...The Night Owl Scrapper...

Tag #4

2012-02-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

Keeping up with the dark background tags I made, here's tag #4 for you. I again used some black light weight chipboard for the base, and used my Lindy's Stamp Gang Products to make the background. For this one I first sprayed the entire tag using my Open Arms Amethyst Starburst Spray, and then I embossed using King Midas Gold embossing powder and a fleur de lis stamp, found in that Parisian Themed TJ Designs Rubber Stamps set I used on my previous tags.

I then sprayed a white doily I purchased at my local dollar store, using my Glitz Spritz Spray in the color Blazing Sun, and layered on top of it a felt piece I bought from my local Michael's, as well as a dress form, cut out of one of Accucut's Dress Form Dies. The paper collection on the dress form if from K&Co. Watercolor Bouquet. I sprayed the entire dress form after covering it with the paper, with the Glitz Spritz in the color Blazing Sun, added a mulberry paper flower which I colored with Open Arms Amethyst Starbusrt Stain, and finally added some trim for the skirt, and at the top of the tag.

Very simple tag that shows off all the of Lindy Stamp Gang goodness. The background is so rich, and everything shimmers!

Questions answered and Tag #3

2012-02-22T13:21:00.000-05:00

Before I start with today's tag, want to thank everyone who has been visiting my blog and leaving comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by, and I hope you continue to do so in the future. I read each and every one of your comments, and I'm very happy to do so.

I have received a few questions regarding my microfine glitter projects, and my altered dress form and tags which I want to address real quickly before I continue with today's tag.

First off, I wanted to let you know I will be making a video tutorial on all the microfine glitter techniques, so for those who are interested in learning more about it, expect it coming soon (as you know, it's been a little crazy around here, and well it's taken me longer than I'd hope to get this turorial filmed for you. Also, the microfine glitters are very easy to find online. or at your local scrapbook store. I know for a fact that The Paper Niche, My Favorite Things, and Simon Says Stamps carry them.

Regarding the dress form questions, I purchased it at one of my local Ross stores. Dress forms are really popular now, and I've found many different varieties at TJ Maxx Stores, Marshalls, Home Goods and Ross. To change it's original color, I just purchased some spray paint at Walmart that was made specifically for painting metal objects. No priming was needed because the paint already had it mixed in. Saved me a lot of time too. Also, the Sizzix frame die I used in Tag #1 does fir through the Big shot and the Cuttlebug. I only have the Cuttlebug machine, and that's what I use to cut all the dies I use. I think that about covers everything for now.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to comment and asking questions. If you ever need anything, feel free to e-mail me at smscrapper@gmail.com. I try to answer within 48 hours, if not sooner. It is hard to reply at the comments section because the person who asks the questions never knows when the question is answered unless they return to the comments section in the future. I usually try to visit the person's blog and answer there, but many don't have blogs, and therefore it's kind of difficult to get the answers back to them.

Alright now, for today's tag I did something completely different than the previous two tags. I used a black chipboard base which I sprayed with Witch's Potion Purple Starburst Spray, and then embossed using King Midas Gold embossing powder. The fleur de lis background stamp is from Stamper's Best, and I really wanted a subtle pattern in the background, so I tried to not go too heavy on the embossing powder. The shimmer on both the spray, and the embossing powder really shows nicely on the dark background.

I added some Maya Road cream colored felt trim to the side of the tag, as well as some small mulberry paper flowers which I colored using more of my Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays. The colors I used on them where Tiger Lili Red Orange, California Golden Poppy and my Glitz Pritz in the Desert Moon Cactus Gold. I embossed the edges of some of the flowers with the King Midas Gold embossing powder too.

I added a metal key embellishment from a K&Co. embellishment pack from my stash, and I embossed it using King Midas Gold Embossing Powder. I layered the key on top of a Fancy Label I cut using one of my Fancy Labels Spellbinders dies. That piece I also sprayed with Desert Moon Cactus Gold. To finish I added some bling, as well as some gold and ivory ribbon at the top of the tag.
As you have been seeing, I tried to focus not only on the shimmer the LSG products give to your projects, but also on the different ways to use them. I particularly love using the embossing powders on metal embellishments for my projects. Have you tried embossing your metals? Try it and you will be hooked!
P.S. New Distress Crackle Paints, Tools and more added to the Blitsy site on sale today. Check it out! http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/8250/

Tag #2

2012-02-21T14:06:00.001-05:00

This next tag is very similar to the first tag I shared on my previous post, in the fact that it has a bow on top, and the center of attention is in the center of the tag as well.

As you can see, I used on this tag the piece from the inside of the frame I used on the previous tag I shared. I really don't like to waste, plus I love the shimmer it showed. I just had to use it right away.

The background of the tag is designer paper from the K&Co. Watercolor Bouquet Collection, and I sprayed it using Blazing Sun Glitz Spritz.

The bird cage and bird are both from the Mover's and Shaper's line of Tim Holtz's Alterations. I cut them out of light weight chipboard, and embossed them using Lindy Stamp Gang Embossing Powders. On the bird cage I did regular embossing using Spring Leaf Chartreuse Embossing Powder, after spraying some parts with My Mojito Green Starburst Spray. On the bird, I did the Intaglio Technique (you can watch a tutorial on how it is done HERE), using Kaiser Rudolph Russet Embossing Powder.
I used one of my Stamping up punches, and punched out the label where I stamped the word Paris. This stamp is also from the same TJ Designs Rubber Stamp Set I used on Tag #1, which I shared on my previous post.

I sprayed that label with my Glory of the Seas Gold Starburst Stain. I added some punch out leaves I punched with one of my Martha Stewart punches, pearls, and some pompom trim on both the bottom of the tag, and the mat underneath the birdcage. I used some ivory organza ribbon, as well as some pink seam binding to add a bow to the top of the tag, which I finished, by adding a small flower applique I found in my stash.
When I think of springtime, I think of bright colors, birds and butterflies. This tag to me screams springtime. More to come =D
P.S. There are still Copic markers left on sale, as well as chalk inks, Sizzix and more. Ending soon! Sign up and get the sales delivered right to your inbox. It's FREE!!!!
Check it out http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/8250/

Tag #1

2012-02-20T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

After an awful week, which even included a short visit to the ER, I come to you to share all the tags I made for the ballerina form I introduced to you on my previous post. I'm alright, and back to normal now, so nothing to worry too much about. All the test results came out negative, so I'm doing well, except I can now say I suffer from severe migraines. Yippie. NOT! I have been prescribed some medication to help if anything similar happens again, but if it becomes a regular occurrence, I'm going to have to consult a neurologist for further treatment. Yuck. Oh, and did I mention, my daughter has an ear infection? Yeah, it's been tough lately.

Well, back to the fun stuff. I will be posting each tag on a separate post, just in order to list all products used, and separate them as well as their pictures, making it less confusing, and easy to get to.

Let's keep in mind that all these tags were made thinking of Paris, and Springtime, and here's the first one:

I used the Sizzix Frame Ornate #3 Die to frame in a stamped image of the Eiffel Tower, which I stamped and embossed with white embossing powder. The stamp comes from from the Parisian inspired TJ Design Rubber Stamp Set.
On the die-cut itself, I did the Tissue Paper Background Technique I showed you on a previous post, and of which you can find a tutorial HERE. The Lindy's Stamp Gang products I used on the frame were A Bit of Bubbly, and Icy Primrose Gold. I love mixing my Starburst Sprays to get different shades on my projects. On the background, which was designer paper from Colobok's Flea Market Collection, I sprayed the Blazing Sun Glitz Spritz. On the bottom of the tag I used two mulberry paper flowers which I colored using my Frosted Forget Me Not Starburst Stain. In the middle of those two flowers I added a beaded flower I got from my stash.

On the top, I added a satin double bow, accompanied by a lace applique bow. and an acrylic flower I had in my stash. I added a few pieces of "bling" on the ends of the frame, just to add a little bit more interest to it. I distressed all the edges of the the tag, and the frame using metallic white paint I bought from my local craft store.
I hope you are able to see all the shimmer from all the different sprays I used. More to come tomorrow!

Altered Ballerina Dressform

2012-02-17T16:18:00.000-05:00

I finally get the chance to sit down and share with you the projects I created for the Lindy's Stamp Gang Booth for CHA 2012. I had a lot of fun making all that I made, but I'm sure I'll make several posts about all them, because there is just too much info to share.

First off, the booth had a Springtime in Paris Theme, which all the the designers tried to follow for all the projects made. It is a super fun theme, and with all the variety of Lindy's Stamp Gang products available, even more fun to create. I wanted to provide something to display some of my pieces, and when I saw this dress-form I knew I had to use it. It would display all the themed tags I would make for the booth. This is what it looked like when I purchased it.

For some reason I did not what to keep it black. Black just does not seem very "springy" to me lol. I decided I would paint the whole thing ivory, and lighten things up a bit.

After that, I knew I had to dress it and brighten it up, so I took some of my favorite Making Memories Rosette Trim and gave it some fine garments lol. I also used some gorgeous trim for the straps and waist accent, which I received from my friend Dale. She got it while on a trip to Norway, and I knew I wanted to use it for a special project such as this. I added some coordinating trim to the skirt and waist, and this is what it ended up looking like.

Of course, it was not finished yet. I had to glimmer it up with some gorgeous Scrintilating Silver Glitz Spritz from Lindy's Stamp Gang, and that just made it look just right. Take a close look at the shimmer on this baby.

The picture definitely does not do it justice, but if you were able to stop by the booth and see it at CHA, you know that it sparkled like no other. It was perfect to display the tags I created for the booth, and this is how they hung from it:

I will post all the tags I made with details of all I used on the next posts, as well as the other projects that I also made for the booth. You don't want to miss them. Stay tuned!

Love At First Sight

2012-02-14T08:55:00.018-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope your day is full of love, friends and family. After all aren't those some of the best things in life?

Today was the perfect day to share this layout with you. It depicts the love my Emily has for animals, and her attachment to one of our family member's dog. I made it using the February Designer Kit from The Paper Niche. There is a mix of paper collections on this layout, and considering I whipped this puppy up in very little time due to deadlines, and how life busy can get, plus the fact I had NO mojo at the time, I think it turned out kind a cute after all.

I used my Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays to color the mulberry paper flower, as well as the super bold Pink Paislee wooden letters that were included in the kit. For the flower I used my Starburst in the Rudolph's Nose Red, and for the letters I used my Starburst in the Tiffany's Blue. As always, I'm always pleased with the amount of shimmer my Starbursts leave on my projects.

The cute heart pins are Maya Road, and the bling is from Eva creative. I fuzzy cut the heart rows and the banners from some of the design paper, just to add more color to the page.

For the first time in a while, I included journaling in my own handwriting. I mostly refrain from that because I don't have the neatest penmanship, but It's good to include it sometimes, because it's part of the memory...when my daughter looks back at this when I'm gone, she'll see my handwriting there, not just something I typed on my computer. Just because of that, I'll use it from time to time...for the most part though, expect computer font on my layouts lol.

I hope you enjoyed today's project and have a great Valentine's!

More Playing With Glitter

2012-02-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Like I described on my previous post, I'm just hooked on micro fine glitter, after my encounter with the Burnished Velvet Technique. I used different colored glitters, and some of my punches, in order to use the glitter differently on these cards.

On this first card I used a Fiscars heart punch, as well as a postage border punch of the same brand. Love the little glitter accents. I apologize for the lighting on the pictures, but with the changing weather around here lately, it's been hard to take a decent picture, plus my lovely daughter broke my home-made light box, and I haven't had a chance to fix it yet.

On this next one, I wanted a more masculine card, and I made a glitter striped pattern.

On this last card I used the same two punches as on the first card on this post, but added a few more colors of glitter for a little variation and a different look.

Can you see how flat the glitter lays flat, and how it does not overpower the whole card? And let me tell you that's a lot of glitter there!

I enjoyed working on these cards, their simplicity, and their glittery touches make me happy. The Uncommon Collection by Authentique, which is the one I use for all these cards, was just great for Valentine's Day, and the labels die set from My Favorite Things which I used on all the sentiment pieces of these cards, is one of my favorites at the moment. What do you think of glitter now?

Burnished Velvet Butterfly

2012-02-10T16:55:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to say that glitter does not have to be flashy. It can also be elegant! What??? Yes, I've just come across this great technique using micro fine glitter that dazzles! Check this card out:

The main accent, which is the butterfly is ALL GLITTER and it's not flashy at ALL! The picture does not do it justice, but take a closer look:

Can you see that? It's incredibly flat, oh and if you could feel it! Soft as velvet!
I learned about this product through my online friend Ceecee who is super talented and super sweet. She took a class in Canada (where she lives), and shared what she learned on her YouTube channel with me. I completely fell in love with the product, and had to give it a try. Let me tell you, I LOVE the finished look this micro fine glitter gives.

I did my research and found out about it, and it's different uses, as well as the different products you can use in conjunction to it. Totally love this because it's simple, but gives such a nice finished look to your projects. You see, the reason why the technique is called the burnished velvet technique, is because you need to burnish the glitter onto a sticky surface until the glitter stays put and feels like pure velvet. The glitter is so fine that it lays flat on your projects and reflects light beautifully. Here's another version of this card.

