The time has come for me to reveal the Christmas Cards I made for my family and friends.  Back in October I shared a sneak peak of the card design. I promised that I would show you the completed. So... All the Christmas cards have been mailed and safe to say, received, So I'm very excited I can finally share with all of you what I made.  I made 100 cards using the Home for Christmas DSP. Love it!!!

I created a Double Gate Fold Card. It is super easy to make. The only challenge I had with this paper is to make sure I have the images in the right direction.  At first, I didn't realize and the image on the inside was upside down. So it's very important to have the paper in the right orientation before any cutting!!!

You need to used a 12x12 sheet of DSP or cardstock to make this card. However, you will be able to make 2 cards with 1 sheet! So there's no wasting the DSP or CS.

Alright so here's a quick instruction on how to make the Double Gate Fold.
1 sheet of 12x12 DSP cut to 6x12
Take out you Simply Scored Scoring Tool, and with the 12" side on the top, Score at 2", 4", 8" and 10"
Turn to the 6" side and with a pencil, mark at 2 3/4"
Turn paper all the way around to the other 6" side and mark again at 2 3/4"
Now fold at the 4" and 8" score marks. just like you would fold a card in half.
Grab your paper trimmer, now this might be a little difficult, but we are going to make the diagonal cut.
You want to take the fold at the 8" score line and line it up on the groove of your trimmer (where it would cut) and then turn it at a diagonal to the 2 3/4" mark we made with the pencil. Make your cut. Repeat on the 4"score line fold.
Now you are going to fold back (opposite) on the 2" & 10" score marks (accordion fold) and that creates that z fold.
Take the 2 cut strips and line them up along the inside of your cars, you will start at the 4"/8" scored lines with the highest cut  and the outside edge should finish with the smallest points.  It's a little hard to see in the pictures, but the bottom of the cards all have opposite side of the paper showing.
 
I have attached the link  here to a SplitcoastStampers YoutubeVideo that shows the direction on this card style. It will help to see the card made.

I used a similar design on my card. It worked perfect.

I stamped the outside I stamped the Making Spirits Bright with a coordinating ink color (depending on the paper design) and on the inside of the cards the branch and ornaments from the Among the Branches Stamp Set and the greeting from the Versatile Christmas Stamp set.

My family and closest friends received the card with a photo of our family on the inside. While others received the card with the stamped inside.

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Stampin
Steph

Worried that you missed some products you wanted to buy! Well they've returned for a short time in our Year-End Savings sale!  There's still time to get your favorite products before they are gone for good!  Check it out, there's even some fabulous items from our Holiday Catalog!!!!!

Happy New Year and Happy Stampin
Steph

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And the crafting continues. The picture above shows all the paper crafts I've completed in the last 48 hours with a few more minor details left.  I typically give gift cards to our teachers. I feel they appreciate that the most, they can purchase whatever they want for themselves or their classrooms. But I like to give them a little something to open.

I found the BPA free travel mugs at Walmart. They were sold in a 5-pack for under $5 I believe. That was a great find. I then found mini size coffee packs at Dunkin Donuts. Boom! Little treat packed in a cellophane bag with a candy cane! 

I recently held a Calendar Workshop at my house. After making them the group, I thought hmmm, these might be a great gift for teachers.

I used the English Gardens Designer Series Paper and coordinating cardstock in Blushing Bride, Hello Honey, Melon Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy and Soft Suede. I love the colors!!

The base of the easel is super easy to make. Cut a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock to 4 1/4 x 11.  Use your Simply Scored Scoring Tool and with the 11" side at the top, score at 5 1/2 and 2 3/4.
Fold in half at the 5 1/2" score line, the fold the in the opposite direction at the 2 3/4 score line. (like an accordion fold).  Cut another piece of the same color cardstock to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  Attach this piece to only the 2 3/4 section of the base. Now you can decorate the top and bottom of your base. I added a post it note to the bottom to hold the easel up. Perfect!!! How easy.  I added some flowers to give a little dimension. On some I used 3 flowers punch from the Itty Bitty punch pack and others I used the Pansy punch.

The gift bag was super easy to make. I will admit, there is contraband on the bag...oops my bad. I realized to late I needed to order the metallic doilies and black ribbon I wanted. Oh well. But I found some at AC Moore, definitely not as pretty as the Stampin Up ones, but they do the trick. Bottom line, I have no idea who will keep and/or reuse the bags so I wasn't going nuts. I found the kraft bags at Walmart in a 13-pack for $7.97. Not to bad. I wanted white and they were out, so this will do!
But again bag was quick and since I needed to make 12, I made an assembly line.

