The Magic of Winter

****SCROLL DOWN FOR THE SHOP PUMPKIN SPICE ECHO PARK WINTER LINES BLOG HOP***


Hello everyone! Good Monday Morning! Today over at Imaginisce we are showing you Christmas Card inspiration!!! All week we will be showcasing different Christmas inspiration - gift wrapping, home decor, layouts, etc! It's going to be GREAT! Pop on over to the Imaginisce Blog and check it out! :) 

The picture doesn't really show it, but I stickled around the whole thing as well as the snowflakes which are double popped with foam tape. Oh well! You'll have to use your imagination. :) 

Recipe:

• Gypsy™
• Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
• Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Snowflakes™(On sale for $2.69!)
• Patterned Paper: 
• Imaginisce: Cottage Christmas "Swirly Snowflakes"™
• Imaginisce: Cottage Christmas "Gingerbread Village"™
• i-rock by Imaginisce™
• Hot Rock Compact in Crystal (or Pink, Black, and Clear)™
• Twine from The Twinery in Honeydew™
• Imaginisce Colored Foam Tape in White™
• Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro with Perma-squares™
• Stickles in Diamond™
• Button from my stash

****SCROLL DOWN FOR THE SHOP PUMPKIN SPICE ECHO PARK WINTER LINES BLOG HOP***

Shop Pumpkin Spice Blog Hop!

Hello hoppers!!! You should have gotten here from Lenae's blog. If not start HERE at Shop Pumpkin Spice's blog so you can hop through all of the fun and CHECK OUT THE DT CALL!!! You don't want to miss being on this team and come, on... we are SO much fun! :) haha. 

Today we are showcasing the Echo Park Christmas lines!!! I am showcasing Dots and Stripes Christmas! I used two of the patterns on this card and I snuck a little Holly Jolly in there too. :) Hop around to see the inspiration and check out Ann's kit this month which uses the Times and the Seasons line from Echo Park! 

Recipe:

• Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
• Patterned Paper:
• Echo Park: Dots and Stripes Christmas "Gingerbread Small Dot"™(brown dot)
• Echo Park: Dots and Stripes Christmas "Tinsel Large Dot"™ (gold stripes)
• Echo Park: Holly Jolly "Jolly Border Strips"™ (snowflake)
• Solid Paper: 
• Echo Park: Holly Jolly "Winter Green/Icicle Blue"™
• Bazzill Basics in Java™
• Bazzill Basics in Kraft™
• Liquid Applique and Heat Embosser
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Winter Treats and Sayings™
• Ink: Momento in Dark Cocoa™
• Ribbon: PTI

Here is my sneak peek picture of Ann's kit! :) 

Now, head on over to Ann's blog to see what her kit looks like!!!

My Pink Designer Showcase: Nice to Snow Ya!

HELLO and welcome to the My Pink Designer Showcase for October! 

We were asked to make a Christmas card with either Biggie Christmas or Winter Treats and Sayings! I used the latter (but I ABsolutely have both!!!)

Recipe:

• Cartridges:
• Elegant Edges™ (bubble background)
• Smiley Cards™ (snowman)
• Winter Woodland™ (snowflakes)
• Sentiment: My Pink Stamper: Winter Treats and Sayings™
• Patterned Paper:
• Echo Park Paper: Holly Jolly Christmas "Stockings are Hung"™ (red polka dot)
• Echo Park Paper: Holly Jolly Christmas "Yuletide Blue/Mistletoe Green"™ (turquoise)
• Echo Park Paper: Holly Jolly Christmast "Winter Green/Icicle Blue"™ (light blue)
• Solid Cardstock: PTI (black and white)
• Stickles in Christmas Red™
• Tattered Angels in Pearl™
• Glossy Accents
• i-rock™
• Hot Rock Compact in Jewel™
• "Buttons": Echo Park Paper: Season's Greetings Decorative Brads™
• White Embossing Powder: A la Mode™

Now that you are done looking at my card, head on over to My Pink Stamper's website to get inspiration from the rest of the DT. If you are in a slump for Christmas Card creation, you can just case every one of ours and that will get you 22 cards towards done! :) 

10 Things You Didn't Know About Courtney Lee

***SCROLL DOWN FOR MY ARTFUL DELIGHT POST***

Head on over to the Imaginisce blog to see the: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Courtney Lee


If you came from the Imaginisce blog then WELCOME!

When I submitted my DT application, I said that I wanted to be on the Imaginisce Design Team because, "I would like to be part of the Imaginisce team because I think Imaginisce is as on par with innovation as Provo Craft. I love Provo Craft and the fact that your company has teamed up with them is very exciting. The places you could go together are endless."


Now that I have been on the team for a few weeks, I can tell you that it's because of the AMAZING ladies that serve, help each other, encourage each other, and inspire each other as well as our fearless Queen Lori! 

A few of you may have seen this already, but here is what I created for my DT submission. 

Design Notes: 

If you look through the sparkle on the tree - the white parts - you can see the snowflakes underneath. This is a lot more apparent in person, but was hard to photograph. It was my favorite part of the layout! :)

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Christmas Noel Solutions™, Cake Basics™ (scalloped circle)

i-rock and lots of Hot Rocks (from the) Compact™ - I admit it... I'm blinging everything!

Stencil for the flourishes: i-rock Swirls Stencil™

Sentiment stamp: MME Holly Jolly™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Ribbon: PaperTreyInk™

Sparkle: Pixie sparkle - for the red parts: on top of Studio G red glitter glue

Vinyl photo corners from EAD Designs™

**********************

 Next up we were asked to create a card... Of course I chose a shaped card:

Design Notes: I got the jingle bell from Michael's and you may or may not notice that I embossed the green background. I used clear embossing powder to create the shine on the red part of the flower.

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™

Embossing: Holly Ribbons Emboss Folder™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Twine:  PaperTreyInk™

*********************

Lastly, we were asked to create something of our choice. My mom really liked my Autumn banner and requested that I make one for her that said, "thankful". This is now inside of her house. 

Recipe:
Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection™
Cartridge: Designer's Calendar™ and  Cake Basics™
Embossing: D'vine Swirls™ and Victoria™

A few close-ups. Sorry the colors aren't quite right. It was raining this day too!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to hang out at the Imaginisce blog all week long to see what quirky things we tell you about ourselves! AND we'll either be showing you our favorite projects or our DT submissions on our personal blogs!

OF COURSE Imaginisce is giving stuff away - they are always giving stuff away! So Lori was great enough to let me choose something that inspires me and I can't tell you how much I love.... the Petal Roller and the Rolie Rosies!!! Thank you Lori and Imaginisce!! Seriously - they are going to be showing up on everything soon! SO leave a comment here and then go back to the Imaginisce blog and let them know you came by to be entered to win it!!! 


****Scroll down for my Artful Delight post****

2011 Imaginisce Design Team Member!

Hello everyone!!! I am absolutely thrilled and honored to have been selected as part of the 2011 Imaginisce Design Team! 

I have been on cloud 9 and just couldn't wait to tell you all! 

I always consider these kind of successes to be about all of us - as I say - my grandmother was my first "follower" so for those that encouraged me from the beginning, share in the joy! 

I couldn't decide what to put up here as my first project so I just decided to show you what I created for my DT submission. 

Design Notes: 

If you look through the sparkle on the tree - the white parts - you can see the snowflakes underneath. This is a lot more apparent in person, but was hard to photograph. It was my favorite part of the layout! :)

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Christmas Noel Solutions™, Cake Basics™ (scalloped circle)

i-rock and lots of Hot Rocks (from the) Compact™ - I admit it... I'm blinging everything!

Stencil for the flourishes: i-rock Swirls Stencil™

Sentiment stamp: MME Holly Jolly™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Ribbon: PaperTreyInk™

Sparkle: Pixie sparkle - for the red parts: on top of Studio G red glitter glue

Vinyl photo corners from EAD Designs™

**********************

 Next up we were asked to create a card... Of course I chose a shaped card:

Design Notes: I got the jingle bell from Michael's and you may or may not notice that I embossed the green background. I used clear embossing powder to create the shine on the red part of the flower.

Recipe:

Paper: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection™

Flowers: Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Snow Flowers Merry™

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™

Embossing: Holly Ribbons Emboss Folder™

Embossing powder: a la Mode™

Twine:  PaperTreyInk™

*********************

Lastly, we were asked to create something of our choice. My mom really liked my Autumn banner and requested that I make one for her that said, "thankful". This is now inside of her house. 

Recipe:
Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection™
Cartridge: Designer's Calendar™ and  Cake Basics™
Embossing: D'vine Swirls™ and Victoria™

A few close-ups. Sorry the colors aren't quite right. It was raining this day too!

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a very Merry Christmas! I am really looking forward to joining in such talent and learning a lot from these really talented ladies!

Day 6 - Christmas Tags!

Courtney Lee

Good Afternoon! I hope you enjoyed this morning's post on tags over at Passionately Artistic! This is day 6 and I am the afternoon Tags post! :) This is my last post for the 12 days of Christmas series, but continue to head on over there for inspiration!  

My goal with this tutorial was to show a variety. A lot of times, I see something that I wanted to create, but I don't have the cartridge or the resources. 

Different Cartridges

Tie the Knot, Winter Woodland, Storybook, Gypsy Wanderings 

Using your Gypsy

I will show you how to make something truly unique with your Gypsy. 

No Cricut, No Cuttlebug, No Gypsy - just Scissors! 

Lastly, I will show you some tags that I did without any Gypsy, Cuttlebug, OR Cricut so that there should be inspiration here for anyone! :) 

Recipe:
Cartridge: Tie the Knot™
Base tag- 3.25"
rest - 2.5"
Stamper's Select White from Paper Trey Ink™ - heat embossed with a la Mode™ white
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™ and Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Glossy Accents
Pop Dots
Ribbon: Paper Trey Ink Saddle Stitch in Pure Poppy™

************************

Recipe:
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™ - all images cut at 3.25"
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™, American Crafts Glitter Card Stock™
Paper Trey Ink Button Twine™
Ribbon from my stash

************************

Gypsy Fun making Tags!

Recipe:
Cartridge: Gypsy Wanderings™
Tag was cut at 3.75"
Snowflake and shadow cut at 2"
Accordion underneath the snowflake was cut at 1.5x12".
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™, Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™
Button from Paper Trey Ink Vintage Holiday Mix™
Button Twine from Paper Trey Ink™
Jingle bell from Michaels

*****************

Another tag made with the aid of the Gypsy using Winter Woodland™

Recipe:
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
Martha Stewart Winter Wonderland Paper Pad™, Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™
Liquid Applique in White
Pop-dots
White Gel Pen™
Saddle Stitch Ribbon in Pure Poppy from Paper Trey Ink™

*****************

This last Cricut tag was two images welded together. I liked the holes it created in the middle. I cut the flourish again to place it on top. I used my i-rock to add bling and I heat embossed the "To" and "From" with gold embossing powder. 

Recipe:
Tag from Tie the Knot™
Flourish from Storybook™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Martha Stewart Scandinavian Paper Pad ™
Gold embossing powder by Filigree from Paper Trey Ink™
My Mind's Eye: Holly Jolly Perfect Stamps™

No Cricut, No Gypsy, No Cuttlebug - just manufacturer love. :) 

Sometimes we get so caught up in what a tag could look like on our layouts or cards that we just forget to use them as... well... tags.

I LOVE Echo Park Paper™ and the Merry Christmas line is fabulous. I just took these stickers, stuck them to card stock, cut it out, punched a hole on the the top, i-rocked some bling and tied a ribbon. Done. I am going to stamp a "To, From" onto the back. Easy Peasy. 

Recipe:
Echo Park Paper Merry Christmas line Stickers™
i-rock and bling by Imaginisce™
Gold bows were recycled off the top of a smoked almond package! (yay for up-cylcing!)

For this next one, I just took the My Mind's Eye: I Believe Chipboard and popped it out of it's little home. I added some green ribbon and - my favorite part - since it already has an adhesive back, it will stick right onto your gift! Done! AND it already is glittered - love that.

 Recipe: My Mind's Eye: I Believe Chipboard™

Next up we have the EAD Design Stickers. I had a bunch of fun with these. I stuck them to white card stock, cut them out, punched a hole in the top, added Stickles, and tied some twine at the top. 

The best part about EAD Designs is that this sticker set comes with cute little "To: From:" stickers as well. I put these on the back, but forgot to take a picture! So you'll have to go check out their website to see how cute the font is because I love it! 

Recipe: EAD Design Christmas Tags™
Stickles in Waterfall™ - the manufacturer pic looks like it is purple, but trust me, it's blue.
Stickles in Christmas Red™

I hope this inspires you to make your own Christmas tags this year! 

Don't forget to leave me a comment and become a follower if you're inspired! :) 

Snowy Wishes Blog Hop!

***Scroll down for the Passionately Artistic Day 4 post: Gifts for your furry friends!***


WELCOME to the Snowy Wishes Blog Hop!

A HUGE thanks to Dorcas who invited me to hop with these super talented ladies!!!


The whole blog hop is being sponsored by My Pink Stamper and Scrappy Mom's Stamps! Thank you! See Dorcas' blog for details!

EAD Designs has sponsored part of my giveaway today! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I have been using their stickers, vinyl, and rub-ons for a while now and I can tell you - they are super high quality. I have cut their vinyl in my Cricut and it cuts beautifully. Check out their blog to see some inspiration! This is just a sampling of what you could win! 

My amazing sponsor, Pumpkin Spice, told me that she is donating an Echo Park Wintertime Paper Pack to the winner! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Also, in honor of the blog hop, Pumpkin Spice is offering 10% off! No coupon code necessary! :) If you can't wait to see if you won, she is selling this kit for $9.80 which is cheaper than anywhere else I have seen! 
BUT you have to leave a comment telling me your 5 favorite things from the Pumpkin Spice website to qualify! 

 I think I will have to have two winners as the last prize is....

 sponsored by yours truly! :) 

If you came from EAD Designs or Pumpkin Spice, welcome! Start here at 4CraftyAngels - the beginning of the hop so you don't miss out on any of the inspiration or blog candy!

On to the project!

Recipe: 

Paper: Echo Park Merry Christmas Line™

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™

Ink: Momento

My Pink Stamper: Winter Punnies™

Embossing: Snowflakes Emboss Folder™

Glitter: Pixie Sparkle

Adhesive: Glue Arts™

I was going to write up a tutorial, but I think there is enough writing on this post! 

If you came from Momo's blog, then you are on the right track! Here is a list of all the people hoppin' today! 


Dorcas at 4craftyangels
Georgiana at carsonscricutcreations
Ive at allaboutmeandmyscrapbook
Momo at madebymomo
Court (that's me) at courtscrafts
Yvette at tinklovescupid
Jennifer at purplescrapbooker
Molly at armywirfelearnsthecricut
Norma at pinkblingcrafter
Celeste at ccscards
Blanca at sweetscrappingwithhoneyb
Cheryl at cardsbycg
Cristi at scrappin5littlecupcakes
Carri at doubleclickconnections
Trish with TechniquesbyTrish


Remember to leave a comment on this post to qualify for my giveaway and leave your top 5 favorite things found on the Pumpkin Spice website! 


I will draw a winner on Tuesday so that I can get these right out to you in time for your Christmas cards! Please send me your information within 48 hours of the announcement! 


Now you're off to Yvette's blog! 


***Special Announcement! Echo Park Paper is holding a Facebook referral contest! If you love their paper, please to go their Facebook page, like them, and leave a comment saying that Courtney Lee sent you! I would love it! :) ***

Blog Hop - 2nd post of the day!

*****Scroll down for my Honey Bee post feature Fred She Said*****

I received an invitation from the fabulous Jen to be a part of  December 1st blog hop! I was delighted!

The theme is Christmas Cards so hopefully this will get your juices flowing.

If you just got here you need to start back at Jen's blog because there is blog candy to be found along the way! 

I have linked up the products I used for your shopping convenience and if you haven't checked out Pumpkin Spice - online retail store - then you should because her prices are fabulous and her shipping rates are the lowest I have seen - which is why I buy things there :) What can I say? I'm a girl who likes to think she is smart with her money. 

Recipe:

Cartridge: Winter Woodland™
Embossing: Snowflakes Emboss Folder™
Paper: My Mind's Eye: I Believe "Candy Cane Stripes"™(red top and hat/scarf accents),  "Wreaths" ™(blue bottom), and "Trees"™ (polka dot hat/scarf)
My Pink Stamper: Winter Punnies™
Versamark™ Ink
a la Mode™ black embossing powder
Black bling from Hero Arts self adhesive gems (small) and Want2Scrap Black Rhinestones™(large)
EK Success Heat Gun

Hopefully you got here from Norma's blog. I am the last spot on the hop! :)

Just in case you got lost here is a list of the blog hop participants:

Jen jennyscards.blogspot.com

Carol carolssweetcreations.blogspot.com

Momo madebymomo.blogspot.com

Nicole http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com//

Karey www.creativecraftcorner.com

Karen thebusybug.blogspot.com

Saundra luvscrappingtogether.blogspot.com

Celeste ccscards.blogspot.com

Jeanine scrappinwithjc.blogspot.com

Roma romascards.blogspot.com

Norma http://pinkblingcrafter.blogspot.com 

Me! Court from CourtsCrafts.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoyed my inspiration. Make sure to scroll down to see my Honey Bee post and if you like what I create, I would love it if you would become a follower, but it is definitely not required for the blog candy!  

What is the blog candy, you ask??? 

How about My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies and a Houndstooth Embossing folder? 

My blog candy is open to US residents only unless the international winner wants to pay the shipping in which case I will send them a PayPal bill for the shipping. Sorry, but I bought these for you so it gets a little expensive to ship them internationally. :(

I will draw a random winner on Friday the 3rd, so make sure to get your comments in! :) The winner will have one week to claim their prize. 

Come back on December 4th for another blog hop that My Pink Stamper is sponsoring! :) I may or may not be giving away a Cricut Cartridge and some sponsored goodness from EAD Designs..

I also decided to enter this into Wee Memories Challenge #33: Use ribbon! :) 

Artful Delight Shape Card

I have been having such a great time on the design team for Artful Delight! The ladies are fabulous and Leeanne is so fun to work with! So, on a recent flight to North Carolina I designed this on my Gypsy™ and I am so glad that Leeanne likes it! :) 

Recipe:
Artful Delight November Kit
Gypsy™
Cartridge: Winter Woodland™ (the font) 
Brads: My Mind's Eye: Madison Avenue "Happily Ever After" Decorative Brads™
Glossy Accents™
Paper Trey Ink Lavender Moon™

Design Notes:

I used Glossy Accents™ where the lavender cracks are. I used the Stickles that came in the kit to dot on all of the polka dots. Finally, I used a hot glue gun to attach the flowers to the card. I used my acrylic stamping block to help keep it upright for the photo - that is definitely a downside to shape cards. ;)

Here is a photo flat on the table:

Have a beautiful day! 

Thanksgiving Menu!

Courtney Lee

Good Monday morning to you!

I am doing the tutorial this morning for Passionately Artistic and was asked if I could make a Thanksgiving menu to put on the plates before dinner. I was excited to do it!

These are the actual dishes that I made for Thanksgiving two years ago (the food items, not the plates :).

Recipe:

Machines: Gypsy™, Cricut Expression™, Cuttlebug™, i-rock by Imaginise™

Cartridge: Tie the Knot™, Thanksgiving™, Winter Woodland™

Embossing Folders™: Swiss Dots™ and Victoria™

Card stock: Paper Trey Ink: Dark Chocolate™, Ripe Avocado™, Stamper's Select White™, Pure Poppy™, Orange Zest™

Metallic Pearl Glam Rocks™

Ink: ColorBox Olive™, Momento Rich Cocoa™

Buttons: Paper Trey Ink Vintage Holiday Mix™

Twine: Paper Trey Ink Rustic Cream Button Twine™

Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro Perma-Tac™, Glue Arts Extreme Adhesive Squares™

Glossy Accents

Three-dimensional foam

Instructions:

1.  I used my Gypsy to elongate a tag from Tie the Knot Cartridge™ and I hid the hole that is at the top. Then I made one slightly smaller to nest inside of it.

2. I cut these out of white Paper Trey Ink™ cardstock and Dark Chocolate from Paper Trey Ink™respectively. (Ignore the Pilgrim's hat - I decided not to use it when I got to the end.)

3. I inked the outside of the white cardstock with Olive ink from ColorBox™

4. Next I printed out the Menu on my computer in brown ink and used the brown layer as a template to trace and then cut around.

5. Then I burnt the edges of the paper - please be careful that nothing catches on fire and allow for the burning to take in more of the edge than you expect even after you've blown it out. As you can see - I lost my word "gravy" and part of my "M"!

6. I used my i-rock by Imaginisce™ to heat set the Metallic Pearl Glam Rocks™ next to the main titles.

7. Next I cut out leaves from the Thanksgiving Cartridge™ at 1.75" and 3".

8. Then I Cuttlebugged those leaves using the Victoria Embossing Folder™.

9. Next I cut out the leaves from the Winter Woodlands Cartridge™ in various sizes ranging from 1" to 5".

10. I Cuttlebugged those leaves using the Swiss Dots Embossing folder.

11. I then inked around the edges of those leaves with Momento ink in Rich Cocoa™. I also used a paper towel which I had inked up to run over the top of the Swiss Dots embossing.

12. I selected my buttons and tied bows using the Paper Trey Ink Rustic Cream Button Twine™

13. I adhered the leaves and all layers to the different locations using the Glue Glider Pro Perma-Tac™ cartridge. I did pop dot the Dark Chocolate layer to the white card stock layer.

14. I adhered the buttons using Extreme Adhesive Squares™ (those things are amazing! They really mean "extreme adhesive" and I am totally addicted!)

15. Lastly, I used Glossy Accents™ over the green leaves which were inked.

Enjoy your hard work and how impressed your family members look when they read over your menu! :)

I hope this helps you personalize your own Thanksgiving menus! We would LOVE to see them if you decide to link them up to Passionately Artistic! You may get featured and win a prize! :)