A Passion for Stamps

CARD & BOX USING RETIRING STAMPS

I pulled out a stamp set called All Through the Year which will be retired from Stampin' Up!'s 2008 Spring-Summer Collection after August 10. I really love the Summer Picnic Designer Series Paper which is two sided so I used the cherries from All Through the Year with it and came up with a card and this matching 2-4-6-8 box:

Created by Debbie Van Gieson Images © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

I am really going to miss the set and I'm sure the paper will probably be on the Retired Accessories List coming out on July 21....

The "gift package" was made simply by folding over the top of the designer paper to reveal the design on the other side of this two-sided decorative paper! Then I wrapped the ribbon around it, tied it in a bow (can't do bows? See this post HERE for bow tying help!) and attached it to the Real Red cardstock with SNAIL Adhesive.

I think it would be helpful to do a tutorial or two showing how to get that sparkling cherries affect on both the card and box using Heat and Stick powder (makes a great embelllishment), and how to make a 2-4-6-8 box! But it's very late so that will have to wait till another day! Don't forget to check back again soon!

Happy Stampin'!

Boatload of Love Box in the Bag-a downline gift!

I really enjoy making these Box in a Bag projects (and this is what it is called, because there really IS a box in the bottom of the bag-see the photo below as proof!). To learn more about these, read THIS POST.

Here is another one I made as a gift (shhhhhhh!) for Jan (one of my first level downline) who has been an inspiring leader to her team, a supportive downline member, and most importantly-a dear friend for many years. I hope she doesn't see this before she receives it in the mail! Even if she does, what's IN it will still be a surprise (so I'm not telling you what I'm putting in it!) I'd love to hear your suggestions though!

 

                                                    IMAGES © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

I had so much fun making this one! I try to make gifts with nautical themes for my downline, because our team name is S.O.S. Team (for S.aving O.verwhelmed S.tampers)..I use images of lighthouses, beachy ocean, tropical, fish (starfish), and boat type images such as life rings and anchors. Sooooo....having explained that, you'll understand why I had to have the Boatloads of Love stamp set  from Stampin' UP! (love that Boat with the life rings and anchor!). As I was going thru my vast assortment of Designer Series papers, I knew as soon as I saw this Cutie Pie paper that this was THE one I wanted to use and the ideas just flowed from that point on... (Its amazing how different the colors and designs are in this package!) I love it when that happens...

Here is the INSIDE-as you can clearly see, there IS a box on the inside at the bottom which explains the name of this project:

Pretty cool, huh? Ok-on to some of the details up close:

Created by Debbie Van Gieson Images © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

The boat is watercolored with Aqua Painters and Classic Ink Pads on Watercolor Paper, then cut out and added above the scalloped edged bottom. The boat, life rings and anchor are all stamped again, tediously cut out and raised with Stampin' Dimensionals and Crystal Effects for a fun 3-D effect.

Created by Debbie Van Gieson Images © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

 The clouds are stamped in White Craft ink and embossed. I painted the chipboard letters with white acrylic paint, then used the aqua painter and reinkers to color them blue. The Life rings, anchor and clouds as well as the On Board Lots of Letters Chipboard are all finished off with Crystal Effects to make them "pop".

Created by Debbie Van Gieson Images © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

I LOVE embellishments and this time I need something more nautical....so here is what I came up with...
I used Textured Wild Wasabi Cardstock and the Round Tab punch, then added eyelets with the Crop-o-dile and looped (retired) Bella Fancy Fibers loosely thru them, knotting them at the ends.  I decided to made the nautical knot with roping (instead of using ribbon) to add to the seafaring touch! 

I am pleased with how this project it turned out!  So--what do you think?

I truly had so much fun making this..I should have made two! As difficult as it will be to give this one-of-a-kind creation away, it was made with love, for someone I admire who is very deserving of special recognition-in case Jan doesn't realize it, she has been a loyal, caring friend and I just want her to know how much I have appreciated our friendship over the years.

