Stamping Made Easy

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I apologize for not posting in a very long time. We've had a death in the family and it's been difficult to get back in the groove of stamping. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a great start to the new year!

Let it Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the inks look so delightful
So while the winter is cold and damp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

It doesn't take much convincing
And I've brought a tool for crimping
Choose some paper, turn up the lamp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

When we carefully press just right
How we smile as the image unfolds
Add some color, so bold, so bright
The result is a sight to behold.

Our projects are quickly drying
And there's new techniques for trying
So until we get finger cramps
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

Happy Holidays!!

Gotta love the UPS man!

My upline shared this adorable picture and I just had to share it with all of you.  I love the creativity of people - this punch art is just amazing.  Way to go Ellen!

Tell me about adhesives

Stampin' Up! carries many different kinds of adhesives for many different types of projects and I receive many questions about the differences.  Here is a quick description of each: 

Snail Adhesive:

• Simple, Neat, Affordable, In-line
• 472 inches of double sided adhesive
• Great for cards, scrapbooks or other art projects
• Keeps fingers and art pieces from messy glue
• Refill cartridges available
• Permanent and creates a strong bond

Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive:

• Latex rubber acrylic resin adhesive
• Adhesive can be both permanent or temporary depending on how it's applied
• Works great for adhering cardstock or Designer Series paper to chipboard
• Dries clear
• Excellent for adhering Stampin' Glitter to surfaces
• Dual tipped applicator

2 Way Glue Pen:

• Permanent or temporary bond
• Dries quickly
• Great of adhering glitter
• Blue when wet, clear when dry
• Chisel tip
• Washes off skin with soap and water

Anywhere Glue Stick:

• Odorless and permanent
• 2 per package
• Square corner edge for hard-to-reach places
• Great for scrapbooking - acid free and safe for kids
• Very economical for large projects

Dotto:

• 585 inches of temporary, self adhesive dots on paper backing
• Adhesive is solvent free
• Convenient dispenser rolls dots from paper backing onto cardstock, photograph or accent
• Reposition pictures, cardstock and artwork without damage
• Refills available

Glue Dots:

• Come in Pop-up and Mini
• Bonds instantly to a variety of materials
• Easy to use
• Photo safe
• Great for attaching embellishments

Stampin' Dimensionals:

• 300 Dimensionals 
•  Double-sided self adhesive foam mounts
• Use multiple dimensionals for multi-level projects or added height
• Great for layering

 Sticky Strip:

• Double-sided, pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive
• 1/4 inch wide
• Very strong.  Perfect for our die-cut boxes
• Comes in a zipped bag; perfect for convenient storage

Have a question about a product or technique? Email me your questions at kari@StampingMadeEasy.com

Huge Holiday Sale

Products up to 50% off! Hurry - sales ends November 30.

Use your Icicle Rub Ons to create a beautiful, but quick card!

I love the Icicle Rub-ons!  Have you tried them yet?  They rock!  They are so easy to use and make great accents or focal points for all of your paper crafting projects.  Check out this card I made that uses one of the snowflakes as the main focus for this non-traditional Christmas card:

I used Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White to create this layered look.  I cut the cardstock to fit the snowflake rub-on image and then layered out from there.  I also sponged the edges of the card stock to help tie everything together.  This card is so easy to make that you'll want to make a bunch of them (good thing you have both white and silver rub-ons in the pack!).

 

Of course I had to use the coordinating Serene Snowflakes to stamp the envelope in Tempting Turquoise.  Don't you love getting a hand stamped card - and envelope - in the mail?

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes (for the envelope), Many Merry Messages

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Icicle rub-ons, bone folder, stamping sponge

Dress up your gift cards

I don't know about you, but gift cards are very popular in my family. People prefer to receive them because they get exactly what they want, when they want it. So we give a lot of gift cards for birthdays, special occasions and especially at Christmas.

I enjoy packaging my gift cards so it has a little more pizzazz than just giving the card in an envelope, or using the plain covers that some stores provide. This little project is a simple idea, easy to mass produce, and looks great! You can dress this up for different events just by changing the colors, designer papers and stamps used.

For this gift card, I used one of my retired gift card holders, but you can easily create your own with a piece of card stock cut 4" x 7 7/8" and scored at 2 3/8" and 5 1/8".

Fold your wrap along the score lines and determine which side you want to be the front. Stamp the front of your gift card holder as desired (for my sample, I used Brilliant Blue with the Serene Snowflakes).

For the belly band, cut a piece of Ballet Blue card stock 2.5" x 7.25" and score at 2.5" and 5.25". Now stamp the belly band using the Shimmer Paint and Brilliant Blue ink and the Serene Snowflakes stamps. Stamp the greeting with Brilliant Blue ink, if desired. Punch a strip of white cardstock with the scallop edge punch and attach to the left side of the belly band. Wrap the belly band around the gift card holder and attach in the back. Tie a ribbon around the belly band (and don't forget to insert your gift card – you can use the slit punch to create a place to slide your gift card if you don't have an existing gift card holder).

Isn't this much nicer than just a simple, small envelope?

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, All Holidays

Ink: Brilliant Blue

Paper: Ballet Blue, Whisper White, Sahara Sand gift card holder (retired)

Accessories: Platinum Shimmer Paint, scallop edge punch, red gingham ribbon (retired), slit punch (optional)

More One Sheet Wonder

Do you remember the Lexicon of Leaves One Sheet Wonder (OSW) that I shared here?  Here is another card I made using a piece of this OSW.

 

I love the color combination here.  It feels so rich.  And that strip of Crushed Curry along the right side just seems to pop everything off the page.   I normally don’t take the time to cut out elements, but these leaves just called for it, and it really didn’t take that much extra time.

I also lined the inside of the card with Whisper White card stock and stamped a couple of leaf images in opposite corners with Crushed Curry ink.  And not too long after I finished this card, my daughter grabbed it and sent it to one of her friends! LOL.  So I guess I didn’t do too badly. :-)  What do you think?

A little holiday inspiration

I love this card created by Michelle Sturgeon and just had to share it with you.

She used the Delightful Decorations and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets and the ornament punch.  This card would be very easy to mass produce for your holiday greetings.

Happy Holidays!