Category Archives: Christmas

Let It Snow Snowman Christmas Card

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Let It Snow Snowman Christmas Card

There are so many ways to play with the Let It Snow Suite in the Holiday Catalog that it was pretty easy to come up with this Let It Snow Snowman Christmas Card.

Let’s start with the Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper! On my first preorder, I took it off my order because I had too much. As soon as I saw a sample of the paper in a card online, I was just sick that I hadn’t ordered it! I originally hadn’t realized that the paper has glittery images on it. Once I saw it in that card sample I had to have it as soon as I could order again! Remember, any time the paper name has the word “Specialty” in it, it means there is something special about that paper, like foil accents or in this case, glitter! The other side of the paper has generic designs you can use any time, so even if you don’t use up all the snow-themed paper, you can turn it over and still have occasions to use the paper!

I decided to choose the paper with the snowmen in rows, so I cut out just this pair. From the scrap, I turned the paper over and there was this cute red design with white dots. It can look like snow or just dotted paper. I cut just two strips from it to add to the top and bottom of the snowmen paper.

An interesting product in the Let It Snow Suite is the Let It Snow Embellishment Kit. If you want to stamp snowmen, you can use pieces in this kit (and cute box!) to finish off your snowman with stick arms and other facial features, plus felt scarves, caps, and mittens to add, plus tiny snowballs and washi tape. I added arms to my two snowmen and a scarf to the lady snowman.

The greeting is stamped in Real Red Ink from the Snowman Season Stamp Set. To get the fancy ends on the strip of Whisper White cardstock, I stuck each end of the strip into the side of the Everyday Label Punch. And for a little bling, I added two red Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots (from the Toile Tidings Suite).

Be sure to add a layer inside any cards that have a dark card base or where you would like to stamp a greeting or write a personal note.

Let It Snow Snowman Christmas Card Inside

This was a pretty easy card because the Specialty Designer Series Paper does most of the work on this Let It Snow Snowman Christmas Card. Check out the whole suite when the catalog goes live September 4th!

Holly Jolly Christmas Santa Card

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Holly Jolly Christmas Santa Card

If I do say so myself, I am very happy with how this Holly Jolly Christmas Santa Card turned out! As I flipped through the package of Night Before Christmas paper, I saw this vintage ornament sheet and it jumped right out at me, reminding me of old-fashioned Christmas ornaments. I just had to use it on my first Christmas card with this Night Before Christmas Suite in the upcoming Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog! The Holiday Catalog goes live September 4, 2019.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to begin when you have so many new products you are dying to try! As I said, with that particular ornament design paper catching my eye in the Night Before Christmas 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper, that was the place to start. I also was inspired by another sample card in the catalog that used the Santa stamp in the Holly Jolly Stamp Set. I thought it would be fun to stamp the Santa, color him in and then die cut to use on the card.

I chose coordinating colors as listed on the designer paper to know what to use for my card. The card base is Cherry Cobbler Cardstock with a layer of Night Before Christmas designer paper. You could probably pick another design and make the same card and it would also turn out great!

After coloring the Santa with various Stampin’ Blends markers on Very Vanilla Cardstock, I die cut him with the Jolly Season Dies. With these new dies, just line them up along the stamped edge of the image and the die-cutting will leave a tiny margin around the image. This makes it easier to line up correctly.

To help Santa stamp out a little better, I played around with various colors of oval die-cuts to see what I liked best. Finally, I settled on an Old Olive oval with a Cherry Cobbler scalloped oval layer, using the Layering Ovals Dies. I popped the Santa up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

For the greeting I simply chose the “Believe” stamp in the Holly Jolly Stamp Set, stamped on Very Vanilla with Cherry Cobbler Ink. I used the Tailored Tag Punch to punch the banner ends. If you stick a strip in just the top of that punch, you can punch that banner end. Then turn the strip around and stick the other end in from the side. Do not stick the whole strip into the punch like you normally would or it won’t turn out right! For a final touch, I had to add two Gold Metallic Pearls. That’s it for the card front!

