, I wanted to use it and just zig-zagged it behind the greeting before adhering with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The ribbon is a little stiff and is making the greeting pop up so I probably need to work on that a little bit!

For some bling I added some Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels in Night of Navy to the center of each snowflake. You could use other things, too. Then I added a few Snowflake Sequins randomly on the card front and on the greeting. The Take Your Pick is handy for picking up these tiny snowflake sequins and placing them on the teeny tiny dot of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. I hope this Snowflake Splendor With Many Snowflakes Dies card has cooled you off from the summer heat and gotten you in the mood for holiday cardmaking!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online in the New Store! Make sure you see my name as your Demonstrator since this is a new site. If you have questions, just let me know!

Gilded Autumn Gather Together Card For Fall

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This Gilded Autumn Gather Together Card For Fall is one I created by copying a fall card I made last year with the same stamp set but using this year’s new designer paper! You can take any card or project you’ve made in the past and update it with a new greeting, new colors, new paper, new embellishments.

Here is the card I was copying from last year. Click the card to see the blog post.

Gather Together Fall Card on the First Day of Fall

The new Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper in the Holiday August-December 2020 Mini Catalog is just beautiful this year with its earth tone colors and some copper and gold foil accents. I really like this paper! For the card base, I used Mint Macaron Cardstock because it goes with the pattern I wanted to use. This leafy pattern is what I used to cut out some leaves as embellishments.

Under the leafy pattern designer paper, I put a layer of Copper Foil. If you want to cheat, you can die-cut a piece out of the center of the foil, which will be hidden underneath the designer paper, if you want to use every bit of the foil sheets!

For the center of the card, to match the one from last year, I cut out a Copper Foil piece from the Stitched Nested Labels Dies. You can choose whichever size works best for your card.

The greeting, from the Gather Together Stamp Set, is stamped on Whisper White Cardstock in Mint Macaron Ink and die cut with a smaller Stitched Nested Labels Die. I added a little Gold Metallic Pearl on each side. The pumpkins and one gourd are cut out with Paper Snips by hand from the paper in the Gilded Autumn selection. I love the pattern with all the pumpkins and gourds! I just cut out three of them and a few leaves and adhered them to the front around the greeting. That’s all there is to it! Seems pretty simple, right?!

What is it about fall that makes us all so excited to expect it and to make fall projects like colored leaves and pumpkins and more?!

Be sure to check out the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper in the new Stampin’ Up! Online Store because the photos of the paper are really great! Next best thing to seeing them in person!

The Gilded Autumn Paper and the Foil Sheets are so pretty that’s almost all you need on this Gilded Autumn Gather Together Card For Fall.

Blossoms In Bloom You Are Special Card

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I don’t know what blossom or flower this is in this blueish color, but since it is art it can be anything, right? It all began with die-cutting some designer paper for the fuller layer underneath the outline layer but that didn’t seem to be what I was looking for. Sometimes if you original idea doesn’t work out, you just have to keep going and see what else you can come up with and that’s how this Blossoms In Bloom You Are Special Card came to be!

When you get right down to it, this card is pretty simple to make! The floral outline is die-cut with the Many Layered Blossoms Dies. The die is almost as big as the card front! If you think of it ahead of time, it would be a good idea to use the Adhesive Sheets on the cardstock before you die-cut it so that it will be like a giant sticker and you don’t have to worry about adhering it. I used teeny tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Glue but it is a little tedious!

The card base is Pool Party Cardstock, which I didn’t choose until I had the front of the card made! The floral die-cut is Coastal Cabana Cardstock. To add some color, I stamped the blossoms in the Blossoms In Bloom Stamp Set in Pool Party Ink.

I think if you are making a card like this you need to take a minute to think about the direction you want things to lay out in since everything is so large. Since I had the outline die cut first, I laid that down on my card front to see which leaf was going at the top and which way everything was pointing. Then I would know pretty close how to stamp the blossom image that would go underneath the die. It’s not something you can plan perfectly, but just so you get things pretty much how they are going to fit in the end.

The front layer of the card is Shimmery White Cardstock because at first, I thought I might do some watercoloring. Shimmery White Cardstock holds up better to water than Whisper White Cardstock. Plus it is the prettiest paper with its very subtle glimmer. It’s a little more toward the ivory or off-white color than pure white but you can really use it for either way.

