Holiday Catalogue "Carry Overs"

Another season is coming to an end and I just wanted to send you a reminder that along with that transition the Holiday Catalogue purchasing period ends on January 2nd, 2014. If you're like me you may still have some stamps on your wish list, but aren't able to order them this month.  Well you may get a bit of a reprieve.  

Stampin' Up! has just released it's Holiday Catalogue "carry over" of favourites that will get a little more shelf life, at least until June 1st, so you may be in luck.  

Check out these products to see if any of your wish list items are on it.

Have a Wonderful Christmas........

Victorian clip art courtesy of Averyl's Attic: http://www.averyl.com/attic

Christmas Wishes for all of you!  I can't believe it's Christmas Eve already! Where did the week go??? Before it slips into Christmas Day I want to take the time to wish all of my loyal followers, friends, family and customers a very Merry Christmas! 

Thank you for your support and encouragement through the year.  I've loved having your feedback and comments.  It makes my heart sing!  I'm glad my little blog is on your list of places to visit.  

Like you, I plan to take a break and share my time with family and friends, so I won't be posting for a day or two.  I'm sorry I wasn't able to post the last of my Seven Days of Hostess Gift series but this week slipped away and with hosting a big Open House yesterday and cooking goodies for tomorrow's Christmas dinner I couldn't make that post my priority.  I know you'll understand.

I hope this Season finds you in the company of friends, family and loved ones. I hope you'll embrace your family's traditions or make new ones and enjoy every single moment. I hope you'll watch all your favourite Christmas movies, drink eggnog with your friends, hug the kids and play like a child again and take time to reflect on what Christmas is about and it's origins.  

From my family to yours enjoy your Christmas break and enjoy the spirit of the season!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Penny  

Christmas Hostess Gifts - Day Six Treat Boxes

I love giving treats for hostess gifts and having these cute little boxes to package them in works really well during the Holiday season.  They are absolutely the perfect size for holding little bags of goodies.   

I use 4.75 x 6.5 clear envelopes and just trim off the sticky end and then fill them with all kinds of things.  Make sure you don't overfill these treat bags and it's nice to tie them up with a little ribbon and tag before sealing them in the box.  Here ae some gift ideas you may not have thought of:  Some fancy tea bags, chocolate covered pretzels or homemade Rolo pretzels, chocolate covered espresso coffee beans, Keurig K cups for fancy brews, hot chocolate packages, small round bars of specialty soap, to name a few.   I hope you'll drop me a comment at the end of this post and let me know what you'd like to pack in one of these boxes.  I'm sure you can think up some of your own!  

Supplies:

Stamp Sets From the Holiday Catalogue:
Santa's List #131181
Very Merry Tags #130401 

Cardstock: 
Cherry Cobbler 1 sheet#119685
Season of Style Designer Series Paper Stack - 1 sheet #132181

Ink:
Cherry Cobbler #126966
Whisper White Craft Ink #101731

Accessories:
Pop N' Cuts Card Base Die #130099
Big Shot Machine #113439
Extended Cutting Pads #113478
Chevron Striped Ribbon Cherry Cobbler #130012
Circle Collection Framelits #130911
Large Oval Punch #119855 
Decorative Label Punch #120907
Dazzling Diamonds #102023
Clear Embossing Powder #109130
Basic Rhinestones #119246

Assembly:
1.  Cut a piece of Cherry Cobbler Cardstock at 5 1/2" x 11 and two small pieces at 2 1/2" x 3".

2.  Place the long piece of cardstock on the Pop' N Cuts Card Base and run through the Big Shot Machine.  This piece is your box base.

Card Base Pop' N Cuts #130099 cuts a card base. It's magnetic, so you can insert the magnetic Pop ‘n Cuts Dress Form Die or Label Pop' N Cuts die cuts inside this base to cut a fun pop-up card. Card base: 4-1/4" x 11". Use with Extended Cutting Pads.

Too bad I had this sitting on a red table cloth.............. looks kind of confusing.  Tip:  Try to focus on the black Pop' N Cuts frame.  I added some markers with white sticky strip to the  card base. You could actuall add Washi Tape around the outter rim.  Anyway, these markers help me line up card stock so I get a precise cut without wasting paper.  

3.  Starting at square end of box base score at 1 1/2", 2 1/2" 4 1/2" 6 1/2" 8 1/2" and 9 1/2".

4.  Slip the tabs into the top of the box base being careful not to fold cardstock and then use the Large Oval Punch to punch out a handle for the box. 

5. For the sides of the box score the two 2 1/2 x 3" pieces of Cherry Cobbler card stock at 1/2" on the 2 1/2" side, then rotate and score at 1/2" on the 3" side,   rotate and score again on the last 3" side.  

The three pieces you need to make this cute little box. 

6.  Snip off corners on both of the side pieces. Crease on score lines and then apply sticky strip along tabs.

7.  Cut DSP as follows and adhere to box front, sides and lid before assembling box:

• Cut 2 pieces 1 3/4 x 1 3/4" for side panels
• Cut 2 pieces 4 x 3/4 for lid panels
• Cut 2 pieces 4 x 1 3/4" for front and back panels

8.  Crease all fold lines on box base and fit tabs into slots, this will assist with assembly.  

9.  Starting on one side of the box line up the short-sided tab from side panel with the inside bottom edge of box and adhere.  Bring in both side tabs one at a time and line up with sides of box and adhere.  Make sure edges all line up otherwise your box will be tippy.  Repeat for second side.  

10.  Decorate the box as per your wishes.  

I added a Santa image from Santa's List and a sentiment from Very Merry Tags.  The ribbon is the Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon.

This box is decorated with the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack paper.  The snowflake embellishment is made with the Festive Flurry Stamp set and matching framelits and a Frosted Finishes embellisment.  I've tied the box with a strip of Smokey Slate Chevron Ribbon.

I put life savers in this treat box. The others have chocolate covered pretzels and truffles.  

This treat box is tied with the gorgeous Cherry Cobbler Tulle ribbon which is still available at last check in the Clearance Rack Blitz.  It is so awesome to use.  The sentiment is from the Warmth and Wonder  Hostess Stamp set.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and would love to hear your comments.  

Christmas Hostess Gifts - Day Five Wine Bottle Toppers

Wine Bottle Toppers:

Whenever I visit friends and take wine I like to bring it in a wine bag or box, but on occasion I've been caught short without either.  The easiest solution is to make a Wine Bottle Topper or Tag.  These are so easy to make and you can keep a supply on hand to quickly decorate for the occasion.  

Here's My Wine Topper:

Supplies For Cherry Cobbler Wine Topper:
Card Stock:
Cherry Cobbler
Early Espresso
Whisper White 

Ink:
Gumball Green
Coastal Cabana
Early Espresso 

Accessories:
1 3/8" Circle Punch
Apothecary Framelits
Oval Framelits
Basic Rhinestones
Dazzling Diamonds
Dimensionals
2-way Glue Pen
Big Shot
Trimmer 

Assembly:

1.  Cut Cherry Cobbler card stock to 2 7/8”x 8”.

2.  Score at 2 ¼" and use bone folder to crease at score line. 

3.  Cut a piece of Season of Style DSP to 2” x 5” and adhere to middle of Cherry Cobbler piece.

4.  Punch 1 3/8” circle out of top portion of Cherry Cobbler card stock.

5.  Using the large die from the Apothecary Framelit set cut a 3 x 5" piece of Early Espresso cardstock.  Then place the rectangular framelit in the center of this piece and run through the big shot. 

Apothecary Framelits Item #127003

6.  Stamp a scene using the images from the Warmth and Wonder 7 piece hostess stamp on a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 piece of Whisper White Card stock.  Lay the rectangular die over the stamped image to make sure the image will be visible through the window frame you created in step 5.  Finish details on picture and then adhere behind the Early Espresso frame.  Mount finished frame to center of dsp piece. 

This cute little stamp set features 7 stamps.  It has a 2-step stamp (dots) that stamps on the tree to create ornaments.  It also coordinates with the Extra Large Oval Stamp (bird image).  This stamp set is part of the Hostess set of stamps in the Holiday Mini and is only available until January 3rd, 2014 when it will be retired.  

The tree is stamped in Gumball Green, the stars are in Coastal Cabana and the deer is in Early Espesso inks.  I used the 2-way glue pen to add lines around the base of the tree and between the deers legs and then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds, so it looks like snow glistening on the ground.  You can't see that in this picture, but if you look closely at the finished tag you will see it.  I also added another star and placed small basic rhinestones in each one. 

7.  Stamp the sentiment "Wishing you......" onto a piece of Whisper white cardstock and cut it out with the smallest oval from the Oval Framelits die cuts.  Using the next size of framelit cut out a piece from Cherry Cobbler and mount the sentiment on this piece with dimensionals and then add the finished sentiment to the tag with dimensionals.

Place the wine bottle topper over your bottle of wine and you are done!  How easy was that?

Another Sample:

I made another wine bottle topper that includes a Christmas Ornament.  The base of the wine bottle topper is cut from Brushed Silver cardstock.  I made the ornament with the Festive Flurry Stamp Set and matching Framelit die cuts, and stamped it in Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo and Night of Navy inks.  Two layers of snowflakes were cut out of Silver Glimmer paper.  I put a Silver 1/8" Ribbon on for the ornament tie and added a Frosted Finishes Embellisment for the center piece in the ornament.  

I used dimensionals between all the layers on the ornament, however because dimensionals won't stick to the glimmer paper when I added a large glue dot on top of the dimensional. Works like a charm.  I attached the ribbon to the back of the ornament with tape and then used an additional large snowflake to cover this. 

The ornament was added to the wine topper with repositionable glue so it can be removed and used as an ornament on the tree.  

 Here's a final look at the two wine bottle toppers I made. 

Note:  The following products used to make these tags will be retiring on January 3rd and no longer available.

Festive Flurries Stamp Set and Framelits - can be purchased as a bundle.
Warmth and Wondeer Stamp Set
Frosted Finish Embellisments 
Silver 1/8" Ribbon

Craft Room Re-organization Part Three: Bulletin Board & Project Display

Over the past few months I've been revamping my stamping studio and the other day I worked on improving my display and bulletin board space. 

In the past my bulletin board area has looked like this.  Usually I just post all the new promos and contact information on it and had some things displayed on the fireplace mantle below it.  Not very exciting or interesting.
So I decided to make my board and display a little more trendy.  

 

Here's what it looks like today.  I've taken away all the "newsy" stuff and created a binder which includes all the information my friends need to know about the latest products and promotions.  The revamped bulletin board now displays samples made with some of the latest products like the Bow Big Shotz Die, etc. and 3-dimensional projects on the mantle top.   I plan on updating and changing the displays based on the season or celebration. 

In the right hand corner of this picture you will see a collection from The Wetlands stamp set.  This is some fabulous Card Candy I received from Laura H.H. Zaraza in a swap at Convention earlier this summer (see previous note on Convention Goodies posted in August). 

I've had a lot of comments on this package of card candy since I put it on display.  Because of this I'm thinking about doing either a class or if enough interest is generated, a Card Candy club in the spring featuring different stamp sets. If you live in my area in Abbotsford, BC would you be interested in attending such a club or a class? Let me know by adding a comment to this post.

The card candy above features stamped images from the Wetlands stamp set that are pre-coloured and mounted on cardstock and already for adding to a project whether it be a card or a scrapbook page.  This is a really fun way of having materials on hand when you need a fast and easy card.  But don't have time to sit down and make it from scratch.  Card candy also makes a great gift for friends and fellow stampers.  Hint. Hint.

Another favourite on my board are the bows and gift card holders.  These gift card samples are modelled after the one Shelley made at Convention this summer.  

Post It Note Pad, Candy Treat and Gift Box

I hope you enjoyed looking at this revamp.  I've been trying to keep my room updated and clutter free and finishing this project made me feel so good. Thanks for viewing and leave me a comment if you enjoyed this post.