Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

Seems like so many people are expecting little bundles of joy soon, so here are a couple of ideas for easy & cute congratulations cards to show you really care!

The "girl version" .... Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice:


And isn't it amazing how just a couple of tiny changes makes the perfect "boy version" .... Snips & Snails & Puppydog Tails



These both use the cute cute new trees in the sale-a-bration Good Neighbors set (SO glad I got this set for FREE!! It really is one of my all-time favorites) and the "Everything Nice" set shown below that is perfect for so many occasions.



I was inspired by another image I saw here on the Splitcoast website by another Stampin' Up! Demonstrator named Niki. Thank you for the inspiration!!

These cards have a Kraft cardstock base with Whisper White cardstock.... eeks! have to board my plane now... more info to come when I land :)

You Mean Everything to Me

Valentine's Day is almost here!

I used Stampin' Up!'s "Always" set to make this simple, yet elegant, Valentine's Day card.

This is a amazingly versatile set with the hearts & sentiments perfect for Valentine's Day, weddings, anniversaries & more and of course the amazing bird & branches, etc. that are so popular right now.

Here is the full set showing all of the stamps that are included:



And here's a link to a completely different Valentine's Day card I posted earlier that used the same set. So many choices!

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Kristi

Registry Inspired Invites

Remember these cute cute images from Pottery Barn Kids?




These are part of one of their adorable nursery sets that my good friend Erin has picked out for their soon-to-arrive baby girl.

I knew I wanted the baby shower invites to somehow coordinate with the theme for the baby's room... and so as I was looking closer at the patterns in the registry items I started to see cute little trendy lollipop trees as well as adorable little owls and birds.

But how could I tie it all together to make something truly special for such a special event?

Stampin' Up! to the rescue! The trees from the new Good Neighbors are a perfect match, and the Trendy Trees set would work too, but what about the owl and the bird?? I found the cutest little owl in the Love Bandits set and those little birds? They're from the new Picture This Occasions Mini hostess set. I just colored with a marker the birds so the words wouldn't show up when stamped.


So here it is.. the final product! Some of the details are blocked to make sure our event is exclusive! :)





And here is a close-up of how I included the registry info. I used that handy half-circle punch to make a little slit in the back of each invite and slipped the registry cards right in there so the guests would have them & so we can all shower the beautiful mommy-to-be with the oh-so-cute Pottery Barn nursery items that inspired the invite.




Most people probably received theirs today... love to know what you all think!

Kristi


Supplies Used:
- Stamps: Good Neighbors, Picture This, Love Bandits
- Paper: Bashful Blue, Old Olive & Whisper White cardstock
- Envelopes: matching beautiful Whisper White of course!
- Ink: Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery
- Ribbon: Pretty in Pink & Whisper White stripped grosgrain
- Punches: New scallop punch FREE from sale-a-bration

Pottery Barn Kids Inspiration

Check out these adorable nursery items from Pottery Barn and look forward to a customized baby shower invite to match these registry items coming soon....

Bold "Neighbors"

A completely different color scheme for the Good Neighbors set, this card uses the bold combination of black, white & red.

The cute little trendy trees that come in this set are so hot right now. I've seen similar lollipop-style trees all over new fabrics, nursery items, notebooks, etc. I have a special little project up my sleeve I'm wrapping up today & I can't wait to share it with you tomorrow!

Kristi


You can make it too!
- Good Neighbors Stamp Set (from SAB) & Well Scripted Stamp Set (from the Occasions Mini)
- The new scallop border punch from SAB
- Real Red, Whisper White & Basic Black Cardstock
- Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon
- Real Red & Basic Black Stampin' Write markers
- Your adhesive of choice (I like the snails), Glue Dots & Dimensionals to make it all come together
- And of course a matching Whisper White envelope so the lucky recipient knows right away something special has arrived in the mail!

Good Neighbors Goodness

I am absolutely loving the new Good Neighbors set. With so many cute house & tree combinations, the possibilities for this set are endless!

Here's my latest creation. I'll be posting a few "congrats on your new house" type of cards over the next few days because I'm working on making a set to give as a gift to a friend who is a real estate agent so he can use them for his clients.

Giving people sets of homemade cards they can use is so appreciated and I think much more special than a gift from a superstore. Know someone who has a birthday coming up or who deserves a special thank you? Perhaps you have a tight time schedule and should start thinking about Mother's Day now? A set of cards might be just the answer.

Happy weekend!
Kristi

You can make it, too! You'll need...
- The Good Neighbors stamp set
- Earth Elements cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy and Old Olive, plus Very Vanilla
- Earth Elements markers to color your houses & roofs
- Dimensionals to add some depth to the roofs & adhesive of course to stick your layers together
- A brad on the left to add a little more depth & interest. I used the gold from the Vintage Brads set.
- And of course... a Very Vanilla envelope stamped to match!!

"Good Neighbor" Congratulations

Have you seen the adorable new Good Neighbors set in the Sale-a-bration catalog? It has got to be one of my all-time favorite sets and I was so excited to earn it free free free last month.

Another cool little behind-the-scenes detail about this card is that I actually have both of these sets in the new clear-mount style. I used the medium-sized Block D and put the house and "Congratulations" words on the same block. Made it a cinch to get the exact positioning I wanted and combine images from the two sets.

Card recipe:
- Good Neighbor set free from Sale-a-bration
- Well Scripted stamp set from the Occasions Mini
- Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive & Whisper White paper
- Earth Elements markers
- Dimensionals to give the inner part of the design and the roof some uumph and well, dimension. :)
- And of course, a Kraft envelope to match!

Have fun & let me know if you have any questions!
Kristi

Candle "How To" Tutorial

Just how am I making these candles I've been posting, you ask?
Here's a photo tutorial for those of you who are more visual learners.

It's so very easy & they turn out so cute!

Step 1- Gather your supplies: parchment paper, candle, stamp set, ink pad, and white tissue paper.
Step 2- Stamp your image on the tissue paper. It will go through the layers so make sure you have a scratch paper or more tissue layers underneath it to protect your table!
Step 3- Trim the image close to the edges & place it on the candle
Step 4- Wrap parchment paper around the candle and hold it together in the back
Step 5- Use a heat gun (aka embossing tool aka heat tool) to heat your image. It should slightly change colors as the tissue melts into the candle
Step 6- Let it cool for just a minute or so & you're finished! You have beautiful & thoughtful homemade gift that is sure to bring a smile to the lucky recipient's face!

Good luck & let me know if you have any questions!
Kristi

ps just click the photo to enlarge the image & get a closer up view of the easy steps!

Trendy & Easy ( ! ) Bird Candle

One of the things I love about stamping is it's not just for making cards. Stamping easily flows over into the 'home decor' and 'gifts' part of my life, too.

We needed a small gift for someone, so I made this cute little gift using a basic vanilla candle and the adorable little trendy bird stamp from Stampin' Up!'s "Of the Earth" hostess set.

A few easy steps of stamping in Chocolate Chip onto white tissue paper, carefully trimming and then melting onto the candle using a heat embossing tool, made something very plain into something quite beautiful, I think.

...Let me know what you think or if you have any questions on how to do this yourself!

Kristi

Elegant Medallion

I love how easy the Medallion stamps makes it to create quick, yet beautiful, cards!

Imagine making a similar card in Soft Subtle pastels for Easter or beautiful Not Quite Navy & Whisper white in the winter... so many possibilities!!

Love the look? You can make it too!
- Take a Basic Black base
- Stamp the Medallion image off of the side of some Whisper White cardstock & the sentiment or phrase of your choice on the lower right.
- Then layer your Whisper White on Real Red
- Punch a small hole through the center of your Medallion to add some bling with a clear rhinestone brad (or whichever color you like!)
- Adhere to the Basic Black base and then you're almost there....
- Don't forget to add a Whisper White piece inside so your handwriting can be seen and add a little corner of the Medallion to the envelope to make that match & finish off your quick & elegant card!

Love Always

SU!'s "Always" set has got to be one of my favorites. It works for so many occasions!

Here I used the 'a/always' and the mini flower to create a bright & cheery Valentine's card.

Tips & Tricks:
- The trio heart punch helps make cute leaves
- The new heart & plaid brads in the Occasions Mini fit perfectly inside of the little 'a' in the always
- The mini flowers from the Always set can be used to create bigger flowers if you use one of the larger circle punches.
- I love the contrast of the Pretty in Pink background with the Real Red & Whisper White flowers and Old Olive stems & leaves.


Hope you're having fun making your own Valentine's Day creations! More new fun designs to come in the coming days :)

Kristi

Love Bandit INDEX!

Have you ever checked out splitcoaststampers.com?
It's a cool website where you can search for Stampin' Up! stamp sets by set name and see hundreds & hundreds of cards that people have made & uploaded pictures of to help inspire people & share ideas. Such a cool idea!!

Most of the sets have an "index image" that is locked in place as the first picture & shows people all of the images that are included in the set. I was lucky hough to get to make the above card front as the index image for Love Bandit!

Clear mount is here!

Woohoo! In addition to all of the excitement about the new catalogs & specials, the buzz on the Stampin' Up! street is all about CLEAR MOUNT STAMPS. These are made with the same high-quality rubber images we're used to from Stampin' Up but are sort of like reusable clings. So, instead of having a wood block for each stamp, you just get a couple clear blocks in your favorite sizes and apply the rubber part of your stamps when you're ready to use it. When you're not using them, they can be stored in these nifty DVD like cases that show little thumbnail images of each stamp inside. Does that make sense???

Not sure? Don't worry! I ordered a new set & a couple of clear blocks so we can try them out next month at Stamp Club. Then you can decide for yourself which way to go-- traditional wood mount or the new clear mount.

Eeks!

I accidentally broke my internet card so I can't access the old world wide web from my computer that has all of my pictures on it... bummer!! Hoping to have it fixed by tomorrow and will post some new pictures then.

A quick update for my favorite Stamp Club ladies- our order has been placed! What a fun fun night full of crafts & lots of laughter! Since this club is getting so popular, I am getting ready to start up a second group. If you know someone who might be interested, please let me know! I will have a special surprise for anyone that recommends a new person that joins the club.

Thanks!
Kristi

Sneak Peak! Love Bandits Card

Hey Stamp Club!
Here's a sneak peak at one of the quick & easy Valentine cards we'll be making together in a couple of days.

This card uses the adorable Love Bandits set from the new Occasions Mini. There are so many cute little creatures & sayings in this set- I love it!

Heart Treat Cups are Here!

Have you seen these new heart treat cups yet?? << click here!

These would be great beyond Valetine's Day, too. I'm thinking Mother's Day, weddings, anniversaries, showers... so cute for so many occasions! :) Enjoy!

Sale-a-bration starts today!

The best promotion of the year is here!!

Sale-a-bration and the new Occasions Mini catalog period have officially begun!

Remember, with sale-a-bration or "SAB" everyone can earn free stamps, paper and punches!! Every $50 purchase from January-March allows you to pick a free item from the special SAB catalog or ANY STAMP SET YOU WANT under $15.95 from the main catalog.

It's a great time to stock up on a few things & treat yourself to some FREE stamps!

Monogrammed Cards

I had a lot of fun making this quick & easy monogram card to include in the gift set I recently gave my mom. She loved it!

You can make it too!
- Make a base of Not Quite Navy and cut out a Whisper White layer to fit over it.
- Stamp the big flower from For All You Do in Not Quite Navy.
- Stamp the letter of your choosing in an accent color- I chose Real Red- and layer it on top of a Not Quite Navy square.
- Wrap the coordinating ribbon to your letter around the white, attach it all together, and you're done!