Hubs and I also took a cooking class this weekend. Well, it was actually a knife class: Mastering Knife Skills: How to Slice and Dice Like a Pro. The class was taught by Chef Mike C. at Kitchen on Fire in Berkeley. We learned how to properly hone a blade, hold a knife, stabilize food for cutting, and more. The staff fed us delicious gourmet pizza while Mike C. taught us to properly sanitize our food prep boards. We also had hands on class time where we practiced our newly acquired skills by chopping a whole bunch of veggies that I later took home and turned into a delicious soup. For novice home cooks living in the bay area, I highly recommend Kitchen on Fire for affordable cooking classes. At $65 for three hours, it was a wonderful learning experience that would make a great gift too! I’m tempted to indulge in their 12 week cooking basics series. However, the price is hefty at $695 for the series. I might stick to taking just one class at a time for now.

For today’s card, I’ve posted another gift card holder using the same pattern from last week’s project. The pink felt flower on the front was cut using my Sizzix machine and a die called Flower Layers. I seriously love how the Sizzix Originals and Bigz dies can cut through materials other than paper. I recently made my own mini chipboard book using some chipboard sheets plus a Sizzix die (I’ll post it soon for ya’ll). So easy and fun.

Card Recipe (all supplies SU unless noted): Think Happy Thoughts stamp set, cardstock in close to cocoa, designer paper in pink pirouette, Parisan Summer, SU ink in pink pirouette close to cocoa, Velcro, 1 3/8″ circle punch, 1 3/4 circle punch, soft subtles brad, felt, flower layer sizzix die, stampin’ dimensionals, pink felt from Michaels

Over the weekend, Hubs asked me to make some gift card holders so that he could thank his B-school recommenders with a small gift. Using a new stamp set called Mr. Twigster (from the SU holiday mini), I came up with this:

I found the idea on Gina K’s blog here (creative, no?). Mr. Twigster is a cutie pie. He comes with accessories too, like a Christmas tree, presents, and a string of holiday lights.

The belly band slides off, and the Velcro pops open reveal a gift card inside. The paper used to make this was 4 1/4″ wide x 10 1/2″ long, scored at 3″, 4 1/4″, 5 1/2″, and 8 1/2″

Card Recipe (all supplies SU unless noted): Mr. Twigster and Lots of Thoughts (retired) stamp sets, cardstock in close to cocoa, designer paper in frosty day (from current holiday mini catalog), SU ink in bashful blue, kiwi kiss, close to cocoa, Stazon ink in Timber Brown, scalloped frame from SU on board die cuts, kiwi kiss ribbon, Velcro, Nestabilities rectangle die, stampin’ dimensionals

I made another one of these (a girlie version) that I’ll post up soon too! I love this little gift card holder. So many ways you could make this work for different recipients!

Click above picture to open the PDF document or click here to view the large JPEG)

Whoo hoo, the Stampin’ Up sales bundles were announced!

I posted a link to the PDF above (click the picture). The document notes the page numbers of the items in the catalog. You can also view all the items by going to http://www.thesunsethouse.stampinup.net and selecting “SHOP NOW.” Pictures of all the sale bundles will appear. The sale prices are good from 11/26-12/1, or until the limited supplies last. Note: I noticed that one of the bundles has the wrong price (Curly Label Punch Bundle). When added to the shopping cart, the price decreases to $23.77. Also, the shopping site S-L-O-W right now because of heavy traffic, so if its acting up for you, be sure to check back later!

Did you know I stayed up until 12am last night to ensure that I got to the goods in time? Yes, I kept refreshing my browser over and over until the sale went live. I am stamp obsessed and crazy. When I get old, instead of a crazy cat lady, I’m going to be a crazy stamp lady. But, my persistence paid off: I got some nice goodies, including a ribbon storage bundle for the insane amount of ribbon spools on my desk. I also ordered an adorable stick figure stamp bundle at 50% off (All in the Family Bundle, originally $63.40 and now $31.70!). I love me a great deal.

I was disappointed to find out that a stamp/punch set that I purchased recently was listed on the sale bundles. Dangit. Me and my impulsive shopping habits. If only I had waited! Oh well. I guess I can’t win ‘em all. The set I’m speaking of is the Curly Label Punch Bundle, a super fun punch with coordinating stamps that fit perfectly inside. They are so cute, I could hug them.

In fact, below I’ve posted a project I made a few weeks ago with the Curly Label Punch Bundle. Apparently, it’s on sale now for 30% off. Lucky for you, but bad for me because I bought it already!

The project I made is a gift card holder. The thank you stamp in the middle, plus the punch that cut the image out, are both part of the Curly Label Punch Bundle. I tried sewing the edges of the paper with el cheap-o $9 mini sewing machine from Michaels. If know which sewing machine I’m talking about, don’t buy it. As you can tell above, it sucks. Stitches are falling out everywhere! El cheap-o machine is el suck-o machine. Oh well.

Isn’t the gift card idea so stinkin’ cute? I found the tutorial here, at Stamping with Roxy’s blog. Lots of inspiration there too! The gift card holder is super quick to make. You can create one with a few easy steps:

1. Take a regular 8.5×11″ paper and cut it in half lengthwise, so you have have two 4.25×11″ sheets.
2. Score one of the sheets at 3″, 5.5″, and 8″ and fold the paper into a “W”.
3. Adhere the edges together (the bottom and sides of the “W”) and cut a slit in the middle for the gift card.
4. Decorate the holder and add a tiny piece of Velcro inside to keep it shut. I purchased inexpensive sticky Velcro strips at Walmart and snip bits of them off for my projects. Very handy! You can also use ribbon to keep it closed also.

Well, happy Turkey Day, everyone! Eat lots, good luck with the shopping crowds, and don’t charge up your credit cards too much!

On second thought, go spend some money (responsibly) and get us out of this recession.

Project Recipe (all supplies Stampin’ Up unless noted): Curly Label Punch Bundle (item 112966), Priceless stamp set (109260), card stock and ink in chocolate chip and baja breeze, light pink felt flower from Flower Fusions 2 kit (112006), corner rounder, hobby blade to cut slit, bright pink flower by Making Memories, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, pink rick rack from Walmart, crappy sewing machine by Provo Craft