Mini Album Finale

Good morning and welcome to the finale of my mini album. This little labor of love was so much fun to make and I've enjoyed all of your sweet comments! I am a big fan of all things Parisian so it went together fairly quickly and I look forward to our trip next year. Yes, we still have a ways to go as the youngest graduates in 2013 but my little album, sitting on the shelf above my desk, will serve as a reminder of what is to come until then. :)

I created the above page with MME dp's and the vintage shoe, paper flower, text die cut & pretty ribbon wrap this one up. I did add an antique pearl swirl for a little pizzazz and I hope to include a photo which reflects the current Parisian couture on this page. Here's another page...



This page is pretty simple and I kept it low-key with a few die cut embellishments, a stamped key image and ribbon which I used to frame the page. Next up is the inside of the front cover of my mini album...

The paper and die cuts are from the Destinations Scrapbooking Kit by Paper Studio and I did a little more "faux" stitching with my Zig Writer pen. I am not one to sew but love the look on cards and this technique works for me. ;) Okay, last page is the inside back cover...

and the sentiment Beaucoup D'Amour, meaning "lots of love, always" seems the perfect way to end. The die cut clock is reflective of our "future" time spent in Paris and the beautiful City of Lights.

Thanks for hanging in there over the past few days with this project and I hope all of you have a wonderful fun filled weekend.!
~Lisa

Stamps: collage key (Hampton Art)
Paper: MME Lost & Found, chipboard
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Antique & Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: vintage shoe (Hobby Lobby); pink paper flower & antique pearl swirl (Recollections); text die cut & clock die cut (Paper Girl/The Girls Paperie); fabric rose stickers (Flea Market-Colorbok); pastel ribbon (Prairie Bird Boutique); striped ribbon (American Crafts); brown swirl ribbon (Michael's); butterfly cardstock sticker (Bonjour Icons-Kaisercraft); all other die cuts from Destinations Scrapbooking Kit (PS)

A few more pages...

Hi there and welcome! I have a few more pages to share with you today from my mini album and you can find my previous postings here and here. I'll confess that altered art is one of my favorite ways to paper craft and I'm already working on another mini album behind the scenes. I'm curious to know what is your favorite way to paper craft so please leave a comment and share if you'd like to.

For the above page I kept it pretty low key and let the paper do the work for me. I'll journal on the space provided and a little ribbon and a pretty Prima flower complete this one. Here's my next page...

you'll see that I've stamped this one for a change and added more clear stamps from the scrapbooking kit plus the word "dream" in the corner. I love these stamps and I had the streets of Paris in mind when making this page. (the 86 on the car is for the year we were married :D) My next one is on a softer note...

with pretty flowers, seam binding and a little bling for sparkle. Once again all the papers used are from MME Lost & Found collection and I happened upon these rose fabric stickers by Colorbok that coordinated perfectly. I left this page open so I can place pic's and mementos from our trip and the Paris stamp label by T!m adds the perfect finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing some time with me today! I hope to have some blog browsing time this afternoon so I can check out your crafty goodness.
Have a sunny day,
Lisa

Paper: MME Lost & Found, chipboard
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen &  Vintage Photo Distress Ink (T!m Holtz), Rouge Chalk Ink(ColorBox)
Accessories: Ameruse Duchess Mix flower (Prima); brown crochet trim (Hobby Lobby); yellow polytwill ribbon (TE); dream (Vintage Treasure Stickers/HOTP); clear stamps from Destinations Scrapbooking Kit (PS); vintage car, one way & Paris stamp label stamps (T!m Holtz); lamppost stamp (Inkadinkadoo); 86 numbers (Paper Girl/The Girls Paperie); seam binding (Prairie Bird Boutique); iridescent bling swirl & paper rose (Recollections); rose fabric stickers (Flea Market/Colorbok); hot pink metallic dew drops (The Robin's Nest)

CFC36

This is a rare occurrence but I'm here with my second post today to enter this card in CAS-ual Fridays: CFC36. Our challenge this week was to make a project with the colors of black and white and not a speck of another color. The colors were chosen in honor of Penguin Day on January 20th and the challenge ends at midnight EST so you still have time to enter. Here's a link to the CAS-ual Friday's site if you'd like more info on the challenge requirements. I based my card on Jen Shults wonderful sketch, DS35, which you can see here.  

This card is as CAS as it comes and I love the simplicity of it! On another note, if you were looking for my mini album pages just click here for my previous post today and I'll be sharing more tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!
~Lisa

Paper: The Classics (PS); white cs, black shimmer paper
Accessories: chandelier embossing folder (C'bug); pearl & black pearls (Kaisercraft); Venice lace (Simplicity); 3D foam dots

I Adore Paris Mini Album

Hi there, I'm back today to share a few of the pages in my mini album. This project was created for Moxie Fab World's "Map to Your Heart Challenge" and it was a lot of fun to make. The dh and I are map people, he loves to read them and I love to collect globes so it's a match made in heaven. ;)

The photo above is my first page and I used MME dp's from Lost & Found which I absolutely love. On this one I cut a dp which featured the "star" of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, and gave it the aged look with Vintage Photo distress ink. A recently purchased scrapbooking kit yielded the die cut postcard & clear stamps and a stamped ticket, fleur de lis, and ribbons complete the page. I plan to record our impressions on the postcard and include a photo. Page two is below...

For this page I used a journal tag, die cut image and more clear stamps from the kit plus another dp from MME in a pretty pink shade. The journal tag, ribbon & rose trim complete this one and it was also aged with Vintage Photo. I'll use this page to record our fave restaurants and bistros and it naturally begged for a Bon Appetit stamp. Every time I hear that expression I can't help but think of Julia Child and how much she loved Paris. Miss you Julia! Page three is below...

A brown crochet trim and yellow polytwill ribbon separate the two coordinating dp's by MME and a die cut Parisian label from the kit takes center stage. A clear stamp of the tower is all that I added and it leaves room for photos and souvenirs. Now if I could only arrange a viewing of the Eiffel Tower like the one Fred Claus and his gal had in the movie, Fred Claus, it would be total perfection. ;)

Thanks for taking a peek and I'd like to welcome my new followers, Maggie and Jeanne, to my blog. Also, many thanks to all of you who've left sweet comments for me. Your encouragement and support means the world to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Have a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow with more pages and in case you missed the beginning of my album, which featured the front & back covers, you can click here to see those.
~Lisa

Stamps: Ticket stamp by T!m Holtz (Stampers Anonymous-Playful Journey), Bon Appetit (MFT-Sentimental About Food)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa & Vintage Photo Distress Ink (T!m Holtz)
Paper: Chipboard and MME Lost & Found
Accessories: Destinations Scrapbooking Kit (PS)-die cuts and clear stamps; Vintage Findings fleur de lis & brown crochet trim (Hobby Lobby); polka dot & yellow polytwill ribbon (TE); rose trim (May Arts); cherished memories twill ribbon (Paper Wishes)

Map to Your Heart Challenge

Hello and welcome, I'm sharing a project today that I made for the Map to Your Heart Challenge in a Moxie Fab World which ends at midnight tonight. I wanted to get this finished much earlier but I'm living a life interrupted these day, lol. My project is a mini album and the front and back covers feature maps per the challenge requirements which also asked that they be used in an innovative way. I'll let you guys be the judge whether I've used them in the correct manner, hope so. I will say that I absolutely loved making this album to hold pictures and mementos of our "future" trip to Paris. The dh and I feel when our last wee one goes to college, and we are officially empty nesters, that we are due a vacation of a lifetime. How's that for some moxie? :D

Here's a breakdown of how I made the covers, the map images are from Pink Paislee's Daily Junque Map paper and a map page I found in the Sweet Nectar 6x6 paper pad by K & Co. For my front cover I featured the two map pages and some shabby goodness. After I created my base using the reverse side of PP Daily Junque Map I placed a strip on the binder from the DJ map page, using the map page from the Sweet Nectar pad I cut a section featuring Europe and framed it with a chipboard postage frame. A heart trinket pin marks our future destination of Paris and I tucked two more behind the paper roses for some added love. The sentiment on the Webster's Pages postcard which says, "la vie est bonne" meaning "Life is Great" was the perfect way to express how life will be when we are in the City of Lights. Now for the back, I used the map page from PP's Daily Junque and accessorized it with a stamped compass image which I colored with Copic markers. The clear stamp stickers were pulled from a scrapbooking kit and they add the passport feel I was looking for. Since this is a Parisian themed album I did some "faux" stitching on the back cover with my trusty Zig Writer for a little interest and I should add that I "faux" painted the chipboard frame, on the front cover, with Smooch. ;) Here is one more picture with a close up of the map on the front of my mini album.

Hope you enjoyed my entry for this challenge, I'll be posting the pages throughout the week and sharing how I created those on my blog. I'm a huge fan of projects like this and my mojo is flowing so I just might end up in mini album overload, lol. Have a super day and remember to "do something creative every day" because it's good for the soul.
Take care,
Lisa

Front Cover Supplies:
Covers: Book Covers by 7 Gypsies
Paper: Daily Junque Map page (Pink Paislee), Sweet Nectar World Map page (K&Co.), Webster's Pages Postcard Set (courtesy of Lilsweetpea's Blog Candy)
Accessories: i & adore from Paper Girl sticker market, Paris letters from Maggie chipboard alphabet pink newsprint, die cut patchwork heart from Paper Girl die cuts (The Girls Paperie); Eiffel Tower from Bonjour-Icons Sticker Sheet (Kaisercraft); pink crystal heart & heart trinket pins (TE); paper roses (Recollections); memories metal signage (Making Memories); brown seam binding (Prairie Bird Boutique); pink ruffled ribbon (May Arts); Corners (T!m Holtz/idea-o-logy); chipboard postage frame (Maya Road); Pool & Taffy Smooch (Clearsnap); 3D foam dots and Zip Dry paper glue

Back Cover:
Covers: Book Covers by 7 Gypsies
Stamps: You Are My Anchor set by Just Rite Stampers
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessores: Copics, Zig Chocolate Writer (Kuretake Co.); clear stamps from Destinations Scrapbooking Kit (Paper Studio)

TE Calendar Challenge - January

Hi everyone, I'm here today with a brand spanking new challenge sponsored by Taylored Expressions. Taylor, owner & designer, is sponsoring the monthly TE Calendar Challenge and participants who enter 10 out of 12 months will be entered in a random drawing for $150 worth of TE stamps, dies and other supplies at the end of the year. If you're interested you can learn more about the deets on Taylor's blog post where she gives you the rundown and pick up the badge if you'd like to. I made TE inspired calendars from Taylor's 12 Days of Christmas in 2010 and they were a hit, now they are a regular item on my gift giving list so this challenge is right up my alley. You can join in now and create a calendar as a gift (or for yourself) and when she releases the new 2013 calendar in April you can get a jump start on next year's gift giving as well.

For my January calendar I started off with the 6x6 2012 calendar download and trimmed it from its original size. I chose the New Beginnings set because it has the perfect "new year" sentiment and it just happens to come with this gorgeous rose stamp which I used randomly on the calendar and on my die cut Take Note Frame 2. After I stamped my sentiment on the frame I added some coordinating pearls, sparkly yellow stickles to the roses and a butterfly to reinforce the "new beginnings" theme of this calendar. The 2012 6x6 calendars were designed with the month pre-printed on them and the blue hue for January did not work with the blue ink I chose so I found a solution by covering the title with tiny type alpha's. After I completed my calendar I cut a 6x6 piece of blue cardstock and mounted my calendar page to it and finished it off with blue gingham ribbon for some visual pop.

That's all for me today, hope your weekend is the best!
~Lisa

Stamps: New Beginnings (TE)
Ink: Memento Paris Dusk, Yellow Citrus chalk ink (ColorBox Petal Point)
Paper: Choice Snow White (TE), blue cs
Accessories: Take Note Frame 2 & Butterflies (set of 3) dies (TE); blue & yellow pearls, dark blue rhinestones (Kaisercraft); yellow tiny type alpha's (Cosmo Cricket); gingham blue ribbon trends ribbon (PS)

A new day and a new challenge...

Good morning and thanks for stopping by today. I'm here to share a card that I am entering in the CR84FN46 Color Challenge and a *new to me* challenge, CAS-ual Friday's. I am coming in under the wire for the CAS challenge so I'll make this short and sweet. I used the CR84FN46 main colors of light pink, yellow & neutral with the scallop requirement for the CAS-ual Friday's challenge. Here's the graphic for the CR84FN46 Color Challenge showing our main colors and photo inspiration.

I started with a Hero Arts pre-made card and punched two MS Layered Arches borders which I accented with White Opal liquid pearls by Ranger. I painted two Maya Road chipboard hearts with Pearl Adirondack Acrylic Paint, let them dry and then added some sparkle with Pinkie Fairy Dust glitter. I die cut a banner from TCP's Easy Rosette 017 and used the small rosette as a backdrop for my Prima French White Fairytale Rose. The foam heart was die cut from Verve's From the Heart die set and the stamps are also from Verve. Black and white were the two neutrals I used and otherwise I remained true to the main colors of light pink, yellow and neutral. The scallops come into play with my punched borders and I separated them with pink polytwill ribbon for a little added sweetness. ;)

Thanks again for stopping by and I always enjoy your sweet comments!
Have an awesome day,
Lisa

Stamps: Dream Big & Love Notes (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versa Color Narcissus
Paper: soft pink vellum, Annalee dp -backing on lg. heart- (Prima), yellow cs, Choice Snow White (TE)
Accessories: From the Heart die (Verve); Easy Rosette 017 (The Cat's Pajamas); pink polytwill ribbon; craft foam; glitter; acrylic paint; border punch; liquid pearls; paper flower; 3D Glue Dots

Wedding Wishes

Hi everyone! I'm poppin' in to share my card for The Play Date Cafe Challenge #114 and for VLV's Week 1 Sketch Challenge over at SCS. This week we are playing with the main colors of burgundy, gold and plum and I love the richness they bring to this card. I had a hard time finding dp's with the required colors but I stumbled upon some MME's papers which I've had for awhile and it was nice to find a good use for them. It wasn't until I had this card 85% completed that I realized Andrea Ewen actually used two of the same dp's that I did. I decided to press forward and all I can say is great minds think alike, lol. Here's our color inspiration for this week and you can also check out Amber's fabulous sketch which my card is based on. 

This card was a lot of fun to make and it is going to a very special young man who is marrying soon, obviously. He is my dh's second cousin and was the ring bearer in our wedding, nearly 26 years ago. Yes, I do feel old but so very happy that he has found love with that someone special. The inside is stamped with another sentiment from Love Story by Verve which says, "Wishing you a lifetime of happiness" and we do. I pray you'll be as happy as we have been and that your love grows stronger every day, Brent & Monica.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!
~Lisa

Stamps: Love Story & Tag Time (Verve)
Ink: Versa Color Burgundy & Boysenberry, gold (unknown)
Paper: So Sophie Graceful Collection (MME); French Vanilla cs (Bazzill); burgundy & plum cs
Accessories: Lovely Marquee Die & TinySweet Scallop Die Set (Verve); Spellbinders Cl. Standard Circles Lg.; gold rose (Prima); plum ribbon (Hobby Lobby); Copic's; rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

Frosted Windowpanes...

No, I'm not talking about the Christmas song but the "Frosted Window" technique that was featured on SCS yesterday. I loved it when I saw the sample and decided to give it a try as this year I am personally challenging myself to two things. First, actually TRY new techniques and second, USE tools that I haven't used already. Here's a link to the Wednesday tutorial on SCS with step-by-step instructions & video and a close-up of the frosted window.

For my card today I used an embellishment that I love, pearls, and I used quite a few in various ways including Buttercup Liquid Pearls by Ranger. My designer papers are from Origins paper pad by Basic Grey and I paired it with yellow and white cardstock because I needed a reminder that spring is on the way. :-)  Daffodils always signal that winter will soon be over so I chose an image from Just Rite's set, The Greatest Joy, and used three shades each of yellow and green Copic's to color my stamped images. The technique requires you to stamp one image on cs and color in darker shades then stamp it again on vellum and color with the lighter shades. A Spellbinders die was used to cut a window for the images to show through and I accented it with  5mm pearls. The two coordinating dp's needed a break point so I used Webster's Pages yellow crochet trim, a MS punch that mimics the trim, and more pearls to do the job. Just Rite's birthday sentiment is stamped in a matching green hue and framed with liquid pearls. I should mention that the seam binding which I made the bow from is a little "happy" that was wrapped around products I ordered from Emma's Paperie, love that about them. 

This was a great technique to try and they say "practice makes perfect" so I'm definitely going to give this one another try. Hope you like it and that you have fun crafting today!
~Lisa

Stamps: The Greatest Joy Set  & All Occasions Nested Sentiments (Just Rite Stampers)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Bamboo Leaves
Paper: Origins (BG), Bazzill Mexican Poppy & Diamond cs, Choice Snow White (TE), vellum
Accessories: Spellbinders Lacey Ovals & Long Cl. Rectangles Lg.; pearls (PS & Kaisercraft); Buttercup Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Copics; Yellow Trim (Webster's Pages); Gothic Arches border punch (MS); yellow seam binding (Emma's Paperie); Zip Dry Paper Glue (Beacon); foam tape & 3D dots

My Give-a-Way Arrived!!!

Designed by Kristin of Lilsweetpea's Place

Hello there and sorry I've been MIA this week. I'm back from a quick trip and when I arrived home I had a package of Webster Pages goodies and a full-size Scor Pal, YA HOO!!! I am over the moon and was totally blown away by all of the WP items. Kristin, of Lilsweetpea's Place, is one generous lady and she included a handmade card which is featured at the top of my post. I truly can not thank her enough for all of the wonderful craft goodness but I was sincerely touched by how beautiful her card is and the sweet note she included. As I have scoured her blog I can see why she is on design teams and even has her own business which features her handmade gifts. She is enormously talented and I hope you'll check out her blog and  online business because you will not be disappointed, promise. If you'd like a run down as to the contents of her give-a-way then click here for the list of Webster Pages items.

Thank you again, Kristin, for making my Christmas Day a little extra special. I'm having a tough time trying to decide what to make first, lol.

I will be back tomorrow with a "new to me" technique card and I am also entering two "new to me" challenges so look for those soon. Have an awesome day and hopefully it is sunny in your corner of the world because we haven't seen the sun in nearly a week.
~Lisa

Thank You

A new year and a new challenge! Last month the creator of Play Date Cafe, Julie Ranae, invited me to play along in her challenge and I was so excited. I love this challenge and even though color challenges throw me for a loop sometimes they force me out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing. The colors for this week are juniper, mint and vanilla and I did bring in one neutral color, brown, for my stamped images. Of course it helps to have a great sketch to work with and this week I used Claire's (WMS owner/designer) sketch and entered her challenge as well. The stamps are from three different sets and I personally love how she designs her stamps to interact with other WMS sets so that you have numerous options to work with. :-) Here's my card for the PDCC#113 and WMSC79 challenges. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

~Lisa

Stamps: Rescue Remedies, Rescue Remedies Additions, & Victorian Fripperie (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper: Lost & Found (MME); Reflecting Pool cs (Coredinations); French Vanilla cs (Bazzill Basics)

Accessories: Spellbinders Standard Classic Circles; Portabello Road brad (MME); 3D foam dots (Therm O Web); Vanilla Seam Binding (Prairie Bird Boutique); distressing tool (T!m Holtz)

Irish Blessing for the New Year!

Good morning everyone! I'm here to share a card I made featuring the CR84FN45 Color Challenge colors  and Jen Shult's deconstructed sketch . This is my first challenge entry of the year and I'm excited to see where 2012 takes me, creatively speaking! I love the main colors of medium blue, orange and yellow and I paired them with one neutral which is black. I did flip the placement of embellishments but otherwise remained true to the sketch. The butterfly represents "new beginnings" and since we are in a new year I thought it would be nice to reflect that on my card. Here's the CR84FN45 photo which provided inspiration and our main colors for this challenge.

I layered several pieces of paper and distressed most of them for some texture. The base starts out with yellow then I added blue and black (neutral) and chose an orange houndstooth dp by MME that I love. I die cut a border from yellow cardstock and to add a homemade touch I "stitched" a border around the two main panels and stamped the Irish Blessing onto the main image. The stamped sentiment is from Verve's Blessings set and I loved it when I saw it as the quote in the CR84FN Color Challenge photo. So nice to have it as a stamp and I love Verve's stamps for just this reason, so many awesome sentiments and sayings.

Okay, that's all for me today. I feel like I am still in recovery from the holidays and hope to have more energy next week. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope each of you have a wonderful weekend. Two more things, I'd like to welcome to a new follower to my blog, Jenna, and wish my dh and his Tigahs good luck in the upcoming bowl game on Monday. GEAUX TIGERS! Note: I popped back in to edit this post and include the CR84FN photo graphic, seriously I am NOT a morning person. :-(
~Lisa :-)

Stamps: Blessings (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Fly A Kite Lime Twist (MME), cs
Accessories: Die-namics Faux Crochet Border (MFT); Mini Stitch Doodle Dot (Crafter's Workshop); Que Sera Sera Die Cuts (K & Co.); Bright Large Gemstone Stickers (MS); Buttercup Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Wildflowers (Prima); black gel pen

Happy New Year!

Hi everybody, are you still out there??? Sorry to be away so long but with the holiday hustle & bustle, endless cooking & baking, holiday decorating & undecorating I found myself completely & totally exhausted. I have to confess that I no longer attempt to be super woman like I did in my 20's & 30's and it is totally okay. But I am back today and I'm sharing a Christmas gift that my super sweet sis handmade for me and I really love it!!! She found the inspiration for this project on Becca Fekken's blog, Amazing  Paper Grace, and I'm including a link in case you want to check out her original. Here's a few more pictures of the front and inside back cover.

You can see how much work went into this calendar and I'll love it forever!!! Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and Day and it's so good to be back in blogland again, I've missed you guys.

~Lisa