Mountain Plains Crafters Christmas in July Blog Hop!

Happy Friday everyone! Welcome to the very first Mountain Plains Crafters blog hop! Have you been loving everyone's designs so far? Seeing as I'm a sucker for Christmas cards no matter what time of year it is, I absolutely loved this theme. Oh quit your grumping about the fact that it's July, aren't the prizes worth it? Think of all the ideas you'll have for your own cards this year, especially if you win that fantastic Clearsnap set of the same goodies we used! You have until midnight on Saturday the 26th to enter. ;)

You should be arriving here from my dear friend Debra's blog. Here's a quick reminder of our participants:

Mustang Creations~Pam

Waving my Wand~Terri

Sheryl's Creative Corner~Sheryl

Mississippi Mcgyver~MariLynn

Meticulosity~Debra

Caffeinated Papercuts~Jennifer <<< You are here!

Christina's Creations~Christina

Scrap Addict's Attic~Paula

I was so excited when I got my pack of goodies in the mail from Pam (especially since she tucked in that lovely paper, too; I can't wait to use it!). Be sure to go give our friends at Clearsnap some Facebook love for sponsoring this hop! Be sure to tell them Mountain Plains Crafters super-awesome design team sent you. ;)

Smooch Bottle in Spruce, ColorBox in Saddle, Smooch Spritz in Cashmere

Let's face it, the colors were begging to be used on a holiday card and I was more than happy to oblige. I started playing around with the pine cones from Lawn Fawn's Ornate Ornaments set and the Saddle ink to make a really fun, rustic background using kraft paper. The card evolved from there, and this was the end result:

I used the Smooch Spritz on my new pine cone paper to add some shimmer and shine, then let that dry and went to work on the vellum sentiment banner.

So rustic...so shimmery!

To continue the rustic, woodland feel I grabbed my Gingham Christmas Greetings set from Unity Stamp Co. and inked up the 'happy holidays' sentiment with Memento Cottage Ivy ink. Once dry (vellum = longer drying time, fyi) I taped it to the back of my pine cone paper then went to town with my Crop-a-Dile and some eyelets, then tied some twine through them. I used foam tape to add the panel to my card base, then hand-sketched some holly leaves to color in with the Smooch ink. A bit of Perfect Pearls for berries and this card was done!

Still with me? Good, now lean in close...want to win a Unity Itty Bitty stamp? I have a pile of duplicates on my craft table and I'll be pulling one out for a lucky winner! Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter; contest closes Saturday, July 26th at midnight. Please note; this is Jen giving away a stamp, not Mountain Plains Crafters.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
All right, now go see what Christina has created for us; I bet it's awesome!

Happy Crafting!

Beach Time and a New Contest

Hey there everyone; have you seen that we have a new contest up at Mountain Plains Crafters? This time it's all about the beach! Be sure to head on over to see what I and the rest of the Design Team came up with, and all entries must be in by tomorrow.

Speaking of entries, I'm sharing my dear friend Barbara's card here today so she can enter. We get together once a week for a night of crafty goodness, silliness, and coffee so I knew she had a tropical card to enter. Of course, I got the big doe eyes of "help me enter...puuuhhhleeeeeessssseeee". Since she doesn't have a Flickr account, blog or the like I checked with the DT and am posting it here for her!

Check it out:

Would you believe the palm tree is actually one of those tub stickers so you don't slip?? I love it when we get uber-creative!

Be sure to join in the fun and get your beachy cards in! Happy Crafting!

July Already??

I feel like I simply blinked and June is over already! The first clue that this has happened is when people start yelling 'happy birthday!' at me, but still...summer, stop moving so fast!

For any of you reading this that knew it was my birthday and gave me a shout-out on social media/in person, thank you so very much. For everyone else, no worries; you can just give a bigger shout-out next year. ;)

I'm pleased to report that I successfully turned another year older and had a great time with family and friends. I even got some presents - woo! :D Hugs from my boy (and toys wrapped in his blankie; the kid is killing me with cuteness), bracelets from my crafting BFFs, gift certificates and, ah, liquid refreshments from coworkers and my gaming BFFs, and the 'go ahead' from my husband to upgrade my phone. Of course, then there's the crafty goodies I bought myself, but we won't mention those too loudly...lol...

So, how about a party favor for all of you?? Those of you who have been putting up with following me for a while may remember that I run a Christmas in July sale in my Etsy store every year. It's almost that time again! This year the sale will be from July 10th through the 20th, and I happen to think it will be sweet...just for you my dear readers, here's a hint:

Enough to make you start loading up that shopping cart? What's on your wish list this year??

Happy Crafting!