Advent Calendar Extravaganza

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I blogged, but when Taheerah Atchia asked me to participate in her Advent Calendar Extravaganza, I wanted to join in the fun. :)

Advent Calendar Extravaganza is -the- festive event of the season! This ‘hop with a twist’ was dreamed up by Taheerah Atchia and features surprise destinations each day! Joining in the fun with Taheerah are ONE HUNDRED special guests - each serving up some fantastic Christmas inspiration! Just like an Advent Calendar, you’ll never know where you’re going to be visiting next until you ‘open the door’!


And that’s not all! With 25 *amazing* sponsors taking part as guests as well, your crafty wish list is bound to get a boost with a chance to win a prize EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Here's what I came up with:

I made three cards using two stamp sets from The Stamp Market and paper, die-cuts, and chipboard from Crate Paper's Fa La La collection.

For the first card, I stamped the large flower from the Watercolor Bouquet set in poinsettia colors. The sentiment is from the Holiday Cheer set (I'm not sure if the set is still available?). 

For my next card, I did even more layering:

I stamped the same flower on linen cardstock to add texture as well as the smaller flower in the Watercolor Bouquet set. The background is stamped with the snowflake from the Holiday Cheer set. 

I also die-cut the flower in pink patterned paper and layered a white velvet flower from Maya Road. 

My last card used the same stamps in a more rustic way:

I stamped the flower in my favorite white ink and then embossed the panel with a woodgrain impression plate. The Crate Paper "falala" die-cut is entirely gold, but doesn't it look multi-colored in the photo below? :)

Here are the details about the Advent Calendar Extravaganza:

It’s not a party without a prize - and with prizes every day there are several chances to win! Today’s prize is generously supplied by The Stamp Market so you’ll definitely want to win! Simply leave a comment on this post - then head back to taheerah-atchia.com and leave a comment there too! You must leave a comment on Taheerah’s blog as well as mine in order to be eligible to win! Don’t forget to grab the other surprise destinations from Taheerah’s blog and head over to them to leave comments there as well to improve your odds even more! You have until 23:59 EST on 31st December 2017 to enter.

Don’t forget Advent Calendar Extravaganza runs from 1st-25th December inclusive so make sure you visit taheerah-atchia.com every day for fabulous inspiration and amazing prizes every single time! Merry Christmas!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Paper Smooches Anniversary Hop Winner and Spring Cards

Hi everyone! Thank you for all of the really sweet and funny comments on the Paper Smooches 5th Anniversary Blog Hop card (HERE)!! You all are awesome!

Before I get to the winner of the hop, I thought I would share a few Paper Smooches spring cards I made last year (but never posted).

First up, an Easter tag:

I attached these tags to my kids' baskets. To make the tags, I used Paper Smooches' Easter Egg Dies (for the egg and bow), Sassy Letters Dies, and Toppers Dies.

Next, a spring greeting:

I used Paper Smooches' Luminous Spring stamps and Butterfly Duet Dies. The papers are (old) American Crafts' Dear Lizzy....it was a great way to use scraps and older papers!

Lastly, a welcome card:

I used Paper Smooches' We Adore You stamps, the We Adore You Icon dies, The Welcome Wagon stamps, and Welcome Die. The window was made using the negative space of the Duo Die 2. I used a welcome sentiment, but a Mother's Day sentiment would work well with these stamps, too.

***
Now for the winner of the choice of two Paper Smooches stamp sets and three dies is:

Dasa

Congrats!! Please send me your e-mail address (see Contact Me above), and I'll pass it on to Kim at Paper Smooches. She'll ship the prize from PS HQ. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Celebrating 5 years with Paper Smooches (and a Giveaway)!

Hi everyone! It's been a while, but today I'm excited and honored to be hopping along with some Paper Smooches guests for a special blog hop. :)

Paper Smooches in celebrating their 5th Anniversary this month! Woo hoo! I'm so happy for Kim! She is such a sweet and thoughtful person, and I know she's worked hard to make Paper Smooches a fab company. :) 

Please hop on over to these fabulous designers blogs to see their Paper Smooches creations…and see what you could win!

Paper Smooches blog

 Betsy Veldman

Jennifer McGuire

Jocelyn Olson

Kay Miller

Kristina Werner

Laura Bassen

Today I am using one of the NEW products released this month--the new Wine Glass Die. The die rocks!

He is having a mighty big glass of wine. :) My friend Emily gave me the idea to use one of the Paper Smooches people with the Wine Glass die, and the chemist from the Great Chemistry set works perfectly with this die. I'm not sure if Kim designed the glass die that way, but they seem like they are made for each other. ha ha

I Copic-colored the kind of like Professor Plum instead of a chemist, and then die-cut him using the Great Chem Icon dies. I trimmed his thumb to add dimension around the glass:

The background is embossed using the PS Squared die. I added a punny sentiment from the Free Spirits set.

For the wine glass die, I created a shaker with two acetate windows. There is a mix of matte and sparkly sequins in different shades of red. Here's a close-up:

Want to get in on the giveaway? Kim (Paper Smooches) is giving away HUGE prizes! Here are the details:

·         Just leave a comment on any of the blogs listed above for your chance to win a prize! Each blog has a different prize to win! The prize from my blog is the winnner's choice of two Paper Smooches stamp sets and three dies. (Wowza!)

• Deadline: You have until midnight PT on Wednesday, February 24th to leave a comment. 
• Winners will be announced on each blog on Thursday, February 25th.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Next on the hop is the super talented Kay!

Holiday Flamingo

Hi everyone!

It's my last week guesting with the My Favorite Things Challenge and Inspiration team. What an awesome month! (A big thank you, Susan!) The new sketch is up, which you can see HERE.

I've been wanting to use my flamingos for a winter card:

I die-cut the Flamingo die in white cardstock and blended a couple of shades of pink. I love the versatility of these dies....they look good in cardstock. watercolors, Copics, inks, etc. Next, I made a teeny scarf from a scrap of felt. After I had her scarf on, I laughed every time I looked at her. :)

In the sketch, there are several circle elements. I used the Jumbo Dot Cover-Up die to emboss the background panel. The hearts are also from the Flamingo die set:

The sentiment is from the Santa's Elves set--I had to go with pink ink. ;) For the snow, I used the negatives out of the Snowdrifts die and added coarse glitter. Isn't it pretty?  Here's a close-up:




I love flamingos. :)

Well, that's it for me. I hope you'll swing by the Challenge and Inspiration blog to see what the fab team has made!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

Celebrating Cath + Technique Tuesday Blog Hop

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I'm in a very special blog hop today:

I am super-duper thrilled to be sharing projects using the new Technique Tuesday stamps and dies by Cath Edvalson! :) You can check out the new stamps and dies HERE. Aren't they fabulous?

To celebrate the release, there's a special hop today. You should be coming from Kimberly's blog, or if you want to start from the beginning, the Technique Tuesday blog.

Here's what I made:

I made a set of cards with the inlaid die-cutting technique. First, I die-cut the Garden Flowers dies in white and trimmed down the base flower to make  a backing. Next, I used old Mint Julep BasicGrey papers to die-cut the outline flower. My Big Shot got a work-out! I know Cath likes homespun designs, and these papers reminded me of her. :)

I in-laid the pieces and made a couple of flowers at once. It's not a 10-minute card, but this technique is great for card sets (and using up 6x6 paper pads).

Next, I stamped a leaf from the Garden of Life stamp set and stamped a few yellow flowers in the background. The sweet sentiment is also from the set. This die is *perfect* for this technique!

Here's my next card:

This card uses the same stamps and dies for a very different look. I started by stamping the leaves from the Garden of Life set. I partially colored the leaves with Copics and fussy cut them. I love the boldness of these stamps! Next, I die-cut the Garden of Life flower base die on vellum and heat embossed the flower.

I layered a Citrus Bliss paper and a chipboard frame. For the sentiment, I die-cut the "friend" sentiment from the Garden of Life set in charcoal grey. Here's a close-up:

Giveaway
Technique Tuesday is giving away three prizes! One winner will receive all five of Cath's new products (wow!). The other two winners will receive $25 gift certificates to Technique Tuesday. The winners will be randomly chosen from all of the comments left during the hop.

