JB12:01: no time like the present(s)!

can you believe it's time to start making holiday cards again already? i mean, sheesh, it seems like christmas was only like... what?! A WEEK AGO or something, lol!!!  :)

ok, yeah, when i see it in print, i have to admit that the whole JINGLE BELLES concept sounds a bit nuts!  but if you jingled along with us last year, you'll know that we made just *one* stress-free card per week, using a different "creative prompt" each time; had an absolute BLAST hanging out with some of the coolest papercrafters in the world; and that on december 1, 2011, we had each completed FORTY-EIGHT unique, beautiful, ready-to-mail holiday cards, and were able to spend december goofing off, big time!!! believe me when i tell you this is by far the best holiday gift i've ever given myself, and thus, this year, i am even MORE EXCITED to get the ball rolling again!

ok, so what are we starting out with?  have you guessed, from the name of my post-- NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT(S)?!  we're asking you to make a card which incorporates GIFT WRAP, and if you're like me, you just could not resist saving some of the pretty papers in which your holiday prezzies were wrapped, so this will be easy, indeed!  however, if that doesn't sound fun, you can, if you prefer, include the image of a present, or presents, on your card. needless to say, i went with the first idea and have bits of TWO gift wraps (the gold flourish background and the poinsettia) PLUS a bit of holly-leaf tissue paper (ruffled and sewn behind the flower) AND even a little "bonus" ribbon which was tied around one of my christmas gifts!

i used the utterly fab "square" sketch option of mojo monday 221; the ribbon qualifies me to join my dearest darlings for shopping our stash #32: tie it up; and the fussy-cut poinsettia allows me to link up with the lovely ladies at city crafter who are inviting us to make the cut this week!  woohoo!

(miscellaneous: giftwrap, tissue paper & ribbon; patterned paper: creative imaginations & echo park; rhinestones: making memories; gold foil sticker: best creation; adhesives: xyron, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

this year, instead of posting a new prompt EVERY week, we're going to be posting EVERY OTHER friday. we hope that having extra time to create and post will allow more lovely crafters to participate; and those--like myself--who still want to end the year with 48 cards need only make two (or more!) cards to each prompt... which is still only one card per week! 

to sum up, all of that means you have until 6pm (EST) on wednesday, january 11th, to link up as many newly made holiday cards which fit the brief as you can complete within the time-frame!  i cannot wait to see what you will do, and i'm hoping you'll be equally excited to see what stef and our lovely guest stars have come up with, so do pop over to JINGLE BELLES and say hi!!! ♥

pink parisienne pixie card

ETA wednesday morning:  sorry folks, i goofed!  this card will actually be featured on the pixie blog tomorrow, not today!!!  on the plus side, it gives you an *EXTRA* day to check out miss kirsty's gorgeous christmas photograph album that's over there today... and you've still got plenty of time to enter this month's pixie challenge, which is to make a project that incorporates or interprets the word "NEW" in any way you'd like.  oh and did i mention that one of the NEW things the pixie blog will be adding next year is a special design team just for the awesome monthly challenges?  yep, we are looking for a few talented papercrafters, and an entry into the "NEW" challenge is your application!  read all about it HERE and be sure to link up those projects by january 5th!


it just so happens that by coincidence, my very dear pixie-in-chief kirsty vittetoe saved my favorite card* i made from the december kit, CHRISTMAS IN PARIS, for last. it's this one, and i think you  can probably GUESS how i came up with the catchy name** of "pink parisienne pixie card" can't you?!   

it uses a couple of papers from the kit, plus three of the embellishments AND a bit of the packaging, too!!!  full details on the pixie blog, not to mention the stellar work of my fellow pixies miss kirsty, sandy taloumis, and our very special guest this month the awesome lynn millers!  g'wan over and say hi, it's worth the trip, i promise! ♥

*possibly it's a tie with the chocolat-et-bleu paris collage card, which i also loved; as i believe i so modestly mentioned at the time!!!  :)


**titles are the HARDEST PART of blogging.  FACT!


ps: i kind of hated how blogger abruptly MADE US change over to their "new interface" last week, but i have to confess that doing so fixed a couple of "issues" i'd been having for MONTHS... such as, i can now once again use the text-enhancing tools that allow me to do my footnotes in this tiny print or make it a different color, which is lovely!  :) :) 

it's like deja vu, all over again!

i hope you don't mind one last post-christmas "mele kalikimaka" greeting?  it's quite a cheerful one, actually:      

digital supplies:  paper: "your true colors" vera lim designs; brush: travel clusters #1, katie pertiet, designer digitals;  real life supplies:  paper: sei, tim holtz; alphas: k&co, heidi swapp; stickers: recollections, jolees; text stamp: glitz; inks: ranger; pen: uniball; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

it's also very similar to last week's gift bags. VERY similar, indeed! but i kind of like the way this illustrates my favorite thing about digital supplies:  you can use them over and over!  and not just individually; when you've made a collage like this one (which was the base of my hawaii travel book) for the minimal amount of space it takes up on a flash drive you can not only print it out any number of times, but you can do so at any size... on any type of paper... with or without text. so it's possible to make a book full of journal pages, a brace of holiday gift bags, and a christmas card in three different sessions; and all the serious "design bits" have already been done, you just need to embellish and go! 

this time i added some cool dimensional hibiscus stickers, a little ribbon, some ancient chipboard letters, some less ancient (but decidedly elderly) sparkly pink ones... and got stalled. because the pink blended in too much, whereas the white stood out like an exceptionally painful and obvious sore thumb.*

so i put it aside.  truthfully, i nearly threw it out.  but then it occurred to me that if i considered the thing "ruined" to the extent that i was going to dump it, nothing else i did to it could possibly make it WORSE.  so i decided to just keep going, regardless. i outlined the  pink letters with a gel pen. and then with another, darker one, until they could be seen. i stamped the white ones into submission with a distressy text background. i trimmed down the panel, and made it much inkier around the edges. then i matted the whole kit-n-caboodle onto pink and kraft and BINGO!  it had finally turned into a card i really loved!    

is there a moral to this story?  well, maybe. or maybe not. but the bottom line for me is... yet another version of my favorite creative phrase... "process is more important than outcome!" before i toss a disappointing project, it's pretty much ALWAYS a good idea to stop and at least wonder if perhaps the reason it's not cool yet, is... it's not DONE YET!!!  :)

*it would be really, really excellent to have an illustrative photo, taken at this point in the process, but i didn't think of it.  sorry!  :)

not a creature was stirring...

...which is not *ALWAYS* a good thing.  

case in point:

may i take this opportunity to wish a very merry christmas to all of you darlings who are celebrating, or, alternately, a most pleasant sunday!

either way, i hope at no point during the day will you see something like this:

by definition, you're NOT SUPPOSED to see something like this...  until it's too late, that is...

one of the things you'll notice about the following tree:  

there is no tinsel, and the ornaments are of the sturdy, non-glass variety.  conclusion:  these cats have trained their humans extremely well!!!   

on the other hand, i think we've probably all experienced a holiday moment that felt (at least metaphorically) a bit like this; and i hope this year those will be few, and short-lived, for us all!  

if, however, you prefer to do your cringing vicariously, you could check out fruit cakes whose tagline is "the worst holiday cards and photos ever"... and they really, REALLY mean it.  (yikes!)  probably a bad idea after a large meal.  maybe even after a small meal.  maybe ever.  and yet, if you'd like your own family to instantly look gorgeous and NORMAL...  :) :) :)  

on the other hand, 22 cats in christmas trees is much less disturbing, unless one of them is your cat... or your tree!

hope your day is a merry one, darlings!

♥♥♥

singing joyfully... on christmas eve!

today's project on the pixie blog is a lovely card i made using this month's CHRISTMAS IN PARIS kit, it looks like this:

ok, so it looks like that ON THE OUTSIDE, but i happen to know there's a surprise ON THE INSIDE, which you might like to hop over to the pixie blog to see!!!  (how's that for a little dickensian holiday suspense, eh??!)  plus it will give you a chance to take a little break from your last-minute preparations and see just how amazingly my fellow pixies have been ROCKIN' this kit all month!  enjoy! ♥

twas the night BEFORE...

...the night before christmas, and all through my house, there is serious wrapping and decorating of presents taking place on my part, and serious cooking of holiday foodstuffs on LHJ's*!

most of my coolest-looking holiday packages are created for the nieces and nephews, and this year is no exception, i'm inordinately--if not actually OBNOXIOUSLY--pleased with the hybrid "panels" i've made & printed to adorn their giftbags, which contain treasures from hawaii and also, in young matthew's case, some dinosaur-related items, since that is his big interest at the moment.  just cannot resist showing you a little preview of those, and then later i'll snap a pic of the completed bags:

(digital supplies:  "stomp" (dinosaur) and "hula girl" stickers by mindy terasawa, designer digitals (drop-shadows added by me); background paper from the "oh happy day" kit, vera lim designs; text layers, which read "DINO-mite christmas" and "happy HULA-days" added by me using westate and pickwick fonts, respectively)

if you happen to need a hawaiian or dinosaur themed graphic (which i'm sure EVERYONE WILL, lol!!!!) do feel free to grab these!  if you happen to need a quick-to-make gift card holder, i recommend this pdf pattern/instructions by kristina werner that i found over at two peas.  if you happen to need a cat-themed holiday chuckle, check out this theme at i can has cheezburger!  and now i'd better get back to work!  ciao, darlings! ♥

*to those of you who think i never help out in the kitchen, i say, "au contraire!!!"  i am always available in my capacity as chief *TASTER* and take my duties very seriously; sometimes it takes two or three bites to be really SURE about a particularly delicious dish... you've gotta be willing to put in the time, darlings!  :) :) :)

recycling... in action!

you may recall the digital collage pages i made for my hawaii travel book. if so, this hawaiian-themed gift bag will look eerily familiar! (i apologize for the awful photos, this is what happens if you take pics at night in my apartment... even with a lightbox!!!)

yepper, that's the very same collage--i'm not only ok with using it again, i'm actually quite proud! this time i've printed it out slightly smaller and embellished it with some "real life" supplies, like thickers to spell out "MELE KALIKIMAKA", (which, as jimmy buffet and bing crosby fans will know, means "merry christmas" in hawaiian) a white scalloped border, and a bit of a flowery ornament.

the base of that big blossom is made from vintage silk flower petals i've had for long enough to have absolutely NO IDEA where they came from! i think they were meant to be roses, but in this case they are doubling for the hawaii state flower--a yellow hibiscus--whilst also having hybrid poinsettia, plumeria and pink snowflake aspects. what can i say, i never claimed to be a *BOTANIST* darlings!!!

for that matter, the pink flamingo is a total non-sequitur, too, being native to florida rather than hawaii; but my friend cheryl gave me these glitter epoxy flamingo stickers, and they were just too cool NOT to use. although, as it happens, there were flamingos in the lobby of our hotel!  also penguins. and turtles. and all manner of other exotic flora and fauna.  we never found out *why* any of them were there... but they were fun to visit!

to finish off my "digi-to-real" collage conversion, i rounded the corners of everything, used layers of foam tape for extra dimension, and added genuine machine stitching to replace the digital version. the flower decoration is hot glued to the clip which was originally attached to a hair decoration, since i thought it might be fun to be able to remove and put it on the tree or... well, SOMEWHERE. i actually made two of these and i hope my lovely friends janet and liz will enjoy receiving them, along with the vacationy treats i have put inside! ♥

one of the silliest things i've ever made...

...is this "pug life" ATC book, full of eponymous loldog photos that have amused me over the last six months or so.

i started saving them for my friend gina, who is a big fan of dogs generally, and whose family was adopted by a pug this year. we often find the same things funny, and we're both always on the lookout for an interesting way to combine photographs and papercrafting. i sent it to her on her birthday. ok, actually, despite being ready to go well in advance, i sent it to her several weeks AFTER her birthday. because that's the way i roll!  i think this might be my favorite page of the book:

it's the punctuation: gimme. dat. hat. pug.  it's become a bit of a catchphrase around here.  i also love this one:

 i felt preeeeeeeeeeetty confident that she would not have thought to make one of these for *HERSELF*, and as it turned out, she seems to have enjoyed getting this almost as much as i loved making it!  as an extra added bonus, her sons quite like it too, so i feel pretty pleased all-round! 

do you think it's too early to start saving up lols for "VOLUME 2"??!?  :) :) :)

"bonne annee" mes amies!

can it really be time to announce the last pixie challenge of the year?  well, yes--unbelievably enough--it can, actually!  this month's challenge theme... which will stretch into january, and thus also 2012... is "NEW".  your project can express the concept in any way you like:  a minibook about your new home, a layout featuring your new baby, or even a card to wish your friends a very happy NEW YEAR! like, for example, this one:

you may recognize a few more bits of my favorite "paris nights" paper by GCD from the CHRISTMAS IN PARIS kit; i've also got some epoxy buttons and thickers from BLUE MOON, plus i've worked in scraps and leftovers from other pixie offerings, mixed up with a few paper flowers and pearls out of my own stash.  i'm fairly pleased with this one, actually, but what i'm really excited about is seeing what my fellow pixies have made... and then i know the reader contributions will be fabulous, as well!  if you don't believe me, just hop over to the pixie blog and i'll prove it!!!  :)

christmas poem mini album

today's project made from this month's pixie dust paperie kit, CHRISTMAS IN PARIS, is a little house-shaped mini album that i had great fun putting together!

there are more photos of it on the pixie blog today; including those of the individual pages, and the full text of the little poem inside. i think this idea is pretty adaptable to a variety of texts and/or photos, and it was sooooooooo very quick to make you could easily whip one up in time for christmas using minimal supplies. why not pop over and check it out?! :)

palmistry

if you've ever been with me in florida, california, or anywhere warm and tropical, you'll know that i have a complete mania for palm trees and have to be physically stopped from snapping a zillion photos of every single one i encounter. most recently, in hawaii, i became obsessed with the shadows that palm fronds cast on various surfaces, especially concrete. which resulted in a lot of photos like this, which i love:

i've used photoshop to crop, and bump up/tone down some levels; but other than that it's not been altered.

here's one that has been altered:

i used a few different artistic filters, played with saturation, tint, hue and... well, i pretty much tried out every slider, in every direction!

here's one with me in it:

not to mention even MORE effects, some light and color layers, etc; i went a little crazy, but i like it!

eventually i started using stuff like the "rubber stamp" and "cut out" filters; which cross the line from photo editing to photo altering... in a good way:

i threw some anna aspnes asian script brushes on top of this one, and then played around with styles on the brush layer: bevelling, drop shadow, etc... if you could pile it on and still see the characters, i did it!

then, somehow, i bumped one of the sliders--i really REALLY wish i knew which one!!!--and got this:

♥CHA-CHING♥!!!

so what am i gonna do with these? ok, honestly, i have noooooooooooo clue. but i had fun making them, i learned some stuff, and eventually i'll think of SOMETHING. in the meantime, if you've got a great idea, feel free to grab any one of the above and have a good ol' PLAY!!! :)

i'm pretty sure normal people...

...just do not obsess over gift-wrapping as much as i do. not that *I* would have any idea what normal people do, obviously, lol! what can i say, i ♥LOVE♥ decorating presents, and i especially love using non-traditional supplies to do so. here are a few of my recent (birthday) faves (i've not started xmas wrapping yet!):

block printed paper, (which may have come from kate's paperie, many moons ago) the flowers from a deconstructed oriental trading company lei, and may arts leaf ribbon.

rose-embossed mulberry paper, (from pearl paint, i THINK!) tied with burgundy tulle and a vintage silk carnation.

and finally, my favorite: very thick handmade text paper which my (non blogging) friend deborah bought for me in thailand, with an accent of black & gold decorative paper in lieu of ribbon, topped with copper beading wire.

and that's a wrap! :)

happy friday, darlings!

♥♥♥

paris collage card

at the risk of sounding totally braggy i have to tell you right up front... i ♥LOVE♥ this card:

i wish that i had made this one sooner, so that i would get to keep it a bit longer; but in fact i could not have made it without the goodies in the december pixie dust paperie kit, CHRISTMAS IN PARIS, and as it is by far the best card i have ever made for my friend lelia's birthday--and also the most "her" if you know what i mean--it shall be leaving my care quite soon. ah well, c'est la vie!

seriously serendipitous SOS30!

surprisingly often, one the shopping our stash challenges will point the way with regard to a bit of stash i was already attempting to figure out how to use, though never quiiiiiiiite as perfectly as this one! but first, let me tell you what this week's brief is:

"Tag it Krafty"

use kraft cardstock somewhere on your project...

OR incorporate a tag element on your project...

OR make a tag of any kind...

OR use a Dilly Beans image!

don't you just love the way miss carla always gives us a few alternatives on what to do? it really gets the inspiration flowing!

as it happens, i had just found this cute little thingie, from JINGLE BELLES' tag along prompt in june where we teamed up with the gorgeous gals at opus gluei:

i had been thinking to myself that i ought to make a card using this as the centerpiece. then i found a pre-cut and folded piece of kraft cardstock on which i had stenciled some pale pink paint, but then--for some reason--not used. better and better! so i grabbed my trusty scraps box and selected a few bits and bobs that would coordinate with the tag. and i made this:


yes, i messed up the dymo label, but then i realized that the tag was going cover it anyway, so i just went ahead and used it. :) and now here's my finished taggy, krafty card:

one of the fastest things i've EVER made... and yet i think i kinda ♥LOVE♥ it! something i definitely know for sure that i loooooooooooooove is seeing my fellow DT members' cards on the SOS blog... and then later checking out the gallery of fabulousness as created by our readers! won't you join me in that enjoyable endeavor??!

(supplies: patterned papers: ki, dcwv, love elsie, pink paislee, tim holtz; border strips: k&co; bling: heidi swapp; fibers: basic grey; labels: dymo; ink: stewart superior; edge punch: recollections; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape; other: pink acrylic craft paint & sequin scrim)

this one doesn't even need a caption!

but do feel free to write one anyway, if you'd like to!

meanwhile, if you need me, i'll be here at my computer, drinking coffee and smiling... not necessarily in that order!

happy monday, darlings!

♥♥♥

"love you" card

today's pixie project uses the fabulous CHRISTMAS IN PARIS kit, but is actually a birthday card. it looks a bit like this:

ok, technically, it looks *EXACTLY* like that; but there are more photos and a bit about the process, not to mention some of the cool items in the kit, over at the PDP blog!

under the heading of "cool & serendipitous" i offer you the fact that miss kirsty just happened to schedule this post for the very day that we are travelling to see our very sweet eldest niece, jessica whose birthday card this is! awesome, no? for once i'm not dreading the long car trip, as it offers an opportunity to work on my latest yarn-based project. by the time you read this, i hope to be knitting at 65 miles per hour!!! ciao, darlings! ♥♥♥

go HOG WILD on your birthday!

guy cards are HARD. they just are.

i used to think it was just me-- being a fan of all things pink and frilly and flowery and sparkly-- having trouble adapting stylistically, but i've heard too many other amazing cardmakers of every stripe say the same thing, so i think it may just be empirically true. thus, when i set out to make an especially important guy card, i like to arm myself with a secret weapon! such as this week's unassailably AWESOME sketchy thursday sketch:

yeah. how *FABULOUS* is that??! (told ya!) :)

i also like to have a bit of a "concept" if possible. because whereas with feminine cards one can ofttimes skate by with amazing eye candy in the form of product; i think you need an idea or a joke or... something... to make a guy card really work. since this card is for my b-i-l's imminent fiftieth birthday, and he is a big fan-- and owner of-- harley davidson motorcycles, i thought that'd be a good way in. then i thought of a (IMO) cool catchphrase and it all came together:

(patterned paper: basic grey, dcwv, ek success/harley davidson, sei, ki; stickers: pebbles; rub-ons: making memories, glitz, heidi swapp; journaling cards: k&co, little yellow bicycle; other: photo & HD logo printed on kodak premium photo paper; sentiment printed on staples' clear inkjet labels; fonts: 4990810 & susie's hand)

ok, so the sketch is rather compressed in my version, but i *THINK* you can see it! this is a 7" card, and yet i still nearly ran outta room at the end!!! in my defense, i wanted the photo & sentiment to be a decent size so you could see them; but i probably should've scaled them down just a teeny bit more. i had originally intended to make the card entirely black, white, and blue, but then i found scraps of the harley-davidson licensed diamond pane paper, and obviously i had to use that... and also it occurred to me that *GREY* is actually the perfect color for 50th birthday cards, lol!!!

in my original plan the "you are here" icon... (which came from a set of travel-themed rub-ons i stumbled upon whilst searching for something else entirely) ...pointed at the "50"; but somehow in gluing up i must've shifted the bits and on the finished card it just DID NOT FIT where i wanted it to. ah well. i think it's ok where it is...

for that matter, i am not usually the kind of cardmaker who will put your age on the front of your card in big black numerals! but this particular guy beat an especially nasty type of cancer a couple of years ago, and since then our family has been pretty darned happy about larger-number birthdays, so i really wanted to make a point of it. perspective really is *EVERYTHING* darlings, don't you think??! ♥♥♥

"a date which will live in infamy"...

