Seasons Giving Blog Hop

Welcome to the Seasons Givings Blog Hop!  This hop is going to be a little bit different, in the fact that every single person on the list below, is giving something away.  All you need to do, is go to their blog, leave a comment, and you will be entered to win the blog candy shown on their blog.  Really, really easy.  Now grab a cup of coffee, or tea, or maybe some hot chocolate, whatever your favorite is, and start hopping.  

Here is to starting off the year 2013 in a fun way!

I made a card using a new Verve set called No Matter What (releasing in Jan.) and the Anja's Large Oval die.  I had an extra die and thought I would share it, along with some Zva Creative self adhesive crystals, Indigo Bleu PinkPaislee paper and London Market Chipboard Buttons.

I thought I might share a little something else with you too.  As you read this, we're in Pasadena for the Tournament of Roses Parade.   If you get a chance to watch it New Year's morning, (We record HGTV) look for two things:  The Grand Marshall, Jane Goodall will be riding in my Father-in-law's antique carriage which he is driving with 4 of his Friesian horses.  (They'll be 9th in the parade) and my Brother-in-law will be pulling the president of the Valley Hunt club and his family using Leyendekker Friesians and one of my FIL's antique carriages.  My FIL has been driving for the Valley Hunt club for 30 years.  Quite a fun milestone.  It's always interesting to be behind the scenes.  We get to go out in the middle of the night (usually around 2 am) and look at all the floats lining up for the parade.  You can get really close and see all the fabulous fine details.

edited to add:  Rose Parade Photos post

Okay...now for the real reason you're here.  :)

Blog Candy!!

This blog candy is over $50 in value.  Fun stuff!!  You have until 7:00 am PT, Jan. 7 to enter.  I will announce the winner sometime Jan. 8.  Good luck, and happy hopping!  :)

(will ship anywhere)

Paper Crafts magazine

Kelly Marie Alvarez/Lawn Fawn

Unity Design Team

Avocado Arts

GinaK Designs

Latisha Yoast

Lee Murphy

Laurie Schmidlin

AJ Otto

Michelle Woerner

Jocelyn Olson

Cindy Lawrence

Amy Tsuruta

Jessie Rone

Karen Baker

Lori Tecler

Jodi Collins

Kim Kesti

                      Tosha Leyendekker  (you are here)

Lisa Henke 

Tonya Dirk

Ann Cox

Jimmi Mayo

Cristal (Pinky) Hobbs

Vera W. Yates

Jennifer Gallacher

Emily Leiphart

Lori Craig

Melody Rupple

Kim Hughes/Paper Smooches

Lynnette Kauffman

Beate Johns

Ashley Marcu

Becky Olsen

Jessica Diedrich

Alice Wertz

Joanne Basile

Carolyn King

Teri Anderson

Isha Gupta

Melissa Mann

Lydia Fiedler

Beth Pingry

 Jaclyn Miller

Glenda Wyatt

Julia Stainton

Angie Blom

Sharon Harnist

Karolyn Loncon

Julie Overby

Tenia Nelson

Thanks for dropping by!

Happy Stamping!!

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Stamps:  No Matter What (Verve)

Paper:  White and Kraft (PTI)

Ink:  Smokey Gray (Versafine), Fresh Snow (a muse)

Accessories:  Anja's Large Oval die (Marianne's Designs), Rose Creations Die (Spellbinders), Wrinkled Ribbon, Ice White Pearl Pen, Crystal Glitter, Lace Stickles, Copics, Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Natural Burlap String, Quickie Glue Pen

I'm hosting the Viva la Verve sketch challenge this week.  And since it's the 4th week it's a CAS sketch.  However, I did add a couple of things.  CAS is such a challenge for me at times.  ;)

After the Holidays, thank you cards or notes are in high demand, so I thought I'd use this sketch to make a thank you card.  I love fabulously fonted sentiments from the Verve set Treasured Words, and thought the thank you sentiment would work beautifully.

