Thank Yous for Christmas Presents

I always send thank you cards for the Christmas presents I receive. It's thoughtful, it's polite, and frankly I think it's the reason why I'm nearly 30 and still get presents from my aunts and uncles & grandparents! Someday I hope to pass this trait on to my kids. Getting a thank you card is such a nice treat these days.

So, this year I made 4 different designs. Well, I have made 4 so far, but one I am going to change a bit to make it not so girly. You'll see what I mean.

#1 Silhouette Thank You
This design is straight off the cover of the Jan. 2009 Stampin' Success! Oh well, who cares if I cased it, it is cute! I just wish I had my Sweet Stems set, but since it is back-ordered (like most of everything I ordered lately!), I had to make due with Pocket Silhouettes.

Stamp Set: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion, Whisper White
Stamp Pads (Classic): Pink Passion, Pink Pirouette
DSP: Bella Rose
Accessories/Tools: 1/4" white ribbon, dimensionals

#2 Upsy Daisy Thank You
This card is made following this week's Mojo Monday layout. I love, love, love this layout and will probably make many more cards with this design. I think it's easy, but interesting to the eye. anyway, as you are beginning to see, there is a pink theme going on ...

Stamp Sets: Upsy Daisy and... um... I can't remember this hostess set from a few years ago!
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Stamp Pads (Classic): Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: Wide Oval punch, 1/4" Chocolate Chip ribbon, dimensionals

#3 Autumn Vine Thank you
This design I took from the November Stampin' Success. I was not all that creative with the ideas this time around. It's rare for me to have such a small image and lots of blank background. I love how it looks. I shall remember that when designing cards! White space (even if it is Sage Shadow) is a good thing.

Stamp Sets: Pocket Silhouettes, Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Really Rust, More Mustard, Whisper White
Stamp Pads (Classic): Sage Shadow, Really Rust
DSP:Autumn Vine
Accessories/Tools: Scallop circle punch, silver brads, dimensionals

#4 Love You Much Thank you
This is the card, that while I love it and think it's super cute, I am going to redesign. It is cute, it is pretty, but it is really girly. I already have 2 pink thank yous, I need another masculine-ish one to send to Dad, brother, etc. So, I think I will keep the layout (which may have come from an issue of SS), but use Pun Fun instead and use DSP that is brighter, and not pink (like Washington Apple). Anyway... those are my plans. Too bad. I like this card a lot!

Stamp Sets: Love You Much, Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: SPink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Stamp Pads (Classic): Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: Blender Pens, 1/4" Chocolate Chip ribbon

So, there it is! I hope my family and friends appreciate these thank yous as much I as appreciate their gifts! :)

OH! I notice I'm close to 1,000 hits. This is so awesome!! Thanks to people who check out my blog. I really appreciate it. :)

Love You Much swap

I made this super cute card for a swap over at SCS. Naturally, I am late getting it in the mail. I think I just plum forgot to do the swap before the holidays, then we traveled for 2 weeks. So, I stayed home today and stamped like a mad woman. Here's the result!

Stamp Set: Love You Much
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Stamp Pads (Classic): Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: 1/4" Chocolate Chip ribbon, Triple Hearts punch, Dimensionals

I think this card is so cute, but it will be even cuter when I get my hands on the new heart punch that we know is coming in the new catalog!! Cutting 11 hearts by hand sure makes you appreciate a punch. (And you know my love for punches is growing with each order I place...)

I was inspired by a card on Flowerbug's blog. It's not an exact case, but I sure used her idea, which I think is supercute! Thanks, Flowerbug!

Make-and-Takes for Andrea's party

I have another workshop coming up on Jan. 17 for my good friend Andrea J. She has come to classes & parties before, but this time around she's hostessing! So I wanted to create some really cute V-Day things for her and her guests. (Plus, I haven't really shown off the Love You Much bundle... all of these projects use SOMETHING from the bundle.) The treat bag was her idea! A great one, I think. :)

#1 Friend to Friend
I think this card is simple enough for first-time stampers, but is a classic enough design (it's basically the card on the cover of this month's SS) that even seasoned stampers will find it appealing. Plus, I love to show off In-Colors.

Stamp Set: Love You Much
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White,
Stamp Pads (Classic): Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: Vintage brads, blender pens

#2 Love you a latte
I ordered these gift card holders months ago (with intentions of doing something with them for Christmas), and never got around to using them. So, I thought they made a perfect V-Day treat & demo opportunity! I used the triple hearts from Love You Much on the inside, though I didn't take a picture.

Stamp Sets: Love You Much, Pun Fun
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Stamp Pads (Classic): Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette,
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: Gift card holders, Chocolate Chip ribbon, dimensionals (and I will use my word window punch when I get it, sometime this week).

#3 Hugs & Kisses
Andrea saw my reindeer poop for my craft show and wanted to do something similar at her party. We thought using the Hugs & Kisses stamp from Love You Much & filling the bag with Hershey's Hugs & Kisses would be so cute!

Stamp Set: Love You Much
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette
Stamp Pads (Classic): Riding Hood Red,
DSP: Candy Lane
Accessories/Tools: Scallop Circle punch, 1/4" Whisper White ribbon, dimensionals (I may also break out the glitter or something to jazz it up a bit).

I always do make-and-takes for a workshop. I think that it's important to get guests stamping & using the material; I really believe they won't fall in love with Stampin' Up! if they watch me make a few things! And I do 3 because... well, mostly because my brain almost always compartmentalizes things into 3s. I always have 3 things to eat for every meal... I put clothes in the drawer stacked in 3s (like jeans and sweaters)... I count things by 3s.... I'm weird.

Prepping 3 make-and-takes is a lot of work, but again, I'm all about value for my customers. It is imperitive to me that they feel like the party was not only fun, but that they did some cool stuff, and have lots of things to show off. I truly believe that is how I will build a good customer base.