New Challenge Blog

There's a new challenge blog coming soon - Sister Act Card Challenge. I applied and was accepted as a design team member. My fellow DT members are all very talented and I am excited to work with all of them.

My first Sister Act challenge post will be Friday, April 5th. All of the challenges will be "anything goes" so it will be fun and easy to participate. Our first sponsor is Crafty Sentiments and we'll be featuring images from this great sponsor in our DT cards.

Lisa

(DT) Girls Gone Wild!

Well, not really. :) But our fearless leader, Sally-Ann, has given the DT free reign over at the DigiStamp Boutique blog. So, check the blog regularly for posts from the rest of the design team. For the most part, I'll be posting on Wednesdays - you can look for my posts here or on the DSB blog.

For today's card, I used the adorable Offer of the Month, Bluebell.

Supplies: Bluebell and sentiment (DSB), polka dot paper (Penny Lane by MME), 

"For Peeps Sake" dp (Imaginisce), large flower punch (Karl), small flower punch (Paper Studio), 

Tall Stem Die (Poppy Stamps/Memory Box), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), glitter,

scallop border punch (Fiskars), buttons (Paper Studio and Dress It Up), Copic markers,

Glossy Accents (Ranger), pink vintage seam binding (Ribbon Carousel).

I'm entering Bluebell into the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Easter Parade
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Ribbon or Lace
Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Well, I have to hop off now to go finish my spring cleaning and Easter preps! Hope to see you later this week with another card or two.
Lisa
P.S. I have been having a lot of problems with spam and moderating comments isn't working. (I just deleted over 1200 spam comments from all over my blog.) So, I'm going to try only allowing registered users to leave comments. This should be anyone with a Google id, as well as other registered accounts. By banning anonymous comments, I'm hoping to get rid of this scourge. I hope that no one wants to legitimately leave a comment is prevented from doing so. I am very sorry that I had to resort to this but I am at my wits' end.

Snow on My Doorstep, Easter in My Heart

{Sigh} That darn weather forecaster was right again. Snow - AGAIN. This was the view outside my door this morning. You can't tell in the photo, but it was still snowing steadily. We got about 8 inches of snow before it ended.

I have been a very busy bunny, spring cleaning and getting ready for Easter so I decided to reward myself with a little crafting time. I've been dying to do make a card with the cute new Bluebell from DigiStamp Boutique. I've also been anxious to try out this washi tape that I recently bought from Pick Your Plum. When Designed to Color posted this week's one layer Sunday Showcase challenge on their Facebook page, I knew it would be a perfect time to break out the washi tape.

Supplies: Bluebell and Easter sentiment (DigiStamp Boutiqe), 

washi tape (Pick Your Plum),  flower (Prima), 

brad (Paper Studio), Copic markers.

I wanted to make some holiday decorations, so I made this sign with Bluebell. (That's the great thing about digital stamps - you can make them as small or as large as you want.) I printed one copy each on white and kraft paper. Next, I used my the picture cropping tool in Word to cut and print out another copy of his lower half on white (so I would have an extra butterfly, flower and egg without reprinting the entire image) and cropped it again to just print out the section with his paws on kraft paper. I used ink and a homemade cloud template to create the sky background. Then I colored everything, using chalk and colored pencil to add color to Bluebell and Copics for the rest.  The last step was to cut out all the images/parts and assemble everything, layering the egg and extra paws on top of Bluebell and then gluing Bluebell and the flowers to the background.

Here's a close up. As you can see, I curled the butterfly and daffodil layers to add some dimension. I also added some Glossy Accents to his nose, the bow and the center of the daffodil, although it doesn't show up in the photo.

Isn't he cute? I'm entering Bluebell in the following challenges:
Love to Create - Anything Goes
Celebrate the Occasion - Happy Easter!
Cute Card Thursday - Easter Parade

Hop on over to DigiStamp Boutique to see lots of other adorable Easter images!
Lisa

Easter Extravaganza!

Wow, Easter is early this year! With snow still in our forecast (again/still?), I doubt the Easter bunny will be hiding any eggs outside. :)

This week's Totally Papercrafts Challenge is Easter Extravaganza - use an egg as a featured design element in your card. We are sponsored this week by the fab J and C Creations and Saturated Canary. For my card, I chose this adorable Murray image from Saturated Canary. I just love her little chick friend and my Easter eggs are right there in her design.

Supplies: Murray (Saturated Canary), zigzag dp (Paper Studio), border punch (MS),

flower punch, yellow brad, pink vintage silk binding (Ribbon Carousel),

Copic markers, blue chalk and homemade cloud template.

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Easter Parade
Createalicious Challenges - Lovely Easter
Simon Say Stamp - Easter/Spring
Celebrate the Occasion - Happy Easter!
ABC Challenges - J for Just as You Like (aka Anything Goes)

If you haven't visited already, stop on by the Totally Papercrafts challenge blog to see how the other DT member featured an Easter egg in their Easter Extravaganza cards. Then play along with us to win a prize from one of our two great sponsors!
Lisa

CAS?!?

The challenge this week at Tiddly Inks was CAS, or "clean and simple".  My question for the day - if your card has minimal embellishments and layers but takes you days to complete, is it still simple? ;-)  Yikes, everything that could go wrong with this card, did. It started with printing off my Wryn digi stamp. She was too big. She was too little. She was too close to the edge and my printer cut off her feet. Things were going well until I decided to add some doodling for the Designed to Color Sunday Showcase. (Hint: this is not my first Wryn card of the evening!) And then I just couldn't get the bow right and when I did, I couldn't cut the tails off cleanly. (Note to self: Find a place to get sewing scissors sharpened.) Well, for better or for worse, here she is without further ado...

Supplies: Wryn Grow a Little Love (Tiddly Inks), dp (MME), ribbon (Michaels), 

sentiment stamp (Paper Studio), Copic markers, black Micron pen.

I'll see you later this week with a new challenge from Totally Papercrafts. Have a great week!
Lisa

Pamper Yourself!

Happy belated Mothering' Day to my UK friends! Fortunately, here in the U.S. we have a little more time to work on our Mothers' Day cards. I made this card using DigiStamp Boutique's "Alyssa relaxing" and plan to give it to my mom, who is fond of soaking in the tub. :)

Supplies: Alyssa Relaxing (DSB), Fine and Dandy Girl 6X6 pad (MME),

scallop border punch (Fiskars), ribbon (Michaels), Copics.  

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Make It Monday - (always) Anything Goes
Songbird Challenges - Mama, I Love You

Hope you have some relaxing time this weekend!
Lisa

Sister Act DT Call

There's a new challenge blog in town, Sister Act Card Challenge, and they're looking for DT members. Jenn, one of the blog owners, graciously invited me on Splitcoaststampers to apply for the team. I checked out their blog and decided to give it a go.

DT applicants are asked to showcase their 3 favorite cards. Wow, this was hard! It's easy to pick out your non-favorite cards. You know - the ones where the lighting wasn't quite right or that new technique didn't turn out quite the way you wanted. But once you pick the ones you really love - how do you narrow that down to  three? For me, that was like picking my 3 favorite pieces of chocolate. :)

Here are my top 3. What I chose to do is showcase three cards that show a variety of styles, yet all of which are very representative of my style. I went with one vintage card, one very CAS and modern card and one that is sort of a mixture of the two. You can probably tell, my absolute favorite part of cardmaking is coloring!

image by Crafts and Me, papers by Prima

image by DigiStamp Boutique, papers by The Paper Studio

image by A Day for Daisies, papers by MME

Thanks to Jenn and Tricia for considering me for the team. I checked out some of the other applicants and there are some very talented stampers applying for a spot!
Lisa

Another Birthday Card

I need to continue to build up my supply of birthday cards, so I made this card for the Pile It On Challenge's Happy Birthday challenge as well as Birdie Brown's 2nd Birthday Challenge.

The spring like color scheme is inspired by this week's Color Throwdown challenge.  I'm also entering my card into this month's Anything Goes with Spring challenge on the Oozak blog as well as the Ribbon challenge on the Creative Card Crew blog.

Like several of my other recent birthday cards, I used Party Dog (Birdie Brown), a 6X6 pad from My Minds Eye and my trusty Copics. The sentiment is from a set by The Paper Studio.

Lisa

Punch It!

Guess who's hosting this week's Totally Papercrafts Challenge? Yep - me! Our theme this week is "Punch It!". Just use a punch and/or die on your card or other papercrafting project. How easy is that?

This week we're being sponsored by a former Sweet Sketch Wednesday teamie of mine, Teri, who has her own line of digital stamps - Delicious Doodles. For my card I chose this fantastic Snow Cuddles image. I'm saving this as my youngest daughter's Christmas card for next Christmas. I know she will just love this image!

Supplies: Snow Cuddles (Delicious Doodles), Copic markers, blue cs (DCWV), 

snowflake border punch (MS), large snowflake punch (MS), small snowflake 

punch (unknown), blue dp from Citrus Stack (DCWV), ribbon (Michaels), 

snowflake embossing folder (Cuttlebug), ultrafine glitter, rhinestones.

I used both a border punch and various individual punches on my card. The tiniest snowflake is actually a punch out created by the border punch.

I'm entering my card into the current Creative Card Crew ribbon challenge. Coincidentally, they're sponsored this week by Delicious Doodles. :)

Visit the Totally Papercrafts blog and be sure to leave my talented team mates some feedback on their lovely sample cards. And then join in for your chance to win 4 digital stamps of your choice from Teri's shop, Delicious Doodles.
Lisa

Girly!

Today's card is a combination of girly challenges.

Supplies: Jasmine (Kenny K), Fine and Dandy Girl 6X6 pad (MME), border punch (MS),

Fancy Blossoms and Tender Leaves dies (Memory Box), pearls and Copic markers.

The original inspiration behind this card was the current Kenny K's Krafty Krew challenge - Lace and Pearls (the lace is my lacey border and the pearls are the pearl centers on my flowers). The color was inspired by the Spring Fever challenge on the Cute Card Thursday blog. Some people may associate spring with soft pastels, but at this point in the year, I am tired of brown grass and white snow - I want to see lots of color! I was so excited to spot some bright green daffodils poking up through my flower beds this week.

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:
Dies to Die For - Flower Power
4 Crafty Chicks - Die for Dies
The Play Date Cafe - color challenge (hollyhock, spring bud, azure)

I'll see soon with the Totally Papercrafts challenge!
Lisa

For a Friend

A friend of mine recently suffered a loss and I wanted to let her know I was thinking of her. I knew this Tiddly Ink image - Wryn - Close to My Heart would be perfect for the feelings I was trying to convey. You don't even need a sentiment on this card - this sweet little Wryn says it all.

Supplies: Wryn-Close to My Heart (Tiddly Inks), Fairy Belle 6X6 pad (Prima),

border punch (MS), twill ribbon (The Ribbon Carousel), Antique Linen Distress Ink 

(Tim Holtz for Ranger), ultrafine glitter, Sakura glue pen, pearl brads and Copic markers.

Here she is close up:

Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Anything with a ribbon
Stamp-n-Doodle - Mothers Day or card for a female
Shopping Our Stash - Border punch
Crafty Boots - Old, New, Borrowed or Blue
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes
Victorine Stamps - Anything Goes

I'll be back tomorrow with a new Totally Papercrafts challenge. Be sure to stop by!
Lisa

Inky Critters

It's been a while since I've had a chance to participate in a Tiddly Inks challenge, but I just couldn't pass this one up - Inky Critters. When I was browsing through my Tiddly Inks images to choose one with an animal, I came across this adorable little deer. She's an older Tiddly Ink (I'm not sure she's still available) and I'm sorry to say I had never used it. Now I'm extra glad I decided to join in this challenge. :)

Supplies: deer (Tiddly Inks), Reunion 6X6 paper pad (MME), Copics,

Paper Shapers flower punch (EK Success), scallop border punch (Fiskars)

rhinestones, brown Dew Drops and Copic markers.

Here's a close up shot:

The layout for my card is based on this week's Sketch Saturday sketch:

Lastly, I am also entering my card into Simon Say Stamp's Anything Goes challenge as well as  the (always) anything goes challenge at Make It Monday.

Thanks for visiting!
Lisa

Tic Tac Toe!

Another birthday card for my stash! The Designed to Color gals are having a birthday celebration event on Facebook. Day 2's challenge was to make a card using 3 elements in a row from this tic-tac-toe:

I chose the elements Balloon, Banner and Aqua. I knew my Birdie Brown Party Dog image would be perfect, along with this fun MME Lime Twist paper and gorgeous Tiffany Blue cardstock from Paper and More.

I don't have a banner stamp or die cut, so I fashioned my own template from a piece of scrap paper and used it to cut my own banners (which are diamond shapes folded in half over a piece of Doodlebug baker's twine).

Other than fiddling with the banner (this was my first time making one), this card was quick to put together. I just love coloring in this image and use it for birthday cards whenever I can. :)

I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:
Pile It On - Happy Birthday
CAS on Sunday - Happy Birthday
The Ribbon Girl - use ribbon or twine (I used both)
Craft Your Passion - Banners
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Inky Chicks - Mothers Day or Birthday
Charisma Cards - use at least 5 different DPs (I have 2 on my card base and used 3 different DPs for my banners)

Now I am off to make dinner, which is decidedly less fun than making cards! I'll be back later this week with some Mothers Day and Easter cards, as well as a new Totally Papercrafts Challenge on Thursday. See you then!
Lisa

Still Hoping for Spring...

Thanks to two snowstorms within a one week period, I'm still seeing a lot of snow out my front door. (And will continue to see it for quite a while - there's still a lot left to melt.) So, this cute new Spring Louie image (part of the February release from DigiStamp Boutique) brought some much needed cheer to my craft room.

Supplies: Spring Louie (DSB), sentiment (DSB), Nestabilities labels die (Spellbinder), 

ribbon (Michaels), Paper Shapers flower punch (EK Success), rhinestone, 

Copic markers, papers from scrap stash, swirl die cut (Sissix).

I'm going to enter this cutie into the (always) anything goes challenge at Make It Monday.

Head on over to DigiStamp Boutique to find lots of other cute Easter and spring images. One of my all time favorite DSB stamps - Spring Coco and friends - is currently on sale for half price. Coco is adorable as are his little friends!

Lisa