Paper Leaf Wreaths

November Mystery Hostess Announcement

 

Thank you everyone that participated in my November Online party!  Callie drew names this morning and the lucky winner is….. BARB D!  Congrats to Barb!  The party reached the $300 level so that is $50 in free merchandise! 

 

The December code is ZFZTVF6C and I will draw on 12/20 for that one.  Remember that stamping supplies make great stocking stuffers and I also do gift cards that you can apply to online codes in the new year!

 

Today we are going to set up our Christmas tree and get out all my snowmen.  I'm so excited.  Funny how the craziest time of the year is the cleanest in my house since I get to pack up all my clutter in my boxes after I pull out the snowmen!

 

But with good comes bad.  I also have to rake leaves today once they thaw.  Yuck.  I love the Fall.  I love the changing leaves, the colors, and the crispness.  Unfortunately I don't love the cold rain that ruins said leaves before I can get them picked up for my projects.  Thank goodness we sell the Autumn Accents Sizzix Die so that I could use my favorite stamping tools to recreate this project since I could not use real leaves.

 

This week for our play-date craft, we broke out the glue, paper plates, scissors, and cardstock to create these fall wreathes with the kiddos.

 

Callie wasn't the most invested in this project.  She liked the glue stick but once the real glue had to come out, she was more interested in Sofia the First and her cars than her project.

 

However, Henry was all over this one.  He wanted as much glue and as many leaves as possible to the wreath and they had to be perfect.  It was adorable.  This little man is a crafter after my own heart!

 

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Birch Paper (from Thanksgiving Tablescape Simply Created Kit)
• Accessories: Paper Snips, Elmer's Glue (non-SU), Paper Plates (non-SU), Big Shot & Cutting Mats, Autumn Accents Bigz Die

To make these wreaths, check out this post.

Have a craftastic day,
Stacy

Autumn Accents ABCs

By now you know that I really like doing crafting with Callie.  If there is a way for me to use it to help her learn the fundamentals, that's even better.  If you had told me when I joined Stampin' Up! that I would be doing this with my children, I would have called you crazy.  1 - Because I never thought I'd had children and 2 - My mind doesn't work this way.  I wouldn't even look at the kid sets in the catalog because I'd never use them....

However, I think that becoming a parent was my calling.  My mom and sister are smiling right now if they are reading this.  I was one of those adamant "Kids are not for me" people. I loved my selfish lifestyle and I couldn't imagine being responsible for another person in that way.  I remember my best friend telling me she was having a baby and thinking "Oh God, here we go!"  If she hadn't gotten pregnant with Mae, I don't think I would have been brave enough to consider changing everything by bringing a child into the world.  I am grateful for their decision giving me strength to make mine with Conlyn.  I would have had a part of me that searched for my whole life for that piece of me that was missing if I hadn't had Callie.  And without Callie, I wouldn't be having Michael either.

Anyhow, personal tangent over, and back to the project. 

The inspiration for this project came from this idea I found several clicks deep in Pinterest.  I didn't have Kraft paper big enough for a tree so I decided to just use the leaves portion.

We used some scraps of retired cardstock with the Big Shot and Autumn Accents Bigz Die.  Callie loves the Big Shot.  She likes turning the handle and separating all the pieces.  Once she ran all these through, I wrote the upper case letters on one set and lower case letters on the other.  Make sure you write on both sides so that you don't spend their tiny attention spans turning over letters!   I also marked the lower case ones with rhinestones so that they would be easy to sort if they got mixed up.

We've made several games with these.

1. Sorting by color - Sort all the leaves by color and then practice counting them.
2. Sorting by type - Sort all the leaves by shape and then practice counting them.
3. Alphabetizing - Put all the upper case letters in alphabetical order. 
4. Matching - Put all the corresponding lower case letters below the upper case letters.  This was the hardest for her but the most important as we start working on sounding our letters and recognizing words in her stories.

You could also do these with numbers and practice math skills.

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Gumball Green, More Mustard (retired), Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery (retired), Cherry Cobbler
• Marker: Basic Black
• Accessories: Big Shot & Cutting Mats, Autumn Accents Die, Basic Rhinestones

Remember that the Autumn Accents Bigz Die is part of the weekly deal that expires tonight at midnight! 

The hostess code for online orders for next month is G3SGBMJK.  Anyone that purchases anything online by 11/24 can enter this code.  We have reached a qualifying workshop already this month so I will draw a mystery hostess from those that purchased and the lucky winner will get the free merchandise (currently at $30).

Have a craftastic day,
Stacy

Digital Scrapbook Days - Day 7

 

Today's digital download that is available today only for 50% off is:

Autumn Traditions Kit - $4.98
http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=127600&dbwsdemoid=80380

Download includes:

• A 6- and 32-piece stamp brush set
• 12 Designer Series Paper patterns
• 4 punches
• A one-page 11" x 8-1/2" designer template.

Remember there is no shipping cost on digital downloads so you can take advantage of these daily specials!  And ordering digital downloads qualifies you towards this month's online workshop meaning you could be our November Mystery Hostess with the purchase of any of these kits!

The hostess code for online orders for next month is G3SGBMJK.  Anyone that purchases anything online by 11/24 can enter this code.  We have reached a qualifying workshop already this month so I will draw a mystery hostess from those that purchased and the lucky winner will get the free merchandise (currently at $30).

Today's card is another Cris creation. In the spirit of the changing season outside and the Autumn download, I thought a fall gratitude card was more than appropriate!

 

Supplies:

Cardstock/DSP: Very Vanilla, Venetian Romance DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Stamp Set: Harvest of Thanks

Accessories: Big Shot and Cutting Mats, Magnetic Platform, Bitty Banners Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Dimensionals, and Adhesive

 

Have a craftastic day,

Stacy