A Tennis Shoe Christmas

Happy Friday everyone!  It's Kim!  I know you're probably all done with thinking about Christmas so I really shouldn't be posting a Christmas card today.  But Fresh Squeezed Stamps came to my rescue on the 24th and I wanted to share.  

We had planned to give my 13-year old son his pick of basketball shoes for Christmas. This is somewhat different from our usual approach in which he wants the most expensive and we refuse to buy anything but the cheapest!!  His gift was to pick out his own (within reason) without us complaining about the price!  As I was finishing up on Christmas Eve it occurred to me that he wouldn't have anything from us under the tree because he would have to go shopping for his own shoes after Christmas.  He's still so young - I HAD to have something for him to open up.  Fresh Squeezed and their cute tennis shoe from String Me Along came to the rescue!!

If you knew my 13-year old son, you would understand why I also HAD to include the "nice 2b naughty" graphic from Hello December!  (BTW - if you like the idea but not for Christmas, On Trend 2013 has a great birthday word bubble that could replace the "naughty" circle!  That set is also where I got the swoosh that I used for the ground.)

On Trend 2013                           Hello December

String Me Along

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are now looking forward to the new year!!

Get Your Elf On!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Sarah here and as you read this, it's already Christmas Day here in New Zealand!  I'm sharing one last Christmas project today, these tags could easily be adapted for Valentine's Day or any other occasion - unless you want to get started on your Christmas list for next year?!

I needed a LOT of gift tags this year. Hello December and Holiday Tag Alongs to the rescue! When I'm mass producing, I turn to my old trusty punches, rather than cranking the die cut machine. I stamped a full sheet of the elf sentiment, then punched them all at once. The tag is just a rectangle with a quick strip of washi tape and a scallop punched edge.

I stamped the date directly on the washi tape using Staz On ink. The To: and From: were also stamped with Staz On just to simplify things. A little gold cord bow finished off the tags! These really pop against the red and white wrapping I've used this year. A little handmade makes everyone feel extra special!

       Hello December                         Holiday Tag Alongs

Did you mass produce this year? I'd love to hear your tips for getting through your holiday crafting list quickly! Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!!   

Hugs, Sarah

Fresh Squeezed Stamps is proud to announce that we're sponsoring the brand new Pinspired Challenge, which begins today!  That's a snippet of the challenge…looks gorgeous, right?!  Why not drop by and check out all the details?

But wait...

In case you haven't already heard, Fresh Squeezed Stamps will have a HUGE year end sale!  It all begins tomorrow, December 25 and will continue through January 1, 2014.  Be there or be square!  :)

Graphic Santa

Hello Fresh Squeezed fans!  Katie Gehring here to share another clean and simple Christmas card idea.  You may have heard of a little movie from a few years ago called Bad Santa.  Well, let me introduce you to Graphic Santa.  While Bad Santa wasn't very nice, Graphic Santa is graphic, but in a good way.

For this clean and graphic card, I incorporated some color blocking by heat embossing the bottom portion of the Hey Santa button from Hello December in white onto red cardstock and lined it up with the image stamped with red ink on white cardstock.  A bit of baker's twine and matting the tilted panel with black cardstock helps to draw out the contrast between the red and white.

Hello December

This card makes great use of scraps of red cardstock which may be floating around your craft table this time of year, plus it's practically flat for easy mailing. Well that's all for me today!  Thanks for stopping by!   -Katie

Merry & Bright Wishes from Twin Polar Bears!

Happy Friday!  It's Kim!  I hadn't used the bear yet from Arctic Friends.  As I was pondering what to do with this cute stamp, I was remembering twin polar bears born almost 20-years ago in my local zoo.  Their mother abandoned them, but zoo staff successfully raised them.  It was quite an experience for the entire city - we all stood in line to see them, books were written about them - they were famous!  These stamps aren't quite as cute as the real baby cubs - but pretty darn close!!

The Merry and Bright sentiment bubbles come from Hello December.

Arctic Friends                         Hello December

Have a happy weekend - hope you can find some crafting time during the busy holiday season!!   -Kim

One Week Left...

Hello Fresh Squeezed Friends! Stacey here...you know what that means...it's Wednesday, and, more importantly, there is exactly ONE WEEK LEFT until Christmas!  How does time fly by SO fast?!

There's still time to crank out those last minute Christmas cards, tags and treats!  For my card today, I used some fun Christmas themed papers along with the FABULOUS Hello December and On Trend 2013 stamp sets!  

I created a Dear Santa letter with some of the sentiments from the Hello December set along with that darling sleigh parking sign!  I LOVE the city line image form the On Trend 2013 set and added the diamond image twice to create a star on the circle panel.  What a fun card to add to my mailing list this week!

 On Trend 2013                              Hello December

Just think, this time next week, it will be Christmas Day!  The day we've all been preparing for!

A Card with a Gift!

Happy Monday! It's Virginia here! Recently I bought an envelope punch board and I have been inspired to create a gift card insert for cards. Here's what I came up with.

After making the small envelope for the gift card (measures 2-1/2" x 3"), I adhered it to my stamped design. Here is the fun twist!  I stamped inside of the paper and when you open the gift card, here is what you see…

Ta-da! I had personalized this card for the recipient.This truly is a fun way to give the card receiver a bit of a wow factor, don't ya think?

