When I was a little girl, scratch and sniff was all the rage. I remember having scratch and sniff stickers that smelled like lime. I can still remember exactly how that lime smelled, it was delightful. But better even than stickers was this book (copyright 1978!) that combined the novelty of scratch and sniff with the world of Richard Scarry! I loved this book when I was in preschool. So much so that my mom saved it for 30 years so that MY kids could enjoy it.
Now, a few decades spent in an attic seem to have lessened the sniffi-ness of these pages a little bit, but this page still smells EXACTLY like a freshly cut Christmas tree:
And I swear this smells exactly like my grandmother’s pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day:
So, is scratch and sniff still cool, or is it a trend that has come and gone? Let’s experiment and see how the kids of the 21st century like it! Here is a picture of what happened the first time my daughter looked at this book, she was probably 18 months old.
Oh, it gets even better:
My husband and I were rolling on the floor laughing (although later we admitted this made us a little bit concerned about what her adolescent years may bring…). But we can definitely say scratch and sniff still has appeal.
So, for the grown up crowd like me who love the way scents can evoke such strong feelings (especially around the holidays!), Stampin’ Up! has come up with another great way to bring smell to paper. Unlike the scratch and sniff of my childhood, now we have scented embossing powder! The scent is activated when you heat set the powder. Scents include peppermint, sugar and spice, vanilla, melon, and cherry – all yummy in their own way! Here’s one I made with the new Peppermint Stick embossing powder in the holiday catalog (I only wish I could convey smell via the internet!). I CASED this card from Heidi Boos (thank you, Pinterest!)
Materials:
- Stamp Sets: Scentsational Season*, Pennant Parade
- Ink: Real Red, Versamark
- Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive DSP (from Brights Collection Designer Series Paper Stack)
- Tools and Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Peppermint Stick scented embossing powder* and heat tool, Big Shot with Labels Framelits and Holiday Collection Framelits*, Bitty Buttons, white baker’s twine, Glue Dot, Stampin’ Dimensionals
*indicates new item from 2012 Holiday Catalog
Tip – These scented powders are clear, so if you want a colored image, you either need to use craft ink or stamp twice – once with your colored Classic ink and then again in Versamark. Here are the steps I took:
- Stamp candy canes using Real Red Classic Ink.
- Stamp candy canes again in Versamark (using Stamp-a-ma-jig to place Versamark directly over Real Red image)
- Cover versamark with scented embossing powder, shake of excess, and set using a heat tool (as you’re heating, enjoy the amazing scent that fills the room!)
- Cut shape out using Big Shot and coordinating Framelit and adhere to card
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