Let's get the party started!

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming! If you have a desire to make some Christmas cards or buy some stamps for someone for Christmas (even for yourself, hehe--you can say that Santa brought them for you), now is the time to select and buy! It can take 10-12 days for the orders to come in once they are placed. 

For our first full day of this Virtual Party, let's have a closer look at the Holiday Mini Catalogue, shall we? There are some great products available in the current Mini. You can download the .pdf from the right sidebar or you can flip through it, like a catalogue, with the flash version.

First of all, there is the Simply Scored being introduced. You can find it on pages 6 and 7. This is a fantastic product to use if you score paper at all--no more moving the paper bit-by-bit to do the scoring! Simply place your paper, decide the distance you need between score marks, and away you go! I tried scoring with just my paper trimmer and a scoring blade the other day. I suck at it. If I'm going to be serious about making things that require scoring, this will be the product for me.

There is a whole bunch of Halloween stuff, which you can still get and use next year. Like I said in my previous post, this Mini ends January 3, 2012, and there is no guarantee that these products will be available again. (Well, the Simply Scored, yes; stamps and papers and all that, no.)

You ought to go on and look through the catalogue, page by page, and take note of the things you like. Some of my favourite things are the Hand-Penned Holidays set on p. 15, the Specialty Designer Series Paper on p. 20, The Sounding Joy stamp set on p. 23, the Forest Festivities stamp set on p. 27 (it's just so cute, isn't it?), the Stitched Stockings stamp set, with the accompanying Builder Punch on p. 34 (I could see how versatile this set could be!) and, drum roll please ;), the Glimmer Paper and Dazzling Details on p. 41. (The red Glimmer Paper is also available in the Idea Book and Catalogue.) I went to Michaels recently and saw that they had glitter paper. It seemed of similar quality to the Stampin' Up Glimmer Paper, but it was $3.49 at my local store for one sheet. You get two for $5.95 in the Holiday Mini Catalogue--that's a savings of $1.03. It might not seem like much, but it's still a savings! (And don't get me started on the price of stamps at Michaels! A single stamp at Michaels for the price of some of the Stampin' Up stamp sets!!)

I have made some Christmas cards with some of these products.

(Sorry, my photo-taking skills require some work. This was my third and best attempt.
This card was designed by my up-line, Tamara Bertram.)

This card used the Merry Christmas stamp from the Hand-Penned Holidays set (p. 15), some Night of Navy card stock and ink, Whisper White card stock, Dazzling Diamonds glitter (p. 201 of the Idea Book and Catalogue) stuck on the trees with 2-Way Glue Pen (p. 206 of the Idea Book and Catalogue--a shame the glitter isn't showing up properly in the photo; it really makes the card) and with the Lovely as a Tree stamp set (p. 114 of the Idea Book and Catalogue). It is by far my favourite Christmas card made so far this year.

Another card made with a stamp set from the Holiday Mini:

This used 2 stamps from The Sounding Joy stamp set (p. 23) and I'm not sure of the colours. The card was designed by my demonstrator and I made it at her house. I believe it is Cherry Cobbler ink, ribbon and card stock for the red parts; looks like Sahara Sand for the other coloured card stock and the background stamp. The white is Whisper White card stock and the background texture is the Framed Tulips embossing folder on p. 218 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. Of course, you have to use the Big Shot for that. ;) (I love my Big Shot! I'm not ashamed to admit I joined Stampin' Up as a demonstrator because of a special promotion at the time to get the Big Shot for free! I might just talk about it more during the Virtual Party this week!)


Keep looking through the Holiday Mini and writing down what you would like. As you write items down, especially those you think you might order from me, make sure to write down the item code and the name--it will make things a whole lot easier! I'll be moving onto the Idea Book and Catalogue tomorrow.

Just a note: While the party ends on Nov. 27 and closes on the 29th, ideally, orders will be in by Nov. 28 to give me a chance to contact people on the 29th, if needed, to clarify or make sure they have everything they need. For example, someone might buy glitter, but don't have a glue pen to have the glitter to stick to. It's my job to make sure you have everything you need so you can sit down and have fun making cards once your order gets to you!