Holiday Countdown Sneaky Peek and a free cutting file!

Just another sneaky peek at my project, because the whole kit and kaboodle can be seen on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog along with a video I made, explaining some of the decisions I made while making my Advent project.  If you head on over there to take a look, check out the awesome entries to this week's challenge and have a think about an entry you might make, remember, if you enter you will be in  the running for a $50 shopping voucher! :)

As I mentioned in the video, I've also included Martha Stewart's scalloped tag punch, and two advent solutions from KaiserCraft and Karen Foster in my supplies list.  I didn't use them, but if you're under a lot of time pressure, their items would sure speed the process along! :)

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

File Freebie

If you would like to try making some crackers like mine, I've included links to the template for a cracker in SVG, DXF and PNG form.

Please remember you are only allowed to download these files for your own use and can not share them or distribute them to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are shared.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There are 3 versions:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot, Ecal or Make the Cut program and then cut out on any of the machines supported by SCAL, Ecal and Make the Cut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)
• A PNG version which can be printed from a graphics program or Word, then cut out with scissors.

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

Files © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2013

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Holiday Countdown and a Prizewinner!

Just a sneaky peek at my project this week, on Wednesday I'll have a video on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog to talk about this week's "Holiday Countdown" theme and my take on an advent project for this week's challenge. Why not head on over to the blog and see the fantastic projects the rest of the design team have created to help with their holiday countdowns!  Even better, create something yourself for this week's challenge and you'll be in the running for a $50 shopping voucher! :)

Last week's contest winner!
Last week I offered a set of Tim Holtz stamps as a prize if you could guess that one of the books my tag was inspired by was "The Man in the Brown Suit" by Agatha Christie.

I used random.org to select a winner at random from all the correct emails I recieved and the winner was.... (suspenseful drum roll) ........

Gwen!

Thanks to everyone who entered and I'm only sorry that you couldn't all win!  I had so many entries that I might do this again in a few weeks, it was a lot of fun! :)

Back to the topic of this week's Holiday Countdown challenge... don't forget.... our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

It's a Mystery to Me - But There's a Prize!

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "It's a Mystery", which is a great theme, there are so many ways you can go with it!  Why don't you get all mysterious and dream up something for this week's challenge?  You'll be in the running for a $50 shopping voucher! :)

Here's where you can win a prize...
My tag is based on two of my favourite mystery novels.  The first one is easy, "A is for Alibi" by Sue Grafton, the first in the "Kinsey Millhone" detective series, but what's the second novel that I've used as my theme?  Well, if you're prepared to figure it out (I'm sure Google would be only too pleased to help!) there's a prize up for grabs this week!  I will pick a random entry from those who find the answer and send you a brand new set of Tim Holtz stamps by Stampers Anonymous!  I've chosen the "Vintage Things Blueprint" set for the prize, you can see it below:

The small print...
Entries are only accepted by email using the "Contact Me" link at the top of this page.  Entries close at midnight (UK time) next Sunday, 24 November and I will post the winner's name in next Mondays Simon Says Stamp post (and contact them by email).  PLEASE don't post the answer in the comments section, it will spoil the fun for everyone else that wants to try!  Good luck!!

Anyway, enough of that, on with details about this week's tag.  I used Tim's stars layering stencil to add some gesso stars to my tag and then coloured the background with distress inks.  The compass was stamped using Memento black ink and then coloured with a cornflower Promarker.  I circled the word diamond with a ruby Promarker (diamonds play a big part in the story of the novel from my prize question this week).

The man was stamped and coloured with Promarkers, cut out and fixed in place.  The letters were cut from black card with Tim's Alphabetical die and fixed to the tag.  "A is for Alibi" was printed from the computer, fixed in place and sanded for an extra distressed feel.

That's it for now, thanks for reading, and again, good luck to those who enter the contest!

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!