Watercolor Blog Hop - You Are Fabulous...

I know what you're thinking...what's she doing here today? :)  Well....Pretty Pink Posh is having a fun...and I mean fun...watercolor blog hop through tomorrow evening, and I had to join in!

If you like watercolor cards, you need to follow that link I just gave you above and take a look at the entries so far. There are already over 300 beautiful cards to feast your eyes on!

Here's my humble addition to the hop...a clean and simple friendship card...

And a few detail shots, starting with the little glittery butterfly in the corner...

And finishing with the glittered heart at the bottom...

Supplies:

Stamps:   Stampendous "Ranunculus Field";   Altenew "Super Script" ("you are")

Color Mediums:   Sakura Koi watercolors;   "Stardust" Stickles

Dies:   Papertrey Ink "Heart Prints";   Technique Tuesday "fabulous"            Punch:   Martha Stewart "3-in-1 Butterfly"

Miscellaneous:   Ranger Distress Glitter  "Rock Candy,"  colored gem,  twine,  cheesecloth

Thanks for visiting - I'll be back tomorrow with a Mixed Media Monday share!

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!

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!

LOTV - It's a Christmas Blog Hop!

Good morning, everyone. Things have been a little too quiet here on my blog, but rest assured, work is going on behind the scenes and new projects to share are happening!

Today's the day for Lili of the Valley's Christmas blog hop to celebrate the launch of wonderful new Christmas products. This is a big release - 22 new character stamps - vintage boys & girls, snowmen, penguins, and angels;  4 new beautiful Christmas paper pads; new clear Christmas sentiments; clear Christmas carols and recipe stamps; and some new mini images. Sharpen up that list-making pencil - I have a strong feeling you're going to need it! :)

The new stamps and papers will be available on the LOTV website starting at midnight Friday, August 1 (UK time) (that's late afternoon Thursday for most of us in the US, except for Hawaii where it's earlier in the afternoon LOL).

As before with the hops, there are fabulous prizes up for grabs, with winners to be drawn at random from the comments of the participating blogs. Even we don't know whose blogs are the "lucky" ones, so to increase your chances of winning in the drawing from comments, hop from one blog to the next and leave a comment on each one!

This time there's one prize drawing for the 12 angel, penguin, and snowmen stamps. The second drawing is for the 10 vintage children stamps. Both winners will be drawn at random from all the comments left on the lucky blogs, and winners will be announced Thursday evening on the Ideas To Inspire blog.

Here's a linked list of all the blogs taking part...

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)
Lou

Mary J

Mindy

And here's my card. I used patterned papers from the new Festive Trimmings paper pad, and one of the sentiments from the new clear Christmas wishes sentiment sheet, along with lots of fun holiday dies for a frosty winter scene:

In the corner, a large die cut poinsettia, sprinkled with clear coarse glitter and with tiny bells to simulate the yellow stamen center...

The new LOTV Christmas sentiment stamp is in a straight line on the stamp sheet, but one of the reasons I love clear sentiment stamps is the versatility of being able to shape them the way you want. I "waved" this one on the stamp block, and stamped it onto a tattered banner die cut (that I tattered just a bit more and edged with clear glitter)...

I used lots of foam tape for dimension on this card...the green star Festive Trimmings paper is the only one adhered directly to the card front. The white frame layer is popped up from the green star paper, the trees are adhered with foam tape, the deer and the green dotted Festive Trimmings paper are popped up from the white frame, and finally the banner is popped up from the green frame paper. It all forms natural shadows and interest to the overall scene...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  LOTV *new* Festive Trimmings

Sentiment stamp:   LOTV *new* A5 Christmas Wishes clear stamp

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels Two and Layered Poinsettia;   Impression Obsession Birch Trees,

Deer Trio, and Pine Branch;   Tim Holtz Tattered Banners

Twine:   The Twinery / Red Shimmer      

Miscellaneous:   Glistening Snow-Tex;   Shabby Blue Frantage embossing powder

Your next stop is Crafty Lou's blog to see the beauty she has for you.  And don't forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog Thursday to see if you're one of the lucky winners of the two prizes.

Enjoy the hop, and good luck everyone!

LOTV - Birthday Fairy Blog Hop!

Good Wednesday morning, everyone - it's time for another Lili of the Valley blog hop! This time, we're celebrating the release of 10 new Birthday Fairy stamps that will be available for purchase on the LOTV website starting at 10AM (UK time) on Saturday, May 10, as we celebrate LOTV's 10th birthday. (Notice the "10" theme going on here? )

The shop in Leeds is open Saturday for the birthday celebrations. There will be so much going on, and design team members from all over the world will be there, along with new products, demonstrations, and special offers throughout the day.  It's going to be a fun day!

If, like me, you're unable to get to the shop in person, fret not...there will be some online fun going on and details will be released soon about those.  Lucy will be on LOTV's Facebook site throughout the day, bringing you news, chats, and pictures of the celebration. (To join the virtual party, click on the "events" tab on the LOTV Facebook timeline page linked, and you'll see a button to join the online party.)

And now for the hop details. Simply travel from one blog to another, following the links on each post, for some fun inspiration using the new images.

As always, we'll have some hidden prizes along the way. Two winners will be randomly drawn from all comments left on the participating blogs. Even we design team members don't know who the "lucky blogs" are, so make sure to comment on each one to give yourself the best chance of having your name drawn as one of two lucky winners of a full set of the new Birthday Fairy stamps!

The two lucky winners will be announced on the Ideas to Inspire blog on Saturday morning!

Here's the linked up list of blogs participating today...

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)
Lou

Mary J

Mindy

Pops

As you may already know if you've "hopped" with us before, my focus on the team is the use of the beautiful papers and the sentiment stamps. Today my card is showing off the beautiful and spring-filled colors of the Promises patterned papers and coordinating Promises solids, and uses Sketch #10 from the I2I blog as inspiration for the layout...

For the sentiment circle snuggled in among the flowers, I used Set 9, Mixed Circular Sentiments, and for the sentiment in the upper right, Set 25, Handwritten Phrases...

This little butterfly is from Set 66, Grunge Elements...it's colored with Spectrum Noir pens, and sparkled up with Crystal Stickles and a few little pearls...

Patterned papers:   LOTV Promises and Promises Solids

Stamps:   LOTV Set 9/Mixed Circular Sentiments,  Set 25/Handwritten Sentiments,   Set 66/Grunge Elements

Dies:   Spellbinders A2 Scalloped Borders Two;  My Favorite Things Leaf-Filled Flourish;   

Poppy Stamps Massa Leaf Background

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearl spray:   local craft store          

Pearls:   Recollections          Clay corners:   Martha Stewart mold and air dry clay

Your next stop on the hop is a visit to Crafty Lou's for some more fairy stamp inspiration.  Remember to stop by the I2I (Ideas to Inspire) blog on Saturday to see if you're one of the two lucky winners.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit...have fun, and good luck, on the hop!

LOTV - Annabel's in Town!...

Happy Friday, everyone! Lili of the Valley is introducing seven adorable new stamps featuring little Annabel, a very active little girl whose pigtails are always flying. :) The stamps will be available for purchase from the website at midday on Monday, March 24th.

Annabel's being featured in today's blog hop, and as the LOTV hops often have, there are prizes hidden among our participating blogs for *two* lucky commenters, who will each win the complete set of the 7 new Annabel stamps by random drawing of all the comments. So be sure to leave a comment on each participating blog to increase your chances of winning one of the two prizes!

Here's the linked list of the blogs participating to make it easy for you to find them all...

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)
Lou

Mary J

Mindy

As you may know by now, my focus on the team is use of the gorgeous LOTV papers, and the sentiment and background stamps. So how do I make a card incorporating the fun spirit of Annabel without using her image? I decided, since Annabel is such a busy girl, and apparently not partial to lacy and frilly things, I'd make up a card that was "busy" with techniques and minimize the "frilly" details that I'm so fond of.  :)

The background patterned paper is from LOTV's Pressed in Time paper pad...the large heart in the center is covered with paper from the Beach Bliss pad. Then I added several LOTV background stamp images to the piece. The clock in the lower left corner, and the postmark and text in the lower right corner, are from LOTV's Grunge Elements stamp set. The wonderful corner stamp in the upper right is from LOTV's Grunge Corners stamp set. The sentiment from the Handwritten Phrases set was stamped onto a tattered banner diecut.

After the stamping, I gesso'd the center of the piece, using the gesso itself to "glue" pieces of cheesecloth on both sides. The next step was to spritz some Broken China Distress Ink diluted with distilled water over the center of the gesso'd area, including the cheesecloth, and while it was still wet, I tilted the piece back and forth to make the ink run, and give a watercolor effect. I used a Tim Holtz Splatters stencil and some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to give the look of "cup" marks on the piece.

After some "messy" stenciling with dark gray modeling paste and a chickenwire template (to get the "messy" look, I didn't tape the stencil down, letting some of the paste seep under some of the edges...Annabel's not big into perfectly neat...heehee) I sprinkled some Shabby Blue Frantage embossing powder randomly around the card and heat embossed it.

A canvas flower with a button center, a seam binding bow, and a small stamen cluster, were added over the heart in the center of the card front...

Here's a closeup of the grunge corner stamp that shows most of the techniques all in one photo...the gesso, splatter stencil, modeling paste chickenwire stencil, Frantage embossing powder, distressed edges, and machine stitching...

The final handmade accent is a small air-dry clay corner element, painted with acrylic paints in coordinating colors...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   LOTV Pressed in Time and Beach Bliss paper pads

Stamps:   LOTV Set 66 Grunge Elements (clock, postmark, text);  Set 21 Grunge Corners; and Set 25 Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Tim Holtz Tattered Banners;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Xyron ShapeZ/Heart

Stencils:   Tim Holtz Splatters;   Crafters Workshop Chickenwire Reversed

Canvas flower:   Prima          Stamen cluster:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Clay corner:   Martha Stewart air dry clay and mold

Miscellaneous:   Hug Snug seam binding,  cheesecloth,  gesso,  Distress Inks,  Frantage embossing powder

Remember that we don't know who the "lucky blogs" belong to, so the more blogs you leave a comment on, the better your chances of winning a set of Annabel stamps in the random drawings. And don't forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog on Monday morning to see if you're one of the lucky winners!

Thanks for stopping in for a visit today. Enjoy the hop, and good luck to you!

LOTV Blog Hop - Good Friends...

Hello, everyone! It's time for another Lili of the Valley design team blog hop today, with inspiration for using the latest products that will be available to purchase on the website from midday (UK time) Monday, February 24th.

This release is featuring 6 *beautiful* new paper pads, 5 new art pads, and another new set of the popular sentiment tags representing all your family members...

I think you'll find lots of beautiful ideas along the hop - just travel from one blog to another, following the links below, and leave a comment on each blog post.

As always, there are some hidden prizes on the hop...but we on the team don't know whose blogs are the "lucky" ones! The winners will be drawn at random from all the comments left on the "lucky" blogs.  This time, there's a full set of the 6 new paper pads to give away - 2 lucky winners will each receive 3 of the new paper pads. A third prize of a set of the new family sentiment tag stamps is also on the prize list for a third lucky winner. So be sure to visit and leave a comment on each blog hop post to get your name in the drawing for one of three great prizes!

Here's the link list of all the blogs participating in this hop...

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Debbie

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)

Mary J

Mindy

Today's card features the new "Pressed in Time" collection.  I stamped two of the corner images from Set 21, Grunge Corners and embossed them with peridot green embossing powder. After stamping the sentiment from Set 62, Quotables/Friendship, I highlighted the edges of the key words using a white Uni Ball Signo pen to make it stand out a bit more...

The little butterflies are punched from coral pink vellum,with just a touch of Diamond Stickles on the wings...

