Tis Better to Give Blog Hop

The holiday season is upon us -- a blessed time of love and laughter, precious moments spent with family, good food aplenty, and, for many of us, gifts and giving. Now, we can almost hear the chorus of groans at that last part -- LOL! Yes, holiday gift giving can be stressful, especially when budgets are tight, gift lists are long, and the pressure is on to "shop 'til you drop." Well, we of the Deedees Digis design team firmly believe that gift-giving should be a joyful experience all the way around. That's why we have come together today to share with you some ideas of fabulous gifts that you can make, so that your gifts this year are meaningful, affordable, and hopefully as stress-free as possible. Join us today on our blog hop as we show you why "'tis better to give" -- because not only will you have fun giving these gifts, but making them as well! :-)

If this is your first stop on the hop, be sure to visit the Crafting with Deedee's Digis blog, where you will find the directions for the hop, a chance to win the grand prize of a $15 credit to our store, AND a little gift for you!

Since our theme this hop is such a 'giving' one, I decided to make the favors for Kyle's holiday sledding party. Last year, a girl in his class had a 'party' at a local sledding hill and that is where the idea came from for a special winter day this season. We will be inviting his class and a few other special friends and cousins and Mike (my DH) and I will chaperone an afternoon of winter fun. The great part is that we will take the camping stove and heat kettles of water for cocoa (to go with some homemade cookies and snacks)! My project showcases their 'mugs' everyone will be able to take home with them!

I was going to make my own template, when I said "Hello - check the internet"!  I found a great template at Mirkwood Designs and it worked so well that I didn't even need to modify it because of the size of my cocoa mix. Gotta love that! I used Picasa to add the sentiment from Snowy Sentiments to the image from Let it Snow. I also added the greeting using this software. I printed in as a 4 by 6 and then cropped it down to the size I needed. This idea would all work great with the Just Chillin' and Warm Wishes sets!!

I colored the image with my Bics and then just added a bit of snow highlight with my white gel pen; and added a sequined snowflake and a clear rhinestone to the top of that - TA DA - easy peasy. The steam coming from the cocoa is just ric rac stapled to the top of the cocoa mix which is in this adorable mug! [FYI - the red background is just that; printed as the background to my little collage thru Picasa.]

Your next stop on the hop is CEAL!

Before you leave, please be sure to leave me a comment in order to be entered to win a free digi of your choice from the Deedee's Digis store! You have until 12 noon Eastern Time on Sunday to comment. All winners will be announced on Monday at Crafting with Deedee's Digis -- be sure to check back then to see if you've won. Thanks so much for joining us today, and happy holidays to you!

Huggz,
April

It's COMING

Hope you will all

STOP BY

on Friday

for

Who doesn't love a

BLOG HOP?

and a

FREEBIE?

Stop back Friday to see the inspiration from

the DT at Deedee's Digis!

Huggz,

April

Terrific Tuesday

Today I went for a bit of a non-traditional card. I live in an apartment and have the nicest neighbors. I try to change the decoration on my door with the season and this week I put up one to celebrate Thanksgiving, which is quickly approaching!!

I used two great items from the Deedee's Digis store ~ the image from Bountiful Blessings and one of the great verses from Words of Thanksgiving. The cornucopia is popped up above the fancy oval I put through my Cuttlebug. Since the challenge this week at Deedee's is to use the lovely late Autumn colors of red, yellow and brown, I used those as my primary papers - the DP is from my box o' paper and I no longer know that manufacturer. I colored the cornucopia with my Bics! There are two buttons holding my ribbon to my project and a floppy bow to hold it on my door. I will probably re-work the bow, but am not very good at them, so we will see...lol

Thanks for stopping here - I hope you are working on your challenge project, as we 'speak'. Deedee's Digis is sponsoring the challenge (Buttons and Bows) over at Tuesday Throwdown, so stop by there and see some more inspiration!

Huggz,
April

The Dazzlers are DUELING the Divas....again!

I need to give a shout out to Michelle for sending us (the Dazzlers) a wonderful kit this month!!

Our theme this month is so appropriate - "Thanksgiving/Gratitude".
The challenge is to tell you about the person who inspired you to make the card; someone we are grateful for!

The card kit included:
Image: DRS Designs on Neenah Solar Crest white
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
DP: The pumpkin and vine...is Graphic 45, Polka dot...Making Memories
Ribbon and Hemp: Michaels
Buttons: Creatology
Leaves: Recollections (Boutique Fleur Mulberry paper)


Now, do you want me to show you the card first, or tell you the story?

Since I feel like teasing you today....

I made this card with my forest friends in mind.  I am grateful for all the love and support they send my way, despite not ever meeting me in real life!  What more can a girl ask for?  Now, I need to tell you that I am not going to send this to any of these great friends...I am going to hang on to it and cherish it and the memories that inspired me to make it.

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me tease you before showing off my creation!
Stop by the other Darlings today and see what that have made to go with this month's theme!

Dazzlers              Divas

April (me)           Barb

Debbie              Carol

Jeanette           Jamie

Melina             Joan

Michelle             Judy

Paola                Kelly

Terry                  LJ

Huggz,
April

Attitude - with a capital A

Yep, I've got it....

My dear friend Paola handed out this award to me yesterday....and I gratefully accepted it!

I'm not sure I have had the 'right' attitude lately, but sure have had one....lol

To accept, I need to tell you three, yep three, little known facts about myself....hmmmm...
{Like any of you really want to know these things about me}
1.  I've always wanted to bungy jump.
2.  I will read just about anything and everything - with the exception of historic fiction.  And, don't talk to me while I have my nose in the book (or, maybe do talk to me b/c I will agree to most anything)
3.  I give most of the cards I receive in swaps away to my church.  The sunshine committee is so grateful for them that how could I not??

I now need to pass this award on....hmmm (as EK would say)....

Danie

LJ

Joan

Jenn

Tammy

Have you ever...

...gotten a new image and colored it?...and colored it again?...and well, you get the idea....

Faith over at Delightful Inspiration designed an adorable little angel -Kaela- and it was her freebie (you know the drill, if you had participated in her progressive you received it free to use this week) today.

I have colored Kaela a few different ways, but only got one card done of her.

Isn't she adorable?  My husband will not look at her; she has no mouth and that really bugs him...lol.  She looked like a Christmas Angel colored like this, so I dug out a scrap of holly paper and added a big bow.  As my son noted (he's 11), I won't be mailing this one is a plain envelope!

Thanks for stopping by!

In case you were wondering what else I was working on today, there is a new challenge blog starting up.  Many of the former Posse members have come together to work on a fully sponsored challenge blog.  Many great companies have stepped and offered us images to work with and we couldn't be more excited!  We hope you will join us on the 19th for our first challenge!

Have a great weekend,
Huggz,
April

TWO-day....

Okay... you aren't going to see two right now - hopefully, you already checked out my earlier post featuring "Harvest Bounty" from Faith over at Delightful Inspiration.

That being said, here is my second post of the day and my number "TWO" card of the day.

This is my prototype for the two dozen Christmas cards I am making for our family this year.  The image is "Prancer" from Shelly's Images.  The cardstock is from SU - Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke.  I colored the wreath with my Bic MarkIt's and Prancer himself with chalk; and his antlers with my son's colored pencils.  I won him a bit ago, have had him colored up, but hadn't put the card together until today!

Thanks for checking out my craftiness today!!
Huggz, April