Creation Station: PLxSU Christmas Planner

This time at Creation Station we're featuring Project Life by Stampin' Up! the wonderful memory keeping system and accessories. We've been challenged to use PLxSU in a different way that simply a scrapbook page.

I decided that I needed a Christmas planner to keep track of gifts to buy, recipes to try, and, of course cards to send!!

I started with two sheets of Nordic Noel designer series paper and cut them to size. I adhered the DSP to a composition book with a Stampin' Glue Stick. I laid a length of Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon at the seam between the two DSP pieces and adhered piece of Real Red card stock to the spine, with the ribbon underneath. This keeps the ribbon attached to the planner.

The Project Life Snapshot Card Collection had just right the cards I needed to make the labels for my planner. I also used the self-stick letters in the Project Life Snapshot Accessory Pack to spell out "planner" on the front of my journal. I added another self-stick banner along the ribbon, just for fun!

(Stamp Set: Watercolor Winter Too; Ink: Real Red; Card Stock: Real Red; DSP: Nordic Noel: Accessories: Seasonal Snapshot Project Life Card Collection and Accessory Pack; Project Life Corner Rounder Punch; Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon)

(DSP: Nordic Noel: Accessories: Seasonal Snapshot Project Life Card Collection; Project Life Corner Rounder Punch; Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon)

There are only a couple of us playing along this week on Creation Station--the rest of the design team is taking a much deserved break for the holidays. We'll be back in January with some more great creations to share with you. Until then 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Christmas in September (part deux)

When Stampin' Up debuted the "Wondrous Wreath" stamp set and matching framelits at the #InspireCreateShare2014, we were all wowed! The stamp set is adorable, of course, but they've added guides to the stamps AND the matching "Wonderful Wreath" framelits, so that you can line them up perfectly as you stamp the layers and then cut out the images. The stamps are photopolymer and you can see right through them. Awesome!

You can get the "Wondrous Wreath" PLUS "Wonderful Wreath" framelits in a bundle and save 15% (137624 $43.25)!

This card also uses a sentiment from the "Watercolor Winter Too" set, which I curved. I LOVE that the photopolymer sets are malleable like that. And the border on the bottom is from the "Mosaic Madness" set. 

I CASEd this card by Sharon Cheng--including the curved sentiment. Thanks for the inspiration Sharon!

(Stamp Sets:: Wondrous Wreath, Watercolor Winter Too, Mosaic Madness; Inks: Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Real Red; Card Stock: Naturals, Real Red, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Wonderful Wreath Framelits)

TUTORIAL: Mini Magazine Card Holder

As promised, here's the picture tutorial for making the mini magazine card holders. Here's the finished product.

(Stamp Set: Watercolor Winter Too; Ink: Mossy Meadow; Card Stock: Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla; DSP: Under the Tree Specialty Paper; Accessory: Mossy Meadow Stitched Satin Ribbon)

Start with an 11"x12" piece of cardstock. I used the card stock-weight "Under the Tree" specialty designer series paper from the Holiday mini catalog.

On the 11" side, score at 4-1/2" and 6-1/2". Rotate and score at 6" and 10-1/2".

Cut both the 6" and 10-1/2" sides up to the vertical score lines and stop. (You will do a better job of actually cutting long the line than I did. Ha!)

 

On the bigger flaps at the top, mark 1/2" on from each of the vertical score lines. Mark 2-1/4" inch from the first horizontal score line.

Cut along the diagonal (from the 1/2" mark to the 2-1/4" mark) on both sides.

Score both lower flaps at 2-1/4".

Cut 1/4" off both lower flaps.

Turn the piece over so that the right (outside) is up. Place two strips of sticky tape along the narrow flaps at the very bottom of your piece.

 
Two scored middle flap will fold over the narrow strip from the bottom, making a "box." Step one: adhere the narrow strip to the side.

 

Step two: On the inside of the "box," add sticky strip along the edges of the flap that will fold over your box. Fold and adhere.

Add a strip of sticky tape inside the box along the top of the long edge and one down the back of the box, perpendicular to the first piece of sticky strip.

Fold the large diagonally cut flaps up and adhere them to the inside of the "box."

Now your mini magazine holder is ready to decorate!

Before I leave, I want to show you how cool the photopolymer stamps are. You can bend them when you apply them to the acrylic blocks. Here's what the "Watercolor Winter Too" stamps look like in their "natural" state.

All Images ©Stampin’ Up!

But here's how you can bend them to make a curved greeting (I left the ink on the stamp so you could see it better.) How cool is that?

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Please let me know if you have any questions. And let me know if you see anything else on the blog (past or future) that you'd like a tutorial for!!

Seasonal Card Holder

Over the weekend, I held the first session of my Christmas card-making class. It was a great success. All my guests enjoyed the experience and they all loved the cards I designed. That always makes me feel good!

One of my guests told me about a mini magazine holder for cards that she had seen on Pinterest. I have seen them in the past, but I'd never sat down to make one. This morning, I got a Facebook message from another guest (hi Patricia!) who showed off the adorbs mini magazine holders that she had made. I was inspired to make one of my own!!

I found a tutorial on Pinterest and thought that our new-in-the-holiday-mini-catalog Under the Tree Specialty Designer Series paper would be great for this project! This paper is cardstock-weight kraft paper with designs printed on both sides. Perfect!

Here's how my mini magazine card hold turned out. You can see one of the cards from the class peeking out. The whole card is here on my blog.

(Stamp Sets: Watercolor Winter Too, Mosaic Madness; Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla; DSP: Under the Tree Specialty Series: Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon)

I love how the photopolymer sets are bendable. The "Seasons Greetings" sentiment from the "Watercolor Winter Too" set is straight, but you can curve it a bit when you mount it onto the block. Love that!!

Here's another view looking into the box. I'd be happy to post a photo tutorial. Let me know if you're interested. The box is fairly straight-forward to make.

(Stamp Sets: Watercolor Winter Too, Mosaic Madness; Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla; DSP: Under the Tree Specialty Series: Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon)