New Year's Eve Party!

The Sentimental Sundays challenge blog is having a New Years Eve party that promises to be a lot of fun - including prizes! I'm planning on participating, so come and join in on the fun.

See you there!
Lisa

More Torico!

Since my daughter used the last one right away, I wanted to make another card with this cute birthday pup by Torico:

You can find this cute image and many other at Torico's Etsy shop, Birdie Brown. I colored him in with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and used more of that great Lime Twist 6X6 paper that I found at Archivers. (It is seriously a good thing that I do not have an Archivers anywhere near my house! LOL.)

Well, I'm off to play Santa. To those of you who celebrate - Have a very Merry Christmas!

Lisa

I Made a Card!!

OK, most of the time that is not big news. But lately - ? Eeek! I haven't made a card since the last Totally Papercrafts challenge. (BTW, are you playing along? You have until the end of the month to join in while the rest of the DT and I take a little break for the holidays.)

I've been a big fan of Torico ever since I discovered her work at There She Goes stamps. Torico also has a little Etsy shop where she sells some of her work in digital form. My oldest daughter needed a birthday card tonight so I whipped out this new image that I just bought. I love dogs so I just couldn't resist! And I used my brand new Lime Twist 6X6 pad that I bought the last time I was at Archivers. I really think great paper just makes so much difference in your cards! (The colors are a bit off. I had to take this in my bathroom - sadly the room in  my house with the best lighting - and then try to adjust for the artificial light with Photoshop.)

The layout is borrowed right from Torico's sample card in her Etsy shop. Embellishments are a computer generated sentiment and a ribbon scrap. (Did you notice the word "celebrate" on the ribbon?) I colored in the image with Prismacolor pencils and OMS.

Now that I'm off until the New Year, I hope to be back soon with another card!
Lisa

Partying with Totally Papercrafts!

Welcome to this week's Totally Papercrafts, Time to Party! Our sponsor this week is Karen's Doodles. I chose this adorable giraffe image. It's not your typical "party" image, but to me those giraffes look like they are having an awful lot of fun together! I made this card for my oldest daughter who loves giraffes and loves singing in her school choir. (In fact, she went to a carolling "party" last week where they surprised their choir director by showing up at his house to sing.)

At first, I was worried about what paper I could possibly use for a Christmas card with this much brown and yellow. Fortunately, I bought this Bo Bunny 6X6 pad the last time I was at Archiver's. The brown dots go with the giraffes nicely and it already had the swirl design printed along the bottom edge of the paper. The snowflakes were cut with my Cricut using the Winter Woodland cartridge.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
http://blog.icopic.com/ - holidays
http://mymumscraftshopchallenges.blogspot.com/ - cute and funky Christmas
http://cupcakecraftroom.blogspot.com/ – Christmas Traditions


Be sure to head on over to Totally Papercrafts to check out the rest of the DT's cards. TGIF!!!!
Lisa

Totally Exciting News!

Did you notice that things look a little different? Yes, you've come to the right blog! I've just decided it was time to "winterize" my blog with a new look to herald some other changes. :)

I've enjoyed my guest DT spot with the gals at Totally Papercrafts and was bummed that my temporary gig was about to end. But Cathy from TP emailed me over the weekend and asked me to become a permanent member of the team. I immediately said yes! You can now see the little blue Totally Papercrafts badge proudly displayed in my right sidebar. :)

I've made a few changes to my blog schedule. Since my Totally Papercrafts posts will be on Friday, I've decided to discontinue my Fab Fridays, instead just posting links and tips when I find something too good not to share. I've also decided that I would no longer have a weekly (Sunday) timeslot for my DigiStamp Boutique posts. This way I can post when a new set of images is released  and not feel tied to a schedule.

Wow. It's been tough getting to the computer lately to share my news with you. My kids have been needed the family computer for school so my computer time at home has been pretty limited. Only one more week of school, though, until break. Yay!

I do have a card to share with you today. I wanted to use my Cricut Winter Wonderland cartridge and came up with this card:

You can kind of see it in the photo, but I added some glitter to the "snow" using my glue pen and some ultrafine glitter. You can see it a little better here, although I have yet to master the art of photographing the sparkle:

They were fairly quick to make. I also decided to type the greeting and "signatures" inside my card. They're dated, too, so all I have to do is write the names of the people I'm sending the card to. My handwriting is pretty terrible, so I figure not making people read it is sort of a Christmas gift in itself. ;-)

See you on Friday with my first Totally Papercrafts post as an official TP Design Team member! I can't wait! :)
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts

And now for something really different... After weeks of making lots of Christmas cards, snowy cards, etc., this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is "Anything but Christmas". (I think the girls were just a little overwhelmed by all the "snow" entries last week, lol!)

We are being sponsored this week by Meljen's Designs. Since I never seem to have enough birthday cards, I chose this cute birthday cupcake from Meljen for my card. I think it looks cute with this scrap of cupcake paper from my stash. (I am really trying to use up my scraps!)

Today's Fab Friday tip: If you're a fan of Meljen's designs, be sure to join her group over on Paper Craft Planet. She occasionally gives out free images only to members of the group. It's also a great way to get the latest Meljen news and meet other fans of her images.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming... (of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!). :)
Lisa

Candy Everyone Wants

No, I'm not talking about the 10,000 Maniacs song. :) Tracey is giving away some wonderful candy over at her blog, BrossARTaddiction. It's very easy to enter. Just visit her blog for details. Here's a peak of just some of the goodies that will be included in the prize:

Check out the blog candy section of my sidebar (lower right hand side of the screen) for some more changes for goodies!
Lisa

New December images

Yay! There's a big batch of new images up in the DigiStamp Boutique store, including this cute new Jasper with pudding. For this month only, he's part of a specially priced set of two images called Christmas Jasper. (He'll still be available in January, but the images will be sold separately and no longer at the special set price.)

Supplies: Christmas Jasper (DSB), Copic markers, sentiment (TAC), border punch (Fiskars), pink bakers twine (Lime Twist), papers from my scrap stash, button (All My Memories).

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday - Sketch #184
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Raise the Bar - It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Be sure to stop by the shop and see the rest of the December images. There are some cute Valentines Louie images, if (unlike me!) you are on top of your Christmas cards and are ready to get set for Valentines Day.

Lisa

Merry Christmas, Tilda

It's damp and drizzly today and somewhat warm for this time of year, so it's not feeling very Christmas-y out yet. This little Tilda card, though, should put me in the mood:

I bought this Christmas Party Tilda a while ago and haven't inked her up nearly enough. She's so cute!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Just Magnolia - Anything Goes
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Red and White
Pile It On Challenges - Sugar and Spice
2 Sisters - Punches or Dies
Crafty Cat Weekly Challenge - the colours of Christmas

Lisa

Let It Snow

Well, not really. I personally am in no rush to see the white stuff, having endured a blizzard and several other large storms last winter. However, it is fun to look at some snow-inspired cards as part of this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge Let It Snow! Our sponsor this week is Mandi Moore, who is a rep for Stampin' Up. I have a few SU! sets and my favorite is probably this snowman set:

I am also entering this cute little guy in the following challenges:

Paper Sundaes - Winter Wonderland challenge

Copic Oz - Christmas challenge

Craft Your Days Away - Buttons or Bows 

Crazy4Challenges - use snow

DSYU - ribbon

Designed2Delight - Snowmen!

The papers are from a My Minds Eye 6X6 pad that I bought at Archivers called "12 Days of Christmas". I just love using those pads for cardmaking - the scale is always right and they take all the work out of matching your patterns. So, that's my Fab Friday tip to you.: :) You can find them online, in chain stores like Archivers and Hobby Lobby and at your favorite local scrapbook store.

Now head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog and check out the other design team members' snowy creations! :)

Have a great weekend! TGIF!
Lisa

DSB Deer

Wow, this long weekend went by fast! The next 5 days are going to seem very, very long. :sigh:

Well, as usual I didn't get as much crafting time as I'd hoped, but I did find time to play with this cute Winter Rudi image from DigiStamp Boutique:

I also did a little more cleaning and organizing in my room. I participated in a local crafters' garage sale last week and it really helps to simply have less stuff to put away! That is one of the advantages of digital stamps - no storage (other than the computer you use to purchase them) to worry about. :)
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts Christmas

Happy Friday! Welcome to another Totally Papercrafts challenge! This week's challenge is an easy one - just create a Christmas card or project. Easy peasy! Our sponsors this week are Simon Say Stamp and DigiStamp Boutique, so I created this card using a recent image from DigiStamp Boutique. He's part of the Snow Peeps collection.

The layout is based on this sketch from the Sketch Satuday challenge blog. Sketches like this always give me a good excuse to bring out my trusty Creative Memories square punch. And that's my Fab Friday tip for the day - in a design like this use a square punch or die rather than try to cut the squares with your cutter. It's really hard to get all of your squares exactly the same size and, in a layout like this it's really helpful if your squares are completely identical in size and shape.

I'm off to brave a little belated Black Friday shopping. (My youngest daughter needs a coat or I probably won't be bothering right now.) Have a great weekend and, if you go out shopping too, be careful. (There are some pretty crazy people out there!)

Lisa

Sunday Santa

It's Sunday so it's time for another DigiStamp Boutique card! I am using that cute Santa and Rudoph image again - it's my favorite new Christmas image! You can find this Santa along with a bunch of other Santa images in this month's Cute Santa Collection.

Supplies: Santa and Rudolph (DigiStamp Boutique) colored with a combo of Prismaolors and OMS and Copic markers, scallop border punch (Fiskars), rhinestones (Michaels), circle cutter (Creative Memories), paper from my scraps stash, white fun flock (on beard and hat) and gold glitter (on belt).


Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!
Lisa

Black and White.... and pink!

Hi! Welcome to another fun Totally Papercrafts challenge! This week's challenge is "Black and White". Of course, I had to cheat a little and sneak in just a bit of my favorite color, pink. :)

 

Supplies: Always the Flower Girl (Tiddly Inks), pink ribbon (Michaels), flowers (Prima), papers from my stash

This week's fast Fab Friday tip... when coloring with dark colors (like the grey on the bottom layer of her skirt), always start with a lighter shade marker than you think you will need. You can always apply more color or add in shadows with a darker marker. But once you've colored in too dark, it's hard to lighten things back up.

Lisa

Santa Claus is Coming To Town!

Well, not yet. :) But this cute new Santa has appeared in the DigiStamp Boutique shop this month. He's part of the Cute Santa Collection. They're all cute but the image with Rudolph is my favorite. :)

I'm really trying to use up my paper scraps, so today's card uses bits and pieces from my stash. Santa and Rudoph are colored in with a combination of Prismacolor pencils with OMS and Copic markers.  I've added some dimension with ribbon (Michaels), a holly "button" (Jesse James), some white Fun Flock on Santa's hat and beard and some gold Stickles on his belt.

Santa and Rudoph are playing along with the following challenges:
DYSU - Inspired By Song
i{heart}2stamp - November sketch
Samuel Taylors - Christmas cards
2 Sisters - anything goes

Thanks for visiting! Have a great week!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts Victorian challenge

I wasn’t sure what to do about my Fab Friday posts during my guest designer tenure with Totally Papercrafts since those posts are also Friday posts. I really didn’t want to have two posts every Friday and I didn’t want to move Fab Friday (and have to rename it, lol!). So, I’ll be incorporating Fab Friday type tips and links into my Totally Papercrafts challenge posts - the best of both worlds!

First up is my card for this week’s Totally Papercrafts Victorian challenge. Finally a use for that set of vintage clip art CDs that I bought years ago and never used. I just love this little Victorian girl. I'm going to enter her into the Christmas challenge over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge blog, as well.

Supplies: Victorian clipart (Memories of a Lifetime), dark green dp (EK Success), pine dp (Daisy D’s), snowflake dp (Jovial by BG), red cs (HL), ivory cs (TAC), white fun flock, ultrafine glitter, Candy Cane stickles Sakura glue pen, Burnt Umber Palette ink (TAC), ribbon, buttons, holly leaf “button” (Jesse James/Michaels).

Here’s a closeup. Hopefully you can see the glitter and the white fun flock that I added to her outfit.

Now, on to the Fab Friday portion of my post! I did some searching online and came up with a list of sites where you can find free printable vintage clipart. The first one has wonderful clipart for all sorts of holidays!
Vintage Holiday Crafts

I couldn’t resist taking a peek at these adorable animal themed vintage cards:
Animal Christmas Cards
I just know I’ll be downloading and printing off a bunch of those!

I’ve visited this site before and usually find something fun!
The Graphics Fairy

I found this site a little overwhelming (JMO) but there is a TON of images here to look through:
Karen’s Whimsy

If you haven’t visited Pinterest before, think of it as a way to share your favorite browser Bookmarks. Here is a link to their printable downloads. Lots of fun stuff there!
Pinterest – printable downloads pins

Now that you have all those wonderful FREE resources, be sure to play along with the Victorian challenge this week at Totally Papercrafts!
Lisa

You'd Better Believe...

Sally-Ann just released some cute new Santas in the DigiStamp Boutique shop today. I remembered seeing a stamp that said "When you stop believing in Santa, you get underwear for Christmas", so I changed it up a little bit to fit this cute new Santa:

Inside:

It doesn't show well in the photo, but I used some white Fun Flock to give Santa a fuzzy beard and fuzzy trim on his hat. The layout is based on this week's sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

Head on over to the DigiStamp Boutique to see the rest of the new releases!

Lisa

Keeping you in stitches!

No, not the laughing kind - the real kind! I'm starting off today's Fab Friday with an announcement - I will be the Guest Designer on the Totally Papercrafts blog for November and December! I'm excited to join this group of talented ladies.

This week's challenge on Totally Papercrafts is "Stitch It!". So, with that in mind I've decided to share some tips for adding stitches to your cards.

For those without a sewing machine or who simply dread the thought of actual sewing, here's a link: Frantic Stamper's faux stitching tutorial

Here's an interesting tutorial on using your sewing machine without thread:  Stitching Without Thread

Finally, Hero Arts has some wonderful samples with actual stitching , as well as a link to the video below, here:  Hero Arts: Adding Stitching

Happy stitching! Be sure to check out the wonderful stitched samples at  Totally Papercrafts, including this card by yours truly. :)

Lisa

One Krafty Card

I was so excited when Kimmie decided to celebrate KK's 2nd birthday with the chance to be a Krafty Girl! Even one day earning a spot as a guest designer would put me over the moon! Deciding to play along with the challenge was the easy part. Choosing my favorite KK stamp was the hard part! Which to choose? The graceful Bird Fairy?  The swimmingly beautiful Arianna? Wild and wacky Charlotte? Beach beauty Eleanor? Too many favorites – only one contest! So, I had to go with my heart and pick my sentimental favorite - Eleanor. Eleanor has always made me think of my Nana, Evelyn.

I created this card using the current Kraftin Kimmie challenge – Monochromatic. Like Kimmie herself, I did sneak a little blue into my card. While creating my card, I stumbled across these beautiful Madeline papers from Prima that I had purchased a while ago. They were perfect for the vintage look I was going for and nicely accented the flowers in Eleanor's swim cap.

The coloring on this card is, admittedly, quite different from my usual style. I was inspired by this Faux Charcoal tutorial from the Deconstructing Jen site. It made me think of this photo of my grandparents when they were young:

 (I joke that my grandfather had better legs than my grandmother, lol!)

 Whether I make the KK team or not, I had a lot of fun making this card. :)

Lisa

Barney and Present

Today's DSB features an older image but one of my favorites - Barney and present.  This little pup is just so darn cute. He'll always be one of my favorites (probably because he reminds me of my dog, Dixie.)

Supplies: Barney and present (DSB), papers from my scrap stash, green brads (Michaels), sheer ribbon (Michaels), Prismacolor pencils and Copics.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
Lisa

Fast Finnish Fab Friday!

Today's post is a super quick one. I ran across these directions for a Finnish star. This looks like a fun Christmas project to make with the kids!

Finnish Star tutorial


Enjoy!

Favorite Mo

This week's challenge on the Digital Pencil Challenge blog was a simple one - use your favorite Mo Manning image and a sentiment. As the mom of two girls, I'm not normally drawn to boy images. However, this has to be one of my favorite Mo Manning images because it reminds me of my dog, Dixie, when she thinks she can guilt trip you into sharing a treat with her:

The image is called Bronte and Louis and it makes me smile every time I see it. :)

The layout is based on the current sketch over at The House That Stamps Built

I'm also entering this card into the "Free For All" challenge on the Wee Memories blog.

See you on Friday for a Fab Friday post! (Whew, this week is going by quickly!)

Lisa

Alison the Witch

My youngest daughter is named Alison, so whenever I find a stamp named Ali or Alison, I just have to buy it! I recently purchased Alison the Witch (we're also big fans of Halloween at my house), so I was thrilled when I saw this contest - New Fall Images and a Grand Idea - on the Tiddly Inks blog. I couldn't wait to play with Alison and make my Fall card! For my layout, I chose this week's sketch over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. I like to pop in on Arlana and the rest of the SSW design team. :)

I can't ever seem to capture the pretty effect of glitter in my photos, but here's a close up so you can get a better look at this cutie anyway:

Supplies: Alison the Witch (Tiddly Inks), orange polka dot paper (Halloween stack by K&CO), Goth pumpkin dp (Recollections from Michaels), Copics, Prismacolor pencils, Halloween ribbon (Michaels), border punch (EK Success), circle Cutting System (CM), glitter, rhinestones.

In addition to the Tiddly Inks challenge, I'm submitting this card to the challenges listed below. (There are A LOT of Halloween/Fall challenges out there this week!)
All Sorts Challenges - Halloween
ABC Challenge - B is for Boo
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch
Creavil.com - Halloween
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Autumn
Little Red Wagon - Fall
Wags N Whiskers - Fall colors
If the Shoe Fits - Spooky Fall
Really Reasonble Ribbon - Fall
PaperCrafting Journey - color challenge (orange/white/black)
Paper Play Challenges - use black

Now that the Fall sports season is coming to a close, I'll be able to stamp (and post!) more often. Yay!
Lisa

More Cute Christmas

Today's DSB post features another image from the Cute Christmas collection. This one features Jasper and his cute bird friend. For my layout, I used this week's sketch at the Try Stampin' On Tuesday challenge blog:

Now, here's Jasper and his little friend:

Supplies: Jasper from the Cute Christmas collection (DSB), kraft, brown and red cardstock (TAC), Holly Jolly "Jingle Bells" dp (My Minds Eye), Copics, Prismacolor pencils, button, twine, glitter.

I'm also entering my card in this week's PileItOnChallenge, "Be Happy". I certainly think Jasper is one happy little mouse, don't you? :) Jasper's also getting entered into the following challenges:

Secret Crafter Saturday - Wrap Up Warm
By the Cute and Girly - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts - Layer upon Layer


Hope you had a great weekend!
Lisa

Get Your Kraftin' Mojo On!

If, like me, you are a huge Kraftin' Kimmie fan then I have great news for you! (Or since this is Fab Friday, I should say I have FAB news for you!) Kimmie is offering up the chance to be a guest designer for Kraftin Kimmie in the month of December. You have until October 31st to enter here:  Challenge 100. It's a super easy challenge, too - just use your favorite KK image. Easy peasy!

Well, maybe not completely easy. How do I pick ONE favorite KK stamp? So, here's my first attempt, using this week's sketch from the Card Positioning System blog.

Here's a closeup so you can (hopefully) see the glitter I put on her tail. (I have the worst time trying to photograph glitter!)

I'm going to try my hand at another KK card or two this week and see which one is my absolute favorite.  I'm also partial to my Bird Fairy and Eleanor KK stamps. Hmm... Oh heck, I love them all! :)

I'll be back on Sunday with another DigiStamp Boutique card. I have to work all day tomorrow (boo!) but will definitely make some time for stamping on Sunday!

Have a great weekend!
Lisa

Holiday Hattie

Yay! I finally got to post a card! Today's card features the adorable new Hattie from the Cute Christmas Collection, one of the October releases at DigiStamp Boutique.

I'm entering this cutie into the following challenges:
Wee Memories - Holiday Madness

Tip Top Tuesday - Layer It

If you like Hattie, be sure to check out the other Hattie images at DigiStamp Boutique. There are several more winter/Christmas Hatties as well as a very "bewitching" Hattie! :)

Lisa

In Memoriam

I've actually had a finished card for two days now. However, we've had a very sad event in our house this week. My daughter's rabbit, Chrissy, passed away last night while my daughter was away on a school trip. So, last night was spent at the vet's and tonight was spent with my daughter who just got home today. We let her share the excitement of her trip this afternoon but then we had to break the bad news. It has not been a cheerful time in the Thompson household.

So, tonight's post is in memory of Chrissy, another one of our foster-turned-family pets. She was a great rabbit. So pretty and soft. Sweet, liked to be held, never bit. In short, the best bunny a little girl could have. We will miss you, Chrissy.

Cute New Hatties

Eek! Another week without a new DigiStamp Boutique card. But Sally-Ann has just posted two new adorable Hattie images as part of the October release.

First up is the adorable Halloween Hattie:

And then there's my fave Hattie and Buddy:

I'm off to finish the Hattie card that I'm working on. I'll be back later this week with at least one new card!

Lisa

Fab Friday Freebies!

Another fast Fab Friday post.... Hop on over to the Gina K site for some wonderful FREEBIES!

Enjoy!
Lisa

A Frosty Fab Friday

Today's Fab Friday is also a FAST one! :)

Check out these cool 3D Snowflakes over at Pine's blog. I just love her stuff!!

See you on Sunday with another DigiStamp Boutique card!
Lisa

Meet Louie!

As promised, here's a card with one of the images from the second release at DigiStamp Boutique. This cute little guy is named Louie. Doesn't he just melt your heart?

 Supplies: Louis (DSB), birthday dp (Imaginisce), Copics, corner punch (SU) and kraft cs (TAC)

Of course, I'm entering this little cutie in several challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Time for Cake! (there are cupcakes on the dp)

Anything Goes - Diecuts or Punches 

Crafts for Eternity - Anything Goes

My Sheri Crafts - Think Pink

HIMCR - Pink!

Come back on Sunday for DSB card featuring an image from the first October release, Cute Christmas.

Lisa

New Images in the DSB Store!

Go check out all the new images over at the DigiStamp Boutique store. They are sooooo cute!

October images

I'll post a card or two Thursday night. :)

Lisa

Snap It Up Fast!

Check back later in the week for my DigiStamp Boutique card - I'm waiting for Sally-Ann to release the new October images. But, in the mean time, do snap up the September freebie. It's the great Halloween accessory set pictured below. Grab it before it's gone!

Have a great week! I'll see you in a few days with a new card.

Lisa

Fab Friday Quickie

I'm still in crafting mode getting ready for tomorrow's big craft sale, so this Fab Friday post is a quick one! I stumbled across this site the other day:

Design Seeds

It's simply a blog of beautiful photographs with accompanying color palettes like this:

Great for color inspiration in all your cardmaking and scrapbooking projects. Enjoy!
Lisa

My First Easel Card

I made my first easel card this week. I don't know how many more I'll make of these, but it was fun to try (and succeed) and making one.

I was inspired to try this because of several easel/fancy folds challenges this week. I'm also entering this card into several other challenges, so I included a Magnolia stamp (my fave Standing Fall Tilda), a "Thinking of You" sentiment and an autumn-ish color scheme, as well as giving Tilda some auburn tresses.

Pile It On Challenge - #39 Fancy Folds
Bows and Berries - anything goes
Delightful Challenges - Fall
4 Crafty Chicks - Fall
One Stop Craft Challenge - easel card
Paper Pretties - Fall
Paper Shelter - anything goes
Scrapbook Sisters - Fall
Stamp With Fun - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown – Thinking of You
Incy Wincy – Fancy Folds
Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes
http://blog.icopic.com/ - red hair due on Sunday
http://magnoliadownunderchallenges.blogspot.com/ - fancy folds
http://justmagnolia.blogspot.com/ - Fall/back to school

Lisa

Birthday Jasper

Welcome to my weekly DigiStamp Boutique (DSB) post. It turned out to be good timing that I hadn't prepared my card in advance. Sally-Ann, owner of DSB, just released some new images, including this cutie, Birthday Jasper:

Supplies: Birthday Jasper (DSB), teal polka dot paper (Tim Holtz), Salsa 6X6 scrap pad (Junkitz), sentiment (computer generated using Segoe Script type), Copics, buttons (Paper Studio), Scrapper's Floss (TAC).

I'm putting this little guy to work and entering him in the following challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend - Challenge #17 What a Cutie!
Crafty Sentiments Design - Happy Birthday!
Southern Girls Challenge - Anything Goes!
Delicious Doodles Challenges - Challenge #2 Cute as a Button

If you're interested in checking out the other new images in the shop, head on over to the new releases page. There's Jasper with flower and Sketchy snow person. All are equally equally adorable! :)

Lisa

Milk Carton Box Tutorial

As promised, today's Fab Friday post is a tutorial for a milk carton box. Let me give credit where credit is due. I totally stole , um I mean, was inspired by this milk carton on Kerry's blog. Kerry has a wonderful tutorial on her blog. But, unfortunately the measurements are all in centimeters. Not much for those of us on this side of the pond. ;-)

Supplies:
8.5 X 11" piece of cardstock
Scor-Pal
printed paper, stamped image, etc. for decorating
ink & sponge (optional)
small binder clip
adhesive

Directions:
Along short side of paper, score at 2.5", 5.5" and 7.5"
Turn paper and score along long side at 2.5", 5", 7.5" and 10". Cut out bottom right hand corner and notch bottom tabs as shown in photo below. Add 1" scores halfway between 2.5" & 5" scores and halfway between the 7.5" and 10" scores, as shown below

To find the half way point, align your scores along the 3" and 5.5" marks as shown below. Score at the 4.25" mark. repeat for other 1" score.

Using your bone folder, go over all of your score marks. This will make your box much easier to assemble!

If you're going to ink the edges of your box, the easiest time to do this is before assembling your box. Also, this is the easiest time to add any decorative paper and/or images. Cut your printed paper to 2.25" X 2.75".

Next, add adhesive as shown below. I recommend using a dry adhesive since it grabs right away and you don't have to hold or clamp the box together while a wet glue dries. The second section is the best one to place your image on. The first and third panels are notched to form the sides of the box. The panel all the way on the right is where the sides of the paper are joined to form the box. This is best hidden at the back of the box.

The fourth bottom section has adhesive on the other side. This is the bottom flap of your box.and will cover the other flaps.

How to assemble the box is a matter of personal choice. I find it easiest to adhere the 3 inner bottom flaps to each other as I fold my paper into a box shape, then adhere the side seam of the box, leaving the last bottom flap as a final step. Some people may prefer to adhere the long side first and then worry about the bottom. (Kerry does it this way.) Experiment with how the box folds together before trying to glue it.

Use a binder clip to hold your box closed. You can find decorative ones in the store. Or, use your paper scraps and some adhesive to cover your clip. (This is a great way to use up any super skinny strips of paper.) Add a bow, if desired.

Voila!

Image: Penny Black
Paper: River Rock (SU!), My Minds Eye dp, pink cs (Bazzill)

One last tip. If you are making a lot of these, I would suggest scoring all the pieces of paper in one direction (i.e., along the short side of the paper or along the long side of the paper) and then score all of them again in the other direction. Once you get into the groove of scoring at certain intervals (no pun intended) it's easiest to keep scoring all the papers that way and then score them all in the other pattern. (As opposed to score, turn, score for each piece of 8.5 X 11 cardstock.)

Give these a try! They are a lot of fun.

Lisa

Kraftin Kimmie Christmas

That Kraftin Kimmie is really making me work hard for those challenges! ;-) First, there was the Halloween-inspired "Make It SPOOKY" challenge. I didn't have any KK Halloween stamps so I came up with this card using the slightly creepy Charlotte.

Then came this week's challenge - Christmas in September. Guess what? No KK Christmas stamp. So I once again put on my thinking cap (after blowing off the dust, lol!) and came up with this card using Lavender the Quilter:

I thought the "Warmest Wishes" sentiment tied together the quilt theme along with the holiday theme. And I used some of my Basic Grey Jovial 6X6 pad along with a red and green color scheme to complete the holiday feeling.

Of course, I won't have to worry about not having the right stamp for the next Christmas challenge. I was one of the lucky winners of the most Holiday Krafty Hop! Lucky, lucky me! :)

See you tomorrow for the milk carton box tutorial!
Lisa

Fall Tilda

It's starting to feel like summer days are on the wane and autumn will be here soon. It certainly is a good excuse to dust off one of my favorite Magnolia stamps, Standing Fall Tilda.  (She must be a lot of other people's favorites, because she's currently sold out at the Magnolia-licious store. I'm sure Diana will be getting more in stock soon, though.)

I'm entering Tilda in quite a few challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Anything Goes Challenges - Anything Goes
Outlawz - Wednesday's Sketch Challenge
Magnolia-licious Highlites - Fall or Back to School Challenge
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Fall colors challenge

Whew, Tilda is really getting around today. :-)

Don't forget to stop by on Friday for my tutorial on making a milk carton box with your Scor-Pal.
Lisa