321 Stamp: Launching Creativity

Thoroughly Modern File Folder Notepad & Merry Christmas!

A very merry Christmas Eve! Are you all ready for Christmas? I've been wrapping like crazy and getting ready for my favorite part of the day — the candlelight service tonight at church.

I wanted to share a little Christmas gift — a special altered version of Stampin' Up's Thoroughly Modern File Folders (item #115692 -12 folders for $10.95). Stampin' Up first shared this idea in our monthly demonstrator newsletter, without specific directions or measurements. So like several other demonstrators out there in blog land, I played around to come up with directions that make sense to me and that hopefully others can duplicate. This was one of the special projects at my 2009 hostess and demonstrator appreciation events earlier this month. Once you make one following the step by step instructions, they're not hard at all. They key is to use a guillotine style paper cutter (love Stampin' Up's) because the folder is thick.

Here are directions and a diagram to download.Download FileFolderNotepad Download NotepadDiagram

Enjoy the holidays with your family — Merry Christmas from the Harwoods and Pepper the Christmas kitty!

Shimmer Paint Rocks...and it's sticking around!

A great announcement from Stampin' Up!

Due to the popularity of our shimmer paint offered in the Mini Catalog, we will continue to offer it as a catalog write-in after the Holiday Mini sales period ends. Starting January 5, 2010, you can order the following products as catalog write-ins:

116806	Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint	$5.95
116854	Frost White Shimmer Paint	$5.95
116807	Platinum Shimmer Paint	$5.95

   

We hope you continue to enjoy using this fun new product!

"Steel" this Lattice Die Idea

Inspired -- that's what this card by the fabulous Jolette McDonald is. She looked at the little diamonds that are actually the by product of the Stampin' Up! Lattice Die for the Big Shot die cutting machine and she saw the Pittsburgh Steelers logo! Now I know it's not a great year for Steelers fans -- so maybe they need some cheering up with this card design!

Here's a photo of Jolette holding a notepad holder we made from the Stampin' Up Thoroughly Modern designer file folders at a recent team gathering. (More on that in another post!) Jolette is a 3-2-1 Stamp team member, an amazing middle school math teacher, mom and wife -- and manages to find time to be so creative. Thanks for sharing this great idea Jolette!
The Lattice die is item # 115958 -- look closely and you can see those Steeler Diamonds. What else can you see in this great die?

Enjoy!

Christmas Candles

Candles make great hostess and teacher gifts any time -- and at Christmas it's fun to dress them up with some bits of paper, stamped images and embellishments. I offered to turn some dollar store pillar candles into a cute door prize for a cookie exchange that my friends Leisha and Nancy are hosting tomorrow. The Christmas designer papers are from last year's Stampin' Up stash and you'll notice a retired felt snowflake or two.

Here are some close ups, including one with the beautiful flocked paper from this year's Christmas Cocoa paper. The pretty shaped tags that I used behind some of the punched out ornaments were cut using the Big Shot and a Sizzlet from the Lots of Tags set -- such a pretty mat layer.

And don't forget pretty packaging -- in this case a cellophane bag tied up with coordinating ribbon.

These are decorative but if your candle is one that burns down through the center than of course it won't touch the paper. I think I'm going to dress up some of those battery operated flickering candle I found on sale -- then they can glow with no risk of any of the pretty paper getting singed.

Enjoy! 

Christmas Card Idea

Here's another great card made with the Patterned Pines stamp set from Stampin' Up! I've had so many hostesses choose this great set -- a Level 1 hostess set from the Holiday Mini Catalog so I wanted to share yet another idea, this one courtesy once again of Beth Daniels. It takes just a $150 order to earn this set free -- love that bonus.

The Designer Paper is Old Olive Patterns and the trees are stamped in Old Olive. The polka dot red ribbon is the perfect touch. Thanks Beth!

Stampin' Up's Part of Today Show Toy Drive

EDITED WITH UPDATE: CEO Shelli Gardner was on NBC's Today Show Friday, Dec. 4 as part of their annual toy. She was on in the fourth hour and my power was actually out then so I could not watch it live. But you can watch online by clicking here -- then be sure to scroll over through the timeline to the 10:53 time and click on that to watch -- very brief but very cool and for such a good cause. (I think Kathie Lee Gifford needed to let Shelli talk a little more.)

Stampin' Up! is honored to participate in the TODAY Show's Annual Holiday Toy & Gift Drive. This year, the company will be donating over $150,000 worth of stamping and paper crafting products to the following organizations:

• Child S.H.A.R.E.
• A Place Called Home
• Alliance for Children's Rights
• Children's Hospital
• El Concilio Del Condado de Ventura
• St. Joseph Center
• Yolo Wayfarer Center Christian Mission
• Metro Atlanta Task Force on the Homeless
• ARC of Bergen and Passaic Counties
• Women in Need
• ARMS
• Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless
• Housing Works
• All Children's House Family Center
• Cathedral Community Cares
• Catholic Big Brothers and Sisters
• Dominican Women's Development Center
• Girls' Vacation Fund (Girls' Quest)
• Partnership with Children
• Project Sunshine
• Little Flower Children's Services of New York
• Domestic Violence Intervention Services
• Texas Head Start Association
• First Place School
• Friendship Project

A great company -- doing the right thing, for the right reasons.

Patterned Pines

I love the Patterned Pines stamp set from SU's Holiday Mini catalog. It's a hostess-only set -- free with a $150 order. This beautiful card by the talented Sandy Mitchell, a member of the 3-2-1 Stampers, features a great blue color scheme. I love the touch of Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon at the top.

The beautiful snow "hill" is a curvy cut piece of white card stock that's been textured with the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder (also a Holiday Mini item available until Jan. 4). The touch of glitter along the hill top is perfect.I love using the little rotary cutter is the SU Cutter Kit to make the curve (item #106958) -- it includes four tools total -- the cutter, a rotary scoring tool, perforating roller and a paper distressing tool.

Do you have all those Christmas cards made yet?

A Top Note Snowman

Using hot cocoa to make "snowman soup" is so popular this time of year. Beth Daniels, a very talented member of the 3-2-1 Stamp team from Titusville, made this adorable version using the Big Shot Top Note die and lots of punches. The accent on his hat is made with the Five Petal Flower Punch.

Here's the poem I always use with these treats:

"Was told you've been real good this year.

Always glad to hear it!

With cold weather drawing near,

You'll need to warm the spirit.

So here's a little Snowman Soup

Complete with stirring stick.

Add hot water — sip it slow.

It's sure to do the trick!"

Here's one more close up so you can see the detail.

Delightful Decorations Meets Baroque Motifs

Baroque Motifs has been one of my favorite Stampin' Up! sets since it came out a few years ago. I've used the Swirly stamp as a branch before -- and when Delightful Decorations showed up in the Holiday Mini Catalog, that swirl was perfect of course for hanging a Christmas ornament. Lots of people have had this idea as I've seen variations around cyberspace. I love adding the Ruby Red flowers to the "branch" -- that stamp is also from Baroque Motifs.

The ornament was stamped in Ruby Red as well and punched out. The branch is in Old Olive as well as the greeting from my favorite new Christmas greeting set called Four the Holidays. The little bow is the Olive Taffeta that's included in the Mistletoe ribbon set from the Holiday Mini Catalog -- such a yummy texture for sweet bows like this one that can then be attached with a mini glue dot. A Ruby Red card stock mat and olive card base finish it off. This was the last card from my recent Christmas card class but I'll have more Christmas ideas to share so check back.

Gifts of Christmas

Here's another card from my recent Christmas card class. I love the Stampin' Up set called Gifts of Christmas (item #115372). It's well priced at 18.95 as you get everything you need for the outside and inside of your card -- plus there's a beautiful coordinating flower sprig to dress up the envelope. The Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder for the Big Shot goes perfectly with the flowers in the image, making a beautiful white background. (Just click on the photo to see it larger -- you can always do that -- and it should let you see more of that embossed pattern a little easier.) The image is stamped with Real Red Classic ink and then the corners of the white and Real Red layers are dressed up using the Ticket Corner Punch. Simple elegance -- and a very quick choice to make lots of Christmas cards that you'll be proud to send to family and friends.