Stampin' and Scrappin' With Kristin

Christmas Lodge

The Christmas Lodge stamp set is probably my favorite Christmas stamp set in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I used it to make 126 Christmas cards for my Founder's Circle swaps - you'll get to see those next week!  And, I'm not tired of it yet!  I created this card, inspired by a card I saw on Dawn Olchefske's blog.  But it was actually designed by Jan Carlson.  I made some minor changes, but it's essentially the same card.

I stamped the lodge in Early Espresso.  I added some "snow" to the lodge and ground using the new Dazzling Details on page 41 of the Holiday Mini Catalog.  The sentiment (also from the Christmas Lodge stamp set) was stamped in Cherry Cobbler.  I added some layers of Whisper White, Garden Green Cherry Cobbler, and Frostwood Lodge DSP.  The ribbon is some Cherry Cobbler seam binding which I'd completely forgotten we offered!!!

Halloween Divas - Part 1

Tonight my Die Cut Divas are gathering together to make two Halloween projects.  They usually make three projects, but the 3D project they're making is a bit involved.  Want to see that one?  You'll just have to check in tomorrow to see it!

This first card is a Halloween Card.  It features the brand new Letterpress Plate - Festive Finishes Pick a Pattern shown on page 21 of the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I inked the plate using my Pumpkin Pie Craft Ink and ran it through the Big Shot to press the ink into some watercolor paper.  I finished the card by layering a strip of the Pick Your Poison DSP in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  The stamped images are from a new Halloween stamp set in the big catalog - Scaredy Cat.  I embellished the card with a little lace ribbon and mini silver brads.

The 2011 Holiday Mini is Here!!!

Yippie!  Woo Hoo!  It's here!  It's here!  Starting today, you can purchase any items out of the new 2011 Holiday Mini Catalog!  It's packed full of fun new stamp sets, Big Shot Dies, ribbon, Designer Series Paper, hostess items, gift ideas, and best of all - the new Simply Scored from Stampin' Up!!!  You will fall in love with this tool as soon as you get your hands on it!  Stampin' Up! has spent a lot of time designing the best scoring tool on the market.  AND...if you purchase the Simply Scored from me during the month of September, you'll be entered into a drawing to win a free tote bag made using the Spice Cake DSP in which to store your new Simply Scored! 

Click HERE to Shop Online Now!

Want to see all of the products in person?  Plan to stop by my Holiday Mini Open House on Saturday, September 24th.  I will have TONS of samples on hand - including over 100 card samples made by the top Stampin' Up! demonstrators in the US and Canada!  You can check out the new scoring tool, make a couple of holiday projects, sign up for classes, meet new friends, and enter for a chance to win fun prizes!  As always, my open houses are open to everyone and are completely free!

Haunted Forest

Here's a cute and easy card that you can make for Halloween!  It features the Haunted Forest stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  This stamp is one of the "A la Carte" stamps that are sold separately.  I used some of the Frightful Sight DSP that's on sale - Buy 3 Get 1 Free - just until the end of August!  The card measures 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" and still fits inside of one of the Medium Envelopes.  The squares of DSP are 1-3/4" x 1-3/4".  I then added some color to my stamped image with some of the Stampin' Write Markers.

Give Thanks!

Well, I'm thrilled to report that we survived the hurricane this weekend.  It got scary at points, but we made it through unharmed.  I know not everyone can say the same thing.  Many of my friends have flooded basements, downed trees, and a young girl even lost her life when her car was washed away in a neighboring town.  So, I'm definitely counting myself lucky. 

It was certainly an interesting week here in NJ.  We had an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon.  I was at the office at my part-time consulting job.  I figured I was just dizzy from drinking too much Diet Coke then quickly realized it wasn't in my head!  Then there was the hurricane - during which we had some tornado warnings.  Following the hurricane we have some extreme flooding.  Many roads and bridges are washed out.  I've seen pictures all over Facebook.  I haven't been out yet.  At one point during the evening, there was a tornado warning for our little town of Elmer.  We quickly rushed to the basement where we actually HEARD the streams of water pouring into our basement!  I looked down and saw a small river of water flowing into the drain in the middle of my basement floor.  Then I realized there was a similar sound coming from my left.  There was a pinhole leak through the concrete blocks and you could see a stream of water!  It was too low to the ground for a bucket, but we found a pot.  Then we had to identify the source of the stream into the drain.  We had some leaks at the front of the house.  So, for about an hour we were taking turns vaccuming, emptying pots, and using our utility pump to get rid of the water.  But, we soon realized that the water was no longer coming in!  The hurricane hadn't officially hit our area yet, so we took turns checking the basement every 30 minutes.  By morning, not one additional drop of water came in.  I don't know why it stopped, but I'm grateful.  We actually had far more water in our basement several weeks ago.  And, because of the work we did to clean that up and get damaged junk out of the basement, this seemed like a walk in the park!  But, because of the tornado warnings, we now know where our problem spots are.  Things happen for a reason!

What an adventure - not one I wish to repeat any time soon.  So, I'm Giving Thanks today because God is great and protected us!  The sentiment is a brand new stamp from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog - Hand-Penned Holidays.  The leaves are from French Foliage.  The colors were inspired by a card that I made for my In-Color Club - Pool Party, River Rock, Cajun Craze, and Whisper White.  LOVE these colors together!!!

Stitched Stocking Swaps

I recently signed up for a Holiday Mini Swap with some fellow demonstrators.  It sounds like 17 of us participated.  I can't wait to see everyone else's cards.  BUT, I have to wait until the Founder's Circle retreat in a few weeks to see the others. 

I signed up to use the Stitched Stockings Stamp Set.  It was definitely an immediate favorite of mine because it has a coordinating punch.  BUT, I really struggled to make a card with it. 

The colors are Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, and Cherry Cobbler.  I used some of the Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series Paper (also in the Holiday Mini Catalog).  I also layered some Cherry Cobbler Dots Ribbon and some lace.  I simply flipped the dotted ribbon over so that the white dots were hidden - since the card uses Very Vanilla.  And, yes, if you know me, you can easily tell I'm not a fan of this card.  Why?  It has...count them....nine layers if you count the stocking!!!  And, if you've ever stamped with me you know that my "fix" for any card I don't like - additional layers.  Hope you guys like it!

Convention Make-and-Takes: Part 1

Last Friday my downline members who attended convention got together to finish our Make-and-Takes.  Stamping in a large group is just too stressful for me.  I've learned that grabbing the kit to take home is MUCH better for me.  Thanks to my persistent downline, we finally sat down to make them.  AND, I completed them ALL!!! 

This year's projects were a bit complex (and that's probably an understatement).  We got together, chowed down on pizza, listened to some upbeat music, and stamped.  My favorite project is this card box.  It was really time consuming.  Mostly the flower topper.  It's gorgeous and held together with an entire sheet of dimensionals!!!

The top of the box is covered in fabric.  This photo just doesn't do the box justice.  I guess you'll just have to stop by my classroom and check it out in person.  Want to make your own?  The card box will be available in the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog!

Here are some more photos from our fun stamping night!  Check back tomorrow for the rest of the convention projects.

Here's a photo of Lynn in the early assembly stage of the box topper.

Gail's also still smiling while she starts to assemble her box-topping-flower.

Below Dawn is working on one of the cards you'll see tomorrow.

Diva Night Cards

Have you wondered where I disappeared to?  I was on such a blogging streak there.  I haven't missed a day in weeks.  Well, this week turned upside down for me.  Not necessarily bad things, just unplanned things.  I feel like I'm playing catch up and am just now starting to surface.  I'm sure you can all relate to that!

However, I haven't forgotten that I promised to post the cards that we made at my Diva Night earlier this week.  You have already seen one of them in this post.  The other two were Halloween and Christmas-themed projects.  I wanted to give the Divas a card for each of the major holidays in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  And, of course, I wanted to use some sets that I thought they might not have had on their shopping lists.  My intent wasn't to make them want them (but I knew that would probably happen).  My intent was to give them samples they could take to workshops using sets they didn't own.

The first card is the Halloween Card.  You'll find three Halloween-themed stamp sets in the new mini.  This one was used with the new set called Out on a Limb.  It's such a cute set.  It features 2-Step Stampin' because you "build" your stamped images by using multiple stamps.  There are pumpkins, bats, an owl, a cat, and this adorable witch.  The images can be hanging from/sitting on a branch, flying through the clouds on a broom, or any combination really!  However, it doesn't include a sentiment!!!  The sentiment on this card is from one of my favorites from the big catalog - Wicked Cool.  I also got a little carried away with ribbon.  For the last couple of weeks I've been layering my ribbon.  I layered some of the Basic Black Scalloped Dots Ribbon under some of the brand new (LOVE IT) 3/8" Very Vanilla Velvet Stitched Ribbon.  Everyone LOVES the way this ribbon feels.  I also included a bit of the new Pick Your Poison DSP from the Holiday Mini.  The card stock colors are Peach Parfait and Basic Black.  I kinda like the brighter orange.  What do you think?

The second card is the Christmas Card which features the new Christmas Lodge Stamp Set, the new Frostwood Lodge DSP, and the new Early Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon.  This ribbon will also be available in Cherry Cobbler.  It's gorgeous in person!!!  The colors on this card are Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, and Crumb Cake.  The lodge is stamped in Crumb Cake and the sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler.  There are SO many possibilities with this set.  Some people were talking about embossing it to make it look like snow.  And the set has a GORGEOUS evergreen tree.  I can't wait for you to see it in person.  And, if you know me, you can easily tell that I wasn't entirely happy with this card.  Why?  It has SEVEN layers.  If I don't like a card, I just add a layer.

Snow Much Fun

Today's card is the second card we made at Mary's workshop.  Just like yesterday's project, I wanted to highlight the DSP that's on sale now - Buy 3 Get 1 Free.  This card uses the new Holiday DSP - Letters to Santa.  I specifically used it because she told me she didn't like it!!!  Now, I'm not generally a mean person, but I wanted to show that this paper could be so much fun!

I stamped the snowman (from the Snow Much Fun Stamp Set) in Versamark and then Stazon and heat embossed him with Clear Embossing Powder.  Why didn't I use Black Embossing Powder?  I don't know.  I then bleached the entire snowman using an old blender pen and bleach.  I learned this trick from one of my downline members at our downline meeting last month.  It's so much fun!  Two of my demonstrators show us a fun technique each month.  This one was taught by Hallie!

After he was dry, I took Stampin' Up!s markers and added some color to my snowman in Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Gray, and Early Espresso.  I stamped the sentiment from the Merry & Type Stamp Set in Marina Mist Classic Ink.  I went a little overboard with the layering.  The colors are Pear Pizzaz, Early Espresso, Whisper White, and Marina Mist - the same colors used in the DSP.  I then teased them a bit with some of the new quilted Early Espresso Quilted Ribbon that will be coming out in the Holiday Mini Catalog.

Christmas Door Prizes

I wanted to share with you a couple of door prizes I made the other day for a workshop.  I'm not sure I'll be making them quite like this again, but they sure were cute!  They were inspired by some things I saw/received at convention.  First, the belly band around the door prize was inspired by the gift I received from Mary Ellen.  However, I made it glittery because I saw a glittery strip somewhere else at convention.  And, I don't remember where.  It just stuck with me.

The box was made using the Matchbox Die in the Big Shot.  The card stock is Garden Green and I used window sheets to make the sleeve.  The belly band is Real Red Glimmer Paper.  And, to hold it all together ('cause I didn't trust the adhesive with the glitter), I tied around some Garden Green Narrow Grosgrain ribbon.  I'm THRILLED we now have Garden Green ribbon! 

And did you see those cute little bells?  They're a sneak peek from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  You're gonna love them.  I actually took some Baker's Twine, separated the fibers and used a single strand to tie them onto the box.  Um.  Not again.  I'll find regular thread!

Experimenting With The Holiday Mini

I sat down yesterday afternoon and decided to experiment a little.  Here's the card that I created.  The jury is still out on what I think of the entire card, but here's a little of what I did while playing with the new products.

First, I started with a layout that I'm caseing off of one of my customers (Suzie).  You'll hear more about her inspiration in tomorrow's post.  She made a card using this layout for a friend of hers.  I thought it was fun!  It uses the clear Scallop Square Big Shot die.  (Oh, and I scored it using the BEST scoring tool on the market - The Simply Scored Tool by Stampin' Up!)

Second, I just signed up to participate in a swap and I'm using the new stamp set Stitched Stockings from the Holiday Mini.  I figured I should start playing with it if I have to make some swaps.  This stamp set is awesome because it has its own coordinating Stocking Builder Punch!!!  While I'm talking about the stocking, I'll explain what I did to it.  I'm not sure you can tell in the photo, but I also hand-cut the toe, heel, and cuff and glued a second layer on top to add dimension.  I'm not sure the effect is worth the effort!!!  I then added a bit of glitter to the stocking using the new Dazzling Details.  It's CHEAP (as in affordable not bad quality) and easy to use!  It's like a little tube of glitter glue.  You need it.  Seriously.  It's like $2.50 or something like that!  Really.  Buy a half dozen!!!  You're gonna love it.  So, that's the stocking.

Third, I wanted to check out more of the DSP.  I'd completely forgotten that the new Holly Berry Bouquet is SPECIALTY paper!!!  Two of the patterns are GLITTERY!!!  And its the kind of GLITTERY that doesn't make a mess!!!  There's this Real Red Polka Dot glittery sheet and there's a Real Red Stripe that's also glittery.  While we're talking about paper, I'd been wondering how Lucky Limeade would work for Christmas.  What do you think?  I've paired it here with the Real Red.  It's a brighter version of Old Olive.  I think I'd prefer Old Olive.  But, I won't give up on it quite yet.

Fourth, as I was putting the card together, I realized the background looked boring.  So, I walked back over to my stamp set shelves and discovered the holly from the new Dear Santa stamp set.  It worked perfectly in the corners stamped in Versamark.

Fifth....Ugh...my hands are cramping.  I needed to do something with the inside.  When making the card base, I cut a strip of the card base off because I thought I'd like it.  Well, I didn't like the fact that you could see the Real Red layer that's on the inside.  So, I took some Very Vanilla Card Stock and cut a scallop border using my Big Shot and Tasteful Trim Die.  But, I wasn't done.  It needed more.  I took another strip of Real Red Card Stock and adhered it next to my Very Vanilla Scallop strip.  BUT, that wasn't enough.  I decided to draw some faux stitching down both sides using my White Gel Pen to make it look like....well, stitching.  I figured if the name of the Stocking Stamp Set is Stitched Stockings, it should have stitching!!!

Sixth, it needed a "latch".  I found a Real Red Button, tied on some Whisper White Baker's Twine, and glued the guy on the front of the card using Glue Dots to hold it closed.

OH...where'd the sentiment come from - Petite Pairs.  Are you surprised?  OH...and are you wondering if I drew the hanger from the stocking?  NO!  It's part of the Stitched Stockings Stamp Set.  When I was putting it together I couldn't figure out what it was.  THEN when I was trying to make my stocking NOT look like it was floating in mid-air, I remembered the loop!  Stampin' Up! thought of everything!!!

So there you have it - my use of an embellishment, two new Stamp Sets, two new tools, and new DSP all from the Holiday Mini (not to mention the large assortment of regular catalog stuff I used).

Gently Falling - SNEAK PEEK!

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of all of the Holiday Mini products.  My wait was over yesterday morning with UPS dropped off TWO packages of goodies!  However, I didn't get to play until today!  Why not?  Because I had to finish my work (designing tonight's projects) before I could dig in.  I rolled out of bed bright and early this morning ready to create!

Today's card is actually the second project I made today.  I'll post the first eventually - it was a card organizer box.  Or, maybe I won't post it!  I've got to keep some surprises for my Holiday Mini Open House next month!!!

Okay...back to today's card.  Many of you have told me that you could never be a demonstrator because you can't come up with the ideas.  NEITHER CAN I!!!!  So, there I sat this morning, surrounded by hundreds of dollars of brand new products and I didn't know where to begin.  Finally I decided to use my favorite stamp set (at least after looking at them) - Gently Falling.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this stamp set.  I even have a class penciled into my calendar for this fall that features this stamp set.  But, I still didn't know what to do with it.  This often happens when I sit down to create.  So, I start by caseing something.  What's caseing?  "CASE" stands for Copy And Share Everything.  Well, when you overnight all of the supplies, there are little to no samples posted online because no one else has had a chance to play yet, either.  The next place to look?  The catalog!  So, I CASED this card from Page 16 of the Holiday Mini Catalog - I know, you don't have yours yet and I'm not allowed to post it.  So, you're going to have to trust me on this one.  I changed a few items on this card, but it's essentially the same project.

I started by stamping the more solid maple leaf (it's a 2-step stampin' set) in More Mustard Classic Ink.  I stamped the outline image in Cajun Craze/Versamark and heat embossed it with clear powder on Watercolor Paper.  Why Watercolor Paper?  I don't know.  I guess I thought it was more sturdy for cutting it out.  I used some scraps of my favorite Designer Series Paper of all time - Spice Cake!!!  Yes, I said scraps!  My first project of the day used Spice Cake DSP as well.  I can tell that I'm going to blow through this stuff this fall!!!  I embellished with an Antique Brad, wrapped some linen thread around the card, and stamped the "Give Thanks" sentiment from another new stamp set - Hand-Penned Holidays - in Soft Suede/Versamark on Watercolor Paper, heat embossed it with clear powder, and cut it out.  Now that my creative juices are flowing, I can start creating original creations!!!

What do you think?  Want to see it up close and personal?  No problem!  You can see it in my classroom.  Want these supplies this month???  No problem!  Any demonstrator can order the products in the Holiday Mini Catalog this month - and you can join today and place your order today!!!