Beautiful Cards Deserve Beautiful Packaging!

Hi Stampers,

Today I want to show you how to make a simple box to hold a set of six A2 sized cards and envelopes.  This box would make a lovely presentation for a gift set of cards!

You'll need the Envelope Punch Board and a 9" square piece of cardstock.  Line up one edge at the
3-1/2" mark; score & punch.  Slide the cardstock to the 4-1/2" mark; score & punch.  Rotate the cardstock 90 degrees and repeat, lining up your previous score lines with the marker on the punch board.  Repeat for the remaining two sides.  Your cardstock should look like this:

Don't forget to use the corner rounder feature of the punch board to give your project a polished look.

Fold and burnish on all score lines.  Cut all four corners as shown here and place a small bit of tape adhesive on the outside of the box as indicated.

Place tape adhesive on the inside of the box flaps as shown here:

Now is the time to decorate the front of your box.  I used a piece of Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper cut at 4-1/4" x 5-5/8".  Next, remove the backing from the tape adhesive and carefully fold & assemble the box, being careful to "square up" all four corners.

To make the belly band, cut a strip of coordinating DSP or cardstock 1-1/2" x 11".  Carefully wrap it around your box, making creases at the four corners.  You may find this easiest if your box is filled with cards so it won't collapse if you press too hard.  Remove the belly band and burnish the creases with your bone folder.  Place the band back on the cardbox and adhere the ends with tape adhesive, but not too tightly - you need this to slide on & off easily!

Decorate the belly band as desired.  I used a 2-1/2" plus a 2-3/4" circle cut from Crumb Cake and Real Red cardstocks.  "Happy Christmas" from the Oh, What Fun stamp set is stamped in Versamark and embossed with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder.  The bow from Holly Berry Happiness is stamped in Early Espresso and punched with the matching punch.

Don't forget the Designer Paper Sale starts on Saturday, October 1 - buy 3, get 1 free!  What a great time to stock up on papers for projects like this!  

Have a wonderful day,

Pat

Quick Gift Card Holder for Christmas

Hi Stampers,

Fall is in the air and you know what that means...less than three months until Christmas!

Today I want to share with you a simple gift card holder that starts with an A2 sized envelope.  The embellishments could be changed to fit any gift-giving occasion.  The only limit is your imagination!

I made two versions - here's my "stepped-up version":

And here is the simpler (but just as cute!) version:

Here are the basic directions for this simple gift card holder.  Start with an A2 sized envelope.  Score a line down the center of the envelope front at 2-7/8".  Cut the flap of the envelope on the score line.

On the back of the envelope, seal the left side of the flap and tuck the right half of the flap in.  

Fold the envelope in half on the score line.

Cover the sealed flap with a piece of Designer Paper cut to 2 1/2" x 4 1/8".  

Here's another way to cover the sealed envelope flap using a reindeer stamped and punched from Cookie Cutter Christmas.

The tag is a 2" x 5" piece of Whisper White cardstock stamped using the Cookie Cutter Christmas stamp set.  The end is punched using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.

The gift card slides inside the pocket along with the tag.

On the stepped-up version I cut a piece of Designer Paper 1-1/2" x 4-5/8" and flagged one end.  I stamped "for you" in Real Red and used an oval die-cut for the shape.

The belly band is made from Real Red cardstock cut at 1" x 6-1/2".  The reindeer is stamped in Early Espresso ink and the bow is Real Red ink stamped on Real Red cardstock.

I hope you'll give this a try!  Here is a list of the Stampin' Up materials used for this project:

# 107297  Crumb Cake Medium Envelopes

# 143493  Cookie Cutter Christmas Bundle

# 141981  Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper

# 102482  Real Red Cardstock

# 100730  Whisper White Cardstock

# 133324  Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

Visit my online store to purchase any of the materials you need for this project.

Have a lovely day,

Pat

Hi Stampers,

Be sure to check out all of the new products added to the Clearance Rack today!  There are some great deals that will go fast-all at a fraction of the original price!  Happy Shopping!

Cold Hands ... Warm Heartfelt Greetings

Hi Stampers,

I've been busy creating lots of fun holiday cards to share with you using some of the great new products from the 2016 Stampin' Up Holiday Catalog.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this stamp until I actually played with it...now I think that this little Eskimo girl (yes, she is a girl!) is the cutest thing ever!

Isn't she sweet standing on a snowbank juggling snowballs with presents by her side?  My colors are Pool Party and Real Red.  She is part of the brand-new Cookie Cutter Christmas bundle just released on September 1.  I love that there is a matching punch that's part of this bundle, it's so quick & easy to punch her out along with the snowballs.  I stamped her on Shimmery White cardstock & used my Blender Pens to color.  A little touch of Blushing Bride gives her rosy cheeks!  I added a wash of Clear Wink of Stella to the fur on her snowsuit for shimmer.  The presents are from the Peaceful Pines stamp set.  They are adhered directly to the card front with liquid Tombow, but my little girl and her snowballs are popped up with Dimensionals.

The snowbank she's standing on is the "swish" from Work of Art.  I use this swish all the time when I need something to "anchor" an image, rather than letting it "float" on the card.  Can you see the sparkle on it?  I spread a layer of Tombow glue on top of the swish & sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  Here's a photo that shows it better:

The Softly Falling Embossing Folder gives this card dimension.  Just be sure to stamp the swish & sentiment before using the embossing folder-you won't be able to do it after.  The glitter should be added after the embossing.  It will work fine if you use the glitter before you emboss, but you'll be cleaning glitter out of your folder 'till the cows come home.  Yup, I'm a country girl.

The inside sentiment is part of the Cookie Cutter Christmas bundle too...love how it works with the front sentiment.  The tiny stars and the snowflake on the envelope are from the stamp set Holly Jolly Greetings.  Those two little red hearts?  They're another component of the Cookie Cutter Christmas bundle, punched from Red Glimmer Paper and attached with a drop of  Tombow.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I made this card, the third one in my Cookie Cutter Christmas series.  If you're ready to order yours, I would be happy to help you out.  Click the link below to jump over to my online store and search for #143493.

Happy Stamping,
Pat

Keeping it Simple with Cookie Cutter Christmas

Hi Stampers!

Here's a sweet & simple card I put together using Cookie Cutter Christmas & Oh What Fun!

This card goes together so quickly that it would be great for a mass-produced Christmas card this year.  The reindeer on the Crumb Cake card base are stamped randomly in Crumb Cake.  Rudolph (see that shiny nose?) is stamped in Early Espresso and colored with a Crumb Cake marker, then punched with the matching punch.  His shiny red nose is covered in red Stickles.  Not a Stampin' Up product, but similar to Dazzling Details, only in Red.  (Hint:  Stickles takes a while to dry, so you would be wise to stamp, color, punch & add Stickles as your first step on this card!)

The striped DSP is a 1 1/2" strip from the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper.  The Whisper White banner is 1" wide, flagged at one end with the Triple Banner Punch.  The greeting is stamped in Real Red ink from the Oh What Fun stamp set.  I thought the banner needed a little something extra, so I found the star shape in the Peaceful Pines stamp set and added them randomly in Real Red.

I hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend!  To see all of the wonderful goodies in the new Holiday Catalog, just click on the image below to go to my online store.

Thanks for stopping by,
Pat

Special Offers!

Hi Stampers,

Today is a great day to be into paper crafting!  Not only does the 2016 Stampin' Up Holiday Catalog launch today, but it's also the first day for 25% off Special Offers!  From now until September 21, there will be three weeks of specials.  Each set is only good for one week, so be sure to check back often!  Click here to see this week's Special Offers.

The new catalog is beautiful throughout.  Contact me today if you would like a copy or click below to shop online.

Have a wonderful day!

Pat

Cookie Cutter Christmas

Hi Stampers!

Welcome to the first of many projects from the fabulous 2016 Stampin' Up Holiday Catalog!

This card showcases one of my favorite new bundles, Cookie Cutter Christmas.  This stamp set has the cutest images.  In addition to gingerbread men, there's a reindeer, Santa, Eskimo, and a bear, plus coordinating greetings and accents like the hearts you see here.

This little guy is cute all on his own, but I had the idea that one was not enough, so I decided to stack them up like gymnasts...must still be thinking about the Rio Olympics!  My card base is Crumb Cake. I stamped the gingerbread men in Early Espresso and punched them out with the coordinating punch. The same punch also made the hearts, which are punched from Real Red.  My greeting and the background stamp are both from Holly Jolly Greetings, stamped in Real Red.  The designer paper is the new Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper.  There's also Candy Cane Lane Baker's Twine, which comes in a 2-spool pack, Real Red and Whisper White with red metallic thread running through it.

Here's the inside of my card:

The sentiment is from Cookie Cutter Christmas, and the stars are part of the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set.

Another thing I really like about this bundle is that there is another stamp set in the Holiday Catalog that uses this punch - Cookie Cutter Halloween!  The characters in that set include a scarecrow, mummy, skeleton & Dracula.  Two stamp sets and one punch can take care of your crafting needs for Halloween and Christmas!

The Holiday Catalog is available to order from starting today, September 1.

Happy shopping,

Pat