The new Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini catalog launched yesterday and there is so much wonderful new product to show off! Have you checked out the catalog?  You can download a digital copy on the SU! site or shop the website. If you need your own copy contact me. 

One of my favorite suites from this catalog is the Reindeer Days products which includes the Reindeer Fun bundle. As soon as I saw it I knew it needed to be the focus for a suite class.  I've been creating with it so much! Check out all these fun projects.  

The first thing I made was a wall hanging piece.  This will be a part of my suite class and I love how it turned out. I found the cut little hanging boxes at Michaels.  The adorable deer can be die cut from the coordinating paper. 

The colors are so bright and fun.  I wanted Real Red ribbon to coordinate so I created my own with the Blends.  I love that we can color white ribbon into any color we need. 

The sweet branched die cut is so perfect for a focal point on your card.  I may or may not have spent a lot of time fussy cutting deer! 

This card used so many supplies from the suite. I embossed the Designer Series Paper with the new Plaid embossing folder.  This is one of the big ones! You can fit a full 1/2 sheet of card stock in at one time. I also stamped the cute reindeer and used my Blends to give it some color. It's topped off with some twine and peppermint embellishments. 

Which project is your favorite? 

This time of year I need a lot of gift card holders. I don't like to simply hand someone a gift card.  I like to make it special! I've got four fun ways for you to gift someone a gift card this holiday season. 

The first uses the fun Classic Gift Card Envelopes.  These are retiring with the mini catalog and are on sale.  Be sure to stock up! You can add a little color to them with blending brushes, simply tie ribbon around them or add them to the inside of a card. So many uses. 

The Mini Pocket Envelope die is the perfect size for creating gift card holders. With this die you can use any of your favorite papers and create an adorable project in minutes. 

​Tip: I always use Tear Tape for gift card holders and envelopes I make. It's a much stronger adhesive than Seal and helps hold up when you are slipping something in and out of the envelope. 

This design is one of my favorites!  The best way to make them is with Memories and More cards.  It's a rather simple design in the end:

-Base is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches (a quarter of a piece of card stock)
-Layer on top of it a 4 x 5 1/4 inches piece of Designer Series Paper or trim 3/4 of an inch off of a Memories and More card
-The middle is a piece of card stock cut to 9 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches and scored at 3 1/4 and 6 1/2 
-Use your Memories and More 3 x4 cards to decorate

This design fits in a traditional card envelope making it the perfect Gift Card Card! 

I hope you haven't overlooked the Scalloped Gift Card Boxes in the annual catalog.  These are perfect for gifting your gift cards! Easily decorate with your favorite Designer Series Papers, some tags and ribbon. The inside has a great little pop up holder to slip the gift card in. 

Which is your favorite?

Be sure to hop to the end to see all the great projects being shared this week.  I love seeing everyone's creativity.  Hit next to see Wendy's creation and back to see Elizabeth's. 

Here are some of my alternatives with the Ho Ho Ho Paper Pumpkin kit from October.  As usual St! created a wonderful kit.  Originally designed to create nine cards but I chose to make alternatives. 

I love when they include a die cut that works as a stencil.  This snowflake design was perfect! Grab your Blending Brush and a ink of choice and you can create this background too.  I chose the back side of the piece to apply color to so that I could still use the intended side on a card when I was done. 

Here is a closer look.  

The Real Red Pearlized Enamel Effects were a great addition to the middle of the snowflakes.  

This Santa stamp is so cute.  I stamped him and fussy cut him out. I paired him with a piece from the Celebrate Everything Host DSP pack. 

If you've seen my designs in the past you know I like to cut up the printed envelopes as well.  This card was one I created with pieces of some of the envelopes after I had cut them. 

This is another card using part of the envelope as well as a leftover piece of the card bases I cut down. I cut apart the hohoho die to create three separate pieces as well. 

This is one of my favorites and it's such a simple design! I adore the fonts in the new Framed & Festive stamp set. 

One final alternative. 

If you are not a subscriber you can sign up here.  The November kit is tags that coordinate with this kit! 

Every year I try to hold at least one "fancier" holiday card class.  One where we use techniques, fun folds and lots of products. Here are this year's cards. 

First up was a simple but gorgeous card using the Happy Holly-days stamp set plus dies and some blending.  This did require a little fussy cutting which earned me some dirty looks!  I loved the addition of the gold Simply Elegant Trim and the Gilded Gems. 

This next fun fold card was created by my friend the Stamp Doc/Melissa Stout.  I loved her design and couldn't wait to share with my customers. 

When folded on the score line it becomes an easel card! 

The Words of Cheer bundle offers so many opportunities for gorgeous cards.  In fact, I created a whole class around this suite! Contact me if you'd like more information on purchasing a packet and/or PDF.  

For this one I added in some blending on the background using the Blending Brushes and the Adorning Designs Decorative Masks. A little vellum and some silver accents and it's ready.  Everyone preferred the fact that this one had a die so no fussy cutting required!  

I love creating patterns with the Stitched Triangles.  I utilized the beautiful Peaceful Prints Sale a Bration paper we just offered. Although you can't get it any more this card could easily be recreated with any of our wonderful holiday Designer Series Papers. 

The Sweet Stockings Suite offers so many options for card making and it's really hard to resist the adorable animal faces!  Notice that there are so many ways to incorporate the matching Designer Series Paper (DSP) in this suite too. 

The Santa Paws card comes together easily by pairing the stamp set with the matching Designer Series Paper.  I stamped the dog in Old Olive ink on Old Olive card stock for my background.  A few strips of DSP and some ribbon and it's looking good! 

Use the Designer Series Paper to provide a quick and easy patterned stocking.  Simply cut out with the largest stocking die.  I cut the top and toe pieces with the Jolly Felt to add some dimension.  Pairing the Pool Party Striped Grosgrain with the Evening Evergreen Chevron from the Annual Catalog is the perfect addition to the card. 

This suite can help you knock out all your holiday cards at once! 

Some coloring with the Blends was the perfect touch on these adorable faces.  Notice that you can cut out the stockings from the Designer Series Paper with the coordinating dies. 

Don't miss the year end sale! Here is a list of all the items being retired along with the sale prices. 

Here are some of my favorites that are on sale! 

The November Paper Pumpkin kit is adorable.  Meant to create gift card holders it can be used for so much more! 

With just a few cuts to the house piece you can turn it into a tag, mini card or full size card. The full size card below is made using a Blushing Bride card stock base and a piece of Whisper White card stock cut to 4 x 5.25.  From there I used the items included in this month's kit to create the card. 

This adorable tag is quick to make using the front piece of one of the houses.  Punch a hole at the top and add some twine!

The puff sticker candy pieces might be my favorite part of the whole kit.  You can check out all the projects I created below.  To subscribe to Paper Pumpkin click here. 

I am so excited for this upcoming class where we will be making what I call "giftables".  I've done these types of classes around the holidays for a few years.  Gift card holders, candy holders, boxed sets of cards and even a magnetic frame one year.  

My favorite part of this project would be the leaves.  The stitching on these beautiful dies is gorgeous.  It's actually quite easy to put together.  The color inspiration came from Hershey kisses I found wrapped in this color palette! 

Adding a quick tag finishes off the project.  

The Plush Poinsettia Paper is the perfect touch to this project.  You can see the flocked designs in this photo. There are even parts of the paper that can be die cut with the Poinsettia Dies. I layered Heartwarming Hugs Designer Series Paper underneath, created a quick tag and tied it off with All the Trimmings ribbon. 

I love the Tag Buffet Project Kit in the August-December Mini Catalog.  Join me on December 4th for a class featuring this great kit. 

These tags are a great size. You can see them in comparison to our ink pads. 

If you'd like to join me to create these tags click here to see Evite. To purchase the kit and stamp set to create on your own click here.