Just Another Day in Paradise

 

 

***ANYTHING GOES***

 

That's our new challenge at The Squirrel and The Fox and we hope you'll join us. Congrats to our Winner and Top 3 of our Christmas or Hanukkah challenge!

 

It's finally here, my last DT post for The Squirrel and The Fox of 2013. What a year this has been for me and my family. Frankly, I'm glad it's over and I'm looking forward to a happier year in 2014. I relished creating with this image, Ocean Paradise, by our current sponsor **Sweet and Sassy Stamps**. Watching the sun set over water, whether it's at a beach or the lake I live by, is a favorite pastime for me. I also love watching the moon dance on the water. :-)

 

 

 

 

I created my sunset hues with Distress Inks by Ranger-squeezed lemonade, dried marigold, wild honey and festive berries. I brought the ink downward to reflect the colors of the sunset on the water and the rest of the image was colored with Copic markers. A wonderful sentiment - Pearls of Wisdom - by My Favorite Things sets the tone for this peaceful card. My inspiration was the crystal water of the Caribbean and the gorgeous beaches I've been lucky enough to visit there. I hear them calling my name...

SPONSOR

 

Sweet and Sassy Stamps

 

 

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

 

 

 

For more inspiration check out what my teamies created to inspire you by clicking HERE or their links in my right sidebar. I want to take a moment and thank the wonderful ladies on our design team for another great year. It seems this year has been a rough one for a lot of us and having the support of friends helps make the difficult times a little easier. Thank You!!

 

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has read my blog or left a comment. It means a lot to me and I haven't properly thanked you this year. I've been remiss to visit your blogs in a timely manner and so many other things were pushed back due to what was happening in my life at the time. I do hope you'll forgive me and I promise to be more prompt in 2014 when visiting/commenting. You inspire me so much and I cherish the friendships I've made along my crafty way! I've also missed my first two blogaversary's, can you believe it? That means you guys are due for a blow-out candy this year, maybe even two so be on the lookout. ;)

 

Have a very Happy New Year's and may God Bless You in 2014!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx 



Merry Christmas

 

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

 

 

It's Christmas Eve and I hope you are having a wonderful time with family and friends wherever you are. Our Christmas will be a cozy but quiet one this year. There are no wee one's in our family for Santa Claus to visit and our son is spending his first Christmas with his wife's family. They dropped in for a few days and visited, we exchanged gifts and now we are babysitting our grand cat, Felix. :) They'll be back in a few days to pick him up and then head home. Our daughter is home from college along with our grand dog, Rosie, and we are thrilled to spend some quality time with both of them! 

 

I'm here today with a DT card for Top Tip Tuesday and our new challenge is **Christmas at Top Tip Tuesday**. We'd like to see/enjoy your Christmas paper projects. As always, you can enter up to 3 tips and 3 projects. If you do leave a tip please put TIP beside your name when you link up. We have two terrific sponsors, Bugaboo Stamps and Heather Ellis,  and they are both offering a fabulous prize to our lucky random winners. Top Tippers are also eligible for a Guest Designer spot so share those tips and maybe you'll be our next designer.

 

On my Christmas card I used Heather's Mr. Snowman 004 image which is super cute and easy to color. I've kept things low-key this month with all of the holiday activities going on. My dp's are from Echo Park's Winter Park by Lori Whitlock and my image panel was die cut from a Spellbinders's Labels Nine die. My sentiments, inside and out, are from Heather's Pure Innocence Christmas Caroler stamp set. A Nested Pennant flag from SB was used for my sentiment on the front and another Labels Nine die was used for the inside sentiment. Two felt snowflakes and some bling complete the inside of my card while the front received some more bling, liquid pearls and a button with twine bow.  I colored the image with Copic markers and used a red atyou Spica pen on the holly berries.  

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful inspiration by my teamies and leave them some Christmas love. Many thanks to our sponsors for providing the DT with images. We sincerely appreciate your support of Top Tip Tuesday throughout 2013! Also, to all who enter our challenges we salute your talent and creativity. You are the reason TTT is still going strong and we look forward to seeing your paper creations in 2014 and visiting your blogs!!

 

 

 

SPONSORS

 

Bugaboo Stamps

 

with a prize of 7 single digi's to one lucky random winner

 

 

 

 

and

 

 

Heather Ellis



 

One lucky random winner will win 3 images of winner's choice!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!!!

Lisa xx

Just Wanted to Say...

 

Merry Christmas to all of you who join us each week at Make It Monday!

 

You guys rock out amazing creations each week and inspire us! So glad you choose to join our weekly linky party at Make It Monday. :) Congrats to our featured entry and winning commenter!

 

The new linky party at Make It Monday is officially open! This is actually the last one before Christmas, Michelle is giving the DT a break so we can be with our loved ones during the holidays. I'm so excited to have my daughter home for a few weeks and also to see our son and DIL before Christmas as they make their way to South Carolina to be with her family for the holiday. This is our first year to "share" our son so it will be different but it's only fair, Jessica (our DIL) spent last Christmas with us and it was their first one married. Maybe next Christmas I might have a grand baby or one on the way. ;) We'll have to see what 2014 brings!

 

As for my card I used an image, Sign It-North Pole, from our current sponsor Bugaboo Stamps. It was easy and fun to color with Copic Markers and I stamped my sentiment in the center of the sign. It's from Verve's Merry and Bright set and so are the frosty snowflakes which I stamped in Memento Summer Sky ink. A corner rounder was used on both center panels and the patterned dp is from Echo Park's Season's Greeting by Lori Whitlock. A Jenni Bowlin button, twine, Blue Moon snowflake charm, and red bling complete my card.

 

 

SPONSOR

 

Bugaboo Stamps 

 

 

Prize is winner's choice of 7 single digi's!

 

A big thank you to Bugaboo Stamps for supplying the DT with images to create with and for their sponsorship of Make It Monday in 2013! We appreciate you!!!

 

 

NOTE: This post has been edited to actually include a POTW. It was scheduled and I've been so busy I forgot to go back and actually choose a POTW. Thank goodness for teamies that keep me on the straight and narrow lol. Okay, here is....

 

My PICK OF THE WEEK

 

#51 Birgit

 

 Birgit's card is absolutely gorgeous and I hope you'll visit her blog to see the inside of it. :) I love the pretty trimmings and the vintage image of Ole Saint Nick.

Thanks for sharing your talent, Birgit, with us at Make It Monday!

 

 

That's all for me today, my teamies have some incredible inspiration for you so please drop by their blogs and leave 'em some comment love too. You can click HERE for the challenge blog or on their links in my right sidebar. Thanks for looking and spending some time with me! I'll see you on the 29th (30th in Australia) when we return from the holiday break. 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

Lisa xx

Christmas or Hanukkah???

 

 

**Christmas or Hanukkah**

 

That's our new challenge at The Squirrel and The Fox and every year my family celebrates Christmas. This one is bittersweet because my Dad and FIL both passed away this year. We also lost our precious kitty, Phoebe, this fall to liver cancer. Yes, our pets are like family members! It has been one of those years and unfortunately we all have them, 2013 was ours.

 

On a brighter note, I created this Christmas card using a freebie - Holly Angel from our current sponsor **Beary Wishes**. They provided two images for the DT as you'll see when you visit my teamies creations HERE however I fell in love with this sweet image and wanted to use it for this challenge. Kathie, the designer, offers freebie on her blog not in her online shop. The link for the image takes you directly to it on her blog and the sponsor link is to the online shop where she offers an amazing variety of stamps, digital images and crafting goodies. :)    

 

 

 

 

 The sentiment is from Verve Stamps - Glad Tidings and the embossed panel is Intricate Swirls by TPS. Lace and ribbon from my stash add a vintage feel while the pretty Prima flowers lends some elegance. Kaisercraft bling and a holly brad by TPS finish the embellishments. I used festive berries Distress Ink on the image panel and the angel was colored with Copic markers. Stickles were added to the holly wings, holly on her headband and the candle she's holding for a touch of sparkle.

 

 

 

 

SPONSOR

 

Beary Wishes

  

 

 

Prize is winner's choice of 3 free digi's!

 

Thank you for being such a great sponsor this year!

 

 

 

 

That's all for me today but before I go I'd like to wish each of you a very

Merry Christmas!

 

We are starting a new tradition in my family this year by keeping things simple. I'd like to be able to relax during the holidays instead of stressing myself out and so far I'm off to a good start. Hope you find a bit of relaxation and some crafty time too!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

 

 

Snow Much Fun

 

 

 

 

I'm back today with a DT card for our newest challenge at Top Tip Tuesday which is Snowflakes. All you have to do is use a snowflake on your paper creation and you're good. Our sponsor is Stamp Fairy and I'm using Toby Busy Winter 2 on my card. He is having snow much fun playing in the first snow of the winter, can you tell. ;) I did take some artistic liberty with this image by drawing in paws and lines on his scarf so I could color block it. I hope the Stamp Fairy doesn't mind. ;) Thanks for supporting our challenge this year! 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Toby is a cutie pie and for a colorful and fun background I placed him on a dp from BG's Nordic Holiday collection. The trees were made from Verve's Winter Fun die set and colored with Copic markers. They received a dusting of MS tinsel glitter and see my tip below for a foolproof way to apply glitter. Also, I used a white glaze pen to create the illusion of snow falling on Toby. The large snowflakes at the top are from Verve's Christmas in the Air stamp set and were die cut with the matching Frosty Snowflakes die. I placed a red gem from Jolee's Floral Prizm Ruby dimensional stickers in the center and for the smaller red snowflakes I placed a clear rhinestone by TPS in the center. The red snowflakes are the by-product of my punched MS snowflake border on the inside of my card which you can see below. I couldn't let them go to waste, they were so small and cute. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP-use matte gel medium to adhere glitter on your paper projects. It is less messy and the glitter will not clump giving your projects a smooth look. I placed a thin coat with a paintbrush on my trees and large snowflakes, then sprinkled the glitter and gave it a good tap to shake the excess off. I got this wonderful tip from a very talented papercrafter some of you may know, Mona Pendleton.

 

 

 

 

Stamp Fairy

 

 

and she is offering a prize to our lucky winner of

 

 

which is awesome because she has a wonderful sale going on right now.

 

 

 

 

Okay, time for me to get busy with more holiday wrapping so off I go. Be sure to check out my teamies inspiration by clicking HERE or their links in my right sidebar. Have a good day and remember not to stress this holiday season. ;)

 

Hugs,

 

Lisa xx

 

 

 

SMILE

Welcome to a new linky party at Make It Monday. Our wonderful sponsor this week is Michelle, founder of MIM, and owner of Pink Paper Paradise. In her online store she carries several brands of stamps including Saturated Canary and I'm using Stroppy Beth on my card. She's a bit pouty and reminds me of my own DD when she was a little girl. She did not like having her picture taken and inevitably a pouting session would occur when the photographer tried to coax a smile out of her. Thankfully she outgrew that stage lol.

 

 

 When I sat down to color her I thought I'd end up with Christmas colors, it is the season after all but somehow this color combo emerged. I do not have a lot in the purple range in my stash so it was serendipity that I ran across an old paper pack by MME-Penny Lane. One of the dp's was a perfect match thank goodness. I kept the design simple on purpose (time allowance) and added some liquid dots to jazz it up a bit. My sentiment is from MFT's DC Behind the Camera Sentiments  and I used a SB Nested Pennants die to place it on. Polka dot ribbon, a Recollections blossom, button and twine bow complete my card.

 

 

 

SPONSOR

 

Pink Paper Paradise 

who are an Australian stockiest of Copic Markers, Accessories and more.
 

Pink Paper Paradise stocks Sketch and Ciao Copic Markers for all of your coloring needs.

They also stock a wide selection of stamps from La La Land Crafts, Flourishes, The Greeting Farm and Saturated Canary.

Free postage offered on orders over $75.00


Although Pink Paper Paradise is only available to Australian customers

the fabulous prize of a rubber stamp

(Fairy Wishes - Saturated Canary)

 

offered to the winning random commenter is available worldwide.


Remember, to be in the running to win the prize from our sponsor this week just leave a comment for another entry. Be sure to mention you saw them on Make It Monday. The more entries you comment on the more chances you have of winning!


My PICK OF THE WEEK is...
#116 Rhea Weigand

 Rhea's card caught my eye right away with this adorable and beautifully colored image. She is a talented crafter and always shares the Copic Markers used for each project. I love the color combinations she uses to bring each image to life. As for these two girls they look like they are having a very merry holiday season. :)
Thanks for sharing your talent, Rhea, with us at Make It Monday!!! 



For more inspiration visit my teamies blogs (on my right sidebar) or click HERE to go directly to the challenge blog. It is the season for sharing so please leave 'em a comment and brighten their day.

Happy Crafting,
Lisa xx
 

A Merry Mix

 

Hi there!

 

I am squeezing in one more Thanksgiving card that never made it to my blog lol.

 

This week at Make It Monday the DT were free to make anything they wanted to. While I would have loved to share some of my recent creations I can't because they are gifts and the recipients read my blog. So I'm offering up this card for this week's linky party. I love the Fall Wreath image by Meljen's Designs. I used it once before here if you want to take a peek at it. It's so versatile and as you can see I dressed it up with Orange Peel Stickles for a little sparkle. Sorry about the poor picture quality, we were out of town for the holiday and couldn't get a good snap without glare. The merry mix part is that the dp's I used are actually from a Webster's Pages Christmas paper pack. ;) Verve Stamps supplied the sentiment and die I placed it on while Spellbinders dies provided the backdrop for my focal image. A brown satin bow, pearls and leaf pins completed my card.

 

 

Sponsor

 

LOTV

http://www.liliofthevalley.co.uk/

 

 

They are offering a wonderful prize of a £10 voucher.

 

 

 

 

 

My Pick of the Week is...

#41 Avril B

 

 

Love this image and the gorgeous sentiments she used to create her background. The striped paper is so festive and so is her little jingle bell. Such a nostalgic card for the Christmas holidays!

Avril, thanks for sharing your talent with us at Make It Monday.

 

 

 

 

For more inspiration check out what my design teamies created to jumpstart your mojo. Click HERE for the challenge blog or on their links in my right sidebar. I'm grateful to be crafting alongside these wonderful and talented ladies.

 

Okay, I am off to get started with holiday cleaning and decorating. Wanna join me? I could use the help since my chief elf is away at college this year. The DH will get the boxes out but he is not into decorating (although he loves it when it's done). Guess that old saying is true - a woman's work is never done.

 

FYI, both LOTV and Meljen's Designs are currently having sales so hurry before they end!

 

Hugs,

Lisa

 

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

 

 

Welcome!

 

We have a new challenge for you at The Squirrel and The Fox and it's Summer or Winter. This adorable image is from our current sponsor **Pink Cat Studio** and I love it. Here's the link if you like it too.  

 

 

 

 

I cut an aperture window from a Spellbinders Decorative Labels Twenty-Seven die and popped my dp up on foam dots. The image was colored with Copics and I added frosted lace stickles to create a fur trim on her hood. They are such a cute couple, don't ya think? Verve's Merry and Bright stamp set provided my sentiments and I used a felt snowflake to back my button with twine bow. I outlined the edges with faded jeans distress ink and added some ruby red liquid dots for a finish. As you can tell by my sentiments this one is for my sweetie because I love him and penguins. :)

 

 

SPONSOR

 

 

Pink Cat Studio

 

 

Prize is 5 free digi's to our lucky winner!

 

 

 

My teamies have a wonderful lineup of inspiration so please click their links on my right sidebar and check out their makes.

 

Have fun with this challenge and congrats to our Winner of Challenge #57 and to the Top 3. The entries were all fabulous!!!

 

That's all for me today, thanks for stopping by!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

 

 

 

Black Friday???

Gift Card Folder-front

(back)

 

 

No thank you!!!

 

That's right, here in America we celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday the shopping rush begins. (Actually I think they've even moved it up to Thanksgiving night, good grief). I am not one of those people who get up in the wee hours, or camp outside a store, or stand in those long lines or any of that craziness. It's just not for me but you know what does work for me? Gift Cards. It may seem impersonal to some but my family loves them and they get exactly what they want. :)

 

 

I am hosting the new challenge - Be Krafty - at Top Tip Tuesday and I created a tutorial on how to make this easy and versatile Gift Card Folder. You can check it out HERE and see all the amazing inspiration by my teamies as well. The fun image is Bobblehead Christmas-Santa by Bugaboo Stamps and I used him for several gift card folders this year. I did create one without an image and here it is.

 

 

front was distressed with Concord Grape

 

 

(back)

 

 

and a few more using the fun Bobblehead Christmas -Santa image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsors

 

Bugaboo Stamps

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

 

 

and

Tammy Louise - Shape EZ

Tammy Louise is offering a fab prize to 1 lucky winner
2 Shape EZ templates or your choice.

 

 

Okay, it's your turn to get krafty. Have fun with this challenge and remember you can enter up to 3 projects and 3 tips.

 

To those celebrating Thanksgiving this week I hope you have a wonderful holiday and if you do get out in the mad rush please be careful, seriously. ;)

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

 



In the Meadow...

(click for a clearer view)

 

 

we can build a snowman

Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?

We'll say: No man

But you can do the job

when you're in town

 

 

Well at least I finished the verse for you lol. For the lyrics to Winter Wonderland click here and sing along with me. :)

 

It's time to kick off a new linky party at Make It Monday! Are you ready? Before we do, I'd like to congratulate our featured entry and winning commenter of last week's party. 

 

 

 

 

My little tune was inspired by the image, In the Meadow, our current sponsor **C. C. Designs** provided the DT to create with. It's so cute! I colored it with Copic's, added a touch of holiday sparkle with Stickles and bordered the Spellbinders die cut with liquid pearls. A simple button with twine and four holly stickers is all the embellishment I needed for the top of this gift box. Each side was covered with green cardstock and a cardstock sticker was added to the front. The gift box was a snap to put together since it is premade and comes with a magnetic closure. It's been in my stash for a while (out of sight, out of mind) and I purchased it here.

 

 

Our Sponsor

 

 

C. C. Designs

 

 

Prize is a $15 gift certificate to the winner. 

 

Remember, to be in the running to win the prize from our sponsor this week just leave a comment for another entry. Be sure to mention you saw them on Make It Monday. The more entries you comment on the more chances you have of winning! 

 

A big thank you for providing the DT with our image to create with!

 

 

 

My PICK OF THE WEEK is...

 

#173 Trisha S

 

 

First I have to say that I love the name of her blog- Sassy and Southern. :) I also love the way she colored this image and she definitely knows a thing or two about shading. The gingham dp  is the perfect backdrop for this fab Thanksgiving card.

Trisha, thanks for sharing your talent with us at Make It Monday!

 

 

It's hard to believe we are celebrating Thanksgiving, here in the US, in four days. Where has this year gone? 

 

My fellow teamies all used the same digi I did and it was fun to see what everyone came up with. Click HERE to go to the challenge blog or on their links in my right sidebar. I love their inspiration and you will too!

 

Have a great week everyone and to those celebrating Thanksgiving this week I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends, good food and good times. L2, enjoy your new home. :)

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

Fall Is In the Air

 

It's Sunday in the US but Monday in Australia so you know what that means-time for the new linky party at Make It Monday to open. Yay! I love seeing the creative mojo from around the world and how everyone gets involved commenting on other entries. :) On that note, congrats to our winning commenter and featured entry, way to go!

 

Our sponsor this week is the fun and cute Bugaboo Stamps. I'm using Jar-Autumn which I happen to love. I can think of so many uses for this image and I let it take center stage on my card. I embossed the background panel with a honeycomb folder by Cuttlebug, colored my image with Copic's and distressed the image panel with antique linen and spiced marmalade. Twill ribbon and bling complete my card.

 

 

SPONSOR

 

Bugaboo Stamps  

 

 

Prize is winner's choice of 7 single digi's.

 

A big thank you to Bugaboo Stamps for supplying the DT with images to create with.

 

 

My PICK OF THE WEEK is...

 

#110 Tracy MacDonald

 

 

Tracy's coloring is always outstanding but she's also included a wonderful tutorial on how to create this fab sunburst. I love this card and click her link to see it for yourself. 

Thanks Tracy for sharing your talent with us at Make It Monday!

 

 

 

Check out what my teamies made to inspire you this week and feel free to leave them some comment love. You'll find their links on my right sidebar or click HERE for the challenge blog. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, have a terrific week!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx