Everybody's Doing it: Tags , Do you love a challenge/

Challenge: Make it Sparkle



So you have to admit, tags are so darn hot for the holiday season, right?  You can check out Tim Holtz's blog everyday and see so many new techniques that he teaches using tags...and you can play along with various challenges for blogs using tags. 

One that you have to go check out if you haven't already is SWIRLYDOOS. First I think their store is amazing, I mean amazing.  Their gallery has great inspiration on it, forum is a lovely place to chat with other papercrafting lovers and their blog is sure to keep you up on everything.  This month on their blog they are running the 25 Tags of Christmas.  Everyday they have a different challenge to make a tag, and link it back to their post.  They choose a winner by random generator and everyday someone wins ones of these fabulous prima christmas ornaments boxes, valued at $29.95.



I encourage each of you to jump into the festive season and start playing along.  It's super easy, inspiring and FUN! and you might just win.  I've included some of the tags I've made for the contest so far...it's just on day four so you have plenty of time to get on board and discover SWIRLYDOO'S.




Challenge : Monochromatic Red or Green





Challenge : What does Christmas Mean to You

Challenges These Tags Meet:
Creative Inspirations : Christmas Gifts
Wild Orchid: Victorian / Tag 3
Creative Inspirations : Christmas Decorations no cards
Fussy and Fancy : Anything but a card
Bunny Zoe's Crafts: Anything but a card
Really Reasonable Ribbon: Anything but a card / Tag 1 or 2

Close To My Heart December Blog Hop : AMORE

Welcome to December's Close To My Heart, Stamp of the Month, Blog Hop!  What a mouthful, LOL.  If you just joined us from Judy's blog then you're on the right path.

This month's stamp set has so many versatile uses and with Valentines Day right around the corner, it's a must.  I random stamped the back of my card using the top portion of the larger heart.  The sentiment is from this collection.  The flower was made using the stamp set too.  I just took the smaller heart and used the top third and stamped it in a line along the edge of a piece of cardstock.  Then I cut out the scalloped edge and added some cocoa ink to the edges with a sponge dauber for depth.  Next I punched out a circle from my CTMH circle punch and started working the flower.  With a heavy drop of glue in the center of the circle I twisted and folded the scalloped border into a rose.  Once I had it completed the shape I wanted I held it in place for a minute or two for the glue to set...and bang...I've had an adorable flower.  I added some mocha opaques to the center and you had a beautiful embellishment.  You can easily do this for your card or layout. 

If you would like to pick up your AMORE stamp set for a discounted price or even free...feel free to check it out on my website http://www.lorileng.myctmh.com/ or email me lorileng@bellsouth.net for more information.

Now it's time for the creativity to continue...HOP ON OVER TO LAURIE'S BLOG and see what wonderful creation she has imagined up for you.  Also please be sure to leave some blog love if you enjoyed this post...it's always nice to get feedback.

Thank you Heartfelt Creations

A couple of months ago I was so blessed by Heart Felt Creations...I won their whole monthly line for leaving a comment on their blog. I was so pumped and then came vacation, Halloween and now Thanksgiving...can you believe I'm so horrible that I hadn't made a thank you card yet with the beautiful stamp set/ and nesties they sent me.  So tonight my project was to make a long overdue card. 

These are the challenges this card qualifies for:

2Sketches4you : Sketch

Flower Soft : Thank you

Simon Says: Snow

Stamp Something : Thank you

A Spoon Full of Sugar : Anything Goes

Paper Take Weekly: Cut it out

Alota : Christmas

Crafty Catz: Christmas

Craft Your Day's Aways: Texture

Crafty Creations: Christmas

SNOW

This is a layout I created using My Mind's Eye new Christmas Line " Dear Santa".  I cut multiple snowflakes using my good ole Cricut and then folded and layered to create a 3-d snowflake.  I then used Diamond Dust to the edges of the paper, snowflakes and some of the embellishments to add that snowy sparkle.  I adore the picture I used for this layout.  It's of my husband and our youngest son several winters ago...and I thought it was so cool the way the snow really shows up in the picture.  It looks like it was some type of effect I added using the computer, but it isn't.  This was the actual picture.

Close up of 3-d Snowflakes

Diamond Dust added to Chipboard Letters

I hope everyone is having a blessed Thanksgiving and are getting to be with loved ones....don't eat to much turkey :)

Exploring Websters Pages

I've loved Webster's Pages Paper for some time, but just it's just been one of those lines you tend to save instead of breaking it out and using it.  So with the journey I'm on to really explore my scrapbooking skills, I thought...now is the time to use that paper up...and so I've started.  This is the first layout I've done using Webster's Pages and I love it.  Once you get past the whole...don't cover up anything beautiful...then you'll find you have a wonderful creation with lots of layers.

Detail of Layered Ribbon and Handmade Flowers

This layout qualifies for the anything goes challenge over at Beary Scraps.

