Christmas Tag and a Twine-tastic Giveaway!

Hi there! Happy Friday!  Today I have a tag (and some twine!) to share.  Tags are one of my absolute favorite things to create.  I love the smaller canvas and all the fun shapes/details you can add to make them special.

Today's tag features a glittery reindeer and some Carta Bella Merry & Bright paper.  I used my Xyron Creative Station to add glitter (Doodlebug) to the die cut reindeer (2 reindeer with swirls and mat- Silhouette store by Samantha Walker).  I popped him up on the tag using some dimensional foam.

The sentiment is from SRM Stickers (Stickers by the Dozen: Christmas) and I finished off the design with some baker's twine--Strawberry and Platinum Shimmer (The Twinery).

Now...I mentioned the new colors that The Twinery has just released---and if you would like to get your hands on some...just leave a comment below.  I will be sending one person a full spool of the two newest fabulous colors--Platinum Shimmer and Gold Shimmer!  (Subscribers may enter twice.)  You have until Sunday night at 8 EST time to enter.  Good luck!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cardmaker - A Fond Farewell

About a year ago, Cardmaker Magazine started a Blog team.  I was asked to serve on the first 3 month term along with several of my stamping idols.  That three month term turned into year :)  Now, it is time for some new faces to take over and I am so excited for them because this was such an amazing journey.

Special thanks to Tanya, Brooke and Corene---I have enjoyed every minute of this adventure--thanks so much for putting your faith in me.  xo

To my fellow retiring teammates-- Colleen, Trudy, Kimberly, Anya -- you gals are fantastic and inspire me so much.  xo

To the newer members of the team--Glenda and Jennie---I loved working with you two!! You are both so talented and I know that the new members will LOVE working with you too.

...... and To the new ones who will be announced soon (!) ..... --- Enjoy every minute of it.  Cannot wait to see all your inspiring ideas on the blog.  xo

Signing off with a few of my favorite Cardmaker projects from this past year:

Thanks for stopping by!

Cardmaker Flower Soft Animals Hop

Hello! I am very excited today because the Cardmaker blog team is paring up with the Flower Soft team for our blog hop today. The theme is Flower Soft animals---create any type of animal-themed card incorporating Flower Soft into the design.

If following the hop, you should have come from the amazing Jen's blog.  If not, head on over to the Cardmaker blog to start at the beginning.

For my card today, I used a Silhouette image of a penguin (by Lori Whitlock) and I ran the base of the penguin through my Xyron Creative Station to make it sticky before adding the Ultra Fine Black Flower Soft to add texture to him.  It worked like a dream.  I also added some Bright Orange Flower Soft to his feet and beak to add some more fun texture.  (You can see in the photo that the ultra fine is not as textured as the regular flower soft.)

I added the image to my card to make a whimsical holiday greeting:

The next stop on the hop is Cibele's wonderful blog.
Thanks to Flower Soft for sponsoring today's blog hop! You can find lots of ways to use this product on the Flower Soft blog!  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joy Ornament

Hello! Whew!  I took a long break---and it was so nice:)  The kids go back to school today.  My youngest already told me twice yesterday that she is going to miss me a lot today because she will be away from me all day again :(  Guess we had too much fun! 

Anyway, I am slowing getting back into my craft room as I have had little time to fit much in between putting up the Christmas decorations and visiting with family.  I do have an easy ornament project to share today, however.

Remember the advent calendar I made a few weeks ago?  I had several tins left over from it and thought they would made cute ornaments.  Here is the first one I made:

 

I used Echo Park- This & That: Christmas chipboard on the inside and paper to frame the outside edge using Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle dies.  I used an SRM sticker (Fancy Sticker Sentiments: Christmas) to layer over the outside of the tin.  I punched a hole in the top of the tin using a Cropadile and then threaded the hemp through to create a hanger.  A little bit of Marashino baker's twine and a heart stick pin (Little Yellow Bicycle) finish off this easy project.

Speaking of baker's twine---Did you see the two new colors that The Twinery just released---Platinum Shimmer and  Gold Shimmer? Heavenly!  Might have to give some of that away soon ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Odds and Ends...

Hello! Happy Monday.  This week will be a blur with a short week of school for the kids and Thanksgiving on Thursday! So, I just might be MIA a lot :)

Today, I have a post up on the Cardmaker Blog.  If you have a lot of these:

 --You definitely want to check it out :)

My 5 YEAR blog anniversary was on Friday---gasp! I am putting something fun together to celebrate--stay tuned!  You won't want to miss it!

Finally, I JUST joined Pinterest.  If you want to follow me on there, you can click on the link on the sidebar. I would love to share my fun finds with you!

Thanks--and have a wonderful day!

Handmade Holidays Hop

Hello! Today is Day three of the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop going on over at The Twinery Blog.  The Twinery, and many other amazing companies,  have teamed up to bring you a hop filled with special HANDMADE gift ideas for the holidays.

