Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, have a very merry Christmas! May today find you celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour with those you love. All the best from the Girsa family :)

Gift Wrapping Anyone?

If you're anything like me, you're doing just a wee bit of gift-wrapping these days. I thought I would share some ideas I used to add a little extra something to some of my gifts this year...

Firstly, I made these sweet little Baker's Boxes to hold chocolate treats in no time, thanks to two kits: All Boxed Up (from the Annual Catty) and the Oh What Fun Tag Kit (from the Holiday Catty). These two kits are a match made in crafting heaven! The boxes come already cut and scored in the All Boxed Up kit, which also includes that sweet Mint Macaron pom-pom trim. The Oh What Fun Tag Kit includes all of the pre-cut tags and tons of embellishments. Did I mention this fabulous kit (along with the Real Red Pom-pom Trim) is on sale right now in the Year-End Sale?  Yep...grab it while you can and save it for next year when you're pressed for time! It took me mere minutes to whip up several of these cute little treat holders.  It definitely pays to have a couple of kits on-hand!

Next, I made this cute little pillow box to hold some small gifts. I used some (retired) Under the Tree Specialty DSP (that I pick up during last year's year-end sale) to create my pillow box. The best part about this paper is that it is card stock weight AND it's printed on both sides, so even the inside of my box looks pretty! I used the Square Pillow Box Framelits to cut the box, which goes together in a snap. I used some Garden Green 1/8" striped ribbon to embellish the box. I added a little punched tree and a banner I had leftover from the Oh What Fun Tags kit to make my little tag...so sweet!

Finally, I whipped up some simple snowflake tags to go with this pretty cable-knit-patterned wrapping paper I found. I used the Festive Flurry (retired) stamp set and coordinating framelits to die-cut the tag and then added a wooden Snowflake Element and a Metal-rimmed Pearl. The ribbon is Smoky Slate 5/8" Natural Chevron Ribbon from the Annual Catty. It was the perfect complement for the gift wrap and tag.

I so love making my friends and family feel extra-special by beautifully wrapping their gifts. They so appreciate it and I love doing it! Happy wrapping!!

Here are all of the products I used to create these projects:

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Happy New Year for Sunday Stamps

Wow, it's been a hectic week! It is the last Sunday before Christmas and we have a new sketch challenge for you over at Sunday Stamps. Check it out:

Here is my project for the Design Team...I figured some of us might need to abandon the idea of getting Christmas cards out in time and aim for sending New Year's cards instead!

New Year's card featuring the Six Sayings stamp set and Hello You Thinlits

I opted for a gold and silver colour scheme, which just seems right for a shiny new year. I used the new, soon-to-be-available Confetti TIEF to selectively emboss the Whisper White background panel. I used the Hello You Thinlits to cut the "happy" from silver foil sheets. "New Year" is heat embossed in gold on a piece of Winter Wonderland vellum, which I cut into a banner. The image is from the Six Sayings Host set.

I added lots of sparkle with strips of gold and silver sequin trim and a few little rhinestone champagne bubbles.

Inside view with sentiment from Versatile Christmas

On the inside I once again embossed the Whisper White panel with the Confetti TIEF and then heat embossed the sentiment from the Versatile Christmas set in gold. I think it is the perfect sentiment for a new year.

If you're anything like me, your To-Do list is a mile long...why not take a break from the craziness of Holiday preparations and give this sketch a try? We'd love for you to play along with us at Sunday Stamps!

Here are the currently-available products I used to create this project:

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We Interrupt Your Regular Christmas Programming...

...for a new catalogue sneak peek!
I have been so overwhelmingly busy the past couple of weeks I haven't even unpacked my Occasions Catalogue pre-order! Last night I unexpected had a couple of free hours so I took the opportunity to unpack AND make a birthday card for my niece, who is turning two this week.  How many new products can you spot??

Birthday card featuring the Party Wishes and Greatest Greeting s stamp sets.

So, how many did you count? Here is the list of new products I used, all of which will be available in the Occasions Catalogue starting January 5th:

Party Wishes Stamp Set (pg. 5)

Greatest Greetings Stamp Set (pg. 23)

It's My Party DSP stack (pg. 5)

Party Punch Pack (pg. 4)

Aren't those bitty balloons adorable?  I think this is my favourite new punch in a long while!

I made this inside almost as fun as the outside with the new Confetti TIEF (pg. 5) and more cute little balloons.

My niece may be too young to appreciate the bling on this card, but I sure can!  One day she'll thank me ;)

If you haven't yet received your copy of the Occasions and Sale-a-bration catalogues, don't fret.  They are on their way if you are a current customer of mine. If you don't currently have a demonstrator and would like a complimentary copy drop me a quick email and I will pop one into the mail for you. 

Here are the currently available products I used to create this card. The rest will be available January 5th, 2016!

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The Year-End Sale is Here!

 It's a busy time of the year, and our Year-End Sale can help you finish your Christmas shopping for the crafters in your life AND get those final items from your own Wish List.  With more products on clearance and discounts up to 60%, you will want to take advantage of these amazing deals! All Holiday Catalogue products on the Retiring List are discounted up to 40%!!

During the Year-End Sale, you can find ALL discounted products in one location in the online store: under the Year-End Sale category. So don't fret if you don't see the category "Clearance Rack" on the online store right now--it has been integrated into the Year-End Sale.

Now, here are some important details to note:

• The sale runs from  December 10, 2015-January 4, 2016.        
• No minimum purchase required.
• No refunds or exchanges on Year-End Sale items.
• Items offered during the Year-End Sale are while supplies last.
• Year-End Sale orders are eligible for Stampin' Rewards with qualifying orders.
• Following the Year-End Sale, some remaining items may stay in the Clearance Rack. Other items may be removed from the Clearance Rack to be added at another undetermined time.
• Orders must be placed online. 

That last point is a big one. Because all items are offered while supplies last, orders must be placed online through my webstore. This is to ensure that you aren't disappointed by sold out items, as there will be no backorders on sale items.

So, are you ready to check out the deals?  Click the image below to start shopping!

Click the image to view the sale items.

Falala Pillow Box

As we continue the countdown to Christmas I thought maybe you could use some quick and easy gift packaging ideas. Today I want to show you the little boxes I made to package and gift the tree ornaments I made for the members of my Tri-City Stampers team (see yesterday's post if you missed it!).  I used the adorable square pillow box die....check it out:

Pillow Box featuring the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and coordinating Delicate Ornaments Thinlit dies.

I began my cutting two panels from thick Whisper White card stock. I then embossed each panel using the Softly Falling TIEF before assembling my box. To decorate the box I began with a length of 1-1/4" Very Vanilla Striped Satin ribbon, which I wrapped around the box and secured with Fast Fuse. I then added a length of 3/8" white glitter ribbon over top of the Very Vanilla ribbon and secured it with glue dots. I layered a silver metallic doily over the ribbon. The ornament is heat embossed in silver on gold foil sheets and die-cut using the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits. I adhered the ornament to the box using dimensionals.

The die cut sentiment is cut from gold foil sheets using the Christmas Greetings Thinlits and is secured by looping some silver cording trim through the loop on the "f" and tying a bow.

Here is the box with the ornament I tucked inside for my team members:

This little box takes very little time to make, but can make even the simplest little gift special. I am a big believer in the power of pretty packaging...it goes a long way in make the recipient feel extra-special. Give it a try this Christmas and you'll see what I mean :)

Here are the supplies I used to create this project:

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Peaceful Ornaments

So, are you ready for Christmas yet?  For the first time since...well, ever(!) I actually feel like I have a handle on things as we speed toward the big day. The house is decorated, the tree is up and I am almost done my shopping...I know...I can't believe it either!!
Last Saturday I held my team Christmas dinner as a small way of saying thank you to the amazing women with whom I have the privilege of sharing my Stampin' Up! journey. I wanted to give them a small keepsake, so I designed these ornaments for them to hang on their Christmas trees...

Christmas ornament featuring the Dove of Peace stamp set and the Christmas Greetings Thinlits.

I had several of these to make, so I needed to keep the design relatively simple. I found these little ornament frames at a local craft store and knew they would be perfect for what I wanted to do. I began by stamping the dove from the Dove of Peace set in Versamark ink and heat embossed it in gold. Then, because the opening in the frame was a 2" circle, I used my 2" Circle punch to punch out a portion of the embossed image. I removed the frame backing from the ornament, leaving only the plastic window. I used some of the long strips of dimensionals I had left over from the To You and Yours Shaker card kit to create a shaker frame for my ornament. I ended up having to cut the strips in half lengthwise so that they would be narrow enough not to show from the front of the ornament. I then added gold and silver sequins and stars from the Metallics Sequin Assortment before sealing my shaker with the punched 2" circles.

I added the die-cut sentiment, which I created using gold foil sheets and the Christmas Greetings Thinlit dies, by looping a piece of silver cording trim through the "p" in peace and then tying a bow. I removed the red ribbon that the ornament frame came with and added another length of silver cording trim with which to hang the ornament on the tree.
I have to say I am quite happy with the way these turned out...and my team were too.  I was so glad I could give them a small keepsake of the amazing year we have all had. Be sure to stop by tomorrow when I'll show you the cute little boxes I made to package and gift these ornaments in.  Till then, have a great day!

Here are the products I used to create this project:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog