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

May Cookies - Take 3

As soon as I saw the Cookie Challenge picture for this post, I immediately thought of a friend's daughter . She is bright and articulate and wants to be a scientist when she grows up .. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she became President of the United States !! Or an astronaut, or a nuclear physicist or maybe even an amazing doctor or nurse. Her possibilities are endless. Her name is Claire and she was my inspiration.  Whatever she chooses to do with her life, I have no doubt that she will make a huge impact !!

I used the fun Super Girl set  from Close To My Heart  that I bought from my amazing friend Chris Franco. You can find her  fabulous creations at  Stamped Blessings . The Super Girl set  is retired but there are plenty of other great products available. I am a pretty good clearance shopper and got the Super Girl stamp AND die set for only $6 !! I hope you like what I created for the Super Girl that I know - Claire !!

• I first embossed a cloud background with an embossing folder onto blue cardstock, then trimmed it down to fit on a 5 x 7 card . The clouds are easier to see on the close-up below these instructions.
• The images were stamped on Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Paper using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.
• I used the matching dies to cut out the girl and WOW images . The sentiment was punched out with a Tag punch.
• I colored the images with my Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens .
• The buildings at the bottom are from a scrap piece of DCWV paper. I cut it to fit at the bottom of the watercolor paper to look like Super Girl was flying over the city.
• I adhered the images to the background using my Scotch Pink ATG Gun.
• Glossy Accents  was used to highlight her glasses.

This was a fun challenge !! I hope that you will be inspired to create a project of your own and link it up before June 13. Be sure to go to the IF YOU GIVE A CRAFTER A COOKIE blog and take a look at the other creations from our Design Team.  I'm going to put my card in the mail to Claire, along with some stickers !! Because what Super Girl doesn't love fun stickers !!! Some might even have glitter on them.. 

Until next time, Stay Creative !!

Debra Davison/ Meticulosity