It’s time to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin in order to start the New Year off right and receive the January 2020 Kit in the mail very soon!
Paper Pumpkin’s first kit of 2020 is all about L-O-V-E. Whether you want handmade favors for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or a remarkably romantic wedding, this month’s kit has everything you need to help you celebrate your favorite friendships and love stories. So make it a “LOVE”-ly year with Paper Pumpkin!
About the January Kit
Makes 20 treat bags + 10 mini cards and envelopes
Card size: 3″ x 3″ (7.5 x 7.5 cm)
Envelope size: 3-1/8″ x 3-1/8″ (7.8 x 7.8 cm)
Bag size: 3-1/4″ x 4″ (8.2 x 10 cm)
Coordinating Stampin’ Up! colors: Crushed Curry, Highland Heather, Mint Macaron, and Rococo Rose
You can subscribe to Paper Pumpkin on a monthly basis by clicking the link right below. You can always skip a month or cancel any time.
Add a Prepaid subscription to your Stampin’ Up! order, perhaps getting Sale-A-Bration benefits or even Host Rewards! Choose the 3 months and get one SAB item FREE (although you will pay shipping on it, if by itself) or 6 months for two SAB items (or one $100 choice).
You can get more from the I’ll Bee Yours kit when you buy the Heart Punch Pack (item 151292) from the 2020 January–June Occasions Mini Catalog. Both punches coordinate with the heart stamp in the kit so you can craft for love-filled occasions now . . . and later!
Here’s an easy and cute From My Heart 2-4-6-8 Gift Box you can use for a small gift or treat for someone, maybe for Valentine’s Day or maybe just any time. It’s made with the fun Specialty Designer Series Paper, From My Heart. It’s in the new Occasions Mini Catalog and you know Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, in spite of my Christmas tree not completely taken down yet!
You’ve probably made lots of these 2-4-6-8 boxes of various sizes, but I know I always need a little refresher. For this box, I started with a piece of the designer paper 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Score at 2″, 4″, 6″ and 8″. Turn and score at 1 1/2″ (or 2″). These will be the bottom flaps so pay attention to the pattern on your paper, watching which way it is going so it doesn’t end up upside down.
Here is how my paper looked, although this was the inside of my box. You do cut off the little 1/2″ piece.
Assemble the box, putting adhesive on that 1/2″ piece on the side. Then pay attention to where the seam is and try to have that face the back. Fold in the bottom flaps, trying to make the front of the bag look nice with a flap fold, not the edge.
Decorate the front of the gift box. In some cases you might want to decorate before you assemble. I kept this one simple, but I wanted to try out the new Heart Punch Pack and the Heartfelt Stamp Set. I stamped the greeting and the heart outline in Real Red ink and then punched out the stamped heart plus one Real Red Cardstock heart. Since I wanted to layer them, I trimmed the Whisper White heart right up to the dotted outline. That made it a tiny bit smaller so I could layer it on the Real Red heart. Then I popped up the heart on the front of the box with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.
You could leave the top open or you can punch holes in the top and tie it closed with a ribbon, like this new Real Red 3/8″ Double-Stitched Satin Ribbon. Don’t forget to put your treat or gift inside before you tie it up! This would make a cute party favor bag or treat for a party.
Get the Heartfelt Bundle with the Heartfelt Stamp Set and the Heart Punch Pack and save 10%. You know you want new heart punches!
Remember, shop in $50 increments so you can choose free Sale-A-Bration products!
I think this Peaceful Poppies Suite is one of the most beautiful and has so much creative possibility! While I don’t have the whole suite yet, I have one Bundle and can tell you there are lots of ways to use just that bundle to make wonderful cards and things.
Watch this Stampin’ Up! video and you’ll find out all kinds of things about the Suite, like how they named everything! I watched it twice because there was so much information in it!
You’ll find out how the beautiful Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper was designed and that will make you want it even more. Although I have a sample, I can’t wait to get the whole package.
Check out this quick video as they show each paper in the collection:
Check out this post and this post about two cards I have put on my blog if you would like to see a couple of easy cards to make with these poppies!
Today is the day we’ve been waiting for! Sale-A-Bration begins and with every $50 Stampin’ Up! purchase, you can choose a Sale-A-Bration product in the brochure! And to help you, the Occasions Mini Catalog is LIVE today with all new spring and summer products!
One of the products that I think will be the most popular is the Painted Poppies Stamp Set. I made this easy card with just some basic stamping and coloring by stamping the group of poppies twice and then quickly coloring in the flowers and grass with the Stampin’ Blends markers. I didn’t color “carefully”, I just dabbed some Light Poppy Parade marker on all the flowers and then went back and dabbed on a little bit of Dark Poppy Parade. I used Granny Apple Green Blends on the stems and drew in some grass.
The greeting on this card is from the Sending Thoughts Stamp Set, FREE with a $50 purchase during Sale-A-Bration! You will find it under the Sale-A-Bration category in the Online Store and in the SAB brochure. I simply stamped it in Memento Black Ink right on the card front to keep things simple! Sometimes we forget “simple”! The card base is Poppy Parade with a bit of Granny Apple Green Cardstock showing under the stamped image.
Today, January 2, 2020, is the LAST DAY for the HOLIDAY CATALOG! Where did the time go?! It seems like such a short time ago that we were SO excited to have the Holiday Catalog coming out! All the excitement of the holidays and the creative thrill of all the many holiday cards and projects we would be making were ahead of us. And now it’s all over except for the clean-up! (At least at my house!)
Today is the last day to order anything from the Holiday Catalog, what is still available anyway! Many products were so popular that Stampin’ Up! couldn’t get more in stock in time to be used for the holidays. We have to keep that lesson in mind with every catalog – anything you really love and want, be sure to order it as soon as you can to perhaps save you from a backorder situation.
Stampin’ Up! is doing a different Holiday Catalog Carryover process this year!
Some products will carry over to the next Annual Catalog in June.
Some products will carry over from this Holiday Catalog to the NEXT Holiday Catalog but will not be available in the meantime. If you want any of these now, be sure to order them today! Here is the list:
Holiday-to-Holiday Catalog Carryover Products
Most Wonderful Time Product Medley (item 150705)
Christmas Countdown Project Kit (item 150703)
Please note: The coordinating Christmas Countdown Stamp Set (item 151833) will not carry over.
Jingle Bells Embellishments (item 149598)
Snowflake Sequins Embellishments (item 150443)
Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper (item 150444)
Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper (item 150432)
Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (item 150429)
Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set (item 150464)
Gleaming Ornament Punch Pack (item 150647)
Merry Moose Stamp Set (item 150494)
Moose Punch (item 150652)
Gather Together Stamp Set (item 150589)
Gathered Leaves Dies (item 150662)
Here is the full Carryover Listalthough it includes the products available above (you will see an asterisk on the chart) that won’t be available until the next Holiday Catalog. Anything without an asterisk will be available after today even though it’s not shown in the catalog.
Whenever you are interested in a product and aren’t sure about it, just type in the item number and if you can order it at that moment, it will come up!
And beginning tomorrow, Friday, January 3, 2020, you can begin ordering from the Occasions Mini Catalog (but it’s not very “mini”) and enjoy the benefits of Sale-A-Bration! The catalog PDF’s will be online tomorrow if you don’t have a hard copy of the catalog and of course, you can see the products in the Online Store.
ORDERING DOWNTIME: Ordering will be unavailable from midnight to 3:00 am (MT) while we transition our systems to the new catalog and brochure. Ordering will be restored no later than 3:00 am (MT).
But TODAY…..the HOLIDAY CATALOG! Get what you want!
I made this Pressed Petals Journal for a gift for someone, but haven’t mailed it yet! However, it made me think, with the 2020 New Year approaching, if you were looking for just a little journal to begin the New Year, this could be perfect for you!
The Pressed Petals Journal is pretty nice just the way it comes from Stampin’ Up!. The cover is already embossed (or “debossed”) with kind of a floral design and comes spiral bound. The pages inside have some designs already printed and prompts (just several used over and over again). But then you can decorate it however you like! I tried to leave at least some of the cover showing a bit since I like that design.
I changed my mind a few times but ultimately settled on just using the Pressed Petals Specialty Designer Series Paper because it would match the inside of the journal. I just chose one of the printed panels in the paper selection that would be small, especially after I cut it down close to the flowers. I layered it on the coordinating color of Rococo Rose Cardstock. I thought it needed a little brightening up so I added a layer of Whisper White.
The greeting is from the wonderful stamp set Beautiful You. I have always loved this saying and thought it would be a good thought to go on a journal for 2020! It is stamped in Rococo Rose Ink and die cut with a die from the Ornate Frames Dies,then layered the greeting on the frilly Ornate Frame die in Rococo Rose Cardstock. (I told you those dies weren’t just for Halloween!) And I also added a couple of little pearls that may be retired. Inside I even added a few embellishments, like a punched daisy, sequins, and other Flower Faceted Gems.
You’ll find this Pressed Petals Journal in the Memories & More section of the catalog or Online Store. One special thing about the pages in the journal is that they can be torn out and used on card fronts or memory-keeping pages, whatever you like!
At the beginning of each new year, we often feel we want to start something new or resolve to have better habits of all kinds. If you feel like to want to do some journaling in the new year, get this Pressed Petals Journal because it’s not intimidating with expectations at all. It’s small, so you barely have to write anything at all, but if you jot down some memories or thoughts, you might be very happy you did in future years to look back on!
Paper Pumpkin’s first kit of 2020 is all about L-O-V-E. Whether you want handmade favors for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or a remarkably romantic wedding, this month’s kit has everything you need to help you celebrate your favorite friendships and love stories. So make it a “LOVE”-ly year with Paper Pumpkin!
Kit details:
Makes 20 treat bags + 10 mini cards and envelopes
Card size: 3″ x 3″ (7.5 x 7.5 cm)
Envelope size: 3-1/8″ x 3-1/8″ (7.8 x 7.8 cm)
Bag size: 3-1/4″ x 4″ (8.2 x 10 cm)
Coordinating Stampin’ Up! colors: Crushed Curry, Highland Heather, Mint Macaron, and Rococo Rose
Get more from the I’ll Bee Yours Kit when you buy the Heart Punch Pack (item 151292) from the 2020 January–June Mini Catalog. Both punches coordinate with the heart stamp in the kit so you can craft for love-filled occasions now . . . and later! Think: weddings, showers, birthdays, and more! Check out the flyer advertising this super-versatile punch pack in your January kit!
By now you have probably used up most of your fun Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper unless you are a paper hoarder! And we all want to hoard this fun paper with the glittery snowmen on it. However, if you did actually cut up the sheets with the snowmen, you know it required drastic steps, perhaps destroying parts of the snowmen design. I know you didn’t throw away a bit of the scraps, so look through them now and see what you can make! You might still be able to salvage some snowmen!
On this first card, I had a smallish piece of designer paper with the two snowpeople on it. I just added extra layers so it would make a full card. And I jazzed up the snowmen by adding some stick arms and a scarf and hat. These pieces were from the Let It Snow Embellishment Kit. Don’t forget to use the cardstock cheat trick by punching out or die-cutting some pieces from the center of the cardstock that is going to be covered up anyway. No one will ever know!
On this card, I was able to save these two snowpeople and just made a smaller card! Make a 4 1/4′ x 4 1/4″ card or 4″ x 4″ size, whatever the piece of designer paper will fit best. On this one, just a little designer paper at the top and bottom of the snowman paper was enough to set off the focal point snowmen. Once you add a greeting and embellish the card a little bit you will have a great card even with a smaller piece of designer paper than you might have used.
Remember, sometimes the opposite side of the paper can be used long after the holidays. Often, we aren’t as familiar with the other side of the paper as we are of the well-known image.
If you have really small pieces of this Let It Snow Designer Paper, remember, you can make tags for gifts! Usually we run out before all the packages are wrapped, so it’s a good idea to make extra tags! Especially if you haven’t started wrapping packages yet1
Have fun making your last minute holiday cards, tags, and treats!
Little houses seem to be trendy this Christmas from what I have seen in the stores and on social media. Mostly the houses are wooden blocks and then painted with one embellishment on the front like a wreath or a heart or something. So here are my Little Wooden Decorated House Blocks that I made one evening and, if I do say so myself, I think they turned out pretty well! At least everything is still stuck on so that is good!
When I was at Hobby Lobby I came across these wooden house blocks although they were painted (printed?) on the front with a word like “Joy” and a painted wreath. I should have taken a “before” photo! When I saw them, I thought why not cover the front with designer paper and then add a wreath or something.
I didn’t know “how” I was supposed to do this project so I started with ModPodge, but I think mine was so old and stinky when I came back to the block the paper was all discolored. I was able to rip it off and wiped off the block and started over. I sanded the fronts of the blocks just a little bit and then just used our Multipurpose Liquid Glue to adhere the paper to the block.
I looked through my designer papers and chose what I thought would work. I used the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper, the Wrapped in Plaid 6″ x 6″ Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper (sold out). I laid the side of the paper I wanted to show face down on the table. I spread out the glue all over the front of the block (I think a foam brush works well and then you can just throw it away) and then laid the block face down on the paper. Sometimes I lined it up with the edges at the bottom and one side and sometimes I didn’t. After the glue had dried, I used an exacto knife to trim away the excess paper. Just cut off the large excess with scissors first to make trimming easier. If you still have slight edges to trim off, try a sanding block or very fine sandpaper or a nail file to sand the edges. You can even do more sanding for that distressed look along the edges.
You can either buy some tiny wreaths at the craft store or get some greenery that you can twist into a wreath. I also bought a little bag of red berries and twisted those around the greenery. Once I had the wreath made, I adhered each one to a house with hot glue. Then I used some retired twine with a sparkly red thread in it to tie a bow and adhered that with the Multipurpose Liquid Glue. You have to hold it on for a second or you could use hot glue.
On one house I put the bottom blob of hot glue in the wrong place for the bottom of the wreath so that it showed through the center of the wreath. Then I remembered I had these little Christmas trinkets from Stampin’ Up! from a year or two ago, so I held the hot glue gun on the blog of excess glue to soften it and stuck on the gingerbread man! “There are no mistakes in stamping!” It was so cute I added a trinket to each wreath!
I ended up adding just a bit of white acrylic paint on the house sides but you might not need to unless you have the raw wood. For the back, I ended up adding Real Red Cardstock just like I did the designer paper. I guess I could have just painted that area too.
Finally, the roof just begged for some snow, so I used my Shimmery Crystal Effects as the adhesive and sprinkled on some Ice Stampin’ Glitter (not available). I didn’t cover the roof fully but just did some swirls all around.
I think these will be cute for gifts and holiday decorations! You could probably even use some generic design of paper and then have different things to hang on the front of the house for different seasons or occasions so you can change them out.
Almost every year I have been making one variation or another of a Rudolph gift bag so here is my Easy Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Gift Bag! Usually, I have decorated a kraft shopping bag like in this popular post HERE. Another year I made a smaller 2-4-6-8 bag to look like Rudolph HERE.
This is a similar bag, but a little larger that you make with half a sheet of 12″ x 12″ paper. It’s good to have at least the assortments of each color family of 12″ x 12″ paper on hand because even if we don’t use this size paper real often, sometimes you need a large piece for a project.
Start with a 6″ x 12″ piece of Soft Suede Cardstock or whatever color of brown that you like. Score at 4″, 5 3/4″, 9 3/4″, and 11 1/2″. Turn the paper so the short edge is at the top and score at 1 3/4″. This will make the bottom flaps of the bag. Cut those short bottom tabs up to the 1 3/4″ score line. Cut off the little 1/2″ tab on the bottom. Fold on all the score lines and crease well with the Bone Folder. Adhere the tab on the end to the other side to assemble the bag. Then adhere the flaps on the bottom. I used the Tear & Tape Adhesive. (There’s a piece of white cardstock underneath just for the photo.)
Before you completely assemble the box, fold on all the score lines and SEE how it is going to go together. See which area will be the front. I found it was easier to glue on the pieces while the bag was still flat, but either way works since it is so simple!
I used a 2″ Circle Punch for the Red Glimmer Nose, a 1″ Circle Punch for the white part of the eyes and a 3/4″ Circle Punch (retired) for the black. You can use whatever punches or dies you have according to what sizes and look you want your Rudolph to have! Just glue them on to make your reindeer’s face.
For the antlers I used the Sprig Punch. I punched out 3 of the sprigs out of the Whisper White Thick Cardstock since I wanted them sticking up over the top of the bag and thought the Thick Cardstock would be a little stronger. One of the sprigs I cut apart and added one piece to each sprig. I colored all the sprigs with my Stampin’ Blends, two of them with the Light Crumb Cake and one with Soft Suede just to make it a little interesting and adhered the darker piece to the full sprig.
Just fill a cello bag with treats and tie with a ribbon! Put it inside the Easy Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Gift Bag and you’ve got a fun gift for someone!
I thought it would be fun to just make some of these Christmas Mini Curvy Keepsake Boxes to have on hand for the holidays – now that the holidays are upon us!! These are just easy boxes that you have probably seen online, nothing too creative, but cute nonetheless!
All you need to make these and other cute creations is the Mini Curvy Keepsake Box Dies. The one big die cuts out the box and then you also have little tags and other pieces you can use. Very creative people make the most creative characters and designs with these boxes!
This easy snowman is made with Whisper White Cardstock and I just drew on his face with Stampin’ Write Markers. You could alternately punch out pieces for his eyes, nose, and mouth but for me, it was easiest to draw. I used the greeting from the Itty Bitty Christmas Stamp Set. The Real Red Curly Ribbon makes a cute way to tie on the tag and add a little something to the snowman.
This little Santa box is easy to make with Real Red Cardstock and a bit of Basic Black scrap and Silver Glimmer Paper. Use a hole punch for a couple of buttons on Santa’s suit. To make the belt, just adhere a narrow strip of black cardstock. Add on a square of Silver Glimmer Paper and then adhere a smaller square of Basic Black on top of the glimmer paper to make it look like the belt going through the buckle! The greeting is tied on with a piece of Braided Linen.
This keepsake box uses a piece of the Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper with a snowman from another piece of the paper that is cut out and adhered to the side of the box. If the recipient opens up the box, they will find the cute inside pattern of lots of little snowmen. The only trouble with prints and this die is you would have to make sure the patterns and designs are going in the direction that you want. The greeting is stamped from Itty Bitty Christmas and tied on with a bit of the Silver 3/8″ Metallic-Edge Ribbon.
This cute little reindeer can be made various ways. He is made out of Soft Suede Cardstock for his body and a lighter color for the antlers, Crumb Cake. Of course you must you Red Glimmer Paper for Rudolph’s nose. The eyes are punched out and the black pupils colored in with a black marker. The antlers are glued on by bending back the stem of the die-cut piece and just glued on the top of the box. The tag, stamped with a greeting from Itty Bitty Christmas, is tied on with the Real Red Curly Ribbon.
As you can see, you can do a lot with these dies, much more really than these samples. But once you start making things with this box die, you can almost not stop!
if you don’t own the Mini Curvy Keepsake Box Dies, you might want to check them out in the Online Store. You can put a small gift or treat inside. Their little size makes them especially cute!
Every week for the past eight weeks I have been sending my mailing list subscribers a free holiday project that you can use to make your holiday preparations easier! This is a thank you for my mailing list subscribers that I like to do every year. Just like in my regular weekly email, I send a photo of a project, a list of supplies needed, and all the directions to make it.
These are the final four weeks! Can you believe it?! These last four weeks we will concentrate on gift wrap, tags, and bags for those Christmas gifts!
You may have missed the first weeks, but sign up today for my mailing list before 1:00 pm Central Time and you will get the remaining 4 weeks, plus you’ll be on the list for next year!
All you have to do is sign up in the red box in the upper right of my blog or in the form below.
At least these three turkeys are done for Thanksgiving (but not the real one!). These Mini Curvy Keepsake Turkey Box Treats For Thanksgiving are quick and easy to make and you could make any number of variations. There are so many cute little things you can make for lots of occasions with the Mini Curvy Keepsake Box Dies!
I always think these take two pieces to make but they do not…..just one die cut! You just need a piece of cardstock 6″ wide and turn the die so the points of the die-cut “point” to the corners of the cardstock, not straight up and down, and the die will fit. I used Crumb Cake Cardstock but Soft Suede would be another good choice for the turkey.
To make the tail feathers, I just used the oval tag die-cut in the package of the Mini Curvy Keepsake Box Dies. It does have a little hole in the tag, but I just put that at the base of the feather and it’s not seen. I started to glue the feathers right onto the body but then I thought to punch a 1 1/2″ Circle of Crumb Cake Cardstock and adhere the two rows of feathers on to that and then that onto the turkey body. You could also use colored leaves die cuts or even just strips of cardstock in various colors.
For the turkey face, I just used some stick-on googley eyes and cut a little turkey beak out of Crushed Curry. For the wattle, I punched out a sprig from the Leaf Punch and then cut off the leaves and used those for the turkey wattle. Just use and do whatever you think up or have on hand!
Don’t forget to put a little treat inside! I also tied on a piece of Lovely Lipstick 1/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon partly to hold the box closed for sure and mostly just for another little something to jazz up the turkey box!
You could make one for each of your guests at Thanksgiving and place them at their seat at the table. Or even put a little strip with the guest’s name on it at the bottom of the front of the turkey for a place card. I used to always love to make place cards for the table when I was a little girl!
If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, make a fun little treat or favor like these Mini Curvy Keepsake Turkey Box Treats For Thanksgiving or take a few for your hostess!
This Brightly Gleaming Ornament Gift Bag is perfect for a small gift and looks prettier than anything you would buy in a store! And instead of driving to a store for a little bag, use the time and stay home and make your own! It’s much more fun! Even better, sit down and make more than one bag and you’ll have a collection ready to go!
Start with a 6″ x 12″ piece of paper. Score at 4″, 5 3/4″, 9 3/4″, and 11 1/2″. Turn the paper so the short edge is at the top and score at 1 3/4″. This will make the bottom flaps of the bag. Cut those short bottom tabs up to the 1 3/4″ score line. Cut off the little 1/2″ tab on the bottom.
Fold on all the score lines and crease well with the Bone Folder. Adhere the tab on the end to the other side to assemble the bag. Then adhere the flaps on the bottom. The Tear & Tape Adhesive works great as far as strength but does not allow for any “wiggle room” like the Multipurpose Liquid Glue. So use whichever works best for you. You will be able to see how the bag goes together as you start to assemble it.
This little Brightly Gleaming gift bag doesn’t need too much in the way of decoration, but of course, I had to put a little more into it than I needed to! I punched the three ornaments with the Gleaming Ornaments Punch Pack. The copper foil ornament is embossed first with the Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder and then punched, but you could punch it out first.
I thought the ornaments needed a little bit of a background and I happened to have a scrap piece of Pretty Peacock Cardstock handy so I just used that, cutting it down as small as I could. Then I also saw a die cut Copper Foil piece and cut that in half lengthwise to be a top and bottom layer under the Pretty Peacock.
I used some copper foil branches in the Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements to look like the branches the ornaments were hanging from. I used some scrap white ribbon to “hang” the ornaments and then tied small bows.
That’s more embellishing than I needed to do on a little gift bag but it was fun! You could even put a cookie or two inside, tea bags, some jewelry, even a gift card. Make this basic gift bag with half a sheet of 12″ x 12″ paper for any occasion!
