S.T.A.R.S.--Sharing The Art of Rubber Stamping

Christmas Countdown Calendar & The List!!

 

 
 

If you've been hangin' around here for awhile, the above items might look familiar to you.  I made the above Christmas Countdown Calendar & Boxes last year.  You can read all about how I made it HERE and HERE.  At my stamp club earlier this week, I was mentioning to the gals about a list of Christmas Activities that we wanted to do this December.  The ultimate goal is to get them typed up, cut out & put one in the pocket behind each of the numbers.  If you clicked on the first link, you'll know what I mean.  Well, I've made the list, but I haven't typed it up, cut it up, or tucked them into the pockets on the numbers, but Kari asked if I could post the list, so I am!  So, in no particular order, here is THE LIST of Christmas Activities we'd like to accomplish this December. (Seeing as it is the 12th already, we have accomplished some of these, but I'm not so sure if we will be able to accomplish ALL of them!)  If you have any other great ideas, please let me know!

1.  Learn a new Christmas Song.

2.  Make cookies to give to the neighbors.

3.  Make "snowmen" pretzel sticks. (As featured on the front cover of the December Issue of Family Fun Magazine.)  

4.  Make a Gingerbread House.

5.  Decorate the Christmas Tree.

6.  Go see the Christmas Lights Display in Midwest City.

7.  Make Christmas Thank You Notes.

8.  Make Snowman Pizza (another idea from Family Fun)

9.  Read The Night Before Chrismas on the night before Christmas while sipping hot cocoa & eating Christmas Cookies.

10.  Get out & arrange our Little People Nativity & read the Christmas Story from Luke 2.

11. U-Pick a Christmas Story for everyone to listen to.

12.  Make the "Christmas Blessing Snack Mix".

13.  Have a "Happy Birthday Jesus" Party!

14.  Read The Polar Express and then watch it!

15.  Go see a Christmas Themed Movie in the Theater...if available.  We saw Disney's "A Christmas Carol".

16.  Draw Christmas Pictures to send to the Grandparents.

17.  Go to the church Christmas Program.

18.  Donate a toy for kids who won't get much of a Christmas.  (ie. Angel Tree or Operation Christmas Child)

19. Make Christmas Story Cookie Kit...something new my mom gave us this year.

20.  Make our own yummy hot cocoa from scratch and put into Cocoa Cones (another idea from Family Fun magazine a few years back) to give to Sunday School.

21.  Make marshmallow snowmen pictures. (Dip large & small marshmallows in white paint & "paint" on blue or black construction paper.)

22.  See Santa Claus at the mall. (The OKC Bass Pro Shop has a GREAT Santa!)

23.  Celebrate St. Nicholas Day, by writing a letter to St. Nicholas, putting it in your shoe & putting it by the front door....the next day, the shoe will be filled with candy & a little gift (placed in ziploc bag, not directly in their stinky shoes!)  When I was a little kid, we lived in Germany for a few years & began celebrating this holiday.  When I went away to college, I even sent my parents a shoe with my Christmas Wish List in it.  They were living back in Germany (dad was in the Air Force), and when I arrived home on Christmas break, my shoe was there waiting for me filled with candy!  :)

24.  On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, do the "What God Wants For Christmas" box.

I hope you enjoyed my list...remember, we probably won't be able to do it all.  It's just nice to have a list of things we'd like to be able to do & if we get crunched for time, we can scan "the list" to see what's most important for us to do & what supplies we have on hand to complete the projects.  Don't forget, if you have a great family tradition or idea that you'd like to share, please leave me a comment!  I'd love to add the "the list".  Merry Christmas...Erin
 

More Details About My Tour de Freak Post

WoW!  Time flies when you are having fun!!  This past week has been a whirlwind of family visiting, Thanksgiving celebrating, and Black Friday Shopping...whew!  I barely got on the computer this past week & now I've realized that I am WAY OVERDUE on these posts from the Tour de Freaks a week and a half ago!  EEK!  So, without further delay, here is my Animal Stories Backpack & Card Ensemble!

I first saw this cute little backpack idea over on Becky Robert's Inking Idaho Blog HERE & HERE, and then they just seemed to pop up everywhere! Becky made her backpacks miniature sized, where as mine are quite tall...tall enough to fit 3x6 cards in!

 

And now for the cards!  Believe it or not, I came up with most of these on my own.  I was definitely inspired by lots of cool cards, but I don't believe any of them were exact copies!  I tried to use a different accessory or technique on each card.

1.  Technique: Craft Ink with Heat & Stick Powder & Dazzling Diamonds Glitter   

Technique:  Sizzix Flower Folds

Technique:  Using markers on stamps.
This card I came pretty close to CASEing, but I cannot find where I got the original idea, so if this is yours, please let me know.

Technique:  Uhhh...no stamps?  Tee-Hee!

Technique:  Scallop Punch & Jumbo Grommet...a little frustrating!

So, there you go!  Whew!  Sorry this took so long to get to you.  I am going to do tomorrow's post right now, so that it'll be ready for you & you won't have to wait so long!!   Erin

PS...TODAY, November 30th, is the last day of Stampin' Up! Holiday Extravaganza! Please Click Here to see all the specials going on right now and then click on SHOP NOW to see even more deals!!
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
    
 
 

It's Tour de Freak Time!!

I hope you are all having a fabulous time on the Control Freaks "Tour de Freaks"!!  If you are just arriving from Mary Brown's FANTASTIC Blog, you are so very welcome.  If you are starting here, just look through this post & click on the link at the end of the post to go to Dawn Olchefske's Super Creative Blog!  This month's theme is Christmas Gifts!!  So get your paper & pencil ready for some really fun ideas!  If you come back to visit me over the next few days, I'll be adding new posts that got into detail about the items I made, so come on back, ya hear!!

Animal Stories Backpack of Cards--who wouldn't just love to receive some delightful hand-crafted cards in this ultra-cool back pack?? (Obviously I would, because e.b. is ME!!  Tee-hee!)

***On the rest of the projects, I used ONE Sunny Days Simply Scrappin' Kit to make ALL these wonderful projects!!  More details to come later this week!!

Stocking Stuffers and/or Last Minute Gifts--You know there is going to be someone who gives you a Christmas gift & you are standing there empty handed, but then you remember that you created these cool items for just such an occasion!!  Whew!!

Jumbo Clothespins--These are great for displaying a photo, a recipe, or a special card that someone made for you!

Little Compositon Notebooks & Pens---The pens I used here I purchased from Stampin' Up!  They were on sale at Convention this past summer.

Unique Gift for that Certain Special Someone in Your Life--On December 10th, my wonderful husband, Steven, and I will be celebrating our 15th Wedding Anniversary, so I wanted to make him something extra special to honor the occasion!  Here is the tin I altered and a few of the pages I made to go inside.

Remember, if you want to learn more about each project, just keep checking back here over the next couple of days!  

You are going to have so much fun at Dawn's blog...Enjoy the tour!!  Erin Blair

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEXT STOP!! 

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEXT STOP!!
 
 
 
 

More Last Minute Halloween Fun!

Here's a couple more Halloween Goodies for you all!

Gift Card Holder

 

I used the Sizzix Basket & Blooms die to make this flat Gift Card Holder.  I put sticky strip along the perforated edges & across the bottom, decorate & voila!

Candy Corn Favor Tin

You can get these little favor tins in the wedding/baby section of just about any craft & discount stores.  I loved how the Candy Corn stamp from the Sweet Treats set fit perfectly inside the circle punch!  YUM!

Sweet Centers Card

Just wanted to make a simple card with the Sweet Centers Stamp set.

Coaster Mini Photo Display

Okay, so there aren't any photos in here yet, but there will be!  So quick & easy to make!!

I do have a few more items to show you, so stick around!  Erin

To place your order for these FUN Halloween items, to check out the Deal of the Week, to shop the Clearance Rack or any other Stampin' Up! products (like My Digital Studio), just click on this link & then click on the "SHOP NOW" button in the top right hand corner under my name! 

Last Minute Halloween Treats

I know there are a lot of you who are super prepared & had your halloween treats made weeks ago, but I bet there are a handful of you who might put things off (like I do) and might need some last minute creative inspiration!!  Tee-Hee!  I actually made these last month, believe it or not, for my Open House, but put off taking pictures because I had also made some Thanksgiving & Christmas things that I wanted to show you in one swoop, but alas, those projects haven't been completed yet, so I wanted to show you these things while there was still a slim chance of these ideas helping someone out!  Without further ado...

Halloween Hershey Bars

I was able to use a 6x6 piece of the Cast-A-Spell DSP to wrap around a standard Hershey Bar.  I put two strips of Snail Adhesive side by side across the full edge of the DSP to make sure it would stay stuck!  I did a belly band on the first card & used the Sizzix Two Tags Die to make the "spooky" tag on the second bar.  I'm not normally a scary, spooky kind of Halloween gal, but I was making these for my Open House and for a couple of ladies who wanted to do a Halloween Treats class.  While I was making these, my then 8 year old daughter walked in & said "EEEEK...Why are you using skeletons?  You should be using pumpkins!!"  Well, at least these skulls are smiling...right??  If you don't like the wrapper sticking out on the ends, the tuck inside very easily.

Halloween Kit Kat Bars

I LOVE making these wrapped Kit Kats!  They are just so cute & VERY EASY to make!  I made some last year at my Open House, and you can see them PLUS a quickie tutorial on how to make them by clicking HERE .  I also have a link to Diana Gibbs' blog where I first saw them! 

Halloween Votive (aka...Candy Holder)

 
 
  
This is really TWO gifts in ONE!  First, you get YUMMY candy corns in a cute container, and THEN, when you've eaten all the candy corn (about 2 minutes later), you can then use this as a little votive holder!  How cute!

I've had a lot of fun using the Spooky Treats Rub-Ons on these projects!

I hope these projects have inspired you to pull out the Cast-A-Spell DSP (that you bought just after the new catalog came out) & make some fun projects!  I have a few more Halloween things to show you tomorrow, so stay tuned!!  Erin

To place your order for these FUN Halloween items, to check out the Deal of the Week, to shop the Clearance Rack or any other Stampin' Up! products (like My Digital Studio), just click on this link & then click on the "SHOP NOW" button in the top right hand corner under my name! 

Tour de Freaks is Happening RIGHT NOW!!!

 

I am so excited to be participating in this month's Tour de Freaks!  If you've just arrived from Mary Brown's AWESOME blog, thank you so much for taking the time to pop on over!  If you are a regular here, you are in for a real treat.    You are about to embarque on a 15 stop journey to some of the best blogs in the stampin' & scrappin' world!!  Our focus this month is Christmas Cards!! At the end of this post click on the Tour de Freaks logo & you'll go straight over to Dawn Olchefske FANTASTIC blog.  You will be able to go from blog to blog until you get back to mine!  We will keep the links up so even if you are getting here after the 20th, you can still enjoy the tour! 

The "official" tour starts tomorrow morning, October 20th, so please be patient if all the links are not up just yet.

I wanted to keep a coordinated look to the cards I'm showing you, so I used the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper from the main Idea Book & Catalog on all three cards.

On the above card, I wanted to show you that simplicity does not equate to boring!!  The Merry Christmas from the "Christmas Greetings" set was stamped in Craft White & embossed with Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder.

 

I used the NEW Sweet Centers Stamp Set & Sweet Centers Treat Cups from the Holiday Mini Catalog & filled them with "Christmas" colored M&Ms.  I don't know about you, but I know I would be so pumped to receive a handmade card that included CHOCOLATE!!

I've had this idea floating around in my brain for awhile, but I held off creating it because I knew I wanted to share it with all of you on the Tour de Freaks!!  The "joy" ornament coordinates with the Holiday Mini Set "Delightful Decorations" & was available to purchase at Convention this past summer and is on the Demonstrator Only Section of the Stampin' Up! Website.  This little perk is just one of the many things I love about being a demonstrator!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope to see you again real soon!!

Please feel free to leave a comment & I'll get back to you ASAP!!

You do not want to miss out on Dawn's AMAZING "My Digital Studio" cards, so please click on the link!!
  
 
 PLEASE CLICK ON THE BELOW TOUR DE FREAKS LOGO BUTTON TO TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT STOP!  
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PLEASE CLICK ON THE ABOVE TOUR DE FREAKS LOGO BUTTONTO TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT STOP!
  

Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit Cards--Part 3

Here is the last installment of cards that we made from the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit .

 

Are you sitting down?  I think I actually came up with this card ALL BY MYSELF.  You can tell it's MY design by how complex & difficult it is...tee-hee! ;)  Here is one really cool thing about this card, are you ready:  The polka dotted adhesive die cut strip that is running across the center of the card is actually two small pieces just barely long enough to be covered by the large Sizzix Scallop Circle Bigz. I used the other part of the polka dot strip on the cards below & couldn't bare to cut up the other polka dot strip for it to be covered up by the scallop, so I made do with the 3 3/4 inches worth of left-overs...so how's that for being frugal & creative?? 

 

For the card on the Left, I blatantly CASED Jeanne's beautiful card HERE in the lower right hand corner.  The only thing I did differently was to pull out the red from the polka dot adhesive die cut border strip by using the red holly circle & punching out some real red cardstock for the old olive snowflake.  I also colored the tip of the reindeer's nose with red, but I forgot to use that sample in this photo...grrr!

For the card on the right, I also blatantly CASED "pkburns" HERE.  My only tweaking was to add a little bling in the middle & to stamp a greeting instead of using the border strip!

For these 2 cards the 2nd card was identical to the ones above, so no need to show both of them.

I hope you have enjoyed these cards over the past few days.  It feels soooo good to have 20 Christmas Cards DONE!  I am planning on making some more from the leftovers from the kit & I will be sure to post those for you.  The only extra paper I needed for the cards that I posted were 2 sheets of Very Vanilla Card Stock!  To purchase your Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit & any accessories you might want to go with them, just click HERE. 

Have a super day...Erin

Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit Cards--Part 2

Here's the next installment of the cards we made using the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit.

  

I gleaned this idea from Jennifer Holiday's blog HERE.  As you can see it's not an "exact" carbon copy & by flipping the DSP around & using a different ribbon, you get a totally different look.

Can you find my mistake in the second card??  I do make mistakes & I decided to just go with it!

I'll give you a hint:  Look at the length of the die cut on the Old Olive cardstock...EEK it doesn't go across the entire length of the card!!  YIKES...I accidentally cut the adhesive die cut too short...OPPS!  I guess I could have just trimmed down the card & no one would have been the wiser!

 

For the card on the Left, I CASED one of "pkburns" cards from HERE .  Although I like the original monochromatic scheme, I thought it needed just a little punching up with the real red snowflake adhesive die cut & Circle and with a little bling from the olive rhinestone brad.

For the card on the Right, I can't seem to find the card that inspired it, but it didn't end up looking much like the original anyway!

For both of these cards, we just duplicated them as is...I made these one's before the inspiration hit that I could just flip the DSP over for a different look.

To purchase the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit, just go HERE.  If you need Ribbon, just go HERE.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the Comment Section. 

I have a couple more cards to show you tomorrow, so stick around!  Erin

Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit Cards

Here are the first couple of cards we made with the ALL NEW Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit at my Simply Scrappin' Club in August.  We made 2 each of 10 different card designs.  Enjoy!

   

This top card was inspired from Jeanne's beautiful collection of cards that you can find HERE.  I based several of my cards from her set of cards, so you will be going over there quite a bit!

We made 2 cards just like this.  After I made mine, I realized I could have flipped the DSP over to get a little bit different look...oops!

For this card, I CASEd myself HERE which was actually a CASE of Nancy Kliewer's card that you can find HERE .

The other card we did like this used the reverse side of the DSP with the little red dots & I sponged the edges with Old Olive instead of the Real Red shown here.  I'd show it to you, but the card walked off with one of my clubbers...another oops!

 

These cards were inspired by Jeanne's Christmas Jingle Cards once again.  You can find her cards HERE.

  

Do these cards look vaguely familiar??  Hmmm?

Just look at the previous cards above & then turn your head to the left...ah-ha!  It's the same layout, just turned on it's side!  So smart, right??

I'll be posting more cards tomorrow, so please come back...ya hear!   Erin

Happiness is....

 

....20 Christmas Cards COMPLETED in August!!  I know it's September, but I made these at the end of August.  My Simply Scrappin' Club girls decided they wanted to get a head start on Christmas Cards, so we took the BRAND NEW Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit and made 20 cards in one sitting!!  I wanted to make more but time was not on our side!  I am going to make some more from the left overs (there was definitely enough DSP & Adhesive Die Cuts to make more, just need to add more Cardstock) & show them when they come next month.  Stay tuned over the next couple of days & I'll show you what's in my basket!!  Have a super, stampin day!  Erin