Joyeux Noel

OK...so not only am I on the

'Christmas card designing' track, but

apparently I am loving all the bling that

can be used to really take it to another level!

When I saw the finale challenge for EBTKS,

I knew I had to put my newest acquisition to use.

TEXTURES!!!

I love the new 'Snowflake Impressabilities' from

Spellbinders.  I used it with Coordinations cardstock, so when

I sanded it, I got this great teal-y green affect.

Kind of reminds me of a velvet embossed sofa!

 I then took my terrific Prima Poinsettias and sprayed

them with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in

Bazzill Navajo, which I believe was a limited edition color.

The beautiful top card is from Fancy Pants Design.

I embellished with teardrop rhinestones and a

gigantic pearl center.  The black diamond

rhinestone flourish is from Prima as well.

The simple sentiment is from The Paper Company.

I am also offering this card over at 

Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Holiday Greeting
There She Goes Challenge ~ Bring on the Bling

Well...I am off to make a few more things.
I am feeling a bit 'crafty' tonight.

Taking on a Challenge...or Two...or Three?

It's Wednesday....a full week into the month of 

December and it's gone by quickly, hasn't it?!

I have been 'hooked' on making Christmas cards

this year.  I don't know if it's because I stocked up

on sooooo many of the new holiday collections

this past fall or what?!

I just know that I am going to be offering most of

my new cards in my Etsy shop because I will have

an abundance!

I have My Mind's Eye and Fancy Pants Designs to thank

for parts of this elegant greeting.  I embellished a bit with

lots of bling

from The Paper Studio, Recollections and Stickles.

Oh...that punch on the blue panel?

It's a cool 'Radiant Circle' from EK Success.

I just randomly punched it and I think it added

a lot of depth, don't you?

I thought I would offer these to the following challenges:

There She Goes #84 ~ Bring on the Bling

City Crafter #34 ~ Let it Snow
Sunday Stampers #132 ~ Wonderful Christmastime

Little Red Wagon #58 ~ Use a Die Cut
Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Holiday Greeting

I LoVe this quote and I LoVe this card

from Fancy Pants Designs 'Christmas Magic'

Collection.  I find all of their cards so versatile.

The DP on the base is from the 'Merry Days of Christmas'

Collection and the holly die cut is from 'Holly Jolly' set

both from My Mind's Eye.

I am a huge fan of those very 'luxe' sequins that I find

in the $1.99 bins at Archiver's, so the last time I was

there, I picked up several colors.  They made

terrific berries for the holly.

It's not as easy to see, but I added

stardust Stickles around the edges of the

holly and on the card around the heart gem.

I love that this card fits these FAB challenges:

The Color Throwdown #122

The Color Dare #88

Red, Olive, Neutral of Choice

There She Goes #84

Bring on the Bling

So happy to have had a chance to share these with

you today!  I will be back at midnight tonight with a

fab new challenge from 

See you soon!

Birthday Fun Part One...SHOPPING!

I had such a great time shopping with my ever-so-patient husband and now it's time to share my bounty with you! I hardly know where to start, so I decided to go with the papers I am most excited about. I love vintage...retro...nostalgia...call it what you want. When Paul spotted these great papers from Graphic45 on the rack, he knew it would be ok to have me "drop everything to check these out!" (I love that he knows me THAT well!) They are fabulous, 2-sided patterned papers that harken 'back to the day', that's for sure. I cannot wait to start designing with these and I am SURE they will show up soon in a Friday Night Series.

Next up, the spookier, more macabre Halloween...'intellectual' Halloween. These papers are from the Spider's Web Collection for My Mind's Eye. I've already begun designing a card that I hope to share with you tomorrow. I love these upscale colors, don't you...something different, I think.

Of course with the spooky comes the cute and colorful. I found some great new Heidi Grace and Doodlebug Design for Halloween and then some really cute prints from Bo-Bunny for the general fall season. Vibrant colors are always a nice option when it comes to fall-color alternatives.

I had really been looking forward to seeing the new Eskimo Kisses Collection from Basic Grey and along the way, I found some terrific 'stuff' from Bo-Bunny, My Mind's Eye and one of my favorite companies, Fancy Pants Designs. I was definitely NOT disappointed! There are so many beautiful shades to work with for the holiday season, I really won't know where to start!
I think all in all, I bought around 75 new sheets of patterned papers and a variety of chipboard, die-cut and sticker sheets. What a great way to keep the birthday party going, huh!

I saved the stamps and accessories for last! My ribbon collection just went through the roof here! I just couldn't pass up alot of it, especially the Martha Stewart sets, as they were on clearance for $1.99 a set and the paper ribbons were .97 a package....Yeah, I know! Have you started working with Flower Soft yet? I bought 3 color varieties and some wire stems to make bouquets. This stuff is HUGE in the UK and much of Europe. I bought the English Cottage Peel-offs with a specific project in mind using the Flower Soft, so I will let you know how that works out. A great stamp set from October Afternoon and some much needed mushroom stamps from Hero Arts. I have been wanting to do some '70's-themed' cards and those will be perfect. A few $1 stamps thrown in there and some odds and ends and that's about it!

I have a few more photos to share with you of some 'crafty' gifts I received and a GIANT cupcake! But those will have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, I would love to know if you have indeed worked with Flower Soft....if so, what did you make? If not, is it something new to you?
Leave me a comment and let me know.

One more thing.....I can't thank you enough for the lovely birthday wishes I received over the course of the past week. It is so wonderful to be able to celebrate with this new community of friends that you have become.....it truly made me smile!

Favorite Places to 'Hop' and Other Creative Ponderings...

This could prove to be a bit of a long post and my 2nd one of the day...how 'bout that?! It's nearly midnight here in the unseasonably cool state of Illinois, but I am looking forward to some great sleeping weather.

I managed to get a couple more cards done tonight using my new toy that I talked about earlier. I now affectionately refer to it as 'The Bug', so you do not have to worry about catching anything when I share project ideas with the aforementioned 'Bug'.

Also wanted to plug these great background cardstocks from Fancy Pants Designs. The 12 x 12 sheets of Design Cards are terrific for building your focal points on. Both of the cards featured here and last night's card use the design cards which are slightly collage-oriented, so those of you who are a bit 'collage phobic' will really like what you can do with these.
What I have decided to do is post a few new favorite blog sites each Wednesday. Blog hopping is a fun way to spend an hour or two, if you have the time, but if you only have 15-20 minutes and have NO IDEA where to go, this will be a great way to get you on your way.

If you read my blog roll (favorites list) you will find what I call my 'must visits'. These are blogs that I visit at least once a day, but usually several times a day. So check those out because they are consistently fabulous!

Here are my picks for this week's My New Favorite Blogs:

Vintage Papers is a great blog by Nancy Maxwell-James. The creativity from this blog has been seen in a variety of Somerset Studio publications and the unique perspective Nancy brings when sharing her life will keep you looking through all of her archives. I am anxiously awaiting a set of ATC's based on Marie Antoinette that I ordered from Nancy's collection. I believe there is something for everyone on this blog, so check it out.

While I was there, I found My Desert Cottage, an outstanding blog by Karen Valentine of Scottsdale, Arizona. I am a real lover of shabby chic and it's non-stop exploration when I visit here. She has a couple of other blogs that she manages as well which include handcrafted cards and gifts. She is sponsoring the 'Where Bloggers Create' Party on Friday, July 24th inspired by the publication 'Where Women Create', so mark your calendar and make sure you stop by to see over 100 other blog sites who have signed on to participate, including yours truly.

Last but not least, I was over at Mona Pendleton's blog Cupcake's Creations (which I visit many times a day) and hopped from her blog to one of her favorites which eventually led me to Ross. It appears to me that Ross started out possibly as a scrapbooker, but then I'm not sure...Ross is from Italy and the majority of her blog is in Italian. She definitely loves color, whimsy and mixed media. This is one of the most eye-catching blogs I have come across in awhile and I think it's such a fun place to visit.

I mentioned the other night that when you go 'blog hopping' you will find yourself traveling all
over the world. I have followers from England, Australia, The Dominican Republic, Asia, Canada and of course here in the U.S. Art is one of the universal languages in which we can all say "I speak a little...". Inspiration is found everywhere you look, so I hope each Wednesday you will plan to stop by to see where we'll travel to next!