Since the Cherry Cobbler is a dark color, I added a Very Vanilla layer inside the card, stamped with a greeting from the same stamp set. Since I had a strip of designer paper laying on the table, I cut it narrower and used it along the inside Very Vanilla paper. I could have stopped there but decided to stamp the Christmas trees in the Holly Jolly Stamp Set and color those with Stampin’ Blends.

Holly Jolly Christmas Santa Card Inside

It would also be nice to stamp something like these little trees on the outside of the envelope to give the recipient a hint about the card inside! Keep in mind Stampin’ Blends might bleed through so maybe stick a piece of scrap paper inside the envelope while you color, then remove. It is time to be collecting ideas for Christmas cards that you like! I think I will make a few more cards like this Holly Jolly Christmas Santa Card!

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You Are Invited to Join My Stamping With Karen Mailing List!

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You are invited to join my Stamping With Karen Mailing List so you will keep up with any news or special offers from Stampin’ Up! in a weekly email, get ideas for cards and projects, learn new techniques and stamping tips, and…..coming sooner than you can imagine……receive my annual “12 Weeks of Christmas” emails with a new holiday project each week leading up to Christmas!

Every Tuesday Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators get updates from Stampin’ Up! about any news or special offers and then I pass anything of interest on to my customers and email subscribers in my weekly email. I feel like this is a personal note to each subscriber to keep in touch and hopefully help them with their stamping and papercrafting.

In October I will begin sending out my annual 12 Weeks of Christmas emails each week with one exclusive holiday project so you can get ideas for cards, gifts, and then bags, tags, and wraps as we get close to the holiday. It’s really fun and people seem to enjoy getting these bonus emails, available only to my email subscribers.

Don’t miss another week! Join my Stamping With Karen Mailing List TODAY plus get a FREE GIFT, creative ideas for gift wrapping to save you a last-minute trip to the store! Click the link below OR find the red sign-up box on the top right side of my blog!

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Brightly Gleaming Ornament Christmas Card

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Brightly Gleaming Ornament Christmas Card

My second Christmas card, the Brightly Gleaming Ornament Christmas Card, is also one that I pretty much copied from the upcoming Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog. It was my favorite sample in the catalog for the Brightly Gleaming Suite! Mine has a few variations based on what I had or didn’t have or what effort I wanted to go to!

This Suite certainly has some beautiful designer series paper! It has copper foil accents on one side and beautiful generic designs on the other side. Except for the ornaments and the pattern with holly leaves, you can use most of this paper for other occasions. It doesn’t all have to do with Christmas! You will want to put this Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper on your Holiday Catalog order.

The card base is one of the In Colors, Pretty Peacock. The designer paper layer from Brightly Gleaming DSP is next with a smaller piece of Vellum Cardstock over it. I think the sample used one of the Stitched Rectangle Dies so it is probably either the vellum or the DSP but I couldn’t tell from the sample in the catalog. You can do it or not.

The greenery at the top really had me fooled! Finally, I figured out that it came from the Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements in the Suite on page 31. You can use the foil side but you can also flip them over and color the white side on the back! I used a Dark Old Olive Stampin’ Blend Marker to color the two greenery pieces. They may have used one more piece in the catalog because both sides of their greenery are turned up on the ends. I just used two pieces which I think are fine. They use Linen Thread to tie the bow and attach to the greenery. I am out of Linen Thread (although it is one of my staples to have on hand!) so I used the 3/16″ Braided Linen Trim.

The blue and green ornaments are punched with the large ornament in the Gleaming Ornament Punch Pack out of the Brightly Gleaming DSP. The sample stamps the green ornament and punches it out. I just used the pretty paper! The copper one is punched out of Copper Foil and then embossed using the Country Floral Embossing Folder! There is a new embossing folder in the suite that is used in the sample, the Hammered Metal 3D Embossing Folder.

The smallest ornament is stamped on Very Vanilla Cardstock using part of the wording on a stamp in the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set. Just color in the words you want to use with a Pretty Peacock Stampin’ Write Marker and stamp. Then I punched it out with the smaller ornament in the ornament pack. Very handy to sell two sizes in one pack!

