Merry Christmas!

Credit: Google Nativity Wallpaper

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

I'm so grateful for this crafty community and certainly appreciate those of you who prayed for me during my recent surgery. All is going very well and I'm blessed beyond measure to have so many wonderful blog and Facebook buddies.

God Bless,

Lisa xx

  

O Christmas Tree!

Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #17 

Hi everyone! Can you believe I'm linking my project up early lol. I'm having my gallbladder taken out on Wednesday and did not want to let this challenge pass me up so I kicked it into high gear. I love Tim's process for altering his woodland trees and the tinsel as well. You can check it out on pg. 60 of his CC3 book and if you are looking for a last minute gift click here to get an autographed copy from Tim.

I rummaged around in my alterables stash and came up with some items to use for my project. 

The box is an old Christmas card box and it made a great base, the Brie cheese container serves as a platform for my two trees and JOY letterpress letters and the picture frame was a thrift store find some time ago. Each was given a coat of Gesso then I added white felt to the card box base and sprinkled distress glitter over it. A Graphic 45's 12 Days of Christmas border decorates the edges.

The Brie cheese box was covered with Tim's tissue wrap, given a dusting of spun sugar distress glitter and the edge was wrapped in ribbon. The picture frame was  painted with a silver metallic Adirondack Paint Dabber.

The silver tinsel was altered using Tim's technique and I added vintage Victorian tissue wrap to each of the frames. I altered plastic beads to add to my woodlands trees and a mirrored star adorns the top of each one.

I love Tim's letterpress letters and was so happy to receive a pack in the prize package I won for my Faded Layers Tag. They're great like they are or you can alter them to fit in with your color scheme with a dab of paint. This was a super fun project to make!

The Inspiration Emporium is sponsoring this challenge and offering a 

to one lucky winner. 

That's all for me today, my family and I would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery from my surgery. Thanks so much!

Lisa 

xx

Inspiration From Within Your Home

Altered patriotic metal stars

Inspiration From Within Your Home

That's the new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday and I'm hosting this one. We're looking for projects that you create using inspiration from something in your home and we want you to also include a photo of what inspired you. 

Here's my inspiration photo

This is our patriotic themed guest room and the flags in the room inspired me to makeover this trio of metal stars. Originally they were black and now they've been updated with designer paper, craft paint and Mod Podge. 

Here are a few process photos

Each star received a coat of Gesso  and then I began to decoupage and paint.  

There are templates out there but I didn't use any of them, I opted to fit the paper to the star. Does that make sense, hope so. Basically I just molded the paper to the star, cut the excess off and gave it a good coat of Mod Podge. Once it was dried I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age it a bit. I repeated this process for the other small star but changed it up a bit for the larger star.

For this one I used a combo of craft paint and a small scale star designer paper. Martha Stewart's stencil tape was used to separate the areas. It's great because it's a low tack tape and won't peel off the paint when you lift it. I used inexpensive craft paint and gave it several coats letting it dry in between. 

Here's what it looked like after the painting/decoupage part was finished. I added a paper rosette to the center to finish it off and Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age it a bit as well. 

Here's the trio after all three were altered and put on display.

They rest on the shelf of the headboard my hubby and I made using inspiration I found on Pinterest. I fell in love with the idea of using a door for a headboard so we set off to find a door and then turned it into a queen size headboard. Here's the link in case you like this idea too. :) While I'm on the subject of Pinterest (which I love by the way) here's another cool idea I saw and put into use for my patriotic bedroom.

I love this table top patriotic themed tree! I decorated it with glass ornaments and Fourth of July party decorations which I found at Hobby Lobby. No kidding, even the flags were purchased there. The glass star ornaments were a Lowe's find and they are perfect. The fluffy white garland was a Wal-Mart find and my tree skirt is actually a quilt that my MIL made for my son when he was a toddler. Here's the link to the tree that inspired my tree. 

Here's one more Pinterest inspired idea and then I'll go, I promise. ;)

 I love the idea of using trunks as a nightstand. 

For more inspiration check out what my teamies created by clicking here to go to the TTT challenge blog. We're looking forward to seeing what inspires all of you and please don't forget to include an inspiration photo in your blog post. 

SPONSOR

Fred She Said

 

Prize is a $20 gift voucher to the online store.

Thanks for hanging in there, have a wonderful day!

Lisa xx

What's Shaking???

Mitten Shaker Card

There's nothing more fun than making a shaker card and today I have two to share with you. I have to confess that I've never made a shaker card before and have no idea why it has taken me so long to do so. These are FUN! 

~ The Cutting Cafe ~

I used the Christmas Shape Shaker Cards cutting file and in no time I created the Mitten and Snowglobe Shaker Cards for two special peeps on my holiday card list. There are 8 assorted Christmas shape cutting files offered in this one file. :) That's right, 8!!!

Snowglobe Shaker Card

Sequins were added to both of my shaker cards and for this one I decided to stamp the background and create a magical scene. To me, there's nothing more magical than seeing Santa and his reindeer flying high in the sky on Christmas Eve. ;)

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut these files but if you do not own an electronic cutting machine, that's ok. Regina always offers a PDF file which you can print and cut yourself. 

You will need foam tape and acetate to create these and the rest is up to your imagination. I hope you have fun playing with shaker cards. 

Before I go, I have one more card to share today that is not related to our DT post. I was going through my folder and happened upon the House Shaped Card and Envelope Template and thought how cute it would be to send this as a Christmas card. The peppermint dp and Crystal Stickles add some holiday flair and I stamped a "From Our House to Yours" sentiment on the inside. I love the idea of using something in a different way!

Regina offers inserts for the windows which I didn't use because I couldn't find them on my messy desk so I drew curtains with a marker and colored my windows with Copic markers.

You can view more holiday cutting files/template/printable stamps at The Cutting Cafe  and to see more holiday inspired shaker cards be sure to check out TCC's blog tomorrow because the DT post is all about them. Also, If you'd like to be eligible to win 3 FREE sets from TCC leave a comment on the DT post and Regina will announce the winner on the 21st. 

Happy Creating!!!

Lisa xx

PEACE, HOPE and JOY

Whew!!!

Talk about sliding in under the wire, well I am with my tag for the 16th challenge at Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge. I'm running way behind this week and my goal was to get this done and linked up before Mr. Linky expires tonight. It has been a week! :( 

Edited: Photos have been updated

( I removed the blurb about editing photos)

Challenge 16 - Layering Stencil: Embossing 

This one is technique based so no sharing of my process but you can check it out on pg. 50 of Tim's CC3 book. If you don't have one yet be sure to put it on your Christmas Wish List so you can play along with us next year. You can order an autographed copy here. Tomorrow when the newest challenge is introduced we'll be halfway through the challenges in the book. That's absolutely mind-boggling to me! 

Here are a few close-ups.

I love word bands and jumped for joy when Tim released holiday word bands this fall. Mowed lawn distress ink was rubbed into the recesses of the letters and I used Tim's red and cream trim to fasten it to my tag.

The bird was die cut from grunge paper using Tim's Caged Bird Alterations die, I inked him with festive berries distress ink and embossed certain areas to highlight him. Christmas rub ons were added to a white Idea-ology plaque and the silver metallic stars were created with Tim's Stars Layering Stencil and Studio 490's silver metallic embossing paste. 

The center of my tag was left in its natural state and its the area that I did my embossing on. No details per the rules. ;) I'm a huge fan of Tim's layering stencils and used three on this tag-Holly, Stars and Latticework. Idea-ology metal embellies were added to complete it. 

The Funkie Junkie is sponsoring this challenge and offering a generous prize of a $25.00 gift certificate to the online store. Thanks Linda!

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend everyone! 

Lisa xx

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the US and I have much to be thankful for. One of my many blessings is all of you-my craft buddies. You guys are the best! 

As you can see I'm running a bit late with my DT card for TOP TIP TUESDAY. A new challenge posted last Tuesday, Buttons or Bows, and Elaine is our hostess. Zlatoena's Designs is our sponsor and several of the DT members created cards featuring her adorable digital images so you'll want to check out their inspiration.

For my card I actually went sans stamps and used cut outs from Graphic 45's Place In Time. This card was based off of G45's November 2013 challenge and I can't share the link because the site isn't currently cooperating. You can download the instructions on their blog by clicking on the Contests tab and searching for it. 

Tip-Sometimes it comes in handy to keep a file with downloadable projects like this one (G45 Nov 2013). They are great for times when the mojo isn't there or you're super busy. This time it's the later case for me. ;)

SPONSOR

Prize is 2 digital images of winners choice.

Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating today! 

Thanks for the visit!

Lisa xx

  

A Moment in Time

Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #15 - Cabinet Card Pocket

It's so hard to believe that we are nearly half way through this challenge. Where has this year gone? This particular challenge is not a technique so we're free to share our process.  Basically we were asked to alter a cabinet card frame and create a pocket. I chose this couple from Tim's Found Relatives because they look so happy and the day I created this it was literally freezing. Thinking of them on a beach playing in the warm sun kept my spirits up. :)

We are working from Tim's third book in the Compendium of Curiosities series and you can get your own autographed copy here.  

I used a #10 tag for to create my pocket and I added a stripe dp from Tim's Merriment paper pad. The bubble layering stencil and Faded Jeans Distress Ink add random dots on the cabinet card, tag and ribbon. 

I die cut a starfish from Tim's Mini Sand and Sea die, painted it with antique linen distress paint and inked it with distress embossing ink. I gave it a good coat of antique linen embossing powder, tapped the excess off and used a heat tool to emboss it. The jar was filled glass beads to imitate sand. The bingo number is for the year these two were having fun on this beach in Maine. 

The salvage stickers record where and when while the word band was distressed with faded jeans distress paint and a heart charm was added. Tim's cream and red trim holds it in place. This was a fun project!

The Inspiration Emporium is sponsoring this challenge and offering a prize of 

That's all for me today, thanks for looking!

Lisa xx

Got Turkey?

 

Hello and Welcome!

I have a fun Turkey Shaped Card from The Cutting Cafe to share with you today. Those of us in the U. S. will be celebrating Thanksgiving next week and the turkey is to Thanksgiving what the pumpkin is to fall. They are the icons associated with this time of year and while some folks are thinking of how delicious their turkey will taste, others (like me) feel sorry for the poor bird. It's open season with no where to run. Can you tell I'm a vegetarian? I am and yes I do know that it means lousy hunter. Bwahahaha! I've been one for 47 years. ;)

This is a super fun file to create with and I started with a brown cardstock base then cut the feathers from a fall paper in my stash. The hat and turkey body parts were cut from white cardstock and I used Copic markers and Distress Inks to alter. The googly eyes were added just for fun. A white Signo ball pen provides some dots, which Regina is fond of :), and the "gobble" sentiment was die cut using a Taylored Expression tag and twine added to finish it.  

The envelope template was cut from kraft cardstock and I stamped Happy Thanksgiving (by Stampendous) in Memento Rich Cocoa ink on the front. It's handy to have this template and I know I'll use it over and over. 

Turkey Shaped Card Cutting File and Template

TURKEY SHAPED CARD........CUTTING FILE - TEMPLATE

This TURKEY SHAPED CARD....cutting file - template features the following:

1 turkey shaped card...approx. 5.25 by 4.5 inches.

1 matching envelope

7 sentiments and 1 invite....this file comes in the following formats: wpc, pdf and svg

offered by

Remember: You do NOT need an electronic cutting machine to work with these files. Each one also contains a PDF to print and hand cut.

For more inspiration featuring this file and other word shaped files please visit TCC's blog on the 21st and be sure to leave a comment. If you do, you'll automatically be entered to win 3 FREE Files/Templates/Stamps of your choice. Regina will announce the winner on the 7th of December. Good Luck!

Have a wonderful day!

Lisa xx

Love One Another

mixed media plaque


~ 3 or More Papers ~

A new challenge is up at Top Tip Tuesday and we want to see projects that use 3 or more papers. Bettina's hosting this one and we have a special guest tutorial from one of our regular players, Nic of Coops Cluttered Corner, and a featured guest designer (Wies) as well. But the big news is that the DT call is over and Samantha and Annette chose four new teamies to join us. 

Please give these ladies a big TTT welcome!

Brenda 

Clarissa 

Lorraine 

Vicky 

We are sponsored by 

and they are offering a prize of

Now for my project which uses 5 designer papers plus book paper for my house.
A few photos of my process ;)

 I cut a 8"x 10" piece of white chipboard.

A Glitz dp was trimmed to 6" x 8".

It received a white wash coat with Picket Fence Distress Stain.

A random house was drawn onto book paper and cut out.

I distressed with with distress inks and ran a black marker around the edges.

I had a glitter dp in my stash that was cut into strips and glued to the roof cutout. To adhere my Frantage silver glitter and ice by Stampendous (which I love) I brushed on matte gel in various places then generously sprinkled it on and lightly tapped off the excess. 

At this point I'm making sure that each piece is where I want it before I adhere to the chipboard base.

My center piece was adhered with X-Press It tape so there'd be no ripples due to the glue. I wanted a nice, smooth finish.

A glitter black Wink of Stella brush pen was used to add the zig zags and scribbles to the roof.

Here's my TIP: 

I mixed a few drops of Picked Raspberry Re-inker (Tim Holtz-Ranger) with my Liquitex Glass Beads for a custom colored heart with texture.

The heart was cut free hand from a recycled package, inked with picked raspberry distress ink and then I applied the glass beads with a palette knife. After it dried I inked the edges with black soot distress ink and dabbed some in various places on top.

A black Prima button and Doodlebug twine complete it.

A Kaisercraft key rub on was added to the roof...

and a She Art rub on border and Deja View Wonderful Words sentiment rub on as well.

Tim's Idea-ology washi tape and four green buttons from my stash add the finishing touches.

I hope you like my project, it's simple and easy to make and it will add a bright spot to my craft room when the long days of winter hit soon. I'm not looking forward to the next season can you tell. After Christmas winter is all down hill for me lol.

Have a great day and thanks for the visit!

Lisa xx