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Friday, November 4, 2011

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

Photobucket

31 comments:

  1. Beautiful Creations.

    Hugs,
    Kate

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  2. This box is awesome! I love the embossing and the way you did up all the digis. Hugs- Glora

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  3. What a FABULOUS box! I love how you decorated the outside and the inside is AWESOME! I love what you did with the digi's. You colored them so beautifully!

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  4. Hi Karen,OMG FANTASTIC job with your box!I LOVE all the details and all my digi's,AMAZING!BEAUTIFUL work as always!Thank you so much for being part of my team my friend!:)

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  5. Amazing explosion box! I love all the details and all of Cindy's images are showcased perfectly!! Fantastic!!! Tfs and have a great day. :)

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  6. What an amazing box...wow, its so beautifully done!!! And I love how you colored Cindy's digis...really gorgeous!! I love visiting your blog...so many ideas and inspiration! Thanks!
    hugs,
    joni

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  7. Wow!!!! This is amazing, Karen! I love how you decorated the outside of the house. The digi stamps are adorable! All the details inside the box are incredible! So pretty! :)

    Karen
    craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com

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  8. I am just so totally impressed- I should be because you are so amazing Karen. But this is just about the cutest thing ever.... It's simply beautiful, so creative. Hugs from Ukiah

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  9. Hello Karen~wow! This is stunning.
    All the texture, dimension & fabulous color really highlight Cindy's fantastic digi stamps.
    GREAT JOB!
    Love this!
    Crafty best wishes,
    Sonia
    archivingangel@yahoo.com

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  10. I LOVE this Karen! I love explosion boxes anyway, but love the idea of putting a house on top instead of just a lid (I saw Amy's WOZ box too)! And you used so many of Cindy's cute images - love the way you colored them and all the embossing - just gorgeous! Your mom will love this I am sure :)

    rebeccadunham at hotmail dot com

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  11. Karen this is amazing. I just love the way you made the box look like a house. All of the colors are and the paper you chose are just gorgeous. Your coloring of Cindy's digis are stunning. All I can say is wow;)

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  12. Wow!!!!! You did not leave out a thing-this project is AMAZING my friend!! Your details are fabulous...I am in aaaaw-totally gorgeous! I am sure you have a lot of time into this but your end result is just fabulous!
    Sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

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  13. Karen this is beautiful.Your Mom is going to cherish it.Love all of the amazing details with your house and if that wasn't enough you then have the amazing explosion box.Beautiful colouring and sparkling of all of Cindy's adorable images.Gorgeous work my talented sweet friend.
    Jayne x

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  14. Oh Wow these are just amazing:) Sandra H

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  15. My Sweetest Sunshine, when I think about the heart and soul that went into this masterpiece this week, I feel my heart just about ready to burst in pride. This project sis is just everything perfection. It is 100 percent pure love and 100 percent pure squishiness all in the same tiny package. I am humbled when I think about how I have been awarded with the privilege of being able to witness the designing capabilities of such a world class designer. Your creative gift is exceptional Sunshine...and truly heaven blessed.

    Everytime I look at this super happy Christmas house and its magical holiday glow, I simply am left in awe. So many fine details...so many tiny components...all of which took so much patience, time and devotion. This house is a testament of just how magnificant your abilities are, Sunshine. It takes a special, special heart to see something like this through from the planning stage to completion. Truly sis, you have designed a holiday gift that will make your mommy the happiest mother on earth this Christmas. *hugglers you madly*

    *knocks on the door of the happy house and asks the happy gingerbread peeps if they have any extra yummy holiday treats to share* TEE HEE!

    "A gift opens doors; it gives access to the great" Proverbs 18:16

    Forever love...
    Christina :)

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  16. WOW, this is amazingly cute!!! Love it & love all the digis you colored! Happy to be a new follower!
    Puppy Hugs,
    Wendy aka Roo

    wendydotroos2boysatgmaildotcom

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  17. EEEEK! This is fantastic! I LOVE IT!!

    Oh Karen, my sweet, crafty, ambitious friend, you have once again outdone yourself! You have taken Cindy's designs to a whole new level - she couldn't ask for a better method of showcasing her digis than your fabulous Christmas explosion box!

    I don't even know where to begin. I don't. I love everything, from the bling, and the glitter, and the twine, and the buttons, and the paper, and colours, and the embossing...it's just all so GOOD. And how about the fact that it all starts out as a little house decked out for the holidays?!! How COOL is that?! I am so envying your Mom right now.

    Well done, my friend! :)

    Nita

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  18. karen this is a stunning box and you did a super job with cindys digis. cute lil sparkly shoes on the gingerbread girl :) great embossing too :) have a fun day :)

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  19. Oh Karen! Where do I start? I may be speechless... Just stunning from the top of the embossed snowflake roof to those adorable images on the ornaments. Every piece of glitter, button, and ribbon is perfectly placed and is just marvelous! You are just SOOOO clever and crafty my friend! I LOVE this so very much!
    Shelly
    http://mypaperlove.blogspot.com/

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  20. WOW, Karen, this is stunning!! What an awesome explosion box!! All of your details are just amazing!! Those digis could not be cuter and you showed them off to perfection!! I am just in awe of you!! Your design is absolutely fabulous my creative friend!!

    Lisa :)
    indymermaid.blogspot.com

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  21. WOW, I love it. TFS

    alvinadiaz@msn.com

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  22. Oh my goodness, this little house is amazing, I LOVE it! I have never seen a project like this. How neat is it that it "explodes" open to reveal all the cuteness inside. Your Mom is going to LOVE this!
    The digi images from Cindy are so cute and you did such amazing coloring (as usual!)
    Thank you so much for the opportunity to win some blog candy, that is so sweet of you!
    xx

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  23. WOW Karen!! Absolutely LOVE how you have the angel digi in the ornament! Just LOVE all your fabulous projects! Now a new follower and would love for you to visit me at www.trailoftreasures.com

    Hugs,
    Tracey

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  24. Such a brilliant idea and a very fantastic creation!

    Buy WoW Account

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  25. So amazing. Love what you did and the stamps look brilliant. Cindy will be keeping you FOREVER on her team. LOVE it so much. Now... where's that Whimsical Wednesday post I came to see before I got distracted with more of your awesomeness?

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Thank you for leaving some love! Have a beautifully blessed day. :o)

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