A holly + plaid Christmas (Ellen Hutson)

Hi there!

I finally made time to play with the Mondo Holly stamp set and matching dies - I just think they are GORGEOUS:

I colored the big leaf with copic markers and then set it against an Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Backdrop layer. Behind the polka dot cover plate, I layered a piece of Bazzill Gumdrop green cardstock.



On the left, I used the Plaid Maker stamp set to create a buffalo plaid strip: I stamped it in black onto a sheet of Bazzill Peppermint red cardstock.

To finish off the card, I heat-embossed a greeting from Mondo Holly onto a sheet of Licorice black cardstock.

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Gift tags and winter skies (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

It's the last day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week! I hope you've enjoyed it. Today, we're showing off the Say What? Christmas Critters stamp set and the Say What? Gift Tags. They all go so well with the images from Holiday Helpers... my obsession with that set continues:

I kept everything white and fresh, save the images. They are colored in Christmas red and green, and really pop against that white!

I kind of tucked the elves behind the critters, and with their outstretched arms, it looks like they are hugging the animals!

I also wanted to share this card, which should have gone up yesterday:

It features images from Winter Skies. I love them looking up at Santa in the sky. Too cute!



I hope you like everything I made for you today! There's more to see on the LF blog this morning - click!

♥.

A rainbow Christmas (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to another day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week! Today is our showcase of, among other things, the Really Rainbow Christmas paper pack. I knew right away that I could pair a page with the cutie elves from Holiday Helpers for a whimsical design:



I just can't get enough of these elves - and I really like them hanging out with mugs of hot chocolate, lol. I keep using them on my cards this month! I have them standing outside in the snow, amid a forest of trees (from Winter Skies.)

I love the bright polka-dot paper sky behind them!

I flanked the paper on the top and bottom with some white woodgrain cardstock, and added a little snowbank behind the elves.

On the trees themselves, I used the new embossing pen and textured white embossing powder to give the look of snow-covered trees.

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

♥.

a cozy christmas (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome to another day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week. Today, we're showing off the Reveal Wheel Square Add-On dies:



The Reveal Wheel creates an interactive card design, where the sentiment changes as you turn the wheel. And, take it from someone who is "challenged" in the interactive card-making department: it's really easy to use!

I imagined a little lounge area in the North Pole, where the elves could come in and take a break. They would make a plate of cookies for Santa too, right?  I used images from Christmas Dreams and the little elf from Holiday Helpers.



When you turn the wheel, the other sentiments are revealed. It's so fun!

I hope you like the cozy little Christmas scene I've created for you. Be sure to check out the Lawn Fawn blog for more inspiration today - click!

♥.

Thanks a latte (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to another day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week! Today, we're showing off the warm-drink-themed set, Thanks A Latte.



I've given my card a warm, vintage feel with the inked edges on the Really Rainbow White Christmas background paper. Onto that, I layered images from Thanks A Latte, and added a couple of extra snowmen, from Ready Set Snow! I just think they are the cutest. And the marshmallows with faces? gah.



To make the images appear more grounded, I took a few light copic markers (W1 and W00) and gave the images their shadows. It adds extra interest and depth to the entire card.

I hope you like it! If you'd be interested to see it come together, Kelly has recreated this card on her video today - click!

♥.

So many snowmen (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to the 2nd day of this month's Lawn Fawn inspiration week. Today, we're showing off Simply Celebrate Winter, and I couldn't help but love those snowmen so much. too much? meh:

I stamped the strip of snowmen over and over again to create the card's background. I staggered the stamp every time, so that it looked more like a patterned paper.

I then colored the snowmen accessories in a Christmas red, and colored the entire card base with a dusty blue marker (copic marker BG70.) It gives a kind of retro look with the red, I think!



I cut into my snowman cardbase with a Reverse Stitched Scalloped Circle Window die, and popped in my favorite Lawn Fawn snowman ever (from Ready Set Snow!)

And just to give the focal image a little more pop, I used a red marker to color in the scallops in that circle window.

A white-heat-embossed sentiment, from Winter Scripty Sentiment, sealed the deal.

I hope you like it! Check out the LF blog this morning for more inspiration using this set: click!

♥.

Working elves (Lawn Fawn inspiration week)

Hi there!

Welcome to Lawn Fawn's September inspiration week! Today is their showcase of Holiday Helpers, and I'm re-posting a card I had made back in July for their sneak peek week:



I used the Peekaboo Backdrop die to create little vignettes within each opening. The little boy elves are hanging out, playing in the boxes, drinking hot chocolate, while the girl elves are doing all the work. haha.



I created all of the little scenes, and then set them against a blue gingham paper background.



I love the little slit in the box, so that toys (or elves) can be tucked in! So fun!

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

♥.

Holiday Helpers (Stamptember! Neat and Tangled/SSS collab)

Hi there!

We're thrilled to be a part of the most exciting month of exclusive stamp releases... STAMPTEMBER!  The amazing Simon Says team asked me to illustrate a set again this year, and I'm happy to show off Holiday Helpers today:

I've been wanting to put a Santa hat on that mouse for a very long time. hee.

This set is so perfect for building scenes! I have 3 projects to show off to you today:

My first shows off the mice building a snowman, under the bear's watchful eye. I love the one mouse up on a tree stump to reach high enough!



The other mouse is patting in extra snow, I think.



My second card shows off the same kind of scene, except that the mouse on the right has the stump, and is waiting to be able to put a hat on the snowman's head. I did some masking to be able to layer the scene without dies, and doodled in some extra snow beneath the feet of the bear and mouse on the left.

I used a distress oxide ink for the blue sky, and flicked water and white paint on top for the snow.

My third project is a simple tag, but so cute with this little scene stamped out!

I hope you like the set I illustrated! It's on sale right now EXCLUSIVELY at Simon Says Stamp, and only until quantities last. In the past few years, they've sold out of our set within a few days, so hurry!

♥.

snowflake tags (Avery Elle)

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Avery Elle blog this morning, with a trio of snowflake tags:

I used Avery Elle's Snow Tags stamp set and matching die, and brought in the cutie penguin from Polar Peek-a-boo Pals.  I started out by stamping each snowflake in black ink onto white cardstock. Then, I used a smaller circle die to cut out the middle of each snowflake so that the penguin could come popping out.

I used  B000 and B00 copic markers to color the snowflake and the inside of the circle, and colored the outer ring of the snowflake using an R24 marker. I love the extra pop that it gives!

I colored the penguins using a combo of T0, T1 and T4 copic markers, and gave each penguin a banner flag to hold.  The sentiment is from another penguin set, Brring On The Joy.

The banner die is from the Wonky Stitches Elle-ments set. I love the extra stitching lines on each end!

I hope you like what I've made for you today - thanks for stopping by!

♥.

Amar's 40th birthday

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Lawn Fawn blog today, with pictures from my hubby Amar's 40th birthday. I turned 40 six months ago, and thank goodness he can stop making jokes about being married to an old lady.



I baked and cooked and made decor for this party, and so I didn't get as many pictures of everything as I had hoped, but I did manage to snap some photos of the dessert table. If you want to know what Lawn Fawn products I used, hop on over to their blog for more of those kinds of details - click!

I made Amar build me some simple frames that I painted white to flank the dessert dresser. Really, really simple: just a few 1x3 planks of wood that we nailed together. I think they made the photo display so pretty!



Everything on the table was baked from scratch, including this YUMMY chocolate cake with oreo frosting. I was pretty proud of it!



I still have some in the freezer - it was a big cake! I usually bake tiny 6 inch cakes for my party set-ups but we were expecting more than 30 people for a backyard bbq, so I made a 9 inch cake, with I think 6 layers inside.


I really tried to bake his favorite desserts. These cupcakes were orange carrot ginger flavored, with a zingy ginger cream cheese frosting on top.

Are you giggling at his face on all of the dessert labels? (cringing? that's ok too, haha.) I found a funny-faced picture of Amar, worked some photoshop magic to erase the background, and printed him out on my home printer. Nothing easier. A little stamped party hat and speech bubble were the perfect add-ons.

I really wish I had taken photos of the rest of the party - his face was on every water-bottle and dinner food option. No mistaking who's party this was!



These brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies were my favorite. I'll go ahead and share the recipe - click!



The s'mores cookies were pretty good too. I mean, if you like that sort of thing.

I had some leftover vanilla cupcakes in the freezer, some whipping cream, leftover vanilla cream cheese frosting, strawberries, and an unhealthy paranoia that I wouldn't have enough dessert for everyone (it seemed like a logical stress at the time) so I threw together these mason jar strawberry shortcakes.

It was such a fun time to celebrate Amar, with all of our family and close friends. It really was a great day!

♥.

Advent Calendar (new Ellen Hutson)

Hi there!

I'm here and on the Ellen Hutson blog today, with a special advent project featuring the new EBE House Box die, which will be available for sale in just a few more days!

I had so much fun making them all, and pulling out some of my Christmas decor to stage them!

I was so pleased to find out that I could cut 2 boxes from an 8.5x11inch sheet of cardstock. I cut them out of kraft-colored cardstock. I toyed with the idea of cutting them out of white cardstock for a more minimal look, or even red with white roofs for a more Scandinavian feel, but I felt like this matched my usual woodsy Christmas decor the best.

Once the base of the box was cut, I used some of the smaller die pieces to add a window to one side, and this Christmas tree open window to the other side. I cut a hinged front door as well.  I used a white paint marker to color the Christmas tree, and a brown copic marker to add color to the front doors.

I used some Lawn Fawn white woodgrain cardstock to cut panels for the roofs, using a scalloped rectangle die. I also stamped the numbers onto each box using Lawn Fawn's yeti ink and Celebration Countdown stamp set.

One final detail: I used the little window die and cut an extra window out of white cardstock for each house. Then, I cut it out using scissors and made myself a little window frame for each house. I love the extra pop of white that it gives!

The boxes open and close from underneath. It's so easy to slip in the chocolate or little toy that you will be giving out for each day!

I hope you like what I've created for you today - I just think they look so magical all together!

♥.

You're a treat (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to another day of this month's Neat and Tangled release week! I'm thrilled to be showing off my mini stamp set for this release, called You're A Treat:

It features a cutie little witch, her little kitty and a few other not-too-spooky images. The sentiment is more sweet than scary too, which is how I like to do halloween!

I colored the witch in orange and purple, and set her against a starry night sky.



The kitty looks unsure, lol. Instead of stamping a sentiment, I opted to die-cut BOO from the Journaling Alphas die set.

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

And don't forget to leave me a comment before you leave - you could win a $25 store gift card, picked from among all of the blog comments for the week, and which will be announced on the Neat and Tangled blog tomorrow morning.

♥.

Oh deer! (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

Welcome back to Day 3 of this month's Neat and Tangled release week! I'm excited to show off my full-sized set for this month, Oh Deer.

It features 2 sets of deer that face each other, and can be mixed and matched for all kinds of fall and winter cards.

I used them on a fall-themed card earlier this week (click!) so for today's card I skipped all the way to Christmas:

I borrowed part of a sentiment from Merry Kisses, and paired it with the cut-out sentiment from Oh Deer.



I gave the happy deer some snow-banks to stand on and set them against a candy-cane striped background paper.

I hope you like it! As usual, be sure to leave me a comment before you go - you could win a $25 store gift card! The winner will be announced on Friday morning on the Neat and Tangled blog.

♥.

Stitched unicorn (Neat and Tangled release week)

Hi there!

This is my second post today. If you're looking for Lawn Fawn's Stamptember set, scroll down or click HERE.

Welcome back to Day 2 of this month's Neat and Tangled release week! Today, I'm showing off the new Stitched Unicorn die set. It was fun to be able to put together a cute little stuffie for Maia, and she's been carrying it around with her all weekend.



After I stitched this one, I did cut a second set for her to give it a go. With all of the holes cut out, it should be a fun project for her to learn how to hand-stitch a bit.



I cut the unicorn's body out of white felt, layered 2 pink hair pieces for a voluminous mane and glue a blue horn onto the white layer.

I did a french knot for the eye, and used a copic marker to add a little blush to the cheeks.



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

♥.