Getting in the Spirit

Here's a card I made at a Stampin' Up Holiday Workshop. Therefore, you will note that I don't have my watermark on it because it is not my design.

This card is the reason why I bought that Stampin' Up snowflake embossing folder.  You can see the snowflakes used here as a subtle background.  On my recent tag (see previous post), I used core'dinations paper and sanded the flakes so they'd pop.

I forgot to buy that adorable frame die.  I have many dies but for some reason really like this one.  I especially like how it was used with the snowman layered partially out of the frame.

I'm posting this to get in the holiday spirit.  I have technology issues which are dragging me down.  Smartphone not so smart anymore.  Blogger blinking all over the place, making it difficult for me to leave comments on other blogs.  Mixpod (my beloved music chosen to go with my posts) no longer exists.  And my Adobe flashplayer keeps crashing.  Other than that, keep calm and craft on.........

Freebie and Cyber Monday Shopping Enabler

I don't know about you, but I love sitting in the comfort of my own home, in my cozy jammies, sipping a cup of coffee, and checking out the Cyber Monday deals.

To help get you in the mood, here's a little freebie.....
Thanks to Gecko Galz, it's my little holiday gift to you.  Just click on the image to enlarge it, then right click to save the image to your computer.

And now for the shopping enabler part.......
Gecko Galz has some amazing offers for you today as part of Cyber Monday:  

1) buy one / get one sale on regular priced items--collage sets, digital stamps, papers....everything!

2) featured sets that are $1.00 today only

3) if you spend $50 or more, you get a FREE Gift set which includes an exclusive paper set, stamp set, and collage set!

4) if you purchase a gift card for $25 or more, you will get a $5 gift card FREE! 

As you complete your purchase, I'd appreciate a mention that Helene (that's me--aka 2amscrapper) sent you over.   Have fun shopping!  The Gecko Galz site link is HERE

FYI:  There are more of these cyber freebies from other Gecko Galz design team members.

Update:  fellow DTer Heather Hudson made my freebie into a collage sheet JUST FOR YOU!   Thanks Heather!

Winter Tag

I don't know about you, but I feel like a stuffed turkey!  I was doing fine pacing myself through the meal until the homemade pumpkin ice cream took me over the top.  It was a great Thanksgiving Day with so much to be thankful for!  

We always have a family reunion at Thanksgiving which means the younger generation returns home with their children for four days of fun and games and lots of good food.  We had 17 from the immediate family at Thanksgiving dinner at my sister in law's place.  I think the biggest crowd will be on Saturday when we get to see the newest baby in the clan.

I will get back to visiting all your blogs after our busy weekend. In the meantime, I hope all of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving had an amazing day.   And to my international blogging buddies, I hope all of you are in good health and fine spirits.  

Today is my design team day over at Rogue Redhead Designs.  You can see this tag THERE along with my supply list.  I love these mittens from the Candy Kisses stamp plate.

Don't forget to enter the current Rebel challenge.  Read all about it at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog!

Vintage Angels ATCs

I fell in love with these digital images: Gecko Galz Vintage Angels collage sheet. I printed them out, cut them, and edged them with Stampin' Up champagne glass Stampin' Glitter. 

It is so hard to photograph glitter!!!!!

I hope in these close-up photos you can see:

the DCWV glitter paper snowflakes (Martha Stewart punch) muted with Ranger brushed pewter distress stain;

the Ranger Icicle Stickles on the Flying Unicorn roses;

the Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen that glittered up the angel wings and lettering Make A Wish.  The actual affect is smooth fill-in lines of glitter. 
I think you can see it best on the word Make in this photo....

and on the angel wings and jewelry in this photo:

I think these angels are perfect for these challenges:

Shabby Tea Room's Challenge #140 Sweet Shabby Christmas: photo inspiration and include shimmer and or glitter.

The Crafty Bloggers Network Challenge #5 Christmas - Anything Goes

Unruly Rogue Tag

It's my turn to post a creation at Rogue Redhead Designs'  (RRD) blog HERE so I made a tag 
because:

The new RRD Rebel challenge is Anything But a Card. RC017:  UNCARD 
The Unruly Paper Arts November Reader Art Quest 1 is a Gift Tag.

Put them all together, and you get this from me:

Stamp Plates from Rogue Redhead Designs, LLC:
Female image:   Nature Notes
Roses:  Floriculture
Happy Holidays:  Bits and Pieces

Other Materials:
Pink Paislee London Market paper pack, page cut to 6x4 inches
Staz On Timber Brown ink pad
Ranger Distress Inks:  Worn Lipstick, Walnut Stain

Reader Alert:
Rogue Redhead's Snow Hugs stamp plate is featured in the Stamping Contrasts article in the November issue of Craft Stamper magazine.  The link to the magazine's table of contents is HERE  http://www.craftstamper.com/issues/?i=4456
FYI, I noticed this magazine's website has some bonus on-line articles and tutorials from all their issues.
I'm looking forward to picking up my copy of the actual November issue from my local supplier, Prairie Art Stamps and Supplies.

Shopping Enabler:
Don't forget about the Anniversary Mega Sale at Rogue Redhead Designs.  Sale ends November 11.

Ribbon Candy

My blogging buddy Heather Hudson is on the design team for Really Reasonable Ribbon.  This is the first time I'm entering a challenge over at that site. 

RRR59 Challenge Winter Holiday and Ribbon
I'm using Rogue Redhead Designs stamp plates.  I went with a Christmas holiday color theme--green (Stampin' Up gumball green) and red--ish (Ranger Picked Raspberry distress ink) .  And of course the Christmas rose.  I used my own ribbon (from dd2) as I haven't placed my RRR order yet. 

It kinda reminds me of ribbon candy which brings to RRR's great blog candy offer.  Just look at all of this yummy candy. Head on over to see the details.

Linking this up to Beverly's Pink Saturday.  A blogging community all about friendship and fellowship.  With this card, I'm wishing all my visitors a stress free holiday season, especially those on the east coast--as well as serving up a blog candy alert. After all, that's what friends are for.  I appreciate all of my blogging buddies here in cyberspace. 

A Gecko Galz Calendar

It's November which means a new design team project from me as well as a new special offer from Gecko Galz.  

This month make a purchase of $25 or more and get our exclusive "Very Merry" digital stamp set FREE! 
And we're in Week 8 of holiday crafts, featuring "holiday crackers".  Check it all out at the Gecko Galz website HERE.
While there, look for me wearing a Santa hat!  Check out my gallery HERE.


Last month I made myself a Christmas shopping mini to carry in my purse.  This month I made myself a 2013 calendar book in which I can keep track of my design team deadlines and challenges.  

I started with a pack of Skinny Cards from Hobby Lobby.  They measure 9 inches by 4 inches.  I intertwined two envelope flaps to form the covers.  This created a pocket on the inside of each cover. Only the front cover showed the flap which I covered with the striped paper.

I opened and stacked 3 cards which formed my 12 calendar pages.  Using my long arm stapler, I stapled the cover and pages together down the center fold.  

I used these Gecko Galz products to create the pages:
Calendar Days collage sheets
Violets Are Blue collage sheets:  printed 1/2 size and fussy cut to create my own collage stickers
3 sheets from from Vanity Fair Digital Paper Pack:  striped tags made from Picadilly patterned paper, decorative tape, journal plates
I resized the decorative tape, smaller to tape the calendars, larger for the covers.  I also resized the plates to fit my circle punch.

I used the same design on each page, varying the trims.

 
Other Materials:
ColorBok earthtone paper pack: calendar mats and blue paper for calendars
Markers for outlining: black Sharpie, Ranger Vintage Photo
Ranger distress inks: Weathered Wood, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany, Worn Lipstick
Stampin' Up ink pad and ink pen in Crumb Cake
Ranger brass distress stain and punchinella (sequin waste)
Red Lead Paperworks hand died pink ribbon
Wilton doilies
Jenni Bowlin butterfly
buttons and other trims from my stash

Thanks to everyone who stopped by here at my blog during the Gecko Galz blog hop.  There were so many wonderful free collage sheets to collect along the way, not to mention the amazing prizes!!!!  Did you check the Gecko Galz blog to see who won?  If not, you should stop by HERE.  just saying..........

While there, be sure to check out that fabulous challenge for those of you who collected the collage sheets.

And don't forget to check out the Gecko Galz Yahoo Papercrafting Group for lots of other challenges and chances to win even more prizes.

With so many opportunities, you can see why I need a calendar! 

Rogue Redhead Anniversary Sale

It's our 2nd Anniversary!  Time sure flies when you are having lots of inky fun!  Rogue Redhead Designs LLC has been proud to provide quality unmounted rubber stamps in eclectic and vintage designs since 2010!  We now have five fabulous full-size plates, four half-size plates and two minis in inventory along with some select singles!

Our one-week only Anniversary Mega Sale will run from November 4 to November 11, 2012 with lots of great savings on all your favorite unmounted rubber stamp plates!  This is a great time to start going Rogue with your stamping or round out your existing Rogue collection!

On top of all the great savings on individual unmounted rubber stamp plates, we also have two great bundles to bring you even more savings!  Our Beautifully Dunn Winter Bundle - which features the full-size Snow Hugs plate, the half-size Candy Kisses and the Carnival Dreams mini - is available the low price of $30.00!  Similarly, the Half Plate Bundle -  including Floriculture, Bits and Pieces and Nature Notes - will also be on sale for $30.00!  Both these great deals are available only until November 11, 2012!  Get in on the savings today!

Although I've been a member of the Rogue Crew (design team) for just a couple of months, I've been using Rogue Redhead Designs stamp plates for a long time.  

Here is a blast from the past--one of my earliest RRD creations using the Relish Reading stamp plate.  I call this the Tree of Knowledge.  I remember searching for a page of text and then punching out and gluing on all those tiny word blossoms.  And I liked making the skirt from a book page.