C for Clean or D for Distress at ABC Christmas Challenge

Our February challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge is live and this month we want to see

C for Clean

or

D for Distress

on your Christmas themed projects. Our sponsor is Lawn Fawn and I used two stamp sets by them on my Clean card above. The trees are from the Joy to the Woods stamp set and the rabbits and stars are from the Upon a Star set. 

My first card is a CAS style card with no embellishments just stamping and coloring. The background was created with blueprint distress oxide ink and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things - Clearly Sentimental About Christmas stamp set. For the next card I used another stamp set by MFT - Sophisticated Snowflakes. 

My second card is D for Distress and I used distress oxide inks to create my background. First I stamped the snowflakes with Versamark ink then embossed with WOW's Sparkling Snow embossing glitter. The embossing resists the ink and allowed me to blend faded jeans and chipped sapphire distress oxide inks over the background. A soft cloth rubbed gently over the snowflakes restored their pristine image. I fussy cut a fishtail banner and stamped a sentiment from Verve's Holiday Treats set in black tie ink by Ranger. 

To see more inspiration visit the challenge blog to see what my design team mates created for you. You have until the 28th of February to play along with this challenge.

Good Luck!

Lisa xx

S for Sketch T for Trio at ABC Christmas Challenge

Angel Trio

I'm hosting the challenge this month at ABC Christmas Challenge and we're already up to the letters S and T. To change things up we'd like you to link to a current sketch for S and for T create a project using a trio of images/items. Click the link to see inspiration by my teamies and see if one of their sketch challenges will work for you. 

Remember to create a Christmas themed project!

For my card I used a designer paper which I layered on a white mat frame and adhered it to my red Bazzill cardstock base. I stamped a trio of angels from Verve's Angel Voices stamp set onto vellum using Versamark ink and sterling silver embossing powder by Stampendous. A trio of Tim Holtz mirrored stars and white opal Liquid Pearls by Ranger added the finishing embellishments. A sentiment from the same Verve set was stamped in Ranger's Black Tie ink and added above the center angel. I love the addition of vellum and the way the embossing looks on it. :)

As the hostess this month I am also offering our lucky winner a prize.

Two stamps from Impression Obsession

Sponsor

Bugaboo Stamps

One lucky Random winner will win 4 Digi images for their choice

and 

Sponsor

Visit our blog http://blog.craftyribbons.com

Inspiration Blog http://craftyribbonsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/

The challenge ends on September 30th at 1pm BST and I want to wish each of you good luck!

Happy Crafting,

Lisa xx

Valentine Pocket Letters - Outgoing

I have a sweet post, pardon the pun, to share with you today. I wanted to wait until my Pocket Letter Pal's received their pl's and they have. Unfortunately because I'm still out of town I won't be able to share the letters they made me today but I will before the end of the month. The first one which you see above was created for a group swap at PLP's and went to my friend Joan in New York. 

The 3D rosettes are stickers and I added a die cut glitter heart to the bottom one. The scroll (top left pocket) is a Tim Holtz mover 'n shaker die and I cut it from white foam craft. More foam hearts, by Tim, were also cut from colored foam craft. The arrows are dies by Spellbinders and I used glitter and metallic papers to cut those. The pretty metal angels are by Jo-lee Boutique.

The next pocket letter went to my pal in Germany, Katrin. We swapped a coloring page pl and gifted each other some colored pencils. I added some 3D embellishments to the front which she can leave on it or use in future projects. 

The little toadstools and ladybugs came from Michael's. The die cut clouds are a Taylored Expressions die and I added a doily at the top that was gifted to me by a previous pal. The die cut hearts are the same as above, Tim's Mover & Shakers dies. I used 1/8" red glitter foam and they add some sparkle. :) 

Before I close I want to wish my mom a very Happy 81st Birthday!!!

Hope each of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day if you celebrated the holiday. 

Have a great weekend, wherever you are.

Lisa xx

Goodbye November

That's right! 

It's the last day of November and tomorrow begins the official countdown to Christmas. I thought I'd quickly share my final Fall / Thanksgiving Pocket Letter this year with you. As a member of Pocket Letter Pals I belong to several Groups in which monthly themes are established. In the Anything and Everything Group the theme was Turkey Day and this letter went to a fellow Tennessee gal.

Some closeups...

I used the Hello Journal Card from The Cutting Cafe's Pocket Letter Pals Printable Set. The top row features a leaf print resist paper by HOTP, cardstock word stickers and amber colored bling. The second row outer pockets are green corrugated paper from the Neutrals corrugated 6x6 paper pad by DCWV. I added cardstock and clear stickers, a stamped sentiment (TE) and trio of pumpkins (Verve) -which I colored with Copic's and highlighted with orange peel Stickles- and spelled out a message to my pal with Tim's chit chat alpha stickers.

On the bottom row I used a turkey stamp (Verve) for the middle pocket, colored him with Copic's and highlighted with copper Stickles. A clear "Gobble Gobble" sticker was placed on top of the pocket for fun. The far right pocket has a band of corrugated paper with twine and a stamped sentiment (TE). The far left pocket has a cardstock sticker, two feathers and a hand cut fish tail from scrap corrugated paper. If you look close enough you'll see the renegade exclamation point (which went after pal on the above middle pocket) that somehow ended up there. Luckily I caught it before it was mailed.

I added washi tape to the spine, three brown satin bows and 3 bronze leaf brads.

I filled the back of the pocket letter with goodies (ribbon, washi tape, ephemera, burlap bows, fall buttons, clothes pins, family recipe, a note from me and printed leaves) my pal can use for future Fall / Thanksgiving pocket letters. Also you can see on the middle pockets (1st and 2nd row) more journal cards from the Pocket Letter Pals Printable Set. They are actually from the Hello My Name Is Journal Cards Printable Set and as you can see there are several designs in this set. Perfect for a Pocket Letter Pal to use. :)

I'd be remiss if I didn't share my pal's pocket letter as well. I love it!!!

Thanks Leesa! :)

I adore the vintage images she used and the way she rounded the corners off each ATC as well. Such a lovely Thanksgiving pocket letter and the goodies were wonderful too. As it turns out she doesn't live that far from where I live (in Tennessee) and she's also visited the lake I live by so that was kinda cool. Love meeting a fellow Tennessean through Pocket Letter Pals. I know we'll be swap partners again!

Tomorrow I'll be back (that's right, in fact I'll have a blog post every day this week) with a Christmas pocket letter to officially kick off the most wonderful time of the year.

Have an awesome day, wherever you are.

Lisa xx

Birthday Wishes

 

 

Hi there!

It's time to open the new linky party at Make It Monday and we have a brand new sponsor - Scrapper's Delight - this week. I'm using Flower Basket on my birthday card. I fussy cut the flowers and popped them up on 3D dots for some added dimension and colored it with Copic markers. Be sure to visit my teamies to see their inspiration using this fab sponsor.

 

 

SPONSOR

 

We are very excited to be sponsored this week by the wonderful

http://www.scrappersdelights.com/store/ 

 

 

Prize is winner's choice of 3 digi's.

 

A big thank you to Scrapper's Delight for supplying the DT with images to create with.

 

 

 

My PICK OF THE WEEK is...

#71 Colette

 

 

How cute are these images!!!

Love this card and even though it's an anniversary card I can easily see this as a Valentine card too.

It's super cute Colette. :)

Thanks for sharing your talent with us at Make It Monday.

 

 

That's all for me today, thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my teamies creations.

Hugs,
Lisa

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

 

 

 

 

Make It Monday #132 with Bugaboo Stamps

March 2013 Calendar Page



A new linky party is open at Make It Monday!

We're sponsored this week by Bugaboo Stamps and I'm using the JJ Calendar Months-March digital image for my calendar page. This gal always has a good time and knows how to celebrate every holiday lol. Hope your St. Patrick's Day was/is a happy one!


Pick of the Week
#122 Tammy Ortiz



How cute is this card! I love the adorable image and the sentiment
is a fave of mine. Thanks for sharing your talent with us at Make It
Monday Tammy!


Sponsored by

Bugaboo Stamps


Prize is winner's choice of 7 single digis!

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!

We hope you'll link up your paper creation, old or new, and for more inspiration please visit my teamies at MIM or click their links on my right sidebar.

