The cutest little penguin

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Thanksgiving weekend I went to stamp camp at Cheryl’s:

Cheryl's penguin bag

 

Just look at this bag – the colors, the snowflake, and as Cheryl would say, that dang penguin!  Just LOOK at him!

The penguin tag

There.  Now you can really see him.  I had my contact in when I was coloring his scarf – looking at it this closely, I realize I should have put my glasses on.  I wear a single contact in one eye for reading – my left eye is my “reader” eye and my right eye is my “distance” eye.  It took a week or so, but amazingly enough my brain sorted it out and it works well – except for fine detail like coloring a little penguin scarf.  Then my brain says “whoa whoa whoa” and starts making the lines jump around like little drops of water in a hot frying pan.  Just in case you were wondering…

But what I really wanted to tell you was that it was absolutely luscious going someplace else and doing someone else’s projects.  I didn’t have to come up with ideas, order the supplies, and prep all the paper – I just showed up and stamped.  What a wonderful treat that was!

Test pattern combinations

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I got a couple of swaps at convention that used this fun layout:

Gift box card

This idea is easy to customize to any holiday or occasion.  I had a blast putting patterns together – kind of reminded me of the way my grandmother used to put outfits together as she got older.  We called her “test pattern Grandma”.  (You readers who are younger than dirt will have to ask an old person what a test pattern is.  Since I’m older than dirt, I already know.)

The best part is that this card opens up:

Gift box card opened

Don’t you love it?  And it is SO easy.  The bottom half of the card is a pocket, the top half a sliding panel.  I think you could put some Dotto on the card and attach a gift card.  I started pulling out all of my holiday Designer Series Paper scraps to see what else I could come up with:

Another gift box card!

This is just the size for all those pieces you saved because they were too big to throw away!  (I know – we’ve covered this before.  I’m not trying to make you feel badly, you know – I’m congratulating you for your frugality and helping you find a way to use those crazy pieces!!)

Now go make some test pattern cards of your own – and have fun with it!

Sizzix Edgelits Sneak Peak

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How about another little look at some new Occasions Mini goodies?

Sizzix Edgelits

Actually, this card uses both an Edgelit and an Embosslit – do  you see how perfectly they mirror each other?  The Edgelit cuts a perfect edge every time – I cut both the Garden Green and Whisper White cardstock and offset them.  The Embosslit created that raised line on the Garden Green cardstock, and a new stamp set provided the little dots – they match perfectly too!

Crafting in January is going to be a LOT of fun!

Kellie’s sparkly gift card holder

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Kellie sent a bunch of these to swap at our last demonstrator team meeting:

Kellie's sparkly gift card holder

Red and silver glimmer paper turn this simple idea into a holiday sparkler!  That’s the tag from the Sizzix Two Tags die, and cardstock has been folded and placed into the die inside of the cutting line to create a book-style tag that opens instead of a flat tag:

Kellie's tag opened up

We all loved this tag!  It was just enough thinking outside the box for all of us to do a face-palm and say “well, duh!”  I’m doing a lot of that right now.  The “well-duh” part of it, anyway.

Thanks for sending this to us Kellie – we miss you!

Sneakin’ a peak at Framelits

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My new Occasions Mini catalog demonstrator pre-order arrived almost a week ago and I have been so busy that most of my goodies have had to patiently wait in the studio.  One of the things I’m most excited about is a new product called Framelits.  I can’t show you the product itself, but I can show you what it can do!!

Sizzix Framelits labels

Don’t you love that shape?  I can see so many uses for this!  I put these together very quickly (remember, it’s been kinda busy around here) but even a quickie project gets a big boost from framelits!

Sizzix Framelits Labels

This is just a little bit of Designer Series Paper (Frostwood Lodge #124002) wrapped around a package of gum.  Because  was making a bunch of these, I used the Tasteful Trim die to mass produce strips of scallops.  A quick stamp, some shimmer paint bling and a couple of dimensionals and I was done!  A simple little gift for the holidays that doesn’t have any calories – and heaven knows, I could use a few more gifts like that!

Cheery holiday trees

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This is a case – maybe it was Robin Merriman, maybe not – but honestly, the past week I’ve been goin’ 178 miles an hour in a convertible with my hair on fire (please say that with your bestest deepest Southern accent, because that’s how I first heard it).  Here in the Stamper Household we are T minus 4 days from departure for the land down under.  I haven’t seen my oldest daughter for over a year, and I CAN’T WAIT.  I didn’t think we were ever going to get to this point!

Ah, but I do have a card to share:

Three Holiday Trees

Imagine how many different cards you could make with all of the fabulous holiday Designer Series Paper scraps you have in that scrap box of yours.  Yeah, you know the one.  It’s full of pieces that were too big to throw away, or that you just loved so much you couldn’t bring yourself to use, or that you can’t remember the name of any more and coordinating colors will be a wild guess.  It’s all okay – this is the perfect project!

I used the Perfect Pennants Bigz L die (# 123126 for $32.95, and you know you’ve been so good this year and worked so hard making everything Just Right for everyone else in the family – you deserve it, don’t you??) but you could cut triangles if you really wanted to.  I am terrible at cutting triangles.  Didn’t like geometry all that much anyway.  My triangles always come out catty-wompus (and of course that’s a word, if you read it right here on the World Wide Web, well, you KNOW that makes it a word!!).   Anyway, before I went on that little rant I meant to say that the Perfect Pennants die gives me – yep, you guessed it – perfect pennant shaped triangles every time.  No compass and slide rule required.  Hallelujah for that.

The other product you don’t want to miss on this card is Teeny Tiny Wishes.  (#115370 $36.95).  I’m feelin’ the Mom-thing here…if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times:  You need this stamp set.  Seriously.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

There’s some Smooch and some Glimmer Paper and some ribbon and bling here, too.  This card goes together faster than the reindeer a minute before sunrise and that is some fast my friends!  If you have procrastinated on putting together some cards to send to friends near and far, stack up some DSP on this die and get crankin’.    Just stay out of the convertible when your hair catches on fire.

Just a little bit of country

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I’m not a big fan of country – music, decor or otherwise – but a little bit never hurt anyone:

Country Pines and Poinettias

  • Pines and Poinsettias and Delightful Dozen stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Garden Green and Real Red card stock
  • Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series paper
  • Real Red Classic ink pad
  • Early Espresso, Garden Green and Real Red Stampin’ Write Markers
  • Big Shot and Perfect Pennants Bigz L die
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Dazzling Details

This card reminds me of my mother-in-law.  She loved things with a country feeling – her house was full of bunnies wearing glasses, big dried flower arrangements, and figurines of little girls carrying baskets.  I can just see her smile as she would show me her latest little girl, pointing out a charming detail and telling me something about the artist.

She REALLY loved Christmas, and her home was decorated from top to bottom.  She had two big trees, and a vignette in her kitchen window that lit and moved.  My father-in-law would put an enormous tree of lights on the roof of their house, and people would stop by just to say thanks for the lights.   And the food – I can’t begin to tell you about the food!  Oh, I miss the two of them.  I was richly blessed with wonderful in-laws.

And isn’t that what the holidays are all about?  To me, December means sharing our blessings and spending time with those we love…even if it’s just in our memories.   Let’s all make time for the important things!

 

 

Presenting…the 2011 Maui Stamper Snow Globe

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It’s become something of an annual tradition to create a snow globe card.  I enjoy the shift from linear to circular, the concept of vignette and the focus on Christmas.  This card was born from an “AHA!!” moment as I played with a new stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog:

  • Christ Child in the Woods Snow Globe
  • 25 and Counting, Pennant Parade and Pines and Poinsettias stamp sets
  • Whisper White, Brushed Gold and Always Artichoke card stock
  • Always Artichoke, Pear Pizazz and Daffodil Delight Classic ink pads
  • Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Always Artichoke and Early Espresso Stampin’ Write markers
  • Crumb Cake and Marina Mist Classic ink refills
  • Aquapainter
  • Petite Pennants Builder Punch
  • Big Shot and Clear Circle Bigz die
  • Real Red 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon
  • Tombo the Wonder Adhesive
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals
  • Fine Galaxy (gold) Stampin’ Glitter

If you happen to run into me out and about with Mr. Maui Stamper, please do not mention the glitter.  It was applied VERY VERY carefully while he was off-island.  The less said, the better!

If you would like to see previous Snow Globe cards  I’ve made it easy –

the card that started it all in 2009

Shimmery Pines also 2009

Frosty the Snow Globe Man from 2010

And if you would like the paper template to hand-cut your card, here you go!  The REALLY cool thing about this card is that it fits in our standard envelope and is designed to be 100% mail-worthy with no extra postage.

Ah, now it’s beginning to feel as though Christmas is on its way.

 

Sparkling Poinsettias

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Robin Merriman shared this beautiful Red Glimmer paper poinsettia and I thought it would make the perfect embellishment on the top of a gift box:

 

Glimmer Poinsetta Gift Box

The petals are made with the Blossom Petals Builder punch.  I layered cardstock on the top and sides and used the Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing folder to give the top layer a little dimension.  Dazzling Details added just a smidgen of sparkle to the flowers – it really didn’t take that long!

Underneath the button and tab is a self-stick Velcro closure.  The box stays closed very nicely on its own, but I wanted to put the tab on and I didn’t want it flappin’ around.  Here’s a look from the top:

Glimmer Poinsettia Gift Box top

A few gold brads and a dusting of gold glitter (shhhh, don’t tell!!) finish off this pretty Christmas flower.

Kisses from Santa

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This isn’t my original idea – it came from a fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.   Natalia Danko is one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet, and her little fat Santa jars are a perfect Christmas door prize:

 

Santa's kisses

Just a little bit of cardstock – Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White – but the thing that makes these Santas rock is that blingin’ belt buckle!  Let’s hear it for Silver Glimmer Paper!

These are easy as can be – just wrap the Real Red cardstock around the bottle and attach (I used Sticky Strip).  Next attach a narrow strip of Whisper White down the front (to cover the seam) and then wrap another thin strip of Basic Black around the middle.  Cut a square out of the Silver Glimmer paper and punch a smaller square of Basic Black cardstock to fit in the middle.  Stick ’em together with Glue Dots and then fill your jars with Kisses!  A little 1/4 inch grosgrain around the lid and a scallop circle on the top and you are finito!