No Time To Stamp?

Let’s be Thrifty — I love the simple and natural look of brown postal wrap and/or the inside of brown paper grocery sacks.  I use them often at Christmas to wrap packages, but they would work well in card making, too!  And that is today’s challenge — use either brown postal wrap OR the inside of a paper grocery sack in your project.  And your project may be anything at all — a card, a wrapped pacakge, a 3-D or altered item — decorated to the hilt or done plain and simple — let’s just collectively find some uses and share ideas for using a fun, inexpensive and under-utilitized product! 

Keyword ssnotime112 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoast and/or your Blog, anytime at all. You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!) can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

As we leave October behind, we have to say goodbye to Amy who graced us with her lovely, clean and fun designs all month!  We know where you are, Amy — we’ll be watching and hope you can continue to play with us sometime.  Be sure to stop in and visit Amy at Ink About Me.  You’ll be glad you did!!!

And with the new month comes a new Guest Designer — always fun — and today I’m so pleased to let you know that Bethany Paull has agreed to play with  us for the month of November!   I was drawn to Bethany’s work a few years ago over at SCS and I know you’ll love her designs that are filled with fun and life!!!  Welcome, Bethany!!!  You can visit her at It’s Not All Black and White.

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these fabulous designers:

• Bethany, November Guest Designer
• Janine   
• Julie 
• AJ
• Tammy 
• Deb  
• Barbara
• Jenny
• Barb Schram 

Please bear with us all as we each upload and link on Thursday night.  Everyone should be up and set by Friday morning.

You may see all SCS Gallery Submissions here.

And here’s my thrifty creation for this week:

A brown paper grocery sack and white cardstock are the only papers used — how’s that for being thrifty!  I wrapped my box in a brown paper grocery sack turned inside out and there’s some paper bag detail on the tag as well.  Check out the edges of my box — see them shimmer?  I just quickly and without much care DTP’d (direct to paper) my box edges with the VersaMark Pad and then I brushed on Perfect Pearls in gold, wiping off the excess with a Swiffer cloth.  It gave my box kind of a shimmery and *special* glow!  I used the white *hairy* yarn for the ribbon to wrap the package and my lush Velvet Zig Zag  ribbon for the bow and the accent on the tag.

See the brown paper bag strip under the heart?  It is edged with gold painty pen, as is the  tag.  The top layer of the two layered punched snowflake is also my grocery sack.  After punching it, I squished it in the Versa Mark Pad and then brushed on the Perfect Pearls in Gold — really shimmery and nice!

And see my focal image?  That’s from a NEW RELEASE by JustRite.  This set of versatile sentiments can be purchased in 2 ways — either individually as a center/border set or in a kit providing you with everything you need to start stamping.  Here’s the graphics of the set:

Just a Note Borders & Centers 1 5/8″  - $15.95

10 Borders and Centers Included. Can be used with either 1-5/8″ or 2″ Round Stampers.

 OR, these same images can be purchased as part of  a kit:

Custom Design Cardmaking Kit - $29.95

This Cardmaking Kit includes a 2″ Round Stamper, 95pt uppercase Times New Roman font set (36 pieces), 50pt uppercase TNR font set (92 pieces), 15pt TNR font set for customizing borders, and 10 (1-5/8″) borders and centers.

I am glady accepting preorders for either of  these new release sets shown above, as well as all the releases this week by JustRite.  You may click here and here to see samples I made with the NEW Square Monogram product, and you may click here to see a sample I’ve done with the NEW 2″ Wide Monogram product.

Feel free to email me with questions or orders!  ssj@up.net

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store has a lot of specials going on right now to help you in your holiday preparation.  Here’s a quick rundown:

• All ribbon by the spool  is currently 15% off.

• I’m offering  30% off the original boxed Monogram Sets. Damask, Curlz and Special Occasions Monogram Sets are 30% off — $13.25, $17.45 and 17.45, respectively.   They come in attractive and sturdy boxes, perfect for gift giving.

• All buttons are greatly reduced.

• Also, ALL CHRISTMAS SETS are 20% off.  That includes:

  • A Merry Little Christmas (1 5/8″ round size) - $12.75

  • Holiday Demi Phrases (2″ round, but fits others as well) - $10.35

  • Old Fashioned Christmas (3 1/4″ round) - $11.95

  • Christmas Treasures (3 1/4″ round) - $11.95

  • Christmas Joy (smaller oval, 1 3/4 x 2 5/16″ size) - $11.95

Be sure to stop by the JustRite Blog to check out all the wonderful inspiration they have shared this week with their new product.

I’ve loved working the new JustRite products this week and  you’ll be seeing more of them as I continue to share some cards and quick projects with Christmas in mind! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Oh yes, round monograms JUST got bigger and better!!   JustRite’s day two reveal is the 2″ Round Deluxe Monogram product with beautiful and ornate borders!!!  I made a quick gift today to share with you.

I am accepting preorders for all the new JustRite product being revealed this week.  And, I am putting ALL JustRite Christmas sets on sale (details below).   But first, let’s look at the quick gift I made today:

Another Wal-Mart treasure!  It smells SO good — Lemongrass Sage Verbena — A delight for the senses!!!  But, of course, I could never give it as it was, so with a few quick additions I had a dressed up candle, all set to give!  I used the BRAND NEW 2″ Round  Wide Borders.  They may have been designed with monogramming in mind, but guess what?  All the JustRite 1 5/8″ centers fit in them — OH happy day!!!  How this expands the use of all our 1 5/8″ centers!!! 

I used a border from the 2″ Round Wide Borders, which is a perfect choice for those of you who already own the 2″ stamper and some font (the Stamper, Font and Borders come with the Kit).  I decided to use this pretty candle image from A Merry Little Christmas.  My paper is SU Bravo Burgundy and my ribbon is the 1.5″ Striped Grosgrain by May Arts that I carry in The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.  One Kaiser Rhinestone dresses it up just enough.  My Petite Circle Nesties by Spellbinders were used to cut the Border pieces, while I used my SU punches, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8, to cut the focal image.

And, of course, I have to show you my bow on the back of the candle.  It’s just wrapped around the candle and tied into a bow.  It’s easy to work this wide ribbon into a nice bow that holds its shape.  Trim the tails and done!  My Fiskars Scissors give me perfect cuts EVERY time!

Here’s a visual of the product used.  On the left is the 2″ Round Stamper, the Times New Roman Font and the 4 Borders that are included when you purchae the 2″ Round Deluxe Monogram Kit.  On the right are the 9 borders that come when you purchase the Decorative 2″ Wide Round Borders.  And in the background is A Merry Little Christmas that I used for the center focal image on my 1 5/8 Wood Stamper.

The 2″ Round Monogram product is available to you in 2 formats and here are the graphics:

 2″ Round Deluxe Monogram Kit (contains Stamper, Font and 4 Borders) - $24.95

This monogram kit includes a 2″ Round Stamper, 4 Borders, 95pt uppercase Times New Roman font set (36 pieces),50pt uppercase TNR font set (92 pieces), and an uppercase 15pt TNR font set (264 pieces)– that’s 392 characters!

Decorative 2″ Round Wide Borders (9 Borders Only ) - $14.95

This set containing borders only is the perfect choice for those of you already owning a 2″ Round Stamper and some font.

______________________________

To preorder and get on my list for 1st shipment, email me at ssj@up.net. 

Check out The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for your ribbon selections. I have many items specially priced for your holiday preparation — just email me to order at ssj@up.net:

• All ribbon by the spool  is currently 15% off.

• I’m offering  30% off the original boxed Monogram Sets. Damask, Curlz and Special Occasions Monogram Sets are 30% off — $13.25, $17.45 and 17.45, respectively.   They come in attractive and sturdy boxes, perfect for gift giving.

• All buttons are greatly reduced.

• And as of today, ALL CHRISTMAS SETS are 20% off.  That includes:

  • A Merry Little Christmas (1 5/8″ round size) - $12.75

  • Holiday Demi Phrases (2″ round, but fits others as well) - $10.35

  • Old Fashioned Christmas (3 1/4″ round) - $11.95

  • Christmas Treasures (3 1/4″ round) - $11.95

  • Christmas Joy (smaller oval, 1 3/4 x 2 5/16″ size) - $11.95

Be sure to check out the JustRite Blog each day this week as they reveal the new product and offer Blog Candy.   I, too, will have daily samples to share as the new product reveals!  Thanks SO much for stopping in!  Have a great day!

Oh, and don’t forget there is still an active Blog Candy Post over at the Flower Soft Blog!

This is just a quick little gift to bring when you’re invited out this time of year, whether it be a full-fledged meal or even just an evening cup of coffee with warm apple pie!   I have a friend who is especially fond of pretty paper napkins, and she always has them on hand to suit the time of year, so when I found these I just had to pick them up.

Isn’t it pretty, and SIMPLE!  A gift you can put together in just a few minutes.  I have 2 packages of paper napkins wrapped in 1.5″ Striped Ribbon and a seasonal tag is tied on with 1/8″ Jute Cording.  And did you realize a lot of the autumn items are already on 1/2 price sales in the stores?  I picked these up at JoAnn Fabric for 50% off.    It’s a good time to pick up some things at reasonable prices, put some gifts together, and be all set when that invitation comes!

This little tag actually opens so you can write your message inside.  The top stamped piece is merely attached to the bottom layer with a SU Jumbo Brad.  My stamped image is from Autumn Blessings Set by JustRite.  The leaves on the border are very small and it only took a minute to get a little color on them with my Copics — not a lot of fuss here at all.

______________________________

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store  carries the following items to make this project:

Autumn Blessings Set used on the 2 1/4″ x 3 1/16″ Oval Stamper by JustRite.

VersaFine Vintage Sepia Ink.

Classic Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders.

1.5″ Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and 1/8″ Jute Cording by May Arts

______________________________

Thanks much for checking in again!  I truly do appreciate it.

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store reminder:  I am still without computer access (this post was pre-set), so if you’ve emailed me to place an order or ask a question, I should be home and able to respond by Sunday evening. Thank you SO much for your patience!

Flower Soft, that is!  Our assignment for this month’s Flower Soft Blog Hop was to create an out-of-the-box project using Flower Soft products.  Well, all you have to do is say the word *box* to me, in any context, and I’m right on it — literally, with a *box* — LOL!!!  I LOVE making boxes, but today I had a purchased box sized perfectly to this large Santa image, so I went with it.  Here’s a peek:

My box measures about 8 x 7 x 3″ deep.  The Flower Soft Card Topper Santa (available for purchase July 24) is 5.75″ square.  It is double matted and then adhered to my box covered in River Rock DP.  These Card Toppers are so fun to work with. The Toppers come with punch out parts to layer and build up your image for a FAB 3-D look. The Series is called Cute Christmas and the package I used is called I Love Santa.  There are 6 Toppers and parts for them.  Take a close-up look:

Can you see all of Santa’s Flower Soft?  I used the brand new Polar White, which is SO pretty and has a bit of a sparkle to it.  I used it for Santa’s fluffy hat fur and his beard, but it is also the PERFECT product for snow.  And as much as I hate to think of snow right now, it won’t be long and we will ALL be making snowy white cards!!!!  I’m glad I’m prepared!!!  There were such large areas to cover on this Santa image with glue, I just used my finger to spread my Flower Soft Glue.  Maybe not the most neat way to do things, but it got the job done quickly with good coverage.  And every time I use Flower Soft, I am just amazed at how tightly it sticks and how durable it is.  It just does NOT flake off and get all over like other products might.  Gotta really love it for that!

Here I wanted to show you the elevation and 3D effect that is achieved by layering the pieces and parts.  I used the SU Dimensionals between all my layers.  They are thin enough to use when doing these multi-layers - worked just perfectly!

My ribbon is 1.5″ and 3/8″Gingham by May Arts, made using the Bow Easy, both from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.  The cute Don’t Peek tag that teddy is holding is from the new Tiny Words Set by JustRite. My die cut corners are Cuttlebug corner dies run through my Xyron X.  I liked how the curvy border on Don’t Peek kind of matched my die cut corners.

Stamps: Tiny Words Set by JustRite used on the 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper

Paper:SU Black, White, Real Red, River Rock Prints DP

Ink: Versa Fine Onyx Black

Accessories: Flower Soft  Polar White, Flower Soft Glue, Flower Soft Card Toppers (Cute Christmas/I Love Santa), 1.5″ and 3/8″ Gingham Ribbon, Bow Easy, Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Cuttlebug Corner Dies, Cuttlebug, SU Dimensionals, Eyelet, Cropadile, Glue Glider

Shopping:

Flower Soft for these fun Card Toppers, Flower Soft Glue and the new Polar White Flower Soft.  Please note: The Card Topper I used and the Polar White will be available for purchase on July 24.

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for the May Arts Gingham Ribbon and the Bow Easy

JustRite for the Tiny Words Set containing the Don’t Peek sentiment

Please be sure to check out the projects done by the rest of the  fabulous Flower Soft Design Team, and bear with us as we are all uploading on Monday morning:

Jennifer Buck- DT Coordinator

AJ Otto

Carole Burrage

Niki Estes

Charmaine Ikach

Deb Saaranen

Val Stangle

Sharon Johnson - that’s me!

Once again I thank you so much for stopping in!  Hope you’ve enjoyed this peek at some new Flower Soft Product.  As always, wishing you all a wonderful week!  I’ll be back soon!  Have a great day everyone!

Keyword ssnotime82 -There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload yourproject at Splitcoastand/or your Blog, anytime at all! You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!)can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

Hang it Up! This time of year I’m itching to hang out the laundry (and I know, you city folk don’t do that!), but lets hang some things up this week. I love a little hanging tag or hanging charm. Or make a project that *hangs*, or stamp am image of something this is hanging — you get the idea — a loose interpretation is always fine and fun!!! Let’s just get busy and *hang it up* — and have fun while you’re at it!!!

Check out the greatsamples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these designers:

• Jenny,April Guest Designer (Jenny has BLOG CANDY today!)
• Janine
• Jennifer
• Julie
• AJ
• Becky
• Dee

Please bear with us as we are all uploading and linking on Thursday night.

You can see all Gallery Submissions here.

What wonderful samples!!! Thank you girls!!! Much appreciated!!!

Heres myhanging creations for today:

I made two things today, using up some more of my seed packs! And since I had hanging clothes on my mind, I chose to use clothespins today — the large one that I altered for notes and the tiny ones clipped to the top of my seed packs! I’ve always had sort of an attraction to clothes pins — LOL — real ones, I mean - I don’t know why — I just like them!!! This was a fun project that would make a great little gift for Mother’s Day or any early springtime gift!!! Oh, almost forgot, I used the label maker for the sentiments so I could play in Julia’s Ways to Use It Challenge today over at SCS — it was to use labels in your work– and I did!!!

Here’s alittle cleaner view of my door hanger and clothes pin holder with all the seed packets removed. I used Mod Podge to adhere the DP to the wood. I like using it for this type of work — it dries quickly and holds tightly. In just a few minutes I was able to sand all my edges nice and smooth and I then used ink to DTP the edges for a more finished look. These went together very quickly — a fun and quick little project to try!!!

A closeup of the top of the hanger. You can see I DTP’d the edges in a more yellowish ink to bring out the bit of yellows in the paper. My two color ginghams went well with this paper. They are 7/8″ May Arts and are available in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store along with other May Arts ribbons. My buttons are adhered with mini glue dots.

To form the pocket on the bottom I just cut a piece to size, stitched the edges at the machine, then attached it on 3 sides with red sticky strip. I then added the ribbon to finish it off nicely! And my label maker provided the wording, in compliance with Julia’s challenge today. And it wasn’t until I got to this point I realized there was NO stamping on thisproject — and that’s OK.

And here’s the clothes pin which is upside down and used as a note clip. Very quick and easy little project. The hanger and the clothespin are by Creative Imaginations in their Bare Elements line available at Michaels.

Stamps: None

Paper: Margo by K & Co (Michaels)

Ink: ColorBox Chalk Bisque

Accessories: May Arts 7/8″ Gingham available at the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, Seed Packs, Sewing Machine and Thread; from Wal-Mart: Buttons, Sanding Block, Mod Podge, Dymo Label Maker; from Michaels: Creative Imaginations Bare Elements Door Hanger and Clothes Pin, Jolees tiny clothespins, Zots.

Thank you all so much for stopping in again today. Hope you have time to think about trying this challenge– it’s a fun one, wide open to your own interpretation!!! Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, filled with whatever it is that pleases you!!! Thanks — see you soon!

Today’s a fun day! TheJustRite CHA Release #1 Blog Hop is today, featuring a good 10+ fabulous designers creating fun projects with NEW JustRite product that they now have available to ship to you!!! How fun. Scroll to the very bottom of my post for links to all the designers participating in today’s Blog Hop. And here’s the project I made:

It’s a 5 panel Accordion Pocket Card holding seeds for herbs! What a fun gift to give, and so simple to make. I’ll show you how after a few more pics!

Here’s a close up of one of the pocket panels. This was so easy to do using my Scor-It to create the accordion folds and pockets, and again, instructions will follow. I have to tell you, I knew a while back I wanted to do an accordion pocket card for seed packs, so I went on a seed buying spree — LOL!!! I have many coordinated sets of seed packs in some GORGEOUS colors, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see me sowing more seeds in these parts — LOL!!! All the perimeter verbiage is with NEW Just Rite product which I’ll explain in a bit.

This is what the accordion looks like with the seed packs removed. I love this Blue Awning paper by K & Co from Michaels. I accented the tops with my 1.5″ striped grosgrain ribbon by May Arts which I have in the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

Here I just wanted to show you the SU Jumbo Eyelet and those little tiny Mini Library Clips. Gotta love that SU hardware!!! Those Jumbo Eyelets work so well just to run a wide ribbon through totie up in an application such as this! See the *Sprinkled with Love* - that is one of the new Demi Phrases from JustRite that fits their new 2″ Wood Stamper. It’s just the upper half of the border. You fill in the bottom with whatever you like using the new 15 pt font that comes with the 2″ stamper. I filledmine in with the names of my seeds — how fun and how versatile!!!

OK, now let’s get to the HOW TO for this Accordion Pocket Card. Here are the measurements for your card base:

Panel #1

Cut 4 wide x 7.5 high

Using your Scor-It, score 2 up from bottom to form pocket

Panel #2 & 3

Cut 8.5 wide x 7.5 high

Using your Scor-It, score in from left edge to form tab

Score 4.5 in from left edge to form 2 panels

Score 2 up from bottom to form pocket

Panel #4 & 5

Cut 8.5 wide x 7.5 high

Using your Scor-It, score in from left edge to form tab

Score 4.5 in from left edge to form 2 panels

Score 2 up from bottom to form pocket

Just a view of the last 2 panels as they are being scored. Sorry you can’t read the writing on these views — that’s why I printed all the measurements above. As you can see, using the Scor-It, I can quickly and easily score all my folds as well as my pocket that runs across the bottom.

Once all 3 pieces are cut and scored, this is what they’ll look like. As you can see, I cut off the lower left bottomtab section, and angled the bottom of the tabs. I then also cut the score line on the pocket that folds up at the center score separating the panels. Justusing my scissors I cut out only a sliver — just the width of the scored channel from the Scor-It. Doing this makes a world of difference in how your pocket accordion will function. It gives it room to bend on the folds without any extra bulk. These are layed out in position to be adhered together with red sticky tape.

Once the base card is adhered together, I then cut and adhered on my DP pieces as shown above. (They were DTP’d (directto paper) on the edges first) Even before that, however, I did clip my corners. I just made a corner template from heavy cardstock and then used it as a guide to clip all my corners with scissors. I also stamped my initials using the Times New Roman Font Uppercasein 95 pt on my original Harmony Classic Circle Stamper1. Meanwhile, I also had my 2″ Wood Stamper set up with the Demi Phrase on top and I kept changing my bottom herb names as I stamped along. I had a regular little assembly line going — then I cut all my circles for mat layers.

And here’s the new product in its blister packaging. You’ll love the 2″ Wood Stamper. It comes with that fun bonus center and the new 15 pt Times New Roman Font. That bonus center is a fun colorable image!!! You can also see the package of Celebrations Demi Phrases that I used. Talk about NICE to just snap in an entire phrase — very cool!!! And for my initial I used my Times New Roman Font Uppercase in my originalHarmony Classic Circle Stamper I. Tried and true — love those original stampers for monograms!!!

Stamps: All by JustRite: Wood 2″ Stamper w/15 pt. Font and Bonus Center, Celebrations Demi Phrases to fit the 2″ Wood Stamper, Times New Roman Font Uppercase, Harmony Classic Circle Stamper I.

Paper: SU Chocolate Chip; PTI Vintage Cream; Prism Spring Willow Dark (Stampers Dream); K & Co. Blue Awning (Michaels)

Ink: Versa Fine Vintage Sepia; Color Box Chalk Blue Iris

Accessories: Scor-It; May Arts 1.5″ Striped Grosgrain, Hemp (Wal-Mart), Seed Packets (Fleet Farm), Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders; SU: Jumbo Eyelets, Mini Library Clips, Cropadile, Red Sticky Tape, Dimensionals; Glue Glider

And please HOP ON OVER to these fabulousmembers of the JustRite Blog Teamto check out more fun and innovative ideas to use all the new JustRite product NOW available to you:

JustRite Stampers Blog

Barb Schram

Becca Feeken

Debbie Olson

Heidi Blankenship

Kellie Fortin

Lauren Meader

Lisa Somerville

Michelle Wooderson

Sharon Harnist

Taylor Van Bruggen

Thank you SO MUCH for checking in!!! I always appreciate your visits and hearing what you have to say — now, be sure NOT to miss those blogs linked above — you’ll enjoy the trip!!! See you soon!!!

