World Card Making Day Contest and Events - 2013

Today is a very special day.  It's a time when card makers around the world have an opportunity to gather together, take paper and ink in hand and demonstrate and celebrate their creative passion for card making.  I hope you're one of them.  

Not sure how to take part in this special day.  Well you can look for events in your neighborhood, join a card making challenge at some of the sites I've listed below, or simply invite some friends in to your home and share this day. 

To help you celebrate and kick off the card making season Stampin’ Up is having a contest . . . to inspire you even further! There are two ways to enter.

• E-mail a photo of a card (or of you making a card) on World Card Making Day to wcmd2013@stampinup.com. 

• Post a photo of a card (or of you making a card) on Instagram on World Card Making Day. Mention us by typing @stampinup and use the hashtag: #wcmd2013 in the description.

This contest is open to everyone—demonstrators, customers, friends, spouses, children . . . you get the idea! However, there are a few conditions:

• You must be over the age of 18 to win a prize.
• You must use Stampin’ Up! products to create your project.
• You may enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must feature a different card.
• The contest will last all day on October 5, from midnight to midnight.
• We will randomly select 100 winners from our English-speaking North American markets to receive a Paper Pumpkin kit.

A selection of pictures will be posted to our World Card Making Day Pinterest board and the winners will be announced in a current update.


Challenge Sites:

Need some card making inspiration.  Just visit any of these sites for current sketches and ideas:

Tis the Season Stamping a new Christmas Card challenge blog, that's posted it's first challenge.  They'll be posting a new challenge every other week, that will rotate between Sketches and Color Combos with a Optional Trimming. Challenges will run for two weeks so lots of time to play along. Check out their first sketch here: tistheseasonstamping.blogspot.com

SU Only Challenge #80 - Welcome Baby.  Their current challenge is to make a card – or other paper crafted project! – for a baby.  This challenge closes in two days time, but there's still time to play with it today.  Check out some of the entries so far and see what the design team has come up with just click here: http://suochallenges.com/

Created by Deanna Boos of http://www.myhomegrownart.com/

Just Us Girls blog site has a World Card Making Day Challenge going on for the next week.  There are prizes being offered. Check it out here:  http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.ca/    And here's their current sketch:

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge for October is happening this week.  Their color challenge experts have chosen Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzazz and Baked Brown Sugar (or similar colors) to play with. Check out the samples by their uber talented resident artist's who've created some beautiful designs. occasions to inspire you.  Check out their site here:    http://www.palspaperarts.com/

Paper Craft Crew Challenge Sketches 
The Paper Craft Crew design team has come up with some fun card samples using this week's card sketch. PCCCS #61: Card Sketch which closes on October Check out their site at:  http://www.papercraftcrew.com/

Post It Note and Pen Holder - Tutorial

Aren't these cute?  Post It Note and Pen Holders are one of my favourite gift items to make. Especially at Christmas time.  

These little cuties make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts and sell quickly at craft and vendor fairs.  People can't resist them, after all everyone uses Post It Notes in some shape or form.

Another thing I like about making Post It Note holders is that they're adaptable for any season and they're quick and easy to make.  Anyone can make these!  

Today I'm going to walk you through the easy steps and show you some samples from my recent Christmas theme Post It Note & Pen Holders.   Enjoy!

Supplies and Accessories:

• Small mini gel pens ( I buy mine at Staples - 12 to a package for $3.95)
• Post It Notes (I'm using 3 x 3 post it notes for these holders)
• Card stock cut to 3 1/4 x 7 3/8" for the base a contrasting card stock measuring 2 7/8 x 3 1/8" for the first layer and a neutral card stock measuring 2 3/4 x 3" for the next layer
• Designer Series Paper in two coordinating designs enough to punch out four 1 1/4" squares
• 1 1/4" Square Punch
• Stamp Set of your choice or embellishment for center of cover
• Ink to coordinate with DSP and card stock
• Paper Trimmer
• Adhesive - Snail and Sticky Strip

 Steps to Create Post It Note Holder:
1. Cut card stock for base to measure 3 1/4 x 7 3/8", score at 3 1/8, 3 1/2 and 3 7/8 inches.

