PSA Essentials & CottageCutz Holiday Card Blog Hop

Hi! and welcome to the PSA Essential and CottageCutz Holiday Card Blog Hop! Our two design teams have joined forces to bring you lots of holiday inspiration, along with a chance to win some fabulous prizes! You should have arrived from my friend Jeanne Streiff's blog, if not you may want to start at the beginning, so you don't miss a thing.

PRIZE PACKAGE DETAILS: Readers who hop to each of the blogs, comment at each, and are a follower of PSA Stamp Camp will be entere d to win the “Holiday Card” prize. This prize contains 3 Peel & Stick stamp sets, 1 stamper, 1 black ink & 1-2 color ink from PSA Essentials. The winn er will also receive a $50 gift certificate to The Scrapping Cottage for the gr and prize. There are also 9 opportunities to win a 3 x 3 die from T he Scrapping Cottage.

I made a Nativity scene using Nativity Set Mary, Joseph and Baby, and Nativity Set, Animals and the Nativity Angel. I put together a little paper creche to house my set, and just attached tabs to the back of the figures to make them stand up. I love how sweet this turned out!

Now it's time to hop along to Erika Taylor's blog - don't forget to leave comments along the way! If you get lost along the way - here's a full list of the hop participants:

· www.kcreatedbykay.blogspot.com - Kay Norman

· http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net - Angie Holden

· www.thethinkinspot.blogspot.com - Lorie Souther

· http://paperiepetals.blogspot.com - Kim Schofield

· www.maisymary.blogspot.com - Pearl Liu

· www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com - Vera Yates

· www.stampingwithjanice.blogspot.com - Janice Wilson

· www.simpleflourishes.com - Jennifer Holmes

· www.pinkcloudscrappers.blogspot.com - Lori Leng

· http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ - Jeanne Streiff

· www.ginicagle.blogspot.com - Gini Cagle

·· www.taylordconcepts.blogspot.com - Erika Taylor

· www.fantastink.blogspot.com - Meylssa Connolley

· www.handmadebyangelica.com - Angelica Suarez

· www.sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com - Cheryl Walker

· http://maearmstrong.blogspot.com - Mae Armstrong

· http://scrappingcottage.blogspot.com/ - The Scrapping Cottage

· www.psastampcamp.blogspot.com – PSA Essentials

Robin's Nest Wreath

I have a festive wreath to share with you today. I pulled out lots of Robin's Nest papers in fall colors and started cutting them with Filigree Fall Leaves die by CottageCutz. To give you an idea of the size of this piece, it is laying on a 12 x 12 sheet of paper - so it's pretty big. After I cut them all out, I put Scor-tape on a chipboard ring, and started attaching each leaf by the stem, and alternating leaning to the left, then to the right.

I finished the wreath off with a box and an Acorn Leaf Vine flourish.

Isn't it fun seeing all of those Robin's Nest papers together?

Here's a list of the ones that I used:
Distressed Honeycomb
Green Stencil
Glitter Leaf
Fleur Tropicana
Red Paisley
Glitter Brown on Brown

Creative Paperclay Verdi Angel Ornament

Do you like making your own Christmas ornaments? Here's one that I made using Creative Paperclay® modeling material. I had a pair of antique cherubs that I love, and thought they would be perfect as my model.

I made a mold of my angel using Amazing Mold Putty. Through trial and error, I figured out that my original angel had too many undercuts, and to make a cast of the full original just didn't work out how I had planned. But, my angel head, was perfect. So I just added the modeling material to that portion of the mold - making sure to press it firmly into all the details. I let it dry completely and then removed it.



I painted an undercoat of Creative Inspirations Paint in Emerald all over the cherub and let this dry.

Next, I rubbed Viva Decor Inka Gold (which is kind of waxy) all over the angel. Only little bits of the green base showed after I did this - and really helped to accentuate the fine details. I cut some wings using a Tim Holtz die and glued them to the back of the ornament.

I added a loop and bow to hang the finished piece, and now it's ready for my tree (although I'm not ready for my tree!)

Thanks for looking!

Friends With Flair Friday Hop

It's Friday, and that means it's time for another Friends With Flair Friday Hop with Unity Stamps. I love Samantha Walker's Blossom Stackers set - there are tons of ways to use these stamps. Today, it was perfect for a birthday card for my sweet husband (whose birthday is tomorrow!)

Thanks for looking!

