Category Archives: Christmas

Snowman Gift Bag

One of my favorite stamping projects to do is to recycle a gift bag I may have received in a store and decorate it for a certain occasion. You can also buy a package of these handled gift bags at the craft store. This white bag was perfect to make a Snowman Gift Bag!

I made this bag just a little fancier than you would need to, but I was having fun! Depending on your bag size, you will have to figure out your own measurements for the pieces on the bag. I punched two eyes with the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch and the mouth pieces with the 3/4″ Circle Punch. I snipped off edges of the circles to make them look a little bit like pieces of coal. The carrot nose is just cut by hand from a Pumpkin Pie Cardstock scrap.

For the scarf and the hat band, I used the Buffalo Check Stamp (a large background stamp). It is black ink stamped on Real Red Cardstock. Yes, it is a little tricky to get the larger piece of cardstock stamped with the Buffalo Check stamp and keep everything lined up but just fool around with it, you can do it! And it doesn’t have to be perfect! My snowman’s scarf is 1 1/4″ x 7 3/4″. Then I cut two smaller pieces and a circle to make something that looks like the scarf tied in a knot. I added one of the Gold Faceted Gems just for some bling.

The snowman’s cheeks are two 1 1/2″ circles punched from the Sparkle Glimmer Paper. To make it pink, I picked up some Real Red ink with a lot of water from my Aqua Painter and colored the Glimmer Paper.

I really wanted a hat on my snowman bag so I cut a 2 1/2″ x 9″ piece of Basic Black Cardstock for the brim and another smaller piece, 4 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ for the hat. It extends beyond the top of the bag, but there is still room to grab the handles. I added a strip of the stamped Buffalo Check Real Red Cardstock for the hat bang and a few sprigs of Garden Green Cardstock from the Sprig Punch. A few berries are punched with the small circles on the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch.

Look through your bag of bags or in your craft stash and see if you don’t have some kraft shopping bags that you can decorate one way or another. Even if they have the store printing on them, you likely will cover that up with paper anyway.

Here is a Rudolph Gift Bag I made a while back and has been quite popular in this post. This gives you another idea for something you can make for the holidays.

Try decorating a few gift bags, maybe like this Snowman Gift Bag, to give to special people who will appreciate your efforts!!

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All Is Bright Christmas Handmade Tags

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Today I thought it would be fun to just make these All Is Bright Christmas Handmade Tags! Make it easy on yourself and just pull out a pack of designer paper where you have a lot of scraps and some coordinating cardstock. Get out a stamp set of greetings and go for it, maybe with a few punches and embellishments if you like.

I chose the All Is Bright Designer Series Paper from the Holiday Catalog just to use in small and little pieces to decorate the tags. For the tags, I punched narrow strips of cardstock (a smidge less than 2″ wide) with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. I only chose Real Red and Garden Green Cardstock to use to keep it simple.

For the greeting, I only used the Sincerely Santa Stamp Set. This set coordinates with the Sincerely Santa Project Kit, but you can put it to good use without the kit. Or look in your stash and I’m sure you will find appropriate holiday greetings for making tags.

The first tag has three punched Christmas light bulbs made with the Christmas Bulb Builder Punch. The middle white bulb didn’t photograph well, but it is there! I used Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush on it, but then I couldn’t stop myself and put it on the red and green bulbs also. I added a little bit of twine for the string on the bulbs, glued down with teeny drops of Multipurpose Liquid Glue. The top of the bulb has Gold Foil punched with the same Bulb Punch. The background paper is the light bulb pattern in All Is Bright. And I stamped the “To: and From:” on a scrap of Whisper White.

The second tag is just stamped with the candy cane, snowflake and star stamp in the Sincerely Santa Stamp Set. I colored each design with my Stampin’ Write markers so each one could be a different color. Just “huff” (breathe) on the stamp after coloring on the stamp to remoisten so it stamps well.

The third tag is probably the easiest. Just stamp the greeting and adhere a tiny strip of designer paper at the bottom!

For the fourth tag, I stamped that candy cane, snowflake, and star stamp in Real Red on Real Red Cardstock. I stamped the greeting in Real Red, punched out with the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, layered on a 2″ punched circle of Gold Foil, and that layered on the Starburst Punch piece (which was already in my scraps!) (The gold foil looks black in the photo!)

The last tag is easy also! Just use a strip of the stocking paper, tie a little ribbon around, depending on the location of the stockings, and stamp a little greeting to place at the bottom.

Then for all the tags, I just tied on some Garden Green & White Baker’s Twine. It could be whatever twine or ribbon or string that you have on hand.

