December 1st Fun!!

Hello friends & Happy December 1st to ya all!!!  Did you all have a fabulous holiday & weekend!?  Mine was fabulous I must say.  After celebrating dinner at my brother's house with my family, hubby and I went to see the Broadway show "Jersey Boys" in DC on Black Friday---that show was FABULOUS!!  I loved every minute of it, still singing the songs & we were lucky enough to meet the cast and get our show poster signed by everyone!!  It was a wonderful evening--then we returned to my mom's house for the night.  I always get all my fresh greens from my mom's woods every year (it's a tradition), so we did that on Saturday and I put them all thru my house in every nook & cranny--the smell is Christmas delish for sure!  Then on Sunday, hubby & the kids and I went to Snicker's Gap Christmas Tree farm and "hunted" down our 2 trees--the weather was 70 degrees & I was in HEAVEN!!  We got our 11 ft tree for the family room and a Blue Spruce for the rec-room then came home & did all the outside decorating since the weather was so agreeable!!  I've got everything done except 1 more tree and the banisters of our stairs to do & I'm finished--it is holiday fabulous in the Dean household.  Christmas music playing, lots of pretty lights and potpourri simmering on the stove---my favorite time of year for sure!  Now to finish my Xmas shopping (that's a whole 'nother kinda chore that's for sure, LOL)!

**I've got a few pictures in a slide show at the bottom our "Christmas Tree Hunting" Adventure, hee hee!**

NewsBitz:

-I Brake For Stamps is having a fabulous holiday sale--All IN-STOCK Nestabilities are 20% off with the coupon code "SPELLBINDERS".  Della also has 2 Grab Bags of stamps still available (one is images, one is sentiments) & they're a great deal for sure (in the Specials Category).  This sale ends December 4th!!

-7 Kids College Fund has LOTS of new goodies coming to the store soon & ready to stock your shelves, hee hee!  But up for sale right now are the NEW CC Designs Winter Stamps HERE -scroll down to the bottom to see the cuties (so cute--I must get some, lol)!!

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Try It Out Tuesday #46--All Boxed Up

Since today is Tuesday, that means it's "Try It Out Tuesday #46" for Susana's Custom Art & Card Design, and I've challenged the DT to create some fabulous gift boxes!  I used the Elisabeth Bell for SCACD stamp "Atlantia" and I think she is just the most beautiful mermaid stamp don't you!?  I created a Spa Gift set that would be perfect for any lady in your life--this set includes a card, a luminaria with an LED tealight and a Bath "Sand & Sea" candle to light when you're in the bath!  Add a few other spa goodies & you've got a fabulous personalized gift set to give!!  The papers I've used are PTI cs and Basic Grey's "Periphery" dp.  The flourishes I stamped on the luminaria are from PTI's "Fancy Flourishes" set.

A close-up of the card shows this beautiful "Atlantia" image that I colored with Copics (BG72,BG11,BG10,B95,B91) and then added some Stickles to her, and I used Liquid Pearls (in silver pearl) on her pearl accents.  A few scrolls made with my punch and some rhinestones & pearls added for bling.  The bow was made with my Bow Easy & then I added a "Say It With Pearls" Prima center and a shell charm to finish it off.

This is what the luminaria looks like when lit with the LED tealight (use FAKE lites with these so you don't start a fire, ok, hee hee)--isn't it lovely!  The directions to make one of these can be found HERE & I just made a top for it so it would hold the gift (candle)--the lid is a 3.5" square scored at 1/2" all around.  The top has more embellished scrolls and a pretty bow.  I used vellum to cover the ovals--attached them with Scor-tape for a secure hold.  A pretty easy gift to make for someone special--hope you like it too!

Now make sure & hop on over to the "Follow Your Heart" blog to see the rest of the DT's lovely box projects--you're bound to be inspired!!

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Copic Creations Challenge

Since it's the first of December that means it's also the Copic Creations Challenge time--this challenge is all about "Snow People" (snowmen, snowladies, etc).  I used this cute High Hopes stamp called "Birdies Friend Snowlady" found HERE (you can see more cute High Hopes stamps right HERE as well)--love the whimsical feel of these stamps!  My papers are from My Mind's Eye "Colorful Christmas"--love the cheerful colors & designs of these papers.  My image was colored with Copics of course (the snowlady is shaded with BG10 & C1).  I punched some snowflakes out & covered them with my MS Glitter Snow--the sentiment is from PTI's "Communique Curves" that I cut out with my Nestabilities "Ribbon Tags".  A few stickles and she's done--a cute Xmas card!!

Hope you'll stop by the Copic Creations Blog to see the rest of the DT's fabulous Snow People and join in on the fun!!


Slideshow Pictures (click to make larger--if you're a subscriber you need to go to my blog to see the pics):


See ya back here tomorrow with some festive Magnolia projects!!

Holiday Gifts!!

Happy Friday my friends---yeehaw, the weekend is here again :o) We don't really have any plans other than seeing my daughter's All County Chorus performance tomorrow afternoon. She's in so many singing groups I can't keep them all straight, lol--there is chamber choir, 7th grade chorus, all county chorus, district chorus & now she's trying out for State Chorus--ackk! I can't even remember my own name somedays let alone which chorus practice she needs to be at, lol! But she loves to sing so its all worth it (just wish she'd stop singing High School Musical songs--NOT my favorite--I'm not a fan, sad I know, lol)!

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BLOG CANDY ALERT--If you haven't entered for my BLOG CANDY yet please see this post to enter. You have until Sunday, Nov.9th at midnite (EST) to enter! Don't forget to answer the question too--love reading everyone's answers! Don't worry about double comments--I choose a number by Random.org and count by hand myself & I don't count a second comment, so don't WORRY :o)!! Don't forget to visit Susana's Custom Art & Card Design for her WebCandy--she has a separate stamp & goodies up for grabs too!
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Alrighty, I do not have any cards to share today (GASP) just some holiday projects for ya. This first project is a jewelry box gift set that includes a snowflake brooch/pin & earrings all made by me!! Over on SCS there is a tutorial for making your own paper pins & its super easy to do. I bought my pin & earring backs from Michael's jewelry section (lots in a pack for under $2). The snowflake stamp for the pin is from PTI's "Snowfall Additions" set that I stamped in versamark onto my cs and then embossed in white. After cooling I punched them out w/ my Marvy Snowflake punches that coordinate w/ this stamp set (cool, huh). I then put 2 coats of Diamond Glaze (letting it dry between coats) on the front & back of each snowflake to stiffen it up; the snowflakes are attached together with strong adhesive glue (E6000) as is the pin back. I then used my fabulous new Glitz Stickles to add dots to the ends of the pin and a silver pearl in the center.

The earrings were stamped using the same snowflake onto my craft shrinky dink paper w/ versamark ink. I then coated them w/ heat embossed glitter and shrunk these babies down to size. After cooling I glued the earring backs on w/ my E6000 glue and added a silver pearl center. I like how it turned out--whaddya think?

For the gift box I used the tutorial/template found here (my favorite lil box to make). I stamped the top & sides with snowflakes from PTI's "Snowflake Serenade" set in "ocean tides" ink. I punched out a few more snowflakes and layered them together w/ dimensionals w/ a white glitterdot in the center. The SU baja breeze ribbon is wrapped around the lid and attached w/ tacky tape. I also used PTI's "Holiday Tag Collection" (a must have) for the small tag and cut it out w/ my Nestabilities Tag Trio and attached w/ PTI's sheer ribbon. I think this makes an elegant & wintry holiday gift box!

My last project today is my "Project of the Month" for Whiff of Joy--we were challenged by Katharina to make a "candle" project. I decided to make a luminary because I love their softness and elegance. I used my "Melinda Christmas Angel" and stamped her on vellum w/ Staz-On ink . I also stamped some snowflakes and the "Joy" sentiment from PTI's "Snowflake Serenade" set. I colored the underside of the stamp w/my Copics so that the colors would be muted. I also used my new favoritest Glitz Stickles on the ends of the snowflakes & to the berries--these stickles are alot thicker & so much more sparkly!

I attached 2 strips of riding hood red cs to the ends of each of the vellum(8.5x11)--one strip I used my new Martha Stewart border punch on. After rolling the entire piece I attached it with tacky tape on the inside and then wrapped gold ribbon from PTI around the top & bottom. I lit mine with a battery powered tealights (Dollar store had them 6 for $1) so I don't burn my house down, lol. Wish the picture would've turned out better, but this was the best I could get with it lit! This is actually my second luminary cuz' my dog actually chewed the first one, no lie, she likes to chew paper, ugh! So I'm late with my project, but make sure and check out the rest of the WOJ's DT projects here---they are fabulous!! And the new releases will be available on Nov. 8th---you can see the peeks here--hope you've saved up for these! I'm anxiously stalking my mailman for my rubbah'--can't wait to ink these beauties up!

Enough from me today, lol! Check out the new online crafting forum Paper Craft Planet when you get a chance--it's hoppin' over there! Look me up & make me your friend :o)

hugz,

Suzanne