LOTV - And the Winner Is...

Happy Friday, everyone...and what a fun way to end the week by announcing that the winner of the drawing for the LOTV blog hop prize of a full set of the newly released stamps is.....

Sharon!

Sharon's name was chosen from the comments left on Mindy's blog.  Congratulations, Sharon!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

LLLC - For The Boys

Good Wednesday to you all!  If you came by for the LOTV blog hop, please scroll down just past this post to find the hop. But then please come back up to check out this week's designer inspiration challenge at La-La Land Crafts  - "For the Boys."

I've mentioned often that masculine cards are harder for me...I'm a frilly, flowery card-makin' girl. :) But thanks to a few newly-released LLLC dies, today's card was a fun and relatively quick one to put together!

Across the front, the newly released Stitched Zig Zags add a sturdy masculine accent, and at the top, the newly-released Tools Border Die also helps to break up the "square-ness" of the card. With both dies, I shaded using a Stabilo All pencil to give a little bit of shadowing and dimension (you'll see some shadow layering on some of the other die cuts below)...

Flowers don't usually appeal to the boys, so instead, there's a large button with a loopy twine bow that sits in the center of a cluster, and is accented with some of the tool punchouts from the Tools Border Die at the top...

and feathers cut from the newly-released Feathers Set - the edges of the feathers are accented with black ink and white craft paint...

Last but not least, the sentiment is stamped onto a banner from the Stitched Elements Set ...

Supplies:

LLLC Dies:   Stitched Zigzags,  Tools Border,  Feathers,  Stitched Elements

Patterned paper:  Basic Grey Manila Basics collection

Black gems:   Kaisercraft            Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth,  button,  twine

Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope you can take some time to visit the LLLC inspiration blog to see what my teammates have made for this week's challenge.

LOTV - Hope Your Dreams Come True...

Hi, everyone! Sorry for the irregular blog posting schedule these days...crafting is still happening, though, and soon I'll get caught up!

Today is a fun blog hop with my Lili of the Valley teammates, to give you a peek at some of the wonderful new stamps that will be available in the shop on January 31.  There are new rubber stamps, and clear stamps, 2 sets of cute mini images, and some fairy sentiments (one of which I've used on my card).

As always, there's a prize up for grabs...one lucky commenter will be picked at random to receive a set of all the new stamps in this release. But we on the team don't know whose blog the lucky commenter will be chosen from, so to increase your chances of winning, be sure to leave a comment on all the participating blogs!

The winning name will be pulled on Friday, so check back here then to see who the lucky one is.

In the meantime, here's a full linked-up list of the participating blogs...hop them all and have some fun!

Andrea

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here! :))

Lou

Mary

Mindy

So here's my card for today. You might remember that my focus on the team are the sentiment stamps and papers, so for this card, I chose one of the larger sentiments from the new Little Fairies clear stamp sheet as the main focal point, and backed it with one of the pretty spring-colored papers from the Butterfly Kisses paper pad. In fact, it was the name of the paper pad that gave me the idea for the theme of this card, and inspired me to use the butterfly die border...

I die cut the border on both the front and back of the card, and on the front only, diecut more pieces of the butterflies and flowers in pink as an accent...that way I could turn up the butterfly wings slightly on the front piece for a bit of fun dimension and use the diecut edge on the back as a "shadow cut" when the card is closed...

There's a bit more double-die-cutting around the pretty sentiment with the frame die. The frame die is cut in both green and white, then alternated, with the white "negative space" portion used for the sentiment, and the white frame portion used beneath the green, offset just a bit to add a white shadow...

The sentiment frame is bordered beneath with bows, flowers, and pearls...

Supplies:

LOTV Patterned Papers:   Butterfly Kisses

LOTV Sentiment Stamps:  *new* Little Fairies Clear Stamp

Dies:   Memory Box Kensington Border and Tiffany Frame;   Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com            Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   twine,  white craft paint

Here's a pic of some of the new stamps that are coming out in this new release...

And don't forget about these, coming soon,  if you're a needlecrafter!...

Thank you for stopping by for a visit...and have fun hopping!

LLLC - Funky Colors...

Hi, everyone! We have another fun designer inspiration challenge this week at La-La Land Crafts and it's the use of "funky colors."

I used the colors in the scalloped patterned paper as inspiration today, and here's the fun card I ended up with...

On the right side, I took inspiration from the scallops on the paper and stacked a couple pieces of the Scallop Border Die for a fun accent.

The edges of the new Heart Fan Die are accented with Stardust Stickles, then the fan was pleated before adhering it to the front above the flowers...

The flowers are made with the Cherry Blossom Flowers Die Set and sit on top of a turquoise Berry Flourish...

And on the sides, pieces cut from the new Small Lacy Border Die are trimmed with tiny pearls (there's also a tiny pleated piece of this die tucked in at the top with the Heart Fan and cheesecloth)...

Supplies:

LLLC Dies:   Heart Fan,  Scallop Border,  Berry Flourish,  Cherry Blossom Flowers,  Small Lacy Border

Patterned papers:   Kaisercraft "Spring Bloom" collection

Pearls:  Recollections and Paper Studio            Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth,  Stardust Stickles

Thank you for visiting today...I hope you'll take a moment to visit the LLLC inspiration blog to see what my teammates have made for this week's challenge!

What a Great Friend...

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's card is just a bit of a different style for me. I have a crafty friend who's a whiz at a style called "freestyle collage."  She's able to take bits and pieces of seemingly unrelated papers and embellishments, and transform them in a wonderful, eclectic way so they all fall into place to form a fun, "pulled together" piece.

I'm not able to pull that style off as well as she does, but every now and then I like to give it a try - especially when I find some patterned papers that lend themselves to it so well that I have no excuse but to make it work...or at least make the attempt. LOL

All those small pieces behind the sentiment block piece were from another patterned paper piece in the same collection as the paper piece with the flowers and bird  (so I guess I kind of "cheated" a bit while collecting the ephemera to use on the card...heehee), and tucked behind the sentiment, they add a nice bit of dimension and "shabby" feel to the card. 

That upper right corner looked a little empty to me, so I pulled out a stencil and some modeling paste and added some small textural dots up there - I guess I added a little "mixed media" into my version of "freestyle," too!

Here are a few closeups of the bows and flowers...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Kaisercraft "Telegraph Road" collection (6x6)

Sentiment stamp:   My Favorite Things "Forget Me Not"

Stencil:   Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz "Dot Fade"            Die:   Spellbinders "Foliage Two"

Pearls:   Recollections            Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Lace:  TheFunkieJunkie.com

Miscellaneous:   Golden modeling paste,  white twine,  cheesecloth,   Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

LOTV - Love Across the Miles...

TGIF....happy Friday! I have a bright and sassy card using some of the pretty new papers from Lili of the Valley to share with you today - so pull out your sunglasses, and get ready to chase those winter-weather blues away for just a little while! :)

The new One Birdie Lane paper pad has some wonderful brightly-colored papers, and I couldn't resist pairing some orange, pink, and yellow patterns together for a sunshine-y card.

I laid the sentiment from Set 25, Handwritten Phrases onto the acrylic block in a wavy pattern before stamping onto cardstock, then freehand cut along the wave to make a sentiment banner that was adhered to the card with the use of a couple layers of foam tape...

The lacy square diecut accenting the floral paper was colored with Distress Inks to complement the colors in the papers, and attached with more foam tape...

Small mulberry roses in pink and yellow lead down to the largest flower in the lower corner...

Supplies:

LOTV Patterned Papers:   One Birdie Lane

LOTV Sentiment Stamps:  Set 25, Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Spellbinders Lace Doily Motifs,  Classic Squares Small,  Grans Peony Creations;

Sizzix Flowers, Branches, and Leaves

Small roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearls:   Recollections           Crystal flower stems:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth,  Distress Inks (Marmalade and Worm Lipstick)

Thanks so much for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

LLLC - Ribbons and Lace...

