Liebster Blog Award!!!

Good Evening Everybody!

I am just so excited!  I was awarded the Liebster Blog Award by Mindi at Scrap Chat and Coffee Talk.  How COOL is that!!

The origins of the Liebster Blog Award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that they originated in Germany.  Liebster, meaning-favorite or dearest to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.  Upon accepting this award, the recipient must then pass it on to 5 more blogs.

So I am passing it to these 5 Fabulous ladies who are very talented...

Carly at My Life Through My Lens

Carly takes beautiful photos.  She has a great eye and is super talented!

Jennifer at Scrap the Unexpected

Jennifer makes great cards and scrapbook layouts.  Go see her Valentine's Cards-they rock!

Mynnette at On a Stampage

Mynette is super talented in paper crafting!  She has so many great tips and techniques too!

Roulien Stahnke at My Scrappy Story

Roulien is on the DT at Let's Scrap and she makes a lot of great inspirational pieces.  She uses lots of techniques and has great ideas!

Tanya Ham at Creative Endeavors

Tanya makes great and happy scrapbook layouts!  And has a really cute dogs too! :)

So I am still smiling!  Thank you again to Mindi for sharing the Liebster Blog Award with me.  And while you are still here don't forget that tomorrow starts the Let's Scrap Blog Hop!!  

Until next time my friends...have a good night!

Tidbit Tuesday--Break out the Glitter!

Hello Everybody!

Happy Tuesday! The other day at I was my local scrapbook store (why can't I buy 1 of everything?) ;) and I saw that Jolee's has glitter birdcages.  Initially, I was like I want that!  Now I do have to have a budget in mind when I got to the scrapbook store.  And then I have to be able to go over that budget only so much...so I realized, no I couldn't get the glittery birdcages.  Go here to see them.

So it hit me---I have the Tim Holtz bird cage Sizzix at home and plenty of glitter!  So that is what I did.  And that is what this Tidbit Tuesday is about.  Making your own glittery embellishments so you don't have to break the bank!

So the grey cage is Tim Holtz's grundgeboard.  I have the grunge paper, but only when I need it can I not find it.  Then I took a yellow paper.  Now I also took a green paper not picture here and made a bird cage with it.

I put the cages through the 5 inch Xron machine to make sure they had enough adhesive on them.  I took a pair of scissors, but a pencil tip will work also, to get the glue out of the circles and spaces.

I used Martha Stewart's glitter-yellow barite- on the bird cages.  Here they are.  The one on the left is the grungeboard and the right is the yellow cardstock.  I was afraid the cardstock one would not be substantial enough, but it works fine.  I think this is brighter too.

Here's one I did in green.  I used green paper to cut out the bird cage and ran it through the Xron machine. Then I used green glitter from Sparkle and Sprinkle.  On both the gold and green paper bird cages I used a spray adhesive to lock in the glitter.  There are some little glitter stragglers but not as much I think if I hadn't sprayed the adhesive.  The only thing is you have to spray that outside because the fumes are so strong!  Plus I had to keep my cage outside for a good 30 minutes to air it out.  I had brought the gold one in and started to smell fumes...no no! Back outside you go!  :)

If you have glammed up some diecuts from one of your machines--Let me see!  In the comments section-leave your direct blog link to the project you used your fancy home-made diecut embellishment on, and I will stop by to see it!  :)

Until next time my friends...get out the glitter and glue!  :)

Fire Department!--A Scrapbook Page

Hello Everybody!

I am doing a year long challenge at Let's Scrap.  It is to do 100 scrapbook layouts by the end of the year.  I signed up for it and then thought-Am I crazy?  I can't do that!  Well, don't say don't!  I believe this is my 8th layout!  And if I did the math correctly...it's about 8 to 9 layouts a month.  Could it be--could I be on schedule!  Woo Hoo!

Ok so this layout was inspired by this weeks sketch at Let's Scrap.  I just used the first page of the sketch.

Also, I am going to submit this to the Scrapbookers Anonymous challenge: F--Fire department, firetrucks, and a cute little fireman! ;)

Here's my page.  Scroll down, and I'll show you what I did!

Here's my blank page.  I just got this at my LSS a few days ago.  Then the sketch came out, and I couldn't believe how perfect it was!

For the bigger picture, I didn't want it to cover the Fire Dept logo, so I used an exacto knife and cut a small slit into the logo.  The picture fits perfectly into the slit.  I didn't have to cut the picture (in case of a miscalculation), and I didn't cover the logo.  Win-win :)

Here's my journaling.  The font is "personal chicken scratch."  haha ;)

Here are some cute die cuts that I also picked up at the store.  These and the page itself are from Paper Studio.

Unfortunately, I couldn't use them all.  That's ok, I will save them for another day.  Here is a close up of the pictures and the firetruck die cut.

Here's the finished page again. :)  Until next time my friends...stay safe! :)

Sunny Side Up! Card

Hello Everybody!

No, I'm not talking about eggs--I'm talking about the card I made tonight for the Sparkle N Sprinkle Challenge #SNSSC03.  Here is January's sketch:

Remember I won that totally cool tropical stamp set last month...

I used the sunshines to make this card.  Scroll on down, and I'll show you what I did.

First I stamped the two small sunshines and the one big sunshine on yellow cardstock.  The bigger sun I wanted to make extra special, so I used some orange Stickles to outline it.  Then I put it off to the side to dry.  I cut my plain blue paper.  Next I got out this little sponge...

I poured out a little white acrylic craft paint and dabbed the top and bottom portions of the sketch.  This is the first time I have really done this, and it was so fun!  I should have gotten out more blue paper and made more clouds!  I really like how the clouds look.

Once the paint dried I put the sunshines on and used a pop dot for the fancy one in the middle.  I stamped the sentiment over the clouds.  I had these little die cut clouds and used them between the suns.  Those cool suns brighten my day :)  Until next time my friends...get out the paint!

Flowers and a Butterfly Thank You Card

Hello Everybody!

I hope that your Friday is going well!  Yay!  The weekend is here!  Tonight I have a card for Make My Monday.  The challenge is to use flowers and leaves and the theme is Nature.  Stop by and check it out--some great talent is there!

Here's my card...

My stamps are new from Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine.  I LOVE this magazine.  It's from Britain and they have great ideas and cute cards!  And they always send stuff!  Stamps, papers, and shimmers are some of the things that I have received.  It's always a nice surprise!

Here's a close up of the stamps.  They also sent some sentiments, but I haven't looked at them yet.  I was so excited about the stamps!!  One look at those flowers, and I knew they would be perfect for this challenge!

So I stamped the flowers and the butterfly and colored them with Copic Markers.  The butterfly I use pop dots to give him a little dimension.  The "thank you" is from Stampabilities.  I used it last night and since it was out--thought it looked nice here too.  Until next time my friends...stay tuned...I have another card!  :)

Flower Thank You Card

Hello Everybody!

Tonight I made a card for Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger.  I'm cutting it close time wise but definitely go check out Moxie Fab--it's full of goodies and other challenges!

This week's inspiration came from this picture:

This picture is so pretty and fluffy!  From the photo I was inspired to use the flower and light earth tones.  Here's my card....Scroll down, and I show you what I did.

I don't know who made these flowers.  I just know that I have had them for a mighty long time.  So I plucked one out and folded it in half.

My card is beige and I layered a piece of white polka dot cardstock (I embossed with the Cuttlebug) onto my beige card.

Using Glue Dots I adhered my flower to one side of the card.  On the other side I stamped "thank you" with a Stampabilities stamp in a dark brown color.  And I used a dark brown Cat Eye ink around the beige square to make it pop.

Until next time my friends...put inspiration to good use!

Fun in the Sun-2 Page Layout

Hello Everybody!

I have a 2 page layout to share with you this evening.  That is 2 more pages toward my goal of 100 pages for the year.  I'm doing better than I thought!  I am submitting this layout to 2 challenges.

Let's Scrap is who provided the inspiration for the shape of my layout.  If you haven't been there--GO!  Especially since they are having a blog hop next week, and I am in it!  Also, there are 50 talented ladies who will be showing off cards--and there will be some blog candy involved!  Tune back here and I will give you more details as it gets closer.  It starts Feb. 1st!  Let's Scrap is a great community of scrappers!  Like I said go by and see!  After you scroll down and see my layout of course! :)

The 2nd challenge is Scrapbookers Anonymous.  This is a great place to go too!  They have challenges to make you use all of that cool stuff you buy!  :)  One of the challenges is using things that begin with the letter "F."  Here's what I used:

Fancy Pants papers (the printed papers)
Fish
Flip Flops
Fun in the Sun (title)

Here's my layout...Scroll down, and I'll show you a few highlights!

This is a closeup of the first page.

Here's a closeup of my second page.

First I started with my Bazzill cardstock papers--my blank canvas.

I pulled out my circle cutter and made this circle for my sun.

I cut it in half to make sure there was enough to peak out from the bottom.  I then had to cut it again because according to the sketch, the sun is also on the 2nd page.

This is yellow tissue paper left over from a present.  I always save the pretty colored tissue paper--and it looks like finally that is a good idea!  I just taped it to the back of the circle with Scotch tape.

Here's what it looks like before I put the blue paper on.

And here is my layout.  My son loves the beach, so I am sure there will be plenty more layouts featuring the beach!  Until next time my friends...don't forget to apply sunscreen!

TV's in Love

Hello Everybody!

I am super excited to share this card with you!  It's for the Sparks Challenge at Paper Smooches.  Of course I am running close to the cut off--but there will be another challenge for sure--so go check them out if you haven't already!  They have super cute stamps!!

Here is the inspiration picture.  What a super cool wall, huh?  So I took the red and white from the wall and black accents for my card.

Here is my card.  I think it is so CUTE!  The TV's are red and their "faces" are white, inspired by the picture. They are also heat embossed.  I stamped the sentiment at the bottom.  All 3 of these stamps are from Paper Smooches.  I told you they were cool! :)  Scroll down, and I'll show you a few more highlights!

Here are the TV's on red cardstock.  Afterwards, I stamped them on white and cute out the "faces."

They may look like parenthesis from American Crafts...but to me they are an array of moustaches!

This awesome little punch helped out with the hearts.

I drew and cut out the hair bow.  And I made the eyelashes out of black cardstock.  I made a fringe with single blade scissors and used a colored pencil to curl them.  I adhered them with Glue Dots.

Until next time my friends...keep an eye on the electricity bill!  ;)

Tidbit Tuesday-Brayer

Hi Everybody!

This Tidbit is about using a brayer to help put paper on a cutting mat.  This is a cricut mat and I don't know about you, but every so often the corner isn't down enough, and the Cricut catches.  Disaster starts to ensue as I have to stop the machine from cutting.  

Using a brayer to help roll and even distribute pressure can help aid against the corners from coming up.  Now there is a point when even the brayer can't help.  Then it's time to get out the 2 way glue :)  Or buy a new mat.  Until next time my friends....use a brayer!

Many Thanks-Thank you card

Hello Everybody!

I am trying to make as many Thank You as I can because I always like to send them out.  I am a little behind--I like to thank my friends and family for Christmas gifts and I have like 8 more to go.  You would think I would have a stash by now--but then my pickiness sets in.  I'm like--I don't like that one, and so and so wouldn't like that one.  It's ridiculous but it's true!

So thankfully these 2 challenges have helped me create a cool card that I am excited to send out!

The color scheme is from CAS-ual Friday's--Penguin Suit.  You can only use black and white.

Let's Scrap is where the awesome sketch came from!  Debby de Wilde designed it.  There is still time to play-so come on by!  Plus, at Let's Scrap there is an awesome Blog Hop coming up!!  And I'm gonna be in it!  So stay tuned! More details to come!  :)

 So here's my card.  I didn't take that many photos as I made it.  But scroll down, and I'll show you a close-up and tell you what I used.

The left side with lots of "thank yous" is from an Inkadinkado stamp my Mom-in-law gave me at Christmas.  The swirls are embossed from one of the Tim Holtz folders.  The parenthasis is from the George cartridge on the Cricut.  And the Many Thanks is heat embossed, and the stamp is Fiskars.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time my friends...more embossing!!

Oh Christmas Tree Scrapbook Page

Hello Everybody!

I was busy this evening!  After I finished my card, I made this scrapbook page.  I had so much fun making this page! 

I am entering it into the Scrapbookers Anonymous Challenge: ink, mist, or paint.  Go by and check it out--there is still time!  I used Smooch Spritzes for the background.

So here is my page...scroll down, and I'll show you what I did!

I started with a white 12x12 from Bazzill cardstock.

My awesome Mom-in-law gave me these Smooches for Christmas. 

My sister gave me these Tim Holtz masks for Christmas so I couldn't wait to pull these out for this challenge.

First I sprayed green on my blank canvas.

Then I put my mask on the paper and sprayed red.

There's the mask revealed!

I recently bought this Stampendous stamp (discounted after Christmas!) and very excited to use it too!
Plus my stamp block wasn't big enough for this tree so I used the A block from my Cuttlebug :)

I gold embossed this tree.

Me and my Big Ideas letters, gems, and stickers---more things to embellish my page!

I also pulled out these holly leaves.

Look how fun this is!  Yay!  I got to use those big gems!

I put the letters on around the mask.  I wanted to preserve Santa and his reindeer.  I put a snowflake and flourish on my picture.  The 2009 sticker is from Reminisce.  I didn't do any journaling because I couldn't fit it anywhere.  That's ok though...I know this is my pal Melissa who came to see me a few weeks after my son was born.  We had an awesome time!  Come back! :)

Good Night Everybody!  Until next time..get out the glimmer mist!!  It's so fun! :)