Happy Holidays

I don't have pics yet, but there are some new embossing folders, dies and Karen Lockhart stamps at Art 'n Soul that arrived this afternoon. Dianne was exceptionally busy checking in the orders, pricing the items, calling the customers who pre-ordered items, on top of everything else that happens every day at the store. Hopefully, Dianne's tucked in for a well-earned good night's sleep! Tomorrow would be a good day to stop by the store to see what's in and new!


Look at what John Petersen (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko) made for Els at Elizabeth Craft Designs . . .

" . . . beaded cab I made with your fab Shimmer Sheetz that I embossed with a Spellbinders MBossibilities folder, then topped with some StazOn."
". . . it's only 1-1/2 inches across (without the beads). Took about 5 minutes for the paper part, about 3 hours for the beading... It's double sided with bead work on both, the backside is inked up too!"
-- John Petersen

From May Arts, a clever Thanksgiving banner . . .

"Hi everyone! Emily Lanham here with my very first post as a Prima Ribbonista! I’m very excited to share my project with you all today!

With the holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to make a fun banner to hang in my home… since I volunteered to host Thanksgiving this year!

I love to make banners of different sizes and shapes, but the challenge always is trying to find a good base. While digging through my craft drawers, I found some tags… PERFECT!

I never know what to use these little tags for. Sure, the obvious, making tags! I just don’t know what to do with them after I’ve made them all pretty. So I figured they would be perfect for my banner.

I started out by threading some pretty wired ribbon through the holes in my tags. I chose some crushed wired ribbon (AW30) because it would be easier to bend and would hold shape better with the weight of the banner. Plus, I really like this ribbon and the color was a perfect match for what I had in mind!

Next, I took the same crushed wired ribbon in a different color (AW16) and tied 6 little bows to add to the tops of my tags.

Next step, I cut some pretty Fall paper from the DCWV Autumn Melody stack and got out my punches and scor-pal to make some little rosettes. I cut my strips of paper about 2 inches wide and then punched one side with a border punch.

Once I was finished and had all of my pieces ready, I started laying out the placement of everything and gluing it all down. I added some ruffle ribbon (392-58-09, 392-58-33) to the bottom of the tag to give it a little more dimension.

I also added some roses to the bottom of each tag on my banner. One of my favorite ways to embellish is with ribbon, plus, it’s a little cheaper than buying a pack of flower embellishments. I used the May Arts woven rosettes for these (353-25, 353-28). I also added some faux suade leaves (XL16) behind the rosettes.

There you have it! A perfect simple & easy banner to make for Fall/Thanksgiving décor!"

Blog post by: Emily Lanham

From Cheery Lynn's blog . . .

Happy Holidays

by Sandy Hulsart

"We got our first bit of snow here in mid-Michigan so I felt compelled to make a holiday card with snowflakes for today's Cheery Lynn Designs post. I decided to create a center step card and I wanted to be looking in a window from the outside. I used myWindow B die adding this adorable image from Mo Manning called Hanging the Stockings behind it.  Across the bottom of my card I have added Lace Light Deco border and down the side panels I used my Daisy Lace Bracelet border die. For the snowflakes, I used both of the new Snowflower sets; One and Two, adding dimensional foam between the each set of two snowflakes. 

As you can see, I added lots of gems and the final step was the Happy Holidays sentiment. The DP is from the Echo Park Season's Greetings 6x6 paper pad. Finished size is 6" square.  If you would like to make a center step card, you can find the templates to make a 6" square or an A2 version here."

From Millsrepco's blog featuring a Memory Box Vintage Christmas card . . .

Vintage Christmas

"Ready for a non-traditional Christmas card design?

 

 

Rep and Memory Box Design Team member Jenny Griffiths shared this pretty card.

I have always been drawn to the combination of icy blue and crimson red ---paring a very pale color with a very strong one adds drama...and this is a good drama. This glittery perched reed bird is a real stand out amongst the leafy branches and sparkling snowflakes.
Instructions:

1. Ink and stamp the background twice with Distressed Frayed Burlap onto Blue Poppy panel.
2. Die cut the Leafy Branch from White, Dove grey and slate cardstock.
3. Stack all three branches and shift to offset --allowing all three colors to remain visible. Apply tiny amounts of white glue stategically to hold in position. Add small foam dots to the reverse side--hide foam dots amongst the overlapping branches; tie red and white baker's twine to bundle; attach to blue layer.
4. Die cut Crystalline Border snowflakes, apply translucent glitter and center gemstones then randomly adhere to background.
5. Die Cut Perched Reed Bird from crimson paper and apply red glitter to cover completely. Add black gem for the eye.
6. Add additional crystal gem stones between and onto branches.
7. Add the white and slate grey panels then attach to crimson notecard. There you have it!"

My husband's annual meeting is now officially behind us. We head back home tomorrow . . . a long 7-hour drive.