That’s it! Five tags made in just a little while! And I used up scraps of designer paper without cutting into big beautiful sheets of paper!! You might want to make some extra fancy tags for certain gifts or people, but you might also remember that some people will not pay much attention to the tag on the gift and will just throw it away! So while you can make something pleasing to yourself and hopefully to them, don’t put all your effort into just gift tags!

If you want a whole coordinated fancier set of Christmas tags, purchase the Sincerely Santa Project Kit! Everything you need to make 30 tags is in the cute little tin, except for the Sincerely Santa Stamp Set. If you do not want to purchase the stamp set, you probably have a stamp set you can use of Christmas greetings.

Have fun making some Christmas tags!! Use what you have! Use it up! Then you can buy more!

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Santa’s Workshop Flocked Paper Christmas Card

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The Santa’s Workshop Specialty Designer Paper is special with the white flocking on one side of four of the sheets, so many cards you make are going to have that special effect! What a treat for the recipient!

This card starts with Poppy Parade Cardstock for the card base. You might wonder about Poppy Parade for a Christmas card, but it works! I cut just this little strip of elves carrying packages out of one of the sheets and placed it at the bottom of the card, layered on a piece of Garden Green Cardstock. The candy cane paper is actually the opposite side of the elves paper.

I used a greeting out of the coordinating stamp set, Signs of Santa Photopolymer Stamp Set, die-cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies and layered it on a die cut scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals Framelits Dies. It seemed like the card still needed “something”, so I added a little bow with the Whisper White 1/8″ Sheer Ribbon and a couple of Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

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Santa’s Workshop Snowman Christmas Card

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I was surprised to come across this snowman paper in the Santa’s Workshop Specialty Designer Series Paper, so I thought I would use it to make this Santa’s Workshop Snowman Christmas Card. I really liked making this card! This Santa’s Workshop paper has flocking on four of the sheets so that makes it extra special. The snowflakes in the die cut circle with the snowman are flocked as are the white stripes on the candy cane striped paper on the side of the card.

To make this snowman card, I had to cut into the sheet of paper to get this particular snowman so that I could use the Layering Circle Framelits Dies to cut it out. It was one of those necessary evils! Then I layered the snowman on a Poppy Parade Cardstock circle and layered that on a scalloped circle piece. That helped it stand out on the Poppy Parade dotted paper in the Santa’s Workshop package. The card base is Whisper White, but you could also use Poppy Parade.

I had this scrap of the striped pattern in the Santa’s Workshop Paper so I cut it for a little accent on the side of the card. I felt like it matched everything else on the card. The greeting is stamped from Itty Bitty Greetings and punched out with the Classic Label Punch.

The extra snowflakes are die cut from the Santa’s Signpost Framelit Dies. And for a final touch on the card, I added some Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels. They are listed as “Low Inventory” so if you want them, better order soon.

The Santa’s Workshop Paper is backordered, unfortunately, but should be in after Thanksgiving. When something is backordered you can still order it and they will send it out to you as soon as it is available. I think it is better to go ahead and order it then rather than wait until you hear it is back in stock.

Maybe this card will give you an idea for a cute Christmas card. You could change paper and images and use the same design. It’s time to make those holiday cards and projects!

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First Frost Flowers Holiday Card

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This First Frost Flowers Holiday Card is made for Christmas, perhaps a little untraditional looking, but just change the greeting and the same card could be for many other occasions! With the First Frost Bundle of stamp set and dies plus the beautiful Frosted Floral Specialty Designer Series Paper you will be making gorgeous cards and projects!

For this card, I started with the Gray Granite Cardstock for the base since I had already picked out this pattern of designer paper. All of this designer paper has a shimmer to it so it is gorgeous! I stamped some flowers with the First Frost Stamp Set and die cut with the Frosted Bouquet Framelits Dies. The flowers are stamped on Shimmery White paper to go along with the shimmer on the designer paper. The Shimmery White Cardstock is one of my absolute favorites!

Behind the flowers I have a Pearlized Doily. I also die cut some little sprigs with the Green Garden Cardstock. The greeting comes in the First Frost Stamp Set. Then you can die cut the shape with one of the Frosted Bouquet Dies. There’s even a tiny piece in the same shape that fits inside and merely embosses the shape. For a layer I just adhered the stamped piece onto Merry Merlot and trimmed it down myself.

I thought about adding a little pearl or something on the greeting but remembered that old rule, “Know when to stop!”

You can easily grab this Frosted Floral Specialty Paper and Bundle to make holiday cards or many other cards past the Christmas holidays!

Don’t forget!! Today, November 10th is the LAST DAY to sign up to get this November Paper Pumpkin Kit! This one is special in its plaid holiday box! It will make holiday crafting fun! Easy for you! Just open the box!

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY!

Santa Clear Tiny Treat Box

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Looking for an easy way to make a little treat box? Look no farther than this Santa Clear Tiny Treat Box! I love the little Clear Tiny Treat Boxes that are so easy to decorate! Have them for a little table favor at each place setting, as a party favor, as a little decoration, or to hold a small gift or treat. So many ideas and you can decorate for any occasion!

For this treat box, I used the Santa’s Workshop 12″ x 12″ Specialty Designer Series Paper. This paper is called “Specialty” because it has some flocking on many of the images! It just adds a nice, surprise touch to the paper. You might be able to see in the photo that the Santa hat has some flocking on the little ball on the hat and on the brim.

These Clear Tiny Treat Boxes come flat and protected by a piece of plastic that you pull off. Then just crease the score lines and assemble the box. I cut a strip of a plainer pattern of the paper to wrap around the box. I find it best to estimate the length of the strip you need, then just wrap it around the box, holding it tightly while kind of creasing it with your fingers around each side of the box. THEN I use my Bone Folder to properly crease the lines. Sometimes this assures a better fit than prescoring it.

The particular Santa I chose can be die-cut with one of the Santa’s Signpost Framelits Dies. If you don’t own the dies, just cut out the Santa by hand with the Paper Snips. Adhere to the front of the box. I also added a ribbon tied around the box, the Poppy Parade 1/2″ Textured Weave Ribbon.

One of the fun things that happened accidentally was that if you look closely at the photo, you can see the images from inside the box on the opposite side of the paper band! It just happens to be cute little images that I happened to cut so that they would show.

Now all that’s left is to put some Christmas candy in the box or some shred and a little gift. Put a Thanksgiving image on the front and put at each place setting for your Thanksgiving dinner. It will be both a table decoration and party favor. Put a package or two of the Clear Tiny Treat Boxes on your order and have them on hand. You will be glad you did!

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All Is Bright Ornament Christmas Card

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If you are looking for a simple design for a Christmas card, this All Is Bright Ornament Christmas Card is one idea. It’s simply a piece of designer paper, a greeting, and some gold embellishments. When you are making a stack of the same card to send out, you need something easy to duplicate over and over.

The card base is Shimmery White Cardstock with a layer of the Ornament pattern in the All Is Bright Designer Series Paper. I chose the Shimmery White Cardstock because it is not SO white, which I thought went better with the designer paper and the ribbon. I originally planned to have a layer of Gold Foil but I only had scraps left! Time to order more! However, that made for a slightly simpler card and I was able to use a scrap for just the right touch as an accent on the side. The Gold 3/8″ Metallic Edge-Ribbon is so pretty to use for a festive card.

The greeting is from the Merry Christmas To All Stamp Set. This set has so many holiday greetings and combinations of words to use for greetings. I chose the scripted “Merry” and a separate stamp “Christmas”. You can do that with this set! I stamped with Versamark Ink and embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and the Heat Tool. Then I die-cut the greeting using the Big Shot and the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies. Just for something extra, put some Gold Metallic Thread behind the greeting and popped it up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

If you just look at this card, at the basic design, you will see that it is an easy one to make. You could even turn it vertically, with a layer of designer paper, a strip of cardstock across the bottom or even down the side and a greeting in the middle. Try this exact All Is Bright Ornament Christmas Card or make a similar design with different paper and greeting.

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Winter Woods Red Plaid Christmas Card

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Here’s my Winter Woods Red Plaid Christmas Card that I made with the Winter Woods Stamp Set, the In the Woods Framelits Dies, and the Buffalo Check Stamp. I think it turned out kind of antique-looking or old-fashioned and I think I like the look for something different!

The card base is Garden Green Cardstock. The Real Red layer is stamped with the Buffalo Check Stamp, which is one big background stamp, as we used to call them. I usually find with these background stamps that it is better to lay the cardstock face down on the stamp itself which is laying on the table, stamp side up. Then I take a scrap of computer paper and place that over the cardstock being stamped. This way I can run my fingers all over the paper without getting inky fingers and I can make sure every portion of the large stamp inks the paper. I could also use the Stamparatus and stamp more than once if necessary to make sure everything was stamped well. If you stamp black ink on a piece of Real Red Cardstock, you get this red plaid design!

The tree from Winter Woods is stamped in Garden Green Ink and then die cut with the Big Shot and the tree framelit die. Of course the die leaves a narrow white border around the die cut tree, which I didn’t like against this red plaid background. I took a piece of Sponge and Crumb Cake Ink and lightly sponged the edges of the tree and even on top of the tree. This gave it a antique or aged look, not bright white. I also tied on some 3/16″ Braided Linen Trim to also give it that antique or country look. I added just three tiny little Red Rhinestone Jewels to the tree. I thought it needed a tiny bit of pizzazz but not much bling. These little tiny red rhinestones fit the bill!

The greeting is in the Winter Woods Stamp Set and is die cut with a Layering Oval Die and that layered on top of a scalloped Oval Die. I stamped it with Real Red Ink and also sponged a bit of Crumb Cake Ink to take away some of that bright white.

If you are looking for an easy card to make, something like this Winter Woods Red Plaid Christmas Card will fit the bill!

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Easy Candy Bar Reindeer Christmas Favors

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If you were wondering what to do with any leftover Halloween candy (especially if it rained and stormed and you barely had any trick-or-treaters), here’s an idea to turn the small candy bars into Easy Candy Bar Reindeer Christmas Favors! It’s almost Christmas anyway, so the candy won’t get old!

These were little snack size candy bars but of course, you could use regular size candy bars if you like. Basically, you just wrap cardstock around the candy bar and then turn it into a reindeer for Christmas! You can use these for stocking stuffers, party favors, table decorations, whatever you need.

For those who like measurements, for these chocolate bars my Crumb Cake Cardstock was cut 3 1/2″ wide to go around the bar and 3 3/4″ in length. You can just wrap the paper around and kind of score it with your fingers, or measure your candy bar if you want more precision. I scored my cardstock at 1″, 1 1/4″, 2 1/4″ and 2 1/2″.

To make the antlers, I used the Sprig Punch and Early Espresso Cardstock. I just put a dab of glue on the end of the sprig and adhered it inside the candy bar cardstock wrapper. You could even separate the two sides of the sprig if you wanted to. I liked mine together as punched. Use whatever you like for the eyes, big or little. I decided on the two circles in the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch and added pupils with a black marker. It would be cute to use any “googlie eyes” you might have in your stash. For the nose, I used the 3/4″ Circle Punch to make a sparkly red nose with some retired red Glimmer Paper, but of course you could just use Real Red Cardstock for the nose.

For more inspiration, here is another reindeer papercrafting project I did.

That’s all there is to this easy candy bar project. You could even tie a little red ribbon around the bottom portion of the reindeer or fancy it up a little more. Make some cute candy bar reindeer Christmas favors for your holiday table! Just have fun with it!

***Here are some products that are no longer available to purchase due to the fact that they are backordered and cannot be sent in time for the holidays by the manufacturer. Very sad this beautiful paper is no longer available.

147816: Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Series Paper
147890: Festive Farmhouse Elements
147811: Santa’s Workshop Enamel Elements

BUT Stampin’ Up! is bringing back the Dashing Along Designer Series Paper, a package of old and new paper patterns for a traditional Christmas!

Winter Woods Vellum Trees Christmas Card

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I can’t believe I have had this Winter Woods Bundle for awhile and only now am I getting around to making this Winter Woods Vellum Trees Christmas Card. You can make all kinds of beautiful cards and projects with this stamp set and framelits dies.

Since I was trying this out for the first time, I used the Holiday Catalog samples for inspiration. The Stampin’ Up! catalogs are always the best places to go when you are looking for an idea! Of course I changed it up a little bit partly by turning the card sideways instead of vertical.

The card base is Garden Green with a Whisper White layer and a couple of snowdrifts made from Sparkle Glimmer Paper. There is a curved die in the set of framelits that can be used to cut out snow, but I just used some scissors! I made two layers so I could place the vellum trees in between. The Whisper White layer is first embossed with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder.

The trees are cut from Vellum Cardstock and placed in the snowdrifts. It would have been handy to use the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets before die-cutting the trees so the adhesive would already be on them, but I didn’t think of it ahead of time. The next best thing to use with vellum so the adhesive doesn’t show is to sponge on some Multipurpose Liquid Glue very lightly.

Next I stamped the evergreen tree from the stamp set with both Pear Pizzazz and Garden Green inked on the stamp. Then it was die cut with the tree outline in the In the Woods Framelits Dies Set. There is also a die to cut out a stamped tree with little bunches of branches that you can pop up.

This very nice greeting comes in the set, although I thought it was a little big for the placement on my card. I used the Pretty Label Punch, but I trimmed off the top and bottom portion on the Whisper White. Then I punched it again in Garden Green and layered the full punched piece under the greeting. I also added two little Clear Epoxy Droplets.

Check out the Winter Woods Stamp Set and In the Woods Framelits Dies in a Bundle and save 10%!

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The Snowflake Showcase of New Products Is Here!

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Today is the first day you can order products in the Snowflake Showcase! This is a group of exclusive products that you will love that are only available during the month of November! It’s hard to believe we have now passed Halloween and are on the slippery slope to Christmas!!

We did not have a fun Halloween in Houston yesterday! We knew there was a possibility of rain during the day with a cool front coming through seemingly late at night, looking like there would be plenty of time for trick-or-treating. But it rained lightly all day until late afternoon when the rain got heavy and funnel clouds were sighted and tornado warnings were issued, including one near my area. Then it all let up just long enough for dinner and a bit of trick-or-treating, but I only had 12 kids come by! So sad! There was a Trunk-or-Treat event, moved indoors, down the street so hopefully, a fair number of kids got to participate in that and have fun. Now we are all wondering what to do with all the leftover candy!

So now it is November already, but the good thing is you can check out this Snowflake Showcase stamp sets, paper, dies, and velveteen paper. It isn’t even just for the holidays! You can get lots of use out of these products! I urge you to order as soon as you can just in case any sell out.

Enjoy this Stampin’ Up! video with Shannon West from the Home Office!

SHOP THE SNOWFLAKE SHOWCASE FROM STAMPIN’ UP!

Now Available! Timeless Tidings Project Kit from Stampin’ Up!

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If you were interested in this kit when you saw it in the Holiday Catalog, you will be happy to know that after being so popular it completely sold out, the Timeless Tidings Project Kit from Stampin’ Up! is available again! Along with the Timeless Tidings Stamp Set, you can use this kit to make holiday cards quickly and easily!

The Timeless Tidings Project Kit makes 20 cards, 5 each of 4 designs.

Kit includes:
* 20 printed card bases
* 20 printed envelopes with gold foil edges
* Cardstock
* Gold foil
* Printed die-cut accents and backgrounds
* 80 green and champagne rhinestone jewels

Watch the Stampin’ Up! video and find out more about the kit:

Whether you are a new stamper or crafter or an experienced one, you might like to have this kit on hand to easily make 20 cards to have on hand even if you have made some cards of your own designs. We often need “just a few more cards” at the last minute and this would solve that problem.

If you love the watercolored look, you will love this Timeless Tidings Project Kit. Be sure to order it now in case it sells out again! You never know!

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Get On My Stamping With Karen Mailing List!

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JOIN MY STAMPING WITH KAREN MAILING LIST!

Join my Stamping With Karen Mailing List and get a FREE GIFT! Well, besides that, I will keep you up with the latest Stampin’ Up! news and offers and send you free projects complete with supply list and instructions every Tuesday! You know with the holidays coming, there are bound to be some special offers! Just sign up in the red box on my blog!

Right now, every Wednesday, I am sending out a FREE holiday email, The 12 Weeks of Christmas, with a new holiday project each week leading up to Christmas! This is a free gift to my subscribers only! These projects will not be on my blog, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. They are exclusive to my Mailing List! We start with holiday card ideas, then gift ideas, and also gift wrap/gift bags/gift tags! Everything you need for the holidays!

Sign up right now in the box below or in the sidebar on my blog or in the pop-up box! No matter where, you will be signed up! If you do it before Tuesday, you will receive my Tuesday newsletter and Wednesday you will receive my 12 Weeks of Christmas email! I hope you will join us!

Don’t Miss Out! Are You On My Stamping With Karen Mailing List??

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JOIN MY STAMPING WITH KAREN MAILING LIST!

AND…..especially right now, every Wednesday I am sending out a FREE holiday email, The 12 Weeks of Christmas, with a new holiday project each week leading up to Christmas! This is a free gift to my subscribers only! These projects will not be on my blog, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. They are exclusive to my Mailing List! We start with holiday card ideas, then gift ideas, and also gift wrap/gift bags/gift tags! Everything you need for the holidays!

Coming November 1st: Snowflake Showcase!

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Coming soon! The Snowflake Showcase is coming November 1, 2018 through November 30, while supplies last! The Snowflake Showcase is a suite of products with which you can make beautiful winter and holiday cards and projects – just in case you didn’t see enough beautiful products in the Holiday Catalog to tempt you!

The Snowflake Showcase has two stamp sets, white velvet paper, dies and Snowflake Trinkets. Think of the beautiful snowy wonderland projects you can make with these products!

If you want these products right now in October, you can buy the Stampin’ Up! Starter Kit and put them on your list and become a Demonstrator! Otherwise, just wait until November 1st and order your products right away to beat the rush! You will actually be able to use some of these products to make designs other than snowflakes. Use your creativity!

SHOP The Snowflake Showcase Beginning November 1st!