321 Stamp: Launching Creativity

Christmas Stocking Baby Card

I've seen the Stitched Stocking stamp set made into so many different things now, and one of my favorite involves a little paper surgery to turn one of the stocking images into a set of baby booties for a cute baby card. I used Pretty in Pink and the matching Stocking Builder Punch makes quick work of punching out the stocking images.

Here's a photo of the "surgery" you need to do on each -- just discard that little center section and then reattach the cuff at bootie length (I like to use a Two-Way Glue pen to reattach the cuff.)

I attached the altered booties over a simple white doily cut using the Perfect Pennant BIGZ die from Stampin' Up. The pink background mat was embossed with the polka dot Textured Impressions folder and the Punking Hearts Corner Punch nips that pretty little upper right corner. The greeting comes from Petite Pairs -- my new favorite Stampin' Up greeting set.

Here's amother version with a slightly different focal point that I did using a white doily cut from our Flirtatious Designer Series Paper. There are two sheets of doilies in the paper pack -- they're orange or pink on one side but white on the other and easy to trim apart for a use like this one.

All of these items are available in my online store. This card was my contribution for a shoebox swap I took part in last weekend at the wonderful Stampcation event. I'll be sharing some wonderful displays from that event in the coming days (plus a cute baby boy stocking card) so be sure to check back.

A Halloween Skinny Bag Pencil Treat

I love Halloween ideas with candy of course, but when I saw our new skinny bags in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini catalog, I knew that pencils would fit inside these great new bags (in addition to the obvious things like stacks of M&Ms, Smartie's and any skinny wrapped candy.) You get 50 bags for just $2.50 so what a great item for school treats or to give to trick-or-treaters!

I got my pencils last year at an after holiday sale at a big discount so keep that in mind for next year. Of course all the dollar stores are full of Halloween pencils right now. I slid in two pencils, sealed the bag with the little self-sealing strip. Then to glam it up a little I punched out a Decorative Label punch in either Rich Razzlebarry or Wild Wasabi (how nice that my pencils matched SU colors!). I folded the punched shape in half and used a stapler to attach it to the bag. The staple is hidden by my cute punched shapes stamped with images from Spooky Bingo Bits.

Here's a full view of both styles I made (sorry it's blurry). The image is punched out with the new 1" Square Punch and layered onto a punched Postage Stamp shape in either black or Pacific Point. Mini Glue dots hold the images over the staple.

And of course I covered the staple in the back as well with another punched out image from the same great stamp set.

You can order Spooky Bingo Bits from my online store.

A Top for the Fancy Favor Box

Stampin Up's Fancy Favor Box is one of my favorite die cut boxes we offer to use in the Big Shot Die Cutting machine. I love how large it is -- 3 1/2" tall; 3" wide and 2 1/4" deep (and the sides are gussetted if you want to fold on those score lines for a cute bag look instead of a box.)

At convention this summer I loved this idea to use the same die -- and then just cut off the bottom taps, flip it upside down and slide over the box for a topper with the same pretty edge as the box.

You just punch two holes and thread ribbon through to close the top edge.

Here's the display from convention so you can see how the bottom tabs were removed to make the topper.

You can always click on a photo to see it larger and the Fancy Favor bix is available using my Order Online link in the right column. It's never too soon to start thinking about Christmas!

The Holiday Mini is Here & a Fall Card Set

It's September 1st so that means Stampin' Up's great Holiday Mini Catalog started today and runs through January 3. There are SO many great things in here so check it out at the link in the right column of my blog, complete with a link to a supply list for the project ideas shown in the mini catalog.

I wanted to share a Fall card set idea that would be a great hostess gift to take along if you're invited somewhere for Thanksgiving this year -- plus they'd just be fun to make for yourself. Stampin' Up CEO Shelli Gardner and her daughter Shalae Brown shared this great project at our convention this summer. It is four notecards, with matching envelopes that all feature the new Gently Falling stamp set, the colors More Mustard, Pool Party and Soft Suede -- a beautiful, unusual color combination inspired by the great new Spice Cake Designer Series Paper and matching fabric.

First the four cards:

Shelli and Shalae used the fabric as torn accents on the cards, to tie around the stack of envelopes and to sew an easy little pouch to give the cards in. Naturals Vanilla card stock is the paper that you see stamped on or embossed with our new Snow Burst embossing folder -- and torn and either glued or sewn to the notecard. And notice how a spritz with a Soft Suede marker and our Color Spritzer tool tones down the white base of the notecard. ( I love our notecards because they are smaller in size and come in a package of 20, pre-scored and with envelopes. One package would make 5 sets of these cards!)

Here are the envelopes and the pretty pouch:

Here's the supply list: Gently Falling and Hand-Penned Holidays Stamp Sets; Naturals Ivory Card Stock; Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes; Early Espresso, More Mustard, Pool Party, and Soft Suede Classic Stampin’ Pads; Soft Suede Stampin’ Writer Marker; Spice Cake Designer Fabric and Buttons; Vintage Trinkets; Stampin’ Dimensionals; Color Spritzer Tool; Big Shot; Snow Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; sewing machine and thread.

I'm not sure what I love most in the new mini -- the fall items or the Christmas ones! I do know that Spice Cake may just be my most favorite designer paper in a long time!