Today is the last day of the hop, so you will want to be sure to head on over to The Twinery blog to be sure to stop at all the blogs participating.
While you hop, be sure to leave comments at all the stops along the way because each company is giving away prizes to random participants.
The Twinery is giving away:

 3 spools of baker's twine in your choice of colors

{$48 retail value}

Before you go, I have a project to share that uses product from The Twinery, Fiskars and Tombow (three of the wonderful companies sponsoring the blog hop!).  It is a stocking perfect for presenting some holiday treats or gift cards.

First, I cut the stocking design using a Silhouette file (Lori Whitlock).  I adhered the pieces together using Tombow Permanent Adhesive Dots Tape Runner.  I added the lace border along the top using the Interchangeable Border Punch Starter Set by Fiskars and the Lacy Doubles Interchangeable Border punch cartridge. Then, I punched holes all along the scalloped edge of the stocking:

 

I used my Fiskars Original scissors to cut some Peapod baker's twine so I could thread it through the holes in the stocking.

 

I used these snowflake punches by Fiskars to decorate the stocking--Medium Lever Punch Snowflake and Medium Lever Punch White Christmas. Then, to add some dimension to them, I used some Tombow Mono Aqua liquid glue to apply a large dot of glue in the center.  After wrapping a section of Peapod baker's twine, I added it to the glue:

Finally, I punched the Fiskars XXL Lever Punch TAG to complete the stocking gift.  I added an SRM sticker (Fancy Sticker Sentiments- Christmas) to it.  Here is the finished project:

 

Hope you like it! Thanks so much to Fiskars and Tombow for the wonderful products to work with!

Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Yummies--Cardmaker Blog Team Hop

Hello! Welcome to another Cardmaker Blog team hop! 

The theme this month is Holiday Yummies---create an embellished gift bag, box, or package to hold holiday sweets like cookies, brownies, etc. along with a coordinating gift tag or card.

I decided to make a treat/place holder for Thanksgiving :)

There he is :)   Hee!
What I did--

1. Take a cupcake wrapper and fill it with two chocolate covered oreos and then wrap it with red saran wrap.

2. Print the turkey body (Samantha Walker- Silhouette. NOTE: I only used a portion of the turkey body and I actually used it differently because I chose not to use the main body part to simplify the design.) Assemble.

3. Add sticker sentiment to white cardstock. Punch and punch a larger circle to go behind it. Add to turkey.

4. Wrap green rafia to make the feather design.

5. Attach to treat.

6. Add wigglie eyes!

Supplies: Silhouette machine and file (turkey project by Samantha Walker); patterned paper- Paradise Beach: Red/Orange (Echo Park); cardstock- white (Gina K Designs); sentiment sticker- Sticker Sentiments-Fall (SRM Stickers); green rafia; metal heart (Colorbok); baker's twine- Mandarin (The Twinery); red saran wrap ; chocolate covered oreos, cupcake liners; Circle punches (Stampin' Up!).

Easy peasy!  You can a name along the bottom of the turkey to use it as a place holder on your Thanksgiving table OR use it as a favor or a teacher gift.  

Now head on over to these crafty blogs to see what my Cardmaker sisters came up with:
Cardmaker Blog 
Anya
Carolyn
Colleen
Glenda
Jennie
Kimberly
Trudy

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Show Me The Stamps Holiday Kick-off!

Hello!! Welcome to the Show Me the Stamps Holiday kick off for Gina K Designs!  For this month’s hop, several of the Gina K Designs Illustrators have brought together their design teams and guests for a lineup of fun and exciting things to share using their stamps.  Today I am excited to help illustrator Melanie Muenchinger showcase some of her past sets!

The Gina K Designs Illustrators have also decided this month they want to help you celebrate the holidays in style with some Gina K Design stamps!

For this month’s hop the Gina K Designs Illustrators will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Gina K Designs store!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on each Illustrator’s blog.

Want an extra entry?

Become a blog follower of any of the illustrators and leave a comment letting them know you did. That’s up to 8 chances to win if you become a follower of each illustrator and leave a comment!!

You can find the complete list of Gina K Design Illustrators participating on Melanie's Blog.

Of course, you’ll want to be sure and check out all of the links from Melanie’s guests, too!  Why? Because Melanie will personally be sending out a surprise gift to someone who comments on her guests’ blogs as well. So many ways to win!

Now for today’s projects.  My first card features one of my all-time favorite sets of Melanie's---Pretty Patterns.  The unique designs (as well as some classic favorites) make the best backdrop or focal point for any card for any occasion.

For this card, I stamped the circle pattern strip twice in Cottage Ivy ink (Memento) on Ivory cardstock.  The pattern makes a beautiful background for my die cut sentiment:

Next, I used Stately Flowers 4 and paired it with the sentiment from Stately Flowers 5.   I embossed the flower using white detail embossing powder so the gorgeous illustration would take center stage.  This is a great option for those who do not like to color images.  After mounting the flower onto the card, I stamped the sentiment below it:

Finally, I have a cutie patootie card featuring Basket Buddies and Beyond Baskets.  I just love the pups in the galvanized tub:

Here is the complete list of Melanie's guest star stampers:

Carolyn King (you are here!)

Cathy Tidwell

Geri Utterback

Tosha Leyendekker

Karen Knegten

When you get done be sure that you hop on over to Melanie's Blog to get the complete list of Gina K Designs Illustrators participating and entry for a chance to win that $50 gift certificate!

***Deadline to enter for the gift certificate drawing is 5pm Central time on Thursday. November 15, 2012—release party day! AND just in time for someone to do some exciting release party shopping when the new stamps become available at 7pm!

Be sure to visit Melanie’s blog on Thursday also because the illustrators will be hopping again to show you peeks from the NEW stamp releases!

Thanks for stopping by!

SRM Desktop Calendar

Here is a fun little desk calendar I created for the SRM Stickers Blog last week.  It would make a great gift for the holidays :)
I added monthly stickers to patterned paper then added a Velcro circle on the back of each one so that you can change out the months. The desk stand is made from a decorated spool (Ribbon Carousel) and a dowel, inserted through the center that supports the decorated chipboard house (Maya Road).

SRM SUPPLIES:

Mini Calendar Stickers - Decorative 2013 (48008)

Year of Memories - 2013 (48007)

Sticker Sentiments - Love (51004)

Thanks for stopping by!

Clean Out the Office Giveaway #2 Winner

We just found out the my son made the 4th grade travel basketball team.  So, in honor of him, I chose the #23 (his jersey number) as the winner of the Clean Out the Office Giveaway #2!  Congrats to PatsyB, who said...
"this is just like an early Christmas!! It's very generous of you to share not only your talent but your goodies with us!
Thanks for caring about your bloggers!"

November 6, 2012 10:29 AM

PatsyB, please email me your mailing address. Thanks again to all my wonderful subscriber friends! xo

Cardmaker Blog Team - Xyron Blog Hop

Hello! It is time for another Cardmaker Blog Hop.  The Cardmaker girls received some awesome products from Xyron.  Thanks Xyron!  So we are having a blog hop today to show off the cards we made.

Here are the Xyron Products I used on my projects today: 

the Creative Station: this product blows my mind!

 

the Mega Runner: the best tape runner I have used

 

and the Permanent Adhesive Glue Stick for Corners:

Creative Station---> Since I am a figure-it-out-yourself-and-if-you-run-into-problems-look-for-a-video kind of person :), I found a great video on how to use the Creative Station on the Xyron Video page.  It is a cinch!  You can also find wonderful ideas and inspiration on their Blog.

My machine came loaded with permanent adhesive inside.  Just place the item you want to make sticky all the way into the machine (as shown), crank the handle clock-wise and the items come out the other side.  When they come through the back, press the clear bracket down and slide the blade across to cut the paper. (NOTE: The paper will be sticky on the back so always put the side you want to be sticky facing down into the machine.)

Then you end up with something that looks like this:

All you do from this point is use a bone folder or press over every area of the image to ensure you will get the sticky on every part and then peel the clear film off and you  have die cuts that are sticky!  This is HUGE for someone like me (who uses a lot of intricate die cuts and uses my Silhouette machine non-stop!)

But, with this same machine you can change out the Permanent Adhesive cartridge to add in a Repositional Adhesive, a Magnet backer (great for creating magnets from photos); a Laminate Cartridge, and a Laminate/ Permanent Adhesive Cartridge (which has laminate on top and the adhesive on bottom.) Love that!

Here are a few projects I made with the Xyron products:
For the first one, I used the smooth-as-butter Mega runner to add paper to a chipboard tag.  To create the glittery ornament, I die cut it using my Silhouette machine (Ornament Set: Samantha Walker).  Then, I took the ornate cut and ran it through my Creative Station to apply adhesive to the back.  Placing the sticky side up I sprinkled glitter all over the die cut.  The glitter attached to EVERY spot of the diecut and did not come off.
I ran the die cut through the Creative Station again (glitter side UP!) to get perfect adhesive coverage on the back of it so I could attach it to the ornament base that I cut from neutral cardstock.  After assembling the ornament, I added some rhinestones and pearls before adding to the tag:

Next, I have a card using glitter again.  I created the card base by adhering the patterned paper to the card using the Mega Runner.  After I die cut the tree image (Samantha Walker: 3 Christmas trees: Silhouette), I ran it through the Creative Station one time to add the glitter.  Then, I used the Glue Stick to adhere it to the card base.  Then, I added the glitter tree on top using foam tape to get some dimension. I am lovin' the glittery tree!:

Here is another very ornate die cut image that I cut using my Silhouette (Birds on a Branch by Hero Arts) that I have avoided using because I didn't want to try to add liquid adhesive to the back of every leaf and I was sure a tape runner would rip it.  It was simple using the Creative Station:

Finally, here is another quick card using an intricate snowflake die (from The Cat's Pajamas), sentiment from Simple Snowflakes (Gina K Designs).  The snowflakes were run through the Creative Station and then added to the card:

Head on over to these blogs to see what the rest of the Cardmaker girls made with their Xyron products:
Cardmaker Blog
Anya
Colleen
Glenda
Jennie
Trudy

Thanks to Xyron for the wonderful products featured on today's post!  Thanks for stopping by!