After arranging the ornaments, I just drew the strings to the greenery with the small tip of the Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker. I popped up the green ornament and the ornament with the greeting with a Stampin’ Dimensional®.

The sample also has stars from the Stars Designer Elements package. I don’t have those so I found a retired punch, the Confetti Punch, which had tiny stars in it and used those from Copper Foil.

The good thing is you have lots of covered space behind the greenery and ornaments on the backside of the vellum where you can apply glue and it won’t show through to the front!

I think this card would be fairly easy to make if you wanted to make multiples once you know exactly how it is made. While you play around with your new products from the Holiday Catalog, go ahead and make multiples, maybe 5, or each design you try. Before you know it, you will have a stack of Christmas cards ready to send!

Catalogs are arriving in mailboxes for my customers so keep an eye on your mail! If you think you should be getting a catalog from me and don’t, either they are reading it at the post office or it has gotten lost. I can have Stampin’ Up! send out another one to you. If you are new and would like a catalog, please email me at Karen@Karenstamps.com with your contact information and I’d be happy to send one to you so you can order some of these beautiful new goodies as soon as the catalog goes live!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Don’t forget to use your July Bonus Coupons and if you got the August Paper Pumpkin Kit and you want to make cards, order the Add-On Kit in the Online Store on your next order! While Supplies Last!

Wrapped in Plaid Christmas Trees Christmas Card

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Wrapped in Plaid Christmas Trees Christmas Card

It’s the first Christmas card of the season, the Wrapped in Plaid Christmas Trees Christmas Card! This is a peek at some of the new products in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog! And just to get myself going, I decided to just “CASE” (Copy And Share Everything”) one of the samples in the catalog! This is the card that made me want to buy some of the products in this Wrapped in Plaid Suite. Ok, all of the products except the jingle bells!

And wait until you see this Wrapped in Plaid Specialty Designer Series Paper! I guess the word “Specialty” should have tipped me off, but I didn’t catch on until I got the paper. I was flipping through the papers, looking for the ones that matched the trees in the catalog. Finally, I flipped one over to see the other side, and WOW! It had gold foil accent lines on all the plaid pieces! You get 12 designs, 4 each in the package of 6″ x 6″ paper. Although the trees don’t show it off well, those gold accents on the plaid designs are really pretty!

Wrapped in Plaid DSP Plain Side
Wrapped In Plaid DSP Foil Accents

You can purchase the Pine Tree Punch in the Suite and even combine it with the Perfectly Plaid Stamp Set to save 10% in a Bundle. I know we have had other tree punches in prior catalogs but this is a nice one, different from the others. Very nice for punching out the stamped trees or just out of paper. You’ll be able to use it with some of the other suites, too.

The card base is Mint Macaron with a layer die-cut with the largest Stitched Rectangle Die. The trees are punched out and adhered to that die cut layer. They are larger than the rectangle so it is okay for them to hang over the top edge of the layer and over the bottom edge. Just don’t let them hang over the edge of the card base. I glued mine down with Multipurpose Liquid Glue but you could also pop them up with Dimensionals.

The greeting is stamped from one in the Perfectly Plaid Stamp Set in Shaded Spruce Ink on Whisper White. The catalog sample shows a Jingle Bell attached to the end of the greeting banner, but since I didn’t have the bells (yet) I found these All Is Bright Paper Clips that I already purchased. They are on the Clearance Rack! I clipped it onto the greeting and tied on a piece of Linen Thread. I actually think this will be better for mailing. I don’t think you can mail the Jingle Bells in a regular envelope, but they are cute for other projects or cards you will hand out.

I look forward to making many other cards with this cute designer paper and Pine Tree Punch! It’s not too early to start working on Christmas cards! Holiday Catalogs are probably in the mail, although they take longer than regular mail, but hopefully my customers will be receiving them soon!

If you are interested in purchasing Stampin’ Up! products and especially holiday and fall items and would like a Demonstrator to assist you, I would be happy to be yours! Send me your contact information and I can mail the catalogs to you.

