Nature's Symphony Mini Album - Stampin' Up!® Nature's Symphony

 

  The New at SU blog hop is back this month with projects made using Flip Flaps!  We are an international group of Stampin' Up!® demonstrators sharing creative ways to use your supplies.  This month we are showing you fun ways to use Flip Flaps.  The hop list is at the end of my post so check out all the great ideas and leave some comment love!

  I'm not a scrapbooker nor do I tend to make 3D projects very often so when I saw we were to use Flip Flaps this month I just figured I would use one or 2 on a card to make a fun fold or shaker card.  But then I remembered an idea that used the Flip Flaps to make a mini album and thought that would be a fun way to use these photos I had tucked away.  

  I looked through my current papers and decided on the Nature Walk DSP to build my album.  The cover measures 10 1/2" x 6 1/2" - scored at 5 1/4" for the center fold.  The spine which I just used a piece of the same pattern but on the flip side is measured at 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" - scored at 3/4".

  I decorated the front and then started on the inside.

  I created a pocket out of another pattern of Nature Walk DSP to hold the journaling tag.  I embellished the front of the pocket as well.  The pocket measures 3 1/2" x 5" with the 2 short sides and one long side  scored at 1/2" to create the pocket. The journaling tag measures 3 3/4" x 4 1/2".

  Next I decided which photos were going where, added them and more DSP and embellishments to the Flip Flap pockets and peeled off the adhesive and stacked the pockets on top of each other starting from the back and working my way to the front.  I used 4 4"x6" and 2 3"x3" Flip Flaps. 

 I made this quick video showing each page and how the Flip Flaps are used for the photos and journaling.  This was a really fun project and a nice step outside my normal comfort zone.  This mini album comes together really quickly and is very simple to customize to whatever set of photos you want to use.

  Have fun hopping through with the New at SU! team!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

  All of the current products used to make this card can be be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Nature's Symphony

Ink: Old Olive, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock, Crumb Cake

Paper: Nature Walk DSP, Crumb Cake, Basic White, Old Olive, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock

Accessories: Nature's Symphony dies, Secret Sea Bordered Ribbon, Crumb Cake baker's twine, Faux Bronze Pentagons

Bone Folder Gift Sleeves - Stampin' Up!® Peaceful Garden DSP

 I shared the Christmas card I made for my downline on Monday and today I've got the coordinating gift that went along with it.  I decided that personalized bone folders would be fun (and useful). And who doesn't like something with their name on it?  It's like looking for the key chain or mini license plate with your name on it back in the day!  And of course I had to make a cute little wrapper before popping them in mail.

  I tried to keep the colors similar from the cards for coordination so I used the Peaceful Garden DSP which features Secret Sea in many of the patterns.

  I cut the DSP in 12" x 2 1/4" lengths and scored them at 6 1/2" and 11".  I rounded all four corners then added a bit or retired Old Olive ribbon around the smaller flap before adhering it down with tear and tape.  then I folded the front flap up and used tear and tape along the very edges of the larger front flap to adhere it and create the pocket.

I'm going to have to put on my thinking cap for next year's gift so if you have any good ideas please leave a comment!

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none

Ink: none

Paper: Peaceful Garden DSP

Accessories: corner rounder punch (retired), Tear and Tape, Old Olive ribbon (retired), Custom Bone folders from MyEnchantedDesigns.com

    

New Year, New Calendar - Stampin' Up!® Simply Beautiful

   Happy New Year stamping friends!  I ended up taking more of a break from my stamp room than I intended to over the holidays but now I'm getting back into the swing of things and trying to get my stamp room back in shape now that we're about to transition to the new Stampin' Up!® Jan.-April 2026 mini catalog!  I've got different stacks and piles of supplies as well as a few projects completed in December that didn't get blogged yet!  So much already on my 'to-do' list for 2026!

  This is a fun stand up calendar that my stampers made at our end of the year holiday party.  I figure it's a good time to combine something useful for the new year with upcoming products!  Look for all of these products to be available on Tuesday Jan. 6!

I wanted to show off the gorgeous new Lovely & Beautiful Suite Collection.  The Lovely & Beautiful DSP is just a flower lovers dream with big bold blossoms and gold accents on one side and sweet smaller floral patterns on the opposites.

The design is accented with a stamped flower and leaf from the Simply Beautiful bundle as well as the White with Gold ribbon and Pearlized Faceted Circles for even more sparkle.

  The base is quite simple with just a 5 1/5" x 11 cardstock base, folded in half.  The stand is a 4" x 4" square of the same color, scored at 1/2", 2", and 3 1/2".  The scores on the ends are folded up and adhered to the inside of the base.

  The Old Olive layer is 4" x 5 1/4" and the DSP is 3 3/4" x 5".  The layer behind the calendar is 3 1/4" x 2 1/2".

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Simply Beautiful

Ink: Fresh Freesia, Old Olive

Paper: Fresh Freesia, Old Olive, Lovely & Beautiful Specialty DSP

Accessories: Simply Beautiful dies, White with Gold ribbon, Pearlized Faceted Circles, dimensionals, 2026 Mini Tear-Off Calendars (Taylored Expressions)

Halloween-ish Treat Pouches - Stampin' Up!® Jolly Delivery Dies

   

  The fabulous New at SU! blog hop is back today and we're sharing fun "Treat" ideas so you'll see great inspiration for treat packaging/gifting for all different occasions throughout the year.  We are sharing ideas from across the world so be sure to hop all the way around with us and say hi (links at the bottom of this post).

  I used the Jolly Delivery dies to make a fun little treat pouch for my project.  I'm calling this "Halloween-ish" due to the colors and the chocolate packaging but I didn't really have a stamp set that was Halloween so I'm using the Fluffy Squirrel bundle.  This fluffy friend seemed like a cute addition and he is holding a jack-o-lantern after all!  This pouch can work for all occasions; just swap out the colors and stamps to make it unique for your event.

These cute little Ghirardelli Halloween chocolates fit nicely as will the regular Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  I didn't have any Reese's peanut butter cups but I think a regular sized one would fit as well.  

  I stamped and punched out the sentiment for the top flap and used the colors of the chocolate wrappers for the backing of the sentiment.

  The squirrel and pumpkin are stamped and fussy cut and added to the front of the treat pouch with dimensionals.  See the video below to see how to put it together.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the supplies used to make this project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

Stamps: Fluffy Squirrel, Choose Happy

Ink: Memento Black, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie

Blends: Pumpkin Pie light & dark

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White, Granny Apple Green, Blueberry Bushel

Accessories: Jolly Delivery dies, Timid Tiger Faux Linen Ribbon

Adorable Envelope Box - Stampin' Up!® Jolly Delivery Dies

  Do you like to create little treat pouches for holidays?  Something to tuck some candy in to pass around or use for table name cards?  If you are you should definitely check out the Jolly Delivery bundle and specifically the die set!  It's got an adorable little envelope box that's perfect for little treats!  I made a quick one today but the options for decorating are endless and don't get stuck on the Christmas theme of the set, you can easily change things up for Halloween, baby shower favors or just about any occasion you want!

This is the flap side that can be customized between 3 different shapes.  I used the heart but there is also a circle and star to choose from.  Each of the shapes is a die that lines up in the flap of the envelope/box die and cut the shape of the tab that creates the closure.  Here I stamped the flap with the little envelope stamp from the Jolly Delivery set and then added a baker's twine bow for a little extra detail.

  On the other side I went super basic by using some of the pre cut designs in the North Pole Delivery DSP to decorate.  I stamped the sentiment and then adhered the postage and truck.  There are so many pre cut designs that you can decorate a whole score of boxes if you want coordinating but not matchy-matchy for your event.  

  I was happy to find that you can get 2 envelope boxes from one sheet of regular 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock when you angle the die.  And DSP works as well for a lighter weight box.  The length is not quite long enough for a standard gift card but a wad of cash would definitely fit if that's your style of gift giving!  My grandpa would say that cash was always the right size and the right color lol!

  I know I'll be making lots of these little pouches over the coming months and it will be fun to decorate them all different ways depending on my mood!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

All of the current supplies used to make this project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE. Items marked with a * will be available Sept. 3, 2025.

Stamps: Jolly Delivery*

Ink: Real Red, Memento Black

Paper: Real Red, North Pole Delivery DSP*

Accessories: Jolly Delivery dies*, baker's twine

Tote-ally Adorable - Stampin' Up! Notes & Totes

 I recently spent a bit of time playing around with the upcoming new In Colors and the Notes & Totes bundle.  I wanted to make some adorable LL Bean inspired tote bags and the new colors seemed like the perfect ones to use.

 I used half of a tote bag other other day on this card and when you die cut 2 sets and adhere them together you get this cutie!  It's about 3 1/2" wide but with the gusseted sides you can open it a bit wider.  It's about 2 1/4" deep (not counting the handles).

  I used Pecan Pie for the stitching and handles and stamped the pocket with the same color ink using one of the stamps in the set.

  The Cloud Cover (light blue) ink was having some stability issues so it was not available when I did my preorder so I used the Secret Sea (dark blue) ink to stamp the pocket on the Cloud Cover tote and the contrast looks nice too.

  Here I tucked some of the little goodies I bought at the demonstrator OnStage event so you can see that you can actually put things in the tote!  The items might be a little bit top heavy but I got the tote to stand up with out too many issues.  The totes would be perfect with some candies as name holders at a table and/or table favors.  Add a little tissue paper and it's a wonderful way to gift a gift card when you want to do something different than a card. And to keep going with ideas, it would make a cute pocket on a scrapbook pages to tuck a journaling card into!  So many ideas!

  I hope you'll check out the Notes & Totes bundle when it becomes available in May!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

 All of the current supplies used to make this project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.  Products marked with a * will be available starting May 6, 2025. Join my Stampin' Up! team to receive demonstrator preorder benefits.

Stamps: Notes & Totes*

Ink: Strawberry Slush*, Timid Tiger*, Darling Duckling*, Secret Sea*

Paper: Pecan Pie, Basic White, Strawberry Slush*, Timid Tiger*, Darling Duckling*, Secret Sea*

Accessories: Notes & Totes dies

Be Still Bookmarks - Stampin' Up! Petal Park

   I don't make many projects that aren't cards but I was asked if I would decorate some small bags for an all day women's retreat my church was hosting so I said of course!  After consulting with the organizer I decided to do tags that doubled as a bookmark for after the retreat.  

  The theme of the retreat was "Be Still" so the organizer had found a stamp online so I used that along with the color purple since it is Lent.

  Since I was making about 65 of the bookmarks I had to search through my retired DSP to find a pattern that I had enough of to make that many tags.  Luckily the Dandy Designs DSP that was a host reward a few years back had had enough sheets of this Fresh Freesia plaid left!  I used the retired tag punch to make the shape on both the DSP and a piece of Gorgeous Grape.  I adhered the Gorgeous Grape to the back of the DSP to make for a more sturdy bookmark.

  The Be Still was stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink and I used the smallest of the Perennial Postage dies to cut it out.  I was happy to use up a lot of small scraps of Basic White for this element!

 Next I stamped the trio of flowers from the Petal Park stamp set.  Gorgeous Grape is used for the outline and it's filled in with Fresh Freesia for the second of the 2 step stamps.  The Petal Park builder punch made quick work of the punching out the flowers.

  Before adhering the flowers I tied some white satin-y ribbon through the hole.  The ribbon was part of a leftover stash that I found in the church's arts and crafts supply closet so it was nice to be able to put something extra like this to use.

  The final step was to tie all the bookmarks to the handles of the little brown bags before they went off to be filled.

  This was a fun project for me to do with minimal supplies and cost but which I think added a nice little touch for the retreat.

  All of the current supplies used to make this project can be purchased in my ONLINE STORE.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Petal Park, non-SU "Be Still"

Ink: Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Freesia

Paper: Basic White, Gorgeous Grape (back of the tag), Dandy Designs DSP (retired)

Accessories: Tag punch (retired), Perennial Postage dies, Petal Park builder punch, dimensionals, non-SU white ribbon

Sweet Bee Valentine Treat Bags - Stampin' up! Bee My Valentine

   A while back one of my stamping ladies shared with me these adorable Designer Series Paper magnetic tabs that she had made.  I asked her all the details and saved them away for later.   I've been using the tabs in my planner to quickly find different sections but they could be used for bookmarks too or any sort of tab that you need.  I thought they might be fun as treat bag toppers so I ordered the magnets and watched Lolly Palooza's video showing how to put them together and then made a whole bunch for Valentine's day treats for my stampers at my last class.

  I got little glassine treat bags at Michaels and filled them with chocolates.  I was able to fit 5 Dove chocolates and 2 Lindt chocolates in each bag.  I coordinated the bag to match the tab using the same DSP.  I used 2 patterns from the Bee Mine DSP and these little hearts from the Sale-A-Bration Most Adored DSP.

