Honey Bee Showcase- Jingle Belles Christmas Card!

Welcome to this fabulous Wednesday! 

Today we Honeybees are cross-pollinating (get it!?!) with the Jingle Belles thanks to my fabulously sweet friend June!! She is a guest designer for them and we have Lauren who guest designed on Monday for us! They are a couple of ladies dedicated to making Christmas cards all year long so that it doesn't overwhelm you come holiday season! So they have a different challenge every week. This week's challenge is to use a die cut! Mine is of course Cricut made! Hop over to Jingle Belles to play along and hop over to Betty Bee's Buzz to play with us too! Two chances to win! :) 

I have been doing SO much crafting recently and just keep thinking about how blessed I am that I have such a supportive and encouraging group of friends and family! That includes YOU out there in bloggy world! 

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

The picture above didn't show the Glossy Accents so I went to take another picture and accidentally hit the button and this picture resulted and for some reason I really like it! :) 

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

ALL that you see that made up my card came from PUMPKIN SPICE except for the twine, glossy accents, liquid applique, cartridge, and embossing folder. But all of the paper and embellishments came from the two My Mind's Eye Christmas lines from last year and they are both on sale at Pumpkin Spice along with Meadowlark!

SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :) 

Now hop on over to Betty Bee's Buzz and Jingle Belles too and play along with us! I thought I would have a hard time getting in the Christmas mood, but I had a blast making this card! 

Happy Winter

Just a reminder that the Free Priority Shipping ends on the 19th! So use the coupon code "ShippedBySanta" to place your orders at Pumpkin Spice!

Recipe:
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I believe™
Ornaments: My Mind's Eye: I believe Glittered Adhesive Chipboard Elements™
Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Winter Punnies™
Maraschino Twine from the Twinery™

I love love LOVED this I Believe Dots Glittered Paper. I just fell in love. I don't think you can see it, but every ring around the circle is glitter and there is glitter on both ornaments. It will probably show up in a few more cards before I am done! :) Everything in the I Believe line is just adorable and you can get the kit for $7.69! 

Have a great rest of the week! :)

Joy

All things on this card were found at Pumpkin Spice except for the ribbon and the plain white card stock. Just click on the links below to take you to the products! She is having a special that you get priority shipping free for orders over $50! So hurry and get it because it ends on the 19th! Use the coupon code "ShippedBySanta" - how cute is that!?!

I made this to coincide with the Cricut Circle contest this week which utilizes a sketch. The two birds were moved to be in a cuter position and the sentiment was moved to be inside the wreath! :) 

Recipe:
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I Believe™
Sentiment: My Mind's Eye: I Believe: Glittered Cardstock Accessories Sheet™
Birds: My Mind's Eye: I Believe: Glittered Adhesive Chipboard™
Ribbon and white card stock: PTI™
Stickles in Christmas Red™

Day 6 - Christmas Tags!

Courtney Lee

Good Afternoon! I hope you enjoyed this morning's post on tags over at Passionately Artistic! This is day 6 and I am the afternoon Tags post! :) This is my last post for the 12 days of Christmas series, but continue to head on over there for inspiration!  

My goal with this tutorial was to show a variety. A lot of times, I see something that I wanted to create, but I don't have the cartridge or the resources. 

Different Cartridges

Tie the Knot, Winter Woodland, Storybook, Gypsy Wanderings 

Using your Gypsy

I will show you how to make something truly unique with your Gypsy. 

No Cricut, No Cuttlebug, No Gypsy - just Scissors! 

Lastly, I will show you some tags that I did without any Gypsy, Cuttlebug, OR Cricut so that there should be inspiration here for anyone! :) 

Recipe:
Cartridge: Tie the Knot™
Base tag- 3.25"
rest - 2.5"
Stamper's Select White from Paper Trey Ink™ - heat embossed with a la Mode™ white
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™ and Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Glossy Accents
Pop Dots
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink Saddle Stitch in Pure Poppy™

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Recipe:
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™ - all images cut at 3.25"
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™, American Crafts Glitter Card Stock™
Paper Trey Ink Button Twine™
Ribbon from my stash

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Gypsy Fun making Tags!