If it's Wednesday, it must be La-La Land Crafts day here on the blog. :)

This week, the team's inspiration challenge is "Anything Goes with Ribbon"...and it was a fun one! Two of the newest dies just released at CHA, Small Lacy Border and Large Lacy Border, do some heavy-lifting embellishment work around a piece of lace. The addition of roses, pearls, and gingham ribbon accents make this a frilly, feminine card for sure...

This is the piece of lace that runs down the left side of the card, and actually inspired the whole design:

I bordered both sides of the lace piece first with two pieces of the Small Lacy Border die...one cut in cream, and a "shadow" piece cut in black...and used those to widen the center lace detail. The next step was to cut 5 pieces of the new Large Lacy Border, spritz them with a little water and shape them with my fingers to give a more dimensional and lacy look. Then I adhered one to the left of the lace detail, and 4 more "stacked" to run all the way across the rest of the card front...

Little gingham bows embellished with tiny cream roses sit at the top and bottom of the lacy strip. In the center, I attached a couple cream-colored scrunched seam binding bows, and on top of those, purple and cream roses. The last step was to tuck and glue loops of more of the gingham ribbon accents, and add a couple pearl clusters as a finishing touch...

Supplies:

La-La Land Crafts Dies:   Small Lacy Border, Large Lacy Border

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Ribbons:   local craft stores            Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today. I hope you take a moment to stop by the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Blog to see the projects my teammates have made to share with you.

LLLC - CHA 2015 New Releases!...

It's not my usual day for a blog post, but this isn't a "usual" blog post...it's time to take a peek at some of the new products that La-La Land Crafts is debuting at the CHA 2015 show in Southern California this weekend!

Take a gander at all these fun new dies and stamps that you'll find in the "NEW!" section of the store, ready to order now...

Over the next few weeks I'll be featuring the new dies on my projects, but I have two to show you today that were made for display at the show. 

The first is a decor piece made for a nursery, featuring the new Stork, Rocking Horse, Hanging Hearts and Love Word Set, Small Lacy Border, and Moon & Stars Banner dies. I used mini wooden blocks covered with patterned papers and glued together with E6000 glue in a pyramid, and adorned it with all sorts of die cuts, flowers, and little treasures:

At the top, the Moon and Stars Banner was cut apart, the stars glittered with Stickles Silver, and glued to the blocks, just above the Stork, carrying his special delivery package...

The "baby" printed block is from the patterned paper pack used to cover the wooden blocks, and it was perfect to use with the new Hanging Hearts & Love Word Set! 

And at the bottom, the little Rocking Horse die cut sits above the new Small Lacy Border that's been topped with dotted ribbon...

Supplies:

New La-La Land Dies:  Stork,  Rocking Horse,  Hanging Hearts and Love Word Set,  

Small Lacy Border,  Moon & Stars Banner

Patterned papers:   Simple Stories "Hello Baby" collection

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Pearl & crystal chick:   Prima

Ribbon:   Offray            Miscellaneous:   Silver Stickles, white craft paint

The second project is a shabby card all ready for Valentine's Day next month, featuring the new Hanging Hearts & Love Word Set,  Heart Fan, and  Open Hearts Doily Border dies...

The new Heart Fan die was nestled on top of the new Open Hearts Doily Border on the left side of the card, and down the center, tiny white roses mixed with pink Cherry Blossom Flowers sitting atop a couple Berry Flourish die cuts...

The new Hanging Hearts & Love Word Set dies were used both at the top and bottom for the sentiment and as an accent in lower corner...

Supplies:

New La-La Land Crafts Dies:  Hanging Hearts & Love Word Set,  Heart Fan,  Open Hearts Doily Border

Existing La-La Land Crafts Dies:   Berry Flourish,  Cherry Blossom Flowers

Patterned papers:  My Minds Eye Lost & Found Heirloom collection

Roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections            Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out the La-La Land Crafts Inspiration Blog to catch a peek at more of the projects the team has made with the new dies and stamps being released at the show this week...I'm sure you'll love the new releases as much as we do!