Merry Christmas!

I'm taking a blogging/stamping break until the new year to enjoy all that the season brings for my family and myself :) So, I'd like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

See you in January :)

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Filled with Love

There's a new promotion from Stampin' Up! on now through January 24th! You can get a FREE package of Bitty Buttons when you purchase a Filled with Love Bundle, including the Filled with Love Stamp Set and exclusive Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack—only available through this special promotion! Here are the three available bundles:

Please check out my online store to order your bundle today!

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Card Matchbox Template :)

Here's a template for the box I'd made yesterday for the Inkspirations Christmas Gift Blog Hop! It's pretty simple.

Start by cutting a piece of card stock for your base following this template:

Score and cut as shown. Glue the corners in to create a box base.

Cut and score two pieces for the cover. Dry fit over card box base and adjust if necessary. Decorate prior to assembly!

Have fun creating :)

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Inkspirations Blog Hop!

*template for this box can be found right HERE*

Stamps: Jolly Old Saint Nick, Many Merry Messages
Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Watercolour Paper, Blushing Bride, Candy Cane DSP
Ink: Stazon™, Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride, Going Grey
Accessories: Real Red Dotted Grosgrain, Dimensionals®, Snowflake Punch, AquaPainter™

Good morning and welcome to the Inkspirations holiday Blog Hop! If you've come here from Keesh's blog, you're right on track. If you're just popping in to my blog, you can start at the beginning by heading to the Inkspirations Challenge blog!

For this blog tour, we are all making something 3D that is for a Christmas gift!!! I was running short on time and so I whipped these up relatively quickly. I needed teacher gifts - talk about last minute -- today is the last day of school for my kids before Christmas break! and considering that I'm typing this an hour before the hop goes live, that's cutting it rather close :)

Anyway, these boxes easily fit 5-7 decently decorated cards. I didn't include envelopes inside each box, no room and too late to adjust the template I'd made up for this ... LOL! It's a matchbox style box, so the card tray just slides out. I'd included a poem about using gift cards rather than just saving them inside each box.

This will be the Inkspirations' final posting for the year. Please check out the rest of the hop -- your next stop on the Inkspirations Christmas Gift blog tour is ...

Cindy

Thanks for visiting, have yourself a fabulous day :)

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Colour Q Challenge #63

Stamps: Peaceful Season
Paper: Whisper White, Jolly Holiday DSP, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Bermuda Bay Classic, Old Olive Classic, Ruby Red Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories: Dimensionals®, Snowflake Punch, Designer Buttons, Old Olive Grosgrain, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

I just realised after I'd uploaded this to the ColourQ DT spot that I've used this stamp set for these challenges a LOT! I guess it shows how much I like it, eh? Either that or how many Christmas cards I've yet to do so I'm opting for quick and simple! LOL :)

Anyway, welcome to another Colour Q challenge! This week, Arielle has picked another wonderful combination of colours that will be sure to challenge you. They certainly did challenge me! I didn't have any Kiwi or Ruby Red so I ended up switching them for Olive and Cherry other than the berries which I used a Ruby Red marker for.

I used these colours in combination with last week's Mojo Monday sketch and just moved the layout around a teensy bit. Please check out the Colour Q challenge and the Royal Court's fabulous creations!!!!

Thanks for visiting my blog today, have a great day!

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Stylish Blogger Award

A little while ago, Jess had sent me this award! Isn't that sweet?! I do so appreciate being nominated for awards even though I tend not to pass them on for fearing of missing someone fabulous!

This award also asks me to tell you 8 things about myself ... hmmm ... I've been thinking about this one for a bit and I find it difficult to come up with 8 things that I'd want to share with you that you don't already know! But here goes:

1. I'm a little OCD (self diagnosed ...), just ask my hubby - I drive him a little nuts at times (okay, a LOT of the time!) - this would also explain a lot to my fellow design teammates on the various teams I'm a part of!
   
2. I'm highly organized and self-motivated - if I get "out-of-sync" with my routine, I begin to feel overwhelmed and crabby ... not so good for the family.
3. I am a member of a community orchestra - I play piano and flute and am trying to pick up the clarinet.
4. I don't think of myself as "talented" in the artistic area so this stamping thing is a rather interesting development to that area of my life.
5. Can't handle CLUTTER of any sort. Just ask my mum - she's afraid I'll chuck out too much when I'm around ...
6. I have 5 children and no, they are NOT a ton of work - they are a blessing!
7. I LOVE coffee.
8. I am NOT a morning person at ALL. I don't really talk for the first hour of my day. I am a total night owl!

so, there, that's 8 things about me!

