It was an Extravaganza!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by mauistamper

Our annual holiday crafting kickoff is always such a good time. You would think I could remember to take some photos during the day – but no…

This week I’ll share the projects we made. I’m not giving step-by-step instructions, but you’re all so clever you’ll figure it out 🙂

This clever bag a la gift card holder was inspired by Cathy Parlitsis. The big, beautiful bow from the Sizzix Bigz Bow die seemed like a natural on the front! The bag is folded to create a pocket on the front as well as one at the top for a little note card.

I fiddled around with different ways of making the gift card accessible from the pocket, but ultimately found that a simple solution worked the best. This is just a piece of card stock folded with enough offset to create a little tab at the top. There’s a piece of washi across the front and a little message at the top – you could do more, but why? This was handled a lot during our classes, so I used a glue dot to secure the gift card to the “lifter”, but it really isn’t necessary.

I’m looking forward to playing with this idea a little more – the variations are endless. I guess that’s what we all love so much about stamping, isn’t it? If you’d like to learn more, I hope you’ll join the Maui Stampers team. For just $25 you’ll get a business pack to get you rolling plus $26.95 in Stampin’ Up! product. There’s no risk and oh-so-much to gain – learn more HERE

Didja see this week’s DEALS? Hummm baby…this is becoming addictive 🙂

Shop today in the Online Store!

It’s a RemARKable Autumn

Posted on September 7, 2013 by mauistamper

Trick or Treat!

Halloween goodies – or a bag full of Creepy Crawlies? I’m hoping for treats, not tricks.

The Halloween Bash stamp set has fun images to play with, and I thought these tickets were just the thing to add to the top of my tag. They’ve got a little sparkle courtesy of Vanilla Smooch spritz. And the hole for that gorgeous ribbon at the top is made with the small ticket punch – it makes a generous opening. I’ve used the beautiful black and grey striped ribbon that’s available again as part of the Halloween Banner Simply Created Accessory kit.

I stamped the main image once in Tangerine Tango, then again in Black Staz-on. I cut out the word “CRAWLY” in black, snipped the ends, and added Basic Black card stock extensions to the ends. The black rhinestone gems at the bottom are colored with the black Sharpie® marker that NEVER leaves my desk!

The tag can stand alone without the bag, but we do love those Tag a Bags! Don’t miss the textural stamping on the Tangerine Tango tag base courtesy of Gorgeous Grunge, the stamp set that does everything – even the dishes!! (ok, I’m KIDDING there…)

It’s a challenge for me to get in the mood for a true Autumn card, but I think the muse was working for this one:

Magnificent Maple is a single stamp and it is truly a magnificent rendition of a leaf. I’ve masked and stamped it in Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze and Old Olive. I chose Naturals Ivory card stock for the card base, but I used Very Vanilla for the tag – the Naturals papers have just enough texture to them that a bold image such as that tag doesn’t come out with enough definition to please me.

I used the Tags for You stamp and punch bundle and popped the label up on a dimensional. “So Grateful” is from Apothecary Art, and the spatters are from Gorgeous Grunge. (If I keep using that stamp set it’s gonna get a Maui Stamper Abbreviated Name, but for now I’ll spell it out.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Stamp-of-the-Month projects and I encourage you to take the full tour to see what everyone is sharing. Robin is up next and I KNOW she’ll have a treat in store for you! All the blogs on the tour are available below in case you want to re-visit a favorite or just take the tour in your own quirky way. I encourage that kind of behavior 🙂

Easy Custom Gift Bags

Posted on August 20, 2013 by mauistamper

LOVE these muslin gift bags from the Holiday catalog!

Muslin Gift Bags (Holiday catalog)
Too Kind and Yippee Skippee stamp sets
Primrose Petals, Old Olive and Raspberry Ripple FFIP
Primrose Petals Stitched Ribbon
Clothespin (Tag a Bag Accessory kit)
Rhinestone jewel

Lazy girl that I am, I cut a piece of ribbon and just clipped it on with the clothespin from the Tag a Bag accessory kit. That little rhinestone is a leftover from…something. A kit, the name of which I cannot remember or find. But you could take a plain rhinestone jewel and color it with a Sharpie® marker and get the same result.

Here’s what I did to stamp the bags:

I opened the package of bags and took them out.
I stamped them.

THAT’S IT. I did NOT wash, fold, dry, iron or otherwise pay any attention to these bags. I used Stampin’ Up! Classic Ink. It dried to the touch but I noticed that as I stuffed the bags the ink would transfer to my hands, so I recommend allowing them to dry overnight before gifting them – there was no ink transfer the next day for me. I stamped 4 different times – the 2-step flower image in Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple, the stem in Old Olive, and the sentiment in Raspberry Ripple – and didn’t have any problems with smearing.

I made a bunch of these for my Hostess Club members. They’re filled with a cute stamp and some Trader Joe’s Chocolate Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels (I think I’m happy that TJ’s isn’t in Hawaii because these would become an ISSUE for me). These bags are a perfect last-minute-gift solution! I’ve got a stash on hand and I think you should too 🙂