Saturday, December 21, 2013

Taking a break from Christmas cards

You may not believe it, but we can use our card stock and stamps to make cards for birthdays and thanks you cards, not just for Christmas cards! Who would have guessed!

This beauty is a great combo on Smoky Slate and Summer Starfruit. I am not a fan of the chartreuse yellow in Summer Starfruit, but paired with the grey in Smoky Slate, this combo works really well. I love the masculinity of this card. I used an embossing folder and the lightly rubbed my white ink pad over the letters. It looks sanded, but it is actually inked.

My husband and I ventured out to Kohl's this morning and there is still plenty of merchandise in the stores and lots of sales. We have a 30% discount coupon, so it was fun piling the slippers and pajamas into a cart and feeling like we were getting a good deal.

I hope Santa is ready at your house and the "enjoy the holidays" part of the season can begin!

Happy stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Monday, December 16, 2013

Winter Collage

Join us Tuesday night and create this cool collage. One final touch for your Christmas decor and you don't have to put it away until spring! This is a winter decoration that we are creating this week.

I have one kit available, even if you can't join us at my house, you could assemble this at home. It is 12 x 12" and fits in the frames that are sold at any of the craft stores for scrapbook displays.

I love the "For the Birds" stamp set and the little birds wearing hats are perfect for this cold weather collage! And the Winter Frost DSP (designer series paper) certainly gives the cold feeling!

Just shoot me an email and let me know you want to come or purchase the kit, just one spot available!

Happy Stamping!
Dee Tollaksen

Friday, December 13, 2013

Christmas Hostess Gifts

 I was recently made aware of an impending deadline. Did you realize how close Christmas is? I can't believe that I am going to have to stop making Christmas cards and gifts and move on. Grrr.

I am still playing with all the products from the Holiday catalog. I have just started to use the Pop and Place Tag Book and matching photopolymer stamp set! OMG.

So I am sharing the gifts I brought to the annual Christmas party my Stampin' Up! group celebrates. We go to a local restaurant and eat mashed potatoes. There are all kinds of delicious foods, but the mashed potatoes are outstanding. And the gifts! WOW!! I used MDS (My Digital Studio) to create a December countdown calendar. Those are shower curtain rings  and a white picture frame, and a gold pine cone. The pretty flowers are the Burlap Ribbon from the holiday catalog and the gorgeous chevron ribbon is from the catty also.

What about these candles? I used a bit of spray paint and some some wood knobs from the hardware store. Do you save jelly jars like me? If you pull the stamp sets off my shelf, there is a stash of jars lined up behind the stamp sets LOL!!!  These are prettied up with die-cut adhesive sheets, sticky strip and Mod Podge dots and fine gold glitter. Inside is a battery operated candle nestled in epsom salt.  I used hot glue to make the ruffle ribbons on top of the jar lids. Nothing complicated or difficult and a pretty holiday decor!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Where is the snowman?

The stamps set Snow Day has this great big snow man, he is cute as can be and he has been popping up all over the place, even on a card we saw here recently. But then I saw a card like this and had to CASE it. All the "extra" pieces have been used to make a darling banner!

The sentiment goes rolling along and I just stamped the stocking, snowflake and star along underneath it, then used a marker to draw the lines. So simple!

I hope you take a minute to look at things from another perspective and see the beauty in the "extras!"

Happy Stamping!
Dee Tollaksen

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

clearance rack Blitz

Don't miss the blitz! Stampin' Up! has stamps, framelits, punches, markers, ink, ribbons, buttons, card stock: everything you need to be a crafty stamper: and it is on discount up to 80% off.

click on www.dtollaksen.stampinup.net then click on SHOP NOW then click on the CLEARANCE RACK.

Enjoy!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Boxes, Bags & Tags

Come in out of the cold and join me Wednesday night for a fun class. We will be making some cute tags, decorating some gift bags and creating a few belly bands for boxes so your gifts will be gorgeous this Christmas.

This Santa tag is from the stamp set that Stampin' Up! gives $3 to Ronald McDonald House, so we will be doing our bit for charity as well.

This is an open ended class, I will have a bunch of supplies and you will be able to make as many tags as you wish, until the supplies are exhausted. What a deal!  RSVP to join us and and enjoy some holiday crafting!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Butterflies and birds

 Today is December 7. Are you counting the days until Christmas? I know that I should be. I know that it is stinking cold outside, perfect to stay in and stamp. But I just can't find my mojo.

I will prep for a fun Christmas Card workshop. And I will prep for a fun Christmas wrapping class. But I can't get in the mood to make my own Christmas cards. Maybe tomorrow.

Today, I am sharing a couple pretty collage style cards that make me happy, but do not solve my Christmas card problem!

This butterfly card was inspired by a card that featured acetate as a major element. If you look close, you can see that there is a top layer of acetate on my butterfly. It is embossed and floats over the Coredination butterfly. I love all the neutrals, chevron DSP, twine, button, and then the pop of coral and pink.

The second card is a bit brighter with the teal card base. But then it goes more neutral with the nice white doily and tag. Do you love the For the Birds stamp set? I find that it let's me color the images, but doesn't take a lot of precision or time. Just a bit of coloring and move right on!

I hope the mail man brings me some pretty Christmas cards and that my mojo shows up. I think there are just so many fab options that I can't settle on one to make a pile of. But I'll get over it. I have to!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen



Thursday, December 5, 2013

December birthdays

 Do you have December birthdays in your family and friends? There are so many holiday happenings that birthdays can get short shrift. But, on the other hand, it is such a treat to ignore the red and green colors and make something bright and fun.

I love bright colors on a black base. I CASEd these cards but I can't find the originals, so if they look familiar, please let me give you credit!

These extra large rhinestones are on the weekly specials this week, I believe it is the last week we will enjoy this feature from Stampin' Up!, click on over and take a look.

Starting December 10 there will be a clearance rack blitz, so if you're looking to stretch your crafting dollars, mark your calendar!

Happy Stamping!
Dee Tollaksen


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Let it Snow, on cards that is!

Snow is so lovely, on a card. My family drove to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and the real stuff, fluffy and cold, is just not so lovely when you are driving in the mountains of West Virginia! But we had a great visit with my son who is stationed at Camp LeJeune with the USMC.

Stampin' Up! has such a gorgeous set with the Festive Flurry bundle, stamps and framelits for the Big Shot. This first card is from November Stamp Club, and it highlights these snowflakes. The front panel is Smoky Slate, but it looks almost silver, very festive!

Snow looks pretty when it is made of Dazzling Diamonds glitter, right?!  I used some scraps of die cut ric-rac and just put a hint of glue on the edge of the cardstock, then sprinkled generously with Dazzling diamonds.

Both of these beauties are great cards for Christmas cards, as they would be easy to produce in bulk. The boot is colored with a marker and could be any color you like, and the poofy top features more glitter! Simple!

Happy Stamping,
Dee Tollaksen