StampMonkeys

My Christmas Card! Finally!

Now that school is over for the quarter, I can breathe a little and finish my cards! Here's hoping I get them out BEFORE Christmas! :)

I've had these made for a little bit and was hoping to add a tiny bit of glitter to the trees, just for some sparkle, but couldn't find my Two-Way Glue Pen! (You should see my office right now! eeeek!)

Anyway...here's what I did to make this card. To refresh your memory, Wandering Words from the Holiday Mini Catalog was the stamp set, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, and Glorious Green were the colors, and I had to use the Versamark Resist technique.

First, I stamped Santa and the Reindeer and the trees from Lovely as a Tree with Night of Navy Ink on to the Glossy White Card stock. (I took the liberty of adding that stamp set because the card just needed it!)

Once it was dry, I punched a 1 3/4" Circle in a Post-it Note to use as a mask for my Versamark moon. Since I don't have a circle stamp, I placed the post it note on top of my stamped Santa and then just pressed the Versamark pad on to the card stock. The result was a round "moon."

Then I sponged the sky with Night of Navy and Brocade Blue. The Versamark doesn't dry completely and I  rubbed it off with a tissue once the sponging was done. I love this technique because it's really easy and the result is really pretty!

Last, I layered the Glossy card stock on Night of Navy, then Glorious Green and Brocade Blue. I tried all sorts of ways to include the Glorious Green with the stamping, but didn't find anything I liked. I do like the little bit of extra color it gives to the card stock as a mat for the main image.

So that's it! Much simpler than last year - but just as pretty!

Now the fun part - giving away the stamp set I used! I put everyone's name into a hat, including extras for those who chose the winning stamp set, colors, and technique...drumroll please....

The winner is Patricia Hoffman - Congratulations! I don't have an email address for you Patricia, so please contact me so I can arrange shipment to you!

Shop for Last Minute Stamping Gifts!

Here are just a few ideas that I'm offering for some last minute Stamping Gifts!

• Purchase Stamping Class Vouchers, good for ANY class I offer or Discounted Gift Certificates - see all the details on this page. (These are limited, so shop soon!)

• Hand Stamped Silk Scarves make a wonderful gift - for anyone, not just a rubber stamper! I still have a bunch available, check them out!

• Retired Stamp Sets - is there a special stamp set you or a friend have been looking for? I still have a lot available for sale! Some of them aren't even mounted or used! It's a great way to pick up some quality Stamp Sets at a discount! See what's still available!

• LAST, don't forget that if you or a friend owns the Big Shot - we're having a huge Big Shot Die and Accessory Sale from now until December 22nd! Don't miss it!

Happy Shopping - and Merry Christmas!

PS - a few of you have asked where my last 12-Week email went. So far, nowhere! I'm working out some glitches and will have it for you as soon as I can! Thanks for your patience!

Christmas Delivery - Last Day to Order!

Today is the DAY! If you want "Mr. Brown" to deliver rubber stamps, stamp pads, paper and other goodies in time for Christmas, place your order TODAY!

You can put your order in online, or give me a call and I'll help you! Don't forget that we're still celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas Sale!

(Isn't he cute? Looks just like MY Mr. Brown too!)

12 Days of Christmas - Big Shot DEALS!

 
WOW! You are going to LOVE this special! For the next 12 days, selected Big Shot Dies and Decor Elements Vinyl Sheets are discounted up to 25%. This special is a great way to add to your Big Shot Die collection at a significant savings! PLUS, the you can use the Decor Elements sheets with the dies to create one of a kind decorations!

Note: There are no limits or minimums you have to purchase to enjoy these deals.

I've put pictures of everything that's on sale with their prices, but to see all the details for each product, go to my Online Store any time. Happy Shopping and Saving! :)

 

Kid Stuff

Last week for kids crafts at the elementary school we did a little Two-Step Stamping...on cork! This project used a 3" x 3" piece of cork that I cut from a bigger sheet. I glued it on to some card stock and then punched a hole in the top for ribbon with my Crop-a-Dile.

The kids did all the stamping - we used Craft Ink, so I was VERY careful and helped them ink everything up - otherwise we would have had a HUGE mess! :)

I love how they turned out and so did the kids. The stamp set we used was Pretty Poinsettia, one of the retired stamp sets I have for sale! If you like it - let me know!

Speaking of kids...my now 4 year old made Thank You cards tonight for his friends who came to his birthday party. I helped a little with the cutting, but he stamped and glued the card stock together. He also drew pictures and wrote his name on the inside - so cute! He's quite the talent, don't you think? 

 

It's Definitely the Thought That Counts

Even though this was an idea I sent in my 12 Weeks of Christmas email this morning, I couldn't resist posting it here too. I'm sure that everyone could use a last minute gift idea for someone, right?

Isn't this perfect? It's something EVERYONE would use. It's creative. What's better than that?

Just in case you can't see the tag, here's a closeup:

Happy Wednesday!

A Little Housekeeping

I've been tidying up a little and reorganizing some pages here at StampMonkeys, so if you find anything that's "broken" please let me know!

Since I've been adding pages to sell Holiday Cards, Retired Stamp Sets, and Hand Stamped/Dyed Silk Scarves (What? You haven't heard? Go check it out!) I thought it might be time to resurrect StampMonkeys Marketplace.

It only made sense, so it's back. :)

You won't need to subscribe to any new feeds, I'll leave a quick post here if I put up any new products for sale. Whew! So you won't miss a thing!

Happy Tuesday!

Mismatched Homemade Christmas Tree

A lot of you may know that we're currently remodeling half of our garage and turning it into an office/studio for my Stampin' Up! business! (YAY!) In the process, we've moved a lot of things we used to store there into a storage unit temporarily.

Of course, as with anything else, our building is taking a lot longer than we thought, AND our Christmas Decorations that we put at the BACK of the storage unit (duh!) are pretty much inaccessible. (Though we are hoping to at least get to the box that has our stockings in it!)

So, being resourceful (and having a TON of craft stuff) we went to work decorating the tree with what we had. I'm so happy with the result that I might do this next year too! (Though my husband does say that he misses all of our "Rudolph" ornaments...)

Anyway, Stampin' Up! has put out so many gorgeous Designer Series Papers and other things, that I didn't have to worry about what would go on my tree!

First, there's the Ornament Punch (in this year's Holiday Mini - pick it up before it's too late!) I used this to make about 24 hanging paper ornaments. I punched 5 Real Red pieces and 5 pieces from Christmas Cocoa Designer Series Paper. Then I folded each in half and glued every other one to make the ornament - adding ribbon on the inside so I could hang it up.

Second, a few years back, we had Designer Series Paper that had been die cut to make ornaments. I only had the folded stars left, so I punched all of those out, folded them, and just placed them on the tree. On large red one ended up being the star at the top.

Third, I used the Snowflake Die and my Big Shot to cut a bunch of chipboard into snowflakes. Then I used spray adhesive to get them sticky on both sides and threw them into a paper bag with glitter inside and the kids shook them up. It was a fun (and MESSY) project, but the snowflakes sparkle like crazy and the kids had a blast making them. (I should have gotten Megan on video trying to crank the Big Shot - it was hysterical!)

Fourth, I also had a ton of retired Holiday Designer Series Papers from years past. So, I cut them up into 1" x 6" strips then made a paper chain out of them using my stapler. The papers don't match each other at all - or even the ornaments, but that's the charm of the whole tree!

Last, if you're ever wondering what to do with left over paper (other than paper chains) try making Moravian Stars with them! I've done this before, but not with double sided paper. I LOVE the result! There are a bunch of instructions on the Internet on how to make these, but I may put a video together to show you what I did if you're interested. They are so pretty - 3D stars with all different colors!

What do you think? Nothing matches, but it's still beautiful! (No, the lights weren't home made - heh - they were already attached to the fake tree that happened to still be here! I can't imagine what I would have done if I had to make the tree too!)

Just in Case You Missed It

I have a TON of retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets for sale! I announced this in my newsletter earlier this week, but thought I would post it again, just in case!

Everything, including pictures, is listed on the page. A lot have already been sold and sent to new homes, but there are still many sets waiting for you!

Check them out - maybe you'll even pick up a few gifts for your favorite stamper! (I won't even tell if your favorite stamper is YOU!)

Time is Ticking Away...

Just a quick reminder that the Online Extravaganza ends TONIGHT - as well as my Black Friday/Cyber Monday specials!

:)