New Stampin' Up! Classes Available On Line!

Craft Haven Retreats - New Stampin' Up! Classes Available On Line!

 

Learn innovative ways to get the most out of your Stampin' Up! supplies (from stamps to the Big Shot) with clever tips and all the techniques you need to start creating with success. Divided into six sections focused on a variety of topics, Stampin' Up! on-line classes include videos, pdfs, and supply lists for 30+ projects.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER 'THE BASICS" CLASS $14.95

 

Happy Stampin'!

 

Nanci

 

Chrysalis Community Center 3rd Annual Ladies Spring Fling!

Craft Haven Retreats - Chrysalis Community Center 3rd Annual Ladies Spring Fling!

Craft Haven Retreats is going to attend the Chrysalis Community Center 3rd Annual Ladies Spring Fling event this year on Saturday, April 6, 2013.  This worthy fundraiser will held in Country Club Hills, IL at St. John's Lutheran Church from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  Click HERE for more details about the event and a list of participating vendors!

Shhhhh!  Here is a tiny sneak peek of our inventory.  Don't tell Nanci that I posted it! :)

 

We saw this purse on Pinterst and had to make them.  A lovely Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, Deb Lehigh shared a tutorial link from Demonstrator, Chiaki Haverstick with us.  Thank you so much Deb!  Click here to see Chiaki's tutorial. 

 

Are you still amused by the Dude, You're Welcome stamp kit that Stampin' Up! introduced earlier this spring?  I hope so!  Here is a new video that they shared recently--The Manly Stamper!  Remember, if you are viewing this post in an e-mail, click here to visit our blog and view the video!

 

 

 

Happy Stampin'!

 

Melannie

 

{MOJO}Monday 281 Meets Hoop La La

Craft Haven Retreats - {MOJO}Monday 281 Meets Hoop La La

Spring is coming!  I saw this cute sketch by Mary Fish on mojomonday.blogspot.com this week and knew that I wanted to use the Hoop La La stamp set!  I love the Print Poetry DSP--it's my favorite DSP currently!  What's your favorite Stampin' Up! DSP currently?

{MOJO}Monday281 Meets Hoop La La

Stamps:  Hoop La La

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Print Poetry DSP

Ink:  Gumball Green, Marina Mist, Summer Starfruit

Tools:  Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Boho Blossom and Bird Punch

Embellishments:  Gumball Green Ribbon and Brad

Happy Stampin'!

Nanci

Dude, It's a New Video!

Craft Haven Retreats - Dude, It's a New Video!

Just a really quick post today.  Stampin' Up!  posted a new video for the Dude, You're Welcome! kit.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Click here to purchase the kit from Nanci.

Click here to purchase the kit from Melannie.

Happy Stamping!

Dude, You're Welcome! Kit from Stampin' Up!

Craft Haven Retreats - Dude, You're Welcome! Kit from Stampin' Up!

This kit is Stampin' Up!'s latest product for men who need a quick and easy way to tell that special someone they care . . . and feel like a mana the whole time.  Designed for men who normally wouldn't be caught dead stamping!  Please enjoy the video!

  Available for purchase on January 14th, 2013.  

Happy Stampin'!

Introducing My Paper Pumpkin from Stampin' Up!

Craft Haven Retreats

Introducing My Paper Pumpkin from Stampin' Up!

Have you heard the news?  Stampin' Up! has started a monthly kit club!





Starting Monday, January 14, 2013 you can subscribe at www.mypaperpumpkin.com and click on Get It!  
Beginning in March, kits will be shipped to your door monthly!  Kits are 19.95 + tax.  Shipping is included!  Everything you need to make the projects is measured, pre-cut, color-coordinated and included in the kit with the exception of adhesive.  What a deal!

To our customers: When asked to choose a demonstrator, please select Nanci Siegrist from Matteson, Illinois or Melannie Elder from Lansing, Illinois.  Thank you so much!

Time to 




Happy Stampin'!

$99 Overnight Special and Tags Till Christmas!

Nanci and I have decided to offer a $99 Overnight Special for Saturday, February 19, 2011 with check-in at 11:00 AM through Sunday, February 20th at 12:00 PM.  Your overnight will include Saturday night lodging, make n'take, full use of our craft room and tools, Saturday lunch, dinner, snacks, and beverages, and Sunday brunch!  

