Santa Suited Projects

Since today is the first day of December, I thought I’d post a couple of Christmas projects. I made these last year but since I didn’t post them, I figured it would be okay to post them now :)

The first one is a large pop-top Campbell soup can dressed in a Santa suit. I love decorating pop-top cans as they are so easy to do and make a great gift for anyone. For a pop-top can, you open the can at the bottom and fill it with a gift or candy, then seal it back up. The recipient then gets to open the can from the top. Click here to view the tutorial I made on altering pop-top cans.

Stamp set: none
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Brushed Silver CS
Ink: none
Accessories: ¾” square and 1 ¼” square punch, ¾” circle, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, scissors, paper cutter, large pop-top soup can, can opener, Coluzzle, Crystal Effects, mixed chocolates.

I received inspiration for making the Santa suit from this sample on SCS.

Stamp set: none
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Brushed Silver CS
Ink: none
Accessories: ¾” square and 1 ¼” square punch, ¾” circle, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, scissors, paper cutter, large pop-top soup can, can opener, Coluzzle, Crystal Effects, mixed chocolates.

I received inspiration for making the Santa suit from this sample on SCS.

My husband made this bag. I told him what I wanted and showed him some pictures, and this is what he created. When I’m struggling with a project or need a second opinion, he’s always willing to help me and gives great suggestions. He can think outside of the box which helps me since I can’t.

(Sorry for the dingy picture. I couldn’t edit the yellow out)

I think I saw this on someone’s blog last year but unfortunately I don’t remember whose. I found a sample on SCS from last year, which I may have CASEd (but can’t remember for sure). That’s the trouble with posting a project a year late! ;)

I’ll be back with a much more recent Christmas project soon. Have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Rub-On Some Cheer Promotion

Today is the last day to get 20% off all Stampin’ Up! rub-ons when you spend $20. Rub-ons make quick accents for a variety of projects and are perfect to add to your Christmas cards and ornaments.



For only $8.76 per package (regularly $10.95), you can get any of Stampin’ Up!’s fun and unique Rub-Ons that can be used on cards, scrapbook pages, crafting projects, and more! This promotion includes all Rub-Ons featured in the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog, the Holiday 2008 Mini Catalog and Celebrando Creatividad catalog.

111416 178 Chateau Bella
111417 178 Word Flurries
111414 178 Hidden Garden
111277 178 A Perfect Day
110283 179 Take Note
111806 179 Chills & Thrills
111804 179 Chit Chat
111415 179 Greatest Moments
111805 179 School Days
110282 179 Anchored
112844 11* Old Saint Nick
112843 17* Season of Cheer
112735 39** Hidden Garden Blossoms
*From Holiday 2008 mini catalog
**From Celebrando Creatividad catalog.

Offer good through November 30. Contact me to place your order or follow this link to order through my Stampin' Up! web site.

Have fun stampin' and creatin'!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Treat bags with topper

I recently created 20+ treat bags for UDI. Even though the design is simple, they are surprisingly time-consuming. But they’re fun to make, especially as I know the children will love them. Actually, I should say that they will love the candy inside of them! ;)


Created by Michelle Hoffman
Stamp sets: Schoolbook Serif alphabet, Ticker Tape alphabet
Paper: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Basic Black classic ink
Accessories:, Large cello bag, small and large star punch, Brads- Bold Brights, 1/16” circle punch, Gingham ribbon- Black, SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, scissors, paper cutter, assorted candy.

I CASEd these from a bag topper I created in May. Since I forgot to post it, I will try to post it soon, hopefully this week.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Technique Class Projects

A few months ago, I taught a technique class where we made a postcard with the technique instructions printed on it and a sample card.

This first technique is the serigraph technique. The instructions on the card on the left say:

Choose 3-4 coordinating colors of classic ink pads. Use a brayer to partially cover white cardstock with the lightest color. Repeat with the second color, leaving some white showing. Emboss stamped images in white. Bray with the final, darkest color(s), filling in remaining white areas. Stamp more images using the darker colors of ink.

You can also click here to see the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.

Stamp set: Dreams Du Jour
Paper: Lovely Lilac and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore, Ballet Blue, Lavender Lace classic ink
Accessories: Brayer, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, SNAIL adhesive, scissors, paper cutter, printer & ink.

The second technique is ghosting, also called versamark resist. The instructions on the card on the left say:

Stamp images with Versamark ink. Dry. Ink brayer with a single color of classic ink, or a spectrum pad. Roll brayer over the cardstock. You can follow up by stamping with another color or by embossing.

You can also click here to see the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.

Stamp set: Doodle This, Sincere Salutations
Paper: Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Cameo Coral card stock, Glossy white card stock
Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Basic Black classic ink, Versamark ink
Accessories: Brayer, Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, SNAIL adhesive, dimensionals, ¾” circle punch (for leaves), scissors, paper cutter, printer & ink.

These are just a couple of techniques you can do with a brayer. If you try these techniques, or any other using a brayer, please link to your project in the comments section so I can see your work :)

Have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Sketch Challenge

We aren’t doing a sketch challenge for the UDI blog today, but I do have a card to share with you that I made from a sketch a few months ago.

Stamp set: Hugs & Wishes
Paper: Brilliant Blue, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore, Real Red card stock
Ink: Basic Black classic ink
Accessories: ¼”, ½”, ¾”, 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 ½” circle punches, 2-way glue pen, SNAIL adhesive, Stamp-a-ma-jig, scissors, paper cutter.

I had the idea in my head for months to create a card with rings but I hadn’t had time to make it, so as soon as I saw the sketch, I knew how I was going to make my card. The original sketch had solid circles and was in the April 2008 issue of Stampin’ Success, a magazine for demonstrators. I’m not sure if I can post the sketch on my blog since it was in a demonstrator only magazine, so unfortunately, you won’t be able to see the sketch unless you are a demonstrator and can look at the April 2008 issue. Sorry to my non-demonstrator readers!

I will be back next week with another UDI sketch challenge, so be sure to visit my blog! :)

Have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Thanksgiving Table Settings

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was quiet, but nice.

In the past month, I have seen many pictures of table settings and I decided to create one myself. It’s a very simple one but hopefully tasteful in style.


I was inspired by the table setting Stampin’ Up! CEO Shelli Gardner shared here and by the various settings the Papertrey Design Team created here.

Here are close ups of the two stamped projects in the table setting:

Stamp set: Thankful Thoughts
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Autumn Vine DSP, watercolor paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Night of Navy Classic Ink, Black StazOn ink
Accessories: Blender pen, 1/16” circle punch, 1 ¾”circle punch, 2” circle punch, corner rounder punch, Earth Elements brads- Old Olive-2, (non-SU!), SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, 3 Hershey chocolate Kisses, printed name.

Stamp set: Thankful Thoughts
Paper: Old Olive, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, Black StazOn ink
Accessories: Blender pen, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, 5/8” Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, scissors, mini glue dots, SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, 3 Hershey chocolate Kisses.

I used this pillow box for a recent stamp class. You can view details and samples of the other class projects in this post.

That’s the last of the Autumn/Thanksgiving projects for this year. Even though it isn’t officially winter yet, the holiday season begins pretty much the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. Growing up in Canada, we started the holiday season on December 1 since our Thanksgiving is in October. So... you will have to come back to my blog in the next few days to see when I begin the holiday season! ;)

Have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Featured Stamper of the Week

This week’s featured stamper of the week is another Minnesota demonstrator, Janet Y, who is Christine P’s direct upline. A direct upline is the demonstrator you sign up with. I met Janet through UDI, an on-line group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. She has been very kind in inviting me to several of her events. Since my upline and her group lives out of state, I usually don’t get to join in demonstrator events, so I am very grateful to Janet for her kindness. She doesn’t receive any benefits for including me in her events; she simply does it out of the goodness of her heart.

Along with being generous, Janet is a great card maker/scrapbooker/papercrafter. Here are just a few of her many beautiful projects:

These are a few pages from Janet’s “A Year in the Life” 6 x 6 scrapbook class. Each month is a 2-page layout with an area for journaling and for 1 photo. You create the entire scrapbook in one class.

Check out Janet’s SU! Web site at www.stampwithjanety.stampinup.net

I hope you enjoyed viewing these projects as much as I liked featuring Janet!

Janet, my heartfelt thanks to you for your kindness towards me, and for sharing your creativity with us today.

Have fun stampin’ and creatin’!

Sincerely,

Michelle

Holiday Extravaganza Sale

Stampin’ Up! is having an extravaganza sale! You can buy bundled products up to 50% off. You definitely do not want to miss this sale. Click here to view the details. Quantities are limited. This sale runs from November 26 to December 1. You can order online any time on my web site here or contact me.

Have fun stampin' and creatin'!

Sincerely,
Michelle