Here are the supplies I used to make this project:

Stamps: Boatload of Love
Ink: Wild Wasabi, White Craft, Ballet Blue, Brocade Blue,Versamark Pad, Black StazOn
Paper: Cutie Pie Designer Series, Bashful Blue, TEXTURED Wild Wasabi, Watercolor
Accessories: Crop-o-Dile, Eyelets, 1/4" Circle Punch, Round Tab punch, Crystal Effects, On Board Lots of Letters, Sanding Block, Ballet Blue Ink Refill, White EP, Heat Tool, Aqua Painter, Slit Punch, 1/8" Circle Punch, Sticky Strip, Mini Glue Dots, Paper Snips, SNAIL adhesive, (retired) Bella Fancy Fibers

Non-SU: white acrylic paint, roping

To view all Stampin' Up! products used in this project, visit the Stampin' Up! ONLINE CATALOG. Just click on the photo link on the left sidebar. Fortunately for me, the Boatload of Love stamp set is NOT on the retirement list!!!  It's a great set!

I'd love to hear your comments...don't forget my BLOG CANDY posted awhile ago will EXPIRE at midnight on June 29! Follow the instructions in THIS POST to be in the drawing to win this awesome Stampin' Up! candy I'm giving away at 9:00 a.m. EST on JUNE 30!

Happy Stampin'!

Here's my Box in a Bag for a Birthday Gift!

Check out this adorable "box in a bag"! Or...is it a bag in a box? (I saw this posted both ways so I'm not sure which is correct-I'm going with Box in a Bag.) These were created by Paula Goff:

ARTWORK © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

ARTWORK © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

When I saw these, I knew I had to give it a try and make one!

NOTE ADDED NOVEMBER 2 2008: I just learned that the credit for the Box in a Bag creation actually goes to one of my INKredible Impressions (my upline Tina's Stampin' Up! group) friends from Arizona-none other than Diana Gibbs, an awesome stamping gal! Diana won a contest with Stampin' Up! for this creation! She wrote a terrific tutorial which you can find HERE.

Pat, a good friend of mine, had a birthday last week, so I thought this was an adorable way to package up a gift! Paula asked that we share our creations, so I will be sending mine to her. I noticed others have already sent her some and she has posted them on her site here. You can find the tutorial here.

I had just been talking to Pat earlier and she said she loves the colors aqua and apricot together, so can you guess which Stampin' Up paper I used? If you guessed Bali Breeze Designer Series papers, you are correct! To coordinate with the paper, I chose Apricot, Pumpkin and Taken with Teal. I also decided that the colors were perfect to use the Flower Fusion as accents with aqua Rhinestone Brads in the center. It just occurred to me that I used a bunch of punches again (I always seem to use them in most of my projects!)

Do you know which punch was used to make the scalloped base? The Slit punch! It's really very cool!

The photo didn't come out great, even after editing, because the colors just don't seem as pretty as they were in person...and I wished I had taken a photo BEFORE I stuffed the gift inside...but here is my Birthday Box in a Bag:

ARTWORK © Stampin' Up! 1990-2008

 

So-what do you think? My friend Pat LOVED it! She couldn't believe I made it...she thinks I have the patience of a saint-but I told her these are SO EASY and quick to put together! Here are the supplies I used:

Stamps: NONE (?!)
Ink: NONE(?!)
Cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal
Accessories: Bali Breeze Designer Series paper, Flower Fusion, Aqua Rhinestone Brads, Large & Small Tag Punches, Round Tab Punch, 1 16" Circle Punch, Slit punch, grosgrain ribbons, Teal Stampin' Write Marker

All of these products can be found in the 2008 Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer Collection. You can view the ONLINE CATALOG HERE.  Email me  if you are interested in purchasing any of these products...

Now it's YOUR turn! Give it a try! I'd love to see YOUR creations! Send me your photos and I'll showcase yours here! Or leave a link here in the comment section when you make your own!

HAPPY STAMPIN'!

Scrapbooking-a Masterpiece Snow Fort!

