CSDivas - 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop {DAY 1}

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop  
~ CS Divas’ Mansion Style ~
DAY 1

  

This hop will take place December 1^st through December 12^th and will be full of wonderful ideas and inspiration to get you well on your way of creating all of those beautiful Christmas projects on your to-do lists. 

Now, if you just stumbled upon this hop, you are in the right place to start from the beginning.  There will be one project posted each day and each day will be hosted by a different Diva DT member.

This is an awesome way to get a lot of your Christmas cards and scrapbook layouts finished, home decorations completed,and maybe even be inspired to create something using a new technique that you have never tried. 

There will be a wide array of projects, and of course, some fabulous Blog Candy along the way.  

GRAND PRIZE
~~~SPONSORS~~~
We have been honored to have a few sponsors offer some wonderful prizes for this hop.  

First, let us introduce Julie K to the Mansion.  
Julie K has a wonderful blog at A Little Bit of Bling.  She has recently just opened her new store, 3 Girl JAM, where she sells her gorgeous hand-dyed crinkle ribbon.  
Stop by her blog and her store to see her creations, talent, and wonderful products.

BIO:  We are a small family oriented company ran by me (Julie) and my two daughters (Avery and Mackenzie).  We are 3 girls dedicated to bringing you a high quality hand-dyed ribbon that you will enjoy crafting with- as much as we do!  We'd love to hear your comments and suggestions, so please stop by our site at http://3girljam.blogspot.com/

3 Girl JAM is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
6 bundles of her Hand-Dyed Crinkle Ribbon (that's 12 colors and 48 yards of ribbon)

Next, let us introduce Teri to the Mansion. 
Teri is the fabulous artist behind the Delicious Doodles Official Blog, Delicious Doodles Challenges (every Friday) and the Delicious Doodles Shop where you can see all of her gorgeous and unique Digital Stamps.  
And now, some of her images are available in Rubber Stamps at Sweet Pea Stamps.  

BIO: Delicious Doodles is a relatively young company with myself, Teri, as the Sole Trader. I have doodled and sketched all of my life, but only started selling my images in the Autumn of 2009.

I design and hand/mouse-draw all of the images that are sold in the DeliciousDoodles Shop. Some are cutesie animals, some are sketched flowers, there are a few men's images, some fantasy items and also some 'darker' images featuring Vampires, skulls and Gothic stuff, something for everyone! 

Delicious Doodles also has its own Challenges on blogger and a shop blog page featuring inspiration from the Design Team.

And now you can find my images at Sweet Pea Stamps as Rubber Stamps too!

I hope you enjoy using your Delicious Doodles images! 

Hugs,

Teri xx

Teri is offering one lucky Grand Prize Winner:
4 Digi Images 
~ 
Customer Choice

To be eligible for the fabulous Grand Prizes, you must follow these steps:

1 – Become a follower of the Creative Scrapbooking Divas blog, leave a comment on THIS POST stating you are a follower (earns 1 ticket).

2 – Like our FB page HERE, then leave a comment on FB stating you are a fan. (earns 1 ticket)

3 – Stop by each of the DT Divas’ blogs in the hop lineup and leave a comment at EACH STOP (One DT Diva's Blog per day) (Earns 1 ticket per day)

4 - Be sure to stop back at the CSDivas Mansion to link your project(s)  using Mr. Linky in each day post. (earns 2 tickets per project - 2 Tickets/Each Day = a total of 24 chances to win)

Our Tour List: 
Day 1, Day 5, Day 9 
Jessica- Jessica's Craft Shaque http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/ 
Day 2. Day 6, Day 10
Michelle – Michelle’s Happy Scrappy Place http://michelleshappyscrappyplace.blogspot.com/  
Day 3, Day 7, Day 11
Sandy - ScrapBook Blessings http://www.scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com/ 
Day 4, Day 8, Day 12

Luisa - Creative Designs by Luisa http://www.creativedesignsbyluisa.com/

Each Day we will publish a post with the link to that day DT Diva and her project!  Just make sure to come visit us every day and hop around...

WINNERS:
- Due date to submit your projects is Thursday December 14th.
- We will have 3 winners! ( 1 from 3 Girls Jam, 1 from Delicious Doodles and 1 from CSDivas).
- Winners will be announced on Saturday December 17th. Here at the CSDivas Blog!

One extra enticing note:

DT Diva Jessica will be offering a surprise BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY for one person who shares the blog hop button on their sidebar from now until the end of the Hop!!! 

Just be sure to grab the button (up top), place it in your sidebar, and leave a comment on THIS POST for a chance at the surprise candy. 

One lucky winner will be chosen via random generator on December 13th! 

NOW ONTO MY PROJECT FOR DAY 1 

 Christmas Countdown Decor with Tutorial
 With small children in the house, I chose to make a Christmas Countdown Decor so that they can share their anticipation and enjoy changing the numbers each day.  And with it being Day 1 of our hop and the 1st day of December, I thought it appropriate to make a Home Decor piece to go with the 25 days before Christmas. 

I started with 2 large wooden decorative clothespins and then covered one side of each with red card stock and the other side of each with green card stock using Mod Podge

Then I chose glitter chipboard alphas by DCWV dots, stripes, & plaids for the words DAYS LEFT

I cut 8 Christmas Trees from green card stock at 3 1/2" using my Gingerbread cartridge.  I hunted my goodies stash and found some of the wooden spoons that come with some frozen treats you buy (I kept them because I knew they would come in handy)

I adhered 2 of the trees together with the wooden spoons in the center to make them quite sturdy

While the hot glue was drying on the trees, I gathered a few other supplies that I knew would be needed for the project
(gold star wired garland, hole punch, Jasmine cartridge for my numbers, foam adhesive, and colored paper clips)

I wrapped the gold glittery garland around each clothespin to give it some extra charm.  I did not adhere it to the pin because the wire allowed me to bend it to fit

I adhered my alphas using Recollections foam squares
 I punched a hole in the tops of the trees, bent a paper clip to work as a a hook, hot glued the remaining part of the pin to be hidden in the creation, and then adhered another tree to the front and back of the  center tree with the wooden spoon for added dimension.

I cut enough stars to double them up (again for sturdy support).  Each star (13 total) would hold an individual number for the Countdow.  Next I mbossed them using my new Music Notes Darice folder

I cut the numbers in pairs to be glued together (2,5,4,3,2,1,0,9,8,7,6,2,1) from my Jasmine cartridge at 2" and then dabbed them with my red Studio G ink pad

After embossing the stars, I brushed on some of my Studio G antique brown ink to distress and age them

I used the same ink and technique on the wooden clothespin surfaces that were not covered by paper and also on the alphas to give them a more aged appearance.  I glued the numbers to the stars and placed them on the hooks

And there you have it, an easy, but adorable Countdown Decor to delight those of all ages!!!


Thanks for stopping by for Day 1of the Creative Scrapbooking Divas ~ 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop.
Be sure to leave a comment below and you will be entered to win my Blog Candy.  I will be picking a random winner from all comments and participants that leave a comment at my blog throughout the entire Hop.  

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Keep on Crafting
:O)
Jessica