I used the Winter Wonderland Designer Series paper. This paper is so smooth and shiny! I love it. You can decorate 4 bags from 1 12x12 sheet. 
Cut the DSP to 4 - 6x6 squares
For the size bag I used, you will need black cardstock, cut one strip to 2 1/2 by 5 1/4 and another at 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.
Also cut a piece of whisper white to 4 x 5 1/4.  I stamped in Basic Black the tree from Lovely as a Tree and stamped off to give layers.
I stamped the snowflakes from the Perpetual Calendar set using a gold metallic ink. Finally I stamped a snowflake from the Festive Flurries stamp set, which is now retired. And cut it out with the, also retired, framelits.
Cut the doilies in half and attach to the back of the 5 1/4x4 black cardstock.

Assemble your layers onto the gift bag.
I wasn't thinking to take pictures individually I so I didn't take a close up of the bag. OOps, but you can zoom in.

And last but not least, the gift box. While this one not a project that I was originally planning on making, but I saw a YouTube video by Sam Donaldson Pootles in the UK for her gift box tutorial so I decided I wanted to give it a whirl. It was quick and sooo easy to make I made 3 in a flash. Love it. You can see the videohere.

Ok well I think that's it for now, have a few more easel calendars to finish and gift tags for the bags and I'll be good to go!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you enjoyed!
Happy Holidays and Happy Stampin

It's been quite a busy week in my craft space. I've been working on finishing Christmas cards and gifts for co-workers, teachers and family members.

I've had ideas for a while but never quite got around to making them.  I soon realized better get cracking. But it's always a race against the clock.

First was working on my husband's co-worker gifts. Each year we brainstorm what to get the men and woman my husband works with. Trying to figure out what to get always takes for ever! I always have Mason jars on hand so we decided to make some sort of jar gifts. I came across layering hot cocoa/marshmallow/peppermints in a jar. And well since we are giving these to adults not children, we decided to go with a mug jar and add some fun nips to make it an "adult" gift.

Normally I would try to use all Stampin' Up products to create the gifts. But I just didn't have the extra time to hand punch and assemble bows and ribbon. I found the mesh ribbon, glitter bows, button embellishments and snowman hats at AC Moore. I layered the jars and measured enough cocoa to make 2 servings of hot cocoa. Maybe next time, I'd put the crushed candy canes and marshmallow in baggies so they can just scoop out the cocoa. But this time it can be dumped out in a bowl, mix it up and divided into 2 mugs.

Now for the woman, it gets tricky, I never know what they like/dislike. So, I try to keep their gifts pretty general. Not always easy though.   I was invited to a Thirty-One party and decided to grab the Littles Carry-all Caddy. Now, what to put in it?? To stick with the jar gifts, I chose to fill a Mason jar with a Christmas cookie mix. I layered and Oatmeal, Chocolate chip cookie. Very simple! But so yummy. Instead of decorating a jar and getting a gift bag. I tied a bow, added a wooden spoon and a tag with baking directions.

1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup nestle toll house semi sweet morsels
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup sugar

I mixed the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour together then added to jar.
Layer in that order make sure to press down in jar to pack it tight. I used a wide mouth quart size jar.

Tag reads:
Mix:
with 1 egg,
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Combine
 with the jar ingredients
roll into balls
Bake
 for 7-10 mins at 350

I forgot to take a picture of the jar once I packaged it in the Littles carry-all caddy.

I Hope you enjoy.
Happy Holidays and Happy Stampin

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Happy Holidays and Happy Stampin'

i'm really excited to let you know that I have decided to open and Etsy shop. I love craft and host classes and workshops! But, sometimes I end up with more completed cards/projects than I need.
I am still adding items to my shop..boy it takes longer than I thought it would. So I hope you'lll take a moment to check it out.
You can go to etsy.com and search for Papergiftsbysteph or you can view my shop by clicking here.

I hope up I enjoy the shop.
Happy holidays and Happy Stampin
​Steph

I apologize for the delay in this, apparently my schedule post did not post. Oops hate when that happens!!!
But the Blog Winner of the Notepad Cover, Tealight Box and Cards goes to.....DRUM ROLL.....Jennifer Ford.  I entered everyone's names that left a comment on the blog post and my son drew Jennifer's name.

So congratulations to Jennifer!!!

Please email you address information at sajandcrafts@aol.com so I can send you the products.

Thanks so much
Happy Holidays and Happy Stampin
Steph

Some amazing deals available this week. Don't miss out!!!

Happy Holidays and Happy Stampin
Steph