We hope you will be able to join us at Lake View Lodge located on Dewey Lake in Dowagiac, Michigan for our mini-retreat!  It will be cold and snowy outside, but the lodge will be warm and toasty! Space is limited for our $99 Overnight, so make your reservation today! 

When we were preparing for our craft shows this fall, we decided to make Christmas gift tags to coordinate with the three holiday designer series paper packs;  

Jolly Holiday DSP

Candy Cane Christmas Specialty DSP

and Deck The Halls DSP

We loved the Top Note packaging that we designed for them, but it definitely did not show off the tags to their full advantage!  So we took some photos of the contents before they were packaged!

Aren't they cute!  The Tags till Christmas stamp set coordinates so well with the Stampin' Up punches--they are a snap to stamp, punch, and assemble.  We added some white and gold gel pen accents!  

Unfortunately, the gift tags for Jolly Holiday were already packaged at this point, but all three designs were very similar!   

Thank You - Inspired by Nature

I love the stamp set Inspired by Nature.  I purchased it in September or October, but I haven't had a chance to use it until yesterday!  I needed to send some Thank you cards out, so I decided to inaugurate the stamp by using it to create my cards.  

Here's the design I came up with.  The stamp is quite large and double-sided.  The background grass is on one side and the flower is mounted to the other side of the wood block.  I inked the stamp with VersaMark and then I inked my brayer with Early Espresso so I could apply an even coat of ink over the VersaMark before stamping my flower image.  I embossed the image with clear embossing powder.  I used daubers of Always Artichoke, More Mustard, and Cajun Craze inks to apply ink to the Very Vanilla card stock.  The edges were inked with Early Espresso also.

 Early Espresso card stock is layered with Autumn Spice DSP which frames the completed stamped image.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped with Early Espresso, and punched out with the Word Window and Modern Label Punch.  The completed sentiment is attached to the stamp image with Dimensionals.

I highly recommend adding Teeny Tiny Wishes, Word Window Punch and Modern Label Punch to your arsenal of stamping supplies--they are must haves!  You can purchase them on-line from Nanci's Stampin' Up! site 24/7.  As for Inspired by Nature, I cannot wait to use this stamp again!

Happy Stamping!

Boo! We're Back!

Five days to the craft fair and we're counting!  Here are a few more "crafty" items for Halloween!

We used the Texturized Spider Web embossing folder on the brown treat bags.  It embosses the pattern onto all 4 sides of the bag at one time!   You can also emboss paper napkins with the embossing folders too!  Give it a try!  Here's a close up of the detail on our treat bag.

Our treats bags are stuffed with candy--don't tell anyone! 

We hope you are enjoying all the "owl" art on the internet!   There are so many creative people out there.  Nanci saw a mini lunch sack on Stampin' Connection posted by Shauna O'Donnel with this image on it and couldn't resist turning it into one of the card projects for the September Stampin' Club.   Everyone at the club meeting enjoyed making this card.  Thanks for the inspiration Shauna! 

Owl Punch Playdate Desk Set

Don't cha just love that owl punch and Playdate DSP?  We do!  The Zutter binder is hiding extra large post-it note pages.  Stamps and sentiment are from the Apple Blossom stamp set.  Paper clips are hiding out in our mini-milk carton.  We will be selling this set at the 29th Annual Oktoberfest Craft Show at Marion Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, IL next Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM.  We hope to see you there!  Happy crafting! :)

Harvest Time Delights

 Our 1"X8" and 2"X5" clear bags arrived and we immediately put them to good use!   We punched out Cajun Craze tags stamped in basic brown with happy harvest from Loads of Love Accessories stamp set.  We layered a small More Mustard card stock oval stamped with Cajun Craze pumpkins from the same stamp set on top of the tag.  The edges of both punches were inked with Basic Brown to give added dimension.  The Sizzix Bag with Scallop die was cut using the Big Shot. 

The pumpkins were made with Cajun Craze and Autumn Spice DSP.  Punches used were the Medium Oval and 1" Circle punches.  The leaves are punched from the Two Step Bird punch.  Sentiment is stamped from Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched out with Word Window punch.

   
 Here are some close ups of the completed treat bags.  Both projects would make excellent table decorations and/or hostess gifts for your holiday dinner table.   These treats will also be for sale on our table at the 29th Annual Oktoberfest Marion Catholic High School Craft Fair.  We hope you will stop by and visit with us.  We will also have information about our weekend craft retreats at Lake View Lodge in Dowagiac, MI!

Batty For You And Treats Too!

Directions - Stamp, punch, punch, punch, glue wiggle eyes, glue, glue, white gel pen dots, cut, fold, fold, scallop border punch, punch, punch, punch, tie, insert sucker of your choice (ours is Carmel Apple), adhere back of sucker closure sleeve.

We found that these suckers are extremely top heavy.  We will be selling these Halloween treats at our upcoming craft show at Marion Catholic High School on October 10, 2010.  We could use a good display idea.   If you have a display solution that you would like to share with us,  please leave a comment on this post.

Recipe:
Paper: Wicked Fun Specialty DSP, Old Olive, Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry
Inks: Old Olive, Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry
Suckers of Choice

Haunted Handbags!

Check out these cute gift bags with coordinating cards! Stuff with purple or orange tissue paper and add some candy flavored chapsticks and you are ready to trick or treat your BFF!

These cute handbags were part of a Tres Chic Handbag tutorial that we purchased from the creator and designor, Becky Roberts!  Becky is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and she creates, designs, and sells her tutorials from her blog, Inking Idaho.

Want to really trick or treat your BFF?  Suprise her with a Craft Haven Retreat weekend at Lake View Lodge!  Our fall special, $199 per person, ends October 31, 2010.  Contact us for information at info@crafthavenretreats.com.

Project Recipe:

Papers: Wicked Fun Specialty DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, and Basic Black card stock

Stamp sets: Wicked Cool and Batty for You

Inks are Cajun Craze, Basic Black, and Rich Razzleberry

Punches: Scalloped Border Punch, Scalloped Cricle Punch, Oval Punch, Circle punch, Modern lable punch

Textured Spider Web Embossing Folder

Big Shot Original Blossom Party

Happy Crafting!

Are you searching for the Great Pumpkin?

Well you have found it!  Grab your Cajun Craze, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla card stock and Day of Gratitude stamp set and you are good to go!

We love these pumpkins!  They'll make great table decorations for your Thanksgiving feast.  These pumpkins are going to the 29th Oktoberfest Arts & Crafts Show, Sunday, October 10, 2010 at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, IL from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Stop by our booth and get information on your next crafting retreat!  Pick up a pumpkin or two while you're there!

If you cannot attend the craft show, send us an e-mail at info@crafthavenretreats.com and we will send retreat information to you.   Thank you for visiting our blog!  Happy Crafting!

Boo!

Halloween is right around the corner!  We hope you are gearing up to "treat" your neighborhood visitors!  Stampin' Up!  has such a variety of crafting materials for the Halloween season!  Light a path to your door--take a look at these luminaries which we made with the Wicked Fun Specialty DSP!

Here is a close up of the black luminary! 

We embossed the vellum with the Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder!

Got Treats?

 
This stamp set is made to coordinate with the Mini Milk Carton Bigz L Die for the Big Shot!  Filled with your favorite candy--PUSH UP HERE . . . TO OPEN--and pour--we're sure they will be a hit at your home!

Nanci and I have been preparing for the 29th Annual Oktoberfest Arts & Crafts Show at Marion Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, IL.  The craft show will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010.   Craft Haven Retreats will have a display at the craft show and we will also be selling paper-crafted items.  Doors open at 10 AM and close at 4 PM.  We hope to meet you there!

Big Shot Hero Video Contest Winner!

This video is the winning entry for the Stampin' Up! Make Your Own Commercial Contest produced by Matt and Linda Heller. Nanci and I both thought it was pretty entertaining! If you are receiving this post via e-mail, click on the article heading, you will be redirected to the blog to view the video! :) Hope you enjoy it!



By the way, we have a Big Shot and a lot more crafting space in our craft room at Lake View Lodge. Make your reservations today and you can roll out your own die-cuts and embossed images--soundtrack optional. Happy Crafting! :)

Holiday Mini Projects from Studio1Stampers Meeting!

In my blog yesterday I mentioned that we had been to a Studio1Stampers meeting with Laura Barto.  She had four projects we could make--all using items from the Holiday Mini catalog. 