The greeting is stamped from the Tasteful Touches Stamp Set. I used the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch which makes two different fancy ends to several sizes of paper strips. You can punch a 1/2″, 3/4″ or 1″ strip of paper. Just stick the length of cardstock way into the punch to get the fancy end. If you want to be extra careful, turn the punch over before punching and make sure the strip is all the way in and centered how you want it. Sometimes a tiny wiggle can get it off-center. I also cut a layer with the same punch with just a wider strip of paper. For a little bling, I used one Clear Epoxy Droplet. I think it was the perfect little bit of pizzazz on the card!

Don’t forget to use your July Bonus Coupons this month! You will see where to enter them on your order. I think you have to do one at a time if you have several to use. You can use all the coupons you have on one order, but you have to enter them one at a time. Before you submit your order, you will see that the coupon amount was taken off. Just remember, if you have a large order and reach Hostess rewards, when you enter your coupons that will bring down your total and you might have to add more to earn the Stampin’ Rewards.

Here is another way to use the Blossoms in Bloom Stamp Set along with the Many Layered Blossoms Dies. You can purchase the stamp set and dies. Then you will be all set to make something like my Blossoms In Bloom You Are Special Card.

Last Day to Join Paper Pumpkin!

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Paper Pumpkin August 2020 Banner — Click to go to Paper Pumpkin!

In all the excitement over the new Stampin’ Up! August-December 2020 Mini Catalog that went live yesterday plus the new look to the Stampin’ Up! Online Store, I want to be sure you don’t forget about Paper Pumpkin, the monthly papercrafting kit from Stampin’ Up! The last day to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin is always the 10th of every month, which is today!

The August Paper Pumpkin Kit, World’s Greatest, will be one that is so appropriate for the time we are in now. I don’t know if they planned it this way or it is a coincidence. How often in the last many months have we all talked about the Heroes in our lives and working in our communities?

This August Paper Pumpkin Kit is designed to celebrate and appreciate life’s champions and everyday heroes. You get to decide who those people are to you. Especially during this time, this is something anyone can do to make a difference. The August kit makes it easy!

ABOUT THE AUGUST KIT

Name: World’s Greatest

Details: Kit contains enough supplies to create nine cards and coordinating envelopes.
Card size: 4-1/4” x 5-1/2”
Envelope size: 4-1/2” x 5-3/4”
Coordinating Colors: Bumblebee, gold, Mint Macaron, Pacific Point, Soft Suede, white
The kit’s stamp set includes Distinktive stamps. These cards have a masculine feel to them.

And of course, when you get a Paper Pumpkin Kit, all you have to do is open it up, look at the supplies, and decide what you would like to do with them! Follow the directions exactly, veer off slightly, or do whatever you want with the supplies. Every month Stampin’ Up! gives us some alternate ideas of how to use the materials plus as soon as Demonstrators and stampers get their kits you will find other ideas online as well. There is even a video every month for you to follow if you like.

You can subscribe by the month to Paper Pumpkin by signing up on the Paper Pumpkin website HERE or you can purchase a Prepaid subscription in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store for different periods of time. For some, there is a slight discount. This prepaid subscription in the Online Store will count toward your order total, so it might help you reach Stampin’ Rewards! Be sure to set up your account TODAY to get the August Kit.

Paper Pumpkin costs $22 a month for the kit and that includes the shipping. With your very first kit, you will receive a special acrylic block on which to mount the stamps included in the kit. A small ink spot is included as well as adhesives, plus all the materials to make the cards or whatever the project is. Paper Pumpkin is always a lovely presentation with tissue paper inside wrapping up the packaged supplies. It’s a gift you give yourself every month! Or you can even have a kit sent to a friend or loved one and do Paper Pumpkin together…maybe virtually or socially-distanced right now!

If you would like to receive the August Paper Pumpkin Kit, just click the link below to subscribe. If there is any month that you would rather not receive a kit, all you have to do is go into your account and tell it to skip a month. Every kit is guaranteed by Stampin’ Up! No risk, no obligation! Easy, peasy!

SUBSCRIBE TO PAPER PUMPKIN!

(This is my personal link to Paper Pumpkin to make it easy for you. If you have another Demonstrator you want to sign up under, please go to the Paper Pumpkin website and find their name.)

Prized Peony All-Occasion Square Card

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I started out looking at the peony designer paper but couldn’t come to a decision of what card design to make, so I looked in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog at the Peony Garden Suite for ideas. Finally I settled on this Prized Peony All-Occasion Square Card that was inspired by a square card I saw on page 84.

It’s really a very easy card. I cut the Melon Mambo card base to 8 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ and folded in half. The Peony Garden Designer Series Paper is cut at 4″ x 4″ for a layer on the card base. I wanted something not too plain in the background but not too big that the big flower would not stand out.

