Category Archives: Tools and Accessories

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal Feb 2 2016

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Feb 2 2016
How exciting to see one of my favorite products on these Weekly Deals! Can you guess what it is??  It’s the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies! I love making the mini treat bags, but they’re not just “treat bags”!  You can use them as cards or gift card holders or vary the size and shape, whatever your creative mind comes up with! Plus you get all kinds of extra dies to use not just with these bags but any time (I need to remember that!!). Save $10 this week if you want to purchase these fun dies!

The Decorative Label Punch has always been a favorite so if it’s not in your collection already, you might want to put it on your order. The Gold 1/8″ Ribbon is one I have used a LOT!  Being so thin you can add it as a smaller accent and of course the metallic gold color really adds an oomph to your project!

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals and Clearance Rack items all count toward Sale-A-Bration, the popular Stampin’ Up! promotion where you choose a free product from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure for every $50 you spend with Stampin’ Up! Remember, products on pages 16 – 19 are available only through February 15! After that there will be some NEW items available through the rest of Sale-A-Bration, while supplies last!

Save $5 on a 3-Month Prepaid Paper Pumpkin Subscription

And one more DEAL to think about!!  If you love crafting, but want to keep it simple or don’t have many supplies, or like a surprise, or even if you have an overflowing craft room, don’t forget about the Prepaid 3-Month Paper Pumpkin Subscription.  Save $5 during Sale-A-Bration and you will qualify for a free Sale-A-Bration product! Put the subscription on your regular Stampin’ Up! order and choose your free Sale-A-Bration product from the brochure. (I suggest ordering other things along with the subscription because you will pay minimum shipping for the SAB item even though the item is free.) Once you are a subscriber, you can order any past kits or refills that are still available. If you order by February 10th, you will receive the February Kit that goes out mid-February! This is also good to add to your order and perhaps reach Hostess Benefits! Stampin’ Up! will email me you a code and tell you how to activate your account!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Stampin’ Up! Sale-A-Bration and the Occasions Catalog Begin Today!

Stampin' Up! Occasions Spring 2016 Catalog

Sale-A-Bration 2016 Catalog

Today is the day!  The Stampin’ Up! Spring Occasions Catalog 2016 has gone live as well as the biggest Stampin’ Up! promotion of the year, Sale-A-Bration!  Be sure to check out these online catalogs today!  If you would like hard copies and do not have a Demonstrator, I would be happy to mail some to you.  Just email me at Karen@KarenStamps.com.

Sale-A-Bration has long been a very special promotion from Stampin’ Up! And boy, has it grown in the years I have been a Demonstrator! During Sale-A-Bration, for every $50 you spend on catalog product (from ANY of the current catalogs, my Online Store, or Clearance Rack and Weekly Deals), you get to choose a FREE product from the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) Brochure! And who doesn’t love free??!!

To clear up some confusion:  You do not have to purchase any specific products listed in the SAB Brochure in order to get a certain free product. Where it lists current product, those are just suggestions for the sample project. Just spend $50 with Stampin’ Up! and choose anything marked FREE in the SAB Catalog.

This year there are some products only available until February 15 and then there will be some new products coming February 16th!  Just to keep things fresh and exciting! I’ll remind you so you don’t miss out!

Have a workshop with your friends or place your own big order of $250 or more and receive an extra $25 in Stampin’ Rewards!!

JOIN STAMPIN’ UP! DURING SALE-A-BRATION!

Want to join the Stampin’ Up! family? Purchase the Starter Kit for only $99 and choose $125 worth of products. But there’s more!! During Sale-A-Bration choose an EXTRA $30 in product! That’s $155 in Stampin’ Up! products for only $99! Email me if I can answer any questions for you or CLICK HERE for more information!

OK, enough reading, go look at the catalogs and go shopping!  Have fun!!

Shop Stampin’ Up! for new products in the Occasions Catalog and then choose your FREE Sale-A-Bration items for EVERY $50 you spend!  No limits!

Star Wars R2D2 Punch Art Birthday Card

Star Wars R2D2 Punch Art Birthday Card

Before we get totally inundated in Christmas, after watching all the Star Wars movie promotions on TV I remembered I had made this Star Wars R2D2 Punch Art Birthday Card for my favorite son-in-law (my ONLY son-in-law, but a favorite nonetheless!). I’m trying to get slightly interested in Star Wars so perhaps I will go see the movie with my family at Christmas so I will know what everyone is talking about. I did see the first Star Wars movie way back when so I slightly know about the characters and such. Sometimes you just have to keep up with this stuff!

I found this idea to make R2D2 character on Pinterest or somewhere. I don’t think there were specific directions and when I made this card I was in a hurry to get it in the mail that day so I was lucky I remembered to take a photo of it, so unfortunately I can’t say for sure what size punches I used, but I am confident you can figure it out from the photo!

