Kit-Tastic Christmas

Posted on October 10, 2015 by mauistamper

Have you looked at the kits in the Holiday catalog? I mean really looked?

This is my favorite kit:

These tags (#139602, $21.00 for 30 tags) are CUTE and the stamp set (sold separately #140386 $21.00) is one of those Holiday Keepers that you will pull out year after year. I put them together myself:

Don’t you love my tree? I bought it a few years ago after Christmas on clearance and I use it for everything. You’ve got to act quickly when you see something great like this on Maui – it doesn’t last! There are birds 🙂

I mean, seriously – Holly, Happy Christmas (so Aussie!) and a BELL???

There are To: and From: stamps for the back of the tags – this kit has everything!

That big ol’ glitter snowflake is ah-mazing. And there are three in each kit – thirty tags, three each of 10 designs. It’s well worth the cost of the kit and the stamps to do at home.

However, Crystal and I will have stations to complete sets of tags and the shaker cards below at our annual Christmas Festivities on November 14th. Sign up early!! You can choose tags in sets of 10 (one each of 10 different designs) and/or cards in sets of 3 (one each of 3 different designs). You can even select multiples of each of our sets – for example, two sets of tag kits to make 20 tags. Don’t wait to sign up!

This is To You and Yours, a Shaker card kit that makes 18 cards. (#139647, $24.00) These are charming, eye-catching, and as fun to send as to receive.

This gorgeous wreath can be updated for Halloween, Autumn/Thanksgiving, and Christmas – and that’s just using the included pieces. Imagine Valentines decorations, Easter Eggs, Spring flowers – the list goes on. (Season to Season Wreath, #139645, $27.00)

We won’t be offering that as part of our Kit-Tastic-Christmas, but if you have a group of friends that wants to get together and assemble these, let me know and we will set a date!

Sign up for class projects by November 1st. Make all 10 Oh What Fun Tags (one of each design) for $12, or make 3 To You and Yours Shaker cards for $9 (again, one of each). Or make them both! Or make multiples of your favorite. It’s up to you.

Saturday, November 14, 2015
9am until 2pm Open House Style
Kihei Charter High School

Maui Stampers and Friends MADE ON MAUI Craft Fair

Posted on November 21, 2014 by mauistamper

Maui Stampers & Friends Christmas Craft Fair – all MADE ON MAUI

Christmas decor, gifts, cards, baked goods, embroidered linens, jewelry – all this and more! Tomorrow – Saturday – 9am until 2pm – Maui Masonic Lodge at 190 W. Kamehameha. Hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2013 by mauistamper

Each of my nativity sets holds a special place in my heart, but I’m especially fond of these figures hand made in Puerto Rico:

In the Puerto Rican culture, these are called Santos. Mr. Maui Stamper and I were in San Juan many years ago, and I looked at a lot of Santos before choosing mine.

The Magi were the hardest for me to select. There were so many colors and postures, and if you know me at all, you know I have a terrible time narrowing things down. I’m sure the people in the small shop wondered what I was doing, turning all the Magi this way and that.

This trio finally persuaded me that they should come home with me.

The faces on the ox and the ass look so patient, and I fell in love with the horns on the ox – they were part of the set and there was no doubt in my mind that they belonged!

This is one of the few Nativities that I have where the baby Jesus is actually proportional to his mother. The faces on Mary and Joseph are so serious, although I think that’s because these are relatively small, simply carved figures – there isn’t a lot of room for expression.

Displaying and sharing these simple scenes from all parts of the worlds helps to remind me of the universality of faith. There are so many ways we are different, but the belief in a loving and merciful God transcends those differences. When it seems that we just can’t get along, that peace is impossible, I remember that one Child changed the world.

Peace be to you and to yours this Christmas.

For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:11-12

A RemARKable Ending to World Card Making Day

Posted on October 6, 2012 by mauistamper

Well, my blog-hopping friends, we’ve reached the last moments of World Card Making Day – at least on the East Coast. Here in Hawaii, it’s time for pupu and a glass of wine, and Mr. Maui Stamper and I are heading over to the beach with our picnic basket for the sunset. I’m sure to lift my glass to all of you!! Thanks for sharing this day with all of us.

I left the neutrals for last because after my favorite blue + green combo, I love a neutral card. Granted, I often use an neutral palette to set of a pop! of color – Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist – but by themselves I find the neutrals very elegant. Tell me what you think:

Have you tried our new Core’dinations card stock yet? Hie thee off to thine own Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and order thyself some of this paper of the kings!! It is royally fabulous! And that tulle is pretty sweet too, and it sticketh to sticky strip quite welleth! (OK. Enough of that nonsense.)

There’s a little 3/4 inch circle of Early Espresso cardstock behind that Vintage Faceted Button to give it depth.

Black and white is classic, but black with Very Vanilla is just splendid – like deep, dark chocolate hot fudge with rich vanilla bean ice cream (did I send you off to the freezer there? Sorry ’bout that!) Our First Edition Specialty paper is one of my stamp room staples; it’s flexible enough for nearly any card-making situation.

Although the Neutral color family lends itself well to luxurious, elaborate cards, it certainly works well with other styles. This is about as close as I get to a Clean and Simple card, and I’m pretty sure that sparkly star at the top disqualifies me from the genre.

That’s my last card for this hop – or as Mr Maui Stamper called it the other day, the Blog Parade. We are all very grateful for each of you taking the time to hop, skip, jump and parade through our posts. If we’ve done our job well, you are inspired; perhaps you’ve left a comment or two, or pinned a few samples to your Pinterest board for later study. I’ll be reviewing some of these projects over the next couple of weeks with a little more detail – if there’s one you’d especially like to see featured, just leave a comment.

A hui hou…until we meet again.

So RemARKable! A Brights World Card Making Day

Posted on October 6, 2012 by mauistamper

So glad you came back for more… at post time, it’s midnight in Hawaii, but you East Coast early risers are greeting the sun! A special shout out to all the crazy all-night crafters at the RemARKably Hot Retreat this weekend 🙂

Choosing a favorite color family is out of the question, but the Brights are easy and fun to work with. Face it – they’re like opening that fresh box of Crayolas on the first day of school, all shiny with their perfectly shaped crayon tops and intoxicating with that special waxy-Crayola smell. Brights inspire me in the same way – fresh and lively!

Wouldn’t this card brighten up your birthday? I’ve made a special effort to see that ALMOST every card in today’s blog hop can be popped into a (Stampin’ Up!) envelope and mailed without extra postage. There are a couple of exceptions, but with rules, as I said in my first post, I make ’em, I break ’em! The Brights just don’t seem to have any bad color combinations.

That being said, there MAY be some color combinations meant only for Very Special Friends. Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo sound like dancing words…or cocktails…or a dance you do while drinking (plenty!) cocktails!! Life’s too short, and to quote my son “YOLO, Mom – You Only Live Once”. Sounds good to me.

I struggled with a place to put a nice “Merry Christmas” on this card, but friends, if this doesn’t say it out loud I don’t know what would! I assure you I stamped a greeting on the inside – and the insides of these cards will be part of the follow-up posts later this week – but who could argue with ornaments on a tree? Not this girl!

Do you feel brightened up? My Maui friends are up past their bedtimes, my Easties are greeting the day, and the Westies – well, I’m guessing most of you are sound asleep. Bright Dreams!

Now head on over to see what Stampin’ Riri has in store for you…

It’s RemARKable!! An In-Color World Card Making Day

Posted on October 5, 2012 by mauistamper

Aloha, and welcome to Maui! You’ve reached the western-most destination on today’s World Card Making Day RemARKable Blog Hop!! (Go ahead – say that 5 times!!!) I’m happy to be part of this adventure and hope you’ll enjoy all the fabulous cards the talented RemARKable artists have created.

There will be FIVE posts today in honor of WCMD, so be sure you check in throughout the day. The posts aren’t going anywhere, so if you want to come back and browse we hope you will. Be sure you leave these hard-working bloggers a little bloggin’ love – we appreciate each and every one of your comments so much.

I think I’ve found a fun way to organize my posts – we’ll explore one of the Stampin’ Up! color families each round. I’ve packed a lot into each post, so if you’re looking for specifics on each card, check back later this week. I’ll start with the most popular, so be sure and “vote” for yours!

Let’s get started with the 2012-2014 In Color Collection – Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple:

Love that Patio Party Designer Series paper and I will tell you right now that it was a struggle not to use that Summer Silhouettes stamp set for EVERY SINGLE POST. My absolute fave! This is definitely a card for that girlfriend who lives out loud!!

I’ll confess that I wasn’t a big fan of this particular crop of In Colors until I started to play with them, but I’m a convert now! Oh, Summer Starfruit! I apologize for saying you looked like – well, I don’t want to share the exact words I used but it wasn’t pretty! This not-quite-yellow, not-really-green hue is a natural companion to loads of combinations, but especially my favorite blues and greens. The versatiity of this color caught me completely by surprise and once again I must admit I was wrong to judge a book by it’s cover.

Gotta have some bling on a Christmas card, don’t we?? Our latest glimmer paper is Champagne (ooh, just the word makes me think party!) Love that sparkle – and just for good measure, I added some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint AND a couple of rhinestone jewels.

The Watercolor Winter set in our Holiday Catalog is my favorite of all the Christmas sets. I’m a poinsettia girl, and they grow – and bloom – all over in the islands. Not at my house, of course – I grow bugs on plants much more successfully than the plants themselves – but I catch my breath when I come around the corner on certain roads and see an entire poinsettia hedge blazing in red on the side of the road.

And yes, for you eagle-eyed, rules-checking blog readers, I DID use Early Espresso and Crumb Cake on that card. It had to be done. And she who makes the rules gets to break them too.

All right!! Hele on (get going) to see what Maria has in store for you! Mahalo for stopping by, and see you back in 6 hours 🙂

Embossing, Blinging, and the Big Shot

Posted on September 9, 2012 by mauistamper

Honestly, I am surrounded by such creative people! At our team meeting this past week, Peggy not only prepared delicious treats for us, she had a paper treat too:

This is Gumball Green and Real Red but looking at that goofy photo you would never believe it.

We embossed, we blinged, we stamped and punched and ran things through the Big Shot! Peggy had stamped those tiny red bows ahead of time and painted each one with Crystal Effects so that it would be shiny. Her “paint brush” was a TOOTH PICK. I’m telling you, this woman is amazing!

The stamp set is Joyous Celebrations and we had a very joyful time putting this together.

Don’t forget you can get that Gumball Green ribbon for FREE with your $40 order! Click for details!

One last look

Posted on December 28, 2010 by mauistamper

Who doesn’t love to get a Christmas card? I enjoy them all – store bought, hand-made, with or without letters and photos. When the first one arrives (usually just after Thanksgiving) I make a mental note to bump the process up on my To Do List. (List does not accurately describe this document, but that’s a topic for another day.) Christmas cards are on my mind earlier and earlier each just simply because of the logistics involved in getting everyone together in the same place at the same time…and all in the mood to have a photo taken. Do you all have families like this? Next year I’m doing a card in My Digital Studio where I can create my own photo collage and enbellish it.

I have a few cards that I’d like to share with you just because they are hand-made. It is a special pleasure for me to see that A4 envelope in the mail and know someone has made a card just for me. Look at these:

Don’t you love these colors? I was a Color Consultant for this card so I’m particularly happy to have received one of the finished product.

I LOVE the Seam Binding ribbon on this card, particularly because it flattens completely and doesn’t create any USPS mailing issues.

This was a complete surprise, received from a friend I initially met online. She put so much work into this card – texture from the Big Shot, gold embossing, and hand coloring – a real work of love.

How could you possibly feel Grinchy if you got this card in the mail? Everything about it is indeed Very Merry.

The combination of these fresh greens and the soft leaves give this card a peaceful feeling that I find really appealing this time of year. I think I’ve run too many errands, wrapped too many packages, and perhaps eaten a few Christmas cookies too many.

Happy Fourth day of Christmas – Four Calling Birds!!

Wait! Don’t toss those cards…

Posted on January 1, 2010 by mauistamper

Re-use, reduce, recycle.

If you love paper and paper crafts, then it’s likely you save old cards – even commercially printed cards. I’m guilty as charged, and further guilty of saving pretty ribbons from Christmas packages as well. In the past, I’ve used a hand-held tag punch to create small gift tags, but this year I stepped it up.

I certainly hope you bought the Stampin’ Up! Two Tags Bigz die (#115954, $21.95) when it was on sale during the 12 Days of Holiday Sales promotion, because that’s what I used to make these tags. A stack of old cards, a pile of Christmas ribbon and about half an hour with the Big Shot yielded a bunch of tags ready for duty next year. Here’s a closer look:

To encourage my family to wrap their own packages, I have gift wrap, ribbon and tags readily available around the first of December. The tags and some stamped gift card holders are in a basket and everyone knows it’s first come, first served – this year we ran short on the afternoon of the 24th! Getting a head start on next year’s tags avoids panic in December and keeps me from looking like a crazy bag lady when my family discovers packages of old cards stashed with the Christmas decorations. Be sure to check that there’s nothing written on the inside of your image; someone else’s message about their kid’s moment of glory at the band concert shouldn’t compete with “To Kimo, Love Tutu”.

I think there’s another stash of old cards somewhere. Off to crank out a few more tags. Re-use. Reduce. Recycle.

Happy New Year.

A Christmas reflection

Posted on December 25, 2009 by mauistamper

Peace be with you.

Whether you celebrate the birth of a poor Jewish boy who would become a Messiah, the arrival of a Jolly Old Elf by way of the rooftop, or simply a new dawn, I wish you peace this morning. In a complex world where we often focus on differences, perhaps today we can focus on our common humanity. If we recognize the things we share instead of those which divide us, we bring the dream of peace just a little closer to reality.

Each of us has the ability to make a positive difference in another person’s life. What may seem a small gesture can have a great impact. One of the greatest, wisest women of our time said it well:

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. Mother Theresa of Calcutta

Merry Christmas.

The Maui Stamper

papercrafts, my stories, and the occasional insight

Tag Archives: Christmas

Kit-Tastic Christmas

Maui Stampers and Friends MADE ON MAUI Craft Fair

Merry Christmas

A RemARKable Ending to World Card Making Day

So RemARKable! A Brights World Card Making Day

It’s RemARKable!! An In-Color World Card Making Day

Embossing, Blinging, and the Big Shot

One last look

Wait! Don’t toss those cards…

A Christmas reflection

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