CRAFTDOC

The Stampin’ Up! Online Extravaganza has been extended one more day!  Over 700 items are on sale so check it out at my store.

Some favorites from past blog posts are included, such as  3 ways to make a pop up card, Playful Pets as well as several beautiful Christmas stamp sets and die sets from the Annual Catalog.  And of course, my favorite kits and tools as I discussed in this blog post.

Thank you for shopping small this season.  I appreciate your business!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Kim Wilson

********TUESDAY ONLY – ONE DAY SALE – 790 items!***********

As a long time crafter, I have a few tips to share as we approach the holiday season.  Crafting is a big boost for our mental health, especially during these times of isolation.  So craft supplies make a great gift for almost anyone on your Christmas list.   My top picks are…

1. KITS

Make your own Christmas cards this year – the Joy of Sharing Card Kit has everything you need – including stamps and ink!  Perfect for the beginner (follow the directions) or the more experienced crafter (change it up).

The Christmas Countdown Project Kit is perfect for Advent.  Or your crafter can decorate it for storing embellishments or gifting for another occasion.

If your gift will be opened on or after Christmas, how about an all occasion card kit like Simply Citrus.

And for a gift that keeps on giving – our Paper Pumpkin subscription kits!  A 3- month subscription would give the perfect taste.

2. Basic Tools

I found the fun pencil holder on Amazon, but everything else is from my Stampin’ Up! store.  These are a few of the tools I use every day in crafting:  Liquid Glue, Paper Snips, Bone Folder and Take Your Pick Tool.

Or find a cute pencil box container or pouch and fill with a collection of different adhesives – a crafter can never have too much adhesive on hand!

3.  Stamps, Ink, Paper – Take a SIP

These are the basics for any papercrafter.  Stampin’ Up! has hundreds of coordinating products – we are an industry leader!  In case you get a little overwhelmed in the store, here are a few basics.

For the beginner -just note cards with envelopes, pick a stamp set you like and an ink pad.

These #simplestamping cards were made with the Dove of Hope stamp set and Smoky Slate ink.  I added a little coloring with Watercolor Pencils.  If you want to get a little more advanced, add some blender pens to blend the color.  You will want to have a Memento Black Ink pad too (just like that little black dress) as that will be your most used ink color.

The casual crafter might like to have an assortment of cardstock and ink pads on hand.  Pick a color family collection of both, so the colors match.  Whisper White Cardstock and Medium Envelopes are a must have for the avid card maker.

4.  Most crafters will already have a paper cutter.  But if not, or if it is not up to speed, I recommend the Stampin’ Up! Paper Trimmer.  It comes with a cutting and a scoring blade and is a basic requirement for any papercrafting (other than kits and note cards that are already pre-cut and scored).

5.  Big Time Tools

These are for the avid crafter that wants the best.

The Stamparatus is by far the best stamp positioning tool on the market.  This is for the avid crafter that likes to try new techniques and make multiples.

Die Cutting Machines are also a must have for the avid crafter.  Many Stampin’ Up! stamp sets are available as bundles with matching die collections, so be sure to check those out as well.  Several companies that manufacture die cutting machines have had issues in the past few years, so Stampin’ Up! came up with their own exclusive machine.  A staple in my craft room is the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine -I love it!

Alcohol Markers are the coloring tool of choice for the avid crafter.  Nothing beats Stampin’ Blends for ease of use and color coordination.  Or if your crafter wants the easier to use water based markers, the Stampin’ Write markers come in every Stampin’ Up! color and also in various collections to match the ink and cardstock collections.

I hope you enjoyed my tips for gifts this Christmas.  I appreciate your support of my home business.  Be sure to buy small this year and support small businesses like mine.   I’d love to hear from you – my contact info is on my Stampin’ Up! website.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Joy to the World!  Thousands of people are enjoying the latest Paper Pumpkin Kit.  I want to share a few tips to maximize this kit that you can use on other kits as well.

These are the two cards, basically made as per the instructions with some minor changes.    If you look at the next photo, you can see some ways that I expanded the kit to make more than the 8 cards.

1. Cut some additional card bases using the coordinating colors (listed in the instructions)
2. Cut 4 of the flower pieces in half, rather than using 2 full flowers on each card.
3. Cut the gold foil banner in quarters and peak them out from behind pieces rather than using a whole one on each card.
4. Stamp some extra wreaths and cut with a circle punch or Stitched Circle Dies.

I’ve just begun, but with those tips here are a few cards I made very quickly.

Another 2-fer card!  Cut 1″ off  the front of each card and adhere to the inside of the opposite color.  The first card is a faux latch – I just adhered the Just Jade piece to the front.  The second is an actual latch – The Just Jade piece is folded under the Crumb Cake strip on the card inside and then tucked under the wreath circle.  The rose and wreath are attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  I added Champagne Rhinestones and Pearls for embellishments.

Another 2-fer – The circle cut from the bottom card is used on the top card!  And you have the space for stamping the inside to peek through.  And you can tie the linen thread around through the circle – what fun!

I hope these ideas will spark your creativity.  Don’t forget, the deadline to subscribe to the Jolly Gingerbread kit is tomorrow.  I know this will be another good one!  You can see some of the elements in the photo below.  Looks like some cute enamel dots and a fun house stamp and a cute box.  Cookies are optional!  You can subscribe to Paper Pumpkin here.

And you can contact me through my website if you missed the Joy to the World kit – I have some extras and refills.

Check out my newsletter and my store too.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

There are lots of ways to incorporate curves in your papercrafting.  But one of the easiest is using metal dies such as in the new Quite Curvy bundle by Stampin’ Up!  There is a curve with dots and one with flourishes – perfect for Christmas or any occasion.

And here’s a peek at the entire Quite Curvy variety bundle:

So let’s see some projects by Stampin’ Up! artists.

I have a lot more projects to show you.  But this gives you an idea of how versatile this Stampin’ Up! bundle truly is.  And the good news is that there are 2 bundles – the Quite Curvy stamp set with dies AND the Variety Bundle which adds the Curvy Christmas stamp set and Classic Christmas Designer Series Paper.  Both these bundles are 10% off!  And of course you can add these to your demonstrator starter kit for an even greater discount.  Check it all out at my Stampin’ Up! website.

Don’t forget to reserve your November Paper Pumpkin kit – it will be a fun one!

And check out my classes for November with Curvy Celebrations, In the Pines, Peace & Joy and Trimming the Town – fun fold, technique, layout and Christmas home decor.  Contact me through my website for details on class kits.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Pop up cards are a great way to add some fun and whimsy.  I’ve tried 3 different ways to make a pop-up and all are easy to adapt to any stamps and supplies.

1.Window Sheet method.  For this Pop Up Card with Playful Pets Designer Paper by Stampin’ Up!, cut a scrap of window sheet about 1/2″ x 1-1/2″ and fold into a Z. Place a glue dot on the top and bottom of the Z and attach to the card and to the cat or dog. It will fold down flat in an envelope. Put a pop-up pet on the inside too!

Video:
https://youtu.be/PaC-rh48pw4
Bonus – these pets wobble without buying expensive wobble mechanisms online!

Here are the finished cards – I just used some leftover bits & pieces from my October card class, where we also used Playful Pets.

2.   Cardstock Box

We first used this technique in my July class.  Make a cardstock box of any size from a strip of cardstock.  It will be open on top and bottom.  Adhere 2 sides to the inside of your card at the fold.  The distance of the popup will depend on the dimensions of your box.  Place several inside one card for even more fun.

Here is the Whale Done card from class:

And a closeup of the pop up box:

More Whale Done cards are  here and here.

And here is the front of our whale pop-up card.

This is the box pop-up I made with Playful Pets which is on the inside of the cat card above.

3.  Pop-Up liner

For this method, you cut an entire liner for the inside of the card.  Then make side-by side cuts that form the pop ups.  This is very similar to the box method above, but takes more cardstock and a little less cutting.  Here is one example from an earlier blog post.  You can see it in the video, along with some other examples of interactive cards.  It looks like for those cards my window sheet “Z” was 1/2 x 2-1/4″ folded into 3/4″ sections.  All 3 of these methods are very forgiving – try different combinations of measurements.

I hope you give one of these methods a try. They are so much fun!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

BOTH OF THE PAPERS BELOW ARE ON SALE DURING OCTOBER. 

Missed the sale?  Get on my mailing list!

Product List

Since it’s Black Cat Day, I thought I would revisit the Playful Pets projects from my October Class.   This fun fold card was just the cat’s meow.  (Woof.)

We also did a favorite layout card cutting the dog and cat from the Playful Pets Designer Paper.

And later in the month, I showed in a Facebook Live how to make a mirror image card with the darling dog stamp from Pampered Pets.

Click on any of the images below for more about this fun Product Suite by Stampin’ Up!  Don’t forget to sign up for my weekly email newsletter too!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Product List

My Christmas Class for this month showcased the Poinsettia Place Suite by Stampin’ Up!  We made a beautiful Card folio and two unique sized cards in shades of blue, white and silver.  Wouldn’t this make a lovely gift?

Here’s a closeup of the cover:

The folio is a full sheet of Seaside Spray cardstock folded in half and then folded up 2-1/2 inches from the bottom.  Here’s a photo of the inside:

The complete instruction sheet pdf is posted in my customer Facebook group along with 7 months of online classes and videos.   There are still a few kits left for purchase too.   Contact me through my Stampin’ Up! website for more information about my classes.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

Clickable Product List

I put together a few grab bags of retired Stampin’ Up! products that coordinate together.  All treats, no tricks.  There are 3 different bags and I have several of each one.  The contents are listed below each photo.

Each grab bag includes a cute reusable Pumpkin bag.

Halloween Grab Bag #1:

contents Bag #1:

Tea Together Stamp Set

matching Tea Time Framelits Dies

Merry Little Christmas 12 x 12 Cardstock (24 sheets Old Olive and Kraft)

Bird Ballad Designer Paper – 12 double sided sheets, 12×12

Two Tone Trim

Cotton Twine

Bird Ballad Trinkets

Colored Doilies

Gingham Gala Adhesive Backed Sequins

My Wonderful Family Paper Pumpkin Kit – complete with stamps and ink

Halloween Grab Bag #2: SOLD OUT

Contents Bag #2: – SOLD OUT –  I do have everything except – no more punches.

Making Every Day Bright stamp set

matching Christmas Bulb Builder Punch

Merry Moments Cardstock (24 sheets of Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Smoky Slate) 8-1/2 x 11

Night Before Christmas Designer Paper (48 double sided sheets, 6×6)

Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots

Garden Green Baker’s Twine

Bow Paper Clip Embellishments

Gold Glitz Dazzling Details

Pretty Presents Designer Tags

Something for Everything Paper Pumpkin Kit with stamps and ink

Halloween Grab Bag #3:

Contents Bag #3:

Painted Seasons stamp set

matching Four Seasons Framelits dies

Warm Hearted stamp set

Glitter Enamel Dots

Toil & Trouble Cardstock Pack (24 sheets of Basic Black, Granny Apple Green, Pumpkin Pie, Gorgeous Grape) 8-1/2 x 11

Mini Tassels

Mini Paper Clips Embellishments

Silver Natural Trim

World’s Greatest Paper Pumpkin Kit with stamps and ink

The fine print:

Every item is brand new.

Every item is retired and grab bags are “while supplies last”.

Cost is just $40 each.  (Value ranges from $106-$122)

Shipping is $12.50 or free with porch pickup in Erie, PA

You can contact me through my Stampin’ Up! website to claim your grab bag and receive an invoice by email.

That’s a lot of treats! Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

My Paper Pumpkin kit treats are ready to be filled with candy:

Hint:  If you find Reese’s Halloween Bats – they fit perfectly!  I had to hide them for now!

I made these basic collages of pieces for the cracker boxes and cards.  The silicone craft sheet was very useful to keep the liquid glue contained and easy to clean up.   I made these cards with extra pieces and still have some left.

The cards were a breeze to create using the Whisper White note cards & envelopes  and some scraps of Designer paper that are on sale:  Plaid Tidings, Magic in the Night.  Tip:  To make a wreath card, trace a circle onto the card using a die or punched circle.  Adhere your leaves and flowers along the circle.  This will keep your wreath from getting out of shape as you are building it.

Tip:  If you don’t have this kit, recreate some of the cards with the Gilded Autumn suite.  The punched leaves and acorns will make a darling wreath card.

I have just one of these Hello Pumpkin kits left and I have a few October (Joy to the World) kits coming soon.  But why not just add a subscription – the November kit will be awesome too!

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson

I’m excited to announce my Stampin’ Up!  Virtual Classes for October. I love fall and the holiday season and can’t wait to show you some fun projects with the Playful Pets and Poinsettia Place Suites.

We will again enjoy a technique, favorite layout and fun fold for the Card Class.  The Christmas class will feature a lovely card folio with 2 Poinsettia cards in white, blue and silver.  PDF instructions and videos are always free for my customers and team members in our Facebook group.  Kits are available for purchase – just contact me though my Stampin’ Up! website.

Don’t forget about the Patterned Paper Sale.  Some of my favorites are there, including some great Christmas papers.

And the Paper Pumpkin subscription period for the Christmas Card kit is almost over.  You can subscribe here or purchase a subscription at my store along with other Stampin’ Up! products.

How can I serve you this holiday season?  Let me know what kind of crafting projects and products you are looking for.  You can contact me through my Stampin’ Up! website.

Happy crafting,

Kim Wilson