Retiring Stamp Sets & Accessories

Both the Retiring Stamp Sets and Retiring Accessories lists are now available from Stampin' Up!® The Retiring Accessories will only be available while supplies last, so email me right away if there is something you cannot live without!

• Retiring Stamp Sets Listed Alphabetically
• Retiring Stamp Sets Listed by Page Number
• Retiring Accessories List
• Dormant List

The Retiring Stamp Sets will be available for purchase from the 2007 Fall/Winter Collection through December 31st, 2007. The Dormant List sets will not be featured in the upcoming 2008 Spring/Summer Collection catalog, but may be ordered anytime from now through June 30th, 2008.

UPDATE: RETIRING SETS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, DORMANT SETS AVAILABLE THROUGH AUGUST 8TH, 2008.

More Ornamentation

This nifty Advent Garland is made from Designer Series Paper (DSP), folded into what's known as a sour cream container shape. I made mine from 3" x 4" swatches of DSP, and tucked a Hershey Nugget into each one. Then I used elastic cord to string the containers together--24 in all--to count down to Christmas. Remember, if you hang it from a wall, you will want #1 to be at the bottom, so you can take the containers off one by one from that end of the garland. I "cheated" a little bit and used my Cricut to die cut 1" numbers from the DSP, and ran them through a Xyron adhesive cartridge to make the assembly fast and easy!

First, crease your paper against the side of your table to break the fibers a little, and give it a curve.

Then, put adhesive across one of the shorter sides. On each of the longer sides, place adhesive from the center out to the opposite short end, as shown below by the grey lines.

After that, carefully roll your paper to overlap, and adhere only the two shorter sides together, to make a tube. I like to take a bone folder and press on this seam from the inside of the tube to strengthen it.

Then, check your adhesive on each end and pinch one side closed, with the tube seam in the middle, as shown below. Make sure the end you choose to close first has adhesive running across the entire length of it, or the ends will not stay closed when you pinch them shut!

Place your treat inside open end, which you can see in the photo below on the left. Then seal the open end, this time with the seam of the tube at one extreme side of where you pinch it closed, as shown below on the right.

You can see the shape you should end up with in the picture below on the left. Then, crimp each end of the container closed, as shown below on the right, to strengthen the hold.

Below is the sealed sour cream container, with the treat inside! To make your Advent Garland, just place numbers on each container and string them together. These make great party favors at each place setting, and cute stocking stuffer packaging, too.

TIP: When you are deciding what size to make your container to accommodate your treat, you will want to use scratch paper to figure out the dimensions by trial and error.

Stampin' Supplies: Holiday Harmony Designer Series Paper, SNAIL Adhesive, Bone Folder, 1/16" hole punch, Gold elastic cord, Crimper.

Ornamentation

I've had a good handful of technical difficulty the past week or so. It seems everything electronic I touched decided to abandon ship! I apologize for not being able to post sooner, but I think I have the bulk of things worked out for now.

These two ornaments are called Geodesic Ornaments. They are created by drawing an equilateral triangle in the center of any size circle, then scoring on the triangle lines, and glueing the scored "tabs" of the circles together in different configurations.

For example, the round ornament takes 20 circles--5 glued together to make a "crown", then 10 glued together in a straight line (which will wrap around and make the center of the ornament), then 5 more glued together to make yet another "crown" that is turned upside down and glued on to the bottom of the ornament to complete it. The oval shaped ornament was made using 16 circles, in a configuration of 4-8-4.

You can see how to assemble this ornament here, on an HGTV craft instruction site. However, I have created a pattern sheet you can use with a 1-3/8" Circle Punch, to avoid all the measuring and just get down to business. Click here to view, or right click to download, my template.

Stampin' Supplies: Wintergreen Designer Series Paper, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Dotto® temporary adhesive, Bone Folder, 2-Way Glue Pen.

A TIN TIN-TINnabulation of Savings!

UPDATE: THIS PROMOTION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Stampin' Up!® has just announced their "Wrapping Up the Holidays" special promotion from November 23rd through December 15th, and it's ringing with savings and specialty products for your stamping pleasure. Click on any of the three decorated tins above to see a larger picture of each. Click here to see the full-color promotional flyer, but here is the lowdown of what you can get:

• 3 Pack of Tins for only $9.95 (just like the ones featured above!)
• Designer Gift Card Holders, pkg of 6 for $4.55 (30% OFF)
• 15/16" Satin Ribbon, Buy One Get One FREE
• Hand Selected themed Accents & Elements for only $8.21 (25% OFF)
• Tags for All stamp set for only $24.76 (20% OFF)
• Holiday Tag Bundle**, a special holiday tag-making kit for only $4.95

**Holiday Tag Bundle includes (see flyer for picture):

• 30 pieces Whisper White card stock 2" x 4-1/4"
• 15 pieces Real Red textured card stock 3-1/2" x 4-1/4"
• 15 pieces Soft Sky Prints Designer Series Paper 3" x 4-1/4"
• 15 pieces Real Red zigzag twill tape 3-1/2" each

The darling treat topper displayed above was made using the Tags for All stamp set, with the Holiday Tag Bundle supplies, and was then attached to the top of a cello bag which was filled with red licorice nibs. To make this project you'll also want a Real Red and an Old Olive marker, as well as the 3/16" Corner Rounder (to make the scalloped edging). These products are conveniently listed with item numbers and prices on the special promotional flyer!

As you can see, there is still plenty of time to make some adorable hand-stamped gift card holders, tags and toppers to give to those special people who make your holidays, and every day, bright and merry. But, please hurry to take advantage of this promotion, because QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED AND ARE ONLY AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!! Email me to place your order now.

Gratitude Journal

I wrote in my November Newsletter about the idea of creating a Gratitude Journal. The picture above is the cover of the journal I created for myself. I love the Blue Bayou Prints Designer Series Paper, so that's what I used to cover my On Board Art Journal.

The paper fits perfectly in the spiral binding, thanks to the use of the Spiral Punch. You'll notice the little words all over the cover, like 'dream', 'wish', 'hope', and 'imagine' (from the set Everyday Flexible Phrases). That's because, along with what I'm grateful for, I like to visualize the prosperity and abundance I want in my life! So, my journal is also a place where I can DREAM BIG.

I very much like simple things, but this is a special journal so I wanted it to be eye-catching. The Photo Corners Punch, Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads, and specialty ribbon did the trick quite nicely, as you can see in detail below.

Journal Stampin' Supplies: On Board Art Journal, Blue Bayou Prints Designer Series Paper, Blue Bayou card stock and ink pad, Soft Sky card stock, Jumbo Outline Alphabet, Versamarker (inside alpha letters), Basic Black ink pad and journaler, White Gel Pen, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Whisper White Craft ink pad, Petals & Paisley set, Photo Corners Punch, Spiral Punch, Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads, Jersey Ribbon Originals, Blue Bayou and Soft Sky Stitched Grosgrain, Crop-a-dile, Glue Stick, Sanding Blocks, Paper Snips.

Heartfelt Thanks

I am so grateful to be able to share what I love with you, and I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and offering your encouragement and compliments. I created the cards above and below from some remnants of a Simply Sent Card Kit from last year's catalog. The card stock in the Simply Sent Card Kits is precut and prescored, so it was really easy to just pull it out and stamp away! To ensure this would be something you could recreate, I used a current stamp set, Heartfelt Thanks.

Heartfelt Blue Card Stampin' Supplies: Brocade Blue card stock and ink, Basic Black card stock and ink, Whisper White card stock, Always Artichoke card stock and ink pad, Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon (use your ink pad to dye the ribbon Brocade Blue).

• Brocade Blue card stock 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored and folded to 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
• Basic Black layer 2-1/4" x 4-1/4"
• Always Artichoke layer 2-1/4" x 3"
• Whisper White layer 2" square

Heartfelt Plum Card Stampin' Supplies: Perfect Plum card stock and ink, Basic Black card stock and ink, Whisper White card stock, Always Artichoke card stock, Black Gingham Ribbon.

• Perfect Plum card stock 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored and folded to 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
• Basic Black layer 2-1/4" square
• Always Artichoke layer 2-1/8" square
• Whisper White layer 2" square

Pretty Papers

As a follow up to the last post, I've taken a picture of a Peppermint Patty Basket done in a Christmas holiday theme.

It just so happens that the Designer Series Paper, which I used to decorate the basket bottom and the patties, is on sale this month!

UPDATE: THIS PROMOTION IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

I used Holiday Harmony, but the Dashing or Wintergreen papers would also make great choices for this project. For every 3 packages of Designer Series Paper (DSP) you purchase this month, get one package abso-stinkin-lutely FREE. Click here to see the Pretty Papers you can choose from--there are 35 different packages in all, for you to mix and match! Email me today if you're dying to get your hands on some of these Pretty Papers.

Stampin' Up!® has also created a nice list of a half dozen projects, with instructions, to help inspire you with ways to use the Designer Series Papers for the upcoming holidays. You can browse or download that file here. Stay tuned to my Stampin' Up! Web Site Gallery for more photos of cards and projects made with Designer Series Papers.

Stampin' Supplies: Punch Pals stamp set, Holiday Harmony Designer Series Paper, Purely Pomegranate card stock and ink pad, River Rock card stock, Word Window Punch, 1/16" Circle Punch (for the brads), Vintage Brads.