Category Archives: Christmas

Make a Paper Mache Star Christmas Ornament

Make this easy paper mache star Christmas ornament for your tree or for a package decoration that the recipient can keep as an extra gift! Look in your stash or go to the craft store and get some of those paper mache ornaments like this star. Cover with designer series paper and embellish and you’ve got yourself a lovely Christmas ornament!

I just traced around the star on a piece of Winter Frost Designer Series Paper. This particular sheet has a shiny foil look to it so it is especially beautiful! If you pay attention to how you are tracing the paper and which direction you traced around the star you might get it to fit exactly right! Otherwise, place it so that it fits the best on your ornament and if there is any excess you can trim it off with your Paper Snips or retrace a little. Just get it as close as you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect! Adhere the paper to the ornament with some Tombow Multipurpose Glue making sure it sticks well along the edges.

Put the same or another pattern of paper on the backside. Also adhere a narrow strip of designer paper around the side of the ornament. Mine was about 1/2″.

And then decorate to your heart’s content – or even leave it plain depending on your paper. I made a rosette out of a 12″ strip of designer paper. I think it was about 2″ wide and scored with my Simply Scored Tool every half inch. I glued the ends together and then scrunched it into the rosette shape and adhered with a blob of hot glue in the center. Then it was ready to go on the front of the ornament with another blob of hot glue. The finishing touch was the beautiful Frosted Finishes Embellishments.

Look in your stash and see what you have! It’s cold and frosty across a big part of the country, including Houston – well, cold, not frosty (yet!) – so a good day to stay in and make Christmas ornaments, cards and crafts! Enjoy!

Stampin’ Up! Cyber Monday Specials Are Here!

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Yesterday I gave you a heads up on items from Stampin’ Up! that would be 30% off today only! In fact, today is the last day for the entire Stampin’ Up! Holiday Sale so be sure to check that list one more time! Think outside the box and perhaps find things you can give as gifts to someone else. But, of course, don’t forget YOURSELF!

CYBER MONDAY SPECIALS

# 132172 Envelope Liners Framelits Dies (not just for making pretty envelope liners!)

#132171 Expressions Thinlits Dies

#132159 Holly Jolly Greetings Simply Sent Kit

#132176 Snowflake Season Simply Sent Kit

#129324 Large Rhinestone Jewels

#132147 Extra-Large Gift Box

Just go right now to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store, check all the categories in the left sidebar of the store’s page so you don’t miss a thing! Let me know if you have any questions or need help ordering. I’m happy to put the order in for you.

Cyber Monday Specials at Stampin’ Up! and More!

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The Stampin’ Up! Holiday Sale has been ongoing since November 20 and now will come to an end on Monday, December 2, 2013. Don’t miss it! But be sure to check back tomorrow, Cyber Monday, when Stampin’ Up! will have these products on a special Cyber Monday Sale!!

Here are the links to my Online Store where you can see the products. Keep in mind the sale price will not show today (Sunday, December 1st). Don’t try to order or even put on your list until tomorrow!

You can also add to your order (you won’t believe this!) Valentines!! Well, you know it will pop up soon right after Christmas! This way you will be ready with your supplies!

A Whole Lot of Love Stampin' Up! Valentines

Click to Read Flyer

Click to Read Flyer

You can purchase these products beginning today, December 1st, at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE. On that page, click on the product and then you can read more about the details and also click the magnifying glass to enlarge.

And one more thing! The last “Best of 25 Years” stamp set is released today. This stamp set is called “Best of Sale-A-Bration”. All of these stamp sets are available until March 31, 2013. You can see all of the stamp sets HERE.

PS: Don’t forget to check the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack every time before you order! New things may have been added!

Absolutely tomorrow, Monday December 2 Cyber Monday, go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and check out the Cyber Monday specials and all the other items on the Holiday Sale, plus the items I mentioned in my post above! Whew! Happy Shopping!

Making Festive Flurry Ornaments

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No snow in Houston except on my kitchen table where I played with my Stampin’ Up! Festive Flurry Ornament Kit and made some of the beautiful ornaments. Once you assemble these ornaments you can use them as ornaments, as package toppers, on a super-fancy card, or string them together to make a garland. Lots of ways to use them which you will think of as you make them!

There are no written instructions in the kit but there is a good video from Stampin’ Up! you can watch. I would say be a little more patient with the hot glue as you “squish” your ornament together toward the center than on the video because I’m sure in the interest of time, they didn’t make you wait and watch the full time it takes for the hot glue to set up in the video. If you have the Stampin’ Up! Silicone Craft Sheet it makes it a little easier to work with the hot glue.

Let’s start at the beginning! You will receive ten sheets with die-cut pieces to make your ornament plus a stack of the glitter layer pieces. Just punch out the pieces. You will see two of the pieces, the blue snowflake and the glitter snowflake are pre-scored so that is helpful. Carefully fold on these score lines. Those narrow tips are a little delicate so take your time and remember nothing has to be perfect! I suggest doing the longest points with the fold lines so the fold is “up” and the smaller ones with the fold “down”. It’s going to be almost like rosettes you have probably made in the past, one fold up, one fold down and so on. Check to make sure you have all the pre-scored lines folded around the ornament and then “practice” squishing them toward the center hole. Once you are sure they will all fold and work together correctly, it’s time to glue. You can put a puddle of hot glue on your silicone craft sheet and then place the snowflake so the center hole is in the glue and “squish” the ornament toward that center and hold until the glue sets and you can safely set it aside. Once you have the blue snowflake and the silver glitter one made in this fashion, you can layer all the ornament pieces together and that is the easy part! Don’t forget the beautiful large rhinestone in the center! Attach a piece of ribbon on to the back if you want to make a hanger.

I also tried, as another demonstrator suggested, just putting glue around the inside edges of the center hole and not using the big puddle of hot glue, and then squishing it to the center. This did seem to hold just as well and didn’t take as long to set up as the big puddle of hot glue.

And for my last try, I attached the snowflake to a small circle on the back as I was gluing it, punched or the center you punch out of the blue snowflake. I thought this worked the best, maybe gave it a little stability while the glue was setting up.

Once you discover what works easiest and best for you and what you want to make, I think you’ll be able to breeze through these ornaments just fine. You will find the Stampin’ Up! video on the sale page for the Festive Flurry Ornament Kit. These are SO beautiful you MUST give them a try!!

Is It Now ‘On To Christmas’?

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Thanksgiving is over so I guess the Christmas season is officially underway! I can never quite believe it until I get our house decorated for Christmas, then it seems perfectly natural! I hope you had as nice a Thanksgiving as I did. My boys are home plus one girlfriend, who was quite helpful in the kitchen all day as we prepared the many side dishes with the turkey. Then she got my son to help her hand wash everything that didn’t fit in the dishwasher and I got to sit down!!! What a welcome treat!

Stampin’ Up! has the Holiday Sale going on and just the other day announced they would have a few 24-hour specials on Cyber Monday (December 2). On that day you can go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and check in the ’24-hour’ category in the left sidebar to find the specials. You’ll also be able to purchase the final “Best of 25 Years” stamp set as well.

I’ve been cleaning up my craft room (although I stamp at the kitchen table!) and found some old papers with stamping Christmas songs! Here’s one to get you in the mood! Since it has been a wintery weekend in many places, here is one to the tune of “Winter Wonderland“!

Brayers roll…..are you listening?

On the card….ink is glistening.

A beautiful sight…we’re happy tonight,

Stamping in a winter wonderland!

In the kitchen we can stamp a snowman.

Then add color to his carrot nose.

You’ll say, “Are you finished?”

I’ll say, “No ma’am,

I need to add some glitter to the snow!”

When we stamp……isn’t it thrilling?

Even when…..the powders spilling.

We’ll create and we’ll play….the art stamper way,

Stamping in a winter wonderland.

Stampin’ Up! Holiday Sale Starts Today

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It’s time for online holiday shopping with Stampin’ Up! You can get incredible discounts-up to 50 percent-on some of your favorite products! This is the perfect time to stock up on some of your favorite items or for a new stamper to give Stampin’ Up! a try.

The Holiday Sale begins with some 24-hour-only DOORBUSTERS today only!!

The new Stampin’ Trimmer #126889 Reg. Price $29.95 Sale Price $20.97
Simply Scored Diagonal Plate #125586 Reg. Price $11.95 Sale Price $8.37
Many Marvelous Markers #131264 Reg. Price $109.95 Sale Price $76.97 (I LOVE my set of Markers in the case!!)

The 24-hour sales period on these three products ends at 11:50 PM (MT), November 20.

All the other products are on sale from November 20 – December 2. Check out the full list HERE.

Hostesses who have earned a 50%-off item may not apply that discount to an already-discounted product.
There’s no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion. Sale on!
For product bundles, you need to use the bundle item numbers provided. If you use individual item numbers, you won’t get the discount-bummer.
You can buy additional products from any of our current catalogs on the same order.

Time to SHOP here at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store or if you prefer, you can contact me to put in your order for you!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Fun Making Christmas Gift Boxes

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‘Tis the season (or almost!) for making pretty gift wrap boxes for the holiday gifts we have shopped for or handmade for our friends and family. Why not get a head start with the Stampin’ Up! Extra-Large Gift Boxes? They come three in a package and are one of the Weekly Deals, if you order by tonight. Just fold them up into their box shape and start decorating! It needn’t be elaborate, unless you want it to be. Here I have just adhered pieces of the Season of Style Designer Series Paper to the top and sides of the box. On the top, I layered it on a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock but the sides are just the designer paper. And before I put the Christmas tag on, the decorated box could be for any other occasion, not just Christmas! Also on the Weekly Deal, ending Monday November 18, is the Gift Bow Bigz L Die. Grab it for a discount today and you can easily make the double bow like on the top of this box. It probably only took me about ten minutes to decorate this box! Nothing could be simpler!

For the little tag in the corner of the gift box, I used one of the MANY tags in the Season of Style Designer Journaling Tags package in the Holiday Catalog. I chose one and made a little card to layer it on and stuck it on the top of the box. Now all I have to do is write the “to” and “from” inside when I see what gift is going in the box! Of course I had to add a little bling with two small Rhinestone Jewels on the snowflakes. You can use these die-cut printed tags for scrapbooks, photo albums, even cards. You’ll enjoy playing with them!

Don’t delay, check out the Weekly Deals ending today! You’ll probably want all the items! But even if you miss the sale, they are still good values to have.

Go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store and get your order in! Let me know if you have any questions! From the Home Page of my store, be sure to check all the categories in the left sidebar. Don’t forget the Clearance Rack either!

Decorate Your Kraft Gift Box with Daydream Medallions

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The Christmas season is just about upon us, and soon it will be time to wrap all those gifts! Get a head start by purchasing the Extra-Large Gift Box #132147 (3 in a package) in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog and then decorating to your heart’s content. Make it simple or make it fancy! If you order by Monday November 18 you can get a discount on the kraft gift boxes and also the Gift Bow Bigz L Die #129977 during the Weekly Deals! The Gift Boxes are food safe, so you can fill them up with homemade goodies if you like! They come flat and then you fold and assemble. You will be surprised how large they are! They measure 4 3/8″ x 6″ x 6″. And of course you can use kraft gift boxes any time of year so they aren’t just for Christmas!

I chose to decorate my gift box with a series of stamps in the Daydream Medallions Stamp Set. I stamped each stamp in alternating colors and cut out with the Floral Frames Framelits Dies. I also cut out the matching color card stock with the dies for a layer. The largest framelit (which doesn’t have a matching stamp) I used to cut out the Champagne Glimmer Paper. There’s also a little bit of Glimmer Paper punched with a small scallop punch under the smallest layer. And then I had to top the design with a Large Pearl Basic Jewel! Just perfect! The ribbon is the Cherry Cobbler 1″ Grosgrain Stitched Edge Ribbon in the Holiday Catalog. I thought the box still needed “something” so I stamped some vine images from the Forever With You Stamp Set in Soft Suede.

Check out the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals which end Monday night! Order your Extra-Large Gift Boxes and Gift Bow Bigz L Die. Might as well get the Burlap Ribbon as well!

My Digital Studio New Downloads & More!

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Every Tuesday there are new digital downloads for the Stampin’ Up! digital design software called My Digital Studio. These are extra designs you can purchase to add to your content on My Digital Studio or even other kinds of design software. This week Stampin’ Up! has added a new twist: some of the downloads include an online class to show you how to use My Digital Studio!

Stampin’ Up! will continue to release new classes and coordinating exclusive digital downloads every month, on the last Tuesday of the month. You can go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store to view the projects and techniques to see what is included in the content.

Each class includes an exclusive digital download and instructional project-based video training that will guide users through a number of different techniques as they create a variety of projects in MDS. My Digital Class prices will vary depending on the content included.

You can order any of these downloads and past ones at my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for the Week of Nov. 12

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Images copyright Stampin’ Up! 2013

Here are the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for the week beginning November 12 through November 18:

1 1/4″ Burlap Ribbon

Extra-Large Gift Box

Gift Bow Bigz L Die

Mini Muslin Bags

Orchard Harvest Swatchbook Template

Pumpkin Pie Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit

Real Red Goodie Gear Simply Created Kit

Witches’ Brew Designer Series Paper

I’m happy to help you with your order if you email me or use my Stampin’ Up! Online Store at your convenience! Let me know if you have any questions!

***Also, remember that the Holiday Tag It Bundles are only available through November 19!

Make Beautiful Festive Flurry Ornaments with an Easy Kit

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A new kit from Stampin’ Up! and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Add a little festive flare to your holiday decorating with the new Festive Flurry Ornament Kit! Top presents, embellish cards, create a wintery garland, or trim the tree. How you use them is up to you!

The kit includes everything you need (minus adhesive) to create 10 snowflakes, including
* 10 feet of Soft Sky Ribbon
* Printed cardstock – die cut and scored, ready to be assembled (Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Cardstock and Silver Glimmer Paper)
* Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels (40)

Order this kit from my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.

Watch the video below! All you have to do is punch out the snowflakes, fold where scored and glue together with a glue gun! Then let your imagination run and decide how you will use them!

New Best of 25 Years Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up!

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Here is the November Best of 25 Years, celebrating Stampin’ Up!’s 25th Anniversary! This stamp set, Best of Snow, has one of everyone’s favorite images “Frosty” plus a couple of hedgehogs!! The Frosty stamp set was one of the first ones I bought when I became a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. Frosty became one of those stamp sets that no one wanted to see retire. Although I didn’t own the hedgehogs, I know they were very popular as well.

It’s time to be working on those Christmas cards so if these images speak to you, you should order them right away! Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.

My Digital Studio Seasonal Sale

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Stampin’ Up! is offering 30% off select holiday downloads and print products in My Digital Studio to help you get a head start on the holidays! Try your hand at My Digital Studio with the 30-day Free Trial or just jump right in for only $19.95 for the software. You will have PLENTY content to keep you busy and the whole My Digital Studio program is easy enough to learn! You could be making photo Christmas cards in minutes or adding photos or your own designs to a calendar for the new year or a photo album. You can do so much with My Digital Studio!

See the festive downloads on sale HERE.

This sale begins NOW and ends November 30, 2013.

Please contact me if you have any questions about My Digital Studio (MDS).

Are You Getting My “12 Weeks of Christmas” Emails?

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Are you receiving my “12 Weeks of Christmas” emails every Wednesday with a new idea for a Christmas card, gift or wrap idea? If not, then you must not be on my mailing list! This is a gift for my mailing list subscribers that I do every year. Although you have missed the first four weeks, if you sign up today you can receive the remaining eight emails! It’s fun and a surprise every week to help and inspire you with your holiday crafting!

Just fill out the Mailing List Sign up Form here on my blog or click this link:

http://forms.aweber.com/form/96/1174594296.htm

As one of my mailing list subscribers, you will also receive my free monthly email with stamping and papercrafting ideas and tips and all the latest Stampin’ Up! news and offers. You’ll also receive a short mid-month email with any new offers or reminders. PLUS there is the FREE GIFT you receive right away just for signing up in the first place! Just be sure you watch for the Confirmation email that should come pretty quickly: read it and click the link inside which confirms that we have your permission to send these emails. It’s a good practice to assure you are getting email you really want.

If you are already on my mailing list and receiving the 12 Weeks of Christmas emails, you don’t have to do anything! Please share with your friends if you know someone who would be interested! You can also click any of the social media links below!

New Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set Endless Wishes

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Stampin’ Up! keeps adding to their photopolymer stamp set collection! This week it is a new Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set called Endless Wishes. Photopolymer stamps are great because they are extra sticky to stick to your clear blocks and since the stamp itself is see-through, you can see exactly where you are placing it. Everyone will have their own preference on whether or not they like the wood-mount stamps the best, the clear-mount, or now the photopolymer stamps. At least we have choices! Maybe you like all of them and just choose which images you like the best. If you are looking for another Christmas stamp set, take a look at this one! With the Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set you’ll be ready with festive greetings for all the little gifts, tags, and holiday projects you’ll make this season!

Just go to my Stampin’ Up! Online Store where you will find this stamp set and MANY other ones to choose from!

Stamping With Karen

Having Fun With Paper, Ink, and Stamps

Category Archives: Christmas

Make a Paper Mache Star Christmas Ornament

Stampin’ Up! Cyber Monday Specials Are Here!

Cyber Monday Specials at Stampin’ Up! and More!

Making Festive Flurry Ornaments

Is It Now ‘On To Christmas’?

Stampin’ Up! Holiday Sale Starts Today

Fun Making Christmas Gift Boxes

Decorate Your Kraft Gift Box with Daydream Medallions

My Digital Studio New Downloads & More!

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for the Week of Nov. 12

Make Beautiful Festive Flurry Ornaments with an Easy Kit

New Best of 25 Years Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up!

My Digital Studio Seasonal Sale

Are You Getting My “12 Weeks of Christmas” Emails?

New Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set Endless Wishes