DL.ART Thankful Thursday #173 and Random Acts of Kindness :)

Happy Thursday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's time for another Thankful Thursday Challenge at DL.ART!! The theme this week is a fun one: Valentine :)

I had two inspirations for these cards...first, the gorgeous Valentine Bundle from DL.ART. Aren't the ribbons beautiful? And the second is the fabulous Penny Black Happy Berries stamp sent to me from my sweet friend Alexandra of Art Scrap & More!! Thanks again for everything, Alexandra!! I absolutely love everything you sent :)

I started off by stamping the Happy Berries in Versamark and then heat embossing them with White Detail Embossing Powder by Sparkle N Sprinkle. I then inked the background with several different Tim Holtz Distress inks. For this card, I used Barn Door, Fired Brick, Festive Berries and Candy Apple. The edges were inked with Gathered Twigs. I then used a baby wipe to remove the color from the berries and to give a little texture to the Distress Ink. The ribbon is Red Hot Love from The Valentine Bundle. The button is a Poppystamps Stitched Button die and the red twine is from the DL.ART shop.

For this one, I used Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet, along with Gathered Twigs along the edges. The corner dies are Anja's Vintage Corners from Marianne Designs. This is my favorite ribbon - Sweet Pink from The Valentine Bundle. The pink twine is also from DL.ART.

The heart is from My Creative Time. I made it into a shaker with Stampendous Shaved Ice. Love is a Die-Versions Compliments Everyday die. Among the leaves, I tucked Sue Wilson Catkin Stems, which I thought mimicked the Happy Berries stamp set, Memory Box Botanical Stems and Marianne Leaves dies, along with baby's breath. "With all my heart" is a Tim Holtz Remnant Rub.

I am entering these in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Love is in the Air + Red
2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
3. Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - Something New (PB Stamp and DL.AR Ribbon)
4. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
5. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
6. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Random Acts of Kindness!!

My sweet blog friend Sherry of Createology has the most beautiful, generous soul. We crossed paths a few years ago and I am so fortunate and thankful to have met her in blogland. Among her many, many charitable deeds, she sews beautiful dresses for children around the world and she constantly sends random acts of kindness to her friends. I have been so fortunate to be the recipient of her generosity many times. I have a seaside image she sent to me that sits on my desk and brings me peace and joy each time I look at it.

I want to sit in that chair and look at that view every single day!! Joy!! Yesterday, I received an unexpected package from her and was shocked to open it to find this inside...

Look at this beautiful mermaid!! Sherry purchased this hand-sewn and painted mermaid several years ago from the artist's studio. She thought she would now want to live with me since I love everything mermaid. I was beyond touched...she's the most beautiful mermaid I've ever seen!! Then I looked at the tag from the artist where she named the origin (the Pacific Ocean) and the mermaid's name and not only did chills rack my body, but tears sprang to my eyes -- her name is Lana -- my Mom's name!! How perfect!! To say she will hold a special place in my home and heart is an understatement. I can only hope that when my mom sees her, she doesn't try to steal her from me :)

Thank you so much, Sherry and Alexandra for your kind, generous hearts!! I hope you all will visit both Sherry and Alexandra's blogs and tell them I sent you...not only will you find amazing inspiration, but even more amazing women!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Big hugs :)

Oriental Hidden Garden Card

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a great weekend!! It's my turn to post on the Die-Versions Blog and I have a card to share with you using two of the dies from the newest release, as well as several other Die-Versions dies.

For my card, I created a hidden garden. The gate is the new Whispers Oriental Screen. I cut it out in foam and adhered it to the cardstock for some dimension. Thinking of You is from the Compliments Everyday die. Tucked among the Wild Orchid Crafts flowers is a Whispers Daisy Flair die, which isn't currently in stock.

Open the gate to reveal the beautiful Whispers Geisha taking a stroll with her glittered parasol. She is joined on her stroll with several critters from the Wee-Petites Buggy die set. She's staring at the Whispers Butterfly Garden die (not currently in stock). I used a hole punch on some Velcro to keep the gate closed.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Little Scrap Pieces - Show if Off Saturday
2. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
3. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
4. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016 - January

Happy Saturday, everyone!! I hope all of my friends on the East Coast are staying safe and warm. I am praying for you. When I lived in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, we had a blizzard one year that completely buried my vehicle...and it was a Jeep Grand Cherokee!! We lost power for days and days. I really hope it's not nearly that bad and you are all safe.  Keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

I made a resolution to play along with Tim's Tags of 2016 and so far, so good :) I pretty much followed Tim's instructions HERE, using a few different items to give it a steampunk feel. For the embossing, I used Tim's Gears Texture Fade Embossing folder for the background. The stamp is from Tim's Mini Blueprints 3 stamp set.

I am entering this in Tim's 12 Tags of 2016 Challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

Scrapy Land Blog Challenge #34 - Love/Valentines

Happy Wednesday!! It's time for a new challenge at Scrapy Land!! The theme this week is Love/Valentines PLUS a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries...there are over 40 to choose from. You could win a $15 gift certificate to shop at Scrapy Land :)

I created two mixed media Valentine cards for the challenge. The beautiful papers are from Craft and You's Wedding Garden paper stack.

The base layer is a Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles die. I popped up the top layer with foam tape.

I used Liquitex Modeling Paste between a The Crafter's Workstop 'Art Is' stencil. I like to use the Modeling Paste when I'm in a hurry because it dries pretty quickly.

A Die-Versions Heart Burst die was used below the heart. A Spellbinders Classic Heart was popped up with foam tape over a Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Heart. Love is a Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Handwritten Love die. I applied sticky tape to the cutout and added Sparkle N Sprinkle Diamond Dust glitter.

Sue Wilson Designs Faux Quilled Leaves, Memory Box Botanical Stems and Memory Box Chloe Stems were tucked among the Wild Orchid Crafts blooms and baby's breath.

A Poppystamps Stitched Button die was added to the DL.ART Pink Champagne crinkle ribbon. The butterfly is a Impression Obsession Medium Butterfly die. It was covered with Sparkle N Sprinkle Diamond Dust glitter. I used my new Tim Holtz Splatter Brush to splatter white acrylic paint over the cards.

Scrapy Land Products Used

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
2. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
3. Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes Using Glitter/Embossing Powder/Flocking
4. Where the HeART is - Anything Goes
5. Really Reasonable Ribbon - Look What I Got
6. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to Scrapy Land to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have created for today's challenge!! Then link up your Love/Valentine project using a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries!! I can't wait to see what you create :)

Anything But Cute Feature Artist

Happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! I am so excited and honored to be the Feature Artist at Anything But Cute today!! I'd love for you to stop by and say hi to me there :)

If you haven't visited Anything But Cute, it's a mixed media challenge blog featuring an amazing design team that will blow you away with their creativity!! I am in awe of their talent!! Be sure to check out their projects while you're there!! You will be amazed!!

I love Anne's theme of Ring out the Old, Bring in the New for this challenge!! I used several new products on this card, starting with the base papers from Lemoncraft's House of Roses paper stack. The paper is so beautiful, I hated covering any of it up!! All of the edges were distressed with a Zutter Distress-It-All.

For the next layer, I used Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste with a The Crafter's Workshop 'Art Is' stencil on heavyweight cardstock. Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet was sponged on top and then it was covered with DecoArt Crackle Glaze.

On top of that layer, I used a (new) Prima Flourish with Crackled Texture Paste.  Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet Distress Ink were sponged on as well. The banner is a Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets 1 die. Make a Wish is from Inspired by Stamping. It was heat embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle Snow Embossing Powder.

I used Spellbinders Rose Creations to make the flowers. I had several inquiries as to how I made the poinsettias on my winter sled card (here) so I thought I'd put together a quick tutorial (please ignore the stained craft mat ;)

You will need a pair of flat-edged pliers, a water spritzer several different sizes of paintbrushes (or any round tools) and the Rose Creations dies. I started off cutting two of each of the five sizes of the flowers in heavyweight cardstock.

