Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / September 2026

Fall is finally here and with it comes cooler weather.  Hard to believe that the holidays will be here soon. It's time to start on your holiday cards, if you haven't already.

I've been destashing and found some great older wood mounted stamps. Today I'm using Tinsel Tree from Stampendous.

• I stamped the Tinsel Tree on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink .
• The tree was colored with my Ohuhu markers.
• I used a stitched edge rectangle die to cut out my image .
• A piece of scrap patterned paper was trimmed and adhered to a 5x7 white card base.
• The stamped panel was adhered to the patterned paper with foam tabs.
• I placed some yellow rhinestones on the stars and some light blue and turquoise rhinestones on the snowflake.
• A Tim Holtz sentiment was placed in the lower right corner of the card .

Michael and Lisa are also adding to their holiday stash and you can check out their cards over at their blogs - 

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds Bzibziak - Life of a BZscrapper

Thank you for stopping by to see our holiday inspiration . I hoe you are having some cool Autumn weather where you are . It's been pretty rainy and windy here but at least the temps are cooler. We will see you next month for our October cards .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / July 2026

The Crafty Elves are bringing you their Christmas in July posts !! Although to be honest, every month is Christmas for us .. I am celebrating our new kitten with 2 of my cards this month. We adopted a sweet Siamese Mix kitten on June 16 and she is the Princess of our household. 

I raided my scrap paper drawer for 2 of my cards and used some Recollections holiday card bases for the other 2. The stamp set I used is Christmas Kitties by Simon Says Stamp! .  And my go-to black ink as always - Memento Tuxedo Black .

NO PEEKING Tim Holtz Small Talk sentiment

Kraft Cardboard box fussy cut and popped up with foam tabs

Paper Studio Holiday Foam Sticker

Tim Holtz sticker sentiment

Tim Holtz sticker sentiment

I hope you like the 4 cards I've added to my stash this month . Check out what Michael and Lisa have created over at their blogs.

World of Michael Trent

Life of a BZscrapper

We will be back next month with more holiday inspiration for you !! Take care, keep cool and stay creative.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / June 2026

Michael, Lisa and I are back with our holiday inspiration for the month  . Hard to believe we are half-way to Christmas. My post will be short and sweet because we adopted a rescue kitten a week ago and she is keeping us busy. Serafina is a 4 month old Siamese kitten that was abandoned on the side of a road with 3 siblings. She is so teeny and we are smitten. We lost our 6 year old cat Pixie to Cardiomyopathy almost 1 year ago and just recently felt ready to give another kitty a forever home. The idea for my cards came to me last night and I think that for a last-minute creation, I did good !!

I will include the supplies I used under each picture. I have had the Tim Holtz Layer Frames since 2023 and this is my first time using them !!  The Impression Obsession sentiments I used were from Christmas Coffee Sayings . And my Go-To ink - Memento Tuxedo Black .

Tim Holtz Holiday Layers Frame 

Coffee Cup / Stampers Anonymous for Stamptember 2024

Impression Obsession sentiment

Pink Fresh Studio Holiday Dreams paper

Tim Holtz Holiday Layers Frame

Coffee Cup / Stampers Anonymous set from  Stamptember 2024 

Impression Obsession sentiment 

Pink Fresh Studio Holiday Dreams paper

I used my Ohuhu Honolulu B markers to color the coffee cuos. These cards were so simple and easy to make . I popped each of the frames up with Stampin' Up Dimensionals.

Michael and Lisa have also made something to inspire you to get started on your holiday cards . I always send out close to 50 cards each holiday so it's nice to have a little stash on hand when December rolls around .

Michael - World of Michae; Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

Thank you so  much for stopping by . We hope you are inspired by our creativity . We hope to see you next month .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / May 2026

The Crafty Elves are back with their May holiday inspiration for you !! Michael, Lisa and I post each month on the 25th to get you in the mood to start on your holiday card-making along with us.

I got out an embossing folder I have been wanting to try, along with a favorite Impression Obsession stamp designed by my friend Nola. The image was colored with my new sets of  Ohuhu markers .I got a 48 count Honolulu B bright set and a pastel set .These have a brush and a fine tip and I am really enjoying them already !!

• I stamped the IO image on a piece of white cardstock .
• The image was colored with my Ohuhu markers.
• I die-cut the stamped image with a stitched border die.
• I used the Sizzix "Texture Fades" Holiday Knit embossing folder by Tim Holtz  on a piece of red cardstock .
• The embossed panel was adhered to a white card base,
• The stamped panel was popped up on the embossed panel with foam tabs.
• A Tim Holtz sentiment strip was adhered at the bottom of the card .

This was a fairly simple card to make and I love it .. I even stamped out a few more images to color . You can see what Michael and Lisa made over at their blogs -

Michael - World of Michael Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

We are having some cooler weather here thankfully. But with it came rain !! We did need it but maybe not on a long holiday weekend.  Thank you for stopping by . We will see you next month, when we will be at the halfway mark to Christmas 2026 .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / August 2025

Our theme for August is TRAVEL .. My post will be short and sweet since I am having laptop issues and want to get this written before I have more problems. 

I used the Colorado Craft Company stamp set Wanderlust and the Tim Holtz stamp set Noteworthy . I was so excited with the first card that I made that I quickly created 2 more !! The map and Air Mail papers that I used are from my stash - I have had them forever .. I stamped all of the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink .  On two of the cards, I matted the main stamped image with brown cardstock. The travel labels were stamped and fussy-cut, then popped up on each card with foam tabs. 

I will also be entering this card in the Color Throwdown Challenge . Thanks to Celeste for telling me about it . It is #839 . Be sure to check out all the info at the link .. The colors for the challenge are Aqua, Red & White .  . #ctd839    #colorthrowdown 

Be sure to check out Celeste's card over at her blog - Crafting Junky . She likes to travel so I'm excited to see how she used our theme!! For my coffee this month,  I'm drinking Apple Cider Donut coffee from Dunkin' from my new Prescription Coffee cup that Brian just gave me for my birthday .

Thank you for stopping by .. I hope you are enjoying the last weeks of summer and looking forward to Fall and Sweater Weather !! I know I am .. Until next time, stay creative and drink good coffee.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / April 2025

Spring is in the air as we are nearly at the end of April . We've had some crazy weather  - a freeze one morning last week and 85 degrees today !! The pollen is crazy and I'm looking forward to that going away .. For our theme this month, we chose embossing folders. If you're like me, you have a stash of embossing folders that you have never used !! So we decided to create a card with one.

My card took a completely different turn than the one I was planning to make .  I was going to use a coffee cup folder but decided at the last minute to switch to tea !! I have had this Darice Tea Pot folder for many years - it was still in the package. I also used a Hero Arts Tea Kettle Die that I recently got on clearance.  

• I used a 12x12 Pastel Cardstock Recollections paper pad  for this card.
• The embossing folder design was made with pastel blue cardstock.
• The tea kettle, lid and cup were die cut with yellow and pink cardstock.
• I used a scrap of gray cardstock for the handle .
• I adhered the teapot panel to a green card base .
• The teapot pieces were adhered to the embossed panel .
• I popped up the cup with a foam tab.
• Stickers by  Paige Evans - applied to kettle, cup and also banners .
• I stapled a Tim Holtz Ticket on the upper right side of the embossed panel. 

This card was so much fun to work on . And since I loved the finished product so much, I made another one. They will be sent to people in my Coffee Card Swap group.Have I inspired you to get out an embossing folder and create a card ?? I sure hope so ..

Say Hello To a New Day 

Take a look at Celeste's card over at her blog - Crafting Junky .I'm excited to see what she makes ! While I was making my cards, I was drinking a nice cup of Kona Coffee with some Sweet Cream creamer. My cup is one I've had for many years and it reminds me of all the beautiful flowers that are coming up in Brian's garden ..

Thanks so much for hanging out with me and Celeste for another month of Coffee & Cards.  We look forward to seeing you again next month. Until the, Stay Creative !!

Debra Davison 

Meticulosity

 

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / January 2025

The Crafty Elves are back to bring you another year of inspiration. We will work our way through 2025, posting each month on the 25th to help you get ready for the holiday snail mail rush !! AND I'm thrilled to let you know that Michael Trent  will be joining us again !! He took some time off but of course, he couldn't stay away from us .. Show him some love and comment on his post.

For my first card, I used an old snowglobe Starbucks gift card and a gingerbread chipboard sticker from my Spellbinders Holiday Advent Calendar. A Tim Holtz sentiment was perfect to  complete my card !! This card came together in about 5 minutes  - now I have something to do with all those Starbucks cards !!

May Your Days Be Merry & Bright

My next 4 cards were also so quick and easy !! I stamped the Christmas Snow Globe images from Close To My Heart , colored them with my OLO Markers and fussy-cut them. I adhered each snow globe to a bright red card base, popping them up with foam tabs. I added some glitter to each snowglobe also. A Tim Holtz Label Sticker was adhered at the bottom right of each card . 

Thank you for stopping by to begin a new year with us !! Check out the links to Lisa and Michael's cards for January .. I hope you find lots of inspiration and start your holiday cards with us .. It's so nice to have a stash to use when you're getting ready to send your holiday mail .

 Michael - World of Michael Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

Until next month, Stay Creative

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / November 2023

I don't know where the time went .. This past year has flown by !!  4 weeks until Christmas and here we are again - the Crafty Elves - AND we have a very special Guest Elf. Amy Tsuruta is an amazing papeecrafter and the force behind the Coffee Loving Papercrafters page on Facebook !! She just finished up the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and was gracious enough to agree to join us . I really can't say enough nice things about her .. I'm excited to see what she creates for us this month .

There are so many new Christmas stamps in my stash .. I had a hard time deciding which ones to use for this post .. But finally Tim Holz's Christmas Cartoons won . I love these stamps . They remind me of the Jetsons !!

• I stamped the images on white Mixed Media paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink .
• The sentiments were stamped last, using my MISTI for proper placement.
• The images were colored in with my COPICS.
• I adhered pieces of some hoarded Tim Holtz Christmas patterned paper to a powder blue and a bright green card base,
• I matted each of the completed stamped panels with green cardstock 
• The stamped panels were popped up on the card bases with foam tabs.
• I placed a silver glitter mini clothes pin at the top of the stamped panel on the powder blue card base .

These images were so quick and easy to color !! I know I will be making many more this holiday season. Now it's time to see what the rest of the Crafty Elves have created .. You can find them at the links below -

 Amy Tsuruta - Craftee 1

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds Bzibziak - Life of a BZscrapper

We hope that you like our creations for November. Thanks so much to Amy for joining us  I will be sending some holiday blog candy to 1 commeter on this post .. I'll choose someone at random .. Let me know if you've started on your holiday cards yet. If you haven't, you might want to make a resolution for 2024 to follow us each month for inspiration !!

Until next time, Stay Creative

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / May 2021

May is finally here and in Virginia we are seeing some relief from COVID-19.  Brian and I just went to a restaurant to actually sit down and eat lunch for the first time in over a year. I was a bit nervous at first but we had a great time !! I hope that you have all been staying healthy and can start to get back to a bit of normality soon wherever you live. Michael, Lisa and I are excited to show you our cards and we have a guest again this month to show you some more holiday inspiration !!

My first 2 cards are again made with Close To My Heart stamps. I am still working my way through all of the great sets I bought during a recent fabulous sale !! You can always find great supplies here at my friend, Chris Franco's site - https://chrisfranco.closetomyheart.com/default.aspx ..

• I adhered a piece of  Tim Holtz Idea-ology Christmas Worn Wallpaper onto a cream card base. I love this vintage ornament design ..
• A piece of plaid washi was  placed down the left side of the card.
• The Merry & Bright image was stamped on a piece of patterned ledger paper with Gina K Jet Black Amalgam ink . This specific stamp is no longer available but this Merry Christmas stamp would work just as well.
• I trimmed the stamped image, matted it with red cardstock and then applied it to the wallpaper .
• I used a metallic green pen to highlight some of the leaves on the stamped image .
• Red, blue and green rhinestones were then placed for added shimmer .

• I stamped several of the images from the Jolly Characters stamp set by Close To My Heart onto a bookmark-sized piece of Mixed Media paper with Gina K Jet Black Amalgam Ink.
• Holiday washi was placed between the jolly characters and also at the top and bottom .
• I colored the images with my COPICS.
• The completed stamped panel was adhered to a piece of green-dotted designer paper. My idea was to adhere that bookmark to the card base with removable tape but I got carried away and used my Scotch ATG so it is now permanent !! 
• I used a fun glittery candy-cane paper from Recollections for my card base  .

Santa Baby from Unity Stamp Company is the image on this next card. I have had it for years and never used it until this month. I was so careful stamping it and then realized that I used my Grape Jelly Memento Dew Drop instead of Jet Black .I almost stamped over it ( because I was using my MISTI, of course ) but then just decided to throw it away. So I stamped it again in Jet Black, finished the card and then saw the other image still on the desk. I really hate wasting paper so I decided to try and make a card with that image too . I was pleasantly surprised how it turned out. I do love non-traditional holiday colors but purple was never even on my list ... LOL

December Twinkle Merry / Festive Wish Merriment

• I stamped the 2 images and colored them with my COPICS.
• Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers were adhered on the bottom right of the completed stamped images. Kraft on the red image and white on the pink/purple. 
• I matted the purple panel with a piece of dark pink cardstock and then adhered that to a pink candy cane card base.
• The red image was adhered to a red-dotted card base and rhinestones were placed at the upper left and bottom right corners. 
• These 2 cards are mini-slimlines . I cut the paper 6x6 and folded it in half to create my card bases.

My last card was made with ephemera from the Simple Stories "Simple Vintage Christmas" collection ..  It is an older collection that I have been hoarding .. I placed a piece of the patterned paper on a black card base then layered multiple ephemera pieces onto the paper. I completed the card with a few large holiday-colored sequins. I adhered several images with foam tabs or tiny staples. These cards without any stamping are fun to make when you want to sit down and create a quick project. Do you make many cards without any stamping on them ??

Please check out the other Crafty Elves' projects as well as our very special guest elf , Crystal O. Minkler .

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds-Bzibziak -  Life of a BZScrapper

Crystal O. Minkler - Tawny Owl Paperie

Thanks so much for joining us again as we create our holiday cards each month to beat the December rush !! Have you been inspired to start your holiday cards along with us ?? We'd love to hear from you if you have !! Please take care, stay safe and we will see you back here in June ..

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - November

It's so hard for me to believe that November is almost over and Christmas is just around the corner !! I am ever so thankful now that Lisa - aka BZ Scrapper - and I have been making a Christmas card each week all year . Takes a bit of stress out of the holiday hustle and bustle .  So, let's see what these Crafty Elves have been up to this month !!

I had so many wonderful stamps to choose from - but finally narrowed it down  and came up with these designs . Some exceeded my expectations but one is still running around in my head .. Does that happen to you ?? You finish a card but just wonder if you are missing something !! But overall I do love them all and hope that you are inspired by them .

• I stamped Winter Snow Globe Girl from 100 Proof Press onto watercolor paper and colored her with my Tombow Dual Brush Markers.
• I trimmed the image and adhered it to a piece of dotted red patterned paper.
• The entire background was then adhered to a pink card base.
• A Crate Paper sentiment was placed diagonally at the upper left of the image.
• Silver glitter glass was adhered around the snowman.

• I stamped the Packaged Christmas Lights from 100 Proof Press onto watercolor paper and colored it with Glitter pens .
• The image was trimmed and adhered to a piece of Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper.
• Several sequins were placed around the image.
• A Tim Holtz holiday sticker was placed at the top of the wallpaper .
• The Twinkling Lights banner from Crate Paper was popped up below the sticker.
• I adhered the entire background to a pale green card base.

• I stamped the Holiday Girl  and sentiment from My Favorite Things onto watercolor paper, colored the girl and cut her out with the matching die.
• I also stamped onto patterned paper for her leggings and gift bag and paper-pieced these onto the image.
• On a red card base, I placed a holiday doily at the top of the card, then adhered the girl and the sentiment.
• A gold sequin was placed at the top left of the sentiment.

• I stamped the Make It Happen, Girl from Unity Stamp Company onto watercolor paper and also a piece of holiday patterned paper.
• The sweater wa cut out of the holiday paper and paper-pieced onto the watercolor image.
• I colored the image with Tombow Dual Brush pens.
• The image was adhered to  a woodgrain/snowflake patterned paper background.
• The entire background was adhered to a cream  card base.
• A frame was placed around the upper area of the girl at an angle and a sentiment banner was adhered to the bottom of the frame.

I'm so excited to see what Lisa has created this month !! You can find her cards at Life of a BZscrapper. Comment on this post of  mine and I will send 2 of you some Happy Holiday mail !! How are you coming with your holiday cards ??  I hope we have inspired you to get started early on yours ..

Until next time, Stay Creative... 

We will be back next month on Christmas Day for our card wrap-up..   

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

2018 Coffee Day & A Giveaway

 For those that know me, my love of coffee is no surprise !! After all, I named my blog after a word I saw on a coffee cup at Starbucks -- that I quickly purchased !! I enjoy drinking coffee,  hanging out with friends as I drink coffee and just sitting alone drinking coffee as I work on my latest cards. I love coffee, coffee cups, coffee washi, coffee stamps, coffee stencils --  you get the picture. Soooooooo, I couldn't let this day go by without a blog post and some cards to celebrate National Coffee Day.

I used the Sleepy Owl and the BFF Owl stamps from Picket Fence Studios . These are just the cutest stamps and so much fun to color ! I combined some sentiments from Tim Holtz and Reset Girl , a few doilies, a tag and a coffee sentiment from Simon Says Stamp to create these 4 cards !! The images were already colored so I was able to make all 4 cards in less than 1 hour .. I used a selection of my favorite markers -- from Flair pens to Faber-Castell to color the images. All of the card bases were pre-made; I am seriously addicted to those boxes of cards you can buy to decorate. 

I also take part in a Coffee Card Swap each month hosted by a friend from the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Facebook Page. This month I combined a digital coffee stamp from Bugaboo Digi Stamps with the same Simon Says Stamp coffee sentiment I used in the previous cards and a Vera Lane Studio Journal Card . Tombow Adhesives were used to adhere the elements on all of my cards.

I couldn't let this day go by without a giveaway -- It really is one of my favorite holidays !! I will be sure to look at all of my fellow coffee-lover's creations today !! From those that comment on this blog post through Monday, October 1, I will randomly pick 1 person to win some fun reusable, recycled coffee cups/lids and some coffee goodies !!

National Coffee Day Giveaway

There is a fabulous coffee-themed Blog Hop today hosted by the Coffee Loving Papeercrafter's Facebook page and Amy Tsuruta  --  many great people and companies are participating in the Hop . You can start checking out all 55 posts  HERE . There will be prizes also !!

Thank you for visiting me today as I sit here drinking my Pecan Pie coffee and thinking about what I will be getting at Starbucks later today !! I'm leaning towards a Maple Pecan Cold Brew ... Until next time, enjoy your favorite beverage and stay creative !!

Meticulosity.blogspot.com

Debra Davison