'Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

I am so happy to announce the winner of my blog candy for the Creative EdVentures First Ever Blog Hop!  I just love giving prizes.  Congratulations go out to:

MORNINGLASS

Who said:

Nice projects! they are all 3 beautiful. I really like your choice of blue for Santa's suit, it makes him seem more gentle than the old red standard. I also really liked your use of the pastel colors on the forest keeper stamp. Oh and I like silver best!

AND Surprise, Surprise-----------I am giving a second prize!!!  My second winner is:

Audrey Frelx

Audrey said:  What terrific projects!!! I really love that pin!!! Have fun in the hop!

Look for an email from me so I can get your mailing info.  If you don't see an email within the next 24 hours, please contact me (either by email or comment) so that I can get your mailing info.

Thank you so very much, everyone, for joining our hop and for your thoughtful comments!!


And remember, keep your creative genius flowing.........
CHRISTINE

AND THE WINNER IS.......

No, I'm not making it that easy.  I told you my winner in the Creative EdVentures First Ever Blog Hop will be announced tomorrow.  (tee hee)  But, since you were nice enough to stop by, I do have a card to show you.

A long-time friend of my husband lost his dad last week.  The family knew it was coming, but, of course, it's always a difficult time, and so sad that it came just before Father's Day.

I wanted to use a soft color scheme for this card.  I'm happy with the pretty blue.  This photo shows the signature page on the inside:

Here is a full view of the inside of the card:

I was very pleased with the soft simplicity of the card front.  I used generic papers, and stamped the white cardstock to make my own background design paper.

I thought it might be hard to read the sentiment, so here's a closer view.

I mentioned the paper.  Here are the other ingredients:

Stamps:  Gina K Designs, PapertreyInk, Hero Arts and Unity

Spellbinders dies: Plain and Scalloped Ovals, Fancy Tags and Lacy Squares

Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze ink

Thanks for visiting today, and don't forget to come back tomorrow to see if you're a winner!!!

Keep your creative genius flowing.....

Christine

We're At the Hop for Creative EdVentures

Welcome to the Creative EdVentures First Ever Blog Hop.  We are really excited to have you join us, and we promise not to take up too much of your time.  There are only ten stops, and you have from 9:00am eastern on Saturday, June 18, to Midnight eastern on Sunday, June 19, to finish.  If you've arrived here from Fab's blog, then you're in the right place.  If you just happened along and you want to start at the beginning, then  Creative EdVentures  is the place to go.

This hop is featuring the lovely images of designer Sue Miller.  If you are not familiar with her designs, please check them out.  We think they're wonderful.  Sue Miller and Queen Kat Designs are sponsoring our hop, and have given us prizes for some lucky hoppers.

I know several of us were inspired by Sue's images to bring you more than one creation.  I, being one of them, have three projects for your viewing pleasure today.  So, without further delay, here you go........................

For my first project, I selected Sue's 'Princess Melis' image.  I was making a Choski Pin to use in a swap, and I thought this would be the perfect image to depict the face of the little fairy I was putting on the pin.  This first photo illustrates the pin as a whole.  For those of you who don't know what a Choski pin is, it's a lovely, blingy piece that can be used in so many ways: on a hat or a bag, on a lamp shade or, gosh, even as an actual piece of jewelry.  It's totally up to you.

Here you can see a close-up of the facet with the fairy's face.  The facet is from Tim Holtz.  Most of the other supplies are from one of my local shops, Red Lead Paperworks, Webster Groves MO, the sponsor of the swap I'm in.

Here's one more shot where you can see that the little fairy in the charm is wearing the same garland in her hair as Sue's sweet image.  I thought it was just a perfect match.  Of course, we must have a little fairy dust to sprinkle as we go along our way.

I chose a wooden craft frame for my second project.  The frame came from Michael's, and I covered it with a pretty design paper from Stampin' Up using a glue stick.  I then inked the edges of both the paper and the frame itself with SU ink and used their pearl stick-ons for the little flowers in two of the corners. I enjoyed coloring this image with chalk pastels; the colors are so soft.  I love the overall soft misty look of the frame with the sweetness of Sue's image, 'Keeper of the Forest.'

I really like this project because it is relatively simple and inexpensive to make.  Perfect for a quick gift.  I did give the image some sparkle with glitter pens, but I couldn't quite manage to get it to come across in the photos.

Here's a nice close-up so you can see the Keeper's lovely, sweet face.

I know some of you think it's much too early to even think about Christmas, let alone start working on projects for the holiday season.  I also know there are many of you out there who started working on this years' cards right after January 1st.  My final creation for you is a Christmas card using Sue's adorable 'I Still Believe' image.  This one was colored with Copic markers.  The design papers came from a packet my sister gave me (sorry, lost track of the wrapper a while ago).  I put together the sentiment using a Just Right Stamps alphabet; the letters are so tiny that I wasn't sure I could manage them--tweezers to the rescue!--and stamped it with Making Memories ink.  I also used dimensionals for lots of layering and my ATG tape runner.

The snowflake paper has a bit of glitter, and I also added sparkle to this image.  Once again, it just didn't come through in the photo.  And, as you can see, I chose not to give Santa the traditional red suit.  Those of you who know me well, know I like to be a bit different sometimes.

Santa is encouraging us to be hushed in the snowy 'Silent Night' of winter.  He doesn't want us to wake the kiddies while he's on his rounds.

I added this last image just to show all the layering of the card front.

I do hope you've enjoyed your visit with me to see the lovely designs from Sue.  Now, what's next?

What you need to do to be eligible for the main prizes:
Visit every designer on the list - Become a Follower of their blog (not mandatory, but always most welcome), and leave a comment on their blog hop entry.
*Please note: if an individual designer is offering candy JUST for their blog, make sure you follow whatever additional rules they may have on their own blog.
When you have visited ALL the designers, you will return to the Creative EdVentures homepage and Leave a Comment there about the Hop, our designers, Sue Miller's images, your favorite designs...you get the idea.  We love feedback, and want to know what you thought of our first hop.  Remember, your comment needs to be in by Midnight on Sunday, and needs to include your email address to WE can contact YOU if you're a winner.

I also have blog candy for you!!!
Be sure to leave a comment for me, here, before midnight on Sunday, with your email addy so I can find you later.  AND answer this question, "Which is your favorite, Silver or Gold?"  That's all you need to do, and you'll be eligible.  I'll post the winner on Wednesday, June 22nd.  GOOD LUCK!!

If you've done the hop in order from the beginning, you have only one more stop.  Time to visit Cindy Coleman.

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LOVE & HUGS TO ALL!!
CHRISTINE

I'm a Designer!!!

I am sooooo excited.  This is my first time designing for a blog hop, and I am thrilled to be participating for Creative EdVentures!





I hope you will join us this weekend, starting at 9 A.M. Eastern time ( 6 AM Pacific, 7 AM Mountain, 8 AM Central) for the first ever Creative EdVentures Blog Hop featuring the beautiful designs of Sue Miller.  I am just loving her designs!  Sue Miller and Queen Kat Designs are generously sponsoring this hop, and you will have a chance to win some wonderful blog hop candy after you visit. Some of the participating designers will ALSO have blog candy of their own to give you.  (They will have separate instructions posted on their own blogs on how to be eligible for those prizes.)
All you have to do in order to be eligible for the main prizes from our sponsors is to visit each of the designers on the hop and comment on their beautiful work.  Of course, we would love for you to Become a Follower!  Then, head on over to the Creative EdVentures blog and leave a comment on the main blog hop post – let us know what you thought of the blog hop, tell us about your favourite Sue Miller images, or favorite ways to use her images – we want to hear it all!  That’s it!  You’ll be in!  Be sure to include your email address with your comment so we know how to reach you!

The HOP will run from 9 am Saturday and end at midnight on Sunday .
Prize winners will be drawn Tuesday June 21st and announced by Wednesday June 22nd.
Winners and their comments will be posted on the Creative EdVentures homepage.

So, grab your hopping shoes and come along.

Oh, and remember always keep your creative genius flowing.
CHRISTINE

Coming Soon to a Computer Near You............

FIRST EVER BLOG HOP!!

Sure hope you'll join us!

My Neverending Shower...............................

card.  Okay, I know you haven't seen me lately, but I really haven't been in the shower all this time.  I'm talking about an adorable card I made for my niece's recent baby shower.  I wish I could remember just where I first saw this style of card, but I forgot to write it down at the time.  There are several videos and tutorials out there for those who are interested in the technique.  It involves only two squares of paper to make the base.  A couple of folds and cuts create the many-sided aspect of the card.  The fun...and challenge...is in the placement of your design elements.  The card even comes with instructions; you'll see what I mean.  I'll group the main photos first, with close-ups to follow.  Yes, this is a photo-heavy post.

This is the front of the card, pictured with the double hang-tag with instructions.  The tag was tied on with ribbon to keep the card closed.

This pic is what is seen after the first fold.

This is after the second fold.

And this is the back of the card after the final fold.
Here are the closer shots:

I had a really fun time making this card.  With a little more time, it might have gotten a bit more extravagant.  I think I'm glad to have had limited time.  I was lucky to have used colors that coordinated nicely with the shower decor.

Check this out while you're here:

Finished-on-the-Fifteenth FaveCrafts Blog Hop for June

I hope you've enjoyed my little foray into a new, for me, card technique.  I'd love your comments.

Thanks so much for visiting, and remember to keep your creative genius flowing.
CHRISTINE