Promotion and Carryover Updates

There's a few exciting announcements I want to share with you. If you love the sets in the Occasions Mini Catalog, you are in luck! Because of the short time period between the end of the Occasions Mini Catalog and the launch of the 2012-2013 annual catalog, Stampin' Up! has decided to make the carryover stamp sets available early!  The following stamp sets are still available for purchase.  Stamp Set Name  Item Number  Wood-Mount  Clear-Mount  Baby Prints          125470      125472  Love & Laughter  125475  125477  Bordering on Romance  125480  125482  Apothecary Art  125525  125527  Mixed Bunch  125535  125537  Tea Shoppe  125545  125547  Mouthwatering  125675  125677  Loving Thoughts      125843  125845  Salon de thé  125934  125936  Etiquetas florales  --          125941          Art floral  125964  125966

Many of the accessories from the Occasions Mini Catalog are still available as carryover products as well.

Occasions Mini Catalog Carryover List

Retired Stamp Set List

Retired Accessories List

Starting in May, there is a new Starter's Kit where you can choose up to $125 worth of any current digital or traditional Stampin' Up! products for only $99 with NO shipping!  You customize your own Starter Kit!  In addition, you'll receive a business supplies pack, containing materials you need to run your business (valued at $65).  To take advantage of the opportunity, click HERE.

 
Finally, many of you have asked for directions on how I made my First Communion favors from this post.  Here is a template that I create for myself.  Don't mind the funky color paper as I use whatever I don't need any more to create prototypes and templates and save the high quality card stock for the real thing. :)

Cut card stock to  3-1/2" x 8-1/2".  

Score 1/2" and 3" on the short side.  

Score 3-1/8", 3-5/8", 6-3/4" and 7-1/4" on the long side.  

Cut off the sides from the 8-1/2" end - up to the second scoreline.  

Cut and punch out the rest of the box as shown on the template.

The ribbon is 6" long.

You can get 3 boxes out of a sheet of card stock for this.  To mass produce, I cut off only 1/2" from the 11" side of the card stock, score my long sides and then cut up 3-1/2" for each box.  It saves times.  This is when the Simply Scoring Tool comes in very handy!  Have I told you how much I really love using it?  I LOVE IT!

Have a great day! Of course, have fun, too!

Danee

Frog Critters

Happy First Day of Spring, everyone!  I made these cute Frog Critters for my son's class - the Bullfrogs.  It's so cute when they sing their song.




We are the Bullfrogs!
Mighty, mighty Bullfrogs.
Everywhere we go...
People want to know.
Who we are...
So we tell them.
We are the BULLFROGS!

I created the Frog Critter 3 years ago as seen on Becky's blog and now some of the punches have been retired.  I recreate these using the current products.  So I was wondering what do we call a group of frogs?  I look it up on www.allaboutfrogs.org website and this is the answer.

A group of fish is called a School of Fish.
A group of geese is called a Gaggle of Geese.
A group of sea gulls is called a Flock of Sea gulls.
A bunch of cows and bulls is called a Herd of Cattle.

But what do you call a group of frogs?

Answer: An ARMY of Frogs!

And what do you call a group of toads?
Answer: A KNOT of Toads!

By Golly, we can always learn something new!  I didn't ask for Toads and now I know. Have a ter"ribbit" day!

Edit to update:  I got a lot of requests for a tutorial for the frog critter.  So I am making this available for $1.99.

Danee

The Bishop St. Patrick

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  I hope you have been pinched-proof!

Here is my punch art of St. Patrick himself.  We sometimes forget what the day is all about  I learned a lot from creating this tutorial (as seen on this post) who St. Patrick is.  I hope that my children will understand it's not all about green and being pinched!  There was a patron saint (of Ireland) to be honored and remembered on this day.

The wearing of green is a symbol of St. Patrick's Day and Ireland, the Emerald Isle, in general.  However, the day is celebrated in America more than Ireland and that St. Patrick's original color was blue!  Hope you will have a fun and wonderful weekend!

Cheers!

Danee

The Leprechaun

Thank you everyone who has purchased my tutorials and for all those kind and cute comments/emails you have sent my way!  I appreciate them very much!  If you still have trouble with your downloads or have not received your tutorials, please check your spam folder or contact me.

Today, I want to show the Leprechaun from my tutorial (as seen on this post) by himself so you can see the details more.  Changing his shoe color to green might bring them out more.  Try it!

Just a little story as I didn't know what all the business of being pinched on St. Patrick's Day meant.  My 4-year-old son, Jake, came home a few weeks ago and talked about the Leprechaun.  He was actually scared of it!  He talked about it pinching him on St. Patrick's Day.  I looked up and it said that if you wear green, the Leprechauns don't see you so you don't get pinched.  If there's no green, you'll get pinched for that reason!   I'll make sure Jake wears something green this Saturday so he's not scared of being pinched!

Have a great day!

Danee

St. Patrick's Day Collection

Happy Leap Year! I am excited to share with you my new designs - St. Patrick's Day Collection!

Growing up, I understand very little about St. Patrick's Day. Green, Shamrock, Leprechaun and Pot of Gold somehow symbolize the 17th of March. If I ever find a four leaf clover, I will be lucky and if I don't wear green I'll be pinched! So what do they all mean?

St. Patrick's Day Collection Tutorial

Everyone wants to find that Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow, right? How did it get there? Legend had it that the Leprechaun, which means the little two-feet tall shoemaker who loved to dance and made shoes, hid the gold coins they received from their earnings in the pot. The Rainbow started from the time of Noah's Ark and it symbolized hope from the past storm. Since we can never find the end of the Rainbow, we have to catch the Leprechaun in order to find that Pot of Gold. It's not easy to catch the Leprechaun so we might as well forget about finding that Pot of Gold! So let's find some Shamrocks and four leaf clovers instead! So why do we call it St. Patrick's Day then?

St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. His birth name was Maewyn Succat. He was kidnapped at around the age of 16 as slave in Ireland. After 6 years, he escaped and managed to return to his family in Britain.

St. Patrick had a desire to return to Ireland as a missionary and studied to be a priest. In 432 Pope Celestine consecrated him as a Bishop of Ireland and gave him the name "Patricius".

St. Patrick returned to Ireland. He made extensive, successful missionary journeys through all of Ireland, spending his time preaching, teaching, building churches, opening schools, monasteries and converting the Irish people. He used the Shamrocks to explain to the people of Ireland the meaning of Trinity. St. Patrick died on March 17th, 461. You can read more about St. Patrick here. I am so glad I get a chance to create St. Patrick punch art in honor of this very day!

Four leaf clovers are rare and have been mutated from the three leaf clover. If anyone ever finds one, it's consider lucky. The four leaves represent faith, hope, love and luck. Perhaps, the luck will bring you to that pot of gold! :)

You can now purchase my St. Patrick's Day Collection tutorial for only $4.99 on Tutorials for Sale Page! The tutorial is in a downloadable Adobe PDF file following your purchase.

I hope you'll have fun creating this Collection as much as I did!

Cheers!

Danee

Sweet Tart Holders

So I was going to make a couple of Yellow Angry Birds that you've seen on this post for my 2 sons, but my older son wants his classmates to have them too.

I don't mind making them, but I had to simplify them a little bit. They turn out good and even my husband ends up grabbing a few to give away.  Don't they look like a flock of Angry Birds demanding for Love? :)

So I got rid of the tail, the eye-liners, and stamped heart. I think the red glimmer paper for the hearts is better! 

Edit for Update:  Since I got a lot of requests on how to make this Angry Bird.  So Here it is.  Start with 6" x 3" of Daffodil Delight and score @ 3" on the long side and follow the video from Angie Juda's Triangle Box.

2-1/2" Circle Punch = body (white).
1/2" Circle and Cupcake Builder Punches = eyes (White/Black CS)
Small Oval Punch (new version)  = bottom part of the beak (More Mustard)
Hand cut eyebrows (Cajun Craze) diagonally (not exactly from corner to corner) after cut the piece into 5/8" x 1/4"
Hand cut upper part of the beak (More Mustard) at corner of CS
Small Heart (red glimmer paper)
Black Satin Ribbon = head feather

My 4-year old doesn't want to give his friends the Angry Birds (Whew!). I simplify this Sweet Tart Holder even more. No ribbon and no stamping inside.  I just add Velcro inside.  It's for 4 year old toddlers! :)

Edit for Update:  This Sweet Tart bag holder is cut at 8-1/2" x 4".  Score at 2-3/4" and 3-7/8" on the long side.  Cut diagonally as shown above for inside opening.

Have a great Valentines!

Danee

Celebration Time!

It’s Celebration time!  I am so excited that we have started Sale-A-Bration, Stampin' Up!'s biggest promotion of the year, today!  Please click on the picture above or the SAB catalog on the right to view the catalog.

I've never done this before.  I like to kick off my Vietnamese New Year, Sale-A-Bration, and Valentines Celebration with the following promotions of my own.

You've seen these darling Nugget Critters:  Stinkin' Cute Skunk, Robbing Heart Raccoon, and Nutty Red Squirrel and many of you have asked for tutorials!  Thank you for the overwhelming requests!  They are great not only for Valentines, but for Baby Shower, Engagement, Bridal Shower, Wedding, Birthday, or even just a way of saying Thank You!  All you have to do is switch the center piece that they are holding.  Starting today until March 31, 2012, you can get tutorials for all three of these little Cute Critters, a collection of mine, for free with the following guidelines!

1. Join my team!  When you join my team, you get all of Becky Roberts’ and my tutorials for free.  You’ll also get a discount on joining Inking Everything with Becky membership.  In additions to these, Stampin’ Up! is also having a promotion during Sale-A-Bration.  When you join during SAB, you save an additional $50 for the starter kit (NOW $125) and get a free Designer Series Paper or digital download EVERY MONTH that you are active, from February through December, 2012 (up to a $120 value)!  You can give this a try without any further obligation to purchase or host a workshop until June 30, 2012.  What more can we ask for?  So join now! 
2. Spend $50 or more on Stampin Up! products (exclude shipping and tax), including on-line clearance rack, through me or my online store and you will get these tutorials for free!  This is on top of receiving the free SAB gift describes from the Sale-A-Brations catalog!  

What is it?  So you are already a demo or already have a demo?  That’s perfectly fine!  You can start purchasing these tutorials now and any time after.  I love to share my designs with you.  It's great that you can figure out all the punches on your own!  However, sometimes you might need a little help or you don't want to spend the time trying to figure them all out.  Since I spend extra time in writing these tutorials, I decide to charge a small fee.  For each critter tutorial, it’s only $1.99!  For all three Cute Critters Collection tutorial it’s only $4.99!  You can head on over my Tutorials for Sale page to select.

Thank you for your support and I am looking forward to a great year with all of you!  Let's stamp on!

Danee

Nutty Red Squirrel

This is the third Nugget Holder from my Cute Critters Collection - The Nutty Red Squirrel.  This big eye squirrel is absolutely "nut about you!"  He would do anything to declare his love for Valentines,  In a nutshell, he carves his love.

If you like this squirrel, make sure you sign up for Inking Everything with Becky!  You'll see more of my other punch art there.

Sale-A-Bration will begin in a few hours! We'll have something to celebrate about.  Can't wait!

Edit for Update:  I've created tutorial for this critter.  You can view this and the rest of my Cute Critter Collection on my Tutorials for Sale page.

Happy Chinese New Year, again!

Danee

Robbing Heart Raccoon

This is the second Nugget Holder from my Cute Critters Collection - The Robbing Heart Raccoon!  Look at the mask!  There's always something mysterious about the raccoon's mask - it's so secretive!  It reminds me of Zoro.  He sure stole my heart!  This would be great for many occasions.

If you like this raccoon, make sure you sign up for Inking Everything with Becky!  You'll see more of my other artwork there.

As a reminder, Sale-A-Bration will begin on the 24th - that's only 4 more days!  I am so excited!  Stay tune until Monday - so make sure you don't order anything until then.  :)  I have a promotion of my own! 

Edit for Update: I've created tutorial for this critter. You can view this and the rest of my Cute Critter Collection on my Tutorials for Sale page.

Have a great weekend, Meu Amor (in Portegese since I already used Spanish)!

Danee

Stinkin' Cute Skunk

You're probably wondering when will I start with Valentines samples! I am going to take a break with Chinese New Year and post this instead. This is my Cute Critters Collection - the Stinkin' Cute Skunk!

Isn't he stinkin' cute? :) My husband used to have a strip of white hair in front like this, naturally. I used to tell him he looked like Jay Leno, but with opposite hair color. It's really the skunk look (but sh!!!). I guess going from the skunk look to Richard Gere look is not too bad! We are redeeming our coupon with Kim tonight and the boys are very excited to spend time with her. Ryan already has his Monopoly game packed and Jake told me not to pick him up!  Sorry boys, time limit is 2 hours! :)

If you like this skunk, make sure you sign up for Inking Everything with Becky!  You'll see more of my artwork there.

Edit for Update:  I've created tutorial for this critter.  You can view this and the rest of my Cute Critter Collection on my Tutorials for Sale page.

Enjoy Pepé Le Pew, Mi Amor!

Danee

Winter Post Ice Skaters - Sneak Peeks

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We did and this year we had so much fun laughing!!! I wish I had time to post these gift card holders before Christmas. This year I made so many hand made gifts that I feel I should simplify things just a little bit and that include the gift cards - no purses for girls this year.


I use the same measurements and scoring with different decoration in the front, according to the gift cards. This is the same cut and fold as the last post, except the pocket is in vertical position, die-cut with the Adorning Accents Edgelits. The front is using the new Framelits Dies. This one is for Cold Stone Ice Cream gift cards. I like the the Ice Skaters from the Winter Post - remind me of ice and since black would not be a good color for Christmas, I pick out the gray and red from the gift card to go with it.



Stamps: Winter Post

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Letters to Santa DSP

Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray

Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelits and Framelits Dies, sponges, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Blossom, Blushing Bride, Marina Mist, and Pear Pizzaz markers

Card stock measures 2-3/4" x 11". Score at 3-3/4" and 7-1/2" on the long side. Belly bands measure 1" and either 8" (horizontal) or 6" (vertical). Angle the Edgelits a little bit for the pocket.

Have a great day!

Danee

Santa's Secret

I saw an idea for fun size chocolate candy bars on Stampin' Connection from Laura Zaraza. I started out with the above candy holder using the Tags 'til Christmas stamp set. I change the dimension and scoring of the box a little bit to fit the candy better. Then I started to be a little naughty (and still hope to get something nice this year). :) I made this instead.


So now you know why Santa is a chubby guy. He has chocolate hidden inside his closet! :) And yes, he can be in a hurry sometimes and leave his clothes hanging off the drawers.

Edit for Update: I was in a hurry and I got inquiries regarding this. Here you go...

Stamp Sets: Tags til Christmas, Woodgrain Background and Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Whisper White, Green Garden, and Early Espresso Cardstock, Frostwood Lodge DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso Classic ink

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Square Duo Die, Large Tag and Decorative Label punches, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Paper Snip

For the Box: Cut 4-1/8" x 1-7/8". On the 4-1/8" side, score at 1-7/8" and 2-1/4". On the short side, score at 3/8" each side.

Drawers are measured at 2" x 3/4". Clothes are made from the Tag punch.

Have a great day!

Danee

Fancy Santa Candy Wrapper

What's Christmas without Santa? Well, I got a Santa candy wrapper for you! I've seen the idea of Santa's face with embossing beard as a cello bag topper all over Stampin' Connection. So, I thought I use it on a candy bar. This is another way to use the Ornament Punch that I promised to show you and this is my husband's favorite candy wrapper by far! Men, they always wonder why we dress up our candies!


He's quite fancy with all the glimmer paper, isn't it? For those of you who visit my blog, thank you! I got a bonus for you - a funny looking Santa! :) I was working on the Tag 'til Christmas stamp set and wanted to use the Santa's suit for a 3-D gift. At the end, I decided not to use it because it looks like a wanna-be-Santa elf! Anyhow, I want to share with you my process because it's still cute!


Stamp Sets: Tags 'til Christmas

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Basic Black, Silver and Red Glimmer paper

Accessories: Big Shot, Snow Burst and Elegant Lines Embossing Folders, Crimper, White Gel Pen, Large Oval, Extra-Large Oval, 1-1/4", 1", 1/2" circle, Ornament, Owl Builder, Bird Builder, Blossom Petals Builder, and Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack Punches, Stampin' Pastel, Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Edit for Update: This measurement is for wrapper with crimps at the bottom. Hope this helps.

Wrapper: 6" x 4-1/4" Real Red and score on the 4-1/4" side at 1" and 3". Center piece measures 4-3/4" x 3/4" (Whisper White)

Belt: 1/2" x 4-3/4" Glimmer paper. 3/4" and 1-1/4" Square punches

Buttons: 1/2" circles

Santa's face: Layer the large oval (Blushing Bride) over on the Extra-Large Oval. Trim the embossed Ornament punch to round the top and layer onto the face. Add Real Red circle for the lip (from the Owl Punch), White mustache (from the Bird Punch), and the Blushing Bride circle for the nose (from the Owl Punch). Add the black circles for the eyes. The hat is made from the Extra-Large Oval and embossed. Add glimmer paper circle on the left side (from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack).

Hope your day will be sweet!

Danee