New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the November-December New Product Blog Hop. You should have come from Gina's blog. There are LOTS of consultants participating, so be sure you make it all the way around. If you get lost, head over to Melinda's blog for a complete list of participants.

As much as I love Christmas, I have something even more exciting to look forward to...my daughter and son-in-law's gender reveal party. This is our first grandchild, and we are over-the-moon excited about it. The fun thing is that, not only is our daughter pregnant, many of her friends are also getting pregnant, so I'm back to making baby cards a lot. I took the Buttoned Up Thin Cuts designed to make Santa's beard and belt and turned it into this...

I used Ballerina and Carolina cardstock, alternating between the light and darker sides of the paper for the dual tone. I love this two-tone feature!! I also used vellum paper with the sentiment from one of the Melissa Esplin sets in the Core Catalog embossed in white layered over top. I used vellum paper because didn't want my sentiment to take away from the pattern I'd created with the thin cuts. I did a similar design in the second card of this post.

There are so many ways to use this Buttoned Up Thin Cut set. I wanted to show you more, but I'm in the middle of promoting The Telegraph Proposal, the final book of The Montana Brides series...so I'm in Montana! I actually made this card at 4am the morning I left. I barely had time to finish it and get it photographed before packing up the car and heading out.

Now it's time to head over to Lauren's blog to see what she's created. Again, be sure to get all the way through the hop as there's wonderful inspiration to be had.

Until next time,
Becca

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month: Family Blessings. The stop before mine is Krista's blog. The whole hop is a circle, so just start wherever and keep going until you get back to where you started. If you get lost along the way, hop over to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants.

I decided to combine the stamp with Cedar and Pine paper to make an assortment of all-occasion and Christmas cards.

I stamped the flower in Smoothie with Candy Apple and Saffron. The leaves are stamped in Evergreen. I layered a few pieces of Cedar and Pine paper on the left edge then stamped the row of X's in Evergreen at the top. With no sentiment on the front, I could turn this into any kind of card I needed, from thank you to birthday to Christmas.

For this card, I added dies from the Buttons and Bows Thin Cuts. This die set can be used to create Santa's beard and jacket, but on this card I used the "beard" as a scalloped top. I cut one in Evergreen paper and one in white. I used Peach, Smoothie, Candy Apple, Ruby, Saffron, and Evergreen inks. The sentiment is from the special Holiday Cheer promotion we featured on this blog hop. I cut the top panel with the Stitched Rectangular Thin Cuts and added Clear Shimmer Pen to the flowers.

The final card also uses the Buttons and Bows Thin Cuts. I used the same ink colors, but this could be done in any colors you chose. I really liked the leaves hanging over the right edge but, to make sure it still fit into a standard A2 envelope, I trimmed 1/4 inch off the left edge of the card.

Now you're off to Darlys' blog. Again, be sure you hop all the way around to see all the great inspiration offered.

If you follow my author career, today marks the official release of the final book in the Montana Brides series. After five years and six stories, it's a joy to have the entire set of stories available.

Until next time,
Becca