The 12 Blogs of Christmas - Blog No 9

Hi and welcome to you if you have just arrived from Amanda's blog as part of the 12 Blogs of Christmas Blog Hop!!! If you've just dropped in then why not join in. 12 lovely Stampin'Up! demonstrators are all displaying Christmas projects for you to enjoy from today over the next week. You can visit each one by clicking on the link in the sidebar. Below are my offerings and I've detailed some information about what I've used. For the last card I've explained how simple it is to make it, but if you have any questions about the other two please don't hesitate to contact me via email or just leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
All 12 of the bloggers in this HOP would appreciate your comments, me included. It's always nice to see who's visited us and a nice comment warms the heart on a cold winter's day so be brave sign up and leave us all a little note!
My first project was inspired by some card swaps I received from a friend in the US. Rather than stamp baubles I've stencilled them and decorated them afterwards. I've drawn the strings in free hand, but if you've already bought our lovely Tree Trimmings Set then you could always stamp them in to.
This recipe is
Naturals ivory & choc chip cardstock
Creamy caramel, ruby red and versamark ink
Chocolate chip marker pen
Sponge daubers
Silver embossing powder
Oval & scallop oval punches
Scandanvian Season, Perfect Presents & Retired Best Yet stamp sets
Chocolate chip 11/4 inch striped grosgrain ribbon
Stampin' dimensionals
other - stencil

Here's a little bit of fun with punch art. It's amazing all the things you can produce just by punching shapes and Stampin'UP! make it easy with so many wonderful punches to choose from. This layout is a favourite of mine and I've reincarnated it from last year as I like it so much. It's an easy enough card to make, but not so good if you're looking to make lots as it can take a little time, but the finished product is well worth the time investment. In this card the recipe is as follows

Cardstock - real red, whisper white, basic black & blush blossom

Inks - basic black, blush blossom

Punches - scallop circle, 13/8'' circle, 1/2 '' circle

sponge daubers

white gel pen

dimensionals & snail adhesive

Stamp set Perfect Presents

I love the simple, clean lines of the card below and it's really easy to make. Stamp the snowflake from Perfect Presents in versamark onto bashful blue base card. Adhere whisper white cardstock onto base card to make snowy backdrop. Stamp Merry Christmas from Occasional Greetings in choc chip onto 'snow'. Cut strips of choc chip card for the tree trunks. Adhere tree trunks with tombow/snail adhesive. Stamp the trees from Perfect Presents in old olive on whisper white cardstock, cut out and adhere to trunks with dimensionals. Stamp one of the snowflakes from Snow Flurries in real red and punch out using 3/4 inch circle punch. Add a gold brad and then adhere to one of the treetops using dimensional. SIMPLE!!!! Go on you know you want to have a go! But before you do don't forget to visit the other 11 Blogs of Christmas. Just click on the link and it will take you to the lovely Carole's blog and she has some yummy ideas for you. If you've only just started on the hop Carole is at no 10 so just follow the links and you'll go round them all. Remember comments on all are very welcome.

Thanks for visiting Stamping Scene. Come back soon!

Hugs Zoë xx

I'm down but not out!!

Oh boy, oh boy how sad am I!!!! No don't answer that!! I can't believe how old I feel this week having to try to use Olivia's laptop to try to get back up and running after our trusty, ( the one I knew how to use) computer bit the dust this week. We forget how we rely on these damn machines and I certainly am not designed for laptop use. Olivia looked at me and my pathetic venturing on her laptop and offered to do it all for me. She even fished out a mouse as I was struggling with the built in version. However I have perservered mainly because I have been very keen to show off my entry for the Stampin'Up! Summer Design Challenge.
I foolishly left it to the last minute to get it done even though I'd had the idea in my head for some time. As a consequence I finished it a 2am the last day that it could realistically be posted to be in the SU offices for the closing date. It was then typically a bad morning for taking photos so they are not as good as I would have liked and I was also so pleased with my efforts that I was torn about sending it in. Finally though here it is in all its glory and I hope you like as much as me. The list of stamp sets and pieces of kit is rather long so I wont download it all, but you can always shout if there's something you'd like to know about it.
I did follow the theme of My Summer 2009 quite closely and it really is my summer. As you know we spent our summer hols down on the Isle of Wight and I'm glad to say found some sunshine. I don't recall Martin in shorts quite like these, but he did make it into the sea which is more than can be said for me. No point in scaring the fish!!!!
I'd love to hear your feedback and whatever happens with the competition I really enjoyed making this, and apologise to my family for being so grumpy for the day after as I was so tired.

So did you have a go and enter? There were some great prizes on offer to customers of Stampin' Up!. If you didn't this time give it a go for the next challenge. It really is lots of fun.

I hope to be back soon.

Hugs until then!

Zoe