...is, of course, the famous phrase franklin delano roosevelt used to describe december 7th, 1941; the day of the japanese attack on hawaii which flung the united states into WWII. but something i didn't know before we visited the fascinating complex of museums and memorials at pearl harbor, is that the original typescript of his speech read, "a date which will live in world history" and that roosevelt himself crossed out the last two words and wrote "infamy" over top in pencil, along with several other corrections and substitutions he made to the speech shortly before delivering it to the american people via radio, seventy years ago today.

(lovely husband jeff, taking a picture... though not *THIS* picture, lol!)

this is one of the many reasons why i so passionately ♥LOVE♥ museums! because although visiting pearl harbor was much higher on jeff's hawaii wish list than on mine, something i've discovered over the years is that i often learn more at places that were someone else's "pick"; and i absolutely always learn something! the times in which it's an amazing little fact such as this always feel like "touchdown" moments to me!

(flags in front of the battleship missouri)

speaking of unexpected opportunities to learn something valuable, my art journaling heroine dina wakley wrote an awesome post about making "ugly" art yesterday. if i were capable of causing this page redirect automatically to her blog, i'd be doing it right now. as it is, i shall settle for urging you, quite strongly, to click this link. consider yourself urged. (quite strongly!!!) you can thank me later! ;)

here's a photo completely unrelated to either of the above items, except it's from our recent vacation and was a serendipitous experience of great joy to me:

(delicious--and surprisingly addictive--fresh hawaiian papaya)

the papayas in hawaii were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! they're the thing from the trip i really reallllllly PINE FOR--apart from the twin delights of consistently warm, gorgeous weather and being on vacation with my true love, obviously! but the papaya, which i enjoyed every single morning with my yogurt, was seriously one of the highlights of the trip. and sadly, no, the ones in my new jersey supermarket are just not the same. sigh.

other than suffering from a serious papaya jones, life in these parts is very good (& quite busy!) for which i am extremely grateful! hope you are having a fabulous week!!! ♥

SOS29: light or white

it's been TOO LONG since i've played along with my lovely darlings over at shopping our stash, so let's remedy that right now! here's this week's brief, from our fearless leader miss carla:

Light and/or White and/or Meljens:

use something from your stash that represents light-

candle, fireplace, stars, Christmas lights,

or decorate a candle, make a lantern, etc,

or make a project that is mostly white

OR Use a Meljens Image!

here's my card:

(transparency: hambly; patterned paper: pink paislee, basic grey; florals & snowflake sticker: making memories; holly: prima; rub-ons: daisy d's; brad: mme; rhinestone swirls: oriental trading co; rose ribbon: tim holtz; stick pins: k&co, joanne essentials; tree die: sizzix; border punch: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape)

this thing is super-stash-based! i think everything on here is either a few years old or scraps or BOTH; only the tim holtz flowery ribbon is a recent buy, and it's actually my second pack of that stuff!

here's my card again, just so you can see the detail:

you'll have noticed i went with the "white" part of the challenge. and thus, this card fulfills a goal i have had for several years: to make a monochromatic christmas card for my aunt whose favorite color is... wait for it... *WHITE*!!! i've never really succeeded in ending up with something that is almost ENTIRELY white... until now. can i get a "WOOHOO"??!!! :)

do hop over to shopping our stash for all the details, see the fabulous DT cards, and whilst you're at it, why not join in? we'd love to have you!!! ♥

on second thought...

...i think this blouse looks *GOOD* with a few wrinkles!!! :)

(happy sunday, darlings!!!)

♥

holiday house recipe box

having spent the whole year making my christmas cards over at JINGLE BELLES, i find that now as december begins, i actually have a bit of extra time in which to make a few presents, as well! awesome! this special holiday recipe box was made using the december pixie dust paperie kit, CHRISTMAS IN PARIS. how gorgeous are those papers, eh??! miss kirsty has really outdone herself this time!

if you don't believe me, why not check out the pixie blog, where you can see additional pics of this fun project, plus my fellow pixies' work, too, as well as this month's special guest designer lynn millers!!! oh and there's still time to enter the november challenge, if you're quick!!! ♥

birthday cake inspector...