These cards were made using just one translucent color glitter and what gave the glitter the variation in color were Copic Markers, my favorite! I used design paper by Authentique- the Uncommon Collection, which I am hooked on using right now, and some peel off's by Elizabeth Craft Designs. It was super easy and I just couldn't stop there. I purchased a few other colored micro fine glitters, and have gone to town trying stuff. You previously saw my glittered owl card I shared, and that was just one of the things I made. I will be sharing the rest of the cards soon. Until then!
P.S.New items added to the store today check it out

http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/8250/

Picks for 2011

2012-02-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

Just a little video of my favorites and must haves for 2011. Do you have any favorites?
Enjoy!

U and I

2012-02-08T13:14:00.000-05:00

February is all about Valentine's day, and so is the February Design Kit that the Paper Niche offers to the public. I wanted to share my first layout with the kit.

I used the jute rope to make a heart shape on my layout, and grouped all my elements on it. Clustering is one of my favorite things to do lately. The bold wooden letters by Pink Paislee where sprayed with some of my Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz from Lindy's Stamp Gang and embossed with King Midas Gold embossing powder from the same company. I just sprinkled the embossing on the letters while they were still wet from the Glitz spray. I only wanted some touches of the embossing powder, and for it not to cover the entire letters, for a slight distressed look.

Most of the flowers were Prima, except one small one which was a plain white mulberry paper flower. I treated this flower the same way as the letters on the title (I used the same products), in order to make it match the colors I was using on the layout.

I love clustering items on my layouts, and this time I did it on a heart, just around Valentine's Day! I have no clue what I'll get my honey this year and I'm kind of stressing out about it. Any suggestions?

New new new!

2012-02-07T09:37:00.001-05:00

After looking and drooling over all that's coming out at CHA, I can't help but get excited over a few things that I can't wait to get my hands on. First off, Ranger's new Distress Markers. Can you say fabulous? If you love distress inks as much as I do, you'll love these. At first I wasn't too keen on the idea of water based markers (I guess I love my Copics too much lol), but after seeing the demo on them, I am convinced that these are a must have for any stamper. You can watch a demo by Tim Holtz by clicking HERE.

You know me and my love for My Mind's Eye, and well, this time they did not disappoint. I'm in love with ALL of their new lines once again. ALL of them!

I also was intrigued by some of the new Prima. The Printery 2 (Almanac Collection) and Song Bird look gorgeous!

And don't mind me saying, but I think some of Prima's New Fairybelle paper looks very similar to the popular Butterfly Garden Collection that was discontinued by Pink Paislee. It's beautiful!

Talking about Pink Paislee, I love their new London Market Collection!

There were many other interesting and beautiful lines at CHA, but of course I can't fit all of the ones I loved on this post. Just wanted to share a few, but now I'm curious, what are you excited about getting from all the new releases?

CHA was fun

2012-02-06T09:05:00.005-05:00

CHA was a blast and I had the opportunity to meet many of the artists I've met through the internet. It was such a fun experience! It's sad though, that on my last day there I lost my video camera, so over half hour of video got lost, which I hoped to share with you. Now I'm on the search to purchase a new one, so pictures is all I have to show for the end of this trip. I picked a few of the many I took. It really was a nice time.

This next one is the Lindy's Stamp Gang (LSG) Booth, where I demoed product at the show.

This is me and Diane, Graphic 45 head designer and owner. Their booth was fabulous, and everyone was dresses to match. So super cool.

This is the lovely Teresa Collins who is such a sweet lady. Loved meeting her! She was so nice to all of us and we ended up on her blog that day! She called us "The Queens of YouTube". She's so funny, and pretty too!

And of course I had to take a picture with the man, Tim Holtz. He is just awesome! Love him!

This is me and Heidi Swapp. The girl does not age! Her husband is super sweet too.

Melissa Frances and I. She is soo super nice and her booth was gorgeous. Just gorgeous stuff!

This next picture was the one featured on the Teresa Collins Blog. So cool we made it there!

These next ones are me and some of the Lindy's Stamp Gang Design Team. We had a great time together at CHA.

This last picture is me and the LSG girls, Tracey (owner) and Kim, who take care of all your LSG needs. They were great, and we all had a fun experience together. Good times!!!
BTW, Tim Holtz Alterations added to the site for sale today. Check it out http://blitsy.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/8250/

Handmade Burlap Treat Bag

2012-02-04T14:27:00.001-05:00

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and lots of chocolate is given out that day. I thought I'd make a cute little treat bag just for that. I apologize in advance for the bad lighting in the picture today, but I had to take this one inside my hotel room while at CHA, and well, the lighting in there was terrible. I gave one of these to each one of the ladies that worked in the Lindy's Stamp Gang Booth at CHA. Inside the bag where some yummy Valentine's day themed M&Ms.

It was very simple to create, but it did require quite a bit of steps. I used some burlap fabric I bought a Joann's, Tim Holtz's Sewing Room die, Sizzix's Card Ornate XL Die, Stampin up's Top Note Die, a Quickutz Labels Die, a TPC Studio Stamp set, some lace, seam binding, carstock and an iamroses mini rose.
I used crackle medium on the dress form, which I painted using Making Memories Acrylic Paint in the color Butterscotch. I sprayed some Lindy's Stamp Gang Scintilating Silver Glitz Spritz on the mini rose. The seam binding was from Martha Stewart, and the design paper I used is from the My Mind's Eye Laundry Collection. To seal the burlap together, I used my trusty hot glue gun, and in a few minutes I had a super cute treat bag. Closed it with velcro on the top and added a sentiment to the front, which I stamped in Chestnut Roan Colobox Chalk ink, using the TPC Studio Sewing themed stamp set I bought at Joann's.

Again, I'm so sorry for the bad lighting on this picture, but I just had no time before I needed to hand these out. I did make a video about it, which might give you a better idea of the colors and how the bag opens and closes. You can watch that below. Hope you enjoyed!

Giveaway!

2012-02-01T15:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, and hello February! I'm back from CHA, and announcing today a giveaway I'll be having here on the blog. You will get all this if you win:

Super fun products I'd love to share with you. I made a video detailing all the rules you need to follow in order be eligible to win, as well as all that you will get when you win. Please watch it and pay attention because only the ones who follow the 3 requirements, will be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced here on the blog at the beginning of March. Watch the video below, follow the instructions, and good luck!

Beautiful California

2012-01-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to stop by here real quick and share this great picture of some of the talented ladies I was able to meet today, while on prep for CHA, which officially starts tomorrow. No sight of Tim Holtz yet, but believe me, we are on the look out lol.

I'm super tired, and the show hasn't even started yet! I think that it must be the time change that's killing me. I am off to relax right now for a bit. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. Thanks for stoping by!

2012-01-27T10:21:00.001-05:00

Just a super quick post today, since I am super duper busy getting ready to leave for CHA today. (Are you planning to attend? I'd love to meet you!!! I'll be at the Lindy Stamp Gang booth on Sunday and Monday. Stop by and say hi!)

I wanted to share the sneak peeks at the projects I created using the February Design kit from The Paper Niche. Another great kit that will be released at the beginning of the month. Take a look:

I'm dreading the 6hr plane ride, but can't wait to get there. Hopefully I'll be able to take some video, and photos, so stay tuned for that, and also for an upcoming giveaway! Yay!
That's all for now folks! Have a great weekend!

Brothers

2012-01-23T12:20:00.000-05:00

I had such a good time scrapping my husband's old pictures, I decided to make another layout with one of them. The Paper Niche's January Design kit was just perfect for these pictures, so I just kept on going.

Even though it's a boy layout, I did not mind adding the flowers to it. I usually stay stay from flowers when making "manly" layouts lol, but I thought a few would not hurt, considering the paper and other accents I was using on it. The boys were young at the time, so that also allowed me to play a little more with the embellishing.

I think it came out alright. What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. As always, thanks so much for your comments!

Surprise Blog Hop for Susi!

2012-01-21T02:45:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, and welcome to Susi's Suprise Blog Hop! First off I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSI (aka sillyshysushi on YT)! This Blog Hop is in your honor, and I hope you enjoy the wonderful projects that all the talented ladies created with you in mind. I myself I'm super excited to share and see what all the ladies created too, since we all tried to incorporate owls into our project, your's and my favorite!!!! So super excited, so lets get started!

I created what I consider a super cute Valentine's Day card using one of my favorite techniques at the moment, using micro fine glitter. Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I thought I'd start the festivities early, I mean, it's your birthday, and we're partying already, so why not, right? lol

LOVE the micro fine glitter, because once applied it looks, and feels like smooth velvet on your card. It is just stunning how the glitter is there, yet it is not all flashy and crazy like some glitter can be sometimes lol. The entire owl is done with the glitter and I love it.

Of course you recognize the owl, it's a Stampin up punch, and yes, I used all those different colored glitters to put this little guy together. A little tedious because of the small pieces, but, oh so worth the work. Just look at this little guy!

I used some MFT dies (Decorative Doily, and the Faux Crochet border), paper from Authentique---the Uncommon Collection, a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the woodgrain look in back of the owl, the Owl punch from Stampin up (the small hearts came from that punch as well), and finally a Hero Arts stamp for the sentiment. Coordinating cardstock is from Bazzil.
I hope you all enjoyed the project (specially you Susi), and I encourage you to keep on going through the line up of all the talented ladies participating on this hop. Here's the line up:
Linda - http://www.nanoysushi.blogspot.com
Alee - (will be posted on the nanoysushi blog)
Pam - http://www.poconopam.blogspot.com
Nancy - http://www.pinkbellamia.blogspot.com
Sharon - http://www.smscrapperdesigns.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)
Elizabeth -http://www.beadybombom.blogspot.com
Tereese - http://www.fridayscreations.blogspot.com
Vero - http://www.goldenmomentssometimes.blogspot.com
Thanks so much for stopping by, and Linda (aka scrapchica on YT), thanks so much for organizing all this, and allowing me to participate. Happy Birthday Susi!!!!!!!

Super Simple Friday: It's your day!

2012-01-20T11:37:00.000-05:00

Another super simple card for you guys using the first Greeting Farm Stamp I ever purchased! I love the Greeting farm stamps, and honestly need to use them more often. I made this card for someone who loves to fish...it was his birthday, so this was the perfect image for him. Since it was for a guy, I restrained from adding any bling or flowers, and tried to make it as plain as possible. I decided I was going to let the designer paper do the talking this time.

I used the Splash Collection by Echo Park. Just love the super bright colors, and their theme, well, they just went perfect with this card. I used some Doodlebug ribbon I've had in my stash for a while, as well as some Stampin up Stamps for the sentiments both inside and outside of the card.

Again, another super simple, super fun card. Thanks for stoping by today and hope you can join me back tomorrow for a super fun project, and blog hop involving OWLS!!! My favorite. See you then!

Just Smile

2012-01-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

As time has gone by, and Emily has gotten bigger, it has definitely become a challenge to get a good picture...it seems she can't sit still, or refuses to smile. To get a good picture, it takes an army, and it's a total workout!

Today, I'm sharing another one of my January layouts, using the Paper Niche's January Design kit. Super pretty papers from Prima in this kit. Loved how this one came out. It's hard to believe that the next picture right after this one displays a total meltdown on Emily's part. Not pretty at all I might add lol. Well, lets enjoy the pretty one, right?

With CHA just around the corner (Oh I can't wait to see all the new stuff coming out! Can you???), it's been a challenge to get a second to sit, and blog a little. I have a few projects I've finished for CHA and I'm super excited to share, but I have to wait until I can reveal them, once the show starts, or is over.

I have several other news, and things to share, but it's going to have to wait until I have all the details straightened up, and a little more time to sit quietly and write. Thanks for stopping by today, and like always, thanks for all your comments!

Silly Little Boy

2012-01-14T10:58:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm rocking a new look on the blog! Do you like it? I just thought, I needed a change, so I tweaked some things around. It's going to be a work in progress, but I'm liking it right now. I think that for not knowing too much about programing etc, I've been doing pretty well...I just don't feel like spending the money to have someone else make it all look fabulous, when I know I can make it look somewhat decent myself, and for free! I'd love to hear what you think.

I came across some old pictures I had put away, and I decided to pick a few to scrap, after all, it's been quite a while since I've scrapped pictures that are older than two or three years. I picked these three from when my husband was little, and thought that some of the products included on the Paper Niche's January Design Kit would work very well with the colors in them. Here's what I came up with.

It was my first time splattering paint all over a layout, but I knew I need to make it a little messy and not so clean and "pretty". I stepped out of my comfort zone, and made it work. Love the old, messy, vintage look of this layout. I enjoyed working with these pictures so much that I picked another one to make a different layout which I'll be posting next. Right now, I have to run. Have a fun weekend!

Perfect Timming

2012-01-12T15:05:00.004-05:00

It is not often that I get to have a good picture (or video for that matter) of me and my Emily....I seem to not have very good luck having other people take our pictures, though my husband makes a good effort every once in a while lol. On this layout, I featured one of my favorite picture of her and I, and it was all a matter of perfect timming. Due to the picture's gorgeousness (is that even a word? lol), I almost could not believe that my husband took it (if you ever read this, sorry babe lol). It is just rare that perfection in a picture like this can be achieved around my house, even by picky me, considering how much my little munchkin moves. It's a miracle I get some decent pictures of her now a days, when she seems to move faster than a speeding bullet 24/7!

Anyways, I have to give credit to whom it's due, and yes, my husband took this picture (thank you honey), and I love it. It speaks volumes.....so much more and louder than what any words could express... love above all measures all the way around. I am truly very thankful that at least one picture in my arsenal captures it all, and honestly hope there are many more like this to come in the future, so they can tell our story.

I used the Paper Niche's January Design Kit to make this layout, and I did edit the picture's colors and overall look to match what I was looking to create. I do that from time to time, and have really become fond of my iphoto quick editing program, and also the Instagram Application on my phone.

I love what this layout portrays, and how it came out. I would not have it any other way.

In other news, I can happily say, I'm the proud mommy of a loving and smart two year old (time sure does fly!). She just turned two, and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. More projects to come!

This picture is my submission to Embrace the Camera for today....

Winter Tags with LSG

2012-01-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but it seems like lately, everyone seems to be freezing all over the U.S., even here in Florida! We've been experiencing several cold fronts that have definitely made me rethink wether we are in Florida, or in some northern state! LOL It has been COLD! We really are not used to this kind of weather down here, so it's been quite an ordeal, specially for farmers, who seem to be the most affected in these situations, loosing tons of their farmed goods due to freezing temperatures. Lots of money lost, that's for sure.

I made these winter tags to attach to some presents, using tons of Lindy's Stamp Gang products, I love the distressed look and shimmer I got. Here are some close up shots....

I used clear embossing powder yo stamp the snowflakes on this one, some Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and on top a layer of Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. LOVED the "clean" but distressed look of these tags!

The angel in the middle I colored using Grab a Guy Gold Starburst Spray, and for the snow flake I painted the largest one with white acrylic paint, then sprayed it with Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. For the smaller snow flake, I used a glitter acrylic paint from my local craft store and painted the raw chipboard with it.

For this next tag I pretty much did the same thing, except of course I used different colors---Stormy Sky Distress ink on the base of the tag, topped it with Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz, and for the angel I used Afternoon Delight Denim Starburst Spray.

In this next one I used Forrest Moss Green Distress Ink, and on top I sprayed with my Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. I colored the angel with my Green with Envy Green Starburst Spray, and for the smaller snowflake instead of glitter paint, I used some Diamond dust, which you can find at your local craft store.

For this last tag you see I switched things around a bit, and embossed the snowflakes using Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powder in the color Kaiser Rudolph Russet, and sprayed the white medium chipboard with my Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz.

This is a simple way of getting a lot of tags out using your Lindy's produtcs. You can watch a video with details of these tags HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. Have a great week!

Super Simple Saturday: Birthday Card

2012-01-07T09:10:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, I've started writing this post three times already this week, and each time I just gave up and decided not to post anything. I guess you can say I've been a very lazy blogger this week lol. I do have stuff to share, but I've been really distracted with other things (Pinterest anyone???), but most of all, I just haven't felt up to it. Today I finally decided to get to it, and I can already tell this is going to be a hard post to pull out (because I AM posting this time! lol).... as I write this, I feel like shutting my computer down, and doing something else lol. Has this ever happened to you? Who knows, may be I'm the only crazy one with these issues lol.

Anyways, I've been meaning to share this card I made for a friend a bit ago. Super simple, yet super bright, colorful, and fun. Used my new Stampin up Pennant Punch, and stamp set I got on my last Stampin up haul (you can find the video of that by clicking HERE). I also used some Echo Park Paper (can't think of the name of the stack at this moment), and that's one thing I want to get a little better about----writing down exactly what I use in order to let you know here----I promise I'll start getting a little better about that.

I used some of the twine I got from the Twinery, some cute little EK Success punches, which made those cute little cupcakes you see, and some glitter glue (Studio G) for the candle flames.

It's one of those super bright cards I like to make every once in a while just for fun. The friend who received it was surprised and very happy with it, so like I say sometimes, it was a mission accomplished on my end. Super simple. Super fun.

Happy 2012!!!

2012-01-01T17:10:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!!! Today is the first day of 2012 and it is SO awesome that we've made it to today! Many have started tons of goal lists, resolutions, challenges. It's really a clean, new start for many, and a very exciting time. I wish you all the best for this new year, and like I said on my Facebook yesterday, that this year you may be blessed with all the things that really matter: Family, Friends, Health and most of all LOVE...may you always remember GOD is LOVE!

Today I come to you with my January Designer Kit Sneak Peeks. You all definitely have a great kit to look forward to. I had a lot of fun working with it, and it will be released at The Paper Niche this week! So much fun packed in this kit. You DO NOT want to miss it! So, enough rambling, here's what I've got for you to look at:

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, and that you can stick to all the resolutions you put your mind to achieve this year!

First Christmas Pictures

2011-12-29T11:42:00.000-05:00

I'm sharing with you today the last layout I created for the month of December, using the Paper Niche's December Designer Kit. This layout is using some of my daughter's first Christmas pictures, and I really love these. She was so tiny back then. I can't get tired of saying how amazed I am by how much she's grown, and how different she looked this Christmas, when compared to these old pictures.

It was super fun to create with this month's kit, and I can't wait to show you the next one. It's also a gorgeous one! If you missed the rest of the projects I did with this month's kit, just scroll down and see all the different posts with them. Next up, I'll be sharing some tags I created, but I gotta go now to pick up my sweetie at school. See you back soon!

The Greatest Gift of all

2011-12-27T11:06:00.001-05:00

Hello there!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday, just like I did, together with your family and loved ones. I'm pretty exhausted, as I'm sure many of you are, but pretty happy with all that went on.

I can hardly believe that this year is almost over, and a brand new one is just about to start. New goals, new challenges, new adventures. To me, it feels like this year just flew by!

Just a few more days, and we say goodbye to 2011, but not before I share with you the rest of my projects for this month, so expect that in the next couple of days.

Today I bring you another layout using the Paper Niche's Design Kit for the month of December. I just love these pictures of my daughter, and had to use them on another layout. She truly is the greatest gift.

Pretty soon it will be her birthday again, and boy, is she becoming a big girl so quickly! She's not even two yet, and she knows her alphabet, most of her body parts, she's putting words together to make phrases, it's crazy! I did not expect her to know all this stuff at this age... this weekend, just in time for Christmas, she put all the words together and said, "I love you Mommy", I almost died....you see, she's been saying different words since she was about ten months old or so, but she has said just about everything you can think off, except the word Mommy...she called me Daddy and laughed when she did so, as if making fun...it drove me insane!
I just kept thinking, why can she say ALL these different words (and when I say ALL, I mean a whole arsenal of words including difficult ones like umbrella, dinosaur etc.), why wouldn't she say something so simple as Mommy, specially when she could say monkey clear as day, which also began with the M sound??? It drove me bonkers LOL
Well, everyone I know kept coaching her into saying Mommy, and she would just laugh and say "Daddy!, Daddy! Daddy!"
Well, this weekend, she finally said it, and extremely clear too...and not only that, she added those three little words with it, "I love you Mommy"... sweet as can be, followed by the sweetest hug and smile. Now, THAT's the greatest Christmas gift, even though, like the layout points out, she's the greatest gift ever!
Have a great week and as always, thank you for all your comments.

One more Christmas mini!

2011-12-22T17:06:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, but I can't wait until Christmas day is gone and done with. Not because I don't like it, but because I am SO stressed out about it! Grrrrr it's been a stressful couple of weeks I tell ya!

However, a lot of progress has occurred since my last post, and my whole house is decorated, all the presents I have bought are wrapped, and all my Christmas cards have been mailed out, yay!

I'm hosting a dinner party this Friday and I'm cleaning, organizing, and gathering my cooking supplies like a crazy person....Still have two more gifts to purchase, which I hope to get to today, and wrap asap. Oh what fun, huh? LOL

I'm sharing with you today a Christmas Mini Album I created using the December Paper Niche Design kit.

On the cover, I did a background technique which you can look into by watching the video of the mini by clicking HERE. I used my Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays and went to town on Tim Holtz's Tissue Wrap.

These are the first two pages of the book. I cut the book out with an Accucut die (Lunchbox #1 Dividers) on medium weight chipboard.

On the next two pages there is more space for pictures and journaling, and I used my Lindy's sprays on the flower you see on the top right. Love how the light reflects all the shimmer of it.

The next two pages...

Here's how the [ages look once these tags are taken out of their pockets.

Finally, these are the last two pages of the book which complete the album.

There are more details on all the pockets, and tags in the album video, so if you'd like to take a closer look, don't forget to click HERE to watch.
Just in case I don't get a chance to come back before Christmas, I want to wish each and every one of you wonderful readers, and followers a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!

Tissue Paper Background Tutorial

2011-12-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!
Today I bring you a tutorial of how to make a nice textured background using just a few supplies: card stock, tissue paper, alcohol inks and rub n'buff. The final look is awesome. I used a background with this technique on a card featured on this post HERE, a couple of months after I learned the technique from my friend Dale. She always shows me the neatest tricks.
After showcasing my card on a YouTube video HERE, I received a lot of requests from other crafters, asking me to film a tutorial on it. So, I finally got around to it and here it is! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me with them. I'll do my best to answer all of them.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the video!
Next up, is another Christmas mini album I completed. Hope to get the post up sometime tomorrow. Until then my friends :)

Secret Santa!!!!!

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

Lindy's Stamp Gang is Having a SECRET SANTA SALE!!!! One day only! (Dec. 15)

Get 20% Off ALL Sets and Filagrees!

COUPON CODE: secretsanta

Remember: For all orders in the US over $40, FREE SHIPPING!

Stock up now!

A box and a Layout

2011-12-12T09:59:00.001-05:00

Yes, I'm alive!

I've been very busy lately, and totally MIA from here, but I guess everyone is kind of crazy busy around the holidays, right? You probably didn't even miss me. Ha!

Well let me tell you, I have been Christmas shopping, and I'm kind of stressing out now, because I'm still not done, and usually by this time I've had everything I needed and mostly all wrapped too...I guess I'm leaving everything for the last minute this year, yikes! Totally dreading walking in the stores, that's for sure!

I did start decorating my house, and the inside is completely done, except for my Christmas tree which I haven't even purchased. Can you believe that? I keep putting it off (I'm getting a small tree this year because Emily will knock it down for sure if I get a giant one like last year LOL)...hopefully this week I get on that because if not, we'll have to put our gifts under the stockings hahaha, or "shoes" like Emily calls them. She is totally into all the decorations, and the lights outside everyone's houses...It is so cute how she says "wights, wights, wow!"(for lights, lights, wow!). Ah, to be a kid again!

Anyways, I took some time today to start showing you some of the projects I created with the December Paper Niche Kit. It is gorgeous!!!!

First, here's a cute box I made using a Big Shot Pro die, my friend Yeya allowed me to use. I just love how cute it is. Great to put some small gifts in, and even jewelry, or backed goods.

This next one is one of the layouts I made. I punched out some circles to make them look like ornaments, hanging from velvet ribbon.

I have a few more projects to share, but so many things to complete. Can you believe I haven't even addressed my Christmas cards yet? I am SO behind this year! Not to mention, I have projects I need to work on, and have no mojo what so ever! Crossing my fingers so this week is a nice "creative one" for me. Hope for you too!

Great prices on Tim Holtz stuff and more!

2011-12-01T23:34:00.001-05:00

Hello there! Two bog posts in a day. Can you believe it?!
Just wanted to give you a link on a new website that sells Tim Holtz, Spellbinders and more at great prices. All you need to do to have access to the deals is register (it's FREE!!!) and then you'll have access to the awesome deals they have all throughout the week.
Check it out by clicking HERE.
Hurry and get yourself some deals, won't you?
Had to enable!

December Sneaks

2011-12-01T10:51:00.009-05:00

Hello bloggers!

WOW, I'm on a roll! This is my forth blog post since Monday! How about that?

Today is the official release of the Paper Niche Design Kit for the month of December, and wait until you see that beauty! I had so much fun creating with it, I used every single sheet of designer paper on the kit!

This kit is going to be perfect for all your holiday projects. Here are a few sneaks of what I did with it, and yes, just sneaks for now because I haven't even been able to take proper pictures of all that I've done, because I've been working on the projects until just a few minutes ago, if you can believe it. Talk about cutting it close, right? I'll be delivering my projects to the store as soon as I photograph them, and I'll be revealing them here like I always do. Take a look...

I love the traditional colors, and the "vintage" look I achieved using Vintage Photo Distress Ink....talking about Distress Inks, have you stopped by Tim's blog today? (and by Tim, I'm referring to the great Tim Holtz of course----clarifying just in case lol). He started his famous 12 Days of Christmas Tags Series today. I love every time he does it, so super inspirational! He never disappoints, so check it out if you haven't, I have a link on the right hand column of this blog :)

See you back soon for the project reveals!

All grown up...

2011-11-30T11:30:00.003-05:00

It's really amazing how fast kids grow. You've seen this picture of my Emily in a previous project, but I had to make a layout with it for her album too. This is her first school picture ever! Yes, she goes to school twice a week for three hours, so she can socialize with kids her age, and she can give mommy a small break. It's really hard not having any family members close to me to help me from time to time during the week, so those three hours (which by the way fly!) are three hours that I get totally to myself. I usually run errands or catch up on things around here during this time, and if you know my Emily, you KNOW I need that break to not go crazy LOL. She's just the most energetic, persistent, demanding, curious, loud, smart, and loving kid I know. She melts my heart with one little smile. Sigh.

Anyways, as soon as I saw the kit this months, I knew I had to use these specific papers to scrap this picture. I thought it would be adorable, and look at it, isn't it? I know I'm not the best scrapper in the world or anything, but I LOVE this layout. The colors are some of my favorite, believe it or not, and the picture....ohhh I just love it people! LOL

First time I ever tried making zipper flowers. I think I need more practice, don't you think? Hehe. Like on my last layout I posted, I only need to add the journaling and this will be all done and ready to be put into her album.Yippee!