In the meantime, keep checking out the new Annual Stampin’ Up! Catalog because once the Holiday Catalog comes out, the annual catalog doesn’t get much attention! Time will fly! We all need to get early starts on our holiday cards and projects!

Magnolia Lane Christmas Card

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Magnolia Lane Christmas Card

This is one of those creative ideas I never would have thought of myself, but I’ve seen samples that other Demonstrators did like this, coloring in the flowers on the Magnolia Lane Designer Series Paper! A few I saw colored the flowers red with Stampin’ Blends to look like a Christmas card! How cool is that?!

My Magnolia Lane Christmas Card has lots of coloring if you like coloring! This paper pattern has pinkish flowers and green leaves with a black background. Then I used my Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends to color in the flowers. I did use both but if you wanted to make it quicker, just use one of the shades and don’t do any blending and shading. You almost don’t need it. The leaves are already green so you don’t need to color those! If you want to make more than one of these cards, you might want to use a smaller piece of designer paper so you can do less coloring!

The card base is Cherry Cobbler Cardstock with a layer of Mossy Meadow. The greeting is stamped in Cherry Cobbler Ink from the Merry Christmas To All Stamp Set. I die-cut a Cherry Cobbler layer underneath and then a back layer of Gold Foil with one of the scalloped circle dies. For some embellishment, I adhered a piece of Gold 3/8″ Metallic-Edge Ribbon back and forth behind the greeting and then popped up the whole thing with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I could maybe have added some little embellishment to the greeting but this time I decided to stop while I was ahead! At least I have one Christmas card done! Do you realize Christmas is less than five months away?! Good thing the Holiday Catalog is coming out soon!

Here is a sneak peek of the cover, if you haven’t seen it online already! Demonstrators who earned the free cruise to the Greek Isles already have their copy and the rest of us will get them soon in August. The Holiday Catalog goes live September 4th, just two days after Labor Day!

If you want to get an early start on your Christmas cards, you can color in some of your Magnolia Lane Paper. But it doesn’t have to be for Christmas! Color the flowers some other color if you like! Maybe now we will look at some of our other papers and see if we can use them like this somehow!

Remember, Bonus Days ends on July 31.

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Stampin’ Up! Stamp Sets Added to the Clearance Rack!

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Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack Stamp Sets June 2019

TODAY IS THE DAY!! CHECK THE CLEARANCE RACK!

For the first time ever, Stampin’ Up! is putting stamps on the Clearance Rack and they might not ever do it again! But while they ARE doing it, go enjoy finding some bargains! Stamps available while supplies last, of course!

 

Check out the other items on the Clearance Rack already. You might find things that pair up! You can add any products to your order!

And tomorrow……….the Stampin’ Trimmer Cutting Blades have arrived! Beginning at 10:00 AM (MT) on Thursday, June 27 you can order cutting blades with a limit of 3 packages. That’s 11:00 AM Central Time.

Cutting Blades
Cutting Blades

SHOP THE STAMPIN’ UP! CLEARANCE RACK TODAY FOR STAMP SETS!

Hurry & Shop the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack!

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Clearance Rack Banner 2019

The Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack has been updated so don’t delay, race right over there and see what you want! Some items could go fast! Right now one of my favorite dies is on there…the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies! Make cute little treat bags with the Big Shot and decorate for any occasion.

There are all kinds of punches, dies, trinkets, designer paper, Watercolor Pencils 2, even a little bit of cardstock. There are some kits if you want to get an early start on Christmas cards. Just check it out!

SHOP STAMPIN’ UP! ONLINE HERE!

Easy Thank You Card For Christmas Gifts

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Christmas Thank You Card

Now that we have all received our gifts, it’s time to make some easy Thank You cards to send, especially to those people who maybe mailed a gift to us or we didn’t get to see.  I suppose email is better than nothing, but it’s not nearly as acceptable, in my mind, as a handwritten thank you note!  I think we are losing these “old-fashioned” niceties with the ease of computers, email, and text messages.  What is nicer, to open an email on your computer or find a handmade card in the mailbox?!

You don’t have to make an elaborate card.  In fact, the Stampin’ Up! Note Cards & Envelopes would be very handy to have on hand.  Simply stamp a “Thank You” on the front or a pretty image and write your note inside.

This card I made for this post, is simply a leftover generic piece of Christmas designer paper that looks seasonal but doesn’t say “Christmas”.  You could use any pretty designer paper. I stamped a Thank You greeting and layered it on a scalloped oval.  There is a strip of Copper Foil along the side to match the copper accents in the paper.  You could use ribbon or leave it plain.

Even if it is a simple card, make and send at least one written thank you card and message to someone after the holidays. It will be much appreciated.

Christmas Cards 2018

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Christmas Cards 2018These are a selection of the designs of Christmas cards I made this year and mailed out!  I wish I had another month to make even more designs and cards because I didn’t get to use everything I wanted to!  So many ideas, so many stamps!

I sure used my Stamparatus a lot this Christmas, as I anticipated last year when it was on order! It is perfect for making multiples or just making sure you don’t mess up. The worst is when you have a card all made and then stamp the inside greeting and it doesn’t stamp properly or it’s crooked up upside down or something!  With the Stamparatus, you get perfect placement (I usually stamp on a window sheet first for a greeting to make sure it is straight and placed where I want it) and if you didn’t get part of the stamp inked up properly, you can stamp it again right in the same spot.  Just be careful with those magnets!!  It’s hard to remember they are so strong and REALLY want to be together, no matter where you place them!

My children all arrived last night so all is well with the world!  Today we are looking forward to a special lunch, my son’s gift of corned beef and pastrami from Katz’s Deli from New York City, where he just visited last weekend.  Tonight after dinner I guess everyone will frantically finish wrapping presents after Amazon makes its last delivery!!!  Life will be boring after this week with no packages arriving on the porch and in the mailbox every single day!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve!  Growing up, Christmas Eve was my favorite because that’s when we opened presents at our house with our grandparents and maybe other out-of-town relatives visiting. Afterwards, we would eat chocolate chip cookies that my mother baked and any that my grandma brought over that she made. On Christmas Day Santa would have come and set out presents and filled our stockings. I remember getting a blackboard one year, one of my favorite things ever, and one year my brother and I each got Etch-A-Sketches that Santa even drew pictures on when he left them!!  Then we would go to my grandma’s house for Christmas Day dinner and krullers that she made (a German deep-fried in a knot pastry-type dessert topped with powdered sugar) and open the presents from her so she wouldn’t have to bring them over to our house.  Nothing compares to those Christmases when my brother and I were kids! Of course, once you have your own children, then it’s a different type of Christmas as parents!

And what to do when you are putting out Christmas decorations and find that the pumpkin from Halloween is still sitting on the fireplace??  Put a Santa hat on him, give him some eyes, and set him out as a Christmas decoration!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Santa Pumpkin

Santa Treats

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Santa Treats

If you need one more Christmas treat idea that is easy to make, try these Santa Treats.  These boxes are easy to make, much like the 2-4-6-8 box.  Then just wrap the “belt” around and put a belt buckle.  Fill with candy.  Done and cute!

To make this Santa Treat Box, cut a sheet of Real Red Cardstock in half, at 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″.  Score at 1 1/2″, 4″, 5 1/2″ and 8″ along the long side.  Turn and score at 1 1/2″ for the bottom flaps.  Then, like the 2-4-6-8 box, cut up on those flaps to the horizontal score line and cut off the tiny little piece.  Fold and crease all the lines and assemble the box.

The belt is a 3/4″ strip of Basic Black Cardstock.  I find it easiest to wrap a long strip around the box by hand, creasing at each corner and then cutting off the excess.  Make the strip meet on the front of the box because this will be covered by the belt buckle.

The belt buckle can be the retired punch that I used, the Curvy Label Punch, or just cut a square of Silver Glimmer Paper or Silver Foil.  The trick is to then just cut a small square of black to glue in the center of the buckle to make it look like the belt goes through the buckle.

I found this idea on Pinterest made by Julie Davison.

