Timeless Tuesday #252: Shake It Up!

Can you believe the last day of 2013 is here already! Whether you are planning a big blow-out party or a quiet night in to celebrate the New Year, I hope that when the ball/apple/peach/pinecone/whatever drops, and fireworks are lighting up the sky, it's the beginning of your Best Year Ever! And, what better way to start the New Year than with a FUN Timeless Tuesday Challenge! ;)

This week's challenge is hosted by Guest Designer, Jessi Fogan, and her challenge is perfect for bringing in the New Year!

Now, if you're like me, and have never have made a shaker card before, here is a SCS tutorial that might help you. The layout of my card is the MojoMonday #326 Sketch.

For the New Year, I just had to ink up the champagne glass in the Lots of Thoughts stamp set for this challenge. It is colored with Copic markers, and the bubbles have Crystal Stickles on them. I used shiny metallic beads, that reminded me of bubbles, inside the shaker. 

The polka dot bg was made using Dylusions Ink Sprays, acrylic paint, Memento ink, and Flourishes So Distressed stamp set. After spraying several colors of ink spray onto a piece of Flourishes Classic White cs, and drying it with my heat gun, I stamped the distressed polka dots all over with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, dried that, then stamped on top of those dots again, using white acrylic paint. (If you do that be sure to wash the paint off the stamp as soon as you are finished!) The harlequin patterned strip was from a Graphics 45 paper pad, but I spritzed it with dark brown ink spray to give it an aged look. The "Cheers" sentiment is from the Lots of Thoughts stamp set, also. I cut the flag with a Verve Flag It die, sponged Antique Linen Distress Ink over it, stamped the sentiment, edged it with a silver leafing pen, added a couple of dots of silver Stickles, then popped it up over the edge of the shaker area.

The "Happy New Year" sentiment is from Flourishes Inside & Out Happy stamp set. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and stamped the champagne glass in Memento Pear Tart Ink, stamping off once first, to lighten it up a bit.

Okay, now it your turn to get "Shakin'!" You don't have to use Flourishes stamps, but if you do, you get two ballots toward the weekly prize! You can find all the details for the challenge here.

Be sure to visit the rest of the team, as well as our Guest Designer, Jessi Fogan, for plenty of inspiration. They love hearing from you, too!

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims
• Jessi Fogan, our Guest Designer

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
MojoMonday #326
613 Avenue Create #52: Anything Goes/Black & Favorite Color...GREEN!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Bling It On!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Remembering You on Your Birthday

I hope you had a Merry Christmas with good friends and family, and are looking forward to a Happy New Year! We had a great Christmas! Jackson, my DD's personal Elf, flew back to the North Pole with Santa, which bummed her out a little bit, but by the time all the chaos was over with food and presents, she was just fine. :) And, while I enjoyed Christmas, I am very ready to get back to making non-Christmas cards for awhile.

This birthday card is based on the Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 4 sketch, and I used Verve stamps for the sentiments, inside and out. Sequins give the card pizzazz! BTW, I am loving all my new sequins! Did I tell you about them yet?  Well, I am now the proud owner of 80 different colors, and they were very inexpensive. I found mine at Blitsy, but you can get them here. There are 10 different sets with 8 colors in each set. I tried to use them directly from the packages they came in, but the colors kept getting mixed up, so I found this bead storage system, and it works great. (I actually found my containers at Michaels, but they don't have them on their website.) I only had to buy 3 sets to hold all 80 colors! It's a bit of a chore to transfer the sequins to the containers because they have so much static and tend to stick to everything, but using lotion on your hands helps a lot. Also, to keep up with which set each of the colors came from, I just printed the names of the sets onto file folder labels, trimmed them down and attached one to the bottom of each container. That way, I could sort them all by color, instead of set. 

I had a really hard time trying to get the inside of the card to photograph right. I finally decided this was good enough. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 4 Sketch Challenge
613 Avenue Create Challenge #51: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Bling It On!

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Flourishes After Christmas Sale!

We hope you had a blessed holiday – however you celebrate! It was wonderful time to rest, relax and reflect on the beauty of the season surrounded by friends and family! We know some of you probably have some Christmas money that you’d love to spend and guess what? Flourishes needs to reduce what is on their shelves before our year-end inventory count. So, a sale is in order!

It’s Time For Their…..

Simply use the code MERRY13 in the coupon code box and you'll get 25% off your entire order -- even the Sale Page -- which already offers a discount on items listed there! All codes are case sensitive, so please use all caps, just like shown above. You have to act fast, this sale runs through December 30th. Another note to shoppers, Flourishes will be closing down the store for a few hours on the 31st in order to do inventory. For about a 4 hour period, folks will not be able to take or process orders. They promise they will try to be as quick as possible! Enjoy the rest of your holiday season -- 2014 will be here before you know it!

~Hugs,

 

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Ferns & Fiddles Note Card Set & Box

Hello Fellow Bloggers! I know you are probably incredibly busy, here, just 3 days before Christmas, so I won't keep you but a sec, however, I do have a few photos that you can scroll through.

I saw this post on Leslie Miller's Running With Scissors blog, and I loved how she got so much out of one stamp set. It inspired me to choose one stamp set and make a set of cards with it. I also made a magazine-style box and sleeve to hold the set. I used Flourishes' Ferns and Fiddles stamp set and Viva la Verve's December 2013 Week 1 Sketch Challenge for the layout.

I used Lori Whitlock's A2 Card & Magazine Holder with Sleeve cut file to make this box, and rather than cover the outside of the sleeve with dp, I opted for an embossed look, to match the cards.

Everything I did is fairly evident. I edged the fishtail banners in a gold leaf pen, cut the Award Banner from a gold shimmer cs, added sequins to every card, and on the blue and yellow card, I used Nautical Dark Blue cs from Flourishes' True Blue Color Made Easy Paper Collection, stamped several smaller fern images with Versamark, then heat embossed them with clear ep. I sprinkled a sparkly ep and a yellow ep across the cs and heat embossed that, too.  You may have noticed that I used the same image on two of the cards, but with two different names. A botanist, I am not! :)

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve's December 2013 Week 1 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stamp Out 2013!
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Bling it On!
613 Avenue Create Challenge #51: Anything Goes--No Twist

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Just a Note: Desk Notes & Box

This is my last post today...I Promise! This is not a Silhouette project, but one that I designed myself.

I recently saw a pretty box of desk notes, and wanted to see if I could replicate it for one of my DD's teachers. This box is made of very heavy, doubled chipboard. Each part is cut separately, rather than creasing and folding the corners and joints. Because of the design on the dp that I positioned to be on the top of the box, I could have left the top unadorned, however, to help the top stay closed, I wanted to add something to it, to help weigh it down. So, I made a large Tattered Blossom flower rimmed with Stickles, and flanked it with leaf die cuts and smaller flowers. And, of course, shiny sequins, for sparkle. :)

The small opening in the front is to allow you to pick up a sheet easily.

For the notes, I filled the box with squares cut from nice, linen textured writing paper, and stamped 1 of 6 different butterfly designs in the corner of every sheet, in different colors. I wrapped them with a belly band and topped that with a decorative die cut. The text is a Flourishes stamp, and the butterflies are Stampin Up!

Thank you SO much for visiting my blog--especially if you popped in for all 5 of my posts today! And, may you and your family have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

I'm entering this project in the following challenge:

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Stamp Out 2013!

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Christmas 3-D Book Box

I'm back with another Silhouette project!  I used the Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 3 sketch to decorate a Silhouette 3-D Book Box. My DD specifically asked for this one for the media specialist at her school.

The pretty pine cone image and sentiment is from Flourishes. I colored the pine cone with Copics, then used Distress Inks to color the background so it would match the dp behind it. I used a gold leafing pen around the edge of the Gold Majestic Circle die cut. And, since every card looks better with sparkle, I added a few randomly placed sequins (that took 20 minutes to get just right!) ;) 

Here's a side view so you can see the "book" part. Isn't this just perfect for a librarian!

I lined the inside with a Christmas dp, and added a personalization panel for my DD to sign, then she filled it with chocolate.

Thanks for stopping by...again! I'll have one more post sometime today. It won't be a Silhouette project, but is a 3-D project.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 3 Sketch Challenge

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Stamp Out 2013!

613 Avenue Create Challenge #50: Anything Goes/Optional Twist: CAS
~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Elf Jackson is Back!

We have an elf named Jackson who comes every year for the 10 days before Christmas. He often does crazy things while he's here, but he seems a little more mellow this year. ;)

The day he arrived, he brought doughnuts. And, not just any doughnuts, but the very best doughnuts in the world--Krispy Kremes! This is what my DD saw when she woke up Sunday morning. Chocolate covered sprinkle doughnuts are her favorite. Her elf knows her well. And, it appears Jackson has a fondness for the same kind of doughnuts, although in a slightly smaller size.

Perhaps there is an Elf Krispy Kreme store at the North Pole, as I've never seen one around here. But, after thinking about it for awhile, my DD believes that he made the doughnuts from Cheerios, chocolate frosting, and sprinkles. She also thinks that he must have used my Silhouette to make his box. I don't think so, but if he did, he could have used this Silhouette pizza box cut file, and the Print and Cut feature for the Krispy Kreme design and logo.

Looks like he had a dozen. I hope he didn't make himself sick! ;)

~Hugs,

 

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Snowflake Lantern

When I first got my Silhouette, I tried it out, then promptly forgot about it for several weeks. But, when I finally decided to dive in and learn how to use it, I was amazed at all it could do. How did I ever craft without it? ;) So, when my DD asked me to make a few little gifts for her teachers, it was a no-brainer that I would crank up the Silhouette!

This cute box was cut from a sturdy shimmer cs and trimmed with cs scraps from my earlier post, the snowflake box. The delicate snowflake design is accented with Diamond Stickles, and backed with panels of vellum. It is filled with Ferrero chocolates, and at the bottom, I put a flickering battery-operated tea light.

Once the candy is gone, this is what it looks like with the candle turned on. My DD was thrilled! I hope her teacher will like it, too. I've run out of time for this year, but next year I'm making several of these for myself. I have several places around the house where they will look great!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow
613 Avenue Create Challenge #50: Anything Goes/Optional Twist: CAS
Corrosive Challenge #189: Anything Goes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Snowflakes

~Hugs,

 

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Timeless Tuesday #251: Vellum

Christmas is only a week away! I hope you're all ready and can take some time to really enjoy the holiday. And, we've got one more Timeless Tuesday Challenge for you, before we get into the hustle and bustle of next week's festivities!

Our newest Timeless Tuesday Guest Hostess is Greta Hess, and she is challenging us to...

Well, this challenge couldn't have come at a better time for me! I had made a gift box for an ornament exchange that needed a little decoration, and I wanted to use snowflakes, but the dp I used on the box top was heavily glittered already, so stamping directly on it didn't seem like a good option. Vellum, however, was perfect!

I made the box using a Silhouette cut file, then I used Flourishes cut file for the Handmade Snowflakes stamp set and cut all the flakes and the "Joy" sentiment out of vellum. I stamped the images onto the vellum with VersaMark ink, then heat embossed the snowflakes with a silver glitter embossing powder, and the sentiment with a red glitter embossing powder. I attached them to the box by applying glue directly underneath the embossed areas so it wouldn't show through the vellum. Then I randomly added clear and white sequins.

Here's a slightly different angle, so you can see the top better.

When I placed the snowflakes, I opened the lid and treated the top and the front as one piece. I wanted the flakes to look as though they were falling off the top onto the side. I'm not sure how well that comes across, but I like how it turned out.

This was such a fun project! I am totally loving my new Silhouette!!! Flourishes cut files make projects like this super easy!

I hope you'll come play along this week! Vellum is such a fun addition to a card or project. I'd love to see what you do with it! You can find all the details for the challenge here.

And, you won't want to miss the inspiring creations from the rest of the team! Leave them a little blog love, too! :)

• Allison Cope
• Cheryl Lea...that's me!
• Deborah Anton
• Jenny Gropp
• Katie Sims
• Greta Hess, Guest Hostess

From my family to yours...A Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you!

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge: Stamp Out 2013!
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow
613 Avenue Create Challenge #50: Anything Goes/Optional Twist: CAS
Corrosive Challenge #189: Anything Goes
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Snowflakes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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A Sweet Christmas

I hope your week has gotten off to a good start! I've got a quick card to share with you today--a Christmas card, of course. ;)

I used the Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 2 Sketch for this card, and the only thing on it that isn't obvious is the red and white striped bg. All I did was emboss a square of kraft cs with a Candy Cane ef, then swiped red paint on the raised portion and used a white acrylic pen in the recessed areas. I didn't worry about covering all of it--I wanted it to look rustic. After that dried, I covered it with two coats of Distress Crackle Paint, then edged it with a silver leafing pen.

The inside is pretty simple. I used scissors for the pinked edging.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve December 2013 Week 2 Sketch Challenge
613 Avenue Create Challenge #49: Anything Goes
Corrosive Challenge #189: Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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