A Two Page Layout

2011-11-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

As promised, here I am again with more of my November layouts, but first, I wanted to ask: did you shop 'til you dropped yesterday(Cyber Monday)? I sure did, barely slept, and I'm still on the hunt for stuff....toys to be exact, for Emily's cousins LOL. I am so super glad we are now able to shop online because it sure is a great way to get stuff with barely any issues. However, there are certain things that I can't shop online for, because I definitely need to touch them, try them on, etc, but for many things, ohhh I SO LOVE online shopping! Hahaha

Ok. Back to the layout. I have not made a double layout in years! Well, this month I decided to make one, and here's what came out of that try :)

I used Pink Paislee mist-able fabric trims to make the three little puffy flowers you see. I hadn't used a transparency/acetate sheet in a while either, but love this one with the clocks on it. I now just need to journal on the journaling spot on the right side of the layout as well as on the small one on the left, and it will be finished.

There's more to come, including the sneaks to my projects I made for the Paper Niche in the month of December. So excited to show you! See ya tomorrow!

Cyber Monday and Our Family

2011-11-28T09:15:00.002-05:00

Hello friends! Are you all shopped out yet? I haven't even bought my first Christmas present, and I'm sick of the stores already! LOL Just getting some clothes for my daughter last week, and searching for the best "crafty" deals online, really tired me up. I have been totally busy at home, and the events just keep coming up. Ohhh the holidays!

Here's another one of my layouts I made for this month's Paper Niche kit. Love the colors on this one. Again, it's made up of a mixture of My Minds Eye, the Prima Printery Collection and American Crafts Amy Tangerine.

I gotta run now. More tomorrow, promise!

Lovely Emily

2011-11-22T09:31:00.002-05:00

Hi all!

Every year is the same thing, all the stress of shopping for people, attending family gatherings, and all other things that come along the end of the year have already started. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is definitely busy around my house.....and it's only bound to get busier as the year comes to a close. I dread the stores now a days, the long lines, finding parking. How about you?

Today I wanted to share with you a layout I created using the Paper Niche's November Kit. It is a gorgeous kit and I had a great time creating with it. Can you tell?

As I look back at this picture, I realize how much Emily has grown in the last year. It's amazing. Never in a million years did I think that she would change so much, so quickly. In a blink of an eye she turned into a big girl.... I'll share the rest of what I've been able to make with the kit in the next few days, and I'll be showing you how much bigger she looks now, though if you follow, you , might already know :) Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Layout with a FUN Background with LSG

2011-11-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!

Today I wanted to share with you this neat hanging layout I created for my mother. Last year, I made her one, and she asked me to make another one for her this year. This one is a little bigger than the one I made before, but it turned out just as cute, if not cuter (to see the one I made last year click HERE).

I started with a plain old piece of 8 1/2 by 8 1/2 chipboard, which I covered in white cardstock. I then proceeded to make the background using some Starbursts Stains from Lindy's Stamp Gang. I made a very detailed tutorial video of exactly what I did with all the pieces on this layout, and you can watch it by clicking HERE. All the colors of stains and embossing powders I used are detailed there.

I love all the shimmer, and it truly does give me the feeling of winter every time I look at it. I hope she likes it!

Want to win a gift card?

2011-11-16T15:54:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!
Today I want to give you the opportunity to win a $25 dollar gift card. You want one?
Watch THIS video and see how you can enter to win one!
Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Super Simple Monday: Holiday Cards

2011-11-14T13:43:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!

I could not wait to continue with the Super Simple projects, so here I have four cards to share with you. They are all very easy to replicate and mass produce, perfect for the holidays!

The paper I used for all cards is HERE, and for this first card I used THIS Inkadinkado Stamp set. I also used in all the cards some of this ribbon HERE.

For this next card I used a Spellbinder's die set which you can find HERE, a Fiscars border punch, and some great glitter dots you can find HERE.

The texture on this next card I embossed using a new Stampin up embossing folder from the Christmas 2011 Mini Catalog. I also used a Christmas Martha Stewart punch for the foiled border underneath the ribbon.

On the center of some of the embossed snowflakes, I dotted some silver ink using gel pens you can find HERE. A small detail that adds a little bit more interest to the overall design.

For this last card, I used THIS Inkadinckado Stamp set, as well as THIS Quickutz die.

I also used my favorite, button bling, which you can find HERE.

I hope you enjoyed these cards. For more details you can watch the video I made HERE.

I will be hosting a giveway next, so stay tuned on my YouTube channel for the video of the announcement.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I really love reading them!

Super Simple Series

2011-11-13T00:28:00.000-05:00

Ever since I created the simple Christmas layout of my daughter (you can look at the previous post if you missed it), I've been thinking about the forgotten beauty of simple projects. We are so into so many different mediums, and materials (which are SUPER FUN to incorporate into our projects), that we sometimes get a bit caught up in the fact that if we don't "add this or that", the project might not be as pretty as it could be. We forget that, what really makes a project stunning, is the use of color and design, no extras needed. Now, don't get me wrong, very elaborated projects are also stunning, and I love them. They are just a bit more time consuming.
So, after giving it some thought, I've decided to start a little series of posts dedicated to only super simple projects... things that will be super simple to recreate, mass produce etc. (NOT that my projects are super elaborated, or complicated----that's just NOT my style--------, but these will be EXTRA clean and simple). There won't be any specific days to these project posts...they will happen as they happen. You'll know I've got one by the title of the blog post, i.e. Super Simple Sunday, if the post lands on a Sunday, Super Simple Wednesday, if the post lands on a Wednesday etc.
The cool thing will be, that from time to time I'll host a Super Simple Challenge and give out prices. How cool is that?

Well, now you know what I will be up to, so stay tuned for the future challenges. It will be worth your while to participate.

To start off, I want to share this Super Simple card I made for a friend's birthday. This card was a quick one to create, because the only time consuming thing was the coloring of the hair, and paper piecing of the image, but I had done that previously for a different project, and in the end I'd decided not to use the image. That is a cool tip for super simple projects: have colored images and/or other embellishments done before hand. It saves you a lot of time!

This card could have definitely been taken up a notch by switching, and/or adding some things around, but it's clean and simple just as is, and that's how I used it.

I used a gold Atyou Spica pen for the hair bow and necklace, and I also added some gold pearls for the earings and neckalace. I put a chipboard frame on the image that I cut using the Baroque die and it's coordinating movers and shapers die from the Tim Holtz Alterations line.

I used some flowers from my stash and three extra gold pearls at the top for the final design element. Super simple, super clean, super fun! I hope you enjoyed!

Dimensional? Nah!

2011-11-08T09:29:00.000-05:00

Hello there!

Lately I've realized how I've managed to change the way I make my layouts. Before, I pretty much had one dimensional layouts, and would not even think of making things too dimensional, in fear of having them get smashed on my albums. All in all, I make things with the thought of having them last for a long time... the thought of having them get ruined in a short period of time scares lol.

However, it seems that I've grown out of that train of thought, because if you have noticed, my recent layouts are completely dimensional...the more dimension, the better! Who would have thought, huh?

I guess it all comes down to the new love of bulky mulbery paper flowers, foam tape, fabric embellishments, and so many other three-dimensional materials that continue to be introduced into scrapbooking today. As a result, we've all had to adapt to new ways of storing our layouts, (and I say we, because I know I'm not the only one on this boat lol).

At this time I'm really into dimensional layouts, but from time to time, I do go back to thinking simply, and for this layout that's exactly what I did. This layout is the epitome of simplicity, and as basic, and very one-dimensional as it is, I love it. It definitely shows that not everything needs to pop out of the page to be pretty, and that sometimes the picture and journaling do ALL the talking.

I used a bunch of the goodies I received from Scrapbuck.com to make this layout. Love the button bling I used. See how pretty those bling pieces are? To get some of your own you can click HERE.

I just love this child!

You can find more of the products I used HERE, HERE, and HERE. Thanks so much for stoping by, and going back to basics with me :) More coming soon!

SOOOO excited!!!!!!

2011-11-07T16:37:00.001-05:00

Good afternoon everyone!
I'm so super excited because I've just had a winning streak in the last two days! I can barely believe it! It's been a long while since I've won anything, and I finally won not one, but three things!!!
First, I just found out I won a random giveaway on YT from a fellow scrapbooker staphanoid69. Then, yesterday I won the Iamroses blog hop, so some delicious mulberry paper flowers are coming my way really soon, yay! Love, love love!
Then today, just now when I put the baby down for her nap, I decided to check Tim's blog (Holtz), not realizing I'd totally missed his Etsy sale (he sold out of everything in 10 minutes! Seriously!), but I found out I was one of the 5 winners he chose for a spot on Jennifer Mcguirre's and Kristina Werner's Holiday Boot Camp Class!!!! Talk about awesome!!!

I've followed them for a long time, and like their simple approach to cards. This will be fun for so many reasons! I just had to share my happiness today. It's the little things in life sometimes that just make my day!
Thanks so much for stopping by. More projects coming soon!

Two more October Layouts

2011-11-03T19:08:00.000-04:00

Hi y'all!

Im back with the last two layouts I had not shared with you from the October Paper Niche Design Kit. Boy did it take me long to get these here! October was busy, and I don't think these next two months are going to get any better. If anything, I think they'll be worse with all the other holiday related stuff that's being added to my list of to do's!

Oh well, that's life, right? It gets busy!

Well, there are still a few October kits left ( if you are interested just head on over to the Paper Niche's Website or blog and get one fast!). It was really a nice one.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I appreciate and enjoy reading all your comments!

Christmas Mini 2011

2011-11-01T20:53:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

The holidays are quickly approaching. Can you believe it? It seems like this year flew by! Sooner than we know it, it will be all gone, and 2012 will be here! Wow. It seems hard to believe, but it's the truth!

Today I'm sharing with you a Christmas mini album I just completed, using some of the fabulous product I received from Scrapbuck.com. I am really happy how it came out, and I'm totally in love with it's shape!

It the is perfect little book to hold Emily's first Christmas pictures. It's amazing, but she doesn't look like this at all anymore. She looks like a big kid now, almost two years old. To think that last year she was just a little baby! Time sure does fly when you're having fun!
I cut out the book out of light weight chipboard using the Quickutz nesting die I received, which you can find HERE. The paper collection I used is THIS ONE.

I really enjoyed using many of the 3D embellishments in my haul, and I think they gave just the right touch of whimsy to the mini. Some of the embellishments I used are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

The embossing folder I used is this one HERE.

I really LOVE the finished look. The white acrylic paint on the edges of the album really makes it feel like winter season was there (even though it really wasn't haha---that's South Florida for you!).
For more info on all the products I used please watch the videos HERE and HERE, and don't forget to visit Scrapbuck.com to get products at awesome prices. I hope you enjoyed!

Guest Designer for Scrapbuck.com

2011-10-31T12:06:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!
It's the last day of the month, and I know everybody is very busy since it's also Monday, plus the weather has been crazy all over the place, and I can just imagine the chaos! I wanted to share the fact that, as you see on my sidebar, I'm currently guest designing for Scrapbuck.com, and I'm so super excited!
I received some products I wanted to share with you, and have already started creating with them.
Watch the following video for all the details, and stay tuned for more coming in the next couple of days!

Create Banner

2011-10-29T16:33:00.001-04:00

Today I wanted to share a banner I made with the Paper Niche's October Kit. It's the second banner I ever make and I loved how it turned out. Simply a nice piece to put in my craft room. Right now it is at the store, and it looks great there too :)

I used an one of the Accucut Banner dies to make it, with both medium weight, and light weight chipboard. I used my Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays on the rosettes ( I used a mixture of two sprays: Tainted Love Teal and My Mojito Green), which I made with my Tim Holtz rosette die, as well as on the corrugated chipboard letters from the kit ( I used a mixture of Pretty in Pink Pink and Rhodeonderon Rose Red for those), which I love!

I distressed all the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and added some bling for more interest. The hanging charms were made with the Kaiser Craft canvas tags included on the kit. I added some Making Memories Charms, also from the kit, as well as a swivel clasp, and some metal Tim Holtz charms from my stash. I sprayed the background of each panel with another of my ALL time favorites (I need a gallon of it at home I tell you) Glitz Spritz in Cactus Gold! Love that stuff!!!

It was a really fun project to create, and I can't wait until I hang it on my new organized scraproom (once I'm done organizing it of course! LOL).

Now, for the many of you that have been curious (I've been getting private messages and emails like crazy asking me about it!), I am currently working on editing my giveaway winners video. It has taken me a while to go through all the videos and comments...I'll be uploading the video in a bit.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. It seems that I'm finally on the mend from this awful flu I caught! Yay! Thanks for stopping by!

Your Smile

2011-10-27T14:51:00.003-04:00

The month of October has been crazy for me. I finally get to share with you some of the things I created with the October kit from The Paper Niche. I just love these pictures and had to make a page with them!

I'll keep revealing more of my projects in the next couple of days. See you then!

November Paper Niche Sneak Peaks

2011-10-26T10:51:00.001-04:00

Hi everybody! Let me start by saying right off the bat, YOU DON'T want to miss the November Designer Kit that will be available for purchase at the Paper Niche starting November 1st. It is GORGEOUS, and I mean FANTABULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL! (I think I just made up a new word! LOL). Wait until you see all the creations by all the Design Team Members! (Talking about creations, I haven't even had the time to post what I made for the month of October----it's been crazy around here------so make sure you check back tomorrow and the next couple of days, as I'll finally start revealing my creations with the October Kit)....... For now though, check out the sneaks of what I made with the November Kit...each month the kit is better than the next.....can that be possible? Haha, well enough rambling, here you go!

See ya tomorrow!

One more day left!

2011-10-25T08:58:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you know, but I'm having a giveaway on my YouTube channel. Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's the video so you can watch the details. Just one more day to enter! Good luck!

Baby baby!

2011-10-19T16:52:00.000-04:00

Today I wanted to share my Olivia by Basic Grey baby mini album. I received the chipboard base from my crafty friend Carolanne (Loganscraftymomma on YT), and I just knew the Olivia collection was going to be perfect to use on this small album.

The weather was not the best when I took these pictures, so I had to take them inside. I'm not thrilled with the results of them, (yes, I'm very hard on myself), but at least you can see what I made and it's not blurry! LOL

I was really happy with this half transparent pocket I made. This is exactly how I wanted it to look like.

It was really fun to make, and if you want to see the details of the pocket, and everything I did on this album, you can click on to watch the detail video HERE.
Hope you enjoyed!

Totally forgot!

2011-10-16T14:39:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone. Happy Sunday!
Just wanted to stop by today and link you up to my Tim Holtz Cruise video. I totally forgot to share it over here. I know that many of you don't follow my videos, so I wanted to make sure I shared it on here, so no one would miss it. It took me a while to edit, but I think I did a good job on it, considering I don't know too much of this editing stuff. It pretty much sums up my whole cruise experience, and I know if you watch it, you'll get a feel of how everything went about if you weren't able to attend.
Tim will be taking the next year off from these kind of big events, but he says that in the future, he has many more activities coming our way. I'm so excited and curious to know what he has up his sleeve! Totally enjoyed this cruise, and can't wait to take more classes with him again in the future. He truly is a talented artist and wonderful person, and so are all his crew members.
Hope you too can enjoy this video!

It's Fall Ya'll Inspiration Projects

2011-10-14T15:37:00.002-04:00

Hello! Today I wanted to share the inspiration projects I made for the Lindy's Stamp Gang's Fall Creative contest ( Click HERE for more info on the contest, which ends Oct. 24!). I had a lot of fun coloring with Micas and Magical Micas.

I don't celebrate Halloween, and barely have any supplies to make any related projects, but I looked around my room, and had to make something with this owl stamp, and some awesome Lindy's Stamp Gang Micas. It's a playful card, and I liked the "too cute to spook" message, and I went from it to make my trifold card.

The Cuttlebug Embossing folder I used, was one I bought because I totally loved the design, even though I did not know when, or in what I would use it, but it was one of those things I had to have. I'm glad I got it. Love the embossed spiderweb!

You can see the full video tutorial on all the Lindy's Stamp Gang products I used and how I used them by clicking HERE.

All the Lindy Stamp Gang Products made my owl look so awesome, not to mention the shimmer on the clouds is fabulous!!!

All the micas I used to color this card definitely brought it to life. I LOVE the finished look!
The next one is essentially the same process, except, it's a "Fall/Thanksgiving" themed trifold card.

On this one, instead of using an embossing folder to dry emboss, I used Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder, and I love the shimmery look!

All the colors I used are detailed on the video, so don't forget to watch. The prizes of the contest are pretty awesome, so I hope my projects have inspired you to make something too, so you can join us on the fun, and maybe win an awesome prize! Thanks for stopping by!

Here's some of what we got...

2011-10-07T14:02:00.006-04:00

I've been busy doing everything you can imagine, and cutting up video footage from the cruise....I have no idea how I'll be able to cram in a whole week full of video footage into less than half an hour (that is my goal, but I'm not succeeding at the moment LOL). That is without pictures too!!! I have a ton of those as well. It is driving me nuts.

So, in the meantime (because it is taking me sometime to edit everything), I wanted to share some pictures of some of the products we received for participating on the cruise....

I definitely did not expect to receive so much product, on top of all the materials we got for the projects we made on board, but I was happy we did! Who doesn't like free stuff, right??? Some of the things we received just came out at Summer CHA (like the Prima Paper Pack and embellishments, the Kraft Core Cardstock etc.)... some are really hard to find...many stores seem to be sold out off some of them. We even got a Tim Holtz messenger bag that isn't even on the market yet. That was fabulous. It was hard trying to figure out how we were going to bring back home all the stuff they were giving us on each class day, but it was awesome!

The cruise sponsors were very generous, and also supplied a ton of product to be given away at the raffle, on the last class day of the cruise... even complete lines of product (like archival ink for example----you didn't get a few of them, if you won, you won ALL the archival ink pads!) It was insane! I didn't win anything at the raffle though, but my friend Dale did. I'm glad at least someone from my group got some extra goodies.

So this was my sneak peek for today. I have to get back to editing... there is so much video I need to go through...and email...I'm still not caught up with my email either! It definitely was a fun trip. Stay tuned!!!

Lindy's It's Fall Ya'll Contest!

2011-10-05T11:15:00.000-04:00

Hello there!

I wanted to let you know that Lindy's Stamp Gang is having a great contest going on. It's the Lindy's It's Fall Ya'll Contest. The prizes are amazing, so check out all the rules on the graphic bellow and enter your creations for the opportunity to win. I can't wait to see what you make!

I'm baaaaaack!

2011-10-03T11:37:00.001-04:00

Yes, I am back and totally exhausted! What a fun and active week I had. It was definitely fantastic getting to meet Tim for the first time and get spend so many days doing what we all love to do, get our craft on!

It was great to see how down to earth, patient, nice, and professional Tim was, as well as his entire crew. It was fun getting to meet so many other crafters at once ( I believe it was a group of around 170 people----we were divided into two groups, which was a great size for the type of classes we took---and to be honest, I didn't even notice the large group, because most of time, it felt like each and everyone of us was getting one on one instruction and help from Tim himself. It was awesome!
I don't have much time to sit and write now, and to be honest have not even unpacked completely yet, even though I got home yesterday... After picking up my dog and cutie pie daughter, I ended up getting home at about 5pm, and all I wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch everything move around me LOL. However, I ended up cleaning my daughter's room, tiding up her playroom, doing two loads of her laundry, and taking a 20 minute nap. Ha!
There's still tons I have to do today, and nothing is related to YouTube, blogging or organizing all of the amazing goodies we got from this trip. They gave us so much stuff!!!
I need to catch up with my work at home, before I start editing all the video footage from the trip, uploading all the pictures I took, and finishing up some of the class projects I wasn't able to complete while aboard the ship. I'd like to show you those when finished. They are AWESOME! Tim will be sharing his version of them on his blog soon too :)

I just wanted to stop on by here, and let you know I'm back home, but with lots to do, so it might take a while for me to get back to my routine and get uploaded all I have to share about this great cruise. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

Sneak peek time!

2011-09-25T09:15:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!

If you are reading this, I'm already on board the ship and sailing with the one and only, Tim Holtz!!!

It's sneak peak time again at The Paper Niche, so of course I had to share with you some sneaks of what's been brewing in my scraproom with the October Designer kit, (available on October 1st, at the Paper Niche's website).

Here they are! Can't wait to do the full reveal in October!

Thanks for stoping by!

I'm off!

2011-09-24T11:36:00.002-04:00

The day has come and tomorrow I'm off on the Tim Holtz Caribbean Cruise!!! I cannot wait to step into this baby tomorrow afternoon!!!

I have no idea if I will sleep tonight, but boy I better, because I have to be ready for pick up at 7:00 a.m. I'm not a morning person as you all might already know, but I bet I'll be up before my alarm rings, because I'll be too nervous thinking I might oversleep! (of course if I get to sleep at all lol).

Once I'm back from my trip, I'll be sharing tons of my trip details over here. Wow! I can't wait to get started!!! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Little Lindy's on Sale!!!!

2011-09-19T00:15:00.001-04:00

Hello Everybody!
Just wanted to make a quick post to let you know that from now through October 1st 2011 the Little Lindy's Set's (Try me sets) are on sale! Their regular price is $14.95, but they are now on sale for only $11.95! It's a super deal and in it you get one Starburst Spray, one Starburst Stain, one Moon Shadow Mist, and one Magical Mica.
There are many color sets to choose from. I've posted some of them below just so you can get an idea:

Visit the Lindy's Stamp Gang Website and check out all the different sets you get to choose from. The Little Lindys are a perfect way of trying out Lindy's products, if you've never done so. Hurry, get yours now before the sale is over!

Less than to weeks to go!

2011-09-13T14:14:00.002-04:00

I'm so super excited! I've been so busy trying to make sure I get everything done that I need to get done before I leave for the Tim Holtz Cruise! Yes, I'm going!!!! (I really have no clue if I shared that with you yet!---sorry, my lack of sleep does not help my memory much LOL).

I am wondering how I'll get any sleep in the days to come, I'm so anxious! I'm a little worried that a storm might ruin it all, but hoping nothing happens and we can sail away blissfully! Did I mention, I can't wait?!?!

Have a great week!

Gecko Green is Back!!!

2011-09-09T00:00:00.003-04:00

Hi there!

I am so excited to announce that Gecko is back!! Yes, you read right, the Desert Moon Gecko Green Glitz Spritz, (my all time favorite!) is back in the Lindy's Stamp Gang store. I am over the moon and swooning!!!! The spritz is all shimmer with no stain in it. Oh la la!

If you know me, follow my blog, and videos, you know I use this spritz all the time, and when I say all the time, I mean ALL THE TIME! I love the look it gives to my projects, and I'm sure that if you try it out, so will YOU! Want to see what it looks like? Click HERE.

Not only did I want to let you in on the news, but I also wanted to share a project with you, where I used it. I made a card using Magical Micas, one Starburst Stain and my Desert Moon Gecko Green Glitz Spritz. I'm really happy on how it came out.

I made a video tutorial on how I used the Stain, Micas, and Glitz together in the centerpiece of this card. You can find all the information on what colors I used, what I mixed together etc. Click HERE to watch. Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Labor Day!

2011-09-05T16:21:00.002-04:00

Hi!

If you are in the US, Happy Labor Day! I really hope you have a blessed day with the ones you love!

Today I come to you with two more of the layouts I made for ThePaper Niche. These new collections are awesome, and I loved using them!

I cannot wait to start working on the projects for next month. As soon as the new release is out, you know I'll definitely share everything with you here. In the mean time, stay tuned for the sneak peeks coming soon.

I will finally be sharing my finished Basic Grey Mini album any day now. I have to take some pictures and get them ready to load. Woot woot!

Hurry!!!

2011-09-03T20:44:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to let you know that Lindy's Stamp Gang is having a Labor Day Sale!
Get 20% off your Labor Day purchase! This offer is valid for ONE DAY ONLY: September 5th, 2011. Take advantage of this and stock up on your favorites!
Have you seen the new set that was just released September 1st? You can pick it up, and add it to your collection now! Use coupon code: laborday at checkout!

Thanks for stopping by!

I had a dream...

2011-09-02T14:15:00.001-04:00

Today I bring you another layout I created for The PaperNiche. This is one of my favorite pictures ever with my daughter, and yes, I looked crazy and was totally exhausted and in pain, but I LOVE this picture. "Skin to skin", the nurse told me, "it will comfort her", and boy it definitely did. It was the sweetest moment the two of us had about 48 hours after she was born. It was wonderful!

I have more to show you, so come back Monday so you can see the rest!

It's release day!!!

2011-09-01T16:01:00.003-04:00

It is the first of the month and it's reveal time! The Paper Niche releases the Designer kit they have available to the public, for the month of September, and let me tell you, it is fa-bu-lous!!! I have a some projects I've made with the kit, that I now have the freedom to reveal to you, yippie!
You can view what the entire kit consists off by clicking HERE, and you can purchase the kit online on the Paper Niche's website right HERE.

Here are the first layouts I want to share with you using the kit:

It's amazing the variety and versatility of the things included in this pack of lusciousness. Can you believe these two layouts were made from the same kit? They have totally different vibes, yet they did come from the same pile of goodies! Awesome, right?
You want to see more? Come back tomorrow and I'll share some more :)
Thanks for stoping by!

Lovely Card

2011-08-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

Hi!

Today I come to you with another card, which I had tons of fun creating. I had this image from Some Odd Girl which I colored a while back, and I was itching to do something with it. Since I have been using a lot of my Olivia Basic Grey Collection, I again reached for those papers to make this card. If you've noticed, I usually get stuck on a collection and create several projects with it, before I jump to the next collection...maybe it's my necessity of wanting to use everything I've got, and since I've been working on a mini album with this collection, I've been using the scraps to create cards.

Well, this is what I created this time around...

It is one dimensional card that I think looks pretty lovely just like the metal sticker on it says :) What do you think? Hope you enjoyed!

September Sneak Peeks for The Paper Niche

2011-08-26T11:28:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

I'm very excited to share with you the sneak peeks of some of the things I have created with the upcoming September's Designer Kit offered by The Paper Niche. It is filled with gorgeous designer paper, and embellishments, which I'm sure anyone that's lucky enough to grab one of these kits, will enjoy. I had a lot of fun working with it, and hope you enjoy the sneaks that I've got for you today!

The possibilities with this kit are endless. So many wonderful combinations of color and textures... It sure shows the great job Gine did putting this kit together. Are you curious of what she, and the other designers created with the kit? Well, stay tuned on the Paper Niche's Blog because their sneak peeks will be posted there in the next few days before the kit's release on September 1st! I will be posting the full reveal of my projects here soon, so tay tuned!

You can find this amazing kit at The Paper Niche's Website after that date. Go ahead, once it's released, grab one before they are all gone!

Girly Girl

2011-08-23T15:17:00.003-04:00

I wanted to share with you today a card I made with no particular thing in mind. I usually make cards with a purpose, with an event, or occasion in mind, but this time around I made it just because. It's using one of the newer Greeting Farm Stamps (Blush Bonnie), which are my all time favorite stamps to color, and the Basic Grey Olivia collection.

I colored the hair and skin using my Copic Markers, and you can see a tutorial video on the hair coloring by clicking HERE. The rest of the image I paper pieced, which I'm hooked on doing now a days.

Used some Nestabilities (my favorite too), some Prima pearls, a rubber embellishment that coordinates with the Olivia collection, a metal rose from my stash to accent her hair, and some beautiful trim I got at Joann's a while back.

I love the fact the trim is soft, and not too dimensional. I thought it went perfect with all the colors of the designer paper. I'm pretty happy how this card came out. After I made it, I knew exactly who the card was for. I'm sending it to a true "girly girl" and I hope she likes it and can appreciate it.

I hope to share with you really soon a mini album I've been working on using this same paper collection (Olivia by Basic Grey). Stay tuned :)

Blush Babette

2011-08-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone!

Today I come to you with another card, and it's a Thank You one (it seems like I'm on a roll with cards lately). This time around I used the Olivia Collection by Basic Grey and the Blush Babette stamp from The Greeting Farm. Isn't she cute? (The lighting in these pictures is a little off, and the hair looks orange, but trust me, it's golden brown---it's been raining and I've had no good lighting opportunities for pictures---watch the video linked at the end of this post for true color view).

You can see the paper piecing I did on her clothes. So fun! The big Thank You metal piece is from Making Memories.

I added some bling, seam binding and a Prima flower spray to finish off the card.

Loved the way this one turned out. I have a Copic video HERE showing you how I colored the hair. Again, little by little I think I'm getting better at it, hooray!

a June Bug birthday!

2011-08-08T15:42:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

I had this image from Some Odd Girl all colored and ready to use for a birthday card, but when I stared at her, she just looked too "patriotic"to me LOL. I could not get past the fact I had used black, red, white and blue for her outfit! Talk about a dilemma, because I'm not used to working with those colors together like that. I usually go for the oranges, pinks, greens, browns... Well, I soon remembered the June Bug Collection by Basic Grey, and it literally solved my problem.

I used my oval Nestabilities as well as my Fancy Tags #1 Spellbinder's Set on this card. For the blue strip I used an EK success punch, and for the red corners, a Martha Stewart Corner punch.

I added some bling at the top and bottom of the image and used my elegant label punch from Stampin' Up, which I love and cannot seem to stop using!

All in all, I think my coloring looks pretty cute, and the June Bug paper collection was the perfect pairing for this card.

Hey Dude!

2011-08-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

Hi guys!

Today I wanted to share with you this super fun card I made for my husband's birthday this year. He loves to surf and has been surfing for a long time, so I figured surfer Ian from The Greeting Farm would be the perfect stamp for his card. I am happy to say that, although my husband usually really likes my cards and everything I make him, he really really LOVED this card and could not stop talking about how cool it was, and how perfect it was for him. After smiling, all I can say is: mission accomplished :)

I colored Ian with my Copic markers. I can honestly say my coloring has gotten better, and the proof is in the hair of this little guy( and if you saw my hair coloring before you can understand what I'm saying). And look, he looks tan! I was so excited that I finally got a good formula for tanned looking skin...before, every little guy or girl I tried to color and make look tanned, looked yellow or too pink. I think I finally found a good balance of color and he looks good. Yay for me!

The word "surf" on the card is a wood chip I colored using acrylic paint and distressed with my Black Soot Distress Ink from Ranger. I added Crystal Stickles to it, to add a little shimmer.

I used designer paper by DCWV, some twine from thetwinery.com, and some tiny red buttons I found on one of my flea market runs.

To watch the Copic Coloring Tutorial on this image please click HERE.
Thanks so much for following my blog (If you don't already, just click on the "follow" button on the top right of this page, and don't miss a post).
Surf's up!

Finally spilling the beans!

2011-08-03T00:58:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!
I can finally spill the beans and let you in on a little secret I've been keeping for a little bit. I can finally announce that I'm a new Design Team member for The Paper Niche! Woot Woot!
I was picked among a number of people who submitted their work, and I'm so super excited I was chosen. I definitely can't wait to start creating for them. They always have the latest and greatest of the scrapbooking industry, right here in South Florida.

The store is moving to a bigger, better location, which I can't wait to film and show you. It's all scheduled to happen this September, so stay tuned for that, and all the projects I will be sharing with you. I hope you guys are as excited as I am for this great opportunity I've been given!

The new members have just been announced, so once I have all their information I will link them on the side bar so you can go check out their blogs and projects. Right now, my links are incomplete, but I'm working on getting all the member's info as we speak. Have a great rest of the week!

Copic Adventures

2011-08-01T18:35:00.000-04:00

Hi there everyone!
I'm back from a couple of days of being at the beach, and every member of my family (except my dog who stayed behind), looks like a lobster. Well, Emily looks more like a shrimp. She's too little to be a lobster lol. It was quite an exhausting trip for me, considering I did not sleep too well any of the nights we were gone because Miss Emily decided she wanted to stay up all night, and not sleep much the whole time we were gone. To sum it all up, I need a vacation from my vacation lol.
Today I bring you a little video tutorial on Copic coloring. Just in time for the price increase on those suckers lol. If you ask me, I thought they were expensive enough... I guess the manufacturer doesn't feel the same way that I do hahaha. Anyways, I love them so much and I'm still learning, but I consider that I've come a long way. My hair coloring has definitely improved a bunch and I finally managed to get a good color combo for tanned skin too. I hope you enjoy!

It's been a while....

2011-07-25T00:45:00.000-04:00

It's definitely been a long, LONG time since I made a 12 by 12 layout. So long, that I can't even remember which was the last layout I created...well, I thought it had been long enough (over 2 years), and I decided to give it a try and start doing layouts again to fill out the few albums that still have page protectors waiting for something nice to go in them lol.

I used the Jack and Jil Collection by Prima, some Prima trim, several Prima sprays, some Maya Road chipboard letters and some flowers from my stash.

I did some layering, distressing and fussy cutting around the images on this particular designer paper.

To watch a video featuring this layout, please click HERE.
I think it came out pretty cute, and considering I haven't done a 12 by 12 layout in so long, I think is was a good start. What do you think?
I'll be starting random giveaways right here on my blog, so if you leave comments on my posts, you might be a lucky winner at any time. Cool, huh? I love giving stuff away!
Thanks for stopping by my little corner on the web. Have a great week!

Embossing on Dark Backgrounds

2011-07-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

Something I love about Lindy's Stamp Gang's embossing powders is that they are not your usual embossing powders. The mica in them make them shimmer so beautifully, and depending on how the light shines on them, you see a difference in their look on your project. I just think that's pretty neat, and one way I like to use them and get a really cool effect on my projects, is by using them on dark backgrounds.

This is a card I made for my husband using Lindy's Stamp Gang's embossing powder in the color Spring Leaf Chartreuse, with a Hero Arts background stamp on black card stock. I love the texture the embossing brings to the card, as well as the subtle shimmer.

The flower accents you see are handmade by me using needlepoint fabric, cork, Stickles and some Petaloo petals. For the leaves I used some skeleton leaves and regular green leaves from iamroses.com. I've promised a tutorial of these on my YT Channel, and I'm working to get that uploaded there soon. If you are interested in learning how to make these, which are not bulky, and are a great accent for your cards, scrapbooking projects and altered items, subscribe to my YT Channel so you don't miss the tutorial video. They are simple to make, but they entail a few steps.

I used some metal accents which I stained using my alcohol inks, and added some flat back pearls, as well as some adhesive "brad-looking" accents in the corners to finish the card off. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

I'm drooling!!!

2011-07-17T17:58:00.000-04:00

I could not help but continue on my search of what's going to be released at CHA this July, and boy have I found wonderful stuff! I really wish one day I'm able to go, and participate in all the goodness! But in the meantime, I can't help but indulge from afar LOL.

It seems like just when I think I won't like anything else, I keep finding more gorgeous stuff! Take a look at these gorgeous new collections by October Afternoon...

Maya Road is definitely stepping up and creating some more gorgeous trim as well as many other wonderful products...

Pink Paislee is including some great colors in this fun collection called Nantucket...as I said on my previous post, Teal/Aqua/Turquoise is definitely trending on the releases I've seen so far...

Ok, so I dare ask...are you drooling with me?

Holy toledo!

2011-07-15T18:38:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the previews of all the new stuff coming out at CHA??? I've been trying not to look and focus on working on things over here, but it's been quite difficult. I just had to take a peak...

Look at this yumminess from Webster's Pages...

And these fabulous flowers and collections from Prima Marketing. WARNING: you might drool a little bit after looking at these LOL

I am loving all the teal that I'm seeing in many of the new releases...this in particular...

It's like everything is calling my name!

Can you say fabulous? Just wanted to share a few of the things I'm liking so far...I'll post more as I keep falling in love LOL. Hope you have a nice weekend!

Baby Bib Mini Album

2011-07-10T00:00:00.001-04:00

I finally completed my Baby Bib album! Can you believe it? It took me long enough, right? LOL I'll give you the warning that this is a very picture loaded post. I hope you enjoy the close look at the mini album.
This is a chipboard mini album, made with Accucut's Baby Bib die. I love the shape and all the real estate in this album. I put in a lot of pictures and lots of places for journaling, and there is still a lot more space for more, if in the future I decided to add more to it.

I used the Watercolor Bouquet collection from K & Company, and I loved using most the of the embellishments that came with the collection. On the cover I used a Sizzix Frame die cut, which I glittered up using some of my Crystal Stickles to match some of the 3D stickers of the collection. I used some Iamroses and Recollections flowers, as well as Prima Pearls and Studio24 bling. Love all the dimension on the cover.

For the binding I used a one inch binding ring, some pink seam binding, and a charm that matched the colors of the collection. I made the charm using some fishing gear which I alcohol inked, and pieces of a Christmas ornament I bought a few years ago on clearance at Michael's. After having it for several years, it finally made it to a project (well, some parts of it anyway LOL).

I really liked all the different textures I managed to put into the cover. It's definitely 3D.

This is how the book looks from the side while standing up. It's a chunky mini, and I love that I can display it standing up.

When you open the first page this is what you see. This mini album (which now that I think about it, is not so mini ---it's about 10 inches by 8 inches), has a lot of interactive pages. I tried to capture this in the pictures, but for a better look at how all the pages and pockets work, please watch the entire video of all the details by clicking HERE.

When you flip to the next page this is what you see...

This is the next set of pages...

And the next set...

Ans this is how the pocket on the right page works:

As you can see, lots of room for journaling and pictures...

These are the final two pages...

Here's how the page on the right works...

And again, another secret place for more journaling...

This is the back of the album, with just my information stamp on the back.

Hope you enjoyed this mini. Remember to follow my blog by clicking on the "FOLLOW" button at the top right of the screen...I'll also be doing a giveaway once I hit 2000 subscribers on my YouTube Channel, so subscribe to it HERE and don't miss out on all the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember, I truly appreciate you and all your comments. Until next time!

Sweet!

2011-07-08T01:45:00.000-04:00

Today I noticed I received this from the lovely Jeanette.

Go check out her super cute blog. She is super sweet as well. Thanks so much Jeanette for picking me as one of your winners. Per the award, I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself here, and pass this award on to 7 other people.
Here ya go!
1. I'm completely in love with paper crafting. I find myself forgetting all the problems in the world because of it. Yay!
2. I don't like cleaning at all, but I LOVE cleanliness and organization. Go figure! LOL
3. The dog I have now, is my first pet dog ever. I love her.
4. I'd love to go to Paris one day. Crossing my fingers :o)
5. When you ask me, "what food are you in the mood to eat?", 99% of the time I'll say good chinese food, yet my favorite food is Meat Lasagna. Interesting, huh?
6. I majored in Child Psychology.
7. When I was younger I wanted to have 7 children like the people from that 7th Heaven show. LOL

Alright, now you know a few little things about me. I'm going to pass this award to the following 7 people:
1. Damaris @ Scrapbook Designs Unlimited
2. Ady @ Live love Laugh Scrap
3. Vanessa @ The Bunny Diaries
4. Marlene @ Uniquely Ella
5. Jil @ Stampyra
6. Lisa @ Gobeagirl
7. Teri @ Teri Beri's Creations

Hope you enjoyed the 7 things about me. Next post I will finally share the mini I've been working on, for what seems like forever LOL. Praying for a sunny day so I can take nice pictures of it. Until then!

Summer of '89

2011-07-01T03:01:00.005-04:00

The day has come, and Lindy's Stamp Gang has released it's new Starburst Stains Color Set: Summer of '89! I altered this cute frame using some of the new colors.They brought out the accents in the picture inside the frame. Unfortunately, I cannot show that picture, because this is a gift for someone, and I want it to be a surprise... she watches my videos and follows my blog, so I had to make sure I covered my tracks. No peeking, right? LOL. I hope she likes it when she receives it.

