Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - December

It's so hard to believe that it is December !! Lisa and I have been on this creative journey since last year - we have made 1 ( or more ) Christmas cards each week all year long !! And we've posted about it every month on the 25th. We thought that while you are relaxing today, we would show you the last of our cards for 2019.  There are always some stragglers on my Christmas card list that get sent out last minute or a bit late, so these will be perfect ..

My first card is a favorite of mine !! Cats & Christmas !! The stamp is from Technique Junkies - Christmas Mug Shot. Don't you just love this ?? I had to add that Santa hat ...

Next is another cat card with a great stamp from Paula Best .  These stamps are no longer available but I was lucky enough to find several at the 757 Creative Reuse Center . I donated some of my craft supplies as I was destashing and found some amazing stamps there at a crazy price..

Everyone knows how much I LOVE coffee  -- to drink, in stamping, on washi tape etc..... I found these tags at Michaels and immediately got an idea for a card... I just added a coffee stirrer and some stamped images from the Dylusions set - Stocking Filler.

Next is a card with images from one of my very favorite companies - Rubber Moon . The Pairs of Mittens stamp by Marylinn Kelly is paired with a fun sentiment from Kae Pea.

I actually have another card too,  made with a beautiful stamp from Unity Stamp Company - Noel . I just did a bit of coloring and added some wide washi across the card .. Love the look of this one !!

I hope that you are inspired by these cards. Take a look at Lisa's over at her blog - Life of a BZScrapper . Her cards are always amazing !! We have had so much fun that the Crafty Elves will be continuing to make cards throughout 2020. And we each have asked a friend to join us . You will want to check back on January 25 to see who it is !! I'd love for you to start on your cards for 2020 too and to help with that, I will choose 2 commenters on this blog post to send some Christmas supplies to !! Thanks again to all who have commented and cheered us on.. We have had a blast !!

To those who celebrate, have a Merry Christmas !!

Wishing you all a Happy & healthy 2020.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste - December

It's hard to believe another year is coming to an end !! Celeste and I have been busy getting ready for the holidays and this latest inspiration photo was perfect to keep our creative juices flowing .. We hope that all of you are almost ready to celebrate this season with your family and friends.  

I recently learned about the 757 Creative Reuse Center in Norfolk, VA and donated some of my craft supplies that I was destashing. Paper, stickers, stamps, punches - it felt good to know that someone would give them a good home . And of course, while I was there, I had to look around. They have an amazing variety of stamps and I had so much fun looking through drawers and drawers of wood-mounted stamps. I was thrilled to find several Paula Best stamps and was inspired to use one for my card this month.

• I stamped the Paula Best Cat Angel onto watercolor paper, using my favorite Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and trimmed it to fit my card base.
• On a pink glitter card base, I adhered a piece of cat-themed Christmas paper by Recollections.
• A strip of red snowflake washi tape was placed across the bottom of the stamped image.
• The image was colored with some Tombow Dual Brush markers and glitter pens. It's hard to see but the wings have areas of silver and gold glitter.
• This stamp reminded me of our cat Pixie, even though she is not as round !!

Celeste and I showed each other our cards this evening and we were pleasantly surprised that we chose similar colors. You can see her project over at her blog - Crafting Junky. We would love for you to follow our blogs if you are not already doing so. And please leave a comment to let us know what you think of our cards this month.

My coffee this month is Gingerbread and I am drinking it from my new HONDA stainless steel bottle by Fifty/Fifty. We recently bought a Honda HRV and got to choose a fun item from their shop .. Brian got a ball cap and of course, I got a coffee cup !! Isn't it just the cutest !!!! The perfect size for my coffee at my desk at work.

Thank you again for visiting Meticulosity. Celeste and I have decided to continue with our Coffee & Cards in 2020 so you will see us again throughout the New Year. We might even have a guest or two. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.  I appreciate each and every one of you !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

December Cookies - Take 1

For Challenge #132 at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie, we have a sweet inspiration photo - another take on the holiday favorite - gingerbread !! We would love for you to join us and link up a project of your own  - you have through January 8 . I am a BIG fan of all things Gingerbread -- lattes, tea,  etc..  We hope you are inspired by the projects of our Design Team..

     

• I chose a fun digi stamp by Angela Y Designs on Etsy -  Gingerbread Angela - and printed it on watercolor paper.
• The image was trimmed and then colored with a variety of my favorite markers - Faber-Castell, Tombow and Staedtler. 
• I kept a margin on the left side of the image and added three strips of washi tape lengthwise next to Gingerbread Angela.
• The stamped image waa mounted onto a Kraft card base.
• A Crate Paper ephemera HO HO HO postage stamp was popped up next to Angela.

I really like how this card turned out.... I had colored another one and made a few boo-boos, so I colored it again !! I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that .. Take a look at the other projects by my teammates over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie. I hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday full of lots of love , surrounded by friends and family. I look forward to seeing you back here for more challenges in 2020.

Until next time, Say Creative !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

November Cookies - Take 2

For the second Challenge this month at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie,  we are heading right into the holiday season with a wonderful photo of beautiful Christmas cookies. This will be a short post since we just ate our Thanksgiving dinner and I am ready to relax for a bit and enjoy watching ELF . I did procrastinate a bit about writing this post, but the thought of a movie and some pie when it is finished  is great incentive !!

I found a treasure trove of House Mouse stamps by Stampendous at Tuesday Morning recently and one was perfect for this Challenge !! This Gingerbread Man stamp is  no longer available but there are many more fun holiday stamps you can use.

• On a white card base I adhered a piece of Gingerbread House patterned paper from the Mrs. Claus' Kitchen paper stack by DCWV.
• Using Memento Espresso Truffle Ink, I stamped the House Mouse image onto Kraft paper.
• I trimmed the image and then cut a bright blue mat to fit around it with just a small edge of blue showing .
• I adhered the Kraft to the blue mat and then that mat to the center of the pink patterned paper.
• I popped up a handmade Gingerbread Man button to the lower right side of the stamped image. I have had that button for about 30 years.  It was made by a local crafter and she sold them at a holiday Craft Show here each year. I have hoarded several but this one was perfect for this card !!

I hope that you will be inspired and link up a project of your own to this Challenge. You have through December 11 to play along with us. The other Design Team members are getting you ready for the holidays with their projects too - you can see them HERE .  Until next time, Stay Creative . I am grateful for each and every one of you !! Thank you for joining me once again at Meticulosity .

Debra Davison

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

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste - November

It's been a busy month here for me with work and creative deadlines and trying to balance home life. But especially at this time of year, I try to remember that I have so much to be thankful for. And that includes having a virtual cup of coffee each month with my friend, Celeste. This month, our theme is Thankful & Grateful.

For my card, I wanted to use a Mommy Lhey Design stamp set - Sweater Weather.  It has many fun stamps included that I decided to combine for my project.

• Using my MISTI and Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, I stamped each of the images - the fox, sentiment, pumpkin and sweater - in a square pattern onto a piece of watercolor paper.
• I colored the images using Tombow Dual Brush Pens .
• On a dark brown card base, I adhered 2 coordinating patterns of Julie Nutting "November - December" paper .
• I added several Prima Marketing Crystals to the lower right side and upper left side of the card. 
• The stamped image was popped up on the card base with foam tabs.

As I sit here writing this, I am drinking a cup of Pecan Pie coffee in a holiday Starbucks cup. I just bought a new turquoise Keurig coffee maker and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

I'm excited to see what Celeste has made and you can check it out on her blog  - Crafting Junky . With Thanksgiving coming , I just want to say thank-you to everyone who visits Meticulosity. I appreciate all of your comments - please sign up to follow me so you don't miss any new posts. 

Until next time, Stay Creative.

Debra Davison

November Cookies - Take 1

It's time for Challenge # 130 over at the IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE Challenge Blog . I will admit that this one was a bit hard for me - theme wise.  When I looked at the Inspiration photo, I saw beer and babies !! I told a friend that if you drank too much beer, you could end up having a baby, but that didn't seem to translate into a card !! So after a few searches on Etsy, I found a sweet design from Lily of the Valley Digi Shop - Toy Rabbit. And I'm pretty proud of my card too !!

That Toy Rabbit digi was a perfect image for some paper-piecing .I used scraps for most of  the card.Totally did not go with a beer theme but I am sure some of my fellow teammates have come up with some fun designs..

Good Things Come in Small Packages

• I started with a tan card base and adhered a piece of plaid paper to the front, leaving only a small border of tan showing.
• The Toy Rabbit image was printed 3 times - on a light brown piece of card stock, on a cream piece of cardstock and also on a plain piece of white copy paper.
• The rabbit was cut out of the light brown paper and the baby formula was cut from the white copy paper.
• The rabbit and formula images were adhered to the cream  cardstock base image, which had been trimmed to fit on the plaid background.
• I colored the images with a variety of my favorite markers - Faber-Castell, Tombow Dual Brush and Glitter Gel pens.
• I adhered a Tim Holtz Idea-ology sentiment to the lower left side of the card.

I'm very interested to see what my fellow teammates came up with for this challenge. And I'd love for you to get inspired and link up a project before November 28.  Take a look at our latest Challenge post HERE .

Thank you for once again visiting Meticulosity..

Until next time, Stay Creative !!

Debra Davison 

October Cookies - Take 3

I'm excited that we get to do a 3rd Cookie Challenge this month !! We also get 3 paychecks this month so I am feeling extra lucky !! I have to say that the cookie photo for Challenge #129 is absolutely gorgeous - those colors together are fantastic. This Challenge runs through November 13, so be sure to link up a project by the deadline.

I decided I wanted to use that amazing color combination for my project !! I have been working on my November planner pages and had the perfect stamp to use  from Your Next Stamp. Ellie Loves Lattes was the perfect size for my new Rifle Paper planner. 

• I stamped  Ellie on watercolor paper with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and then cut it out with the matching die.
• The stamped image was colored with my Tombow Dual Brush Pens .
• I adhered Ellie to the right side of my November monthly planner page.I used Autumn patterned washi tape and multiple Autumn-themed stickers to complete my pages. Dots were placed on the dates that I work. Coffee cups are placed on the days I have coffee dates with my bestie.
• Many of the Autumn stickers that I used were from PaperHouse  Productions .

My 2020 Rifle Paper planner

Please head over to the If You Give a Crafter a Cookie Blog to see what the other Design Team members created for this Challenge !! I'm positive that they will all be fabulous .. And be sure to link up a project of your own before November 14.  Once again, thanks so much for visiting Meticulosity .. 

Debra Davison /Meticulosity

Woodblock Wednesday / Guest Designer

I will admit that I absolutely LOVE my woodblock stamps and must have several hundred. So I was over the moon thrilled when Amy Tsuruta asked me to join her for Woodblock Wednesday. Since July of this year, she has been been using a favorite woodblock stamp each Wednesday and blogging about what she has created. She has also had several guest designers and I was so excited to be asked. 

I have not unmounted any of my woodblock stamps. I have so many favorites  and they are  all displayed on several shelves and cabinets in my craft room. I have given many away as I destash periodically but all of the rest will stay mounted. The stamp I chose to use is one I bought in 2008 - Mimi's Pumpkin Patch from DeNami Design .

• I chose 2 Autumn-patterned papers from my scrap stash and adhered them to a white card base, leaving a small margin around all 4 sides.
• I cut the leaf patterned paper on the diagonal and placed that in the bottom right corner of the card on top of the star paper. 
• Versafine Clair Nocturne ink  was used to stamp Mimi's Pumpkin Patch.
• The image was colored with a variety of my Tombow Dual Brush Pens  and then cut to fit the front of the card. 
• Several Hero Arts Hues "Earth" Dots were placed around the image.
• I popped up the small golden pumpkin on the right side of Mimi with foam tabs for some added dimension.

$5 clearance cabinet with some favorite woodblock stamps

Many thanks to Amy for inviting me to share my love of woodblock stamps as her guest for Woodblock Wednesday. Please check out Amy's blog post  HERE to learn all about her card that is shown below !! Isn't it just the cutest ?!?!?!

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity !

Debra Davison

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / October

Our weather here in Virginia Beach is finally starting to cool off.. Today we did have a 75 degree day but now it is cool enough to open windows and there is a lovely breeze!! Celeste chose our Mood Board pic for this month and it is a perfect Autumn image.

I had a fabulous new stamp to use for this month's project.  Ellie Loves Lattes from Your Next Stamp was so much fun to ink up, die-cut and color !! I know that I will be using this stamp set often and already have ideas for a Christmas version !! But for now, she is dressed in her cute Fall outfit, drinking her Pumpkin Spice Latte.

• I stamped  Ellie on watercolor paper with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, die-cut her with the matching die and then colored her with Tombow Dual Brush Pen Markers .
• The sentiment was also stamped with Nocturne Ink, cut to leave a small margin and then colored also with Tombow markers.
• At the top of a brown card base, I adhered an Autumn floral patterned paper border, that was paper-punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.
• I wrapped Orange-striped twine several times around the patterned-paper at the top of the card and tied it in a knot.  ( Fact about me - I hate tying bows because I can't ever seem to get them perfect enough to suit me !! ) 
• At the bottom of the card, I placed a strip of honeycomb washi tape.
• Ellie and the sentiment were adhered to the front of the card using my Pink Scotch ATG gun.

This really was a fun image to play with and the quality of the stamps and die were amazing !! I'm sure that I will be using them frequently !! I'm looking forward to seeing what Celeste came up with for this month's card. I'm thinking it has something to do with coffee, since we both love to create coffee-themed cards !! You can find her project at her blog Crafting Junky .  My coffee for this post is Pecan Pie and I'm drinking it iced in a fun cup that I found at Wal-Mart !! I also used my favorite Prisma Photo App for my iPhone to make the picture even more fun !!

Thank you for stopping by again this month to see what Celeste and I are up to. We hope that you are inspired by our projects and would love if you would sign up to follow our blogs. 

Until next time, Stay Creative !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - October

When I decided last year to make a Christmas card each week to avoid the holiday rush,  I was hoping that it wouldn't fall by the wayside like New Year's resolutions.  But when Lisa  - of Life of a BZScrapper - decided to join me, I was pretty sure it would be a success !! And now here we are, 10 months later, almost finished with our year . Yes,  the Crafty Elves are still going strong and are excited to show you our October cards.

For my cards this month, I used several square dies from my collection. Two of the cards have no stamping on them . It's been easier than I thought to come up with new ideas each week, My first card is an expression of my love for snail mail !! 

• I die cut a scalloped lace square from watercolor paper.
• A Doodlebug Design Inc. cardstock sticker "Dear Santa"  set was used to create a scene in the die cut square.
• A Merry Christmas sticker from my stash was placed at the top of the scalloped square.
• Red candy dots were placed at each corner of the square.
• The scalloped square was popped up with foam tabs onto a green card base.

• I stamped, die-cut and then colored images from the Sizzix Dove Framelit Set .
• Versafine Clair Nocturne ink was used for all stamping.
• Using a Tim Holtz Stitched Square Die, I cut a square to fit on the front of my card.
• The dove and HOPE images were adhered to the stitched square with my Tombow MONO Adhesive+.
• The holly were adhered on either side of the HOPE sentiment with foam tabs.
• This card was made for my friend Chrissy who just had surgery for breast cancer. 

• I stamped the 3 images from the Christmas Set 1 by Anthony's Paper Craft onto die-cut squares. Two were Stitched Squares  die-cuts and one was plain.
• The images were colored with a variety of my favorite markers. 
• A bit of shimmer was added with my Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush and a Sakura Stardust Jelly Roll pen.
• The squares were placed on cream card bases, popped up with foam tabs. 
• These cards were made by me for the Make n Take at StampScrapArtTour in Hampton, VA this past weekend. I was at the Anthony's Paper Craft booth as a member of their Design Team.

beautiful memories from ordinary moments

• On a cream card base, I adhered a snowglobe made with Pinkfresh Studio Snowglobe Elements .
• A sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio's cardstock sticker collection was placed below the snowglobe. 
• A strip of thin green washi was placed down the left side of the card. 

I know that Lisa has been busy with her cards . You can see her wonderful creations over  at her blog - Life of a BZScrapper . Have you started your holiday cards yet ?? Do you send many ? We are excited that we will be ahead of the holiday rush, at least as far as Christmas cards are concerned !! Comment on this post for a chance to get a bit of holiday snail mail from me . And come back next month for more cards from me and Lisa. 

Until next time, Stay Creative !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity