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Did you have a fun Christmas? Rick and I had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Now, we're looking forward to New Year's Eve! It seems so crazy that the calendar is flipping to a new year again. 2016 here we come!!
Today I have a brand new tutorial up at Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom with a fast and easy New Year's card. Below are the products used, and please visit me over at the CLASSroom to read the step by step through the project.
One of the things I actively hunt for at the antique markets I visit in Europe are old brooches, pendents, photos or jewelry pieces that I can use as focal pieces in the repurposed jewelry I design. I found this beautiful vintage photo at the Arezzo, Italy antique market in 2013. I was immediately drawn to the soft, blue, purple and grey colors in the image and so bargained until I managed to procure it a good price.
Once I got home, I didn't actually get going on making my necklace until several months later. To make the necklace I combined labradorite and sterling silver links which were sourced during one of my trips to Istanbul, black quartz and some beautiful blue chalcedony beads.
I am not 100% certain if I will be keeping, or selling this beauty. If you are interested in purchasing it, please send me an email using the 'email me' link at the top left of this page, under my photo.
I have a brand new video tutorial up at Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom today. I hope you will come and see it!
The Winner of the "Things we Love 2015" giveaway is: Brandi R who commented on December 10, 2015 at 06:14 PM.
Hi Friends, the lovely Ellen Hutson has invited all her design team members to join in a new tradition and share the "Things we love 2015". Over the past 10 days the designers have been sharing the products they reach for over and over again. Today I am bringing a close to this celebration with my list of favorites. There are so many crafting products available, and sometimes it can be overwhelming to decide which products to invest in. The ones on the list today are ones that I have either used forever or are things that I just recently aquired and which are inspiring me :)
As a bonus during this "Things we LOVE 2015" celebration Ellen has provided a DISCOUNT CODE for you! Just enter this exclusive coupon code in the coupon code area during check-out: “thingswelovecarolyn” will save you 10% on EVERY in-stock product through December 14 over at Ellen Hutson LLC! The discount is NOT limited to just the things I love, but ANYTHING you love, too, as long as it is in stock!
Ellen is also providing a GIVEAWAY for my blog readers! So check out my list of favorite things from 2015 and scroll to the bottom for details on how you can win 5 of my favorite things!
I tried to keep this list short and just highlight the products I reached for regularly in 2015. If you have any questions about any of these items, please feel free to ask in the comments and I'll try to reply asap. (Or, if you prefer, you could also email me using the link below my profile picture on the upper left of this blog.)
Stay tuned to the end of this post for a huge GIVEAWAY just for my blog readers!
1) Ranger Kraft Tag #8 - I LOVED using kraft paper as a neutral in my projects this year, and these tags made an appearence in several projects, such as my recent "12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist" project which can be seen HERE.
2) Tim Holtz, Black and Cream Trimmings - Black and Cream is classic and works with so many different color schemes. Love that this set is so versatile.
3) Ice Resin - As someone who also loves to make jewelry projects, I LOVE this product SOOOO much. I used it to make the resin photo circles on this necklace. If you want to read more about it, the post can be found HERE.
1) Ranger Distress Stain, Spun Sugar - I love this line of products for giving a sheer wash of color to backgrounds, and this pale, pastel pink is my favorite color.
2) Ranger Superfine Embossing Powder, Clear - this year I have been doing a ton of embossing techniques on my stamping projects, and the clear embossing powder I reach for again and again is this embossing powder by Ranger. It. just. works. BAM!
3) Ranger Texture Paste - It seems that Ranger is walking away with this category this year for me! I love this texture paste and have used it a ton with stencils on my altered journals.
1) Bold blossom Stand-Alone by Ellen Hutson - I had so much fun playing with this set this year. Take a peek at one of my cards HERE.
2 & 3) Magnietic Die Storage and Envelopes by Ellen Hutson - I am putting these 2 products together as they go hand in hand. I love the way these 2 products solve the problem for storing dies. Such an easy way to keep them organized and visible. LOVE!
4) Open Book Die set by Crate Paper - I really like how versatile this set is. Use it for everything from a masculine card like the one in this video tutorial, or to make a romantic card, like this one HERE.
1) Rangers Stickles, Star Dust - For adding understated sparkle and shimmer to a project, this is my go-to glue/glitter combination.
2) Pearls, Champagne - I love shabby chic, and pearls are an easy way to add classic beauty to a project.
3) Tim Holtz, Salvaged Dolls - I loved Tim's frozen Charlotte dolls, and now that those are discontinued, these Salvaged Dolls are a new favorite. They are so stinkin' CUTE!
4) Doodle Twine Spool, Cupcake - Baker's twine has become a staple, and this pretty pink is a super fun color!
1) Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black - This is my favorite true, dark black ink. It also retains a lot of detail.
2) Versamark Ink Pad - This is a great, double use ink pad. I love it for embossing and also for producing beautiful watermark stamp impressions.
3 & 4) Distress Marker collections - For bang for your buck, the Distress markers go a long way. Using the Ranger Craft Sheet, you can easily turn these markers into watercolors, like I did in THIS card, or color directly onto rubber stamps with them, like I did here:
This year has seen me heavily use watercolor and vellum. I love the versatility of these the Ranger Watercolor paper, and Ellen Hutson's Vellum, they will work with any color scheme, can easily take on the style of whatever they are paired with.
Patterned paper has always been a HUGE love of mine. This "Classic Elegance" paper pack is from of my all time favorite Melissa Frances paper collections. (And, it's on sale right now for 50% off! Use the coupon code given at the top of this post for an additional discount!)
1) Blissful Butterflies by My Favorite Things - This stamp has been in my collection for a few years and has showed up on many of my projects. It is versatile - you could use it for thank you, sympathy, 'just because', and happy birthday cards to just mention a few themes. HERE is a sample card that I made with this set.
2) Just Geometrics: Triangles by W9 Designs - A fun, modern design that works well with my clean, graphic style, this background stamp is a keeper!
3) Fancy Thanks by Ellen Hutson Essentials - This combines a sentiment I use a ton with beautiful calligraphy. LOVE IT! Here is a card featuring one of the stamps from this set:
1) Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet - I think I pretty much use this craft sheet while creating every project I make. It has saved me money as I used to use disposable palettes, this is both better for the environment, and my wallet :)
2) Ranger Ink Blending Tool - If you love the look of distressed edges on your paper craft projects, there is no better applicator. Hands down, this is a winner!
3) Water Mister - This has been the year of watercolor for me, and using a water mister to remoisten stamps and start the ink running into each other in order to get that beautiful watercolor effect, is such an easy, fast way to get that result!
THINGS WE LOVE GIVEAWAY
So, are you ready for the GIVEAWAY? Ellen had graciously rounded up the following items from my favorite things list to give to one lucky winner!
The prize includes…
For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on this blog post within the next 4 days (December 14th) and one winner will be randomly chosen to receive these FIVE fabulous products. One comment per person please! Please ensure you leave your email along with your comments or you have the "no reply” option disabled so that I can get in contact with you should you win. You will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.
Good luck! And if YOU have a favorite product of 2015, I'd love to hear about it!
The 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist has become a tradition in the stamping/paper crafting world and it was a joy to be asked to take part in this celebration again and share a tag with you. Today, my tag is up in the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom HERE. You'll want to go check it out and read about how you can leave a comment in the CLASSroom to win a daily $25 gift certificate and a $150 gift certificate for those who participate in the challenges.