No doubt you are wondering what happened to me? Well it appears that Christmas preparations and vacation plans took over my life...so much for Twelve Christmas specials I had hoped to share! With the new year upon the horizon, the other specials will have to keep until next year's holiday season! But--next year I will be starting much earlier and may instead, do Twelve WEEKS of Christmas, starting in October, so nothing interferes with getting them out!

The snows started earlier than ever in the Northeast U.S. this season...in November! Our kids are older now (19 and  almost 15) so snowstorms don't have the same allure that they used to when they were little...our 19 year-old son now understands why adults aren't crazy about snow and ice-because now he has to get up earlier and go outside to get it all off his car so he can drive to college! And our (almost 15 year old) daughter would rather snuggle inside with her robe and Silky Terrier-watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn instead of loading on all the snow gear and going outside to play in it! I miss those days when we would bundle them up and send them out with their sleds, shovels and buckets so they could create Snow Forts!

While traveling down memory lane, I decided to go thru the many boxes of pictures we have taken over the years that still need to find a home in scrapbooks I mean to finish..and I came across a few photos of one such snow fort the kids built!  It's not the greatest photo, but good enough to stir up the memories! This was the masterpiece of snow forts! The kids worked on it for hours and it lasted for days-even lingered with little mounds where towers used to be, for weeks later! I'm so glad I stopped to take a few pictures-so this memory is saved forever! I had made this page for a swap with my Stampin' Up! group-which now became the perfect home for this photo! One day when my kids have their own families, as they look at this page it will undoubtedly stir up it's own story of memories in their minds as they reminisce about this snowy day in their childhoods...

I used the SNOW jumbo wheel for the background (from the holiday mini collection) with one of this year's In Colors (Soft Sky). I love this wheel-and hope it returns in the next fall-winter collection! Since Stampin' Up! only produces the In Colors for ink pads, ink refills, cardstock and ribbon, I had to create this color for the wheel by using the refill ink in an empty jumbo ink cartridge.

Soft Sky cardstock coordinates beautifully with Taken With Teal, so these are the two main colors I used for the page.

The punch I used for the snowflakes is Spring Flower Bouquet-which is on the retired list and will no longer be available for a few more days! To see a complete list of what is on the retired stamps and accessories lists, refer to the sidebar for the most recent update. If you wish to order anything from the current catalog, please contact me by noon on December 31-New Year's Eve at the latest. We have plans for New Year's Eve, as you probably do as well, so after noon, I will not be placing any other orders from the Fall-Winter Collection.

To learn how to make the icicle border at the top of the page, go to my Icicle Tutorial.

Here are other supplies I used in the making of this scrapbook page:

Stamps: Big on Christmas

Cardstock: Whisper White, Taken With Teal, Soft Sky

Ink: Soft Sky, Classic Basic Black,

Accessories: Spring Flower Bouquet Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Crystal Effects, Stampin' Write Markers, Aqua Painter, Stampin' Dimensionals, Soft Sky Double-Stitched ribbon, Silver Brads, Slot Punch, Snow Jumbo Wheel, Jumbo Handle, Uninked Jumbo Cartridge, Soft Sky refill ink

To order any of the products listed above, please e-mail me.

Chipboard-9x9 Clipboard Photo Frame

Still need some gift ideas to make? Here's one I also did for our S.O.S. Team Camp using once again, D.S. papers...I love them! This time products from the Fall-Winter 2008 Collection that I used are Le Jardin D.S. papers, the new 9x9 clipboards and the Chipboard, plus one of our In-Color ribbons Wasabi Double Stitch! This project makes a nice gift and doubles as a photo! I didn't use a real photo, but made a quick copy with regular copy paper, just to show how it can be used as a picture frame you can hang on the wall!

Here it is clipboard without the photo insert...

   

and here it is with the photo insert!

I have no clue why these photos are coming up so small, but if you click on them, they get huge! I must have edited them differently...

At the top of the frame over the clip is actually a butterfly (if you look closely you will see it). I decided to play around with the hardware, Pretties flower and punches to make it. This is a fun project to do and it doesn't take too long to do either. You can't see it in the photo but there is also a subtle hint of glitter swirled lightly around the background papers for a touch of sparkle!

Have you tried using any of Stampin' Up!'s clipboards yet? FUN project! Why not order the products you need then give it a try? My 6th Christmas Special and instructions for this 9x9 Clipboard Photo Frame are HERE.

Christmas Special #5-Baroque Motifs Box

Todays project is a lovely box that is easy enough to create without a template. What a nice way to package up a gift for the holidays, a birthday or other occasions! Think of the beautiful things you can create!

This is one of the projects I came up with for our quarterly S.O.S. Team Demo Camp in July. The camp is designed for the demonstrators to learn new projects and then teach them to their customer base. This project uses alot of the new products in the Fall-Winter 2007 Collection which is retiring at the end of December, so check the updates on the sidebar for the Retired Stamps & Accessories Lists and make sure you have everything you need-or you can place an order for any of the retiring supplies by December 31.

I love the Baroque Motifs set and the Brocade Background Designer Series papers together! This set is so elegant, it seemed appropriate to also use the Pretties Kit to dress it up! Other newer products used in this project are the Theatre Ribbon Originals and the Round Tab Punch!

If you don't have the 5-in-1 Card Cover Template yet, you NEED this simple tool-you would be amazed at the cool things you can make with it!

Today's Special? I'm giving away free copies of the Stampin' Up! 2008 Spring-Summer Collection!

To find out how you can get one for free and to view the Instructions for this lovely Barque Motifs 5-in-1 Template Box, click Here

Christmas Special #4 Snowman Soup

I just finished up my Stocking Stuffer & Last Minute Gifts Classes last week...didn't make it to class? I've already shared the origami tree chocolate bar; here are the other items we made and the number of each we made:




Frosty the Snowman Soup! (2)

Elegant Christmas Origami Hershey Treat Bar (1)

The Weather Outside is Frightful!-Holiday Candle (1)


Merry & Bright Peek-A-Boo Peppermint Box (1)

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL #4-Frosty the Snowman Soup!

Each person made (2) cello bags! Each cello bag included Mocha Cappuccino Cocoa, Peppermint Candy Cane and Hershey's Nuggets! YUM! This is a yummy treat when a person adds the peppermint candy to a cup of cocoa..top it off with Hershey's Nugget and you have the makings of a VERY delightful warming and loving treat to serve after:

• ice-skating!
• hockey!
• snow-tubing!
• skiing!
• sled-riding!
• shoveling!
• ANY winter sport!
• at home movie time!
• create your own occasion!
  

To learn how to make this simple SNOWMAN SOUP PACKAGE-Click below:

SNOWMAN SOUP PACKAGE

I offer a Stocking Stuffer & Last Minutes Gift Class every year to my customers...(and we make different things each year, of course). They love it and so do I! It forces ME to come up with fast, easy gifts that we can use to slip into stockings, adorn gift packages with or to have on hand as terrific surprise little gifts that we can "whip up" in a moments notice..  (well...maybe in half an hour to an hour or so...) and give to those unexpected friends and family that sometimes pop-in during the holidays! I have a wonderful story that explains how this tradition found it's beginnings...

My FESTIVAL OF GIFTS STORY

My brother Kevin was FAMOUS for popping in on us TOTALLY unexpectedly!

It started many years ago when he was single, but he was so sporadic about it that we were ALWAYS taken by surprise when he showed up without warning with a new girlfriend-just in time for Christmas! (of course!) Back then he lived in South Jersey...and had a different girlfriend every other year! We were NEVER prepared-but he also didn't show up regularly!

I remember one year in particular that stands out in our memory-our son was around 11 and our daughter-7 (the magical years)...it was Christmas Eve and we were all getting ready for the Christmas Eve service at our church (my kids were both in the children's choirs so we had to get there about 45 minutes earlier for them to practice before the service).

We were in our typical "mad family rush"-hoping to just make it in time! I was in the tedious process of getting my daughter's hair brushed evenly so I could pull some of it up with a fancy holiday bow. We had just finished the whole process of getting her dressed in her new  holiday outfit, and of course, those TIGHTS I used to struggle with...followed by getting on those new black patten leather shoes-the whole works! (If you've raised girls, you definitely know where I'm coming from!)

Meanwhile, I was dealing with what every mom of a daughter can identify with-frantically trying to get her ready, while in between, I was trying to also get my own hair done (by now, it was already dry!) apply make-up (in stages, of course! in between taking care of daughter, getting church offering envelope & check written) remembering to throw on pantihose, and everyone hears me ranting "where IS that perfume", and "I left those earrings here-where are they now????"!  This is just some of the "frantic mantra" that was projected to no one that was really listening...my husband (who was always the first one dressed & ready to go) was frantically trying to get our son ready to go, (he makes everyone frantic when he starts urging us to all get moving...). All of a sudden-THE DOORBELL RANG!

Now we live in the country...so we usually know when someone is expected, and we are off the beaten path, so we don't expect vagrants....our neighbors usually call if they need something first, so of course-we all stopped and looked wide-eyed at each other-with the same question running thru each of our "almost ready" heads: "Who could possibly be here on Christmas Eve at a time LIKE THIS?"

Everyone expected "someone else" would get the door...so my husband finally gave in and went to see who it was. So I go back to doing my daughter's hair, and at possibly the most critical moment when I finally get it all ready for that hair clip, suddenly we hear "Hey Kevin!-what are YOU doing here?"  Of course that's ALL the kids needed to hear...and off they went to greet their beloved and long lost uncle who "wasn't gonna make it up for the holidays"..... (remember?) leaving mom with brush in hand and hairpins in her teeth...thinking "oh Lord-how will we EVER get there on time now...."

Don't misunderstand me-I was truly THRILLED to see my brother, (we hadn't seen each other in a few years) but after all the hugs were exchanged, all these things started running thru my head:

• yikes-where will they sleep?
• oh no-we don't have presents for them!
• do we have enough food for two extra people?
• there goes our peaceful, Christmas holiday....(my brother is a chatterbox! although I absolutely love him dearly!!!)
• oh my goodness-my brother is actually HERE for Christmas!!!!!!!
• the kids are gonna go NUTS tomorrow! and.......................................................
• THANK YOU GOD-for such a wonderful, unexpected surprise!

But, what actually came out of my mouth?????

"WE HAVE TO GET TO CHURCH, FOLKS!!!!!! "

Well,somehow, we made it to church JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME, and guess what happened? Kelley got sick-and didn't sing! She was SO excited that her tummy just took a tumble...and my brother didn't get to hear her sing! But it was still the most special Christmas Eve I will ever experience...not to mention the HUGE impression, UNKIE KEV (no it's not a typo-that's what they called him! made on my kids! He had gifts for them, and us...and we haven't had a Christmas like that-since!  (kind of like those old Christmas movies you see on tv this time of year...)

By now you are thinking "how sweet" but WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS STORY?" The point is simply that this is how "Festival of Gifts" originated! My daughter and I stole some time to make some holiday ball ornaments that I had taught at classes-to give to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Debra...and that's how the whole idea of "Festival of Gifts" was born!

Now, every year I plan a bunch of gift items (some home decor projects, some quickie gifts like these) for an annual Festival of Gifts event that I have been doing for yearssc...until this year-I opted to offer classes instead of holding the Festival of Gifts event, because I decided to be a participant as a crafter/consultant at some local craft fairs and just couldn't imagine how I could do it all! (but I think we'll manage to do BOTH next year with good planning! It's amazing how easy it can be when you plan it ahead of time! )

This has become a tradition in our family...my daughter and I have always enjoyed coming up with holiday projects for our family members, church school teachers, hairdresser etc. (we now MAIL them to Unkie Kevin & Aunt Debra if THEY SAY they can't make it up!). But-these projects have become the gift items we offer at our Festival of Gifts Events, Craft Fairs and/or classes! I can recall my husband and son commenting that it's like "Santa's Workshop" here about six weeks before Christmas while the Festival of Gifts Event is going on! When the Craft Fairs, classes and Festival of Events are all over, my daughter and I keep the stamp studio bustling right up until a few days before Christmas-making more gifts for our family and friends!  You can find us in there tinkering away making our gifts...embossing, masking, sanding, painting, eyelet setting, snow frosting,  gluing,  glittering,  hammering, and having a blast!

And after all, isn't this what Christmas is all about too? We have THE BEST TIME discovering and creating, making memories-together...(although my daughter shys away from the camera-which makes it tough to catch these ONE-TIME ONLY memories that I of course, want to scrapbook, I will always treasure these times we spend together getting ready for the holidays! It's a time that we've come to really cherish..someday I'll present her with an album that captures times like these! Shhhh.....

Christmas Special #2 Wrapped Candy Bar Treats

WELCOME-to my 6 Specials of Christmas! If you check back here each day, you'll find cool project ideas and/or a special purchase offer-until December 14!  If you like any of the projects, there is a special offer when you order the products to make the project or, I'll sometimes offer a kit you can order that includes supplies-so you can make and assemble the projects yourself! Are you ready? This project offers 2 different designs:

These are so pretty in person...and I just find it so relaxing to make them. They are super easy and go very quickly once you learn how to make them, even though they look very tedious...a wonderful project and impressive gift! Are you ready to learn how to make them? If not, you can always purchase the finished product!

Click on CHRISTMAS SPECIAL #2 Wrapped Candy Bar Treats to learn more...

More stamp projects...by Debbie Van Gieson

It's so much fun to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and to be able to play with all the toys in the catalog! There are not enough hours in the day though, to play with everything! So buying a table at Craft Fairs gives me the opportunity to really use the products and stamps!

When you read these posts, anything highlighted and underlined is linked to more information about that tag..so just click on these words to learn more about the stamps, products and other information!

I didn't make alot of Christmas cards...but chose just a few to offer. This card was actually a case-except I saw the original it jumped out at me and said SPINNER CARD! So this is the spinner card I created and also changed the Designer Papers used! I find it very relaxing to make these and folks LOVE playing with them! I showed a friend of mine one of these and she could have played with it for hours!!! Did you know they are actually therapeutic?? Evidentally they are-to the creator as well as the recipient!

I really like these colors together-Soft, yet stunning! Peaceful Wishes is a lovely stamp set!

 
STAMP SET: Peaceful Wishes

INK: Real Red, Always Artichoke, Versamark

PAPER: River Rock, Always Artichoke, Vellum Cardstock, Real Red

Accessories: Wintergreen D.S. Paper, Spring Flower Bouquet Punch, 5-petal Punch Flower Punch, Real Red Stampin' Write Marker, Pretties Kit, Dimensionals, Word Window Punch, Brayer

This card was a Workshop Wizard sample provided by Stampin' Up! I've used this as a Make & Take project at workshops this month and everyone seems to enjoy making it-The watercoloring is simple enough for even a beginner and the paper-piercing adds a nice touch.

The Big on Christmas stamp set has 3 stamps and is very popular: Happy Holidays, Noel, and (let it) Snow..I have samples of projects I made with all of them further on:

STAMPS: Big on Christmas

PAPER: Old Olive, Real Red, Watercolor Paper, Dashing D.S. Paper

INK: Stampin' Write Markers-Real Red & Summer Sun; Classic Ink Pads-Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red, Soft Sky, River Rock and StazOn Jet Black

ACCESSORIES: Watercolor brush, Crafter's Tool Kit, Dimensionals, Grosgrain Ribbon-5/8" Real Red

I also used the other stamps in the Big On Christmas set to make these adorable Gift Card Holders I CASED from Amy Celona-she has a great website! You can find the tutorial HERE. She made them as moneyholders-I made them as Gift Card Holders since they have become a popular gift-giving idea. Can you guess which one sold out first? If you guessed the Let It Snow holder, you are correct!  These Gift Card holders can also double as money holders...with three designs to choose from, they sold like hotcakes! It's amazing how many people give money or gift cards for the holidays-it's great for folks who don't like the shopping scene...(so NOT like me! It wouldn't feel like Christmas if I didn't get out the malls and do some real shopping and fight a few crowds during the holidays!) I added some interest using last year's Fancy Fibers which came in different colors and textures...(if you click on the pictures, they will show up magnified so you can view details!) These were lots of fun to make...and very popular-I guess I need to make a alot more of these in the future so I don't run out of them!

 

GIFT CARD HOLDERS-CLOSED

GIFT CARD HOLDERS-INSIDE

The Make & Take project I offered at the Mistletoe Market Craft Fair for visitors to try was a holiday gift tag using the adorable TAGS FOR ALL stamp set from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Collection catalog-once again, the snowmen stamped tag was also the most popular tag! I guess snowmen are pretty popular these days-throughout the whole holiday and winter season!

These tags were quick and easy to demo and make-we used the Aqua Painter and Watercolor Pencils  to color in the images after stamping with the Black StazOn Pad. Folks were amazed that you can simply "scribble" some color where you want it, then use the Aqua Painter to pull the color and blend it. The Aqua Painter has a water well at one end-when you lightly squeeze the soft-barreled pen, it dilutes the inked or watercolor penciled image so you can adjust how much color you want! An AMAZING invention! and so much easier than even using a watercolor brush with a cup of water!!! I think everyone liked the snowmen becuase we also jazzed it up with some glue and glitter sprinkled on to finish it off! (this may not have come thru in the photo-try clicking on the photo to enlarge it and maybe the glitter will be more noticeable) Of course our new Elastic Gold & Silver Cord are great ways to attach these to gifts-they also make great hangers for ornaments!

The kids were kept busy at our table playing with the two Tattoo Kits offered in the Fall-Winter Collection! One is basically a boys kit and the other is a girl's although some of the stamp images are interchangeable...the kits are WONDERFUL and kids just love them! I remember when my children were younger (just a few years ago!) and they would entertain themselves for quite a long time-stamping every inch of skin on their bodies!!! Yes, the ink pads and markers included in the kits are water-soluable and non-toxic!!  I did take orders for these when parents saw how much fun their kids had with them! They make a great gift for children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors and so on...at only $13.95 a kit!

If you would like to order stamps, papers, inks, tattoo kits etc., or anything else for holiday gifts, just click on the HOLIDAY GIFT PACKAGE on the left to link to a Holiday Wish List...fill one out for everyone in your family! Email  or call me to place your holiday order! If you order $100 or more I'll give you a FREE copy of the Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer Collection catalog coming out in January!

Don't have a catalog? CLICK HERE to view the Fall-Winter Collection or the Holiday Mini Collection ONLINE!

I will post more projects again soon, so check back! meanwhile, don't forget to LEAVE ME A COMMENT!

My October Hostess Gift! Acetate Treat Box...

Isn't this a neat idea? I originally learned about this adorable box from Susie McCormick who used it for Halloween Treats...I thought it was such a cute idea I decided to tweek it by adding the name of my hostess, and filled it with candy corn and seasonal Hershey's kisses-my October hostesses received this as one of their gifts for hosting an in-home party! (Hostesses can also opt to have their Stampin' Up! parties at my home Stamp Studio). I used a retired Stampin' Up! Designer Series paper from last season called Halloween Night for this particular acetate treat box because it had a really cute candy corn design, but you can easily subsitute any of the papers in the current Creepy Crawly DS Paper package or Pumpkin Pie Prints DS paper too and it would be just as adorable!

I also used the cute stamps from the Batty for You stamp set and Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon, several circle and square punches and Short Order Alphabet letters..I basically used Sticky Strip as the main adhesive so it would hold together well.

Click HERE to learn how to make one of these. You can also come and make a thanksgiving themed box at my Harvest Time Thanksgiving Class in November! To learn more about this and other classes, visit my Events Calendar which is updated periodically.  To order any of the above products, simply email me