For My Friend...Pavlo

This is a layout I did for a friend of the family...Pavlo.  He is such a wonderful person and moved here from the Ukraine several years ago with his wife, brother and children in tow.  Recently his mother passed away and he and his brothers flew back home to attend the funeral.  It really struck me how difficult it would be to loose your parents and be a world away.  I'm so blessed that I can drive down the road and be at my Mom's in five minutes.  So I started thinking what could I do for them...I was going to bake something, but their wives are some of the best bakers you would ever want to meet...so not such a great idea.  A card just didn't seem enough since I hold them in such high regard...and then I thought I would make a memory scrapbook page that I could frame and they could hang up in their shop...a reminder of their sweet mother who raised such strong Godly men.  So this is what I presented them with and I think they loved it. 

I used some of the Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology and Tim Holtz Distress inks as the base page.  Then I water distressed...something new I'm so LOVING...Prisma flowers were used around the picture...OH and I did use the new Photoshop Elements 9 to do a little doctoring to the picture.  Really this is just layers upon layers with paper, sewing, flowers, embellishments and more than anything LOVE.  I truly have been so blessed as of late by SwirlyDoo's, they have inspired me to really take my scrapping to a new level and I believe it shows.  Many of the products I used you can pick up at Swirlydoos and do be sure to check out their gallery also.

Lessons Learned Layout

This weekend was crazy and though I wished I had lots of time to craft, I didn't.  My husband loves to put up our Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving...so you guessed it, I spent majority of my weekend working on Christmas. 

I did manage to get one layout done...which was better than nothing.  This is a layout of my great grandmother who really was the example of a women for my Mother, sister and I.  She was the greatest in so many regards...she even was a early scrapbooker, with things like keeping napkins from an ice cream parlor visit to remember the occasion.  You have to understand she was born in 1900 and grew up during the depression so she really knew how to value things and what things to value...an important lesson I think so many of us miss today.  Well I'll step down from my soap box, LOL and hope you enjoy my layout.  I used a sketch from the My Minds Eye Challenge Blog along with some of their yummy papers and the journal note.  I am LOVING photoshop Elements ...and did some creative work with my pictures. The smaller flowers I created with MME paper and a Bazzil rhinestone button.  I water distressed the edges and also used my paper distressor tools for the edges of the floral diecut and Tim Holtz's distress inks.  Of course I layered some of my Swirly Doo goodies in also...the flower edging rosettes ribbon, Petal loo black flower, and that killer cameo.  As beautiful as I think this layout is, it fails in comparison to my great grandmother.  I wish you all could have known her. 

BE STILL...SWIRLYDOOS

I've found the greatest little store that I just love...SWIRLYDOO'S . You have to check them out.  They offer monthly kits that they have such an eye for putting together various manufactures products that really lend themselves to artistic projects.  They have tutorials and a gallery that is sure to give you tons of inspiration...Here is one of the four layouts I did over the weekend. 

The three larger flowers were all made by hand...and I love the overall look.  I also did some major water distressing to my paper and just think the overall effect is great. Some of the products I used for this layout were

My Mind's Eye Paper

Prima Flowers

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

Songbird Cricut Cartridge

Felicity Paper Pack from Close To My Heart

Bazzil Cardstock

Websters Pages Rhinestone Buttons

Flourish Accent : Close To My Heart

Dusty Attic Chipboard (OMGOSH..LOVE IT!!!)

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Tiny Type Stamp Set: CTMH

and Photoshop Elements 9 to doctor my photo of the LowCountry Sunset.

Happy Birthday Day Greg!!!!

Today is my sweet husbands birthday. So far, he is having a GREAT week...he got to meet Olivia Newton John on Tuesday night and trust me, he has been on cloud nine ever since.  He even got to take a picture of her, so as long as he doesn't frame it and put it beside our bed, he's safe, LOL.

Here is his birthday card I made for him...I used my new Imagine ( still making up my mind if I like it or not) Graphic 45 paper, My new large spellbinders, Tim Holtz embossing folder and a little creativity.  I hope he like it.  More than anything I hope and pray for him to have a blessed year to come...

I know he doesn't read my blog much, but if he does....Greg...I love you and Happy Birthday, oh and you'll get your card tonight, LOL.

What's in Your Heart?

This is one of my favorite layouts I've done in quite some time...I love the picture of my four year old kneeling at some old church steps, I love black and white photos, I love the products I used in the layout...but more than anything, I love the meaning.....What's in your heart?  The more I study and grow I realize whatever is in your heart will come out of your mouth and actions...and that is what others will see about you.  So I have to ask, What's in your heart? I always hope and pray that people will only see love and kindness from my heart and also the same from yours.  

This layout uses a ton of Tattered Angels products, My Mind's Eye Paper, paint and glimmer mist screens, Martha Stewart punch, 3-d foam tape (of course)  and a lot of imagination.