Would you like one of these?

That's right. A Stampin' Up! Gift Card just for you!

(Or for somebody else, if you're in a giving mood)

They can be made in any amount, and you can redeem them with me whenever you'd like. Just leave a comment or email me and I'll get you all set up.

Thanks!

#1 - Wandering Words (Yay!)

This is it, I made it through ten Christmas stamp sets!

I only made one card with this stamp from the Wandering Words set because frankly, I LOVE this card and I'm not sure why anyone would want to make anything else with it. I love the saying, I love the Santa, I love his eight tiny reindeer, I LOVE "The Night Before Christmas" and everything about it. This might be my Christmas card this year. Unless I end up sending out all my one-of originals. We'll see.

I own a few copies of the book, but my favorite is this old one I bought at a used book sale a few years ago. Here's a link to Amzon.com where they are selling it for $6.95. You'll love it!
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Christmas-Clement-Clarke/dp/082340417X#noop
The illustrations are beautiful, (cool and quilty looking) and it has the correct "Happy Christmas" line at the end instead "Merry Christmas" (boooo!) which is what many of the newer additions are coming out with these days. What is wrong with people?

Anywho, here is a picture of the cover and what I tried to copy into card form:

For this card I used:

*Wandering Words and Christmas Punch (for the snow flakes) stamp sets

*Night of Navy and Whisper White card stock

*Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Crushed Curry, and White Craft inks

*Top Note Bigz die, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 1 3/8" Circle punch

Tip: I punched out a circle of scrap paper and held it tight to the white die cut sheet while I sponged around with Bashful Blue and then over that with Night of Navy trying to make a graded dark to light look from the top to bottom. Then I took a larger piece of paper with the same sized circle punched out, laid it over my blank moon and added some Crushed Curry to a clean sponge and made it a nice warm yellow.

And here's a shot of the cute inside. When I use a dark color like this for the card base, I try to line the inside with white so it's easier to write in and since its there I figure I might as well stamp it. Right?

#2 - Berry Christmas

We're almost there, only one more Christmas stamp set to feature in the top 10 countdown. Are you so excited? I know I am, because that means I can start making cards that I might actually send to someone. I know. Pretty amazing idea huh?


I was feeling so lame about the last post only having one project that tonight I was determined to make up for it.
This first project was inspired by Lisa Mekeel at http://creativecucina.com/?p=1125

I'm a sucker for window cards! Here's the inside:

I used:

*Real Red, Whisper White and Old Olive

*Christmas Cocoa d.s.p., 1 3/4" circle punch

This next card was SOOOO fun to make. I've been loving the holly pattern paper all season and I finally found a perfect use for it. I mimicked the paper pattern for the red-on-red background as well as the punched out image. So fun and so easy!

I used:

*Soft Suede, Real Red and Whisper White

* Christmas Cocoa d.s.p., soft suede polka dot ribbon and the 1 3/4" punch

Inspiration for the next card came from Amanda Mertz's fantastic blog:

http://didyoustamptoday.blogspot.com/2009/08/sunflowers-using-new-christmas-set.html

I loved how she used punches for the poinsettia image so I just had to copy it.

Do you see the little birdie? So cute right?

I used:

*Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White

*1 3/8" circle punch, scallop square punch

As you can probably tell, I copied A LOT for this post, so here is Tessa Wise's blog where I got the next card idea.

You really should check out this card because it is soooo much better than mine. Seriously, check it out.
http://craftygrl.blogspot.com/2009/09/make-merry-card.html

I used:

*Always Artichoke, Pretty in Pink, Real Red and Whisper White

*Photo corner punch, Real Red polka dot ribbon and Crystal Effects

The inspiration for this next project did not come from a blog. It came from Lowe's. Strange, I know. So here is the outside and inside of their cute gift card holder thingy.

Pretty simple, yet alarmingly cute. So, of course I made one myself.

Cuter right? Well, I think so at least.

If you'd like to make one of these yourself (because I know you have gift cards to give to people) here are the directions:

*cut card stock to 3 3/4" x 5 7/8"

*score at 2 3/4"

*decorate

I used:

* Real Red, Soft Suede and Whisper White

* Christmas Cocoa d.s.p and Mistletoe ribbon

* Corner Rounder punch and Slit punch

Christmas Countdown #3 - Season of Simple Grace

This is my one and only Christmas set that did not retire with the last catalog so its sort of been taking a quiet back seat while I play with all the new stuff.
I spent all night playing with this set and guess what? I made one card. That's right, ONE card! Granted, its a pretty complex one, but still, I feel a little lame.
Here's a great tutorial on how to make this Tri-Shutter card:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/trishuttercard/



And so you don't feel too sad about my one project, I thought I'd post a card I made last year using the baby wipe swipe/striped wipe technique. Its fun and works perfect with solid image stamps like the ones in this set.
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/stripedwipe/

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some more shots of the Tri-Shutter card. Remember, if you're going to make one of these, make sure you REALLY like the person you're giving it to.