Weekly Deals for December 17 – 23, 2013

	Encore Metallic Gold Pad Item # 132141 Regular Price: $9.95 US Discounted Price: $7.46 US
	Encore Metallic Silver Pad Item # 132142 Regular Price: $9.95 US Discounted Price: $7.46 US
	Holly Jolly Greetings Simply Sent Item # 132159 Regular Price: $14.95 US Discounted Price: $11.21 US
	Season of Style Designer Journaling Tags Item # 132808 Regular Price: $4.95 US Discounted Price: $3.71 US
	Pretty Presents Designer Bows Item # 132186 Regular Price: $3.95 US Discounted Price: $2.96 US
	Blast Off Ensemble Digital Download Item # 130862 Regular Price: $19.95 US Discounted Price: $11.97 US
	Build A Banner Refill Kit Item # 132699 Regular Price: $9.95 US Discounted Price: $7.46 US
	Naughty And Nice This Rotary Stamp Item # 132278 Regular Price: $5.95 US Discounted Price: $4.46 US
	Seasonal Stripes 8″ X 8″ Designer Album Item # 132259 Regular Price: $14.95 US Discounted Price: $11.21 US
	Gold and Silver Stampin’ Glitter Item # 132205 Regular Price: $7.95 US Discounted Price: $5.96 US
	Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit Item # 132697 Regular Price: $9.95 US Discounted Price: $7.46 US
	Snowflake Season Simply Sent Kit Item # 132176 Regular Price: $14.95 US Discounted Price: $11.21 US
	Raspberry Ripple 3/8″ Stitched Ribbon Item #126845  Regular Price: $8.95 US Discounted Price: $6.71 US
	Extra Large Gift Box Item # 132147 Regular Price: $3.95 US Discounted Price: $2.96 US

The Stamp Review Crew is at it again!  Who is the Stamp Review Crew?  We are a group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who specialize in showing you how versatile a single stamp set can be! Every 1st and 3rd Monday we feature one stamp set and show you multiple ways to use it. You will be able to hop through all of our blogs and find a variety of projects.  I am #10 on the hop. You should have just left stop #9:  Mary Rindal.  If so, you are in the right spot.  If you get off track, the full blog lineup at the end of this post will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all of the amazing creations. This week our focus is on the Perfect Blend set. I hope you enjoy the quartet of matchbook style gift card holders I created with this set.

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips: Matchbook Style Gift Card Holders
Each gift card holder measures 2-3/4″ wide by 3-7/8″ when closed.

• The Match Game! Matchbook-style gift card holders are a breeze to make.  Simply cut a 2-3/4″ wide by 8″ long piece of cardstock, and score at 3/4″ and 4-5/8″.  Fold to form a matchbook, and staple the bottom fold-up in place.  For a classy look, I covered the side opposite the flap with a Modern Medley Designer Series Paper pattern to coordinate with the cups.

• My cups runneth over…with pearls!  The Cup image was stamped twice for each gift card…once onto Very Vanilla card stock, and once onto a variety of  Modern Medley patterns. With a few snips, I created Very Vanilla sippy lids for each cup, as well as decorative sleeves.  Of course, each cup received it’s own special touch of pearls:

Randomly placed pearl triplets

Black pearls

Natural pearls

Pearl diagonals

 

It’s Sunday, and time to play with The Paper Players!  For our final challenge of 2013, the talented Sandy is hosting a WOW Challenge…White on White.  Since I am more of a Very Vanilla gal, Sandy is allowing us to use Very Vanilla, too.  I was feeling a little nostalgic when I created this card, and felt the need to make something vintage. I hope you like my efforts.

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This finished card meaures 5-1/2″ wide by 4-1/4″ long.

• Standing ovation for the oval! Ovals are a perfect way to frame your images…and so easy to create with Oval Framelits. I stamped the Lodge image from Christmas Lodge with Baked Brown Sugar ink.  If you do not have this set, a digital version is available through My Digital Studio as a quick and easy download. White Signo Gel Pen adds instant snow to the roof.

• Let’s hear it for the snowflakes!  These beauties were created with the retired Northern Frost decorative strip.  A little Baked Brown Sugar ink on the edges really helps them to stand out against the background.

• Sentiment-al! Distressed edges and speckles on the sentiment banner add to its vintage appeal. The “V” notch is easy to create using the Hexagon Punch.

As I stated earlier, this is The Paper Players last challenge of 2013.  The Design Team is looking forward to taking a couple of weeks off to celebrate the season with family and friends.  We will announce our winner of this week’s challenge on December 21st and will be back with our usual challenge on January 5th. 

Friday’s snow here in SE Iowa changed part of my plans for getting ready for the holidays.  Brady had a presentation Friday morning, so he was unable to leave for home before the big snow storm hit.  He hunkered down the rest of Friday and Saturday, and will be heading back today. It will be great to have him home. He can help me get my Christmas cards made.  He loves to use the Big Shot, so I will put him to work making banners with the new Banner Framelits.  Kim can bake awesome cookies, so I think I will delegate the cookie baking to him.  As for the Twins and Lexi, they will do what they do best…keeping an eye out for Santa!

I hope that you enjoyed today’s card.  Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?  Your comments are important to me.  Of course, I am always here to answer any questions that you might have about the cards I create or the techniques I use.  I am only an email away. Until next time…

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Lodge (retired, digital version available), Gorgeous Grunge; Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar; Card Stock: Very Vanilla; Tools:  Big Shot, Ovals Collection Framelits, Northern Frost Decorative Strip (retired), Hexagon Punch, Sponge Dauber, White Signo Gel Pen, Simply Scored with Diagonal Plate; Glitz and Glam: Pearl Basic Jewels