Heart Filled Happy New Years!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!  Mine was sweet...time with my husband and children...precious times and wonderful gifts...but the time was short.  My daughter and son-in-law left the morning after Christmas to return to Nashville.  My body fell apart the day they left...a horrible sinus infection and cold...had me wiped out until yesterday...don't know about you, but I SO appreciate being well after having been sick!!!  I couldn't wait to start having fun with some of my new stamps and dies....here are the first few cards(of a bunch) I made with some of my wonderful Christmas gifts:)!!...

I LOVE hearts...is there anyone who doesn't?!  And I can't get enough heart dies...especially nesting and little heart dies.  It seems that most of the dies I have, though, are stand alones or if they nest, are too big to do much with on a standard card.  Simon Says Stamp has just come out with some really cool sets of dies that are so sweet...perfectly sized...all the way to teeny... are wonderful as stand alones, but NEST TOO!!  I didn't realize it, but the 4 Large Heart Dies, with their different shapes ACTUALLY NEST...found out through experimentation although I'm sure they were designed that way!  Used the Large Holiday Shapes as well for the 3 smaller hearts.   And the sentiments from Simon Says Stamp Talk Bubbles 2 are too cute...you'll see more of them in days to come!
I die cut the hearts and then used the same hearts to emboss the card before popping it up and adding the die cuts.
The second card used the set Large Holiday Shapes.  I die cut, layered and used my SSS Air Vent die to emboss...I love to emboss with dies:)!!  The sentiment is from SSS Just a Love Note.  Dotted with pink rhinestones.

This third one, I decided to die cut enough hearts to go across a card and then stamped on one with a stamp designed for the bigger heart die, but so fit what I wanted.  The heart is also from the 4 Large Hearts and the sentiment from a stamp set that coordinates with them...Lots of Hearts.  

Here's a close up of the sentiment...

I have more cards to show you in the days to come....I have been having lots of fun!!

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I hope you all have a WONDERFUL NEW YEARS...may tonight be the start of an amazing new year for each and every one of you...filled with incredible love, wonderful health, mucho happiness and great prosperity!!  Much love to you all...see you in the new year:):):)...yeah!!   Lisa

Merry Christmas

                
This will be my last post until after Christmas...time to hang out with family:)!!  I wanted to take this  post to say thank you to all of you who read and/or follow my blog...you are such an encouragement to me... sharing my cards with you has brought me much happiness and great joy this year!!  I will be back after Christmas ...hope you all have a very wonderful, peaceful and the merriest Christmas!!!  Much love and hugs!!!  Lisa        

CAS-ual Fridays 83...We're Dashing

I was just dashing to do some last minute shopping this morning...and I'll be dashing to get the house ready for my daughter and son-in-law to arrive tonight... I think most of us are dashing to finish up Christmas preparations, so this week's challenge is only fitting!!  This week at CAS-ual Fridays, we are teaming up with Pretty Pink Posh and the 10 Minute Craft Dash Challenge in a two week challenge that goes something like this...
Create a holiday card in 10 minutes or less...yes 10 minutes(gather your stash before you start!!)...

The sponsor this week is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!!  

The winner will receive a  $20 gift certificate to the CAS-ual Fridays stamp store!!

So here's the scoop...make a card in 10 minutes or less and link is to not only the CAS-ual Fridays blog, but to the Pretty Pink Posh blog as well for a chance to win on both sites....SWEET!!

Here's what I made...2 challenges...2 weeks....2 cards...

 Used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch, a 1 1/4" square punch, some sticky backed cork and some neon like paper(seems it's all the rage of late)...mine are just brights and are old, and a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Snowflake Greetings.  Punched the snowflakes, punched the squares of cork and paper...stamped sentiment, adhered squares to each other and the card and added a pink rhinestone on the sentiment!!  I took those cut out cork snow flakes and made a second card(so simple they were BOTH within 10 minutes!!)...

Had some pretty pre-made cards that someone gave me...fine paper with torn bottoms...thought they were perfect here with another sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Snowflake Greetings.

Hope you will join in the challenges this week...this challenge will take us through to the end of the year...so all that's left to say.... thanks so much for being a part of the CAS-ual Fridays challenges this year!!... and hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

More of Stronger Love

I LOVE the sentiments of the Verve set  Stronger Love...the actual sentiments AND the fonts!!  Made a couple cards in different colors with two of the different sentiments... inspired by a Papyrus card I had in my picture file that had a heart made of flowers on it...

