Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Eve 2013. The last day of 2013! I can't believe that we start a brand-new year tomorrow--but it's that time again!

I thought I'd share a few Happy New Year cards that I made this year. Here goes:

All four of these cards were made using digital papers and elements in the Time Flies digital kit from Design by Dani (available through Jessica Sprague). I love how realistic the glittery numbers and metallic confetti garland look! I used no fancy embellishments or alpha packs. That's all printed paper, folks!

Well, no matter how you plan to celebrate the New Year, I hope you have a fabulous time. Stay safe, everyone!

Happy New Year!
Emily

Let's Get Together

Wouldn't that be great? To get together for a cup of coffee (or tea for me!) so we could visit and relax now that the hustle-bustle of the holidays is over? Now don't get me wrong, my family and I had a WONDERFUL Christmas together. But it's been a busy, busy, busy couple of months, and I'm enjoying some time just relaxing now! And I'd like nothing better right now than to get together with a friend or two or three to just chat :).

I'm working on writing my thank you notes today. (Yesterday was spent making them up.) And I suddenly remembered that I'd wanted to play along with my friend Pam's Just Punch It challenge. Her Free For All challenge ends tomorrow. So, just because I could, I set things aside to play with paper just for fun to make this card. It was totally therapeutic!!

I used two awesome DeNami Design stamps to make this card: a face from the Friendly Faces stamp set and a sentiment from the Let's Get Together stamp set. I also used some clear rhinestones from the DeNami Store and a brand-new 5" x 7" argyle embossing folder that my son gave me for Christmas! He sure knows what his mom likes ;).

I also used a whole boat-load of punches to create my sweet punch lady for Pam's challenge! I used SU's round tab punch for her body (and belt), SU's word window punch for her arms and legs, SU's small oval punch for her face, SU's small heart punch for her bun, and several EK Success small punches (scalloped circle for her hair and bangs, plus stiletto and handbag) for her accessories. I just came up with this punch lady design on my own while looking at all of my punches! thanks for a super fun challenge, Pam. :)

OK, now that I've had my fun, it's time to get back to work on writing my thank you notes.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Emily

My Sweet Friend + a WINNER!

Hello and Happy Friday to you! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas with your families. We certainly did, and now we're having a lovely time just being home together. That's the best!

I have a little DeNami project to share with you today. This was part of one of the last gifts I put together this year. It was for a dear friend of mine whom I was thrilled to see for a while on Christmas Eve.

Now, here's the story:  my husband and I both grew up in Ohio, the Buckeye State. We both remember our families making these partially chocolate-dipped peanut butter candies at Christmas time when we were growing up. They are called Buckeyes for their resemblance to the nut of the Ohio Buckeye tree (the state tree of Ohio, of course!). Here's a photo for comparison:

Can you kind of see the resemblance?

Anyway, a few years ago my friend discovered a boxed candy mix from Betty Crocker for Peanut Butter BonBons. She bought the mix to make up for a party we were both attending, and the entire platter disappeared within 10 minutes!! When I gave one to my husband to try, he remarked about how similar the Betty Crocker BonBons were to the Buckeyes we ate as kids.

I made up a big batch of Buckeyes this year as a surprise treat for my family on Christmas Day, and as I was packing them up to keep them out of sight, I remembered how much my friend had liked the BC BonBons. So I whipped up a special little box to package a quartet of Buckeyes to include in her present. I really hope she was surprised and pleased (and "got" the connection!!)

I decorated a DeNami 3x3 Boutique Box using Staz-On inks (Jet Black and Cotton White) to stamp on a Leafy Vine Wreath and an Arched Sweet Friend sentiment. I glued on a few red sequins to decorate my wreath and sealed up the box with some White/Red Dots washi tape. So quick and cute!

And now it's time to announce the winner of my washi tape giveaway! I used Random.org to select a winner. It was lucky number 18, which was

 Sue D! 

Congratulations, Sue! I've emailed you.

Well, thanks so much for dropping by today. Enjoy your last weekend of 2013!!

Hope your day is filled with bliss,
Emily

Ways With Washi: WREATHS + a Giveaway!

Greetings, DeNami friends! It's time for my December edition of Ways With Washi over on the DeNami Design blog!  Today I thought I'd show you a couple of ways that you can use washi tape to build your very own DIY wreath embellishments. Let's take a look!

For my first project, I used two green DeNami washi tapes to build a wreath. I started by punching out two nesting circles from white card stock. Then I used scissors to trim fringe along one side of a long strip of Green Graph Washi Tape and adhered it around the perimeter of the larger circle with the fringe pointing outward. I gave the same fringe treatment to a long piece of Green Stripes Washi Tape and adhered it around the smaller circle. After stacking the smaller fringed circle on top of the larger circle, I filled the center of my wreath with a tiny sentiment from the Christmas Greetings Petit Four stamp set.  At this point, I simply added a few red sequins and a loopy bow tied from baker's twine, and my wreath embellishment was done!

Other supplies from the DeNami Design store: Polka Dot Background, Satin Red Versafine Ink

I love pairing pink with green as a nontraditional color scheme for Christmas! Next up is a larger wreath created with my favorite Christmas color combo. For this wreath, I adhered strips of Pink Stripes Washi Tape and Green Graph Washi Tape around a cardstock ring created with punches. Once all of the tape was securely fastened in place, I used my trusty scissors to trim swallowtail notches in the end of each little banner. Sweet, don't you think?

Other supplies from the DeNami Design store: Rich Cocoa Memento Ink, Arched Sweet Friend, Sugar Cookies Stamp set

And that brings this Ways With Washi to a close! It's so hard to believe that this is my last DeNami monthly feature for 2013. It's also my last Ways With Washi feature. I've nearly exhausted my list of interesting ways to use washi tape in papercrafting projects! But never fear, I'll be back with a brand-new monthly feature here on the DeNami blog in 2014!

In the meantime, I'd like to offer you the chance to win a roll of washi tape to play with!

GIVEAWAY

I have a brand-new roll of Green Stripes Washi Tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "CHRISTMAS." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 26, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Friday, December 27, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for checking out Ways With Washi today!
Emily

Winter Forest Birthday

I'm just sharing a little something for Unity's Friends With Flair today.

Stamps are from Unity Stamp Co.: sentiment is from How YOU Doin' and bird is from a Unity grab bag--sorry, I don't know which set exactly!

My daughter turns 15 next week, so this card will be for her. She loves these birch trees, so I think she'll love this card! Simple, but unfussy and elegant. Perfect for the grown-up gal she's turning into!

This is my last day with the kids out of the house before Christmas, and I'm off to make the most of it.

Have a great weekend!
Emily

A Poinsettia for Christmas

Hello and welcome to my little slice of bliss! Today I am posting for the DeNami Design Team's last Pinspired feature for the year. This month we were inspired by this beautiful seasonal photo:

Sigh, that just makes me happy to look at!! I was completely captivated by those bright and beautiful colors for Christmas and that lovely layered red and pink poinsettia. So here's what I came up with:

What do you think?

I think this may be one of my favoritest holiday cards yet!! I used some gorgeously textured fuchsia cardstock (formerly available thru DeNami, but sadly no more--sniff, sniff!) as the base for this card, and I just LOVE how it sets off the other colors in the design. (I hope it looks fuchsia to you and not red on your device. Fingers crossed!)

I used a bunch of DeNami products to put this together:

Solid Flower Accents Set

Solid Petals Set

Merry Christmas

Elegant Word Plate

Satin Red Versafine Ink

Onyx Black Versafine Ink

Pastel Boutique Buttons

Want to see what the other designers did with this inspiration photo? Be sure to check out the DeNami blog today!

Thanks so much for visiting today! May you have a day filled with bliss!
Emily

Holly Jolly Christmas

If you came by my blog on Friday, you will recognize the gingham gift bag in today's project. Yes, it's true--I got a super deal on those kraft/gingham gift bags after Christmas last year at JoAnn Fabrics!! I'm having a blast finding different ways to dress them up. :)

So today's gift bag is brought to you by Purple Onion Design Rubber Stamps! I made this bag for my stint on the the P.O.D. 2013 Holiday Design Team. Sadly, it is my last official project for the holiday DT, but you can count on seeing many of the P.O.D. stamps I acquired again and again! Anyway, let's take a look at the gift bag:

I am so in love with Purple Onion's noteblock stamps! These subway art-style sentiment panels are very cool, and have been around long before they became "in" recently. The one I used on this bag is the Happy Holidays Noteblock. I also used the sweet snowman from the Hanging with Pete set, a sentiment from Handwritten Holiday, and the smaller frame from the Deluxe Labels set as my gift tag.

I stamped the noteblock and label with Crimson Red Versafine ink and colored Snowman Pete with Copic markers. A few red rhinestones and Martha Stewart holly leaf punches were the perfect embellishments!

I can't believe that we have just one week of school left before Christmas! I've got a lot to accomplish this week. Here's to being a merry and productive little elf!!

Thanks for stopping for a little slice of bliss!
Emily

Gingham Noel Gift Bag

Welcome to Friday!

Today is the first day of the Girl Scout Cookie sale in our regional Girl Scout council! Tomorrow morning and Sunday afternoon my 14YO daughter will be out selling cookies in her senior troop's first booth sales of the season. Both sales will be held outside the front entrance of our local WalMart, which is always a good place to sell during the holiday shopping season ;). Snagging booth sale time slots on the first weekend of the cookie sale will also bolster business (just think of all the hoards of Thin Mint lovers who've been drooling in anticipation of the return of the Thin Mint for all these months!). The only problem is the weather forecast!! I'm in charge of the 3-hour time slot on Saturday morning, and the forecast is for single digit temperatures overnight. Did I mention that we'll be setting up our pyramid of Girl Scout Cookies on a table outside?? I'm a little concerned about the potential for frostbite, quite frankly. None of that on my watch! I just picked up a 20-pack of handwarmers so we can stick them in our boots and mittens. I think that dressing in layers (upon layers upon layers) will be the order of the day!

Next thing on my agenda for this morning is picking up all those packages of glorious cookies to sell. I've got 41 cases of Girl Scout Cookies on order from our council. That's 492 packages of cookies, folks! I think that lugging those around will count as my workout for today. Anyway, wish us luck this weekend!!

Well, but that's probably not what you came to my blog for today! How about a little Christmas papercrafting cheer? I wanted to share a gingham gift bag (from JoAnn Fabrics that I picked up on clearance after Christmas last year) I gussied up with Unity stamps for today's Friends With Flair hop.

I used the frame from the Just a Note itty bitty and a sentiment from Gingham Christmas Greetings. The chipboard trees and felt rick-rack are from My Mind's Eye.

Well, that'll do it for now. Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!
Emily

More Holiday Treats

Today I'm continuing to share some of the projects that I've made as a member of the Purple Onion Designs 2013 Holiday Design Team. This December I'm making lots of holiday treats to give as gifts to teachers, friends, and neighbors. You've already seen my packaging for my homemade caramel corn and chocolate peanut clusters. Today I'm showing off more holiday treats. Let's start with some peppermint bark!

This is another super easy candy to make at home! And the results look (and taste!) so impressive. Once I've made my peppermint bark, I package it in small cellophane treat bags and slip it into one of these sweet little gift bags. I made it using a downloadable template for sale from DeNami Design. Simply print onto the back of a piece of patterned paper, cut, fold, and adhere. Done! I dressed up the tote with a fun tag I made with Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: label from Vintage Journaling Set, Holiday Treats Logo, and Treat Word Set. Have I told you how much I love my Treat Words??? I've used them to label lots of candies and treats, but this set is perfect for cookies, too, with words like "linzer," "sugar," "gingerbread," "snickerdoodle," "thumbprint," and "shortbread." YUM!! So perfect for holiday baking!!!

I'm also making chocolate-dipped pretzel logs as edible gifts this year. Here's a peek at how I'm packaging them.

I'm using my beloved Treat Word Set again, of course! I also used the Homemade Treats Logo and the largest label from the Plain Jane Labels set.

How is your holiday goodie making coming along? We did the bulk of our baking last weekend, making our traditional stash of Christmas cookies that we'll keep for our own munching. We made (and decorated!) cut-out sugar cookies, holiday chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and satin-glazed date cookies. Everything is so delicious! I just love having a variety of cookies to indulge in :). You know, it's funny, we always do a ton of baking in December but do tend to keep it to ourselves. It just seems more practical to give candies and treats as gifts instead of cookies--I always feel like they are less likely to go stale than cookies (and who wants to receive a stale cookie as a gift???). And I'm not going to lie:  candy & treat making (or at least the ones I tend to make) require fewer ingredients and a bit less effort than cookie baking. And when you are mass producing for gift-giving, that really seems to pay off!!

I hope your day is going just swimmingly today! Thanks so much for dropping by for a little slice of bliss,
Emily

P.S. Just in case you are interested, here is my recipe for peppermint bark.

Peppermint Bark

1 14-ounce bag of Make 'n Mold White Vanilla Flavored Candy Wafers
7 candy canes, crushed

Simply melt the vanilla candy wafers in the microwave according to the package directions and then stir in the crushed candy canes. Pour onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet and spread out out into a "puddle" of uniform thickness. Allow chocolate to harden at room temperature and then break into bite-sized pieces. No need to refrigerate!

For a different size bag of candy melts, simply use 1 candy cane for every 2 ounces of candy melts. So for a 12-ounce bag of candy melts, use 6 candy canes; or for a 16-ounce bag, use 8 candy canes.

Christmas Wreath

Today is the DeNami Design team's final Product Spotlight for the year. We are featuring the Winter Wreath cling stamp. Just wait until you see how versatile this stamp is!

I stamped my Winter Wreath in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and then decided to dress it up by overstamping it with images from the indispensable Classic Christmas stamp set in Vintage Sepia, Olympia Green, and Satin Red Versafine inks. 

I broke up the beautiful Christmas Wishes sentiment into two lines so that it would fit in the center of my wreath ;).  All I needed to finish off this card was some pretty patterned paper, a DeNami Boutique Button, and a bit of red & white baker's twine. Easy!

Looking for some more ideas for this lovely wreath stamp? Be sure to check out the rest of the team's marvelous creations today on the DeNami blog. Like what you see? Then you can score a great deal on Winter Wreath--as our Spotlight Product, it's on sale at 10% off for the next week!!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

The Snow-la-bration continues . . .

We've got more snow on the docket for today, so I've still got snow on the brain! Recently my son celebrated his 11th birthday (how could that be?? He was a toddler just only yesterday--I'm sure of it!!), and it's time for him to write his thank-you notes. Today I'm sharing one of the six that I made for him to use for that task. Who wouldn't love to write  a note of thanks on a sweet snowman note like this one?

I used a bunch of fine products from the DeNami Design store for this creation: the snowman's face comes from the Seasonal Faces stamp set, You're the Best sentiment stamp, Snowflake Swirl embossing folder, and some pretty blue baker's twine.

My sweet blogging friend Pam started a fun new papercrafting challenge last month. It's called Just Punch It and the challenges are all about punch art! I was so bummed that I was never able to find time to play along with her first challenge (the timing lined up with my crazy run to get ready for Thanksgiving), but I was hoping, hoping, hoping that I'd be able to play along with the next one. The latest challenge is an easy one: Christmas! I'm so glad that I was able to join in!

Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

Snowflake Thank You Note Gift Set

Good Monday morning to you! We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning--our first tracking snow! Only about an inch or so, really, but everything is white and pretty. The snow is to turn to sleet and rain later in the day, so I know this won't last, but still--it makes me happy to see it!

I'm going to celebrate by sharing a little snow-themed gift this morning! I made this snowflake thank you note gift set for the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team. It's a set of six one-layer thank you notes with three each of two different designs. I used both gorgeous snowflakes heat-embossed in white, from the Vintage Snowflakes Set, both embellishments from the Vintage Journaling Set, and a beautifully scripted Thank You sentiment, all from Purple Onion Designs.

I slipped the set of notes along with six envelopes into a clear note card box and set about prettying up my packaging. I used the smallest label from the Plain Jane Labels set to make a gift tag just the perfect size for the "let it snow" sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday set. I decorated my tag with a little blue rub-on snowflake embellished with a tiny pearl. Finally I stamped the Merry Christmas tape from the Holiday Border Tape Set on a cardstock band to wrap around the base of the box.

And there you have it:  a snowy little card set all ready for holiday giving!!

I hope you have a fabulous day in your neck of the woods today! Thanks for stopping by,
Emily

DeNami Razzle Dazzle Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the December DeNami Design blog hop. Today's theme is RAZZLE DAZZLE! Blog hop participants will be showcasing anything dazzling--like glitter, rhinestones, sequins, shimmer paper, and more--in their DeNami creations.

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Linda Monroe's blog, Stampin in the Suburbs. If so, you are on the right track! If not, you'll want to head over to the DeNami blog to start the blog hop at the beginning. (And remember, if you get lost along the way, you can always head over to the DeNami blog to get pointed in the right direction.)

Don't forget, there are some super-fun DeNami prizes to be won! Two lucky commenters will be drawn at random from among the comments left along the blog hop to win a $20 DeNami Design gift certificate! You have until Monday, December 9, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize. 

So, let's get down to razzle-dazzle business! I had such a hard time choosing which direction to go with this theme. There are so many possibilities! I finally decided to go with a razzly, dazzly New Year's card, and here's how it goes:

I am SO in love with that beautifully scripted DeNami "Happy New Year" sentiment! Isn't it festive? I stamped it in metallic silver ink, and I don't think it could look more gorgeous! I used some more metallic silver ink to sponge a bit of razzle dazzle on a few white glittery chipboard numbers, and I'm completely tickled with how that turned out. I added a bit of blingy razzle-dazzly jewelry with some silver trim from Webster's Pages, and that's it! A simple little-black-dress of a New Year's card :).


Well, now it's time for me to send you along on your way. Before you leave for more razzle-dazzle inspiration, be sure to leave a comment to be eligible for the randomly drawn prizes and then you can be off to see the very sweet and talented Heidi Hurley! 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Enjoy the blog hop,
Emily

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (black) Stampin’ Up!
Rubber stamps: (Small Happy New Year) DeNami Design
Pigment ink: (metallic silver) Tsukineko
Sticker: (white Delight glitter letter stickers) American Crafts
Fibers: (silver beaded links trim) Webster’s Pages

You'd Better Not Pout . . .

. . . I'm tellin' you why: Santa Claus is comin' to town!!

I've got a super-busy day ahead, but I just had to share this fun card for today's Friends With Flair hop over on the Unity Stamp Co. blog today. I used two different Unity stamp sets: the scallped circle and arrow are from All About Today and the background is Gurnsey Gingham.

I've got a parent-teacher conference this afternoon and then a whole list of errands to run, so I really must scoot. I hope you have a super weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Pure Poppy, white) Papertrey Ink
Patterned paper:  (Fat Quarter, Running Stitch from Handmade collection) Lily Bee Design
Rubber stamps:  (scalloped circle, arrow from All About Today set) Unity Stamp Co.; (Gurnsey Gingham background) {ippity} by Unity
Pigment ink: (white) Clearsnap; (red) Tsukineko
Accents:  (red buttons)
Fibers:  (red/white baker’s twine)
Font:  (Sketch Block) dafont.com
Tools:  (circle punch) EK Success

Snowy Christmas Wishes

Greetings and salutations! It's my turn to share a little somethin' somethin' over on the DeNami blog today. A few years ago I picked up a sweet dimensional snowman sticker at our A.C. Moore store on clearance after Christmas. He definitely takes center stage on this project, but I used my DeNami stamps (Christmas Wishes, Medium Polka Dots) to dress up this holiday card and bring an appropriately whimsical feel to the design. I love how the Medium Polka Dots stamped in white really stand out against the turquoise card base. Those sweet dots look like snow falling! And speaking of turquoise--red, turquoise, and white make such a fun combo for Christmas, don’t they?

Thanks so much for stopping for a visit today!
Emily

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (white, Hawaiian Shores) Papertrey Ink
Rubber stamps:  (Christmas Wishes, Medium Polka Dots) DeNami Design Rubber Stamps
Pigment ink:  (red) Tsukineko; (white) Clearsnap
Stickers:  (layered snowman) A.C. Moore
Fibers:  (red/white baker’s twine)
Tools:  (snowflake border punch) Martha Stewart Crafts

Holiday Treats

Today I'm continuing to bring you ideas for holiday gift-giving using Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps as part of the 2013 Holiday Design Team! Today the team is focusing on holiday food gifts, and I have a couple to share.

My high school freshman daughter loves to give her teachers a little something at the holidays to say thanks for all of their hard work! She has 8 different teachers this year, so we had to come up with something that has a low cost but a big impact. We decided to go with small bags of homemade caramel corn this year, and here's our design for the packaging:

I decorated a small white paper bag by stamping POD's Candy Cane Background in red, topping the bag with a punched red border, and then centering an embossed label stamped with the awesome Celebrate the Season Noteblock over top of the whole design. So festive!

The tag I tied onto the bag of caramel corn was so easy to make! All I needed were the ever-useful Holiday Treats Logo stamp and accompanying Treat Word Set. I stamped the logo in red on white cardstock and then had fun stamping the "caramel" and "crunch" words to complete the package :).

Now, the last time I shared photos of my family's "famous" caramel corn, I had comments from readers asking how to make it. So I figured it's high time that I shared the recipe! Here it is:

Oven-Baked Caramel Corn

4 quarts popped popcorn (we usually use our air popper to pop about 1/2 cup unpopped corn)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 200 degrees F. Place popped corn in large ungreased roasting pan (I use our black enamel turkey roaster! Or divide popped corn between 2 rectangular 9" x 13" cake pans.) Heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in saucepan, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around the edges. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in baking soda until foamy. Pour over popped corn, stirring until corn is well coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

**********

We also like to give gifts of homemade candies to family and neighbors. My aunt particularly loves our chocolate peanut clusters, so she'll be getting a batch in the mail in a few weeks. Here is the packaging I designed with Purple Onion Designs stamps to dress up them up.

The plastic clamshell container is repurposed packaging from a dozen mini cupcakes I picked up at our grocery store's bakery recently. It's perfect for holding mounded peanut clusters! After whipping up a batch of peanut clusters to nestle inside, all I needed to do was decorate the package lid. I used these Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: Homemade Treats Logo, Treat Words Set, the larger label from the Deluxe Labels Set, and the Happy Holidays border from the Holiday Border Tape Set.

Making these yummy chocolate peanut clusters is even simpler than the caramel corn! Here's my super-easy recipe:

Chocolate Peanut Clusters

1 14-ounce bag of Make 'n Mold Milk Chocolate Flavored Candy Wafers
2 1/4 cups salted peanuts (not dry-roasted)

Simply melt the chocolate candy wafers in the microwave according to the package directions and then stir in the peanuts. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Allow chocolate to harden at room temperature and then store in a covered container. No need to refrigerate!

**********

That's all I have to share for today! I hope I haven't made you *too* hungry ;). Don't forget about the Purple Onion Designs Christmas sale that's going on now:

Oh, and be sure to swing by the Purple Onion Designs blog today for lots more ideas for food from the POD Holiday Design Team! 

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

A Winner and a Cyber Monday Sale

Hi, everyone! It's Monday and I promised the announcement of my washi tape winner today. I used random.org to pick a lucky number. Today that's #19, which is cghundley, or also known as Carla from Utah!

Congratulations, Carla! I've sent you an email :).

I also wanted to a little shopping enabling: there's a Cyber Monday sale going on today at the DeNami Design store. Be sure to check out the details!

Happy Cyber Shopping today!
Emily

Christmas Stamped Gifts

Happy December 1st, my friends! It's time to start those Advent calendars--what a happy time!

Today I'm bringing you a few more holiday gift projects as part of the Purple Onion Designs Holiday Design Team. Today the team is focusing on stamped gifts. I think I've mentioned before that I'm trying to make as many of the gifts my family will give this year as possible. First I have another item that will make a perfect teacher gift--what elementary school teacher ever has enough thank you notes?

I started by making a set of six one-layer thank-you notes, two each of three different designs using the super sweet Laurel, Filbert, and Elm characters from Stacey Yacula's holiday rubber stamp collection and a whimsical Thanks sentiment (#PF01), all from Purple Onion Designs, of course. Stamped on linen-textured cardstock and colored with Copic markers, these simple notes will be easy for a teacher to use and mail (with lumps, bumps, or extra postage!).

Next up--some packaging to make this gift extra special! I slid the notes and six envelopes into a cellophane treat bag and stapled on a hand-stamped bag topper created with a variety of Purple Onion Designs rubber stamps: an oval frame from the Vintage Journaling Set, the smaller flake from the Snowflake Set, a fantastic sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday Set, a pair of To/From sentiments for the back of the topper, and, of course, another sweet Filbert the Penguin!

 

Here's a little peek at the back of the package. You can see the tone-on-tone snowflake stamping a little better here, and there's the To/From sentiments that make this packaging gift-ready!

My fifth-grader is already excited to give this gift to one of his teachers!

For my second project, I'm sharing a snowflake Christmas ornament. I started by stamping the six-pointed snowflake from Purple Onion Designs' Vintage Snowflake Set and heat-embossing it in silver. After trimming it out, I mounted it on a snowflake diecut and blinged it up with silver Stickles and rhinestones.

I wanted to make my snowflake commemorative, so I stamped the date (using a retired mini alphabet/number set from POD) and a "Merry Christmas" sentiment from the Handwritten Holiday set on the back of the ornament.

Be sure to swing by the Purple Onion Designs blog today for lots more ideas for stamped holiday gifts from the POD Holiday Design Team!

Enabler alert!! Purple Onion Designs is running a Holiday Sale right now, with 25% off ALL STAMPS in the store! The sale runs through Tuesday, December 10, 2013. So be sure to check it out!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

DeNami Design Product Spotlight November Spotlight

It's the last Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to show off another awesome DeNami Design stamp with a blog hop! This month we are featuring the ultra versatile Leafy Squares Set.

Here's what I made:

I went very clean and simple with my design for this card. Quick to create and flat to mail is always my goal at this time of year when I've got a high volume of cards to send out! I needed only three stamps, two inks, and my scoring board to complete this in under 10 minutes. In addition to the Leafy Squares set, I used the Starry Burst stamp, Whimsical Merry Christmas stamp, Satin Red Versafine ink, and Olympia Green Versafine ink from the DeNami store. Unfortunately that pretty pine-green ink looks more black in my photo. Sorry about that! I really did go for a traditional red & green Christmas color palette here ;).

My very first thought about how to use this set was for a Christmas design, which I definitely ran with here, and I figured the entire rest of the team would go that route, too. Was I surprised to see the variety of ways and occasions that they used these stamps! You should definitely go and take a peek at the cool things they did with these leafy squares. And what better way than with a blog hop! If you hop along with us today, I'll have a chance to win your very own Leafy Squares stamp set, so be sure to leave comments along the way.


DeNami blog 
Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton  <==== you are here!
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Dana Seymour
Tammy Hobbs

One commenter will be selected at random to win this month's prize! Just check out the DeNami blog for all the details.


Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Ways With Washi: GIFT TAGS + a Giveaway!

Hello and welcome, DeNami friends! It's time for my November edition of Ways With Washi! Today we're taking a look at a few ways to use washi tape on holiday gift tags.

For my first project, I used DeNami Red Chevron washi tape to "color in"  a stamped ornament image from DeNami. I completely covered the circle portion with strips of washi tape, being careful to line up the pattern. Then I simply used an X-acto knife to trim away the excess washi tape, following the lines of the image. I used a silver Sharpie marker to color in the cap, and glued one end of a paperclip to the back for the ornament's loop. A bit of baker's twine was all I needed to prep this tag for hanging!

Next up is a little tag that uses washi tape in two ways. I started by adhering a strip of Red Chevron washi tape on a piece of cardstock and then punched out a tag shape so that the washi tape was aligned with the bottom of the tag. Then I created a loop for hanging by folding over a strip of Red Stripes washi tape lengthwise and stapling it to the top of the tag. A simple embellishment, built from holly leaves and a red DeNami button, and a stamped sentiment complete this quick and simple tag!

For my final tag, I pressed five different patterns of DeNami washi tape into service to create a diagonal stripy background for a punch art snowman! I used Red Stripes, Green Graph, Red Chevron, Green Stripes, and Red Graph washi tapes--all from the DeNami Design store. Don't they make a festive backdrop for this jolly snow fella?

Additional DeNami Design supplies: Seasonal Faces stamp set, Christmas Greetings stamp set, Large Winter Tree, Ruby Red Boutique Buttons, Classic Twine 3-pack

That wraps things up for today! I hope you've been inspired to pull out your washi tape to try making a few tags for your holiday gift-giving.

GIVEAWAY

How would you like to win a roll of washi tape of your very own? I have a brand-new roll of Red Chevron washi tape from DeNami Design that I'd love to give away to a reader of this post. Want to be in the running? Just leave me a comment on this post using the word "GIFT." There's no need to be a follower of my blog to enter, but if you are a follower (or become a new follower!), you can have a second entry in the drawing--just leave me a second comment telling me that you are a follower and how you follow. :)

I'll leave commenting open until 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 1, 2013, and will draw one commenter at random. The winner will be announced right here on my blog on Monday, December 2, and if I'm able to find an email address, I'll be sure to contact the winner as well.

Thanks for stopping by for my Ways With Washi today!
Emily

November Pinspired at DeNami Design

Hello, friends! Today I'm bringing you another Pinspired post along with a few of my other DeNami Design teammates. This month we were inspired by this photo:

Isn't that pretty? I'd love to have a front door that looked like that for autumn :). Those pretty colors make me happy! There's so much to see in this photo, but I think I was most inspired by that awesome wreath. Here's what I designed:

Look at what I used from the DeNami Design store to make my card:

Leafy Vine Wreath

Wheat Stalks

Berries from Classic Christmas stamp set

Pumpkin from Autumn stamp set

"Thinking of You" from Thoughtful Greetings stamp set

Rich Cocoa Memento ink

Habanero Versafine ink

Toffee Versafine ink

This round card is on the petite side: it measures just 3.25" in diameter. I used Copics to color in those wee bitty pumpkins and leaves. Each pumpkin is popped up on a tiny square of foam tape for dimension.

Be sure to check out what the other designers did with this inspiration photo on the DeNami blog today!

Thank you so much for dropping by!
Emily