Welcome to  Stop 19 on the Stampin’ Addicts New Catalog Mega Hop!    Stampin’ Up’s  new catalog is here and this hop is rockin’ with some really great projects using the new stamp sets!  If you’re going forward’s through the hop, you just saw all the cool things Cheryl did with Friends Never Fade.     I’ve been playing with Cottage Garden.  It’s a neat set with a matching designer series paper.

My first project is a cute little thank you card with a matching milk carton.  You can fill the milk carton with M & M’s or another favorite treat! It’s so summery and bright.

I can’t remember who told me about using a scallop circle to close the milk carton die – but it’s such a wonderful idea that I had to try it!  It’s hard to see in the picture, but I embossed the green scalloped circle that is holding the carton closed as well.

And here’s a quick tip for you:  I always have trouble getting the plastic layer off my sticky strip.  I started using either my paper snips or my paper piercer.  I just slide the tip under the edge of the plastic and continue sliding the length of my cut off piece.  And easy peasy, that piece is removed and I’m ready to stick something together!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Cottage Garden,  Occasional Quotes

Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White and Peach Parfait card stock,  Sunny Garden Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories:   Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder,  Scallop Circle Punch,  Large Tag Punch, 1/8″ Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon

Next up -  A beautiful thank you card – if I do say so myself.

This is such a simple design, but I think the colors make it seem really rich. I had intended to do a monochromatic card using Marina Mist and Bashful Blue until I looked in my paper drawer and I only had scraps left of Marina Mist.  Time to place another order!    Anyway, I had to make some adjustments to my plan, but I really like how it turned out.  The Concord Crush was embossed using the Polka Dot Embossing Folder.   I seem to be on an embossing kick lately!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Cottage Garden, Because I care

Paper:  Concord Crush, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist and Whisper White card stock

Ink:  Marina Mist, Concord Crush

My last project is another card – I was trying to think outside of the box a bit  and came up with this. . . .

What do you think?  My DH thinks it’s a bit dark, but I think I like it.   It won’t quite count as masculine – but I do like this color combination for a man for sure.  Yep, I did it again.  I don’t think I can make a project right now that doesn’t include some embossing some where.  In this one, it’s just the Early Espresso layer that’s embossed.  I think it adds some nice texture without overdoing it.  My favorite way to apply these rhinestone jewels is using my paper piercer.  I slip the point under the edge to pick it up and lay it where I want on my project.  Works perfectly for me every time!

Recipe:

Stamps:  Cottage Garden

Paper:  River Rock,  Early Espresso, and Cherry Cobbler card stock

Ink:  Early Espresso

Embellishments:  Basic Rhinestone Jewels,  Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories:  So Saffron Flower Brads (from the subtles pack), Scallop Oval Punch, Oval Punch, Polka Dot Embossing Folder.

Well, my time’s up.  I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of what you can do with Cottage Garden!  It’s time to send you  to the next stop, which is Joyce who has made some great projects using a set called Just Believe which I think may be my next new favorite stamp set!   Let me know what you think and I’ll see you next time!

Click Here to go to Joyce’s Blog!

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts 2010 Occassions Mini blog hop. We’re kicking off the year in grand style, showcasing many of the products in Stampin’ Up!’s newly released Occasions Mini brochure.  These items will all be available from your demo on January 5.

If you have been following the blog hop in order you’ve just seen Holly K’s wonderful creation’s at Rubber Redneck featuring the Abundant Hope Stamp Set.  Weren’t those projects so beautiful? If you are starting the tour at my blog, you can continue on to visit all 23 participants via the link at the end of my post.  If you get lost anywhere along the way, you can find links to all the participants on Stampin’ Addicts website.  All links will remain live until Sunday evening, so sit back, take your time, visit often and ENJOY!

I’m featuring the Shades of Spring Designer Series Paper.  I knew the moment I saw this that I was going to be buying a lot of this paper!

My first project is a Blessing Box.

It’s a cute little paper mache box that I’ve covered with the Shades of Spring Designer Series Paper and tied with our new Certainly Celery 5/8″ Satin ribbon.  I kept trying to embellish this box more, but I kept coming back to just a simple box.  It’s seems appropriate since some of our best blessings are the simple things that we often forget to count as blessings.  I tied a ribbon around the box, so my blessings won’t “float away.”  Check back on Monday to read “The Legend of the Blessing Box.”

Next I made this cute little Thank You Card.

I love making Thank You Cards.  It seems I need one everytime I turn around!   This card uses Very Vanilla and Certainly Celery cardstock,  Old Olive, Certainly Celery, and Orchid Opulence Ink,  Shades of Spring DSP, Thank You Kindly Stamp Set, and the new Vintage Vogue Stamp Set.

Lastly, is this cute and simple note card.

I used Certainly Celery for the card base and layered the Shades of Spring DSP.   The butterfly is cut from the same DSP using the Big Shot Butterflies Die.  I embellished the top butterfly with half pearls from the pretties kit.

I hope you enjoyed these projects!  I only wish I had more time to play!   So now it’s on to the stop on the hop,  Joyce’s  Stampin’ Central, where she’s going to show you the awesome set Vintage Vogue that I used in the thank you card.

The hop is over now, but here’s a list of links for the sites involved in case you missed it!

1) Stella – Garden from the Heart
2) Sharon – Pinking Hearts Border and Corner Punch
3) Sarah W - With All My Heart
4) Barbara - Sending Love Specialty DSP & I{Love} Love Wheel
5)Melina – I {Heart} Hearts
6) Krystal - Scallop Heart Embosslit
7) Cindy - Love Bandits Kim – Folk Flower Stencil
9) Cheryl – Well Scripted
10) Heidi - Something Sweet
11) Rhonda – Eggcoutrements
12) Holly P – Mini milk carton die
13) Holly K – Abundant Hope
14) Dawnmarie - Shades of Spring DSP
15) Joyce – Vintage Vogue
16) Marie – Tiny Tags
17) Lyssa – Messages for Mom
18)) Sara M-B – Fox & Friends
19) Twila – Sweet Pea DSP w/ the matching Sweet Pea Stitched Felt
20) Heather - Chipboard Books
21) Melissa - Little Angel
22) Yapha - My Matryoshka

Welcome to Stampin’ Addicts Happy Holidays blog hop. The Happy Holidays blog Hop will feature sneak peaks of the different stamp sets and accessories the Holiday Mini Catalog has to offer. There are 40 jam packed pages of the Holiday Mini Catalog that will fit any of your holidays needs!

If you have been following the blog hop in order you’ve just seen Ashley”s wonderful creation’s at Stamp with Ashley featuring Just Beclause and the incredible Christmas Cocoa Designer Series Paper.

I’m featuring the set Berry Christmas.  This is such a great little set of 8 stamps that includes a weath,  a snowflake, a poinsettia, a bird, holly berries and leaves,  the Make Merry sentiment and a hanger for the wreath.

I had so much fun playing with this set.  I knew I could do something Christmasy with it, but I wanted to challenge myself to do something non-Christmas.   Here’s what I came up with – a cute little box of  thank you cards!  This is a standard A2 box that will easily hold 6 cards – in this case 3 of each design.  I kept these really simple, but you could easily dress them up with some ribbon or brads.

Thank You Card Set

Here’s the recipe for this one:

Stamps:  Berry Christmas, Thank You Kindly

Paper:  Soft Suede  and Dusty Durango Textured cardstock,  Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Soft Suede and Whisper White cardstock

Ink:  Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, and Dusty Durango Classic Ink

Accessories:  Scallop Edge Punch

Next up is a cute little gift bag because we cannot head into the holidays without lots of gift bag ideas, right?   This bag is from a tutorial created by Julie Ebersole.  I’ll link to her tutorial after the hop is over, so check back next week for instructions!

Vellum Gift Bag

Isn’t this bag so fun!  It’s made with our Vellum cardstock and I hope you can see a little bit of the shimmer on the snowflakes.  Yes!  SU has shimmer paint!  It’s really so easy to use and takes so little paint to acheive the effect.  I inked my stamp with Bermuda Bay ink then applied a small amount of shimmer paint to the inked stamp using a sponge dauber.  Then I stamped the image onto the Vellum and Voila!  A Shimmery Snowflake!.    I did the same thing on Whisper White and punched it out for the gift tag.  I  sponged Bermuda Bay Shimmer Paint onto one of our 5/16″ Jumbo Brads to give a little more pizazz to the gift tag.  I’ll post more pictures and details for this project with the instructions next week.

Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe for this one:

Stamps:  Berry Christmas

Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Whisper White and Vellum cardstock

Ink:  Bermuda Bay Classic Ink, Champagne Shimmer Paint

Accessories:  Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon, 5/8″ Satin ribbon Whisper White, Linen Thread,  5/16″ Jumbo Brads, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

I know, you’re starting to wonder where the Christmas cards are right? After all, this is a holiday blog tour and I am using a Christmas set . . . .  well, wait no more, next up  . . .  Christmas Cards!

Berry Christmas Christmas Cards

I kept all my projects simple this time as I think sometimes some of us – myself especially, tend to create overly complicated plans for our holiday season.  I thought it would be nice to imagine a simpler Christmas season this year.  We’ll see if I can actually pull it off.   I’ll be playing with the card on the left again – next week come back to see it dressed up and converted from a single layer card to a multi layer card.  Gretchen B did this on her blog a few weeks ago and I’ve been dying to try it , so next week I will with this card.

Single Layer Card Recipe (Left Card)

Stamps:  Berry Christmas

Ink:  Garden Green, Real Red, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink

Paper:  Very Vanilla cardstock.

Poinsettia Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Berry Christmas,  Snow Swirled

Paper:  Garden Green, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla cardstock, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Ink:  Garden Green, Real Red, Crushed Curry

Accessories:  1/4″ Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon

My last card was my husband’s favorite of these.  You can’t tell from the picture, but this paper is flocked.  The white portion is raised and soft.  It’s so very cool to work with.

Make Merry Christmas Card

Make Merry Recipe:

Stamps:  Berry Christmas

Paper:  Real Red and Whisper White cardstock, Christmas Cocoa DSP

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Garden Green and Real Red Classic Ink.

I hope you enjoyed my sneak peek at the new Berry Christmas stamp set! I know it makes so in the mood for the holidays!  I’m ready to light the fire and sip some cocoa!

The hop is over but you can still check out the projects by clicking on any of the links below.

1 Tracy: Sweet Centers (Tracy’s Stamp Therapy)
2. Michelle: Grateful Greetings (Come Stamp with Me)
3. Sarah: Pumpkin Patch (Sarah’s Ink Spot)
4. Twila: Twick or Tweet (Stamp a Little Longer)
5. Sara: Haunting Hill & DSP (Lily’s Ink Pad)
6. Marie: Night & Day DSP (From Combat Boots…)
7. Holly: Autumn Splendor & Tablesetting Die (InkPaperStamps)
8. Joyce: Autumn Meadows DSP (Stampin’ Central)
9. Lyssa: Calendar Kit with Magnetic Box (Song of My Heart Stampers)
10. Trina: Gifts of the Earth (Stamps and Whiskers)
11. Kim: Wandering Words (Stitchin’ N Stampin’ on Paper)
12. Carmen: Cold & Cuddly (Stamping Addiction)
13. Ashley: Just Beclause & Christmas Cocoa DSP (Stamp with Ashley)

14. Dawnmarie: Berry Christmas (DM Dezigns)
15. Rhonda: Holy Family (The Stampin’ Bunny)
16. Kat: Delightful Decorations and Punch (Kat’s Kards)
17. Cheryl: Icicle and Merry & Bright Rub-Ons (Love to Stamp and Scrap)
18. Holly/catrules: Serene Snowflakes (Holly’s Stampin’ Mania)
19. Paula/scrapshappen: Décor Elements & wood blocks (Stamping with Paula)
20. Linda: Charming (Olive Stamps)
21. Barbara/cre8tivestamper: Simply Adorned (Creative Stampin’ Spot)
22. Yapha: Bear Bigz Die and clothes (Yapha Stamps)

It seems that when you go to an event like convention, there are always things you “take away” from it.

One of the most obvious is of course, the make and takes.  I finally had a chance to sit down and actually do these.  Here’s just a few of them.

Holiday Treat Bag

This is a simple way to  dress up one of our treat bags.  It uses our double sided real red polka dot ribbon.  For this bag, I used the plain side.  It also uses the spotlighting technique to dress up the tag.

Hello Again Card

This card uses the set Hello Again that coordinates well with the set Season of Friendship.  It’s a really quick and simple card that still looks quite cute.

cello bag of cards

This is a cute little set of cards made using the set Things I love.  Again, very simple and easy to do.

Christmas Card

One more really quick card.  This one is held closed by a belly band and again uses our double sided polka dot ribbon.  I love that you can choose which side to use!

I was going to share a technique I saw at convention and have been wanting to try – but I’m going to save it for Tuesday.  Just a hint – it uses our window sheets!  I haven’t had any desire to play with these until convention.  Check back Tuesday.  This is a cool technique.

Dawnmarie

Just wanted to share a cute origami box that Shelli made!

Shelli's box

Here’s the cards that were in it.

Matching Cards

Here’s what it looks like as you open the box.

Inside view

Today has been incredible.   We started out the day with Shelli showing us gift ideas  -ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!  I can’t wait to get home and make some of these.

First up is a chipboard coaster using the Medallion Stamp Set.

Shelli's Medallion Coaster

She did say that you need to spray it with a sealer.

Next up:  Earrings!

Shelli's Earrings

A charm necklace – Too cute!

Shelli's Charms

This afternoon we got to see some really cool projects that other demonstrators are doing – Here’s a preview of one that I’m definitely trying when I get home!  (As soon as I order some stuff that is!)

Preview of cool technique I'm going to try

Well, gotta run!  I’m supposed to be in the Make & Take session, not updating my blog!

So today is the day!  In just a couple of hours, I’ll be flying in to SLC for Stampin’ Up!’s 2009 Convention!!  I’ve been working on swaps for weeks and holding back on posting to preserve the secrecy . . . but no more!   Starting today,  I’ll be unveiling the swaps I’ve been laboring on and  I’ll be twittering from convention.  So check my sidebar over the next few days for updates from SLC!

The first swap I’m going to share with you is a Frog Nugget holder.   This couple is so cute.  You could use them as party favors, placecard holders (Attach the name on cardstock to the   front), picture holders (attach a paperclip to the back of the head to hold a picture), and I’m sure there’s many more things I haven’t thought of yet.   Each one holds a Hershey’s Nugget.   There were inspired by Carol’s Frogs which I think came from Chris Kolly who got the idea from Heather Summers.   Isn’t it just great to see how sharing one idea can inspire so much creativity from so many people.   Carol’s tutorial for these  is posted  here.

So, without further ado,  I present to you Mr and Mrs. Frog. . . . . . . .

Mr. & Mrs. Frog

I took Carol’s frog and first I created Mr. Frog.   Mr. Frog’s body is 5″ x1 1/2″.  I used the Crop A dile to punch the blacks of his eyes.  And to create his bowtie, I took 2 inches of basic black grosgrain ribbon and folded each end into the middle and adhered them with glue dots.  This formed the two loops for the bows.  Then I took a piece of ribbon just under 1″ long  and attached 1 end of it with a glue dot to the back of the bows and then wrapped the remaining length around the bow to create the knot.  Adhere the final end with another glue dot and attach to Mr. Frog with still another glue dot.  So if you are counting, that’s 4 glue dots to make the bow and 1 more to attach it to Mr. Frog.

For Mrs. Frog,  I cut a 3/4″ circle in the contrasting color and cut it in half. (these are the eyelids).  Then I cut a peice of basic black card stock 1/2″ x 1/2″.  Using my paper snips, I cut thin strips along one side, not cutting completely through.  Then glue them to the eyelid, trim them to the approrpirate length, curl them up a bit and attach to Mrs. Frog’s eyes.   I created her mouth using the 3/4″ circle punch.  Punch 1 circle, then move the circle a little to the left and punch another circle (overlapping the first punch out), move the punch a little more to the left and repeat.  Now, line up the circle punch over the overlapping punch outs to create the size mouth that you want.  Her flower is created using the Boho Flowers punch and the Crop-A-Dile.

Mr. Frog is Old Olive and Certainly Celery while Mrs. Frog is Green Galore and Gable Green with a Pixie Pink/Yo Yo Yellow flower.

Aren’t they just incredibly cute?  I’m so in love now!  Gotta run catch my flight!  Be sure to check back for more of my convention swaps and for updates from convention!

Sorry for the silence!  It’s less than 2 weeks to convention and I’ve been a busy bee working on swaps!   Most of my swaps I’ll be waiting to share the week of convention – but I think I can share this one with you now. . . . .

This CD photo album was featured in the Parade of Papers blog hop back in May.  I redid it for a swap that I’m in  at the STAMPIN’ UP! Convention in Salt Lake City!

I’m really happy with how this one turned out.    I used the Tea Party DSP – I’m so happy it made it to the new catalog!  The coordinating accents and paper are in Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and Almost Amethyst.  The inks used are Always Artichoke, Pink Passion and Almost Amethyst.   If you’d like a copy of the instructions, leave me a comment with your email address and I’ll send it to you.

Here’s the front of the album.

Here’s a picture of the inside of the album:

Here’s some closeups of the picture pages. . . . .

I hope you enjoyed this project!  I’m definitely excited about being at convention.   Today was registration and the fun has already begun!  I’ll be sharing some of the swaps I’ve received when I get home from convention!

Dawnmarie

The new catalog goes live today!  There is so much cool new stuff in it!  Starting next week,  I’ll be showcasing projects using stuff from the new catalog (that’s after my order gets here of course!).

Stampin’ Up! has a new promotion for the month of July – It’s called the Deal of the Week!

From noon on July 1, 2009 until 10:00 am MST July 6, 2009 – the scallop edge punch is $10.99 instead of the regular price of $15.95.   There is no minimum order required for this deal!  Contact me to order your scallop edge punch today!

Also, check out this scrappin’ caddy we made at a recent downline meeting.

Scrappin' Caddy

For more pictures and instructions on how to make this, check out Kathleen’s Blog.    She brought this project as a make-n-take to our downline meeting.  She’s such a wonderful encouragement and inspiration to those of us lucky enough to be near her!

I hope you had a great time on the blog hop! I promised that I would give more details on the favor box today, so . . . . . . . .

Let’s start with pictures!

favor box front view

Favor Box Side View

First, I took some bashful blue textured cs and ran it through my Big Shot using the SU scalloped envelope die.  I cut 4 envelopes.  Then I used some SNAIL adhesive to attach the scalloped flap down on what would be the inside of the box for 3 of the envelopes.  I used sticky strip to attach the sides of the envelopes together in a square, with the unglued scallop edge left vertical on the back side.

Next, I stamped  the balloons on to Whisper White cs (4 red, 4 blue, 4 yellow and 4 green) and cut them out.  If you aren’t into cutting out shapes, you could cut your Whisper White cs to fit onto the sides of the box and stamp your balloons on to the square and attach the entire square to the box instead of the individual balloons.  I used the Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker to draw the balloon strings.

I cut a rectangle of white cs (3 x5) to slide into the back of the box.  I attached 4 of the balloons to the top and drew the strings.   Then I stamped the sentiment “Just for You” from the Oval All set onto a scrap of white cs with YoYo Yellow and punched it out with the large oval punch.   I layered the sentiment onto a scrap of brilliant blue that was punched out with the scallop oval punch and attached the peice with a dimensional.

I didn’t attach the white rectangle.  I just set it in the back so that it’s easy to remove and add a name.

I think this would be so cute at a small birthday party to use as a placecard and favor.  You could fill it with small toys and candy.  Or change the colors and stamped images to create a favor box for an adult party!   The ideas are endless with this envelope die – It’s so much more than just an envelope!