Scraptastic Monday Challenge: Folds!

Happy Monday, my sweet friends! :o)

Today is another fabulous Scraptastic Monday at Cindy's Scraptastic Designs! The requirements this week are to create any fold card you like, but not a shape card or an A2 single fold... and it also must include ribbon and a cut from a die, Cricut, or a punch. Remember, while we'd love for you to use a wonderful image from Cindy, it is NOT a requirement. You don't even need to use any digital stamp at all, if you so choose. Simply follow the theme in whatever manner you desire! I hope you'll play along. :o)

At first I was a wee bit of a scaredy cat because I decided to challenge myself with something new! :o) Using Cindy's precious Sweet Snowman Love digi stamp, I created my first Swinging Z-Fold card:

Partially open:

Fully open, with the middle panel viewable where I'll be writing my message:

Lastly, a closer picture of Cindy's adorable stamp that I colored with Copics:

Despite being more of an adventure than I planned, this card was such a joy to make. The swinging element is way more fun than it probably should be... I may need to give this card early just so I stop playing with it. ;) It's a lovely fancy fold technique that I think will be enjoyed by the recipient. :o) Here is the link to the tutorial I (basically) followed: Swinging Z-Fold Card.

Not only did Cindy's sweet image inspire a Christmas winter wonderland, but I also was able to use more birthday goodies! For the snowy sweethearts, I cut out their wintry neighborhood backdrop with my new Spellbinders Picot Edge Circles. The design works so well with a snowflake theme. I strategically selected which part of the Basic Grey paper to cut out... see the tree behind their sweet hands? If you look carefully at the base of the trunk, you'll discover the lovey dovey couple carved a heart to signify their love (using a Martha Stewart pen... they're resourceful). The tree is wrapped in Christmas lights (I adore this paper), just like their love that shines brightly as it stems forth from their heartfelt foundation. I sparklified lots of this scene, from the snowy pile surrounding them (how long have they been standing there holding hands?!) to dollops of sparkle in the sky, her hat and ruffly trims, scarf fringe, and oodles of other little extras. Her coat is colored with new Copics my boyfriend gave me for my birthday... a few gorgeous rose pinks! Love. Not detected well in the picture are the blue and purple rhinestone buttons on the snow peeps. :o)

When opened, more seasonal delight awaits. The deep green Noel ornament stamp is heat embossed with Alexandrite embossing powder. (I am so grateful for my heat embosser! Amazing gift.) I used two of the nested Picot Edge Circles for the ornament's base, the larger one trimmed in clear rhinestones and the smaller one trimmed in Christmas green sponged ink. I used my new jumbo sponge dauber and I love it! Such a small detail, but one I've longed to be able to do. Try as I may with the ink pads themselves, I was never able to make it look nice. Now with my trusty dauber, I had to resist from sponging my entire house! ;)

The center panel is sponged in Christmas red, with pretty corners from a Fiskars punch and a tiny snowflake embellishment. A smattering of sparkles can be found throughout all three sections, because this IS a sparkling season! Clear rhinestones center the Cricut snowflakes and accent the corners, then I added red and green sparkles to some of the flakes on the SEI paper. To finish it off, I used my sheer glitter ribbon for a puffy bow. :o)

I hope you'll play along with us this week by linking up your fold cards to the challenge home of Scraptastic Mondays: Cindy's Scraptastic Designs. I am excited to see your creations! :o) Hop on over to the challenge post to see the rest of the Design Team's projects and visit their fantastic blogs. This is truly an incredible group. :o)

Thank you for visiting me today! I hope your Thanksgiving week is off to a delicious and crafty start. (And for those outside of the US... eat extra dessert this week, just because.) :o)

Challenges entered (I am so thankful to be participating in them again!):
 * CES~ Snowflakes
 * Crafty Catz~ Snowflakes
 * Frosted Designs~ Die Cuts!
 * Just Some Lines~ Tic Tac Toe (How fun is this? I used embossing/ribbon/die cut)
 * Little Scrap Pieces~ Holiday
 * Paper Sundaes~ Beautiful Bows

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridge: Gypsy Wanderings
 * Spellbinders Nestabilities: Picot Edge Circles
 * Paper: Basic Grey, Core'dinations, Papertrey Ink, SEI
 * Digital stamp: Sweet Snowman Love, by Cindy's Scraptastic Designs
 * Copics: R81, R83, R85 (snowwoman's coat, hat accent); V12, V15, V17 (snowwoman's scarf, hat, mittens); B00, B02, B04, Y11, Y13, Y15 (snowman's scarf); Y11, Y13, Y17, R24, C3, C5 (snowman's hat); R20, R22, R24 (candy cane); YR01, YR12 (noses)
 * Noel ornament stamp: Inkadinkado
 * Ribbon: Casa Collection Special Occasion (JoAnn's)
 * Miscellaneous: Fiskars corner punch, iRock (clear rhinestones), Recollections green and red rhinestones, Stampendous Alexandrite embossing powder, Stickles, Studio G green and red ink