The focal point on the card is the stamped and die-cut Prized Peony. I stamped it in Memento Ink and colored in with Melon Mambo Combo Stampin’ Blends markers and the leaves with the Granny Apple Green Combo Stampin’ Blends markers. The flower is stamped with the Prized Peony Stamp Set and cut out with the Peony Dies. You can purchase both together in the Prized Peony Bundle and save 10%.

Now there is a package of Square Vellum Doilies in the Suite, which I bought, but I couldn’t find them! So I substituted a large die-cut Vellum Cardstock circle to put behind the peony. Normally it is difficult to glue down vellum because the adhesive almost always shows in some way behind it, but in this case, I knew I could put some adhesive on the vellum behind where the flower would go and it wouldn’t show at all. The peony is popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

The greeting is stamped from the Lovely You Stamp Set in the Annual Catalog on page 22 with Melon Mambo ink. I lined one end up with the edge of the card layer on the right and punched the other end with the Lovely Labels Pick a Punch. (This punch on backorder but coming next week). You can purchase the Lovely You Stamp Set and Lovely Labels Pick a Punch in a Bundle for a 10% savings (but backordered as I write this). This greeting is popped up also with Stampin’ Dimensionals right over the stem of the peony. For a little bling I added a Clear Epoxy Droplet to the tag.

You can change the colors, the paper, and the greeting to make a similar card for another occasion. Sometimes it is fun to make a square card instead of our usual design just for a something a little different!

Here is another card I made with the Prized Peony Stamp Set and die using a different pattern of the Peony Garden Paper and using different colors.

There are so many possibilities with this Peony Garden Suite for cards and other projects that you will enjoy making like this Prized Peony All-Occasion Square Card.

Ghoulish Goodies Halloween Clear Tiny Treat Box

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For my first, of probably many, Halloween posts for this year, here is a Ghoulish Goodies Halloween Clear Tiny Treat Box. Who knows what Halloween will look like in this pandemic year, but you can still make Halloween treats for your family or even yourself! Thank goodness the grocery stores are still able to deliver craft supplies, such as chocolate candy for treats!

As always, I love and highly recommend keeping a package or two of the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes on hand! They are only 2″ x 2″ x 2″ but food safe and have enough room for a decent treat without being too big. Or add some other small gift inside for any occasion. These boxes come flat, protected by a piece of plastic you remove, then assemble and decorate. Couldn’t be easier!

For this Halloween treat box I wrapped around a piece of the Plaid Tidings 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper. Now you may have figured out that a 6″ long strip will not wrap all the way around the box. I cut two strips, then realized I needed the plaid design to march up if I wanted to be picky about it (and of course most of us do!). Actually my strips were only about 1/8″ off so I matched them up, adhered the ends together then trimmed off the excess on each side. It worked fine. Or you can wrap the 6″ strip around from the front to each side and add another piece for the back. Make it longer so you can adhere the ends inside the side pieces to make it look neater.

The tag is stamped in Pumpkin Pie ink on Whisper White with a stamp in the Ghoulish Goodies Stamp Set. What a perfect saying for Halloween treat packages! I die-cut it with a die in the Tasteful Labels set of dies. Then I wanted some kind of layer, so I cut another label which was too small, but I cut it in half lengthwise and added it to each side of the treat tag. This is the Pumpkin Pie piece. To cover up the back, I adhered the whole thing onto a rectangle of Basic Black with just a small margin and simply cut those corner curves by hand. Doesn’t have to be perfect! The tag is already almost too big for the treat box so I couldn’t keep adding larger layers.

To attach the tag and further decorate the box, I used the beautiful Black 3/8″ Glittered Organdy Ribbon. It’s almost too pretty to use on a treat box but it does look great! I punched a small hole in the top of the tag, put a piece of Linen Threat (or whatever twine I had laying around here) through the tag and tied it on to the ribbon, then finished tying the ribbon in a know. You could do a bow instead.

To decorate the front of the box (and to use another new stamp!), I stamped the black cat from Ghoulish Goodies. Then I colored in its eyes with a Granny Apple Green Stampin’ Blend marker and the collar with Pumpkin Pie. I just punched out the cat with my 1 1/2″ Circle Punch and then layered it on a die-cut from the Tasteful Labels Dies again. Love those scalloped circles in that set!!

