Getting a little bit of my Christmas shopping done here and there.  Which is always a good thing.  So, my mind has been on more Christmas preparations.  Today Julie Koerber challenged the Flourishes Design Team to incorporate Tags into our designs, and to give you some fun ideas for Christmas and Holiday packages this season.  Julie has a feature on Tags on the Flourishes Blog today with perfect timing for your holiday packages. 

I'll have to admit, we're more of a "tear the packages apart" kind of family.  But a pretty package always gets opened more delicately don't you think?  Almost with the anticipation of something wonderful inside.  So today I created a more extravagent tag for that special present. 

I started with two of the new Copic Collections from the Flourishes store.  Did you know there are 17 NEW Copic Collections in the store?  Today I chose Fuschia and Meadow, (Sunflower on the inner flower) and I'm just beside myself about the Fuschia Collection!  I don't know about you but I have a hard time getting the right reds to combine, but these 3 colors together are magic!  The perfect deep red! 

There are two layers to the poinsettia, and the inner one is popped up, with the leaves tucked behind the flower. 

Now head on over to these fabulous Flourishes women to see their special Tag Creations:  Julie Koerber, Latisha Yoast, Laura Fredrickson, Leslie Miller, Stacy Morgan. 

Recipe:  Stamps:  Flourishes - Poinsettia and Boxwood, Fancy Labels;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Garden Green;  Paper:  Flourishes Classic Ivory, Real Red, Basic Black;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Five Nestabilities, Oval Punch, Champagne Shimmer paint, SU Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Copic Markers (Fuschia and Meadow and Sunflower Collections), Dimensionals, Kaiser Pearls Black, Silk Ribbon, Copper cording

Well we had a really busy day Tuesday, it's our day off and we got some errands done.  We went Ikea (more on that later) and to our Christian Book Store because one of our favourite groups Casting Crowns had a new CD out yesterday.  We are huge Casting Crowns fans.  While at the bookstore we found some AMAZING sales and we stocked up on some Christmas presents for our kids, our nieces and nephew and other family.  Love it when that happens.  I'm such a book lover and my kids are too, so it's never hard to find something to give to read. 

Anyway, I have a cute card to show you today that's just right for a sweet little gift for those cozy, crisp days of winter.  Again, my SU Demo Susan designed it, but it was just so cute that I had to share it with you.

What I love about this cute snowman/marshmallow face  is that he has an inside pocket when you open the card just the right size for a packet of hot chocolate.  You can just see the brad holding the pocket together.  I tried to take a picture of the inside too, but it was so blurry it just wouldn't work.  But trust me, the hot chocolate is in there :)

Now how about what I found at Ikea?  Well, I just got some more Copics from Flourishes the other day and had some issues.  I had no more space!  When I first started getting Copic Markers I bought 2 Copic Binder/Folders, I assured the store owner I'd "never fill them" HA!  I counted again today and I have 137 Copic Markers and 12 atyou Spica pens.  There was no more room in the inn, so I took them all out of the binders and color sorted them and put them in elastics see....


But that's not a very efficent way to store or use them.  So at Ikea today I went looking around for some ideas and found this cool CD storage case that doesn't have any lid.  It's just the right size for markers!  And inexpensive too, $9, and it's quite study. 


And I still have room for some more in there.  Once that's filled I think I'll quit...maybe. 

What I love about it is that it can sit out on my table when I'm coloring and everything is easily accessible, and then it's easily put away in my shelf.

Hello everyone!  Hope you're enjoying this new week.  We have unseasonably warm temperatures right now...but we saw a bunny tonight sporting all-white fur...so we're thinking that snow won't be too far away. (sob!) 

Speaking of those icy temperatures coming.  I have a pretty Stair Stepper Card to show you that also doubles as a great photo card.  This project was designed by my SU Demo Susan, so I can't take credit for the design, just the stamping (wink!)

And the great news, it still fits in an A2 envelope! 

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Winter Post, Snowflakes set? ;  Ink:  Basic Black, Bordering Blue;  Paper:  Bordering Blue, Basic Black, Whisper White;  Accessories:  Scorer, Sponge, Acetate, Snowflake Punch, Blossom Punch, silver brad

Do you have a Tea Lover in your life?  I think the sharing of a Cup of Tea is so symbolic of friendship, what about you?  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I can do herbal teas, and a number of my friends drink tea. 

This next set called Christmas Tea is beautifully designed by Lauren Pope.  It's delicate and intricate just like a china tea cup, so that's the feel I was going for.  Today's project would be a nice gift for any tea lover in your life.  I created a special box holding various kinds of tea bags, and a tea bag/spoon rest.   This is my favourite project of the release I think.  I'm happy with how it came together from my head to the paper!  And thanks to the encouragement of my sweet friend Broni, I'm entering this into the Moxie Fab World's Plum Crazy Challenge too....

I began by using a box I often use for cards (A2 Box Tutorial here) and  I decorated the lid and bottom of the box before assembling. 

I watercolored the tea cups with reinkers and waterbased markers, then the pretty part, I added watered-down Lumiere to give the tea cups shimmer  - just like a porcelain cup.  Love how it looks!  After I cut it out with my Labels Five Nestabilities, then I masked the cups with Eclipse Tape and sponged with Rich Razzleberry ink.  It really sets off the cups.
 

Tazo Passion Tea, Loose Tea bags of Cranberry Apple Zinger (wow it smells good), 2 special Triangular Infusion tea bags from Forte (aren't they a cool shape?) and a Tea Bag Rest/Spoon holder. 

I have to admit, one of my pet peeves is tea bags without tea strings on them.  I hate digging for them in your cup with a spoon and trying to squeeze out the reminaing flavor without a string.  So, on these bags I created my own strings with some linen thread and a circle punch. 


Here is what the box looks like empty.  I took the A2 box and added a separation to it to keep everything from scattering in the box.  Sorry about the photo, I think it's the shadow from my OTT light.


Now head on over to the other Design Team Members blogs for some other fabulous projects with this great set.   Cindy Lawrence, Julie Koerber, Latisha Yoast, Laura Fredrickson, Leslie Miller, and Stacy Morgan.

Join us tonight at 8 PM Mountain time (9 PM Central time) for our power hour Release Party in the Splitcoaststampers Forum!  Games, prizes, and the sets unveiled!

And...to win this great set today head on over to the Flourishes Newsletter to enter!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Flourishes - Christmas Tea;  Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry, Black Stazon;  Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Kiwi Kiss, Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP, Flourishes European Watercolor paper;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Five Nestabilities, EK Success Scallop Punch, Crochet Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Reinkers, SW Markers, Aqua Painter, Lumiere, Labels Eight Nestabilities, Sponge, Kaiser Pearls, Dimensionals, Scor Tape, Scor It, Modern Label Punch, Eclipse Tape, 1 inch circle punch.

Have you enjoyed this weeks projects by the Flourishes Team members?  Aren't they great?  I'm blessed to work with such creative girls.   Today I have a really fun set called Lampost Greetings.  It's a set that's so versatile for every occasion. 

I have another fantastic set to show you today illustrated by Lauren Pope.  It's called Christmas Borders and it celebrates the whimsy and design of an old fashioned Christmas with the candies, presents and ornaments. 

Do you ever find yourself getting to the stage of wrapping all the presents only to find you don't have any tags to label them?  I was thinking that a really nice and practical gift for someone would be a set of fancy tags, you could even add the wrapping paper to match as part of the gift.  How practical would that be for a Teacher or Hostess you're visiting during the Christmas Season? 

Well, here is my inspired Gift Tag Holder closed.  You can see all the ribbons from the inside collected together on top. 

and here it is open:  (if you click on the picture it will give you an even larger shot).

And here is a closer picture of the coloring on the front.