Then just put candy directly into the Santa box or put in a cello bag and put that inside.  Mine has various chocolate candies and after the photo, a candy cane, plus a little packet of tea for something healthy!

These are very easy to make and everyone will think you made something special!

Need Last Minute Christmas Gift Bags? Make These Easy Ones!

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Suite Seasons Christmas Gift Bag

Suite Seasons Gift Bag

It’s time to wrap those Christmas gifts (I said to myself!)!  You probably are all finished but if you find another gift or two and have run out of wrapping paper, don’t fret and don’t run out to the store!  Find a bag in your house and decorate it!  Just get out your cardstock, designer paper, and adhesive and go to town!  You’ll be glad you saved yourself the trip!  Here are some ideas from years past.  Just click on the link to go to the post if you need more information!

Be Merry Christmas Gift Bag

Be Merry Gift Bag made out of designer paper.

Easy Christmas Gift Bag With Paper Scraps

Easy Christmas Gift Bag With Paper Scraps

Easy Christmas Tree Punch Gift Bag

Decorate An Easy Christmas Gift Bag

Decorate a Christmas Gift Bag

Decorate a Christmas Gift Bag

There you have several ideas!  Even a brown lunch sack will work!  Or find a small gift box laying around in your closet somewhere.  Add some designer paper on the sides and tie a ribbon around! You have a fancy gift box!

And now I better go wrap some gifts myself!

 

Homemade Fudge Gift For Christmas – The Stamper’s Way!

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Christmas Fudge Poem

Time is getting short for shopping for Christmas gifts, but you do have time to make fudge for Christmas, don’t you?!  You will LOVE this fudge recipe!  All you need is a printer, stamps and paper!  Or even just a pen!  Maybe you have one of those impossible to buy for people on your list, but here is a solution! Print out this poem and buy one of those gigantic candy bars (or any size candy bar) and put this poem on it!  Maybe you want to update the words a little if you are creative with poetry!

Type up this poem and print out on your computer.  Likely you can put a sheet of Whisper White cardstock in your printer and print it on that. Wrap the candy bar with designer paper or cardstock.  If you want, do a little stamping on the poem, like these little snowflakes, then adhere to the top of the candy bar.  Wrap a ribbon around or put in a cello bag and you have a fun little gift or stocking stuffer!

It’s an oldie but goodie, around as long as I can remember, but it’s still a good, creative idea!  Time is of the essence right now!  You will probably think of other creative things you can do with food at the grocery store to make it into a lovely gift!  In the meantime, go make some “fudge” to give your neighbors or put in someone’s Christmas stocking!

 

 

Last Minute Easy Christmas Card Ideas From a Year Past

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Need a few last minute Christmas card ideas? Here are some from 2017, just to refresh your memory.  Maybe you have these stamps or paper, or you can use the current supplies you have, just copy the layout.Quick and Easy Christmas Card in Green and Black

You could make this card with the Buffalo Check background stamp from this year.  Just add a greeting and a little bling with the sequin trim or some ribbon! Click the photo or HERE to see the details on my blog post.

Be Merry Christmas Card with Decorative Ribbon Border Punch

Here’s an easy card, much like the first one, but with the punched Decorative Ribbon Border as an added feature.  Click HERE  or on the photo to see my blog post.

Lovely As a Tree Christmas Card

Here’s that designer paper from last year with the check, but you can make your own this year with the Buffalo Check Stamp. Everyone loves it and it gives such warmth to your card! Click HERE or on the photo to see my blog post. This card uses the classic Lovely As a Tree Stamp Set, but we have trees in this year’s stamps. Or substitute another image.  Just use the basic design!

Christmas Card with Foil Frenzy Christmas Trees

Whether you use last year’s trees and die cuts or the new ones we have this year, put a few trees on one side and a greeting on the other.  Maybe add a little ribbon or some sequins for some bling!  Try out an unusual color or cardstock for a Christmas card that stands out!  Click on the photo or HERE to read this blog post.

Clearance Rack Updated with new products the other day!

Stampin’ Up! Year-End Closeout Sale Going On!