Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / July 2023

It's time for the Crafty Elves to celebrate Christmas in July !! Hallmark holiday movies, Christmas in July sales, creating our holiday card lists and making cards to send. We've been getting a head start on our Christmas / Holiday cards all year long and we're happy to see you here to get some inspiration for yours !! 

For my card, I chose a fantastic Technique Junkies stamp - Perfect Blend  . I love everything about this stamp - the glass cup, the cinnamon stick the sentiment and that cursive font !! AND that scarf is just the cutest .. This could be a lovely cup of Chai Tea for the holidays or a cup of my favorite Gingerbread Coffee  - each with a cinnamon stick added . So whether you are a tea or coffee lover ( or even hot cocoa ) , this card is for you !! You need to add this stamp to your collection ..

• I stamped the Perfect Blend  image onto a piece of Mixed Media paper . The sentiment was stamped with Lady Bug Memento ink and the cup with Tuxedo Black Memento ink .
• A piece of vintage patterned holiday paper was adhered to a brilliant red card base.
• The stamped image was colored with my COPICS .
• I matted the stamped panel with red textured cardstock .
• The completed stamped panel was adhered to the vintage paper with foam tabs .
• I highlighted a few areas on the cup with some Clear Wink of Stella .

You can find the Perfect Blend image over at Technique Junkies , along with many other wonderful stamps . Do a little holiday shopping for yourself and save 10% with my code - TJ10Deb . 

For more projects from the Crafty Elves, check out the links below :

Michael - World of Michael Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

Misty - Jolly Fat Elf's You Tube

I hope you are staying cool wherever you are -- we will be close to 100 degrees this  weekend. Time to put on some holiday music, make some Gingerbread Iced coffee and head to my newly cleaned craft room to create some more holiday cards !! 

We will be back next month with more inspiration for you and maybe even another Guest Elf . Take care and until then, Stay Creative .

 Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste 6/2023 - and a few Crafty Elves

This month's edition of Coffee & Cards has a few guests tagging along with us !! Today is also the day for Crafty Elves so I'm combining my posts .. And it seems like the elves have brought over some of their holiday spirit because I've created a Christmas card !! Celeste and I   decided to each make a card with supplies that we have but have forgotten about, like the supplies I recently found while cleaning out the garage !! I even found my very first Cuttlebug machine,  along with the plates - how cool is that ?!?!

So as I said above, we are cleaning our garage.. A new garage is being installed shortly so we had to get a few things moved away from the present door . Once we got started, we figured we might as well just clean the entire garage.  To give you an idea of what it looked like, let me say this - we can now see the floor !! I found lots of great craft supplies - paper,  stickers, rubber stamps etc.. And most in excellent shape.. So I decided to use a paper collection kit that I found - Crate Paper "Peppermint" .

• This one is easy-peasy !! On a pastel card base, I layered paper, stickers and die-cuts from the Peppermint collection  by Crate Paper .
• The stocking banner, snowflakes and Christmas sign were popped up with foam tabs.
• Several rhinestones in shades of blue were placed on the snow globe.
• The card is finished !!

Since this is being posted on the 25th of the month, the Crafty Elves are also joining us with their holiday creations. And I'm sure Celeste has found something wonderful in her crafty stash for her card too .. I'm hoping she created something different than a holiday card - LOL

Follow these links to see what Celeste, Michael, Lisa and Misty have created this month..

Celeste - Crafting Junky

Michael - World of Michael Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

Misty - Jolly Fay Elf You Tube

My coffee this month is giving me Christmas vibes - it's Starbucks Gingerbread   I could drink this coffee all year long and usually buy several boxes on sale after the holidays. My coffee cup was recently given to me by a dear friend. Life has been tough these past 18 months since my son was killed but this cup reminded me that I am indeed tough too !! It sits on my desk so I can see it every day ..

Thank you all for stopping by to see what we have been up to this month. We are at the halfway mark to Christmas - can you believe that ?!?!?! Have you started your holiday cards yet ? The Crafty Elves will be back next month with more holiday inspiration for you .. Until then, stay creative !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / February 2023

Hard to believe that it is the end of February. The Crafty Elves are getting started on their holiday cards for 2023 and bringing you inspiration each month to create some of your own.  I have been a fan of Art Impressions for years, especially their Windows to the World series. This month, I used the Christmas Drive Window stamp and created 2 cards - one with a traditional color scheme and one non-traditional. 

For both of my cards I used the beautiful Noel paper pad by Craft Consortium. This pad has such beautiful papers that I just wanted to hoard it but I finally broke down and decided to use it this month.  This pad has 40 double-sided sheets of heavyweight cardstock.

• I stamped the image onto a piece of mixed-media paper and a piece of watercolor paper and trimmed around the design.
• The images were colored with COPIC markers.
• Fine glitter was used for snow on the red truck image.
• Holographic glitter was used for snow on the turquoise truck image .
• The completed red truck image was matted on a piece of gold glitter paper and then adhered to a piece of floral patterned paper with foam tabs. It was then placed on a green card base.
• The completed turquoise truck image was matted on a piece of silver glitter paper and then adhered to a piece of holiday patterned paper. It was then placed on a turquoise card base . 

Do you like traditional colors for your holiday cards ?? Or do you create with non-traditional colors ?? I guess I am a fan of both, depending  on which stamp I am using . Let's take a look at what the other Crafty Elves have created for February,

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Misty Lavigne - Jolly Fat Elf

Lisa Reynolds-Bzibziak - Life of a BZ Scrapper

Thanks so much for stopping by .. We will be here every month to share our holiday ideas with you and get you ready to create some of your own. 

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / January 2023

The Crafty Elves are back to start off your New Year with some holiday inspiration !! It was nice to have a stash of cards for the 2022 holiday season, so we decided to come back again for 2023.  We will all be posting at least 1 card and if we are extra creative, there might be additional cards. Did you make your holiday cards throughout 2022 with us ?? Or was there a mad rush to make some and then a quick trip to the store or  maybe Amazon for last minute cards ?? I will admit that I did hit the Hallmark after-Christmas sale and bought cards, coffee cups and a nightshirt !!

To kick off 2023, we have a Guest Elf !! Chris Franco is a fabulous papercrafter and most importantly, my dear friend .. She is a consultant for Close To My Heart and that link will take you to a wonderful world of stamps, paper, etc. !!! She is my CTMH enabler and knows just what I can't live without .. It is also her birthday this month - January 23 - so we wish her a wonderful birthday month !! I hope it was filled with fun, family AND cake !! Here are Chris's  social media links . Please take a look at her  wonderful creativity ..

• Chris Franco - Stamped Blessings
  
•  Chris's Facebook Page
• Chris's Instagram
  

For my card this month, I chose a favorite Close To My Heart stamp/die set - WINTER IN A BOTTLE. It's no longer available but there are 100's of other wonderful holiday sets by CTMH . They also have the most amazing sales throughout the year and believe me, I have shopped many of them !! The card that I made is a CASE card . I saw a card made by another CTMH consultant  - Kristina Baldwin -  and fell in love with it .. So, thank you so much for the inspiration, Kristina !!

• I stamped the Skyline and Jar from "Winter in a Bottle" on watercolor paper with a Memento Jet Black ink pad .
• The snowflakes were also stamped on watercolor paper with Memento Dew Drop inks - Teal Zeal & Summer Sky .
• The jar, skyline and snowflakes were die cut with the matching dies.
• I cut the sky backdrop from a piece of white glitter paper also with a die from the Winter in a Bottle set .
• The sentiment was stamped in Nautical Blue Memento ink and then cut into a banner shape .
• I adhered a piece of checked paper from the Echo Park "Home Again" 6x6 paper pad onto the lower right side of a  pale green card base.
• The skyline image was colored with my COPICS.
• The glitter sky and stamped skyline were adhered inside the jar.
• I tied a piece of Christmas twine around the neck of the stamped jar and then adhered it to the checked panel . 
• Rhinestones were placed at the center of the snowflakes and then I adhered them around the completed stamped image,
• The sentiment was adhered to the checked panel .
  
• 2 clear rhinestones were placed down the top left side of the card base . 

Michael, Lisa and Misty are also welcoming 2023 with me . We will be back each month on the 25th to inspire you to start on your holiday cards .. It was nice to have a stash this past holiday when it was time to start mailing out cards!! Please take a look at the other Crafty Elf creations .. I'm sure that they are all fabulous as always !!

Michael Trent / World of Michael Trent

 Lisa Reynolds-Bzibziak / Life of a BZ Scrapper

Misty Lavigne - Jolly Fat Elf on You Tube

Thank you for joining us for our first post of 2023 !! We're excited to be back to inspire you to get a head start on your holiday cards !! I'd also like to thank Chris Franco for helping us get the New Year started. We hope that she is having an amazing birthday month !!

Until next time, Stay Creative 

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / November 2022

I really do not know where this year went !! The thought of Christmas being only 1 month away is hard to believe. My 46 year old son Carter died in a car accident on 12/23/21and this past year has been hard to navigate.. Being creative has literally been a lifesaver to me, along with family and friends who have stood by my side. I haven't blogged as much as I usually do but looked forward to our Crafty Elf post each month. This month's cards of mine are a tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving the holidays..

For my 2 cards I used stamp sets from Jaded Blossom Stamps . I have to thank my creative, coffee loving friend Vanessa Buzard for the inspiration for my cards . She used one of the stamps sets recently and I loved it so much that I bought it  !! Plus another one that  I also used for a card today. 

• I stamped the image from Santa Latte on a piece of cream cardstock with Jet Black Archival Ink .
• The image was colored with my COPICS .
• I matted the stamped image with a piece of red cardstock .
• A piece of scrap glittered holly paper was adhered to a green card base .
• The stamped panel was popped up on the bottom left corner of the card with foam tabs  .

• The Surviving Christmas image was stamped on cream cardstock. The bottle was stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink and the sentiment with a Bamboo Leaves Memento Dew Drop ink .
• I colored the image with my COPICS.
• The stamped panel was adhered to a turquoise mat .
• A piece of scrap color-block paper was adhered to a Kraft card base .
• The stamped panel was popped up in the center of the card with foam tabs.
• Rhinestones in coordinating color were adhered randomly around the stamped panel.

So, that is my guide to surviving the holidays. Coffee to get the day started and help keep me awake to finish all those projects I have started !! And maybe just one drink or two when things get a bit stressful - like maybe when I'm addressing my last minute holiday cards !!!

For more holiday inspiration, please check out what Michael, Lisa and Misty have made .. Their links are below  :

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds Bzibziak - Life of a BZ Scrapper

Misty Lavigne - Jolly Fat Elf

I hope that you and your family had much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day . I look forward to seeing you back here in December. Until then, stay safe and always be creative .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / October 2022

I'm back with my Crafty Elf friends to show you our cards for October .. And we have a new addition to our family - Misty Lavigne.  Also known as the Jolly Fat Elf , she has been our guest in the past but now will be joining us each month with her fabulous creations. Please welcome her by going to her blog post and commenting on her cards .. We are so happy to have you with us, Misty !!

I have created 1 card for October. We have each decided to create at least 1 card every month going forward, but there may be times when we make more. Somehow the month got away from me and  I feel lucky to have created this 1. I hope that you like it as much as I do ..

• I used paper and die cut shapes from the Spellbinders Joyful Christmas collection. 
• On a piece of pastel plaid paper with gold highlights, I adhered several die cut shapes - a Nutcracker, gifts, a tree, a star, an ornament, a mouse, a branch and a poinsettia .
• The 3 gifts die cut was popped up in front of the other images with foam tabs.
• I used a sentiment from the Winter Mega Paper Pad from Echo Park Paper and adhered it at the top Right next to the Ornament and branch die cut .

Sometimes a card comes together without the need for any stamping and this was 1 of those !! The collection had everything I needed. And I can always count on Echo Park for the perfect sentiment.  I'm sure that my fellow elves have come up with some amazing creations as always,  so please take a look at their blogs/videos also .

Michael Trent  /  World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds - Bzibziak  /  Life of a BZ Scrapper 

Misty Lavigne / Jolly Fat Elf

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity !! Please leave a comment and let me know if you have been working on your holiday cards .. I'll choose 1 commenter to receive some holiday card-making goodies !! Until next time, Stay Creative ....

Debra Davison / Meticulosity