I made the flower using the tutorial by Lisa Nazario-Gregory found HERE.  It has to be one of my all time favorites.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.  Be sure to stop by the Viva la Verve Forum.  There's a chance you could win Verve Stamps!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Treasured Words (Verve)

Paper:  Prairie Hill (Pink Paislie), White and Smokey gray (PTI)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine), Dried Marigold (Ranger Distress)

Accessories:  Rose Creations die (Spellbinders), Flower (Punch Bunch), White Liquid Applique, 1 1/2" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches (SU!), Wire Pins (Tim Holtz), Black Burlap String (May Arts), Button (PTI), Ribbon and Lace, Lace Stickles, Alpine Ice Rose (Starburst ~ Lindy's Stamp Gang), Butternut Squash (Tattered Angels)

For the Love of ODBD Best Sellers Hop

Welcome to Our Daily Bread Design's Alumni Team's bi-monthly For the Love Blog Hop.  This week the Alumni team along with some of the ODBD designers are featuring a hop For the Love of ODBD Best Sellers! Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, check the ODBD blog for full list of links.  One of the post is a hop hot spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to win a $15 ODBD store gift certificate.  So, all you have to do is hop along and see all the creations and leave a little love!  You have until Wednesday, January 2nd, at 6 pm.   Enjoy all the beautiful designs featuring For the Love of ODBD Best Sellers!

I have the honor of starting the hop today, and I went very CAS using the Bookmark ~ Trees set with the coordinating Bookmark Dies, along with the set Faith.   The beautifully designed bookmark images do most of the work for you.  I LOVE that!

Our bookkeeper's daughter loves to read, so I thought it would be fun to give her a book with this bookmark included.  I chose the faithful sentiment because I think young ones can get overwhelmed with big ambitions.  We put such huge demands and expectations on our kids at such a young age, that some tasks can seem daunting.  I love this quote by Mother Teresa.

I just stamped the image with Onyx Black Versafine and inked the background using the Ranger Distress Inks Mustard Seed and Ripe Persimmon.  I then added the sentiment from the Faith set, and diecut it using the coordinating Bookmark Die.  Easy Peasy

Here is what I used:

That's all I have for you today.  Next stop on the hop is the super sweet Betty!!

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Stamps:  Bookmark ~ Trees, Faith (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper:  White (PTI)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine), Mustard Seed and Ripe Persimmon (Ranger Distress)

Accessories:  Bookmark Dies  (Our Daily Bread Designs), Large Eyelet (SU!), Black Ribbon (PTI)

Sparkly Ornament Tag Tutorial

I have some sparkly ornament gift tags to share with you today.  No stamping involved.  They're easy to make, and oh so sparkly fun!

Here is what you need:  Double sided adhesive sheets (I used Scor-tape's 6x6 double-sided adhesive sheets), dies (I used Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament dies), a border Punch (I used EK Success), and some glitter (I used Vintage & Sparkle Glitter).  I also used some border dies by Spellbinders:  Asian and Persian Accents.  I actually found the punches to work the easiest though.

Start by punching a border with your border punch, then peel the back off of the rest of the sticker paper and attach it to white Cardstock.  You could punch two strips of the border if you like if you want to cover more of your ornament with a pattern.

Then, peel off the sticker paper from the front of the diecut ornament piece.

Peel the back off of the punched border and attach it where you want it on the ornament.  The top of the ornament is very sticky, so try not to touch it or the glitter won't adhere.

Now sprinkle the glitter over the top and burnish it (rub it in with your finger)

Remove the top of the border sticker tape and add the next color of glitter.

Woila!!  There you have it.  A beautiful, sparkling gift tag.

Hint:  It's best to do the background a darker color than the pattern, because otherwise you will see the darker color against the lighter background.

I made two white ornaments, but the red shows up a bit.  I don't mind because irl it's not as noticeable.  Whatever your preference is.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Chevrons are very popular this year, so of course I had to make a chevron decorated ornament tag.  ;)

That's it for today.  Thanks for dropping by!

Happy Stamping!

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Paper:  White (PTI)

Dies:  Heirloom Ornament Dies 2010, 2011, 2012, Persian Accents and Asian Accents (Spellbinders)

Accessories:  Border Punches (EK Success), Hollywood Hills, String of Pearls, The Red Carpet and Aqua Follies Glitter (Vintage & Sparkle Glitter) 6x6 Double-sided Adhesive Sheets (Scor-Pal)

Playing with WMS chevrons

Waltzingmouse stamps just recently came out with a super fun Woodgrain stamp set, and it includes a row of chevrons.  The way Claire designed them, makes it easy to make different patterns.  I combined the Woodgrain set with the Say it Loud set, using the "happy" sentiment in different ways also to show the versatility.

All the arrows are pointing up and are separated in this first card.

For my second card, I alternated the directions and connected them.

Notice the angled "happy".

For my third card, I alternated the directions and left them apart.

That's it...three very CAS cards that came together quickly.

Thanks for visiting!!

Happy Stamping!

Happy Holiday Hop!

Happy Holiday Hop! Becky and Melanie thought it would be great fun to team up for a little Holiday Hop today. Today we are showcasing Becky's new set, "Warm Woolen Mittens" along with Becky's new cut file "Grand Banners" and "Grand Banners - Winter Sentiments" and Melanie's newest set, "Lots of Letters" as well as some of her other recent favorites. Joining us are some dynamic designers that will knock your socks off with their beautiful work today! Make sure you visit everyone's blog to leave a comment and be entered to win a clear "I do!" and "Beyond Baskets" stamp set! A winner will be announced Thursday.  Now on to today's projects!

One of my all time favorite flowers is the sunflower.  I'm not sure why, but it could be due to the warm rich colors, and it just seems so happy.  And, it's big!!  :)  So when I saw Melanie's sunflower from her Stately Flowers 5 set, I fell in love!!  It's stunning, and the leaves are gorgeous.

I colored mine with Prisma color pencils and double layered the flower for dimension.  I also stamped the "sunflower" sentiment directly onto the dp I used:  Genuine (Authentique).  Everything else (including the popped up butterfly) is from the dp. 

 I also added some Topaz Treasure Beads from Art Accentz (Provo Craft) to the flower center.  I think they're super fun!

Here's a list of those hopping in case you might have missed a stop along the way.

Melanie Muenchinger  (Illustrator of Lots of Letters)

Becky Oehlers (Illustrator of Warm Woolen Mittens)  

Beate Johns

JJ Bolton

Laurie Schmidlin

Latisha Yoast

Michelle Woerner

Richard Breaks

Vera Yates

Tosh Leyendekker (you are here :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Happy Stamping!

Waltzingmouse Wreath Tutorial

Claire has just designed a beautiful ornament set ~ Ornate Ornaments ~ that coordinates with all the Heirloom Spellbinders ornament dies.  Also included with these gorgeous ornamental designs are some sweet little extras.  One being a little snowflake stem that you can use to your imagination's limit.  I decided to use it to make a wreath.

I just punched out a 1 1/8" Circle out of re-positional tape and stamped around it using Oasis Green VersaMagic Chalk Ink.  Isn't that stem pattern gorgeous!!!

I then put a 3/4" punched circle in the center and used that as my guide to stamp around it using Aloe Vera VersaMagic Chalk Ink.

It's just that easy.  Lastly I added the berries with a a Dark Carmine Red Gloss Gel Pen (Viva Decor), and some red glitter.  The "Joyeux Noel" sentiment is from the Very Vintage Christmas stamp set.

Waltzingmouse now has a Shipping Base in the USA and can ship directly from there. 

 It's only on selected items though so look for the image below to know which items you can have shipped from the USA.

For more detailed info...check out the Waltzingmouse Blog post found HERE.

That's it for today ya'll.  A pretty CAS card that was super fun to create.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Ornate Ornaments and Very Vintage Christmas (Waltzingmouse)

Paper:  White (PTI)

Ink:  Oasis Green and Aloe Vera (VersaMagic), Onyx Black (Versafine), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)

Accessories:  Decorative Labels One die (Spellbinders), Dark Carmine Red Gloss Gel (Viva Decor), Red Glitter, Red Gross grain Ribbon, Silver Cord, Jingle Bells, Border Punch (EK Success), Scor-Buddy.