Happy Crafting,

Lisa xx


 

The Squirrel and The Fox #39

 

 

Spring or Summer is the new challenge at The Squirrel and The Fox and I opted to create a spring card. Our current sponsor is Oak Pond Creations and Kimberly was kind enough to supply the DT with images to create with. I am using Georgia's Daisies and I've paired it with She Art papers by Christy Tomlinson for a bright, fun feel. 

 

 

Congrats to our Winner and Top 3 of Challenge #38-Fairytale or Fantasy!

 

 

Sponsored by

 

Oak Pond Creations

 

 

Prize is 3 free digi stamps of choice.

Thanks again to Kimberly for supplying the DT with images to create with. For more inspiration visit my teamies by clicking HERE or click their links on my right sidebar.

 

Hugs,

 

Lisa xx

Up, Up and Away at Top Tip Tuesday

I'm excited to be the hostess for Challenge 90, Up, Up and Away, at Top Tip Tuesday. Once again we are sponsored by the uber talented Zlatoena's Design at Etsy and they provided the DT with three adorable images to create with. I chose Hot Air Balloon and matched it with fun papers from MME-Out of the Blue collection. Die cut clouds add some whimsy and the sentiment, which is by Verve, echoes the challenge theme and completes my easel card. 

 

To create this card I cut a 6x12 strip of cardstock and placed the long horizontal end on my Scor Pal. I scored (from the left) at 3" and 6" creating my score lines, folded the lines and cut my paper strips. Spellbinders circle dies frame my colored image and I attached double stick tape on the lower half to adhere to the bottom panel. Easy peasy! There are so many variations of easel cards out there in the blogsphere which I hope to get around to making this year. If you like easel cards check out Splitcoaststampers resource page and enter easel cards in search bar to get started. I also love the center step cards that the talented Desire Fourie creates and she has a tutorial page for you on her blog. Here's the front of my card which is unfortunately bowed due to my leaving it propped up for days before taking this picture, sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zlatoena's Design at Etsy 

 

Prize: 2 Digi images of winners choice.

 

 

 

Top Tipper Prize

 

Crimson Cloud 

 

Prize offered to 1 lucky winner is: 3 packs of die cuts.

 

 

 

 

Welcome!!!

 

Annette and Debbie 

 

 

 

Okay, it's over to you now so let's see your Up, Up and Away paper creations at Top Tip Tuesday. Don't forget you can enter up to 3 projects and 3 tips, good luck!

 

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Stamp by Impression Obsession-F2433

 

Hello to my regular readers and visitors! I'm so happy you dropped by today because I made this card just for you and my sentiment says it all...

 

 

Sentiment is from the Hundred Hearts set and heart
images are from the No Matter What set, both by
Verve Stamps.

 

I hope each and every one of you have a very Happy Valentine's Day filled with love, happiness and joy. A few chocolates wouldn't hurt either lol. ;-) Speaking of chocolate, I made these tags to put on the chocolate hearts I bought for my DH and DD but shhhh don't tell.

 

 

Tree of Love stamp by HOTP and "be mine"
sentiment is from Verve's Hearts Desire set.



Sentiment is from the Twitterpated set and
hearts are from the Hundred Hearts set, both
by Verve Stamps.

 

Thank you for the love and support you've shown me! It means alot and I truly appreciate those who follow me, visit my blog (yes I know I have blurkers out there lol), leave kind comments and reach out via email. You certainly make my life sweeter!!!

Love,

 

Lisa xoxo

Christmas Blessings

Hello, hope all of you are coping with the Christmas rush lol. I had some downtime today so I created a card using the CR84FN68 Color Challenge colors of burgundy, gray and cream. I'll confess that these colors had me stumped but I went shopping in my paper stash and came up with an oldie but a goldie paper pad-Basic Grey's Little Black Dress. The gray dp helped bring this card together and I  ended up loving this color combo. That's the primary reason I participate in these challenges, they stretch me creatively and force me out of my comfort zone. Here's the color inspiration photo and just so you know I Google'd the color burgundy-in the maroon family and the color of burgundy wine are two of the descriptions that Wikipedia gave. Hopefully my card will pass. :)

 

 

and a close up of my bow and heart stick pins

I made this card for my husband and I sure hope he doesn't mind the big bow. ;-) While I was shopping for paper in my craft room I found this striped ribbon by May Arts and the colors worked so I used it. Another fave of mine made its way onto my card and that's Spellbinders 2010 Christmas Ornament dies which provide a wonderful, vintage feel. I added more die cuts with accent corner dies inspired by Just Rite Stampers and manufactured by Spellbinders. Even though these are not traditional Christmas colors they work well together and are great for masculine cards.

That's it for me today and before I go I'd like to thank Mona and the design team for the amazing inspiration they've provided throughout the year. You still have time to play along because the entry deadline has been extended to December 12th due to this being the last challenge of the year.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

 



Keep Fighting

 

It's that time of year again, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the wonderful folks at Splitcoaststampers is hosting the 3rd annual Hope You Can Cling To. This month long event encourages papercrafters from across the globe to make and send cards to the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. If this sounds like a cause you can get behind click the link to learn how you can help. Most of us know someone who has fought breast cancer, is a survivor or is currently going through a battle with this disease. My aunt is a breast cancer survivor, one of my BFF's lost her mom to breast cancer and I'm currently on a design team with two ladies who are going through their own battles with breast cancer. One being, Jennifer Scull, and I'm sure most of you know who Jen is. :) She's fighting a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer but I'll let her tell her own story. Click the link to see how she has been coping since her diagnoses in February of this year. If you would like to help or learn more about HYCCT then click here for the details including the address to UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. (I highly recommend that you read this first before you begin making your cards.)

I wanted to make a card that would let the person receiving it know how special they are and to keep up the fight. One of the things I learned from my aunt is how discouraged you can get while going through this crises in your life. It is meant as a gentle reminder to keep going, one day at a time. I used two coordinating dp's from Cosmo Cricket's-Tea for Two 6x6 paper pad and Bazzill Basics Paper-Pinkini to create my card. I love the nestie friendly stamps that Claire at Waltzingmouse Stamps created to work with Spellbinders Labels. I used two of the Very Vintage Labels 10 stamps for the front & inside, stamped each one in Memento Angel Pink and die cut each with a Labels 10 die. Both sentiments are from Verve, the quote by Snyder is from One Person and the inside sentiment is from Words of Wisdom, and were stamped in Memento Rosebud. I've kept it simple and sweet by adding pearls to the corners, paper flowers from Recollections, and a strip of decorative ribbon (which we were asked to do) for the Strip Tease challenge at SCS. You can view the gallery for this challenge by clicking here and hopefully it will provide inspiration in creating your own cards. :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by! Before I go, I'd like to welcome my new followers and thank those of you who leave a sweet comment for me. It means so much!

Hugs,
Lisa

Have a fantastically magical day!

Designed by Lisa S. for Nicecrane Designs

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here to share with you a card that features an ATC from Alice Through Time ATC/ACEO Backgrounds by Nicecrane Designs. I'm excited about it because I'm a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland and these vintage images are a must have for Alice lovers everywhere. I used Deconstructed Sketch #63 by Jen Shults for sketch inspiration however I did move my sentiment to accommodate my ATC image. ;) There are several fab Alice collage sheets by Nicecrane Designs and here's a little preview.

This card came together super fast with coordinating papers from Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland 8x8 paper pad. Blue crochet trim separates my vertical panels and my pom pom trim adds a vintage touch while my natural twine & button add a homespun touch. I die cut a circle to stamp my sentiment on and a scalloped oval with polka dots adds some whimsy. A little faux stitching around the edge and I was finished in record time.

Designed by Lisa S. for Nicecrane Designs

The Alice collage sheets are wonderful to use for altered art, card making, scrapbooking, ATC's and more. If you fancy these you can see all of them by clicking the graphic below.

I'm entering this card in the Make It Monday Challenge #100, The Ribbon Reel Challenge #33-Button It, Paper Play Challenge Wk. 31-Layer it Up, and I'm linking up with 52 Card Pickup-Wk. 31 at the Old Back Porch.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
Lisa

Stamps: Birthday Surprise (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: ATC (Nicecrane Designs), Halloween in Wonderland (Graphic 45), cs
Accessories: Spellbinders Std. Circles Lg. & Big Scalloped Ovals Lg.; Vintage Style Buttons (Jenni Bowlin); natural button twine (WMS); black precision pen (American Crafts); blue vintage crochet trim & pom pom trim (LSS)