2. Crease along each score line with a bone folder. Fold cover on the 3 1/2 score line. 

3.  Make two cuts to the score line about an inch apart for the pen holder.See picture for placement.

4.  Open up the card stock and leave the slot for the pen facing outwards but push the two outer pieces to the inside of the cover.  Apply two small strips of sticky strip to the inside score line between the 3 1/2 and 3 7/8 lines and then fold to the back to adhere.

5.  Attach the Post It Note pad to the back cover with sticky strip, and   decorate the front of the  cover in whatever design you choose.  

Here's two of my recent designs:

• For this Post It Note and Pen Holder I used Smokey Slate for the card base, Coastal Cabanna for the 1st layer (2 7/8 x 3 1/8") and Whisper White for the next layer (2 3/4 x 3") and adhered them to the front of the note holder.  
• I cut out four 1 1/4" DSP squares from the Winter Frost DSP Stack #132183 and adhered them to Whisper White layer, leaving a space in between the squares.  
• I adhered a piece of Silver Glimmer Paper cut to 2 3/4 x 1/4" in the center between the squares.  
• For the embellishment I cut out two of the small snowflakes with the Festive Flurry Framelits #132193 - one was stamped in Smokey Slate on Whisper White with the Festive Flurry stamp set #131781 and the other was cut from Silver Glimmer paper.  These snowflakes were glued together with glue dots and then mounted to the center of the DSP squares with Stampin' Dimensionals.  
• I matched up the colour of the mini gel pen with the card stock. 

• This Post It Note and Pen Holder is made the same as the above sample, but with the following changes:  
• I used Real Red card stock for the base and topped it with a piece of Gumball Green card stock (1st layer).
• I added Whisper White for the next layer and topped this with four squares punched from the Season of Style DSP Stack #132181.  
• Red Glimmer Paper was adhered to the center.  
• I stamped the Santa image from the Tag It stamp set #130303 for the tag in Gumball Green and Real Red inks.  Tip:  I stamped two tags, one in Gumball Green and the next in Real Red and then I cut out the Real Red Santa square and glued it to the Gumball Green base. 
• The tag was cut out with the Chalk Talk Framelit dies and mounted to the note book base with dimensionals.  I matched up a red gel pen to the notebook cover. 

Here's what the inside of the Post It Note Holder looks like.

Thank You Thursdays - What's That All About?

Stampin' Up! has reached a milestone--250 posts on their blog--and want to celebrate with you! Beginning today (October 3), they are beginning a series of Thank You Thursdays posts, where you'll be offered discounted products for one day only (while supplies last)!

How do you take advantage of these special one day offers?   Simple.  Just visit the blog each Thursday in October to see the new deal and then place an order with me.

This is Stampin' Ups! way of saying thank you for helping to make their blog an inspiring place to be!

Today's Deal:

Designer Washi Tape! Choose from one (or all three) of the designer Washi Tapes below!

	Epic Day This And That Designer Washi Tape Regular Price $6.50 CAN Sale Price  $4.87 CAN *Please note-The discounted price will appear at checkout.*
	Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape Regular Price $6.50 CAN Sale Price  $4.87 CAN   *Please note-The discounted price will appear at checkout.*
	Witches' Brew Designer Washi Tape Regular Price $6.50 CAN Sale Price  $4.87 CAN   *Please note-The discounted price will appear at checkout.

Join for $25.00 - Oct 7-21, 2013

Join Stampin' Up! - Join My Team!

 

• Would you like a discount on your favourite products? 
• A chance to earn extra cash? 
• Tons of exclusive creative ideas at your fingertips?

It you answered "yes" to any or all of these questions then you'll want to hear more about Stampin' Ups! "Join for $25.00" during this two week 25 year anniversary promotion.

Because Stampin' Up! is celebrating it's 25th Anniversary this year they want to offer you an opportunity to "join the Stampin' Up! family as a demonstrator.  What fun!  

So, from October 7th to 21st (two weeks only) you can join my Stampin' Up! team for only $25.00.  That's right $25.00 -the cost to join has never been this low - in all of Stampin' Ups! 25 years!

The Fine Print:
When you join my team you'll get the $25 Starter Kit which includes the following:

• Up to $26.95 worth of Stampin' Up! product (it must be more than $25, but not more than $26.95 before tax)  - you choose your product, for example:
• Whisper White 8 1/2 x 11 card stock  #100730 $9.25
• Basic Black Ink Pad $7.25 #126980 $7.25
• Multipurpose Liquid Glue #110755 $5.95
• Adhesive Remover #103684 $4.50
• Total = $26.95 

• Business pack which includes:
• A box of annual catalogues
• A package of the current seasonal catalogue
• Getting Started DVD
• Starter Kit Business Brick 
• Customer postcard

And, as an added bonus, here are some more reasons to join Stampin' Up! now: 

• As a new demonstrator, you'll get an extra 10 percent discount on your  first order of $150 or more providing you place your order in the first 45 days of being a demonstrator. That means you can use the money you saved on the $25 starter kit to get 30 percent off your first order of Stampin' Up! goodies!

• As a new recruit you'll also get two FREE months of Demonstrator Business Web Services (DBWS)!

•  When you join my team, you'll also get my expertise and that of other members of my team because we have a passion for paper crafting, share what we love and help one another be successful, whether it's as a hobby demonstrator or as a business venture.

 Note:  During this offer, only the special $25 starter kit will be available; the regular $125  starter kit will not be available.   

Remember, this offer starts a week today on October 7th, and it only runs for for two weeks, so take advantage of it right away! Go to my web site, watch the video and click on the join now button.  It's that easy.  Check it out here:
Or call me to get started today.  

Build a Banner Simply Create a Kit

Banners are everywhere these days.  Whether it's a celebration for a birthday, a retirement, a business opening, or for a seasonal event like Halloween or Christmas, someone's created a banner to meet the occasion.  Stampin' Up! has got on the band wagon with this new trend and created some new kits that make banner making extremely easy for the novice and experienced crafter alike. 

Stampin' Up!s Build a Banner Simply Created Kit and Accessory Kits are available from now until January 2nd, 2014 in the Holiday Catalogue.  The following video gives a great run down on this new product and was very helpful when I created my first banner. 

Build a Banner Simply Created Kit #133507 Price: $24.95 cdn

This great kit comes with the following:

• Includes eighteen 5 x 7" blank canvas paper pennants - 6 each of 3 designs (pointed, banner and rounded) .  Each of the wonderful flexible, water proof pennants has two grommets already set so it makes stringing it together very simple.  No fussing with the crop-o-dile on this one!
• 9 feet of jute rope to hang the pennant pieces with
• A full set of plastic alphabet stencils for creating your words
• Three image stencils for decorating the pennants - stripe, dot and chevron designs 
• Stampin' Spritzer for spraying on ink.

Build a Banner Simply Created Kit #133507 Price $24.95 CDN

If you run out of pennant pieces no problem, simply order the Banner Simply Created refill kit.  The refill kit includes another 9 feet of jute rope and 18 blank canvas paper pennants.  

Banner Simply Created Kit # 132699 Price $11.95 CDN

With Halloween and Christmas just around the corner, you'll also find two accessory kits that Stampin' Up! has created to compliment the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit.  The first is the Halloween Banner and the second is the Christmas Banner Accessory Kit.

Halloween Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit #132698 Price $11.95

Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory  Kit #132697 $11.95

And here's my banner!

Sorry I couldn't get the picture of my banner any larger for you or clearer.  I've hung it in my paper crafting room and it is going to be a work in progress as I add some streamers to both ends and some more sparkle. 

My banner on the back wall behind our vendor table at the Basics for Babies Scrap-a-thon event on September 14th, 2013.

 

Supplies & Design for My Banner:

• To make the two words "Stampin'" "Up!" I needed 10 Pennants from the Build a Banner Base kit. 
• One Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit
• Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies for the Alphabet Letters
• 3" Circle Framelit Die
• Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo and Smokey Slate Stamp Pad inks and Re-inkers.  
• Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White card stocks  and Glimmer Paper
• Sponge Daubers
• Dimensionals and sticky strip
• Hot Glue Gun
• Festive Flurry Framelit Dies for Snowflakes
• Large and Small Star Punches from Stampin' Up (retired)
• 11 Feet of Silk White Cord (I decided to use white cord instead of the jute provided in the kit for this project)
• Basic Rhinestone Jewels (note I used a lot more than came with the kit)

Steps:

1. First decide on a theme for your banner, the colours you'll use and the word(s) you will add to your banner.
2. Assemble all the pieces and accessories and cut out any additional dies you will use on your banner.
3. Lay out the banner pieces on a table top or along the floor so you can see what you are working with.
4. Work from the first pennant to the last and be consistent with your colour and design layout.
5. Note:  I cut additional 3" circles from scrap card stock and used them for mounting the lollies and die cuts to the cord.  This step created more stability for the banner.

I alternated the pennant shapes and colours starting with a pointed pennant in Coastal Cabana dots followed by a banner shaped pennant in Smokey Slate stripes throughout the entire banner.  Each pennant was separated by a lolly or die cut.  I applied the ink to the pennants with a sponge dauber. 

The individual letters that form the words "Stampin' Up!" were cut out of Island Indigo card stock using the Typeset Alphabet Dies.  I chose these die cut letters over the stenciled ones because I wanted the letters to be super clean looking.  Once cut out, I mounted the letters on either Coastal Cabana or Smokey Gray card stock that had been cut out with the 3" Circle Framelit.  I used Tom Bow glue on the back side of the letters to adhere them.  The dots that you can see on the letters are actually medium sized Basic Rhinestone Jewels.  The addition of these Rhinestones really made the letters pop.

The additional of glimmer paper snowflakes and stars really softened the look of the banner, and the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons added a lot of sparkle.  For the blue stars, I used a sponge dauber and Island Indigo ink on the silver glimmer paper to turn it into a turquoise blue and then I punched out some large and small stars. 

I wish you could see this banner in real life because it's really sparkly and fresh looking and you just can't see that in the pictures.  It took me two hours to create this banner and although it intimidated me at first, once I started sponging the ink on the first pennant my initial fear gave way to creative joy.  The whole process became a lot of fun and it was exciting to see the progress as the banner came together.  

This was such a rewarding process.  I hope you enjoyed seeing how this banner turned out. I'm working on a Fall Banner for Thanks Giving and will take pictures as I complete each step. 

Card Box Tutorial

I promised to make a gift box holder for my Festive Flurry cards in my  September 7th post entitled Festive Flurry in a Festival of Colours.  

Today was the first chance I've had to sit down and work on a tutorial, so my apologies for taking so long to deliver.  

Basics for Assembling Gift Box

1. Start with a piece of card stock or DSP measuring 5 7/8 x 7 1/4" and score at 5/8" on all four sides.

By placing a marker on the 5/8" score line on my Simply Scored Scoring Tool it made scoring this piece so easy! 

2.  Cut from the outside edge to the fold line on all four sides.  Snip a piece off each corner to make assembly easier. These tabs will be folded to the inside of the lid.  

  4.  Add sticky strip to the corner tabs and then remove the adhesive backing.  Fold the tabs to the inside and tape to the side flap.  Make sure that you square up the corners so they match.  Repeat on the other side.

Once all the tabs have been adhered, the box lid should look like this on the inside.

This is a view of the outside of the lid.  I made this mockup box in DSP but it's not as firm as when made from card stock, so my preference would be to make it using card stock. 

Box Bottom:

1.  Cut a piece of card stock to measure 7" x 8 3/8" for the box bottom.  Score it at 1 1/4" on all four sides.

 2.  Cut from the outside edge to the center fold on each corner.  Snip a small "V" to the center line to make the side pieces fit together more easily.  Add sticky strip to the corner tabs.

