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!

Well, Hello Again!

Yes, I know...I've been missing from the blog world for a bit. :)

What started as a planned one-week break turned out to be longer than I planned. I've needed to devote more of my time and efforts to help out a family member in the past few weeks, and because of that, had to put several non-essential tasks, that are normally on my schedule, to rest for a bit. Sadly for my creative mojo, crafting and blogging was one of those tasks that I had to put aside for other responsibilities.

But things are evening out a bit now, a new routine is coming into shape, and hopefully you'll be seeing some crafty creations here on a more regular basis again.

No better time to start than the present, right? So I'm going to give you a nice, long, picture-filled post today.

I was thrilled to be asked by my friend Linda Coughlin, who I first "met" through Etsy and Zibbet and who now owns the wonderful online shop The Funkie Junkie, to participate as a Guest Designer in the newest challenge over at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog. The new challenge is gift tags and thank you notes for the upcoming holidays...and if you were around here last Christmas, you know how I love making holiday tags and cards! (I hope to again have the time to make as many as last year, but we'll take that as it comes this year.)

Making these tags took a bit of time, but it was a fun break here and there over the past few weeks. And to be honest, don't think all my gift tags are this "loaded." :)  I have one special gift each year for each person on my list, and that special gift gets a special gift tag, one that's a bit more involved and loaded with goodies...one I hope the recipient keeps as a remembrance of the gift itself. These two tags are for two of those special gifts.

The first is pink and feminine, with a bit of sparkle. The base of the tag uses the Tim Holtz Baroque die, so it's a nice, large tag. Layered on top with foam tape is the Mini Baroque die, and each of the pieces are accented using some Stampendous Frantage embossing powder (vintage white and vintage pink)...

...and then all the fun began! The little deer was die cut and covered with bronze glitter, then a couple teeny little bells were tied around his neck, with clear glitter over the string to make that sparkle, too...

Here's a close-up of the layers, and the touches of the vintage embossing powders, that are flecked with gold and dark glitter...

After adding a small piece of cream burlap and topping it with a tea-dyed piece of Venise lace, I added some lilies coated with Flower Soft and clear glitter, some punched leaves, and scattered a few pink pearls around as an accent...

Additional Supplies:

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections          Leaf Punch:  Punch Bunch Ash Leaf

Miscellaneous:   white string, mini bells, Hug Snug seam binding, Snow White Flower Soft, clear glitter

The second tag is in a traditional "tag" shape, made by covering a manila tag with some patterned paper, distressing and inking the edges, then accenting them with more of the Stampendous Vintage White Frantage embossing powder. After layering some narrower red burlap over a piece of cream burlap, then a strip of white crocheted lace, I began the layering of fun embellishments...

I used a sprig from a craft store Christmas pick, and covered it, and a red flower, with a mix of Flower Soft and clear glitter...

...and layered them atop a white resin frame accented here and there with some clear Rock Candy glitter. A little pearl flourish inside the frame and a row across the top of the lace and the center of the seam binding bows were the finishing touches...

Additional Supplies:

Flower:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections and The Paper Studio          Punch:  Punch Bunch Ash Leaf

Miscellaneouos supplies:   pine branch, Hug Snug seam binding, Snow White Flower Soft

Next up is the first of the Christmas thank you cards. These are 3-1/2" x 5" cards...the same design, just a different color combo. 

I started by painting white acrylic craft paint in the center of the patterned paper pieces, then distressing and inking the edges of the pieces. I did this to make the embellishments in the centers of the cards stand out more against the background. 

The cute little packages are made using the Tim Holtz Packages & Bows die. The "wreaths" are made using white hemp cording and a loop of some Tinsel Twine...

To the side of the wreath, I put a bow of the hemp cording, added some deep red roses, a couple tiny gold bells, and some white flower stamens...

The timepieces and spinners were dry-brushed with white craft paint to shabby them up a bit, and the little snowflake punches have a coating of Rock Candy glitter for sparkle...

Additional Supplies:

  Journaling tickets:   Tim Holtz Idea-ology

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Patterned papers:  Graphic45 Twelve Days of Christmas collection

Roses and white stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts           Snowflake punch:   Martha Stewart

Pearls:  The Paper Studio

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, white acrylic paint, mini gold bells, white hemp cording

Thanks so very much for popping by for a visit today!

Believe in Your Dreams...

Happy Halloween!  We have a busy day today...but we'll all be back in time for our annual "block party" Halloween pot luck dinner out on the cul-de-sac where we eat, socialize, enjoy whatever game is on tv (oh yes...there is actually a tv that's wheeled out onto the street and hooked up with all kinds of high-tech gadgets - Thursday night football will be the featured showing tonight), and most importantly, pass out candy to all the trick-or-treaters who come by. It's a fun tradition!

If you have a bit of extra time, and you love Lili of the Valley blog hops (and who doesn't?), there's a fun one going on right now. This time, part of the team is showing how they've used the same new image stamp - a fun new twist for this release! As always, there are fun prizes to be awarded for hopping and leaving comments, so be sure to head on over to the Ideas to Inspire blog to start the Oh-So-Girlie hop using the new "Getting Ready" stamp!

But today's card that I'm sharing with you *is not* part of the blog hop, and has nothing to do with Halloween or the holidays. It's a shabby friendship card with a message of encouragement for someone who might need a little pick-me-up while striving to reach a goal. It features several Lili of the Valley stamps, and of course, papers by LOTV, too...

