Merry Christmas Bottle Brush and Paper Trees...Just Us Girls Challenge #421~Photo Inspiration, 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #379~Anything Goes, Muse: ChristmasVisions Challenge #90~Anything Goes

Hello,

I'm playing over at Just Us Girls Challenge #421~Photo Inspiration today, as the images offered exactly the incentive needed to 'finally' use my Concord & 9th Take A Bough Dies that I've had since just after last Christmas.

After watching a couple of 'how to' videos to make the trees (they take a bit of time, but sooooo cute once done), I created two gift ensembles for my niece and nephew's teachers.  No turquoise paper in my stash, so we have one blue tree and accompanying card...

and one red tree, with its card companion.

My trees were a bit wobbly in their 'too big for them' pots, so the goal will be to find some spools or wood chips for a sturdier base.  Hope the teachers like them; such fun to make!

Wishing the Just Us Girls team a most Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Also sharing at:

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #379~Anything Goes

Muse: ChristmasVisions Challenge #90~Anything Goes

Thank you for dropping by!

Merry Christmas Poinsettias....The Ton November Challenge~Holiday

Hello,

Quick post to share cards I made with The Ton's gorgeous Cozy Poinsettia stamps and dies I was so fortunate to be able to order from my 'local' crafting supply gal!  I coloured oh...12 of these, trying out different copic combinations. Some worked; some are 'meh' but...more cards for the stash!

Although I've not done anything event remotely stellar in terms of design, I'm still sharing a sampling of my dozen over at The Ton November Challenge~Holiday

On a side note: I had a major  episode of panic when one of my dark copics totally blobbed all over a nearly finished card! SHRIEK! Google search to the rescue and now, I have the 'knowledge' to prevent - okay, mostly prevent - a recurrence.  The secret?  Take the caps off both ends to minimize ink build up. Simple fix for what could be a catastrophic event - at least for me, the complete copic amateur!  Anyway...here are my cards.

Midtone reds...

Slightly deeper reds...

Light reds...

Deep red  is where the blob event happened...I'll try to fix it and share down the road....

That's it from me!

Thank you for dropping by!

STAMPlorations Stencil Blog Hop with Sanna Lippert Designs

Hello

A whole lot of excitement and inspiration about to unfold over at STAMPlorations, with the launch of a new line of exclusive amazing, trendy stencils designed by our very own, super talented, incredibly sweet Sanna Lippert, from Papierstau fame! To celebrate Sanna's new path of creativity, Shery has organized a STAMPlorations Stencil Blog Hop with Sanna Lippert Designs and I'm thrilled to be part of the reveal!

My first two cards feature Christmas Tree 1 - Sanna Lippert Designs and, because I wanted to do something 'other than' my 'usual' CAS stenciling on a white background, I went in search of ideas. I found this image which, with its rich teal, white and red, sparked ideas...

White pigment ink for the first layer, a slight shift of the stencil, and a second inking with teal ink to create a shadow. To this background, I added two Christmas Reindeer, the Jingle All the Way phrase die and a smattering of glittery Nuvo dots (hard to see in the photo, but they are quite shimmery....). A different look from me; hopefully, I've done justice to this oh-so-pretty stencil...

My second card sees a forest of gold-embossed trees paired with Peace On Earth cut from shimmer paper. Shiny and shimmery!

My next two cards focus on Flowers 2 - Sanna Lippert Designs, and I went sentiment free for both, to leave the stencil as the star of the stage as much as possible. Sentiments can always come later, right? White Picket Fence distress marker used to colour the stencil, with red glitter Nuvo Drops for the flower centers...

And...to wrap things up...my 'usual' way of stenciling, with my favourite colour combination - peacock feathers, cracked pistachio and twisted citron - and one of my favourite images - a butterfly, from Flutter Zen 1. 

That's it from me! Huge congratulations, Sanna; your stencils are amazing! To my wonderful visitors: be sure to hop along with us; my team will dazzle you with their creativity using these new products The list is here.

More hop info:

• Commenting closes on December 4, Monday
• Prizes: (1) winner of $20 gift certificate, (2) winners of their choice of 3 Sanna Lippert Designs stencils
• Winners will be randomly drawn from comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blogs

To receive 20% off STAMPlorations stamps, stencils and dies, I invite you to use my code: STAMPGIRLCAROLM. The code applies to regular and sale-priced products, but cannot be combined with other discount codes you have. Happy shopping!

Thank you for dropping by!

For smiles and inspiration head to: STAMPlorations blog | STAMPlorations shop

Santa...Merry Monday Challenge #266~Santa Claus, MUSE Challenge #243, 25 Days of Christmas Tags for Day 19

Hello,

Quick post - as in 'no chatting' because links are closing and I have a Grey Cup football game to watch *grin* to share a card and two tags created for

Merry Monday Challenge #266~Santa Claus and

MUSE Challenge #243, where I drew inspiration from Kim's aperture layout, pairing of images and seasonal greeting.

NOTE:  Delighted and thrilled to selected as a MUSE Challenge #243~Featured Member! THANK YOU!!

Also linking to Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags for Day 19,

drawing inspiration from the various 'text tags' created by a couple of the designers: Jill Dewey Hawkins and Lindsey M-p.  Alas, no Technique Tuesday Christmas stamps in my collection (need to change that), so I went with SugarPea Designs:

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thank you for dropping by!

UNIKO Studio Challenge #44~Christmas

Hello,

I can't believe it's nearly the end of November AND Christmas Eve is exactly one month from today! OH MY!  If, like me, you're still scrambling to complete your Christmas cards, Uniko Studio's Challenge #44~Christmas, is timely. Festive inspiration galore about to unfold! 

Joining us for this challenge is wonderfully talented Sue, from Sue's Card Craft; her card...swoon! Please be sure to drop by her place to leave her some love.

Given that I'm *still* waiting for products to be delivered (I know...crazy!), I decided to play once again with one of  Bev's lovely digital images that you can find here. I fiddled and faddled with the holly sprig image to create a background pattern for my card, which I then coloured with Copics. A sentiment from Rustic Wreath stamped on a label die and...another card for the 'get ready to mail' pile.

Oh...and before you go, I transformed the tags I made for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags into cards. Stash pile getting higher!

For incredible inspiration, please visit the rest of the team; dazzle guaranteed...

Bev
Carol (me)

Deborah 
Izzy

Jane 

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah P

A warm invitation for you to join us in the gallery with your 

Christmas creations

You have plenty of time to play along!

The entry guidelines are simple and there are PRIZES, too! Head over to Uniko Studio for all the juicy details!

Thank you for dropping by!

JOY...FUSION Card Challenge~Red Christmas

Hello,

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the US; may your day be filled with blessings of family, friends, fine food and abundant joy! I'm so very grateful to have a number of your add spice to my life!

Today also heralds the new FUSION Card Challenge~Red Christmas. Beautiful image; inviting sketch!

Traditional colours, a bit of woodgrain, a snippet of greenery caught my eye, so I transformed them into this card....

and, with the leftovers from the die cuts, this one. Hard to see the woodgrain on the deep red background, but it's there....

Please head over to the FUSION blog see the marvelous cards designed by my wonderful team:

Becca Cruger
Betty J
Carol Mayne - me
Jeanne Jachna
Karren Johnson
Linda Callahan
Lyndal Higgins 
Michelle Leone

Michelle Lupton
Michelle Williams

Looking forward to seeing your designs in the gallery!

Also sharing at:

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #15~Christmas

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #14~Kath's "All about Christmas" Challenge

Thank you for dropping by!

Snow Flurries...25 Days of Christmas Tags~Day 22: STAMPlorations

Hello,

Welcome to Day 22 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags  

 where I'm delighted to join the fun and festivities as a member of the STAMPlorations design team.

Have you seen the new line of The Bee's Knees layered stamps? Oh. My. Stars! Awesomen-ness! I'm showcasing the Layered Snowman, on the largest of the Luggage Tags Nesting Dies, who has a shaker-tummy filled with festive seed beads. He has sparkly snowballs ready for some fun! This really was super simple to make; I'm thinking a whole crew of this little dude - shaker element included - for my nephew's kindergarten class....

NOTE: Honoured and thrilled to be selected as a Muse Christmas Visions Challenge #89~Star!  THANK YOU!!

For details on how to play along and to see an array of fabulous tags from the STAMPlorations gals, as well as a few of the DT elves, head over to Tracey's place: In My Creative Opinion. OH...and for added incentive to leave comments, Shery is offering two prizes--a $25 gift certificate and a Stamp Bundle valued at $50 to two lucky winners! That is a LOT of awesome product waiting to be welcomed into your collection!

Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags Main Post and Linkup (which means prizes!) can be found HERE.

Looking forward to seeing you soon...in the gallery and in another post!

Also sharing at:

Muse Christmas Visions Challenge #89~Snow (inspired by both Emily and Lindsey's snowmen)

Thank you for dropping by!

Let's Chill...Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #269~Clean and Simple

Hello,

Welcome to Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #269~Clean and Simple. At this time of year, when the Christmas-crunch-for-cards is on, CAS cards call my name even more loudly than usual!

Today, a simple little number, inspired by Less is More Challenge #355~Susan's CASE, where the team has invited us to celebrate Susan's birthday with them by casing one of her amazing cards.

Hers features a sweet elf, and since zero elves reside in my collection, I went with a penguin, sporting a Santa hat, with a cup of coffee and festive sprig of holly, because it's cute - just like Susan's little Santa's helper!

NOTE:  Honoured and thrilled to be a Less Is More Challenge #355 Showcase! THANK YOU!

Turning the stage over to you! Just a reminder that we're looking for CAS cards:

Looking forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Also sharing at:

Simply Create Too Challenge #133~CAS

Little Red Wagon Challenge #420~Penguins and Polar Bears

Thank you for dropping by!

Holly and Poinsettia...25 Days of Christmas Tags: Day 21~UNIKO Studios

Hello,

Welcome to Day 21 of Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags  

where I'm thrilled to join the fun and festivities as a member of the UNIKO Studios design team.

In October, Bev shared exciting news about her latest digital stamp collection and feature in Simply Cards & Papercrafts. Along with that tidbit of joy, she also shared downloads of her images, which, in a 'wild risk', I decided to us for my DT tags. Disclaimer: I am NOT well-versed in digital images; neither am I in any way skilled with copic colouring, sooooo creating these was quite a stretch! Hopefully, I did them justice! Now that I've had one go-round with these pretties, I'm quite tempted to play with them again (especially as I'm *still* waiting for Canada Post to deliver some sent-ages-ago products! Sheesh!). Sentiments are from Rustic Wreath

Holly and berries; holly and poinsettia...definitely a few of my favourite Christmas things! Hope they're some of yours, too!

For details on how to play along and to see an array of fabulous tags from the UNIKO Studio gals, as well as a few of the DT elves,  head over to Tracey's place: In My Creative Opinion.

Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags Main Post and Linkup (which means prizes!) can be found HERE.

Looking forward to seeing you soon in the gallery!

Also sharing at:

Just Add Ink Challenge #386~Just Add "R" (my "R" is RED)

Thank you for dropping by!