I didn't have any dark coral roses in my stash, so out came some acrylic paint and the small paint brush, and after some dry-brushing with the dark coral paint, you'd never know these roses didn't start out this color...

One of my favorite newer tools is the Martha Stewart Beaded Ruffle Edge punch. Here, I cut just the scalloped edging off the punched paper, inked it for accent, and after "scrunching" it just a little to shabby it up, glued the ends of the ruffles under the torn paper edges...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   LOTV *new* Pressed in Time collection

Stamps:   LOTV Set 21, Grunge Corners;    Set 62,  Quotables/Friendship

Punches:   Martha Stewart Beaded Ruffle Edge, Rose Leaf, and Royal Butterfly

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Stamen cluster:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Pearls:   Recollections

Adirondack Dimensional Pearls - Mushroom                Ranger Stickles - Diamond

Miscellaneous:   white and natural hemp cording,  vellum scraps

Your next stop on the hop is Mary's blog for some wonderful inspiration. If you get lost at any time along the way, you can refer to the list above, or head back to Ideas to Inspire to pick up the links there.

Finally, don't forget to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog on Monday morning to find out who the lucky winners are before the new products are available on the LOTV site.

Thanks so much for visiting today...enjoy the blog hop, and good luck to you all!

LOTV-Hopping into 2014...

Happy 2014, everyone, and thanks for stopping by! There's a whole new set of 10 adorable Lili of the Valley stamps in the first launch of 2014, so we're celebrating with another blog hop and a chance for two lucky people to win the new sets. The newest sets feature the very popular James the Bear, and some more of the newest characters, Jack, Patch, and Puss.

Again, there are 2 full sets of the new stamps to give away...2 lucky winners will each receive all 10 new designs!

The new stamps will be available for purchase from the website starting midday (UK time) on Monday, January 13. (If you're near the Leeds shop, it will be open this Saturday, January 11, from 10-4, and you'll be able to purchase the newest sets at the shop.)

If you've hopped with us before, you know how this goes. Just "hop" from one blog to the next, following the list below. Be sure to leave a comment on each card for the best chance to win the new stamp sets. The prizes are "hidden"...the winners will be drawn at random from the comments left on the participating blogs, and even we don't know whose lucky blog commenters will be chosen for the drawing.

Be sure to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog on Monday morning to see which were the "lucky" blogs and to see if you're one of the winners!

Here's a full list of the blogs taking part in the hop. Remember, to have the best chance at winning a complete new set of the newest release, leave a comment on each blog:

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky

Dawny

Debbie

Dena

Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)

Kim

Lou

Mary J

Mindy

And now you're ready for me to move on to the pictures, hmmm? :)  I focus mainly on using the LOTV papers and sentiments stamps, so this time, I chose some of the green papers from LOTV's Beach Bliss paper pad, and a couple different sentiment stamp sets. On the diecut tag is a sentiment from Set 10, A5 Verses, and across the bottom, a sentiment from Set 25, Handwritten Phrases...

The paper doily was white to start...I shaded it down using Pumice Stone Distress Ink, and used the same color around the edges of the die cut tag. I wanted this card to have a neutral background so the coral-pink flowers would serve as the contrasting interest. 

There's lots of layering and foam tape on this card...you know how I love my foam tape...heehee. It's such a simple way to add dimension, and with all the embellishments I like to use, it often makes little "wells" that I can nestle things down inside to keep the cards from becoming so thick they're unmailable...

The lace was white at the start, too. A little bit of Tattered Rose and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks applied with a water brush, along with some random dabs of a paper towel, made it easy to make a "dyed-to-match" lace trim.

The largest of the roses was made with Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies...it's surrounded with smaller ready-made flowers...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:    Lili of the Valley Beach Bliss paper pad

Sentiment Stamps:   LOTV Set 10, A5 Verses;   Set 25, Handwritten Phrases

Dies:   Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags Two, and Rose Creations;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Recollections

Flowers:   LayoutsFromTheHeart on Etsy (taupe roses);   Wild Orchid Crafts (pink roses)

Your next stop on the hop is Kim's blog. But if you get lost, you can always go back to the complete list above, or back to the beginning at the Ideas to Inspire blog...and don't forget to check the I2I blog on Monday to see if you're one of the lucky winners!

Lastly, I'd like to take a moment to remind you of  LOTV's monthly challenge  (there's always a "hot" link to it over on my sidebar to the right, too).  January's challenge is "Anything Goes," so it's a fun one, and there's still plenty of time left to enter for this month.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit. I'll be back on a regular basis soon...in the meantime, good luck on the hop!!

LOTV - It's a Baby Blog Hop!

Gee, first I "disappear" for weeks, and now you see me twice in two days! :)  Thanks for stopping by today, and for my U.S. friends, Happy Thanksgiving! It's late in the evening now in the U.S. (except for my friends in Alaska and Hawaii), and you're either relaxed on the sofa, playing family games, or, if you're really brave, out shopping in the stores that opened this evening for a head-start on Black Friday deals. Me? I'm relaxed at home, on the web with all of you, because it's another fun Lili of the Valley blog hop day!

We're celebrating the launch of 10 adorable new Baby Stamps, that will be available to purchase at the LOTV Christmas event at the Leeds shop on Saturday, November 30, and available on the LOTV website at midday Monday, December 2 (GBT).

To participate and be eligible for the prizes (isn't it fun that the LOTV hops have prizes?!), just "hop" from one blog to the next, and be sure to leave a comment on each blog. Why a comment on each blog? Because the prizes are "hidden"...even we don't know whose blog(s)  is/are  the "magic" prize blog(s).

You see, this time, 2 full sets of the new Baby stamps will be given away...2 lucky commenters will each get all 10 new designs! Annnnnnd....there will be a third winner of a clear set of the new Baby companion stamps!  The lucky winners will be randomly drawn from all the commenters on the lucky blog(s), and announced on Saturday morning...so hop and comment away!

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part in today's hop. For the best chance of winning a prize, remember to leave a comment at each stop along the way...

Ideas to Inspire

Anne

Becky
Dawny

Debbie

Dena
Elise

Fleur

Gretha

Jen

Kathy (you're here!)

Kim

Lou

Mary J

Moni

Enough chatter...bring on the pics, right? OK...here they are! As you may know, my main focus with LOTV is to highlight the use of the wonderful sentiment stamps and papers...but this time I couldn't resist using the baby shoes companion set to include a set of tiny tennies on this little-boy-colored card. And these papers from the Winter Wishes paper pad are the perfect complement to this theme!

The chipboard heart is painted, inked, and coated with coarse clear glitter, and surrounded with blue and tan flowers and a flourish die cut...

After fussy-cutting the stamped and colored tennies, I punched a tiny hole in each heel to "string them up"  so they'd dangle from the floral cluster. They fall right over the center of the twine bow...

Here's a detail shot of a corner of the sentiment block - the sentiment stamp is in LOTV's  Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate set. It's stamped onto cold press watercolor paper, die cut, the edges watercolored with Faded Jeans Distress Ink refill ink, and has just a sprinkling of Vintage Blue Frantage embossing powder around the edges...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Winter Wishes, Mary Fran/Nitwit Collections for Lili of the Valley

Sentiment stamp:  LOTV Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate

Baby Shoes: *new* LOTV Boys Shoes stamp

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels Two;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork

Chipboard heart:  Maya Road          Cream burlap:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Brown crystals:   Prima          Flowers:   Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

Embossing powder:   Stampendous Frantage Vintage Blue

Miscellaneous supplies:  hemp cording, lace, paper doily

Your next stop on the hop is Kim's blog to see the lovely treasure she's made to share with you! You can always use the link list up above to get back on track if you get lost along the way. :)

Remember to stop by the Ideas to Inspire blog on Saturday evening (GBT) to find out if you're one of the lucky prize winners!

Good luck on the hop, have a wonderful weekend...and a big thanks for stopping by!