I've got nothing crafty to share today ... BUT, I did get all my Christmas cards mailed out on Friday so hopefully they'll arrive on time in the various areas they are winging their way to.

Hope you're having a great day! See you back tomorrow for the Colour Q challenge :)

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Merry Christmas

Stamps: Scenic Season, Winter Post, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Vellum Paper
Ink: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Northern Frost Embossing Folder, Chocolate Taffeta, Dimensionals®, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

Good morning! I made this card the other day for the Stampin' Celebration challenge along with an older sketch from Mercy. I had seen the idea of the reindeer joined by rope online last year and had always meant to make something with that idea in mind but I never did get around to it. Anyway, I did now :)

Do you know how hard it is to photograph glitter? Well, there is a set of glittery trees under those reindeer. They were stamped in white and then embossed. The snowflake dry embossed panel was also heat embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder too.

Anywho, hope you like this card! Thanks for visiting!

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Whoo hoo! I Stamped!

Stamps: Peaceful Season
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, non-SU embossing folder, organdy ribbon, Dimensionals®

I finally stamped! In between getting some appetizers made ahead of time that is ... I've gotten a couple things done for a fondue on Christmas Eve so now I've got to get onto the baking ... anyway, you didn't come here to read about that, did you?

I played with a couple of challenges - one of the is the Tuesday Trigger challenge and the other is the layout from Clean & Simple Stamping. I'd played around with my embossing folders and ink and used a non-SU embossing folder to create a soft background. I don't know if you can tell, but I reversed the ink from one side of the folder to the other just to see what the difference would be and I really liked both!

I love this stamp set for quick and simple Christmas cards. I ended up making 6 of these and they whipped up really quick, honestly! Here's a pic of the inside that I'd stamped too. The sentiment is from a Verve Stamps set from last Christmas, I think:

Hope you like these! Thanks for visiting :) and thanks for all the happy wishes/congrats from yesterday's post!!

P.S. Have YOU signed up for the Inkspirations Blog Tour yet?! You should! I would LOVE to see what you create as I'm in total need of inspiration for Christmas gifts!

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Creative Crew Design Team!

Guess what?!! I was selected to join a NEW creative group on SplitCoast called the "Creative Crew"! It's going to be sort of like the Dirty Dozen on SCS except for the fact that you don't have to pay to see their absolutely wonderful creations each month. We'll be uploading to a special gallery each month and it will be unveiled for you to be inspired by Stampin' Up products :)

Starting on January 1st, everyone will be invited to participate in the challenges and upload their work into a public gallery on SplitCoast using the keywords provided. The challenge threads will be located in the demonstrator forums on SplitCoast which of course not all of you have access to so come back to my blog monthly to check out what the new challenges will be!

and, I'm not the only Creative team member, LOL! There are 6 other fabulously talented people joining me in this fun adventure:

Charlsanne (cla616)
Brenda (PinkPaperCupcakes)
Emma (EmmaF)
Jackie (Jactop)
Lisa (Ponygirl40)
Melissa (Melbarkwith)

Thanks for letting me share my happy news!!! :) Have a great day!

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Inkspirations Blog Hop coming up!

Good morning! I have something fun to share with you this morning! Inkspirations is hosting it's very first BLOG TOUR and we want you to play along and join in the fun!

WHEN: Friday 17th December 2010
WHERE: starting at the Inkspirations Challenge blog and moving on to YOUR blog!

Would you like to play along? We will be making Christmas Gift ideas and would love to see what you are making for Christmas this year!

If you would like to play, please email Makeesha by December 13th (4pm EST Australia which is 12am for us North Americans in Mountain time!). Contact deets can be found on the Inkspirations Challenge blog!

I can't wait for this hop and hope you can't either!!!

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Colour Q Challenge #62

Stamps: A Scarf for Three (My Favorite Things), Elzybells sentiment
Paper: Whisper White, Pure Luxury 80lb White (Gina K)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: White Satin, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!), Northern Flurries Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!), Dimensionals® (Stampin' Up!), Copic Markers

Sorry about the lack of posts lately! Two of my children celebrated birthday's over the weekend and we had Grandma & Grandpa over to help us celebrate!

But, here I am with a new Colour Q Challenge! These are bright festive colours for today's Colour Q Challenge, eh? I always have difficulty with such bright colours so this was definitely a challenge for me. I was digging through my collection of unmounted stamps and came across this image from My Favorite Things and thought it was perfect for what I felt like making! I'm a sucker for Christmas stamps and so I have a rather large collection of Christmas from all over the place .. so you'll be seeing some more over the next while!

The image was coloured using Copic markers. It originally had a border around it that I cut off. It's been matted with white upon white, some dry embossed and some not.

The sentiment comes from Elzybells Arts stamps. For those who may ask --> they are no longer available as the store had to close in the UK and I'm not sure if she's even still manufacturing stamps for Amuse stamps either ... so if you're looking for that stamp, I dunno where you'd be able to find it.

Anywho, I made four of these and they should be winging their way to whomever I sent it :) Please check out this fun colour challenge on the Colour Q blog and see what the Royal Court made this week too!

Thanks for visiting, hope you're having a great week!

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chit chat

I feel like a bit of a lemon right now ... I totally forgot about an award that Adele had sent me at the beginning of November! So sorry Adele!

Adele had awarded me with this award:

I am supposed to share three things about me ... well, I think I've shared everything that I can think of? Unless you have three things to ask me, I can answer that instead! LOL! :) I know I'm supposed to tag some other bloggers with this but I'm going to forego that part of the award ... I'd hate to miss anyone because there are SO many bloggers I admire!

Anywho, I hopey ou're having a good weekend! Mine has been busy with NO stamping time ... two birthdays and family visiting leads to no free time ... I have a post ready for Tuesday, so be sure to come back to see the next ColourQ challenge!

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Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #51

Stamps: Bells & Boughs
Paper: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Deck the Halls DSP, Very Vanilla, Basic Black, So Saffron
Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White, Always Artichoke
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Dimensionals®, Bird Punch, Labels Nestabilities, Crochet Trim, Corner Rounder

Welcome back for another Inkspirations challenge! This week, we're playin' with a new sketch and of course, I changed it slightly -- I used a different shape. My Labels Nestabilities dies have been sadly neglected and so I pulled them out to play with.

I've seen this punched cardinal around and I really liked it so I thought I'd use that as my focal image instead of a stamp this time. Again, not huge into punch art but this is one I really like! It's pretty simple to create, just a little tedious with gluing all these pieces together, and of course, I made it worse by making 10 of these cards! LOL :)



To make the cardinal, you need several pieces:

Punch these pieces out: one Cherry Cobbler full bird, 2 heads (one black and one yellow), 3 Cherry Cobbler wings, two Artichoke leaf stems.	Trim the Basic Black head to remove the beak. Trim the Cherry Cobbler bird to remove the beak and a portion of the bird.	Glue the black over the yellow (Saffron).
Glue the Cherry Cobbler bird over the black.	Glue one wing behind the top of the head.	Glue one wing on the body.
Glue the last wing behind the bird's body.	This is what mine looks underneath :)	Trim a portion of the leaf stems off.
Glue the stems under the bird.

So, I hope you are able to make one of these! Thanks for stopping in, please check out the rest of the Inkspirations teams' creations!

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée (me) Brandi

Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Have a great day :)

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Poinsettia Video Tutorial :)

Good morning! I've finally gotten to creating that video tutorial for you of that Origami Poinsettia Tea Light that I'd made for the last Control Freaks Blog Tour! Sorry it took me so long ... it's been too busy lately but I'm finally catching up on everything so that I can get ready for Christmas :)

Anywho, here it is. Hope you enjoy it and make something creative!

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another bulk set of Christmas cards!

Stamps: Lovely As a Tree, Star Studded Season (retired)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, retired DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic & Craft
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Early Espresso Striped Grosgrain, Dimensionals®, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

Here's the last set of Christmas cards that I'd made during the Christmas Crop. I made 10 of these as well and so I now have a healthy amount of Christmas cards! Still not all the ones I need, but I've got time yet :) I'm using up (or trying to) my stash of designer paper so that I won't have piles of it sitting around looking at me and making me feel guilty for buying new paper ... so I used quite a bit on this card. Makes an easy Christmas card when all I had to do was stamp the one piece!

Hope you like this one :) Thanks for stopping in!

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