My Craft Spot Guest Designer: Shadow Box Book Card!

Happy Friday, my sweet friends! I am ecstatic to be guest designing today at My Craft Spot! It is truly an honor and I am so thankful for this unexpected blessing. I adore Kimberly and her talented DT, where inspiration always abounds. :o) For an extra special treat, there is a wonderful giveaway at the end of this post!

Inspired by several of Kimberly's goodies, I combined the true meaning of Christmas with the beautiful whimsy of the season. For this special occasion, I created a Shadow Box Book Card for a dear friend. (For the structure, I followed a fantastic tutorial by Delightfully Crazy.)

The papers throughout this book card are from Bo Bunny's Silver and Gold collection. For the spine of my 'book,' I heat-embossed one of the snowy flourishes from My Craft Spot's Ornate Labels-Christmas. That same stamp set graces my cover (repeatedly), where I heat-embossed the golden label outline and cut it out with the coordinating Ornate Labels metal dies. The sweet holly flourish is centered with garnet rhinestones and I couldn't resist using the holly jolly sentiment. :o)

A closer peek!

My MCS focal point is bordered with Wild Orchid Crafts roses and surrounded by a flurry of glamour-dusted snowflakes from Cheery Lynn Designs. The metal filigree corners are also from WOC, which I heat-embossed with gold embossing powder.

Inside, heavenly joy encourages a Christmas dance!

The gorgeous sentiment is from MCS's Joy To The World stamp set, surrounded in pearly snow and golden elegance. It is stamped upon a Marianne Design's die, Petra's Heart (LR0280). The embossed portions are sponged in Scattered Straw for a warm Christmas glow. I created a frame for the page using the Anastasia Border die from Cheery Lynn Designs, a technique I first saw many moons ago Cheery Lynn's blog.

For the shadow box part of my book card, I designed a scene from my heart. The glorious Christmas star (from the Silhouette Online Store) has turned the wintry landscape golden and inspires a ballet dance of pure love.

The joyous Christmas dancer:

The ballerina is a Marianne Design's die, Ballerina 2 (LR0166). I made her a tutu of white lace (the same as the book's border) and accented it with festive red and green rhinestones. I used crystalline gems for the waist and straps of her costume. The pearl-dusted snowdrift that she dances upon is another MD die, Fancy Edge with Lattice (LR0202). The golden lace framing the scene was purchased on eBay... I was determined to find just the right one for this project. ;)

The back, finished off with one more MD metal die. I used one of the dies from Anja's Vintage Ornaments 2 (LR0270) to act as hinges. This project was a joy to create and I hope my friend loves it as much as I do. :o) (I confess I will miss having this!) ;)

**STAMP SET GIVEAWAY!!!**

One of the many things I appreciate about Kimberly is her generosity! Do you want to be entered to win a My Craft Spot stamp set of your choice? Simply leave me a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite My Craft Spot stamp set is and you will be entered! How sweet is that?! I will draw and announce the lucky winner on Friday, December 13th!

Thank you for pirouetting on by and sharing in my excitement! I wish you a sparkly day. :o)

Challenges entered:

 *Cheery Lynn Designs~ Tis the Season (I used Snowflakes and Anastasia Border dies)

 *Crafty Ribbons~ Spots or Stripes

 *Created With Love~ Christmas

 *Divas by Design~ Feeling Festive

 *Love to Create~ Holiday Gift/3-D Project

 *Make It Monday~ Anything Goes

 *Marianne's Design Divas~ Charm and/or Ribbon (I used dies LR0166, 0202, 0270, and 0280)

 *Papertake Weekly~ Anything Goes

 *Twist of Faith~ Baubles and Bells