The Wacky Watercooler December "Best Of..." Blog Hop!

Welcome, welcome! It's so great to have you here!!! You should be arriving here from Marsha's blog. If not, or you got lost along the way, you can click on the banner above to begin at the beginning of the hop. This end of year hop is our "Best Of" hop....best of contributing Demonstrators, best of retired products, and best of current products. I have to say that this has been probably one of my favorite hops, because it allowed me a bit more "freedom" of choice, lol!! I had planned on doing some tags, and maybe some cute Christmas ornaments, but when it came down to it, necessity won out - I needed more cards for my longgggg list this year!!! Maybe next year! *wink*

 Best of CASEing Project:

Names were drawn for all of us to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) a project by a fellow Demonstrator. I was lucky enough to receive Deborah Smart from Stamp and Create as my CASEing partner! I chose a card she shared on her blog HERE. As you can see, she did a much better job than I did with the sunburst effect, but this was my first time trying it with just a paper trimmer. They turn out much better for me when I use a 'contraband' die, lol! I really love this color combination though, and the new tree stamps and matching punch made this a quick & easy card.

Recipe:

Stamps: Festival of Trees

Paper: Whisper White, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky, All is Calm DSP, silver glitter paper

Ink: Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky, Silver Encore ink

Accessories: tree punch, star punch, 3/8" stitched satin ribbon in Lost Lagoon, dimensionals, Decorative Dots embossing folder

Best of Retired Products:

I will freely admit to being a "bit" of a paper hoarder. OK, fine...I have serious issues with paper hoarding, lol!!! I buy a lot of it, especially of pretty patterned paper!, and although I do use it, I have stacks and stacks and stacks of unopened packs, because it's almost too pretty to cut into and/or can't be replaced. Yes, this is silly and no, I don't see much hope in a cure!! Stamps and dies are another matter, as I'm a "hobby Demo" and can keep on using all the retired items with no regard for my customers because I don't have any!!! So I don't have to sell all my retired things at the end of each catalog! (Yay, me!) I've seen many examples of heat embossing on patterned papers, and I wanted to try it out on this card. Even though it's patterned, the bold embossed stamping shows up perfectly!

Recipe:

Stamps: Scentsational Season (retired)

Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Vellum, Season of Style DSP (retired)

Ink: Versa Mark, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Smoky Slate

Accessories: matching framelits (retired), white embossing powder, SU markers, white paper doily, dimensionals, banner framelits

Best of Current Products:

There are some really cute things in the current main catalog and our holiday "mini". I used both for these cards, to make the most of the oh-so-cute Santa Stache stamp set! Love it!!!!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Santa Stache, Wondrous Wreath

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, silver foil card stock, white glitter paper

Ink: silver Encore ink, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Tuxedo Black Memento ink

Accessories: banner framelits, mustache framelit, dazzling diamonds glitter, 2 way glue pen, wreath set framelits, SU markers, alcohol markers, Filigree Frame embossing folder, dimensionals

 Recipe:

Stamps: Santa Stache

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Whisper White,  Champagne glitter paper, black felt paper

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Tuxedo Black Momento ink

Accessories: Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, star framelit, mustache framelit, woodgrain embossing folder, googly eyes, dimensionals, alcohol markers

I hope you've enjoyed my cards for this hop, and possibly feel inspired for any remaining cards you have left on your Christmas card list!! I wish you and your loved ones the very merriest of holidays!!! Next up, Deborah Smart - simply click on the "NEXT" watercooler button below!