the angels said: peace.

I thought I was all done showing off Christmas cards, but I found a couple that I didn't share on the blog yet.

I illustrated a pair of angels, just for fun, and matched them up with a lawn fawn sentiment:



I did some ink blending around the banner and angels, to make it look like an evening sky, and then printed the pair again so that I could give dimension to their wings:

They said:

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

♥.

woodsy holiday tags

Hi there!  I think we're all past the point of making holiday cards (if not, chop chop!) so I thought I'd share a set of tags you can whip up with lawn fawn stamps and dies.

It all started with a stroll through Target, where I spotted the plaid wrapping paper. I love a woodland-themed Christmas, and Lawn Fawn's Joy to the Woods is perfect for creating tags to compliment that theme.



These are the pieces you need to create these tags. I find it easier to work systematically: I stamped a sheet of cardstock with all of the birch trees and cardinals that I would need and colored them very quickly. Just a few swipes of a warm grey copic marker for the trees (W1) and 2 tones of red for the cardinals (R24 and R29.)

Then, I die-cut the circles and all of the snow-drifts, and stamped the greeting ("merry christmas" from this set, and the "to" from Birthday Tags.) I placed them all on the same block for easy mass-producing.  Some of the tags feature heat-embossing, but I got lazy halfway through the project and switched to a red ink. No fuss.


When the tags are assembled, add the falling snow with a white gel pen.  Then, you could just handwrite the recipient's name on the front, or you could die-cut letters if you're feeling fancy:

I die-cut the letters in black to compliment the black outlines of the stamped images, as well as the plaid wrapping.



I hope you like what I created!

♥.

talk nerdy to me {new lawn fawn!}

I love anything bookworm-themed. As soon as I saw the cute little worm from Bugs and Kisses, I knew I would have him draped over the Science of Love textbook.

It's the last day of Lawn Fawn's December release reveals, and I bring you:

The nerdiest valentine's day card ever. Maybe we've stepped away from the kiddie class valentines on this one, hee hee. Especially since every time my hubs walks by this card, he starts with the horn riff from that song.



I love lawn fawn's new stitched circle dies! The come as a nested set, so it's not hard to fit the right size to frame your focal image.  I also used Riley's ABCs to create my custom sentiment, and the library card from Check This Out.

I hope you like it!

There's more to see on the Lawn Fawn blog today!

tear-away valentines {new lawn fawn}

Hi there, and welcome back to another day of Lawn Fawn's December release.

Today's we're showing off the mini-set, whale you be mine.



Again, I kept things simple to show how I would use the set for a class valentine.



I colored the whales separately (giving one a bow from Sweet Christmas!) and then die-cut them and set them aside.

I then die-cut 2 of the new stitched circles (from a thinner-weighted card stock) and a bunch of different Mermaid-colored papers with the scallop border (keeping the "negatives" because they look like waves.)

To assemble the treat bags, I sewed around the circles (the stitching lines are excellent guides!) and left an opening to stuff candy through before closing the whole thing up.

I like the idea of giving kids something that looks nice, but contains way less candy than they would think. ha.



I hope you like it!

Visit the lawn fawn blog today for more inspiration.

♥.

bugs and kisses {new lawn fawn!}

Welcome to Lawn Fawn's December release! It's a mini release, with 2 stamp sets and 6 dies, but so cute.



Today's feature is "bugs and kisses," a full-sized set that features different insects and bugs in lawn fawn's trademark style.

I decided to keep things simple today and tomorrow, and show how I would use the sets for my kids' class valentines.



I made myself a tiny little bag, just big enough for a small amount of treats. Separately, I stamped the jar and colored it with a few simple swipes of light blue and grey markers. I stamped the insect and the heart (from woodgrain backdrops) and then opted to stamp and cut out the critter again so that his tail-end could overlap the banner die-cut.



I just love this worm - he's my favorite! I custom-created the sentiment on my computer - it barely fits into the banner, haha!

I hope you like what I created! There's so much more inspiration on the lawn fawn blog today - click!

polar bear christmas.

Hi there! I think, by fluke, this turned into the week where I show off my digital illustrations. I hope you don't mind!



I illustrated a very simple bear wearing a striped party hat. I printed him out times four and cut him out with scissors.

I highlighted some areas in blue, gave him blushy cheeks and popped him up onto snowy/starry lawn fawn paper. A simple sentiment by Avery Elle right onto his belly, and a pom pom on his hat, and he was ready for gifting.

It feels good to make something quick and simple sometimes!

ps, If you missed the post where you could download my christmas-pyjama-clad-kids, click *here*

♥.

Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine special thanks! blog hop

Today's blog hop feels like a funeral. Tears will be shed, laughs will be shared, and memories will touch our hearts.

I don't know how to put into words how I feel about the closing of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine.

It is a sad thing. PC&S was the cornerstone of our card-making industry. There was validation for the artists who found themselves published within those pages, and so much inspiration for the rest of us. We also found a sense of community within those pages, cheering each other on, even though we were all competing to see our own artwork there.

I only submitted for publication a handful of times, but each time, when Susan sent out that email, I got chills. They picked me! The first time was for a card that was published in the November/December 2012 issue. I used lawn fawn's Cozy Christmas, so I thought that it was only fitting to say goodbye using products from Lawn Fawn, and my other favorite company, Mama Elephant.

I also have a special gift to offer up at the end, since PC&S always offered us free digis, I thought it would be fitting to offer up a few of my own here today.



I illustrated the little girl holding a giant gingerbread cookie and paired her together with a custom sentiment of thanks.  I wanted the card to be season-appropriate. How's that for the mag in mind!

I have 3 different Christmas kid-in-pyjama images to offer you today. You can see how I used the others *here* and *here.*

To download any of the images, click on the JPEG or PNG link - your choice! And right-click to save the image to your computer. I hope you enjoy them this holiday season - they are my special gift to you:

Boy in Christmas pjs: JPEG/PNG

Girl in Christmas pjs: JPEG/PNG

Girl holding gingerbread cookie: JPEG/PNG

Now. There are so many people expressing their own thanks and love to the PC&S team. The hop started with Jennifer McGuire's blog, and goes on 200 bloggers strong.

If you're following the hop order, you should have come from Lyndal's blog, and will now be heading over to my oh-so-talented friend's Kara's blog.

♥.

All these people want to thank you, Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine!

1.	Lisa Henke	72.	Katie Gehring	143.	Kim Hughes
2.	Kelly Latevola	73.	Jennifer Cuthbertson	144.	Becky Olsen
3.	Lesley Croghan	74.	Cecilia Hsieh	145.	Kim Heggins
4.	Jennifer McGuire	75.	Laura Sterckx	146.	Ashley Harris
5.	Taheerah Atchia	76.	Donna Bowman	147.	Susan Liles
6.	Veronica Zalis	77.	Rachel Kleinman	148.	Darnell Knauss
7.	Laura O'Donnell	78.	Ellen Hutson	149.	Donna Hitz
8.	Julia Stainton	79.	Tanis Giesbrecht	150.	Miriam Prantner
9.	Lorena Cantó	80.	Marcie Sharp	151.	P. Kelly Smith
10.	Amy Tsuruta	81.	Danielle Walls (Neat and Tangled)	152.	Yana Smakula
11.	Piali Biswas	82.	Beverley Brown (Uniko Studio)	153.	Nichole Heady
12.	Rae Barthel	83.	Tracey McNeely	154.	Altenew
13.	Jessica Witty	84.	Laurie Willison	155.	Alice Golden
14.	Annette Witherspoon	85.	Bev Gerard	156.	Cath Edvalson
15.	Gayatri Murali	86.	Nina Yang	157.	Cindy Lawrence
16.	Maria Fischer	87.	Barb Housner	158.	Karen Dedman (Your Next Stamp)
17.	Laura Williams	88.	Clare Prezzia	159.	Sandy Allnock
18.	Lisa Arana	89.	Tasnim Ahmed	160.	Operation Write Home
19.	Wendy McGaffey	90.	Joyce Mehrberg	161.	Jennifer Ingle
20.	Heather Hoffman	91.	Sabrina Alery	162.	A Creative Journey with Melissa
21.	Cristina Kowalczyk	92.	Waltzingmouse Stamps	163.	Yvonne Yam
22.	Lynn Mercurio	93.	Leigh Penner	164.	MFT
23.	Jamie Greene	94.	Jenn Shurkus	165.	Shemaine Smith
24.	Lori Tecler	95.	Kimberly Wiener	166.	Spectrum Noir
25.	Susie Wittwer	96.	Amber Hight	167.	Nicki Scheck
26.	Jocelyn Olson	97.	Lindsay Amrhein	168.	Asty Purbasari
27.	Chaitali Narla	98.	Shelly Kurth	169.	Danielle Pandeline
28.	Hero Arts	99.	Mayuri	170.	Isha Gupta
29.	Nadine Perez	100.	Vera W. Yates	171.	Jen Carter
30.	Sarah Martina Parker	101.	Connie Mercer	172.	Mendi Yoshikawa
31.	Laura Bassen	102.	Audrey Tokach	173.	Keren Baker
32.	Lori Barnett	103.	Paulina Nakamura	174.	Trinh Arrieta
33.	Deepti Malik	104.	Reverse Confetti	175.	Tenia Nelson
34.	Tessa Wise	105.	Libby Hickson	176.	Angie Tieman
35.	Karen Baker	106.	Yoonsun Hur	177.	Lawn Fawn
36.	Tifany DeGough	107.	Maureen Plut	178.	Lydia Evans
37.	Virginia Lu	108.	Jessica Pascarella	179.	Samantha Mann
38.	Ruza Rebel	109.	Lynn Mangan	180.	Kymona Tracey
39.	Emily Leiphart	110.	Mariana Grigsby	181.	Jess Moyer
40.	Ashley N Newell	111.	Shery Russ	182.	Kathy Martin
41.	Jennifer Rzasa	112.	SRM Press	183.	Joni Andaya
42.	Dana Warren	113.	Sarah Jay	184.	Debbie Marcinkiewicz
43.	Amy Kolling	114.	Anabelle O'Malley	185.	Lisa Johnson
44.	Wanda Guess	115.	Michele Boyer	186.	Laine Webb
45.	Kalyn Kepner	116.	Clare Buswell	187.	Bethany Stellpflug
46.	LauraJane:)	117.	Angel Rivera	188.	Melania Deasy
47.	Tammy Jackson	118.	Laura Pryor/Lil' Inker Designs	189.	Ivanka Lentle
48.	Karolyn Loncon	119.	Beth Pingry	190.	Sweet Stamp Shop
49.	Heather Campbell	120.	A Jillian Vance Design	191.	Jeanne Jachna
50.	Niki Garcia	121.	Jillian Vance	192.	Emily Branch
51.	Erin Schreiner	122.	Bunny Vance	193.	Anja Bytyqi
52.	Vanessa Menhorn	123.	Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L	194.	Chameleon Pens
53.	Simon Says Stamp	124.	Kristie Larsen	195.	Francine Vuillème
54.	Donna Mikasa	125.	Maureen Merritt	196.	Newton's Nook Designs
55.	Lin Brandyberry	126.	Heather North	197.	Alicia Thelin
56.	Giovana Smith	127.	Nina Brackett	198.	Sarah Moerman
57.	Brenda Weaver	128.	Clearsnap, Inc	199.	Winter Sims
58.	Glenda J. Wyatt	129.	CAS-ual Fridays Stamps	200.	Amber Kroening
59.	Kelly Griglione	130.	Lori Craig	201.	STAMPlorations
60.	Michelle Lupton	131.	Lydia Fiedler	202.	Avery Elle
61.	Michelle Williams	132.	Julie Campbell	203.	Caryn Davies
62.	Lyndal Higgins	133.	Lea Lawson	204.	N@ Ali
63.	Elena Roussakis	134.	Taylor Usry	205.	Amy Sheffer
64.	Kara Vrabel	135.	Jill Dewey Hawkins	206.	Nance Salkeld
65.	Michelle Woerner	136.	Chunyuan Wu	207.	Meredith MacRitchie
66.	Amanda Coleman	137.	Melissa Cash	208.	Jill Norwood
67.	Winnie & Walter	138.	Annette Allen	209.	Penny Ward
68.	Cheiron Brandon	139.	Carisa Zglobicki	210.	Karin Åkesdotter
69.	Kristie Goulet	140.	Crafter's Companion US	211.	Yainea Nuñez
70.	Kimberly Crawford	141.	Stephanie Muzzulin	212.	Lucy Abrams
71.	Lalo IK	142.	Alice Wertz	213.	Mama Elephant

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Dear Santa... {free digi}

Hi there!

I have all all-digi card to share today:



You may remember that I used this sweet girl before, and even offered her as a free digital stamp - click!

I colored her dress a Christmas red, and printing her out along with a cheeky sentiment.

I printed her twice, so that I could cut her out and pop her up. I added her onto a woodgrain notecard (it seemed fitting, with her bear hat!) and added an extra pop of red with the red and white twine.

If you want to use her for yourself, click over to *this blog post* and follow the download link.

I'll see you back here tomorrow for a new free digi! woot!

♥.

cookie exchange 2014

It's time to show off our annual Christmas cookie exchange party!



Our group changes houses every year, to give a turn to a new hostess. This year's party was held at my friend Chantalle's beautiful house.  When I got there, she had the basic decoration done, and I helped her tweak the placement of the cookies and added the cookie labels I made on her request. We love to make it as pretty as it is tasty. I love that about this group of girls!

She set us up around the table - a grown-up tea party with so many yummy cookies to sample.

Everyone outdid themselves this year!



For the cookie labels, I used a simple, classic waffleflower frame and gold embossed it. In the same set, I found the little leaf&berry image, which I also gold-embossed for a simple accent.

These chewy gingerbread cookies with candied ginger on top were my fave. Warm and spicy, and everything you want out of a holiday cookie.





I made the caramel thumbprint cookies. When I spied them on Pinterest, I had to try out the recipe. The caramel in the middle was so gooey and delicious!

We had such a fantastic time together!

I hope you've enjoyed checking out this year's cookie exchange. You might like to look back at our past parties:

A woodsy cookie exchange, xmas 2013

A traditional cookie exchange xmas 2012

♥.