FREE Holiday Helper 12-Day eNewsletter

Are you looking for crafting inspiration this holiday season? Do you want project ideas to come to you? Would you like a little Holiday Helper to see you through the New Year? How about if you could get all that ABSOLUTELY FREE!?!

Look no further, I have just what you're looking for: the 2008 Holiday Helper. Your one-stop resource to holiday crafting enjoyment!

You'll get a new email every day, for twelve days, delivered right to your Inbox, with easy links to project instructions you can download and save, and all the latest news on holiday products and promotions. You have to see this to believe it, it's like a holiday magazine delivered to your Inbox, in 12 sections...although there are way more articles and samples in this magazine than advertisements!

All you have to do is look over on the right sidebar of my blog, under the red and white Holiday Helper 2008 graphic, and enter your name and email address in the little boxes provided, then click 'Submit'. Even if you are already on my email newsletter list, you STILL have to sign up in that box to get the Holiday Helper.

Here's what's in store for you, with your subscription to the 12 Days of Holiday Helper 2008:

12 Step-by-Step Tutorials, 11 Complimentary Gifts, 10 Easy & Inexpensive Christmas Gifts, 9 Handmade Gift Ideas, 8 Home Décor Projects, 7 Ornament Ideas, 6 Creative Wrapping Ideas, 5 Holiday Card Ideas, 4 Ways to Involve your Family and others in the Fun, 3 Scrapbook Projects, 2 Scrapbooking Theme Ideas, and 1 Creative Consultant (that's me) on Standby to Assist You!!!

Go ahead and sign up now--it's FREE, there is no obligation, and if you decide the newsletter is not your cup of tea (or hot cocoa), there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email...so there's no risk and nothing to lose. Please, enjoy this gift from me to you during this holiday season :-)

HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA SALE! (Nov 26 thru Dec 1)

ACT NOW, 20%-50% DISCOUNTS ON BUNDLED ITEMS...QUANTITIES LIMITED!!!

Click HERE to view, or right click to download, sales flyer listing of bundles available!

The best and fastest way to take advantage of this sale, is to visit My SU! Web Site, then click on the SHOP NOW button near the top right of the screen. If you have not visited this link on my site before, you'll want to quickly create a login before you shop.

I cannot stress enough the fact that QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED, so please act quickly to ensure you get the sale bundle you want! You are welcome to call me at 719-205-5957, or email me (at procrastistamper@gmail.com), to place your order for you, but you may not catch me in time to get all the items you want before they are out of stock. Holy cow, if you buy nothing else, at least take advantage of the opportunity to purchase the Curly Label Punch Bundle at a 30% savings!!

ONLINE ORDERING BONUS: The first 10 customers to place online orders of $50 or more, through the SHOP NOW function of My SU! Web Site, during the Holiday Extravaganza will receive AN ADDITIONAL $10 in FREE Stampin' Up!® Merchandise from me to coordinate with the items they have purchased. Items will vary in accordance with each customer order.

Holiday Peppermint Patty Basket!

This little basket holds 3 scallop punch covered peppermint patties. The original pattern can be found HERE, but I've recreated a new sample picture for this post, to use current stamp sets with current In Colors and Designer Series Paper.

I used the Deer Friends Hostess Stamp Set for the images layered on top of the patties, because the images are round and solid, much like the ones used in the original tutorial. However, if you're going to use the Punch Pals set to make the tag, you may choose to use some of the images from that set on your patties. Remember, you can stamp your image, color it, then slide your punch upside down over the edge of your image, and choose what you want to have showing in your punched circle! Popular choices are the snowman's head, and the penguin's head.

These make cute little gifts for the office, for school classrooms and teachers, or as place setting favors for holiday parties. You can stack 3 patties in each basket, either on their sides, or one on top of the next, as shown below:

Stampin' Supplies: Deer Friends (Hostess Exclusive Stamp Set - FREE), Punch Pals stamp set, Ski Slope Designer Series Paper, Baja Breeze card stock and ink, Riding Hood Red card stock and ink, Kiwi Kiss ink, Chocolate Chip ink, Whisper White card stock, Small and Large Tag Punches, 1/16" hole punch (for brads and tag), Earth Elements Brads (Ruby Red), Scallop Circle Punch, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Linen Thread. And of course, you'll need some Peppermint Patties, in your favorite brand!

A Holly Jolly Fellow

I've been working on this project for the last couple of weeks, taking moments here and there to finish it, and I finally got it photographed today. I'm so excited about it that I want to go ahead and share it with you tonight, and I'll follow up with instructions/tutorials in the next couple of days. I think he turned out so cute, I'm so proud of my little Frosty! [Remember: click on any image to see it larger.]

This is a snowman card holder--it holds 8 cards and 8 envelopes, which have been modified to fit the cards. Each card is 4-1/4" square, which means you can get two foldover cards per 8-1/2"x11" sheet of card stock, with some leftover bits you can use to embellish the cards. The layered Ski Slope Designer Series Paper (DSP) pieces are 4" square, so you can get 9 pieces out of one sheet of 12"x12" paper. You can add ribbon to the cards if you like, or leave them plain.

It takes only one sheet of white card stock to make the snowmen, part of a piece of Baja Breeze card stock for the box in-between the snowmen, and part of a piece of Basic Black card stock for the hat, and the punched pieces. Then you just need a scrap of Only Orange card stock for the nose...or you can just get a Stampin' Write marker and color a scrap from the sheet of Whisper White card stock you used for the snowman.

This project makes use of the Coluzzle, and a few punches, including the 1/2" Circle Punch (buttons), Bojo Blossoms Punch (eyes), and the Word Window Punch (carrot nose). You'll want to have a Crop-A-Dile available if you'd like to use the Jumbo Eyelets like I did, and some Baja Breeze 1" Stitched Grosgrain.

Like I said, I'll follow up with more later, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to make a gift of cards this season. It's so easy, and the supplies are used so efficiently, that you can make tons of sets from one small order in an afternoon!

Keep your eyes peeled for more details, and a full list of Stampin' Supplies needed. Below, you'll see the whole set laid out, including the card holder snowman box, 8 cards, and the 8 envelopes (behind the cards--I chose not to decorate them, but you could layer some coordinating DSP pieces on the flap and front of each envelope to brighten them up!). And if you look carefully, you'll see that the cards use only Designer Series Paper, card stock, some Whisper White Tafetta Ribbon and Riding Hood Red Tafetta Ribbon (optional) and the Season of Cheer Rub-Ons. Click HERE for details on the RUB-ONS SALE, to get your supplies at a discount!!

And the great part is, the snowman box doesn't have to hold cards. He can hold a packet of hot cocoa, with a little bag of mini marshmallows, and maybe a candy cane or a chocolate covered spoon for stirring. Or maybe a bag of microwave popcorn, a small box of Junior Mints (both wrapped in DSP), and a video store gift card. These make totally adorable treat holders!

Subscribing to My Blog with EMAIL UPDATES!

I had thought that I had enabled email subscriptions to updates on my blog a long time ago, but found out this morning that I apparently had never completed that process!

If you would like to subscribe to my blog, you can find the options for either subscribing in a READER, or via EMAIL UPDATES on the right sidebar of my blog. Look under the heading Contact Info & Important Links. You may also click on the links in this post, for your convenience.

Just as an FYI, a blog Reader is like a blog update Inbox. You can read all the new blog entries in a separate application, or on a web page you log into, as with Google Reader. If you subscribe to a blog via Email Updates, you will get a message in your email Inbox every time a new blog entry is posted.

You can choose either method, according to your preference. If you like getting notification of everything in your email Inbox, you might prefer Email Updates. If you subscribe to a lot of blogs, and you like the idea of keeping them separate from regular email messages in your Inbox, then you might prefer subscribing through a reader.

Christmas Card Class Stampin' Supplies

I wanted to share the supplies used to make each of the cards below, since the class is over now. Feel free to email me with any questions, or for suggestions on how to make these cards work with images from other sets you may have!

None of the cards use the same supplies, except maybe some adhesive types and extra sets of Paper Snips, so you can set up four different stations for them very easily. This would make a great activity to do with family over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Bella Rose Wow Flowers Christmas Card (top left) Stampin' Supplies:
Curly Label Punch Bundle (use punch and stamp set), Wow Flowers stamp set, Kiwi Kiss ink pad, Old Olive ink pad (for curly label only), Riding Hood Red ink pad, Bella Rose DSP, Whisper White card stock, Kiwi Kiss card stock, Riding Hood Red Tafetta ribbon, Earth Elements brads (Old Olive), 1/8" hole punch (holes for ribbon), Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals (under label punch only), Mini Glue Dots (under brad-centered flowers).
Cutting Notes: Card base is 4-1/4"x11", then folded at the top. Thick strips of DSP are 1", thinner strip of DSP is 1/2", square of DSP is 2"x2". Flowers along bottom edge are hand-trimmed with Paper Snips from center of Wow Flowers Happy Birthday stamp.
Tips/Alternate Suggestions: Instead of brads use 1/8" circles that you've punched out of Old Olive card stock. You could eliminate the little flowers along the bottom if you want to keep it simple. Maybe substitute using the Scalloped Edge Punch along the bottom strip of DSP instead.

Deer Friend Christmas Card (top right) Stampin' Supplies:
Deer Friends Hostess stamp set, Heard from the Heart stamp set, Jumbo So Swirly wheel, Chocolate Chip ink pad, Versamark ink pad (ink up wheel in it), Baja Breeze ink pad (sponge on edges of scalloped square), Creamy Caramel marker (deer's nose and antlers), Real Red marker (optional hand-drawn heart at end of saying), Ski Slope DSP, Whisper White card stock, Chocolate Chip card stock, Baja Breeze card stock, 1/4" circle punch (for ribbon to wrap around and come through from back, to tie in front), Scallop Square punch, Stampin' Dimensionals (under deer only), White Tafetta Ribbon, Stampin' Sponge.
Cutting Notes: Card base is 5-1/2"x8-1/2", then folded on the left. Red layer of DSP is 2"x2" and blue layer is 3"x3". Chocolate Chip card stock layer is 3-1/4" square.
Tips/Alternate Suggestions: Try using the Bashful Blue ink cartridge in the wheel handle, if you don't want to mess with inking up a wheel using a Versamark pad...it may be light enough to work. I tried Baja Breeze with the wheel and I felt it was too dark and heavy.

Merry & Bright Christmas Card (bottom left) Stampin' Supplies**:
Merry & Bright stamp set, Real Red ink pad, Garden Green ink pad (to stamp and watercolor trees, also to stamp snowflakes on green layer), Big Shot & Top Note die, Real Red card stock, Garden Green card stock, Kraft card stock, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch (for ribbon to go thru on one side), Stampin' Sponge (for edges of Top Note), Blender Pen (to color in santa hat and scarf with Real Red), Real Red Striped Grosgrain, Stampin' Dimensionals (under scallop circle only), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter & 2-Way Glue Pen (for ball and brim on santa hat), Paper Snips (to cut "Merry & Bright" saying out in a strip), Mini Glue Dots (under Merry & Bright saying only).
Cutting Notes: Card base is 5-1/2"x8-1/2", then folded on the top. Green layer is 5-1/4"x4", then the corners are rounded.
Tips/Alternate Suggestions: You could use a different Real Red ribbon if you want. You could leave off the sponging of the Top Note, the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, and/or the "Merry & Bright" saying to keep it super simple.
**Oddly enough, I liked this card the least, but my teenage daughter liked it the most!

Very Merry Christmas Card (bottom right) Stampin' Supplies:
Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set (gift pkg), Short & Sweet stamp set ("very merry" saying and snowflake), Ruby Red ink pad (for saying and snowflake),Ruby Red marker (to color pkgs), Bashful Blue marker, Certainly Celery marker, StazOn Jet Black ink pad (stamp gifts in this--you may want to do it ahead of time so guests don't get permanent ink all over, or smear it if it isn't dry yet), 1-1/4" Square Punch (gifts), 1-3/8" Square Punch (blue layers), Whisper White card stock, Ruby Red card stock, Bashful Blue card stock, Certainly Celery card stock, Large Oval Punch, Crop-A-Dile (1/8" punch on each side of bottom for ribbon to go thru), Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (under "very merry" only).
Cutting Notes: Card base is 5-1/2"x8-1/2", then folded on the top. DSP layer is 2"x5-1/2", and Certainly Celery layer is 2-1/2"x5-1/2".
Tips/Alternate Suggestions: This is a pretty simple card, it's just the coloring of the packages that takes a while. Be sure the colors are used on a different part of each pkg on each image--there are 3 parts (bow, pkg background, dots) and 3 colors, so it shouldn't be too hard. Maybe consider using Blender Pens with pastels if you don't want to use markers. You could also switch up the layering and move them around in a different orientation. If you stamp the packages in StazOn and punch them out ahead of time, the kids can color them in with markers or even crayons.

Longaberger Holiday & Collector's Club Baskets

I'm trying to make storage room for all my stamp stuff, and I have a number of Longaberger holiday and Collector's Club baskets that are taking up a good deal of the space I'd like to use. I love the baskets, but I don't end up really using them, and as a result, they've only been displayed a few times (in my non-smoking home). So, I thought maybe I'd share pictures of what I have, and see if any of you might like to give them a good home. I am only too happy to provide courtesy gift-wrapping, complete with "do not open 'til Christmas" tags on the package, along with a custom hand-stamped holiday card, upon request.

I'm not going to sell them directly from my blog, you'll have to email me and let me know what you want. The prices listed are my idea of what they are worth--feel free to make an alternate offer. I intend to charge only the exact shipping amount to get your baskets to you, on top of the agreed upon price(s). Please make sure you ask any pertinent questions before you commit to any purchase. Each basket comes with relevant documentation brochures and certificates, and these are in mint condition.

Here are pictures of some of the baskets I have...please click on any of them to see larger, more detailed images:

(above) SLEIGH BASKETS & RUNNERS $100
This is a set of 3 different sized "sleigh" baskets, each with wrought iron runners (which come in original boxes). Each basket features a holiday fabric liner, and a plastic protector. The large and medium baskets feature divided protectors.

(above) WINTER WISHES & LITTLE JOY BASKETS $75
Two Basket set, each featuring fabric liner and plastic protector. Larger basket features lid with red knob, and handle wrap. Both baskets feature hardware on back of rim to hang baskets.

(above) WELCOME HOME BASKET $75 - SOLD!
Features braided leather handles, fabric liner, and plastic protector. Comes in original collector's box.

(above) HARBOR BASKET $75 - SOLD!
Features wooden swinging handles, fabric liner, and dual level divided plastic protector set. Comes in original collector's box. This makes a great craft or sewing basket. The stairstep-looking weave on the bottom of this basket is phenomenal.

(above) COLLECTOR'S CLUB CHARTER MEMBER BASKET $150
Features brass tag denoting "Collector's Club Charter Member", ceramic tie-on denoting Charter Member status, fabric liner, plastic protector, Charter Member handle wrap, original issue of Collector's Club Signatures magazine, original Collector's Club membership literature, and original collector's box. There are three Longaberger signatures on the bottom of this basket - Rich, his wife JoAnne, and their daughter Heidi.

(above) COLLECTOR'S CLUB 1998 RENEWAL BASKET $50
Features braided leather handles, fabric liner, and plastic protector. Comes in original collector's box.

(above) COLLECTOR'S CLUB 1999 RENEWAL BASKET $35
Features braided leather handles, fabric liner, and plastic protector. Comes in original collector's box.

(above) CENTURY BASKET $50
Features fixed wooden handle, handle tie, wooden lid with embossed metal star on knob (not shown in picture), fabric liner, plastic protector, Century (year 2000) tie-on, and original collector's box.