Put your treat or gift in the box before you tie it up! Luckily I had fresh chocolate kisses wrapped in purple (dark chocolate), perfect for Halloween! These candies are meant for crafting, of course! (Or for after lunch or dinner as a digestive, of course!).

Here’s a super-simple treat I made with the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes recently.

Yes, it’s time to start having fun with Halloween because now that it is August, it is really almost September and you know Halloween isn’t far behind! Check out the Ghoulish Goodies Stamp Set and others in the new holiday mini, August-December 2020 Mini Catalog. If you need a copy, send me your contact information at Karen@Karenstamps.com Then you can start making your own Ghoulish Goodies Halloween Clear Tiny Treat Box or something similar!

Gilded Autumn Fall Thanks Card

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I was anxious to play with this gorgeous designer paper in the new August-December 2020 Mini Catalog from Stampin’ Up! The designs are so pretty, the colors beautiful, and all of it accented with copper and gold foil. How can you resist?

This beautiful paper is the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper in the new Holiday Catalog. You’ll find the whole Gilded Autumn Suite on pages 44-46. All Suites in this catalog get a three-page spread! The Suite contains the Beautiful Autumn Bundle with stamp set and three punches, ribbon, Brushed Metallic Cardstock, and Acorn Trinkets. You can order the whole thing with one Suite number or order any of the products individually.

I loved the sample in the catalog on page 44 with the three panels of designer paper on it, center of page. I changed mine a little bit and figured out my own measurements. The card base is Whisper White, although you could also use Very Vanilla. The Copper Foil layer underneath the designer paper is cut at 5″ x 3 3/4″. The strips of designer paper are cut at 1 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ so there is a tiny margin around the edges and in between the pieces. You can vary this and have the papers side by side or even a little larger with a larger foil layer underneath. When I finished gluing these pieces with my new Stampin’ Seal+ I ended up trimming just a slight bit off the side of the copper foil just to even things up.

The greeting is stamped from the Gather Together Stamp Set, a “returning fave” it says in the catalog, from last year in Mint Macaron Ink! We all did love that stamp set and cards we made with that set last year so I’m glad it is back! I die cut it with one of the Tasteful Labels Dies and used another longer one to cut out a strip of Copper Foil to go behind it. This is a great die set!

The catalog sample card has some greenery sticking out from the side of the greeting. I don’t know how they did theirs, but I just cut some greenery out from one of the sheets of the Gilded Autumn Paper. It wasn’t so easy, but it worked! And I put it on both sides of my greeting.

And then, just because I loved the paper with pumpkins and gourds, I had to cut out a pumpkin and add it to the card. I wasn’t sure! What do you think? I popped it up with a Dimensional to match the greeting that was also popped up, but I put the Dimensional only in one spot to it would be even with the greeting. I meant to add some sequins or some little bling but I forgot!

Here is a card I made last year with the Gather Together Stamp Set. I think I could use this same basic layout and make something with the new Gilded Autumn Paper! I might try that!

I think it is a fairly easy card to make, especially if you use my measurements and don’t have to figure it out. Maybe you could die cut some other greenery for a similar look without cutting by hand if you didn’t want to do that. You could die cut the greeting in a different shape. Lots of possibilities with this Gilded Autumn Fall Thanks Card.

Remember, we have a new look to the Online Store! If you haven’t used it yet, you need to either KNOW your password to get into your account if you want to order (you can look around without logging in) so you can type it in manually OR you need to click on the “Forgot Your Password” Button to reset it. After that you can have the site remember the password….and maybe a good idea to write it down!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card

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I finally had some time to play and make this Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card. Not knowing exactly what I would ultimately need, I stamped extra flowers of two sizes, many leaves of two sizes, and the yellow flower centers. This worked out well because I was able to make two cards, slightly different, and I already had the pieces stamped and cut out.

If you like poinsettias during the holidays, this whole Poinsettia Place Suite is for you! The papers, stamps and dies in this suite just provide so many opportunities for cardmaking and creativity!

To make this card, I used a Real Red card base. Real Red has always been my favorite Stampin’ Up! color. You will not find a more perfect “red” color anywhere! I’m still not happy that they moved it out of the Brights Family and put it in the Regals!

I was going to put a Whisper White layer on the card base, but then I decided to add the beautiful Plush Poinsettia Specialty Paper on top of the Whisper White. This Plush Poinsettia Paper is just gorgeous! It has very pretty flocked designs on six sheets, 2 each of 3 designs.

