Occasions Mini Sneak Peek "Thank You"

Needing lots of Thank You cards at this time of year, I couldn't help but keep them Clean and Simple. Here I used the *new* "Twitterpated" designer series paper and *new* Cherry Cobbler pleated satin ribbon (available in the Occasions Mini, January 4th) to make this card stand out in the easiest possible way! I hope you enjoy looking.

Clean and Simple "Thank You" Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Basic Gray, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Twitterpated (available Jan 4 in *new* Occasions Mini)

Stamps: Thank You Kindly

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Sticky Strip, Cherry Cobbler Pleated Satin Ribbon (available Jan 4 in *new* Occasions Mini)

Only a few more days to take advantage of the Clearance Rack Blitz! Place your order today!

Hand Made Cards and Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Julia!

She is the winner of the above card. Julia, you have until January 3, 2012 to email your address to me so I can get this card out to you! Thank you for visiting my blog and for commenting!

Being a card maker myself, I always appreciate hand made cards best! This season, I got a few from around the country. I thought you might enjoy looking at them as much as I do!

This one is from my dear friend, Jacquelyn. She is the friend who got me hooked on Stampin' Up! way back when. Thank you, Jacquelyn!

This card comes from my Pretty Pal, Kim Lampone.

Another Pretty Pal, Linda Callahan sent me this "merry" card.

Pretty Pal Pam Giudici brightened up my day with this sparkly wonder.

This is a Thank You card from Justin at jkcards. Justin was the winner of the Pals Paper Arts Blog Candy in December. How sweet to receive a Thank You for a giveaway!

I hope you enjoyed looking! Don't forget that there is just a short amount of time for you to enjoy the Clearance Rack Blitz! Hurry for best selection. And Stampin' Up's Occasions Mini goes live on January 4th!

PPA Best Dressed List

At the end of the year, the Pals Paper Arts Design Team announces our "Best Dressed" list, one for each month from the weekly "picks." I hope you will check out the entire list on the blog. I had the month of February and the month of September to pick the Best Dressed from. This is a tough job, so I hope you enjoy my choices~

My February's Best Dressed Pick is this lovely card from Lynn Put for PPA80, which had a "Vintage" theme. With this entry, Lynn does a great job of giving her card the vintage look. Her card stock edges are distressed and colored and her background of texture goes well with her stamp set choice, also very vintage. I love her flower and leaves the best. I remember after I chose her that I CASEd this card! Thank you Lynn, for playing at PPA and for the inspiration!!

My Best Dressed Pick for the month of September was this one from Leena Girsa for PPA109 Celebrity Color Challenge. The colors were Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray. As I remember, I loved creating with these colors! This card has a lot going on, but the thing that makes the colors pop out for me is the texture and the designer paper she chose to use. The ribbon is rich and completes the look so nicely. Leena's card is a double-fold, which is not an everyday choice. Thank you, Leena, for playing at Pals Paper Arts!

PPA Best Dressed List

Tomorrow the Pals Paper Arts Design Team reveals their "Best Dressed List of 2011" Each team member has taken a month or two of the PPA Picks and chosen their favorite for that month. Join each member to see who they chose and why! You will see that there is a lot of talent in those who Play at PPA!

The Clearance Rack Blitz is in full swing, but you'd best hurry if you haven't already ordered because the items are only available while supplies last!

Occasions Mini Preview and Card Giveaway

I hope your Christmas was fantastic! We had a very lovely family time.

In looking toward a New Year, I have a sneak peek for you of some products from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog, which goes live on January 4, 2012 - right around the corner!

For this card, I used the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper, buttons and coordinating *new* pleated ribbon. Isn't it gorgeous?

Close up, you can see the detail on this very rich ribbon! (It also comes in Pear Pizzazz, Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze to go along with the colors in the Twitterpated Suite of products). SNEAK INFO: I didn't use them here, but another new item is LARGE pearls: 8mm size, 40 per package.

The buttons on my card are from the Twitterpated "suite" of items. The sentiment is from a new stamp set named "P.S. I Love You" which has so many different elements and words to make your Valentine cards. I hope to give you more sneak peeks before the catalog goes live, but it is such a busy time.

To make things more exciting, I'd like to give this card away! Just leave ONE comment ON THIS POST ONLY and I will announce ONE winner (US addresses only) on Friday, December 30th. The winner will have until January 3rd to email their address to me so I can send the card and envelope to you! Good luck to you all.

Card Supplies for above card:

Card Stock: Whisper White, Blushing Bride

Designer Series Paper: Twitterpated

Stamps: P. S. I Love You, Pennant Parade

Ink: Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze

Punches: 3/4" circle, Petite Pennants Builder

Extras: Twitterpated buttons, Blushing Bride Pleated Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals

Last Minute Gift Giving

It's the 23rd and many of you may be frantically wrapping gifts and goodies for giving in the next couple of days. If you own the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit, you can create a tag in seconds! Just use a piece of card stock cut to any size (or use a die cut tag), add a sticker from the kit and you are finished!

The Simply Scrappin' Kit is chock full of self-adhesive die-cuts, 6 double-sided 12 x 12" sheets of coordinating designer paper and 8 12 x 12" sheets of coordinating card stock. The kit has all you need to decorate packages, cards, tags or scrapbook pages! It is late for this year, but think how you can be ahead for next year! :-)

Here I used my kit and card stock to create the cello bag topper for some Peanut Butter Chews for my son. Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1. In a food processor, pulse dry milk until it forms a fine powder, about 5 pulses. In a mixing bowl combine peanut butter and corn syrup. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth.

2. Add dry milk a little at a t time and stir until mixture is stiff enough to work with your hands. Knead any remaining dry milk into mixture. Roll into ropes 1/2" thick. Cut into 2-1/4" long pieces. Wrap in waxed paper or cellophane candy wrappers. Store at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit (124007 $21.95) is available from the Holiday Mini Catalog through January 3, 2012.

PPA125 Tags!!

Happy Thursday! It's PPA's Tags Challenge. Just now is the time when everyone should be wrapping up their Christmas presents and of course, you will need some tags!

These were put together fairly quickly, yet they packa punch!

Inside this one, I let the recipient know what is inside my goody bag! YUM!

For this cute Christmas Tree, I used some circles that I had cut out from a previous tag (I made wreaths by punching the circle first, then the scallop circle punch). Here, the circle functions as my full moon! I used some retired silver cording from Stampin' Up!

Either set of tag or both together would also make a lovely hostess gift or for a friend who is stressed by all of the last minute gift-wrapping.

Gift Tag Supplies:

Card Stock: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory, Whisper White

Stamps: Fabulous Phrases, Tags Til Christmas, Pennant Parade

Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Petite Pennants Builder, 1-1/4" circle, Scallop Circle and 1" square

Extras: Big Shot, Peekaboo Frames die, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Silver cording (retired)

PPA Preview and Promotions Reminder

Please join the Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week! Visit the PPA blog tomorrow and see how you can play along using your favorite products!

Please don't forget about Stampin' Up's Clearance Rack Blitz!! You can save up to 80% while supplies last!

PPA124 Sketch Challenge & Clearance Rack BLITZ!

Hi friends! I'm so glad you checked in today to see the Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge #124. When you play along with us, please label your card or project with PPA124. You might be one of our "picks" if you play along.

I began my card using Margaret Moody's sketch. My first element for my card was the Sweet Season Snowflake. I stamped it in White Craft Ink and embossed it with White Embossing Powder. I punched out the Crumb Cake card stock using the Scallop Circle punch. Next, I glammed it up a bit with a bunch of pearls inside the outline and one in the middle.

I chose a sentiment from the God's Blessings stamp set and inked it up in Cherry Cobbler, stamping it onto Whisper White card stock. I framed it with more Crumb Cake.

For the strip across the sketch, I chose to use Whisper White card stock that I punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch on both edges. I covered the middle of the strip with a piece of 1/2" Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.

My card base is Cherry Cobbler. I love this color combo. I think my Christmas cards will be a combination of these colors. I need to get started on them soon!

Thank you for looking and please leave me a comment. I love to read each one!

Card Supplies:

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Stamps: God's Blessings, Sweet Season

Ink: Kraft White, Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop Trim Border

Extras: White Stampin' Emboss powser, 1/2" Cherry CobblerSeam Binding, heat gun, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Pearls

(All STAMPIN UP!)

SHOP NOW for HUGE savings! December 15-January 5, 2012 save on hundreds of products including ribbon, punches, dies, designer paper and much more! Only available with online purchases and while supplies last!

Pals Paper Arts Sneak Peek and Last Day Reminder!

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are as excited as I am to find out the winner of the PPA Blog Candy Blowout! I hope it was YOU!

Come back tomorrow and see the full reveal of my card above. Our Design Team is made up of Stampin' Up! demonstrators, so we use SU products, but we encourage you to use your favorites when creating to upload to our challenge site!

Please don't forget that TODAY is the LAST day to take advantage of the It's Good to Be A Hostess Promotion. At this point, you could gather your friends together for a little last minute Christmas shopping, getting gifts for all of your stamping friends! At $350, you will be able to get an additional $35 in FREE Stampin' Up! products. This is in addition to the regular Hostess Benefits you always earn. The best part? No malls! No parking nightmares and no heavy packages to carry in inclement weather! The UPS man delivers right to your door!

As always, you can order using my Website. I appreciate all of my customers and send Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greetings to you all!

December Pals Hop--Birthday Theme!

Welcome to the December Pals Hop! This month we are featuring Birthday-themed cards and projects. Please enjoy all of the amazing creations that the Pals have come up with!

You've likely hopped over from Benjamin Turner at He Stamps, I'm stop number 1 on the Pals Hop and I'm glad you hopped in. I'll help you "hop along" from blog to blog where you'll find great ideas for Birthday paper projects from the Stampin' Pretty Pals. Should you hop off the course, simply click on any of the links in the Pals Hop Line-up below and you'll be back on track!

My first card is meant to be a masculine birthday card, but you could easily give it to anyone on their birthday. The card base is Cajun Craze card stock and the first layer is More Mustard embossed with the Lines Embossing Folder. I lifted the third sentiment, stamped on Very Vanilla card stock using Stampin' Dimensionals, and I colored in the top and bottom frosting with my Cajun Craze Stampin' Write marker. The designer buttons across the top almost look like flames for my sentiment "candles" which are totally in the birthday theme!

I decided I needed to re-create my original card and glam it up for a girl! I used the colors Regal Rose and Melon Mambo. For the background, I added texture with the Snowburst Embossing folder and decided to show a little. more of the texture than I did on the above card. I also added the very feminine Eyelet Border at the top of my Whisper White piece of card stock.

For a bit of bling, I colored some Basic Pearls using a Red Sharpie. The color is just right to match my hand-drawn hearts on the popped up sentiment/cake--do you see them? I also used the same Real Red Stampin' Write marker to make stripes on the candles.

Hop along for more inspiring ideas from Angie Blake at Angie's Musings

1. Patti MacLeith atPapercrafts byPatti


2. Angie Blake at Angie's Musings


3. Kylie Nicolosi at Kylie's Crafty Corner


4. Melanie Collins at Oops a Daisy Designs


5. Angela Richwine at Stampin' Away with Angela


6. Mikki Sarkisyan at Mikki's Creative Corner


7. Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping


8. Jennifer Takacs at My Stampin Blog


9. Linda Fisher at Linda's Stamin Loft


10. Julie Trevett-Smith at The Stampin' Affair!


11. Nancy Gleason at My Stampin' Space


12. Nicole Watt at Impressions By Nicole


13. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty


14. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts


15. Nina Dee at Deesigns by Nina Dee


16. Cindy Hall at Pretty Impact


17. Benjamin Turner at He Stamps

Blog Candy and Update

Hello Blog Friends!

I just want to remind you to play along at Pals Paper Arts for your chance to win a shower of Blog Candy! Each Design Team member will be sending ONE lucky winner a package this week! The winner will be randomly picked on Tuesday and posted on Wednesday, so be sure and check back often!

Also, please check out the Stampin' Up! Promotions page I have set up for you to be informed.

Lastly, tomorrow my fellow Pretty Pals and I will be putting on a Happy Birthday Blog Hop! Come back tomorrow, hop along and gather ideas for your next birthday card.

Gift Card Holder

Another gift card holder checked off my list! This time, as we worked on these at a workshop, one of the ladies decided to cover a "mistake" stamped image with another image on a popped up 3/4" circle. She used a Stampin' Dimensional to adhere the new image over the one she didn't like. Voila! We instantly all loved it and used the popped up image to stop the gift card holder (inside part) from slipping all the way out of the sleeve (cover)!

I even stamped a design on the inside pocket. On other holders, I trimmed up the top edge of the pocket with a border-punched piece of card stock. Think of all the ways you could embellish your gift card holders!

Here you can see the 3-D effect on the sleeve of the holder. Happy stamping!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Soft Suede

Designer Series Paper: Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Pennant Parade, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Sweet Season

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Ornament, 3/4" & 1" Circle and Word Window

Extras: Simply Scored, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals

I've been enjoying all of your comments! Keep them coming! For all of your Stampin' Up! supplies, please use my Website.

Don't forget about the Pals Paper Arts Blog Candy Blowout! You can win by playing!!