Just Us Girls gift box challenge

Over at Just Us Girls they raised the challenge of creating a set of cards and matching holder ... and I thought what an awesome way to showcase our Kraft Gift Boxes and the Holiday Bouquet Designer Series Paper!

So I made a Poinsettia adorned offering with the Kraft Gift boxes from the Holiday Mini and than created 12 matching 3x3 gift cards with envelopes!

 Featuring the Ornament punch and Delightful Decorations ...

 As well as the Tree Trimmings stamp set and an ornament made with the Blossoms Punch...

 Stop on by the Just for Girls challenge blog and check out the offerings from the Design team and other stampers offerings!

Happy Stampin'
Margaret

No better time to join my team ...

Welcome bloggers ... I can never say it enough but one of the things I just LOVE about Stampin' Up is the collaborative supportive team atmosphere ... my upline is amazing and we meet monthly to share ideas on building our business and participating in cardswaps!

Here are some shares from the end of Septembers swap where we focused on Holiday themed cards showcasing Holiday mini and other finds from the catty  ...

From Liz's daughter an amazing Halloween offering ... loved creating this it was spooky sponging fun!

 Nancy shared this peekaboo ornament card which showcases the new Platinum embossing powder however my camera did not do it justice!

 Pauline brought a guest this month - another great thing about Stampin' Up they really mean it when they say 'Share What You Love' . Pauline's guest was Tanya if I remember correctly who shared this card which showcased the Stocking Building punch and coordinating stamp set.

 From Liz this cool 'bleached' Comfort and Joy offering that has both a Fall and Christmas feel to it! 

From Pauling a really cool clean and simple Day of Gratitude offering ... combination of stamped and embossed images ...love the Gold embossing powder!

 From Susan ... another cool peekaboo Delightful Decorations offering which showcases the Northern Flurry embossing folder nicely as well!

Have you ever considered the benefits of being a Stampin' Up Demonstrator? We have all sorts of career paths! 

From the 'Discount Demo' who is her own best customer and joins up just to get the amazing Start Kit goodies and the great 20% demo discount ... if you are an avid stamper or scrapper this path could be for you!

We have the 'Hobby Demo' career path which is perfect for those of us who have a financial goal we want to meet - we can earn some extra money or we can earn enough money part time to support our own addiction - so a few workshops and classes a month help the Hobby Demo to support their addiction while getting a great discount on products they love!

Last but not least we have the 'Dynamic Business Demo' who has a bit more time and energy to devote to their business .. striving to keep their calendar full with workshops and classes and working to build a strong team of fellow Demos to really share what they love!

The great thing about Stampin' Up is that the quarterly minimums are very attainable for the Discount Demo path and the possibilities for building a strong business are endless guided by a supportive team and your own passion!

This month join my team and not only get a FREE BIG SHOT but the awesome Start Kit as well!

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Forgive me!

I was playing with the embossing folder and gold glitter trying to get an idea for something else '50th Gold Themed Birthday' and this card just evolved ... I know it is summer and this is a Christmas card again but isn't it just divine?

I ran the gold cardstock through the folder to raise the embossed image and than brayered that image with versamark and clear embossed to make the gold 'two toned' and mounted it on black cardstock ... the Delightful Decoration ornament was versamarked on black cardstock and heat embossed with gold glitter emboss powder and punched out and adhered with dimensionals!

Quick, simple and yet elegant!

Happy Stampin'

Saturday Scrapbooking Sketches

Time for another Saturday Scrapsketch from over on My Digital Studio ....I loved the replica of a film strip - however I did not have the strip punch download so had to improvise with the Scallop Trim border punch!

These are more converted photos from my Aunt ... Christmas photos from the Grandparents house with my siblings! Large photo is my brother and I looks like 1971 the photos from the strip are from the year prior 1970 when I was a little toddler!

Since the photos are now teetering on 'vintage' being over 40 years old I thought I would use some of the vintage overlay brush sets as well as the 'lighter vintage blues' for the layout! In addition the Tree Trimming's stamp set also add some 'vintage looking' ornaments along with the Tags til Christmas ornament stamp.

Handmade Gift Boxes

I love the little Box 2 die from Stampin' Up - it is the perfect size for a variety of small gifts to people from jewelery or candles to chocolates or a gift card - and the added 'hand decorated gift box' to hide your treasures in is just that much more meaningful for recipients :)

This set of boxes is for this weekends Stamp a Stack and features the Contempo Christmas stamp set currently on sale for 20% off in the Holiday Bundles pack done up in gold embossing and punched out with the Ornament punch! I paired the punched ornaments with the Contempo stamp around wheel also embossed with gold powder to make my own 'designer paper' to match!

Front view of the boxes done in Night of Navy and Crumb Cake and Real Red and Crumb cake.

Back of the box show casing how the Contempo Stamp Around Wheel creates a nice design along the back of the box!

Things are 'Looking Up'

Is this snowman not the cutest little thing you have ever seen - I love all the punch art ideas that are out and about on the Internet and am not sure who the original designer of this snowman was cause I have seen him used by several Stampers - but I loved him so tweaked him up with the punches I had!

So I used the 2 1/2 inch circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch and 1 1/4 circle punch for this one with the branch from the 2 step bird. The eyes are made with two brads, pumpkin pie sliver for the nose and I drew on the coal with my basic black tip marker and tied a bit of Cherry Cobbler seam binding for the scarf! I than stamped tone on tone serene snowflakes on the Marina mist and paired it with the Ornament punch and the sentiment from All Holidays stamp set stamped in versamark and embossed with white emboss powder. A little bit of the Tinsel ribbon to make the hook for the ornament and we are as good as gold!

This is one of the offerings for this weekends Stamp a Stack at my house - we are making a combination of 5 projects ... some 3D paper crafting, a hostess gift and some cards - everything you need to get you started on your Holidays!

Joy Banner - traditional style

So here are my 'traditional' Joy Banners created from my digital template!

Horizontal Banner ... admitting I did not like the way this one hung on the wall - so I did it over again ;)Second time is a charm ... here is my Vertical Joy banner which I was happier with the way it hung ... well that and in my home I totally have more places to hang a vertical designed banner than a horizontal one.

I designed the 5 panel Banner so that if I wanted I could have the option to create one that either says Joy, Peace or Love depending on my inspiration. I went with the Joy because I wanted a 'winter' theme that could stay up past Christmas and well it allowed for the Ariel Snowman to be incorporated into the O and I am just in love with snowman this season!

So my first panel is Mr Christmas Owl in his fancy vest showcased on the polka dot embossed whisper white paper!

The letter J encased on the ornament punch which was stamped with the polka dot ornament from the Delightful Decorations set and the Serene Snowflakes in the background.

Letter O panel features a Ariel view snowman punched with our circle punch, arms are from the 2 Bird punch set with brad eyes, real red grossgrain ribbon accents.

Letter Y panel is embossed with the Northern Flurry folder and paired with the 2 Step Bird to make a Christmas Cardinal and of course some Rhinestone bling!

Final Panel with the Tags til Christmas stamp set punched out with the ornament punch in the Baja Breeze ink with a little Rhinestone bling paired with some Vanilla Smooch Spritz to add some glitter!

Joy Banner

I am preparing for next weeks Holiday Stamp a Stack and wanting to create a JOY banner as one of our projects - one of the things I really enjoy about My Digital Studio is being able to plan out a project digitally before creating it the real thing ... so here is my digital banner layout and now I am off to the craft room create the real one which I will share tomorrow to show the difference!

Tags til Christmas

Another wonderful card swap card ... this one designed by Sherri ...featuring the Tags til Christmas stamp set and the Plenty of Petals embossing folder ... I love the contemporary feel to the design as well as the layering and texture the card has!

Striking Seasons Greeting

This is another card we made at our recent card swap ... I love the black and white themed cards and this one is no exception!

I also love how Yvonne blended stamp sets together using the Cardinal Christmas stamp set to make a branch and the Tags till Christmas for the ornament!

Silver Razzleberry

More fun with snowflakes ... this card features the Snow Swirled snowflakes and the Delightful Decorations set with the Ornament punch and the sentiment is from the Many Merry Messages. Snowflakes are stamped on Whisper White card stock with versamark and embossed with Silver and set on Razzleberry paper with the Razzleberry ornament stamped on Whisper White with Razzleberry and the silver cord accents.

A Rose by any other name

This is my first attempt at the 'Ornament Rose' .... it uses the Stampin' Up ornament punch and each ornament shape is sponged around the edges and than curled to give it the 3D look and than glued onto a 1/34 circle to put it together.

Actually a quick and easy flower to make although it turned out a little larger than I had anticipated it would - the Stampin' Up! tutorial called for 18 punched ornaments and I think I ended up using almost 24 by the time I was done - typical of my style though - why use only 18 when 24 will do!

I used my favorite ticket corner punch as well and than for the first time I was inspired to try and use a paper piercer to give a little dimension to my paper layer - what a lot of fun that is - very therapeutic relaxation for any women who has stress in their life ... I am thinking the paper piercer will be making more appearances on my cards!

And what about those dainty half back pearls? Do they not just give it that subtle elegance?

I stamped an envelope out of habit - but in hindsight I am thinking that this card would work awesome as a 'bow / gift tag combo' on a gift for someone special!

I am planning on making up some of these to sell for the 'Run for the Cure' fund-raising for our Bold and Boobiful team! You can check out more about the Run for the Cure here!

My Open House - a 'business warming' party!

WOW ... I had an awesome busy weekend so my apologizes for not posting on the blog this weekend.

I had my first open house 'business warming party' and my thanks to everyone who was able to come out to support me I had an awesome time and hope everyone else did as well!

We made two cards this is the first one featuring the Because I Care hostess stamp and showcasing the corner punch and ornament punch and colour spritzer tool - which rocks for making a 'antiqued' looking paper depending on the colour choices!

Our second card features the Elements of Style stamp set and showcased the ease of the Big Shot and the Daisies 2 bigz die as well as the ticket corner punch.

I wasn't sure how I was going to fit everyone into my little living dining room while still creating an 'inviting space' but I hope I pulled it off!

Even carved out a little niche for a card and project display for people to peruse to get inspiration on how Stampin' Up! products can be used to create wonderful unique cards!

And well not social gathering will be complete without some yummy food for sharing over great conversation and card making .... thanks again to family and friends for making my open house a success ;-)

Because I Care ...

I have a feeling I am going to LOVE this set as well ... this is a sneak peek set from the upcoming July 2010 catty ... a Level One Hostess gift you earn FREE from hosting a qualifying workshop!

This is a card I made for my 'Shoebox Card Swap' tonight with the other demonstrators in my up-line team ... this is my first Shoebox Card Swap - but it sounds like lots of fun!

Everyone brings one card sample and all the materials needed to make the card neatly organized in a shoebox and then you pass the shoe boxes around the table , make a card from each and at the end of the night you have many unique card samples for sharing at workshops or if you are not a demo for sending to loved ones! What a great way to experience stamp sets you might not own yet!

Front of Card
Inside of the Card

More Pleasant Purples

I am just in love with Purples lately ... this is a card was inspired by a technique class with another demonstrator, Lisa Bowman before I started selling myself ... and I loved it's combination and alternative use of punches ... the flower pot is actually using the Holiday ornament punch with the point left off the edge of the page when punched. The stamp set is Pocket Silhouettes which is a versatile set all on its own!

Hope everyone has a great Father's Day weekend ... here is another little nugget I created for Father's Day at a Stamp a Stack event last month ... cute little set called King of the Grill!