Merry Christmas To One and All

A few weeks ago a very talented crafting friend of mine - Canadian Nickel Scrap'n - posted a photo of her Christmas place settings HERE. That was it - I was out the door and heading off to order the Tim Holtz Rustic Lantern die to make my own. And then Nicole posted her amazing lantern garland HERE and I was doubly glad I had bought this die - although making that one will be a job for 2014!

I obviously made my own version of Nicole's idea - and I added a box glued between my lanterns to hold the BATTERY operated candles so the whole thing could be picked up and moved easily. The box was made using a 3 1/2"square - scored at 1"all around FYI.

The Holly and Berries were cut using my Silhouette Cameo - from a file from their store - the 3D Holly Gift Card Box. I have also made the boxes for gifts that these came attached too but they also work on other things :) . I added some gold stickles to the lanterns "switch" and inked the edges too. A twine bow and a name label and they were done. The first one took the longest - once I had my production line going I sailed through the rest.

And on that note I want to wish ALL of my followers a 

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 

and a 

SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Lotsaluv Always 

A Little Zentangle Fun from Little Miss Muffet

So OK there IS a story to this card. My friend Barbara (owner of Little Miss Muffet Stamps) decided to draw up this zentangle frame and run a little FB challenge. A couple of the gals took her up on it and I LOVED what they had done - have always loved checking out zentangle patterns! I KNEW I didn't have time to play along before Christmas but bought the frame, merged little Tillie onto it and printed it all out onto a digi Kraft paper - so I got the look of Kraft but the colouring areas were white.

I placed it next to my colouring space to remind me to get around to it at some stage - I have a habit of moving on and forgetting the "must do" images I have. I added a bit of yellow to it....just to dabble you understand! And a few hours later added a bit more colour....and so it goes until I looked down and she was DONE - LOL. Hope you like it :)

Little Miss Muffet's Zen Flowers Border and Polka Dot Pals Tillie

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00, E000, R20, R11) plus C4, C2, C0, C00, Y19, Y15, Y13, B06, B05, B02, 100, YG23, YG21, YG17, R29, R24, R22, R20, V05, V04, V01

Seeing Double in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are seeing double - 2 images, 2 DPs, 2 buttons....2 something - LOL. I chose to use 2 images and have been wanting to see the retro images together for a while so I digitally masked them and laid them onto a digital paper before printing out to colour. I have done a tutorial on this HERE if you're interested in giving it a go yourself :)

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Stamps - 

Retro Marci

Retro Luka with Sentiment

Dies - 

Open Leaf Flourish

Booktab and Labels Set

Water Lily

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R24, R20, R11

Hair - Marci E59, E39, E35, E33, E31 and Luka E35, E33, E31, E30

Clothes - 100, C8, C7, C5, C2, C0, R29, R27, R24, R22, BG18, BG13, BG11, BG10, BG000

Altering Something in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are "altering something". I took a plain white pillar candle and dressed it up with a coloured image, some die-cut snowflakes and ribbon. It's a simple thing to do by stamping your image onto tissue paper and colouring it in before using your heat gun and waxed paper to embed it into the surface of the candle. There's a good tutorial HERE if you want to know more.

I coloured up some tissue paper and used my snowflake dies to cut out the shapes before embedding them into the candle in the same way you do an image. It added a bit of extra fun to the blank spaces on the candle - I even threaded one down the wick for the top of the candle.

I glued on a diamante to the centre of each snowflake and then a few more scattered around straight onto the wax. 

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Hot Cocoa Marci

Heart Snowflake Die Set

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R24, R20, R11

Hair - E50, YR31, E33, E35, E37

Clothes - C6, C4, C2, B18, B14, B12, B00, B000

Mug - E23, C4, C2, C0

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #226

It's that time of year again when we open the challenge up to "Anything Goes" over at Magnolia Down Under Challenges. It's time to give the DT a holiday break so this challenge will stay open until the end of 2013 and we'll announce the winner just before we resume our challenges in 2014.

I've used 3 Magnolia images here - the moon. Santa and the sentiment, which was done in a sparkly gold embossing powder. It's a bit of a fun Christmas card - and there's a wee silly secret to it too.... I have edited the photo above a little because I was so busy trying to get the moon sitting right in the window that I didn't notice one of the baubles on the DP looked like a booger coming out of his nose - LOL. I've deleted it in the photo above - didn't want that crazy mistake on the MDUC blog with all the amazing creations by my teamies - LOL. But here you can see what I mean - I'm more than happy for my bloggies to have a giggle with me ;) - and at least it wasn't a green bauble.....

Don't forget to check out the GORGEOUS inspiration from the MDUC DT on our BLOG - we have most of the gals contributing to the inspiration this week so it would be well worth a look :)

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00, E000, R20, R11) plus 100, C10, C8, C6, C4, C2, C00, E43, E40, R39, R29, R24, Y19, Y15, Y06, Y02, YR23, gold spica

An Aussie Christmas

On Facebook I am a member of an Aussie Crafter's group and joined in the fun of their very first Christmas swap - to send an Aussie Christmas card. My swap partner has received this now so I can show it to the rest of you. 

Zoe from Make it Crafty was helping the gals playing in the swap out with a store discount so I decided to merge some images in a fun Outback Christmas scene. There is chunky glitter on the candy cane and I've used my glitter gel pens on the fence, dessert blooms and leaf ends for extra festive sparkle - just a shame you can't capture that in a photo!

I finished it all with some "candy cane" baker's twine, a Christmas charm and a die cut piece of barbed wire.

Copics Used -  Skin {E11, E00, E000, R20, R11} plus YR27, YR23, YR20, R85, R29, R27, R24. R22, YG63, B000, B0000, T2, T0, YG99, YG95, YG93, E44, E43, E42, E18, E15, E13, E08, 100, W2, Y35, Y27, Y15, Y13, B16, B14, B12

It's a Colour Challenge in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are using one of my favourite colour combinations - Blue, White and Brown. For some reason this combo ALWAYS looks great. I'm continuing trying to catch up on my Christmas card making after my recent overseas adventures. I'm thinking I'm still waaaayyyyy behind and running out of time. Eeeeek!!!

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Just a note - I have been asked HOW I cut my images out so neatly. I have to confess it's NOT me!!!! My cutting skills really aren't that good as my eyes start seeing double when I'm cutting. Instead I use the print and cut feature on my Silhouette Cameo. So now you know ..... I cheat ;)

Angel Marci with Lyre

Christmas Tree Die

Rolled Rose - Small and Medium Die Set

Cloud from Cloud, Sun and Island Die Set

Folding Banner Die

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R24, R20, R11

Hair - E50, E39, E35, E31, YR31

Clothes and Wings - B16, B14, B12, B000, B0000, E50, E39, E35, E31, YR31, C2, C000, clear spica

Lyre - C4, C2, C00, clear spica

Some Sad News

As you can see from the picture on my left The Craft's Meow is going to be closing it's doors - a sad time for my friend Lisa Hjulberg who's baby it was. But life goes on and it's time to celebrate all the positive parts of The Craft's Meow with a farewell blog hop by past and present designers. I was very lucky to have been on the inaugural design team as the shop was launched and decided to use one of my very favourite sets from the early releases to say my farewell with. 

This is Butterfly Kisses designed by Nina Bracket and has long held a special place in my heart. The gorgeous fairy silhouette is embossed in white with the sentiment embossed in black over the top. A touch of colour and sparkle on her wings and dandelion add some whimsy.

And now for some details of the store closure. The Craft's Meow store is closing its doors at the end of December. All stamp sets have been marked down by as much as 75%! Stock is limited... once it's gone, it's gone for good, so please shop early for the best selection. All orders of $25 or more will receive a free gift with purchase. Flat rate shipping is $3.00 for all US orders and $12 for all International orders. Please see the store blog for details, or click over to The Craft's Meow store to start shopping!

To start the hop pop on over and visit the store Store Blog. If you are already hopping your next stop is Alice Wertz's blog. Here's the full hop list in case you get lost along the way.... 

Karen Baker

Sharri Seffens

Amy Wanford

Debbie Pamment {ME}

Alice Wertz

Mabelle Ramirez-Ortiz

Amy Crockett

Lindsay Amrhein

Nina Brackett

Larissa Heskett

Gayatri Murali

Jen Cuthbertson

Jessica Fick

Lin Brandyberry

Angelica Suarez

Iwona Palamountain

Jennie Harper

Michelle Bertuzzi

Jinny Newlin

Deborah Nolan

Elizabeta Kushner

Clare Buswell

Amy Tsuruta

Sarah Martina Parker

Stacey Schafer

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #225

This week at Magnolia Down Under Challenges we are seeing circles and not allowing any corners. I found a raw chipboard ornament shape in my stash and dolled it up with some bits and pieces and a gorgeous Tilda. There's also lots of different types of sparkle here to add to the festive spirit.

Don't forget to go and see what the rest of my amazing teamies have come up with over on our BLOG.

 Oops - apologies but I can't seem to find my colouring list - I always lose things when I tidy up ;)

It's a Pink Christmas in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are celebrating Christmas - a PINK Christmas that is. I had so much fun creating this oh so girly card with pink feathers, lace and sparkle. Add in some fabulous die cuts using La-La Land dies and it came together really quickly. 

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Christmas Elf Marci

Christmas Tree Die

Holly Flourish Die

Large Heart Snowflake Die

Pretty Poinsettia Die

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R24, R20, R11

Hair - E49, E44, E42, E40

Clothes - R85, R83, R81, RV10, YG01, YG0000

Holly and Berries - YG67, YG45, YG05, R39, R35, R32

Candy Cane - T2, T0, R39, R35, R32

Sparkle Creations - Inspiration Picture Challenge

This week at Sparkle Creations we have a fun new challenge for you to play along with - check out the inspiration picture on my left. I used Cafe Lucy - a fabulous image for those of us who enjoy meeting up with friends for a coffee - and who doesn't!?!?! I took the Fall colours from the picture to colour Lucy up and for my paper choices.  

Don't forget to check out some more inspiration on the SCRS BLOG and then come along and join in the FUN!

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00, E000, R20, R11) plus E89, E87, E84, YR31, YR24, YR23, YR20, Y19, Y15, Y11, Y000, W2, W1, 100, T6, T4, T2, T0

Flags or Banners in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are using Flags and Banners. I had planned on this card being white on white with just the image having some colour but like all my cards - it kind of evolved along the way. I have to admit I'm kinda glad it did because I'm really happy with how it turned out - from the scrunched up and flattened out textured base to the little gold pearls. It's really NICE when you've finished a project and can say "I like that!!!"- it doesn't always happen - LOL.

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Christmas Lantern Marci

Flag Banner Die

Heart BannerDie

Heart Fence Die

Heart Snowflake Die Set

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R24, R20, R11

Hair - BV29, BV25, BV23, BV31, C10

Clothes - E44, E43, E42, E40, B16, B14, B12

Lantern - Y19, Y08, Y00, C4, C2, C0

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #223

This week at Magnolia Down Under Challenges we are putting a little Christmas fun into our week with a Jingle Bell Challenge. I bought this little wooden tree at an Op Shop (Thrift Shop) last year for a couple of dollars. I got my hubby to trim the trunk down a little and replaced the bent white bells with tinkly gold ones. I also frantage'd the metal snowflake - and then I started to play :)

I covered the tree and base in some Magnolia DP and inked the edges before attaching some cotton lace around the outside. Some lasercut chipboard, ribbon, coloured images, flowers and dies cuts were glued on to finish it off.

Here's a close up of the frantage'd star - I used the Shabby White embossing powder on it.

I added some snowtex to the base and painted some white onto the fence for snow drifts - although I felt a little sad to leave poor Tilda sitting their in her sox and short sleeves - LOL.

Don't Forget to check out what the rest of my teamies have done with this fun challenge ove at the MDUC BLOG.

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00 E000, R20, R11) plus E44, E43, E42, E40, E13, R39, R35, R32, G28, G24, G20, Y21, Y19, Y15, Y00, Y0000, T2, T0

Sparkle Creations - Meet Mailbox Josh

Today I have another new Sparkle Creations image to showcase for you - meet Mailbox Josh. He's not particularly meant to be a Christmas image but since I am a little behind in my Christmas card making and thought he would work beautifully in the role.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Mailbox Josh Lucy. Sparkle will be giving away Mailbox Josh to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Mailbox Josh post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced on Monday!

Sponsorships

The Mailbox Josh stamp was made to support Operation Write Home.  Sparkle will donate part of the profits to OWH from this image as well as Laptop Lucy.  

SALE: 

Clearance on the unmounted stamps.  

All unmounted stamps will be sold at $5 a stamp.

Blog Links

Adora Concepcion - November Guest Designer

Danielle Lounds
Debbie Pamment {me}
Joni Wilson
Kim Yu
Sparkle Smith
Suzanne Bier

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00, E000, R20, R11) plus 100, B95, B93, B91, E84, E43, E41, E18, E08, R02, T2, T0, R39, R35, R32, G28, G24, G20

Sparkle Creations - Meet Crafting Emily

It's new release time at Sparkle Creations and today I get to introduce you to Crafting Emily - an image many of us can relate too although her desk is a wee but tidier than mine - LOL.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Crafting Emily. Sparkle will be giving away Crafting Emily to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Crafting Emily post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced on Monday!

SALE: 
Clearance on the unmounted stamps.  
All unmounted stamps will be sold at $5 a stamp.

Blog Links
Adora Concepcion - November Guest Designer
Danielle Lounds
Debbie Pamment {me}
Joni Wilson
Kim Yu
Sparkle Smith
Suzanne Bier

Copics Used - Skin (E11, E00, E000, R20, R11) plus B95, B93, B91, E43, E42, E40, E18, E08, R02, T2, T0, R39, R35, R32, YR24, YR23, YR21

Some Punked Up Fun For a Traditional Christmas

When I saw the fun new release of Christmas images from Make it Crafty I knew I wanted to have a play - and I knew I wanted it to be a little left of traditional - it's a whole lot more fun that way - LOL. I've used a traditional backdrop for my 2 emo gals in traditional colours - but I just couldn't colour the girls up any other way than in funky colours! I hope you think I managed to pull off a happy mix of the 2. I think keeping the door in cool grey tones and keeping all the bows in the same reds helps to mesh the two together. 

Make it Crafty Digi Stamps - Emo Emmeline, Emo Willow, Front Door Wreath

Copics used - Skin (E11, E00 E000, R20, R11) plus G28, G24, G20, R46, R39, R35, R32, 100, C6, C4, C2, C0, C00, Y19, Y15, Y11, E43, E42, E40, B95, B06, B05, B02, B00, V09, V06, V01, YG07

About a Boy in La-La Land

This week in La-La Land we are putting the spotlight on Luka. Many people believe boy's cards are difficult - me included - so we're hoping to give you some ideas. With my recent travels I am a tad behind in creating my Christmas cards so it seemed like the perfect time to use one of the newer Luka Christmas images. Some Christmas paper, distressing and simple embellishments are all that's needed to finish him off.

Don't forget to pop over to our BLOG where you can check out inspiration from my amazing teamies and remember La La Land Crafts also have a Facebook Page HERE and La La Lands Facebook Group HERE. We love seeing your amazing creations using La La Land Stamps and Dies too.

Christmas Ornament Luka with Sentiment

Pretty Poinsettia Die

Holly Flourish Die

Folding Banners Die

Copics Used

Skin - E11, E00, E000, R20, R11

Hair - YR31, E50, E33, E31

Clothes - G28, G24, G20, E13, R39, R35, E39, E37, E35, E33, E31, E29, W3, W00

Ornament - Y21, Y19, Y15, Y00, T4, T2, T0, silver spica