A Wee Christmas                            Arctic Friends

    Hello December                            Background Check

   

These four stamp sets (Arctic Friends, Background Check, Hello December and A Wee Christmas) have SO much to offer! With a bit of creativity, you can personalize a card quite easily! I know the recipient is going to have a big smile when he opens this card! Thanks so much for stopping by!  -Virginia

A Wee Bit of Holiday Cheer

Hello Fresh Squeezed Fans,

Robbie here, Robbie the elf on the shelf.  I am crashing the Fresh Squeezed Stamps blog for Katie today. Every Christmas season, I am dispatched from the North Pole to the Gehring household to spread holiday cheer, get insights on the year's Christmas wishes, and yes, to keep an eye on those Gehring girls for Santa.

A few nights ago, I decided that instead of flying all the way back to the North Pole to give Santa a report, I would just send Santa a text and get my craft on instead.  I crashed Katie's craft room and made small cards for the girls measuring 2.5" x 3.5". I covered the card with some scraps of patterned paper.  Next, I die cut a rectangle and stamped the reindeer toy and sentiment from A Wee Christmas.  I colored the reindeer and attached it to the card.

Hello December          A Wee Christmas

(This card is smaller than it appears.)

I wanted the girls to know that the cards were from yours truly, so I found the best stamp ever in the Hello December set, ("get your elf on," ummm yes, please!) and stamped it on the envelopes.  I was pretty happy with my crafty adventure and can't wait to see the the looks on the girls' faces when they open these cards! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Robbie OUT! 

Holiday Photobomb

Hello Fresh Squeezed fans! Katie Gehring here with a #HolidayFun card to share using Arctic Friends.  I heard that the word of the year for 2013 is "selfie," so my card represents what might happen if the cutie penguin from Arctic Friends attempted a selfie...

....he gets photobombed by his friend, the walrus!

I covered my card base with a panel and strip of patterned paper.  I then die cut a photo frame from patterned paper and on a piece of white cardstock, I stamped the penguin, masked the penguin and stamped the walrus.  I added the shading to the walrus along with a pale background with markers. 

I stamped the sentiment from Hello December onto the photo frame. A button and bit of twine added a finishing touch.  I have to say, with a face like that, I would welcome a walrus photobomb any time!  

Hello December                      Arctic Friends

That's all for me today!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great Saturday! 

Katie

A Merry Walrus

Happy Friday!  It's Kim and I'm definitely happy it's Friday because it's my day here at Fresh Squeezed Stamps!

I have never tried the chalkboard technique, and as I was thinking about this post, I realized that Fresh Squeezed Stamps had the perfect stamps for it.  A happy walrus from Arctic Friends, sitting in the ice and snow, wishing us a merry time!  ("Merry" is from Hello December.  I love the woodgrain on it.)

Hmmm...I've used the penguin from the set and now the walrus.  I wonder what I should do with the bear???  :)

Arctic Friends                            Hello December

I hope you have enjoyed this quick peek at one of the Arctic Friends!!  There have been so many cute cards on this blog since the set was released a week ago - and I'm sure there are many more to come.   -Kim

Santa's Parking Lot

Good morning, Fresh Squeezed friends!  Wednesdays are wonderful because I get to spend them with you here at the FSS Blog!

Stacey here with a bit of a "wonky" feel for my card today!  After placing the panels and elements down all straight and narrow, it occurred to me that it would be much more fun with some slanting and sliding!

The fabulously fun images from the Hello December stamp set are perfect for a bit of "off kilter" placement!  I paired the sleigh sign, Santa flair and date stamp up with an image from a different set!  Have you noticed the city scene from On Trend 2013 at the bottom of my background panel?  I love how it creates a parking lot for Santa!

The city scene and sleigh sign were inked up with Versamark and heat embossed with some sparkly embossing powder for a little tone on tone effect.  The Santa flair was inked up with black along with the date stamp, while the flair image was circle punched and marked with some glitter pen for added shine!  Finally, I added some stars, a bit of curly twine and some flat sequins to give a little extra whimsicality to my project!

 On Trend 2013                              Hello December

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you are inspired to create something a bit "wonky," too!  -Stacey

Let's Mingle!

Hello December!  As you are probably aware, Christmas is just around the corner now! It's Virginia here.  Today I am going to encourage you to mix your stamp sets up and play mingle!

So I decided to do a little "match making" and created a fun scene using the little elfin boy from A Wee Christmas and the sleigh parking sign from Hello December.

Hello December                             A Wee Christmas   

What do you think? There are LOTS you can do with these stamps! I hope that you are inspired to play and mingle! Happy December!

CAS Christmas Card

Hello friends!  Katie Gehring here with an idea for a clean and simple (CAS) holiday card using Trendy Triangles and Hello December.

I stamped three triangles from Trendy Triangles with green pigment ink on a piece of white cardstock and transformed them into Christmas trees with the addition of a tiny trunk created from strips of brown cardstock and teeny wood stars.

I added a fun polka dot border using washi tape and stamped "hashtag" Christmas from Hello December.  I rounded the upper corner of the white cardstock and adhered it to a kraft card base with foam tape.  My final step was to then round the corner of the kraft cardstock base.

Trendy Triangles                             Hello December

Well, that's all for me today!  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Katie