Advent calendar extravaganza (with Taheerah Atchia)

Hi there!

Advent calendar extravaganza is the festive event of the season! This "hop with a twist" was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day. Joining in the fun with Taheerah are 100 special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration. Just like an advent calendar, you'll never know where you're going to be visiting next until you "open the door."

And that's not all! With 25 amazing sponsors taking part as guests, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize every single day!

Join in the fun every day at taheerah-atchia.com to see what special surprises await behind the door.

I have a couple of cards to share today, using stamps and dies from today's sponsor: Neat and Tangled.



I volunteered to make a Christmas card with Maia's 2nd grade last week, and was able to share how I illustrated all of the images, and how we build our cards from start to finish. We made the one on the right, but it was fun to show them how with only a few tweaks, you can make 2 entirely different cards.



This was a fun full day, cutting out enough card pieces for 25 students, plus another 10 of everything because we all know some of the kids will be needing second chances here and there!

Santa and the North Pole sign are from Santa's Wonderland, the little penguin is from Get Yeti, and the candy card is from Beary Merry. I printed out the french greeting to fit into the banner from Mermazing so that I could have them all die-cut to match the rest of the images. I kept thinking: I designed these stamps, and I couldn't have included a french greeting? gah! I need one for sure next year. Most of Maia's classes are in french!



I showed the kids how to sponge ink onto a piece of patterned paper to add dimension. They really enjoyed doing that!



I snapped a pic of Maia's card to show you the kids' finished product. She was a little upset she didn't have copics to work with in class, but I think it turned out great! I brought a glue pen and glitter too, so they could add shine to their snowbanks. It's hard to see here, but  Maia's card is a shimmering masterpiece!



Here is my variation card: I kept the same layout, but switched out the patterned paper and images to create something new. The little boy/snowman from Christmas pageant is out pulling his dog-on-a-sled (from Get Yeti.)

I hope you like what I've created for you today! Before you go, don't forget to leave a comment! By leaving a comment on both my blog, and Taheerah's, you'll be eligible to win a prize today. And be sure to check out the Neat and Tangled blog today too, as they are sponsoring the prizes today!

You will have until 23:59 EST on December 31st to enter.

♥.

Love you s'more (Lawn Fawn valentine release week)

Hi there!

Lawn Fawn is showing off their valentine release all week! Today, we're taking a closer look at a few new dies, including the Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables.

I paired a heart die with the cutest s'mores image from Sweet Friends and the Lova Ya Line Border:

I watercolored a pink backdrop - I wanted a pop of drama behind that s'more. I splattered pink and white onto that watercolored layer, and some soft brown ink onto the white top layer.



The mint Love Ya border is the perfect complement. I added the word "s'more" from Sweet Friends to finish off this simply sweet card.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

RAWR (Lawn Fawn valentine release)

Hi there!

Lawn Fawn's valentine release week continues with a closer look at RAWR, an adorable mini dino-themed set.

I knew most of the girls would use him for valentine's day cards, so I put together a birthday treat box instead:



I doodled my dino a tummy, and little spots on his back, and then added a party hat and balloons before adhering everything to the front of a Scalloped Treat Box.



I think it would be adorable to see a whole bunch of these at a little boy's birthday party!

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

Conversation hearts (Lawn Fawn valentine release week)

Hi there!

Lawn Fawn's valentine release week continues with a closer look at the How You Bean? Conversation Heart Add-On.



I used the How You Bean? Shaker Add-On to create a jar full of the conversation hearts. I didn't use the cluster image, because I didn't want the black outline around the hearts. I stamped off each inking, to give a softer/chalkier look to the hearts and then stamped out the words on each heart in full strength. Those chalky conversation hearts! Do you love them in real life? ew. haha.

I made a label for the front of the jar, and then created a grid of hearts for the background. It's impossible to tell from the photos, but between the hearts and the mint cardstock there is a layer of vellum paper. It softens everything and gives a bit of a glow that is really nice in real life.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

Sweet friends (Lawn Fawn December release)

Hi there!

Lawn Fawn's valentine release week begins today, and everything will hit stores on December 14th. We're showing off Sweet Friends - a super cute dessert-themed set:



I stamped the background with images from the set in Lawn Fawn's Yeti ink. The cardstock is actually Lawn Fawn's version of a kraft - it's called Paper Bag and is a rich kraft color.

I made the focal images hold hands over another new item: the You're Sweet Line Border.



I hope you like what you see so far! Visit the LF blog for more Sweet Friends inspiration - click!

♥.

Ellen Hutson 12 tags of Christmas with a feminine twist

Hi there!

Have you been following Ellen Hutson's 12 tags of Christmas? We're on day 7 of the 12 day hop and I am paired with my friend Heather Campbell to bring you a set of pink, mint and gold colored tags featuring Avery Elle products.



Paired up with Heather, of course I had to use some of her illustrations! Polar Pals is still my favorite Avery Elle Christmas set - those little girls are so cute!

I used the shaker tags to create a layered scene, minus all the mess of anything that would actually give it a shake.

I used the Falling Snow die on a piece of mint-colored cardstock, and then layered white nuvo snow-drops on the top. I love the texture that it gives to the background!

The girls' snowsuits bring in our pink color and keep the tags extra girly. If the soft pink isn't your thing, these tags could be changed dramatically by swapping out the pinks for holiday reds.



To finish off, I borrowed a sentiment from Brring On The Joy and heat-embossed that with a gold embossing powder.

I hope you like these sweet little tags! Visit the EH blog to check out all of the tags so far - click!

♥.

Christmas baking (with Neat and Tangled)

Hi there!

We just wrapped up our annual Christmas cookie exchange party, and I did a ton of baking. I love everything about holiday flavors and smells! This card will be the perfect companion to a tin of cookies for our neighbors.

I used images from Holiday Baking to create the scene - the little mouse handing off a carton of milk is my favorite. 

Because the critters are small, but I wanted them to take center stage without the bigger bear and bunny found in the set, I placed them onto our Classic Tag 1 shape. The scene on top, and sentiment on the bottom worked really well, with a little banner flag to divide the two and ground the images.

I'm not sure if the card could scream Christmas any more than it does: the red milk carton, the green holly leaves and cake plate, the candy cane striped paper, and the knit green paper on the card-base (that last one is by Lawn Fawn. The lettered patterned paper is by Pinkfresh.)

If you love holiday baking as much as I do, you could give these cookies a try - I made almost 12 dozen of them this past weekend and they are yummy: white chocolate chai snickerdoodles. The only change I made to the recipe was to add some cinnamon to the cookie dough. I wanted it to feel warm all the way through.

Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Pinkfresh holiday cards blog hop!

Hi there!

Welcome to the Pinkfresh Studio holiday cards blog hop! We promise you tons of Christmas card inspiration, and prizes to be won.

Leave comments along the way to be eligible for the hop prize! Comments will close at 11:59 CST on December 8th, and the winner will be chosen at random from all of the blog hop comments. The full hop list is at the bottom of this post.

Let's get to the cards!

My first card features a pair of puppies and some mistletoe magic. I stamped the mirror imaged pups from Playful Animal Friends 2 in a very light brown ink and then used copic markers to add shading and dimension. I love how soft and cozy the images look like this!



I used a black pen to add in the eyes and the kissing noses, since they are under the mistletoe! The mistletoe sprig and sentiment are from December Days. I also used patterned paper from the collection of the same name (click HERE to see it.)

My second card used December Days and Forest Friends:

On the card base, I did some ink blending with different blues to give a striking night sky, and then heat-embossed the trees over-top. I added snow dots using a white gel pen.



The bird is nestled into a bunch of those same sprigs from the first card. I stamped them in different browns and used 1st and 2nd generation stamping techniques (so some sprigs are much lighter than others.)

To finish off, I added white nuvo "snow" drops onto the top layer.

