PTI November Blog Hop + 25 Days of Christmas Tags

 

ETA: New photos...yay!

Hello!  Or maybe I should be saying goodnight...it is rather late.  But I couldn't let the day end without participating in Papertrey's November Blog Hop.  I had the idea for this tag, but didn't get a chance to finish it until after the kiddos went to bed.  Please pardon the photo...clearly there is no natural light at 11:00 pm.  

Original Post Photo

This tag is delightfully glittery in real life.  All the roofs, windows, snow, etc. are lined with glitter.  It really is so much cuter in real life. 

ETA: A few new photos...you know, just to try to capture that sparkle!

PTI Hop Inspiration Photo

I was inspired by the colors on the Christmas tree in the hop inspiration photo as well as a cute tag by Kittie Caracciolo on Day 7 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.

Better run to get this in before the hop ends.  Hopefully I can take better photos tomorrow morning. :) Have a wonderful weekend!

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Good morning!  Today is a happy day for me.  Two of my nieces celebrate their birthdays (not twins, just born on the same day) AND I get to participate in the fabulous 25 Days of Christmas Tags hop.  I'm hoping that you've already been following along with the 25 Days of Christmas Tags that my amazing friend Tracey has put together, but if not, you'll definitely want to check this out!  You are in for a treat! Oodles of inspiration, oodles of prizes, Christmas cheer...could it get any better?  I'm so happy to be joining some of my teammates from Where Creativity Meets C9 today to share a tag featuring some of my favorite Concord and 9th products. 

I've been having a lot of fun mixing holiday and non-holiday stamps on my latest projects, and I did that again here.  My tag features a fabulous sentiment from O Christmas Tree.  Well, naturally after seeing "deck the halls", the song started playing in my head, inspiring the entire design of the tag.  I started out making a floral spray full of boughs of holly, but somehow the holly leaves got edited out of the design.  Instead, I used the pine branch from the Joy stamp set.  Then I added berry sprigs, individual berries, and leaves from Love you. Mean it.  The O Christmas Tree stamp set has lots of fun little images in it, and I used the small snowflake and ornament stamps to finish off my tag.  My tag is definitely CAS, which is pretty mandatory as far as my Christmas crafting is concerned.  Speaking of Christmas crafting...I've been into mass production lately.  I don't typically share the multiples on my blog, but since my crafting time is always short, I've been embracing the MISTI and making a lot of duplicates of cards.  Well, it works for tags, too. :) And since I don't need a ton of tags for gifts, I turned some of them into cards because I'm always short on those. 

See?  Easy peasy.  PS It's been ages since I inked up an embossing folder before running it through the machine, and boy do I love how the white ink brings out the detail on the woodgrain.  Definitely going to do that again soon.  I know...I've been on a wood kick lately with Concord and 9th's Barnwood Background Stamp and now this.  I just can't get enough. :) 

Tracey has an absolutely incredible line-up of guests for this event and a HUGE number of giveaways including a $25 gift certificate from Concord & 9th!  Make sure you go to her blog to read all the details on how to enter to win and to join the fun.  (But make sure to leave a comment below before you go...that's one way to enter the giveaways.) I'm so amazed and proud of Tracey for putting together this truly fabulous event and thrilled I was able to participate! :) Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a happy weekend!

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Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Good morning, friends!  I'm up on the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog this morning sharing a card that I started 5 months ago.  Yep, you read that correctly.  I started this 5 months ago.  Set it aside for the longest time, and FINALLY figured out how to finish it.  Curiosity peaked?  I hope you head over and take a look... :) 

Sending Hugs

Hello!  I'm popping in super quickly to share a card I made.  I'm typically not one to craft in a hurry, but sometimes when your heart wants to help cheer someone up as quickly as possible, crafting in a hurry is a must.  I used this sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch to help me out.

Yellow, grey, and woodgrain all remind me of this dear friend, so they were a must on the card.  :) 

It seems that so many people I know (and love) have a heavy heart or load they are carrying in one way or another this week.  I hope that this week brightens for everybody!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #3

Good morning!  I can't believe we're more than a week into November, but I do love this month as it is a reminder to all of us to look for the good and fill our hearts with gratitude.  This morning I am feeling particularly happy that I get to share my latest challenge card for Where Creativity Meets C9.  I made and mailed this card out weeks ago, and I'm so happy I finally get to share.  The theme for Challenge #3 is "Sparkle and Shine".  

I chose to make a sympathy card, which may seem an unlikely match given the challenge, but I needed to make one and in the end I decided that a little shine is actually a good thing for a sympathy card as I hope that it brightens a time of darkness and brings a light of hope.  

Silver embossing powder is the star of the show here.  The first thing I did on my card was stamp and emboss Concord and 9th's Barnwood Background Stamp, an absolute favorite of mine.  And I must say, the result is so beautiful in real life.  (I nearly switched gears at this point and made a Christmas card because it would be a perfect background for that, too, but obviously I didn't...I think I'll recreate this soon, though.)  Next I stamped and embossed the squiggly circles (which I love!) from Concord & 9th's Love you. Mean it.  set onto vellum.  It acts a bit like a wreath, but more subtle.  

After that I pulled out the Brushed Blossom Bundle. I stamped and embossed a sentiment from the Brushed Blossom Stamp Set on the vellum and used Zig Markers to color a Blossom Die cut.  Instead of popping out the pieces, I left them intact. It was a little difficult to color this way, but I think it turned out okay. 

I knew from the start who I was making it for, and I hope the final product is a reflection of the lovely, beautiful person she is.  I'm so glad you stopped by today, and I hope you'll join us for this month's Sparkle and Shine Challenge, which starts today (the 9th) and ends on the 29th of the month. 

As always, our fabulous challenge Sponsor, Concord and 9th, will randomly select a winner from the entries to receive a $25 gift certificate to Concord & 9th.  In addition, one participant will be selected to guest-design in an upcoming challenge.  You can see how all the other designers were inspired by this month's challenge by heading to the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog next.  You can also keep updated on everything by following us on Facebook and Instagram.    

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