Santa Scene

Guess who's hosting the Totally Papercrafts challenge this week? Yep - yours truly. :) I decided to make this one of my favorite kinds of challenges - a sketch challenge! Figuring out my layout is always the hardest part for me, so I love having a sketch already in hand so I can concentrate on the fun stuff - coloring and picking out papers and embellishments! Here's this week's sketch:

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous DigiStamp Boutique. For my card, I am using one of the brand new December releases - Cute Santa Scene.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Do You Stack Up? - Christmas
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Winter
Charizma Cards - Christmas Makes
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas/Winter

I had a lot of fun with these little characters. After coloring them with my Copics, I added some Glossy Accents on Rudolph's nose and the snowman's carrot nose, as well as adding some microfine glitter on the ground. I layered an additional snowman onto some pop-dots to give him some dimension. (If you look carefully, you can see a bit of a shadow to the left of the snowman.)

So, now that you've seen the sketch and my sample card, head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to check out the rest of the team's cards. Then play along for a chance to win some cute images of your own (like this one!) from DigiStamp Boutique!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - For the Boys

Welcome to this week's Totally Papercrafts blog challenge - For the Boys. For my card, I used this adorable Torico/Birdie Brown image that I got free from Torico last month. (It was the November freebie. I'm not sure if it's in her shop now or not.)

The layout is based on an old SplitCoastStampers sketch. The blue and red papers are actually really large tags from an old Basic Grey Christmas paper pack. I've never used tags much, especially really big ones like the blue one. I thought they were better put to use as "scraps" for a card.

This week's Totally Papercrafts sponsor is the awesome Simon Says Stamp. Head  on over to the blog to check out the other DT members' cards. Be sure to leave them some love and then join us for a chance to win a $25 gift card from Simon Says Stamp!
Lisa

Something for Christmas, but Not a Card!

This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge will make you put on your thinking cap! Our challenge is to make something Christmas-y, but not a Christmas card. A-ha! This was good timing for me as I am working on an order of candy boxes for someone at work. Here's my project for this challenge:

Don't you love that patterned paper? I have a weakness for striped paper and I love the scale of this for cards and other small projects. It's not available yet, but it will be on the DigiStamp Boutique site soon!

Here's a better view of this cute new reindeer from this month's November release at DigiStamp Boutique.

If you're a regular on my blog, you've seen these little boxes before. If you're new, you may want to check out this Milk Carton Box tutorial. These are simple to assemble and make a nice little gift filled with candy or other small items.

This week's challenge is sponsored by the wonderful Wild Rose Studios. Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to get some design team inspiration for your non-card project. Wow! The DT ladies have really outdone themselves this week. There are some great projects!  Then be sure to join us for a chance to win two stamps of your choice from Wild Rose Studios!
Lisa

Not a Creature Was Stirring...

...except Arthur Mouse! This little cutie is one of the Offers of the Month over at Digi Stamp Boutique.

What do you think of my papers? Sally-Ann, owner and creative force behind DigiStamp Boutique has branched out into digital papers. The green is from the Dotty Christmas paper set. The red dp hasn't been released yet but there are more digital papers coming, so keep on checking the site! :)

My layout is based on an old sketch from SplitCoastStampers (SC237). Whenever I have stampers block, a sketch always helps me get going. I colored Arthur up with my trusty Copics, adding some silver Stickles and some dimensional white fabric paint. Then I popped up the image to allow the ribbon to thread under the image neatly. I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Divas by Design - Use 2 or More Patterned Papers
Moving Along with the Times - Lets Go Dotty
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - Anything Goes
Loves Rubber Stamps - Fun with Ribbons

Sadly, it's back to work tomorrow after a long holiday weekend. Where did those 5 days go and can I get a few of them back?!

Lisa

All Stitched Up!

Happy Friday! Did you go Black Friday shopping today? I confess that I did, but not at 5 in the morning. I went out with my daughters for a few hours later in the morning, got a few good deals and came home. That was enough shopping for me!

