Tis the Season for Christmas parties and I always try and make a little something to give the host/ess. In the last couple of years we've given homemade wine but this year i'm gifting these super cute very clever game boxes. I came across this brilliant idea on another Stampin' Up! demonstrators blog and I HAD to make one!

There are compartments for the clues, answer sheets and pencils.

The answers are the titles of Christmas Carols, the clues are wordy descriptions that you have to decipher. My pictures don't do this project justice, it turned out perfect and i'm so happy with it.

The instructions are easy to follow the pics are great and I made one quick and easy. Check out the link and make one yourself! http://inkingoutofthebox.com/christmas-game-box-tutorial

I'll be making several more of these for people who I know LOVE games!

Stamp Sets: Stampin' Up! Snowflakes

Colours: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy and Whisper White

Accessories- Marvy Snowflake punch, misc. white ribbon and snowflake brad.

More cards being sent to my Secret Sis. I will be sending the trifold card to her just before New Years. The below Reindeer card is also my final design for the Christmas cards i'm sending out to family and friends this year.

This card looks better in Real Life. The edges and reindeer are darker and its more distressed. This card is all Stampin' Up! supplies.

Stamp Sets: Dasher, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Patterned Pines

Colours: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Real Red

Accessories: Alpine ribbon (clearance at Stampin' Up!) Top Note die, and Plenty of Petals embossing folder, Modern Label and Word Window Punches.

These tri fold cards are fun and fairly easy to make. I love how they turn out and i've been making them for quite a few people and special occasions.

Stamp Sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes from Stampin' Up, Penguin, and Snowman poem from Elzybelles

Colours: Stampin' Up! Night of Navy, Shimmery White, Basic Black, and Basic Grey

Accessories: Marvy Snowflake punch, Martha Stewart Icicle border punch, misc. white ribbon, Star dust Stickes, Clear Rhinestones, Modern Label and Word Window punches, and retired patterened paper all from Stampin' Up!

The poem says...

I made myself a snowball, as perfect as could be,

I though I'd keep it for a pet and let it sleep with me.

I made it some pajamas and a pillow for its head.

Then last night it ran away, but first it wet the bed!

My second Christmas card design. I bought these last year but didn't get the time to use it so I made sure it was on the short list of stamps to use for this year.

Stamp Set: Mouse, Mouse feet and Twas the Night all from AMuse

Colours: Whisper White, Real Red and Basic Black

Accessories: Star dust Stickles

The envelope Album, another Secret Sister gift i've got ready to send. I hadn't remembered that I posted one of these a couple of months ago, but this one is WAY better! I've been tweeking the original design.

Even though the photo is a bit wonky and the bling on the bottom of the butterfly doesn't look like its laying straight but it is in real life. Click on the pictures to get upclose, the shadow is bad I apologize but I take a lot of my pictures at night after i've finished them.

Stamp Set: So Swirly Jumbo Wheel, Teeny Tiny Wishes "friend to friend"

Colours: Basic Grey, Basic Black

Accessories: Clear Rhinestone brads, Modern Label and Word Window punches, Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Bigshot Diecut, Large and Scalloped Circle punches and Swirl embossing folder

It is quite easy to make, just takes a while.

The quote on the inside says "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and sings it to you when you forget the words"

I LOVE this and I'll be doing a class for it in January along with some Valentine cards. Email me if you're interested in coming.

Last week I made and sent these 3 Christmas cards off to my Secret Sister in Kelowna. All of them are Stampin' Up! only and they turned out quite well. I like the green trees so much I'm using it as one of the Christmas card designs i'll send out this year.

Stamp Set: Patterned Pines, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colours: Kraft, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Versamark

Accessories: Modern Label and Word Window Punches

Stamp Sets: Dasher, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Colours: Whisper White, Night of Navy
Accessories: Modern Label and Word Window Punches
Stamp Set: Dasher

Colours: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive, Versamark

Accessories: Ribbon (this one is retired but may be still some in the clearance section check out the Stampin' Up! website to see all the great things for sale)

Happy Boo to You!

I made up some Boo! bags and dropped them off at a couple of friends in the neighbourhood. Its like a Secret Santa but for Halloween :) There is a cute poem about spreading some Halloween Boo! and putting treats inside. In addition to the regular little Halloween candy I just had to make some things.

Chocolate pudding and gummy worms for "Worms in dirt" dessert, Halloween pencils, a grave matchbox that's done up as a graveyard- inside is some candy. Peppermint paddies made up like spiders and a sign to colour to let other's know you've been "Boo'd" I also wrapped up a full chocolate bar with twill and glued googlie eyes on it to look like a Mummy.

It was a bunch of fun, i'm going to start it earlier this year and see if I can get the neighbourhood in on it.

Halloween is my favorite Holiday and this year i'm making some more decorations.

No stamping on these but I used the Stampin' Up! Top Note die to make all of the pieces of the banner. I first cut out the chipboard then the patterned paper. Used Stampin' Up! large eyelets and large grossgrain ribbon to string it all together. The bats and ghosts are punches by Martha Stewart and Marvi.
This one was made for my SIL to be Melissa. Made from Recollections Patterned Paper and the letter were cut out using the cricut. She is a HUGE Halloween fan like myself but doesn't like orange so the black and purple was perfect.

I made this all Stampin' Up! Boo banner for my Secret Sister this round.

Cast a Spell Patterned Paper, Oval, Circle and Tab punches to create the ghost and Bat. The pumpkin was stamped from a retired Stampin' Up! set. I just noticed that I forgot to stamp and adhere the pumpkin's stem- Oops! Letters were cut out using the Cricut basic cartridge.

I was in a crafting groove this week! I made quite a few cards and this envelope album.

Some of the details like embossed backgrounds and glitter are difficult to see in the pics, if you want a closer look just click on them to see a larger version.

I got the idea of this album from the last Secret Sister round on Splitcoast. My "Big Sis" sent me one so I decided to make another one but make a more fancy one that could be used as a gift for a wedding or a birthday. Each envelope has cardstock that could hold a picture on each side.

Stamp Set: Swirly Jumbo Wheel

Colours: Basic Grey, Basic Black and Whisper White

Stamp Set from the Greeting Farm: My Guy Ian.
Colours: Kiwi Kiss (retired) Muirfield Designer Patterned Paper Stampin' Up! clearance rack.
I used the top note die and then embossed the cut out with an Argyle embossing folder.

Stamp Set from The Greeting Farm: Miss Anya.
Colours: Pacific Point and Muirfield Designer Paper both retired from Stampin' Up!
Again I used the top note die for the background and then embossed with a really pretty swirl Stampin' Up! texture plate.

Stamp Set: Birthday Monsters from Stamping Bella, Teeny Tiny Wishes from Stampin' Up!
Colours: Brilliant Blue, Tempting Tuquoise, Bashful Blue and Whisper White.
I used the Star die and the tiny dots texture plate from Stampin' Up! for the accents on the bottom of the card.

Stamp Set: Robot from Stamping Bella and Teeny Tiny wishes from Stampin' Up!
Colours: Real Red, Silver, Basic Black.
I embossed the silver piece with the large dot Stampin' Up! texture plate.

Stamp Set: Stampin' Up! Classic Trucks (retired) and Teeny Tiny Wishes.
Colours: Real Red, Silver and Basic Black.
I used the diamond embossing folder for the silver paper and I'm so happy to have it since it can be such a challenge to do guy cards!

Stamp Set: Gorjuss Girl fox from Sugar Nellie.
Colours: Stampin' Up! Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Rust, Whisper White.
The patterned paper is from a Stampin' Up! paper pack, antique brass eyelets and alpine ribbon (clearance rack)

Stamp Set: Sitting Gorjuss Girl by Sugar Nellie
Colours: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Ruby Red and Close to Cocoa.
Stampin' Up Patterned Paper Pack, Alpine ribbon pack (clearance rack) and I embossed half of the kraft base and then sponged it. Large brads to finish it off.

This card is a really easy fun folded card. When together it makes a little square with the cupcake centered in the middle.

Cut base card from an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock by cutting it at the 4 1/4 inch mark. Score your paper at 2, 3 3/4, 7 1/4, 9

Stamp Set: Stampin' Up! Crazy for Cupcakes.

Colours: Whisper White, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink

Another paper pack from Stampin' Up! used Apricot Appeal for the background.

The beginning of October cards to my Secret Sister.

Card inspired by one i've seen on Splitcoast Stampers. Used the top note die, oval punch and sponging to make the pumpkin. Part of a flower punch for the green leaves and I cut the stem free handed.

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs (swirls on the green background)

Colours: Kraft, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip

My turkey card turned out pretty well, a bit bigger than I anticipated.

Stamp Set: Pick a Petal

Colours: Kraft, Garden Gree, Real Ruse, Pumpkin Pie and Ruby Red.

These are the cards that I have sent along to my Secret Sister during September.

Stamp Sets: Trendy Trees and Woodgrain.

Colours: Whisper White, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Real Rust, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa.

I got a great Thank-you card from my Secret Sister last round and she did ribbon weaving. I thought this would be a perfect idea to make a basket for the fall to use with leaves or pumpkins. I liked using the large and small ribbon in different colours. I think that the leaves would have looked really neat if I had used texture plates to give them a little extra.

Stamp Set: Jumbo Wheel Blessings
Colours: Ruby Red, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Dusty Durango, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this card! It may be my favorite one EVER! As you know I heart Sunflowers so when this card came together as well as it did I was beyond thrilled. I stamped the petals in Summer Sun ink on Summer Sun paper and just cut them out. Maybe next time I will try heat embossing with the same images using clear embossing powder to raise it up a bit. I used the small dot texture plate and sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. This card was very hard to part with but I really have fun doing the Secret Sister and I hope that she likes it almost as much as I do :)

Stamp Set:Circle Circus and Pick a Petal

Colours: Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Garden Green

Another "me" card. I used a flower punch and layered them and used corduory buttons for the centers.

Stamp: Jumbo Wheel Friendly Words.

Colours: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun.

These cards were cased and altered from a card that I did at my upline's house during one of her card nights.

Stamp Sets: Nature Silhouettes and Its your Birthday

Cardstock Colours: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink Colours: Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip and Basic Black

I HEART these cards! Its all the rage on Splitcoast stampers right now and some of the cards i've seen done up are stunning! Its incredible the art these women produce.

This card is going to a recent graduate and the stamped quote in the middle says "Be the Change you want to see in the World"- Ghandi

On the far right of each card I cut an additional coloured cardstock piece so that I could write to, from etc.


I made this card for friend's that just got married and the stamped words say

Once in a while RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of an ORDINARY life LOVE gives us a FAIRYTALE.

Awww!

Directions for the Tri Fold Card

- cut cardstock 5 ½ X 12 inches
- score at 2, 4, 8 and 10 inches
- at 1 ½ inch mark on each end of the paper draw a line horizontally between the 2 inch and 10 inch score marks with a pencil and ruler (there will be only 2 lines)
- cut along these drawn lines.
- Fold along each score mark so one back and one front so that the card will fold in on itself.

- trace the “T” out of patterned paper twice for your front and end card piece, trim as you prefer.

- cut 2 pieces 3 ¾ X 1 ¼ for the long strips in the middle top and bottom

- cut 4 pieces 1 ¾ x 1 ¼ for the short strips on the top and bottom

- cut 1 piece 2 ¼ x 3 ¾ for the middle piece.

The first time you try this card you may want to go and check out the video tutorial they have available on Splitcoast stampers- the link is on the right hand side- and under Resources they have oodles of tutorials teaching all kinds of really cool projects. But I suggest using my measurements for the patterned paper as I found the dimensions given on the site totally wonky :) Looking at the card you may think its complicated but really they're not, give it a try!

Of course I have been neglecting the blog, life is busy. I also have another excuse- I was participating in a Secret Sister card exchange for 3 months. Its hosted online through Splitcoaststampers and was a lot of fun! I anonymously sent cards and stamp/scrapbooking goodies to a fellow SCSer and she just received my reveal package which contained some of the very cards below. I didn't want her to accidentaly stumble upon my blog and have the surprise blown by having cards I sent her posted here. I plan are doing it for another round Sept-Nov and I promise that I will be making more cards then just those I send to that Secret Sis so I have something to post and don't look like a pathetic blogger- which I am when it comes to the craft side- i'm working to change that :)

Stampin' Up! Stamp Set: Glorious and Free

Stampin' Up! Colours: Real Red, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa

This card was CASE'd from the new Stampin' Up! catty pg 67 using more Canadian colours :)

I am so happy that we have such a great Canadian set! If I can find the time I would really like to send cards to some of the Canadian athletes competing in the 2010 Olympics to wish them luck!

Would also be a great set to make cards for the Canadian troops. I know I ask this a lot of my friends but is there any way we can add an 8th day to the week so that Mom's can get cleaning and crafting done with no interuptions?!

Stampin' Up! Stamp Sets: Circle Circus, Thank-you Kindly

Stampin' Up! Colours: Black, Basic Grey, Going Grey, Whisper White

Stampin' Up Stamp Set: Circle Circus, Hugs & Wishes (retired)
Stampin' Up! Colours: Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede and Old Olive.

I really like this set and how it can go from monocramatic and elegant to bright vibrant fun.

Stampin' Up! Stamp Set: Medallion (background)

I HEART this stamp, it is so beautiful and I can't wait to play around with it using silver and gold inks, so versatile!

Stampin' Up! Stamp Set: Cheep Talk

Retired Stampin' Up! patterned paper

Stampin' Up! Stamp Set: Forest Friends

Stampin' Up! Colours: Kraft, Soft Suede and Old Olive

Stampin' Up! Stamp Sets: Under the Stars, Scratched (background)

Stampin' Up! Colours: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green Patterned Paper