FREE Coloring Page

I'm trying something new today. As a little gift to kick off Christmas month, here is a free coloring page for you or any little ones you know. Just click here and it should work; save it to your computer and print as many copies as you'd like. If it doesn't work, let me know. And, I would love to see pictures of the coloring masterpieces. Send pics or links to photos to magnoliagrace(at)live(dot)com. Have fun coloring!

Almost Ready for Delivery

I vividly recall sitting in elementary school and having my silhouette drawn by my teacher. She taped a large piece of paper to the chalkboard and had a big light reflecting onto it; she then had each child sit on a chair in front of her and drew each of our silhouettes. It's hard to believe she actually managed to get an entire classroom full of children to sit still for that long, but she did! When I think about it, a lot of my favorite school memories involve some kind of art project from sitting for a personalized silhouette drawing to making stockings out of construction paper to gluing crumpled pieces of tissue paper together to create a picture.

Maybe those good memories are why I'm loving all the silhouette products I've been seeing out in the marketplace lately like framed pictures, glass plates, ornaments and note cards. These products and my love of silhouettes inspired me to use silhouettes for my contribution to this year's Holiday Ornament Swap. The ornaments are almost ready to go, but not quite. I still need to add a backing on each to finish, but I thought I'd let you see them before they're mailed off to my swap partners. Of course, I did have to add a little sparkle to the ponytails-everything is better with a little sparkle!

Get Sketchy GS#16

Can you tell I'm loving the red glitter glue this week? ;) Via Dawn McVey's blog, I discovered a new-to-me blog called Get Sketchy-I love that name! Not only is the blog super cute, there are also weekly card challenges, so I decided to join in the fun this week. Plus, I had purchased a new stamp a few weeks ago and hadn't had a chance to use it yet. Can you tell by the color palette that I'm in the Christmas spirit?

Sources: Green card from American Crafts Inc.; printed papers from me & my BIG ideas; stamp from Stampscapes Inc.; glitter glue from Ranger Industries Inc.

CPS 143 Card Challenge

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm off work this entire week on vacation. Due to this, I actually have a chance to participate in a card challenge or two and after seeing Bonita's great card creation for the CPS Challenge, I decided to play too! Plus, I've been wanting to play with the November's sweet of the month stamp set from The Stamping Studio for awhile. This seemed like the perfect opportunity! I love this pie stamp because it's so versatile. Just think of all the types of pie you can create with it-pumpkin, blueberry, cherry, strawberry, chocolate, pecan, etc. While it's perfect for this time of year, especially tomorrow being Thanksgiving here in the states, it's a stamp set that can be used year-round. And, yes, I do love strawberry pie, especially with a dollop of Cool Whip on top!

Sources: Stamp set from The Stamping Studio; alphabet stickers from American Crafts Inc.; polka-dot brad from Sassafras Lass; glitter glue from Ranger Industries Inc.

Member Spotlight

As you regular readers know, every other month I send out free digital images to members of the Rory E-mail Club. Note: If you're interested in joining, see information on right-hand side of this blog or e-mail me at magnoliagrace(at)live(dot)com if you have any questions. I absolutely love seeing what people make using my designs, so I was excited to see Bonita's latest card creation using the reindeer image sent out in this month's club e-mail. Isn't it sweet? Bonita used this card for the latest CPS challenge. Hmm, maybe I'll have to participate this week since I'm off work on vacation? Stay tuned. Oh, and for the members of the Rory E-mail Club, feel free to e-mail me photos or links to your projects using images you get in the club. You never know when you might be featured in the next Member Spotlight!

Photo from CraftBelle.blogspot.com

Inspiring Designs

One of my favorite blogs to visit is Hambly Screen Prints. Their products are always so much fun, full of pattern and color! Their guest design team member for November is CD Muckosky. I absolutely LOVE her style! She uses unique techniques to make her projects stand out and her writing style is awesome! See her use of color and texture above. Check out her gallery at Hambly's blog for lots more photos.

Photo from HamblyScreenPrints.typepad.com

Introducing Rory

Guess who's making his national magazine debut? Little Rory bird, that's who! Regular readers to this blog probably already know Rory from the stamp sets I design for The Stamping Studio, but this is the first time Rory is making an appearance in CardMaker magazine! If you're not a subscriber to this magazine, pick up the January issue and check out page 10 where Rory is featured in the "Our Favorite Products" spread and pages 37 and 71 for projects featuring Rory.

Full disclosure: I do work for CardMaker magazine, but play no part in picking out the products featured in the "Our Favorite Products" spread.
Photo from CardMakerMagazine.com