Scraptastic Designs Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Scraptastic Designs Blog Hop! I am truly honored to take part in this event as we celebrate the store opening of Cindy's Scraptastic Designs! Not only is she a sweetheart, but she is so incredibly talented. :o)

If you just stopped by to say hi, please head on over to Cindy's blog to start at the beginning of the hop! You don't want to miss a stop as we showcase some of her adorable digi stamps. If you arrived here from Gigi (The Cricut Bug), you are on the right track! :o)

For my project, I wanted to showcase a few different stamps. I've been in the Christmas spirit (as always), so I made a festive creation. It begins with a little house, decorated for the big day. :o)

I used shimmery snowflake paper for the base to make it feel as though it's snowing. Embossed sparkly white cardstock for the roof further creates the sense of a snowy Christmas. The window is decorated in Christmas lights via small rhinestones, with the festive glow of an interior Christmas tree sparkling through this house of love. This surely helped guide Santa and his reindeer. I wonder what possibly could be inside the house after Santa's visit...

An ultra decked-out tree sits outside the house as well, brightly sparkling in Christmas cheer. The door is embossed with a plaid folder to somewhat mimic a carved wood design, while the frame is embossed with tiny dots for added texture. This entire base is the store from the Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge, slightly altered to become a house. I cut off the bottom because Santa didn't leave cupcakes or treats as the Cricut cut is intended. Let's take a peek inside, shall we? Instead of sweets, Santa's gift is...

... a festive display for Christmas and winter memories!

My house is actually an explosion box! How fun was this?! I used the basic explosion box tutorial from Amy at Love To Crop, adjusting the dimensions to make it a few inches larger in total. Helping to showcase holiday pictures, journaling, or memorabilia (Nutcracker ticket stub, for example) are Cindy's sweet digi stamps! I colored them with my Copics and bedazzled them in their festive best. Now, a few close-ups to properly show Cindy's beautiful images (one of which is hidden from the main picture):

Sweet Gingerbread Tags:

How cute are these tags?! I used Liquid Pearls to make it look like actual icing on their adorable little bodies. The holly, berries, and cheeks of the sweet girl are sparkly and I tied the two tags together with gorgeous Trendy Twine.

The light green photo mats are embossed with an ornament folder, which I've been so anxious to use! I have a feeling my mom (the future recipient) will leave a few mats empty for a while just to enjoy the pretty papers and embossing. The center is simply decorated with a snowflake embossed mat and a flower made from a coffee filter and Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist. (I'm still in love with those!)

Sweet Angels Set:

I love the gorgeous shape of these! The boy is nestled on the middle layer, only seen when the mats are flipped to look at the interior treasures. To create a sparkly sky background, I colored it with blue Copics and then coated it in Stardust Stickles. I cut out pieces of sparkling white cardstock and embossed it to add some texture to the lovely ornament design. To coordinate with the silvery photo mats, I used silver Stickles for accents and hung the ornament on heavyweight silver thread. (I forgot the actual word.)

The girl angel is colored the same, though the non-Copic parts are changed to match her home. I cut out some pretty filigree paper to make the design match the Christmas paper mat. On this one, I used gold accents and gold thread... and then went crazy (again) with my iRock and added a smattering of crystal and light green rhinestones to the mat for an explosion of Christmas sparkle.

Lastly, the Gingerbread Cutie!

She's in her Christmas best! Sparkly shoes, a rhinestone belt, and Trendy Twine hair bows make her live up to her name. I try not to play favorites... but I am SO in love with this stamp! This demonstrates the beauty in Cindy's images because the stamps are so enjoyable to color and sparklify. For this square I used white ric-rac ribbon because it reminded me of icing zig zags on many gingerbread peeps.

I had so much fun making this explosion box, so a big thank you to Cindy for providing such wonderful inspiration. I'll be giving this to my mom on Thanksgiving so she can enjoy it early and fill it up as the holiday season progresses. :o)

Cindy is generously offering a grand prize to one random winner! If you stop at every blog participating in this hop and leave a comment for each designer, you will be eligible to win three digital stamps and a set of 12 Prisma Colored Pencils. :o)

I'm joining in the fun and offering some blog candy! One random winner will receive a gift certificate to My Craft Spot, one of my favorite crafty stores. :o) To be eligible, simply leave me a comment on this post. :o) I will select and announce the winner on Monday!

The first Scraptastic Monday challenge is on Monday, November 7th, at 10:00am EST. If you've never tried digis, no worries! Using one is NOT a requirement to play along with us each week! :o)

Your next stop is the marvelous Star (Star's Paper Passion)! Thank you for playing along with us as we celebrate the opening of Cindy's Scraptastic Designs! Have a blessed and sparkly weekend, my sweet friends!

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridges: Elegant Edges, Sweet Tooth Boxes
 * Cuttlebug embossing folders: Plaid and Snow from Winter Wonderland set, Swiss Dots
 * Stamps: Gingerbread Cutie, Sweet Angels Set, Sweet Gingerbread Tags (all from Cindy's Scraptastic Designs)
 * Paper: Core'dinations, Heidi Grace, Papertrey Ink, SEI
 * Spellbinders Shapeabilities: Fanciful Holiday (reindeer and Christmas trees)
 * Twine: Trendy Twine, purchased at My Craft Spot
 * Ribbon: Hobby Lobby
 * Miscellaneous: Glimmer Mist, iRock, Liquid Pearls, Stickles