...here on official bizness!

aka my latest "monstapiece" of a birthday card:

("monstrous" digi-stamp by jesse edwards; patterned paper: creative imaginations, my mind's eye, ki, sei; fabric paper: love elsie; black glossy cardstock: ranger; dimensional cupcake sticker: mambi; labels: dymo; ink: stewart superior; white poster paint pen: sharpie; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape; other: staples brand clear inkjet labels--for paper piecing the monsta!)

usually the sentiment/joke is what inspires a monsta card, and this was no exception. monstas realllllllllllllllllly like birthday cake, and are always striving to think up new & plausible ways of gaining access. i can relate, actually; this may be why we get along so well! :)

however, my favorite part of this thing is the torn paper window through which the "inspector" is making his entrance. in retrospect, i'm not completely in love with the zebra paper here. but as you know, i'm never averse to doing more than one version of the same card-- (especially on "guy cards" since they're so much harder, imo!) --so i know i'll get another shot, and i'll show it to you when it's finished! ♥

yep. he's *GOOD*!

happy tuesday, darlings!!!

♥♥♥

happy birdie 2U!

a while ago miss stephanie gave me the most beautiful charley harper memory game, which just happens to contain two each of about three dozen 2" x 2" glossy square chipboard cards printed with one of the artist's wonderfully graphic and retro-vibed artworks. i love that thing!

of course, if you give a crafty person something which contains *72* gorgeous little pieces of art, it won't be long before they start thinking, "hey! wouldn't those look GREAT on a card?!!" a mindset that, quite frankly, often freaks out "civilians". so i made sure to ask stef, in quite a casual way, "hey, wouldn't those charley harper memory cards be cool to say... theoretically... use in a collage or small artwork... ??!?!" i was pretty sure she would agree, which she did.

so after spending a bit of time to work myself up to opening the box, i delved into the lovely mini art prints. and i was right: they do indeed look GREAT on a card!!! see??!

(vintage: sheet music; recycled: cardboard heart; bird cards: charley harper memory game; fabric strips: studio calico; stickers: bo bunny, dymo labels, making memories, heidi swapp; adhesives: uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape, staples)

do you even have to ask *WHOSE* card this is? surely not! but in any case i will tell you: i gave it to stef on her birthday, during our fabulous new york trip! and YES i am going to blog more about that--and also more about hawaii--SOON, i promise! ♥

JB48: candy kisses

can you believe it's the very last week of our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ 2011* prompts??! nope, i can't either, this year has just FLOWN past, but i can tell you that i've never been so calm the day after thanksgiving as i am this year, knowing that i have nearly all of my holiday cards already completed!!!

but there's still time to play along one last time, and well worth your while to do so, as we have a lovely sponsor this week, and they've put up a fabulous prize:

yes, that's right rogue redhead designs have not only given stef and i some of their gorgeous stamps to use in our creations this week, they're also going to let one lucky cardmaker loose in their awesome shop with a $15 voucher--woohoo! all you have to do is make a card that features holiday food or treats, whether that be candy canes, gingerbread, hot cocoa, roast turkey, plum pudding, or... well... whatever tasty treats you enjoy at the holidays! here are the plates i've used in my creation:

snow hugs

candy kisses

i have to tell you that all year long i've been seeing our awesome belles make the most amazing snow globe cards, and as soon as i saw the cute trees and adorable snowpeople in the SNOW HUGS plate, i just knew this was my turn! i've done an old school shaker card (i still love those things!) using this template i found online; it's got a transparency window and tiny snowflake sequins inside and i am very pleased indeed! :)

(rubber stamp plates: candy kisses and snow hugs by rogue redhead designs; ink: ranger; white embossing powder: psx; patterned paper: my mind's eye, bo bunny, doodlebug, prima, basic grey, sei; white glitter cardstock: doodlebug; black glossy cardstock: ranger; pearls: recollections; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape; other: staples brand clear ink jet labels, 3m inkjet transparency, vintage seam binding, snowflake confetti)

my "food elements" are the cupcake and peppermint from the candy kisses plate; they're perched atop a bow made of vintage seam binding that i stamped with permanent ink and the line of x's & o's from the snow hugs plate! i have a feeling you're going to see a lot more of that particular stamp. not to mention the gorgeous backgrounds that i hardly got to touch for this card!!! in the meantime, do hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and see the amazing CANDY KISSES cards made by stephanie and rogue redhead's own sharon briss and link up your your shot at the prize!!

*and YES, in answer to all of the lovely belles who have asked: we *ARE* coming back in 2012!!! it's going to be structured slightly differently, but we'll be making our cards all throughout the year again, and we'd love to have you join us!