THANK YOU KRISTIN!

I just wanted to pop in and share that I won the Huge Give-a-Way at Lilsweetpea's Place on Christmas Day. :-) Webster's Pages is a fave company of mine and a full-size Scor Pal was on my wishlist so you can imagine my excitement to learn that I'd won. I am one happy girl Kristin and sincerely appreciate your  generosity!!!

You can see all of the wonderful blog candy by clicking on her badge in the right column. Like I said in my entry comment, I'm just thrilled that I found Kristin's blog which is adorable and chocked full of creative wonder! She's offering one more chance to win some crafty goodness on New Years Day so hurry on over to enter and good luck!
Thanks again Kristin!
Lisa

Merry Christmas to all...

Hi there, I'm here to share a quick and easy way to make a holiday organizer using stamps by Taylored Expressions and a store bought journal. Now I realize I should have posted this earlier but if nothing else perhaps you can pick one up after Christmas to use next year. ;) The journals I bought are illustrated by Mary Engelbreit and I added stickles and fun embellishments to personalize each one. I created sections by using the Keeping Tabs stamp set and then I stamped "Planner" on mine and "Christmas Planner" on my dd's from the Take Note Holidays stamp set. This was a fun & inexpensive project as the journals were a dollar each at Michael's (which makes for a great teacher's gift or pre-holiday gift for friends and family).

Here is my dd's planner which has been heavily used (you can see the wear & tear) as she has been promoted to Chief Elf. Yes, sadly my kids are too old for Santa to visit anymore, we miss his visits, but to stay in the spirit of things they've taken turns making the gift lists, shopping, wrapping presents and distributing them on Christmas morning. This way they still get to experience the magic of Christmas. :-)

This is probably my last post before Christmas Day and I want to wish each of my blog visitors, and U. S. Armed Forces around the world, a very Merry Christmas!!!
God Bless,
Lisa

Stamps: Keeping Tabs & Take Note - Holidays (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ladybug, Bahama Blue & Cottage Ivy
Paper: white cardstock
Accessories: Keeping Tabs die (Taylored Expressions); Journals (Mary Engelbreit Ink); (Spellbinders Labels Ten die; Flower Woolies (Basic Grey); red epoxy frame (Creative Memories); red pearls (Kaisercraft); red rhinestones (PS); Black Diamond, Christmas Red, Yellow, Stardust, Green, True Blue Stickles and Glossy Accents (Ranger)

I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late....

Hi everybody, has Christmas panic set in yet??? I could be stressed but I "choose to happy" as my darling husband always says. I just sent my troops off to do the last minute grocery shopping while I stay home and finish up a few loose ends. :-) Earlier today I finished making my dd's Web Password book that is long overdue. This is a great gift idea for those who use the internet and create user names and passwords.

For her book I used Graphic 45's Hallowe'en in Wonderland dp's and stamps by Crafty Secrets. I stamped some of her favorite characters on Choice Buttercream and used T!m's distress inks to age the paper a bit. Then I colored the images, sans sentiment, with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut them out. After adhering my dp's I glued a purple ribbon to the left side and across to separate the coordinating dp's and tied an orange ribbon to a clock charm and glued in place while adding a little sparkle with an orange fiber ribbon. One of the dp sheets is full of miniature cards so I cut one out that features Alice with a "Drink Me" bottle and attached with more glue. I placed tiny alpha's by Cosmo Cricket along the left side to create "web passwords" and I dressed up the back with more dp's and a stamp of Tweedle Dee-Dum. The inside front & back covers feature "ads" from a dp in the 8x8 paper pad and I stamped the "For You" image from the same stamp set. I colored it with Copics and glued to inside front cover. I used Cinch chipboard, black binding wire and a Cinch binding machine to create this book. Being the fan of Alice that she is I know she'll love it! Here's a few more snaps of the inside covers and download sheets. If you like this project check out Taylor's You Tube video in which she shares how to create this fun gift for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by and for all of the wonderful comments you've left me! Each one is sincerely appreciated and I hope to have more blog browsing time now that the shopping and wrapping is over for another year. :-)

~Lisa

Stamps: Greetings from Wonderland (Crafty Secrets)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks (T!m Holtz)

Paper: Hallowe'en in Wonderland (Graphic 45), cs

Accessories: Web Passwords Download (Taylored Expressions); chipboard, binding wire, Cinch binding machine (We R Memory Keepers); Tiny Type Alpha's (Cosmo Cricket); clock charm (Explorer by Traditions); ribbons (Hobby Lobby); Prismacolor Pencils; Copic markers; Zip Dry Paper Glue (Beacon Adhesives); X-Press IT tape (TE store)

September

Hope everyone is having a good week so far! I'm back today to share with you my September calendar which features our first born. As I shared recently he enlisted in the U. S. Army and ships next spring for basic training. When I ran across these pictures I knew they'd work perfectly here and perhaps they were a sign of things to come, lol.

I used a U. S. Army Scrapbook Kit by Creative Imaginations and TE's Mini-Dated Calendar to pull this calendar together. There's definitely no frills (except a few liquid pearls) on this page and not a stamp in sight. He was seven in these pictures and it's hard to believe that this time next year he'll be far from home. Ok, I could get a little weepy here so I'll move along.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
~Lisa

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black
Paper: Choice Snow White (TE), dp's from scrapbook kit
Accessories: Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

October

Hello to everyone and welcome! I don't know about you but this has been a very long week and I'm ready for the weekend. My weekend is centered around finishing my Christmas shopping and baking. The dd and I plan to make our homemade candy trays & cookies and we may even bake a chocolate cake just because we're in the mood for one. :-) It has been awhile and we love Ina Garten's (a.k.a. Barefoot Contessa) Beatty's Chocolate Cake, YUM-O!


Now for the October deets. I used dp's from Echo Park's the Apothecary Emporium collection and the stamps are from Toil & Trouble and You're My Type-Upper by Taylored Expressions. All of the stamped images were colored with Copic markers and the mirror/picture frame has a touch of Smooch on it while I used Stickles on the spider's web and witch's hat for a little pizzazz. I did a lot of fussy cutting but it was worth it. I pulled out my Pennant Border die (which I do not use nearly enough!) and die cut a border in black while punching 1/2" circles for my stamped alpha's. The black crow also received a Smooch "eye" and a touch-up on his feathers. Again I used Taylor's 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar download and framed it with a border of liquid pearls against a black backdrop. Ribbon and Copic colored rhinestones finish it off. The cute little witch in the frame is my dd and since October is her birth month I chose to feature her, at age three, in her Halloween outfit. This was such a FUN page and I can't wait to show you September which is my ds's birth month. :-)

                                                  

Have a great weekend and just in case you're craving a little chocolate here's a link to Ina's awesome cake. I use Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate bars which are easier to find and less expensive but just as good. Another quick tip, crush the powdered coffee with the back of a spoon until it is finely ground. Enjoy!

~Lisa

Stamps: Toil & Trouble & You're My Type-Upper (Taylored Expressions)

Paper: the Apothecary Emporium (Echo Park), Choice Snow White (TE store), cs

Ink: Memento's Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Pennant Border Die & Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (Taylored Expressions); 1/2 " circle punch (EK Success); Orange Peel & Silver Stickles/Silver Pearl Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Tuxedo & Silver Fox Smooch (Clearsnap); black cording & string from stash; orange polka dot ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Copic markers; clear rhinestones (PS); 3D foam dots (Therm-O-Web) 



March and November Calendars

Hello and welcome! I'm sharing two more altered calendars today, March and November. This is an ongoing project and I have five more months to go and I'll have my calendar/scrapbook project wrapped up. Both of these months share a holiday (everyone does celebrate St. Patty's Day, right?) and for me St. Patrick's is all about fun while Thanksgiving takes a more serious and elegant tone. Here's my March calendar...

and the deets. I used cardstock as my base and printed out the March 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar Download from Taylored Expressions onto Choice Snow White paper. I die cut it, along with an Origins dp by BG, with a Spellbinders Labels One. Black stitched ribbon from TE makes a nice divider and an Irish Blessing, from Verve's Blessings set, was stamped onto more dp from my Origins paper pad. I love Taylor's Wreath of Luck set and used nearly every image in this cute set. The wreath was die cut from the coordinating Seasonal Wreath die and I colored it with Copics and used Lime Green Stickles to add a little festive fun. Cute, simple and a little nod to the Irish that both the dh and I share in our family backgrounds. Now for November...

and the deets. As you can see there's not a stamp in sight on this one. I used chip letters from Classic K Bailey Chipboard Alphabet and Tim Coffey Fall Adhesive Borders by K & Co. to embellish this calendar. The background dp is from the Laced with Grace paper pad by Glitz and a trio of split pea rhinestones by Kaisercraft and a little crochet trim complete this one. I did pop the pumpkin up on foam dots for a little dimension and the calendar was made in my Microsoft Word program.

That's all for today, I'm off to take my Dad for a CT so no time to check for spelling errors. If you find some please overlook and thanks for stopping by, it means so much. A big welcome to Julie who is a new follower and I have long enjoyed her blog so be sure to pay her a visit and leave a fabby comment.

Have fun today and make it count!

~Lisa

A Merry Christmas To You from WMS

I'm back today with a card that features a sentiment from Very Vintage Christmas by WMS. I love Claire's stamps and hope to spend more time in 2012 exploring all of the creative options her stamp sets give you.  This is such a bold sentiment that I decided to keep this card clean and simple (CAS) with little to no fuss. A secondary reason is that it is going to my mom and Alzheimer's patients are not allowed cards with objects that they (or other residents) could potentially swallow. I hope the pearls make it through the security check though as she is aware of what they are and why they are on the card but we'll see.

I stamped the image onto Choice Buttercream then fussy cut it out and popped it up on foam dots to create some dimension. A wonky rectangle was die cut from aqua cardstock and a Jolly by Golly dp brings in the color factor. Four bliss pearls and a red grosgrain ribbon add some spark and this is an easy card to mass produce, which I'll remember for next year. ;)

Have an awesome day and happy crafting!
~Lisa

Stamps: Very Vintage Christmas (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink (T!m Holtz)
Paper: Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket), aqua cs (Bazzill), Choice Buttercream (TE store); white cardstock from stash
Accessories: Wonky Rectangle Die (Spellbinders); bliss pearls (Kaisercraft); red grosgrain ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Altered Tins that are SNOW fun!

Good Monday morning to all of you! Ours was a busy weekend with Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, packing Christmas boxes, room arranging, finishing a custom piece of furniture, getting the Christmas cards ready to mail today not to mention ALL the cooking I have been doing lately. ;) Whew, I think I need another weekend already, lol.

I did steal some time to make these super quick and easy altered tins for my gift card giving. What would we do without these nowadays? Both feature an adorable snowman woolie from BG's Jovial line and Tiny Type alpha's from Cosmo Cricket. I used MME 12 Days of Christmas dp's on the "ray" tin and Crate Paper's Snow Day dp's on the "sara" tin. The star is also a woolie from the BG's Jovial felt sticker sheet and the glittered brad is by Paper Studio. The inside of the tins were decked out in coordinating papers and I used X-Pressit double stick tape to attach ribbon to the outside edge. As the recipients read my bloggie I'll refrain from showing the inside but you get the idea.

I love seeing all of the wonderful Christmas ideas that all of you are coming up with. I definitely need to work on Christmas throughout the year, like a lot of you, because this year I am coming up short. There's so much I want to do and so little time.

Thanks for stopping by today!
~Lisa

Fa la la la la

I'm making a quick stop here to post another fun holiday card featuring the cutest cupcake ever, Cuppie. It's a busy shopping day for me so I'll make this short and sweet.

For today's card I used stamped images from Home Sweet Home by Taylored Expressions and dp's from Holly Jolly Christmas by Echo Park. I ran into a wonderful sale at Jo-Ann's a few weeks ago and picked up a Susan Winget Glad Tidings Toys & Presents Chip Box and pulled two glittered chip snowflakes out to use on this card. A Spellbinders Large Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles die in pink cardstock helps to frame out the main stamped image and Cuppie was stamped onto TE's Choice Snow White in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. A few Rouge Liquid Pearls by Ranger finish it off and I stamped the Fa la la la la in the upper right corner also in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Two hot pink brads complete the embellishments and Cuppie was colored with various Copic markers.

I'm off to start my day and I hope all of you have a wonderful day wherever you are! Thanks for stopping by and I always enjoy your sweet comments. ;)
~Lisa

Stamps: Home Sweet Home (TE)

Two of My Favorite Peeps, Brian and Sara

Okay, I have a confession to make. This is definitely going to be a fave for me because my two peeps are featured this month. It is hard to believe that our son is 23 and will ship out for basic training next April, did I forget to mention that? Yep, next April he fully becomes the property of the U.S. Army and leaves our corner of the world for a long, long time. I am still trying to wrap my brain around it but he is following in his grandpa's footsteps and we fully support him all the way. As for the youngest peep, our dd, it seems as though her life has flown by and now she's all grown up. Mercy, life isn't fair because I am NOT ready to be an empty nester in less than two years. LOL! Oh well, enough reminiscing for now as I might get a little weepy on you guys. Here's a close-up of the sparkly eggs...

and the deets for the month of April. I started with the Taylored Expressions Spring 2011 Project Pantry Kit which featured paper from We R Memory Keepers Hippity Hop Collection. I purchased this earlier in the year and it isn't currently available but maybe she'll bring it back next year. ;) Another purchase earlier in the year was Verve's awesome Easter release. Seriously cute stamps that have so many uses, it was one of my very favorite releases this year. I stamped eggs from Egg-stra Special onto dp's, cut them out and used a generous amount of Glossy Accents to make them shine and they received a dusting of MS's Sugar Cube glitter to make them sparkle. The grass border is another of Martha's wonderful border punches and I picked up the ribbon by Studio G for 97 cents at Wal-Mart. :-) The little butterfly is from the same stamp set and they were colored with Copics and I added a pearl to the center. Spellbinders dies are used to frame the sentiment which is also by Verve and again I used Taylor's Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download for April. I layered the calendar so I could outline it with liquid pearls and I love it when these work correctly, kwim? So there you have it, quick and fun and a treasure to keep!

Happy Crafting,
~Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Egg-stra Special & Happy Easter (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, ColorBox Chalk Rouge
Paper: Hippity Hop Collection (We R Memory Keepers), Bazzill Basics Cardstock, Choice Snow White (TE store)
Accessories: Spellbinders Standard Circles Large & Classic Scalloped Circles Large; 2012 Mini-Dated Calendar Download (TE); ribbon (Studio G); Baby Blue & Flamingo Liquid Pearls, Glossy Accents (Ranger); Sugar Cube glitter & Grass Border Punch (MS); Bliss Pearls (Kaisercraft); Copics-YR68 & RV25; Corner Chomper 1/2" (We R Memory Keepers)

Debuting February and July in my altered world...

Hello all! I'm back today with two calendars from my calendar/scrapbook altered project that I am working on. Life has been hectic lately but I am determined to finish these!! I'll be back later in the week to feature some that have scrapbooking as part of the page element, promise. Today's post is all about February and July and I needed a little inspiration when I began the month of February. I paid the Verve gallery a visit and  spotted a heart on a scrapped page, by Julee Tilman, which I CASE'd because I loved it and the sentiment. You can spot it in the Hundred Hearts gallery at http://www.verve.com/ if you'd like to see it for yourself. Everything else on both calendars is original and these were quick and fun to make. Hope you enjoy!

It's another cold and rainy day (check, just started snowing) here and I certainly hope your weather is better than ours. Thanks for stopping by and I'd like to welcome Lucia from Rome who is a private follower. I really appreciated your sweet comment and enjoyed checking out your blog. You are definitely a creative spirit Lucia and I can't wait to see more inspiration from FondoBlu Cards. :-)

Happy Crafting Everyone,
~Lisa

February Calendar:
Stamps: Hundred Hearts & Hearts on Fire (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Be Mine (Echo Park), Choice Snow White (TE store), cardstock
Accessories: Mini-Dated 2012 Calendar Download (TE); Heart Punch (Emagination); Rhinestone Swirls (Zva Creative); Plaquettes-14 (T!m Holtz/idea-ology); Black Diamond Stickles & Rouge Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Copic Markers; Hot Pink Brads & Pink Rhinestone Heart (PS)

July Calendar:
Stamps: 4th of July Wreath (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Red Pigment Ink Pad (Stampabilities), Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Blossom Soup (Jillibean Soup), Choice Snow White (TE), cardstock
Accessories: 6x6 2012 Calendar Download (TE); Seasonal Wreath Die (TE); Copic Markers; Red Plaid Ribbon & Red Burlap String (May Arts); Red Atyou Spica Pen (Too Marker Products, Inc.); Blue Star Button from stash

Colors of the Day are...

coral, light pink and aqua for the CR84FN Color Challenge! I like to combine color challenges with sketch challenges when I can and the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge is a perfect fit in my opinion. Jen's sketches are so much fun and I think this one really brings out the colors in the current CR84FN44 color challenge. You can check out Jen's fabulous deconstructed sketch and as always the first challenge of the month is sponsored. Here's my card using the colors of the color challenge and Jen's current sketch, DS29.

I started off with a base of aqua cardstock and repeated it on the embossed strip. A patterned dp from MME pairs aqua with white which is one of two neutrals I used on this card. The other neutral, black, is seen on the stamped flower images and sentiment. Coral is definitely the accent color here and I tried to give it some balance with the border punch, ribbon and bow, and brad placement. Light pink serves as a highlight color and I like the way these colors work together. 

The design team for CR84FN Color Challenge is taking a break for the remainder of the month and will return in January 2012. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks so much for the beautiful inspiration you always provide and the endless supply of challenging color combo's.

Have a wonderful day,

Lisa

Stamps: Making a Statement (Verve)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Aqua by Anna Griffin/All Night Media

Paper: Fine and Dandy-Tickled Pink (MME), Bazzill cardstock

Accessories: Fiskars notebook border punch; Loopy Blooms Die Set and Rounded Scallop Frame Die (Verve), Just My Type embossing border (Cuttlebug); Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); brads (MME-Market St. "Love" Brads); rhinestones (Kaisercraft); coral twill ribbon (TE store)



I'm back and a tad late...

Hi everybody, I'm back today with a card I made for the November VLV challenge featuring Week 3. I'm a tad late and I didn't get to use the fabulous sketch by Sankari Wegman for Week 4 but I plan to go back and use it in the future. :-) This awesome sketch by Tosha worked great with my Winter Park dp's from Echo Park. I was drawn to the colors and patterns and it provided an opportunity to use my new Snowflake Tidings die set by Verve, which I love. I stamped the small snowflake from Glad Tidings and die cut it with the newly released die set and I mixed and matched the stamped image panel. The mittens were paper  pieced and everything else is pretty self-explanatory. Here is Tosh's sketch which was our inspiration.

On a personal note, some of you may know my Dad was in MICU for a couple of days this week but he's  home and recuperating. I will be busy with follow-up appointments for him but hope to share my calendar pages with you and some additional altered projects soon. A big thank you to everyone who remembered him in your prayers!! Maybe this month I will stay caught up with the weekly sketches at Viva la Verve, hope so. :-)

God Bless,
~Lisa

Supplies: Winter Mittens & Holiday Phrases (Verve)
Paper: Winter Park by Lori Whitlock (Echo Park), Pomegranate (Bazzill), Choice Snow White (TE store)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versa Color Burgundy
Accessories: Snowflake Tidings Die Set (Verve); Standard Circles Lg. (Spellbinders); Snowflake Trim deep edger punch (MS); blue rhinestones (daisyd's); seam binding (Prairie Bird Boutique)