3.  Remove the backing from the sticky strip and fold the tabs to the inside.  make sure the sides are carefully aligned. 

Festive Flurry Gift Box:

 Supplies:

• 7 x 8 3/8" piece of Whisper White card stock for bottom of box
• 5 7/8 x 7 1/4" piece of Island Indigo for lid
• 81/2" piece of Chevron  Island Indigo Ribbon
• 4 x 4" piece Whisper White for Smokey Slate Large Snowflake
• 3 1/4 x 3 1/4"  piece of Whisper White for Island Indigo Snowflake
• 2 3/4 x 2 3/4"  piece of Silver Glimmer Paper for Glimmer Snowflake
• 2 x 2" piece of Whisper White for Smokey Slate Small Snowflake
• Small Scrap of Silver Glimmer Paper for BoHo Blossoms Punch Snowflake
• Medium Sized Basic Rhinestone 
• Smokey Slate and Island Indigo Inks
• Boho Blossoms Flower Punch
• Festive Flurry Stamp Set and Coordinating Dies

Assembling The Gift Box:

1.  Follow the assembly instructions above to make the bottom of the box. Note:  To make the box bottom more stable I cut an additional piece of white card stock to fit in the bottom of the box and adhered this piece with sticky strip. 

2.  Score and cut the tabs for the lid on the Island Indigo card stock piece.  Before assembling the lid adhere the Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon across the  lid.  I started the ribbon at the score line on the underside of the lid, ran it across the length of the lid to the other side.  I used sticky strip under the ribbon to secure it. Once the ribbon is attached then finish folding and assembling the lid.  

3.  Stamp and assemble snowflakes for the lid top as follows:

• Stamp Large Snowflake image in Smokey Slate ink on 4 x 4" piece of Whisper White and cut out with large snowflake die 
• Stamp the next size of snowflake in Island Indigo ink on 3 1/4 x 3 1/4" piece of Whisper White and cut out with corresponding snowflake die. 
• Cut out a snowflake from the 2 3/4 x 2 3/4" piece of Silver Glimmer Paper using the next size snowflake
• Stamp the smallest snowflake in Smokey Slate on the 2 x 2" piece of Whisper White
• Punch out the 5-sided star with the Boho Blossoms Punch
• Adhere the medium sized rhinestone to the center of the Glimmer star.  

This picture shows the various sizes of snowflakes and dies used to create the center piece for the box lid.

Box bottom, lid with ribbon and snowflakes before final assembly.

4.  Assemble the centerpiece in this order:

• Attach Island Indigo Snowflake to Large Smokey Slate Snowflake with Dimensionals
• Attach Glimmer Paper Snowflake to Island Indigo Snowflake with Dimensionals
• Attach Small Smokey Slate Snowflake to Glimmer Paper Snowflake with Dimensionals
• Attach Small Glimmer Paper Star to center of small snowflake matching the star pattern.

Attach assembled snowflakes to the center of the box lid with sticky strip.

 

Back view of all the snowflakes before they were glued together.

Island Indigo adhered to Large Smokey Slate Snowflake

Silver Glimmer Paper Snowflake adhered to Island Indigo Snowflake. 

 

This view shows the small Snowflake adhered as the fourth layer.  I made sure the snowflake points were turned so they never overlapped and it was easy to see the snowflake layers below.  Hope that makes sense.

Finally attach the small Glimmer Paper star to the center of the small snowflake.  Use the star shape outline as your guide for attaching the star.  Adhere a medium sized basic rhinestone to the center.

 

Finished Box and Lid

Gift Box and four Festive Flurry Cards in Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz.

This picture shows the finished lid and the box bottom with the envelopes in it.  I stamped a single snowflake in Smokey Slate on the four envelopes.

I added a piece of Whisper White card stock to the inside of the lid to give it more stability and stamped the Smokey Slate snowflakes randomly on this piece.  This piece also covers the ends of the ribbon so it has a neater appearance.

And that's the end of my tutorial on gift boxes for the Festive Flurry Christmas cards.  I hope you found it helpful.  I'd love to hear from you so let me know if it worked for you.