Christmas Collage is a large wooden background stamp.  Laura stamped an image of the stamp on a piece of vellum.  She cut it to fit inside the stamps plastic container and positioned it so you could see the stamped image through the box lid.  She then took 4 different Stampin' Spot inks and applied the ink (rubbed it around)  to the box's lid in the areas where she wanted the color on the stamped image.  Then she lightly spritzed the box top with water mist.  When the color on the plastic lid beaded up, she placed a piece of white glossy paper on top of the box.  Then she placed a sheet of copy paper on top of the box top and lightly rubbed the paper over the area covered by the glossy paper.  This process transfers the ink colors to the glossy card stock.  Carefully remove the glossy paper and allow it to dry for approximately 2 minutes.  In the meantime, we inked the Christmas Collage stamp with Early Expresso.

When the card stock is dry enough, place the colored side down on top of the inked stamp.  Rub lightly with the copy paper over the card stock to insure transfer of the Early Express ink to the colored side of the glossy paper.  Each image will be unique.

This matchbox chest is filled with Gift tags that were stamped and punched like the Dec. 25 tag on top of the chest.  The fabric ribbon is cut from the new Stampin' Up! fabric.  Notice the stripes in the fabric all match the cardstock in the chest.  The matchbox die-cut is for the Big Shot.  It cuts the shape, scores the fold lines and will even put perforations in to make the more difficult folds easier!

The Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the distressing tool where used to texturize this card.  The image was stamped in black and colored in with the Stampin' Up markers.  The rhinestones and ribbon dress the card up nicely!

This is the coaster from the Holiday Mini.  The die-cut for this shape cut all three layers at once.  I finished quilting the coaster at home tonight.  I did not have any white or natural quilting thread, so I decided to use the gold color--it makes the stitches easier to see.

Aren't these projects fabulous?  Thank you Laura for sharing these projects with us!

Christmas is Coming!

We went to the Studio1Stampers Group Meeting on Thursday evening.  The event was hosted by Stampin' Up Demonstrator, Laura Barto.  We made several projects, but I'm just going to post one tonight!  More projects and technique details will be given in Saturday's post!

This card uses the Christmas Collage stamp from the new Holiday Mini Catalog! 

Hope you enjoy the card!  Happy Crafting!

Merci Stamp Set with Blended Watercolor Crayons

I came across the picture of this card tonight and I thought it might be interesting to see it posted with the cards that I posted on Sunday using the same stamp set.  

This card was made about two years ago using the Merci Stamp Set from Stampin' Up!  The images were stamped in black and heat set with black sparkle embossing power.  I used the Watercolor Crayons Soft Subtles to color the card and blended it with the Aqua Painter.  The flower centers are Swarovski Crystals that are applied with a heat setting tool.

These are the two cards that I posted on Sunday, August 29th.

The Merci Stamp Set images were stamped with Versamark and colored with chalk on a q-tip.   Same stamps but what a contrast in styles!

Just a reminder that Craft Haven Retreats Weekend Fall Special $199 per person ends October 31st.  We have reservations available!  Lake View Lodge is located at 50650 Garrett Road, Dowagiac, MI 49047. If you are interested or want additional information, you can contact us at info@crafthavenretreats.com or call Nanci at (708) 259-7482 or Melannie at (708) 441-9531.  See our add in Michigan Scrapbooker Fall 2010 issue.

August Stamp Club Projects

Hi Crafters!

We had a really late night tonight!  Our August Stamp Club met tonight, so we could get the order in before midnight!  Here is our parade of projects!

Card #1--who doesn't love Play Date DSP and the Owl punch?

Card #2--Flower Pot Card--fast, fun, and fabulous! :)

Pick the flowers to reveal the sentiment!  The hardest part is deciding where you want to adhere your Old Olive leaves!

Card #3--Who doesn't like ice cream?  Design your own sundae!

Does anyone know what the wood grain looking square stamp is in this stamp set?  We cannot figure it out!

Card #4--is the Gala Greenhouse DSP sneak peek from our post on Tuesday 8-24-10.

Are you dazzled by our Dazzling Diamonds?

Card #5--Is a card we cased right out of the Stampin' Success.

Do you like this card?  Circle Yes  Circle No   . . . Circle Circus stamp set--we love it!  Hmmm, I wonder how many circles there are on this card?

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Crafting!