I hope you like both cards! Hop along to the other designer blogs to see even more:

Pinkfresh ♥ Amy ♥ Rebecca ♥ Elena (you are here!) ♥ Isha ♥ Laura ♥ May ♥ Julia

let's chill (a penguin party for Lawn Fawn)

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Lawn Fawn blog this morning with a simple but very cute penguin party!



The subtle colors made it hard to photograph but it all looks so pretty in real life! I set everything up while my kids were at school, and tore it down before they came home. The decor is tucked away and the cupcakes are in the freezer, waiting for the elf to suggest a little North Pole party one December evening.



I combined images from Snow Cool and Toboggan Together to create all of the decor.



I kept the colors icy: cool blues and subtle light greys.



I cut the letters out of  blue watercolor paper, which looks a little icy! The letters are not a uniform blue, which adds to the wintery theme.

I used the same watercolor paper to cut out the circles for the drink bottles. I can't wait to surprise the kids with everything very soon!

Check out the Lawn Fawn blog this morning for a few extra pictures and more detail on products used - click!

♥.

Ellen Hutson 11th anniversary blog hop

Hi there!

I'm thrilled to be joining other designers today, to celebrate Ellen Hutson's 11th anniversary:

If you're following the hop, you should have arrived from my friend Miriam's blog. If you're just popping in here, you can check out the full list on the EH blog - click!

For this hop, we are all featuring our favorite Essentials By Ellen stamp sets. I am using Tree Farm, with a little help from Light Parade.



I started out by stamping and coloring all of the images - truth be told, I colored more than I ended up needing, but that is my favorite part of card-making! I gave the extra images to my little girl, who made a card for her teacher.

I wanted the images to look seamless - without the distraction of the white border around the smaller die-cut elements like the hat and scarf - so I used a black copic-friendly pen to re-draw the missing lines and colored everything in. It didn't matter so much for images in the background, but for the hedgehog and mouse, it helped everything come together a little better.

I love that sentiment, it always makes me smile! I decided to stamp a few music notes into the hedgehog's sign, to reinforce the theme.

To make everything pop, I used a white gel pen to add highlights and painted snow onto the trees with white nuvo drops.

I hope you like it! Your next stop on the hop is Wanda's blog - click! Be sure to check out the hop all week long!

♥.

We wish you (with Neat and Tangled)

Hi there!

I'm here and on the NT blog this morning with another Christmas Pageant card. These little kids are so fun to color!

The card is pretty straightforward, but I like that it came together so quickly. The fun part of card-making for me isn't in coming up with a fancy card design, it's the coloring. I colored my 3 favorites in a classic red-green holiday combo and created a frame for them to sit inside.

The sentiment fills in the space at the bottom so well. I love a larger-scale sentiment!



The little Christmas tree girl looks like she has an arm around the snowman. so cute!

I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by!

♥.

25 days of Christmas tags - Neat and Tangled

Hi there!

I'm joining Tracy McNeely for her annual 25 Days of Christmas Tags event.

There are different sponsors for every day of the event - today, we're showing off our best Neat and Tangled tags.

I created 2 bunny tags for you today. First up, a little buffalo check for Christmas never hurt anybody:

I used the bunny from Holiday Baking, and gave him a stocking (from Elfs and Their Shelf) to hold.



I used the Journaling Alphas dies to cut out a huge "to." I love how skinny those letters are!

My next tag features the newer bunny from Bunny Slopes:



I doodled in a little sweater for him, and I kind of love it.

I used the same tag shape, and added the Stitched Slopes to give him some bunny hills.

The sentiment is from Merry Kisses.

The tag base was inked up with a Distress Oxide ink and then I splattered large droplets of water onto it. geez. Now I feel like I want more Distress Oxide inks. This color is Salty Ocean. What are other must-have colors?

I hope you liked my tags, and thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Fawny holiday week

Hi there!

This week is Fawny holiday week over on the Lawn Fawn blog! Get ready for tons of Christmas card inspiration.

I'm up today, with a flat-paneled card that would be easy to mail:



So many smiling critters! I love how I could pull them from a bunch of different Lawn Fawn sets and still have them work so well together.

I used bears from Beary Happy Holidays, deer, penguin and seals from Here We Go A-Waddling, Toboggan Together, and Sealed With A Kiss.

I framed the fun scene with a piece of Knit Picky Paper.

It was so fun to sit down and create this card. I haven't done this much masking in a long while!

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

25 days of Christmas tags with Lawn Fawn

Hi there!

I'm joining Tracy McNeely for her annual 25 Days of Christmas Tags event.

There are different sponsors for every day of the event - today, we're showing off our best Lawn Fawn tags.

I created an interactive tag by using the biggest Lift The Flap die and an Outside In Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Stackables die.

I created a little winter scene on the flap that opens, using the seals from Sealed With A Kiss and the smallest, cutest polar bear from Beary Happy Holidays.

When you follow the "open me" greeting (from Push Here) there is plenty of room to write the recipient's name, or a heartfelt holiday message.



I hope you like my tag, and thanks for stopping by!

♥.

A very Pinkfresh holiday!

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Pinkfresh blog today, with 2 holiday cards using stamps from their newest release.

I used the banner from December Days, the little critters from Forest Friends, and a sentiment from Simple Joy.

This took some creative masking, but I love how it turned out! I started out by stamping the bear and the deer first, masking them, and then stamping the banner.



I then stamped the sentiment and added some wooden stars (also from the Pinkfresh.)

This card was so much fun to make and I love how whimsical it is!

My second card also uses December Days, check it out on their blog today - click!

♥.

All is bright (Avery Elle Winter Release Blog Hop)

*** are you looking for my Neat and Tangled post? scroll down! ***

Hi there, and welcome to Avery Elle's Winter release blog hop!

I'm so excited to be able to show off the Modern Calligraphy stamp set:

It is a beautiful scripty alphabet set, and so forgiving to use if you aren't a precise stamper (pointing to myself.) Wherever I had a line that just missed connecting with the next letter, I used a black copic multiliner pen to draw it in and it looks perfect.

I went to my friend JJ's house in October and spent a few days coloring images and eating gummy bears (too many gummy bears.) This snowglobe was one of them - it is so gorgeous! There isn't any picture more serene in my mind than a lonely deer looking up at the stars, standing on a blanket of fresh snow.

Since I don't own the Snow Globe set, and I only had what I brought home, I had exactly one shot to stamp the first part of my custom sentiment. Thank goodness that I didn't botch it. I really love using Elle's Alphas. I used them on place cards for last year's Christmas dinner and they never disappoint.



I inked up the background with different blues and then dusted the edges with a soft brown ink, applying a heavier hand at the bottom.

The script letters were stamped to curve around the base of the snowglobe. I love how the trees in the snowglobe are also curved - it adds so much whimsy to the image!

To celebrate our Winter 2017 Release Blog Hop, Avery Elle is giving away a $25 Gift Certificate to one random winner.  To enter to win just comment on this post.  There is no purchase necessary and you must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  This giveaway is void where prohibited.  You can also do options 2, 3, 4, 5 or all 6 of the following to increase your chances of winning. You have until midnight Sunday, August 13th to enter.  The winner will be announced on the Avery Elle Blog on Monday, August 14th .  All products are available for purchase in the Avery Elle store right now.
To enter to win you can do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or all 6 of the following to increase your chances:

1. Comment on any of the design team's posts and/or here on the Avery Elle Blog
2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet the contest (we are @averyellestamps )
3. Follow us on Facebook (we are www.facebook.com/AveryElle ) and share us with your friends - make sure they tell us you sent them.
4. Follow us on Pinterest
5. Become a blog follower through email (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already follow us)
6. Join our Flickr group (comment on the Avery Elle blog if you already belong)

Here's a full list of the blog hop participants for today:

Avery Elle / Jamie

Karolyn Loncon 

Caryn Davies

Heather Campbell

Yainea

Melania Deasy

Katie Gehring 

Amy Kolling 

Ashley Marcu

Elena Roussakis (you are here!)