Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Christmas morning penguin cookies!

I am so excited to be working on a project with Marlyn again, the amazing cookie decorator also known as Montreal Confections. She decorated these adorable cookies, to look like the penguins from Lawn Fawn's Toboggan Together.

christmas morning penguin cookies

We came up with the idea of making a larger cookie, and creating a paper holder for it, so that it can be discovered on Christmas morning, hung on the Christmas tree. My kids would go nuts for this!

christmas morning penguin cookies

Marlyn made a video showing step-by-step how to decorate this cute penguins - click! and I made the paper holders to go along with, using Lawn Fawn products.

christmas morning penguin cookies

I didn't want to hide too much of the cookie, but I wanted to create a little something that would securely hold the cookie and look festive and cute! The fun part about this diy project, is that you could use whatever colors you want, to match your tree. I went with cool colors here, but the snowy backdrop would look adorable in other colors. I recently made a card where I cut it out of kraft paper (click!)

The first thing I did was to create the backing. I used the partial die-cut technique, careful to match up the scallops when I ran the die through again to make it thinner. I then cut a rectangle with the snowy backdrop die using the same technique. It makes everything look festive. The sentiment is from Critters of the Arctic and I stamped it into a Bannerific banner.

christmas morning penguin cookies

To hold the cookie, I created a quick box. I started with a sheet of cardstock measuring 4 inches by 5 inches. I then scored at 1" on the short sides and 1.5" on the long side.

christmas morning penguin cookies

This next step is completely optional, but it adds such a special quality to the box! I used a snowdrift die on the top and bottom of the box, and cut the flaps as shown in the photo. You may need to trim down the middle flap, as shown, but it really depends on the angle of your snowdrifts. Once the box is assembled, you can adhere it to the long rectangular backing, and add additional snowdrifts to dress up the front if you so desire. I like 3 snowdrifts myself.

christmas morning penguin cookies


Once everything is assembled, pop your rosy-cheeked penguin cookie inside, punch a hole at the top and string him onto your tree. Isn't he cute? I love that the paper parts can be made from now, and the cookies can even be made and frozen so that the only thing you're doing on Christmas Eve is the cookie decorating. What a fun surprise for the kids to wake up to!

christmas morning penguin cookies


Thank you so much for your adorable cookies, Marlyn! nom, nom, nom. Don't forget to check out her YouTube video showing how to decorate these cutie penguins - click!

♥.

Monday, November 23, 2015

lunar animals {mama elephant designer spotlight}

Hi there, I'm here with what will be my last post as part of the Mama Elephant design team. sniff!

I crafted a more boyish birthday card, using the adorable dog from Lunar Animals:

lunar animals {mama elephant}

I created a window for my focal scene using the new die set, All Prettied Up. I love the scallop frame! By not snipping the circle away from the larger rectangular die, I could cut out the circle and have it be perfectly centered.

lunar animals {mama elephant}

The dog is so cute. I stamped the little party hat (also included in the set) onto his head, and used the balloon from Carnival Toppers to make sure he's party-ready. The sentiment is from the exclusive set that Mama Elephant created for Simon Say Stamp, called Skater Kids. It's still available in the Simon Says shop - click!

I used a copic marker to color in the scallops of the circle frame, to make sure it stood out. I then flicked some white paint over the card-front before adhering everything together. Simple, but cute! And perfect for a little boy's birthday.

I hope you like it, and a huge thanks to Kryssi and Angela for the time I spent on their design team. Keep on making all the cute things!

♥.

Friday, November 20, 2015

snowglobe gift tags {lawn fawny holiday week}

Hi there! I'm rounding out the week with another Lawn Fawny holiday day week post.

I'm super excited to show off my snowglobe gift tags:

snowglobe gift tags {lawn fawny holiday week}


I grabbed the tag top part of the largest stitched circle tag dies and used the partial die-cut technique to then cut out the snowglobe bottom. It wasn't too hard at all, and once it was done, I made it look as seamless as I could with my scissors.

If you try this at home, I suggest you only stamp the snowglobe outline, do you fancy die-cutting and then stamp the rest. I did go through a few tries before I got it right.

snowglobe gift tags {lawn fawny holiday week}

Inside, I stamped a snowy scene, and used copic markers to bring it to life. Instead of stamping "merry christmas" or "let it snow" I wanted to make these into tags, so I took a craft knife to one of the labels. I surgically removed "let it snow" from the label outline, and found a "to" that could fit the space from another set. I drew in the colon points by hand.

I hope you like them!  There's more to see on the lawn fawn blog this morning - click!

♥.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

A gift for you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

It's the last day of Mama Elephant stamp highlights, and I told you I was gonna use my illustrations to round out my time with this wonderful company.

a gift for you {mama elephant stamp highlight}


I created a little woodland scene using my animals from Woodland Gifts. The bear looks a teeny bit less stunned, with a candy cane stuffed under his arm and a winter hat on his noggin'.

The bunny and mouse have a little something for him, (the stocking from here and the present from here) which pairs so perfectly with the sentiment from Mini Messages.

a gift for you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

I stamped them all onto grid cardstock (it was by Papertrey Ink, but I don't see it in their store anymore) and added texture above them by way of a snowy stencil and white embossing paste. It's subtle, but I love it in real life.

I hope you like it! I have one last ME card to show off on Monday, and you can check out their blog this morning for more Mini Messages inspiration.

♥.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

i like you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

Hey there! Today, the Mama Elephant design team is showing off the new set, I Like You.

It's full of fun sentiments for Valentine's day, and other lovey occasions.

i like you {mama elephant stamp highlight}


I won't lie. Since I'm leaving the ME team, I decide to on-purpose-use some of the images I illustrated for them on today's and tomorrow's cards. It makes me sound like a brat, but I'm all for full disclosure.

The wreath and banner from Charmed worked perfectly to show off the images from Lunar Animals. The cat and the mouse aren't chasing each other anymore! It's love, I think. Or like, at least. I did some creative inking on the sentiment from I Like You to have it all fit into my banner.

i like you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

I used a polka dot stencil for the background, in a soft grey that matched the little mouse. He's my absolute fave. I'm not over the mouse trend that seems to have taken over the stamp world. Not when the mice are that cute!

(But at the same time, flashback to the time I was 12 and my mom stepped out to get the morning newspaper and stepped on something....not as cute. In the words of my 2 year old niece: ew! misgusting!)

And with that, I leave you. Check out the Mama Elephant blog for more inspiration today - click!

♥.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

lunar extras {mama elephant stamp highlight}

hi there!

It's Mama Elephant's stamp highlight week, and today we're showing off the new set, Lunar Extras.

Perfect for making cards to celebrate the chinese new year, or...

lunar extras {mama elephant stamp highlight}


combine it with a sweet sentiment from I Like You for a fuss-free love note.  I stamped, colored, and cut out the cherry blossom branch, and popped it up using foam squares. I stamped the sentiment underneath, and the falling flowers to create movement on the card. To frame out the images, I used a soft blue marker around the edges of the rectangular mat, and adhered everything to a scallop rectangle card-base.

Are you humming John Legend yet?

I hope you like it!

♥.



Monday, November 16, 2015

lawn fawny holiday week!

Welcome to the first day of lawn fawn's holiday inspiration week!


I'm bookending this whole thing, with a lawn fawny christmas post today, and again on Friday.

lawn fawny holiday week!

I'm back with my red and black plaid again! I hope you're not sick of it. This is my whole Christmas color scheme: kraft, red and black plaid, black and white. with a tiny green tree thrown in. ha.

I stamped Gingham Backdrops in black ink on red cardstock, then used Quinn's Capital ABCs to cut out the merry letters.

The penguin is my favorite part. He sits on a kraft background, but there is no white outline to break up the look! I stamped, colored and cut him out of kraft cardstock, and then solved the problem of his belly by cutting the face out of white cardstock.

lawn fawny holiday week!

I hope you like it! Check out the Lawn Fawn blog all week for more holiday card inspiration - click!

♥.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

mama elephant November stampede!





Welcome to the November Mama Elephant Release Design Team blog hop!

The newest release is now live and available for purchase in the store:



www.mamaelephant.com




I used the adorable reindeer from last month's release, along with Mini Messages and the new Lucky Envelope die to create an extra special card + gift combo.

mama elephant november stampede!

I colored and cut out (yep, by hand!) 2 of the reindeer, and set them up to flank the sentiment on either side. And nothing brings on more joy than a shopping spree (I'm kidding, but also it's a little bit true.)

mama elephant november stampede!

I love the idea of having the gift card tucked away on the top of the card! It leaves the entire inside free for an extra long message. I'm thinking teacher gifts here!


To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is picking 3 winners to win their choice of stamp set! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. You have up to 4 chances to qualify to win!

» 1. Leave a comment on this blog post «
» 2. Like/share us on Facebook: facebook.com/mamaelephant «
» 3. Follow/tweet us on Twitter: twitter.com/heymamaelephant «
» 4. Follow/tweet us on Instagram: instagram.com/heymamaelephant «


Each action qualifies for one entry, max 4 entries per stampeder please!

Now let's get on with the Stampede: Elena (that's me!), Melania, Vera, Pamela, Nichol, Laura

Before you go, and on a personal Mama Elephant-related note: this will be my last stampede with the team. I am so excited to show you the projects I crafted with this amazing release, and then I will be leaving Mama Elephant. It's bittersweet, because I know there are great things ahead, but I have much love and respect for Kryssi and Angela, and the rest of the girls.  Looks like I'll be buying all of my cute ME critters from now on, hee hee!

♥.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

25 days of Christmas Tags, with Lawn Fawn


Hi there!

The Lawn Fawn design team is joining in Tracy's annual 25 days of Christmas Tags today!

I am in love with the Baaah Humbug sheep, so I made a set of cozy tags, just for ewe! haha. I couldn't help myself.

25 days of Christmas tags!

I just love the fleece navidad sentiment, it cracks me up. I put it into a banner from Bannerific, and colored it all in red before sticking it to the sheep.  Instead of giving the sheep any of the accessories from his own set, I let him hold gingerbread cookie (from Holiday Party Animal.) Mainly because I had in mind that these would be the tags I use to gift out holiday cookies.

25 days of Christmas tags!

Before adhering the sheep and sentiment to the stitched circle tags, I used SSS's falling snow stencil and white embossing paste to add some texture and lighten up the dark kraft color.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Check out Tracy's blog for more information on how to enter and play along. There are some fun giveaways too.

♥.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

spotlight on...arctic penguins

Next up in the spotlight series... arctic penguins!  I admit to having a weakness for shaped balloons and waving penguins:

They are even cuter when multiplied:

spotlight on... arctic penguins


The fun part about using digital stamps is how they can be manipulated. I layered 3 snowman balloons together, and created a little penguin family. The baby penguin was mirror-imaged so that the scene would look more natural.  The sentiment is from another digital stamp in the shop - click!


Even without his family, he looks pretty cool. I printed, colored and cut out the penguin and his balloon and created a snowy scene for them.  I did some ink blending on a piece of white cardstock and then used a snowfall stencil and some white embossing paste to get the snowy texture.

I hope you like them! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Monday, November 9, 2015

spotlight on... tag it, deer.

Happy Monday! A few more days of digi stamp spotlights, mkay? Today, let's look at the current fave: tag it, deer.


The image is so sweet, and perfect for creating holiday tags. I wrapped my first Christmas present of the season, for my little nephew.


spotlight on...

I can't tell you how much I love how the tag and the buffalo check wrapping paper look together. The tag was not hard to create!  I printed the deer onto kraft paper (4 to a sheet so that I could cut it out with an oval steel die,) and then filled a sheet with the banner images. I typed in names of family and friends and printed them onto red paper. The banners I cut out by hand while watching Quantico (is anyone else hooked? dayum, everybody is keeping secrets!)


Once everything was printed and cut out, I added a bit of shading to the deer, and some light accents with a white gel pen.

I also decided to nix the banner image and just use the deer on a card:

spotlight on... tag it, deer.


Here, I paired her with the wreath image (that I also illustrated!) from Mama Elephant's Charmed set. She looks just as sweet in full color as she did printed on kraft paper.

I'm thrilled that so many of you love her!

♥.


Friday, November 6, 2015

spotlight on... elfish games

I'm continuing to take a closer look at some of the digi designs in my new Etsy shop.  Today, we're looking at this little elf couple:



I love how their hats point inwards at each other! When I was drawing them, I wanted to make them look like little kiddie elves, so I gave them fancy elf hats and footed pyjamas.  Kids in footed pyjamas are my fave.

The digital images are easy to manipulate, so that if you wanted to you could use them separately as well.

spotlight on... elfish games

Here, I used the elf images and manipulated them to sit atop the banner image (from the deer digi stamp.) They make for a fun holiday tag set!

spotlight on... elfish games

Once I stamped and color them, I used dies from Lawn Fawn to cut them out, and added a fun script sentiment by Mama Elephant.

Of course, you could always print them out as they are and just get to coloring!

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

I hope you like what I've created! Visit the Etsy shop to see the entire collection of Christmas digital stamps - click!

♥.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

spotlight on... nutcracker sweet

A few days ago, I launched my etsy shop, with different digital images all ready to be printed and colored for the holiday season.

I showed off all of the images and the samples I created, but I'd love to talk about them individually.

Today, let's chat about this little nutcracker and her mouse queen friend:



I love everything nutcracker. When I was a little girl, my uncle took us to watch the ballet a few times, and it was always a magical experience. Then, when I used to play Tetris on our original Nintendo, I would always change the theme music to the other choice, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. ha.

Instead of a boy nutcracker, I drew a little girl. She looks like she could be ready for cracking nuts or for band camp! amirite? And the evil mouse king? Not in my cute illustrations. A tiny, dainty mouse queen is more like it.
nutcracker sweet!

For my card, I printed out the graphic without re-sizing it at all. I made sure that the sizes were compatible for card-making! I did a search for nutcrackers on Pinterest (if you do this, be prepared for some really weirdo versions) to help with the coloring of her outfit. A rich navy blue complimented the nutcrackers' red jacket.

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

I also included a smaller version of the nutcracker and mouse image, without the big banner, and perfect for holiday tags. Wouldn't they be so cute to add to baked goods or candy gifts this Christmas? I always think of gumdrops and huge lollipops when I think of the Nutcracker ballet.

Here, I colored the images in softer tones, and die-cut them onto a Lawn Fawn ornament tag.  I then layered them onto a sunburst background (the die is by Avery Elle and so gorgeous.)

I hope you like the cards, and the images! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

mama elephant designer series

Hi there!  I'm here and on the ME blog this morning, for my turn in the designer spotlight series. Mama Elephant had such a large and fantastic release, that I couldn't help but make 2 cards for today.

mama elephant designer spotlight



My first card is decked out in traditional red and green. I used the new Christmas Spirit elf with the big smile. He's standing next to the tree from Christmas Scene, and shouting "ho ho ho" from the new Mini Messages set.  The heat-embossed sentiment below is from an older Christmas set, Toy Shop.

mama elephant designer spotlight

My second card uses the new set, Blogging Buddies. I couldn't help but make it a little more seasonal by stamping the tiny penguin from Christmas Spirit onto the computer screen. Isn't he adorable? I colored the screen background in a light blue and added snowflakes using a white gel pen. You can turn any set into a winter/christmas themed card by just adding one little winter image!

I hope you like the two cards I created for today! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

digi stamps giveaway winners

Yesterday, I opened a digital stamps etsy shop! From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all of your support and kind encouragement!

digi stamps giveaway winners!

It's always a bit nerve-wrecking to put myself out there, and try something new. you know?

I'm so happy to hear how much you all liked the images in my shop!

Over on instagram, I've announced the 4 winners who will win the entire Christmas collection of Just ME digital stamps. Check it out - it could be you!  (mom2sofia on instagram)

I hope you'll tag me or hashtag #justmedigitalstamps so that I can see what you're creating with my images. I love being surprised by the creative ways artists and crafters use my stuff!

♥.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop opening!

I am so excited to share with you all that I've opened a little digital stamp shop!

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

They are all part of my Christmas collection (they've just all winter and holiday themed, but that sounded fancy.)  I'm making all of my Christmas tags this year with the sweet deer image above.

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop


This cute bear holding this stuffed snowman is my favorite. And the retro-looking banner is so fun!

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

I also have a couple of elf kids in the collection. With their holiday footed pyjamas, they are ready for Christmas!

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop


If you only need the boy image, he comes to you atop a present. Of course he made the nice list!

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

The matching girl image also comes with a little reindeer friend.

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop


Sometimes they do let Rudolph play in the reindeer games.

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop

This one is a little play on the Nutcracker Suite.... it's nutcracker sweet! ha. The nutcracker is a girl and she hangs with her little mouse queen friend.

Just ME digital stamps etsy shop


Last, but not least, this waving penguin with his snowman-shaped balloon.

I hope you like what you see! All images can be purchased in my shop, please feel free to look around - click!

GIVEAWAY: I'll be running a giveaway on instagram, so visit me there for a chance to win the entire Christmas collection! (I'm "mom2sofia" over there.)