I used a Memory Box die Primula Bloom(call me crazy...I know...used only the second smallest flower) and a bunch of different colored pinks and reds...

I die cut the largest Papertrey ink heart die and adhered it onto the card and placed and adhered the flowers around the heart first(to make a perfectly shaped heart) and filled it in with the remaining flowers.  Dotted the centers of the flowers with liquid pearls.   Not sure how many flowers I used...OK...I know...a lot of flowers, I'm guessing about 30... but I just liked the thought of a heart made of flowers, it didn't take that long (cut long thin strips of paper so they fit the flower's width and could make a lot of them fast)and it was fun made me HAPPY!! While writing this post, I found another Memory Box die that would probably make the whole project go a bit faster...a little different flower, but more of them to die cut at one time...check out the Floral Delights die...EDIT***  Thanks, Pat for letting me know of yet another and way more efficient Memory Box die...Box Flower Mound  which cuts a BUNCH of flowers with ONE CUT!!!   SWEET!!!...if you're at all interested(they are both now on my list!).  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Stronger Love

I recently purchased the Verve Stamps set Stronger Love.  In light of last week's incredible tragedy, this card came to me.  In the darkness of this time, LOVE is the one thing that will shine through the darkness and comfort, like the sun after the rain...

My heart is so broken for the families of all the children and heroic teachers lost last week... I pray for true comfort and LOVE for these families and all those touched by this tragedy.

CAS(E) This Sketch! #9

I have admired this new blog's sketches and am finally getting to have fun with this one:)!!  The sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch! looks like this...

I came up with an idea that I "revised a couple times after my first thought, so will show you all three...asking family last night came up with all different choices...

This is my first attempt...

 I used Modern letter dies from Papertrey Ink and masked and stamped a sentiment from Stampabilities.  I used a white gel pen to make "string"...but then thought to use REAL thread would be sweeter, so used the dies to make the letters, not the impressions adding red glitter thread and added the sentiment in the bottom corner instead of the the top. Put glossy accents on the layered (3 layers with each letter)and then popped up letters for added dimension and texture.

 My daughter thought that not having a sentiment, because the images are really the sentiment anyway would be more "me"...so I made the last one without any sentiment and used silver glitter thread on a natural speckled white card...

I will enter the third into the challenge...kinda like it without the sentiment, myself:)!!  Thanks for a great sketch, Jackie...super fun!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Winner of Gratitude Blog Hop is...

The Simon Says Gratitude Blog Hop was wonderful fun...the winner of my blog's charity give away is Gwen :

Gwen said...
Oh what great cards! Love the clear embossing for added effect on your first card!

November 21, 2012 

Simon Says Stamp will be in contact with you to find out the charity you would like to donate to:)!!
Thanks, again to Simon Says Stamp for their generosity and for all those who followed the hop and left the wonderful comments!!  Hope you all have a great weekend!! Hugs!!  Lisa

CAS-ual Fridays 82 ...Score It!

This week at CAS-ual Fridays, the challenge is to make a clean and simple project using creative scoring on your project...

The sponsor for this week's challenge is...none other than...Scor Pal!!

The winner of this week's challenge will win their very own Scor Buddy!!  I have one and my Scor Buddy is REALLY my buddy...it's close by me in my craft room all the time for constant use!!!

Oh my...I had so much fun scoring that I made not just one, but 3 cards...the first is my challenge card...

 I scored white paper and sponged with red, then punched with EK Success flower punch.  I also scored the black paper...here's a close-up...

I used an oval punch for the sentiment, which is from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Calm and Gentle...the next also used a sentiment from the same set, the same flower punch and some washi tape...

The third one used the same diagonal scoring and a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Stamp Countdown set...

I used my favorite rainbow color palette of inks and papers, and a die from My Favorite Things Stacking Stars with some glossy accents  to give the turquoise star some "shine"!

Hope you will join in the fun this week...so...get out your scoring tools...would LOVE to see your creative scoring!!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Winners of the "Thinking of You" Dies!!

I loved hearing all your wishes for Christmas...hope you all get everything that YOU hope for:)!!  The randomly chosen winners are ....
#4 Snoopy

 Snoopy said...

What a great die! I would really LOVE to get a Silhouette Portrait but on our budget, it would have to be for Christmas, Valentines Day, Mother's Day, Anniversary, & my Birthday ...lol. Thanks so much for the chance to win.

and...

#15 Katherine

Katherine said...

What a pretty card! I'm a snowflake lover and this really appeals to me, especially with those cute little gems. I would really love some fuzzy warm socks and some "me" time for Christmas. Perhaps a massage gift certificate or a Michaels gift certificate so I can just have a few hours of fun. I have really loved this die since I have become a blog subscriber and have seen it used a few times. Thanks for the chance to win and Merry Christmas!

Congrats, ladies!!  I love to give things away...just wish I had one for everyone who commented!!  If you two ladies would drop me an email with your names and addresses, I will get those dies to you!!  My email: laddesa@gmail.com ...thank you everyone for commenting!!!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

8 Happy Nights...Day 5

The Girl Fridays at CAS-ual Fridays are helping celebrate Hanukkah at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog by all of us creating cards and projects using the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps 8 Happy Nights  stamp set  celebrating every night of Hanukkah this week!  I am part of Day 5 and you can find the rest of the Girl Fridays and their lovely work at the CAS-ual Fridays blog this week.  In keeping with the traditional colors of Hanukkah, blue and white...here's what I made...

Stamped this cool single stamp on A Muse paper with versamark and white embossed...super easy!!  Made a couple frames with My Favorite Things rectangular dies and popped them up over the sentiment/image.  Super simple, but super bold:)!!  Thanks for taking a look...Happy Hanukkah to those of the Jewish faith who are celebrating the holiday this week:)!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Let It Snow

Just a quick post... an easy card with layered snowflakes...

Made with  Martha Stewart Scandinavian snowflake punch(edited** So Sorry...didn't know it is a retired punch), a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays stamps and some pretty distress paper from Tim Holtz.  Layered 3 snowflakes for each flake, used versamark and white embossed for sentiment.  Added some teal rhinestones to the flakes.  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

A Martha Stewart Punch Used a Little Differently

While looking for some snowflake punches at the Martha Stewart site, recently, I spied a punch that had "potential".  Well, the review said great for a "guy" card, and thought..."Hey, that's wonderful!!"(and I still plan on making some man cards with it)...but wanted to try my 2 sided punch technique with it as well, and used it a bit differently.  Here's my card and the punch...

The punch has an emboss with the punch...super cool!!  I know...this is probably an old punch, but NEW to me:)!!  I made the black row with a 1 1/2" strip and the green and pink with a strip 2/16" LESS than the black.  You might want to experiment with some scrap paper to get it just right before you punch with your good paper.  Exactly how to achieve this ....I did on an older post...so if you're interested, you can check it out HERE(the 3rd card in the post). The sentiment is Paper Smooches.

Had to experiment a bit myself to get it just right...and it's not perfect...but close is great!!  The colors are all Papertrey Ink Raspberry Fizz, Chartruese, and black...the colors just made me happy:)!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Hop Winner?

The Gratitude blog ended a little over a week ago, and I have been waiting to hear from Laura Leigh who won my blog's donation to her favorite charity.  Might anyone know Lauraleigh?...here is her comment....
lauraleigh...

Beautiful cards! With gratitude to God for His many many blessings, I am thankful for my wonderful family & amazing church family.

Having no way to contact her, I would love it if someone could let her know to contact me?  If I don't hear from her by next Thursday, I  will have to choose another winner...so would love to hear from you, Laura:)!!   Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

A Papercrafts Magazine Christmas Card

OK...a moment of transparency.  I think I am a bit quirky...odd...unusual...peculiar... when it comes to this passion of mine...cardmaking.  I LOVE a challenge and a competition...but accolades ...not so much...that's just me:)!!  I have been truly honored by winning various challenges and given wonderful opportunities making cards, but it's the challenges, the winning some times, and opportunities that are truly the fun for me... the acknowledgement of them is tough for me...does that make sense??...maybe a little weird??!!  Well, earlier in the year, I decided to enter one of my greatest challenges...a contest of sorts to me...with the urging of a sweet magazine editor at Papercrafts Magazine:)!!...to submit my cards for publication!!  The card below was one of my very first cards published!!  It is in the Papercrafts Magazine Holiday Cards &More Volume 7  ...pg. 35... and I am able to share it with you...I am thrilled and so honored!!!...sharing my fun of being published with you...

 Made with a stamp from Hero Arts(Tree with Stars) and sentiment from Stampabilities.  Stamped image and sentiment with Versamark and gold embossed.  Used Papertrey Ink Canvas/Linen impression plate for texture.  Colored with real red and old olive markers added ribbon and popped up on red card.  Here's a close up of the gold...

Simple Christmas card...I remain simply honored.  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

CA-ual Fridays 81...Knots!

LOVED all the tags everyone made for last week's CAS-ual Friday challenge...if anyone is in need of some inspiration for holiday tags...check out last week's challenge!!  Wonderful job, everyone!!
This week, the challenge  for CAS-ual Fridays is to make a clean and simple project using knots on your project!!...

The sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp!!...

The winner of this week's challenge will not only receive a wonderful $25 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp's amazing online store, but will also be the guest designer for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge next month!!  So... REALLY hope you will join the fun!!

Here's what I made with knots...

I used a sentiment from a CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set Snowflake Greetings ...stamped with versamark and white embossed, and a die from Simon Says Stamp Air Vent,  and a snowflake punch from Martha Stewart.  Punched holes in the middle of the flakes and threaded ribbon through holes and vents and popped up on red card.  What fun!!  Hope to see your creativity in the gallery this week...thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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Winter Thinking of You...and TWO Giveaways!

Quick card and post! Made a card with this die for the Simon Says Stamp Gratitude Blog Hop  a few weeks ago,that was Fall colored...and although I have tried this stamp with other layouts and other positioning, I love it best long!!

Made a winter card with the Simon Says Stamp die and Memory Box Crystalline Border for the snowflakes and Papertrey Ink dotted paper.  Dotted the flakes with rhinestones.
  I have TWO "Thinking of You" dies to give away!! I would LOVE to know what you want, are asking for, are getting for Christmas!  I have NO idea what I want...thought maybe I'd get inspired by you all.  Leave a comment with your Christmas wish and I will randomly select two winners for these dies one week from today...next Thursday at 10am!!    Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly...

Watched Home Alone and Polar Express with family last night...inspired by an old record cover and spurred on by the movies, I made this...

I used Papertrey Ink red felt and a couple green felts from Weir Crafts...die letters from Papertrey Ink and this record cover that I had in my picture files...

yes...it was a lot of "a's"...but funny how we get inspired, right?  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

CAS Cards made with CAS-ual Friday Stamps

I have the honor of having some cards featured today on The CAS-ual Friday Stamps Blog!!!  I made them with the November stamp releases...I thought I would post them here, but hope you will check out the blog to see ALL the wonderful cards from the CAS-ual Friday Design Team which are featured throughout the month!!...

I made this first one with stamps from the Countdown set. Stamped in black and clear embossed.  Colored the ovals and circles with markers and dotted with glossy accents.

The background for this card was made with the Countdown set and the sentiment is from Snowflake Greetings.  Stamped in Lucky Limeade and layered on kraft

 This one was made with the Countdown set, as well.  I used my lined workmat to stamp the numbered border straight and evenly.  The glasses were made with a die by Marianne Design with glossy paper and sponged with blushing bride.  the background is also blushing bride.
I have to say...these are wonderful stamps...stamp wonderfully ...sets full of great designs and sentiments....hope you will check out all the great sets at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!!!
Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Play Date Cafe Challenge 159...Black, White and Splash of Maroon

I LOVE when Play Date Cafe has "splash" challenges!! The challenge this week at The Play Date Cafe is to make a project using the colors black, white and a splash of maroon.  I haven't played in AGES...so made a quick card ...right under the wire:)!!....

Used a stamp from Tim Holtz(Nature's Elements) and sentiment from Rubbersoul.  I made 3 french knots with maroon floss(cross stitching CAN come in handy for card making) for my "splash" of maroon.  Here's a close up...

Super simple...super fast...but super fun, too!!  Back to work(painting:)!!)...Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

More Stampin Up

I purchased the Stampin Up Tree Trimming ornament stamps a couple years ago...and HATE to admit it, but have NEVER USED them....good intentions, though.  So, last night, I got this set out of my Christmas stamp box and made a card using the small one with the snowflakes on it...really have a thing for snow and all  things snow related...

Stamped ornaments in a  rainbow of colors...oh so me, too:)!!...clear embossed then cut out(I left just a tiny line of white around the entire ornaments kind of like die cuts).  Used piercing tool and put hole at top of each and threaded with a very fine Stampin Up silver thread.  Used a Spellbinders diamond die and cut a bunch of diamonds.  Popped up ornamaments on diamonds(put a tiny slit at top to thread the silver thread so it would "stay").  Stamped sentiment(Papertrey Ink Christmas Blessings) and popped up diamonds and pieces of diamonds on white card.  I just wasn't thrilled with it, and my daughter said it needed some glitter!!!  SOOOO...I took my Gelly Roll Clear Star pen and colored each ornament with some shiny glimmer...much more festive:)!!  Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa