Monday, November 30, 2015

Seasonal Thank Yous for Freshly Made Sketches and Last Day for the Online Extravaganza!



Well, it's the last day in November and time to do some serious thinking about Christmas. We started our Christmas decorating a bit early because I wanted to have the tree up for my last Christmas Stamper's Dozen last Thursday.


This year I needed all new ornaments due to our redecorating binge earlier in the year. I had fun finding the right colours for my new look. We also created some porch decor thanks to a Pinterest pin I found earlier. Not sure if I quite managed to recreate the look, but it was fun trying!


For the frosted lighted balls, we ended up buying clear ones, spraying them with adhesive and sprinkling on epsom salts. I don't know what will happen if they get wet, but they look great now (if a bit crumbly) and the porch is quite sheltered.

All this to say that the Season of Giving is almost upon us which means the Season of Thanking isn't far behind!! Yes, you are going to need thank you cards to express your gratitude to Aunt Nellie for the hideous Christmas Sweater that will be perfect for all those Ugly Sweater parties. And you'll need to thank Granny for the lovely warm knitted socks that make your feet itch horribly. Then there's the gift card you get every year from your mother-in-law, for a cinema chain that you don't have in your area! Sigh! Well, truly it is the thought that counts!

Here's a set of Thank You note cards that would fit the bill perfectly. I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #214:




  • I used black, white and gold again. I'm really getting rather boring, I know, but the Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Series Paper is a thing of beauty, and I can't seem to get enough. If you haven't purchased this yet, you have only a month to get some before it's gone for good. It's not overtly Christmassy, so you will be able to use it for the whole winter if you want to.
  • I really wanted to do a snowflake die cut, but the only one I had was from a retired Bigz Die called Snow Flurry. I kept it for just this reason - we don't always have snowflake dies in our inventory and they are a must at this time of year. Gold Glimmer Paper really sets it off nicely. I'm sorry that you can't order it though. I hope you have something else you can use. 
  • When I add sequins (from the Gold Sequin Trim) I play around with their placement until I'm happy with the balance. Leaving each one where I've placed it, I lift them up on the tip of a slightly damp or sticky finger one at a time while I add a minuscule dot of Liquid Multipurpose Glue to the spot they were in. I then place the sequin back down without pressing it (to keep the glue from coming through and messing the sequin up). 

Here's a look at the two different orientations:








































Today is the last day of this fabulous sale! Don't forget to get your orders in to me today! On this last Monday, there are some Project Life and Paper Pumpkin deals you're going to want to check out!

Here's the link for the sale list. I thought you would be interested in what the Christmas Tagables were. Here's a picture:


Get your orders to me by 8 pm!!

Thanks for dropping by today. Let me know how your Christmas decorating is going.


Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!



Product List
Snow Flurry Bigz Die
Snow Flurry Bigz Die
[127813]

Friday, November 27, 2015

Merry, Happy, Wonderful Christmas! for As You See It Challenges!


Happy Friday, everyone! I hope my American friends enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast yesterday and their leftovers today!! It's time for another As You See It Challenge today and this week, Amanda has a wonderful colour swatch for us:


Don't you just love that inspiration photo? The colours look amazing together, but keep in mind that they are very intense colours, all three of them. When I have to make a card using really intense hues, I make sure to have lots of white in my design to offset the competition between the colours.

I decided to  dig out a stamp set from last Christmas that is still available in the the Annual Catalogue - Wondrous Wreath Stamp set. It has framelits to match as well and is available in a bundle for 15% off.


  • The Wondrous Wreath stamp set is a three step stamped image with a little tab to help you match up the shapes each time, without using a Stamp-a-ma-jig. I did really well with matching them up but the Bermuda Bay didn't show up at all over the Mossy Meadow leaves, so I actually offset it on purpose to get a bit of the blue to show up.
  • I love the sentiment that comes with the set, Happy Wonderful Christmas, but since we're being really effusive here, I decided to add one more adjective using the Christmas Greeting Thinlits and make it Merry, Happy, Wonderful Christmas! Let's go all out! The merry and the bow are die cut from Red Foil Sheets.
Online Extravaganza - to see sale prices click here!
 

Since this is my last blog post of the week, I wanted to remind you, once more of this amazing sale which is only on until Monday night! Please don't forget to get your order to me soon! Have you got the Magnetic Platform for the Big Shot yet?  It's 40% off! And Fast Fuse is the same price as Snail during the sale! There are lots of great bargains, some up to 50% off! A great opportunity to get yourself some Christmas presents!


Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!


Product List

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Home is Where the Hearth Is!


A quick post for today with the decor item I promised you for the second free tutorial for my newsletter subscribers in the December edition.

This one is a bit fiddly but fun to do and definitely looks great on your wall during the Christmas season. It would make a great gift as well.


  • You are supposed to be looking from the outside in to a cozy, decorated log cabin. This card makes use of the Hearth & Home Thinlits, as well as the Festive Fireplace Stamps and Framelits, with an old favourite, Lovely As A Tree, decorated with ornaments from Among the Branches. The Festive Fireplace bundle is retiring as is the Among the Branches stamp set, so don't wait too long to get those products.
  • I've always wanted a return of the Versamark pen to add embossing powder to a smaller area without using a stamp, but I discovered a way to get the same result in my tutorial. Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter to find out how I did it.
Add your email address below and click on Go to subscribe. You may unsubscribe at any time.


Join My Mailing List
Email:


For Email Marketing you can trust

I won't be posting the card recipe today, as you will be able to get a step-by-step photo tutorial when you subscribe, including supplies used, techniques and all measurements.


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Noel for Mojo Monday


I'm feeling at a loss for words today - for no particular reason. I just couldn't come up with an angle for today's post. I needed a design for my newsletter tutorial and I was very happy with the results, but I can't think of anything entertaining to chat about. Maybe world events lately have made my little creative efforts seem inconsequential. There is so much pain in the world, and here in Canada, we are so relatively comfortable. I wouldn't want to give that up if I was honest, but I feel guilty about it. Really, I want everyone to have the same kind of life that I have had. But so many people in the world are intent on destruction and power. Where does that come from?

Anyway, I suppose any attempt to bring some beauty to the world is worthwhile, even though it might be small and unimportant. The more people that are inspired to leave this earth more beautiful than it was when they came, the better off we will all be.

This design is the subject of a Step-by-Step Photo Tutorial, one of two that subscribers to my newsletters will be getting for free this month. It's quite a mix of stamp sets old and new, but I really like the way they all worked so well together.

I loosely followed the Mojo Monday sketch for this week for my layout and fell back on my favourite colour scheme this winter: Gold, Black and White.


Can you name all the stamp sets I used in creating this card?


  • I won't be giving much of card recipe here, as I will have all the step-by-step instructions along with photos, measurements and a list of products used in my newsletter for free this next month. To sign up for my newsletter, just enter your email address in the space below and hit enter. You may unsubscribe easily at any time.




Join My Mailing List
Email:  


For Email Marketing you can trust

  • The stamp sets I used making this card are Everything Eleanor, Jolly Christmas and Antique Tags, a Hostess set.

Along with the card tutorial, there will be a tutorial for some Christmas decor, which I will show you tomorrow.

 

Just a reminder that the Online Extravaganza is still on until Monday, with savings of up to 50%. There are sooo many good deals, that you will find it hard to pick only a few. Tell your friends and family about it, too. In fact, print off the Sale Brochure, highlight what you would like to get and pass it on to your family and friends along with my contact information. That's the way to get exactly what you want for Christmas!!

And you can get double the Papercraft Cat Loyalty Reward points until Monday. Make sure your orders are a minimum of $30 to take advantage of this!