Category Archives: Christmas

Festival of Trees Holiday Votive Holder

Here’s a quick and easy holiday votive holder decorated with the Festival of Trees stamp set. It is made with just one 8 1/2″ x 3″ strip of Real Red card stock, with an area punched out and covered with a piece of vellum card stock so the little tea light inside can shine through. Of course you would want to use a battery-operated tea light this close to paper!

I scored the strip of card stock at 2″, 4″, 6″, and 8″. That left a little 1/2″ tab to adhere after you have folded all the score lines to form the little votive holder. There is no bottom piece. You would have to make more of a box pattern to get a bottom. To get the vellum panel, I figured out which panel would be the front and punched out a sticky note so I could stick that on the card stock for a guide for exactly where to stamp. You may or may not need that step. I used the new Note Tag Punch in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog to punch the opening.

For the window, I cut a piece of Vellum Card Stock just slightly smaller than the panel. I stamped it with the Christmas tree (something embossed would be beautiful, too!), colored some Rhinestone Jewels with the dark Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities Marker and adhered them to the tree. Then I used Mini Glue Dots in the corners of the vellum to attach inside the opening. Although it kind of covered up my punch shape, I stuck on a small Gold 1/8″ Ribbon bow adhered with a Glue Dot.

With a little electric tea light inside, here is what the holiday votive holder looks like!

I’ve been cleaning up and organizing all my craft stuff this week and in going through my swaps from recent Stampin’ Up! conventions and Leadership Conference I found this little votive sample. That’s where I got the idea to make this. The sample is punched with the Decorative Label Punch and just has a piece of regular card stock inserted in the opening, not vellum. You can see you could make these in larger sizes, taller, different colors and stamps for different occasions. Very versatile!

Try your hand at making this very simple little votive holder for an electric tealight.

For any stamping supplies you need, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Don’t forget the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals! And check the Clearance Rack, too, for bargains!

New Gentle Peace Photopolymer Stamp Set Coming!

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This month’s fabulous photopolymer release, Gentle Peace, was created by the Stampin’ Up! lead illustrator, Kathy Pitt. The set was designed to work with Blendabilities to create the effect of brightly-colored stained glass. Can’t wait to get your hands on it? The stamp set will be available on October 14. Just a week to wait!

Click HERE to see the entire flyer.

Gentle Peace Photopolymer Stamp Set: Coming to your friendly Stampin’ Up! Online Store soon! October 14th! Get ready!

For The Birds Easy Christmas Tag

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On the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals this week, the cute and versatile stamp set For The Birds is on sale! It’s a great stamp set because the images are adorable and the sentiments cover lots of occasions. You can even just cover the sentiment if you want to just use the image.

Click to Shop!

This set is great for “coloring in” with markers or blender pens or now with the new Blendabilities, if you use Memento Black Ink. But if you do not like coloring, you can just stamp the image in one color and make a monochromatic card. It will look fine!

Whisper White card stock works great with the new Blendabilities alcohol markers and it JUST SO HAPPENS to be on sale right now for just a few days during the Stamp, Stock, & Save Sale through October 6, 2014. Ink pads, card stock, envelopes, and Fast Fuse adhesive are also on sale. Be sure to check out the exact items on sale – also a few stamp sets.

This tag was made with the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch. I embellished it with a bit of Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape and a few Frosted Sequins adhered with the Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

Shop at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store for all the best in stamping, scrapbooking, and papercrafting products!

Get the 12 Weeks of Christmas Emails! 4 Hours Left to Sign Up!

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I bet we all can’t believe it is only about 12 more weeks until Christmas! At least that is how many emails I will be sending to my mailing list subscribers beginning today at 1:00 pm CT. Each email will have a fun holiday project that you can make, copy, steal or gain inspiration from for your own ideas. We start with cards, then gifts and finally wrapping ideas! Only my mailing list subscribers receive these fun emails, so be sure you are on my list today by 1:00 pm CT so you don’t miss a single one!

Sign up for my Stamping With Karen Mailing List in the red box on the right side of my blog! You can’t miss it!

Only 24 Hours Left! Get On My List For The “12 Weeks of Christmas”!

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Only 24 hours until my first “12 Weeks of Christmas” email goes out! What is the “12 Weeks of Christmas”? It’s an email every week, from me, with a holiday project that I hope you will like to give you ideas, complete instructions, and hopefully inspiration! Can you believe Christmas is only about 12 weeks away??! It’s my gift to my loyal mailing list subscribers!

The only thing is, if you are not on my Stamping With Karen Mailing List, you will not receive this special weekly email! Please don’t miss out! If you are reading this blog post, then you must be attracted to my style and choice of projects, so I hope you will join my list. I send out a main email at the beginning of the month with the current Stampin’ Up! news and specials (and there are a few today!) and usually another mid-month as a reminder or update with any important news. Not only will you get the “12 Weeks of Christmas” emails as a special gift, you will receive a gift right away for joining my mailing list! Be sure to watch for the Confirmation email that will come in moments and be sure to click the link inside or you won’t really be signed up. That’s just good email practice so that my service provider knows that you really want the emails delivered to you.

You can sign up in the red box at the right top of my blog. Please do it now so you won’t miss a thing!! Thanks for joining us! Be sure to share with your friends.

The “12 Weeks of Christmas” Is Coming! Sign Up Today!

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It’s time for my 12 Weeks of Christmas! What is the 12 Weeks of Christmas?? It’s a free gift for my Mailing List Subscribers! Each Wednesday, starting next week, October 1st, subscribers will receive an email containing a project idea for a holiday card, gift, tag or wrapping, along with all the directions to make it! These emails are ONLY for my Mailing List Subscribers so if you haven’t signed up to be on my list, please do it today! If you are already on my mailing list, no worries! You are IN! You don’t need to do anything! But if you have a friend who also might enjoy weekly holiday projects, just have them sign up too!

Getting these 12 Weeks of Christmas emails is really fun, so I hope you will join us! I choose projects that I think you will enjoy and can make easily. We’ll start with ideas for Christmas cards, then progress to gift ideas, and finally something to wrap them in, box them up in, or cute tags to make for your gifts.

These projects will NOT be on my blog or my Facebook page, so the only way you can get them is via my email list! I appreciate those who sign up for my mailing list and this is something special only for them. So if you have been visiting my blog, please sign up in the Mailing List Sign-Up Box in the upper right corner of my blog or in this post above! You get a free gift just for signing up!

***Remember, when you sign up you DO have to CONFIRM your subscription (just good email practice) so watch your email for a few minutes and see if that comes through. Open and click on the link inside to confirm your subscription which gives us permission to send emails to you. Be sure to complete this step so you will officially be on my list!

Go ahead! Sign up now! Less than a week until the first email goes out!

Please share this news with your friends! Hover over and click on the Facebook icon below or any of the social sharing buttons. Invite them to sign up for my mailing list so they receive every issue of the 12 Weeks of Christmas!

More Watercolor Winter Kit Christmas Cards

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The Watercolor Winter Simply Created Kit in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog really appealed to me after seeing some photos of the cards Demonstrators made at the Stampin’ Up! Convention. They are cute cards, but I found them a little bit more difficult to make than I expected. I think Stampin’ Up! could have done a little better job with the directions and they could have included color photos of all the finished cards. But you can look online or in the Holiday Catalog on page 37 to see the cards. The cards are not difficult to make, really, probably a little more detailed and tedious what with tiny pieces and waiting for the watercoloring to dry. If you are looking for super simple and quick, this kit is probably not for you. If you can handle taking some time and handling some small pieces and looking at another source to see what the cards are supposed to look like, then you might like making these cards just fine. You do get PLENTY of pieces of “stuff” in this kit so you can follow some or none of the directions and do your own thing. Or make some of the cards according to the kit directions and then branch out with your own ideas! Don’t forget the coordinating stamp set, also on page 37 of the Holiday Catalog, called Watercolor Winter Too.