Challenges:
Basic Grey: Go Bold With Color

Mark Your Calendars

I am so thrilled that I was chosen to be on the Scrap-Mart's DT for the next year! I've always loved shopping at Scrap-mart! Not only do they seem to always get the new Spellbinders before anyone else, they also always have the best prices - not only on Spellbinders, but Sizzix, Quickutz - and every other crafty thing your heart might desire! We will be starting things off with a bang with this year's Holiday Blog Hop. It will take place Dec. 5th-10th and will begin each day on the Scrap-Mart Blog. You will see projects from the current design team as well as be introduced to next year's designers (that's where I come in ). We will be joined in the hop by these great manufacturers:

Canvas Corp

Boss Kut

Heartfelt Creations

Sizzix

LaLa Land Crafts

JustRite Stampers

The Rubber Cafe

Want2Scrap

October Afternoon

Spellbinders (guest designer featured on our blog)

Not only will you get tons of holiday inspiration, each of these amazing companies will be giving away some fabulous prizes. Boss Kut is giving away a Gazelle digital cutter...a $529 value in itself!!! Trust me, this is one hop you won't want to miss!!!

So, mark your calendars and be sure to head to the Scrap-Mart blog on Monday, December 5th!

The Christmas Season is Officially Here!

Thanksgiving is officially behind us and Christmas-time is here! I hope you had a very blessed Thanksgiving and had time to enjoy your family and loved ones. We are all so blessed and it is so great to have a day that reminds us of that! But now, Christmas is really here - so let the carols play on the radio, let the tinsel sparkle, and let's finish all of those Christmas cards that we said we would finish in July, and we just haven't gotten them done.

I used the Christmas Fawn Die from CottageCutz for today's project. Don't you just love all of the details? I had to add a little Sakura Crystal Lacquer to her little red nose. Also, did you notice my stamped seam binding? I thought that was a perfect place to add my sentiment. The stamp came with the Boxwood Vine Wreath set - and I keep using it over and over again!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Don't forget to check out the special Black Friday release from CottageCutz!

Challenges:
Card Patterns: sketch

News from Crafty Secrets and New Samples

You have probably heard by now that Crafty Secrets is going to be phasing out of the clear stamps, and going to digital versions. So starting today, all of their stamps will be on sale, until they are all gone. Here are some of the details, taken from the Crafty Secrets blog:

The SALE on Clear Art Stamps starts this Friday in our Shopatron Store while supplies last. Maybe a company will want to license some Clear Art Stamp Sets, but for now the sale will run until the stock sells out.


Large Clear Art Stamps originally $24.99 on sale for $19.99
Medium sets reg $14.99 on sale for $12.99
Small Clear Art Stamp Sets reg $7.50 on sale for $5.99 starting Friday!

The other big news, is that the new CD - Creating with Vintage Illustrations is available today! I've made a couple of samples with the brilliant illustrations that are included on the CD. Be sure and check out the rest of the DT's blogs this week to see tons of inspiring ideas!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Well, I guess the Christmas Season is officially here! Were any of you camping out last night to do your Black Friday shopping? Not me! To help promote the Christmas Spirit, I have a card to share with you today. I stamped/embossed a Kanban Crafts tree from Vintage Christmas onto their Mirror Reflective Gold paper. I added green over the gold with Copic markers, and then used my colored Sakura Crystal Lacquer to add my trimmings. The lacquer looks great over metallic papers - almost the effect of a foil-backed rhinestone. I hope you will try this technique!

Black Friday Starts Today at CottageCutz

If you love CottageCutz like I do, then you are going to want to head over to the blog and check out the Black Friday specials and a special release! I am sharing with you one of the new dies, the Ginger Girl Chef. Isn't she adorable?!! When I saw her, I knew I had to make a Christmas Recipe Box. Does your family have traditional recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation? This would make a fantastic little gift to keep those recipes handy.

Have I peeked your interest? Then head over to the Scrapping Cottage and see the rest of the release, as well as the great samples the DT has come up with!

Goodbye Beary Scrap

You may have already seen the news, but if not, than I am sorry to say that this is the last week for the Beary Scrap Challenge and Design Team. I've been lucky enough to design for the Beary Scrap for almost 2 years, and it's been so fun. The team has been like a family (well actually our only new member, Lori - is family - LOL). Big thanks to Kimm for her generosity throughout my terms. I wish you nothing but the best for the future! Susan, thank you for your hard work as the Design Team leader. Your gorgeous projects have always inspired me - and your love for vintage has always thrilled me. Patricia, you are the girl that knows how to rock the tear critters. I have enjoyed watching your style develop into one that is truly your own, and have enjoyed your sweet personality. Jamie, you are always such an upbeat and positive person. I always look forward to seeing your projects, because even after two years, I'm surprised at some of the amazingly creative ideas you come up with! Lori, I'm so glad we got to work on this team together, even if it was for a short period. You know those Williams Sisters can get into all kinds of crafty trouble together! I've loved watching you evolve as an artist - and I think you are uber talented! Thanks to all of the fans of the Beary Scrap for all of our challenges that you entered, the sweet comments that you made, and the purchases bought from the Beary Scrap. We will miss you!

Paper: Authentique - Uncommon
Seam Binding
Chipboard: Dusty Attic
Paints: Creative Inspirations ( Antique Silver,Rose Quartz, Silver Frost, Coal)

Challenges:
Viva La Verve: Sketch Week 3