Make It Monday #121 with Digi My World

Hello and welcome back to the last Make It Monday linky party of 2012!!! Our sponsor this week is Digi My World and I'm using the ultra hip 60's Retro Rainey digital image on my card. A big thank you to  DMW for supplying the design team with images. :) Speaking of the team, be sure to check out the awesome inspiration by my teamies at MIM or click their links on my right sidebar.

When I think of the 60's I immediately think of color and the dp's in Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook paper pad came to mind. I chose three to work with and used an archived Mojo Monday sketch for inspiration. A white 6x6 base calms everything down and I brought more white in with pearls, on the corners of my square panels, and the punched circle for my sentiment which is from Verve's Feeling Groovy set. A trio of hot pink pearls put the finishing touch on my card.

Pick of the Week

#222 Bettina



I adore this sock monkey perched on top of Bettina's handmade gift pouch. He is so sweet and I'll have to remember this image for my darling daughter next Christmas because she's a huge fan of sock monkey. :) Thanks for sharing your amazing talent with us Bettina!

 

 

Sponsor

 

Digi My World 

 

 

Prize: $10 Gift Voucher to spend in their store!

 

 

 

Before I go I want to thank Michelle for asking me to be a part of the MIM design team this year and for my awesome teamies! It's a great team to be a part of and I am so blessed. :) Another big thank you goes to all of you who support Make It Monday by playing along and leaving comments of encouragement for the DT. Those comments mean so much and your entries provide us with wonderful inspiration each week.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

CR84FN69 Guest Designer

Hello and welcome! I was so excited last November when Mona Pendleton asked me to be the January Guest Designer at CR84FN. I've been a big fan of her color challenge for a while so this is a huge honor, thank you Mona.We're playing with the main challenge colors of raspberry, lavender and a neutral for Challenge #69. As you can see, Mona always includes an inspirational quote in her graphics and this one by Emerson inspired my sentiment from Brighter Days by Verve. I'm looking forward to the new year and it has already started off on a positive note. Our new daughter-in-law was due to fly to Seoul, Korea on the 3rd of January to report for duty as a pharmacy tech in the U. S. Army. It's the reason they went ahead and married in late September so they could be together when Brian graduates next May and the thought of being so far apart was weighing heavily on both of them. Imagine our shock to learn on the 28th of December that her orders to Korea were cancelled and now she is due to report to a base that is literally two hours from where he's currently finishing his training. WooHoo! We are celebrating this recent development and we're looking forward to 2013 being the best year ever! :-)

 

Now for the deets of my card-I stamped my sentiment twice which created a shadow effect and Verve's clear polymer stamps are perfect for this technique. The raspberry panel was dry embossed using a Quatrefoil embossing folder by The Paper Studio and Prima's lavender lace and bling adds another layer of elegance. A white paper doily was distressed with antique linen and a Verve Classy Label Die provides the backdrop for my sentiment. A layered raspberry paper flower, chomped corners and additional bling add the finishing touches.   

So there you have it, my exciting news is finally out of the bag and I hope you'll drop by again in two weeks to see my second project with the CR84FN Color Challenge. You can view the beautiful inspiration that Mona and the design team prepared for you by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone has a safe and very Happy New Year!
      

Hugs,

Lisa xx



It's Party Time at The Squirrel and The Fox

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! It's time to ring in a New Year and our challenge theme is Party Time at The Squirrel and The Fox. Nothing says party like a stretch limo and my digital image, Red Carpet, is from our current sponsor-Make it Crafty. I colored it with Copic markers, added bling to anchor the red panel and stamped a sentiment from Verve on my image. However you choose to celebrate New Year's Eve I hope you have fun and stay safe.

  Sponsor

 

Make It Crafty

 

Prize: a AU $15 Voucher to spend in the online store.

 

Please Note: The online store will be closed through January 7th, 2013 for the holidays.

 

 

I'd like to take a minute and thank Linda & Tracey for asking me to become part of The Squirrel and The Fox design team this year. It's been so much fun and I am looking forward to what 2013 brings to my crafty life. :-)

Happy New Year!

Hugs,

Lisa xx 

 

Christmas Anything Goes at Top Tip Tuesday

Front

My gift card slips easily into the pocket and I created a
closure with gold tinsel and two brads.

