Goodie Boxes

How's this for a treat holder? This week on UStamp with Dawn and Friends Tracey Old the very talented Crew Team member from New Zealand shared her "Coffee Treat" gift box. What a winner? This quick to make nifty little box would make a great house warming gift during the upcoming Holiday season. To that end, I have designed my box to hold chocolate nuggets covered in last year's Holiday Treasures DSP and candy canes............ where's the hot chocolate?

The box base is made from Old Olive cs and the belly band again from the Holiday Treasures DSP. I used the "Just For You" sentiment from the Oval All stamp set and mounted it on Old Olive and Red Riding Hood cs punched out with the large oval punch. The same cs was used with the Trio Flower punch to add additional interest to the belly band and each of the chocolates. and finally SU's gold brad's were used for the flower centers to give a bit of added colour. All in all, this was a very quick and inexpensive gift to make, and I'm sure it will be a hostess pleaser.

Simply Scrappin Kits - Have You Tried Them?

How many of you have ever looked at the Simply Scrappin Kits shown in the Stampin' Up Idea Book and Catalogue, and passed them by because you thought "they're just for scrapbooking". I know when I first started with Stampin Up that's what I did, because I make cards, boxes and treat bags and do fewer scrapbook projects. Well, no more. During the last UStamp with Dawn session, I discovered just how versatile these beautiful kits are. This beautiful Criss Cross box and card set are a great example of what you can make in under two hours with just half of one of these kits. Now that's value! This kit called Sunshine Garden is now retired, but you can see other projects I've made with this same kit in older posts.

Each kit comes with 3 sheets of double sided 12 x 12 Designer Paper. You also get 2 each of four different coordinated pieces of 12 x 12 textured cardstock - that's 8 sheets of cardstock. And finally, 2 each of three 6 x 12 sheets of matching self-adhesive die cuts. All the bells and whistles with these ones.

All this for just $26.95. So what are you waiting for check out the kits featured on pages 164 to 167 of the 2009 -2010 Idea Book and Catalogue. You can use my on line ordering button to shop now, or click here. You'll be creating in no time.


If you're looking for the perfect sentiment stamp set to use with these types of cards, check out "Sincere Salutations" on page 143 of the IB&C. For just $4.00 a stamp (there are 8 in the set) you get a sentiment that is perfect for every occasion.

Sincere Salutations
115068 Price: $31.95
Use these simple stamps to celebrate and sympathize with those you love. Sometimes the short messages say so much.
Set Quantity: 8

Elegant Black and White

Last week I received this belated "Happy Retirement" card from a very good friend of mine. A simple design made by punching black and white circles with SU's 3/4" and 1" circle stamps. Random small flower images from the Greenhouse Garden set(113824) were stamped in black ink on 3/4" white circles. The Trio Flower Punch (109183) was used to stamp small flower images from black and white DSP and black brads were used for the centers. The medium sized floral stamp from the Fifth Avenue Floral set (113734) was stamped and embossed on Whisper White Card stock and the center was highlighted with dazzling diamonds. Although this card uses a retirement sentiment, it could easily be changed to honor a birthday or anniversary. I wish the picture could do this card justice, as it is truly well put together and very classy. Thanks my friend for the card and your well wishes!

Holiday Mini Catalogue

The Holiday Mini Catalogue begins today and is available until January 4, 2010. There are so many exciting new stamp sets and accessories to look at, you'll be amazed.

If you would like to have a catalogue of your own please contact me by email: pennyhanuszak@telus.net, and I would be happy to get one out to you, or discuss any product questions you may have.

Stampin' Up! - Hostess Promotion

"September 1-November 30, 2009 Hostess Promotion"

Stampin' Up is excited to bring you this sweet deal for hostesses September through November: Host a workshop totaling $330 or more and choose any one item* from the 2009 Holiday Mini Catalogue for only $14! *Offer excludes hostess sets and My Digital Studio.
After My Digital Studio is released, this offer will become even sweeter:
Host a workshop of at least $525 and get My Digital Studio for 50 percent off the retail price (retail price: $106.95; promotional price: $53.47)!"

Having a Great Day .............

What a day it's been! About 3:30 this morning our dog Murphy woke us up to say something was wrong............. and he was right. The power had gone off around 1:30am and had come back on again with the clock radio lights flashing and the house alarm beeping. What a dog! It's kind of reassuring to know you have a little angel looking over you. So we fixed the alarms and went back to sleep.

Around 8:00 while we were having coffee and watching the morning news, the power went out again. Since we couldn't do anything without the electricity in the house, we both headed outside and tackled some of our garden work that has been lagging behind. We finished that and the power was still out........... an hour has passed. So, nothing else to do we took Murphy for a nice long walk around the lake and neighborhood where we live. The power was out everywhere so it wasn't only us who were inconvenienced. If there was any silver lining to today's power outage, it was the fact that it's a grand day with the sun shining brightly and a light breeze blowing and no where to be in a hurry.

On our way home we picked up our mail and there was a package from Dawn Rapsas for me...............my prizes for having her blinkie on my blog and guessing one of the questions on the July 27th chat night. How exciting!!

Well that just made the day even brighter and so much more exciting......I wanted to rip the envie open right then and there but my DH suggested waiting until we got home. The with the suspense deepening we returned home. When we arrived the power had returned and all was back to normal. I opened the package as soon as I could and look what I got........... a full package of dimensionals, a beautiful package of Hidden Garden Rub-Ons and a Ribbon Measurer. Here's all my stuff. Thanks Dawn for making it such a great day after all!

City of David

Today while I was browsing through the fall 2007 Holiday Cards Volume 2 Paper Crafts Magazine, I was inspired to make a card using the retired City of David stamp set from Stampin' Up. Having recently acquired this stamp set, which I've always loved, I thought now's the time to get out the ink and get stamping.

The card and matching envelope above were designed by Dianna Halevy. I loved the card colours and how she used the 1 3/8" circle punch to create interest at the bottom of the card. The figures of Mary and David are stamped on the base card in Really Rust and then restamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and painted with More Mustard, Really Rust, and Sage Shadow inks. They were then mounted with dimensionals. This is my version of Diana's card. Hope you like it.