Taking time off for Christmas

I'm taking the next week or so off for the Christmas holiday so I won't be posting any projects.  I'll be doing many of the wonderful things of the season brings:  time with family and friends, cooking, eating and exchanging gifts, for example.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  Have a holly jolly time with your loved ones, stay safe and warm, and remember the Reason for the Season, Jesus! 

When I return, I'll begin sharing samples of stamps and accessories from the new Occcasions Mini Catalog.


See you soon!  

Margaret

Christmas Cocoa and Ornament Frame Gift

I am blessed to be friends with some wonderful ladies who are Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  You know, it's all about the relationships, and our stamping just happens to be what drew us together!  A couple of my friends got me into stamping (when "I didn't need another hobby") and it's the friends that keep me going, both my friends/customers and my friends/demos.  :)  I hope you too have the same blessing. 

Anyway, this week and last, I've been showing you the gifts we exchanged last week at our "Stamp Therapy" meeting.  Today I have a lovely gift that each of us received from Gayle Enouen which is a beautiful framed Christmas decoration! 

Gayle used a 12 x 12" sheet of the giant flocked white snowflake paper from the Christmas Cocoa Designer Series Paper as the base of her design.  To this she added a large rhinestone to the center of the snowflake.  Then she added three unique ornaments punched out with the Ornament Punch; one is stamped, one has a rub-on embellishment and one was embossed with the Petals-A-Plenty Embossing Folder and the Big Shot.  The centers were touched with just a little silver for accent.  These ornaments were "strung" with the gold elastic cord.

For the final embellishment, a white rub-on greeting was added to the front of the glass in the frame and several rub-on snowflakes were scattered on the black frame.

The colors in this paper are white and Soft Suede, however, the Soft Suede looks like a dull gold in this setting.  What a lovely gift, Gayle; thank you so much.

Are you enjoying seeing these great gifts we shared?  Lots of eye-candy and inspiration from my friends!

I hope you are all safe and warm and making progress toward Christmas, which is only nine days away!  I hope we can all take short time-outs periodically to to soak in the season and the Love that brought it all about.

Warmly,

Margaret

Gift Wrapping and Ornament Punch Tag

This is another gift that I received last week at our Stamp Therapy meeting. Connie Stewart took a box of Andes Mints (mmmmmm!), wrapped them with some Real Red Designer Series Paper from a 6x6" Hostess DSP Pack then added scalloped edging in Chocolate Chip cardstock (appropriate, hmm? lol!) She then wrapped and tied some of the luxurious wide Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain Ribbon around the box and added Sizzlit die cut Little Leaves, red berries and a Joy tag done with the Ornament Punch and Delightful Decorations stamp set! Isn't this just the cutest thing?!

What a lovely gift presentation this makes and the preparation is made easy with Stampin' Up! punches and dies! That's just what I need this time of year... tools that make things go more quickly and easily to help me get pretty things like this done in a minimum of time! What a great idea, Connie! And thanks so much for the yummy candy...and I love Andes Mints!

Margaret

Snow Scene Picture Frame

This adorable frame was one of our Make 'n Take projects at last week's Stamp Therapy meeting. Leslie Bumgarner brought one for each of us to do, walked us through it and this was also her gift to each one of us! Isn't it just too cute?!!
Bashful Blue cardstock was stamped in White Craft Ink with the Serene Snowflakes set then heat embossed. The snow base is torn white cardstock with the edges sponged in Bashful Blue then swiped with a Two-Way Glue Pen and sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds for a beautiful sparkle.

The tree is Garden Green cardstock punched with the Scallop Punch then each of the four layers was cut a little smaller; these were adhered with the Glue Stick then applied to the frame over a Chocolate Chip Word Window punch. Touches of Signo White Gel Pen reflect the snow scene.

The child with the giant "snowball" is made from the Wide Oval Punch, hand-drawn eyes and mouth, and a BoHo Blossom punch in chocolate for a puff of hair peeking out from under his cap. The red cap is made with the Ornament Punch with a pom-pon of Ballet Blue. Ballet Blue is also punched with the Word Window punch for the mittens.

This was fun to make and will so cute with Christmas or winter pictures in it! Thanks for such a great project and gift, Leslie! Love it!

Thanks for visiting! Hope you have a good week and are able to stay warm! Make time to have some fun stampin'!

Margaret

Rudolph Chocolate Bar with Punches!

Need a quick inexpensive small gift with big impact? Here's a fun idea... this was a Make 'n Take brought to our Stamp Therapy meeting last Wednesday by Gayle Enouen. Rudolph was fun and easy to make with our Stampin' Up! Punches! No stamps were involved in the making of this project! : )

This is a 4.4 oz. chocolate bar wrapped in Chocolate Chip cardstock and adhered at the back with Sticky Strip.
Antlers: pipe cleaners
Top "hair": half of a Close to Cocoa Scallop Circle Punch.
Eyes: 3/4", 1-1/4", 1-3/8" punches, Signo White Gel Pen
Nose: 1" red, 1-3/8" Close to Cocoa
Mouth: drawn with Signo White Gel Pen using the Curly Label Punch scrap as a template
Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon tie
Other: Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Curly Label Punch, Snail Adhesive

He was fairly quick and easy to make. Once you've done one, you can really crank them out! Have fun with it!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit today!

Margaret

Fun and Fast Birthday!

My, this is a change in gears! lol! Like many of you, I've been neck-deep in Christmas prep but today's Blogger's Challenge is BIRTHDAY!! I also wanted to use the Splitcoast Color Challenge this week of Rich Razzleberry, Always Artichoke and Barely Banana. Thirdly, I also needed to get my Technostamper's Monday Sketch Challenge done... so I combined all three for a Triple Play!

Fun and Fast Notes is a great set to cover many different occasions; there are eight stamps, each with a different accompanying sentiment. So useful and versatile!! And fun to color in to coordinate with Designer Paper or color schemes!

The card base is Artichoke; on that is a layer of Barely Banana which has been embossed with the Finial Press Embossing Folder (love it!) and the Big Shot. A layer of Artichoke on Razzleberry is next; this is pierced at the top corners and along the bottom.

The birthday cake, stamped on white, is colored with markers and Blender Pen. A touch of Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter really make it sparkle IRL. This is layered on Rich Razzleberry cardstock.

The "birthday bliss" greeting is from the Birthday Bliss set; I used it because it would fit on the Modern Label Punch of Barely Banana. This was attached to a swath of Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon across the entire cardfront.

Here's Technostamper Sketch #TSSC99 for this week. You can check out the list of other participants this week here.

For the other Blogger's Challenge members, you may refer to the list here; not everyone participates every week but they still will have cool things on their blogs.

Stamps: Fast and Fun Notes, Birthday Bliss
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Markers
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Accessories: Finial Press Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Modern Label Punch, Blender Pen, Two Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Circle Cutter.
All products from Stampin' Up!

#113500 Fun and Fast Notes Set of 8 $33.95 p.56
2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog

Thanks for dropping by! Happy Friday... have a great weekend!

Margaret

Altered Jars for Gifting

These plastic jars were originally filled with various salty snacks such as nuts and such when I bought them. Once we emptied them, however, I cleaned and saved them with the idea of filling them again with a food gift for Christmas. I recently made Seasoned Pretzels, decorated the jars and filled them up for my gifts for my Stamp Therapy friends yesterday. We had a great day visiting, looking at new products, doing make 'n takes, eating and exchanging gifts! I love these ladies!

Merry Moments Designer Paper is used to cover up the labels and add color to the jars. The birds and branches were die cut with the Big Shot and the Bird with Leaves and Flower die and enhanced with flowers punched with the BoHo Blossoms Punch. The words are from the Christmas Punch Level 2 Hostess set and punched with the Wide Oval Punch. Ornaments punched with the Ornaments punch decorate the sides which are wrapped with the luscious Chocolate Chips Wide Grosgrain Ribbon and tied in back. On the lids I used Designer Paper diecut with the Scallop Circle die and Five Petal Flower punch for the flower and leaves.

These two jars were a little different shape from the previous two so I decorated them differently. I cut the Merry Moments Designer Paper with the larger scallop circle from the Scallop Circle #2 die and a layer of Old Olive cardstock with the Circle Cutter and Cutting Mat as a background for the bird and branches. On these I used the Sleigh Bells cotton ribbon to wrap around the decorative paper and tie in the back because it coordinated so well.

On these jars I needed to cover up the lids completely as one was yellow and one was blue. I used the Sleigh Bells ribbon around the edges of these also. On the tops I put Real Red cardstock circles cut with the Circle Cutter and Mat and Designer Paper cut with the Scallop Circle die. This was accented with a poinsettia punched with the Five Petal Flower punch, shaped and adhered with Mini Glue Dots. These were centered with Barely Banana flowers (Trio Flower Punch). The leaves are an Olive Green flower (Five Petal Flower Punch) cut into individual sections.

Although there was only one stamp used on these four jars, I made lots of use of some of the great tools we have through Stampin' Up! They make papercrafting so much more fun, easier and offer limitless possibilities!!


#113465 "Birds w/ Leaves and Flower" die $19.95, pg. 199, 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog.  Note:  This die has since been discontinued but Stampin' Up! has many more fabulous dies that can be used on a similar project!! 

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you! Question? Just click on "Comments" below!

If you would like the recipe for the Seasoned Pretzels, please leave me a comment on this post. You'll find the recipe there! If you wish to leave a recipe for me/us, I'd love that too! Thanks for sharing! :)
Margaret

Santa Gift Bag!

It's that time again, isn't it! Time to think about how we're going to present all those gifts we've been making and buying! Here's an idea my friend and Stamp Therapy buddy Leslie Bumgarner brought for us to make at our last get-together: a really cute Santa gift bag!

The base for this creation is a white handled sack. A piece of Blush Blossom cardstock is cut to fit the front then a Real Red piece of cardstock is cut for the "hat" portion. Finally a piece of Whisper White cardstock is cut for the beard, mustache and hat trim and run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Details Texturz Plate to give it some nice texture.

Black circles punched with the 3/4" Circle Punch are used for the eyes; a touch from the White Signo Gel Pen gives a twinkle to the eyes.

The Holly Jolly stamp on the tag is from the Christmas Punch Level 2 Hostess set and is punched out with the Curly Label punch. This is layered on Real Red then Black cardstock and tied to the handle with Black Gingham Ribbon.

The nose is a 1" circle punch out of the Blush Blossom cardstock then the edges sponged with some pink ink, as are his cheeks. A 1" circle is punched from Real Red cardstock for his mouth underneath his nose and mustache.

This will be such a fun way to package up a gift and will be eye-catching under the Christmas tree!

Thanks for dropping by today! Hope you have some time to stamp and create soon!

Margaret