Merry & Bright

I was a little sad to see Merry & Bright on Stampin' Up!'s retiring list. It's such a cute stamp set, and I have to say, I didn't use it nearly enough. Anyway, here is a quick card using the snowman and the snowflake from Season of Friendship. We've had a lot of snow here in Nebraska lately, so this card is definitely appropriate right now!

The card is a CASE of this card by Kharmagirl. I kept mine a little simpler. I stamped the snowflake in Versamark and then in Whisper White on each panel. I think the rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go into a lot of other detail.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used (All Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Merry & Bright, Season of Friendship
CS: Kraft, Whisper White, Night of Navy, Bashful Blue
Ink: Versamark, Whisper White, Night of Navy; also Night of Navy & Bashful Blue Markers
Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta
Tools: 1 1/4, 1 3/8 & Scallop Circle Punches

Bind-It-All Journals

I think this is my last post of Christmas projects. These are journals that I made for the ladies in the church small group DH and I attend. (I shared a few of them earlier in the year, but here is the grouping of all of them.) I used one of the Plain Jane stamps from Verve Visual (Psalm 37:4), covered them with various CS, DSP and embellishments, and added 50 sheets of plain paper for the inside. The journals were put together with my Bind-it-All.

Thanks for looking!

Monogram Gift Sets

For extended family this year, I decided to make gift sets of monogram cards. I shared just a few of these sets earlier in the year (see this post), but here is a grouping of the majority of the sets (I gave a few away at Thanksgiving before I had a chance to take a picture).

Each set is different, contains 4 cards and envelopes, and is contained in a clear acrylic box from clearbags.com. I used the 4 1/2 x 1/2 x 5 7/8" size for these sets and also ordered some 1" for larger sets in the future.

Once I decided on a design, the cards came together pretty quickly. I used a couple of different fonts from JustRite to create the monograms. Some are just initials and some use the small letters around the outside cirlce to personalize it even more.

I had a lot of fun making these and hope the recipients will put them to good use. Thanks for looking!

(I'm not listing a specific supply list for these since I used so many different products. If you'd like details on one of them just let me know and I'll try to get them for you.)

"Gingerbread" Treats

These little gift sets were Christmas treats for a few co-workers this year. I got the idea from Lorri Heiling, Confessions of a Stamping Addict, (scroll down in her post to see her box and chocolate-filled gingerbread man cookie cutter).

I found some gingerbread man cookie cutters at Wal-Mart and filled them with melted chocolate. Once the chocolate was set, I put them in a little cellophane bag tied with twill that was stamped with Sweet from Fancy Flexible Phrases. I also found some gingerbread scented candles and added those to the gift as well. A coordinating 3x3 gift card completed the set.

For the box, I estimated how big it needed to be and then decided my measurements from there. I started with a 12x9 piece of chocolate chip CS and scored at 2 and 7 along the 9 inch side and 4.25 and 7.75 along the 12 inch side. I didn't want the sides of the box to come up all the way, so I scored again at 1.5 and 10.5 along the 12 inch side (just to the inside score lines) so I could cut off the outside squares that it created and have an opening at the top of the box. Hopefully that all makes sense! (See the top picture for a side view of the box.) If you're still with me after all of those measurements, the finished box ended up 5" wide, 4.25" high, and 3.5" across the bottom.

I kept the embellishments fairly simple in case the recipients wanted to use the box again. I rounded the corners and added some Riding Hood Red Patterns DSP. The "handles" of the box were made with the small oval punch, and I added a tag with the gingerbread man from Deer Friends and From Me to You punched out with the Word Window punch.

I had a lot of fun putting these together and was really happy with the way they turned out. Thanks for looking! Merry Christmas!

Supplies (All Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Deer Friends, Fancy Flexible Phrases, So Many Sayings, Holidays & Wishes
CS: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
DSP: Riding Hood Red Patterns
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Twill, Linen Thread
Tools: 1 1/4, 1 3/8 & Scallop Circle Punches, Small Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

Ski Slope Squash Book

Wow - I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I apologize for that - I'm not sure where the time went! I have done a little stamping lately, mostly getting things ready for Christmas. I finally got my cards out last week, so that was a big relief.

This squash book was the final project for my stamp club this year. If you've never made one, SCS has a great tutorial. Once I figured out how to fold it, the rest came pretty easily. I used the Season of Friendship set and Ski Slope DSP, both from the Holiday mini, for the majority of the project. I also used Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Old Olive CS and some Real Red Patterns DSP from the Hostess Level 1 Patterns Pack.

I let each stamp club member decide how she wanted to embellish the inside. I used Short Order Numbers to create the 2008, added Merry Christmas from Holidays and Wishes, and added a couple of images from Deer Friends to the journaling spaces. I debated about whether to give this as a gift or keep it for myself, but I decided to keep it and add some pictures of DH and I after Christmas. I've been doing more non-traditional scrapbooking lately (sizes other than 12x12), so I thought this would make a fun addition to the collection.

I have some other Christmas projects to post as well so I promise it won't be another 2 months before my next post! Thanks for looking!

Supplies (All Stampin' Up! except coasters):
Stamps: Season of Friendship, To You & Yours, Short Order Numbers, Holidays and Wishes, Deer Friends
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
DSP: Ski Slope, Real Red Patterns
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Felt Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Old Olive Buttons
Tools: Ticket Corner Punch, Small Oval Punch
Other: Square Coasters