Stamptacular Sunday Anything BUT A CARD Challenge

This week’s challenge is going to be so much fun!  We can’t wait to see what you create!

This week's challenge is a…

“Anything BUT A CARD!”

For this week's challenge you will create something you’d make to give as a gift!  The possibilities are endless…whatever your mind can create and your heart desires!  Have fun with this one!  Oh…and don’t forget to STAMP!  After all…we don’t call this the STAMPtacular Sunday Challenge for nothing!      

You will have from now until midnight (EST) December 14^th, 2012 to complete this challenge and post a DIRECT LINK to your submission into our InLinkz in order to be entered into the drawing for this week's fabulous prize donated by:

MARIANNE DESIGN

PRIZE:  It’s a SURPRISE!

I am so pleased. By changing my comment enabling to block "Anonymous", I have gotten rid of the spammers! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! So, if any of you are being inundated with spammers like I was, just change that feature, and Presto, Chango! Your problems will be over! At least I hope they will. And, if for some quirky reason they are not, please don't blame the messenger. I tried. 

We had our annual family dinner last night at Logan's Steakhouse. Now, for those of you who are foodies and wouldn't set foot in a Logan's, just hold on a minute! I love really good steaks, too, and have been known to pay a pretty price for them. But you get a really decent $16+ filet (6 oz.) with two tasty sides at Logan's and it just doesn't break the bank. KWIM? They cook it to order every time we go there, and they season it quite well. So what's not to like? Besides Gary and I had the baked sweet potato, which is quite yummy, due to all the butter & cinnamon they add, which we shouldn't eat, but we do, once in a blue moon. And we also had a dinner salad of fresh crispy veggies & lettuce with good bleu cheese dressing. Then there are the dinner rolls, which they bring out by the wagonloads, which just melt in your mouth--probably because they are really sweet and brushed with plenty of butter. So there's no need to add more, (although I believe some family members did). 

All in all, quite a yummy meal, and priced right. With my sisters, Barbara & Merrilyn; their men, Jim and Ron; Jim's mom, Berniece; my brother, Larry; his daughter, Abby; her son, cutie pie (2-year old) Tristan; her boyfriend, Mike; her mom, Kay--it was quite an interesting group of lovely peeps. And a great time was had by all. At least I think it was. We decided to just share cards this year, (and, Barbara, the card you gave us is absolutely gorgeous--thank you!), which made the evening more enjoyable. No pressure to come up with the perfect gift--just the gift of each other's company. So, six of my Christmas card stash disappeared, and I am starting to panic. 

Not an all-out panic mode. Not yet. Give me another week, and I will probably be there. Just a pre-boil, sizzling kind of panic. And, if any of you want to alleviate that for me, just send me all your gorgeous cards now--so I can use them for the rest of my card list, OK? Thank you. You have no idea how much this will help Gary. He thanks you, too. Of course, he keeps telling me to just go out and buy cards to send. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Telling a card-maker that just. is. not. done. It causes all sorts of contortions and unintelligible spluttering. And by the way, I have a very sore neck. Not sure if it is from sleeping wrong, whiplash, or coloring with my Copics. (I just put in the whiplash bit, for fill. I haven't been in an accident.)

On to my project. Which I know looks like a card. But, it isn't. It's a small Christmas scrapbook for my dog groomer. Who is pregnant with her first child, a little girl she is naming Ellie. And I finished the book and gave it to her yesterday, all wrapped up. So I have no idea if she likes it or not. But I wasn't happy with the finished product--because once I glued in all the DP the book took on a life of its own. It morphed into an awkward-looking stuffed monster. Which didn't even come close to shutting. So I had to put a rubber band around it to wrap it. Geeesh! I was actually not going to give it to her, and then I decided, what the he**. What else was I going to do with it? Throw it away? Um, no, not with a whole 6x6 paper pad inside it. And hours spent making it. (Insert heavy sigh here.)

I have been wanting to use this Saturated Canary image, Butterfly Baby, for quite a while now. Thought this was the perfect time. The baby is so cute--like all of Krista's images. I printed her on Cryogen CS and colored her with my Copics: E000, E00, E11, E33, E35, R20, R81, R83, R85, BG70, BG72, BG75, YG61, YG63, YG67, Y21, YR23. I accented her with a bit of white gel pen and Glossy Accents for her eyes, which I hope doesn't affect her vision as she grows up. And now I wish I had used a little sparkle on her wings, but it's a bit late for that. Use your imagination, OK? I added some stamping around the image, using the SU Vintage Vogue set and SU ink. Then I die cut the image with a Spellbinders Labels 1 die, and framed this using a Spellbinders Decorative Labels 1 die on SU card stock. My card base was also from SU CS and my DP is from the Carta Bella Merry & Bright collection. 

My Create with TLC sentiment was die cut with a Spellbinders Marvelous Squares die, and framed with a die cut made with a Spellbinders Classic Squares die. The other dies I used were Cheery Lynn Lacey Christmas Ornaments, and Memory Box Snowflake Corner. 

I did distress my DP with my scissors, as it was late at night when I needed to do this, and my Zutter tool is too noisy to use then. Well, it's either scissors or I can kiss my marriage goodbye. And we all know what I'll choose, don't we?

I added lace, pom-pom trim, ribbon dyed with Copic ink, a button, and some baker's twine all from my stash to complete the cover. So, there it is, in all its glory--before I turned it into a behemoth.

And I am entering this into the following:

Cheery Lynn Happy Holidays Challenge
Love to Create Holiday Cheer Challenge

What will you create that is not a card? I am really looking forward to finding out. Have a great week!