The head, of course, are two circle punches, the bottom blue piece another circle but trimmed into the shape shown. The body was probably just a rectangle with rounded corners on the bottom, punched with the Project Life Corner Rounder Punch.  The arms are made with the Word Window Punch (talk about a handy punch!) and the hands are just little scraps cut by hand. The little circles are probably cut with the Owl Punch (another super-useful punch). The background of the card is Basic Black card stock embossed with the Decorative Dots Folder.

If you want to see other Star Wars cards I have made, check THIS POST for a Yoda card and THIS POST for a Yoda and Darth Vader card.

Shop at Stampin’ Up! Online if you need any of the punches or materials to make this Star Wars R2D2 Punch Art Birthday Card or contact me if you have any questions or need help with your order.

Cyber Monday! Stampin’ Up! Flash Sale & Online Extravaganza Last Day!

Stampin' Up! Flash Sale Nov 30 2015

It’s Cyber Monday and today is the last day for the full Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza, plus a Flash Sale all day today (while supplies last!)!

Be sure to use the Bundle numbers to order.

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 50% Off

C’Mon, You Gotta Click HERE!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 40% Off

Click ME!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 30% Off

No, Click Here!!

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza 20% Off

Click Here!

See the whole PDF list of the sale HERE!

My Recommendations (hard to choose!): 

Shop the Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza HERE now all day,

while supplies last!

Online Extravaganza Bohemian Paper Gift Box, Card and Envelope

Online Extravaganza Bohemian Paper Gift Box Card Envelope

Today is the day, the day the Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza begins! And to show off some of the products available on the special, especially the first 24-Hour Flash Sale for Monday, November 23, I made a few projects with the Bohemian Designer Series Paper, the Gift Box Punch Board, and the Envelope Punch Board, plus the Bow Builder Punch!

Online Extravaganza Flash Sale Mon Nov 23

On the 24-Hour Flash Sale, you can purchase any 3 of the listed Designer Series Papers and then get a 4th one free! These are the designer papers shown in the Annual Catalog on pages 142-143.  You can also get the Happy Thoughts Paper Pumpkin Kit, even if you are not a subscriber (yet!) for half price!  What a deal! And the Gift Box Punch Board and Envelope Punch Board are also on sale for 30% off! Those deals are only available today, Monday, and only while supplies last.

This sale begins at midnight Utah time (Mountain time) and runs for 24 hours for the first Flash Sale, but through November 30th for the entire sale!  It’s Stampin’ Up!’s answer to Black Friday!

But there are LOTS of other products on sale on the Online Extravaganza so be sure to check the entire 3 page list!!  Think what you could give others as a gift or what items you could use for gift-wrapping (lots of things!!), or simply what things YOU want!

Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza List HERE!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

You can add any other items to your order as well, including products from the Holiday Catalog.  Be sure to check out the products that will retire at the end of the Holiday Catalog. Also check the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals and Clearance Rack!

For any more details, read THIS POST.

Check out the Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza Flash Sale today and make your own gift box, card and matching envelope, then place your order today!

Make A Delicate Ornaments Christmas Card

Delicate Ornaments Christmas Card

Make this beautiful Christmas card using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies with red-striped Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum and the shiny Red Foil Sheets.  The card base is made with the Whisper White Thick Cardstock and layered with regular Whisper White Card Stock.  The striped vellum is then attached to the regular card stock using Glue Dots underneath the stripes to try to hide the adhesive. I popped up this layer (the Whisper White plus the vellum) on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

In order to cut the Delicate Ornaments with the Big Shot, I used the dryer sheet and waxed paper technique!  I do not (yet) own the Precision Base Plate in the Holiday Catalog.  I had heard both good and bad about it, and of course I had plenty of other products I wanted to order from the Holiday Catalog.  Even I can’t have everything! But recently I have heard very good things about this plate and might be inclined to put it on an order soon. It is supposed to help greatly cutting out these intricate dies with all the little pieces. But today I used this sandwich:

  • Magnetic Platform (or regular platform)
  • Dryer sheet (new) (can be used over and over)
  • Card stock (in this case, the red foil)
  • Wax Paper (you could also try Parchment Paper)
  • Thinlit (cutting edge down)
  • Top cutting pad

I ran this through and rolled it right back again, then ran it through and back again. This worked perfectly, I only had a very few pieces to poke out of the ornaments, no problem at all. The design is so intricate that you really don’t even notice if a few tiny pieces do not all come out. I used some tiny pieces I cut from Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop up the ornaments on the red striped foil. Then I tied little bows from the Gold 1/8″ Ribbon.  The silver ribbon would have been pretty also.

The greeting is stamped with Versamark Ink and embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder using the Heat Tool.  The stamp is from the To You & Yours Too Photopolymer Stamp Set.

It’s time to be making Christmas cards, if you haven’t already! Try these intricate dies and shiny paper to make a Delicate Ornaments Christmas card that will wow your friends!

Find all these great products in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

 

New Stampin’ Up! Deals

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Nov 17 2015Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for November 17 -23.  Need a Christmas stamp set? Choose the Jolly Christmas stamp set with the reindeer and plenty of greetings.  Get the Season of Cheer Cardstock Pack so you have Christmas colors handy. The Season to Season Wreath Kit can be changed out (the center garland) for different seasons.  I also saw online a cone tree decorated party with the paper leaves from the wreath kit for something different. And then we have the Snow Friends Framelits Dies that coordinate with the cute Snow Place Photopolymer Stamp Set.

If you want any of these items, just add them to your order or place a separate order.  Also, keep in mind the products Stampin’ Up! has listed as “retiring” from the Holiday Catalog. This means that these products will not carry over after the deadline from the Holiday Catalog so if you want any of them and have put off ordering, be sure to get them ordered pretty soon. Unfortunately, the accessories will only be available while supplies last as there is not enough time for reordering by Stampin’ Up! However, stamp sets will continue to be made until December 28 since Stampin’ Up! makes the stamps themselves.

Holiday Catalog Goodbye Adieu

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE or contact me to place your order! 

Thankful Gift Bag

Thankful Gift Bag

The other day I had pulled out a past gift bag project as inspiration for something else I was making with a friend, and looking at that project inspired me to make this Thankful Gift Bag. So you never know where inspiration will strike!  I updated this gift bag by using the Gift Bag Punch Board. At first, though, I had pulled out the Gift BOX Punch Board and was wondering why this bag was not likely to come out right as I started to use the wrong punch board!! I wasted a few pieces of paper on that one!  Anyway, it’s easy to make a gift bag with the Gift BAG Punch Board.

You choose the size bag you want by the measurement you want on the bottom of the bag. Then you can make it any length (tallness) you want. This is a very basic bag with Soft Suede Cardstock. I think I would have liked it more with a little stamping or embossing, but sometimes plain is okay too. The tag on the front is stamped with a greeting from the Thankful Forest Friends Stamp Set in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog.  I used different colors of Stampin’ Write Markers to color in the stamp with multiple colors.  Just remember to “huff” (breathe) on the stamp after coloring with markers to remoisten the ink before you stamp. Then I stamped the acorns in the For All Things Stamp Set  (a beautiful fall stamp set from last year, still current, in the Annual Catalog).  I cut out a couple of the acorns and adhered them to my greeting, which was die cut with the Big Shot and the Deco Labels Collection Framelits.

Use this Thankful Gift Bag to tuck in a little gift for a hostess when you go out during the holiday season.

Gift Bag Punch Board

New Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal!

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Nov 10 2015

Some interesting Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals today, right out of the Holiday Catalog (mostly!)! The pretty Metallic Foil Doilies are in the Annual Catalog. You can use the two punches, the Snow Flurry Punch and the Festive Flower Builder Punch for your holiday cards right now. You can also get these punches in bundles with the coordinating stamp set if you prefer.  And then there are the Perfect Pines Framelits Dies if you love Christmas trees!  And who doesn’t?! Check out these deals and see if you want to add them to your order!

Watch the Stampin’ Up! video about using the Festive Flower Builder Punch!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE or contact me to put in your order for you!

Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal Nov 3 2015

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Nov 3 2015

 

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for November 3 – 9.  Add one or more of these to your order and get some good deals!  The Old Olive Baker’s Twine will come in handy on those fall and holiday cards and projects, as well as the Flower Medallion Punch.  And the Piercing Pack and the Masks are extras that we don’t think of using as often as we should just to add a little something different to our projects.  Try them at a discount!

Shop HERE at Stampin’ Up! Online any time!

New Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal Oct. 13

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Oct 13 2015

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for October 13, 2015 through Monday, October 19. Just a few things this week to avoid any backorder situations, Stampin’ Up! says. The buttons, pearls and seam binding ribbon are always good to have on hand for that finishing touch for a project.  Sometimes you just need some little thing when you are creating and how good to pick up some embellishments at a discount?!

Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack

Speaking of saving money, don’t forget (like I do!) to check out the Clearance Rack before you finalize your order.

If you need a Halloween decoration, the Frightful Wreath Kit is available from last year and I remember mine was fun to make last year and everyone LOVED the beaded spider! So pick that up soon so you can make it for this Halloween!

Stampin' Up! Frightful Wreath

As I look through the Clearance Rack RIGHT NOW – and it can change at any moment! – I can see several things I would recommend that you pick up for the upcoming holidays just to have on hand!  Click on any item below for more information!

New Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for Oct 6 – 12, 2015

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Oct 6 2015

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals! Purchase these items at a discount while supplies last today through Monday, October 12. These are always a good chance to pick up some accessories at a lower price!  Maybe you can use the Gusseted Cellophane Bags for Halloween treats or birthday parties or stock up for the holidays. And there are LOTS of ideas for using the Hamburger Box Die. Of course sequins are big right now as are metallics so you have both in the Metallics Sequin Assortment. And did you know the White Perfect Accents can also be colored with Sharpie Markers if you want accents in different colors than white? I admit, it took me awhile to get used to the Fast Fuse Adhesive, but now I really like to use it. Make sure you have the main Fast Fuse Adhesive before you stock up on the Refills available on the Deals! If you want some tape adhesive that HOLDS, this is it!

Here’s a fall box I made last year with the Hamburger Box Die and the For All Things Stamp Set.

Hamburger Box Die Fall Box For All Things

If you need any of these Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals, please visit my

Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

How to Make Cotton Paper Flowers with the Floral Framelits


The Floral Frames Collection Framelits Dies are on the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deal this week, and you will probably want them after you watch this video! This video uses the new Stampin’ Up! Cotton Paper in the new Annual Catalog, but you could also use card stock or colored tissue paper or whatever you like.  The Cotton Paper comes in an assortment of pretty colors as you see in this video.  It is lightweight but sturdy so good for a project like this where you want it to not be too heavy but hold up while making it!

We Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators who have seen Bonnie (in this video) present on stage just love her and her humor. But there is a catch to this video! Be sure to watch it all the way through! I think you will enjoy the project! It might even take you back to your childhood when you made paper flowers out of tissue paper or kleenex!

The Floral Frames Framelits will make making cotton paper flowers easy!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

Happy Haunting Halloween Gift Bag for a Treat

Happy Haunting Halloween Gift Bag for a Treat

Make a fun Happy Haunting Halloween Gift Bag that you can use for a treat or any little gift. Grab a piece of the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper and the Stampin’ Up! Gift Bag Punch Board and you will quickly have a little gift bag all scored and cut and ready to be assembled. Directions are right on the Gift Bag Punch Board, but you can also watch a Stampin’ Up! video on how to use the board. Once you do it, you will get the hang of it! I made a Medium size bag with just a 4″ strip of the designer paper. I could have made it taller. I used the new Tear & Tape Adhesive to put the bag together.

After I made the bag, the fun began with decorating it!  You can punch holes with the punch board in the top for ribbon, but I left mine plain and then decided to add a folded strip of Rich Razzleberry to the top and closed the top with the Stampin’ Up! Handheld Stapler. I like a little purple on Halloween things! I definitely wanted to use the new Spider Web Doilies in the new Holiday Catalog. They are pretty large so I was able to cut one smaller to fit my bag, and now I have another piece left for another project! Next I used the Howl-o-ween Treat Stamp Set to stamp a little spider for the web and a little jack-o-lantern. I cut both of them out after stamping with my Paper Snips, forgetting that there are the Boo To You Framelits Dies that I could have used!!  Oh well!  The pumpkin is layered on a white circle punch and the Scallop Circle Punch in Rich Razzleberry. The greeting in the set was too large, so I finally thought of using a small one from the And Many More Stamp Set. And why not add a few Rhinestone Jewels just for fun to the spider web?!

Can you believe it is October already?  I did see my first Halloween decorations in someone’s yard yesterday! It is time to work on Halloween decorations and candy treats and Halloween cards and maybe something like this Happy Haunting Halloween Gift Bag to hold a treat inside! Just have fun with the season and the theme of Halloween!

Shop for all the Holiday Catalog goodies in my

Stampin’ Up! Online Store!

Happy Haunting Gift Bag Punch Board

New Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deal Sept 29 2015

Here are the new Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals for Tuesday, September 29, 2015 through Monday, October 5. Lots of good accessories on here! Get punchy with the Gift Box Punch Board (handy to have for Christmas wrapping) and the Envelope Punch Board if you want to make pretty envelopes or some custom sized ones. You can actually make other cute things with the Envelope Punch Board, not just envelopes! If you are a gardener or know a gardener, you might like the Handpicked Framelits Dies. Even those I’ve seen used for other things, like the label dies used for labels to tie on a gift bag or candy treat. Use your imagination! The Floral Frames Collections Framelits Dies can make beautiful layered flowers. And if you want to get a head start on Valentine’s Day (of course hearts are good, like stars, for LOTS of things!) get the Happy Heart Embossing Folder. And don’t forget the Hearts Border Punch if you like hearts!

Do you have a Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog?  I have a few extras if you would like one mailed to you if you do not already work with a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. Or just click the link to view it online.

Are you on my mailing list? Please join us so you will start receiving my special holiday gift!

To shop for the Stampin’ Up! Weekly Deals and other amazing Stampin’ Up! products, please visit my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE.