This little Valentines treat features Stampin' Up!'s new Heart Treat Cups and coordinating stamp set "Sweetheart" – both of which are write-in products that were added after the publication of our Occasions Mini catalog.  It's designed such that when the pink layer of cardstock is slid to the side a heart-shaped hole opens up so the candies can be accessed without damaging the card. 

This hole was made by punching with the Full Heart punch through the white cardstock layer, and then making a slightly larger heart-shaped hole in the red layer with the heart die from the Punch Windows set of Magnetic Movers and Shapers.  (Page 201 of the 2009/2010 Idea Book & Catalog.)

Candies were a gift from my mom – from a candy store in the mall.

Click here to print your own PDF flyer about these fun treat cups and the coordinating stamp set……

Swap card created by Michele M.

In this January post I explained how Stampin' Up! would be setting aside $2 of the sale of each "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp set for the benefit of Haiti earthquake relief efforts.  This fundraising effort will continue throughout the month of February, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to those of you who have already purchased this stamp set and thereby contributed to the global effort.

As of last Friday, over 7500 of these stamp sets had been sold worldwide, and that was only in the first 15 days of the drive.  (That's an average of over 500 of these sets a day!)  With almost 2 weeks left to go, just think of how many may be sold in total!

If you have not had a chance yet to order yours, you may do so by contacting me directly or order online at my online store.

So a few days ago I posted a set of baby cards – not knowing yet whether the particular bundle of joy we've been awaiting would be a boy or a girl.  Well, now that we know it's a boy (and presuming that the new mom and dad will be too busy to be snoopin' around my blog right about now, lol), I'm going to share a little more detail about the special baby boy card that'll be headed their way soon.

First, I need to thank Elizabeth Hurst (animalscraps.blogspot.com) for the romper template she designed and kindly shared with me.  Isn't it darling?!?  This card opens at the bottom; the fold is at the top of the straps.  I traced and cut the template onto Whisper White cardstock, and then adhered the DSP's to that.  Sage Shadow cardstock covers the back.

The Designer Series Paper I chose is from my massive collection of retired papers; I'm not even sure of the name of it, unfortunately, but it seemed to work nicely. And the rub-on "precious little one" is retired, too.  (It's fun to have the opportunity to still use some of my retired stuff!) 

I used our white gel pen to freehand the stitches around the edges, and …… would you guess that the "threads" in the buttons are slivers of the same striped paper?  (That's one of the features I absolutely LOVE about Stampin' Up!'s tabletop cutter; you can't do THAT on too many other paper cutters out there!)

 
The inside is actually a card within a card.  As the new grandmother, I figured I'd probably write something mushy inside, but wanted to keep that part a bit private in case the card got handled by a number of hands.  So here was my solution:

I took the same little announcement design I had created with Stampin' Up!'s software "My Digital Studio", and used that as the front of the inner card.  (It's also folded at the top.)  And then the little punched star holds it closed, but pivots on the brad to move that upper point out of the way to allow the inner card to be opened.

The next challenge to conquer was to figure out how to make the card stand by itself without allowing the tent-shape to open up all the way and fall flat.  So here was my answer to that – a custom shaped easel on the back.

Finally, to protect this card during it's travels through the mail I'll be packing it into one of Stampin' Up!'s pretty padded envelopes and sending it on its way.

And I can't WAIT get a chance to visit and finally coochey-coo this new little guy!  Thank you to all who've sent along their congratulations!

 
Gotta show off this Valentines candy jar!  It began as a plain ol' glass jar with lid – and then I used the Big Shot and one of my Hearts Sizzlets dies to cut the larger hearts from our Pretty in Pink and Really Red (raw vinyl) sheets before applying to the jar.  Then I punched out the smaller hearts from the left-over vinyl scraps and filled in between the larger hearts.  Very fun to do – and to watch it come together!

My mom brought me the candy - which she acquired from a candy store in the mall. 

To find the materials, check out the die-cutting category in my online store.

Chandler Scott Glassmoyer – Born 2/4/2010 - 5:48 pm – 7 lbs. 5 oz – 20-1/2" long

Whew!  🙂

He or She? ……. Which will it be?   Stay tuned for the announcement – probably coming soon!

Woo Hoo!  Its' February!  I'm always so happy to make it through the long, long month of January (which always seems to include hours and hours of tedious end-of-year tasks I'm not particularly fond of).  But I made it through – whew!

So today's Groundhog's Day.  Well, I don't have anything "groundhoggy" to show, but instead I thought I'd share the mailbox we made at my January Club meetings.  This was actually a project that should more rightly have been a pay-for "class", but every so often my Club members really luck out, lol!  (Wanna join us?)

I think the camera angle kinda squished this up so it looks really tiny – and especially short - but it's actually not as small as one might presume from the picture.  The box itself is actually 6 inches long – not counting the drop-down door where the candies are.  (Candies weren't included at Club night, lol.)  Some Valentines mailboxes that seem to be popular these days are actually tiny metal mailboxes purchased in stores and then just covered with paper, but this one's all made from cardstock and Designers Series Papers – and made entirely by hand.

If you have an interest in purchasing a tutorial for this project, please leave a comment and let me know.  If there is sufficient interest I will try to compile one.

The main products featured here include the specialty Designer Series Paper "Sending Love" from the current Occasions Mini Catalog, and the Scallop Trim Border Punch, which is FREE right now during Sale-a-Bration!  Check out these and other current fun products at the catalog links over in the left-hand column, or at my online store. 

Happy FEBRUARY!!!

If you've been a fan of Stampin' Up!® for any length of time you already know that when there is a tremendous disaster somewhere in the world you'll probably find Stampin' Up! contributing to the relief efforts as quickly as they can make a plan.  Today I'd like to share with you what this wonderful company has already done to assist in the Haitian earthquake relief efforts – as well as how we ALL can participate through our common love of stamping.

First, how you and your friends can help:

Stampin' Up! has announced that from now through February 28th, they will donate $2 of the sale price of every "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp set sold – to Red Cross efforts in Haiti.  You choose your favorite mounting version (wood or clear), and $2 will be donated either way.  It's quick…… it's simple…. and I'm excited they've chosen to focus on just about the hottest-selling stamp set from the new Occasions Mini Catalog!  (BTW, if you need an acrylic block for your clear-mount set, Stampin' Up! recommends Block D.)

Click here to view the stamp set – and here to see the acrylic block "D". 

Now I realize that many of you have probably already ordered that stamp set this month because it's just so fun for Valentines themes!  But even if you've already got YOUR "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp set, here are some ways I hope you'll consider supporting this effort:

• Think about your gift-giving occasions in upcoming months.  Is there someone you'll be purchasing a gift for anyway?  Well, who doesn't like hearts?!?  Hearts are a classic image that work not only for Valentines themes, but birthdays (a hand-drawn string turns a heart into an instant balloon!), and of course hearts are perfect for brides, weddings, anniversaries, and babies, too! 
• Gather a few friends together and let's have a private showing!  We can even focus on projects specifically featuring this stamp set if you'd like.  (And don't forget it's Sale-a-Bration season right now anyway, so everyone gets a fun free goodie valued at up to $15.95 with every $50 order they place anyway!)
• No time for a get-together between now and the end of February?  Then how 'bout doing a quick "book" party?  Let your friends know the benefits of Sale-a-Bration and especially how they'll be helping Haiti if they choose the "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp set.  And since all our catalogs are now available online, book parties can be a piece of cake!  Click here to see the PDF versions of all our current catalogs, or if you prefer the interactive version with products grouped by categories, you'll find that format at my online shopping site here .  (And of course you and your friends can all qualify for Sale-a-Bration benefits with a book party, too.)

And if you'd like to see what Stampin' Up! has been busy ALREADY doing to help the people of Haiti, Shelli has shared pictures and described their efforts on her blog here.  I am always so proud to be associated with this awesome company!

So I invite you to be a part of this Hearts for Haiti effort!  Place an order for either the wood mount or clear mount version of this stamp set at my online ordering website, or call me at the number shown at the top of this page, or click here to email me with any questions – or order direct through me – or to set up a gathering of friends or a book party!

Woo hoo!  I can finally scan again!  It's been many months since my all-in-one printer/scanner has been willing to scan – but I've just been too darn busy to dig into the problem to figure out why.  But this afternoon I took on the challenge and voila!  I successfully scanned some cards!

So here's the first one I want to share:  a card I received in a swap last month.  Christie pulled this straight from the new Occasions Mini Catalog (page 9), but it looks SO much prettier in real life than the picture in the book!  And if you look really, really close can you see the knot on the hat band?  So darling! The stamp set is Garden from the Heart.

Wow!  You know those popular treat cups that were introduced in the Holiday Mini Catalog?  Well, just in time for Valentines Day, Stampin' Up!® is bringing you the same product in a fun heart shape!  And a coordinating stamp set to go along with it, too.  Just think of the awesome cards and treat projects you can make with these new goodies!

But we've been advised that initial inventories of these treat cups will be limited, so if you want yours in time for Valentines Day, better order right away !

Click here to print your own PDF flyer.