Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / November 2024

Well, it always seems to happen like this .... You turn around and it's the holiday season !! I am working Thanksgiving and the day after this year, but will be off for Christmas and New Years. Such is the life of a nurse . I have been at it for 40 years, so working holidays is just part of the deal. But at the end of a long shift, I get to come home and spend some time with Brian & Pixie .. I hope you get to spend some time with friends and family this Thanksgiving.Lisa and I are back with our creations for November - we both should have a nice stash of cards to mail out next month !!

I decided to use the Merry Catmas stamp set from Unity Stamp Company. This is such  a cute set and I loved it so much that I made 5 cards for today .. My initial thought was to leave all the cats white but my OLO markers were calling to me and I decided to color in a few on each card . I even colored a few to match some of my friend's cats. Meow !!

• I stamped the Cat Tree image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white cardstock that I already had cut to fit my card bases. I used my MISTI so stamping all 5 was very quick.
• Some of the cats were colored with my OLO markers.
• I made red, blue and green versions of this card.I stamped the sentiments on white cardstock in each color and trimmed them to fit below the tree.
• The border at the top of each stamped panel was made with a Tim Holtz Alterations On the Edge Scallops Die . This is long retired but can be found on eBay.
• I color-coordinated each card - card base, border and sentiment were all the same color family.
• The sentiment was popped up with foam tabs.
• Each completed panel was adhered to a matching card base. 

I had alot of fun with these cards !! Can't wait to send them to my "crazy cat lady" friends next month . I purchased 3 books of holiday  stamps and several International stamps I usually send about 60 cards each year. Take a look at what Lisa made over at her blog -Life of a BZscrapper . I hope you have been thinking ahead and finding ways to beat the stress and holiday rush this season.  We will see you next month with a wrap-up of our year .

Debra Davson/Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / November 2024

Another month has gone by and Celeste and I are back with our latest blog collaboration.. Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is right around the corner . And that usually includes some holiday baking for friends and families. So I thought that was the perfect theme for us . I hope you enjoy what we have created .

I bought the Martha Stewart Cottage Christmas rubber stamp set back in 2012 and never used it . So when I found it in my stash while looking for something else (no doubt ), it was my inspiration for this month's card .. 

• I stamped the Cottage Christmas elements on a piece of white cardstock, using Memento Dew Drop ink pads - Teal Zeal, Love Letter,  Cottage Ivy & Rich Cocoa . 
• I die cut the stamped panel with a Big and Little Chain Rectangle Die , leaving room at the bottom for a sentiment .
• A piece of Fancy Pants "Home Cafe" patterned paper was cut and adhered to a 5x7 card base.
• A sentiment from Impression Obsession's "Christmas Baking" was stamped on pale pink paper and then cut out to fit on the stamped panel. I used Catherine Pooler "Peppermint Scrub" ink .
• The completed stamped panel was placed on the card base with foam tabs to add dimension.
• I placed some pink striped Candy Dots on the sentiment for my finishing touch !!

I'm excited to see what Celeste has come up with for this Holiday Baking theme. You can check out her post over at her blog - Crafting Junky  While I was making this card, I enjoyed some Gingerbread coffee in a new reusable cup from my local Starbucks. I love its red and mint green and plaid design. And even though I definitely didn't need another cup I just had to add it to my collection.

Thanks for joining me and Celeste for another month of creativity. We will see you again in December. Until then , please stay creative AND warm ..

Debra Davison/Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / October 2024

Can you believe that it is October already ?? Christmas is only 2 months away and the Crafty Elves are here with their latest cards for your inspiration. Michael Trent is joining us again this month so you will have triple the creativity..

For my card this month, I used the Avery Elle "Dear Santa" stamp set. I recently purchased several stamp sets from a friend at her "Crafty Garage Sale" online and decided to ink up this set and use it for my card . I actually made 6 cards, using different patterned papers, But I was interrupted by something and didn't get to take my pictures in good light, so you will only see 1 here.  I will post the others in my Facebook group and on IG. The cat reminds me of our sweet Pixie !! She would NOT be caught dead wearing a Santa hat, but she would definitely go for that beautiful bow !!

• I positioned the cat, holly and sentiment images on my MISTI and stamped them on white cardstock. I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink for the cat and holly and Ruby Impression Obsession ink for the sentiment.
• The stamped image was die cut with a scalloped oval die by Stampendous.
• I colored the images with my OLO markers .
• A piece of Miss Mary Christmas  glittered holiday striped paper was adhered to a Kraft card base. This is a fun paper pad from Hobby Lobby.
• A strip of the holiday striped paper was adhered across the top of the card.
• Several enamel dots of various sizes were placed above the sentiment.
• A Santa hat dimensional sticker was placed on the cat's head.
• The completed stamped panel was adhered to the card base with foam tabs.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see what the Crafty Elves have been up to .. Take a look at what Lisa and Michael have created at their links :

Lisa - Life of a BZscrapper

Michael - World of Michael Trent

Have you started on your holiday cards yet ?? Lisa and I will be back next month with more inspiration for you . It feels nice when I have a stash of cards to use when holiday mail time rolls around. See you in November. Until then, stay creative and enjoy some beautiful Autumn weather.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Coffee & Cards with Deb & Celeste / October 2024

It's that spooky time of year and Celeste and I are back with our posts for October. We also have a scary guest this month - Michael Trent is joining us . I'm sure he will be showing us a fab-BOO-lous card .So get a cup of your favorite witch's brew and check out what we have created .. Our inspiration photo has fun Halloween vibes .

For my card, I used 2 Halloween stamps from Impression Obsession . They are having a Closing Sale with 50% off all supplies . My stamps are no longer available but I just had to use them - it's the first time I've inked them up !!

• I adhered a piece of Halloween Fun paper from Impression Obsession to a kraft card base.
• The witch image was stamped on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink .
• I used an oval die to cut out the image.
• I stamped the sentiment on a piece of orange designer paper and die cut it with a scalloped rectangle die.
• The witch panel was colored with my OLO markers .
• I adhered the witchy panel to the Halloween paper with foam tabs.
• The sentiment was placed on the left upper side of the witchy panel - also with foam tabs.

I must admit that I love this card !!! That witch is just too cute. I can't wait to see what Celeste and Michael have come up with . Michael is a lover of all things googly-eyes and I am NOT a fan so we forbade him from using any ... However, Michael is known to be a bit of a rebel, so I wouldn't be surprised if several show up in his design ! Here are the links to their cards -

Celeste - Crafting Junky

Michael - World of Michael Trent

For some spookiness this Halloween season, I started watching The Walking Dead : Daryl Dixon - The Book of Carol . I was a HUGE Walking Dead fan then just moved on to other television. But I was always intrigued by the Daryl/Carol relationship and decided to try out this season. So of course, I needed a cup that matched .. I think I have posted this one before but it seemed perfect for this post . I am drinking Pecan Praline coffee in my Walking Dead Zombie Head cup!! What is your coffee of the moment as we enjoy some Fall weather??

So glad you stopped by to have coffee with me, Celeste and Michael ( who is joining us all the way from Brazil ) . I have a few more Halloween card ideas swirling around in my head so I'd better make another cup of coffee and get started !! Until next time, stay creative !! And enjoy some fab-BOO-lous coffee !! See you in November ..

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Technique Junkies Stamp Release / October 2024

The latest release from Technique Junkies is full of 10 fabulous holiday designs. They will all be 15% off through October 8th - no code required. And using my code - TJ10Deb - will get you10% off all other stamps/supplies .

For my card today, I used the Cozy Polar Bears image, This is such a sweet, fun design and so easily colored. I'll probably be maby several of these cards to send out - I'd like to try some other color combinations. Maybe pink / mint green,  red / green and shades of red, blue and green

•  The image was stamped on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink .
• I trimmed the image and colored it with my OLO Markers .
• The completed polar bear image was matted with maroon cardstock.
• I adhered the completed stamped panel to a piece of blue plaid patterned paper.
• A strip of green glitter washi was placed in the upper left corner from side to top.
• A large red rhinestone was adhered in the middle of the strip of washi .
• The stamped panel was adhered to a Kraft card base.

Be sure to check out all of the creations from my fellow Design Team members at the links below .

TJ Blog

Jeanette

Debra - YOU ARE HERE

Michael

 Darlene

Pat

Until next time, Stay Creative ...

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Deb and Terri Color with OLO

I bought myself some OLO markers for my birthday and have been trying them out . They are alcohol markers, like COPICS or Ohuhu, but the similarity ends there. Check out the fantastic OLO website  for all the information on these markers. I love to color and wanted to challenge myself, so I asked a friend to do a blog post with me, each using our OLO markers. Terri Burson of Waving My Wand is a fantastic paper-crafter with amazing coloring skills . So we each made a Fall-themed card with our OLOs. Thanks to Terri for our fun graphic !!

 

I chose 2 cute stamp sets from Impression Obsession  that gave me the opportunity to use lots of OLO colors . These are no longer available but I knew I absolutely had to use these stamp for this post today.I have definitely been feeling the Fall vibes lately and wanted to reflect this in my card !!

• I stamped the image on white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
• The sentiment was stamped below the friends with Catherine Pooler "Peppermint Scrub" ink.
• I colored the image with a variety of OLO markers - shown below .
• The completed stamped panel was matted with a piece of deep red cardstock.
• I adhered a piece of Autumn-patterned paper to a Kraft card base.
• The matted panel was adhered to the card base.

I'm so excited that Terri could join me as I begin my OLO coloring journey. I know she is a very busy papercrafter, working with a variety of companies and was thrilled she could take the time to show off her artistic skills. Please check out her blog post  - Waving My Wand  - to see what she has created with her OLO markers -. You can also find her  @wavingmywand on IG and on Facebook .

Thank you so much for taking a look at this fun blog collab with Terri.

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / September 2024

Can you believe that Christmas is only 3 months away ?!?!?! Lisa and I have been posting holiday cards each month on the 25th to inspire you to get started on yours along with us. Take some of the stress out of the holidays by getting your holiday snail mail ready early.We hope you like our creations for September.

For my card this month, I used a sweet Penny Black stamp set - Balancing Act. I don't think it was meant as a holiday stamp but I immediately got the idea to use it with holiday colors . I also made some cards with Fall colors .

• For both cards, I stamped the Girl with Cat image on pieces of white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
• The stamped panels were die-cut with a Big and Little Chain Rectangle Die.
• I colored the images with my new OLO Markers .
• I matted each of the stamped panels with dark green cardstock.
• Scraps from my patterned paper drawer were adhered to A2 card bases - 1 Kraft and 1 white.
• The completed panels were adhered to the card bases with foam tabs for added dimension .
• Tim Holtz sticker sentiments were adhered to each card.

My new OLO markers were a birthday present to myself in August, Check out their website at the link to learn all about them. I love the way they color and the ability to have 2 brush colors in 1 marker. I never have used the chisel tip of my other alcohol markers so I was thrilled with this feature, I am not affiliated with OLO - I purchased all  my markers. I just love them already and wanted to share my honest opinion. Have you tried them ?? I'd love to know what you think of them if you have. 

You can see Lisa's September cards over at her blog -Life of a BZscrapper . Thank you for stopping by to see our holiday inspiration. We really do appreciate it. Are you getting a head start on your holiday cards ?? Enjoy the start of Fall and cooler weather and we will see you in October with more of our creations.

Until next time,

Stay Creative