The Last of the Christmas Posts?

Before we get too far into January, I wanted to share some fabulous (mostly) Christmas cards I received from some very talented friends. These are more or less in the order I received them.

Back in November, Kary celebrated her birthday by giving away stamps sets on her blog! And I won two lovely sets! When Kary sent them (from Malaysia!) she included this lovely card. One of the best things about this beautiful card is that it confirms that I have no need to invest in Copic markers... I could never come close to this level of gorgeous colouring! This also turned out to be the first Christmas card we received this season.

I guess I've been on a bit of a winning streak, as I also won some fun stamp sets from Angela in November. She sent them along with some extra goodies and this great card, which was perfect to receive on a gray and gloomy late fall day. 

But then Angela sent me this beautiful Christmas card a few weeks later! I love the more vintage-y feel of this design with its rich warm colours. 

My friend Amanda knows I love me some Mickey, so she sent this amazing card to me. Do they not look perfectly festive in red? (Fun coincidence: my husb had already bought my Christmas card, featuring... die-cut Mickey and Minnie under the mistletoe!)

I do like Emily's clean and simple (CAS) style -- and playdates at her house where she lets me use all her awesome stuff! (I don't think I'll be getting her out of the city any time soon to return the favour. Besides, she has way better toys. ☺) My photograph doesn't do justice to the glittery green felt she used for this sweet Christmas tree. Emily does a much better job displaying it here. 

A Stampin' Up demo that sends her customers Christmas cards? How awesome is that? Of course, Grace knows what she's doing, since she used beautiful SU products, most of which I don't have. 

It takes a while for an angry red bird to fly from the States up here to Canada (so many pigs along the way, I'm sure) but wow, it was worth the wait to see this card from Meg in person! Every little detail is perfect, right down to the shimmery Santa hat!


Thanks for making it through this long post -- I think these awesome cards make it all worthwhile, though. 



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Crafty Creations Challenge #151: Turn Up the Heat!

In my neck of the woods, yesterday was definitely a day to turn up the thermostat -- it was COLD! And at Crafty Creations Challenges, we're getting you to turn up the heat with some heat embossing this week. 

Using heat embossing is not a huge challenge for me -- NOT using heat embossing might make it a challenge! So I decided to increase my heat-embossing repertoire by investigating using it on digital images. This butterfly image is from our sponsor this week, Pattie's Creations. I printed it out on vellum and had my embossing powder at the ready to sprinkle as soon as the paper cleared the printer. As you can see, it worked perfectly! (I may have to try this on regular cardstock next -- imagine the possibilities! ☺)

Be sure to visit the Crafty Creations Challenges blog to see what the other design team members have created, and to enter the challenge! 

supplies: Stampin' Up very vanilla and rich razzleberry cardstock, Basic Grey euphoria-ferver patterned paper, Pattie's Creations digital image, gold embossing powder, Martha Stewart border punch

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Year in Review Blog Hop

My friend and fellow former Amber Ink torchbearer, Karin, is hosting A Year in Review Blog Hop. It's fun to see synopses of other peoples' favourite creations; I decided to participate because two of my 2011 favourites haven't even been blogged yet! (Did December suddenly get really busy for anyone else, by any chance? :P There were cards and tags I photographed but never blogged, and at the end made but never even photographed!) 
Here are some of my 2011 favourites:

Original post here.

Love the Echo Park patterned paper!

Original post here.

Shakespeare, lots of fun little details, not-bad colouring. Happy sigh.

Original post here.

Someday, this will be my feeling exactly. In the meantime, a fun 60th birthday card for someone else. 

Original post here.

A little out of my box, in a good way. 

Original post here.

I just like this.

Original post here.

A more subtle age-related birthday card. 

Original post here.

These two snowmen, and the happy colours, make me smile. 

The only cat Christmas card I made this year! Magenta stamp, Cuttlebug faux letterpress background, Glossy Accents on the ornaments, Stickles, computer-printed sentiment on vellum. 

I love the expression on the face of this Ippity penguin. I also love how perfectly the polka-dot paper works for a snowy background! 
To join in this fun year-end review, head over to Karin's blog and link up a post of some of your favourites, too! (Oh, if you need more incentive... there are prizes!) And Happy New Year!  Pin It Now!

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Crafty Creations Challenges: Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Crafty Creations Blog Hop and Two-Week Challenge! You should be arriving here from Jaime's blog. If this is your first stop you can always start by going to Claire's blog.

The two week challenge is: A Card or Gift of Gratitude or Thanks. I decided to make one of each: a tag for a hostess gift as well as a card. First, the tag:

This was partly inspired by a bottle of wine friends brought to our house the other evening. It had a promotional tag on it, and I noticed the paper loop hanger at the top. I usually make a tag that ties on with ribbon, but thought it would be fun to try this style. Is this sentiment not perfect for the gift of a festive libation?

And my card:

Green glitter embossing tinsel is hard to beat for Christmas, and I thought it was perfect for this stylized tree. (As always, the shine shows up much better in real life, as does the lettering in the sentiment. Photography's funny that way, sometimes. ☺)

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to enter Crafty Creations two-week challenge for your chance to win one of the many sponsored prizes! Your next stop on the hop is Donelda's blog. If you happen to get lost along the way, come on back here or head over to Crafty Creations for the complete order list.  

1. Claire

2. Deena 

3. Bernie 

4. Dawn 

5. Juelmarie

6. Kaos 

7. Rudlis 

8. Jenni 

9. Donna 

10. Peggy 

11. Jaime 

12. Lindsey 

13. Donelda 

14. Kathleen
15.Crafty
Creations

Supplies: (tag) manila file folder, white & Stampin' Up real red & old olive cardstock, Amuse Studio wreath stamp, Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamps, Hero Arts Get Merry! stamp, Brilliance coffee bean ink, Stampin' Up old olive & real red inks, clear & clear glitter embossing powders, Spellbinders nestabilities circle dies, Sizzix holly embossing folder, icicle Stickles, red Liquid Pearls, Fiskars glue dots, pop-dot tape; (card) Stampin' Up very vanilla cardstock, Unity November Kit of the Month (All Seasons) stamps, Versamark ink, Ranger green embossing tinsel, Marvy corner-rounding punch, pop-dot tape

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Blog Candy Winner!

The winner of my birthday blog candy from this post is ...
Jen W.! Congratulations, Jen! Please send me an email with your snail mail address so I can get the Inkadinkado stamp set off to you soon!  Pin It Now!