It's a Party!

Wow!  Friday again!!  I'm going to warn you up front that this is going to be a long post.  Lots of info and lots of photos.  So, if you aren't interested in prizes, you might just want to jump down to the bottom.
It is our last  Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge of the year AND we are hosting a BIG party to celebrate!!!  
We are switching it up a bit for our last challenge,  normally the design team's creations are posted on the CSAYL blog for inspiration.  

This week, we are hosting a challenge and a blog hop! 

Check out each of the design team member's blogs and leave a comment, 3 random commenters will win a prize.  Then go back to the CSAYL blog  and play along with this week's challenge, there will be 7 random winners drawn from the participants this week.   That means there are 10 chances to win if you hop and participate in the challenge - we said this party was BIG!!!

THE CHALLENGE:
Create a Christmas gift set with 3 coordinating pieces...such as a card set; card, bag and altered gift combo; gift box, tag and card.  Mix and match, just make sure there are 3 coordinating pieces to your Christmas gift set!

THE HOP:
Click on each link below, visit each design team member's CSAYL blog post and leave a comment.

CSAYL 2013 Blog Hop

1.	Fabiola
2.	Heather--You are here.
3.	Jenny
4.	Patty
5.	Julie

(Collection closed)

Link tool by inlinkz.com

OUR SPONSORS:
There have been so many wonderful sponsors this year.  A huge THANK YOU you to all!!!
This week's hop and challenge has 8 sponsors!!!
Creations by AR!!! One participant from this week's challenge will win

 2 template of their choice from Creations by AR!!!

 

Bearly Mine Designs!!! One random winner from this week's challenge will win a £10 gift voucher to Bearly Mine Designs!!!

Broken Box Stock!!! One random participant from this week's challenge will win their "Holiday Toodles Mega-Pack". Digi stamps from Broken Box Stock!!!

  

Limited Runs Digis!!! One random participant will win 3 digis of their choice from Limited Runs Digis!!!

QKR Stampede!!! One random participant will win 5 Digital Images from QKR Stampede!!!

Fred She Said!!!  One random participant this week will win a $10.00 gift certificate to the Fred She Said store!

Emma Canning!!!  3 winners from this week's challenge will each win 2 digis from the Emma Canningstore.

Bugaboo!!! One lucky participant will win 7 digis of their choice from Bugaboo!! 

Remember, this week's challenge is to create a Christmas gift set with at least 3 coordinating pieces.  We have had so much fun visiting each of your blogs throughout the year!  Thank you for crafting with us and good luck!

Ok, now that we have all the details out of the way . . . here are my projects.  I created 2 different sets for this challenge because I wanted to use images/products from EACH of our fabulous sponsors.  Are you ready??  Here is set #1:

 For this set, I made a card, decorated a matching gift bag and finished it off with a faux "chalkboard" tag.  My papers are from Bearly Mine, the church image is from Emma Canning, the sentiment on the tag is from QKR Stampede and tying them all together is the pinecone image from Fred She Said.

 On both the card and the gift bag, I sponged on some snow hills around the church and added some silver stickles for snow sparkle, sponged in some sky and added a soft glow to the windows with a colored pencil.  Also on both, I colored the pinecone, added a little bit of sparkle with a glitter pen and fussy cut it out and popped it up on pop dots.  I tied the card and tag together, by adding this "faux" chalkboard sentiment "Jesus" which is continued on the inside( I totally forgot to take a picture!) with "is the reason for the season".

 See how it coordinates with the tag?  And notice the pinecone on the tag, too?
Here is set #2:  For this set, I made a card, a gift box, and a little ornament to go in the box.  I used papers from Bearly Mine, a box template from Creations by AR, the cafe scene from Broken Box Stock, a snowman from Limited Runs and a snowman from Bugaboo.  Phew!!  All the sponsors covered!  That was a challenge in itself!

 I really, really, really, love this paper from Bearly Mine, unfortunately, my design covered up most of it.  This cafe scene is a freebie from Broken Box stock.  Can you believe it's free!!??  See that little snowman on the right?  I printed out a second image and cut out only the snowman and . . .

 added him onto the box with his new friend from Limited Runs.  Aren't they cute together?  I sponged some snowhills in the background and outlined them with glitter pen for a bit of sparkle.

 Here is my cute little snowman ornament inside the gift box.  Perfect!  Just as if I had planned it. : )  Does this little guy look familiar?  How 'bout now?

Mine is not quite as chubby, but he's just as cute!  I printed out the image and used it as a pattern to created the ornament.  I cut each of the pieces out of the proper color felt and then stitched them all together using embroidery floss.  I cut out two main body pieces and before completely sewing them together, I stuff him with a bit of fiberfill.  Goes to show that you don't have to use digital images on paper only.

Wow!!  You made it to the end!  Pat yourself on the back and then hop on over to the CSAYL blog to link up and play along.  We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Challenges:

Card #1:

Seize the sketch #8--sketch

Christmas Cards All Year Round--winter wonderland

Sweet Stamps #144--anything goes

Scrap Creations--Make it sparkle (stickles, glitter pen and jeweled brads)

Charisma Cardz #46--Christmas

Gift Bag:

Christmas Card Challenge #51--bling

Whimsy Stamps #65--anything goes

Fab 'n' Funky #194--anything goes

Seems a Little Sketchy #52--sketch

Flat Friends #14--Christmas Card

Tag:

Suzy Bees Bloomin' Challenge #3--shaped card/project

Gift Box:

Viva La Verve November week 1--sketch

Timeless Tuesday #247--Winter Scenes

Delightful Challenges--anything but a card

Card #2:

Your Next Stamp #6--sketch or inspiration photo (I went with the sketch)

There She Goes #234--winter fun

Word Art Wednesday #107--anything goes

Raisin Boat #17--Christmas

C.R.A.F.T. #234--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the snow on the trees)

Ornament:

Crafty Creations #243--ready for the holidays

Supplies:

Card #1:

Papers: Bearly Mine Designs "Winter Dreams"

Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi; Verve "Richly Blessed" sentiment; PTI "Hands of Time" flourish on sentiment

SU! jeweled square brads

Gift Bag:

Papers: Bearly Mine Designs "Winter Dreams"

Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;

Gift Tag:

Stamps: "Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi; QKR Stampede sentiment; PTI "Mat Stack 2" brackets

Card #2:

Papers: Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;

Stamps: Broken Box Stock "Cafe Winter" freebie; Flourishes "Country Time Christmas" sentiment

Punches: Martha Stewart snowflake punch

Gift Box:

Template: Creations by AR "Gift Card Combo"

Papers: Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;

Stamps: Limited Runs "Snowman #2" digi; Broken Box Stock "Cafe Winter" freebie; Flourishes "Country Time Christmas" sentiment

Ribbon: PTI "Ocean Tides" dotted ribbon

Ornament: 

Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Chubby snowman scarf" digi

Felt/embroidery floss