Christmas Countdown...

I made these more than a month ago, but finally got a photo of them all hung up. My kids have emptied the first 11 days (of course!). I added clear and silver tinsel, rhinestones and buttons to the Christmas Countdown packet, which is available in the Holiday Mini.

French Foliage Thanksgiving card...

This Thanksgiving card is quick and easy to pull together. It's French Foliage stamps, three ink pads (Old Olive, Early Espresso and Peach Parfait), and two card stocks (Very Vanilla and Early Espresso). It doesn't get much easier than this!


I've got a teacher's conference this morning for my daughter. I'm torturing her by making her go to school a full hour before it starts! Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

Builder Christmas wheels and Merry Christmas cards...

Here are the last two cards made at my Christmas card stamp-a-stack last Wednesday. The first is a 6" x 6" piece of textured Baja Breeze card stock, folded in half with a strip of Candy Cane Christmas dsp and Wild Wasabi card stock. We wheeled Little Cardinals, Little Christmas and Little Ornaments on a Basic Gray pad, then colored in the images with markers. The button is from the Regals Designer Button pack.

The idea for the second card came from the Stampin' Up! convention I attended in July. It starts with a Very Vanilla card that's been run through an embossing folder (Finial Press here, though Petals a Plenty is what I was look for and couldn't find). There are a couple strips of Jolly Holiday dsp with a strip of Cherry Cobbler cs that's been run through the Scallop Trim Border Punch. We punched out two Cherry Cobbler 5-petal flowers using that punch, crunched them up and distressed them and added a clear rhinestone brad. The sentiment, from All Holidays, was inked with markers and punched out using the Holiday Mini Decorative Label Punch.

Spooky Night Rub-Ons party favors...

These favors were a lot of fun to make with new Holiday Mini Catalog products.

They use Spooky Night Rub-ons and the Party Favor die for the Big Shot, as well as 1/8" Basic Black taffeta ribbon, Wicked Fun dsp, the large oval punch and Basic Black card stock.

I was inspired by the Candy Shoppe at SU! Convention in July, with trays of paper goodies filling many shelves, and had to make my own (below). I plan on making another tray of "cookies." I'll let you know how those turn out! Have a great day.

New Holiday Mini items - Merry Crittermas and dsp...

I've had an overwhelming response to my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack tonight! I actually had to turn away 5 people. I hate doing that!

This is one of the cards everyone will be making tonight. It starts with a Crumb Cake card base, with a Baja Breeze layer that's been punched with the Scallop Edge Border at the bottom, and a piece of new Candy Cane Christmas dsp.

The tree and cat stamps are from the Merry Crittermas stamp set in the Holiday Mini (starts tomorrow - Sept. 1). I used markers to add color and layered it on Garden Green card stock.

The words are from the same stamp set. They were stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched using the Word Window Punch, then layered on a Baja Breeze Modern Label Punch and adhered with dimensionals.

From the Crypt Halloween paper card...

I love playing with the new Halloween papers Stampin' Up! offers.

The two largest layers of designer paper is from the Nite Owl pack, which will be available to order Sept. 1 (in the Holiday Mini). The Pear Pizzazz glimmer brads are also in that mini.

The "spooky" paper is from the Wicked Fun dsp pack. It's layered on Basic Black card stock.

The bat is punched from Basic Black and I added two little white eyeballs with a white gel pen, then bent the wings for a true 3d effect.

Now for my favorite thing on this card - the skull with bats - in the From The Crypt stamp set. I stamped it in Pear Pizzazz and then used a Basic Black marker for the bats. I added black jewels (another Holiday Mini item) around the scallop circle.

If you love Halloween as much as I do, be on the lookout for my Halloween Stamp Camp coming up next month!

Stamps: From the Crypt (115460);
Ink: Pear Pizzazz pad (119784), Basic Black marker (100082);
Paper: Whisper White (100730), Basic Black (121045), Nite Owl dsp (123012), Wicked Fun Specialty (117400);
Accessories: Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen (105021), Black Flourish Designer Jewels (120987), Glimmer In-Color Brads (121005).

As always, if there's anything you'd like to order, please contact me at ericandterry@comcast.net, or thru my demo website here.

Color Challenge Halloween card with Wicked Cool

It's time for another challenge.

This week, I chose the colors for the Mashup - Pumpkin Pie, Concord Crush, and Pear Pizzazz. I started with a 4" x 4" Pear Pizzazz card, added a piece of Nite Owl dsp (from the upcoming Holiday Mini, which starts Sept. 1) that was stamped with the spider web and sponged with Basic Black ink, and added a Spooky Night rub-on (Holiday Mini).

The witch's shoes were stamped in Concord Crush, punched out with the 1-3/4" circle punch, and sponged with Pumpkin Pie ink. This was layered on a 2-3/8" scallop circle and adhered to the card front with dimensionals over a strip of Pumpkin Pie that was punched with the Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and sponged with Basic Black.

I used a Pumpkin Pie marker to add color to the socks, and some Black Flourish designer jewels on the boots for "bling." A knot of Concord Crush ribbon finishes the card.

Stamps: Wicked Cool (118738 wood, 120600 clear);

Ink: Pumpkin Pie marker (105115), Concord Crush pad (119785), Pear Pizzazz pad (119784), and Basic Black pad (101179);

Paper: Whisper White (100730), Concord Crush (119792), Pear Pizzazz (119795), Pumpkin Pie (105117), Nite Owl dsp (123012);

Accessories: Spooky Night rub-ons (120989), Black Flourish Designer Jewels (120987), Concord Crush 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon.

Dark & Dreary Halloween swap...

As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you can order from a mini catalog the month before it goes live to customers.

If you want to enjoy perks like this, contact me at ericandterry@comcast.net or call me. I'd love for you to be a part of my American Ink team.

I love Halloween (candy, costumes, decorations...) and so I ordered all of those items first from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog (the order period begins Sept. 1).

The raven, spider, and sentiment are from the Dark & Dreary stamp set. I used the 1/2" circle punch and a dimensional to pop up the 31 in Pear Pizzazz.

I used some of the Nite Owl dsp at the top of the card, with a piece of Raven 1/2" lace trim below it. I used the Spider Web embossing folder just on the bottom of the card.

This was my swap for our American Ink demo gathering today. Hope you like it!

Paisley Prints convention make & take...

My favorite part of this card was the little punched out "clover" on the same color heart with a tiny pearl in it.

The hearts are just two of the five stamps in the Paisley Print stamp set, available in the Holiday Mini on Sept. 1.

Last day of Stampin' Up! Convention 2010...

We've had an incredible time at convention. At the last general session today, Shelli gave us this amazing packet filled with upcoming Holiday Mini items: Deck the Halls dsp, the Level 2 hostess set Peaceful Season, a Cherry Cobbler ink pad, and Champagne Glass Glitter (Kim's holding the packet).

We've enjoyed chatting with old friends (our friend Jennifer Cotton of Texas earned #8 Demo of the Year!) and making new ones. The classes, Memento Mall, make & takes, and displays were all terrific. If you sign up as a demonstrator for no other reason that you want to attend convention, I wouldn't blame you! As it is, we had four of our downline here. That was awesome in itself.

We saw so many samples and ways to use items from the catalog and upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog that I can't wait to share them with you (but I will!). ha ha ha All I can say is that you're in for a treat!