Welcome to Day11 of Stamp Simply Celebrates! If you are new here, check out Party Central for a full rundown of our 12 day schedule. Feel free to jump in anytime at all!!!

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!!You DO NOTneed to have a Blog to play uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!

AJ Otto - The Willow Garden - Are you wrapping gifts yet? Probably! Ill bet you need some pretty tags to dress thosepackages up well, be sure to check in on AJs Featured Project today to see all her Gift Tags. And then play AJs Challenge so you, too, can have some nice gift tags on hand!!! Be sure to stop in at AJs today!

You can see more tag samples by checking out the Blogs of: Heather, Janine, LeAnne, Jerri and Sharon (that’s me, just scroll down).

Jerri Jimenez - A Touch of Grace - Today Jerri will grace us with her Featured Project which is abeautiful 6 x 6 Scrapbook she made, which is certain to be a real treat for the eyes. Jerri also has BLOG CANDY to offer today (think scrapbooking made easy), so be sure to stop in to see Jerri!!!

Other scrapbook samples can be seen by checking out: Barb, Jennifer.

Deb Saaranen - Dream in Color - Deb has an offering of BLOG CANDY for us today!

Jerri Jimenez - A Touch of Grace - Jerri also has BLOG CANDY to offer today so be sure to stop in to see Jerri!

Today I wanted to play along with AJ’s Challenge to create some gift tags. Well, I really went simple — LOL!!! Take a look:

We have friends who own a sugar bush** (see below) and we always like to have some gifts of syrup on hand, all wrapped and ready to go for those times when you need just a little something you may not have counted on. I got 3 bottles ready today with my cute, and simple, little tags. I first wrapped each bottle in clear cellophane wrap. I love that stuff and try to always have many rolls on hand. It can make even a simple gift look festive at any time of year. And can you see the top of the cellophane — it is cut flat. Rather than leave all the peaks the paper naturally forms when you pull it all up, I like to give it a haircut. I just bunch it all up together nice and tight in my hands and then clip across it with my scissors so I get a nice flat top. I just like that look on my syrup bottles.

Editing to add: So many are asking me what a *sugar bush* is — gee, makes me chuckle. A sugar bush is that area of the woods that a person owns with hard maple trees that are tapped for sap to boil into syrup. The sap is then boiled in the *sugar shack*. I asked my DH if these terms were slang to this area — he thought not — I didn’t really think so either. ARE these common terms to most of you??? LOL!!!

Here’s a closer look at the tag. The maple leaf is from First Fruits by Papertrey Ink, stamped with Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight, then overstamped with a sentiment from SU’s Star Studded Christmas in Versa Fine Onyx Black. It is cut and embossed with my Petite Circle Nesties by Spellbinders. The matting is with myunknown Bronze Brushed Metallic paper from my stash and I used Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware by SU for my hanger. The ribbon is May Arts white satin, so soft, in two difference widths.

Here’s a look at the back of the tag. Just cut another circle with the Nesties, stamped on the To/From and adhered it to the back of the tag. SO simple to make, yet I think they look a little fancy or special because of the Kaleidacolor ink, the Bronze Metallic paper and the hardware. Fun!!!

And here I just wanted to show you my To/From block. I put this together a month or so ago and will leave it in tact until all my holiday gift wrapping in finished. I have created 2 To/From sentiments on this one block — one a little larger than the other, so I have a size to suite whatever I need it for. Sure comes in handy during the holidays!!! The smaller green sentiment is done in Brayton Font and the bit larger sentiment is done in Times New Roman Font. There are 3 sizes of font in each font box purchased. And the block they are on is the smaller of the 2 rectangle stampers that come in the Rectangle Stamper Set.

And again that wraps it up for tonight!!! Thanks again so much for stopping in. We have one more dayof Stamp Simply Celebrates! and I do want to point out that tomorrow I will have 2 posts up, so be sure to check them both out. One will be for my last Blog Candy offering and the other will be our regular Friday Stamp Simply Challenge — and it’s really a fun one this week that I think will give you a ton of layout ideas for simple cards — so try to come back if you can!!! Thanks so much!!!

Welcome to Day10 of Stamp Simply Celebrates! If you are new here, check out Party Central for a full rundown of our 12 day schedule. Feel free to jump in anytime at all!!!

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!!You DO NOTneed to have a Blog to play uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!

Leslie Miller - Running With Scissors - Today we are treated to the beauty of Leslies work with her Featured Project where she is showing us how toAlter Food Packaging to turn it into a wonderfully warm, cozy,and sweet gift item that anyone would love to receive!!! And its something we can all easily do! I know you wont want to miss this, so be sure to visit Leslie today!!!

You can see more great samples of Leslie’s Project by: Dee, Jennifer

Joan Fricker - Joans Garden - Joan offers us a beautiful Featured Project today who doesnt love beautifully presentedSoap and Candle Gifts! Well, especially these soaps and candles!!! And you can make your own as a part of Joans Challenge, with inspiration from many!!! Be sure to check out this sweetly scentedevent!

And there are many more samples of Joan’s Challenge. Check out: LeAnne, Dee, AJ, Heather, Barb, Darlene, Janine, Sharon (that’s me, just scroll down)

Tammy Hershberger - Stamp Happy - Tammy is offering BLOG CANDY today!

LeAnne Pugliese - Wee Inklings - LeAnne also has a BLOG CANDY offering today!

I wanted to play in Joan’s Challenge today and decorate a soap type gift I purchased. Well, it really isn’t soap, they are all lotions, but close enough in my book!!! This is what I purchased.

This Shea Cashmere is from Bath and Body and it smells SO good - I wish I had some for myself!!! I purchased the tray in back from the candle section of Wal-Mart for them to sit on. I did it up in a winter theme for gift presentation, but realize the snow and pinecones will be tossed, but thought the tray still would work on a bathroom counter.

Here it is, all done up!!! Looks nice and wintery!!! And that’s perfect for us at Christmas!!! I used some artificial snow from Wal-Mart and my own natural pinecones from our yard. Ribbon is 1″ wide satin by Mary Arts, hardware is Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware from SU, blue rhinestones are by Kaiser.

All stamped images on this gift project are by JustRite. The above tagis from the Christmas Ensemble (check the JustRite sale outhere), used with the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III. Papers used are PTI White, SU Bashful Blue and an unknown Bronze Brushed Metallic. It goes well with the copper hardware. The sentiment is copper embossed.

This is a tube of hand cream. I did a monogram on this, using the Special Occasions Font and the border from 10 Designers Centers and Borders. These are used with the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper I. Again, this is a good example of the versatility of the JustRite products and how well they work together.

And here’s the jar top — it’s always fun to decorate a flat jar top. I did use my Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders to do all the cutting and embossing on this project. Again, all sentiments are copper embossed and on this jar lid the snowflake border from the Christmas Ensemble was stamped in French Blue Chalk Ink by Colorbox. The little cat’s eye format makes it easy to just apply the ink to the border.

And againthat wraps up this project. Hope you check out all the samples available today by clicking on the links provided at the top of this post. And, as usual, I’d like to thank you for stopping in — and I hope your Christmas preparations are going as you expected!!! Stamp Simply Celebrates! runs through Friday, so hope to see you tomorrow as well!!!

Welcome to Day7 of Stamp Simply Celebrates! If you are new here, check out Party Central for a full rundown of our 12 day schedule. Feel free to jump in anytime at all!!!

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!!You DO NOTneed to have a Blog to play uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!

Susan Roberts - Rainy Day Creations - How often do we give Gift Card Holders? Well, if youre like me, probably a lot!!! Susans Featured Project today shows us a quick gift card holder to make and she Challenges us to make our own, using her template or your own. Susan also has a BLOG CANDY offering today. You wont want to miss this, so be sure to visit Susan today!

You can see some more wonderful samples of gift card holders from Susan’s designers by checking out these blogs: Janine, Jennifer, Darlene, and AJ

Dee Jackson- Stampin cuz I Luv 2 -For her Featured Project today, Dee puts together some gorgeous Packaging for YourFood Items how fun!!! Her Challenge today provides many beautiful samples for you to see and to be inspired by so you can prepare your own packaged delectables for those on your gift list. Be sure to stop in at Dees today to see the sweet treats she and her designers have prepared for you!!!

You can see more beautifully packaged food gift items by checking out Dee’s designers at these blogs: CAT, Jennifer, Darlene, Heather and Barb. I have a packaged food item as well, and you can just scroll down to see that!

Susan Roberts - Rainy Day Creations has a blog candy offering today in addition to her challenge listed above.

Sharon Johnson - No Time to Stamp? - Thats me with more BLOG CANDY think specialty papers and just keep looking, because here it is:

Today’s Blog Candy was graciously donated by Marco’s Paper. From reading past comments I realize many of you are familiar with Marco’s Paper, but I wasn’t until a few months ago and, oh my goodness, what a store!!! Totally filled with paper and supplies for any paper crafter!!! Today we have from Marco’s Paper15 sheetsof the Accordion Cardstock that I used on this post the other day. It is 5.5″ x 25″ and makes doing accordion projects so easy. We also have a pack of 1/2 sheets of the Mirri Reflective Card that I’ve been using so much lately - OH, do I LOVE this paper. If you’ve never used it, you’ll be in for a treat! It is highly reflective — truly a mirrored surface — and it works up SO nicely into pretty, elegant cards. It adds such a richness and class — I just love it!!! It comes in a large variety of colors and this pack has samplings of them all. I did open my pack and have it spread out so you can see the colors. And you can also see in the photo how highly reflective it truly is! Also we have a package of 50 White Announcement Envelopes in A-2 size. THANK YOU MARCO’S PAPER!!!! MUCH APPRECIATED!!! And in doing these links, I just noticed their announcement on the home page about FREE shipping with a $50 purchase through Dec 15 — that’s Monday!!! Just letting you know!

To be entered for this Blog Candy drawing, all you need to do is comment below and tell me what type of paper you usemost often OTHER THAN standard cardstock. Nice and simple!!! This post will be closed for Blog Candy entries at 6:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 12, 2008. Shortly thereafter a random winner will be selected by random.org. The winner will be posted both on this thread and at Party Central. OK, now on to my project:

I played in Dee’s challenge today to come up with ways to attractively package gifts of food. Food gifts are SO totally practical and I think always appreciated, so it’ll be fun to see what everyone comes up with! My project today is SO simple. I took an already pretty bag of Ghirardelli Chocolate Peppermint Coffee. It was done in candy cane stripes of red and white which, much to my glee, was the EXACT same color as the red Mirri Card that I wanted to use today!!! AllI did was wrap with ribbon, attach my Merry Christmas sentiment medallion, hang on a tag, make a simple card to match, and DONE!!! It turned a lovely, but simple, bag of coffee into a WOW gift item!!!

The sentiment medallion is made with the Christmas Ensemble by JustRite, using the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III, which happens to be my favorite size. And JustRite is having a sale now, until the 19th. Check it out here. I am disappointed in my photos of this project. The Merry Christmas is embossed in a mixture of SU Gold Detail Embossing Powder and Dazzling Diamonds. It is SO GORGEOUS IRL, and in these photos it just looks like I’ve stamped it with brown ink and didn’t even get a good image — so NOT true!!! I apologize for that, but my photo abilities are quite limited!!! Anyway, just believe me, it is a soft gold with a bit of Dazzling Diamond sparkle!!! Very eye-catching!!! That is layered onto a circle of the gold Mirri Card, then onto a layer of candy canes which is a border in the Christmas Ensemble, then finally onto the scalloped layer made with the Red Mirri Card!!! It’s SO pretty!!! All the cutting and embossing was done with my Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders in the Cuttlebug. This Mirri Card, though heavy, cut like butter!!!

The For You ornament tag on top probably took a minute or less!!! And HOW pretty!!! I used my coordinating ornament die and embossing Folder for the Cuttlebug. I first cut the ornament with the die, then inserted it into the folder and ran it through. Made with this gold Mirri Card it looks JUST like a real ornament! Again, the Mirri Card ran through with the Cuttlebug die and folder with no problems. It has the heavy weight I love and still works like a charm with all my tools!

Here’s the card I made to coordinate. To make my candy cane border, I colored the border stamp from the Christmas Ensemblewith my SU markers in red and black, stamped it, then colored in the flowers with my Spica Glitter Pens by Copic, using Gold, Red, and Olive. And on the card I added this strip of ribbed Mirri Card. Another quick dress-me-up idea that is so effortless. Here’s how I did it.

My strip is 1.5″ wide. This was just a scrap left over. Using my Scor-It, I quickly and easily embossed it (scored it) every 1/4 “. So easy to do with the well-marked ruler on top. Just score and keep moving it over 1/4″ at a time. LOVE the rich look it adds. And again, this Mirri Card is quite heavy, but my Scor-It scoring tool glided over it making a perfect score with no effort at all. When you do this, be sure to start with a longer piece of paper than you need. Remember, as you score, it eats up length and you end up with a shorter piece. Start long enough, then cut off what you don’t need when all is said and done!

And that takes care of today’s project!!! Hope you liked it — it WAS so super fun, simple and quick!!! It would be great to do up a few of these just to keep on hand for those surprise visitors or extra gifts we so often need at the last minute!!! Sure to please!!! Thanks so much for stopping in again.I truly DO appreciate it — more than you know!!! Hope to see you again tomorrow as the fun continues throughout next week!!!

And the winner selected by random.org is #24, who is Michelle!!! Congrats, Michelle! Here’s what she had to say:

Michelle

That mirror paper is incredible! I love what youve done with it, Sharon!

Dec 7, 1:31 AM

Thank you so much, everyone, for playing along — much appreciated!!!

Welcome to Day6 of Stamp Simply Celebrates! If you are new here, check out Party Central for a full rundown of our 12 day schedule. Feel free to jump in anytime at all!!!

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!!You DO NOTneed to have a Blog to play uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!

Heather Telford - bits and pieces - Heather is sharing a Featured Project with us today how to Dress up Your Table! Fun!!! And Heather is also incorporating a Challenge in with her project, making it 1-2-3 easy for us to decorate our own tables!!! Be sure to stop in at Heathers place today for many great samplings of table decor!

You can see more samples from Heather’s designers. They are Jennifer, Darlene, Joan and Jerri.

LeAnne Pugliese - Wee Inklings - Doesnt every Mother need a helper, especially during the Holidays? Well, for LeAnnes Featured Project that is just what she is giving us, a Mothers Holiday Helper! LeAnne is running a Challenge along with her project, providing us with templates and instruction so we can quickly and easily create our own helper!!! Dont miss it!!!

And you can see more samples from LeAnne’s designers as well. They are Barb, Deb, Janine, Darlene and me (just scroll down to see mine).

As usual, please bear with us all as we are busy uploading and linking through outtonight — everything should be up and in order by morning!

AJ Otto - The Willow Garden- AJ has some BLOG CANDY to share!

Sharon Johnson - No Time To Stamp? - Me again, with more BLOG CANDY! And here it is down just a bit.

To be entered for this Blog Candy drawing, all you need to do is comment below — nothing more than that today!!! Nice and simple!!! This post will be closed for Blog Candy entries at 6:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. Shortly thereafter a random winner will be selected by random.org. The winner will be posted both on this thread and at Party Central. OK, now on to my project:

Once again, HUGE THANKS go out to the folks at JustRite!!! They know how much I love the various fonts and rectangle stampers, so they are most generous in allowing me to give some away to you!!! This time we have the Times New Roman Font (3 sizes in a box) and the Rectangle Stamper Set (2 wooden blocks in a set, one large and one small). Times New Roman is one of the fontsI used on my project for today. And before I show you my project, once we are talking JustRite, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about a sale they have going on – and the sale is especially for all of you Blog readers — they are grateful for their Blog traffic (which comes from YOU) and wanted to offer you a special. You may read about it here.

OK, now let’s move on to my project for today. I played as a sample maker for LeAnne’s Challenge, which you can read more about on LeAnne’s Blog. But basically, she provided us with templates for her Mother’s Holiday Helper which is made from a basic pocket file folder. Well, the only pocket file folders I had at home were neon colors or school colors with school logos - not QUITE what I had in mind. At Deb’s suggestion, she told me they had some plain kraft pocket folders at Office Max. Well, they sure did, plus they had some kraft folders that had designs on them, so I chose one of those. Here’s what I bought and used for this project.

The folders had designs in white, while all the complimentary pieces had black accents — now WHY didn’t they make them all the same??? I’m really into matchy/matchy — LOL!!! Anyway, I figured I could make them work. And rather than follows LeAnne’s very cool template, I decided to make a gift for a friend — sort of an organizer for craft needs — you know those lists we all keep? I just wanted to make something to contain lists and notes of our crafting needs so when we go shopping everything is contained in one place. Here’s a look at the completed inside of my folder.

Isn’t it fun? I LOVED making this!!! My brainy idea here to make this a little different than a normal folder was to create a spine. See it? It functions very well, allowing plenty of room for all my little pads and notebooks and whatever else one might throw in there. The spine is 1″ and it was created very easily with my Scor-It. Takea look.

See the center line? That is the line, the fold, that came on the folder. All I did was score 1/2″ on each side of that line, giving me a 1″ spine. Score with the right side down so that your score folds properly. This kraft folder is VERY thick. I don’t know how thick, but MUCH heavier than 110# cardstock. To score this on myScor-It was totally effortless. In places I scored over 2 thicknesses — no problem at all. I got perfect score lines and my folder now had a totally functional spine!!! Now to create a *pretty* spine, this is what I did.

I cut 3 strips of black cardstock, 11 x 7/8″. Leave 2 of them the full 11″ long and cut the 3rd one in half. Each half will be 5.5″ long. Now score these 2 shorter pieces right in the middle, which is 2 3/4″. Adhereone of the 11″ strips right in the center of the spine. It won’t reach all the way, so just center it. Do the same on the outside of the spine. Now here’s where the little scored piecescome in. Corner round the ends of these 2 little pieces and they’ll look more like tabs. Now,just adherethem, top and bottom. They fold around the top or bottom, covering both sides. Can you follow me? In the photo the bottom is done, but the top still needs to be covered with the tab. Easy!!! It hides that unsightly midde*original* seamline and it sturdies up the spine — PERFECT!!!

And here’s a look at the completed spine on the outside. Can you see the rounded tabs? I just added some pewter brads to make it look a bit more finished off. I LOVE this spine — it was EASY, FUN and added great FUNCTION to my folder. I chose pewter brads because the little clips that went with this set were sort of grayish/pewtery in color.

Here’s a look at the cover of my folder. The sentiment is from the JustRite Harmony Circle Stamper III Ensemble. (This is one of thesale items right now!) I omitted the outer ring and used my Labels 1 Nestabilities by Spellbinders to cut the sentiment out. As I’ve said before, you have a lot of options with your JustRiteimages/sentiments — they don’t all HAVE to be used in a round or oval format. I added some little rhinestones. The DP is by K and Co., (Margo) and it is edged with black. I used the Martha Stewart scallop punch on the right and then punched holes with my Cropadile. My favorite 1.5″ May Arts striped ribbon is adhered with 1.5″ wide double sided tape to the back and spine of the folder. It easily ties and unties for use.

Just showing a close up with some detail.

This is the inside left. I covered the inside with the K & Co. paper (Margo). I thought this rather vintage looking old paper design would go well. I then stamped the larger words in Times New Roman Font using my Rectangle Stampersand Charcoal Palette Ink. I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get them positioned as I wanted. My Stamp-a-ma-jig is home made. I should show it to you sometime! A friend made it from left over window trim during a house remodel. She made about 10 of them and gave them to all of us here. She purchased the sheets from SU and we are good to go. This is the SAME friend who is making a Cuttlebug out of an old wringer washer — I KID YOU NOT!!! If she ever gets that up and running I WILL show you, for sure — LOL!!!

This is the inside right. The sticky notes are adhered to the top, but I am having technical difficulties there — LOL!!! They are too heavy. I’ll end up taking about 1/2 the pad off, I’m sure! Again, I stamped on the NOTES with Times New Roman Font. I love the little clips — they are pretty and functional, if needed!!!

Here’s a look at the left pocket. The monogram was done with the Damask Monogram Set (it’s on sale — see above) and I used a J from Trompe Script Font, which is a really pretty, more fancy, font that I love. The little book just has a simple J on it, front and back.

This is the right side pocket, no different. The top border is made with the retired SU Wrought Iron punch with the corner guard removed. The bottom border is made with the Martha Stewart Scallop punch and holes added with a Cropadile. I used my new Glue Glider from Joan’s Garden for this entire project and it sticks tight! It’s super easy to use and very light weight. I am one happy camper with my new Glue Glider glue gun!!!

And that wraps it up again today!!! Hope you are all enjoying your time of Christmas preparation, however much or little that may be. And I hope you are getting some ideas you can use from all of us here working on Stamp Simply Celebrates!!! We are mid-way now, 6 days down, 6 to go!!! Hope to see you soon!!! Thanks so much for stopping in!!!

The winner selected by randon.org is #6, for Blog Candy #6, who is Nina. Here’s what Nina had to say:

nina

I just love the way youve used this font - the Times New Roman is tops on my (large) list of JustRite items to buy!

Dec 5, 11:22 PM

Congrats! Nina and THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the rest who played!!!