Let's Give Thanks - Blog Hop

Hippity Hop, hippity hop. It's the Shirley's 2 Girls blog hop.  If you got here from Cat's blog you're in the right place.  If you just dropped by you should consider joining us, we've got lots of yummy stuff to see AND we've got prizes hidden at four stops along the way.  To win one of the prizes all you have to do is leave a comment saying why you're thankful.   The hop will run till November 7 so you've got a couple days to make all the stops.  When the hop is over the bloggers with the prizes will randomly pick a winner, so leave a comment at all the stops that way you'll have a chance for all four prizes. 

November is a month to reflect on why we're thankful.  I've got a lot of reasons to be grateful, first, that I can sit at a computer and communicate with you.  Second that Shirley's 2 Girls took a chance on me and picked me for their design team.  As for my life, I have been blessed from birth, I've never wanted for anything other than a friend or an idea.  Life is good.

One of the things were hopping to celebrate is the new images available at Shirley's 2 Girls.  I chose to use the "Merci" image and put it on a CD case which  I picked up at a scrapbooking weekend.  

If you're not interested in the how to you should skip this and the next paragraph,  To cover it I cut a piece of dp about 1/4" larger than the cover which is a 5" square. That would make the paper about 10-3/4"W (don't forget there's a space in the center) by 5-1/2"L.   I folded the edges down and clipped the corners.  Next I cut a piece of the striped dp large enough so that it would go over the middle and slide under the opening for the CD, about 6" W x 4-3/4"L, you may have to play with it to get it to fit correctly.  I measured the pocket and cut a piece of dp a 1/4" larger and then placed it over the pocket and folded it to fit.  Then for the left side where the CD is stored cut a piece of dp in a 4-3/4" square.  Punch a half circle in the middle of the right side.  On the cover I adhered the ribbon between the image and its mat and affixed it off kilter in the center.  I drew a squiggle with a gelly roll in the upper left and glued Taylor's Tiny Twinkles over it. Those gelly roll pens are very subtle so they don't show up well in phoyos but they are a nice touch.  For the flower I punched out several nesties, alternating light and dark dp, then punched one flower for the center and put a Stampin' Up brad thru them.

Lastly I made a card to insert in the pocket.  It's a 4-3/4" square mat with a 4-1/2" square of white cs for the message. That's where you can write your thank you note.  Maybe include a bit of info about what's on the CD.  I'm planning on burning some music onto a CD and giving this as a hostess gift.

Here's my tip. When you cut an image out with a die, especially when you use your largest nestie, you can make a faux mat by sponging around the edges. Don't take the image out of the die just sponge right over it. When you remove the die the edges of the paper will remain untouched and resemble a mat. Here's another tip, think of mistakes as reasons to embellish.  Lots of times something BAD happens after you've put a lot of time and work into a project.  But just about anything can be salvaged.  I give you this tip becasue after  this case was completed somehow a smudge got on the cuff in the image. It was obvious that it wasn't meant to be there and I wouldn't be able to give it away.  I dhould have photographed it just so you could see the before and after.  Well  I sat and looked at it for awhile and decided I could try covering the cuff with stickles, which worked out. If that didn't work I would have tried paper piecing over it.

The next stop on the hop is the fabulous Gina.  Don't forget to leave her some love and tell her why you're thankful.  Maybe you got some ideas for holiday presents or decorations, so finish the hop and stop at the Shriley's 2 Girls shop to pick up a couple images and get your holiday gifts started.  Also if you lose your way you can find a list of all the stops at the Shirley's 2 Girls challenge blog.

Here's the deets:

Image - Shirley's 2 Girls "Merci"

Ink - HP printer; Ranger "Pumice Stone" sponged around image

Paper - Georgia Pacific cs for image; SU "Certainly Celery" cs for mats; SU "Bella Bird" and "Bella Blue" dp;

Miscellaneous - Scalloped circle nesties; SU brad, twill ribbon; Taylor's Tiny Twinkles; stickles; gelly roll pen; SU corner punch on card; 3/4" circle punch

Here's the challenges:

Shriley's 2 Girls - the twist is "thanks"

SPCC #72 - Colors - Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight; Baja Breeze

City Crafter CCCB Week 29 - Get Your Digi On

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again.  Don't forget to leave a comment about why you're thankful.