 

  I think I made about 22 of the magnetic tabs and they really came together quite quickly when I set up assembly line style.  The Tacky Glue glue I had on hand wasn't the easiest to work with because it was quite old and was really hard to squeeze out of the tube but seemed to adhere just fine as I didn't have the glue used in the video and I was too lazy to head back out to the craft store lol!

  The bees were all stamped with the Bee My Valentine stamp set and punched with the coordinating Bee Builder punch.  Get these 2 products as a bundle to save 10%, more money for candy then!  The finished bees are popped on the top of the tab with dimensionals.

  I had a lot of fun making these for my stampers and the magnetic click of the tab closing is just kind of satisfying!  I loved being able to make them a treat and having a part of it continue to be used as a bookmark.  Maybe some of the bees are marking special pages in their Stampin' Up! catalogs??

  Thanks to Virginia for sharing the idea and Lolly for making the original how to video!!

All of the current Stampin' Up! products used to make this project can be ordered on my ONLINE STORE.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Bee My Valentine

Ink: Memento Black, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party

Paper: Basic White, Bee Mine DSP, Most Adored DSP (SAB)

Accessories: Bee Builder punch, dimensionals, Sweet Sorbet bordered ribbon, corner rounder (retired), rare earth magnets (non-SU), glassine bags (non-SU)

Mini Paper Pumpkin Box Gift Card Holder - How To VIDEO

 The holidays are fast approaching as is the time for having your gift giving plans in place.  I usually have 6-10 people that I end up getting gift cards for but I always want to present the gift cards in something better than that little sleeve that comes with it.  Most of the time a hand stamped card is perfect and other times you want something just a little more substantial.  Today's tutorial and video give you just the thing to make a gift card a bit more of a 'wow' gift.

  Using a mini Paper Pumpkin box you can create this easy gift card holder!  You can find the mini Paper Pumpkin boxes in the annual catalog on page 137.  You get 10 boxes for $7.50 which I think is a bargain.

   All the credit for the inside of the box scoring measurements goes to Ruth's Stamping Spot.  When I decided to do a project like this I knew that someone much smarter than me had already figured out the scoring and I was right so I used Ruth's scoring measurement and expanded the project to include the belly band and other embellishments using the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite.

 

 Watch the video to see the gift card holder come together step by step.  I've listed the measurements throughout the video but see below for all the cutting and scoring measurements as well as a list of all the supplies used to make this project.

  Cardstock -

    Box Insert - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

    Belly Band - 11" x 1 3/4" 

    Long Sides - 5 3/8" x 3/4"

    Plus various pieces for die cutting and stamping to decorate the box

  Designer Series Paper -

    Inside - 5 1/2" x 1 3/4"

    Box Top - 5 1/4" x 3 1/2"

    Short Sides - 3 1/2" x 3/4"

   Ribbon - 

     12" inches

  Watching the video will help show how the scoring and small cut for the gift card are done but here are the measurements.  Use a gift card to pencil in a mark where you want the slit to be cut.

 Box Insert Scoring - score on the 8 1/2" side at  3 1/4" , 4 1/4" and 5 1/4" 

 Belly Band Scoring - score on the 11" side at 2 5/8", 3 3/4", 7 5/8" and 8 3/4"

  Leave a comment and let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Frosted Gingerbread

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive

Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Basic White, Gingerbread & Peppermint 6x6 DSP

Accessories: Mini Paper Pumpkin box, scoreboard, Gingerbread dies, Stitched So Sweetly dies, dimensionals, Elegant Faceted gems, tear tape, Real Red mini ruffled ribbon

Check Out This Book Tutorial - Stampin' Up! Check You Out

When planning for my classes I like to do a mix of techniques, fancy folds and basic cards as I have all levels of stampers attend.  Some of my stampers have been stamping way longer than me and I don't want them to get bored with the same old things.  So enter the fancy fold book pop up card!

 

  I love the Check You Out set and thought it was the perfect pairing for the fancy fold pop up book card.  I kept the front very basic since there is a lot going on inside the card!  It may look very familiar as I really just re-did this card in new colors.

  

  The Woven Threads DSP is perfect for this themed card as I think the designs lend themselves to old book endpapers.  And a little sponging with Sahara Sand ink helps too!

  How cool is that?? The inside opens up and there is a little book!  To see a video tutorial check out this video by Frenchie Stamps.  She does her cutting and scoring a little different than I did so see below for step by step pics using the Simply Scored instead of just a paper trimmer/scorer.  I switched this part from the video because I was doing it in a class setting and wanted it to be as straight-forward as possible without so much moving and lining up on the same tool.

  First things first are the measurements of the papers.  Using one sheet of 12 x12 DSP you can get 2 of these cards made including the DSP panel on the cardfront.

Card base - 8 1/2 x 5 1/2

DSP Inside - 8 1/2 x 5 3/8

Book Pages - 3 1/4 x 2 (2)

                      3 1/4 x 7/8 (2)
DSP Layer Front - 3 1/2 x4 3/4

  Ready to see how 2 cuts and a few scores makes this fun card?

1)  fold your large piece of DSP in half like a card base and open back up so you have a fold down the center (I forgot that part on my sample in the pics until halfway through the photo shoot!)

You want to find the one inch mark at the top of the cutter as well as along the blade guard.  Find the 7.5 inch mark as well.  You can see them marked with the pink flags in my pictures.

2) Line up DSP on the paper cutter (with cutting blade in place) with short side along the top of the cutter at the 1 inch mark

3) Find the one inch mark on the clear cutting guard and line up the cutting blade at that point without pressing down to the paper.

4) Press the cutting blade down and cut just down to the 7 1/2 inch mark

 I highlighted with a marker where the cut was made.  You should have a strip cut but still attached at the ends.

5) Turn the DSP and do steps 2-4 along the other long side of the paper

  This is what your DSP should look like after the second cut.

Move on to your Simply Scored.  There are 2 sets of scores.  One set inside the cut lines shown with the pink flags (1, 2, 6 1/2, 7 1/2 inch marks) and on the outside of the cut lines shown with the green flags (2 1/2 and 6 inch marks)

 1) Line up your DSP with the long side at the top of the Simply Scored

2) Score INSIDE the cut lines at 1, 2, 6 1/2, 7 1/2 inches (shown with the pink lines/flags below)

3) Leave DSP in place and score OUTSIDE the cut lines at 2 1/2 and 6 inches at the top of the DSP (shown with the green lines/flags below)

4) Turn DSP so the opposite long side is at the top of the Simply Scored and repeat step 3 OUTSIDE the cut lines

 

  That's it!  Once you see where the different cuts/scores are it's a pretty simple design.

I suggest using some scrap copy paper for a practice once or twice before committing to DSP but it really isn't as hard as it looks as long as you take your time to line up at the proper places.

  See the above picture of the inside of the card to see where the folds go up or down.  Use glue and not SNAIL adhesive so you can get the edges lined up and have a little wiggle room to reposition if you have to.  You just need the glue on each short end just until the first score mark. You should have a little edge of the card base showing all around the edge of the DSP on the inside.

  Decorate the inside and outside however you'd like.  This is a great fold for book lovers birthdays, book club events, Teacher Appreciation, Library/Librarian appreciation or just a cute "checking on you" card.

  I hope these photos are helpful to see how things get lined up for this fold.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Check You Out

Ink: Pretty Peacock, Soft Suede, Rococo Rose, Terracotta Tile, Sahara Sand

Paper: Terracotta Tile, Whisper White, Woven Threads DSP

Accessories: Stitched Shapes dies, dimensionals, paper trimmer, Simply Scored

Stinkin' Sweet Treats - Stampin' Up! Hey Love

 It's a late start at my house today with it being MLK day and the kids and husband are at home.  We had planned a weekend out of town but the weather forecast up north put a halt to all that.  We've found ourselves lazing around not getting all that much accomplished!  I figured I could at the very least share one of the projects we made at my Sale-a-Bration/Occasions open house.

  I don't usually make a whole lot of Valentine's cards especially not many frilly heart covered ones.  In a house full of boys there's not much call for over the top, fancy declarations of love.  But the Hey Love stamp set in the Occasions catalog has kind of become my go to for sweet but not sappy cards.  And my kids love puns so there's the added bonus of the sentiments.  And since the images don't scream Valentine's day this set will have a longer shelf life and be used for some thinking of you and even some kid birthday cards.

  I have a few more designs with the Hey love stamp set up my sleeve but for now I'm going to show the quick and easy treat we made at class.  Who doesn't love a bit of yummy chocolate wrapped up with an adorable skunk??

  Ghirardelli chocolates are the perfect size to put into these little treat holders made with the scalloped tag topper punch.   Grapefruit Grove and Lovely Lipstick are fun fresh colors to use for Valentine's day and the Sale-a-Bration reward of the foil paper in both colors is just the right amount of shimmer.

  The stinkin' sweet skunk is stamped and punched out and colored with a blender pen and colored pencils.  The hearts are filled in with Grapefruit Grove or Lovely Lipstick markers. We popped the circle with dimensionals over the foil banner.

  In class the tops were tied with polka dot ribbon and 1/8" grosgrain ribbon.  My samples here aren't using the polka dot ribbon as I had a bit of retired ribbon that I wanted to use up with my extra supplies so I could have a stash of treats to give out on Valentine's day.

  Dimensions for this project: 2" x 6" strip of cardstock scored at 2 7/8" and 3 1/8" then punched on each end with the scalloped tag topper.  Ribbon lengths are about 6" for each.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hey Love

Ink: black

Paper: Grapefruit Grove, Lovely Lipstick, Whisper White, Foil Sheets

Accessories: scalloped tag topper punch, circle punch, dimensonals, colored pencils, markers, ribbon

Another Year with Balloons Pop Up - Stampin' Up! Balloon Adventures

  Sometimes it's hard to come up with an interesting card design for a guy.  We're stuck between wanting to add lots of layers and fun embellishments and trying to keep the card from getting too girly.  It's a tough place for card makers!  Guys deserve beautiful, creative and fun birthday cards too.

  At my last stamp club I had my stampers make this masculine birthday card.  The colors definitely point to a guy card and there is a little unexpected fun on the inside.

  The card base is Cajun Craze.  I paired the Cajun Craze up with a strip of Basic Gray and then the stamping is done on a large panel of Whisper White.

  The  fun balloons from Balloon Adventures are stamped in Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze and Smoky Slate.  I will point out that on this sample it has 2 polka dot balloon but my stampers used the striped balloon.  I goofed when I was making my second sample for class and of course this was the one I grabbed when I was taking my photos.  Oops...see demos make stamping mistakes too!  :)

  The balloon strings are stamped with Smoky Slate ink.  Once the balloons and strings were stamped the large sentiment was stamped in Basic Gray.  The open letters are colored in with a Pumpkin Pie marker.  I had the other card color markers out to so everyone could choose which color they wanted to use.

  Now for the fun part on the inside!  Excuse the photo...this was a hard one to get a good angle of.

  It's a fun little pop up feature when you open the card!  

   The inside Whisper White panel measures 7 1/2" by 4 3/4".  It's folded in half and then 3 quick measurements of 2 1/2" -- from the center fold to left 2 1/2" (make a light mark with a pencil), from the center fold to the right (make a light mark with a pencil), from the top of the center fold down 2 1/2" (make a light mark with a pencil).

   Using your scoring tool of choice (we used the envelope punch board--it has nice diagonal scoring groove perfect for this project) line up your top pencil mark with the pencil mark in the center fold and score just until you reach the center score line.  Then repeat with the other top pencil mark.  Gently fold along the diagonal score lines to make your pop up.

  Adhere the scored panel to the inside of your card making sure to leave your adhesive off of the triangle shaped pop up areas.

  To decorate the pop up we stamped and punched a few balloons, added strings and then popped them up with dimensionals.

  See it's pretty easy to make a good guy card!

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Balloon Adventures

Ink: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze

Paper: Cajun Craze, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories: scoring tool, dimensionals, Balloon punch, baker's twine, markers

  

Elf Sized Treats - Stampin' Up! Jolly Friends - Fab Friday 100

 When time is running short it's always nice to be able to combine projects to serve more than one purpose!  That's what I did this time around for the latest Fab Friday challenge....which is number 100 by the way!!  That's quite a milestone in my book!  I needed a fun project for my team to make at our stamping get together last night and when I sat down to design it earlier in the week I already had our challenge colors out on my desk to spark some creativity.  Need + Need = 2 items checked off the to do list!

  Check out these fun Fab Friday challenge colors for the big 1-0-0!

  Cool right?  At first I was going to go with a fall card but then those little hats started calling to me along with a need to include some chocolates.  What's a stamper to do but to make a little treat tote with wrapped treats and a coordinating 3 x 3 card!

    So cute right?  The little tote is made with the envelope punch board.  After the scoring I ran it through the Big Shot with the Cable Knit embossing folder for some winter texture.  The tote holds 4 wrapped Hershey Nuggets (I couldn't get all 4 to stack up so you'll have to imagine the 4th!).  I wrapped them with 1 x 3.25" strips that are also embossed.

  The hats are popped up for dimensional and the brims (or are they cuffs?) and the pompoms are colored with clear Wink of Stella for a bit of sparkle.

  I used the "to you and yours" sentiment from the Christmas Pines stamp set as it was just the right size for my Elf Sized Treats.

  I hope you'll join the Fab Friday team in celebrating our 100th challenge by playing along!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jolly Friends, Christmas Pines

Ink: Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron, Rich Razzleberry, black

Paper: Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Cable Knit embossing folder, corner rounder,  Jolly Hat punch, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Mint Macaron Sheer Linen

Simple Christmas Tree Gift Card Holder - Stampin' Up! Festival of Trees

  One of the focuses at my last stamp club was gift card holders.  We want to present even a gift card in a fun way!  We also made a coffee cup gift card holder that I showed last week.

  This one is a great gift card holder to make if you have lots of DSP that really should get used and not hoarded in your paper supply!

  Not the best quality photo but the front is clean and simple and could easily stand on it's own as Christmas card.  My ladies had a choice of gold or silver cording as well as gold, silver or red Dazzling Details to decorate their tree.  The Softly Falling embossing doesn't show well in the photo but it's there and gives a nice subtle texture.

  Now for the inside!

  We used paper from the Merry Moments DSP stack.  You'll notice that my patterns don't match because when I was designing the samples and cutting the paper for class I had just enough for my stamping ladies with these 2 mismatched pieces left for my second sample.  You still get the idea right?

   All you do is score a bit, fold 2 rectangles, get your adhesive in the right place and there you have a nice little spot to slide in a gift card and it all folds down pretty flat when closed!

  You start with two 5" x 5"pieces of DSP and score at 1 1/2, 2 1/4, 3 3/4, 4 1/2

  Fold all your scores and you'll see the rectangle.  Adhere the flap with tear tape along the long edge. Repeat with the second piece.

  Now to adhere both boxes together.  This is the important part because I was just cranking right along with one of my samples and had the "Duh" moment.  Just adhere the 2 boxes together on the short ends.  DON'T run the adhesive down the long sides or you'll end up taping shut the slot where the gift card slides into!

  Next, adhere the DSP to the inside of your card base lining it up with the center fold.  I found it easiest to do one side at a time.  For example, put adhesive long ways on the back, line it up, press it down (you can close the card and burnish with a bone folder to get a good connection).  Then open it back up, add more adhesive to the the bottom and repeat burnishing.

  If you're using a pattern that has a right and wrong direction pay close attention when scoring both pieces of DSP so that they line up the same when when adhered.

  I did make a few extras for myself and used some of the older DSP stacks that are only 4 1/2" wide so I adjusted the score lines to 1 1/4, 1 3/4, 3 and 3 1/2.  The rest of the instructions are the same.

  I learned how to make this style from Caroline's video here.  She definitely hits a home run with this one!

  And definitely decorate the inside! 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Festival of Trees

Ink: Old Olive, Real Red

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Merry Moments DSP, Gold Glimmer paper

Accessories: Tree punch, small star punch, gold cording, Dazzling Details, Simply Scored, tear tape, dimensionals, Softly Falling e.f.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Bow Die Angel

  I got together with my stamping ladies yesterday for a class to make some Christmas items.  I introduced the bow die by having them make this sweet little angel ornament.  This should get you in the Christmas spirit!

 How adorable is this?  It's not a new idea but we had a good time making them.  We kept the color palette to white and silver and I think the sparkle will look wonderful on the Christmas tree.

  Pink Pirouette cardstock was used for the head.  A blender pen and some Pink Pirouette ink make the rosy cheeks.

  We used a glue gun to put all the parts together.  You can use glue dots but they don't always hold for the long term.

  I plan to make more of these to use as add ons for gift card gifts or around a wine bottle for a hostess gift.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: none

Ink: Pink Pirouette

Paper: Whisper White, Silver Glimmer paper, Pink Pirouette

Accessories: Perfect Polka dot embossing folder, silver ribbon, faceted button, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, blender pen, black marker