♥ The J O Y of the Season ♥

I hope everyone here in the States had a wonderful Thanksgiving! May ALL of Us on this earth be Blessed today and always!

I know that everyone makes a banner these days but I never have. So I decided to jump on the bandwagon myself and make one! :) I used some gorgeous Christmas papers, sheer snowflakes, pearls, chipboard letters, snowflake and ornaments, lots of glitter, Melissa Frances rub-ons, Christmas picks, ribbons and gems. It was alot of fun to make.

I decided to hang it on a mirror in my foyer to greet everyone.

Now onto my giveaway winner. Thank you for all your sweet comments and new friends! I will be having my HUGE end of the year giveaway shortly! So keep an eye out for that! ;) My Winner is.............

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Rhonda Ferrera ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Rhonda please shoot me an email with your snail mail addy, so I can get your goodies out to you!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

~ The Shabby Tea Room: "Get in Shape"
~ Crafty Creations: Challenge #95, Christmas is Coming!
~ Really Reasonable Ribbons: Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Hugs....

♥ Santa's Workshop ♥ {A Do-It-Yourself Snow Globe!}

Here is a fun project that you can do that makes a great gift or a great decoration for your home! A Snow Globe that is made out of a 8" glass Fish bowl and one of those cookie tins you can pick up at the $ store. It is alot of fun to make and you can personalize it any way you want. It can be "filled" with lots of different things. I decided to make "Santa's Workshop" in mine. (Click on photos for better views!)

I first covered the tin with some paper by The Girls' Paperie called Tinsel and Twig. I then covered the top with some Music notes paper by My Mind's Eye from the Lost and Found line and added some glue and glitter to it. I then hot glued some ribbon and trim around the edge. I then added my little house, which I painted, added ice crystals, resin frame and candy canes, snowflake and pearls trim and a K&Co. sticker, and I glued it to the top of the tin. I then added more K&Co. 3-D stickers, more glitter and some more trim.

I then adding some glue with my glue pen, to the inside of the fish bowl glass and then added more ice crystals inside, so they would adhere to the glass. Then I glued some more trim to the rim of the bowl and placed it over my scene.

The sleigh is an ornament that I picked up at Mike's. I filled it with some K&Co. 3-D stickers, added some red glitter to the flower and a red bow. To finish it off, I added a sheer green bow, greenery, candy cane, bakers twine and a Melissa Frances rub-on to the front of the tin. I did not adhere the glass to the top of the tin though. That makes it easier to fill the tin with cookies, candies or whatever little present or goodies you would like. It also makes it easier to store away.

I am using the following FUN challenges for this: Check them out!

~ Paper Play Challenges: Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
~ Meljen's Designs: Sparkle and Shine
~ Simon Says Stamps Challenge Blog: Sparkle!
~ Crafty Cardmakers: Spotlight on Containers and Fancy Envelopes
~ Really Reasonable Ribbons: Christmas Theme

I would love to see your "snow globe" if you make one! If you do, please shoot me an email!!

Have a great night!!

Hugs...

♥ Bless your Home with Love... ♥

I hope all of your homes are truly Blessed this time of year and always! This is a card that I plan to put in a white frame when I decide to give it away. It is great for someone who purchases a new home or just because! One of the hot things right now are those little wooden houses, but they can be pricey. So I decided to make my own out of hard styrofoam. The great thing about the styrofoam is that they can be placed onto cards, like this one. Of course, they can't be mailed unless it is in a box, but they are a sweet little gift to hand deliver to someone. You can make them removable from the card, so they can be displayed by themselves or the entire card can be framed, like I plan to do to this one. Or you can just decorate them and display them just the way they are!!

If anyone is interested in purchasing one, decorated or plain, just shoot me an email @ keepsakesbymelissa@yahoo.com.

For the card I used papers by My Mind's Eye and Pink Paislee, Melissa Frances rub-on and acrylic keyhole, ribbons and trim, chipboard heart and lots of glitter!

I used this week's sketch over at the 2 Sketches 4 You blog. Here it is:

I was inspired to make this because of this week's challenge, House Warming over at the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog. It is to make a New Home creation. And this is also for the Sparkle challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog.

Lastly, I just wanted to show you some pics of my niece's gorgeous Wedding cake from 2 weeks ago. I wish I could do that! I ♥ beautiful cakes and fondant!!

I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend!

Hugs...

♥ Christmas Greetings ♥

There are so many awesome challenge blogs out there! Today I am making a card for three of them. The first challenge is to make a card using the inspiration photo below from the Play Date Cafe. The second challenge was to make a Holiday card using a Christmas Tree or Ornament on it (I used a Christmas Tree Ornament), also a Die Cut, Ribbon, handmade embellishment and bling! That challenge is for the Papercraft Star challenge blog. And lastly, my last challenge is from the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog. And that is to make it Sparkle! I think I managed that!(Click on photos for a closer look)

The Christmas Tree is a wooden ornament that I painted white and then inked it in greens and some pale yellows, soaked it in glitter and then added some pearls and bakers twine to it. The paper is by Fancy Pants Designs, Lilac House and I also made a Die Cut Ornament to hang from the sparkly bow. The glitter strip is by K&Co.

Here is the PDCC56 inspiration photo:

Also, at the Play Date Cafe this week it is Player Appreciation Week! So many inspiration cards from the DT and some fab GDT. And there are some awesome prizes up for grabs too! Just look at what I won a couple of weeks ago during their Anniversary challenge! 5 packs of Cosmo Cricket chipboard alphas and 15, yes I said 15! Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamp Company! And let me tell you, they aren't that itty bitty! They are the perfect size! So check out these great challenge blogs for some wonderful challenges!!

Have a wonderful and fun weekend!

Hugs....

♥ I made a Wish.... ♥

This is for this week's sketch over at the Mojo Monday blog. I decided to take a quick break from Christmas cards and wanted to make a girly card! Being surrounded by my 2 sons and hubby all the time, it's nice to do something "girly" for a change! hehe

It is made with gorgeous papers by The Girls' Paperie. (I ♥ those papers and company name!) I also used some gingham ribbon, a Little Yellow Bicycle sticker and of course, a Melissa Frances rub-on.

Here is the sketch:

Ok, now back to some Christmas projects! I am working on a fun "Snow Globe" that you can make out of a Cookie tin and a glass fish bowl! Wait until you see it! It is so fun and easy to make! It would make a great gift or centerpiece for a table! I will post pics soon! And don't forget about my current Giveaway posted below! I just might be throwing in some more stuff to the winner! ;)

Have a wonderful day!!

Hugs & Much love.....

♥ Making snow angels... ♥

This is a card I made with this week's sketch over at the Card Patterns blog. I made the angel out of a piece of a folded paper doily, Maya Road Chipboard wings smothered in white paint and glitter, a white pearl and some seam binding ribbon.

I also used some Fancy Pants, Lilac House paper, some pink trim, snowflakes and pearls trim, Martha Stewart punched snowflakes, a Melissa Frances rub-on and more glitter!

Here is the sketch:

Hugs...

♥ Magic of the Season...A Faux Toy Drum and Card ♥

Christmas....the most magical time of the year! Especially when there is snow on the ground. I was recently inspired to make this faux toy drum when I saw over on Two Peas someone had taken a child's toy drum and altered it. Well, I decided to make my own "toy drum" out of a simple round box. It can be purchased at Michael's for a buck or two.

I first discarded the top, which can be used for something at a later date, I'm sure! I then painted the inside of the box white and then covered the sides with some My Mind's Eye Lost and Found musical notes paper and the inside bottom of the box with some Fancy Pants Lilac House paper. Then for a few dollars at Mike's I picked up a cute little paper house which I also painted white. Then covered it in some Ice Crystals and added some pearls, snowflakes, candy canes, Melissa Frances resin frame and some ribbon to it. I then adhered it in the box with some hot glue. I also used some cotton for snow and some holiday picks as well as some more ice crystals.

I then traced the bottom of the box onto a piece of transparency paper, cut it out and then adhered it to the outer edge of the box with some hot glue.(Not too much, so you don't melt the paper.)I then inked the edges of the transparency with white ink to give a frosted look and then adding some MF rub-ons.

I then added some roping, satin ribbon, We R Memory Keepers Snowflake stamps, chipboard and resin snowflakes, trim and more candy canes to the outside of the box. And there you have a toy drum with a magical scene inside that makes a special gift for someone!

I used the same materials for the card. I also used this week's sketch over at The Pink Elephant Challenge blog.

Here is the Sketch:

I also used some other fabby challenges for this project! Check them out:

~ Really Reasonable Ribbons: Challenge #12, Christmas Theme
~ Crazy 4 Challenges, C4C63, Christmas
~ The Creative Cottage Challenge Blog: Someone Special at Christmas
~ Crafty CardMakers Challenge Blog: Challenge 34, Card and Matching Gift
~ ABC Christmas Challenge Blog: Winter Wonderland
~ Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog: It's all about Snowflakes

I hope you like it and try to make one yourself! They are alot of fun to make. Don't forget to check out my current giveaway!

Hugs....

♥ A Thankful Giveaway! ♥

♥♥♥ Giveaway Now Closed! Winner to be announced shortly! ♥♥♥

What are you thankful for? With Thanksgiving almost here in the States, (where did the year go?) it makes you think about what and who is so special in your life and what you are thankful for. Even though I am thankful and grateful for everything and everyone in my life everyday, the holidays always bring it out more in me! I am so thankful for my friends and family especially my children! My kids mean the world to me and I would NEVER take them for granted. They are a special gift from God and I thank him everyday for them.

So, what are you thankful for? Let me know and you just might win some fabby presents just in time for Christmas! Why? Because I am grateful and thankful for all of your sweet comments and for visiting my little piece of this bloggin' world! I would also be thankful if you would post my giveaway on your blog too! :)

What can you win? How about all of this!!

~ Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas Paper Kit

~ Martha Stewart Ornament Punch

~ Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors

~ Inkadinkado Stamp Set

Good Luck everyone! I will leave this open until next Tuesday, Nov. 23rd!

I'll be back later with a really fun and easy project that makes a special gift! A Faux Toy Drum with a winter scene inside made out of a simple round box you can pick up at Mike's for a buck!

Hugs....


♥♥♥Giveaway Now Closed! Winner to be announced shortly!♥♥♥