Stampin Up Holiday Extravaganza Sale

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Fall Fun

Sometimes Jill works from my house. She camps out in the outbuilding while Bree and I have fun in the house. We usually play games and have little tea parties. But last Tuesday I was busy getting ready to paint the ceiling in my bedroom, so Bree had to watch more cartoons than she should have. So after lunch I decided we needed some outdoor time. Instead of grabbing the ball and bat we grabbed our rakes and got busy. Ok, I know you can see my rake leaning against the tree, and Bree busy with her little rake, but trust me...I raked!


See, I really was doing my fair share (which translates to most of the raking...after all she is only three and I am?). As soon as I had a little pile of leaves, Bree would come over, walk through them, kick them around, and wait for me to start over again.








Does this look like fun or what? I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with her.

Christmas Organizer

Last year I saw some Christmas organizers that were made using half of a simply scrappin' kit. I think the first one I saw was made by Jan Tink. She makes some amazing things. It was on her blog that I found organized Christmas. Lots of ideas on that site to help you get organized for Christmas. They also have gift ideas and recipes. So first I made one from last years kit (there's a picture on my SU website or a description and picture on this post). I gave that one to my mom. So, this is the one I made with the I Wish simply scrapping kit. I love the colors, real red, chocolate chip, and old olive. I was thrilled that the Shipping Station had red pocket folders for my organizer. I'm sure Gary had them in stock just for me!
This is what it looks like inside. There are four pockets; one for my receipts, one for my gift idea book, one for a little note pad, and one for random things.

The little notebook is a junior legal pad cut at 3 inches. And yes, they also came from the Shipping Station. The other book is a list of gift ideas. I don't remember if I got the list from Organized Christmas or from someone else. But I ended up making one of my own in excel because my their list just didn't work for me. I added things like cd/dvd, gift cards, toys.

Here's a close up of the front.
Now all I need to do is shop a little and put this thing to work!

Advent Calendar

I've been working on Jill's advent calendar and got side tracked making this one. Jill bought a rustic "house" calendar from Target last year. It has 25 little doors on it and is so cute! She's been busy with her research, work, and family and then the baby is due at the end of December. . .so I'm helping get the calendar ready for Bree. I'm printing the verses, etc to put behind the doors and Jill will add any little candies or surprises.





Last year Beate Johns made an advent calendar using small tins. Her tutorial for it is on Splitcoast Stampers. I think she used the Wilton favor tins that have a clear top. Mine have a solid top. I bought them on clearance a couple of years ago at Wal-Mart and was very happy to finally use them. I found the frame hiding on one of the shelves in the back room of The Shipping Station. It was a display piece for magnets. The paper is not attached to the frame; it's held in place by magnets that are behind each tin.



Most of the patterned paper is from Holiday Treasures designer series. I covered the "25" chipboard with the red with brown polka dots and sanded the edges. The "Days of Christmas" is cut from a set of cuttlebug dies. I decorated the tops with stickers from I Wish Simply Scrappin Kit, rub-ons from Season of Cheer, sizzix snowflakes, and stamped snowflakes.






I used a different set of cuttlebug dies for the numbers. They were the most time consuming part of this whole project. I used a glue pen and am hoping they will stick. If not I will apply a thin layer of Mod-Podge over the top.




On the last tin is baby Jesus! I colored this part of the stamp (from Season of Simple Grace) in chocolate chip and added the star.
Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to put in the tins and who's going to open them. Do you think this is something Gary is going to do?

Note Card Folder

I think these folders are a nice way to give someone some cards or notes. Many of the ones I have seen contain monogram notes. But I chose to just make four cards. Two of them say "to you from me" and two say thank you. I could not remember where I placed the directions for the folder, nor could I find it on Splitcoast or Sudsol. So I just looked at some other samples, took a 8-1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock, folded it in half, folded it to make the inside flap, and that was it.
As you can see, I trimmed the inside flaps which makes it easier to close (and it looks better). The ribbon is threaded through to hold the envelopes and the cards in place and then it's tied to keep the folder closed. I used the Inspired by Nature set on the outside of the folder.
On two cards I used one of the stamps from Pocket Silhouettes. I used the Not Quite Navy marker and the blender pen with kiwi kiss reinker to color the flower. The designer paper is from Urban Flowers.
For the other two cards I used the sanded background stamp and the flower/vine from Fresh Cuts.
After making this first one, I see how easy the folders are to make...definitely faster than boxes. And four cards don't take long to make either. So this is definitely a great project for quick gifts for teachers, co-workers, friends...