Always On My Mind…

My most recently purchased stamp set is called Always (item # 113620, $33.95), and with 11 pieces in the set there is a lot to work with! Just before Christmas I donated a set of 10 note cards to a silent auction at my daughter Sophie’s preschool, Calvary Nursery School, and I decided to use this set for the cards. The layered card design may look familiar – I had pre-cut the sets of cards for my Holiday Stamp-a-Stack and due to a last-minute cancellation I had some left over. It’s amazing how easily that type of layered card can be transformed from a Christmas design into something less holiday-oriented, and I’m thrilled to say that the set raised $30.00 at the auction!

A Personal Note

For those of you following the Summer’s Creative Corner Blog regularly, you’ll have noticed a gap in my entries for part of December. I’m sad to say that my Grandmother passed away in December – and in the aftermath of her death I fell behind on my regular communications. I’m all caught up now and apologize for being out of touch. In memory of my wonderful Grandma, I encourage you to start the new year by picking up the phone and calling someone you love to tell them how special they are to you … never let that chance go by.

Important Dates

The start of a new year brings many new things, including a new Idea Book and Catalogue! With each new Idea Book released, a transition takes place and several stamp sets and accessories are “retired” to make room for all the exciting new products coming out. With that transition underway, here are some important dates to keep in mind:

*** Has already occurred: Retiring Stamp Sets list is released (read my blog entry “Where Do Stamps Go When They Retire” for more information)
*** January 5th – 18th: Retired Accessories announced and updated daily. Retiring accessories (brads, buttons, ribbon, etc) sell out quickly, so don’t hesitate to place you orders or contact me to find out what’s still available.
*** January 8th: A list of product which will be available online only (not shown in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue) will become available.
*** January 18th: Last day to order merchandise from the Fall/Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalogue
*** January 19th: First day you can order products from the new Spring/Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue

Another Great Project for Scraps

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’m a pack-rat who hates to throw away something I think I may find a use for in the future. Scraps of paper are a great example of that – I’ve got a whole drawer full of little pieces of paper that I’m just sure I can use for something. I recently created a card for my husband Chris (very) loosely based on a formal technique called Iris Paper Folding, which originated in Holland. It’s called Iris Folding because the centre of the design resembles the iris of a camera. I’ve got several patterns for Iris folding, but for this card (made entirely of scraps from my drawer) I decided to work free-hand. It makes for a less exact design, but I like the flow of it and the fact that the paper strips were large enough for me to stamp on. The top layer of the card is the scrap created when using the Top Note Bigz Die on the Big Shot die-cut machine, embellished with a bit of sponging. Proof positive that saving your scraps can make for great project ideas!

Where Do Stamps Go When They Retire?

Dozens of stamp sets from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalogue are retiring to make room for all the terrific new stamp sets coming in the next catalogue. Now's the last chance for you to get them - these sets are only available through January 18, 2009! With 75+ sets (including all the current hostess sets) retiring, one you may have had your eye on could be leaving the Stampin’ Up family… contact me today to find out if that set you’ve been putting off buying is on the Retiring list.

To make it easier for everyone to see the list of Retired Stamps, I’ve included it here in plain text form.

Ahoy, Matey*
Baby Jesus Is Born
Beautiful Life*
Brocade Basics
Bronc Buster
Bundled in Love
Bursting with Joy*
Calendar Cues
Canvas
Classic Backgrounds
Crab & Company
Dad’s Day*
Dots Are Hot
Elegant Notes
Everyday Flexible Phrases
Everything Baby
Fabulous Flowers
Floral
Form & Function
Fruit Stand
Ginormous Flowers
Happiness
Hattitude*
Haunting Halloween
Hi & Hello*
It’s All Good
Just Golf
Just Hockey
Keep Christmas
Kind Thoughts
Light unto My Path
Merry & Bright
Moose You
On the Fly
Paisley
Perfect Timing
Pictograms
Posy
Pretty Peony
Riot of Petals*
Seasonal Whimsy
Seriously Sassy*
Sleigh Bells Ring
So Cool*
Spring Pictograms*
Starstruck
Stemming From*
Stitched
Summer by the Sea*
Take Three
Text & Texture
Thanks for Everything
Thoroughly Thankful
Tree for All Seasons*
Twill
Well-Worn Alphabet
Well-Worn Numbers
Winds of Grace
Wishing You Cheer
With Gratitude
Wonderful Words
Wondrous Gift

*Stamp sets marked with an asterisk were "dormant", meaning they did not appear in the Fall/Winter 2008 Idea Book but were still available for purchase. To see these sets, please reference the Spring/Summer 2008 Idea Book.

Tin Time

At my recent Holiday Tins class we explored how a simple baby formula or coffee can becomes a beautiful tin for your home-made holiday sweets or a unique alternative to a gift-basket or bag. The results were colourful and creative, and I’m excited to share them with you here. We used several patterns of the Stampin’ Up Designer Series paper, and embellished the tins with ribbon, brads, and lovely hand stamped gift tags. If you would like details on the supplies used for this project or would be interested in joining me at a future Gift Tin decorating workshop, please contact me!

Tags Galore

It was so much fun making these simple and colourful tags for my Christmas presents this year… I used the “Deer Friends” stamp set, the 1 3/8” circle punch and the scallop circle punch to create a three-layer tag. On the back of the tag a 1 3/8” circle is stamped with “To:” and “From:” in a coordinating ink colour, and they’re punched with the 1/8” circle punch for easy stringing on presents.