Showing posts with label holiday 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday 2015. Show all posts

January 03, 2016

Holiday meets Annual!

I'm still carrying on the theme this week!

You might remember this fabulous colour combo...


And some tips on transitioning your Holiday 2015 products into non-holiday creations!  Today I have this sweet and simple card. 


There's just a teeny tiny little bit of holiday product on here, and it's that fantastic black glimmer paper.  A little bit of black sparkle doesn't have to be halloween; it can be used to add a bit of bling, a bit of drama, or a bit of class to your projects!  

Pop back tomorrow for a special sneak peek of Occasions 2016 catalog before its official launch on January 6!  See you then! 

Cheers,
Shannon 

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January 02, 2016

Holiday Meets Occasions (again!)

Hello and happy new year, friends!

Thanks so much for popping in today.  I have three special projects in the next three days, leading up to a really fun blog hop post on January 5th!

You're going to notice a common theme with these posts...

1.   The colour pallet.  A few weeks ago, I fell in love with the combination of Soft Sky, Mint Macaron, and Lost Lagoon while creating.  It is truly the definition of dreamy!  Don't you think?  Each of the next few projects have this fab colour pallet! 

2.  The next thing you'll notice is a bit of a continuation of my Artisan Blog Hop post from this week; how to carry your Holiday 2015 favourites into Occasions 2016.  

So, what's on deck today?  First and foremost, this card was heavily inspired by the lovely Allison Okamitsu; a couple of weeks ago, she shared a gorgeous card with dandelion seeds on a watercolour background that I just loved.  I needed to make my own version.  


This card features two of my new favourites from Occasions 2016; the Sunburst thinlit and the Balloon Celebration stamp set.  Those little dandelion seeds can almost go unnoticed in this huge set, but they can make beautiful things!  So what about Holiday 2015?  The beautiful Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack can't just get put away since the new year is here!  For this card, I cut a piece of the gold dot vellum with the Sunburst thinlit, and then flipped it over.  On the back side, those gold dots are a soft, subtle silver; so perfect for this card!

I hope you'll come back tomorrow to see what else is up my sleeve with this fabulous colour combo and some retiring favourites!

Cheers,
Shannon

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December 30, 2015

Stampin' Up Artisan Blog Hop: From Holiday to Occasions


Hello friends, and welcome back to the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team Blog Hop!  We are so excited for another trip around the world today - make sure to visit all 20 Artisans, and don't hesitate to use the "Translate" button on your browser so you can see what's up with everyone!

The week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day is my favourite week of the entire year.  It is so calm and peaceful, without all of the holiday chaos, but there's still that wonderful magic in the air.  The evenings are so calm and quiet, there's nothing on the to-do list, family is gathered... it's so special!

It's also one of my favourite times of the year for Stampin' Up!  We are in the transition period where the Holiday Catalog is ending and the Occasions Catalog is beginning!  I decided to use this transition as my inspiration; today, I want to show you how you can bring your Holiday products into the year ahead!


I chose this picture of my son for a scrapbook page layout; it pretty much summarizes summer to me, and it's the last place you'd think to use Holiday products.  Right?  But this page uses some of the Wonderland suite as well as the Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 card and accessory collections from our Holiday 2015 catalog.  But since we're welcoming Occasions 2016, I've also used two of our brand new stamp sets, "Picture Perfect" and "Timeless Textures," and our brand new "Love Blossoms" Designer Series Paper Stack.  Don't feel like you need to put your holiday favourites away just because January is here; just repurpose them into your current projects!


This page captures a really fun moment and a very special family trick that is becoming a tradition.  When my brother and I were kids, my dad would start every beach vacation with a trip to the gift shop to buy a basket of shells.  He would bury those shells in the sand and drop them into the shallow water for my brother and I to find; we have the most amazing memories of finding so many beautiful shells on these trips.  The ocean always washed up the best treasures just for us!  I didn't know that my dad was behind it all until I was in my 20s.

My dad is a grandpa now, and this past summer, our visit to his home on Lake Erie meant that this tradition has now carried into another generation.  My son was blown away by the awesome shells he kept finding on Grandpa and Bapka's backyard beach!


Thank you so much for dropping by today and reading about this little piece of my family story; I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope this helps you get more mileage out of your Stampin' Up stash!  

Next up - check out the amazing Steffi Helmschrott and see what she's got up her sleeve!  


Have a very happy new year, my friends, and I'll see you again in 2016!

Cheers,
Shannon
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December 24, 2015

Wonderland Cookie Packaging

I can hardly believe that the big day is almost here and this will be my last christmas post for 2015!  It's crazy how times flies, isn't it?

I'm sure you're up to your eyeballs in prep, but just in case you've got a few minutes to sit down and put your feet up, I wanted to share a little something on the blog today.

Our Petite Cafe Bags are perfect for wrapping up cookies to send home with your dinner guests, or pre-loading with cookies to bring as a host gift!  They're a decent size - not too big but not too small - they're lined with food-grade wax so they don't bleed, and they have an easy twist closure.  But unfortunately, what they have in function, they lack in style.  But that's no problem when you're crafty!


This bag is packed full of my famous cinnamon shortbread - they're pretty much the stuff dreams are made of, and each year, I get asked for more... this year I made 28 dozen of them and there are only a handful left in the freezer for dessert tomorrow!

The beauty of dressing up these bags with a folded tag like this is that you can make the tag WELL in advance - I mean, kind of late notice to tell you this now, but I had good intentions!  Once you're ready to go, you can just pack up the bag and staple the tag over the top.  So easy and so pretty!

But about those shortbread... I can't leave you hanging without sharing the recipe!

Cinnamon Shortbread: 


1 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon extract
1/2 cup corn starch
1 1/4 cup flour


Beat butter and icing sugar until fluffy.  In separate bowl, stir together corn starch and flour until mixed, then gradually add to the butter mixture.  Beat until consistent dough forms. 

Roll into 1" balls and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon extract
Cinnamon hearts

Beat all frosting ingredients until smooth, creamy consistency is reached.  Spread or pipe onto cooled cookies.  Top with a cinnamon heart.
Trust me; you'll want to add these to your baking list in the future!  They are totally to die for.

I hope you have a beautiful Christmas Eve tonight and a fabulous Christmas Day tomorrow, filled with good food and good company!

Cheers,
Shannon 
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