It's kind of funny, but typing up these 12 Days/Posts of Christmas I realize how much stuff I put off buying for so long and how much $$ I've ended up spending over time! But, once I came to accept that I was going to be doing this seriously and actually sticking to it, it's so worth it. I dont' know about you, but I find paper crafting so relaxing and almost therapeutic!
Anyways, on to the real post. Another thing that I was cheap about buying was a good stamp cleaner. I had just used water and an old cloth or paper towel to clean my stamps before. Now I use Stampin' Up! Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist. I can't even begin to describe the difference. My stamps don't get totally stained like they did before and the rubber works so much better.
Stampin' Up! Stampin' Mist ($4.75 for 2 oz; $10.75 for 8 oz refill) cleans and conditions your
rubber stamps. Features are:
- cleans all types of ink off rubber
- comes in a nonaerosol spray container
- can spray directly on stamp or Stampin' Scrub
For best results, the Stampin' Mist should be used immediately after stamping. Note that dark ink may still stain rubber; Stampin' Mist cleans but does not eliminate stains (It is recommended to use a specially formulated StazOn cleaner when using StazOn ink).
Stampin' Up! Stampin' Scrub ($17.95; 2 Scrub refill pads $10.25) is a dual sided tray that contains black fibre scrubbing pads. You clean with Stampin' Mist on one side and dry the stamp on the other side. Features of Stampin' Scrub are:
- holds two removable scrubbing pads
- replaceable pads
- heavy duty case
- large enough to clean large background stamps
- umbrella label for drying side
- three water drops identify wet cleaning side
To use the Stampin' Scrub, spray Stampin' Mist on the wet pad, then rub your stamp on the wet pad. Then rub the stamp dry on the dry side of the Stampin' Scrub to remove any leftover ink or moisture. If the removable pads become heavily soiled themselves over time, you can simply remove them, run them under water and airdry them until they are ready to use again (do not put them in the dishwasher).
To respect their privacy, I will just tell you that the woman my Mom bought them from is selling these great reindeer to raise money to help send her daughter to the United States for medical treatment for a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Grant and I had extra ornaments leftover after decorating our Christmas tree because there were SO many deals on ornaments over the weekend) and I found this extra vase we had when we were tidying up. I thought it would be really cute to fill the vase with the extra ornaments and tie a ribbon around it.
rubber stamps. Features are: 
These were super simple. I just bought some red candles from Pier 1 and just rubbed snowflakes from the SU Season of Cheer rubons all over them (the ribbon was already on them). I made two because I am obsessed with symmetry so these stand on either side of our TV stand. Our whole living room is so festive.
These were pretty easy to make once I got the hang of it (I'll admit that I did ruin a couple). I decided to make them all using SU Pink Pirouette because it reminds me of an ornament that my parents have that my sister and I would fight over every year as to who gets to hang it (we still fight about it) because we both thought it was the most beautiful ornament we had ever seen! I'm now trying to convince them to let me have it for my tree!
else you are in need of (such as carrying case, tapes etc).
Spend $20 on Stampin' Up! products and you get 20% off any stamp set in this catalogue. Note too that once you spend the $20, there is no limit to the number of discounted stamp sets you can purchase! 
