Paper Pumpkin Sale!

Stampin' Up! is currently running a great sale- half off your first two months of a Paper Pumpkin subscription for new subscribers!

Don't know what Paper Pumpkin is? Well, basically, it's a pretty little box that is mailed to you each month, with everything inside to create your own beautiful projects! Past kits include party banners, treat bags, brag books, and card of course! Paper Pumpkin is the perfect way to give Stampin' Up products a try- products are all-inclusive, quick and easy to assemble, and comes at a great price! Plus, you'll have the stamps and ink spots to continue to use again and again!

Check out a couple of this year's kits:

You can also check out more on Stampin' Up's Pinterest board, devoted to Paper Pumpkin projects.

Interested in taking advantage of this great deal? Head on over to PaperPumpkin.com to join! Enter the promo code, HALFOFF, and be sure to list me as your demonstrator!

I better get going now- I have to get ready for tonight's card making class!

Have a great day, and happy stamping!

Chris

Storing Stampin' Up Dies

So, if you've ever purchased any of Stampin' Up's wonderful Framelit dies, you know they come in a great plastic envelope for storing them in. I store them in a pretty little basket given to me as a birthday gift from a great friend. But you also know that they are simply adhered to a thin piece of cardboard with some strong double sided adhesive tape. That's great for shipping, but not for everyday use. The first time you try to use a die, you feel as though you're going to snap it in half while trying to remove it from the adhesive. And once you've used them a few times, the adhesive has worn down, and doesn't hold the dies in place any longer.
Well, sometime ago, I found a wonderful solution that someone shared online. Magnet sheets! So, off to the dollar store I went. And I must tell you, all magnetic sheets are not created equally! The first sheets I found were flimsy, and didn't really have much strength to hold the dies in place as I slid them in and out of the envelope during use. I found much stronger sheets at our Dollar Tree in the craft section. I just trimmed them down to size with my large counter-top Fiskars cutter, and added the Framelit dies.

Now, I was so happy with my creation, but there was one little problem- whenever I went looking for a set of dies, I found it very difficult to read the names on the envelopes. Today, I finally got around to doing what I've had in mind for a few days- I pulled out the 'liquid paper'!, Ok, it's not called that anymore, I know, but old habits die hard, as they say. So I grabbed my roll of 'white out' and rolled away- doesn't it look great?! Now I can easily read the names. I'm one happy stamper!

So, last time I admitted that I'm not so great at this blogging thing. But look at me-back again two weeks later, just as I had hoped! Of course, I have an entire day off work to thank for it. Now, I'm obviously on a roll- hope I keep it this way! February's Card Class cards will be coming soon!

See you then!

Chris

January's Card Class Cards

So clearly I am a terrible blogger.... I keep telling myself that I will do better, but somehow, life keeps getting in the way. Actually, my family often teases me, calling me the most disorganized organizer they know! I think if I had unlimited resources, and no need to go to work, I'm sure I could prove them wrong! But alas, I do not....so things get set aside till  I can take care of them later.... whenever 'later' may I arrive.
So now it's later, and I have finally taken some pictures of the cards from the last six months worth of card classes. My goal is to share one month every couple of weeks through the summer, so that I will be all caught up when it is time to share the cards from September's class. I sure hope I can do it!

So here are January's cards!

  Some girls didn't make it for the Christmas cards in December, so I chose to make another one with them in January. I fell in love with the bird from 'A Happy Thing' set in this year's Sale-a-bration flyer from Stampin' Up! I couldn't wait to use it! Another fabulous freebie was the 'Big Day' set, used on the easel card. And lastly, I made the cute little Valentine treat box using my Simply Scored Scoring Tool.

A card idea I found on Pinterest- silver embossed on white, on an Island Indigo card. The little turquoise rhinestone matched perfectly in the centre of the star! The centre star is stamped from the 'Bright & Beautiful' set from Stampin' Up's 2014-2015 Holiday catalogue. The stars were cut with my Star framelits, and the indigo star was spritzed with smooch spritz spray to make it sparkle.

I saw several of these easel style cards on Pinterest, and knew I had to make one! I stamped the Hardwood  background onto Crumb Cake CS, and cut legs out. I sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink as well. I punched the cute little banners with the Banner Punch out of old DSP from last year, and Whisper white, which I stamped on. The sentiment was heat embossed with white EP, on black CS, and added to the front of the easel.

The window in the Rich Razzleberry card was cut with the retired Window Frames dies. I added the white panel with the stamped image behind the Razzleberry, from the inside, but later had the class cut their white with the die instead. I didn't like the look of the white on the inside of the card. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but I also pierced around the window using my paper piercing stencil.

This cute little box was so fun to make- the girls loved it! I cut a strip from Soft Suede CS, and made two smaller pieces to form the sides. I used my Simply Scored Scoring Tool to mark the fold lines. I punched the pretty tops with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.
I added the flower from Petite Petals, and added the sentiment from the retired Petite Pairs set.

I love that the sentiment says "sending a kiss", and inside the box is a giant Hershey's Kiss!

I hope you enjoyed looking!
Stay tuned for February's cards soon!