Dollar Tree Gift Basket

“The meaning of life is to find your gift.

The purpose of life is to give it away.”

Pablo Picasso

Hey artsy crew, 

I never would have thought I would be giving a gift basket full of  Dollar Tree treasures to my friends and neighbors at Christmas, but it turns out, it's definitely one of my favorite gifts of all time.  I watched THIS You Tube video and was mesmerized as she created such artistic themed gift baskets out of small, inexpensive coordinating items.  I love the dollar store, so I hurried out to see if I could duplicate her shopping list.  I found heaps of fun booty!!!  Please keep in mind, this is meant to be a small gesture of Christmas love, not a treasured gift to show the value of your everlasting friendship.  I made sure all the contents are usable and fun and  I added boxed candy, a book or two, and the occasional gift card, depending on the recipient.   No telling what my friends will think about their gift, but I hope they will see it as a clever, though a little quirky, expression of love.  I think they will.  My friends are cool  like that.  

  

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create some unique gifts for your cool friends and family.

Nancy

Dreaming Tree and La La Land Collide in a Christmas Snow Scene Rescue

A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight

walking in a winter wonderland.

Dreaming Tree SVG. La La Land stamp, patterned paper,
assorted glitter card stock, copic markers, Tombow Mono glue, pop dots, Scor-Pal for z folds

Hey artsy tribe,

As I mentioned in my last  post,  I ended up with a Christmas z-fold card sans a few key pieces.  I couldn't muster the energy to cut all the missing pieces on my Cricut just for one card.  Then I noticed THIS darling La La Land Molli staring up at me from my desk top  just waiting to be colored and placed in a snowy scene in her stylish winter attire   Even her size was perfect!  I'm super happy with the way this card evolved.  I think kinetic cards are a perfect way to add personality and context to my people images.    

I actually think I like this better than my original card.  I can see other charming images living in a multitude of idyllic settings on this z-fold card.  Another happy accident for the books! 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create a masterpiece from the "Island of Misfit Cards.."

Nancy 

Playing along with:

        Through the Purple Haze Challenge #162      

        Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #252
        Dream Valley Challenge #215
        Papercraft Challenges #53
        Lemon Shortbread Challenge #109
        The Paper Shelters Christmas Break Challenge
        Paper Funday Challenge #12
        Scor-Pal December Challenge
        Sweet Stampers Challenge #39
        Crafts Galore Encore December Challenge

Snow Scene Z-Fold Christmas Card - Dreaming Tree SVG

Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; 

so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.   
Henry David Thoreau

Dreaming Tree Snowed In SVG, Cricut Maker, assorted glitter card stock,
Tombow Mono glue, Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide, silver glossy card stock

Hey artsy friends,

This year's Christmas card for my beloved paper crafting group started out as a fairly simple z-fold Christmas scene.  Many layers and parts later, I realized it was a little more complicated than I had anticipated.  THIS beautiful Dreaming Tree snow scene caught my eye right away when I saw it assembled on You tube.  I admit, I got a little nervous when I cut out all the pieces but actually, the sponging of the snow was the biggest challenge.  All sorts of nooks and crannies!  I didn't plan to do the sponging in the beginning. . . it's usually not my favorite look,  but I realized my snow needed dimension and depth and I'm happy I acquiesced in the end.  

I downloaded the Dreaming Tree SVG to Cricut Design Space and made the intricate cuts on my Maker in a snap.  I  cut a sturdy plain white card base and layered patterned paper on top for the snowy background.  Most of the other layers are glitter card stock with the exception of the moon, which is glossy silver card stock.  I used two different colors of green for the trees to add some depth.  

I made ten of these. . . yeah, I know. . . pretty ambitious.  But my darling friends are worth it!  I always lose a few pieces somehow, so the tenth card was missing a tree and some clouds.  It was a happy mistake, though.  I'll show you the cute card I made in a future blog.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and enjoy a magical snowy day...in real life or your imagination. (I prefer the latter. 😁)

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Everybody Art Challenge #460

        The Holly and the Ivy Challenge #62

        Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

        Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Christmas is Coming

        A Place to Start December Challenge

        Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #247

        Dream Valley Challenge #215

        Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #202

        Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Anything Christmas

        Inkspirational Challenge #202

Guest Designer for World Wide Open Design Team Challenge - Julia Spiri Venetian Mask

Julia Spiri digital stamp from Etsy, Copics, Cricut Design Studio frame and sentiment,
 Stickles, white gel pen, gold leafing pen, assorted gems, gold peel off stickers

Hey artsy friends,

Once again, I have the extreme honor of being Guest Designer for World Wide Open Design Team Challenge.  Our new challenge  starts today and I've used THIS beautiful Julia Spiri digi called Venetian Mask to inspire you.   I colored this gorgeous mysterious lady in copics and used some French-syle accents to give her a Marti Gras  vibe.  I found the filigree accented frame in Design Space along with the word "dream" and sized them to fit my 5 x 7 card.    The mask is decorated with gems, gold leafing pen, sparkle pen and Stickles.  I used gold peel off stickers to accent the frame and added gold gems to the filigree accent.

Please join us for this fun DT Challenge, open to any DT in the World. To be eligible, you just have to be on any Design Team. Here are the details:  

.                    

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #12
Runs from December 15 through January 12

You can enter any image and any project.

Enter our current challenge HERE

                                            You'll love visiting Julia's amazing store HERE

                                                   Join Julia's Facebook Group HERE

                                                

We'd love you to join us.  Come on...it'll be fun!

 Thanks for visiting and come again soon, Nancy

Playing along with:

        Krafty Chicks Challenge #485

        Crafting by Designs - December

        Creative Moments Challenge #182

        Digi Choosday Challenge Week 50

        613 Avenue Create Challenge #228

        A Perfect Time to Craft Challenge #12 - 2019

        Classic Design Team Challenge #12

        Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #70

Dazzling Christmas Tree Card - Dreaming Tree SVG

“Thank you, dear Creator, for life. Thank you for dreams. Thank you for ideas and thoughts and feelings. Most of all, thank you for choosing me to grow - just for today - and to know the wonder of Your world and its many possibilities.”

― Janie Jasin,  The Littlest Christmas Tree: A Tale of Growing and Becoming

Dreaming Tree SVG, blue, red and green glitter paper, assorted  gems, gold card stock, mounting tape, Cricut Maker

Hey all,

It's that wonderful time of  year when crafters look forward to creating handmade cards to send to their family and friends who live far and wide. Needless to say, they need to be fairly uncomplicated and easy to send through the mail.  By easy I mean not more than 1-inch thick 😁.  Seriously, I know I have to pay more postage to send them but it's worth it to create something special.  Some of my recipients tell me they have  saved them year after year and one of them has even created a banner,  so I feel inspired to make them worthy of display.

This year's card is very clean and simple, by my standards. The tree is created from a Dreaming Tree SVG and I spiffed it up with a star and gift  created in Cricut Design Space.  Shine and sparkle is what I was going for, so I sprinkled gems everywhere.  The card measures 5 1/2 square, which means extra postage, but no worries.  The gems have already put me into the "hand cancel" category.

This is just the beginning of my Christmas crafting blitz.  So much more to enjoy.  After all,  it's the most wonderful ( and frantic) time of the year for us crafty sorts.

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and enjoy the wonder of the world in all its Christmas splendor.  
Nancy

Playing along with:
        Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #202
        The Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas
        Paper Funday Challenge #12
        Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #251
        The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #62
        A Place to Start December Challenge
        Make My Monday Challenge #111
        Merry Little Christmas Challenge #17
        A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #105

Morgan's ArtWorld DT - December Open Challenge

Morgan's ArtWorld Christmas Cameo digi, Copic markers, white and blue glitter card stock,
snowflake stickers, rhinestones, silver leafing pen, white gel pen

Hey there,

It's time again for another fabulous challenge at Morgan's ArtWorld.  I chose THIS beautiful classy lady to inspire you and decked her out for the holidays in my favorite copic palette.  I found bits and baubles in my stash to fancy up her elegant, wintry hat and glittery snowflake stickers for added dimension. The frame and corner swirls were sized in Cricut Design Space and cut with my brand new Maker.  I know...I'm so blessed!  I edged the card panel with a silver leafing pen and mounted it on a 5 x 7 card base. 

The new challenge runs from December 1 through  December  27.   The theme is always "Anything Goes" and you can use any image or project. Join in this fabulous challenge HERE.

      Morgan has a new shop that will be fully open soon and there are some beautiful digi images available now for purchase HERE.  

We  would like to invite you to our Morgan’s ArtWorld Facebook Group.

Please come and join our Group HERE.

Please join us for this fun challenge.  We can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and find the joy in entering a Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge. 

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Addicted to Stamps Challenge #179

        Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #119

        Sunday Stamps Challenge #219

        The Library Challenge - Little Women

        Just Us Girls Challenge #516

        Patties Creations Challenge #164

        Cards 4 Galz Challenge #110

        Southern Girls Challenge - Team Trace

        Fab n Funky Challenge #459

        Craft Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge #466