Festive treat tins

Here is a great idea for holiday treats. It may be a little too late to get these for this Christmas but I thought this is a great idea for house warming or hostess gifts. And the free shipping promotion is still on so if you are interested you should pick up some of these tins!

The list of supplies for this particular project are listed here but you can jazz up this tin with anything. What you need to know really is that there is a strip of cardstock wrapping around the tin (here Night of Navy) with some silver elastic cord around it and a rub-on (p. 178-179 of catalogue) on the tin itself. If you vary the colours and sayings you can have a tin for any occasion.

Because I thought this was such a fantastic idea I decided to share my newest favourite cookie recipe - Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies!

You need:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 oz semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp mint extract
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup crushed candy canes

Melt chocolate and butter in pot over low heat. Stir in sugar and extract. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Add baking powder and flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill for 2 hours. Roll dough by heaping teaspoons into balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°F until slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven and sprinkle with candy cane pieces.

Apparently the recipe makes about 9 dozen but I only ever get 4 dozen and I've made this a lot this season!

Decor Elements

So at the last Colourful Impressions meeting, a meeting for demos, I won a set of the Park Avenue Decor Elements. I was pretty excited about this because I hadn't tried the Decor Elements before but had wanted to. Please ignore the yellow wall we are renting and that is what colour our place came.

For those of you that don't know the Decor Elements are a new product line that SU! is now offering - click here for more information. They are vinyl wall decorations that are removable so if you are like and have a small place they are perfect for adding some holiday flair without taking up valuble floor/shelf space.

The Decor Elements are really easy to put up and do seem pretty forgiving. This set came with extender lines to make the ornaments look like they are hanging from the ceiling if you wanted - and I wanted that look. I had to reposition the bottom half a few times before actually getting the strings lined up and they seem fine although the instructions say not to do that. I even ripped one of the ornaments because I wasn't being careful enough and you can't even tell on the close-up photo.

I think I'm going to be getting some of these every holiday season. I love the look of them and they add some holiday touches to areas that ordinarily don't get decorated.

Retired list AND free shipping

So it had been about a week since I've even had time to think about posting anything. With the holidays in full swing I'm busier than ever but SU! announced a promotion that I just had to tell everyone about.

First of all they announced their retired list and there are some favourites retiring so make sure you take a peek to make sure that set you had your eye on isn't on the list. As an added bonus SU! had announced that until Dec 23 you can order the reitred sets at 10% off. Yah!

As another added bonus if you put in an order over $100 you can also get free shipping, again 10% off. So if you fill up your order with retired sets you get 20% off, that is huge.

If you want to place an order but not to the full $100 amount then let me know and I can combine orders to make sure everyone gets their discount.

This is only until Dec 23rd though so make sure you get your order in before then if you want to take advantage of these savings.

Tasty Treats

Here is my latest little project that I am making. I am pretty much obsessed with these little guys, and they are so easy to make. What they are is little sandwiches with a peppermint patty in between two scallop circles. These ones are mostly done with the Deer Friends hostess set but the snowflake is from Season of Joy. Really anything that fits into the 1-1/4 inch circle punch will work. You can layer it with the 1-3/8 inch circle and then assemble the whole thing.

These would be super cute as little treats for a holiday dinner, you could even print a name in the center instead and have them as place holders.

Voila, another Christmas card

Here is the last card that I've got so far using the Lovely as a Tree stamp set. This time I've coupled it with the skaters from Winter Post. I found this card on Splitcoast and figured how hard could it be. There are no layers on this card but that doesn't make it any simpler. I had to make a little skater mask so I could stamp the trees in the background and I'm not the most patient person to do the careful cutting for a mask . My husband thinks I should make a little skating pond for them to be on to ground the image, he thinks they look like they are floating. I think they look fine but maybe I'll humour him next time.

For the images I used Basic Black and for the sponging I used Baja Breeze and Night of Navy for the sky and Bordering Blue for the ground. I coloured the skaters in with pastels and a blender pen (love all the soft look with this technique). I added a bit of texture to the bottom of the card by tearing it (hard to see in the picture) and finished it off with a Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon and voila, another winter themed christmas card.

Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Wow, this sale really is a Holiday Extravaganza! These bundles are 20% to 50% off the regular price so this is perfect for doing some holiday shopping.

Some things you need to know is:

• that the sale is only for 6 days, it ends on Dec 1.
• quantities are limited so when they run out that is it!
• you can order online or if your order is less than $100 you can order it through me to save on shipping (but then it will come to me so if you are on the island give me a call and we can work out how to get it to you).

Click here to check out the specials

Latest Christmas Card

Here is another Christmas card that I made not using the Christmas stamp sets. I used Lovely as a Tree and Loads of Love for this card. The Loads of Love set is really neat because it comes with lots of different things you can put in the back of the truck so it works for any holiday. And if that isn't enough you can get the LOL Accessory stamp set and it has more things to put in the back and little people you can stamp in the window!

I stamped the truck in black and tree Kiwi Kiss and then cut them out and attached them to the piece with the other trees in Chocolate Chip and the sky in various blues sponged on. The truck is coloured in with blender pens Real Red classic ink and Black craft ink. It turns out that the Black classic ink is no good for watercolouring because it is permanent, but the craft ink isn't so ti works better. That was news to me when I read that.

The happy christmas is in Night of Navy and from a hostess stamp set. I added some brads in the corners and then attached that to the Holiday Treasures DSP. All that is on a Night of Navy card.

Holiday Sale!

So I heard through the grapvine that there will be a Holiday Extravaganza sale from Nov 26 - Dec 1. The catch with this sale is no one knows what is going to be on sale. A little surpise for everyone one on Wednesday morning, it will be like Christmas coming early!

If anyone wants to place an order I will hold off submitting all orders until Dec 1 so I can get the best shipping rate for you. And remember if the order is a gift I can wrap it if it is over $50 so I can be your one-stop holiday shop.

Lovely as a Sparkling Glittery Tree

Here are a few of my favourite Christmas cards to make and teach. For any of you that have been to my Christmas card classes you will recognize a version of this card. It is so simple and elegant and not overly Christmasy. This set really is Lovely as a Tree - it isn't even a Christmas set but it is one of my favourites for Christmas cards. Like the Baroque Motifs you can use it as a background in other cards with other sets (example to come...).

These cards use almost the same supplies - Dazzling Diamonds glitter and 2-way glue, Whisper White and Not Quite Navy CS and NQN ink. The card with the oval was also sponged with Baja Breeze ink. The other card has a piece of NQN grosgrain ribbon which I couldn't manage to fit onto the other card and have it look like it was supposed to be there. For the sentiment I used the Sincere Salutations set which is a great set, if you changed it you could have a great Christmas party invitation or a winter thank-you card.

Christmas ornament card

I was playing around with some stamp sets this morning (while the little one was napping) and created this card. The inspiration came from the SU! catalogue actually (p 30) and I changed it to reflect the goodies that I have. This is the Season of Joy stamp set again. I wanted to use different stamps in it from last time and I sorta succeeded :)

I used Very Vanilla CS for the ornament along with Baja Breeze CS and ink along with Real Red ink. The ribbon is the Riding Hood Red taffeta but it is so close the Real Red that with the texture difference you can't even tell it's different. The DSP on the bottom of the card is either Ski Slope of Holiday Treasures, I can never remeber what I'm using but I like the swirly pattern on it, and you could use this sheet for non-Christmas things too. Oh, and I used the white gel pen to draw on the string.

I read somewhere that there are 37 days until Christmas, I hope everyone is starting to get ready, yah!

Gift Tags

A few days ago I had some friends over to play with all my SU! goodies. We had a great time creating some cards and figuring out new cards to make with the supplies we had out. The girls were having so much fun and I totally caught their enthusiam (not that I'm not usually excited but this was the new stamper kind of excitement). When one of my friends mentioned that she was going to need a gift tag for a present she was giving an idea jumped to mind.

I had seen these gift tags before but had not made any but did want to try. I happened to have lots of little "off cuts" of designer paper handy so these were uber easy to make. We used the Winter Post stamp set and the holiday DSP (ski slope or holiday treasures - not sure exactly which one, maybe both) and punched it out with the tag punches. To finish them off we just punched a hole with the 1/16 punch and looped the silver cord through it.

These are so easy, yet to pretty - a holiday must for sure!

Tins for the Holidays

Stampin' Up! has announced that while supplies last, they will be selling off some of their tins for us to use for Christmas gifts!

"Two of our tins are available for purchase. Our turquoise Punch Box tins are perfect for holiday treats and our silver skinny Accents & Elements tins make great CD or gift card holders. Each tin is sold individually so you can buy the exact number you need. These items are only available while supplies last, so place your order today!

114673 Turquoise Tin $4.75

108333 Silver Skinny Tin $2.50

Versatile Card

This has to be one of my favourite cards and stamp sets. It is the Baroque Motifs set and I love the big swirly thing in the set. It is not immediatly or even eventually and obvious Christmas card (actually got the idea at a workshop I attended) bit with the red and green it totally works. And of course the glitter helps! You may have noticed that this is also the background on the Keep Christmas card that I posted.

For this card I used the Garden Green paper and ink and Real Red ink, but switched it up with the Riding Hood Red paper and tafetta ribbon. Sneaky I know. I added some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the center of the red flowers but you could add it to lots more places. I had a friend show me that you can stick glitter to the ribbon for a snow kisssed look, very pretty.

For the greeting I used the Sincere Salutations set, another great set because it come with a greeting for almost any occasion and they are all the same size. This means you can premake the cards when you are feeling crafty and leave the greeting spot blank until you need the card.

Rub-On Promotion

Stampin' Up! has a new promotion starting, yah! Here is the link to the flier.

Details: Nov 10-Nov 30
If you spend $20 you can get a package of rub-ons for 20% off ($10.36 per package, regularly $12.95). Each package comes with 2 sheets, one in Chocolate Chip and one in Whisper White.

Why Rub-Ons: The rub-ons are really neat and you can apply them to more than just paper! You can apply them to glass christmas ornaments, mugs, mirrors, and even ribbon. The possiblities are endless and they would add the perfect tough to a homemade Christmas gift.

Stampbusters

Here is a neat blog that I got the link to. This stamper has a Mythbusters style blog called Stampbusters where she tests different techniques to combat stamping problems. She has tested a flossing method for getting taped and glued paper off projects, sharpening punches and says she will be testing different blender pen refill recipes. I can't wait to see what she tries next, you never know what information you may need until you see it!

Getting what you want for Christmas

For any of you ladies who would like to get some Stampin' Up! goodies under the tree this year here are a few ideas on how your hubby (or boyfriend or relative) can ace this Christmas.

1. You can email me your wishlist and give your husband/boyfriend/relative my phone number and we can talk about what you would like. This option is great if you have multiple people buying SU! for you because then there will be no duplicates.

2. You can give your husband/boyfriend/relative your wishlist and my phone number and we can talk about ideas to fill your stocking.

3. You can give your husband/boyfriend/relative your wishlist and direct them to my website and the "SHOP NOW" link for some online shopping.

To make this offer extra special all order over $50 (before s/h and taxes) I'll gift wrap for him. If your man is like the men in my life then this is much needed.

Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit

For the holiday season Stampin' Up! has joined forces with Country Living magazine to put together a kit to make ornaments, gift tags and all sorts of other goodies. In their Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit you get oodles of paper, chipboard and even a stamp set! If you are interested in the magazine or more stamps if you subscribe you get a 75% discount AND a holiday mini-stamp kit. For more information click the link on the left or call/email me.

Winter Theme Christmas Card

Currently I have been going crazy making Christmas cards. I love having the Stamp-a-Stacks coming up because then I get to use my stamps and play. Here is the one I made last night for a winter theme SAS, I found it on Splitocoast (surprise, surprise) by melindawharton.

I like it because if you can make it less Christmasy by just using the snowflake stamp. I also like the vintage feel of it, the Riding Hood Red totally has a vintage feel to it because it isn't as bright as the Real Red. I think when I do this one for the SAS I may do some sponging around the edge of the piece with the stamping on it as well for a little more interest.

First Christmas Stamp-a-Stack of the season!

So I had my first Christmas Stamp-a-Stack of the season and it couldn't have gone any better. We made 15 cards, 5 each of 3 designs, one of which I showed in an earlier post. Everyone said there was a good mix of cards and they all seemed to really like the selection too. My mom even had a good time and she only came because she felt she should support me. She now wants to come to my next card making event!

Here is another one of the cards that we made. This one took the longest but only because of the colouring (using the pastels and blender pens from my starter kit, yah). The rest of the card is really simple, a little sponging around the edges and the background in Versa Mark with the Baroque Motifs set, but I think it is one of my favourites.

Actually a 'manly' birthday card

So I got out my creative juices and came up with this card for my brother. I have confirmation from my husband that it is acceptably manly.

I used the retired set In The Wild, well, because I have it. I got the template for the faux postage here but I used regular paper instead of acetate for the stencil (the acetate I've seen is really expensive). I also saved it to my computer and changed the numbers to 52 to reflect current postage :)

I stamped the image in black and then used pastels to colour the squares. I tried stamping in Versa Mark but didn't like the look, the giraffe wasn't bold enough. To finish off the postage I cut it out with pinking shears, it turns out that you can actually get postage sissors but that just seemed a bit excessive to me!

I sponged all over the orange CS with orange ink to add some interest. I'm not sure of the paper colours since they are from a craft store and the brads are from the same store. Needed to use up my old stock of generic stuff.

A 'manly' birthday card?

So now my mom's birthday is over my brother's is coming up. I found a card this card that I really liked but it wasn't 'manly' my husband informed me, he wouldn't sign it - sheesh after making it and everything. I kinda thought he was right but isn't pink the new hot colour for guys? I thought I would share this card anyway since I really like it.

I cased it from Splitcoast (I love that site) from Kristina Werner (she's so talented). I changed mine to use Old Olive CS and Kiwi Kiss DSP. I have determined that Kiwi Kiss is just a lighter shade of Old Olive so they go really well together.

The cupcake top is Pixie Pink stamped off to get a lighter look that would match with the Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon. The spots on the cupcake are Chocolate Chip and then I topped it all off with some Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The green ink is all Kiwi Kiss on Very Vanilla CS and the candles are cut out and stuck on. If I had any yellow ink at all I would colour them in like Kristina did, I need to add it to my next order for sure now.

Wish me luck in the task to make a 'manly' birthday card - no ribbon or glitter, Im not sure I can manage the task!

Catalogue Card Reinvention

I spent last weekend on Vancouver Island visiting my mom for her birthday. It was a very last minute trip since my dad thought at the last minute he would like to have a party for my mom, and it turned out to be a surprise party since it was so last minute that no one had time to spill the beans! It was nice to go over and spend time with them and my brother, our significant others were not able to come due to the spur of the moment nature of it all.

As always my brother did not have a card (he did come up with a tasty present though) so I let him sign my card. This is the one that 'we' gave to my mom. You may recognize it from various places in the catalogue but this one had slight modifications. I really liked the one in the catalogue but I didn't have any textured cardstock so I used regular Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla CS. I distressed around some of the edges and used the paper piercing template and a pin (I don't have the authentic pointy thing since it doesn't come in the mat pack) for the other edges. I also didn't have the same ink colours but I do have the Rich Regal Stampin' Spots so I used those for the flowers (Rose Red and Regal Rose) and then cut them out and affixed them. The Rich Regals ribbon colours were too dark I thought to go nicely with the Kiwi Kiss CS so I chose the Pretty in Pink Grosgrain instead. I like that it all goes really well together but it doesn't 'match'. Stampin' Up! does such a nice job of making all their colours work together regardless of colour family.

I think if I make this card again I will put the tree off to the left instead of centered so I can have the greeting all on the very vanilla piece. I think that would make for a more even look, but other than that I am very pleased with how it turned out.

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack Details

So it occurs to me know that I posted a Christmas card without any of the information about the class itself. I just get so excited that things get away from me...like class details. I think I may have to watch A Christmas Story this afternoon to get my Christmas "fix". I have to do this on the sly while the husband is at work since he doesn't share my early Christmas enthusiasm.

Anyway back to the task at hand - I will be having a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on Sunday November 16th at 1 - 4 in the afternoon. If weekends aren't best for you then I was planning on having one on Wednesday November 19th at 1-4 as well, if there was enough interest. We will be making 15 Christmas cards (5 each of 3 designs) with matching envelopes for $25. The class would be at my place so seating is limited. If you are interested in coming just let me know and I will save you a seat.

We will totally be getting into the Christmas mood (if you couldn't guess) with tasty treats and carols playing in the background. It will be so much fun, I can't wait!

Christmas Card preview 1

I love this stamp set, it is Season of Joy, once I saw it I knew I could do something cute with it, it was just a matter of what. There is a really awesome Christmas tree in this set as well, but since I really wanted to use red I went with the poinsettia instead. I cased this from katstamperupper on Splitcoast. It is one of the cards that I was going to do for the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on Nov 16th. This card has some dry embossing around part of the white and some glitter in the center of the poinsettias. I thought it was elegant but let me know what everyone thinks. Does it need to be spiffed up some, does it seem to simple or is it perfect the way it is? Post your comments to let me know and I can make another preview!

Marker and Technique Clubs

So I have some clubs starting up with some spots still available. I am starting a Marker Club and a Technique Club in January (or sooner if everyone wants). The way these clubs will work is they will be held at my place and there are 8 spots so they will run for 8 months. These clubs will be held together unless there are lots interested people so if you want to join the marker club but your friend wants to join the technique club then you can still come together :)

Everyone in the Marker Club will get

• all the Stampin' Write Markers including the Neutrals (52 markers!)
• the Colour Spritzer Tool
• a box of Blender Pens
• You will also get one month where you are the hostess and then you get a hostess gift and the regular hostess benefits (a free stampset and $20 in merchandise).

At the club night you will learn techniques to use the markers and other new goodies. You will also make a project to take home with you. All you have to do is sign up and supply me with post-dated cheques for $25 (which covers the cost of the products above).

At Technique Club you get a monthly class where you will learn a technique and complete a project with that technique. You also will get a month where you are the hostess and get all the associated perks (free stampset and $20 in merchandise)! All you have to do is sign up and agree to spend at least $25 per class in catalogue merchandise.

Both of these clubs are a great if you are in love with most of the catalogue because you can spread out the cost over 8 months, this keeps the budget happy. Let me know if you are interested in joining, I'd love to show you how to create some great projects.

Finally a demo!

So I have been stamping for years, almost since Stampin' Up! came to Canada I realized when I was looking through the materials in my starter kit. I never though about becoming a demo until I went on maternity leave and started to crave crafting and adult conversation! And what is it that can combine both of those things...stamping of course! As they say the rest was history.

I've been a demo for a few weeks now and I love it, I am so excited about the upcoming Christmas season and the Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks that I have planned. Stay tuned for some sneak peaks of what I have planned for the classes.