A Year in Review Blog Hop & Whimsy & Stars Studio Blog Candy

My crafty friend Karin is hosting a Year in Review blog hop so that we can show off our favorite creations of 2011. I jumped at the chance to stroll down memory lane and share a few projects from the year with you. If you just came across the blog hop on my blog, you might want to start at Karin’s blog so that you can see all the crafty goodness and qualify for all the blog candy. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO SEE HOW TO QUALIFY FOR $6.00 GC FOR DIGI STAMPS AT WHIMSY & STARS STUDIO!

To make it even more exciting, Mabelle of Whimsy & Stars Studio graciously agreed to sponsor some most yummy blog candy. You can read how to win $6.00 in digital images of your choice from the Whimsy & Stars Studio store at the bottom of my post.

So here we go! These are some of my favorite projects from 2011. ( You can click on the photo of my project to go to my original post.)

January - Stamps: Happy Things Pennants digi stamp set by Raindrop Echo Designs on Whimsy Stamps

February – Stamps: Cutie Pie: Little Things by AmberInk

March - Benny & Joon Have Cake by Crissy Armstrong available on Whimsy Stamps

April - Bunny Pail digital stamp by Wax Fruit Company

May - Stitched Lotus and Round Leaf by Meljen’s Designs, Flowers in Bloom Sentiments by Raindrop Echo Designs

June - Majestic Eagle Head by StampArt Designs available on Whimsy Stamps, Freebie Sentiment from Raindrop Echo Designs

July - Birthday Bumps from Lili of the Valley, Party Mini Letter Seals by Raindrop Echo Designs on Whimsy Stamps

August - Hen by Shelly’s Images

September - Halloween Girl (digital stamp) from Whimsy and Stars Studio, Halloween Ticket Sentiments (digital stamp) from Raindrop Echo Designs on Whimsy Stamps

October - Farmer Crow (digital stamp) by Meljen’s Designs

November - Winter Friends (digital stamp) by Whimsy and Stars Studio, Holiday Treats by Papertrey

December - Santa (digital stamp) from Whimsy & Stars Studio, Signature Christmas & Just the Ticket from Papertrey

Now for the blog candy! Mabelle gave me a gift certificate for $6.00 which you can use to purchase the digi images of your choice from the Whimsy & Stars Studio store. Wouldn’t some new Whimsy & Stars Studio digis be a great start to the New Year?

To qualify for the drawing, all you need to do is go to the Whimsy & Stars Studio store (HERE) and pick out the image that is your favorite. Scroll down to the linky tool below and type in your info as usual but when you enter your name ADD THE NAME OF YOUR FAVORITE WHIMSY & STARS STUDIO image. [For example: Cheryl (Coffee Girl)] You do not need to participate in the hop to join the blog candy draw. Entries close at midnight CST on 12-31-11. I will use random.org to pick the lucky winner and will post the name on my blog on New Years day. (In the event that the winner does not claim their prize with in 10 days, I will pick a new winner.)

I would also love it if you left me a comment so I can come visit you and become a follower of my blog but it is not necessary to qualify for the blog candy.

**Edited to add - Melissa of Meljen’s Designs is jumping in on the fun. Be sure to stop by the Meljen’s Designs blog to get the details on a 25% sale for New Years!

I am also linking up my post to the Tatertots & Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party – Link up your favorite projects from 2011.

Happy New Year to you! I wish you a year of health, wealth and creativity for 2012.

Now I’m off to check out all the blogs on the hop!

If the linky tool is not working, please leave your information in comments.

My Favorite Five Christmas Cards of 2011

Although I planned on taking a little blogging break this week, when I saw this post on my crafty friend Anita’s blog, I had to join in the fun. Debby is hosting a little linky party with some blog candy where we can share our favorite Christmas cards of 2011.

1. I love the snowflakes and the sweet little chickadees on this card. You can see my original post here.

Image: Cozy Little Chickadees (digital image) by Meljen’s Designs

2. I love this jolly Santa image from Whimsy & Stars Studio. I had fun using paint and a recycled Starbucks coffee sleeve to add some texture. My original post is here.

Image: Santa (digital stamp) from Whimsy & Stars Studio

3. I think it is well documented that I am a sucker for snowmen. This one in particular makes me smile and had to be included on my list. You can see my original post here.

Stamps: Stampendous Woody Snowman, Papertrey Holiday Treats

4. I have to admit, I love the colors on this one and had to include it on my list. My original post is here.

Image: Winter Friends (digital stamp) by Whimsy and Stars Studio

5. Okay, this little guy is just plan cute. (Again, my weakness for snowmen is showing.) I love his paper pieced hat. My original post is here.

Image: Cup of Cocoa (digital stamp) by Whimsie Doodles

Before I go, another crafty friend is hosting a Year in Review Blog Hop (with a prize)! Doesn’t that sound fun? I think I might have to scrape together another post. You can click on the picture below to go to Karin’s blog and get all the details. I hope you will join in the fun.

Thank you for stopping by! Happy New Year!

Sentimental Sundays New Years Party

 

Mark your calendars!  The Sentimental Sundays team is going to kick off the New Year with a party!  They are going to announce some new changes, faces and of course a new year filled with amazing challenges and sponsors!

To celebrate this exciting moment, they are having a NEW YEAR's PARTY blog hop style with fantastic giveaways.  For all the details, stop by the Sentimental Sundays blog  on January 1st, 2012. 

The Sentimental Sundays team is asking that you help them spread the news about our
New Year's Day Party.  Here’s how you can help:

1) Create a post, include the picture above and invite all your friends

and

2) Link back to your blog post

That's it!!  Easy right?

The winner will get a $20 Gift Certificate to their favorite online store!  For every 100, entries there will be another $20 Gift Certificate added!!

So what are you waiting for....Let's start sharing the LOVE!!  You can see all the details on the Sentimental Sundays blog.

 

 

 

S

Quick Christmas projects

If you need to make some quick, last minute Christmas tags or cards, don’t forget Meljen’s Designs offers colored digis. I printed off these cute, colored snowmen and using scraps I already had on my desk, made this cute tag in about 15 minutes. You can see Meljen’s entire collection of colored images HERE.

I also need a few quick, little gifts for a few people so I made some Hot Cocoa Customization Kits. I got my idea from this post. (Be sure to check out the post on Kirtsy – Megan’s kits are much cuter.)

I used a pre-colored Meljen’s Designs image to make a little tag. Included in my kit are some mini-chocolate chips to make the cocoa richer, crushed candy canes, malted milk powder, and mini marshmallows.

Just a reminder that the challenge last week, No Rectangle Cards, is still going on this week so you have plenty of time to link up your creations on the Meljen’s Designs blog.

Also, I wanted to share a picture of an early gift that Santa dropped off for me. He knows of my love of snowman and bird watching so he “gave” this to my hubby to give to me. That’s right, it’s a snowman bird feeder. It looks like it was an early gift for the finches too.

Since I am not sure I will have another post before the weekend, I’ll take this chance to wish each of you Happy & Safe Holidays.

Supplies for tag:

• Images: Caroling Snowman – COLOR (digital image) by Meljen’s Designs
• Inks: Distress Inks Antique Linen
• Papers: Papertrey kraft & dark chocolate CS, Echo Park Holly Jolly DP pad, Georgia Pacific white CS
• Tools: Color printer, Big Shot, Papertrey Journal Tabs die and Doily Details die, Cropodile, Stampin’ Up small circle punch, Sizzix tag die, Creative Memories corner punch
• Embellishments: Paperstudios metals, Clear Spica marker, misc. rick rack, twine, & bells

Supplies for Cocoa Kit:

• Stamps: Christmas Cocoa – COLOR digital image) by Meljen’s Designs
• Inks: None
• Papers: All scraps
• Tools: Big Shot, Sizzix oval tags die
• Embellishments: Misc. ribbon, twine, button
• Other: Food quality test tubes, misc. fillings

Challenges:

• ABC Challenge – Frosty
• Anything Goes Challenge – Anything but a card w/option of Christmas tag
• Bee-Crafty – Christmas
• Card Mad Fairy's Digi Day challenge – tags
• Catch The Bug – Baby Its Cold Outside
• Chocolate, Coffee & Cards – tag you’re it
• Craft Your Days Away – Snowmen
• Crafting for all Seasons – Christmas
• Crafty Calendar – Cold & frosty
• Creative Friday – Christmas gift
• Di's Digi Designs challenge – Christmas
• Digi Doodle Shop's Best – anything goes
• Divas By Design – Christmas
• Dream Valley – Christmas
• Hooked On Crafts – Christmas
• Inky Impressions – Christmas Cheer
• My Mum's Craft Shop – Anything goes
• My Time to Craft – Winter pals
• One Crazy Stamper – Christmas
• One Stitch At A Time – Christmas
• Ooh-La-La creations – Anything but a card
• Paper Take Weekly – Christmas
• Paper Issues – Holiday madness
• Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge Blog – Christmas gifts
• Phindy's Place challenge – Scraps
• Really Reasonable Ribbon- Anything goes + ribbon
• Sassy Cheryl’s Challenge – Snowman & diecut
• Sisterhood of the Crafters – Christmas
• Stamp N Doodle – Christmas
• Stampin’ Royalty – Christmas
• Top Tip Tuesday – Christmas
• Use It Tuesday – Christmas

Medallion Christmas Card

This is another Christmas card that I made for easy mailing. It is my attempt at a single layer card. (Check out all the beautiful single layer cards by my blogging friend Kathy at The Lucky Stamper.)

