Rubber Stamping & Card Making with Yapha

What? Could it possibly true? No more stocking punch? Yes, I regret to inform you that it is. Sigh. Stampin’ Up has announced that the stocking punch is only available while supplies last. It will not be available after the Holiday mini catalog ends. It will not be available in the new big catalog in July. I know, we are used to most punches being around for awhile. Thank goodness they gave us fair warning on this! So if you love this punch, go get it now! And make sure you pick up the matching stamp set, too. And hey, while you are there, take a look at the amazing deals still available on the Clearance Rack. (Be sure to click “Show All” from the drop down menu or you will miss some stuff.) Clicking on the pictures will take you right to my store to buy these before it is too late.

124095 Stocking Builder Punch $16.95

123784 Stitched Stockings Clear Mount Stamp Set $19.95

The Pennant Parade stamp set and matching Petite Pennants punch are so fabulous and versatile! I had seen many of these 3-D Christmas cards made with them, and I kept meaning to make one. I realized that time was running out, and I had better make one if I wanted to do it before Christmas! I punched out three of the pennants, folded them in half, and glued them together to make the tree. I love how it just pops of the page! I used Cherry Cobbler embossing powder on the Sentiment so it would show up on the Designer Series Paper. It’s really easy to read in real life.

Stamps: Pennant Parade, Four the Holidays
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark
Paper: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Brights Patterns Designer Series Pack,  Regals Patterns Designer Series Pack
Other: Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder,Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Petite Pennants Punch

Whatever holiday(s) you are celebrating this week, I hope you enjoy them!

I had so much fun making my punch art dreidel yesterday, that I decided to try a punch art Menorah for the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge!

Ever since I saw the little candle as part of the Create a Cupcake punch, I knew it would be awesome to use for Hanukkah. To complete my Menorah, I also used half a strip from the Word Window punch, and half a 1″ circle. I put a dap of Dazzling Details on each candle flame for a touch of sparkle.

Stamps: Delightful Dozen
Ink: Night of Navy
Paper: Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Brushed Silver, Whisper White, Brights Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack, Regals Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Cupcake Punch, Word Window Punch, 1″ Circle Punch, Modern Label Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Night of Navy 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Dazzling Details

This was a fun little menorah to make. I think it is the first punch art that I’ve come up with on my own.

I had a little dreidel, I made it out of cardstock…

What? Yes, yes I did. Thanks to my friend Holly and her super duper punch art dreidel, I did in fact make one out of cardstock! I decided it was the perfect embellishment for this week’s Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge.

Since I made a Hanukkah card, it also works great for the current SUO Challenge of all things holiday related. It didn’t show up well, but I have drops of Dazzling Details on the candle flames.

Stamps: Shalom Sayings
Ink: Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Crumb Cake
Paper: Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Other: Snowburst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Not Quite Navy Striped Ribbon, Large Tag Punch (used to be called the small tag punch), Word Window Punch, 1″ Square Punch, Dazzling Details, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I changed my dreidel a little from Holly’s. I used three punches, and simplified it a touch.

You turn the square so it has one point down behind the tag punch to make the tip of the dreidel. You will need to trim off two of the corners that stick out. The Word Window punch makes the perfect handle for the dreidel. I glued everything together, and then sponged around the outside to make it look more like a unified whole. I chose to put a Hey on  it because I find that the easiest of the four letters to write. Alternatively, you could print the Hebrew letters on cardstock before punching it out with the tag punch.

One last note about the tag punches — the used to be called the Small Tag Punch and the Large Tag Punch. They are now the Large Tag Punch and the Extra Large Tag Punch. It has to do with the body size of the actual punch. I know this is very confusing, but the tags are the same size they have been for the last five years. There are still only two sizes. Hope that helps!

Cindy had these absolutely adorable boxes of tea light candles posted on her blog, and she was kind enough to include the directions to make them! I decided to make a box for my fabulous library assistant as part of her Christmas gift.

Since both her first and last name start with A, I put that on the candles themselves in matching colors.

Stamps: Lovely Letters
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Other: Holiday Windows Mover & Shapers Dies, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Simply Scored, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, tissue paper (for the candles)

I’m really pleasd with how easy this was to put together, and how fabulously they came out!

When I showed Eve the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps, she was super excited about making cookies for her teachers. So we came home from school on Tuesday and got to work! The Cookie Stamps come with two recipes, but we used the Trader Joe’s Sugar Cookie Mix that we happened to have on hand. After mixing the dough, we rolled them into 1 1/2 inch balls, placed them on the cookie sheet, and then pressed down with the stamp.

Eve loved doing this, and rolled them all and then stamped them all herself. (She’s not actually that tall, she’s standing on a step stool…)

Here are the finished cookies. They came out not only yummy but cute!

Next on the list was packaging. I put a half dozen cookies into one of our large cello bags, and tied the top with Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding. I’m really pleased though, with how the tags turned out!

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Silver Glimmer Paper
Other: 1 1/4″ Circle Punch, 1 3/4″ Scallop Circle Punch, Snowflake #2 Die, Big Shot, Large Cello Bag, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp

In addition to the snowflake, this pack of the cookie stamps has a heart and a Jack-o-lantern face. Good news, there will be another set in the Occasions Mini catalog with a bunny, a flower, and a shamrock.

Run, don’t walk, over to Stampin’ Up’s Clearance Rack!! There are amazing deals to be had on punches, ribbon, Big Shot dies, even the Watercolor Wonder Crayons! Here’s an important tip — to be sure to choose “Show All” from the drop down menu on the right. Otherwise you will miss the last few pages of goodies. Happy shopping!

If you have a friend or loved one who participated in the “Mo”vember challenge, we have a fabulous download for those scrapbook pages! Or you could put mustaches on everyone in your photos! If that’s not your style, there are other fabulous downloads this week as well. These downloads work with My Digital Studio and any other digital scrapbooking program that allows you to import PNG and JPG files, which is most graphics programs, and even Microsoft Word! (Clicking on the pictures will take you right to the store to purchase these downloads.)

129007 Eclectic Overlays Stamp Brush Set $3.95

Download includes:
* 6-piece stamp brush set

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Overlays sized larger for versatility; size down for photo overlays or use full-sized for page backgrounds.
* Circle, rectangle, and square overlays

128998 In Good Form Stamp Brush Set $7.95

Download includes:
* 36-piece stamp brush set
* Two 5″ x 3-1/2″ trifold card designer templates

Features:
* Pieces come individually for versatility

128999 It's All Me Digital Kit $9.95

Download includes:
* 27-piece stamp brush set
* 12 Designer Series Paper patterns
* 24 embellishments
* two-page 8″ x 8″ board book

Features:
* Digital-exclusive
* Perfect masculine-style kit to scrapbook everyday photos

Coordinating colors:
Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi

128995 Many Mustaches Stamp Brush Set $3.95

Download includes:
* 9-piece stamp brush set
* 3-1/2″ x 5″ greeting card designer template

Features:
* Pieces of the original version of this Á la Carte Stamp come individually for versatility
*Digital-exclusive sentiments added: I [mustache] you a question, I’d love to stay and chat, but I really [mustache], and his [mustache] & hers [lips]

You can purchase these or any other digital downloads through my online store. (Clicking on the pictures above will take you there as well.) They great news is that they are available for immediate use, with no shipping charges! Just click on Digital Crafting, then Digital Downloads, then Newest Downloads to see all of the recent additions! If you registered your copy of My Digital Studio, you may also receive end-of-the month emails from Stampin’ Up featuring that month’s digital releases.

There is a My Digital Studio tab to the top right hand corner of this blog. It is a handy reference to a variety of My Digital Studio resources, including a list of all of the downloads and a break down of the printing costs. There is also a Resources page on MyDigitalStudio.net that includes an MDS Catalog. It shows all of the MDS software artwork (contained in the boxed-version) and downloads from the October 2009 launch through October 31, 2011! The catalog gives a snapshot of the entire product line with artwork thumbnails followed by product details, which includes the colors of the designer papers! Because MDS is regularly coming out with new artwork, the catalog will be updated every month.

Do you remember those Hink Pinks, where the answer has to be two words that rhyme? Like, what is a silly rabbit — a Funny Bunny! So here’s one for today: What do you call Sabba & Savta with their favorite grandson? A Leo Trio! And I had just the perfect picture of that for today’s ColourQ challenge:

I know that many, if not most, of my other design team members are creating Christmas cards with these colors, but I just don’t have that many Christmas photos. (No real surprise there!) But when I saw this picture, with my mom in a Regal Rose sweater, Leo in a Glorious Green striped shirt, sitting in a Real Red wagon, I knew it would be just perfect!

That fabulous patterned paper is from the Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper. It is available both real and digital, and wonderful to use either way!

One of Eve’s teachers is having a baby boy, so I thought I would make her a nice pack of cards for her shower. I made them flat, so she wouldn’t have any issues with mailing them. Eve helped out by die cutting all of the scalloped rectangles for me. She’s a whiz with the Big Shot!

Stamps: Baby Bundle
Ink: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue
Paper: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack
Other: Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon, Scallop Rectangle Clearlits Die, Big Shot

I really love this layout. There are so many images that can fit in that rectangle, I know I will use it again and again!