Friday, November 27, 2009

Tilda Sitting with Candy at Just Magnolia!!!! AND A little bit of Christmas Sweet Stuff!!!


Happy Day Everyone!!! I hope that everyone is ready for a splendid weekend!!! I was going to hold this post until tomorrow but I am too excited!! lol

As a follow-up to my last post, I would like to show you my first DT card for Just Magnolia Challenge Blog. I am still pinching myself in disbelief that I would get such a thrilling and humbling invitation to be a regular DT on this marvelously talented team!! This week we were given a marvelously fun sketch by Martine. I hope that you will join us this week and let us see your interpretation of this wonderful sketch...The only requirement is that you use a Magnolia stamp...How fun is that???!!!????

I used Bazzill for the base, SU for all matting, and all the DP is from Websters Pages which I have completely fallen for! This darling little girl is Tilda Sitting With Candy from Magnolia-licious. And all of these Christmas cuties have arrived so you need to rush right over and see what Diana still has in store!!! Tilda is stamped twice and colored with Copics and propped up for more dimension. To the front I added some MS border trim, a Santa charm, turquoise organza ribbon, a bouquet of flowers resting on MS punched branches, and turquoise rhinestones to the corners. Behind Little Tilda I used some gorgeous flourish stamps by Stempelglede--a very special gift from a very special friend!!!

The same papers were used on the inside of the card...On the first panel I decorated the tree with a touch of Stickles and Liquid Pearls...and on the jotting panel I just added a metal corner piece and glitter tree. Both panels were finished with turquoise rhinestones.



And now, so that you can join in my celebration for being invited to join the Just Magnolia Design Team, I would like for you to leave a comment and either mention this Sweet Stuff on your blog or place on your sidebar!! Good Luck...and just in time for those holiday cards, too!!! The last date for comments will be Thursday, December 3, at 8PM EST.



A red Ho Ho Ho Bag filled with:
3 Tilda stamps from the NEW Christmas Collection
A Pack of Magnolia Papers
A Pack of Silk Glittered Snowflakes
A Pack of Good Tidings Snowflakes
A Handful of Christmas Charms

Thank you so much for dropping by to see what's happening in my world!! I love to read your comments and hope you will come by often!! Enjoy your evening and have a magnificent weekend!!!! Maggie hugs for all!!

What an Angel at Friday Sketchers 80!!


Happy Friday everyone and I hope that those of you in the US have had a magnificent Thanksgiving Holiday and for those you you outside the US I trust that you have had a most delightful week as well. Thanksgiving always makes me remember so many things to be thankful for and perhaps it is one of my very favorite holidays. So my sincere thanks to each of you for your friendship, your visits, your sweet comments and most of all for just being YOU!!!

And for a bit of exciting news!!!! I am so thrilled and extremely humbled that I have been invited to be on the most talented and exciting Design Team for Magnolia stamps---Just Magnolia Challenge Blog!!! Gosh, I am so excited because I have received so much of my inspiration on my Magnolia journey from these fellow design team members!!! I will make my first posting tomorrow and will be offering a bit of MAGNOLIA Sweet Stuff so you can help me celebrate this monumental invitation!!

This week at Friday Sketchers for Week 80 we are being hosted by the splendidly talented Tanja from Germany who has given us a very challenging sketch. I certainly hope you will jump over and have a look at the marvelous sample cards by the DT members and will then create your own card based upon this fun sketch. We would love for you to participate with us this week because some lucky person will win a very nice prize. Just be sure to link us to your posting with MrLinky and remember to link back to Friday Sketchers in your posting in order to be eligible for the prize!!!

For my card, I have used Bazzill for the base, gold metallic and Coredinations for all matting and the DP is some that I have really fallen in love with--Webster's Pages Petite Papers/Holiday Collection Combo Pack. I have used a new Hanglar angel image (thank you so much, Christina) which is just the sweetest thing!! Three of the images were colored and all of them cut out so that I could give her alot of dimension. I used a bit of Spica on her hairpiece, Smooch and Shimmerz on the ornament she is holding, and Shimmerz on her wings. After machine stitching with gold metallic thread, I added burgundy organza ribbon, a few glitter stars, a burgundy gardenia from Irene's Garden, and an angel charm tied with gold cording....finishing with gold beads in the corners. I hope you like her!!!!

AND now it is a real pleasure to announce the winner of my Belles 'n Whistles Sweet Stuff. My sincere thanks to each of you who dropped by during the blog hop and left a comment for me. CONGRATULATIONS to

Tanya Rudd said...
Nothing like all that red and green to get us in the Christmas Spirit. You are on my sidebar, and I hope more people come visit.
Hugs,
Tanya
P.S what beautiful art you have created, I can see all the love you put in it.

November 23, 2009 9:19 AM

Tanya, please contact me before Sunday, November 29, at 12 noon EST or I will select another winner....

Thank you all so much for coming by to visit me and for leaving your comments!!! As I said above, please drop by tomorrow and see what's in store for you to help me celebrate my invitation to join the DT at Just Magnolia...Have a magnificent weekend...and until the next time...big hugs!!!!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Christmas Hearth at Belles 'n Whistles Blog Hop and a Bit of Sweet Stuff, Too!!!



Happy Monday and welcome to Belles 'n Whistles Blog Hop where Summer is giving away a COMPLETE set of the new release stamps to some lucky hopper!! If you have arrived here first I would like to direct you to the Belles 'n Whistles Blog to begin the Hop. If you have arrived here from the gorgeous creations on Kathrin's blog, then we can hop right along!!

We are all thrilled to introduce you to the new release of beautiful Elisabeth Bell Holiday stamps at Belles 'n Whistles. The theme for this hop is Holiday Gifts/Gift Wrap--we were asked to decorate a gift bag or create a holiday gift using one of the images. For my projects I used the absolutely darling "Christmas Hearth" which will be available (along with all of the new release stamps) for pre-order TODAY, with shipping beginning the first of December. Since the holidays are right upon us, the supply of these stamps will be limited so I urge you to run over as soon as possible to make your selections!!!

For my card, I CASE'd a card I received from the magnificently talented Claudia, used Bazzill for the base, SU for all matting, and all DP is from SEI and a gift from the lovely and very creative Suzan. The images are all colored with Copics and I used the same ribbons and trims on all of the projects.

To match my card, I made a red sateen tote bag by increasing the size of the image and painting it with thinned acrylic paints.



Both the front and back of the tote is decorated...one side is the darling Christmas Hearth and the back, a decorated green felt Christmas tree.



You can see that I have added charms and buttons and bows and clay figures and flowers galore to both the card and the tote bag.


The format of the inside of this card style allows alot of creativity for a jotting spot. Of course I placed it in the traditional position rather than on the undecorated flap.





AND Now for some SWEET STUFF to let you know how much I appreciate your participating in our Belles 'n Whistles Blog Hop and to get both you and me into the real holiday spirit. I love Christmas so I wanted to give you a chance to win all things Christmas-y. I also wanted to use the extra images, so I decorated several acrylic boxes with the darling Christmas Hearth images. All I am asking you to do is make a comment here and mention the sweet stuff on your sidebar if you have a blog. I will ship worldwide. The winner will be selected on Friday, November 27 at 12:01 AM EST...Good Luck!!


6X6 Christmas Scrapbook Kit
Set of Martha Stewart Christmas Gift Tag Stamps
Box of Holiday Ribbons
Box of Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Sticks
Box of Holiday Epoxy Stickers
Box of Red and Green Flowers
Box of Red/Green/White Tulle
CutterBee Bugs Collection

Whew!! And NOW, to continue the hop, please go over to see the absolutely beautiful creations that Lynda has made for us to see -- I have already had a peek and they are just darling!!!!!

Thank you so much for dropping by to see what's happening here today...it is always a joy and I love to read what you say about my creations. Have a wonderful week and be safe.....Big Hugs!!!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tilda Wants a Smooch Under the Mistletoe at Friday Sketchers 79



Gosh, we have finally made it to Friday...So Happy Day!! After several days of dreary rain, it finally looks like a delightful weekend here. For those of you who are already having snow...I am NOT envious!! And I know that many of the US folks will be busy this weekend preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday. So I wish everyone a wonderful weekend, wherever you are and whatever you might be doing!!

Friday Sketchers 79 is being hosted this week by the supremely talented and lovely Jeanette from Canada who has provided us with a fun and challenging sketch. We would love for you to visit us at Friday Sketchers to see the sample cards made by the marvelous Design Team Members and then join us this week in sharing your interpretation of Jeanette's sketch. Please be sure to link your posting using MrLinky and then link back to Friday Sketchers in your posting.

For my DT Sample Card, I have used Bazzill for the base, SU for all double matting, and the DP is all Best Creation compliments of Suzan. That darling little Tilda Under the Mistletoe is from the new Christmas Collection and is arriving very soon at Magnolia-licious and she is just darling!!! And who wouldn't want to give her a little smooch with two pockets full of delicious looking cookies????

Tilda was stamped twice and colored with Copics on Cryogen White. One was cut out and propped up on dimensional tape, then adding Diamond Glaze to her shoes (along with mini pearls), cookies, and mistletoe berries. For the horizontal treatment I used red tulle and a ribbon with contrasting dots to the DP underneath. The front was finished off with a couple of pins, dew drops, holly charm and tiny red rhinestones.


The inside is very simple using the same DP and ribbons and with the addition of several simple MS holly and bells stickers.

AND NOW.......


CONGRATULATIONS to Jodie from Oz who is the winner of my Magnolia-licious Blog Hop Sweet Stuff!!! My sincere thanks to everyone for participating in the Blog Hop on Monday and for leaving a comment on my blog. Jodie please contact me before Sunday, November 22 at Noon EST or I will have to select another winner.

Just a reminder that I am participating in a Belles 'n Whistles Blog Hop on Monday, November 23 to introduce the new line of Elisabeth Bell's Christmas Stamps...so I hope you can all come and visit. There might even be lots of surprises along the way!!

My sincere thanks to each of you for dropping by today and I hope you will let me know what you think about my card. I wish for you a marvelous weekend and will look forward to the next time we meet. Take care and be safe...Big hugs...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Blogaversary Sweet Stuff Winner!!!!



Happy Wednesday Everyone! And my sincere thanks to all of you who have visited my blog and left comments to help me celebrate my Blog Anniversary. I was really touched by the number of visitors and the kind remarks you all had to share. But since there can only be one winner I wanted to share with you that I have some additional tiny sweet stuff on my blog now which will be selected on Friday AND I plan to have some Belles 'n Whistles sweet stuff on Monday. Because there were almost 900 comments I went through very carefully to remove duplicates and triplicates before selecting the winner using Random.Org and that winner is:

Diamond Doll said...
Firstly i am sending ((Hugs)) for you and your Dad and secondly congrats on the Blogaversary and 58,000 Hits Whoo Hoo.I have become a follower and think your blog is great you have some wonderful creations to see with lots of inspiration.I have linked your candy on my sidebar
Thanx for the chance of winning this Yummy candy especially those MS Punches.
Trish (-:

November 3, 2009 7:17 PM

Trish, CONGRATULATIONS!!! And please contact me by email before Friday at 12:01 EST or I will have to select another winner. It looks like this sweet stuff may be on its way across the BIG WATER to the United Kingdom!!!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Winter Forest for Magnolia-licious Blog Hop AND Some Sweet Stuff Too!!!!


Happy Monday!!! And welcome to the Accessories Make The Card Blog Hop at Magnolia-licious. If you have just arrived here, remember to go over to Magnolia-licious Highlites to check out all of the instructions and to see what prizes you can win on that site. The DT members were asked to create a card that ONLY uses accessory stamps from Magnolia (no big animals, snowman, characters, etc).

For my card I have used Winter Forest from Magnolia-licious which now has a new ECommerce website and I know will make it much easier for you to shop and see the stamps. The web site address is the same as always. Winter Forest is from the Santa Collection 2008 and has been one of my favorites...but of course they all are!! lol

The base of the card is Bazzill, the matting is all Prismatics, and the DP is from the new Magnolia "White Christmas Collection"--Frosty Fir and Winter Wonderland. These are also available at Magnolia-licious in the Christmas Paper Pack. I distressed the cut edges of the DP with white acrylic paint before machine stitching all panels. The trees are stamped and cut out of Cryogen White, colored with Copics and propped up on dimensional tape. I then added Liquid Applique and glitter before heating. Finally, I added aqua organza ribbon, a thin gold trim and a bow with pine dangle and three pins that I also colored with Copics and pearl brads to the corners.


For the inside of my card, I used a Magnolia Christmas Background from the new collection stamped in MS ink and more organza ribbon and bow...For the jotting panel I added several Swarovski gems for some sparkle...I finished both panels with more Aqua pearls. As you can see below I also made a matching Papier Mache box.

And now for some sweet stuff for you!!! I have made a Magnolia Christmas bracelet and would like for you to have a chance at winning the bracelet, card, and matching box filled with Gold and Silver primas. Just leave a comment and the winner will be selected by Random.org on Friday at 12:01 AM EST.





Thank you so much for visiting me today!! You know that I always love to hear what you have to say about my playthings!!! And I would like for you to know that I appreciate your comments so much. The next stop on your merry way will be at Suzanne's and hopefully you will enjoy your hop as you visit all of the very talented DT members of Magnolia-licious. Please come back and see me again very soon...Have a marvelous week and Maggie hugs to each of you!!!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Snowie With Bells



A happy Saturday and a very nice weekend to each of you!! After the several days of rain after Ida it is absolutely a gorgeous day for being outside. I hope that your world is as nice!!

This is my Magnolia-licious DT sample sketch card which uses the fun sketch provided by the very talented Kerry and is available for you to use this month over at Magnolia-licious Highlites.

The base of the card is Bazzill, matting is Prismatics and glitter paper, and the DP is the from the Magnolia White Christmas Collection--Snowy Heaven and Snowy Lace. The image I have used is the absolutely darling Snowman with Bells from this year's Christmas collection over at Magnolia-licious. I stamped Snowie on Cryogen White and colored him with Copics as well as Silver, Gold and Lilac Spicas. The puffy trim on his bolero is Liquid Applique and the ground is Polar White FlowerSoft. The major panels were machine stitched. To complete the front I added lavender organza ribbon and bow, lavender rhinestones to soften corners, a punched double snowflake with glitter and a dangling silver snowman. The solid white panel is glitter paper using the CB Snowflake folder.


For the inside I used more of the same as the front and added more glitter snowflakes and a dangling snowflake at the jotting spot. You can see the beauty of the Magnolia papers on the inside much better than on the front of the card. These papers are so substantial and very nice to work with. They are also shown at Magnolia-licious.

Thank you so much for coming by and I hope you will return again and again. I would love to know what you think of Little Snowie. I have seen lots of cute snowmen but I think these Maggies are the cutest ever!!!! Hopefully you are enjoying your weekend and until we meet again, Magnolia-licious hugs for each of you!!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

An Adorable Wrapped Tilda at Friday Sketchers 78



Happy Friday, Everyone!!! I hope that each of you has had a wonderful week and are planning a very productive yet fun weekend! I have been away for several days and I am very happy to report that there has been some improvement in my Dad!! So my sincere thanks to each of you for your thoughts, best wishes, and prayers!

Today is Week 78 of Friday Sketchers and I am happy to tell you that I am hosting this week. So please come on over and join us by using my sketch and linking your card back to us with Mr Linky. I would just love to see your interpretation of the sketch!! You are welcome to turn the sketch any way you might wish and just have fun with it. Please remember to link back to Friday Sketchers in your posting in order to be eligible for the wonderful prize from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.

For my DT sample card I used Bazzill for the base and all matting is Dark Sage Prismatics and SU Real Red. The DP is from the new Magnolia "Under The Mistletoe Collection"--Lingonberry and Green Christmas Plaid (though I call them checks...lol) These papers are available for pre-order at Magnolia-licious as the Christmas-Winter Paper Pack. All panels are machine stitched after distressing the DP with white acrylic paint...I tried all kinds of white inks and they just did not work as well as the paint. Of course, this may just be my preference. This darling little Tilda is Wrapped Tilda from the new Christmas Collection this year over at Magnolia-licious. This collection is just gorgeous so you better hop over there and see for yourself!!!

Tilda was stamped twice, colored with Copics (see below), and cut out so that I could prop her up with dimensional tape. She also has a bit of Christmas Red Stickles on the big bow. I added a wide red satin picot ribbon, then dark olive satin ribbon, and topped them with a narrow red velvet ribbon. Finally I added red poinsettias which I covered with Shimmerz and placed red rhinestone poinsettias in the centers, a velvet bow with a silver stocking charm, and red dew drops to the corners.



On the inside of the card, the panels are also machine stitched. On the first panel I added smaller poinsettias also painted with Shimmerz and Gold Stickles centers and the same ribbons as the front. On the second panel I added ribbons and for the jotting panel I used the Christmas Lingonberry stamp from the Magnolia Christmas 2008collection and a small red velvet bow.

These are the Copics used for both Tilda and the Lingonberry.

For my fellow Maggie lovers, I would like to share with you that the DT of Magnolia-licious will be having a blog hop on Monday, November 16 so I hope you can drop by and see what we have done with some of our Maggie accessory stamps. You know how much I love to see you here!!!


Thank you so much for dropping by to see what's happening in my world today!! I appreciate each of you much more than I can ever tell you. I love to read what you have to say about my projects and hope you will return often. May you all have a delightful weekend and until the next time...bunches of Maggie hugs!!!!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Tilda With The Most Darling Christmas Piglet at Friday Sketchers77


Happy Friday, everyone!!! I hope that you have had a magnificent week and are looking forward to a fun weekend!! I am so happy that you have decided to visit me today and I always look forward to your visits!!

Today is Friday Sketchers 77 and we are hosted by the magnificently talented Jacqueline of The Netherlands who has definitely given us a holiday sketch this week!! I hope that you will drop over and see the wonderful sample cards of the other DT members and will play along with us this week for a very nice prize! Remember to link your card using MrLinky and then be sure to link back to Friday sketchers in order to be eligible for the week's prize

For my card, I used Bazzill CS for the base, all matting is Bazzill and glittered red paper, and all DP is from last year's BoBunny Tis The Season Collection. I also used Magnolia's Tilda with Piglet from the new Christmas collection which can be pre-ordered at Magnolia-licious right now so you may want to go fast because this collection should be coming in just any day!!

As soon as I saw this image, I thought Tilda was just the cutest thing holding that darling pig but I had no idea why a PIG for Christmas???? We all know that Magnolias are made in Sweden so we have to look a little bit deeper to find the significance of the pig. As it turns out, pork makes up a strikingly large proportion of Christmas fare in Sweden and all of Scandinavia, and visitors sometimes wonder why the Swedes have to celebrate the Christmas season by eating pig meat. The historical reason is that, for a long time, salt pork was the meat ration for the Swedes all the year round. Pigs were slaughtered in the autumn, when they were fattest, the pork was preserved in brine, and would then have to last until the following autumn. One or two "Christmas pigs" were held over from the autumn butchering, however, and reprieved until Lucia. Christmas was the only time of the year when people could eat fresh meat, which in those days was the height of enjoyment. No such considerations apply nowadays, but the tradition of the marzipan pig given for a prize still remains. Families treat children to a special rice porridge and at Christmas an almond is hidden in the mix. The child who discovers it wins the marzipan pig as a surprise--a gift reminiscent of olden times when a peasant family's wealth was tied up in its precious pig. What a wonderful tradition!!!! As a matter of fact one of the national symbols of Norway is the pig!!!!

Now back to my card....all major panels were machine stitched, the snowflakes were cut with the Pink Chirper using Joys of the Season, and Tilda and Piglets were colored with Copics. On the front I also used PTI Pure Poppy dotted ribbon to match the inside of the card, several red rhinestones, and, from the bows, I dangled a couple of cute little pig charms which I bought several months ago with no idea that I would ever use them!!!


The inside of the card is more of the same with the addition of the cutest little Papilio Piglet with a red dotted bow around her neck. Notice that I also added a couple of matching tiny gold bells to the bow above the jotting spot

For those of you who have requested it, these are the Copics I used for this card as well as a tiny touch of Gold Spica for the bells.

My sincere thanks to you for coming by and I hope you will return again and again. May your weekend be a most delightful one and until we meet again, great big Maggie hugs for you!!!!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Papilio and Some Sweet Stuff for YOU from a Happy ME!!!!



A very Happy Monday, everyone!! I would like to thank everyone who has written of your concerns about my Dad. He is out of the hospital and back in the Life Care Center but is not doing well at all. He is very confused and has alot of difficulty with mobility...can't use a fork or spoon now and can't pick up a glass...So he is back in therapy to see if there will be any improvement. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts.

I am hoping that you find this posting a special one because it is special to me for a couple of reasons!! I am very humbled that Siv at Steffens AS, a marvelous shop in Norway, asked me to showcase a Papilio stamp and she even made all arrangements for me to receive this lovely collection...Thank, Siv!! Hugs, and congratulations on your 3 year anniversary of the shop. This just may be the very first preview of this darling Nisse in all of Cyberia...lol

For my card I used Bazzill for the base, Prismatics and SU for all matting, and the DP is the new, gorgeous SEI Christmas Mint Collection which was a gift from Suzan. I machine stitched all major panels in RED. All coloring is Copics and Spica. I have used Crushed Velvet for all of the snow and all charms and dew drops are from Jayne at Crafty Feeling.

When I first received the stamps I thought that they were Santa but upon closer examination and research I find that this cute and sweet Nisse is really a little gnome who at Christmastime guards all of the farm animals and plays tricks on the children if they forget to place a bowl of porridge out for him. I even had to find out how to color him...red cap, dark knickers, a tweedy sweater or vest and gray beard. So I hope that all of my Scandinavian friends will let me know how I did!!

NOTE: The incredibly talented Malin is the designer of this stamp and leaves a comment below to give a bit more information on Nisse. Malin, thank you so much for such a kind, sweet, and informative comment.


On the front I also used some lovely poinsettias which I colored with Fire Engine Red Shimmerz, some red flower trim that I made into mini-poinsettias with dots of acrylic paint in the centers, a new MS garden trellis deep edge punch, a touch of sparkle trim, and red organza ribbon. If I forget anything, just email me!!



On the inside of the card, just more of the same BUT I also used another stamp from the collection on the jotting spot...this time the Christmas Goat which is really another gnome but dressed as a goat like creature...both of these traditions harken back to Viking times and are precursors to St Nicholas. These little goats are traditionally made from the last shafts of the harvest crops and symbolize the power of rejuvenation (I need lots of these...lol) and fertility (and none of these....hahah)

Gosh I love to read about these traditions from all of the countries...sooooo interesting!!!! So I hope you have enjoyed hearing about them in a synopsis form!!

AND now for the other SPECIAL reason for this post:
(although I am about a week late)

I am celebrating my 6 month Blog Anniversary and I am so happy and humbled that I have had more than 58,000 visits and have more than 340 Followers!! Thank you so much to each of you!!! So I would like to give you an opportunity to win a Holiday Package from me which you see below!!!


Martha Stewart 2009 Snowmen Edge Punch
Martha Stewart 2009 Himalayan Snowflake Punch
Martha Stewart 2009 Ornament Edge Punch
BG Eskimo Kisses 6X6 Paper Pad
BG Eskimo Kisses Painted Brads
BG Eskimo Kisses Colored Buttons
BG Eskimo Stitched Brads
5 yards Matching Ribbons
4 Matching Stickles
1 Magnolia Christmas Stamp of your choice from Magnolia-licious
1 Belles 'n Whistles Christmas Stamp of your choice from Belles 'n Whistles
Collection of gold and silver Christmas charms

In order to be eligible for the Sweet Stuff, I am asking that you leave a comment for me on this posting, that you consider being a follower, and that you mention and show the Holiday Package on your personal blog if you have one. I will select the winner with Random.Org at midnight on Sunday, November 15 at Midnight EST. I will ship world-wide. Good luck!!!

Thank you so much for dropping by to see me today and please know that I always love to hear from you. May you have a delightful week and return to see me often...Big hugs from me to YOU!!!