Next I assembled my poinsettia stamped with the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set in Real Red Ink on Real Red Cardstock. I used the largest flower for the bottom layer and the next smaller one for the top. On the bottom flower, I tried out the embossing piece for the leaves in the Poinsettia Dies. The flower center is Daffodil Delight Cardstock. Before I glued the poinsettia petals together I kind of folded the petals a little bit and worked them with my fingers a little bit just to make them stand up a little bit and not be completely flat. Same with the Garden Green leaves, also die cut.

In the catalog, I saw that on one of the card samples the poinsettias had little red berry sprigs stuck out the sides of the flower. I noticed there was a die for them and I discovered it matches up with certain sprigs on the one patterned designer paper in the Poinsettia Place Designer Series Paper. I actually cut a strip of the designer paper all the way across and was able to die-cut three of the sprigs out of the strip. When you study the paper, you will find the exact sprigs that fit in the die and you will see how they repeat across the 12″ x 12″ paper. See the photos below.

Poinsettia Place Designer Paper Red Sprigs

Here you can see how I found one with a partial sprig that I could still die-cut and use on the corner of this paper so that was handy!

Poinsettia Place Paper Red Sprigs Die — See how the die fits the sprig in the lower right corner of the paper.

After die-cutting the cute sprigs, I just stuck a couple under the flower.

The greeting is also in the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set. I happened to pull out a 3/4″ wide strip of Whisper White Cardstock and stamped the greeting in Real Red Ink. Then I used the new Lovely Labels Pick A Punch. I tried ideas for a green layer under the greeting, but decided I liked it as it was.

Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card Closeup

You can purchase the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set and Poinsettia Dies in the Poinsettia Petals Bundle and save 10%! That discount is also included in the price of the Suite if you decide to get the whole thing. Or you can order whichever products you would like individually.

And for the inside of the card, add a Whisper White layer for a greeting or personal note. This greeting is also in the stamp set and I stamped the smallest poinsettia in the corner.

Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card Inside

Nothing says Christmas like poinsettias, so if you like them, get an early start on your poinsettia cards and projects this year. Use my Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card for your inspiration or I’m sure you will come up with many of your own ideas!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE IN THE NEW STORE HERE!

Don’t Forget About Paper Pumpkin!

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ABOUT THE AUGUST KIT

Name: World’s Greatest

You can subscribe by the month to Paper Pumpkin by signing up on the Paper Pumpkin website HERE or you can purchase a Prepaid subscription in the Stampin’ Up! Online Store for different periods of time. For some, there is a slight discount. This prepaid subscription in the Online Store will count toward your order total, so it might help you reach Stampin’ Rewards!

SUBSCRIBE TO PAPER PUMPKIN!

(This is my personal link to Paper Pumpkin to make it easy for you. If you have another Demonstrator you want to sign up under, please go to the Paper Pumpkin website and find their name.)

New Holiday Catalog Today and New Online Store!

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August-December 2020 Holiday Mini Catalog — Click to View the Catalog PDF Online!

Big day at Stampin’ Up! The August-December 2020 Mini Catalog is LIVE with all kinds of fall and holiday seasonal products that I am sure you will love! Click the link or the catalog photo to view all the pages of the catalog!

SHOP the Holiday Catalog!

AND…..

We have a new look to the Stampin’ Up! Online Store today!

SHOP The New Online Store!

Click the link above and it should take you to the Home Page of the Stampin’ Up! Online Store! Please check to see that my name, as your Demonstrator, shows up at the top on the left side. If not, you will have an opportunity to choose me as your Demonstrator before you place your order. After that, my name should come up as your Demonstrator.

I can’t wait to hear how you like it! Just take some time to play around in the new website! You can even click a tab on the side and leave Feedback for Stampin’ Up! if you have problems or simply want to leave a comment, good or bad.

If your computer normally remembers your password, it likely will not log you in to your account because it is a new website. If you KNOW your password, just type it in manually along with your email. If you do not remember or know your password, that’s okay! Just click on the “Forgot Your Password” link and an email will be sent to you to reset your password. If it doesn’t seem to show up, check your Spam folder.

BONUS COUPONS! Remember, starting today you can use your Bonus Coupons you may have earned in July! You will see where to add them on your order page. If you have more than one, you can use all of them or you can use only one or whatever you want. Just remember they expire August 31.

Coupon codes will now be entered one at a time in the Coupon Code section of the Order Summary window (by entering it into the field and clicking “apply”).

If you have a large order and reach $150 or more and earn Stampin’ Rewards, remember that using the coupons will reduce your total so you will need to have $150 or more total AFTER coupons are added in. Let me know if you have questions.

HAVE FUN SHOPPING AND PLAYING!

Coming Soon! Tomorrow! New Look to the Online Store!

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We all know that tomorrow, August 4, 2020 is the first day of the new August-December 2020 Mini Catalog for the holidays, but it will also be the first day of the new Stampin’ Up! Online Store! Yes, the Online Store is getting a makeover and from what I have seen of it, I think you will be pleased! When you log in tomorrow to shop the new holiday mini after 7 AM Mountain Time (that’s 8 AM Central Time, 9 AM Eastern Time, and 6 AM Pacific Time) you will see the new look!

Your assignment for today, to get ready for the new Online Store website, is to either make sure you have your password written down or that you know it, OR click on the “Forgot My Password”. The first time you log into your Online Store account on the new website, the website won’t “remember” your password so you will have to enter it yourself. If you don’t KNOW what it is or have it written down in a super secret location, just click on the FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD link and follow the steps to get a new password. If you don’t receive the email soon after, check your SPAM folder in case it went there!

As you can see in the photo below, my password is encrypted so if I didn’t have it written down I might not remember exactly what it is. Since the store will essentially be a new website, you have to sign in yourself the first time. You will have to type in your password yourself.

If you are doing this today, Aug. 3rd, you CAN also sign into your account as it is today, then click on “My Account” in the upper right corner. Scroll down a tiny bit to MY ACCOUNT, then click on the tab for EMAIL/PASSWORD and change it in there. Be sure to click to SAVE changes! Then WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD. The first time you log in to the new store you will have to put in your password yourself so you have to know what it is. If you need help, let me know!

IF you have bookmarked the Online Store, your bookmark might not work tomorrow (or maybe it will?).

If you have previously chosen me as your Demonstrator, I think it still should show me as your Demonstrator. If not, you have an opportunity to choose me as your Demonstrator. Or if you clicked on a product link on my blog to my Online Store, it should show me as your Demonstrator. In any case, you might want to check that you see my name on your Store page.

If you are new to shopping online at Stampin’ Up, during the ordering process you will have a chance to choose a Demonstrator. You can look up a name or search by location. Here is my name: Karen Fontinelle #54345 Houston, TX

If you just want to check out as a Guest, Stampin’ Up! will assign a Demonstrator near your location just for that one order, as all orders go through a Demonstrator, but I think you can choose if you want any further contact from that Demonstrator or not.

There are some great new features coming in the new Online Store! Product photos will be bigger, you can sort in various categories, like color or price, you can mark Favorites, you can even have a Wish List that you could share with someone! I think it will be pretty intuitive and I think we will like it!

The main hurdle will be knowing your password in order to sign in since it will be a new website and your browser will not recognize it like it does most websites you frequent. Just so you remember to do it and save yourself the hassle later, either check what your current password is so you can log in or click on the Forgot Password button and then change it. This also might be a good time while you are in your account, to make sure your address is up-to-date as I can not go into your online account to change any of your information and you don’t want your order going to the wrong location!

You are welcome to call Stampin’ Up! as well if you need help. 1-800-STAMP-UP You probably should expect phone lines to be jammed tomorrow, however, with the new website and new catalog!!

ALSO….BONUS DAYS!! TODAY, August 3rd, is actually the LAST DAY to order and receive $5 bonus coupons to use in August. I may have said July 31 was the last day but then I remembered it did run through August 3rd! For every $50 you spend during Bonus Days, you will receive a $5 Bonus Coupon to spend on an order in August.

The new Holiday Catalog, the August-December Mini, begins tomorrow so get your list ready!! If you are new and interested in Stampin’ Up! products and would like a complimentary catalog (or even the Annual Catalog as well), I would be happy to be your Demonstrator and send copies to you! Just send your contact information to me at Karen@Karenstamps.com.

I hope you are as excited for tomorrow as I am! The Holiday Catalog is jam-packed with products! The link to that catalog will go up tomorrow plus, of course, you will see the products in the new Online Store!

Let me know if you have any questions about the new Online Store or Holiday Catalog! Thanks for shopping with me!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card

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If the designer paper on this card looks familiar, it’s because it was in the Holiday Mini Catalog last year! This paper and the stamp set was carried over as were a few other products from last year into the upcoming August-December 2020 Mini Catalog. I had too many ideas in my head with too many new things and couldn’t think of a single card to make so I looked at the new holiday catalog and “got inspiration” for this Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card on page 19. And then I changed it up a little bit!

The card base is Pretty Peacock, one of the 2019-2021 In Colors. Then I used this striped pattern of the beautiful Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (150429) for the card layer. I only left a 1/8″ margin around the edge of the card.

The focal point of the card is this Very Vanilla layer stamped with images from the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set, also on page 19. I stamped the holly leaves in Memento Ink and colored them with Stampin’ Blends markers. I used Granny Apple Green with a touch of Daffodil Delight first on the leaves and a little bit of Mossy Meadow to draw over the leaf veins. The berries are Real Red, of course!

The greeting is stamped in Real Red Ink and die cut with the Tasteful Labels Dies. I loved the circle die in this set. After it cuts out the circle with the pretty edge, there is also a pretty edge left on the paper you cut the circle out of. I cut out another circle out of Real Red to layer behind the greeting, off center since it is the same size as the greeting.

Before I adhered the greeting to the Very Vanilla panel, I thought it needed a little something more so I used the stamp with tiny dots and stamped that randomly in Mossy Meadow. I added a piece of Real Red 3/8″ Double-Stitched Satin Ribbon folded over so it sticks out behind both sides of the greeting and layer. I popped up this greeting with Stampin’ Dimensionals®. I think it would also be fun to spritz the card with Champagne Mist Glimmer Paint in a Spritzer. I might try that if I make some more of this design!

After you get your new Holiday Catalog products and you make a Christmas card you really like, you might want to make maybe 5 cards and then you’ll have five cards made real easily and you can still make multiples of other designs! I usually like to make several different designs of cards!

On the inside of the card you will want to put a Very Vanilla layer since the card itself is a dark color. You can stamp a greeting for the inside of the card or use a strip of the designer paper or stamp one of the ornaments from the stamp set. You could also stamp an ornament on the envelope while you have everything out!

Don’t forget to use the wonderful Stampin’ Up! catalogs for inspiration! Copy exactly or change it up if you get a slightly different idea.

The August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (otherwise known as the Holiday Mini!) goes live Tuesday, August 4th! If you don’t have a copy you will be able to view it online on that day or just see all the products in the Online Store! If you already have this designer paper and stamp set from last year, you can duplicate this Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card right now!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card Closeup

Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card

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The plaid paper on this Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card is coming soon in the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog on August 4th. Now when I first saw it in the holiday catalog, I wasn’t too thrilled and might have passed it up. I did notice it could be used for Christmas, fall, or Halloween and probably other things but I wasn’t that excited about it. But I did order it and when I opened the package, I just loved the paper!!

The Plaid Tidings 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper package has all kinds of plaids in it. There is a long list of coordinating colors! Although we might think of it as holiday paper, whether for Christmas or the oranges for Halloween, Fall, or Thanksgiving, I decided to use a sheet for a birthday card. While it could be for anyone, the plaid gives it a masculine look in this case and we’re always looking for things that work well for masculine cards for the men in our lives. The red on this paper is Cherry Cobbler and the green might be Shaded Spruce or Mossy Meadow. I wasn’t sure!

The card base is Cherry Cobbler and the red and green plaid paper is adhered to that. The greeting is from the Many Mates Stamp Set. It is stamped in black Memento Ink. It’s an outline stamp and you can leave it as is or in this case I colored in the letters. I used my Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow Stampin’ Blends markers.

I stamped the greeting on Whisper White and die cut it with the Stitched Nested Labels Dies . Then I made layers with the same dies out of Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow.

Due to not having the right colors of ribbon, I decided to just use some 1/4″ strips of cardstock scraps for tails hanging from the bottom of the greeting panel. I even cut the little bitty flagged ends with my Paper Snips. You could use more or less strips. I started thinking three would be good and ended up with five! After adhering the strips on the back of the layers with our new Stampin’ Seal Adhesive, I popped the whole thing up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®. Even then I wanted another little something, so I used two gold Metallic Pearls.

This is actually a pretty easy card to make! If you didn’t have the particular dies, you could use rectangles or ovals or circles or even just cut rectangle layers. Just stamp a greeting and choose your favorite plaid paper for the occasion!

You’ll find the Plaid Tidings Designer Paper in the Holiday Catalog, now known as the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog on page 57. I think you will be surprised how much you like this paper and how often you can use it for your projects, like this Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card.

Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card

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This was one of those times that I absolutely didn’t know what to make for a card so finally I remembered my own advice when you need inspiration and looked in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog! I found cards somewhat like this Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card that I eventually came up with, keeping it simple and just stamping! The catalog sample cards had other cardstock on the side and a fancier greeting, but once I got going on this card I was happy with it!

I decided to make my poppies Calypso Coral so I chose Calypso Coral Cardstock for the card base. I thought about adding a layer of Pear Pizzazz Cardstock to match the leaves, but I didn’t.

I used the “blob” stamp in the Painted Poppies Stamp Set to stamp the color for all the flowers. I inked up the stamp with Calypso Coral, then stamped it lightly on scrap paper to take off some of the ink so the stamped image would be lighter. Then I stamped over these color “blobs” with the two different outline poppy stamps in black. As you can see, this method and the shapes of the stamps makes it imperfect. But that’s okay! The flowers look artsy! I even fit in an extra poppy that is not exactly over the color and it all still looks okay!

Then I did the same thing with leaves. You can do it either way. I stamped the leaf outline in black and then stamped over that with Pear Pizzazz ink with the kind of dotty image in the stamp set. Again, it all doesn’t match up perfectly but that’s how it is supposed to be. If you want the perfect look then you would stamp the outline image and then color in.

The greeting is from the Many Mates Stamp Set. This is a great new stamp set with common messages you will want to use in different fonts and designs. Some of the sentiments will be good for using inside the card or as kind of a sub-greeting on the front of the card. I think this will be a favorite stamp set for greetings.

This card is “just stamping” which is nice to do sometimes! No die-cutting, no embossing, no embellishments. Those are all good things but when you are just starting up and you only have limited supplies, it’s good to know you can make pretty cards with just stamps, ink, and paper like this Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card.

REMINDER: TODAY and TOMORROW!! Last two days for Bonus Days! With every $50 you spend in July you will receive a coupon code to spend on your orders in August. Stampin’ Up! will send you an email with the coupon codes so be sure to watch for it, look in your spam folder if you don’t get it, or contact Stampin’ Up! Make sure your email is correct with Stampin’ Up!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag

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There is a fun stamp set in the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog that I just had to order and enjoyed making this Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag for you. I think a lot of people might overlook this stamp set just paging through the catalog. I certainly did until I noticed it in a video. When I went back and looked at it closely, I saw it had funny and cute sayings for the holidays. There was even a saying I had seen at a craft show years ago, wrote down, and still have on a small piece of paper in my stash! So how could I resist this stamp set?!

Just to give you a sneak peek before the mini catalog goes live on Tuesday, August 4th, I made this little tag with one of the funny sayings from the Don’t Stop Believin’ Stamp Set (153332). It would also make a cute card, of course!

The tag is made of Crumb Cake Cardstock since we are talking about hot cocoa. The top is punched with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. The Frosty the Snowman image is stamped on Whisper White Cardstock along with the saying. I colored the melted snowman with just a few Stampin’ Blends in the tiny spaces. For a little extra, I added some Snowflake Sequins (150443) with tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. You may remember the Snowflake Sequins from last year’s Holiday Catalog and if you already have them from last year you are ahead of the game. It’s great that they are returning to this year’s holiday catalog because you can re-stock for this year’s fun projects!

August 4th is coming soon, next week! In the meantime, I want to remind you that we are in the last few days of July Bonus Days! With every $50 you spend on a Stampin’ Up! order until July 31, you will receive by email a coupon code to spend in August. These will significantly help with the cost of your holiday order in August! Stock up in July on some essentials or new products from the Annual Catalog and then you’ll have coupons to spend in August! The Holiday Catalog is jam-packed with products and a few returning favorites from last year.

I just got some more copies of the Holiday Catalog so if you are in need of either the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog and/or the August-December 2020 Mini Catalog (Holiday Mini), send me your contact information if you are interested in being a Stampin’ Up! customer and I’ll mail you complimentary copies.

Perhaps this Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag will tickle your funny bone a little and also cause you to look closely at all the stamp sets in the catalog because you never know what you might find!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE!

Stamping With Karen

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Blossoms In Bloom You Are Special Card

Last Day to Join Paper Pumpkin!

Prized Peony All-Occasion Square Card

Ghoulish Goodies Halloween Clear Tiny Treat Box

Gilded Autumn Fall Thanks Card

Poinsettia Petals Merry Christmas Card

Don’t Forget About Paper Pumpkin!

New Holiday Catalog Today and New Online Store!

Coming Soon! Tomorrow! New Look to the Online Store!

Christmas Gleaming Deck the Halls Holly Card

Masculine Plaid Tidings Birthday Card

Easy Stamped Painted Poppies Thinking of You Card

Frosty the Snowman Christmas Tag