I hope everyone remembered to stock up on card, ink pads and dies during the Seasonal Sale. Sadly that’s ended now but there are still ways to save on Stampin’ Up! products, or simply get more for the same money. One of those is to earn Stampin’ Rewards to spend on products and/or get exclusive Host items. Today’s project is a gift tag using the Natural Textures Stamp Set which is one of those exclusive stamp sets you may have missed.

NATURAL TEXTURES

My project began with the Natural Textures (Host) Stamp Set. I’ve had this set for a while but somehow I keep overlooking it when looking for background images. The set contains four different designs and I chose this pretty basketweave.

I found a 2″ x 3-3/4″ piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card in my scrap pocket and decided to use that for my tag base. Using Crumb Cake ink I stamped the basketweave image over the bottom section of the card. Then I reinked the stamp and stamped again over the rest. Natural Textures is a red rubber stamp set so I had to guess where to stamp, but I wasn’t unhappy with how it turned out.

Now I wanted some large holly leaves and berries and for that I needed the Christmas Season Stamp Set. The holly leaves stamp has two leaves with a gap between, I wanted three leaves so I’d have to stamp twice.

I started by inking up the holly leaves with Garden Green ink, then I stamped off onto scrap paper. This removed a little of the ink. Next, using a Sponge Dauber I added some Garden Green ink back onto the surface of the stamp just along one side of each leaf. Once that was done I stamped onto a scrap of Thick Basic White Card. After cleaning off the stamp I repeated the process a second time so I had four holly leaves in total.

With holly comes berries and in the Christmas Season Stamp Set there is a stamp with four berries. Choosing Real Red ink I stamped the berries onto Thick Basic White Card and I was ready to cut everything out.

NOT JUST SEASONAL LABELS

The Christmas Season Stamp Set has a coordinating set of dies called Seasonal Labels. But don’t be fooled, there’s much more than labels in the set, and that’s where I started.

Using my Mini Cut & Emboss Machine I cut out the holly leaves and berries using the coordinating dies. The holly leaf die separates the pairs of stamped leaves, while the die for the berries keeps them all together. I actually only wanted three of the four berries so using Paper Snips I cut off the one that was separate from the rest.

It was only then that I looked at the actual label dies in the set. These would make great gift tags, with a nice shape at both ends. So I chose one that was a shade under 2″ wide and just fitted onto my basketweave piece. I cut out the card and then needed to add a way to tie on some twine. This was easy using another of the dies in the set, I simply placed it onto my cut tag and ran it through the machine again. This have me a sort of triangular-shaped hole designed for exactly this purpose.

Finally I was ready to start putting the tag together.

First I wrapped a piece of Real Red 3/8″ Sheer Ribbon around the tag and secured it on the front with a little Tear & Tape Adhesive.

Next I used a Bone Folder to add a curve to three of my four holly leaves (I’ll use the fourth one on another project). Then with a little Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached the leaves to the tag (hiding the join in the ribbon). I finished off the leaves by adding the set of three berries, popped up on Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Finally I tied some white twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack to the top of the tag and my project was complete. Or so I thought…

A little while later as I looked at the tag I decided to add one final detail… I covered each of the berries with a dome of Shimmery Crystal Effects. The moisture in the Crystal Effects blended with the ink a little but the final result was well worth that extra effort. I love it! What do you think?

NATURAL TEXTURES AND MORE

As well as the Natural Textures Stamp Set used today you’ll find two other exclusive Host stamp sets in the annual catalogue. This year the Host options also includes an exclusive Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack containing 48 double-sided 12″ x 12″ sheets of paper.

There are two additional Host stamp sets in the July to December 2021 Mini Catalogue. You’ll find these on page 78 of the Mini Catalogue. Just be aware that these two extra stamp sets are being retired on January 3rd, 2022.

To get one or more of these items simply host a party, or place your own order for $200 CAD or more (before shipping and taxes). You’ll then earn at least 10% of that value back as ‘Stampin’ Rewards”. Stampin’ Rewards can be spent on any of the exclusive Host reward items, or on anything else in the Stampin’ Up range. If ordering via my online store you’ll be advised during the checkout process if you have qualified for Stampin’ Rewards. Then simply add your chosen products to ‘spend’ the rewards you’ve earned. If ordering directly through me I’ll always let you know when you qualify for Stampin’ Rewards so you don’t miss out.

For more details see the Host section on pages 170 and 171 of the 2021/2022 Annual Catalogue.

The other way to really save on your Stampin’ Up! purchases is to take advantage of the current joining offer. Until November 30th you can choose $165 of Stampin’ Up! products and pay just $100, and get free shipping too. Then as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator you’ll save at least 20% on all future orders regardless of their value. Check out my Join Stampin’ Up! page for more details, or contact me for an informal chat.

By the way, if you planned to wait until January for the joining offer that usually goes hand-in-hand with Sale-A-Bration, I’ll let you in on a secret. I’ve seen the Sale-A-Bration Brochure and the joining offer during that period will be $165 of product plus two free stamp sets, for $135. It’s really unusual for us to know the next joining offer while one is still in place, so why not take advantage and decide which you prefer.

Well that’s all from me for today. I hope you have a great day and that you’ll find time to join me again tomorrow for a new card project.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Christmas Season Stamp Set and coordinating Seasonal Labels Dies using a single “bundle” item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.

RETIRING PRODUCT – Be aware that the Real Red 3/8″ Sheer Ribbon will be retiring in the next few weeks, so stocks are likely to be limited.