A host of little packages from the Hostess Club

Posted on December 20, 2012 by mauistamper

I’m part of a group that meets once a month to stamp, share stories, and laugh. It’s my job to bring the projects; they bring the orders and take turns sharing the benefits that Stampin’ Up! offers to hostesses. The core of the group has remained the same for years, and members rotate in and out.

We met early last week so that we could have a little Holy Spirit potluck before we stamped. (That’s what I call it – it’s real potluck – bring what the Holy Spirit inspires!) There were quite a few little goodies that appeared as well, and I thought I would share them in case you were looking for a little last minute inspiration:

Maui Stamper Gen's Noel tag

Gen’s cute tag embellished a bag of Princess Tea Cakes. I’ve heard them called a lot of other things, but usually it’s after the fact: they never last long around this Cookie Monster.

Maui Stamper Vicki's Ornament Flower box Vicki's Ornament Flower box

Vicki covered this box with DSP and made a flower with the Ornament Framelits and Boho punch. She had amazing home made chocolates inside the box. They lasted about an hour longer than the Princess Tea Cookies.

Maui Stamper Peggy's Treat bag

Peggy created these cute little treat bags with the Festival of Prints paper and filled them with Hershey Nuggets. She always has such attention to detail!

Maui Stamper Peggy's Treat Bag

I still have a stash of those little jingle bells too, but I’m not sharing…

Maui Stamper Robbie's Punch Art Santa

Robbie made this adorable punch art Santa topper for our skinny treat bags and filled them with red and green m&m candies. I don’t know about you, but if I had made these I would be unable to account for all of the yellow, orange, blue and brown m&ms that may or may not have been in the bag. And I would definitely not have the patience to stack them all in such perfect order.

Maui Stamper Hershey Nuggets Naughty and Nice

Rumor has it that Peggy slipped these in too – I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I’m impressed with people who can keep all of that chocolate in their stamp room and actually have some left to create a project.

If you’re looking for a last minute idea, I hope this gives you a little inspiration!

Need a few Christmas cards – yesterday??

Posted on December 18, 2012 by mauistamper

A quick card for the last week before Christmas:

Maui Stamper Merry and Bright

Merry and Type stamp set
Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla card stock
Be of Good Cheer Designer Series paper
Champagne Glimmer paper
Cherry Cobbler FFIP
Decorative Label punch
Big Shot and Petals-a-plenty TIEF
Gold Brads
Stampin’ Sponges
Stampin’ Dimensionals

MerryandBrightwm

Funny, I wasn’t a big fan of Merry and Type when it came out, but it has decidedly grown on me. Love the font and the different messages. Peace on Earth fits nicely on this card too.

PeaceonEarthwm

My son (the college freshman!) arrived home on Saturday night. We picked up a couple of his friends on the way home from the airport (literally) and my house has been full of teenagers ever since. Love it!!

RemARKable Stampers Affection Collection Blog Tour

Posted on December 8, 2012 by mauistamper

Hello there friends! Thanks for taking time from your busy day to share a little Affection with us. Welcome to the Valley Isle, where the weather outside is…delightful!

I’m taking you forward today to springtime holidays. Affection Collection is well suited to Valentines Day, but I chose to focus on how well it works for bridal showers and weddings, and specifically how it works for small cards. These are 3″ squares, and I used my favorite color combo – Marina Mist and Lucky Limeade:

This image is easy to align with the ever-faithful Stamp-a-ma-jig. Punch the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes with the Modern Label punch, add a couple of pearls, and tie on some Lucky Limeade Bakers twine for a finishing touch.

For a little love note, how about a heart on wings?

We’ve gotten awfully spoiled with Framelits, but the truth is I actually pulled out my snips and cut this winged heart out BY HAND. Yes. Believe it. And didn’t I do a lovely job?

There’s some Vanilla Smooch Spritz , Crystal Effects, and yes, even Dazzling Diamonds to add some sparkle. I had the ceiling fan running (yes, it’s that warm) when I took the Dazzling Diamonds out of the secure vault and opened the jar — oopsie, that was exciting! Off with the fan and then a very careful drizzling of those Diamonds to keep the peace. Mr. Maui Stamper does not like glitter, and those Dazzling Diamonds have a mind of their own.

I think this is my favorite of these three little gift cards. The little flags are hand cut (but hint, hint, not for long!! The Spring Catalog is coming soon!) and attached with dimensionals. That little bit of Marina Mist 1/8″ taffeta is threaded through tiny 1/16″ holes and knotted, and I promise you it was much easier than it sounds. A little bit of bling finishes off this love note:

Affection Collection in wood #127946 $29.95
Affection Collection in clear #127949 $21.95
Whisper White Mini Square Envelopes #107309 $7.50

This is a Holiday Catalog stamp set that will NOT carry forward, so you have until January 2, 2013 to make it yours.

Click on the RemARKable Badge below to see what the ever talented Robin Merriman has in store for you.

A cold is NOT good for Mojo

Posted on December 6, 2012 by mauistamper

I went and saw the good Doctor today for help with my various and sundry symptoms…since it’s a cold there’s not much he can do, but he did give me a couple of magic potions. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this lethargic!

The RemARKable Blog Tour is rolling around again this weekend – check in on Sunday for loads of inspiration using the Affection Collection stamp set! The RemARKable stampers are an amazingly talented lot.
Since I’ve been under the weather and without my mojo, I’m sharing a couple of projects from my tag class:

Very simple almost one layer tag using the ornaments image from Merry and Type. I stamped in Midnight Muse, stamped separately a second time in Marina Mist and cut out that second image to pop up on a dimensional. Yes, CUT OUT – sorry, no framelit for this one! I am getting spoiled.

Each ornament has a few strokes of Champagne Mist Shimmer paint, and the Marina Mist popped up ornament has an inset cut (again!!) from the Silver Glimmer paper. The tab on the top is designed to go over the neck of a bottle – very easy!

This is my favorite “Go To” tag from the Two Tags Bigz die – just a scallop circle and a gingerbread man – a few pearls – and you’re done!

These tags are part of my tag class next week – let me know if you would like to join us!

THE Ornament – made easy!

Posted on December 4, 2012 by mauistamper

Did you admire the ornament on the front of the Holiday catalog? I certainly did – but my efforts at duplicating it were less than stellar. I got distracted before I made enough pieces, and it needed more glitter than I could justify in the Glitter Free Zone (GFZ) imposed by Mr. Maui Stamper.

However, there’s help! Stampin’ Up! has packaged a kit to make 10 beautiful ornaments – enough for a tree-full, or perhaps an office full of gift bags – for $14.95. All you need to add is adhesive (and if you don’t live in a GFZ) Dazzling Diamonds or Glass Glitter. Skip on over to the Online store because these are in limited supply!

Ornamental Elegance kit #132832 $14.95
Anywhere Glue sticks #104045 $3.95
Dazzling Diamonds #102023 $4.50
Glass Glitter Champagne #120997 $3.95
Glass Glitter Silver #120995 $3.95
Coordinating Stamp Set Keepsake Ornaments wood #128048 $34.95
Coordinating Stamp Set Keepsake Ornaments clear #128051 $25.95

{EDIT: You only need the Ornamental Elegance kit and some adhesive to create the ornament – the rest of the products are suggestions if you want to take the “More is More” road!)

If you are using Glitter I recommend Tombo the Wonder Adhesive #110755 $3.95

I was on the North Shore Oahu for the weekend for an event with Mr Maui Stamper and his co-workers. It was a GORGEOUS location but I was allergic to something in bloom and by yesterday I knew I was going to pay the price. Got up this morning with an outrageous cold and have spent the better part of the day in bed doing nothing. Captain Stupidhead is pleased that I have finally seen the light.

