Christmas Tag, Exciting News, and WINNER!

Happy Friday, my dear friends! I hope you're having a lovely day. :o)

Before I share my tag and announce the My Craft Spot stamp set winner, I have some happy news! I have been invited to join the Design Team for the fantastic store 7 Kids College Fund! This is such an unexpected blessing and I remain a wee bit in shock. :o) They carry a plethora of inspiring crafty lines and the DT is bursting with talent. This is truly an honor and I'm excited for this new adventure! My first DT project will be on January 1st. What a way to start a new year. :o)

I made a quick tag to coordinate with the Christmas card I created for my sweet parents! I used different cuts, but kept the same wintry theme.

A closer peek at the jingling reindeer and filigree tree:

For the base of my tag, I used Spellbinders Gold Labels Four. The musical paper is from K and Company, while the snowy brown paper is from Memory Box. I used a few beautiful cut files from the Silhouette Online Store to create my little scene: the frolicking reindeer, filigree Christmas tree, and lovely poinsettia. The poinsettia is centered with a Wild Orchid Crafts scalloped pearl and each layer of petals is separated with foam tape for dimension. The tree is adorned with red and green Recollections rhinestones.

The blanket of snowflakes are from Cheery Lynn Designs, which I covered in Glamour Dust. The sentiment is from My Craft Spot's Joy to the World stamp set, which is cut out with Kimberly's Tiny Tags metal dies. The Peppermint Stick trendy twine securing the jingly bell is also from MCS. Although unseen in the picture, I used a tiny black pearl for the reindeer's eye. I hope they enjoy their little tag. :o)

And now for the WINNER! Thank you all for the beautiful comments on my shadow box book card! The winner of a My Craft Spot stamp set of your choice (generously donated by Kimberly) is...

DIANA L.! 

Congratulations, Diana! Zip me an email with your address and stamp set choice to claim your prize. :o)

Thank you for visiting! Have a blessed and sparkly day. :o)

Challenges entered:

 *Craft Your Passion~ Let It Snow

 *Crafty Catz~ Anything Goes

 *Die Cuttin' Divas~ Tag It

 *DL.Art Thankful Thursday~ Christmas

 *Fab 'n' Funky~ Snowflakes

 *Make It Monday~ Anything Goes

 *Paper Playtime~ Winter Fun

 *Papertake Weekly~ Christmas Creatures

 *Pile It On~ P is for... (Pearls, Poinsettia)

 *Simon Wednesday Challenge~ Let It Snow

Winter Birthday

Hello, my dear friends! I hope you're having a wonderful week. :o)

With the busy-bee days leading up to Christmas, it's not often I get cards made for December birthdays. (The shame!) I was determined this year, so I carved out some time to make a wintry birthday card. :o)

This precious Wee Stamps image is called Friendship is the Greatest Gift, available in rubber and digi. I've colored the sweet friends with my Copics, adding Glamour Dust, Star Dust, and Polar White Flower Soft to certain areas. There's a significant amount of Glamour Dust throughout the card, but I fear I didn't capture that well in the photographs. It's so twinkly in person! :o) I colored all of the berries purple and sparkly to make them sugar plums. :o) The image is layered atop a Spellbinders Picot Edge Circle.

The papers are from Recollections' Le Ballet paper pad, which is a personal favorite. I love the purples and greens. The sweet Heart Banner is from La La Land Crafts, which I cut out with coordinating paper atop a snowy white layer. All but one of the snowflakes are from Cheery Lynn Designs, which are covered in Glamour Dust and centered with a rhinestone. The largest snowflake is from the Silhouette Online Store.

I wanted to send some flowers to the birthday girl, so I turned to my favorite Pink Mist roses from Wild Orchid Crafts. A few of them center snowflakes for wintry delight, including the one securing my sentiment from Pink Gem Designs' Vintage Occasion Sentiment set. The flower arrangement rests atop a Cheery Lynn Mini Fanciful Flourish and a couple fluttering snowflakes.

A peek at the snowy interior:

It felt strange making a non-Christmas project! ;) Thank you for fluttering on by! I wish you a day of sunshine and festive treats. :o)

Challenges entered:
 *7 Kids College Fund~ Anything Goes (Image and 3 dies available at 7 Kids)
 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Calendar)
 *A Gem of a Challenge~ Anything Goes
 *Allsorts~ Anything but Christmas
 *Card Crafter's Circle~ Celebrations
 *Craft Your Passion~ Let It Snow
 *Crafty Catz~ Use 2 or More Dies (I used 5!)
 *Fussy and Fancy~ Hearts
 *Make It Monday~ Anything Goes
 *Pile It On~ P is for... (Purple, Pink, Present)
 *Stamp and Create~ Anything Goes

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