Accessorize with Shrinky Dinks :)

I've been waiting to show you this very fun project and its just the perfect time with the PPA's current Anything But a Card challenge. Aren't these 'fun' earrings?? I hope the recipient thinks so!! Do you remember playing with shrinking dinks when you were younger? What fun it was to watch them shrivel up? Well, I got to be a kid again and play with some shrinky dinks :) FUN!! Last year I had made these adorable wine glass charms using shrinky dinks and hoop earrings found at your local craft store. So, why not actually use the hoops for their intended purpose and make earrings?! Easy enough...
*Ran a piece of shrinky dink material through the Big Shot with the Snowflake #2 die. (Fun)
*Pressed my VersaMark pad all over my snowflake and added Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. (More Fun)
*Using my Heat Tool, and a popsicle stick (to keep the arms of the snowflake from sticking to each other in the heating process) I watched the magic of shrinky dinks :) (even more fun!!)
*Wait a few seconds to allow your transformed snowflake to cool. Popped out the Turquois rhinestone in the Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads and adhered to each side with Crystal Effects.
*Slipped on some beads, from the local craft store, and my snowflake onto the wire earring hoop and viola we have a fun dangly accessory. Did I mention this was fun? :) He he, love it!!

Hope you enjoyed my anything but a card project :) I wish you a very safe night bringing in the New Year with loved ones! A VERY Happy 2010 to you all! I'll be away until January 4th and then I'll be back to kreating with some new toys :) Until then, happy stamping...


Don't Forget: Only a few more days left of the Holiday Mini. Place your orders now through Monday Jan 4, 11:50pm (MT).

Shop ALL product orders online with me.

New products coming soon...

I've been enjoying my family and a bit of relaxation after the hustle and bustle of the season. Although it can be exhausting, I love baking scrumptious goodies, crafting and giving handmade gifts, being with family and friends, up til all hours ...I love this time of year, and am sad how soon it will be over. I have a few more preparations for some New Years celebrations ahead and another round of Christmas with all my in-laws, but then what?? Well I will get back to some normalsy and then have fun with some NEW goodies from the Occasions Mini Catalog. You will be able to begin ordering from this 43 page mini on Jan 5th. AND you will be pleased as punch to see some savings too! Save on storage with the new punch style, save money and storage with the CLEAR MOUNT stamps option. Preparing for Valentines, Easter, Mothers Day, spring, you will find something you like! And enjoy Sale-a-bration at the same time (spending $50+, pick free products out of the sale-a-bration catalog!!) If you'd like either of these catalogs, email me your address and interest and I will gladly pop one in the mail to you!! I have a fun project to show you tomorrow and then I will be away until January 4. I wish you all a very healthy and prosperous New Year!!

Don't Forget: Only a few more days left of the Holiday Mini. Place your orders now through Monday Jan 4, 11:50pm (MT).

Shop ALL product orders online with me.

Merry Christmas

Christmas comes so quickly, all the anticipation, all the preparations, all the joys of the season and then in a snap, it seems the day has passed all to quickly too.
I hope you can take some time during the last few busy hours to reflect on the true spirit of CHRISTmas. May you have a joyous time with all your friends and family.
God Bless and a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

I'll leave you with these Christmas projects (inspired by a gift given to my Pal Mike and this Rudy)

It's almost that time...He is getting ready to don his best trousers and call on the leader of his pack... Ho Ho Ho


Merry Christmas...And to all a great night!

Clean and Simple

Phew, I'm exhausted! And I still have baking and more wrapping to do. I know I'm not alone though am I ;)
I'm bringing a few kreations to you that are clean and simple to make, for any of those last minute card makers :)
It saddens me that I will soon be putting away all my Christmas sets and I haven't even had the chance to share all my kreations with you. Ah well, there is only so much time. Without further ado, because there is still much to do :) ... Here are a few kreations. Some CASE'd, tweaked in my own way, but inspired by some other wonderful talent out there.





Hope these inspire you for any of those last minute preparations!
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A Santa and some Snowmen

Yesterday my littlest turned 3. I just can't believe how time flies - Happy Birthday Samantha!











And what a treat to 'party' in a fresh snowfall. She and her sister had so much fun!