I kind of think these medallions look like fancy snowflakes. Kind of… My DH said that this is his favorite out of all my Christmas cards.

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Mehndi Medallion and Signature Christmas stamp sets
• Inks: Stampin’ Up Real Red, River Rock, Old Olive
• Papers: Papertrey white CS, Stampin’ Up Real Red
• Tools: Big Shot, Papertrey Edgers Collection #1 die
• Embellishments: Misc. gemstones

Challenges:

• Annabelle’s Stamps challenge – Christmas card
• Bling it On – Christmas
• Creative Belli – Christmas (Gemstones are all from my stash)
• One Stop Craft Challenge – Christmas Sparkle
• Stampin’ With the Dragon – Christmas Bling
• Sweet Stampin’ Challenge – Sparkle & bling
• Totally Stampalicious – Sparkle

Girl with Kitty

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This week I have another birthday card to share. This adorable image is “Girl with Kitty” from Whimsy and Stars Studio.

I hope your holiday preparations are going smooth. I am pretty much on schedule (for a change). I usually am not so prepared so I am sure I am forgetting something big. Oh well, I’m sure it will all turn out just fine.

Have a great week! Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Girl with Kitty (digital stamp) from Whimsy & Stars Studio
• Inks: None
• Papers: Papertrey kraft & dark chocolate CS, My Mind’s Eye Six by Six Vanity Fair paper pad, Neenah Crest solar white
• Tools: Sewing machine, Big Shot, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Papertrey Journal tabs collection die, Copic markers
• Embellishments: Paper Studio pearls, Pink Aster Hug Snug seam binding, The Twinery Honeydew baker’s twine, misc button, epoxy flower and rick rack
• Techniques: Paper piecing, computer generated sentiment

Challenges :

• Clearly Inspired – Birthday
• Corrosive Challenge – Anything except Christmas
• Crafty Pad – Anything except Christmas
• Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge – Buttons, Bows, Birthday
• Delightful Challenges – Anything goes
• Frosted Design – Ribbon
• Moving Along with the Times – Cats / dogs
• One Stitch At A Time – Anything Goes
• Paper Play Time – Anything goes with a sentiment
• Paper Variety – Anything goes
• Really Reasonable Ribbon – Anything goes + ribbon
• Ribbon Carousel Challenge – Tangled twine
• Sarah Hurley – Coloring
• Scrappy Frogs – Stitching
• Sketch for you to try (SFYTT) – December sketch

Christmas Card & Blog Candy Winner

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I have another Christmas card to share today. This is another card that I made to be easily mailed. The white snow flake is made from a coffee filter spritzed with glimmer mist.

Thank you to every one that entered my blog candy drawing.

The winner of the 2 My Mind’s Eye Six by Six pads (Darling Dear & All Spice) is….

Lucky number 13 – Annette A. of My Clever Creations!

Annette, please email me at shestamps11-blogs(at)yahoo(dot)com with your snail mail address and I will get these in the mail to you.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you have a fabulous week end!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio from Papertrey
• Inks: Stampin’ Up Real Red & Whisper White
• Papers: Papertrey kraft CS, Stampin’ Up Real Red
• Tools: Sewing machine, Big Shot, Provocraft embossing folder, Papertrey Damask snowflakes & edgers collection die
• Embellishments: Tattered Angels Glimmer mist, misc button & twine, coffee filters

Challenges:

• Addicted to Stamps – Snowflake
• Crafty Calendar – Cold & frosty
• Creative Crafts – Stitching
• Deep Ocean Challenge – Let it snow
• Delightful Challenges – Anything goes
• Do You Stack Up – Winter
• Dutch Dare – tic tac toe ( Embossing, stamped, diecuts)
• Going Grey w/ Scrap Creations – snow
• Made Especially for You – Snow or snowflakes
• Pixie Dust Studio Pixie Challenge – Add stitching
• Quirky Crafts – Snow
• Squigglefly – CAS Christmas
• The Kraft Journal – Let it snow