The Occasions Mini Catalog is Now Available!

Find the Mini as a PDF here

I placed a preview order on Sunday and am anxiously awaiting a few of the goodies from the Occasions Mini catalog, especially the You're My Type stamp set and the Labels Collection Framelits Dies.  I have some new notebooks just waiting for that typewriter to be stamped on the front LOL.  The Framelits will really have me giving my Big Shot a workout, and you can look forward to seeing many of these products in the next few months (if I intend to send Valentines to my office mates, I need to get started on the design...I'm considering using the Candy Conversations stamp as a starter; what do you think?)

And although the Clearance Blitz is over, there are still some great deals to be had on the Clearance Rack including a lot of the retired whale-style punches (while supplies last).  My online Stampin' Up! store is available here for shopping 24/7.

Buttons, Bows and Scarves

Once more, a serendipitous situation for this harried crafter--my two favorite Christmas Card Challenges, Bah! Humbug! and Jingle Belles unknowingly coordinated their challenge so I could use one card for both ;-)

I had been putting this card together already for Bah! Humbug! who had asked for Buttons and Bows when I found out that Jingle Belles was asking for scarves, mittens, hats or earmuffs, and guess what my snowman buttons are wearing?  Voila--hats and scarves LOL!

No clue where the snowman and snowflake buttons originated--they are from my quilting days when I collected funky buttons, as are the tiny navy buttons.

The top fold card is Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory, with a Whisper White Top Note die cut that was then run through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  Not Quite Navy Ink was used direct-to-paper on the die cut and sponged around the edges of the card.  I'm not usually fond of using wide ribbon on cards, but the Not Quite Navy striped ribbon loosely knotted here so resembles a scarf that I feel it is the perfect finish to the card.  I didn't use a sentiment because if I send it to OWH or From Our Hearts, it could be used for a winter anniversary or birthday or "thinking of you" type card...hope you enjoy it!

Altered Notebook (since Anything Goes) for Paper Players

Paper Players' Challenge this week is Anything Goes, so I chose not to make a card.  I am a notebook junkie, but I hate using plain, boring composition notebooks, especially when working on my novel.  I've wanted to use this Stampin' Up! Newsprint DSP for quite a while, and I needed a new notebook specifically for trivia about New Orleans...this paper just seems to put me into a New Orleans circa 1862 frame of mind LOL. 

The lace is the Raven Lace (recently retired from the Holiday Mini) and after cutting the Top Note die and using the outside to frame part of the paper, I took the actual die cut shape, turned it 90 degrees, and die cut it again to make the wonderful square medallion on the bottom (it also gave me a set of parentheses/brackets that will show up soon on a card...)  And once more, my apologies for the photo; the book looks much better in person.  The Take Note oval stamp is from the Notably Ornate stamp set.

The Paper Players Blog Hop is also still active, so go check it out and then play with us, since "Anything Goes"...they are a fun group of ladies!

Here's the video that inspired the new way of cutting my Top Note:

Art Day Accomplishments

Got some great embellishments done yesterday at an Art Day hosted by a close friend, Beverly (check out her blog at http://www.gottheartart.blogspot.com/).

I love paint chips as they fill so many of my crafting needs: 1) they come in every color of the rainbow; 2) they are sturdy, so they work well with punches and die-cutting machines (note to self--try using in an embossing folder); 3) they also come in great textures and shapes (some also have windows already cut in them); 4) they are readily available; and 5) they are economical (read free).

Some chips I ran thru her Big Shot using the scalloped Spellbinders shapes ( http://www.spellbinders.us/) so that I could do the spirelli technique. I usually use various Kreinik blending filaments as my thread--see this cool article http://www.kreinik.com/articles/news.php?newsid=78

Other chips were die cut with Spellbinders dies (they hold the embossed details very well). Finally, Dutch Boy paint chips have these great square windows so fibers can be threaded thru or stamped images placed behind.

Came home tired but with lots of elements to work with for cards, bookmarks, ATCs or even holiday ornaments. What more could a girl want?