the ghost of christmas present!

Hello Hello!

Although this card looks fairly simple, it took me forever to put it together...

My Jingle Belle's card for the week...

Guest Designer, Clare of miscanthus crafts issued a recipe:

1. white as a ghost

{ugh..I used ivory}

2. a present

{my whimsical present}

3. a bow or knot

{okay, brownie points...I have both}

4. a touch of traditional Christmas colors

{brown & red...those are traditional colors, right?!}

Gotta love embossing...I think it is a wonderful addition for a minimal cost....

I was inspired by the latest Cardabilities sketch:

You'll want to pop over the EAD Designs blog today!

Jenn's being crafty and she might have a 50% coupon code......

Woot Woot...half way through the work week!

You have read this article jingle belles / Making Memories / sizzix / stampin' up with the title sizzix. You can bookmark this page URL https://playing-home.blogspot.com/2011/04/ghost-of-christmas-present.html. Thanks!

a warm hello...

Happy Wednesday!

Here's my card that I want to share with you:

Yup, it's another for the holiday stash!  Have you noticed that I've been playing with my CB alot lately?  I'm actually on the look out for some cool snowflakes and star dies...so enable away peeps.

No surprise that I'm inspired by the Jingle Belles challenge:

Well, or course I couldn't resist the color combo challenge by Guest JB'er Leslie! 

I love the latest FTL131 too:

**Disaster Relief Fund**

I'm a big fan of My Cute Stamps....I've had the pleasure of being on Holly's Design Team and getting to meet her too:)  I was thrilled to see her fundraising efforts:

My Cute Stamps will donate $7.99 (which is the retail price of this stamp) to the Japanese Disaster Relief for each Konnichiwa stamp set that is sold this week.

*Limited to Quantities in stock.

What a fun way to help out...I bought a bunch of sets:)

Thanks so much for stoppin' by!!!!

You have read this article A Muse / ftl / jingle belles / pti / sizzix / stampin' up with the title sizzix. You can bookmark this page URL https://playing-home.blogspot.com/2011/03/warm-hello.html. Thanks!

hello friend...

Sunday already?

Well, the weekend is simply flying by...I had a Stampin' Up Party yesterday that was a ton of fun...{a big shout out to my caterers...costco and my kidlets...they set up everything for me!} then proceeded to have to go to the mall afterwards because I 'had' to make a return...my 30 day deadline was, yesterday...ugh.  So, last night I knew that I wouldn't have the time or energy to make a card, let alone slam together a blog post!

This morning I woke up and felt like being crafty so I decided to finish the project that I had started yesterday morning...

Alas, karma was trying to remind me that it is okay to not post...to skip a day...because I had to go to the photog studio {aka garage...the very COLD garage} 3 different times...obviously, the first time was to take the pics...the second time I noticed one of the pearls was missing {ugh}...the third time was to actually change up the backdrop because the seam binding ribbon was fading into my normal white backdrop...

I had challenged myself to use my lil cuttlebug as much as possible for this project:

1.  Scallop circle

2.  PTI blooms

3.  QK Retro Diamonds {did you know that it has 2 patterns depending on what side you end up using..good grief, I just figured that out this morning...}

4.  Nesties Label 4

My actual circle panel was done with my retro coluzzle.  

The kraft is PTI but all the other cardstock is Stampin' Up...

1.  bashful blue

2. so saffron

3. cameo coral

4. mellow moss

The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches Friendly Flowers set...the CHF polka dot backgrounder was inked with PTI Aqua Mist.

There's a smidge of The Twinery's Lemondrop {they have THEE sweetest names..}

My colors were inspired by the Moxie Fab World Oh So Lovely Tuesday Trigger

I was thrilled to see this trigger as I actually have it on one of my Pinterest boards...along with this other bouquet....love the look of the succulents in the arrangements...

I knew I wanted to use this week's Waltzing Mouse sketch:

Whew, there you go for a girl that was going to take the day off the ole blog...I know...I know...but when you're feeling the craft'ola'ness....you gotta go with it:)

You have read this article cornish heritage farms / moxie fab world / paper smooches / pti / quickutz / sizzix / stampin' up / waltzing mouse challenge with the title sizzix. You can bookmark this page URL https://playing-home.blogspot.com/2011/03/hello-friend.html. Thanks!

5 x 5

Those Jingle Belle Girls are making me work...

Have Yourself a Merry LITTLE Christmas ... We are to feature Inchies and Twinchies in our design this week.

My title...5x5...are you wondering what that means?  No it isn't the size of my card for today...

My card is 5.5 x 5.5....hmmm....see that blue background of mine?  

There are 5 inchies across by 5 inchies down which is a total of 25 inchies ladies....No I did not make 4 of this particular design since I stitched a TON on this puppy....all around the perimeter and down the lines of inchies...8 lines by 8 lines...does that make sense...anywho's it has a whole heckalotta stitching....the ornaments?  I picked them up at Ellen Hutson's....they are Basic Grey by Sizzix....LOVE them....all the paper is Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas....the sentiment is SRM and the bling is Kaisercrafts.

I finally broke down and bought a light tent...I'm still trying to get the hang of it and so I'll be playing around with it this week:)  Thanks to Heather that recommended this one....I have it set up in my garage...I FREEZE out there so I try to do everything quickly..LOL.  I do need to put the manufacturers white backdrop in there...right now there is cardstock and you can tell...grrr...but dang the one that came with the tent is horribly wrinkled and I wasn't patient enough to sit there and iron all that out...live and learn Amy...Live and learn...

**an award**

Julie of The Last Minute Crafter passed along this award to me on Monday. To accept this award, I have to meet the following requirements:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pass it on to 8 bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award.

Thank you Julie!!!!!

1.  I am a blog-a-holic
2.  I seriously consider my blogging/crafting a part time job...I dedicate tons of hours to it BUT it is a job I LOVE!
3.  I have over 760 blogs in my google reader {see #1 & #2}
4.  I love to use colors and patterns in my crafting but I dress pretty plain jane conservative:)
5.  I don't have a craft 'room' I have a craft hallway.
6.  I'm a messy crafter...can't seem to keep the area organized {I know you all are either cringing or shaking your head in agreement to how you craft}
7.  I don't sleep much during the week so I cherish my weekend naps!
8.  I would have never guessed in a million years how much I would enjoy this whole blogging thing...from the crafting...to the sharing...to the being inspired...the blogging friends....

This award is passed on to the following:

Yipes....this is always thee hardest thing...picking peeps...so I'm going to be non-decisive and type 'whoever wants to play'....if you do, please link back because I ALWAYS enjoy reading about my crafty peeps:)

 

You have read this article basic grey / echo park / ellen hutson / jingle belles / sizzix with the title sizzix. You can bookmark this page URL https://playing-home.blogspot.com/2011/01/5-x-5.html. Thanks!

Tea Light Cake!

Supplies: Battery operated tea light (2 for $1.o0 at Dollar Store), SU Exclusive Flower Folds die, SU Afternoon Tea DP, punches from Martha Stewart and EK Success. Faux half-back pearls from Michaels, faux pearl string roll form Michaels.

This Tea Light cake is a super easy gift to make!! I always make a matching card to go with it. (To see a tutorial and photos of the matching card, please visit my blog at Everlasting Ink!!)

Hope you enjoy!

You will need a battery operated tea light, DP and any embellishment you want for your cake.

This tutorial is how I did the above cake with the materials I had on hand, but you can use ribbon, stickers, sequence, beads, all kinds of fun embellishments!

Wrap the tea light with your choice of DP, leaving about 1/8" border on top. Battery operated tea lights can vary in size, so just measure or eyeball the one you are going to use. You want to make sure there is an extra amount of DP around the top of the tea light.




Snip at even intervals all the way around the exposed perimeter of the DP.









Fold down the edges and glue to top of tea light.








Cut out the smallest flower of the Sizzix Flower Folds die (SU Exclusive). Punch a 1/4" hole in the middle, then use your craft night to slice random criss-cross marks across your hole.





Slip the die cut flower over the flame of the tea light. Adhere the "petals" down to the sides of your cake.






Choose tiny sized embellishments to add to your cake. I used my Martha Stewart Hydrangea punch (the 2 smallest petals) and an EK Success leaf punch. I then added mini brads to the centers of my flowers and glued them to the top of the cake with some punched leaf branches.



I then added half-back white pearls to the scallops on the side. I rimmed the bottom with a string of more white pearls from a roll of faux string pearls.





You can decorate your cakes in so many different ways!! These are seriously EASY and fun to make!! If you have any questions, please stop by my blog and leave me a comment! THANKS!!

You have read this article 3-D gift / Birthday / Floral Punch Craft / sizzix with the title sizzix. You can bookmark this page URL https://playing-home.blogspot.com/2009/10/tea-light-cake.html. Thanks!