Happy Holidays!

Hi all - just stopping in to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  It's been a wonderful holiday so far, we got some serious snow in DC last week which made it a white Christmas, something I haven't had since I moved here. And I'm really looking forward to seeing my mom and all of my brothers and sisters. Hope you are also enjoying time with family and friends!    Peace and Joy - Patty

Who is the new angel...

This is very exciting news! Tattered Angels is adding an amazing new angel to the team, the announcement is supposed to happen today!!! If you love Tattered Angels (who doesn't!), you are going to be so thrilled about the addition of this artist to the team. So check the Tattered Angels website today, it should be up soon!!!

***UPDATED WITH INFO BELOW***

The new angel is Heidi Swapp!!!  It's up on the blog. She has created a new product line for Tattered Angels that will be coming out at WInter CHA 2010. You can read more about Heidi and Tattered Angels on the blog today. The post also includes a sneak peek at four new colors that will be be released at CHA, they are fabulous!  Can't wait to get my hands on those!!!

Easy holiday decor...

Well, it's December already! I can't believe it - still so much to do before I'm ready for the holidays! Anyway - here's a quick holiday decor idea. All you need is: plain pillar candles, translucent printable paper, your favorite holiday digital papers, glue, and epsom salt.

Print your favorite digi papers onto trace paper (guidance for printing into trace paper can be found here). I used papers from the just released Impressions of Festivities Kit that can be found at scrapbookgraphics.com. This kit is being offered at a special price of $4.99 until 3 December, after that it will sell for $9.99.

Trim the width of the printed paper so it wraps around the candle once and trim the height to suit your liking. With a brush or sponge, apply glue (I used Mod Podge) all around the side of the candle, then wrap the printed paper around the candle. Coat the side of the candle in glue again and roll the candle in epsom salt. Make a few of these and arrange them on a tray. You can supplement the arrangement with greenery, berries, pinecones, or whatever else you would like. It is important to note, as with all embellished candles, for safety reasons, you want to tend to these candles as they burn to ensure your embellishments are staying clear of the fire.

Take care and thanks for stopping by today!  Patty

Tattered Angels and Graphic 45...

Today I had my first official post, as a design team member, over on the Tattered Angels blog. All throughout November, the design team has been posting projects that combine Tattered Angels and Graphic 45 products. To be honest, when I first got the Graphic 45 papers, I thought it was going to be a bit of a challenge for me, because they are not typically the kind of papers I would select, but I ended up really loving them! They work wonderfully with Tattered Angels products and they look fabulous with kraft paper, which I really love. So, let me show you what I made...

Products: Balsa Wood Suitcase: AC Moore; Patterned Paper: Graphic 45; Glimmer Mist: Tattered Angels; Chipboard Letters and Elements: Tattered Angels; Letter Stickers: Making Memories.

Products: Blank Card Base: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: Graphic 45; Glimmer Mist: Tattered Angels; Glimmer Screens and Screen Prints: Tattered Angels; Letter Stickers: Making Memories; Decorative Pins: Heidi Grace; Gems: Doodlebug.

Products: Blank Card Base: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: Graphic 45; Glimmer Mist: Tattered Angels; Chipboard Butterfly: Tattered Angels; Letter Stickers: Making Memories; Decorative Pins: Maya Road; Ribbon: Offray.

Products: Blank Card Base: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: Graphic 45; Glimmer Mist: Tattered Angels; Glimmer Screens: Tattered Angels; Letter Stickers: Making Memories; Gems: Doodlebug; Ribbon: Offray; Paper Punch: McGill.

You can find additional information about each project on the Tattered Angels blog here.

For December, (can you believe tomorrow is already December!) the Design Team is working with Glimmer Kits. These are kits that include a variety of Tattered Angels products – making it easy for you to just open the box and start creating! So be sure to check back throughout next month and see how much goodness you can get out of Glimmer Kits!

Take care and thanks for stopping by today!  Patty

The OWH blog hop winners are...

Sorry I didn't get this up on Monday; work has been a little crazy. I had a lot of fun going to all of the sites on the blog hop last weekend, thanks so much to everyone for sharing your work and supporting the troops!  And thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving all of the kind comments, I really appreciate them!

And now for the winners! (I used one of those random numbers generators for the first time.) The winner of the paper portion of the prize (from Marks Paper Comapny and something from my stash) is Shelly from (http://lifeonaltadenaavenue.blogspot.com/).

And the winner of the digi portion of the prize (from Marks Paper Company and scrapbookgraphics.com) is scrappycath from http://scrappycath.blogspot.com/.

I thought it was weird that the second number I generated came up as an inverted version of the first number, but I guess that's random for you! The winners should email me at plkomara@gmail.com so I can get your info and get the prizes to you! 

Again, sorry for being a little late with this - thanks for being patient.  :)       - Patty

Operation Write Home Blog Hop...

If you are here for the Operation Write Home (OWH) blog hop, Welcome! If you just happen to be stopping by, you couldn't have come at a better time! Today I'm in a blog hop for OWH, this organization sends handmade cards to deployed heroes so they can keep in touch with their loved ones at home. As of last week, more than 246,000 cards have been shipped to deployed service men and women!  For this hop, most of the crafters you visit will have at least two cards to share....an "AnyHero card" (with a note inside for a deployed hero) and a Valentine for a hero to send home to a sweetheart!  If you wondering why Valentine's cards, the deadline for sending winter holiday cards is passed, the deadline for Valentines is 8 January. So, first I'll show you my cards and then the awesome prize I have to give away. It's a long post of cards so make sure you make it to the bottom to sign-up for the prize!  :)

Here is my "AnyHero card".

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: SEI; Diecuts: SEI; Chipboard: Tattered Angels; Gems: Prima, MAMBI; Ribbon: Making Memories; Rubon: Creative Imaginations.

Here are the Valentine / love cards I'm sending.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Rubons: My Minds Eye; Fabric Brad: Little Yellow Bicycle; Flowers: We R Memory Keepers; Embroidery String: Bazzill; Ink: Clearsnap. Digital Products: Patterned Paper (color altered) and Scalloped Card (color altered): Marks Paper Company.

Products: Card Base: PaperSource; Diecut Note Card: K&Company; Chipboard and Epoxy Stickers: Creative Imaginations; Transparency Diecut: K&Company; Silk Leaves: Offray; Flowers: Prima; Brad: Basic Grey.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Ribbon: Making Memories, Mrs. Grossman’s; Rub-on: Fancy Pants; Diecuts: K&Company; Love Sticker: Anna Griffen; Pearls: Kaiser Craft, Mark Richards. Digital Products: Patterned Papers: Frivolous Sunday Love Kit by Doris Castle at ScrapbookGraphics.com.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Diecuts: K&Company, Jenni Bowlin; Gems: MAMBI; Rub-on: Three Bugs in a Rug; Ribbon: American Crafts. Digital Products: Papers and Elements: For Everlasting by Doris Castle at ScrapbookGraphics.com.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Diecuts: K&Company, Jenni Bowlin; Gems: MAMBI; Rub-on: Three Bugs in a Rug; Ribbon: Offray. Digital Products: Papers and Elements: For Everlasting by Doris Castle at ScrapbookGraphics.com.

Products: Chipboard Letters: Basic Grey; Flower Stickers: Sandylion; Heart Sticker: K&Company. Digital Products: Right Now Quick Album by BaersGarten at scrapbookgraphics.com. Fonts: CK Ali’s Hand and Letter Gothic.

All of the Valentines I'm sending this time came from my existing stash. And when I was looking through my card box, I found some others (shown below) that I wanted to send as well. They are always in need of "missing you" and general sentiments cards. They have some suggestions as to what types of card to send here. They ship cards from several locations and here on the blog each shipper keeps you up-to-date with any particular needs they may have. There are some restrictions and guidelines for the cards here.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: Marks Paper Company; Felt Diecut and Flowers: Prima; Felt Circle: Provo Craft; Epoxy Button: Jo-Ann.

Products: Matte photo paper: Staples; Blank Card: DCWV; Button Brads: Making Memories; Ribbon: Morex Corp.; Flowers: American Crafts and Michael Miller Memories; Rub-on: Karen Foster; Ink: Colorbox. Digital Products: Paper: Corina Nielsen.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Pattered Paper: Marks Paper Company; Chipboard: Tattered Angels; Diecuts: Marks Paper Company; Gems: Prima; Rub-ons: We R Memory Keepers, Deja View.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Flowers: Prima; Acrylic Drops: The Robin's Nest; embroidery thread, googly eye.  Digital Products: Quick Page: Right Now Quick Album from BaersGarten at scrapbookgraphics.com; Word Art: Playing with Word Art Vol. 9.by Natali at scrapbookgraphics.com.

Products: Blank Card: K&Company; Flower Stickers: Pooch and Sweetheart; Rub-ons: Paper Salon, Creative Imaginations.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: Marks Paper Company; Ribbon: Offray; Chipboard: We R Memory Keepers, My Minds Eye.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper and Diecuts: Marks Paper Company; Acrylic Drops: The Robins Nest; Epoxy Stickers and Tag: Gartner Studios.

Products: Blank Card: K&Company; Flower Stickers: Pooch and Sweetheart; Gems: MAMBI, Mark Richards; Ribbon: Offray; Stamp: Basic Grey; Ink: Clearsnap.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Rub-ons: Heidi Grace; Letter Stamps: Inkadinkado; Ribbon: Michaels; Colored Pencils: Berol Prismcolor.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Rub-ons: Heidi Grace; Letter Stamps: Inkadinkado; Ribbon: We R Memory Keepers; Colored Pencils: Berol Prismcolor.

Products - Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Button: Autumn Leaves; String. Digital Products - Paper and Elements: Shabby Spice Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com; Font: Freehand 521.

Products - Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Button: Autumn Leaves. Digital Products - Paper and Elements: Shabby Spice Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com; Font: Freehand 521.

Products - Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Brad: Imaginisce; Ink: Clearsnap. Digital Products - Paper and Elements: Brighter Days Mini Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com.

Products - Blank Card: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Button: Autumn Leaves; Pen: Paper Mate; Ink: Clearsnap; String. Digital Products - Paper and Elements: Delicious Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com.

Products: Blank Card Base: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Spray Ink: Tattered Angels; Flowers: Prima; Paper Bead: Martha Stewart; Beaded Pins: Making Memories; Rub-on: Deja Voews; Ribbon: Offray; Gem: MAMBI; Embossing Power; Embossing Ink; Cuttlebug.

Prodcust: Cardstock: Bazzill; Ribbon: We R Memory Keepers, Fancy Pants; String: Bazzill.  Digital Products. Background Paper: Late Summer Afternoon Kit by Baers Garten at scrapbookgraphics.com; Bee and Balloons: MZ Girl Kit by Ziska and MGL Scraps at scrapbookgraphics.com.

Products: Cardstock: Bazzill; Ribbon: American Crafts; String: Bazzill.   Digital Products. Background Paper: Late Summer Afternoon Kit by Baers Garten at scrapbookgraphics.com; Bee and Balloons: MZ Girl Kit by Ziska and MGL Scraps at Scrapbookgrpahics.com.

Products: Blank Card Base: PaperSource; Cardstock: Bazzill; Spray Ink: Tattered Angels; Flowers: Prima, Bazzill; Fabric Brad: Hot Off the Press; Beaded Pins: Making Memories; Rub-on: Deja Voews; Ribbon: Offray; Embossing Power; Embossing Ink; Cuttlebug.

Products - Cardstock: Bazzill; Colored Acrylic Drops: The Robin's Nest. Digital Products - Paper: Micah Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com; Butterflies: Flutterby Butterflies Kit from Studio Ellie at scrapbookgraphics.com; Font: Freehand 521.

Products: Blank Card: PaperSource; Patterned Paper: SEI; Flower: Prima; Epoxy Accent: Jo-Ann Fabrics.

On a personal note, for my entire professional career (I'm a planner / landscape architect), I've worked on site and facility planning projects for the DoD. As such, I have had the opportunity to work on so many wonderful projects that support our warriors and their families on installations both here and overseas. And I love that through OWH, I can provide thanks and support to these individuals and their families with my card-making addiction as well. I hope if you just happened to stop by today and were previously unaware of OWH that you visit some more stops on the hop and check out OWH's webite and blog - they can really use your help!!!

OK - on to the prize...I'm very fortunate to be on CTs for some fabulous companies! Both Marks Paper Company and scrapbookgraphics.com have donated something for me to give away. The Marks Paper Company prize includes a full set of each of the collections shown below (both the paper and the digital versions)!

And scrapbookgraphics.com has donated a $15 coupon for their Studio Collective store. This is the part of the store that houses awesome kits that are comprised of designs from a mix of their designers. So you get a great variety of coordinated digital papers and elements in each kit. The latest kit is called Impressions of Traditions (shown below), you can see all of the kits in this series here. I'm sure the winner is going to have a hard time choosing just one of these!

And to top it off - I'm going to add some goodies from my stash to the mix!  So before you go, leave me a comment on this post, I'll pick a winner and announce it here on Monday evening.  The prize includes both paper and digital goodies. If you are a strictly paper or strictly digital crafter and wouldn't have any use for the other type of supplies, let me know that in your comment. If you get selected, I'll pick another winner for the other part of the prize.

To see the entire list of blog hop participants, go here.  The next stop after me is Cut and Paste Memories. There are four great cards waiting for you there and an opportunity to win some more goodies! 

Happy hopping and thanks so much for stopping by today!  Patty