Back

Hi everyone, we're back with a brand new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday that will run for three weeks. There's a twist to this challenge so please visit the challenge blog for all the details. We are sponsored by our ex-teamie, Tammy Louise Cunliff, who is the creative genius behind Shape Ez templates and cutting files available at Whimsy Stamps. This Gift Pouch helped me dress up a gift card and I printed the template onto designer paper, fussy cut and used a gold pen to outline it. At this time of the year quick and easy is the name of the game and these designs are a dream to work with. You can see more inspiration from the design team by visiting the TTT blog or click their links on my right sidebar. The DT will only be commenting on entries that follow the *special challenge rules* this time so please make sure you check those out.

Sponsors

 

Christmas Challenge



Sew Sweet

 

The Lovely Emma from Sew Sweet is offering 1 lucky entrant

a £10.00 voucher to spend at her yummi shop.

 

 

 

Bugaboo Stamps

One lucky Random winner will win 7 Digi images of their choice.

 

 

 

Robyn's Fetish

 

One lucky winner will win 4 stamps of their choice.

 

 

 

Ooh La La Creations

is offering you any 1 of their CD's

 

 

 

 

Fred She Said $20 Voucher

 

 

 

Shape Ez

Prize: 2 Shape Ez templates of your choice.

 

 

 



We'll be back on January 8th, 2013 and I pray each and every one of you have a very Merry and blessed Christmas. I can't go without saying that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre has been heavy on my heart. It is unimaginable what happened last Friday and I continue to pray for the families and loved ones of the victims. May God Bless them and comfort them during this difficult time. Also, prayers continue to go up for the those left behind in the mall shooting in Portland, Oregon. Let's hold those we love close this Christmas and always appreciate every moment we are given, it truly is a gift.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Lisa xx

Make It Monday #120 with Meljen's Designs

Hello and welcome to Make It Monday's new linky party! Can you  believe how fast this year has flown by? I can't either and December has literally been a whirlwind around my house. If the decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping, waiting in the long line to ship your packages :( and the many other events going on this time of the year isn't enough I threw it a total reorganization of my craft room (mammoth project) and updating our son's old bedroom to accomodate his new status as a married man. Geesh Louise, I am tired and have miles to go yet lol. Oh well, enough of my crazy happenings how about you. Are you ready for Christmas and do you have all of your cards made? If not, I hope this CAS style card will give you some last minute inspiration. I love this image, Cheery Lights Mailbox, by Meljen's Designs and couldn't wait to color it. I trimmed and chomped the corners and added a green dp with a red gingham ribbon to accent. Easy peasy as they say and for a finishing touch I stamped Merry Christmas at the bottom.

Pick of the Week 

#96 Shirley

 

 

 

I love the vintage images of Santa and the tag design. Thanks for sharing Shirley!

 

 

I absolutely adored this entry by Rox as well :)

 

#19 Little Paper Trees

 

 

 

 

Sponsor

 

http://www.meljensdesigns.com/

 

Prize is winner's choice of 4 single digi's!

 

 

 

Be sure to check out all of the inspiration by my teamies on the challenge blog or by clicking their links on my right sidebar. MIM will back in two weeks and I pray each and every one of you have a blessed Christmas.

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Challenge 33 at The Squirrel and The Fox

It's here, time for our annual Christmas challenge at The Squirrel & The Fox. We can't wait to see your Christmas creations and I am showcasing Tropical Santa-Surfing by our sponsor, Bugaboo Stamps. It's good to see Santa relaxing before the big day and it looks like he may have slimmed down a little this year. ;-) We hope you will join us and be sure to visit the inspiration by the entire team by visiting the challenge blog or clicking their links on my right sidebar. Congrats to our winners of the Summer or Winter challenge! Here are some close ups of this surfin' hottie lol.

The palm tree & cloud duo dies are by TE, I embossed the blue background
with TE's clouds impression plate as well. Twine makes a great ski rope. :)

Santa's hat was flocked, his beard/moustache stickle'd and glossy accents
were added to the gorgeous blue Caribbean water. I used Cosmo Cricket's
Tiny Type alpha's to spell my sentiment out.


Sponsor

Bugaboo Stamps


Prize is 7 free digi's!


That's all for me today, thanks for stopping by and a big welcome to my newest followers. So happy to have you here! Please forgive me if I don't get around to visiting in a timely manner right now, this is the busiest season after all and my To-Do list grows daily. ;-)

Merry Christmas Everyone and God Bless You!!!
Hugs,
Lisa xx

Birthday Greetings & an Altered Gift Bag

Ladies on Old Postcards Vol. I by Nicecrane Designs

Hi everyone, I promised to share some gift ideas this week featuring vintage images from Nicecrane Designs. I love Victorian women and couldn't resist working with this collage sheet, Ladies on Old Postcards Vol. I, for my recycled shadow box. It was fun to create and I think my mom will enjoy receiving this on her birthday along with an updated gift bag which I'll share in a minute. First, here's how I altered the box portion of my project step by step...

I separated the box from the frame and used the box only since my mom
is an Alzheimer's patient. Safety first!

I removed the roses and applied a coat of white gesso to the entire box.

Torn paper layers by Glitz decorate the bottom and sides. I trimmed my
image and brushed it on with decoupage. 

Pink is one of my mom's favorite colors so I reused the roses as a border
and accented with Stickles. Pearl bling adds another layer of
Victorian goodness to my shadowbox.

To age my box I used a Raw Umber Faber Castell Pitt Pen and ran a line down
the edges and blended with my finger. Pretty pink ruffled ribbon and
faux pearls (harvested from an old hat) add more flair .
 

My version of Margie Romney Aslett's junk bow. :-) 

The heart and key are from Bo Bunny's Et Cetera collection.





My recycled box

My altered gift bag features a vintage image from

Henderson's Giant Flowering Volume I collage sheet.

 

 

Random lace and ribbon fashion a pretty bow and
the edges of my image were distressed with antique
linen distress ink to age it. Double stick tape ensures it
stays in place.



 

That's all for me today, I had hoped to post this earlier but I am running behind due to family illness this week. I'll wait and share my ideas for table decor on Monday and in the meantime I'll be back on Saturday and Sunday with scheduled DT posts for The Squirrel and The Fox & Make It Monday. Have a great weekend and hope your holiday season is merry and bright. On a sad note, my thoughts and prayers are with the families & friends of the recent shooting victims in Oregon and Connecticut. I don't have words for what we are witnessing here in the US this week and it makes me cherish my loved ones all the more. Stay safe everyone!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

Nicecrane Design Inspiration

 

 

Good morning/evening everyone, hope your week is off to a good start! I have two quick and super easy projects to share using vintage images from Nicecrane Designs. The first is a simple wall hanging featuring Santa Claus doing what he does best, making toys for good boys and girls. After trimming my image I defined the edges with Black Soot distress ink by Ranger to make it stand out. I'm a big fan of antique or vintage images that have glitter on them so after I let my printed image dry I applied a light coat of Liquitex Matte Gel with a brush and sprinkled MS's white crystal fine glitter all over. I set it aside to dry and went looking for a trim to border my image and decided upon yellow crepe paper. Silver Stickles were added carefully to the edge of one side and I set it aside to dry overnight but a few hours should be enough to set the glue. To add my border trim I placed double stick tape along the back edges of my image and adhered it to my frame gathering it by hand as I went. Holly 3D stickers  accent each corner and a pretty ribbon added to the back created a hanger. I kept this project simple because I am mass producing it for the residents at my mom's nursing home. You would be surprised how excited they get about anyone doing anything for them and they all know & recognize Santa. :) I do have to be careful with the items I make to ensure the residents safety so all embellishment has to be permanent. The matte gel insures the glitter stays on my project and can be found in the art department of Michael's or Hobby Lobby here in the US. I took an extra step to ensure nothing comes off on their hands and sealed it with a spray adhesive. Here's a close up of my sparkly surface and trim.

 

 

I have to tell you, this image is gorgeous in person and I love it!

 

 

You can use any Christmas image obviously and here's the link to all of Ignacio's Christmas images and the collage sheet with this wonderful image.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have another super quick gift idea for the book readers in your life and it doesn't get any easier than this. Are you ready?

 

Old World Bookmarks 

 

 



To see all of Ignacio's beautiful bookmarks please visit Nicecrane Designs or click this link here. You'll also find folded bookmarks which are fun and the great part is the work has been done for you. Just add a tassel and message on the back, if you want, and you are done. Even though we live in a highly technological age and e-readers are all the rage, nothing beats holding a tangible book and enjoying the text & pictures. 

 

Have fun today crafty people and I'll be back throughout the week with altered art, mixed media, ornaments, a fun project for your Christmas table and more featuring Nicecrane Designs.

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx  

 

 

 

 

 

Make It Monday #119 with Bugaboo Stamps

Well the Christmas countdown is officially on in my house. I have 13 days to pull a rabbit out of the hat and whip my Christmas preparations into shape before my son and new daughter-in-law arrive. Trouble is, my list keeps growing daily lol. I do hope you are fairing the hustle & bustle of the holidays and having fun along the way. Speaking of having fun, it's time for a new linky party at Make It Monday and this week we are sponsored by the generous folks at Bugaboo Stamps.

I'm using Old World Santa 4 for my trio of ornaments which will hang on my woodland tree. We are a multi tree home and this one is chock full of fishing ornaments, shotgun shell lights, woodworking Santa's and other fun outdoorsy images. After coloring my three images with Copics I fussy cut them, flocked his hat in white and applied Stickles to his moustache/beard & lantern.

The background is a Spellbinders Label 7 die and each one was cut from a dp in the MME Lost & Found Christmas collection. Taylored Expression's helped out with their Trim the Tree die and I cut it from dark green corrugated cardstock that I've had for too long. ;-) I thought about adding snow with gesso but ran out of time so I might go back and do that later, we'll see. Instead of stamping or creating a sentiment I used K & Co. 3D stickers and called it good. Now for my Pick of the Week which is ...

POTW #151 Mandy

 

 

 

I love this Tilda nativity scene with Mary, baby Jesus and that sweet angel with her sparkly wings. Mandy's sentiment is perfect and so is her coloring which is absolutely beautiful. She finished it off with amazing layers and I'm so happy you shared this with us Mandy. 

 

 

Sponsor

 

http://www.bugaboostamps.com/ 

 

 

Prize: Winner's choice of 7 single digi's!

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! We do hope you will play along with us and be sure to check out what my teamies created to inspire you by clicking here for the challenge blog or click their links on my right sidebar. A big welcome to my new followers and a hearty thanks for the sweet comments you leave me. I {heart} you all!

 

Happy Crafting Everyone!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

 

 



Christmas Tags with Nicecrane

by water...

Hi, so glad you stopped by today! It's been a while since I've been able to showcase some of Ignacio's beautiful vintage images at his online store, Nicecrane Designs. A shoulder injury is to blame but so happy to report that I'm on the mend and back in my crafty room. :) I'll be back all next week with new and exciting projects showcasing some of my favorite images from Nicecrane. Today's offering is four tags featuring vintage images of Santa Claus which I adore. As you'll see, sometimes Santa has to get out of the sleigh and adapt his method of gift delivery to good boys & girls all over the world. My method of gift giving is not quite as exciting as Santa's but I do try and make my packages look as festive as possible. For my tags I printed out two collage sheets and trimmed each image with a paper cutter. I made two handmade tags using a plain manila folder and the other two were created with dies and a pre-made tag. Note: I've added Stickles to each one because it is holiday time and I wanted a bit of sparkle under the tree. ;) Now here's the other three with close ups of each.

by land...

Vintage blue pom pom trim adds to the
vintage feel of this scene.

 

 

by air...

 

Love the steampunk feel of this one,
couldn't resist using Sprighly Sprockets
dies to embellish.

 

Santa calling Mrs. Claus for directions ;-)

I used Spellbinders 2010 Christmas Ornament dies
and Pink Paislee's City Sidewalks paper collection.

 It seems everyone this year is running behind in their Christmas preparations. If you are I'll have some last minute gift, table setting, and home decor ideas that I will be sharing throughout next week featuring images from Nicecrane. In the meantime you can check out all of the vintage goodness that Ignacio has to offer by visiting Nicecrane Designs and be sure to visit the blog for more inspiration as well. One more thing before I go, a big welcome to Alison (aka butterfly) who recently joined the design team. I am thrilled she's on board with us and you'll want to check out her first DT project, The Year in Poetry, here. :) Here are the fab collage sheets I worked with.

Vintage Santa CS Volume I



Vintage Santa CS Volume II

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx