Thank You

Hi there, I am popping in today with a card I made in September for a friend and co-worker of my DH who brought us the most delicious tomatoes, corn and peas all summer long from his garden. They were so tasty and the tomatoes were the best I've ever tasted, anywhere. I actually day dream about those tomatoes! LOL!! Oh well, it just gives me something to look forward to next summer. :-)

I'll be back this week with an altered project I am currently working on that's actually for me, yea! I had plans to make a lot of my Christmas this year but got sidetracked with moving my Dad in with us in October and having a junior in high school who is also taking six semester hours of college. Have I mentioned that I homeschool her? I do, and what on earth was I thinking when we signed her up for college??? I am sooo behind it isn't funny but I am trying not to stress out and figure I'll make this project for myself and if I like how it turns out then I'll make some as gifts. It will all get done somehow, I hope. Otherwise I will be decorating more altered tins to give out those handy dandy giftcards. ;)

Thanks for stopping by and I'd like to welcome my new followers to my blog. I am so grateful for you and love checking out your blogs as well. There are so many talented people in blogland and I love how crafters share their talent so graciously. A big thank you also to everyone who has left a sweet comment for me, it really means so much and they put a smile on my face.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
~Lisa

Stamps: You're My Type-Upper (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Garden Variety (Cosmo Cricket), cardstock
Ink: Memento's Bamboo Leaves, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink (T!m Holtz)
Accessories: Arbor Border Punch (EK Success); I Heart U Die Set (Verve); Nested Lacey Pennants (Spellbinders); Sew Easy Piercer (We R Memory Keepers); black brads

CASE Study Challenge #65



I'm back today with a CAS card inspired by the CASE Study November Muse, Kryssi Ng. For my card I used kraft paper for my base, chose a DP with a snowflake theme and stamped a pair of mittens attached by a string to mimic her image. I paper pieced the mittens to match the colors she chose for her stamped image and added two vellum stickers for a little detail. I die cut a matching border and stamped my sentiment and it was that simple. The CAS style that Kryssi is so popular for is definitely the way to go for those with busy lives. Here's a picture of her card which was my inspiration. 

A quick note of appreciation to all those who have served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. My family and I appreciate your sacrifice more than words can express and wish you and your families a Happy Veteran's Day! God Bless.  

Have a wonderful weekend!
~Lisa

Stamps: Winter Mittens (Verve)
Paper: snowflake DP (MME-12 days of Christmas); kraft & cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, StazOn Cotton White
Accessories: Die-namics Solid Bracket Border (My Favorite Things); vellum stickers

Waltzingmouse CASE Competition



Did someone say CASE? How exciting! Claire Brennan, owner and designer of WMS, releases stamps every other month and the in-between months she sponsors SOAP (Stamp of Approval Parade) using previously released stamp sets. It is always wonderful to see what the design team comes up with and they never cease to inspire. Naturally when it came to CASE'ing a project of theirs that was a tough decision. I thought I had my DT member picked out only to find I did not have the stamps she used on her project and wanted to make sure that I stayed within the guidelines so I changed course. As I was browsing through the line up, in no particular order, I found this lovely Christmas shadowbox on Anya's blog and knew what I was going to CASE. This was a FUN project for me and I've included more photos with different views at the end of my post.  

I have mini pizza boxes that have been in my alterables stash for a while and they work perfectly for a shadowbox. I cut  the top off and using the base I backed it with some fun Merry Christmas-Words paper by Paper Studio and cut rolling hills from green cardstock which I staggered. The sides of the box were lined with a polka dot DP from the Tinsel & Twig collection by The Girls's Paperie. Red metallic string covers the seams and I punched borders from two MS border punches, Doily Lace & Aspen Snowflake, to frame the top and bottom. All of the stamps used are from Christmas Cottage and I adore this set, this cottage is adorable and I want one in real life. :-)  I colored the cottage, snowman and trees with Copic markers and used Ranger's Frosted Lace Stickles on the trees and Baby Blue Stickles on the snowman's scarf. The windows and ledges received a dusting of snow with StarDust Stickles and love all the snowy goodness on this image. The roof got its sparkle from MS's sugar cube glitter and I popped up the arched facial board on foam strips for some dimension. A lot of little steps but so worth it!  

Long post but as Claire would say, hope it tickles!

~Lisa

Stamps: A Cottage Christmas (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink (T!m Holtz), Cardinal (Versa Color)

Paper: MC-Words (PS), polka dot (The Girls Paperie/Tinsel & Twig), cardstock

Accessores: Mini Pizza Boxes (HOTP-Sara's Surfaces); see post

Merry Christmas to You...a little early!



It is a gorgeous day here in west Tennessee but the bad weather is on the way unfortunately. My thoughts and prayers are with those in Oklahoma affected by the recent earthquakes and tornadoes. The weather is crazy and I hope it calms down for everyone.

Today's card is one I made using a sentiment & border from Merry Little Christmas by Just Rite Stampers. I love going through their gallery and checking out the inspiration you can find there. Once again I decided to CASE Kathy Jones, Wattle on SCS, and her cute little Christmas card which you can see here on her blog. While I was in the same card gallery I spotted one by Amy Sheffer I'd like to CASE using the exact stamp set in a different way. Such incredible talent on that design team!

Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it! The community of crafters is a special one and I join my fellow crafters in expressing my deepest sympathy to the Renz family. Katie Renz died yesterday of Stage 4 Stomach Cancer and left behind a loving husband and three sons. All of them will be celebrating birthdays within the month so I thought it'd be nice to make birthday cards for them as some of Katie's friends have suggested. You can click here for more info if you'd like to send a card.

Have a wonderful day!
~Lisa

Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (Just Rite Stampers)
Ink: Memento's Rosebud, Celadon (Versa Color)
Paper: Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket), cardstock
Accessories: Classic Scalloped Circles Lg. & Standard Circles Lg. (Spellbinders); clear rhinestones (PS); glitter snowflake brads (PS); MiniStitch Doodle Dot template (Crafter's Workshop)  

TESC149



Happy Monday! I am sharing a card today that puts a smile on my face because I happen to love penguins and this adorable stamp set from Taylored Expressions, Penguin Pals, is right up my alley. I had a busy craft afternoon/evening yesterday and whipped this up to enter in the current sketch challenge. Here is TESC149
that was our inspiration and I love the layering of paper this one calls for.

I stamped the penguin guy and gal, the musical notes and sentiment in Memento's Tuxedo Black ink and die cut my panel with a Classic Rectangle Die and backed it with a Scalloped Rectangle Die in a sweet pink. ;) I selected Copic markers to match the DP and colored my pals and made the snow for their hats with liquid applique and crystal glitter. The panel was framed with Ranger's Flamingo Liquid Pearls and while that was drying I stamped a snowflake from the Winter Wonderland set in two different ink colors, Rosebud & Bahama Blue, and used Taylor's coordinating dies to die cut them. The DP's used on my card are from MME's 12 days of Christmas which I found at Taylored Expressions in her wonderful paper department. I {heart} paper and she has a large variety of designer and patterned paper which makes me a happy girl.  

Hope you like it and comments are always welcome, thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! :-)

~Lisa

Stamps: Penguin Pals and Winter Wonderland (Taylored Expressions)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rosebud & Bahama Blue

Paper: 12 days of Christmas (MME); French Vanilla & Chablis cardstock (Bazzill); Bluebell cardstock (Coredinations); Choice Snow White (TE store)

Accessories: Classic Rectangles Lg. & Classic Scalloped Rectangles Lg. (Spellbinders); Winter Wonderland Snowflakes Die (Taylored Expressions); Flamingo Liquid Pearls (Ranger); rhinestones (PS); crystal snow white glitter (Stampendous); Copics-Y15, 19, & 35; R35, 83 & 85; RV10; E30; G07; B02; BG01; white liquid applique (Marvy Uchida); 3D foam dots (EK Success)











Fall Pumpkins

Hi everybody, I'm back today with my 3D pumpkins and an apology for not posting as I said I would on Tuesday. These are so easy to make and love that they can be customized based on your home decor. I gained inspiration by visiting Lisa M's blog, a blog buddy of mine, and she offers a fabulous tutorial on how to make them. Not to mention she is really funny and very talented so please check out her blog, You Made Me Ink, for more details. I did see these on Sankari W's blog as well and I love the DP she used so I did too. The papers are from MME's Mabel Papers in the Stella Rose Collection and this is one of my favorite paper pads, ever.

Here are a few individual close-ups of my pumpkins.....

 

I plan to make a set for my dining room to match my colors of black, red and cream but for now these are going in my great room. If I get some serious crafting time this weekend I'd love to make a few sets for my in-laws and my sister in Wyoming. In case I haven't told ya my big sis, Cyndy, is the reason I got into cardmaking. She'd send handmade cards that were little works of art and we'd ooh and aah over each one. They were such a treat to receive that my daughter and I decided to start making cards ourselves and we haven't looked back. She was our original source of inspiration and just thought I'd share that today. BTW, can't wait to see what she is making me for Christmas as she has teased me for weeks now, not nice Cynthia. :-( Hehehe!

Have a great weekend and please share if you've made pumpkins of any sort before. After all, variety is the spice of life!!

~Lisa

Stamps: Mindscape Maple Leaf (Inkadinkadoo), Distressed Leaf 02 & Maple Leaves (Stampabilities)

Paper: DP from Mabel Papers (MME/Stella Rose Collection), cardstock

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa & Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Orange Peel Stickles (Ranger); brads; Natural Raphia, Olive & Orange Wraphia (Berwick)

Viva la Verve Week 5



Hi all, sorry for not posting my pumpkins as promised but look for them tomorrow. For now I am entering this card in the VLV October Week 5 challenge and the sketch is provided by one of my favorite diva's, Andrea Ewen. I love that I could bring this card together in a jiffy because of the simplicity of this sketch. I can see so many options for this one and it's definitely a go-to for me in the future. Here's Andrea's fabulous sketch for Week 5 of October.



I used DP's from Basic Grey's Porcelain paper pack and paired them with a coordinating shimmer cardstock. A Lacey Oval and Standard Oval follow the sketch requirements closely but I opted for a Winter Rose by Prima to accent the main stamped panel instead of a circle. The sentiment is from the Words of Wisdom set Julee released in August and I love the fonts and great sentiments. It is definitely a must have set in my book and some branches from the Sunny Days set complete my panel. A row of clear rhinestone embellishments add a little bling and finish it off. 

Just in case you didn't know, I love this sentiment and how very true it is. Life isn't always perfect but we decide whether it is wonderful or not. 

I'll be back tomorrow with my 3D pumpkins and sorry for being MIA the past two days. Have fun and enjoy your life! :-) 

~Lisa

Stamps: Sunny Days & Words of Wisdom (Verve)

Paper: Porcelain (Basic Grey), Choice Snow White (TE store), shimmer cardstock

Ink: Fired Brick Distress Ink (T!m Holtz), Memento Bamboo Leaves

Accessories: Lacey Circles, Standard Circles Lg., Lacey Pennants (Spellbinders); Winter Rose Vanilla Ice (Prima); clear rhinestones (PS)