Saturday, November 29, 2014

The Winner of the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop......

Hello everyone!  The winner of the November Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop was chosen from Gini Cagle's blog.  Congratulations to Donna Ellis!     To claim your prize, email Emma Lou at emmalou@heartfeltcreations.us and put in the subject line: Winner of the November Alumni Blog Hop. 

Again...Congratulations Donna Ellis!



Friday, November 28, 2014

My Christmas Ornaments

Good morning everyone.  I'm hiding out here at home today to avoid the beginning of the mad rush to Christmas!  No way would I be caught out in the hustle and bustle and crazy people to try and get a good deal on something.  I have never been a lucky person and always seem to be a day late and a dollar short where this type of deal is offered!  So today I will recover from Thanksgiving and maybe put up my tree.  I don't plan on going anywhere unless there is an emergency!

I want to share a couple of the Christmas ornaments I have made this Christmas. Each year I like to add one or two new ornaments to my tree and most...well a lot...of my ornaments are hand made.



I got this idea from Heather Hudson's You Tube Channel:   http://www.youtube.com/user/heatherahudson/videos  

This is one creative lady and when I saw these ornaments I just had to have some of them.  I've also made some as gifts and I must say this is a quick and easy way to make something lovely!  You take floor shine and pour it into the ornament, swirl it around and then drain most of it back out then pour in glitter and  swirl it around; let it dry and then pour out the left over glitter then decorate the ornament.  Thank you Heather!  I colored Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter with Tim Holtz Distress Ink re-fills  in Aged Mahogany and when it was dry I put it in my ornament. The Distress Glitter is made to color and does it beautifully I might add.

Well this is it from me this morning.  I'm off for my second cup of coffee. I hope your Thanksgiving day was a joyous gathering of food and family and that you are ready to begin the Christmas season!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

WOYWW # 286

Good morning everyone and welcome to What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday #286. Every Wednesday we get together and take a photo of our space and blog about it and then link to Julia's blog and that creates a huge world wide blog hop and you can visit so many busy desks from everywhere.  And this time of  year there is a world of craftiness going on out there and I love to peep in and see what everyone has going on!


As you can see there isn't a lot going on here this morning.  I've just finished another Christmas card and I will be sharing that with you on Friday so it is hidden away but here are some of the retired Stampin-Up stamps I used on the card.  So come back on Friday after the holiday and we will spend a little time together and share a cup of whatever it is you enjoy first thing in the morning!

Now I'm off to Juia's blog to see what everyone else is doing today!  Hope your Thanksgiving Holiday (if you celebrate it) is a happy one and that you get to visit with family and friends. See you on Friday!



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Heartfelt Creations November Alumni Design Team Blog Hop...

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop for November!  Each month some of the alumni design team members get together and participate in this hop and I'm always so happy to get to play along. I haven't been on the regular design team for quite awhile but I still love all the products.  Such quality stamps and dies and papers and I could do on and on! Can you tell I'm a Heartfelt Creations kinda girl?  Well I definitely am!

If you arrived here from Giovana Smith's Blog you are right on track and remember to leave a comment on as many of our blogs  as you can because you never know which blog will have the winning comment. You could be the winner of a $25 gift certificate for product from Heartfelt Creations.  You have until midnight November 28th to comment and the winner will be announced on November 29th.

These screen fold cards are sort of popular right now and I decided I wanted to give them a try.  Looking on YouTube you can go as elaborate as you like with the design and decoration.  Since this is my very first one, I decided to keep it middle of the road so I wouldn't over do it.  I love the clean lines of this but I still got to use a gorgeous flower and some pretty ribbon and a sentiment from Heartfelt Creations.  I used some Art Glitter Designer dries clear adhesive and traced some of the pretty swirls in the design paper and then glittered it.  I used the glitter tip for delicate work on the end of the glue and it enables you to do detailed work.  And then here is my sunflower!  I love these stamps and dies and I used some of my homemade glitzy recipe for the center.

When you leave here you need to go to Lisa Gregory's  blog to continue along the hop. Good luck in the draw!




Supply List:
Green, Yellow and Brown Cardstock
Spellbinders Dies (Nested Pennants, Labels Twenty Two)
HCD 753 Classic Sunflower Die
HCD 747 Arianna Lace Die
HCPC 3626 Classic Sunflower PreCut Set
HCPC 3382 Magnificent Cardinal Rose PreCut Set
Half pearls colored with Denim Alcohol Marker
Homemade Glitz for Flower Centers
Seam Binding
Glue
Black Memento Ink
Stormy Sky Distress Ink
Dimensional Tape
Scor Tape
Glitter
Glue 
Marigold Morning Stampin-Up Retired Ink


Friday, November 21, 2014

Another Clean Christmas Card.....

In my quest for small postage charges, this year I have scaled back on all the floral and thickness of fancy bows because I cannot afford $2 per card to mail.  It is just way too much for this old girl to handle.  Postage costs have gone the way of everything else and climbed off the charts.


This is very lightweight and will be easy to mail and meets the thickness requirements as well so one stamp should handle this!  White on white with a pop of gold.  Simple and elegant...I hope! I used the swiss dots embossing folder and when I cut out my ornament die, I smushed it into an embossing pad and then dusted gold embossing powder on it and hit it with the heat gun...I think it makes a lovely addition to an otherwise plain Jane card.  Honestly I'm having trouble adapting to these card.  I just want to add a big fluffy bow or a beautiful flower....these are just needing "more"!

Well that's it for me this morning.  Hope you have a good day ahead and that you are ready for the weekend ... it will be here before you know it!


Wednesday, November 19, 2014

WOYWW #285

Good morning everyone and welcome!  It is a frosty 14 degrees outside my window this morning!  I'm here to share my workdesk with you; showing my little mess to you and the world.  Each Wednesday we take a picture of our work space and blog about it and then link to Julia's blog to become a little bit of a huge blog hop.  Then we can visit each other's blogs and see what is going on in everyone's little corner of the world.


I own a light tent and lights for photographing my creations, but sometimes I just like to throw up a couple pieces of cardstock on my desk and use my Ott lights and take the photos that way.  I'm by no means a photographer so I'm a firm believer in whatever works!  I've been working on Christmas cards day after day and this is the latest one!  I do love working with Christmas...it's my favorite time of year!  Here is a good look at the card.  Hope you like it!


Now I'm off to link to Julia's blog and then to visit as many people as I can today!  I love being able to see what everyone else is doing, especially this time of  year!  So heat up the coffee, I'm on the way.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge # 20 - Box It Up

Welcome to Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #20 - Box It Up!  This challenge is to create some sort of altered box.  You can create a box from scratch, or you can alter a pre-made box.  Your box can be made of paper, wood, chipboard, plastic or metal.  As long as you dig into your hoard to decorate a box, you have met the challenge requirements!  The box does not have to be used as a box...it can be used as home decor or for any purpose you can image.  Let's box it up!


Eileen Hull is the design team sponsor for this challenge and I used one of her boxes and decorated it for Christmas.  I will put a glittered ornament inside as a gift for one of my neighbors.  I think it turned out so elegant looking and I'm very pleased with it.  I thank Eileen for giving us boxes to play with.  They are a great quality product and very easy to work with!



Eileen is a Designer member of the Craft and Hobby Association and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Designer Council.  Eileen is from the Washington D.C. area where she and her husband live in their empty nest.  The newest member of her family is a vintage camper, which she is driving cross-country, teaching and crafting all the way.

Eileen has designed a signature line of ScoreBoards  (Sizzix) dies, which includes the ever popular Artist Trading Blocks dies.  Her tenth Sizzix collection was released in February, 2014!

Blog: http://www.eileenhull.com/
Product Collections: http://www.eileenhull.com/store
Papertrail Tour: http://www.eileenhull.com/events 

The lucky winner of this challenge will win a $25 choice of Vintage, Victorian and Shabby Chic inspired Digital Collage Sheets!  How cool is that! So get busy and do a box to share with us.  We can't wait to see what you come up with!  






Bio:
Heather lives in Michigan with her two teenage sons, hubby, and kitties. She works full time as a RN with Ventilated young adults, and enjoys volunteering with her two son's Boy Scout Troop and Tennis Team.  She loves to create digital collage sheets in the Vintage, Victorian, and Shabby Chic Style.  She will show you blogging tips, paper crafting tutorials, and how to use her digital collage sheets on her Youtube channel.  Heather hosts her own challenge on her blog and designs for Really Reasonable Ribbon, Gecko Galz, and the Creative Cutting Challenge.  


Design Team

Supply List:
Eileen Hull Artist Trading Block
Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas CD
Seam Binding
Stampin-Up Mint Melody Ink (retired)
White Cardstock
Pink Polka Dot Paper
Pine Bough Punch
Gold Shimmer Spray
Spellbinders Layered 
Poinsettia Die
Flower Stamen
Green Alcohol Marker
Anna Griffin Embossing Folder (Foundry)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Christmas in Cream and Mint.......

Good morning everyone and welcome to a frigid East Tennessee. We are sitting at 26 degrees and I had to drag out the heavy socks this morning!  Yesterday we had a mixed bag of weather, rain, wind, snow, sleet and dropping temperatures! That's what I love about where I live...it never gets boring!

I'm here this morning to share another Christmas card with you.  I hope you are not getting bored with these because I have several to make yet.  I know it seems like that is all I'm doing but today I'm taking a break from Christmas and working on a card for the Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog Hop that will be coming your way the 25th of this month. (Just a little tickler for you) Be sure and be around for that!  Now here is my card:


This is called The Belleek Inspired Technique.  You use whatever embossing folder you have and either use a brayer to ink the front part of the folder or you can just rub the ink pad directly onto the folder.  For my card I inked the front part (the part that has the name printed on it) and it gives this look.  You can do the other side and come up with a totally different look, but I'm partial to this look.  This is another one from the beautiful Holiday Folder set from Anna Griffin and Cuttlebug...wonder if they appreciate all the advertisement I've been giving these folders this  year?  This folder is called Festive Stripe and I simply love the elegant look of it!  I don't know if you can see it but the seam binding has just a tiny hint of mint and it's tied into a double bow. Love that seam binding!  The sentiment is from a retired Stampin-Up set and I'm getting a lot of mileage out of that too!

Well that is about it for me this morning.  Hope you have a wonderful Friday and if it is cold where you are....keeps those toes toasty!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

WOYWW #284

Good morning and welcome to a rainy morning in East Tennessee!  The weather is changing and a very "cold" front is moving in!  So bundle up and keep your toes warm!

Today is Wednesday and I'm showing you a picture of  my desk this morning to be a part of a world wide blog hop hosted by Julia Dunnit.  You can get all the details about this hop by visiting Julia's blog and reading the rules and regulations.  Just take a picture of your space, blog about it and what you have going on in your life and link to Julia's blog!  Such fun and so addictive!


There isn't a lot going on here this morning as I have made a tiny attempt to clean up a bit.  It was getting to the point I couldn't find anything.  To the left are some sheets of Crafty Secrets Christmas printables, my trusty notebook and a snow marker (I purchased this two years ago)  You just mark and then use a heat gun and it puffs up making snow.  My "Handmade" stamp and way back to the right is my Martha Stewart punch for a pine bough.  Oh I almost forgot the leaping deer propped up on a flower center.  I used clear glitter on his antlers and some of the flower center mix to sprinkle around on his body.  I love the look and it gives him some character.

Well that's all from me this morning. I'm off to check out some of the other bloggers along the way.  Heat up the coffee pot, I'm on my way!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Good morning everyone and welcome.  I'm here again this morning to share another Christmas card as I struggle to keep my cards simple and "Light" this year.  I really need to cut down on postage as normally my cards cost over $2 to mail.  So I'm afraid, this year, all the elaborate cards will just have to sit in the box and only be handed to the recipient.  It's a shame really, just another deterrent of the written word.  I feel, in this age of computers and email, people have lost that magical experience of receiving a letter and being able to touch the stationery and see the person's actual handwriting.   So this year I want that for my Christmas list but it has grown to the point that I just cannot afford $2 a card to mail.  So here is my next "Light" card....I hope you like it.



I'm again using one of the cute embossing folders from the Anna Griffin collection I purchased and the tree is embossed with white and is from a retired Stampin-Up set called Lovely As A Tree.  Pair the stamp with Spellbinders dies and a white scrunchy ribbon and I think it makes a simple but elegant card. What do you think?

Well this is it for me this morning.  I'm off to check out my friends and see what everyone is doing this morning.  Have a wonderful day and no matter where you wind up, or what you end up doing today...take a moment and "Breathe"!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Oh Christmas Tree

Good morning everyone.  I'm here this Monday morning to share with you another Christmas card.  Slowly but surely, I'm getting them finished one by one! This one uses another embossing folder from the Anna Griffin set I purchased for the season.  I used some Spellbinders dies and I made an envelope for the card.  I embossed the envelope to match the card.  Just a little extra for the Christmas season.  I printed a digital sheet of music "Oh Christmas Tree" for the oval.


I used seam binding for the bow and the little pearl to top it all off.  I love the way this one turned out and hope you like it too!  Now on to the next adventure!

Supply List:
Cream and Cranberry Cardstock
Cream Seam Binding
Gold Leaf Pen
Digital image and Sheet Music
Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament and Classic Ovals Large
Anna Griffin Nordic Trees Embossing Folder
1/2 Pearl
Glitter for the wings

Friday, November 7, 2014

Embossing Folder meets Christmas Ornament.....

Good morning everyone and welcome to a cool Friday morning!  It is a brisk 40 degrees here this morning and the wind is blowing so it is feeling quite cold.  I'm working like crazy on my Christmas cards and ornaments and I'm here this morning to share my latest card with  you!


This is one of the new embossing folders I purchased for the Christmas season and I just love it!  It is from Anna Griffin and the name on the folder is Poinsettia and Holly!  The pink metal background also has been embossed using this same folder.  The spellbinders dies are from the Heirloom Reflections set and of course the oval is from the Classic Ovals Large set. I suddenly feel like I'm under the gun as far as my Christmas cards are concerned as I did a count for how many I need and I don't have anywhere near enough ready.  So pull up a chair and check them out as I post them!  There are going to be quite a few!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

WOYWW #283

Good Wednesday Morning everyone and Welcome to What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday #283. Every Wednesday I take a photo of my desk and blog about the mess there. If you are curious you can go to the blog of the creator of this world wide blog hop Julia Dunnit and have a look around.  We are always glad to see new faces!

Lately I've taken on the "Pile It" and the "Push Back" techniques as evidenced by my photo.


I've been working on some Christmas ornaments and I found this wonderful video on YouTube by Heather Hudson and I'm hooked.  I need to purchase some more of these beautiful flat round ornaments to keep going.  You can find Heather's channel at www.youtube.com/user/heatherahudson.  I just love her videos and have been having so much fun with some of her ideas!  Now that I have the glitter adhered inside these ornaments it is time to begin the decorating process and the possibilities are endless.  Oh yes, Heather used Mop and Glow to coat the inside before she poured in the glitter.  I had a product called Rejuvenate...I'm thinking anything that has wax in it will work well. I also colored some Tim Holtz Distress Glitter with a re-inker and it is now sitting in the cup to dry.  I used Pomegranate ink and I think it will make beautiful ornaments.  I will also dye some seam binding to match the ornament when it is finished.  I will either make the ribbon darker or lighter than the ornament depending on what mood I'm in.  I will be sharing some of these in the coming days so stay tuned.

Just an update...I worked on the link for Heather's YouTube channel it now works.  Sorry about that!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #19....For All You Do...Thank You!

Good morning and welcome to the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #19.  Create a "thank you" gift for this challenge.  It can be a Thanksgiving hostess gift or a simple thank you card.  It can be a "thanks for helping me out of a jam" present, or a "thanks for being you" scrapbook layout.  As long as your project says "THANKS," enter the challenge!  We want to see you de-hoard some of your stash and say thanks to someone!  (Your project doesn't have to be Thanksgiving themed!)  You have until Midnight PT on November 16 to enter this challenge, so get busy and show us some "Thank You"!  I can't wait to see what you create!

For my project I did a Thank You Tag.  This can be slipped down inside a gift bag along with a small gift or I've always felt this type of tag can be a stand alone gift!

The old shoe is from My Artistic Adventures and I handmade all the flowers and leaves but one.  I had it in my hoard and decided it was time to use it!  I made the centers of the flowers with half pearls dipped in chunky glitter and I love the way they turned out.  I colored some half beads with a marker to match the shoe and I also colored the beads on the pretty lace.  I just love this image and I will be using it on other projects in the near future!  I stamped the Thank You stamp from Flourishes and cut out using the Tag Die from Heartfelt Creations.  The flowers are also from Heartfelt Creations.  I hope you enjoy this tag as much as I have enjoyed making it!

The sponsor for this Challenge is My Artistic Adventures and the My Artistic Adventures Team is joining us for a blog hop!  What fun! Their names are listed below along with the Craft Hoarders team.  Go visit everyone and leave them some love.  In return you will definitely be inspired!


The lucky winner of this challenge will win a $25 choice of Vintage, Victorian and Shabby Chic inspired Digital Collage Sheets!  How cool is that! 



Bio:
Heather lives in Michigan with her two teenage sons, hubby, and kitties.  She works full time as a RN with Ventilated young adults, and enjoys volunteering with her two son's Boy Scout Troop and Tennis Team.  She loves to create digital collage sheets in the Vintage, Victorian, and Shabby Chic Style.  She will show you blogging tips, paper crafting tutorials, and how to use her digital collage sheets on her Youtube channel.  Heather hosts her own challenge on her blog and designs for Really Reasonable Ribbon, Gecko Galz, and the Creative Cutting Challenge.  

Design Team


Supplies list:
Boot from Heather Hudson - Victorian Chic Victorian Christmas Gift Tag-Money Holder
Digital Collage Sheet.
Tim Holtz Alterations Tag/Bookplate Die (From my stash)
Cuttlebug/Anna Griffin Festive Stripe Embossing Folder
Lace and Trim From my Hoard
Half Pearls From my Hoard
Dimensional Tape
Scor-Tape
Denim Blue Pro Marker for Coloring the Pearls
HCD 732 Decorative Flower Pot Die (Hoarded)
HCD 701 Posy Patch Die (Hoarded)
HCPC 3303 Posy Patch Flowers PreCut set (Hoarded)
HCPC 3318 Daisy Patch Flowers PreCut Set (Hoarded)
Spellbinders Foliage Die (Hoarded)
HCPC 3405 Leaf Medley PreCut Set (Hoarded)
Flourishes Tagline Set (Hoarded)
One Lone Flower From my Hoard

Looking back up at my list, I see that I used a bunch of hoarded items.  Is it a good thing that I used them or does it just scream "Hoarder" to you?

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Winner of The Heartfelt Creations October Alumni Blog Hop ......

Good morning everyone.  I'm so glad to announce the winner of the October Heartfelt Creations Alumni Blog hop was chosen from Caroline Duncan's blog!  Congratulations going out to Nancy Carroll!  Nancy you can email emmalou@heartfeltcreations.us  with the subject line "Winner of October Alumni Hop" to collect your $25 gift certificate.

Thanks to everyone that participated in the hop and be sure and join us again at the end of November for the next one!  We love having you visit us and your comments are always welcome!