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

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / January 2023

Another year is starting - time to get organized, make resolutions, plan your next 365 days .. Celeste and I are back with our January Coffee and Cards posts to welcome 2023. Our theme is Books. I am an avid reader and know I will have fun choosing a few books to start off my 2023 reading list .

For my card , I chose an older stamp from Whimsy Stamps - Book Worm. It's no longer available but they have a few other fun book-related stamps. I have been a bookworm since childhood - and can remember "reading" with my dad long before learning the alphabet !!

• I stamped the image with a Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad on white Mixed-Media paper.
• The image was colored with COPIC markers.
• I matted the stamped panel with green cardstock,
• I adhered a piece of book patterned paper from the American Crafts Project Life paper pad - Desktop Edition onto a turquoise card base.
• The completed stamped panel was then adhered to the book paper.
• A Tim Holtz Idea-ology sticker phrase was placed in the bottom right corner of the completed stamped panel .

I'm excited to see what Celeste did with one of my favorite themes !! You can check out her project over at her blog - Crafting Junky .  Are you a reader ?? If you are, let me know one of your favorite books so I can add it to my reading list .  I will choose one commenter to send a card and bookmark to .

My coffee today is my all-time favorite - Gingerbread.  I found some Starbucks K-cups on sale at Target and also some boxes of store brand K-cups at Food Lion  for $2 each, so I stocked up !! And because I'm drinking "holiday" coffee, why not use a holiday mug I picked up at Life is Good at a recent sale.. This might just be a new favorite mug .. 

Thank you for joining us as we kick off the New Year with our book-themed posts .. We'll be back in February with more Coffee and Cards. Until then, stay creative !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / December 2022

Once again,  I'm not quite sure how it is Christmas already !!  At first, it seems like it is so far away and then, it sneaks up on you and is here before you know it .. Michael, Lisa and I are back with our last minute Christmas cards for 2022 .. Enjoy !! Misty is taking a much-needed break this month. 

I'm a bit under the weather as I write this so I will only be listing the stamps I use .And then I will be settling down for a small winter's nap .. I hope that our cards have inspired you this past year and that you will continue to follow us in 2023.

Snowman to Go - Unity Stamp Company

Simple Little Joys - Unity Stamp Company

 Cuppa Christmas and Calm & Bright Printable -

 Mandy Ford Art & Illustration

Both cards are from :

October 2022 Stamp of the Month -

Close To My Heart

To see what my fellow elves have come up with for out last post of 2022, check them out here -

Michael Trent - World of Michael Trent

Lisa Reynolds Bzibziak -  Life of a BZscrapper

I hope that you all are staying safe and healthy and warm.. It is 21 lovely degrees here today and will be staying there overnight ..  We look forward to seeing you back here with the Crafty Elves in 2023 !!

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / December 2022

Celeste and I are back with our December edition of Coffee & Cards .. And what better theme for this month than Coffee & Christmas . Two of my favorite themes for my card-making !! And Celeste found a gorgeous photo for us for inspiration ..

I chose to go with a snowman theme for my card and used a sweet stamp set from Unity Stamp Company - Snowman To Go .

• I stamped the cup image on a piece of blue snowflake paper from the NOEL paper pad by Craft Consortium , a piece of blue-grey paper and also on a piece of white Mixed-Media paper. 
• The sentiment was stamped on a Graph paper Ledger card .
• The cup was fussy-cut from the Mixed-Media paper and the cup lid from the blue-grey paper.
• I colored the Snowman cup  image with my COPICS.
• The cup lid was glued to the cup image and then the cup was glued to the snow paper.
• The completed snowman panel was adhered to a navy card base.
• I adhered the sentiment above the Snowman To Go .

Celeste jus might love coffee as much as I do, so I'm so excited to see what she has made.. You can see her card over at her blog -  Crafting Junky .  My coffee this month is Pecan Praline by Community Coffee - this flavor is really one of my Top 5 flavors !! And it was on sale at a local grocery store - Harris Teeter . I usually stock up on a few boxes of K-cups when the price is lowered !! As for my cup, I guess I wanted to get on the Winnie-the-Pooh bandwagon with everyone else, so I got this when I found it on sale.  I have a few cute Pooh stamps from Unity Stamp Company & Impression Obsession.  Might just have to use that as a theme sometime in 2023 !!

Thank you for joining us this month . We look forward to our posts in 2023 and hope that you will come back for more inspiration from me & Celeste .. Happy Holidays !! Wishing you all a safe and healthy New Year .

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Woodblock Wednesday / December 2022

Today is Woodblock Wednesday !! My crafty friend Amy Tsuruta will be posting a card each month using one of her many fabulous woodblock stamps and will also host a challenge in the corresponding blog post. I also have many woodblock stamps and decided to join her today.

I used a 2019 Christmas Banner stamp from Hero Arts for my card. The paper is a fabulous 6x6 pad from Craft Consortium -Made By Elves . I also used several faceted crystals . After I colored the image, I realized that I had that paper that was the perfect color match !! 

If you have a stash of woodblock stamps,  join the challenge and link up one of your own projects. You can get al the info and lots of inspiration HERE at Amy's blog - Tsuruta Designs .

Thank you for visiting me on Woodblock Wednesday .

#woodblockwednesday   #woodblockstamps

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste - November 2022

Celeste reminded me the other day that we started this blog collaboration in October of 2016 !! So we could actually be celebrating our 6th anniversary now !!  We both had been making cards for one of the Coffee Lovers Blog Hops and didn't want to stop, so we decided to make cards every Sunday for the month of October.. But we still didn't want to quit, so we decided to continue it monthly. And here we are - 6 years later .. A blog collaboration AND a valued friendship .. Celeste chose a beautiful picture for our Inspiration Pic this month  -- we hope you like what we have created.

I have had the Autumn Vibes stamp set from Close To My Heart for awhile and have been wanting to ink it up for just the right card .  I thought of it as soon as I saw the Inspiration Pic.. 

• I stamped the coffee cup and hay bale on a piece of scrap ledger paper & also stamped the hay bale on a piece of yellow patterned paper. The ink was Jet Black Archival .
• I placed a strip of Autumn washi across the top of the stamped panel.
• The Leggings saying was stamped with Orange Zest StazOn Ink and the Hay Ride with Memento Rhubarb Stalk Ink .
• I fussy-cut the hay from the yellow paper and adhered it to the stamped panel. 
• The cup was colored with COPICS and a puffy sticker from Paper House Productions was adhered to the sleeve.
• I matted the stamped panel on a piece of woodgrain patterned paper .
• I adhered a piece of leaf patterned paper from the Autumn paper pad by Newton's Nook to a Kraft card base.
• The completed stamped, matted panel was popped up on the card base with foam tabs.
• The dried fruit in the picture was made by my guy, Brian. He used our food dehydrator and made dried apples, lemons, limes, pomegranates, apples and oranges. They are in a bowl on our table . 

I'm certain that Celeste has made a fabulous card this month as always. You can find all of her creations at Crafting Junky . Take a look at her November creation for some inspiration of your own. My coffee this month is Pumpkin Pecan Praline from  Bones Coffee Company . And I'm using a cute paper to-go cup  that says - "My favorite season is Pumpkin Spice"..

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity  again as we head into the holiday season. I hope that you all found some Black Friday deals and were able to get in some crafty time with a good cup of coffee !! Please take care and we will see you in December ..

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