OYE, I've been SO busy, like I know many of you! So I will quickly show you what I did for my oldest daughters pre-school party. Cute little Santa's made using my Big Shot, the Top Note die and some punches. I perched him on giant Candy Canes for all the kids in her class. Cute right? PS - I don't know who the originator of this idea is, but if you know, I give them FULL credit :)
































My Simple Seasonal Thanks snowman, from the Holiday Mini Catalog (111548 available only through Jan 4, 2010) - kreated a cute little gift package for her teacher. Stamped in Stazon Black for a crisp image and snipped out using the fabulously sharp Paper Snips! Using some different colored SU Markers I decorated the hat and scarf. With some Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds I made the 'brim' of the hat shimmer. So cute! On his Only Orange carrot nose, I added a tad more Crystal Effects.
Packaged them and tied them up with Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon with a few dangling snowflakes (can be found online in the Clearance Rack!)






















Hope this inspires you for a few of those last minute gifts. Because of all the hustle and bustle I have left, my future posting will be short, but hopefully still inspiring :) Don't forget, the 12 Days of Holiday Sales ends tomorrow. If you own the Big Shot or like machine, you won't want to miss it!!Check out the items on sale online!

Shop ALL product orders online with me.

A Winter Wonderland

In the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend that he's a circus clown, we'll have lots of fun with Mr Snowman, until the other kids knock em down When it snows ain't it thrillin tho your nose gets a chillin, we'll frolic and play the Eskimo way, walking in a winter wonderland!

Welcome to my Winter Wonderland themed challenge for the PPA. One of my childrens favorite books is 'A Stranger in the Woods' - an endearing story of wildlife finding a new friend in the woods. We have many other snowmen story favorites, so I recreated a scene for my card. Let me tell ya, my oldest daughter is my biggest fan, but this card put her over the top. She thought it was the 'bestest' card I've ever made. I don't know about that, but to see how happy it made her is memorable!!


Now if you are looking for a quick card to make, this is not it LOL. But it was worth the time to see the look on my daughters face. :)


* Inked my snowflakes from Serene Snowflakes in VersaMark and stamped onto Glossy White Paper (leaving an area to left where my tree will stand later)

* A must, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and heat set to give those flakes a sparkle.

* Using my brayer and Bashful Blue ink, I rolled over the entire Glossy Paper. The snowflakes images resist the ink and kreate a perfect snowfall and sky

* I kreated my tall evergreen tree, inking my tree from Lovely as a Tree in Handsome Hunter and stamping it horizontally down the side.

* Went back with my Choc Chip Marker and added a trunk and some branches. Of course a little snowfall landed on a few branches using my White Signo Gel Pen and a few small accents with Crystal Effects and White Essential Chunky glitter. (sorry a photo doesn't capture these details)

* Tore a piece of Whisper White to kreate my mounds of snow. Brushed the edges with my VersaMark pad, added Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and set with my Heat Tool for the ultimate glistening snow.

* This cute little snowman comes from the Lev 2 Hostess set Snow Buddies in the Holiday Mini. Outlined him using Bordering Blue marker and completed the rest of him with a Basic Black Marker. A huff of breath to remoisten and stamped onto Whisper White. With my most favorite scissors ever, Paper Snips, get into every nook and crany! With my blender pen, I picked up some Bordering Blue ink and highlighted. Popped him up on dimensionals.

* Now to his 'Forest Friends', aren't these woodland creatures so cute, finishing off their snowman. My deer, inked in Soft Suede and snipped out, has the little twig arm nestled in his mouth. While one of his little bunny friend waits to place on his hat! Now you may be wondering how I have the bunny image in both directions... a little secret... I stamped him in Sahara Sand onto transparency paper and took a piece of Whisper White and firmly rubbed it onto the transparency. I will not lie, he initially was a tad blochy, but what wonders a Blender Pen and some more Sahara Sand ink can do!

* The perfect sentiment came from a retired RubOn set, Word Flurries. This item, 111417, can still be found in the Clearance Rack Online!! And what a deal $4.99 (reg $10.95)

* Added a Polka Dot Red Ribbon to the corner and placed it onto a standard Soft Suede Cardbase.

Hope you enjoyed my Winter Wonderland, now won't you go kreate your own Wonderland and don't forget to upload it to Mr Linky on the PPA!!

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Supplies:
Stamps: Forest Friends (113748), Snow Buddies (lev 2 hostess set - 116505), Lovely as a Tree (115026), Serene Snowflakes (115438_
Paper: Glossy White, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, VersaMark, Handsome Hunter, SU Markers: Bordering Blue, Basic Black, Real Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Brayer, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Chunky Essentials Glitter, Crystal Effects, Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon, Paper Snips, Blender Pen, retired RubOns

Vintage Hat Box

A bit of a 'later' post, but with all the hustle and bustle of the season, my days are getting increasingly more hectic. But I wanted to share one of my wrapping ideas with you. I absolutely love the versatility of my Vintage Ornament stencils. Click here to view a few other kreations. This is a small 'hat' box (approx 7" diameter) that I purchased at my local craft store.
* Place a little removable Dotto adhesive to the back of your stencil and position as desired. (Careful when removing stencil!)
* Mask your ornament hanger with a Sticky Note. Ink up a piece of your sponge in the color of your choice and rub sponge in your image, reinking sponge as necessary. Move mask into ornament, ink up a Sponge Dauber and ink your 'hanger'. The colors for my ornaments were Encore Gold hangers, Bravo Burgandy, Handsome Hunter and Soft Suede ornaments.
* Take your accent stencils and apply ink with a Sponge Dauber and kreate your decorative accent. (Gold Encore accents were used for this project)

Now is when to say enough is enough, but no I had to keep playing. Wishing I hadn't, as the design got a bit smudged and I had to attempt to fix it

* After trying to apply some shimmer paint to my center ornament, the Bravo Burgandy seemed to 'lift' a bit kreating more of a smeared look - NOT what I was going for :(
* What to do... I had some stencil paste which I used to 're' accent my flourish in my center ornament. After this dried, I applied some more Gold Encore ink to the flourish. It will have to do!
* Gold cording bows 'hug' the necks of each ornament
* Inked up the words, using a sponge dauber, from an image in the Christmas Punch lev 2 Hostess set in Bravo Burgandy and stamped.
* The gorgeous Wide Choc Chip Striped Ribbon fits snuggly around the rim of my 'hat' lid.

I thought this would end and go to the land of 'misfits', but I think I managed to save it. It didn't turn out entirely as I had hoped, but I hope it inspires you to get krafty with your packaging this holiday! Off to continue with more hustle and bustle :)

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Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Punch (hostess lev 2 115366)
Stencils: Vintage Ornaments I & II (117580, 118141 - from definitely decorative catalog)
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter, Soft Suede, Gold Encore Ink
Accessories: Gold cording (holiday mini), Wide 1-1/4" Choc Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponges, Sponge Daubers

12 Days of Holiday Sales

On the 12 days of holiday sales my true love gave to me, some Big Shot accessories...
From now until Dec 22nd you can order select dies and materials from 15-25% off the regular price. SU has expanded the colors of vinyl clings - order your favorite die and some vinyl and kreate your own home decor items! No quantity limits and no qualifiers to receive this offer! Order by December 15, 2009, in order to arrive in time for Christmas (the sooner the better!) Click here and then click Shop Now for the 12 days of Holiday Sales!

If you like sales, don't forget to check out the ONLINE Clearance Rack too for retired overstock items.

Needing last minute gift ideas for the stamper in your life? Make sure to check out the Holiday Gift Giving Guide and promotion and Shop ALL product orders online with me.

Serene and Lovely

Another kreation from stamping the night away with some friends. I love how this turned out. Serene and Lovely :) I took the general idea from this Dasher card I did and changed the focal image. There is something about Kraft and Soft Suede and the vintage feel, that I just love!
* Kraft standard card base. Distressed the edges with my Sponge Dauber and Soft Suede.
* Serene Snowflakes, inked in Soft Suede (some stamped off on scrap for a lighter image) and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, kreated a soft and pretty background.
* Ran a piece of Whisper White and Top Note Die through the Big Shot
* Inked up the trees image from Lovely as a Tree in Soft Suede ink.
* Inked up the stamp again in VersaMark and slightly offset it to the original Soft Suede image. Added Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder and set the sparkle with my Heat Tool. GORGEOUS, I tell ya. Click on the photo to enlarge for a close up - sorry it is so difficult to capture sparkle. But it is truly so pretty in person!
* Used the Horizontal Slot Punch and slipped a piece of the Wide Choc Chip Striped Ribbon through a tied it off with a linen thread bow.
* Added my sentiment from Many Merry Messages in Soft Suede again. Love it!

Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think. :)

I've been doing A LOT of online shopping lately {in my jammies :)} Gotta love the convenience!! Needing last minute gift ideas for the stamper in your life? Make sure to check out the Holiday Gift Giving Guide and promotion and Shop ALL product orders online with me.



Supplies:
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Serene Snowflakes (Holiday Mini)
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Suede, VersaMark, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (Holiday Mini)
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Linen Thread, Horizontal Slot Punch, Wide Choc Chip Striped Ribbon, Sponge Daubers

Simple Holiday Best

Oh what fun it is to play with stamping and some friends hey!! Friday night a few ladies from my group and I got to stamp until we cramped :) So I had lots of fun making up different style Christmas cards. This one was so simple. Having the Big Shot makes a word of difference to kreate quick cards - the texture alone is so pretty with such minimal effort! Don't delay, tell Santa you've been good this year and you'd really like the Big Shot!! I'd be happy to be one of Santa's helpful Elves and make all your crafty wishes come true :) Tell Santa to make it easy, shop ONLINE with me!
I was thrilled to finally ink up the 'Merry Christmas' image from the Holiday Best lev 1 hostess set. And what was better, it was the perfect fit for my Ornament Punch! How cool is that?!!
* Standard Whisper White card base
* Ran it through the Big Shot with the gorgeous Petals a Plenty embossing folder (found in the Holiday Mini)
* Inked up my image, from the hostess lev 1 Holiday Best, in VersaMark and stamped onto Real Red cardstock. Sprinkled White Embossing Powder over it and set it with my Heat Tool
* Lined up the image inside my Ornament Punch and had a beautiful decorated ornament
* 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon coordinates perfectly with the ornament
* Tied a Silver Cording (also in the Holiday Mini) bow around the neck of the ornament and added another piece 'hanging' from the ribbon
Simple, but I love the pop of red against the white! Hope you like it! I have so much more to show you :) Just need to find the time to type it up to share with you! Anyone else feeling the 'panic'??? I LOVE Christmas, but it is coming way too fast. So much to do... on that note, gonna run! Happy Stamping!

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Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Best (Hostess Lev 1 115364)
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Big Shot, Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder, 5/8" Real Red Ribbon, Ornament Punch, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Silver Cording

Vintage Dasher

Time for the next PPA challenge. PPA19 brings this Christmas photo to us for inspiration. You ready to play?











I love the vintage look of this Christmas inspiration. My interpretation, Kraft and Soft Suede just speak vintage to me. I wish I had a sled for my card, but I have my Dasher that pulls the sled :) Love that stamp and for only $8.95 ya just gotta have it!
* Standard card base of Kraft cardstock given that extra vintage feel by using my Sponge Dauber and Soft Suede ink to distress the edges
* Decorated my card front with the Serene'est' Snowflakes in Soft Suede and Frost White Shimmer Paint (sorry- difficult to see in the photo)
* Dasher was inked in Soft Suede, antlers touched with Frost White Shimmer Paint and stamped onto Whisper White. HINT: Shimmer Paints stay wet a bit longer than our Classic Ink and will allow embossing powder to stick and heat emboss. So while the antlers were still a bit 'wet', I sprinkled on a bit of Iridescent Ice and heat embossed to set my sparkle.
* The edges of the Whisper White were distressed with my finger nail and then inked with my Sponge Dauber and Soft Suede ink
* A snowy drift is kreated under Dashers hooves with some white Chunky Essentials glitter. Tip: Ran a hilly line with Crystal Effects and filled in underneath the line with more Crystal Effects and then sprinkled on the glitter.
* My sentiment from Many Merry Messages was inked in Soft Suede and stamped onto a strip of Kraft paper. Slipped the end into my Photo Corner Punch to kreate my 'tails'. Using a Crop a Dile, I added a Jumbo Eyelet to the other end.
* Wide Choc Chip Striped ribbon was threaded through the . The tails of the ribbon frayed by gently pulling the threads apart. And a linen thread bow tied around my ribbon, finished off my accent.

Hope you have time to play with the PPA. Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of my vintage interpretation. Happy Stamping!!

Shop ALL product orders online with me.


Supplies
Stamps: Many Merry Messages(116586), Dasher(116816), Serene Snowflakes
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Suede, Shimmer Paint Frost White
Accessories: Iridescent Ice, Heat Tool, Sponge Daubers, Photo Corner Punch, Crop-a-dile, Jumbo Eyelet, Chunky Essentials Glitter, Crystal Effects, Linen Thread

Christmas Hop

WELCOME to the Christmas/Winter Holiday Hop. A group of talented Stampin' Up! Demonstrators are ready to show off their paper crafting skills with inspirational ideas using Stampin' Up! products for the upcoming Christmas/Winter holiday season! We will showcase all that Stampin’ Up! has to offer – from rubber stamps, designer paper, embellishments, and much more.

Hop How-To
You can follow the full Holiday Hop from start to finish by clicking the “next blog” or “previous blog” graphic at the end of this post. Or click on any of the sites listed below. If you have arrived here from Jills blog, Stamping Heart, I am stop number #8 along the hop. We are all thrilled to have you visit and excited to hear what you think of our hop. Feel free to leave as many comments as you’d like along the way. Happy Hopping

I just love to decorate for Christmas, so I'm going to bring

you some decorating ideas and/or gift ideas. I won't go into full instructions for these projects, so you can continue the hop, but if you'd like more details, leave me a comment below or email me and I will be glad to help you.

OK, This is my absolute favorite. This Choc Chip Dasher Decor Element is available as a Hostess lev 2 item (117958). I had to have it. And he comes in Real Red, White, or Black too. Placed on this creme craft board all it needed, was something to hang it by. Old Olive wide striped ribbon was the perfect 'hanger' and 2 bows add a delicate accent. This will be hanging right over my gas fireplace in my basement. LOVE IT!

Now for some decorative tree trimmings - ornaments :)
I decorated the inside of this glass ornament by taking a piece of acetate and adhering my photo on one side (backed the photo with a piece of Rose Red cardstock and 'dated' my ornament - hides the back of the photo paper if your ornament happens to spin while hanging on the branch). Figure out approx diameter of your ornament and then cut a circle out of the acetate. TIP: Leave a notch where the neck of your ornament will be- gives you something to hold onto to slide into the ornament. Simply roll the acetate and pop it into the glass ornament. On its own, it will unravel inside the ornament. TIP: If it needs alittle extra help, slide a popsicle stick inside to 'flatten' out the acetate. Add some Chucky glitter to the inside and decorate the outside (GENTLY) with some RubOns. Super cute right??

Aren't these gorgeous? The same clear glass ornament as above... transform it into these colorful ornaments with some reinkers (here, Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay below), Dazzling Diamonds and Rub-Ons. Oooooo, aaaahhhhhh, right?
Wouldn't they make such great gifts?!

This ornament, oh I just love it, is kreated with a Sweet Treat Cup and the Snowflake #2 die. A picture of my 2 girls in last years snowfall, is punched out with the 1-3/4" Circle Punch. Before adhering the picture to my sweet treat cup, some White Chucky Essentials Glitter was added inside (like a snow globe). My snowflake, which was run through the Big Shot using the cardboard backing from the DSP packs, was cut apart and mounted on the rim of the cup using Crystal Effects. My 'handy' work was covered with sparkle (a mixture of the Chunky Essentials White and Silver Glitter) Then each of the flake 'petals' was covered with Crystal Effects and more Chunky Glitter. Again, LOVE IT !!!

And finally, the Delightful Decorations set and my Ornament punch kreated this ornament to dangle and jingle off a branch. 9 ornaments were stamped in Real Red and punched out. Bent in half and adhered back to back. Before adhering that last ornament, I slid in my ribbon, kreated my loop for hanging and glued it to the inside using MultiPurpose Tombo. Finish adhering that last ornament, once dry, I added a 2 jingle bells with silver cording. Cute Cute :)

Hope you will give some of these ideas a try! I have more decor and gift ideas to come, so stop back in when ya can :)

Thanks so much for hopping by. If you've enjoyed the stop, won't you please take a moment to leave me a comment. Love to know your thoughts :) If you'd like to order any of the products featured in my projects, Order Online @ http://www.kimberlyjoy.stampinup.net/ or email me. Any questions, I'm just a click away!

OK, lets keep hopping!!! If you are on track, please continue to Stampin' Fabulousity to see what fabulous things Kalsheila has done! For your convenience, click on the arrows to find the previous or next blog spot. If misdirected along the way, you will find the list of participants below and a link to their blog. Happy Hopping!

1. Kris (Kween Bee Kreations)
2. Carla (Carla's Scraps)
3. Linda (Stampin' Seasons)
4. Melanie (Oops a Daisy)
5. Mary (Stampin' Pretty)
6. Trish (Soul Stamper)
7. Jill (Stamping Heart)
8. Kim (Stamp, Scrap, Get Kreative)
9. Kalshelia (Stampin' Fabulousity)
10. Regina (The Stampin' Bean)
11. Margaret (Margaret Moody)
12. Debbie (Stampin' Sunshine)
13. Ann (The Stampin' Schach)
14. Gina (Cards by Gina)
15. Lourdes (Cozy Crafty Corner)