Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Emergency Wrapping Paper

From the files of the panicked:

The Man of the Place and I are going camping this weekend to celebrate a number of family accomplishments, and we have gifts for several people, both birthday and graduation-type items.

I was all set to wrap them up today when I realized--all I had was Christmas wrapping paper!

Horrors!

We, unfortunately, have a great deal of Christmas wrapping paper; the MOTP got an entire case from his employer as severance when he was laid off at Christmas.

Waste not, want not, I thought.

With the help of the MOTP, I laid out a large sheet of the Christmas paper, printed side down, so that the white side was on top.

Then, I cracked open my Garden Whimsy set, handed him the Green Galore ink, opened the Brilliant Blue ink, and we just stamped the whole paper up randomly.


We ended up doing this three times in order to have enough paper to wrap all the gifts, and each piece was unique.

When we were finished, we simply wrapped up the gifts, stamped side out. Worked like a charm! And the cards that I made for each person heavily featured Garden Whimsy, coincidentally enough, so they all MATCH the paper.

How cool is that?

Try this the next time you're in a pinch! For that matter, you could easily adapt this to a kid project the next time they're bored. Just assign each child a color ink and a stamp, and let them stamp up the paper any way they want to. You'll have a stock of unique wrapping paper that shows off their talents.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Simple changes for Stampin' Up! fun!

So many of my new clients are new to stamping that I've decided to offer a monthly class time for basic stamping techniques. The first Sunday of the month, barring holiday weekends, Harmony's House will host a three-hour class that focuses on how to use the stamps you've already bought, and how to use the accessories to go along with it. The first stamping technique class will be held in August, unless there's a great demand for it. Cost, to cover supplies and snacks, will be $5 each. Reservations required.

Secondly, the monthly open house will now be held the third Sunday of the month at Harmony's House, starting June 21. Each open house has a different theme, and guests who join us will have the opportunity to make-and-take two new projects as well as participate in door prize drawings and see demonstrations of new techniques. This one's free--and June's will feature summer fun projects, such as the star-spangled box and the summer mini-album. Stop by--and bring a friend!

Finally, while there's a great deal of interest in the stamping club, we're not quite off the ground yet. I've been in touch with the owner of the Fill-In coffee house in downtown Mankato, and he's offered to let us use his big back room for a monthly stamping night! What's fun about this option is that none of us provides snacks--you can purchase your choice of snacks right from the coffee house. There's also plenty of room to spread out for as many people as can join us. If you're interested, email me.

Don't forget: if you need any supplies, you can contact me directly or go to my web site (link at left) to order online.

In other news:

The Last Chance list is out, and some of our old favorites are on it! Contact me right away to see what you're missing, or go to http://harmonyshouse.stampinup.net. The new catalogs are out July 1, and I will feature project using the new colors at the July Open House. Come check us out!

And, the project of the week:

I've been playing with making bakery bags using the Designer Series papers, and I've discovered that a six by six inch square of paper makes a perfect little favor bag. It's ultra simple: just score the paper at 1, 1.5, 2, 3.5, 4 and 4. 5 inches; turn and score at .5 and 5.5 inches.

Fold in the sides, adhere, trim the bottom and adhere. Fold in the top, punch and put a ribbon through it.

Pictures next, I promise.

Peace,

Amy