Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with Strings...

These are a few of my faaaavorite things!

Can you feel it in the air? The holiday season is definatley here....Christmas is just a few weeks away! Belles 'n Whistles is proud to present yet another fabulous set of Christmas stamps by the talented Elisabeth Bell! Join us on this Blog-Hop as the Belles 'n Whistles Design Team shows you the new, sweet and classic Christmas designs that will be available for purchase later today in the Belles 'n Whistles store. The designs are precious and the stamps are limited in number for this year's release! Pre-sales begin later today and orders will ship out next week, starting December 3rd.

Hop along for a peak at the new stamps as well as some wonderful gift and gift wrapping ideas! Leave comments along the way and stop back here at the Belles 'n Whistles blog to finish the hop. Be sure to leave a comment on this post as well for a chance at winning a complete set of the wonderful stamps!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

Thought I'd show you one of the cute designs from the first Christmas release, called Jingle Bells! Colored with Copics and embellished with Ice Stickles and little fuzzy pompoms, this cute little elf is making sure that Santa's reindeer are well fed and ready for their magical flight!

This decorated gift bag was easy-schmeezy to put together though is sure to brighten it's recipients day, as will the special gift I've crafted that is inside the bag! I'll share this gift idea with you in one of my upcoming posts next week sometime! ;D

Let's get you off on your blog-hopping adventure! Remeber these few important things:

• Visit each of the DT's blogs, in the order in which you are sent.
• Leave a comment at each blog
• Finish here on this post again and when you do, be sure to leave a comment! One lucky winner will be drawn to receive a complete set of this newly released Christmas Collection! The winner will be announced here on Thursday, November 26th...Thanksgiving!
• *** The comment I'd like you to leave here is this: Which of the new Christmas stamps in this blog-hop is your faaaavorite?! ***

Okie doke! Off you go to start the Christmas Release II Blog-Hop! You'll be visiting the wonderfully talented Kathrin's blog first. And here's the rest of the blog-hop order, in case you get lost along the way:

1 - Kathrin
2 - Jacque
3 - Lynda
4 - Anki
5 - Iris
6 - Jodi
7 - Lilian
8 - Nikki
9 - Rosette
10 - Erin
11 - Kathy
12 - Susan

Dont forget to comment here when you're done! ;D

Summer =)

Do You Know What I Know?

Pssst....over here. Have you heard? A couple of exciting things going on here over the next 2 weeks! First off, next monday, November 23, will be another FABULOUS blog-hop for another FABULOUS release...more beautiful Elisabeth Bell Christmas designs! These are beautiful, darling, oh-so-Christmas...and limited in quantity too because the season is nearly upon us! Don't forget to join us for the hop as I'll give be giving away a complete set to one lucky winner!

December 1st will kick-off the start of our Belles 'n Whistles Christmas celebration and Advent Calendar! Holiday projects as well as goodies, goodies, GOODIES are what's in store including a grab bag each day, worth $20 or more retail AND a Belles 'n Whistles stamp each day too! If you're really lucky, you may even win a gift certificate on top of that...whooo hoooo! So you'll HAVE to join us each day in December, through the 25th!

I don't want you missing out! ;D

Summer =)

Caroling Wednesday!

Happy 'Hello' to you all out there! Woohoo time is flying and only 36 Days 'til Christmas! Are you ready to start your Christmas decorations soon? I am, as a matter of fact I hardly can't wait to get all my stuff down from the attic and start decorating our house inside and out. I looooove Christmas, it is my favorite time of the year. Lynda already showed you a fantastic Ornament yesterday made using Belle's Carols.

And to show you how versatile this stamp is I made a different kind of ornament using just part of the stamp and you get a completely different look. To create my snow globe ornament I used different kinds of Spellbinder dies and an acrylic shaker card pouch which I filled with coarse snow glitter and tiny marbles. Belle is colored using my Copics and the DP is from Basic Greys Eskimo Kisses paper collection. For decorating I used black metalic music notes and metallic snowflakes and a ribbon to hang the ornament. And the good thing is this is a quick project too :-) Great if you need a quick gift or it can even be used as a gift tag.

Thanks for stopping by today and nay comment you may leave!

And I hope to see you here next Monday for some real EXCITEMENT .... ;-)
Mark your calenders!!!!!!!

Hugs,
Iris

Tree Trimming Tuesday

Greetings Everyone!
Here we are, another week closer to the holidays.
Can you believe it?

I thought I would show you something that I created
for my holiday decorating.
I made an ornament for my Christmas tree. 
One that would have special meaning to me.
I chose to use "Belles Carols" for this ornament,
partly because of my own musical background,
and the other part, because she represents my being
chosen to be part of this awesome design team this year.
I truly am blessed to be a part of such a wonderful team.

I took a couple of pictures, so that you could see more detail.
But before I show you, I thought I'd dress up my
display a little, so that my ornament gets to be shown
in it's proper surroundings. LOL

I bought one of those cheap little office style Christmas trees
and then made tiny ornaments to decorate it with.
It would have been nice to have mini lights, but I couldn't
find any at the time, so we'll have to deal with just the little ornaments.
Do you recognize anyone on these little ornaments?

The mini ornaments were simply punched with
some circle and scallop punches, nothing fancy,
but I thought it would be a nicer way to show off
the actual ornament that I made.

Here is a closer view

I can tell you, I once saw a picture of a card made to look
like an open book, and I've never forgotten it.
I just had to sit down and figure out just how to make
something like that.  I started to doodle on paper, making a pattern,
and finally I came up with a book shape that would work.
BUT....
How on earth would I get the layers,
and the bowed or arched effect that I wanted?
So my mind whirled and whirled,
and I ended up creating 3 different book templates,
and layered 2 of the larger ones, using the 3rd one for a decoration.

For the base of this book ornament, I used a piece of scrap
lightweight cardboard.  Actually, I think it was the
backing from a paper stack.
I inked it, then embossed it in green. 
This made it even more firm, as well as added a nice gloss finish.

Next I added my 2nd book shape, and decorated that.
Once that was done, I added my colored image.
I used some chalks to blend the white parts of the paper
with the paper that was behind her, so that the edges of the
white cardstock didn't stick out like a sore thumb!

Some glitter and some ribbon were added,
and then my smallest book, which I hand stitched the edges in gold
for a more defined look.
In order to get the arch that I wanted, I used a lot of
silicone glue and some pop dots.  It worked perfectly!

I used a punched flower and trimmed the flower petals, in order
to get the pointed petals like a poinsettia flower. 
Little jingle bells were added, as the finishing touch.

Here is another view

Once everything was exactly the way I wanted it,
I coated both the front and back, as well as all the
ribbons and details with Modge Podge.
This added yet another thing to help this book ornament
keep it's form. I love the stiffness and the high gloss that
the modge podge provides. 
Even my ribbons are hardened, to keep their shape!

I appologize for the long post, but you know, I just HAD to tell
all about my new Christmas ornament. 
I can't wait until I can put it on my Christmas tree this year!

REMEMBER to make sure you mark your calendars for Nov. 23rd.
Belles 'n Whistles will be having another Blog Hop
We'll be showing off the new releases for December.
I promise that you are going to love them!

Are You Featured?

Happy Monday! Today I thought I'd share with you some of the cards from the gallery that have to do with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday! There are so many of you talented crafters it was very hard to choose.

This first card is made by Mina.

This card is made by Lia.

This one was made by 3 Page Princess.

We'd love to feature your card, so keep those creations coming to the gallery! Have a great day and stop by to see what's going on for tomorrow.

Rocking Friday

Hej!

Just wanted to wish you a wonderful weekend and show you this little card with Rockin' Around! Isn't she just supercute? This card is not going to be a X-mas card - but a card for my niece Julia - who turns 1 end of November. She's a cutie too ;-)

Coloured the image with my copics. DPs are Basic Grey and I went for - as always these days - a clean layout. Chalked around the edges with pine cone.

Added the heart charm, Country Elegance flowers and some blings ;-)
You can find all the DPs and the embellies here.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! And also - I would love it if you would link to your card/project where you've used one of the BnW stamps. Please leave the link with your comment below.

Kram - Anki

Winter Sleigh Rides.....

Good Morning!! I am so happy to be here showing you a card featuring this adorable image ~ Jingle Bells. This is another one of those images that just pulls at my heartstrings! I absolutely adore the old-fashioned feel to it and the compassion that it shows!! So sweet!How cute is that ~ that helpful little elf getting the reindeer all nourished for a long night of flying! Love the whole idea of this image!!
I have decided to go a little vintagey on this one. I have inked all the edges with vintage photo distress ink and went around the image with brushed corduroy to help to achieve the look. Bronze embellishments finish it off! I thought the sentiment Jingle all the way was appropriate as well!!

Thanks so much for stopping by to see some more Belles and Whistles creations ~ my first as a Guest DT so it is especially special and official for me!! LOL
Have a great day!!!
:)Kathy