Pretty Fall Gift using the Pillow Box Gift Box Die

Today I'm featuring a cute gift box I got from my friend Joyce Hall.  These are just the perfect size for a small gift, or to use as table favors for Thanksgiving.

Joyce created this project using several items from the new Holiday 2015 Catalog:

  

the Pillow Box Die, the Woodland Tree Embossing Folder and the Lighthearted Leaves Stamp set.

For Joyce's project she sponged colors randomly across the leaves, but this set was made for coloring with markers. Adult coloring books are all the rage right now and if you're someone who likes to color this set then you'll love playing with these images. Just think of all the fun you'll have coloring these leaves. 

Thanks for Stopping by: If you see anything you like I'm happy to help you get the product or just to consult and explain further how the project was made.  Really, its all about having fun with our hobby.

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Grateful For All Things Thanksgiving Card

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

I hope you are reading this after a wonderful day spent celebrating family and friends.

Or better yet, that you spent the day totally enjoying family events and are reading this on Friday.

This card was made with the For All Things stamp set from the 2014 Holiday Catalog. 

Do you like the background stamp? Isn't it great that this set comes with its own little background stamp? Perfect for adding a background to a stamped image.

There's even a background stamp for sentiments. What other sets do you have that would look great with these backgrounds?

 

Here is another sample, this one uses the leaf image. Notice the stamps in this set are not intended to give a solid image. Its sort of a watercolor effect. Very fitting for fall imagery.

The leaves on this 2nd card were created with Stampin'UP!'s Autumn Accents Die. This card was featured in an earlier post which you can see here if you want more details.

Thanksgiving is a day when we recognize all the wonderful things we have in life . . .
family - friends - health, and whatever you add to your private list. I am truly grateful for many things, 

including the blessings that Stampin'UP! has brought to my life.

If you've ever wondered about the advantages of joining Stampin'UP! yourself then read on . . .

Stampin'UP! is having a sale on the Starter Kit right now.  

**If you've ever thought about being a Demonstrator

**If you've ever thought about "just buying in" so you could get the discount

**or, you've been waiting for a good deal - with NO OBLIGATION past this purchase.

Then take advantage of this sale.

• You get to choose the product,  anything you want, up to $125
• You'll get the $125 worth of product - and pay only $75 +tax
• Shipping will be free on this deal.

Does this sound too good to be true?  Well, it is a good deal. . . 

 but it only goes through Dec 2, so don't wait, do it now!     

Its as easy as 1-2-3

step 1: Get out your catalog

step 2: figure out what product you want

step 3: Click HERE to join.

Are you thinking about it?  Then you're going to love this: your $125 list can include items from the Weekly Deals, The Clearance Rack or anything from the On-Line Extravaganza!   

Contact me with any questions:

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• Not ready to join but need some stamping supplies?
  You can shop 24/7 in my OnLine Store (and avoid the Holiday shopping crowds)
• Be sure to check the Clearance Rack for super deals on retired product.
• Don't miss the Weekly Deals - new product each Tuesday 
• If ordering on-line use this Hostess Code
  to be registered for my Customer Rewards Program
  PNC677D4

You'll find TONS of savings with Stampin'UP!'s Holiday Extravaganza. 

One week only:  Nov 24 - Dec 2

Avoid the holiday crowds in the stores, shop from the comfort of home.

See the links below for the full list of what's on sale.

Click an image to see the items
Or download a printable PDF list of the items here

 

Digital Thanksgiving Greetings

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

Two photos today from Stampin'UP!'s Digital Software: My Digital Studio 

Photo #1: The images

You may recognize them as stamps as a retired Stamp Set called Countryside. The physical stamps may be gone,but the digital images are still available.

The software lets you do lots of things with the images:

• you can re-size them
• you can layer one on top another
• and you can color them

Photo #2: The images colored

Please don't be too critical of my learning projects. I haven't played much with the software so my projects are definitely not professional looking. 

Check out some of the samples from people who are far more experienced with the program than I am.
See the digital gallery HERE

I may not be too sophisticated yet, but I can see where this has the potential to be totally fun 

and just as addicting as stamping with paper and ink.  

You can give get a 30-day FREE Trial to try it out, or just buy the whole program for $19.95.  

Its a download so there's no waiting. Instant download and the fun begins.

Thanks for Stopping By

Use This Hostess Code when placing orders through Dec 2nd
and be entered to win an additional $25 of free Shopping with me
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Shop here for all your stamping supplies.

• The Deal of the Week 
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• Holiday Sale Items
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Punch Art Turkey

 

Have you started thawing your Thanksgiving turkey yet?  Ours sat on the counter all evening and goes into the fridge tonight.  It should be thawed and ready to stuff by Thursday.

This week is always a busy one getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday and all the family getting together. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays . . . I love the meal! And I love playing with recipes. After all, cooking is another way for creative people to express themselves. 

This week offers something else special, a chance to get some really good deals on stamping supplies.

• check out the sale flyer for 20%-50% savings on many items. 
• Sale goes from Nov 19-28th
•  Be sure to check the Clearance Rack for additional savings

All orders over $25 earn Customer Rewards Points

You can order online or call me with your order 608-220-3450

Happy Stamping
--Katie

Always Thankful for Life's Blessings

November is a Time to Count our Blessings and Give Thanks. In my life I am thankful for good health and for my family and friends. And I'm thankful to have this hobby in my life. Thank you for being part of my life and for supporting me.

Stamping has brought many blessings to my life. It allows me the opportunity to be creative and to be appreciated by my friends and family for that creativity. My hobby has allowed me to build a business that supports itself (yay!). And stamping has also helped me to widen my circle of friends. I have met so many wonderful people through stamping events. Some of you are now my customers and for that I am grateful as I watch my business grow. What are you thankful for?

This card features products from the new Mini Catalog The image is from a set called Always Thankful and the Designer Paper used as the background is called Spice Cake. The colors in the Spice Cake Collection (and used to color this project) are: More Mustard, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, River Rock and Very Vanilla.  To see another card made with this stamp set click HERE. To see more Fall Cards click HERE.

To duplicate this project get your supplies HERE 

Spice Cake Paper:
  12 sheets of double sided paper, 6 designs -
  2 of each   #124003, $10.95

Always Thankful Stamp Set

  wood mount #123787, $25.95

  clear mount #123789, $19.95

Clear Blocks Needed:

  Block E: #118484, $11.95

Catalog Tip: Did you know that the stamps sets shown in the Stampin'UP! catalogs are FULL SIZE?  That makes it so easy to choose the right clear block. Just lay your block over the image in the catalog to ensure the correct fit. This works with punches too. Punch a hole and lay it over the image to see if the stamped image will fit on the punched piece.

And best of all, you can shop for all your stamping supplies without ever leaving your house.
No gas money, no travel time, no rude shoppers elbowing you or snatching something you were reaching for. Shop at my on-line Stampin'UP! store and have the order delivered right to your own home. That's really something to be thankful for.

Happy Stamping

--Katie

 

Always Thankful

This time of year I'm Always Thankful I live in Wisconsin! I love fall. First: its just gorgeous watching the scenery change and second: there are so many fun holidays. Halloween is only a few weeks away, Thanksgiving is in another month and then Christmas. What a great time of year for stampers and other crafters. And if you are lucky to live in a place with changing seasonal scenery you also get some new insipration from nature.

Today's project uses a Stamp Set called Always Thankful. This is a new stamp set (available in either wood mount or clear mount) featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog (which you can view online). The colors are inspired by the tree colors this time of year: So Saffron, More Mustard and Chocolate Chip. Actually this card is very similar to a card I made last year with a gold embossed wheat image on a dark base. Or check out these gold embossed leaves.

These fall colors are very muted so I added a little pizzazz! First the image was embossed in gold. Then I colored the grass  in Wild Wasabi and the can with Basic Gray. The 3 gold brads add balance as well as bling. And the Linen Thread is there for balance and texture.

This sentiment is a perfect fit for the punches I used. With this sentiment this would make a great Thanksgiving card. And the sentiment is part of the same stamp set. Notice how perfectly it fits inside our Large Oval Punch #119855, which can then be layered inside our Scallop Oval Punch #119856. One of the things I really love and appreciate about Stampin'UP! is how they support their product. The stamp sets are designed to work with the punches. There is no guarantee that random punches with work with random stamps, but Stampin'UP! really tries to ensure that your product can all be used together.

The little popped up pumpkin is one more extra on this card. Ordinarily I'd never think to do something like this, but I got the idea from the card shown in the catalog with this stamp set. The catalogs themselves are great Idea Books! Check it out on page 19 of the Holiday Mini Catalog. The little pumpkin is actually part of the stamp with the wheelbarrow.

If you'd like to get these or any other stamping supplies
you'll find everything you need HERE.

Happy Stamping
--Katie

Fall Inspiration: Cards for October Stamping

People often ask me WHERE I get the Inspiration for my cards. Well, I take my inspiration from everything! My advice is to just look around and then think about the colors and stamps you have. For example, here in Wisconsin the fall this October has been just breathtaking. This picture is from a recent river trip I did with my family and friends (BTW: I'm totally loving this retirement gig!). Nature is one of the best places to look - but really you can get inspiration anywhere: like a fabric print, or a group of colors or . . .

The leaves outside are "Gently Falling" and this card is made with a Stamp set called Gently Falling. If you don't recognize it that's because its new! Its in the current Holiday Mini Catalog. We made this card at the October Stamp-a-Stack this last weekend. Yesterday's post showed the whole group of cards we made.

The bottom half of the card is embellished with a series of parallel vertical lines made using the new scoring machine: Simply Scored. This is my new favorite tool, its so easy to use. I actually made a "cheat sheet" showing 2 pages of possible score patterns and included it as a "freebie" with the October Newsletter. If you like getting little help sheets like that then be sure to sign up for my newsletter. * * SIGN UP HERE * *

You get a 2nd chance to get that free PDF file of score patterns. I've gotten feedback from some folks that the link in the newsletter did not work. I need a day or 2 to fix it and be sure its fixed so by Friday morning I hope to have it ready to re-send. If you're not already on the newsletter list then SIGN UP NOW. 

The top of the card was stamped on Naturals Ivory. It has a much more natural look for fallen leaves than if the card had been stamped on plain white. That gorgeous flowing sentiment is also from a new set, its called Hand Penned. You will definitely be seeing more projects made with it.  And of course I used the Mat Pack to ensure the brads were evenly spaced and parallel to the card edge.  Its amazing how simple little tools like the Mat Pack can really help make a card look so professional.

The Gently Falling stamp set is designed for 2-step stamping.  And the mottled colors on these leaves were done with a technique called "Thumping".  This Feather card shows another example of Thumping. Thumping is a quick easy way to blend colors. You pick up ink in a light color from the ink pad and add a darker color with a marker. Hold the marker balanced on your thumb with 2 fingers on top. Use your pointer finger to balance it and use your index finger to bounce the marker tip on the stamp.

The new Victoria Ribbon looks great on this card. It has just the right "vintage" look to finish off this card.

I'm so happy with how this card turned out. I may mass produce this one and use it as my Thanksgiving Greeting to friends and family.

You can get all the supplies for this card HERE:

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions
Happy Stamping
--Katie

Autumn Days Wheat Card

I love fall.  I love the colors and the fresh air and the changing of the seasons and the anticipation of the holidays and . . . yeah, its a great season.  This week was Thanksgiving.  Here is a photo of our table before the chaos of the meal.  All three girls were home, Dana's fiance joined us as did Sara's new young man.  Kaia made the trip down from the Twin Cities but her husband had to work. We are so blessed with our family.  And I am blessed with and grateful for your presence in my life.  Thank-you for sharing my love of stamping.

The meal was  wonderful.  Add to the list that I love the fall food.  And the fall colors.  They are great inspiration for art work. What do you think of this color combination? Cajun Craze and Black with touches of gold. I love the colors on this card, to me they are so warm and earthy. The gold embossing, brads and gold cord add the perfect touch of elegance. The supplies I used on this card include:

Autumn Days Stamp Set

Sanded Background Stamp

Gold Brads

Gold Cord

Gold Embossing Powder (and Heat Gun)

Dimensionals (the focal piece is popped up)

Versamark Ink Pad

Stamp-a-Ma-Jig (to position the Wheat image)

Mat Pack (to position the holes for the brads)

Versamark Ink Pads have a variety of uses:
1) I used Versamark on the background stamp: Sanded, to make the background on this card.  As an ink Versamark is great!  What ever you stamp on, thats the color it makes.  On blue you'd see blue, on yellow you'd see yellow and here on Cajun Craze, you see Cajun Craze. 
2) I also used Versamark as the "glue" to hold the embossing powder to the black paper prior to embossing.  The process of embossing is simply melting the metallic powder into the paper.  You just need something sticky to hold the powder in place while its being heated. Versamark inks are a stickier ink and perfect for this purpose. Everyone should have a Versamark Ink Pad.

Thanks for choosing me as your source of stamping inspiration and education.  I'm here to help.  Your choice to purchase your stamping supplies through me helps to support this website.
--Katie

Elegant Thanksgiving Cards

 

I really enjoy the stamping that I do with my co-workers at lunch. First its just fun to relax in  the middle of the day and have a little "girl talk". Of course I also revel in the comments people make about my cards. But I also appreciate that it really keeps me on my toes to create 2 new cards each week.  Here are 2 cards we've made recently. I'm trying to decide between them which to send as my Thanksgiving card this year.

Stampin'Up! has 2 lovely leaf sets to choose from.  The card on the top was made with a Stamp Set called French Foliage and the card on the bottom was made with a stamp set called Autumn Splendor.  I gold embossed the images and I really think it makes both of these cards look very elegant.  The card on the top used the Bravo Burgandy paper as the background and the one on the bottom has the leaves stamped on Very Vanilla.  For the card on the bottom I also went back and sponged just a little black onto the vanilla piece to "soften" the look,  it seemed too harsh with out the sponging.  The sentiment on the bottom card is from a stamp set called Heard from the Heart.  The sentiment on the top is actually from a retired set. 

Speaking of sets retiring and wishing you'd gotten them when they were available: Autumn Splendor (the set on the right) is in the regular catalog so it will be available at least through June (new catalogs come out in July).  But the set from the top card shown to the left here: French Foliage, is in the current "Mini" Catalog which means its availability is only guaranteed through the life of this little catalog. If you like French Foliage then get it now, because that catalog expires January 3rd.

So, back to Thanksgiving . . . I think I know which card I'd choose, but I'm willing to listen to your ideas.  Leave a comment below to tell me which card you like best.  Leave a comment even if its after thanksgiving - it helps me to know what my customers like.

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As always. . .

I am here to help you.  Please call or email me if you have any questions about these cards or anything related to stamping.  Let me know if you want to order any of the supplies for these cards.  I want to be your demonstrator.  Your business is appreciated and helps to support this website.

--Katie