As per the title of the kit, there is watercoloring involved with these cards! A watercolor is even included. It’s best if you have some reinkers that match the cards so that you can add the reinker to a bit of water or use your Aqua Painter instead of the brush, to color the items in the kit, such as the letters on this card. For these letters I chose to do the “ombre effect”. Notice the gradation of shades from light to dark. Well, now that I look at the photo, I’m not sure the medium shade shows up, but however you want to do it, or however it turns out, is fine! It is easiest to color the letters while they are still attached and then you can pop them out when they are dry.

Here is the other card in the kit:

On this card, I actually painted on those gray stripes going across the card front! They don’t have to be perfect (and aren’t!) because you are watercoloring! Lots of room for imperfection and it still looks good! Then you just stick on one of the vellum snowflakes that comes in the kit and add a few sequins. The small letters are watercolored on their sheet, but here is a twist! Turn the piece containing the letters and other card die-cuts over to glue the linen thread to the back of the letters. Directions on that ARE included in the kit. Again, a little tedious, if you are not into that kind of thing, but it does work! I used Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue. You could also color the letters, punch them out and then just glue them onto the card. But they are small!

So if you are interested in this Watercolor Winter Simply Created Kit, here is where you get it!

Be sure to watch this video so you can see what other supplies you need and see how they cards go together – and all the supplies you get in the kit! And let me know if you have any questions!

Wondrous Wreath Joy Card

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The other day I stamped a Christmas card using the Wondrous Wreath stamp set just simply and easily. This card, however, is stepped up cutting out the Wondrous Wreath with the Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies, adding drops of Crystal Effects on the berries, some fancy 1/8″ Gold Ribbon for a bow, and die cut the word “Joy” (and the wreath hanger piece) from the Gold Foil Sheets. The greeting is stamped from the free set Good Greetings you can earn by placing your own order or having a party and gathering orders amounting to $300.

You can see the simpler Wondrous Wreath easy card HERE. You can see that whichever way you like to stamp, easy or fancier, you can make a beautiful card!

Watch this video from Stampin’ Up! for LOTS of tips about using the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and Wonderful Wreath Framelits. Be sure to catch the one about cutting out the center of the wreath first!

For a better deal, if you want both the stamp set and framelits, purchase the Wondrous Wreath Bundle and save 15%. Place your order at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.

DON’T FORGET!!! Today, September 10th, is the last day to take advantage of the Paper Pumpkin promotion! Get the first two months of Paper Pumpkin at 50% off (regular price $19.95 per month) when you sign up today and use the Promo Code HALFOFF2. This offer is for new subscribers only.

What is Paper Pumpkin anyway? It’s the monthly papercrafting kit (not just cards,not just projects) that comes to you in the mail in the fancy red box! Everything for the project is included, except adhesive. No need to design your own project (unless you want to!), get out supplies, HAVE supplies, spend all day making something (unless you want to!). It’s your treat, your creative escape! I think that is worth $10 a month for two months to TRY Paper Pumpkin. Be surprised! Have some fun! If it is not for you, just cancel, no obligation. If you like it, but don’t want it every month, just “pause” your subscription whenever you like and then start up again. Just make any changes for that month by the 10th of the month! That’s why you MUST SIGN UP TODAY because it is Sept.10th and the new kits will go out in a few days for this month!! Email me if you have any questions.

The Fine Print:

For new subscribers only.
Available for month-to-month subscriptions, not prepaid subscriptions.
Discount applied to one kit per month for the first two months of a new subscription. After the first two months, the price for each month’s kit will go to the regular price: $19.95.
New subscribers must join by Wednesday, September 10, 2014; 11:50 PM (MT).

JOIN PAPER PUMPKIN TODAY FOR 50% USING

PROMO CODE HALFOFF2. Click HERE!

Wondrous Wreath Easy Christmas Card

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Make an easy Christmas card with the Wondrous Wreath Stamp Set. Yes, there are matching framelits and even the Bundle you can buy at a discount. But today I wanted just a quick card and made just this basic one – which I think turned out lovely in spite of myself! I intended to do the two–step stamping technique with the wreath, where I would ink up the wreath stamp but stamp it on scrap paper first and then stamp lightly on my paper, so I could overstamp with another leafy stamp to make some darker wreath leaves. But I forgot. This wreath is full-strength Old Olive, overstamped with the red berries. The bow is stamped separately and cut out with Paper Snips and mounted on the wreath with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The greeting comes with the set and even includes a sentiment for inside the card, which is often lacking. The Holiday Catalog Christmas sets this year do include sentiments to use inside the card.

My point in making this card is that if you want to just use this stamp set the simple way, you can still make a beautiful card. If you want to jazz it up by die-cutting the wreath and doing all sorts of fancier things to make a card, you certainly can – but you do not have to. Even keeping it simple, you could add drops of Crystal Effects on the berries to make those shine a little or add a dab of Dazzling Details or Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Change the colors of the card base and layer.

Don’t Forget!

Last day for Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals!

Sign up for the Paper Pumpkin papercrafting kit by Wednesday, September 10th to take advantage of the 50% off your first two months offer! Use Promo Code HALFOFF2. Your first kit in the mail will be shipped by mid-September so you can get crafting!

Shop online at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE any time!

Watercolor Winter Simply Created Kit Cards

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I was surprised when I finally opened up the Watercolor Winter Simply Created Kit package and saw ALL the pieces that come in it! It took up half my kitchen table to lay everything out to show you! The kit has enough materials to make 20 cards and includes envelopes. You DO have to have some reinkers with which to watercolor the pieces, adhesive, and a couple of clear blocks for the stamps. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t pleased with the directions they put in the kit, and I think they should put color photos of each card so you have a better idea what to do. I made one of each of two of the cards for today exactly like the directions say, which you will see below. I think when I strike out on my own making similar cards but not following the directions I will enjoy it more. I think it helps to lay everything out on the card before adhering parts to see if it all fits and see if you like it and which kind of adhesive you want to use. At the very end you will see a Stampin’ Up! video that helps in seeing how to make the cards.

I love the look of these cards, but you do need more things than come in the kit. You also need a Bermuda Bay ink pad and a greeting, like the Watercolor Winter Too stamp set that coordinates. But with a little patience and the right supplies, you can make a set of beautiful Christmas cards out of this Watercolor Winter Kit,whether following the directions or going out on your own!

Learn to Use the Stampin’ Up! Gift Box Punch Board

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One of my favorite new items in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog is the Gift Box Punch Board. At first glance I didn’t think I “needed” it, I’m not even sure why I put it on my order! But I did, and I like it! I think this Stampin’ Up! video will help you see how to use it because there are some steps involved – but once you get the idea, it isn’t hard. If you can fit your gift or treat inside without gluing the flaps down inside the box, it is really super simple. Otherwise, you can add some glue or glue dots or Sticky Strip to make the inside neater and more structured.

Use the new Under the Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper, cardstock-weight kraft sheets with a colored design on one side and white printed design on the other side to make sturdy boxes – but other kinds of paper are fine, too! Wait until you hear what Holly Linford from Stampin’ Up! says you can do with this paper!

To purchase any of these exciting new products from Stampin’ Up!, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store or contact me with your order and I’ll be happy to put it in for you!

It’s Time For the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog!

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Did you wonder if this day would EVER get here?! The day the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog goes live?! Let the ordering begin so you can get on with your holiday cards and projects! Not just Christmas, but fall, Thanksgiving, Halloween and other fun things! Lots of kits for those who don’t have time or supplies! New products, such as a Gift Box Punch Board!

Here’s a little gift tag card I made in minutes with the Festival of Trees stamp set, some Brights Candy Dots, Silver 1/8″ Ribbon, and a greeting stamp called Good Greetings that you can earn FREE! Just host a $300 party or place your own $300 order!

Don’t miss the Festival of Trees Bundle with the stamp set and NEW Tree Punch!

Contact me if you want to have a Christmas card party or other fun night or day out with your friends! Now go enjoy the brand new Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog! If you are one of my regular customers and didn’t receive a catalog, please let me know. And if you don’t have a demonstrator and are interested in Stampin’ Up! products, please contact me at Karen@KarenStamps.com. I would be happy to get a catalog to you!

Today is the LAST DAY for the Short & Sweet Offer: Become a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator by purchasing the Starter Kit for $99 and choose an EXTRA $25 in product! Get $150 in product of your choice for only $99 (regular offer $125 in product)! Click HERE for my link to get started! It only takes minutes to purchase your Starter Kit online and become a Demonstrator. Then you will be emailed a password to get in to the Demo Site and begin your training and look around and see all the resources available to you to start your own business! Choose items from the Holiday Catalog for your Kit if you like!

Shop my Stampin’ Up! Online Store for all your stamping needs!

Festival of Trees Snow Card

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The Festival of Trees Stamp Set is coming soon in the new Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog beginning Thursday, August 28. That’s less than a week away! Here is a simple card I made with the cute tree stamps in the set and the really cool Tree Punch! All will be revealed in the Holiday Catalog soon! It’s a Bundle so you’ll be able to save 15%! After kind of laying out the basic card, Soft Sky and Whisper White card stock on a Pear Pizzazz card base, I thought maybe it needed snow in the background. And I’m not usually the one who thinks up alternate uses for things, but today I thought of using the tree stamp that has just dots on it to make snow flakes randomly across the front of the card! I stamped with Versamark, turning the dotted tree stamp this way and that so each bunch wouldn’t look like a triangle. Then I embossed with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder using the Heat Tool. It’s handy to use the Embossing Buddy to rub across your paper before applying the ink so that stray flakes of embossing powder don’t stick where you don’t want them.

This what the card looked like after I stamped with Versamark. The torn strips of Whisper White representing snow are sponged with Soft Sky ink.

The stamp sets in the Holiday Catalog often have good sentiments to put on the front AND on the inside of the card, so after stamping the greeting on the front of the card that comes in the stamp set, I also adhered a Whisper White layer inside the card and stamped the rest of the greeting inside the card. Then for a little extra decoration, I punched another tree out of the beautiful All Is Calm Designer Series Paper.

The Holiday Catalogs are arriving in mailboxes of customers this week, it seems! If you do not have a demonstrator and would like me to mail you a catalog, please email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com. The Festival of Trees stamp set is going to be a fun one to use on Christmas cards this holiday season!

Visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store any time, and especially beginning August 28 to see the online Holiday Catalog!

Festival of Trees Christmas Tag

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Only a week and a day until the Stampin’ Up! 2014 Holiday Catalog goes live and you’ll be able to make this Festival of Trees Christmas Tag yourself! If you are a customer of mine, your catalog is on its way or maybe you have already received it! The one I sent to myself came yesterday in the mail so yours shouldn’t be far behind. (Unless your mail carrier is reading it in the back room of the post office before she delivers it!)

Since I left on vacation right after my Holiday Catalog preorder arrived (a perk for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators!), I haven’t had a chance to play with my new goodies – and didn’t want to tempt you too much when it wasn’t time for you to order anyway! So here is a little Christmas tag I made with the new Festival of Trees stamp set (#135059) and the new Tree Punch (#135856) (both available in a Bundle #137640 and you save 15%!). I started out planning to make a card, but came up with this tag instead, getting an idea from a tag in the Holiday Catalog.

The Kraft 12″ x 12″ Card Stock was punched first with the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch and then with the Tree Punch and a piece of the new All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper #135823 is adhered behind the punched tree area. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to put the paper a little more behind the punched image. The greeting is stamped in Real Red from the Festival of Trees Stamp Set. The “To and From” is also in the stamp set! To jazz it up, I added some Rhinestone Jewels (and I could have colored them with my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities Marker if I had thought of it beforehand!) Since I couldn’t find my new container of Frosted Sequins #135835, I used a star sequin from the In Color Sequin Assortment to top the tree. And for a finishing touch, I stamped a redbird from the same Festival of Trees stamp set, cut it out, and popped it up with a Dimensional scrap right on the side of the tree, The tag is tied with the new Gold 1/8″ Ribbon in the main catalog.

Enjoy the last days of summer because the holiday are upon us! But it is fun to have new holiday products with which to make easy and personalized tags, cards and more such as my Festival of Trees Christmas Tag.

Stampin’ Up! Convention – Inspire.Create.Share.2014 – From Home!

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I may not be attending the annual Stampin’ Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah this year, but I’m trying to keep up with every tidbit of it that I can find from home! Thank goodness for the internet! Stampin’ Up! even had a live stream yesterday morning of the opening of Convention (this year called Inspire.Create.Share.2014) and a good part of the first General Session. I was beyond thrilled that they broadcast more than a few minutes of it! My live stream worked great until it got to Becky Higgins of Project Life being interviewed by Shelli Gardner, then it konked out! I can’t wait until they live stream another segment of Convention this morning! It really is just like being there, except my feet don’t hurt! Of course my feet wouldn’t have hurt yesterday morning yet, but there is a great amount of walking all over that convention center and to and from the hotel.

Often the Stampin’ Up! convention begins with many Stampin’ Up! employees standing just inside the doors when the demonstrators enter. It’s a thrill to be greeted by all of them, it makes us feel like celebrities! But this year, the employees, by department, were part of the opening on stage which looked fun! Looked like some fireworks on stage, too! Real fireworks!

Shelli Gardner came out, tissue in hand. She often gets emotional on stage during her presentations, part of her charm, and it’s not hard to feel emotional about Stampin’ Up! She barely got started in her remarks when everyone in the audience got a free stamp!

Pam Morgan gave her presentation about the Holiday Catalog! I think most people are saying this is the best catalog ever, which I know we said last year and probably the year before that! This year’s Holiday Catalog will have lots of Sizzix products in it, so be sure you have a Big Shot (and next month will be a good time to order one!). Lots of packaging products and ideas for the holidays, kits for making cards, more stamp sets with sentiments for the front of the card AND the inside! More of the photopolymer stamps for easy alignment, Project Life, and builder sets. The beautiful photopolymer stamp set Endless Wishes, that sold out quickly last fall when photopolymer stamps were new, will be reissued. There will be gift wrap, ribbon, a gift box punch board, more Project Life for the holidays, beautiful papers, and more, of course!

Also, the most recent demonstrator to reach $1 million in sales, Connie Heisey, was brought up on stage by Shelli to be recognized! She had previously been invited to the Home Office to spend the day and celebrate this amazing milestone! While on stage, the “delivery man” wheeled out about four Stampin’ Up! boxes (you can barely see him leaving behind Connie) (wish I’d gotten a better photo of him!) as Shelli told Connie she would be receiving EVERYTHING in the Holiday Catalog! Then there was a poof of confetti to celebrate this amazing milestone!

Here are some more of the photos I took of my laptop screen while I watched the live stream yesterday! Didn’t think of doing it from the beginning!

In the afternoon and evening there were classes and additional demonstrations, which, from what I read online, sounded like they were terrific!

I know that at the Paper Pumpkin party the night before, demos got to make one item in the September Paper Pumpkin kit. It looked pretty cute to me! And apparently they got to view some other months’ kits, with a guard nearby, so no one would take photos! But they say the Paper Pumpkin kits just keep getting better so if you would like a Stampin’ Up! Paper Pumpkin papercrafting kit to come to you in the mail each month, remember the special going on! Save 50% on the first two months, for new subscribers only, by using the code: HALFOFF2

Subscribe HERE for Paper Pumpkin!

And now I have to go check on the time for the live stream from Convention!