Merry Christmas To All!

I hope you all have the most wonderful holiday. I wish you many blessings for the new year! I am so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you so much for being such wonderful supporters of my work... I sincerely love you all!

Image source: The Graphics Fairy

Clear the Way...

Hello! I hope your holiday preparations are going well and that you all are feeling jolly and excited about Christmas! We are headed to the Nutcracker tonight to kick off our "official" Christmas activities which will include a trip to our zoo's light show, visiting cousins on Christmas Eve Day and Grandma & Grandpa's on Christmas Eve... then it will be home for Santa and Christmas morning and to Grandma & Grandpa's for Christmas dinner.  Whew! It wears me out just thinking about it, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

So in light of my "to get ready for" list, I'm going to quickly share a batch of elegant holiday cards that I made for Anna Griffin using her Foil Cardstock pack.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Vintage image source: The Graphics Fairy

December Zva Blog Hop Winners Announced

 Zva Products Used: Bulk 3-D Sweet Rose and Mini Roses, 1.5" White Graceful Roses and Pearl Lovely Flourish

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE December Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Jolanda Meurs

Nicole Martel

Robin Shakoor

Carole Maurin

Lisa Gregory

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

Skipping Stones Design Sketch 107

Hello & happy Tuesday!

I'm back again with another sketch from Skipping Stones Design!

And here's my card...

Want to play along? Just hop on over to Skipping Stones Design for this weeks details. We'd love to see your take on the sketch:) Take care!

Cooking Up Cards Winner Announced

Random Integer picked comment #3...

Here are your random numbers:

3 

Timestamp: 2011-12-20 05:24:46 UTC

Congratulations to Ashley Harris for winning a spot in Big Picture Classes: Cooking Up Cards Class!

Zva Creative December DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us for our December Design Team blog hop!

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.  If you like what you see you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

The Blog Hop begins here at my blog.  Here is a complete list of all the other participating blogs in case there is a glitch along the way. 

Nicole Martel

Lisa Gregory

Susan Lui

Jolanda Meurs

Tara Orr

Lisa Somerville

Carole Maurin

Karen Shady

Andrea Ewen

Christin Grønnslett

Robin Shakoor

Yukiko Ochi

If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, December 19th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, December 20th.  

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 21^st on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found here as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

So you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes!  That's a lot of chances to win!

Zva Product used: CR-04CB Lovely Red Crystal Flourish

The blog hop begins here at my blog and your next stop is Nicole Martel's blog.

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on January 30^th for our next Zva blog hop!

Cooking Up Cards Class Give Away

Hi all! Did you see that there is going to be a fun card class offered at Big Picture Classes? My friends Kim Kesti, Allison Landry, Betsy Veldman, and Teri Anderson are teaching this self-paced class. Trust me, you can't go wrong when those gals are involved.

Here's a bit of information on the class...

Interested in card making, but don’t know where to begin? What if four experts in the field gave you their very own "recipes for success?" Our card chefs are ready to provide the dash of inspiration you’ve been waiting for, and we’re betting you already have all of the ingredients you need: some paper, a few embellishments and a pinch of glue.

In Cooking Up Cards! you will not only get a great introduction to card making, you’ll also meet expert chefs Allison Landy, Betsy Veldman, Kim Kesti and Teri Anderson. Each chef brings something different to the table, and will share with you their own unique Signature Dish, including step-by-step instructions. Then, watch the magic happen as they "swap recipes" and each creates three new cards. That’s a total of twelve additional cards to fill your plate with inspiration.

Sound fun? You can find a full class description here: http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/cookingupcards.php and its available for instant download for just $15.

--Contest Closed--

Here's the best part, they have very graciously provided me with a give away of a spot in the class for one of my blog readers. Yeah! So if you are interested, leave me a comment here by 11:00pm EST tomorrow night (Monday, December 19th). I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, December 20th.

Skipping Stones Design December Blog Hop

Welcome to Sketch Challenge #106 and a Blog Hop to feature many of the wonderful Texture Sets from Skipping Stones Designs!  If you just came from Kandi Phillips' blog, you are in the right place.  If you just happened along my blog today, start at the beginning of the hop at Skipping Stones Design.  The entire hop order is there and you can hop from blog to blog with ease.

Be sure to hop along and leave comments on all the fabulous designers’ blogs.  This month Skipping Stones Design is welcoming Tosha Leyendekker, Kendra Sand and myself to the team as Guest Designers! Jen Del Muro will be providing all the fabulous sketch inspiration this month including the sketch we're using in today's hop!

Here is my card using Jen's sketch (which I flipped upside down) and Skipping Stone's Timeless Textures set.

Want to see more? Head over to JoAnn Valderama's blog for some more Skipping Stones Design inspiration!

I hope you all are doing well:) Enjoy the hop!

3-D Paper Hearts Deck Out Holiday Cards

Happy December!

Here's an easy idea for a card that you can mass produce (because its quick and easy) and mailable (because it folds flat).

All patterned paper from GCD's Scandia Jul collection.

1) punch or die cut shapes

2)  score a line down middle of shape

3) adhere shapes together 

4) continue to join shapes until you reach the desired fullness and adhere to the face of your card

And if your in the gift making mood, you can take this idea and make ornaments that coordinate with your cards.

Products: Patterned paper (GCD Studios), ornament die (Spellbinders), stamp (Hero Arts), twine (Divine Twine), ribbon (Bazzill Basics), punch (Marvey).

Skipping Stones Design

Hello. I'm happy to share that I'll be hanging out over at Skipping Stones Design this month as I've been asked to be a guest designer for the month of December. So every Tuesday I'll be sharing a stampy creation based on a sketch by this month's guest Sketch Artist Jen Del Muro.

Here's today's sketch...

... and my card...

On the card I used Christmas Song to stamp the tree and sentiment tag and Timeless Textures to stamp the background directly under the tree and the red/cream rectangle that is in the upper left hand corner.

You can hop on over to Skipping Stones Design Blog for more fab card ideas using this sketch. 

Well... that's all I have to share today. I'll be back later in the week with a few holiday cards! Have a good one!

Card Creations: Get Inspired

Hi all! Card Creations: Get Inspired is Paper Crafts newest special issue and it is now available on newstands! If you don't want to battle the holiday crowds you can order it over at Scrap and Paper shop!

Here's what you are going to want to go out an look for...

... be sure to check it out! At only $5.99 you can go ahead and buy yourself an early holiday present;)

Paper Crafts Connection and Moxie Fab World are featuring it all week long so you can learn more about it before going out and getting one of your own. Or you can try to win a copy. That is... if you can wait.

Here's one of two cards that I had in the issue... it was one of the easiest card I've ever made... almost too easy! But hey... who says pretty cards have to be difficult?

Life's a Journey Card, pg. 58

Products: Kraft cardstock (Papertrey Ink), patterned paper (Roughin’It patterned paper & Postcards, Great Outdoors collection by GCD Studios), brown chalk ink & cream ribbon.

November Zva Blog Hop Winners Announced

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE November Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Susan Lui

Andrea Ewen

Lisa Somerville

Karen Shady

Tara Orr

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

Zva Creative November DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us this November for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special because it is the first hop for many of our new 2011-12 team members!  We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  See details below.

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project.  If you like Zva’s products you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

The Blog Hop begins here on my blog so you are in the right place if you want to start from the top! Here is a complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way.

Windy Robinson

Carole Maurin

Lisa Somerville

Tara Orr

Andrea Ewen

Nicole Martel

Susan Lui

Jolanda Meurs

Robin Shakoor

Lisa Gregory

Karen Shady

Sarah Gough

If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, November 28th at 9:00 am US Eastern Standard Time and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 29^th.  

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 30th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on here on my blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry

So you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes!  That's a lot of chances to win!