It took me some time to figure this baby out (this is my first altered frame ever), because believe it or not, my mojo has left me. I think the mini album that I'm currently working on (and have yet to finish!) has sucked all the inspiration and creativity out of me! Crazy, I know, but I tell you, it has been hard to get anything crafty accomplished lately...just to let you know, I ruined a wood frame before I started this one...I had to literally put it away (close to a trash can lol) and start over. Thank God, this one turned out way better on my first attempt!

I used three of the colors of the new Summer of '89 Set, and I only wish you could see the picture inside the frame, so you would know how perfect these colors were for this project. I guess you're going to have to just take my word for it! LOL

This is the first time I've done any of the crackle paint too, and I love the look, without any contrasting colors, like it's usually done. It's a different distressed look.

I colored the metal word with my Copic Markers and gave it some texture with the coloring too.
As usual, I made a tutorial on how I got the wood so shimmery and crackled, and you can check that out HERE.
I hope you are excited about these colors, and give them a try.
WARNING: you'll get hooked on them LOL!
Oh, I forgot to ask, how do you like the new look of the blog? I'd love to hear what you think!

Are you ready for this?

2011-06-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to share with you some super news from Lindy's Stamp Gang. First off, a new color set coming out on July! It's the Summer of '89 Set and the colors are so yummy. Take a look:

I've already started a project with these babies and will have it posted right here on the day of the release (July 1st), so make sure you come back and take a look! So much shimmer, so much color, you will totally love this set.
The other thing I wanted to share is this: check out the Starburt's new labels!

Don't the bottles look fabulous? I want to thank the lovely Yvonne for the great picture of these beauties. Such pretty shiny labels that will make picking the colors from your stash so much quicker, because now you'll be able to see which bottle color you are picking up by just looking at the bottle's label. Clever move, huh? I know it will definitely save me time when picking colors for my projects. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Have a great rest of the week!

Ah, life!

2011-06-16T18:45:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

I've been missing in action because life has gotten busier and also because I've been really sick. I caught the nastiest cold ever, and I'm still trying to recover LOL. My little Emily was sick as well (she actually was the one who got me sick), but she's all better, running around and climbing on everything. She is a lot of work, but I just LOVE her SO MUCH!!!

I wanted to say thank you to all my followers. I have been so blessed with so many of you and I wanted to say, I really appreciate you all.
I'm getting ready to finish and post a project real soon, which I'm really excited to share. It's a mini album that will be very special... I have a lot of ideas in my head as well for new projects, so as soon as I get my strength back, and this house back to normal (oh how messy things get when you're sick! LOL) I'll start working and posting them for you. Praying for some mojo to come back into my life!

I'll start catching up with all my YouTube Videos too, so if you follow me there as well, stay tuned for the videos coming up.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and always remember, I appreciate each and every one of you!

More of Intaglio and Exciting News!

2011-06-02T14:27:00.000-04:00

What can I say? I'm hooked on the technique. The look you get with it is so fab, I just can't get enough of it! I decided to make a tag because I hadn't made one in a while and this was the result.

I used another stamp I had not used before (let me tell you I'm having so much fun using what I have and not going crazy buying stuff!), and two toned embossing powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang. I just love all the glow and shimmer their embossing powders provide. Have you tried them? They are super cool. The color I used was the Ceasar's Gold, and I just love the texture it gave to my card. I used the Tim Coffey's Cottage Garden Designer paper, which I'm also hooked on, as well as the Glitz Spritz in the color Desert Moon Gecko Green.....I don't know what is is, but I keep telling you it's my all time favorite and I have to spray it on everything! See the turquoise shimmer everywhere? I have to stop using it so much though, because as you know, it has been discontinued, and once my bottle is over, I won't be able to get it anymore :(.... (oh but regarding this, I have exciting news! Keep on reading until the end of this post to find out haha!)

To hold my sentiment (which was stamped from an American Craft's stamp set called Enjoy), I used an ornament hook I purchased at Target. I love the distressed look it has, and most of all how inexpensive it was, being that I bought some packs on clearance after Christmas at 70% off. Score!

I've been using lots of punches in my projects lately, and I incorporated some of the leaf punches I own. I used a Prima flower and trim, some K and Company brads, a brass charm from my stash, an extra large copper eyelet, and some gold sprays and fibers.

If you'd like to watch the technique step by step with this particular stamp, you can click HERE for the video.

Now for the EXCITING news!!!
I know a few of the Glitz Spritz at the LSG site were discontinued, along with my beloved Desert Moon Gecko Green, but have you heard there are four new sets of colors being released??? Yes, four!!!! Oh I am so excited about that! I have them all in my possession already and I know you'll LOVE them. All the sets have awesome colors, and great names too! The first set being released will come out this Friday, June 13 and it's the Drink Me Silly set. Look at all the fantastic colors! This is definitely my favorite set at the moment.

Check out the Lindy's Stamp Gang Website on Friday to get this awesome set at a great introductory price. Once you get them you'l love them!

Thanks for stopping by!

IAMROSES "In the Garden" Creative Contest

2011-05-30T02:07:00.003-04:00

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you my entry for the IAMROSES "In the Garden" Creative Contest. I did something I've never done before, and I'm happy how the finished project came out. I let my imagination and creativity lead the way (after all, it's a "creative" contest LOL). I wanted to make something different, something fun, garden related.... so......... I altered a garden pick, using IAMROSES and Lindy's Stamp Gang products!

I I I For the details on the project and all the products used, please watch the video HERE.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Under the Sea Canvas Project

2011-05-21T12:50:00.002-04:00

Today I wanted to share with you my first canvas project. I've been wanting to alter one for a while, and when I had the opportunity, I bought a few of them on sale at Michael's and Big Lots. I had some cute pictures of my daughter at the beach, and I thought it would be great to integrate at least one of them in my project for Lindy's Stamp Gang's Under the Sea Contest. Some of the design members made some inspiration projects for the people who want to participate in the contest, and here is mine.

I had a great time creating this piece, and it came out just like I had envisioned in my head. I used a ton of Lindy's Stamp Gang products on it, and I love all the shimmer that radiates from all over the canvas.

I used embossing powders to give the wooden starfish the look you see. The colors I used were the Cleopatra Copper and the Kaiser Rudolf Russet. I love mixing together in one piece the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powders because the micas in them make them so unique. Before I embossed the starfish, I did use the Moon Shadow Mist in Incandescent Copper, just to make sure all the edges of the wood were covered in dark color, just in case my embossing did not reach certain areas of the wood. You can never be too careful, right? I embossed the seahorse as well, and the tone and dimension the embossing powder gave to it is just so nice. For that I also used two different embossing powders: Byzanine Bronze and King Midas Gold.

Directly on the design paper I used different Starburst Stains in the colors Frosted Forget Me Nots, Delphinium Turquoise and Bachelor Button Blue. The shimmer they all give off is truly amazing, and you can see in the pictures for yourself...

Can you see all the shimmer, both in the front and the back of all the designer paper!!!!! This was one sided designer paper from K and Company---the Winter Wonderland Paper Pack. Who would have thought, right?

I painted the whole base of the canvas with my Ranger Dabber Acrylic Paint in the color Sandal, and on top I brush a Starburst Stain in the color Golden Sleigh Bells. The sea shells you see on the edge where embossed with Byzantine Bronze embossing powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang, using a stamp set from Hero Arts...

You can watch a video I made with all the details of both, the contest and this project by clicking HERE.

I'm really happy with the final result. I mean, for my first canvas, I think I did ok. What so you think?

Where you inspired?

Lindy's Stamp Gang "Under the Sea Creative Contest" Info

• Theme: “Under the Sea”

• Contest will run May 21, 2011 through June 8, 2011

• This particular contest is a YouTube only event.

• Entry requirements:
1.) Use Lindy Stamp Gang product(s)
2.) project must follow the theme "Under the Sea."

From there, you can create anything from a card, tag, mini album, altered canvas or box, etc!
Post a video of your project submission to your personal channel with title: Lindy's Stamp Gang “Under the Sea” Contest; Submit a video response to LSG Contest Video to enter; Multiple submissions per person are allowed, but you must do a video response for each submission.

• Winners will be announced on the LSG Channel on June 9, 2011.
The TOP 5 winners will receive a "Pirate's Bootie" of goodies from LSG. We are looking for creativity and the most inspiring use of colors in your projects!

In addition, during the contest (May 21 to June 8) Lindy Stamp Gang will donate 5% of each sale on the Lindy Stamp Gang website to the American Cancer Society. How awesome is that?!
Random prizes will also be given out during the contest, and participants could win little goodies along the way! So don't miss out on the fun!
Watch the official contest video HERE

Thanks for stopping by and hope you were inspired!

Stamp Camp 2011

2011-05-19T17:33:00.002-04:00

This is totally an over due post. I have completely forgotten to show you all the things I was able to make during Stamp Camp this year...It's been a while since I attended (February 2011), but I just had not taken the time to get this posted...oops!

Anyways, for those of you who don't know what Stamp Camp is, it is just a yearly event hosted by many of the Stampin' up demonstrators in my area. It's a whole day of crafting using Stamping up products. This was my second year attending and it was a nice experience, and to top it off, I actually won some fabulous product! To hear and see the details of my day, watch a video I made HERE.

Here are some pictures of the projects I created that day. Simple, but really pretty!

Mother in Law Mini Album

2011-05-09T13:11:00.001-04:00

After making my mom a mini featuring my daughter's first year of life, I decided I needed to make one for my mother in law as well. It is the same concept as my mother's mini---elaborate cover but simple inside, however, I made the cover completely different even though I used the Alpha Chips from Tattered Angels once again (to see the other mini I'm referring to, check the blog post on May 2, 2011).

I used different flowers and leaves, as well as a ton of Lindy's Stamp Gang products. For the biggest curly roses I used Startburst Stains in the colors Sea Mint Green and Glory of the Seas Gold, as well as the Moon Shadow Mist in the Gossamer Gold, and my favorite Glitz Spritz (which is being retired and is on sale on the Lindy's Stamp Gang website right now) in the color Desert Moon Gecko Green. I sprayed the cover with the Moon Shadow Mist in Gossamer Gold, and for the Tattered Angels Alpha Chips I used the Desert Moon Gecko Green Glitz Spritz as well as the Starburst Stain in the color Baby Blue Eyes Aqua, together with my Walnut Stain Distress ink and got that vintage shimmery aqua look. I sprayed the green leaves with a Moon Shadow Mist in the color Landlubber Green, and it made them so shimmery!

I chose to use the same binding as before, and dyed some seam binding with a Startburst Stain in the color Cocoa Bean Copper. I just love how the bows look as the binding, so I had to do it again.

I also included some metal leaf accents which I stained using Gold and Copper Alcohol ink. I love the different texture it adds to the cover. The ones I used have been in my stash for over a year now, but you can find similar ones at the Lindy's Stamp Gang website. They carry a variety of brass charms which you can customize to match your project. To finish it off I added some Recollection flowers, skeleton leaves, and Prima pearl swirls which I colored with my Copic Markers to make them match the project.
For a more detailed view of the album, you can check out the video I made for it by clicking HERE.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Mother's Day Cards

2011-05-06T13:59:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share with you two Mother's Day cards I just completed. I was under the impression Mother's Day was still a week away, and I didn't realize that the second Sunday of May was actually this Sunday until just a few days ago, so I had to rush to get these done. I'm also in the middle of a project for my mother in law----- a mini I decided to make her after making my mom one. I probably will have to share that mini either this Saturday, or the Monday after Mother's day because I'm still not done with it. I will have it done by Sunday, but I don't think I'll have time to upload a video or make post about it by then. I do promise I will share once I'm done. For now, here are the cards I finished.

This first one is for my mother in law. I was in the mood of banners I guess, because both cards have banners. I used a Hero Arts Stamp (Silhouette Meadow Flowers) and used the Emboss Resist Technique on the focal image, which I colored in using my Distress inks from Ranger. To watch a video on the technique and how I created that emboss resist piece, please click HERE.

I used a Martha Stewart Punch to punch out the butterflies, some Prima Bling and my Distress Ink in Vintage Photo to distress all the edges (after using on them my Tonic Distressing tool). The designer paper I used was from a RAK I received from my friend Jil. I don't know the name of the collection, except that it's from a K and Co. paper stack. It's gorgeous.

I used a Stampin' up Stamp Set for the sentiment (Well Scripted), and I sprayed the banner with my Lindy's Stamp Gang Spray in the color Gossamer Gold. I also sprayed the back of the cards with my favorite Glitz Spritz of all time Desert Moon Gecko Green. As you can well know by now, I spray it on almost everything...can't help it!

This next card I made is for my mother. She likes browns and greens better than the pinks, so this was the perfect color combo for her. I still don't have a technique video for the background piece of this card (had no time to film it), but I plan on making one soon, so stay tuned for that. The texture it gives to the card definitely makes a statement.

I used Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder in the color Angel Wings Peacock, and this particular powder shows off some turquoise shimmer---my favorite.

To watch the video of the details of these cards please click HERE. I hope you enjoyed these cards, and come back later for my finished Mother in Law mini.
Thanks for stopping by, and to all the mothers out there: Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Mini Album For My Mom

2011-05-02T12:48:00.001-04:00

My mother lives far away, and she doesn't get to see my daughter as much as she'd like to. We share pictures and videos of my daughter with her all the time, but I though it would be nice if for Mother's Day I would make a little mini for her, featuring my baby's first year of life.

Since my mom doesn't scrapbook, I decided to make the book a very simple one, and focus on the cover.

I put my daughter's initial as well as some flowers to make the cover look pretty. The monogram in the cover is made up by Tattered Angels' Alpha Chips Framed Fonts in Regal, which I colored using my favorite, Distress inks and Lindy's Stamp Gang's Glitz Spritz in the color Desert Moon Gecko Green. Instead of binding rings, this time to bind the book I used seam binding, which I dyed with a Starburst Stain in the color Cocoa Bean Copper. I love the look!

The big flower in the cover is from iamroses.com and the little ones are from Recollections. I sprayed the big flower with a Moon Shadow Mist Spray in the color Gossamer Gold, and distressed later the edges using Walnut Stain Distress Ink from Ranger. I also sprayed the entire page with the Gossamer Gold, and I love all the shimmer it gave to my project. I added some pearls and gold metal trinkets, and a K and Co. button to finish the look, and well as a felt butterfly I found on the Michael's dollar spot.

Most of the work was the cover, and the inside is basically just the pictures I wanted to enclose for her, with a few minor paper embellishments I made with some paper punches.

I hope she enjoys it time and time again, when looking back at these pictures. I'm getting ready to mail it out to her with a few other goodies, just in time for Mother's day.

Thanks so much again for stoping by, and if you'd like to watch a detail video of this entire mini, you can click HERE.

Have a great rest of the week!

Fabulous Ruby!

2011-04-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

Today I wanted to share with you this simple, but sweet card I made for my scrappy friend Rina. She is one of the funniest and talented people I follow on YouTube, and a few weeks ago I sent this to her along with some goodies for her to play with. It was a simple card, but I just wanted the fabulous "Ruby" stamp from The Greeting Farm to be the center of attention. It was quite a struggle to color her hair (you know me and my endless problem with brown hair), but in the end I think I made it look pretty decent LOL.

I just love the Spellbinders Label Dies, and I used one of my favorite ones in this card ( Labels Four). I used the Ancestry Collection by K and Company, and I had to put in some brown bling to add a little bit of interest to the corners of the card. All in all I think the paper piecing of the clothes was the right way to go, and it just makes little Ruby the star of the card. I love that stamp!
Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Surfer

2011-04-27T13:20:00.002-04:00

This card I made for my friend Janet, and had forgotten to share it with you here. She likes blues and the beach, so I thought this little girl would be perfect for her birthday card.

I used my fabulous Copic Markers to color her in (I love them so much, and wish they were cheaper! LOL), and little by little I think I'm getting better at the coloring. I really liked how she came out. What so you think?

A "Magical" Birthday Card

2011-04-22T12:48:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to post this card for a couple of days now, but have not had the time to sit down and write. It's amazing how busy life can get, and how exhausted you can be running around after a 15 month old all day! I have honestly had to learn which battles to loose, and which to not give that much importance to. My stress level has therefore decreased a bit and I'm no longer going crazy over every little detail that does not go the way it should. I'm just cruising along, trying the best that I can, adjusting slowly, but surely to the "I'm not supermom" thought. Ha!
This card is already in the hands of it's sweet owner, and I'm very happy how it turned out. I posted a video some days ago on my channel showing the process of matching the flowers to my project using Lindy's Stamp Gang's Magical Micas. You can watch the step by step video HERE. The Magical Mica color I used was just perfect for this card. It was the color Delphinium Turquoise. I also sprayed the flowers with a Glitz Spritz Spray that I can't seem to put down these days. Want to guess which one? If you follow my blog (which if you don't, you can easily do by just clicking the "follow" button at the top right of the screen), you know that it's the Glitz Spritz in the color Desert Moon Gecko Green. I just can't get enough of it! I think the use of both of these products made the flowers match my designer paper exactly! Take a look for yourself and you be the judge.

I used one of my Greeting Farm Stamps and the Ancestry Designer Paper Collection from K and Company. I love the shimmer of the flowers, and to me, they matched so perfectly that it looks like they were part the paper collection. To think they were once plain white Cherry Blossoms!
Let me know what you think in the comments. I love reading from you!
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Easter weekend!

In love with Intaglio...the technique that is!

2011-04-19T12:16:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone!
Today I wanted to share with you a new obsession of mine: the Intaglio technique. I first learned of this technique a few years ago at a scrapbooking event I attended and loved it, but was always scared to try it. Silly of me, considering we're only talking about paper and embossing powder here, but if I tell you in detail how I got into stamping, and how scared I was of it before I even decided to try it, you would totally laugh at me, but that's a whole other post! LOL

I was introduced to this technique a while ago, saw many people using it around me, but never gave it a shot. Well, I can now proudly say, I'm no Intaglio virgin anymore, because I gave it a try and boy was it fun and different! I immediately thought of using a Hero Arts stamp I had bought but never used, and the Moon Glow Two Toned Embossing Powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang. I think it turned out really neat.

This was the first card I've made with the technique, and I kept it simple making the embossing as the center of attention.

I really liked how this came out because I'm a fan of simple things. I used Moon Gloow Two Toned Embossing Powder in the color Cosmic Blue Violet, and I wish the picture did justice to the shimmer the card has! I sprayed the design paper (Tim Coffey's Cottage Garden) with my favorite Glitz Spritz of all time Desert Moon Gecko Green. I tell you I love that stuff! It gives a turquoise shimmer to everything I spray it on, and is so subtle but amazing at the same time.

Please click HERE to watch the video of the step by step instructions on this technique. It can get a little tricky, but if you follow the steps you'll be able to get the results you want. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's Party Time!

2011-04-15T00:00:00.007-04:00

Do you love Lindy’s Stamp Gang products? Join the party!
Enter your artwork using any LSG products in the Lovin’ Lindy’s Linky Party and you may win a Little Lindy’s Try-Me Kit! There’s a giveaway a day, drawn randomly, for seven days! Just follow these simple rules:
1. Projects must contain at least one Lindy’s Stamp Gang product.
2. Your email is required to qualify for prizes. (Don’t worry, it’s safe, LSG will never sell or give away your information).
3. Your entry photo must be posted somewhere public, like a blog or online photo album (picasa, google, photobucket). Please link to your blog post, not just your blog address.
4. Enter as many times as you would like.
5. Giveaways will be drawn randomly every day from all entries posted. Winners will be posted on the Lindy’s Stamp Gang blog and will be contacted by email. Prize winners have 7 days to claim their prize.
Are you ready? Just select the grey “Click Here to Enter” button below the thumbnails and follow the steps to join the party!

Can't wait to WIN?

One day only sale!

25% off Starburst Stains, Sprays and Color Shots

April 15 only

Use coupon code TAXDAY on checkout
www.lindystampgang.com

Lovin' Lindys' Bunny Hop

2011-04-11T00:00:00.008-04:00

Hoot Hoot! Are you ready to have some fun?

I'm here for Lindy Stamp Gang's Lovin' Lindys' Bunny Hop! Each one of the LSG Design Team members will be sharing some super amazing projects created with Lindy Stamp Gang (LSG) products on their blog. You don't want to miss out on all the tips and tricks being shared with you on this hop. Get ready for some great inspiration!

Now on to my project!

The hop's theme is Spring and/or Easter, and when I think of Spring I think of flowers, beautiful bright colors.... I think of nature. This was the way I wanted to go with this project. I've been wanting to alter one of those balsa boxes from Michael's, so I decided to stop hoarding the one I had, and just have some fun. Since I

just got my hands onto some of the LSG Paint Pots I wanted to use some and give them a try. I never imagined how fun they would be!

Let me tell you, I just got them and I'm in love! Completely in LOVE! The colors are so amazing, just like the regular stains, mists, and spritzs, but when using a brush, these are just the product you have to go for. So super comfortable and fast to use!

I was hesitating on using the pots on the wood since they are water based, and I didn't think there would be a good adhesion to the wood, but man was I wrong!!! They work magic, coverage was awesome, and I loved how the colors just naturally blended on the surface and didn't cause any streaks! Heaven. If you are worried about the color coming off, which really stays put, you can always add in a layer of gel medium on top and you'll be all set. I painted the parts of the box that would not be covered in any designer paper with a Moon Shadow Inkpot in the color Burnt Umber, heat set, and there... I had the most glimmery, pretty wooden surface I had ever seen!

After drying the box nicely with my heat gun (who wants to wait for it to dry, right?), I adhered the designer paper. I used Tim Coffey's Cottage Garden Collection and my soft gel medium. I thought this collection was just perfect for this spring project. So bright and colorful! I sanded down all the edges of the box to get rid off any extra paper and to smooth everything out. After that, I used my Vintage Photo Distress Ink to go over the sanded edges, and attached a gold button to the closure of the box to add a spark of gold to the color mix. I took some brown velvet and sheer fabric stretch ribbon to use in my closure as well and attached it to the box.

To embellish the box I used one big flower which I colored using LSG Starburst Stain Color Shot Pot and a brush. The colors I used were Alpine Ice Rose and Icy Primrose Gold. I also sprayed the flower with a Glitz Spritz in the color Dessert Moon Gecko Green. I just love that Spritz! If I could spray it on every project, I would! It just made the flower the perfect color to match my project. I also colored two mini roses the same way but with the Moon Shadow Inkpot in Burnt Umber (the same color I used to paint the box). I used two skeleton leaves, some gold pearl sprays and a Tim Holtz pin to hold an Tim Holtz Adage Ticket that reads the word Live.

I used two LSG Brass Charms. I love them so much! They are super strong, have great texture, and are super easy to alter. I used a butterfly/moth and a dragonfly for this project. For the butterfly I used my Versamark and LSG embossing powder in Geranium Coral Blush and heat set. For the dragonfly I used LSG embossing powder in Spring Leaf Chartreuse and embossed just the body of it, leaving the wings untouched. I just love the look of these too pieces, and the way they act as nice accents to the main flower on top of the box.

Click HERE to watch the video tutorial for this project. It was so fun to create, and my first altered box ever!

Are you new to Lindy Stamp Gang products and are wondering what color set you should start with? Think about what your favorite colors are, what your style is. Check out Lindy Stamp Gang's website. You might even want to check out some of the LSG video tutorials to help you decide what products might be right for you. But before you do that, don't forget to check out what my fellow LSG Design Team members created for the hop, and don't forget to comment and show some love on their blogs!

Below is a link to the other Design Team members and their fabulous projects. Be sure to check them out and see what they have planned for today, and get inspired to make your own masterpiece!

Remember the Linky Party coming up on April 15, where you have a chance to win some great LSG products by just submitting your creations with LSG products. See you back here then!

Ancestry Mini Album Kits

2011-04-09T19:43:00.005-04:00

Hi everyone!

I made four kits so you can make a mini similar to this one HERE

I only have four (4) of these kits available

Please check out the video I made HERE with the details on the sale.

E-mail me at smscrapper@gmail.com if you are interested.

Thanks for your support!

Exciting news

2011-04-08T00:20:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I am jumping up and down with excitement as I announce that I am a new Design Team Member for Lindy's Stamp Gang (LSG)!

I'f you've been following me for a while, you know I love their products, specially to use on my tags and stamped images. They are of great quality, really simple to use, and affordable. If you like shimmer, you will absolutely love their product.

I will be joining the Design Team's Lovin' Lindy's Bunny Blog Hop scheduled for this Monday April 11th! Hoot hoot!

All of the Design Team members will be sharing a project on their blog using LSG products. Talk about a talented group! You definitely don't want to miss it!

One other thing I didn't want to leave out is, that we will also be hosting a linky party real soon (April 15-22), and it will be open to everyone who creates with LSG products! You'll have the chance to submit your creations and win some great LSG products. There will be a giveaway of one Little Lindy's each day, drawn randomly from all the submissions. Oh so exciting!!!!

Be sure to spread the word, mark it on your calendar and check back here on April 11th. I will have a post with my project and links to my fellow LSG Design Team member's blogs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend and Minis

2011-04-06T02:37:00.002-04:00

Hello there!

I had a fabulous weekend, except for Sunday when I was not feeling well all day. I was able to go to a crop on Saturday and had a fantastic time with a bunch of crafty ladies...and you know what the funniest part was? We all met on YouTube! You could say we were a crafty bunch brought together by paper!

We had a fantastic time, and shared some great moments. Our host Marlene went above and beyond, making all of us feel welcome, and all the details she had prepared for the day were beautiful. All the gals were super nice too! Some of the ladies' projects were displayed for inspiration throughout the day, and boy were they nice! I'd like to share a few with you:

It's amazing how technology and the internet gets people connected! We definitely plan on doing these kinds of get togethers more often. I can't wait for the next one!

Today I also wanted to share two mini albums I just completed. I had a lot of fun working on these, and could not make just one. I made one for myself, and one for a friend. They are not identical, but very similar, since I used the same paper collection, as well as most of the same embellishments. There are things that are exactly the same, but others that are completely different. Take a look:

This first mini is the one I made for myself...
This next one is the one I made for my friend...
You can click HERE to watch the video, showing you the albums in detail, all the pages, as well as all the information on what products and techniques I used.
Again I thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate every comment that I receive, and hope you stay tuned, because remember, this week I'm sharing some exciting news!

Hope you have a great day!