Spritz the flower with water...you want it to be pliable when you shape the sides. This is different from how I created the poinsettias. The individual petals of the poinsettias are so thin at the base, they tend to tear if the paper is too wet. With those, you want the paper damp but not wet.

Wrap the petal around a paintbrush and grip the top and bottom.

With the flat-edged pliers, start scrunching the sides together.

You will work up and down the petal until you get the texture you desire.

If the paper starts to dry, you may need to give it another spritz of water.

Once you have all of the petals done, use a stylus tool to shape the flowers.

Glue the two flowers of the same size together, offsetting the petals as much as possible. I use Glossy Accents but you could use hot glue or any glue of your choice.

Now it's time to layer your flower. You may not need all of the petals to achieve the look you like. I left off the next to smallest set of flowers.

For an subtle shine, I added Iridescent Red Twinkling H2O's to the petals.

Once that was dry, I brushed DecoArt Glamour Dust (new) over the petals so they really sparkle.

I finished off the flowers by adding pearl stamens from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I tried to capture the sparkle, but it doesn't show up very well.

Memory Box Botanical Stems and (new) Marianne Designs Leaves were tucked among the blooms.

A Tim Holtz Weatherd Clock die was also tucked under the flowers. It was covered with DecoArt Crackle Paste and then inked with Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks.

The beautiful crinkle ribbon is from DL.ART.

The butterfly is a Memory Box Isabella die. It was covered in DecoArt Glamour Dust. The paint splatters were created with my new Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Emerald Creek Dares - New
2. Little Scrap Pieces - Show if Off Saturday
3. 2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
4. Pause, Dream Enjoy Linky - Anything Goes
5. Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes Using Glitter/Embossing Powder/Flocking
6. Where the HeART is - Anything Goes
7. Live & Love Crafts - Something New
8. Really Reasonable Ribbon - Look What I Got
9. Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

I would like to thank Pamellia, Anne and all of the amazing ABC Design Team for having me as a guest today!! If you haven't already, I hope you will join in the Ring out the Old, Bring in the New Challenge!! I can't wait to see what you create!!

DL.ART Thankful Thursday #172 - Penguins or Black, White, Yellow

Happy Thursday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's been a chilly one here with snow and ice and wind. Ugh. I'm so ready for spring. It's time for another Thankful Thursday Challenge at DL.ART. The theme is perfect for the frosty temps..penguins!! Or you can use the colors black, white and yellow if you prefer. If you used the code l01210 you will get 10% off your order at DL.ART!!

I had the perfect stamp/die set...these adorable penguins from Hampton Art that my dear friend Sherrie sent to me last year!! Thank you again, Sherrie!! Aren't they the cutest??!! I thought I'd have my little penguin couple taking a stroll through a snowy forest :)

I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder. The trees are a Sizzix Birch Trees die. I popped them up with foam tape for some dimension from the background. The hills are a Lawn Fawn Hillside Border die. They were given an dusting of snow with a DecoArt Snow Writer. The penguins shine from a Wink of Stella pen. The gorgeous ribbon is Midnight Black from The Newspaper Bundle.

I am entering this in following challenges:

1. Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to DL.ART to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have come up with for this challenge. Then link up your penguin or black, white and yellow projects. I can't wait to see what you create :)

Celebrate

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!! It's my turn to post on the Die-Versions blog and I have a card to share with you using a couple of dies from the newest Die-Versions release. If you use the code lisa15, you will get 15% off your regular priced Die-Versions order!!

I just love all of the dies from this Oriental-inspired release. They're all so elegant and beautiful!! I had the perfect paper stack in my stash...Far East from DCWV. For this card, I used the Whispers Oriental Screen for the background, popping it up with foam tape for dimension. The beautiful Whispers Oriental Crane was lightly cut once in black to keep all of the pieces in place. I then added tape to the back to make sure they didn't fall out. I added glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle and then the top layer. It was also popped up with foam tape. A Sweet Wordlet Celebrate die was added for the sentiment.

I used the Whispers Oriental Screen on the inside as well. I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Something New (Crane and Screen dies)
2. Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday - Anything Goes
3. Little Scrap Pieces Show-if Off Saturday - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)