Money for the Grad

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Chris Slogar

FREE Shipping starts today, with no minimum purchase required! There are some great Weekly Deals through today, and there will be a new batch tomorrow. You can take advantage of either or both with no worry about that minimum shipping charge! Or you can save a lot if you have a big order. Don’t forget to check out the Clearance Rack while you are shopping – it was updated recently with items from this past season’s Holiday Catalog.

We are coming up on another graduation season, so time to start thinking of our grads…

This money/check holder looks fancy with its gold foil and gold embossing, but it is so easy to make. A little heat embossing goes a long way toward effect, and the “Class of 2015” single stamp from the Occasions Catalog looks fabulous embossed! This would be great in silver or in school colors. The inside is shown below.

This is a very simple folder for a bill or a check. It starts as a 7″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock, scored at 3 1/4″ and 6 1/2″. The inside flap is punched with the envelope punch board at 3 1/2″, and then trimmed. Please let me know if you need more detail on this technique. The greeting on the inside is from “Bravo”.

Have a great Monday!

***5/18/15 Added Video Instructions***

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Garden in a Box and FREE Shipping

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Chris Slogar

Stampin’ Up! is offering FREE Shipping on everything April 6-10. Shop Monday, and you can still take advantage of this week’s great Weekly Deals, including the Magnetic Platform. There are some great framelits available in the Weekly Deals as well.

There will be new Weekly Deals on Tuesday, and those will also be eligible for FREE Shipping through the 10th. The Clearance Rack has also been updated recently with items from this past season’s Holiday Catalog.

A lot of people display the cards they receive, and these Card in a Box cards are great for that. For one thing, they don’t fall over! Dimensional cards are also intriguing and unexpected. I had to make one with “From the Garden” and Handpicked Framelits. The cross pieces in the box create perfect rows for a garden.

This card can be folded flat to put in an A2 envelope looking like this:

Or, if you prefer, with two flaps folded down to show off the garden:

This is my new Featured Project, so if your product total in my online store is $35 or more before S/H, I will mail you one of these “Garden Boxes” with an envelope. Please allow demonstrator contact when you check out or email me your address if you would like to receive this.

I do have a video available showing how to make this type of card. The video shows a Christmas scene, but the construction is the same. They look much more complicated than they are!

Have a great weekend! Happy Easter!!

Hello Sunshine

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Chris Slogar

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Create with Connie and Mary challenge card. I can’t wait to see the different takes on this sketch – I think it can be used in many ways. The cards made by the Challenge Team are already posted. Click here to see them, and why not join us? This is an inviting sketch!

I used stamps from “So You” and a thinlit from the Hello You set. I also used the largest of the smooth circle framelits to cut the semicircle. The Whisper White on this card is all one piece – the pictures below show how I cut it.

I placed the framelit as shown, with the edge of the cutting plate at the limits of the semicircle so that the whole circle would not be cut. The Whisper White cardstock is 5 1/8″ wide. That matches the width of the embossed Rich Razzleberry mat (3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″), and the Pumpkin Pie is 4″ x 5 1/4″.

This is the result.

Then I placed the piece on my trimmer to create the horizontal line. I stamped my sun rays and then added a piece of Beach House Washi Tape along the horizontal line before stamping the “hello sunshine” script.

“Sunshine” has been my nickname for Jen ever since she started sleeping through the night. How delighted we were when she slept until sunrise – I started greeting her with a “Good morning, Sunshine!” every day. Might as well do a throwback since it is Thursday…

She still has that treasured blanket. This card will go to Jen at school, and I am going to need some chickadee stamps before Julia goes away to college.

Have a great day!

Adventure Bound for FM202

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Chris Slogar

The Friday Mashup offers a fun challenge every week. There are two themes or sketches presented, and you can incorporate one or the other or both. This week, they are asking for a masculine card, or a card that follows the sketch, or a card with both ideas combined.

My intent was to “Mash It Up” as they say, but since I was using so much pattern, I decided to keep the pieces simple and straight, so in the end I did not use the sketch.

The designer paper is from our Adventure Bound stack. There are photo images on one side of this paper, and coordinating patterns on the other side – really good for masculine cards! This one is simple with three 1 1/4″ x 5 1/8″ strips mounted on a 4″ x 5 1/4″ Cajun Craze mat.

You can see more cards in this challenge, including the design team cards, at The Friday Mashup. Since everyone is always saying “I need more guy cards”, I know you will appreciate the ideas there!

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Last Day to Sale-a-brate

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Chris Slogar

There will be a card at the end of this post, but first let me get through the Weekly Deals and recap what is available for one last day of Sale-a-bration. I will be placing a final Sale-a-bration order this evening – if you are local, and you would like me to include your items with mine, please contact me by 5 pm.

First the Weekly Deals…

There are some great ones here! If you shop today, you can still get a FREE Sale-a-bration item with every $50 order. The original offerings are shown in the Sale-a-bration booklet (access from image in left column), and the additional items are shown on the two pdfs below.

Download (PDF, 365KB)

These items from the Annual Catalog are also available as SAB FREEbies:

Download (PDF, 183KB)

Today is also the last day for the sale price on 3-month Paper Pumpkin Prepaid Subscriptions. Buy a 3-month subscription (Item 137859 $54.95) and you will get a FREE SAB item. You will be emailed a promo code to use when setting up a subscription at paperpumpkin.com. Promo codes can be given as a gift (certificate available for printing), and current subscribers can use the promo code to add months to their subscription. Please contact me if you have any questions on this.

If you have a big wish list, why not join? You can pick out $125 worth of product for $99 + tax (shipping is included!) You will also get two FREE SAB items or a FREE kit. You will enjoy 20% off future orders (30% off a qualifying order in your first 45 days). There is no obligation to sell. Please contact me if you have any questions, or click “Join SU!” on the menu bar above.

And finally, a card…

Based on my customers’ interest, I would say “Sheltering Tree” is the most popular stamp set in the Occasions Catalog. We made this card with the set at Card Ministry last night, and it will be sent to new members in the parish. We are going to change it seasonally with the great accessory stamps in this set – see them below. (The “Welcome” is not from Stampin’ Up!)

Item 137163 Sheltering Tree (photopolymer) $24.95

Thanks for stopping! Have a great day!

Quick and Cute Easter Favors

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Chris Slogar

I designed these little wraps to hold two Reese’s Easter Eggs, but I am sure there are many different types of candy that would fit. You could also adjust the length of the wrap or the width of the side panel as needed for different items.

The main piece is 2″ x 6 1/4″, scored at 2 3/4″ and 3 1/2″. I punched each end with the Ornate Tag Topper punch. There is a side panel that measures 1″ x 1 3/4″, scored at 1/2″ and 1 1/4″. This fits the 3/4″ width and holds the eggs in place.

I decorated the front before assembling. I stamped a cloud from “So You” in Soft Sky and created a garden pick with the greeting. The grass is a 3/4″ strip of Wild Wasabi, punched with the Scallop Edge punch and fringed. The flowers are from the Petite Petals punch and the retired punch pack flowers.

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day of Sale-a-bration, the last day to get FREE items with each $50 order. Click here to shop.

Signs of Spring

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Chris Slogar

There are very light snowflakes in the air as I write this, but hopefully my projects will convey my frame of mind. I am ready for Spring! Today, I want to show you this month’s club projects, which were all very seasonal.

The eggs are made with the largest two oval framelits and Best Year Ever designer paper. This paper is one of the products you can choose for FREE with a $50 order, but only through March 31st.

This egg is also made with the oval framelits. There are 7 oval sizes, and this egg is the middle one – fourth from largest or fourth from smallest. Our treat cups fit inside the 1 3/4″ circle punch, and the paper is from Confetti Celebration in the Annual Catalog.

And last but not least, this CASE of one of Stampin’ Up!’s Artisan’s projects…

This was a favorite, and it is an exact CASE of Cindy Schuster’s lovely design using pieces cut from the Berry Basket Bigz L Die. It holds a seed packet, wrapped with a doily. “From the Garden” and Handpicked framelits are just awesome on these spring projects!

I mailed this card to myself as an experiment. I simply put one card in a regular envelope with no extra postage, and I threw it into a big blue mailbox, just to see how it would fare.

It made it back to me just fine. The envelope was not damaged or torn, just a little lumpy because of the contents. As you can see above, the card was in great shape! The crisp folds at the side of the Whisper White band and at the bottom of the basket were flattened, but we all agreed that it traveled well. Of course, a padded envelope and hand cancelling would be better, but hey, good to know that you don’t have to be fussy about it!

One more sign of spring…

Our new dog! Not really – it is Chip, with less baggage. He enjoyed showing off when he was invited to the craft room after clubs and class times this week. He soaked up the oohs and aahs over how handsome he is. Poor guy has to wear a coat for his walks, though, since we can’t shake the cold temps here in Ohio.

Have a great weekend!

Clearance Rack Additions

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Chris Slogar

Click here to check out the recently updated Clearance Rack. Items available only while supplies last.

A Pretty Pop of Color

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Chris Slogar

These colors are great together, with Rose Red standing out beautifully. I made a background with Whisper White and Soft Sky so that the Rose Red flower and greeting could really pop off the card.

The designer paper is Irresistibly Yours from our Sale-a-bration offerings. I stamped it in Soft Sky with Something Lacy, and then lightly sponged the entire piece to reveal the embossed flowers. The sentiment is also from Sale-a-bration. It is part of the “Simply Wonderful” stamp set.

Thank you for checking out my challenge card! You can see all of the Challenge Team cards and entries at Create with Connie and Mary.

Mini Memo Pads

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Chris Slogar

I’ve shown these mini list pads before, but never with dimensions and detailed directions. This is one of my favorite “go-to” projects for door prizes or favors, so today I want to share the details.

Here’s what it looks like on the inside. The list pad is half of a 5″x8″ junior legal pad – you can make this wrap for other sizes, just adjust the dimensions accordingly.

A note about the legal pads…I buy them at my warehouse club, and I get 24 for under $6. Then I take them to my local copy shop and ask them to slice the note pads in half vertically, so each is 2 1/2″ wide. They charge per cut, but they cut 12 at once. I end up paying for two cuts and their setup fee, totalling about $5. Altogether then, 48 mini list pads cost me around $11.

Let me give you dimensions referencing this pad.

Base – Pear Pizzazz cardstock, 5 1/2″ x 8″, scored at 2 5/8″, 2 7/8″

Whisper White mat – 2 1/2″ x 7 7/8″

Designer Paper for front – 2 3/8″ x 7 3/4″

Designer Paper for inside – 2 1/2″ x 7 7/8″

Designer Paper for top of note pad – 2 1/2″ x 2″

Designer Paper for pen barrel – 3 3/8″ x 3/4″

I used paper from Birthday Bash for this one. The flower is So Saffron. Each of the other pads uses Best Year Ever designer paper. These note pads would be cute with so many of our papers and stamps, and they are so easy to make – hope you’ll try it!