Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Paper Sweeties Challenge - February 2017 Anything goes!


It's a new month and a new Anything Goes Challenge over at Paper Sweeties!  Here is your inspiration and here is how I was inspired:


I used my Bee Happy Sweet Cuts to cut some leaves for my spray wreath and added some of the squigglies from the Sweet Borders Sweet Cuts.


Those sweet flowers are from the Hello Spring Stamp set and Sweet cuts.  I used my Zig Clean Color markers to color them in ... it's a red, but it looks a little pinkish to me.  I added some real red in the center to pump up the red a bit.  And those oh so pretty marshmallow sequins for the center.

I also added the birdhouse from the I Love Summer Sweet Cuts and stamp set and the heart from Hello Spring Sweet Cuts.



And I just love the banner from the Be Happy Sweet cuts which coordinates perfectly with the most awesome Hello Friend sentiment stamp set.


Thanks for stopping by today and I can't wait to see how you are inspired!  Please play along for your chance to win a $25 Paper Sweeties Gift Certificate!

Now Be sure to hop around and see what everyone else has created for you today:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Nancy Salkeld
February Guest Designer:  Kristina Song

And Be sure to play along for a chance to win!




Thursday, January 26, 2017

JessicaLynnOriginal and Cards From The Heart Card Drive



So there's this card drive that is run by Winter at Winter Wonderland Designs each year for the last 8 years.  She collects Valentines and then sends them out to various hospitals and foster homes to be handed out to kids.  Jessica introduced us to this card drive and she created this custom digital Brentwood stamp to be used for cards for the drive.



There are a few rules for the cards... there can't be any glitter or items added that could fall off or be taken off like sequins or gems.  So you'll definitely want to check out the rules if you're thinking of sending some cards.  You can find them at the Winter Wonderland Blog right here!  But keep in mind that she has to have them by the 31st to give her time to mail them out to the hospitals so they arrive for the kids by Valentines so depending on when you are reading this you may or may not be able to participate this time around.


I made three quick cards by keeping the design similar, but a little different and I used some different colors on each of my Brentwood images too... some doilies... some paper layers (no rule against paper layers!)


And then I just die cut a few stitched hearts out of some metallic paper.. so yeah... a little shine without the glitter!  And then I used the banner from Jessica's Brentwood Owl Once Upon a Fairytale Christmas Clear Stamp set.

So... what do you say?  Can you do it?  I'm mailing mine off on the 27th.  Arizona to Texas... I hope it makes it....love the thought of creating a smile...

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Puppy Love with Craftin Desert Divas


Craftin Desert Divas just had a new release last week and this awesome box die was one of the new products.  I ordered it on Friday and it was in my mailbox on Saturday.  Now to be fair, I do live about an hour away from CDD headquarters...lol... but still!  One Day!  Ordered, Shipped and Received!  You can't beat Tara's shipping!

This Kissy Puppy Digi was the first one I ordered from CDD... I just love it I think because it reminds me of one of my fur babies.  And the papers I used are from Doodlebug and they are available over in the CDD shop too... these prints were perfect for a Valentines card!


Aren't these pups just so adorable??  The little one playing inside the box... I cut apart the digi so I could place it so it looked like he was crouching... I'm kinda loving the way he turned out.  Do you see his little tail sticking up behind him?  And I thought if there were two pups for sure one would be sitting on top of the box to keep the other one trapped inside the box... or at least in my house that's how it would go!

And that ball... I used one of the stitched circles from the Truck Dies to make that... honestly... I needed something to cover up some red ink I got on the paper and that was just the ticket!

And I love the shorter grass that comes in the Outdoor Landscape Dies 2 set!  I wanted grass but didn't have a whole lot of room for the tall grass so this one worked out just fine.


You'll probably be seeing a lot of those stitched hearts from the Mini Shaker Clip Dies a lot this Valentines season... and that sentiment?  Adorable right??  It was on one of the DP in the Doodlebug Pad... there are tons of phrases to use!  Or you can use it was a background paper but I'll probably use it as sentiments.

To finish it off I added some clouds in vellum and sprinkled a few sequins around.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you'll come back soon... hoping to be back by the weekend with some more Valentines!


Monday, January 23, 2017

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #196 and Sweet Stamp Shop


Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  As soon as I saw this sketch I thought of this new coffee washi tape I got from the Sweet Stamp Shop and knew exactly what I was going to do!


I've been planning this in my head since it arrived and when I saw the sketch I got excited!  So I took a 12x12 piece of Kraft paper and adhered various patterns of the washi across the whole thing.  Then I cut my 2nd layer from that paper.  And I decided to do a full sheet so I'd have some leftover for more cards.. so you'll be seeing this again sometime soon!


Love Sweet Stamp Shop stamps... they are... well... so sweet!  Here's a little Cafe from the Coffee Town set which you can find here! (Oh heck I just linked to the whole coffee section.. 'cause you're gonna wanna look anyway!


The sentiment is from the same set and you can really put together a variety of sentiments because the words are all separate!  Easy Peasy!  And my Craftin Desert Divas Fancy Frame Dies are perfect (as always-I use them almost every time!)...

Won't you join us this week?


Saturday, January 21, 2017

JessicaLynnOriginal Digital Stamps


This time around at JessicaLynnOriginal we're sharing some projects we created using a few of the beautiful digital stamps available right now in the shop!

Here's what I made for you today:


So have you used digital stamps yet?  Are you afraid... you don't know if you have the right printer or the right ink or the right paper or the right program?  It's really pretty simple and hopefully after today you'll give it a try if you haven't already!   You could win some cash to spend in the shop and try one out for free!  Just leave us a comment on each blog and two winners will be drawn from the comments and each will win a $5 gift certificate to the shop!  And if you leave me some love, I'll visit you back if you have a blog!


I've used the Limited Edition Jerry's Bass digi from the shop.  I'm always making flowery cards and I never have enough man cards.  I think I still kinda made this one "pretty" but I COULD give it to the right man.. you know... one that would NEVER throw it away and at the very least say thank you and give it back to me so I could keep it...lol.  I started with that background.  I used my distress inks to watercolor it in a few different blues.  Then I sprayed it with some distress spray.  After that dried, I used a simple circle stencil I had and sponged some blue dots and then I used the same stencil to add some texture paste dots in a few areas.  I even have some background left over for another card or two.


I didn't need a whole scene for this one, but I thought a few waves might be a nice touch.  I kept it subdued because for this one it's all about the Digi and the background really.

I have an Epson Inkjet printer and when I want to color a digi with Copics I print on the same paper I use when I stamp and color.  When I'm using colored pencils or water based markers sometimes I use the same paper and sometimes I just print on regular cardstock.  You do have to be careful about your ink bleeding a bit with any markers so I usually try to print the night before I'm going to color but I have printed and colored the same day.  When I do this I'm just more careful about the edges where the printer ink is.


When I'm coloring a digi (just like any other stamp) sometimes I just wing it and use whatever colors I wanted.  This time I pulled up some pics of fish and used those as inspiration  Don't get me wrong... I still used a little artistic freedom... but it helps get me started.


And one of the coolest thing about digis and why I turn to them sometimes is that you can pull them up in Word (or whatever program you use to print them.. Print Shop, Photo Shop...) and you can size them to what you want and flip them so they face the opposite way.  Here I made itty bitty fish, flipped one and colored them the same as my one above... do be careful about the individual rules each artist has about their digis.  There are some that don't allow any modifications at all so be sure to know and respect the wishes of the artist... if you're not sure... just ask!

And give it a try!  Don't think you don't have what you need!  If you have a printer and paper you have what you need!


And be sure to visit my teamies' blogs and see what they've created.  Jeanie has created a video for you as well so be sure to check that out!  And don't forget to leave some love where you stop for your chance to win!

Lisa Bzibziak (You Are Here!)

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Cutting Cafe Valentines Inspiration


So excited about our Cutting Cafe Inspiration projects this time around... it's all about Valentines Day!  I LOVE making Valentines projects even though I make way more than I ever give out... I don't know why!  I used the Mailbox Template and Cutting File for mine and I used the Mailbox 2 to make this cute little 3D scene.


All of these hearts, envelopes, numbers, the mailbox and its parts come with this set.  For the base, I used the bottom of some packaging something I bought over the holidays came in.. it's shaped like a box top, but it was just the base of something that came in a clear box (I saved that for later!)


I did add these cute little wooden lady bugs and mushrooms that my mom gave me.  I don't know where she found them, but I was excited to have a chance to use them.


I used the grass and flowers from the Garden Standups set which is quite awesome itself!  And isn't that snail adorable?  It is from the Animal and Bug Love Stamp Set available at The Cutting Cafe Shop (the Cutting Cafe's sister site that has lots of really cute papers, stamp sets, ribbon, and more!)


I also took the opportunity to use up some of my old school bling!  Love these hearts that come with the Mailbox set with sentiments.  I printed a whole sheet so I have more to use on some cards coming up...


And that adorable mushroom and bee are from the Animal and Bug Love set too... along with some more adorable images... you should check it out for sure!  It's perfect for Valentines cards and I've used it lots of other times throughout the year too!

So thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to stop over at the Cutting Cafe Blog and check out all of the Design Team Valentines makes on the 21st!  You will not be disappointed!

Monday, January 16, 2017

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #195 and CDD


Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  This time around I used some cute CDD stuff including this adorable Kissing Birds Digital Stamp.


Just love these cuties!  And did you notice they are shaped like a heart?


So play along this week!  Very cute sketch and lots of fun!