Holiday Magic Blog Hop–Dec 10th

If you are looking for the Foil and Metallic Blog Hop, click here.

Welcome to the
Holiday Magic Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us for a weekend full of the magic of the Christmas Holidays! Our talented crafters have created all sorts of projects to inspire you and bring the joy of the season into your hearts!

You should have arrived from Alicia’s blog. 

If you just happened upon this magical hop, Connie Can Crop is the first stop in this hop.
This is a one day blog hop and we appreciate your leaving a comment for all of these amazing crafters.

We have an awesome sponsor for this month!

 

One lucky winner will win a $21.00 gift certificate to shop their awesome products.
Be sure to visit them online here.
On facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/bugaboostamps/
And their blog here - http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.com/

What do you need to do to win? Easy... become a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment letting them know what you like best about their projects.

You will have until 10 pm Sunday to finish the hop and leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on Wednesday 12/14/16
at Connie Can Crop.

Be sure to follow everyone and leave a comment along the way!

 

 

I was so excited when I found this cute little mitten freebie from Newton’s Nook.  I colored it using my Copics and then used my Silhouette Cameo to around it leaving a large white border.  I adhered the mittens to the top of four 1-inch x 1-inch pieces of designer paper using dimensionals. 

 

 

 

I’ll let you in on my little secret.  To get those squares of designer paper perfectly lined up and spaced evenly on my card-front, I used my Silhouette software and drew four squares where I wanted them to be on my rectangular piece of white cardstock.  Then I changed the cutting line into a light grey line and printed that out 4 times on a piece of 8-1/2 x 11-inch white cardstock.  After printing, I placed it on my Cameo mat and cut the rectangle out.  Now I could see exactly where to place each piece of designer paper.  I added a Lawn Fawn Wintery Scripty Sayings sentiment to finish it off.

Thanks to my daughter, Kayla, who helped with the assembling of these cards!  She’s the best assistant a mom can have … my little crafty elf.

 

 

 

 

I also did a green version with a slightly different sentiment that was purchased at Michaels.

 

 

Up next is the talented and amazing Jearise!

Here's our line up in case you get lost:

Connie
Shannon H
Angela
Christi
Sue
Holli
Ashley
Diana
Kim
Veronica
Amanda
Miranda
Sandy
Lisa
Alicia
Sharon *you are here*
Jearise
Sarah

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

And don't forget to check out the this month's challenge!!

Connie Can Crop Challenge #53
Baby It's Cold Outside
due 11:59 P.M. Saturday, December 31st
Pacific Time

Technique Hop–Foil and Metallic

**If you are looking for the Holiday Magic Blog Hop, click here.

WELCOME TO

Can you believe it's month twelve of a Year of Card Techniques?  Here are the links in case you missed a month:

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

Be sure you've hopped and commented on each month for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Stampin Up or Blitsy.com. (Winner's Choice).  This is the last month of the year and we are focusing all our attention on metallics, whether it's foil, embossing powder, inks, cardstock, or anything else metallic and since it's December we just had to make it holiday too.  Now on with the projects.

Not only did I have a lot of fun with this hop but it also helped kickstart me into making my Christmas cards for this year.  I usually have them finished long before now but this year just really seemed to get away from me and prior to this hop I hadn’t even started!  Considering I usually make between 75 to 100 cards that’s just absolutely crazy.

So, without further adieu, here is my first completed Christmas card of the season.  I made sure to include foil in the form of some adhesive foil that my girls gave me for my birthday.  I hadn’t had a chance to use it yet so this hop was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.  I decided to take the foil and run it through my Cuttlebug.  I chose the only embossing folder I had that looked wintery (I’ll give you a hint … imagine snowflakes, lol).  I adhered the foil to a piece of burgundy cardstock which I had layered on top of a white card-base.  I added the burgundy ribbon and a scripty sentiment by Lawn Fawn which I embossed with gold sparkle embossing powder.  Take a peek at the finished product …

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my second card, I used 4 pieces of cardstock that had foil bits throughout them.  I cut each piece of cardstock into a flag and layered those over each other from tallest to shortest.  I found some jingle bells in my stash so I thought they’d be a great addition since they were metallic.  I strung them on some twine and stapled it to my card.  I added a cute sentiment that I picked up from Michael’s to finish the card off.

 

 

 

 

 

The last card came in a card kit from Close To My Heart.  My co-worker is a representative and I like to support her every year by buying a kit of cards that I can assemble.  There isn’t a lot of flash to this card .. it’s actually kind of plain, lol .. but it did have some foil ribbon on it so I’m throwing it in as well.

 

 

 

That’s it for me!  Up next is the ever talented Claudia.  Go visit and see what exciting things she has to share …  and don’t forget to check out the other awesome blogs and show them some love while you are there!

• Theresa
• Lisa
• Kim
• Jearise
• Sharon *you are here*
• Claudia *go here next*
• Amanda
• Debbie

November Technique Blog Hop–Vellum and Acetate…

Welcome to the

Our year of hopping is almost complete.  If you are anything like me, you’ll be wondering where the time has gone.  I sure hope you have had the chance to hop with us each month.  If not, please don’t fret, it's not too late to hop and comment to be entered into our prize drawing. 

If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month below to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

We really love feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in today's hop for your chance at the prize. Each comment on the 12 hops throughout the year will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Blitsy.com or Stampin' Up gift certificate (Winner's Choice).  Now on with the projects.

This month it's all about the see through stuff...vellum and acetate.   At first I was feeling kind of stuck on what I would do with vellum.  I’ve never used the stuff before so I was feeling a little unsure of how to use it.  I jumped in with both feet with the first card but barely got my feet wet and I wasn’t very happy with the result.  Take a look…

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the window design.  I purchased a piece of soft blue vellum to be used for the “glass” window.  With some white pigment ink and white embossing powder I created the snowflakes in the window. I adhered that to a piece of light blue cardstock.  The sentiment was created with a new stamp from Lawn Fawn (Winter Scripty Sayings).  I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of clear vellum with some black versafine ink.  Since vellum is a rather “slippery” surface, I poured some clear embossing powder over the top of the sentiment and heat set it to dry and prevent any smudging.  With the addition of a few silver snowflakes my card was complete.

 

I decided to try again in hopes of being a little more successful in my second attempt.  I thought it might be fun to see what happened if I ran my piece of clear vellum through my cuttlebug.  So I searched through my folders and found one that had a wintery feel to it.  It reminded me of snowflakes.  My daughters had given me some glitter embossing powder for my birthday so I figured it was the perfect time to use it.

 

 

After embossing my vellum, I used my handmade tool (a piece of wooden block and some fun foam) to spread some versamark embossing ink over the top of the embossed areas of the vellum.  Then I sprinkled the glitter embossing powder over it and heat set it to complete the process.  Some of the embossing glitter clung to the vellum but I thought it just gave an appearance of falling snow.

 

 

 

 

 

My next card is made using acetate.  While I was at Michaels picking up the vellum, I decided to check out the acetate and two of them caught my eye.  This first one had some cool writing on it and I paired it with the little birdie and sweet sentiment to make a really clean and simple card.  Behind the acetate I put a piece of navy blue cardstock to help the words stand out more.  A little sponging on the sentiment with the same pink color I stamped the bird with and I was all done.

 

 

 

 

 

My last card for this hop was fun to put together.  I purchased this gold polka-dot foiled acetate sheet (the second one to catch my eye @ Michaels) and thought it would be perfect for a shaker card.   I used some gold, silver, red, and green sequins along with some clear chunky glitter for the shaker pieces.  The awesome sentiment stamp is another one from the Lawn Fawn Wintery Scripty Sayings set.  Love me some Lawn Fawn!

 

 

 

 

I don’t know if you can tell but the white cardstock frame has some “stitched” lines around it.  I don’t have one of those fancy stitched dies (but I want one!!) so I decided to try and recreate the look using my Silhouette Cameo.  It isn’t quite as effective as the actual die would be but it’s a good runner up.  With the addition of a gold bow my card was complete.

 

 

That’s it for me.  Don’t forget to visit the rest of my friends to see what fun they had with this technique. Don’t forget to comment and show them some love.  Here’s today’s line up in case you get lost along the way:

Theresa
Debbie
Lisa
Kim
Jearise
Sharon *you are here*
Amanda

Back in the land of the living, I think…

Hi all, sorry it’s been so long since I last posted but I’ve been so sick.  I’m still coughing a lot and pretty tired but I’m upright and that’s a good thing.  I was able to take a couple hours on Sunday to go down to my craft dungeon and put together this card for a co-worker who recently moved to a new location.  She wrote me today to tell me how much she loved it.

 

 

 

I used a Dearie Dolls FREE digital stamp and colored it in with my copics.  I typed up the sentiment using the Air Wooster font from The Hungry JPEG.  I love their fonts and I got this one FREE in a bundle they gave away a few months ago.

I hope you enjoyed my card today.  I will be back to share again soon.

September Technique Blog Hop–Mixed Media

Welcome To

 

It's month nine of our year long adventure into different card-making techniques, folds and paper crafting products.  We hope you have had the chance to hop with us each month.  It's not too late to hop and comment to be entered into our prize drawing. 

If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month below to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August

We're mixing things up this month with a few mixed media techniques and products and you won't want to miss the amazing and fun cards we've got for you today.  We really love feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in today's hop. Each comment on the 12 hops throughout the year will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Blitsy.com or Stampin' Up gift certificate (Winner's Choice).  Now on with the projects.

My first project involves the use of Tim Holtz Distress Stain Ink (Squeezed Lemonade, Abandoned Coral, and Sponged Lipstick) that I swiped across the cardstock to make the horizontal background.  I then melted some crayons using my heat gun and dripped them onto the cardstock randomly.  I used my Copic markers to color the elephant and balloon.  I fussy cut around both images and adhered them to the card using my ATG gun.  I added the sentiment and some twine to finish it off.

 

For the next card, I stamped the elephant directly onto a piece of white cardstock and colored it using my Copic  markers. I traced the stamped outline with a Sakura Glaze embossing pen to add some depth.   I masked off his trunk so that when I stamped the kite I could make the string appear like it was being held by his trunk.   I then masked off both the kite and the elephant and laid a stencil over the cardstock.  I dabbed on some Martha Stewart acrylic paint with a brush to make the X’s, being careful to purposefully dab softer around the elephant and kite to create a muted effect.  I added some sequins and the sentiment to finish it off.

 

That’s it for me.  Don’t forget to visit the rest of my friends to see what fun they had with this technque. Don’t forget to comment and show them some love.  Here’s today’s line up in case you get lost along the way:

• Theresa
• Kim
• Claudia
• Debbie
• Sharon **you are here**
• Lisa

Back To School

Hi all,  I’m so happy to be back to share another card with you today featuring two of PaperCraftingWorld’s digital stamps.  The two files I’ve chosen to work with today are Bear-School-Desk-Sitting-DSb and Bookworm-Girl-DS.

School starts next week (for some of you it may have already started) and I was officially back to work yesterday after 4 weeks of enjoyable, relaxing time off.  Kind of bittersweet.  I love summer but I also love my job and I’m looking forward to the hustle and bustle of a new school year.

I kept things pretty simple this week and I’m happy with the outcome.

 

 

 

Please do go over to the shop and check out the gorgeous cards and other cutting files available from Paper Crafting World. Don't forget about PCW’s every day 50% off code too!

 

 

 

And don’t forget to check out the PCW Facebook page!

 

That’s it for me today.  Happy Crafting!

It’s A Diva’s Kind Of Day

Hey Crafty Friends, I just wanted to stop by quick and tell you about a Facebook Event that’s happening right now because it’s too exciting not to share with you all.  From now until August 23rd, Craftin Desert Divas is sharing sneak peeks of the new August release which includes some amazing stamps and dies. 

And to add to the fun, CDD is also giving away all 4 new stamps and 4 new dies during their sneak peeks as well as sequins, planner stickers, and more!  You can read more about it HERE and then head over to the August Release Facebook Event because you aren’t going to want to miss it!

Hope to see you there!

Bear On Lounger

Hi Crafty Friends, I’m so happy to share another card with you today using files from Paper Crafting World.  I can’t believe summer is almost coming to an end.  I’ve had such an enjoyable summer this year. It’s the first year that I’ve ever taken four weeks in a row off (the month of August).  I have just over one week left to go and then I’m back to the same ole’, same ‘ole.  But I’ve had lots of time to lounge in the sun and, with that in mind, the Bear On Lounger Digital Stamp is one of the files I’ve chosen to work with today.

This card was so much fun to make.  I just came home from the States (I live in Canada) and had some brand new papers in my haul so I enjoyed looking through them to decide which ones to use.  I used the colored digi and cut it using my Cricut Explore (no more fussy cutting for me!).  I cut the sentiment out with my Cricut as well.  I thought it was perfect for this card!  Getting the stenciled “sun” on the card was a little tricky because the pieces were not all attached but I came up with a solution that worked for me (see pic below the card).

 

 

…washi tape doubles for transfer tap when you have none, lol.

 

I also used the Bear With Popsicle digital file to create another fun, summer card.  I colored this cute little guy with some Promarkers and used washi tape to make the banner.

 

 

Please do go over to the shop and check out the gorgeous cards and other cutting files available from Paper Crafting World. Don't forget about our every day 50% off code too!

 

And don’t forget to check out the PCW Facebook page!

 

 

August Technique Blog Hop–Baby Wipes & Reinkers

Welcome To

It's month eight of our year long adventure into different card-making techniques, folds and paper crafting products.  We hope you got the chance to hop with us each month.  It's not too late to hop and comment to be entered into our prize drawing. 

If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month below to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July

This month we are playing with baby wipes and reinkers and you won't want to miss the amazing and fun cards we've got for you today.  We really love feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in today's hop. Each comment on the 12 hops throughout the year will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Blitsy.com or Stampin' Up gift certificate (Winner's Choice).  Now on with the projects.

I found this technique rather challenging.  It’s not that it’s a hard technique to achieve because it’s really not.  I just had a hard time getting my mojo on but once I did, I went crazy.

 

I kept it simple for my first card.  The first thing I did was grab a couple of wipes and laid one on top of the other. Then I folded it into thirds.  Once folded, I added different colors of reinkers in dots across the top of the folded baby wipe and ran that down my page to make vertical stripes.  I did the same thing to a smaller piece of cardstock but this time I ran the wipes across horizontally.  I used my heat gun to dry it up so that I could stamp my butterfly and sentiment directly to the smaller piece of cardstock.   I adhered both the vertical and horizontal pieces of cardstock on top of a light blue piece of cardstock.  I added a piece of ribbon across the middle and adhered this to my card base to complete this card. 

 

The next two cards were created much the same way by running the baby wipe horizontally across the cardstock.  I used some of my new Lawn Fawn stamps and dies to create these little cuties.

 

This technique for the next card was created by dropping some different colors of reinkers onto a folded baby wipe in random fashion to create a unique stamp pad.  I dabbed a solid floral stamp onto the “pad” and randomly stamped all over my cardstock to create a unique background. Each time I stamped a flower, I would make sure to wipe the stamp off before dabbing it back onto the baby wipe ink pad so that it didn’t become muddy.

 

 

My last card was created by stamping a flower and stem onto a piece of watercolor paper with embossed ink.  Once it was heat set, I diluted my reinkers slightly with water and used a paintbrush to achieve this watercolor effect.  I love how it created such a soft effect.  I added some ribbon and a sentiment to finish it off.

 

That’s it for me.  Don’t forget to visit the rest of my friends to see what fun they had with this technque. Don’t forget to comment and show them some love.  Here’s today’s line up in case you get lost along the way:

• Theresa
• Lisa
• Kim
• Claudia
• Debbie
• Sharon **you are here**

Lemonade Boy Shake It Up Shaker Card

Hi there Crafty Friends,

I’m here to share another card with you using this amazing digital file, Lemonade Boy Sitting With Slices from Paper Crafting World.  This week I decided to create this cute little shaker card.  My sentiment (created by me) is a play on words.  See if you can figure it out.

Please do go over to the shop and check out the gorgeous cards and other cutting files available from Paper Crafting World. Don't forget about the every day 50% off code, too!

 

And don’t forget to check out the Paper Crafting World facebook page!

Christmas In July…Day 2

Welcome to day two of

We just couldn't stop playing with the holiday theme, so we've got a second day filled with great ideas that you can start creating now for Christmas.  Along the way today, you'll find card and gift ideas, a scrapbook layout page or two and even a couple great decorating ideas.  We hope this hop gets you in the holiday spirit a little early this year.

We'd like to say a HUGE THANKS to our sponsor today.

Theresa is giving away a $20 Stampin' Up Gift Certificate to one lucky winner AND take 10% off any order placed through her (not available on website) by July 30th.  Email her at scrapsbygracie AT gmail.com with your order.  All you have to do to win this fabulous prize is comment on each of the blogs.  That's it! It really is easy.   Of course, we would love it if you became a follower too. 
Comment buttons can be found at the bottom of the post (on most of the blogs).  Now on with the hop!

I have a couple more cards to share with you today as well as a throwback to another project that I created a couple of years ago.  First, take a look at these cute cards…

A couple of years ago I purchased a couple of glass blocks to make light boxes.  Here’s how they turned out:

Here is today's hop line-up in case you get lost along the way.
Theresa
Barbara
Kim
Alicia
Lisa
Enclade
Holli
Sharon *you are here*Sarah
Amanda
Jearise

Christmas In July…Day 1

Welcome to Christmas in July!

 

 

Get ready for some great ideas that you can start creating now for Christmas.  Along the way today, you'll find card and gift ideas, a scrapbook layout page or two and even a couple great decorating ideas.  We hope this hop gets you in the holiday spirit a little early this year.

 

Theresa is giving away a $20 Stampin' Up Gift Certificate to one lucky winner AND take 10% off any order placed through her (not available on website) by July 30th.  Email her at scrapsbygracie AT gmail.com with your order.

All you have to do to win this fabulous prize is comment on each of the blogs.  That's it! It really is easy.  Of course, we would love it if you became a follower too.  Comment buttons can be found at the bottom of the post (on most of the blogs).  Now on with the hop!

This is the first of a two day hop so please make sure to check back again tomorrow for more projects from our talented hop members!  Here are my cards for Day 1.

 

 

Here is today's hop line-up in case you get lost along the way.
Theresa
Kim
Alicia
Lisa
Enclade
Holli
Sharon *you are here*
Sarah
Amanda
Jearise

Be sure to hop tomorrow too for even more great holiday projects and ideas.  You can start tomorrow at Theresa's blog.