The larger main sentiment comes from LOTV's Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate set, while the supporting sentiment on the small tag inside the memo pin can be found in Set 29, Vintage Sentiments/Just to Say set. The blue and white dotted paper (and the solid blue you can see peeking out from behind it) can be found in the new Winter Wishes paper pad...

Of course, I had to surround it all with a shabby floral cluster, complete with cheesecloth pieces, flowers, pearls, hemp bow, and other little bits of fun...

Instead of just placing some flowers on the upper corner, I tucked a cluster of rosebuds and leaves behind the top corner of the sentiment block and the stamped postcard piece that's from LOTV's Set 46, Background Bits/Notes set , and added another hemp bow behind one of the rosebuds...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Winter Wishes collection, NitWit Collections for Lili of the Valley (blue papers);   

Country Lady collection, NitWit Collections for Lili of the Valley (tan background paper)

Stamps:   LOTV Set 61, Quotables/Celebrate;   LOTV Set 29, Vintage Sentiments/Just to Say;  

 LOTV Set 46, Background Bits/Notes (postcard)

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts;  Prima;   local craft store          Stamens:  ChocolateLetters on Etsy ;  Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Tim Holtz Memo pin (embellished)

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, hemp cording, Stampendous Frantage embossing powder

Thanks so much for popping in for a visit today!

Thankful...

Happy autumn Monday to you! You can tell it's "officially fall" around here because the oak tree out front has finally started dropping leaves all over the front lawn. Sure do love that we have that beautiful big old tree in the front yard, but it sure does make a mess for a few weeks every year! :)

Today's card again has an autumn color scheme, and I'm not sure if it will be a "thank you" card, or a "thanksgiving" card...either way it has the colors of the season set against stark white and kraft tan...

Each cardstock layer has been attached using foam tape to add dimension...it's a bit easier to see from the side view...

The larger flowers are handmade using flat Prima flowers, shaping them with the round end of an embossing tool, then layering them on top of each other. I couldn't resist adding a nice bunch of stamens to the largest orange flower just for fun...

The large orange leaf came off a larger stem of leaves from the craft store...a little gold glitter was added in the spirit of the fall season..

I found a stem of seed pods left from a couple projects from last year...just the right colors for today's card...

Supplies:

Embossing folder:   Sizzix/Tim Holtz Texture Fades/Bricked & Woodgrain

Dies:   Spellbinders Foliage Two          Leaves, Pearls:   Recollections          Small roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Large flowers:   Prima (altered)          Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy          Sentiment stamp:   Fiskars

Miscellaneous:   Wilton doily, large maple leaf, hemp cording, seed stems, cheesecloth

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

Christmas? Why Not?...

Today's card didn't start out by design to be a Christmas card. I was pulling embellishments to add to the front of a card with a tan and black color scheme going, and the first item I pulled was a bright red rose. Then I pulled out the baggie of die cut leafy branches, and when I set the dark green branches next to the red rose, a Christmas card was born...

The largest rose is crafted using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies (by now you've probably realized I have a definite "addiction" to this die set, right?)...

The dark green leafy branches were dry-brushed with white acrylic paint for a wintery accent, and the pearl, silver, and red glass stick pin was placed to look like the branch the leaves rest upon...

I cut apart a larger acrylic sentiment stamp to get just the "Merry Christmas" part, and shaped it on my acrylic block so it would stamp around the edge of the doily piece...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Basic Grey Basics Manila collection;   Colorbok (dot)

Dies:   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;   Impression Obsession Bare Branch;   

Memory Box Woven Circle

Stencil:   Tim Holtz Splatters          Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Sentiment stamp:   Inkadinkado          Handcrafted stick pin

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, burlap

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Wishing You A Fabulous Day...

I love seeing and making white, ivory, and cream cards, but I must go on record saying photographing them does try my patience.  :)

I'm not a professional photographer (as you might be able to readily see), but I try to remember all the tips I've read about the best way to capture your work in a photo, the best lighting to use, etc. Still, with white and cream cards, I've never yet been successful in capturing the same hues and shading in my photos that the human eye can discern, whether I'm photographing them in natural light, or with lighting that simulates natural light, or via photo editing...and that's the trying part for me. Someday I'll get the magic combination figured out...I'm not ready to give up yet.

So please trust me when I say today's card is made in cream cardstock, and the dry embossing is shaded with a darker cream. Even with the contrast of the white pearls against the cream cardstock, the pale yellow hue of the cardstock still photographs more white than it is...

I wanted the card to be monochromatic with one single pop of color, so I chose to use one of my handcrafted orange roses to be that bright accent. It's surrounded with cream asters and brown roses, pieces of a bare branch die cut, golden brown leaf clusters, and pearl clusters...

The embossing folder incorporates the die shape which leaves a space for the sentiment, so I used some of the smaller sizes of the coordinating die set to add dimension to the sentiment block, adding a touch of clear German glass glitter for a very subtle sparkly accent...

Supplies:

Dies:   Spellbinders Labels 18;   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   Impression Obsession Bare Branch;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Embossing folder:   Spellbinders 3D M-Bossabilities Framed Labels 18

Sentiment stamp:   Papertrey Ink          Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, clear German glass glitter

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