To enter, leave a comment here and at each of the blog hop stops. The more comments you leave, the more chances to win! You have until midnight PST on September 16th to leave comments, and the three winners will be announced on the Technique Tuesday blog on September 18th. 

Here's the whole list:

Technique Tuesday

Julie Ebersole

Laura O'Donnell

Heather Campbell

Julia Stainton

Daniela Dobson

Kimberly Crawford

Jocelyn Olson <-- You are here.

Tobi Crawford

Laurel Beard

Melissa Phillips

Laura Williams

Jaclyn Miller

Donna Mikasa

Birgit Edblom

Kalyn Kepner

Laura Bassen

Julie Campbell

Lisa Adametz

Linda Barber

Teri Anderson

Cath Edvalson

Thanks so much for stopping by! Next on the hop is the awesome Tobi. Have a great day!

Neat & Tangled Birthday Blog Hop

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week!

Neat & Tangled is celebrating its third birthday! Woo hoo! I'm so happy for Danielle--she is such a sweet and talented lady. :) I'm honored to be hopping along with Neat & Tangled for a special blog hop to celebrate! :) Each day this week, there has been a short hop, and today's hop includes:

Neat & Tangled blog

Jocelyn Olson <--That's me!

Teri Anderson

Virginia Lu

There is a mini release of two stamps and two dies. They are fab! Here's my first card:

Isn't the new Heart of Gold die wicked cool? I love it! My buddy Miriam designed the die and the corresponding Heart of Gold stamps. I die-cut the heart out of white-ish glitter cardstock and layered it over an extra background I made a few weeks ago.

I masked off part of the sentiment and heat embossed it in gold. Doesn't the heart look like a constellation? The die is very versatile.

Here's my second card:

The new little bear from the Happiest Birthday set is too cute! I Copic-colored and fussy cut him, and popped up the present to look like he's holding it. I layered him over a Studio Calico journaling card.

After staring at the card for a while, I decided it was missing something. Ever do that? I die-cut the stars from the new Seeing Stars die from linen vellum for another layer. I also added some of Lucy Abrams' fab Flamingo Shaker Mix--these are awesome! I may have added too much, but hey, that's how I roll....

As part of the hop, there is also a giveaway!

There are two gift certificates to the Neat and Tangled shop: 1) A $100 gift certificate; and 2) A $50 gift certificate. Winners will be chosen from comments the hop all week long. You can find each day's list on the Neat & Tangled blog.

Next on the hop is the incredibly talented Teri! I can't wait to see what she made.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!!

Wild Hibiscus

Hi everyone! Can you believe it's the end of July? I'm glad we still have six more weeks before school starts, but time is flying!

I'm up on the Altenew blog showing three different projects using the new Wild Hibiscus set. It's one of the prettiest stamp sets I've seen! I hope you'll check out the post!

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!!

Friend

Hi everyone! Are you doing anything fun this weekend? My niece and nephew are visiting, and it's always great to see them. :)

My friend Taheerah has a column on the Winnie & Walter blog, and she video-interviewed me for the column. :) I'm also sharing a Winnie & Walter card on the blog:

The "flower" is the tree ring in the Winter Woodland set that I watercolored. I layered a piece of fringe, awesome Citrus Bliss wooden heart, a Sunshine Glow sequin, and a label with a sentiment using The Big, the Bold, and the Happy set.

Here's a close-up:

I dug through my stash and found these cool acetate and foil leaves from Studio Calico. The leaf die-cut is The Big, the Bold, and the Extras Cut File. It's always hard to photograph foil, but I managed to get a shot of how cool the foil looks.

Taheerah also made a card based on my card, which you can see over at the Winnie & Walter blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Guesting at My Favorite Things

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday!

I have a sneak....

It's my second guest post over at My Favorite Things. I'm still squealing! :) I made a card with the new Birdie Brown You Gnome Me set and also a gnome hat. If you have a chance, please check it out HERE. Thank you!!

Thank you so much to MFT for asking me to guest!

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Bejeweled Card Set

Hi everyone!

I'm on the Altenew blog today with a card set using the Bejeweled stamp set. I did some simple layering (using items that were within reach of my desk) and kept the same design to coordinate the set. I used some older Notes & Things chipboard frames from Crate Paper.

Here's a close-up of one of the cards:

To see the rest of the set (in different colors and frames), swing by the Altenew blog. Thanks!!

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

Our Home to Yours

Hi everyone!

I'm up on Neat & Tangled blog today sharing a card and quick tutorial.

Here's the final card:

I used three different Neat & Tangled sets to make this card: Simple Christmas, So Very Blessed, and Time Warp. There are step-by-step pictures on the Neat & Tangled blog that show how I combined the different sets.

After I was done stamping, I dry embossed the panel with a PTI Woodgrain plate--I love the subtle texture. I finished the card by adding glitter to a BasicGrey die-cut, a sequin from the Classic Christmas Sequin Mix, and some spray mists.

Here's a close-up:

If you want to play along, the Little Tangles team has an embossing challenge right now. You can check it out HERE.

Sadly, this post is my last one for Neat & Tangled. I wanted to give a shout-out to Danielle for being an awesome leader. Thanks for asking me to be on the team, Danielle! *hugs* Also, thank you to my fantastic and supportive teammates! You all are a super talented bunch!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Here We Go, Love

Hi everyone! Ready for the weekend? We start school on Monday--ack! I'm sad!

Nancy and I are on the Scraptastic blog today. We're both sharing projects using Scraptastic Club's August This Life Noted kit. Not long ago, I watched THIS awesome video by Jennifer McGuire. In it, she showed how to use wood veneer for faux letterpress, and I've been wanting to try that technique.

Here's the card I made using the LOVE wood veneer in the This Life Noted kit:

You'll want to check out Jennifer's video to see the tutorial. I shared a few pictures on the Scraptastic blog, too. I did some gradient inking on the back of the wood veneer and ran it through my Big Shot. Usually when I try new techniques, they look pretty rough compared to the demo. This time, the technique worked easily. Yeah!

Here's a close-up:




I layered two of the journaling cards and added one of the Cut-Aparts and the black-and-white sticker from the kit. The red patterned paper layered underneath is from the Boys of Summer kit.

Here's a close-up of the layers:

The August This Life Noted kit is sold out, but you can still get the August Wood Veneers to try this technique. Be sure to check out Nancy's take on the kit (it's cool!) on the Scraptastic blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI
Kit: (August This Life Noted kit) Scraptastic Kit Club
Ink: (Mango) Fresh Ink; (Fizz) Avery Elle; (Apple) Mama Elephant; (Black, Opaque White Mister Huey's) Studio Calico

It's a Jumbo Thank You

Hi everyone! Ready for the weekend? Getting ready for Thanksgiving? We had snow today, which made it feel a little more like the holidays. :)

It's time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

The challenge is to create a project with eight of one item (e.g., sequins, colors, papers, etc.). I went with eight letters on my card:

I used a sentiment from Another Thank You and heat embossed it with some glittery blue embossing powder. I love how the color shifts with the embossing (and by the way, I love this embossing powder--I've had it for 5 years and it still embosses without stray flecks). I simply layered the image over some patterned paper.

I still had the felt flowers on my desk that I used from my last post. ;) Ha ha. Do you do that, too?

Here's a close-up:





ETA: I'm linking up my card in the Runway Inspired Challenge. I think the background, pink flower, and pattern work with the gorgeous image:

If you would like to link up to this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, the winner will receive a gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp:

You can link up your projects HERE. I hope you'll play along. Eight is great! (yuck, yuck, I couldn't resist.)

Thanks so much for stopping by!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI
Patterned paper: (black and white from Simple Surfaces) Cosmo Cricket
Clear stamps: (Another Thank You) Stampin' Up
Ink: (Versamark)
Embossing Powder: (Firecracker Blue) Sparkle and Sprinkle
Flower: (felt flower) Prima