Quick tags

Posted on December 1, 2012 by mauistamper

This time of year I have a lot of fun making tags. I always need a bunch of them, they can be just about any shape and size, and they generally go together pretty quickly. Here are a couple of the tags we’ll be making in class next week:

Both of these tags used the Two Tags Bigz die. Want to join us making tags? Contact me to register for class Sunday December 9 or Monday December 10.

It’s all in the packaging…

Posted on November 29, 2012 by mauistamper

Don’t you love getting a gift? And if you’re anything like me, don’t you love getting a gift – in a cute package??

But cute packages take time, and planning, and lots of other things that are in short supply this time of year. Fortunately, Stampin’ Up! has a solution:

These two collections are perfect to have on hand for that Sure-to-Delight package! Order these at the Online Store. I’m stocking up myself because 2012 has been the Year of the Airplane in the Maui Stamper Household, and there just isn’t enough time to do all the things on my list!

Our latest flight was to beautiful Sedona, where we spent time with my family. My parents have invited us to join them at their timeshare for years, but this was the first time it was practical. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend that went by too quickly, but I’m so glad we went. In addition to lots of great time with the family – and great food too – we had beautiful weather that was perfect for exploring. The sky was amazingly clear and blue, and the sun was brilliant. We watched a lot of planes fly high overhead, leaving beautiful trails in the sky:

The moon wasn’t quite full, but it was visible in the late afternoon sky; the red rocks, the scrubby vegetation, and that brilliant blue sky created such a stunning contrast:

We stopped for a late afternoon visit at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, pressed tightly into the cliffs:

The chapel interior is extremely simple but has a powerful grace:

And didn’t I do a fabulous job of color-coordination? We hiked the Courthouse Butte Loop the afternoon before we flew home:

I’ll be back to Stampin’ next time.

Shoppin’ in your jammies

Posted on November 24, 2012 by mauistamper

The sales, crowds and parking lots driving you mad? When you make your list and check it twice, I hope you’ll remember the small businesses in your area. Yes, some of us have an online presence, but we are small business owners just the same! Attention to detail and personal service are what set us apart. Experience the difference a relationship can make!

If you’re looking for something fun and simple for a holiday gift, I have an idea for you. I sold a bunch of these last weekend at our craft fair. Some of the Designer Series papers that are pictured are retired, but the concept is the same:

Pull off the belly band and you can see this isn’t much more than some card stock, some Designer Series paper and some stamps:

You probably have most of these items in your stash right now…or you can pop on over to the Online Store and in a couple of minutes you’ll have them winging their way to your craft room.

Here’s the final expansion! Perfect for a few photos and thoughts for someone special who isn’t able to join you for Christmas, and easily adaptable to other events with a quick switch of color scheme and images. Think new baby, wedding, graduation, retirement – and it would be easy enough to tuck a gift card or two into these pages for a special birthday gift! These go together very easily – you could have a handful done this evening.

Grateful.

Posted on November 22, 2012 by mauistamper

It’s a life task to be grateful for all that I have, and all that I do not have – sometimes the not having is the greater blessing. Gratitude IS an attitude. It requires constant awareness, an acute sense of perspective, and humility.

Today I am grateful for many things, great and small, but especially for my family. Many of us are together today in the visual feast that is Sedona, and it is a gift to be here. I am missing my beautiful first-born daughter and her fiance who are a half-world away, and I am grateful for skype and viber and all of the amazing devices that bring them closer to us.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

Did you shop yet?

Posted on November 19, 2012 by mauistamper

Oh, I hope you got some sweet deals yesterday! There are still lots of great bargains – check it out!

I had a great time at the craft fair – thanks to everyone who came, said hello, and especially to those of you who shopped! Believe me – if I can make it, you can make it – and I can show you how!

Here’s one of my projects:

I was inspired by Pinterest (the Black Hole of the Internet, I am constantly getting lost here). I used My Digital Studio to design the message, then printed the sheet and cut each one out with framelits and embellished! The whisks are filled with individually packaged cookies and slipped into our Gusseted bags (found iin the Holiday Catalog) – they’re a perfect fit! I did a set in reds and greens, too: