Joy in a milk carton

Posted on November 17, 2010 by mauistamper

It’s that time of year when you need cute little gifty things. I had a stack of milk carton cut outs on my desk top that were begging to be used:

Delightful Decorations stamp set
Real Red and Whisper White card stock; Jolly Holiday Designer Series paper
Real Red Classic ink pad; Whisper White Craft ink pad
Ornament punch and Jewels Pearls
1/2 inch Library Clip (Clearance Rack had the Old Olive ones; Silver clips are current)
Whisper White 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon
Sticky Strip and Stampin’ Dimensionals
Big Shot and Milk Carton XL Bigz die

When the Milk Carton die first came out I found it challenging to assemble. I think that’s why this stack sat on my desk for a while, but the other day when I decided to put them together I found them really simple. I’m not sure what the hang up was, but the message is clear: If at first you don’t succeed, try again later! And this time use Sticky Strip.

These little bundles of joy are filled with Hershey Nuggets, but your favorite candy or other small treat would work equally well.

Christmas bags: Delightful Decorations

Posted on November 13, 2009 by mauistamper

Crystal and I offer a series of classes in the fall to inspired our customers for Christmas. Tomorrow we’re doing the last of the set – Christmas bags. Today you get a little sneak peak of one of those bags. It’s very, very easy, and we designed it to perfectly coordinate with THIS card.

Ornament_bag

Delightful Decorations and All Holidays Stamp sets
Whisper White, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry card stock
Old Olive, Bermuda Bay and Rich Razzleberry Classic ink pad
Ornament punch; Scallop Edge punch; 1/16″ hand held punch
Gold brad, Stampin Dimensional, 5/8″ Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Gold elastic cord
Purchased white bag and gold wired ribbon

I’m really pleased with all of the bags we’ve designed for this class. Maybe next year, you’ll plan your trip to Maui just right and be able to join us!

November, the month that gets cheated

Posted on November 2, 2009 by mauistamper

I love Christmas. It’s a wonderful family holiday, and for me as for many, it’s a holy season as well. I don’t like over-commercialization though, and it makes me crazy to hear Christmas music in stores in October.

(Quick diversion – my local Chico’s was playing Christmas music in early October, around the 7th or so. I commented to my friend who works there how much I objected to it and she suggested I send an email to corporate. I did, and received a nice reply – then learned a week later that my email was forwarded to all the stores and they took the music off!! WOO HOO!! A company that listens…what a concept.)

So, back to topic…Christmas is in December. And in my opinion, Christmas decorations and music belong in December. That would be AFTER Thanksgiving, one of the best holidays in the American calendar. But I am in the craft business, and everyone knows you cannot do all of your Christmas crafting in one month, especially when that one month is also crammed full of holiday parties, Christmas cookies, Christmas shopping and wrapping, school Christmas programs, Nutcrackers, Messiahs, Festivals of Trees, and the arrival of Santa in his Canoe (and yes, he does come in a Canoe, I have seen him myself). I’ve posted a few other Christmas cards, and starting today you’ll see a few more. You won’t see them every day, because this is the Thankful Month, but you’ll see enough.

All right, I’ll get off my soap box now. I do tend to rant and rave.

Kraft_Navy_Ornament

Delightful Decorations, All Holidays, and Snow Swirled Stamp sets
Night of Navy, Whisper White and Kraft card stock
Night of Navy and Sahara Sand Classic Stamp pads
Big Shot and Petals a Plenty Embossing folder
Linen twine, Stampin’ Dimensionals and the Ornament punch

This is a card that is simple enough to produce in quantity without making a crafter any more insane that she/he already is. (See how Politically Correct I am becoming??) There are nearly endless color combinations you could use on this card too. And note the tone-on-tone background on the card front – using a couple of sentiments is one of my favorite ways of adding texture to a card front. I used to stamp randomly, but that didn’t work well because the words didn’t like being stamped on top of one another when I didn’t leave adequate space between images. Now I start with one image and stamp it diagonally down the page. I fill in with a second stamp in line with the first one, and continue across and down the paper. If I have a third sentiment I’ll use that next , but as often as not, I just alternate two stamps across until the page is full. A wheel would work really well too – I was just too lazy to go find my Jumbo Handle.

Enjoy Christmas crafting…but don’t forget the Thankful month.

Stamping with friends is double the goodness

Posted on September 13, 2009 by mauistamper

Christmas Cards with In Color Style

Yesterday was my annual Christmas card list with my wonderful upline, Crystal. It’s really fun to run a class with her – she has great ideas and her view of the world matches mine pretty well – a good mix of “just right” versus “whatevah”. She also makes an absolutely divine banana cake (you can’t go wrong when you put chocolate chips in banana cake) and between that and a pot of Peet’s coffee we were guaranteed a great day. Add great stamping friends and some pretty fine cards (well, hers were fine as could be) and it added up to a perfect day.

We didn’t have any glitter but we did have the fabulous new Shimmer Paints from Stampin’ Up! If you have Glitter Issues in your house the way I’ve got them in my house the Shimmer Paints are an excellent solution. Plenty of sparkle that stays where you put it! If you can stand another Christmas card, this week I’ll post one with the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint that will convince you of the exalted status of Shimmer Paint. I love a little sparkle, but my wonderful husband doesn’t appreciate finding glitter embedded in the finish of the kitchen table, or even worse, on his cycling shorts. Glitter on the cycling shorts is absolute blasphemy. We have to be very, very careful with glitter in my house.