This month my color focus was pink, so I naturally made two girly Christmas cards for my girls! I can only imagine that one of these will make my pink obsessed four year old very happy. What's better than pink bling?

Zva products used: CR-04CB-121 Lovely Pink Pearl Flourish, CRW-03CB-123 Rosy Basic Crystal Lines, 

Cream 3-D Roses 

Zva products used: CRW-03CB-123 Rosy Basic Crystal Lines, CRW-04CB-115 Pink/Rosy Small Flourish, and Pink & Cream 3-D Roses

Your next stop is Carole Maurin’s blog. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Next month’s blog hop will be happening one week early so mark your calendar to join us on December 19^th for another inspiring Zva hop!

A Vintage Gift Card Holder

Hello and happy Wednesday! Hopefully you are enjoying a little time off before Thanksgiving tomorrow. The girls and I plan on hanging out and watching the Curious George movie marathon that will be on PBS kids before heading out to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for Daddy to make his yummy dutch apple pie.

Today I'm up on the Paper Crafts Connection blog sharing this tri-fold gift card holder. You can hop on over to see it inside and out. While you are there be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win the collection I used, Anna Griffin's Twinkle Bright Christmas collection... its a beauty!

To create it, simply follow this pattern.

If flat, the whole thing fits into a standard A2 envelope. Because of the bulky embellishments, I'd place the one I created above in an A6 sized envelope (and when I mail cards like this, I stick them in a padded photo mailer).

Here are a few other cards that I made from Anna's collection...

With Thanksgiving one day away and so many wonderful holiday projects out there in the blogosphere, are you ready for the holidays yet? I hope so! 

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends! May it be filled with many blessings and great memories that you will hold dear for years to come:)

Products: all paper products (Anna Griffin Twinkle Bright Christmas collection by Anna Griffin), ribbon (Schiff Ribbons), buttons (Jenni Bowlin), doilies (Wilton), color medium (gold Perfect Pearls by Ranger), baker's twine (Divine Twine), bells (vintage).

Fall Gratitude Layouts

Hello all! How is your week going? This one flew by for us... its hard to imaging that it is the Friday before Thanksgiving. But I'm starting to get into that relaxed holiday"ish" state of mind. Hadley (4) is so excited about Christmas this year that we've already visited with Santa (yes... he's already at the mall) and put up our Christmas tree. Yep! We are ready for Christmas.

But before we get too deep into Christmas, I wanted to share a few fall layouts that I've created recently. As many of you know, I'm a lover of all things fall, so creating fall layouts is by far one of my favorite things about this hobby. 

Find Fall Gratitude

Journaling: Happy, Sweet Joy, Unconditional Love, Blissful Beauty, Find Gratitude

Remember

Journaling: You are one lucky little girl to have the best father in the world… one that treats you like a little lady and loves you endlessly. Here we are taking you on a trip to the pumpkin farm one day and then on a day trip out in the country to ride a horse the next… and to think, you are not even one yet. As rich as your daddy feels when he holds you in his arms, all of that love will come back to you ten fold. Remember that your daddy will give you the world, the moon and the stars. No one else will ever work as hard as he does to give you that… for a father’s love is truly awesome.

2005

Grateful for Grandma

Journaling: GRANDMA’S HOUSE. Nothing beats playing in the leaves with Grandma at Grandma’s house! 2010

All of the instructions and supplies can be found by clicking the title of each layout. Have a wonderful weekend!

Fall Sneak Peek Blog Hop for Crafters Home Day Three

Join Spellbinders™ Paper Arts and Crafters Home as we celebrate a Fall Sneak Peek!

Spellbinders and participating stores in the Crafters Home Buying Group are excited to introduce three new die template sets sold exclusively through Crafters Home stores through January! You’ll have to wait until February to find these die template designs in non-member stores.

These new dies are in stock! Get yours now at a participating Crafters Home store! 

Visit the Spellbinders Blog November 14 - 16 to see a new Spellbinders die template revealed each day! Visit designer blogs to enter the daily contests and see inspiring projects using the new releases. Comment on Designers Blogs and the Spellbinders Blog count as entries into daily drawings. Daily winners receive all three of the new designs!

Today's new die is 
S4-350 Nested Tea Cups

Price
$19.99

Dimensions

Small Cup: 1 ¼ x 1 1/8”

Small Handle ½ x 5/8”

Medium Cup 2 1/8 x 1 7/8”

Medium Handle ¾ x 1 ½”

Large Cup 3 x 2 5/8”

Large Handle 1 1/8 x 2”

Here's the card that I made using these beautiful die templates. To create it I embossed, stenciled, stamped, and glittered the tea cup dye to make a supportive card for a classy girlfriend.

Ready for more ideas?

Visit these Designers Today!

Christine Emberson

Kimberly Crawford

Beth Pingry   

Contest Details

Participants wishing to be included in the daily drawing for the Spellbinders Fall Sneak Peek contests adhere to all of the following rules.

• The Fall Sneak Peek starts November 14, and ends November 16, 2011. It consists of three individual contests, one each day.
• Each Fall Sneak Peek Bog will accept comments as entries from 12:00 am until 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time, on its scheduled day.
• Each comment counts as one entry. One entry per person, per blog please.
• One winner each day will receive the three new die templates available exclusively at Crafters Home stores.
• All three winners will be announced on the Spellbinders Blog on November 17. The winners will have 48 hours to respond to the email address on the winning post to claim their prize. If a winner fails to respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.
• By entering, you allow Spellbinders to publish your first name, city, state, and country of residence and a quote from you, on the Spellbinders Blog, website, and in promotional materials.
• Spellbinders Designers, contractors, employees and immediate family members are not eligible to win.
• The invitation to the Fall Sneak Peek Blog Hop is extended to all, we are happy to ship prizes worldwide.

Any questions regarding this contest should be sent to ContestQuestions@Spellbinders.us

Paper Crafts Magazine Presents: 365 Cards Blog Hop

Hello & happy Friday! I hope you are enjoying Paper Crafts Magazine's blog hop to launch the new special issue 365 Cards. 

Welcome to the wonderful month of AUGUST.... a month full of fun celebrations such as National Girlfriends Day, Book Lovers Day and National Dog Day (you can find a full calendar of other holidays like these HERE).

Here's my card for August... which celebrates another fun day in the month... Sister's Day.

Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice Card

I didn't have a sister growing up so the 365 Cards call alerted me to such a holiday. I love to teach my daughter's about days like this to see how they celebrate it. They used it as a reason to dig into my scrapping supplies and make cards for each other... how fun would it be if they did that every year? 365 Cards helps us celebrate something everyday. That is what makes this issue so fun and wonderful.

Want a copy of 365 Cards? You'll be entered in to win one by leaving a comment on my blog (all comments must be posted by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, November 13th). Or you can hop over HERE to purchase one online.

Want to win an even bigger and really cool prize? Stop by Paper Crafts Connection and leave a comment there too! Its a fun one... I promise:)

Lastly, don't forget to check out all of the other talented designers on our hop...

• Chan Vuong (January)
• Kalyn Kepner (February)
• Carly Robertson (March)
• Cristina Kowalczyk (April)
• Kelley Eubanks (May)
• Amber Daigre (June)
• Vanessa Menhorn (July)
• Laura Williams (September)
• Betsy Veldman (October)
• Teri Anderson (November)
• Julia Stainton (December)

Thanks for stopping by today!

And a big and most sincere thanks to all of our veterans on this Veteran's Day and everyday! 

Products used: cardstock (Vintage Cream by Papertrey Ink), patterned paper (Red Light Green Light: Sidewalks collection by October Afternoon, Red Beans & Navy Beans from Homemade 6 Bean Soup collection and Sauerkraut from Sweet & Sour Soup collection by Jillibean Soup); stamp (My Sister by Technique Tuesday),  die templates (Blossom One and Labels One by Spellbinders).