This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is All Stitched Up and we're sponsored this week by the awesome digi stamp company A Day For Daisies and the wonderful Stamp and Create.  Just include some kind of stitching (real or faux) anywhere on your card and you're good to go! I love open challenges like that. Here's my card for this week. It features the adorable Birds for Bree image. I just love this dp, too - it's from the MME 6X6 Reunion pad. I don't normally like orange, but I love the patterns and color combos in this pad!

Isn't she cute? I just love those little birds, too. I'm entering her into the Anything Goes challenge over at Lady Anne's Challenge blog. Coincidentally, they are being sponsored by ADFD this week. I would love to win more of these wonderful images!

Check on in at the Totally Papercrafts blog and leave a little love for the other DT members while you get a little stitching inspiration. Then play along for a chance to win!
Lisa

Clean & Simple in Black & White

This week's Totally Papercrafts theme is CAS (Clean & Simple) using Black & White. We are allowing one other color so I (of course!) chose pink. :) Our sponsor this week is the adorable Meljen's Designs and I chose this adorable Cat and Mouse image. It was the perfect image for a black & white card.

Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts challenge this week to join in on this fun challenge. You could win your choice of FOUR images from this great sponsor! And be sure to visit the other DT members and leave them some love. We appreciate your comments!

Lisa

Christmas Cards

My oldest daughter, Jessica, has an on campus job at her college. She asked me to make Christmas cards for her two bosses. Because her co-workers (about 20 of them) are also going to sign, she needed space for everyone's signature. I came up with the idea of doing a simple tri-fold card - an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper folded mountain valley style would fit perfectly into a regular business sized envelope. My daughter chose this cute new Happy Santa set from Torico's Birdie Brown site. I like that the variety of images and included sentiments (love those!) made it really easy to come up with two different cards.

First up, card #1:

Here's a close up of Santa and his reindeer: 

I simply opened up a Word document to create my cards. My youngest daughter taught me how to be able to put my images in Word exactly where I want them. Under Picture Tools, choose Wrap Text and then choose the "Tight" option. Do that for each individual image and then you can move them where you like!

Here's card #2 - just switched out the greeting and the Santa and voila! Fini!

Here's another close up of Santa (excuse the glare on the right):

The sky was the most nervewracking part. I couldn't color it in with Copics, like I did everything else, because it was so large. I decided to use chalk, but I always have a hard time getting my color to be even and not streaky. Whew, I was glad when I was done with that part! (It's a little hard to see the chalk in the photos - it's more noticeable in person.) After I colored everything in, I added some bling with Stickles - Icicles Stickles for the snow and gold and silver Stickles for the reindeers' bells. (I made them silver on one card and gold on the other just for a little variety.) I also used some white flock on Santa's beard and hat. I spent the whole evening coloring and decorating these cards but I had a blast doing so!

Hopefully I've inspired you to get started on your own holiday cardmaking. I still have to decide on the design for my family holiday cards and get going on those, too!
Lisa

Cute and Girly!

Oh, it's my favorite kind of challenge this week at Totally Papercrafts - one where I can use lots of PINK! :) This week's theme is "Cute and Girly" and our sponsor is the oh so cute and girly Saturated Canary. Krista, owner of Saturated Canary, graciously provided us with our choice of digital stamp for this week's challenge. I chose this adorable image - Belle.

For my layout, I used an old SplitCoastStampers sketch. Other than the maroon strip down the center, I managed to use nothing but scraps from my existing stash. Yay me! After coloring her up with my Copics, I added some self-adhesive rhinestones and a Martha Stewart punched butterfly. (I added some color to the punch out with my Copics.)

Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts challenge blog to check out all the DT Cute and Girly-ness. Play along for your chance at a great prize from Saturated Canary!
Lisa

Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star

Happy Friday and welcome to another Totally PaperCrafts challenge! This week's challenge is a fun one - Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star. I don't know about you, but I need to get going on my holiday cards and this is a good start!

For my card, I used this adorable skating Percy from the Christmas Percy Set from DigiStamp Boutique. I  love penguins and he is just so cute and fat and cuddly looking! :)  I had a blast coloring him up! My papers are a mishmash from my supply. The finishing touches are a bit of ribbon, some chunky Martha Stewart glitter and this cute little round sentiment from DigiStamp Boutique's Simply Christmas Greetings A4 sheet. I love these greetings. They're so simple - print out, punch it out with a circle punch, add a bit of Copic color and you're done! For my layout, I used this older SplitCoastStampers sketch:

I'm also entering Percy into the following challenges:
By the Cute & Girly - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Forever Friends - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons - Christmas
Card Makin Mamas - Anything Goes
Pink Gem Designs - Polka Dots/Stripes

Why don't you check out the other ladies' cards over at the Totally PaperCrafts blog for some cardmakking inspiration. Then play along for a chance to win a gift certificate from the generous Simon Says Stamp!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts challenge + DSB = Spooky Halloween!

Hi! Happy Friday!! Welcome to another Totally Papercrafts challenge! This week's challenge theme is "Spooky Halloween" and our sponsor is the fabulous DigiStamp Boutique.  For my card I used this adorable Halloween Hattie image.

I love these dp - they're from a 5X7 paper stack that I found on clearance at Michaels. Although I do buy a lot of 12X12 paper, too, I really like the smaller stacks for making cards because the scale is more suited to cards. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but I gave Hattie some orange Stickles on her outfit. The Boo! sentiment is part of a Hero Arts Halloween set that I purchased a while ago.

I'm also entering Hattie into the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Something Scary!
Just Keep On Creating - Anything Goes
Pile It On - Holiday, Any Holiday!
Ribbon Carousel - Halloween Spirit
Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog - Fall/ Halloween
Catch the Bug - Halloween Bingo*
*Something that starts with a P (pigtails), sentiment, 3 or more papers
Why don't you play along this week with the rest of the Totally Papercrafts design team? The prize is this week is 6 digi images of your choice from our wonderful sponsor, DigiStamp Boutique.

Stop on by the Totally Papercrafts blog for details and to check out the rest of the DT members' cards!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts challenge with Kenny K

Hi! Welcome to another Totally Papercrafts challenge! This week our theme is Christmas and our sponsor is the fun & funky Kenny K. Kenny & Elena graciously let the DT have some Kenny K images to use, so I chose the spunky Mistletoe:

I apologize if this photo isn't the best. My DH is in Colorado on a business trip and I (being the good wife I am, lol!) let him take our camera with him on his trip. So I'm stuck using the cheapie camera that I bought my (then) 12 year old for Christmas. I'll try to replace it with a better photo Sunday night.

It's hard to see in the photo, but I added white fun flock to the fur on her Santa suit and used some red Candy Cane Stickles on the mistletoe berries. (Yes, I realize now that mistletoe berries are white and holly berries are red. Oops! lol)

Be sure to visit the other DT cards at Totally Papercrafts. Then break out your Christmas stamps and join us in this week's fun challenge! You know you need to get started on those holiday cards soon....  :)
Lisa

Doubly Good Challenge!

Hooray! It's another double sponsor challenge week. This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is being sponsored by two great companies Redonukulous Designs and Digi Doodles.  For this week's project, Cathy has challenged us to "Make Your Own Flowers".

Supplies: Goth Girl (Redonkulous), Lilac Avenue 6X6 pad (Kaisercraft), flower punches, brads, Charcoal Palette ink, Copic markers.

I used this Goth Girl image from Redonkulous. Fun image, isn't she?

Be sure to stop by the Totally Papercrafts site to check out this week's DT cards. Then play along for a chance at one of two great prizes this week!

Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - Shaped Cards

This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is a fun one - make a shaped card, meaning no square or rectangular cards. Tricky but fun! Be sure to stop by the blog, check out the wonderful DT cards (the girls really did a great job with this challenge!) and play along for a chance to win a $25 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp!

My card will be up late this weekend. I'm busily preparing for the annual Hatton Craft Show this Saturday.

For those in the mid-MO area, if you're at the show, be sure to stop by and visit me in the church. My daughter, Jessica, is traveling to Ireland this May with the Jane Froman Singers of Columbia College. I am donating half of all my sales to help her pay for her trip.
Lisa

Nail art giveaway

I haven't blogged about this, but I was recently bit by the nail polish bug. :) I got tired of my nails always breaking and being so short. So, I've started taking vitamin supplements and taking better care of my nails. I've become a fan of nail polish and nail art blogs, too (there are a lot!) and recently found out about two amazing giveaways:

Dragon Lady Nails - a Rafflecopter giveaway
Spellbinding Nails

Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - #136 Pretty Pastels

I love today's Totally Papercrafts Challenge - Pretty Pastels. I love pastels (especially pink!) and this week's sponsor is one of my favorites - Lili of the Valley. For my card I chose this adorable LOTV stamp, Teddy Flower.

You definitely want to play along this week for a chance to win two stamps of your choice from Lili of the Valley! Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog for details. And be sure to leave some love for the rest of the DT! We always appreciate your comments.
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - For a Child

Happy, happy Friday! This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is a fun one - For a Child. It doesn't matter what the occasion, just make a card (or other project) that you would give to a child. Every year I am a vendor at a large local craft show on the first Saturday in October, so this is craft show season for me. With this in mind, I made this cute little Halloween candy holder just perfect for your favorite little goblin. I made these for the Hatton show last year, and they were a big hit. You can see one of last year's cartons here: Freakishly Fun.

Supplies: Halloween kid stamp - dollar bin at Michaels, sentiment (Hero Arts), scraps from stash, purple cs (Hobby Lobby), Copics, ribbon (Michaels), mini binder clip

I'm not normally very handy with 3D projects, but these little boxes are very easy to make. (And surprisingly pretty quick, too.) I posted this little tutorial last year if you'd like to try one yourself: Milk Carton Tutorial.

Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to see the adorable child-related projects made by my wonderful fellow DT members. And play along for a chance to win a prize from this week's sponsor, Meljen's Designs!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - Favorite Stamp

Oh that silly, silly Cathy! Asking me to choose my favorite stamp for this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge. You may as well ask me to pick my favorite child.  Hmmm, actually there are some days where I might be able to answer that favorite child question - it's the kid who isn't causing me stress! LOL! J/K!

This happens to be ONE of my favorite stamps because it includes a dog. (For me, dogs are right up there with pink and chocolate.) I don't use this stamp nearly often enough so I decided to dust it off for this week's challenge. It's Christmas Treat from High Hopes Stamps.

We're being sponsored this week by Alota Rubber Stamps. Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog and join us for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to the Alota store. (Wow!) And be sure to visit the DT members' blogs and leave them some commenting love! :)
Lisa

The Hostess with the Mostest

Hey, guess who's hosting the Totally Papercrafts challenge this week? Yep - me! Our sponsor this week is Whimsy Stamps and I decided on a sketch for this week's challenge:

Here's my card, which features this adorable Whimsy Stamp, Starry Night:

Supplies include: Starry Night (Whimsy Stamps), purple dp (Creative Memories), chunky glitter (Martha Stewart) and some foam stick on snowflakes (Michaels).

I love this cuddly polar bear and his little penguin friend! I am also entering them in the following challenges:
Bearly-Mine Challenges - Anything that Glitters
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Christmas is Coming!
Stamp n Doodle - A Touch of Sparkle
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes!

My sketch is a basic one that lends itself to any theme, so why don't you grab some stamps and play along? You could win 5 digi stamps from Whimsy Stamps. Head on over to Totally Papercrafts, check out this week's cards from the DT and get inspired to win! :)

Lisa

TGIF!

The first full week of school is over and, boy, am I glad! Ali's school doesn't have air conditioning, so they had to close early the last 3 days which in turn meant 6 AM volleyball practice. Ugh! This non-morning person did not appreciate having to get up at 5 AM! :)

So, I am celebrating the end of a less than cheery week with some bright and cheery colors - this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge is Zesty Summer Colors (like lime, orange, etc.). I used two different MME 6X6 pads to come up with this deep pink/orange/lime/aqua color scheme:

Isn't little Rosie adorable? She's available from our sponsor this week: DigiStamp Boutique. I used this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems to design my card.

So, kick off your shoes, relax with Rosie and me, and have some fun crafting! Check out the other  Totally Papercrafts  dt cards and enter your card for a chance to win some great digital stamps of your choice from  DigiStamp Boutique!
Lisa

School's Out For Summer!

Unfortunately :sigh:, no it's not. In fact, school just started yesterday (Thursday), so it was back to school for the 13 year old, back to work for me and off to college for my 18 year old. (She's very excited about college and is definitely getting the most fun out of this deal!) The summer went by entirely too fast, as it always does, making me wish for that first day of summer vacation all over again!

So, when I saw that this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge was "Inspired by a Song", I knew I had to use this wonderfully cute bear, Louie with Apple, from DigiStamp Boutique to make a school-inspired card in homage to Alice Cooper and his song.

Wouldn't this make an adorable teacher card? The black strip of patterned paper is from some Creative Memories graduation paper, leftover from graduation layouts of my nieces. It reminded me or writing on a chalkboard. I love being able to pull out a scrap of paper and have it be just the right thing for my card. :)

I'm also entering Louie into this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge - Back to School and Pile It On's Cuddly Critters challenge.

Check out this week's  Totally Papercrafts DT cards and play along for a chance to win a prize from this week's sponsor, Digi Doodle Shop!
Lisa

2012 Olympics

Did you watch a lot of the 2012 London Olympics? I watched A LOT, including a lot of my favorite summer Olympic sport - gymnastics. I'm so proud of Team USA! I was also happy for the British gymnasts and their medal wins. I don't think I'd ever seen a British gymnast medal at the Olympics. It was especially nice since they hosted the games this year.

To celebrate Team USA's victory, I made this card using DSB's Gymnast Molly, which is an August "Offer of the month".

I used my Creative Memories circles (double) punch to make the Olympic rings. The "USA" letters are cut from blue cardstock using my Cricut. And then I added the stripes with a white get pen.

We also enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies. So much great music and some great comedy from "Mr. Bean", Eric Idle and even the Queen Mum herself! (I always heard she had a sense of humor but had trouble picturing it. I guess you don't get much of a chance to let your hair down as the Queen of England!)
Lisa

I've Been Framed!

Well, actually not me - this beautiful girl with butterflies is the one who's been "framed". :)

Isn't she beautiful? She's a digital stamp from DillyBeans, who is one of this week's two Totally Papercrafts sponosrships. Yep, it's another double sponsor week! In addition to a great prize from Dilly Beans, there's also a great prize up for grabs from our other sponsor, Stamp and Create. So, head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog, check out all the beautiful DT sample cards and join us for a chance to win a prize from one of our two great sponsors.
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts Monochromatic Challenge

Anne has chosen a monochromatic theme for this week's Totally Papercrafts Challenge. Hooray! To me, that only means one thing - the opportunity to use lots of PINK! :) (Sorry, Cathy! lol)

For my card, I used this adorable MRO digital stamp, Faith Flowers as well as lots of PINK scraps and ribbon from my stash. :)

Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts challenge to see what colors the other DT girls used in their cards. (And I guarantee you that Cathy's isn't pink! lol!) Then play along for a chance to win a prize from our terrific sponsor, Simon Says Stamp.
Lisa

DillyBeans Challenge

I recently bought my first Dilly Beans image and I was so excited to use it on a card! This is my entry into this week's Dilly Beans ribbon challenge.

Supplies: Anna-Framed (Dilly Beans), ribbon (Michaels), Copic markers, papers from my scrap stash.

My layout is based on a sketch from the now defunct Card Patterns blog (sketch 18). I miss their sketches!  I wanted to place all of the focus on this beautiful image, so I kept my card embellishments to a minimum. I gave Anna red hair in honor of Merida, the heroine in this summer's Brave. I took my 13 year old to see it in the theater and we both loved it!

Come back tomorrow for this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge!
Lisa

Lazy Stamping Afternoon

:sigh:I spent the whole afternoon working on a couple of challenge cards. How fun is that? I know I'd better take advantage of a quiet week before school preparation starts up next week. I had a lot of fun making these two girly cards, both of which are based on sketches. First up is my Some Odd Girl card, based on SOG's current sketch challenge.

Aren't those die cut flowers beautiful? I made them (as well as the leaves) using some Memory Box dies that I purchased from Oozak.com. I love them! They are the best dies ever! They're thin, come in their own paper sleeve (easy to store) and cut perfect every time with just one pass through my Cricut. I'm also entering this card into Oozak's bright colors challenge. (Supplies include My Minds Eye's Ooh La La 6X6 pad and Ribbon Carousel's pink seam binding.) This is going to be my friend Karyn's birthday card (her b'day is August 25), so I'm also entering this into Do You Stack Up's For a Friend challenge.

Next up is my entry for the current sketch challenge at Tiddly Inks Challenges as well as Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes challenge and Pile It On's Something Cute challenge.

I just love this little Wryn! (Supplies include cream seam binding from Ribbon Carousel, red Bitty Dot paper from PTI and heart dp from My Minds Eye.)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!
Lisa

Lilian

I love this beautiful image from Papelitos Stamps:

Supplies: Lilian (Papelitos Stamps), Lilac Avenue Collection 6X6 pad (Kaisercraft), silver ribbon (Michaels), button (Doodle Bug), flower (Kaisercraft), pearl Dew Drop (The Robins Nest), Heidi Swapp Distressing Tool, Charcoal Palette ink and Copic markers.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Papelitos Stamps Challenge - Tag
Cute Card Thursday - So Distressing
The Sweetest Thing - Sweet Sunday sketch challenge #161

I'll see you later this week for another card!
Lisa

A Sunny Color Combo at Totally Papercrafts

This week's challenge at Totally Papercrafts is perfect suited to the summer weather most of us are having - use orange and yellow in your card or project. We're being sponsored by Whimsy Stamps who is offering up 5 free digi images as this week's prize.

I'm taking a break from this week's challenge, but check out my recent DigiStamp Boutique card for some yellow and orange inspiration: Lazy Lake Day card below. And, as always, be sure to visit the Totally Papercrafts blog to see the other DT cards and get the the deets on the challenge so you can play along!
Lisa

Lazy Lake Day

(Note: If you're looking for this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge post, it can be found here: Inspiration Photo challenge)

Ah! I had a relaxing day at the lake yesterday, visiting with my in-laws, swimming and reading. I even got brave and rode on the Waverunner (Jetski) with my oldest daughter! :)  To commemorate my fun day, this image seemed perfect for today's card:

Isn't she adorable? She's Rosie from this months' special DSB offer of the month "Little Rosie and Dan beach time".  For my layout, I chose this week's sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
By the Cute and Girly - A Day at the... (Lake!)
The Pink Elephant - Use Orange
Digi Doodle Shop - Anything Goes
The Stamp Man - Anything Goes

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Lisa

A Brand New Sponsor!

Welcome! It's my turn to host the weekly challenge at Totally Papercrafts, so I've chosen this photo of my dog, Dixie, to use as an inspiration photo. You can use this photo as inspiration in any way you want - use the colors, or a dog or a chair, or a "relaxing" theme.

This is one of Dixie's favorite spots in the house. (Despite the fact that my husband talked me into buying an off-white chair because "the dog can't possible fit in it"! lol!) She looks pretty comfy, doesn't she? :)

This week we are excited to have TWO sponsors (and thus TWO prizes!) at Totally Papercrafts. In addition to our regular sponsor, Meljen Designs, we have a new sponsor, Mayzy Art. I discovered Mayzy's work while blog hopping one day and loved her funky style.

For my card, I decided to take Dixie's cue and go with a "relaxation" theme. I knew Mayzy's Texting Teen image would be perfect!

The alpha dp in the bottom left corner is some paper leftover from my TAC days. The scale's a little off, but I thought the letters reinforced the texting theme. My 13 year old gave me advice on choosing colors for my image. I never would've chosen green (yuck!) for his shirt - but she was right. :) I knew he needed some embellishments (those are SO hard to choose for a guy card!) so I typed up some "text messages" on my computer and added those to my card. I sponged black ink around the edges of all my card elements to reinforce the grunge/Goth look.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
Pile It On Challenges - Kick Back and Relax
The Poodles Parlour - Use a Digi
Mark's Finest Papers - Masculine Birthday cards (mine's not specifically birthday, but I designed it with that use in mind)


Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to check out how the other girls interpreted my challenge this week. :) And be sure to participate this week for a chance at a prize for one of our TWO sponsors!
Lisa

Lots of Layers!

Welcome to another Totally Papercrafts challenge. This week's theme is: lots of layers! We're sponsored this week by the awesome Kenny K, who was kind enough to provide the DT with some images. I chose this funky and cute Download Diva:

Fun image, isn't she?

Now head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog, check out the challenge and play along for your chance to win some great Kenny images. And be sure to leave some love for the DT members on their blogs!

Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - Summer

This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge theme is SUMMER and there's no mistaking that it's summer here in mid-Missouri. We've just had our ninth straight day of temps of 100+ or above. Whew!

When I thought about what summery stamps I had in my collection, the cute Lawn Fawn Gnome Place Like Home came to mind. (I just love the little garden gnome!)

Lawn Fawn has its own challenge blog, Lawnscaping Challenge. This week's challenge was to use dimension, which inspired my layout for this card. I stamped the birdbath and bird onto some white cardstock, masked them and sponged on the cloud background with some soft blue ink and a homemade cloud template. I layered this background with a strip of grass (Fiskars border punch), then added my paper pieced gnome and flamingo with some pop dots and added a second strip of grass over that. For one more touch of dimension, I topped the layer off with this double layer frame. (OMG, that was so hard to get right! I don't think I'll be trying that again anytime soon, lol.) Here are some closeups of my gnome and flamingo to show the dimension up close:

I colored everything with my Copics, including adding some shading to the paper pieced images.

I had a lot of fun creating my card, so I hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to check out the other Totally Papercrafts DT cards and join us for this fun summer challenge. Our sponsor this week is the fab Simon Say Stamp - where coincidentally you can find this and other Lawn Fawn stamp sets.

Thanks for visiting!
Lisa

Can You Dig(i) It?

Happy, happy Friday! Summer school ended today, so it's a very, very happy Friday indeed for me! I can't wait to have a week off to relax and work in my craftroom. (I really need to clean it before I can create in it!)  I'm a little late hopping into this week's Totally Papercrafts challenge, but here goes:

This week's challenge is to use a digital image in your card or project. Since we are being sponsored this week by Sally-Ann of DigiStamp Boutique, I chose this cute DSB image, Fishing Stan. Stan looks mighty proud of his catch and rightfully so!

Why don't you play along with the Totally Papercrafts digi challenge this week? You could win 6 digis of your choice from the DigiStamp Boutique shop! Check out the other DT members' cards for some digital inspiration.
Lisa

Alchemy Tuesday

A commenter recently invited me to participate in a challenge on the Alchemy Tuesday blog. I'm glad she did - I hadn't heard of the blog before and always enjoy finding new challenges to participate and get inspired by. This week's Alchemy Tuesday challenge was a very colorful one: use orange, lime and/or plum.

For my card, I used this fun Megan image from DigiStamp Boutique. I wanted to use all three colors in my card, so I did manage to squeeze in a little bit of lime (no pun intended) on her shirt and sunglasses.

Lisa

An Inspired Totally Papercrafts Challenge!

I just love Design Seeds color combinations! I'm a fan on Facebook and always enjoy seeing the different color combinations that they post on their wall. Our Totally Papercrafts hostess for the week, Cathy chose this one as the inspiration for this week's challenge (You can use the colors, images or both on your project - food and drink images are acceptable.) I decided to go with the color combination, which I admit I was a little unsure about at first:

But then I realized it was just perfect for this paper that I bought recently bought at Michaels:

I just love this stamp set from There She Goes - In All the World. The dog reminds me of my yellow Lab, Dixie. She's my sweetie. :)

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
There She Goes  - Winged Things

Cute Card Thursday - Here Comes Summer!

If you play along with this week's color challenge at Totally Papercrafts, you could win two stamps from our awesome sponsor, Lili of the Valley. While you're checking out the challenge, be sure to check out the other DT members cards to see what they did with this stunning color combination!

Lisa