Holiday Tag It Bundles

From now until November 19th, save 20% on these bundles for creating quick and easy holiday packages.

 

• Holiday Tag It Decorative Box Bundle, #135811, $19.95 ($24.85 value)
• Stamp a Tag Kit
• Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon – 10 yards
• Six Decorative Window Gift Boxes

• Holiday Tag It Extra Large Box Bundle, #135812, $18.95 ($23.85 value)
• Stamp a Tag Kit
• Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon – 10 yards
• Three Extra-Large Gift Boxes

Happy Halloween!

Today, I thought I would share all the Halloween cards I made to send out this year. I also decided to enter these into "Anything Goes" at the Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog. (I love finding new challenge blogs!)

Hope you have a spooky good time today!

Stamps: Holiday Best
Paper: Witches' Brew DSP, Basic Black CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Whisper White CS   
Colors: Basic Black Marker, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Summer Starfruit Marker   
Accessories: 1/8" Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon

 Stamps: Holiday Best   
Paper: Cast-a-Spell DSP, Old Olive CS, Basic Black CS, Whisper White Notecards   
Colors: Basic Black Marker, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Old Olive Marker, Perfect Plum Marker
Accessories: Linen Thread, Glue Dots, Pumpkin Pie Button

 

 Stamps: Tags 4 You   
Paper: Witches' Brew DSP, Pumpkin Pie CS, Basic Black CS, Very Vanilla CS 
Colors: Black Staz-On Ink   
Tools: Label Bracket Punch   
Accessories: Witches' Brew Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stamps: Halloween Bash   
Paper: Witches' Brew DSP, Basic Black CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Summer Starfruit CS  
Colors: Black Staz-On Ink 
Tools: Hexagon Punch, Paper Snips   
Accessories: Witches' Brew Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes   
Paper: Witches' Brew DSP, Pumpkin Pie CS, Basic Black CS, Whisper White CS   
Colors: Basic Black Ink, Pumpkin Pie Ink 
Tools: Modern Label Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Squares Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Sponge (for edges of modern label) 
Accessories: Whisper White Baker's Twine, Circle Treat Cups, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots (for twine bow) 

italics = retired product

Thank You Thursday!

It's the last Thank You Thursday! This week, Stampin' Up! has discounted certain colors of their Chevron Ribbon for TODAY ONLY! (Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate, and Calypso Coral) Grab some while supplies last!

To order Stampin' Up! products, click here and be sure to select Janet Strain in Richmond, Virginia as your demonstrator! When you order, don't forget about the weekly deals as well (see post below this one).

Happy stamping (and ordering)!

New Weekly Deals!

New weekly deals from Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me online. Just select Janet Strain in Richmond, Virginia as your demonstrator!

Eastern Butterfly Elegance

Mojo Monday time! I snuck last night's card into the Mojo Monday website with minutes to spare! But that means this morning brings a brand new sketch challenge. On the last Monday of the month, they offer a circle and square card layout (MOJO317). Since I don't yet have the Circle Framelits, I decided to do a smaller card and use circle punches for the focal points of the card.

Every year I participate in a DSP product share with my upline, Julie Davison. It is open to customers and demonstrators, and is a great way to get a little bit of everything (whether it is new DSP, ribbon, buttons, other accessories, etc) without spending a fortune. With the DSP share, I got a 6x6-inch piece of each sheet of DSP offered in the current Annual Catalog.

SO... since I have a lot of 6x6 sheets of DSP laying around... I decided to use my Envelope Punch Board in reverse! There are two sizes of cards that you can use a 6x6 sheet of paper for to make an envelope (see the little pink arrows above). So I decided to go with the 3-1/2" square card.

I used the Eastern Elegance DSP for my envelope, accent pieces, and color scheme. Here is what I came up with!

Do you ever get a stamping idea into your head, and it just won't go away until you create it? I'd been envisioning making a little double-layer butterfly like this one all weekend. When I saw the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and butterfly punches sitting on my desk, I knew I could finally use them for this project!

This card is too small to mail, but hopefully I can find a use for it at some point! Perhaps as a little note to accompany a bottle of wine when I go over to a friend's house for a casual night in. :)


Stamps: Papillon Potpourri

Paper: Eastern Elegance DSP, Smoky Slate CS, Coastal Cabana CS, Crushed Curry Textured CS (but could use the current Core'dinations paper to achieve the same look), Whisper White CS

Colors: Crushed Curry Ink

Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Envelope Punch Board

Accessories: Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

No-Words Birthday Card

I'm very stressed out about a presentation I am giving next week, so I needed some stamping time to soothe my nerves. I like to *challenge* myself to try to use more than one challenge on a card! ;) So today, it was Color Throwdown #265 (CTD265) and Mojo Monday #316 (MOJO316).

I used Midnight Muse instead of Not Quite Navy, because I was trying to stick with current SU! products. But then I ended up using a retired stamp set anyway. Oh well!

It was hard for me to combine this many colors into one card (my stand-by is 3 colors and 1 neutral) but I finally made it work! Leave a comment and tell me which one do you like better: with or without the Crisp Cantaloupe embellishment on the left side?

Stamps: Patterned Party
Paper: Pistachio Pudding DSP, Crisp Cantaloupe CS, Pistachio Pudding CS, Baked Brown Sugar CS, Midnight Muse CS, Whisper White CS
Colors: Pistachio Pudding Marker, Crisp Cantaloupe Marker, Midnight Muse Marker, Baked Brown Sugar Marker
Tools: 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits, Big Shot
Accessories: Crisp Cantaloupe 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim, In Color Boutique Details, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots

italics = retired product

Tis the Season... for Sparkle!

This weekend has been wonderful - I had absolutely NOTHING planned! So yesterday I got to do some stamping and knitting, and today I've already made a cute little Christmas card!

In my search for card challenges yesterday, I came across this fun blog: Tis the Season. The color combo for their second challenge (TTS2) is right up my alley! I actually made a card with a similar color scheme 7 years ago (see below), back when I first started stamping and had very little stamps and supplies! (These stamps were actually Close to My Heart, I think. Before I became an SU! purist. I even used the masking technique - and I had only been stamping for a month! I'm so proud of my early-stamping self.)

In a way, I think it may have been easier to create when I had just a few stamp sets and I really had to think outside the box. My current inventory might look desirable, but honestly I can't even remember what sets I have and I constantly need to pull everything out and browse to find anything. It's kind of ridiculous. I have 7 cubes filled with stamps. SEVEN!! If I ever get the time and energy, I may just need to start selling stuff on ebay just to de-clutter and simplify!

Besides the sickening number of stamps, check out how otherwise adorable my stamping area is!! The rest of the apartment may still need some work, but I finally finished this part. :)

Anyway, back to the color challenge. It's definitely non-traditional, but I love it! I was having trouble deciding on a layout/idea, but then this morning on Pinterest I found this card. It even has the right colors for the challenge! So I totally CASEd it.

I love that I was even able to use the "optional trimming" of glitter! Fun stuff! I think I'll keep up with this blog and maybe it'll help me get my Christmas cards made and sent out on time this year! Hey, there's a first time for everything! ;)

The size of this old ornament punch calls for a wider card if you want to fit 3 across. Because I have the new Envelope Punch Board, I didn't have to worry about finding an envelope to fit an oddly-shaped card: I can just make one! So I used some old Tempting Turquoise DSP. The card front is 3" x 6". I had never really tried the white-on-white look, but it seems so classy, and I like how it turned out! Thanks to the bright gorgeous sun making an appearance today, you can see shadows showing the dimension on my card.

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Snowfall
Paper: Tempting Turquoise Prints DSP, Whisper White CS
Colors: Tempting Turquoise Marker/Ink, Pear Pizzazz Marker/Ink, Melon Mambo Marker/Ink
Tools: Envelope Punch Board, Paper Piercer & Mat, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Heat Tool, VersaMark Ink Pad, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Ticket Corner Punch, Ornament Punch
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

Challenge Extravaganza!

I miss doing challenges, so I started looking around the web for some current ones. I was able to incorporate not one, not two, but THREE challenges into this card! Summer Starfruit is kind of difficult to "capture" in pictures, so I took one with the flash to get a better representation of the true color. (Added bonus: you can see my cute manicure!) ;)

First, I really like the clean and simple layout of the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 284 (TSSC284). I anticipate making many more cards in this layout, especially since I have so much Designer Series Paper! I decided to incorporate the flagged end into my sentiment.

Next, I headed over to the Around the World blog for their third challenge (AW03), which was a theme challenge. Since I live in the Northern hemisphere, it is all about FALL! The trick with this blog is that everything has to be a CURRENT Stampin' Up! product - which I was actually able to accomplish this time! To give the card a little texture, I just crumpled up the leaf into a ball a couple of times.

Then, I headed to Split Coast Stampers to find a color challenge that would mesh with the other two challenges. I found A Crazy Suede Starfruit (CC446), which was a wonderful palette for a fall card. And thus, my card was born. :)

This baby is headed my brother's way, as his birthday is at the end of October. I like autumnal cards because they often tend to be on the less feminine side and are appropriate for guys. I also just love the season! The leaves haven't started changing colors yet around here, probably because it's been in the 80s for the majority of "fall" so far. Next month I expect some real beauties though!


Stamps: Wetlands
Paper: Soho Subway DSP (Summer Starfruit pattern), Venetian Romance DSP (Soft Suede pattern), Cajun Craze CS, Soft Suede CS, Summer Starfruit CS, Very Vanilla CS
Colors: Cajun Craze Ink
Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die (leaf), Circle Card Thinlits Die (banner for sentiment), Big Shot
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals