Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags with Ellen Hutson

Hello! I'm so excited to be participating once again in Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags, this time with the Ellen Hutson team!

For my tag I used my favorite All Inside bear. Aside from being the cutest ever, and having the ability to be a WHITE polar variety so I don't have to color him, I just love that his arms are cut out so you can have him hold different things!

Here he's holding a candle from one of the leading lady sets. Just perfect to go on a candle gift package!

The background is made from the brand new stripes die! I just cut four different colors, and then had a blast combining colors!

I mounted and adhered these to a piece of white cardstock before cutting the tags so all the pieces will be secure.

Then I was all set to make a few more!!

For a lotion present : )

So cute with them all together.

 Here's a close up where you can really see the nice dimension from having all those strips of paper instead of just a stripe pattern paper. Always love the rounded edges of an actual die!

With the stripes already being cut for the first tag, I loved that it was pretty quick to make three more.

Thanks to Tracey for organizing this big event for us!

And thank you so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

My Favorite Essentials By Ellen Stamp Sets

Hi Folks! Oh boy, we recently were asked to pick our favorite Essentials by Ellen set ... I hate having to make these sorts of decisions! So I didn't : ) I settled on two sets that I use All. The. Time.

1) All Inside by Julie Ebersole (and die set)
2) Totally Random Sayings Vol 2 by Julie Ebersole

I actually use both of these sets so often I feel guilty when reaching for them, but they're just so good I can't seem to stop myself. In fact, this week I've make three different projects with the All Inside Bear!

Instead of just relying on the natural cuteness of the bear, I wanted to really show off the great sentiments in the Totally Random Sayings Vol 2 set. I love the combination of the large, bold words with the smaller, script phrases, and/or the smaller, printed phrases. 

On this card I've got the polar bear holding a happy sun from the All Inside set, along with a script phrase.

The large, bold words also work well with smaller font sentiments from other sets, like this one, also from All Inside. Just love that the bear can hold sentiment strips, in addition to holding objects.

Not sure if you've noticed, but I also went ahead and stamped the sentiments on the envelopes. As long as you have the stamps and ink out already, it just takes a few more minutes to customize the envelopes. I like to do this when I think of it.

Here we have Mr. Polar Bear holding a smaller sentiment, which I added at an angle. The edges of the card are blended with a bit of color. I adhered sequins around the orange "happy" just to help focus attention to which of the happy's is part of the sentiment.

Although I made this set of cards for a birthday, you could pick any of the sentiments to stamp repeatedly and build your card.

Make sure you check out the rest of the team showcasing their favorite Essentials by Ellen sets all week on the Ellen Hutson blog!

And to celebrate Ellen Hutson's 12 year anniversary, you can save 20% on anything that's in stock! But this sale is only good through today!! (PS, the NEW Catherine Pooler mini ink pads that just came in would be a great item to pick up in this sale!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Kelly

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, All Inside by Julie Ebersole Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, All Inside by Julie Ebersole Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps, Totally Random Sayings Vol. 2 by Julie Ebersole Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Aquatini Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Mint To Be Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Tiki Torch Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Black Jack My Sweet Petunia MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (8-1/8 X 10-1/2)

Light Up Card - A Starry Night In the Arctic

 

Hi Folks!  I had the best time playing around with this adorable polar bear, allowing him to ski cross-country through the landscape of the Acrtic under a crisp, clear winter night.

 Here's a peek into the inside of the card, with more details and explanations on the Chibitronics blog. Bottom line is that there are white LEDs underneath each of the three stars, allowing them to actually glow in the night sky.

Once you help the polar bear ski across the card, the stars light up!

How fun! I love having him ski back and forth! Adding a second layer of snow drifts to put over his skis really help give the illusion he's moving through the snow. 

 I colored his scarf by making tiny "v" stitches with alcohol markers for some texture.

Here he is again with the lights on.

It's extra work, for sure, to make a card that lights up. But it's so worth it once you're finished and get to show it off to your family, and the person you're sending it to of course! I'm not above letting everyone think I'm a magician, or am super smart in engineering, either : )

Here's a quick video showing this guy in action!

I've got the full post on the Chibitronics Blog if you want to learn more about it and see how it was made. Thanks for stopping by!

-Kelly

Making Merry with Julie Ebersole - GIVEAWAY!

Hi Folks! With Halloween decorations officially packed away, it's time for me to start thinking about cards for the holidays. Sometimes it's a little difficult to get into the swing of the holidays this early, so I'm really looking forward to taking Juile Ebersole's new Making Merry online class to get me in the mood, AND to learn a bunch of tips and tricks from the master!

Even though it was past midnight when I enrolled in her class, I couldn't wait to take a peek, so I watched the first of 16 lessons already. Julie shows exactly how to make the gorgeous holly and berries card above (actually THREE of them)! I have to admit, even with being a stamper for almost 20 years, Julie demonstrates a technique I've never used before! Gotta love her : )

I'd highly recommend enrolling in the class yourself. As awesome as Julie is, she's also very generous, and is offering a FREE SPOT to one of the commenters on this post. You have until next Sunday, at 11:59 pm CST to comment. I'll randomly pick a winner and announce it on my post on Monday, the 19th.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!
-Kelly

Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags with Winnie & Walter

Hi Folks! As much as I love the freedom of summer, I also adore and am comforted by the traditions of the holidays. One of the traditions that signals the start of the holiday season for me in the card-making world is my friend Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags series in the month of November. Such a fun event that so many companies and designers take a part of.

The tag I made is really just a few die cut images layered together. Who says you need a tag die to make a tag? If you don't want to cut a tag shape yourself, just choose any of your larger dies and use that for your tags!

You can use any supplies on hand, but for this particular tag I've used the w&w In Bloom: Elsa's Flora set for the pine bough and the holly, Essentials: Noelle for the "to" and Essentials: Katherine for the two long flags. The bow is actually a specialty knitting yarn, but it doubles beautifully as a textured ribbon. Bonus that it's super inexpensive since it's sold in a skein and not by the yard. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back in a few days with some additional tags for Tracey's celebration from another awesome sponsor : ) If you haven't already, check out the other adorable Winnie & Walter tags from Tracey's post today!

- Kelly

Winnie & Walter November Rerun - In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals

Hi Folks! Each month at Winnie & Walter we feature a previously released set and host a challenge (either with that set, or something that inspires you from the featured projects). This month we're featuring In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals with Angela Suarez and the corresponding die set.

 For this card I cut away a circle from the card base so I could feature the lovely dies from this set. As a side note, since I knew I was going to be die cutting so many small elements I used my Misti to help me get everything aligned just right. I set the uncut set of dies face down in my Misti, placed each stamp face down into the center of the die, closed the Misti door, and stamped as normal. This allows me to cut all the stamped images with one pass of the die cutter.

These colors have a vintage feel to me, so I used spray adhesive on the dies and coated them with chunky glitter to resemble the vintage glittered fruit decorations.

I love that this set comes with several ways to add on to the main "joy" sentiment. I embossed a few different versions, and settled on "joy to the world this holiday season." I find it humorous how I'll often pick sentiments based on how they will fit on a card ... so in this example I selected sentiments that go after "joy" instead of sentiments like "wishing you" or "peace, love &" because I didn't have anywhere to put them above "joy" : ) .

 

Be sure to check out the Winnie & Walter blog for details on how to participate in the monthly rerun challenge, and win a $25 gift card. Also, don't forget that this set is currently on sale all month!

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly 

New Ellen Huston Set with the Cutest Winter Sentiments!

Hi Folks! I've got one more set to feature for you from Ellen Hutson's new release, which is in the shop now!

The Snow Days set honestly has the cutest sentiments ever, if you're looking for something a little more different than "Happy Holidays" which you may already own in several different sets.

On this card I used the sweater texture stamp for the background, added a little bit of ink blending through the stripes stencil to layer, as well as the hearts from All Inside. The loose stripes border stamp makes my own border, and also gives the bear somewhere to stand.

Let's stop for a minute to appreciate this really cute sentiment ... sending warm furries. Aww, so cute!! And totally appropriate for my polar bear from All Inside, even though you can't see any fur on him. You know it's there though! He's bringing Kleenex, along with his cute sentiment, to cheer up a sick friend who needs some warm furries.

Here's a recap of my cards from this release. You'll notice that even though this is a November release of stamp sets, none of the cards are screaming winter, holiday, or cold weather. Totally versatile.

Thanks so much for looking! Check out all the other items in the new release!!

-Kelly

Affiliate Links:

Skinny Stripes by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Snow Days by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, All Inside by Julie Ebersole Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, All Inside by Julie Ebersole Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps, Leading Ladies - Medical Lady By Brandi Kincaid Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies, Leading Ladies - Medical Lady By Brandi Kincaid Snowfall by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Scallops by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Diamond by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Designer Dies Pattern Dies by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Die Combo Catherine Pooler Reinker, Flirty Fuchsia Catherine Pooler Ink Pad, Aquatini