Recipe:
Cartridge: Gypsy Wanderings™
Tag was cut at 3.75"
Snowflake and shadow cut at 2"
Accordion underneath the snowflake was cut at 1.5x12".
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™, Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™
Button from Paper Trey Ink Vintage Holiday Mix™
Button Twine from Paper Trey Ink™
Jingle bell from Michaels

*****************

Another tag made with the aid of the Gypsy using Winter Woodland™

Recipe:
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™, Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™
Liquid Applique in White
Pop-dots
White Gel Pen™
Saddle Stitch Ribbon in Pure Poppy from Paper Trey Ink™

*****************

This last Cricut tag was two images welded together. I liked the holes it created in the middle. I cut the flourish again to place it on top. I used my i-rock to add bling and I heat embossed the "To" and "From" with gold embossing powder. 

Recipe:
Tag from Tie the Knot™
Flourish from Storybook™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™
Gold embossing powder by Filigree from Paper Trey Ink™
My Mind's Eye: Holly Jolly Perfect Stamps™

No Cricut, No Gypsy, No Cuttlebug - just manufacturer love. :) 

Sometimes we get so caught up in what a tag could look like on our layouts or cards that we just forget to use them as... well... tags.

I LOVE Echo Park Paper™ and the Merry Christmas line is fabulous. I just took these stickers, stuck them to card stock, cut it out, punched a hole on the the top, i-rocked some bling and tied a ribbon. Done. I am going to stamp a "To, From" onto the back. Easy Peasy. 

Recipe:
Echo Park Paper Merry Christmas line Stickers™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Gold bows were recycled off the top of a smoked almond package! (yay for up-cylcing!)

For this next one, I just took the My Mind's Eye: I Believe Chipboard and popped it out of it's little home. I added some green ribbon and - my favorite part - since it already has an adhesive back, it will stick right onto your gift! Done! AND it already is glittered - love that.

 Recipe: My Mind's Eye: I Believe Chipboard™

Next up we have the EAD Design Stickers. I had a bunch of fun with these. I stuck them to white card stock, cut them out, punched a hole in the top, added Stickles, and tied some twine at the top. 

The best part about EAD Designs is that this sticker set comes with cute little "To: From:" stickers as well. I put these on the back, but forgot to take a picture! So you'll have to go check out their website to see how cute the font is because I love it! 

Recipe: EAD Design Christmas Tags™
Stickles in Waterfall™ - the manufacturer pic looks like it is purple, but trust me, it's blue.
Stickles in Christmas Red™

I hope this inspires you to make your own Christmas tags this year! 

Don't forget to leave me a comment and become a follower if you're inspired! :) 

Blog Hop - 2nd post of the day!

*****Scroll down for my Honey Bee post feature Fred She Said*****

I received an invitation from the fabulous Jen to be a part of  December 1st blog hop! I was delighted!

The theme is Christmas Cards so hopefully this will get your juices flowing.

If you just got here you need to start back at Jen's blog because there is blog candy to be found along the way! 

I have linked up the products I used for your shopping convenience and if you haven't checked out Pumpkin Spice - online retail store - then you should because her prices are fabulous and her shipping rates are the lowest I have seen - which is why I buy things there :) What can I say? I'm a girl who likes to think she is smart with her money. 

Recipe:

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
Embossing: Snowflakes Emboss Folder™
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I Believe "Candy Cane Stripes"™(red top and hat/scarf accents),  "Wreaths" ™(blue bottom), and "Trees"™ (polka dot hat/scarf)
My Pink Stamper: Winter Punnies™
Versamark™ Ink
a la Mode™ black embossing powder
Black bling from Hero Arts self adhesive gems (small) and Want2Scrap Black Rhinestones™(large)
EK Success Heat Gun

Hopefully you got here from Norma's blog. I am the last spot on the hop! :)

Just in case you got lost here is a list of the blog hop participants:

Jen jennyscards.blogspot.com

Carol carolssweetcreations.blogspot.com

Momo madebymomo.blogspot.com

Nicole http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com//

Karey www.creativecraftcorner.com

Karen thebusybug.blogspot.com

Saundra luvscrappingtogether.blogspot.com

Celeste ccscards.blogspot.com

Jeanine scrappinwithjc.blogspot.com

Roma romascards.blogspot.com

Norma http://pinkblingcrafter.blogspot.com 

Me! Court from CourtsCrafts.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoyed my inspiration. Make sure to scroll down to see my Honey Bee post and if you like what I create, I would love it if you would become a follower, but it is definitely not required for the blog candy!  

What is the blog candy, you ask??? 

How about My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies and a Houndstooth Embossing folder? 

My blog candy is open to US residents only unless the international winner wants to pay the shipping in which case I will send them a PayPal bill for the shipping. Sorry, but I bought these for you so it gets a little expensive to ship them internationally. :(

I will draw a random winner on Friday the 3rd, so make sure to get your comments in! :) The winner will have one week to claim their prize. 

Come back on December 4th for another blog hop that My Pink Stamper is sponsoring! :) I may or may not be giving away a Cricut Cartridge and some sponsored goodness from EAD Designs..

I also decided to enter this into Wee Memories Challenge #33: Use ribbon! :) 

Fred She Said Honey Bee Showcase!

Good Wednesday mornin' to everyone! After that long weekend last week I am ready to get to the end of this week! 

We have been SO blessed that Fred She Said has decided to sponsor us Honey Bees!!! We got to pick out a couple of our favorite Christmas digital stamps and I just love this Christmas Cardinal! Wanda showed a great tutorial on how these beautiful images could be used during our Monday Motivation! 

Alright... I admit it... I don't enjoy coloring very much. I really enjoyed it as a child. Maybe I just got colored out! So I was thrilled that Fred She Said makes pre-colored images of their digital stamps. This is one such image.

I just printed it out on my computer twice. I cut out the cardinal, stuck it to some white card stock, popped it on top of the other image, and added glossy accents.

The image really does all of the work on this card. 

Products:
Digital Image: Fred She Said Christmas Cardinal™
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I Believe "Thin Stripes Glittered Paper"
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink: Satin: Dark Chocolate™
Stickles in Christmas Red™
Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Winter Punnies™
Ink: Momento in Cocoa™
Adhesive: Glue Arts Extreme adhesive squares™ (for the bow) and Glue Glider Pro with Perma Tac™

Fly on over to Betty Bee's Buzz and see what the other Honey Bees have created for you! Also, there is  a giveaway going on from November 15- December 15th and you just have to leave comments!

I decided to enter this into Wee Memories Challenge #33- use ribbon! :) 

Want2Scrap Blog Hop!

Happy Monday to everyone! :) 

Passionately Artistic is teaming up with Want2Scrap for this fabulous blog hop! 

Here's how the owner of the Passionately Artistic blog describes Want2Scrap bling: 

Want2Scrap Scrapbook Manufacturer is proudly sponsoring the Passionately Artistic blog hop! 

Let me tell you, the line of rhinestone bling and embellishments they currently have is fabulous. 

Seriously! If you just can't stop yourself from putting bling on anything that doesn't move, you need to go visit them. Want to know the best part? Their prices are really great too.

I have to say their adhesive backed bling is really fabulous. It even stuck to my glitter paper below! I used the LeCreme Baby Pearls.

Make sure to leave a comment on this post and all of the other hoppers' posts as two of the blogs have hidden prizes and you have to have left a comment on all of ours to find out which ones! 

There are TWO grand prizes which are $25 to Want2Scrap! One will be announced on the Passionately Artistic blog and the other will be announced on the Want2Scrap blog on December 18th!

This is a fabulous way to jump start our 12 days of Christmas celebration starting on December 1st. So join us then for some more fun, inspiration, and Christmas gift giving ideas!

One Christmas Tradition:

In the family that I married into (LOVE them) we get little silly gifts for each other and write poems about them. We read the poems out loud and then the person has to guess what their present is.

The first one that my husband gave to me was a pasta measuring tool. There are little holes of different sizes that says how much pasta goes through the hole to feed x amount of people. (Maybe I should take a picture of this tool as well so you don't think I'm crazy.) --- You see, when we were dating, I used to make WAYYY to much pasta for just the two of us! It was really embarrassing. So this was a perfect and funny gift. I hope you are enjoying reading the other Christmas traditions along the hop!

If you just found us, hop on over to Passionately Artistic to begin the hop. 

If you got here from Dana's blog, you are on the right track. Now head on over to Melissa's blog and see her fabulous album!! 

Be Inspired Wednesday - Embossing powders

Scroll down for my Betty Bee's Buzz post and a giveaway! :)

This week at Passionately Artistic we were instructed to use embossing powders as a resist or to distress. I decided to use them to resist.

I have never done this technique before and really enjoyed it! 

Recipe:
Embossing Powder: Filigree Gold purchased from Paper Trey Ink™, a la Mode in white™
Paper: Paper Trey Ink White™, Ripe Avocado™
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink Satin Dark Chocolate™
Hero Arts gem stones
Sentiment: Hero Arts™
Ink: Momento in brown and Color Box in Olive
Stamps: My Mind's Eye: I believe Stamps™

Instructions:

1. This card is a typical 4.25"x"5.5".  
2. I heat embossed the gold leaves and sentiment using Filigree Gold embossing powder.
3. Then I used a piece of paper towel to rub on the olive ink and worked it towards the center.
4. Heat emboss the white wreath stamp onto the Ripe Avocado™ card stock. 
5. Use a piece of paper towel to rub the Momento ink onto the edges of the free hand cut paper.
6. Place piece of Paper Trey Ink Dark Chocolate Satin ribbon around the card. Adhere.
7. Use a foam dimensional to pop the wreath cut. 
8. Make a bow from the Dark Chocolate satin ribbon. Adhere.
9. Place Hero Arts self-adhesive gems™ where some of the berries might be. 

Now hop on over to Passionately Artistic to see what else the Design Team has created for your viewing pleasure! :)

This also qualifies for Kim's challenge at Off the Wall Craftiness:

The balloon swatch is a little more yellow so I changed that to gold. I hope that's okay! :)

Snowflake Ornament

I made this ornament for a Cricut Circle challenge. I am really excited about how it came out! :) I hope you like it too an can't wait to put it on a Christmas tree this year. :)

What is exciting is that while I purchased the Christmas Solutions cart because I LOVE it, it is now a promotional instant download if you have a Gypsy! It just comes with it after you register and update it! I'm not sure how long it will be available, but you don't even have to buy this cart if you have a Gypsy! How cool is that! 

I haven't been able to update yet as I have a Mac. Soon, hopefully as I can't wait to download Smiley Cards and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More as well as Indie Art! :) 

Anyway, here is the project! :)

Recipe:
Cartridge: Christmas Solutions™
Embossing: A2 Snowflakes Emboss Folder™
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I Believe Collection™: "Trees" and  "Candy Cane Stripes", and DCWV Glitter Paper
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink Pure Poppy Saddle Stitch™
Crop-a-Dile™
Glitter Glue: Studio G
Brads: My Mind's Eye: Lost and Found: Union Square Brads™
Adhesive: Glue Arts Perma Tac™ and Martha Stewart Gel Adhesive™

Instructions:
For the Christmas bulb:
Cut the blackout, base, and shift buttons and then flip them and cut them again all at 4.5". Each layer should be cut out of different card stock.
Emboss the blackout layer with the Snowflakes Emboss Folder™
Adhere all layers together.
Punch hole in top using Crop-a-dile™and add eyelet

For the Snowflake:
Cut the blackout and base layers at 3 inches.
Use Studio G red glitter glue to dot on all the polka dots on the pattern paper.
Punch small holes in the middle of the snowflake.
Put brads through on both sides.
Adhere all layers together.

Tie the snowflake to the Christmas bulb using the Paper Trey Ink ribbon!
Hang it on the tree! :)

This qualifies for Cricut Cardz Challenge of "use something with an 's' " - snowflake! :)
This also qualifies for Wee Memories Challenge #29 "Anything Goes"! :)