I (heart) Hearts!

This is one of the the projects we'll be making at club this month. I've been thinking about it for quite a while now so I'm really happy to see it actually in existence.

I used a bunch of new products that will be available for purchase on Tuesday January 5th. If you'd like to see them up close, check out the new Occasions Mini Catalog on the right sidebar.

Also, I got a new camera for Christmas (thanks Mom!) and I haven't quite gotten used to photographing cards with it, its trickier than you might think. Or maybe I'm just not good at taking pics. Either way, the color in these photos is a little off... but I'll work on it.

I found inspirations for this card on Heather Wachtman's beautiful blog here: http://creationsbyheather.com/2009/12/08/for-all-you-do-tiny-tags-new-beautiful-wings-embossing-card-share/

I used:

* I (heart) Hearts and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets

*Craft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue Card stock

*Chocolate Chip, Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal inks

*Heart to Heart punch

*Small Square Glassine Envelopes

* A safety pin (for peircing)

I used all the exact same products for this next card but because I used the new glassine envelope on the last card I thought I had better use the note card that goes with it on this card. Cute right? It's called "Kisses" and I can't wait to use it more!

Did you notice the cute glassybaby peeking out from behind the cards? They are my favorite things to obsess about...besides stamps of course! Check them out at: http://www.glassybaby.com/default.aspx

Check out the new stuff!

A couple things:

1) Click on the new mini catalogs on the right sidebar to see what's coming up for sale on January 5th! Not only is there the new Occasions Mini Catalog, there is also the Sale-A-Brations mini to check out. Yay!!!!

2) Yes. I know my blog is a bit hard to read with the patterned background. Who reads these things anyway? Don't we all just look at the pictures?

Goodbye Holiday mini...and dormant stamps

Well, we've known this day was coming, the day we say goodbye to the current holiday mini catalog. Monday January 4th is the last day you can order anything from it's luscious pages. Sad, I know, but if you hurry, you can still get you hands on some goodies and maybe if you start now, you'll be finished with all your holiday projects without totally losing it.

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/Holiday09_US.pdf

In other news, there are some stamps that have been on the "dormant" list since the last catalog came out that are also retiring on Monday. Scroll down to the bottom to take a look. I have a couple of these stamp sets and I thought, as a nice farewell, I'd post a couple projects.

This card uses the adorable and oh-so-versatile Garden Greetings set. I'm sad to see it go. It had so many fun uses and the words that are included are dynamite. So long....

And this next card is an invitation I made for my Mom in October for a Halloween party. Cool right? This set, Grand Soiree, totally lends itself to the creepy. I'll miss it. I was totally going to throw a Halloween party someday and use this too. Farewell...

So, with that, here it is. Alvetersain, adieu...

The following stamp sets will be discontinued on January 4, 2010.

Item Number Stamp Set

113407 Back Woods

114492 Beautiful Baby

114486 Birthday Wish

113200 Branch Out

114496 Celebrations

113732 Central Park

113206 Classic Sketches

113226 Classy & Fabulous

114498 Flowers in Silhouette

113405 Font of You

113216 For the Bride

114494 Forever

109425 Friend by Definition

114488 Fun Flowers

113716 Garden Greetings

114490 Glad Friends

111580 Grand Soiree

113242 Hit the Road

113710 Lexicon of Leaves

113236 Man's Best Friend

114423 Ocean Commotion

113728 Playful Petals

109276 Polka Dot

111544 Putt Putt

113240 Quilt Quips

113754 Really Retro

113403 Sip by Sip

113726 Sweet Stems

113250 That's Funny

113688 Wonderful Watercolors

114028 Para la novia

114032 Acuarelas Maravillosas

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.