What A Beautiful Mess

Zva Creative January DT Blog Hop!

2012-01-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcome you to join us for our first Design Team Blog Hop of the New Year! We are happy to have you join us today and wish you the best for 2012!

The Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's NEW blog! Be sure head on over to check it out! Leave a comment there for a chance to win an extra prize package just for visiting the blog and telling us that you stopped by! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way).

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project. If you like what you see you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.
The colors chosen for me were whites and creams. Since I didnt have any cream colored flowers, I added the next color up the color wheel. Browns. The browns are warm and beautiful . I used my Martha Stewart Wild Flowers punch around the page set on a white piece of card stock. I then painted the whole piece with gesso. I used a Layers Of Color stencil on all 4 corners using Glimmer Mist and sprayed a little of blue randomly around the page. I did the same on a smaller piece of white cardstock, but this time sprayed the blue on while the gesso was still wet, and brushed the color across the page. I then matted both pieces on a blue piece of card stock. The gesso on the textured Bazzill card stock looks and feels like canvas. I love the effect.

I chose the large Zva flower FL 04CA 107 and paired it with the smaller white Zva flower FL 04CA 128 and brown flower FL 04CA 126. The smaller elegant rose buds [FLBK-03CB-145] and the sweet roses [FLBK-03CB-133] were used on the ends of the flower cluster. I mixed in leaves
[FL-04CA-114] and tucked them under the floral spray. I did touch the sweet roses with a bit of soft brown ink.

This is the Thriving Pearl/Crystal [PEB-03CB-114] in champagne. So elegant!!

Just another closeup of the flower cluster.

This piece, Fantasia, [PEB-03CB-114] comes 2 to a pack. I used the lighter one of the 2 once again in champagne.

If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the designer's blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, January 30th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, January 31st.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 1^st on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Zva's blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

*Hop over to Zva's NEW blog and leave a comment there to tell us that you made it there!

The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative's NEW blog. Your next stop is the fabulously creative Nicole Martel. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on February 27^th for our next Zva blog hop!

Zva Creative featuring The Color Room palette #95

2012-01-28T17:52:00.002-05:00

With CHA in full swing, I am feeling so sad that I was unable to attend this time around. So, to feed my creative soul, I decided to work on some Zva assignments for February and add a touch of the Color Room. With Valentines Day coming up, I wanted to do something pink and red. Palette #95 was perfect!! The photo is my son and daughter in law on their wedding day. The brick stamp is from Layers Of Color and the outer edge lacy stamp is from my Prima/IOD Build a Stamp set.

The Spiral Roses are from the quick tutorial I just did. I used card stock instead of coffee filters. I added a Zva Basic Lines Pearl PEW-03CB-143 in the middle of the flowers. They added a sweet touch. The smaller red roses FLBK-03CB-125 are also Zva. The tiny leaf clusters are a from a 3 piece Sizzix Sizzlet set die.

I just love these easy Spiral Roses for fill ins, but they look nice as the main attraction. The larger leaves are a Spellbinders die. The "Lovely" Zva black swirls [CR-04CB-112] are perfect for this LO. I used a 0.5 point Zig pen for the journaling. I painted a Wilton Doily with Glimmer Glaze in Pink Lady and the background is done in Glimmer Mist Vintage Pink and Red Velvet. Not happy with my drips, but I blame is on the paper. Recollections brand. To thin. I should have used my tried and true Bazzill. It never fails me!

Just another closeup of my floral cluster. And the first part of my journaling. I sprayed all of my leaves with Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine.

Be sure to come back on January 30 when the Zva Blog Hop starts off the new year with more creative Bang!! And prizes to be had!! So what do you think? Would you like to see more? If so you can join Zva Creative’s design team for their monthly blog hop on Monday. It will kick off right on the brand new Zva Blog starting at 9:00 am EST US. There will be plenty of inspiration to take in as our team shares artwork created with Zva Creative’s beautiful crystals, pearls and floral embellishments. You won’t be disappointed!

Coffee Filter Spiral Roses

2012-01-23T15:16:00.002-05:00

These are the easiest flowers to make with lots of tutorials on web. I had scraps and did the blue flowers in this LO to use as a fill in, then got lots of requests on how to make them. Here is the tutorial. You can use cardstock, paper or coffee filters.

Product List:
Scissors
Coffee filters
adhesive of your choice
Glimmer Mist or any color sprays
non stick craft mat

Cut a circle shape from the coffee filter.

Cut a spiral shape into the circle as shown. Leave a portion intact in the middle to use as the base. Lay the cut out spirals on a craft mat and spray with color.

Bend and crease back the edges on the outer portion of the circle. This will make it easier for the next step.

Starting with the outer edge of your cut spiral, using the handle of a thin paint brush or skewer, start rolling the spiral with the creased back edges to the outside.

When your spiral is rolled to the end, let the middle piece flap up as shown.

Place the adhesive into and around the base of the rose.

Fold your flap over and onto the base of the rose pressing gently to secure the flap.

This is your finished rose.

These were sprayed with different colored Glimmer Mist.

Just a few more colors.

Put it in a Rocket Ship

2012-01-20T10:26:00.003-05:00

Life is to short to waste time...and love...
These words come from one of my very good mentors in the photography world. Bambi Cantrell. Pass this on if you know someone who is in this situation. It's never to late...

"All of us at one time or another have had some sort of disagreement with a family member. Maybe they said or did something that upset us, and we didn’t talk to them for a while. When does it cross over from being just a normal disagreement to one of a more serious nature? I guess it would depend on a number of factors most of which are attitude based.

It is easy to fall into a pattern of behavior where we ignore the problem, and the family member, because it is just too painful to address. But is ignoring the person, the answer? Hardly. In fact, all we are doing is keeping ourselves from happiness, and in the process making others just as unhappy. Case in point: One of my relatives was for whatever reason was estranged from her father and stepmother. For the life of me, I can’t remember why. I guess they found a reason to be upset at one another, and fell into a pattern of ignoring each other, allowing stupid issues to rob them of a beautiful close bond of love. Tragically, this beautiful person died in an accident before that stupid argument was resolved… how sad, how tragic, ..how permanent. (Sorry to back up the hearse, but this is reality) Her father has spent the better part of 25 years, grieving his dear daughter, and doing the “would have, should have, could have” game. Are any of you out there in similar circumstances? If so, what is so important, so earth shaking, that you can’t reach out to those loved ones, and put the issues to bed once and for all?. Will it take a death to make you finally see how really silly those issues were? Would you even remember what it was that caused the rift? What could possibly be so important that it causes you to finish this sentence…I don’t talk to my father because…I don’t talk to my daughter because… My mother is dead to me because..” Will it take loosing those loved ones in death to make us finally wake up and realize that while one has breath in one’s body, there is nothing more important than family? In the case of my dear beloved, her children continued to suffer long after her death. Her dad so grieved because of his failure couldn’t face his grandchildren, and in the process, lost not only his daughter but a wonderful relationship with his grandchildren. Those grandchildren lost out not only a mother, but grandparents to keep the memory of their mother alive..I guess the point of this very heavy blog post is, if you have something like this taking place in your family suck it up and seek out those lost ones, love them, and do not allow the fear of rejection to keep you apart. Don’t allow another day to pass with words unspoken.. tomorrow isn’t just another day. Why not make January 1, 2011 the day to put the past in a rocket ship and shoot it to the moon."

I know someone in this situation as I write this. I know she will read this. My hope is that she turns the tables around before it's to late...

Celebration Of The HeartSwirlydoos

2012-01-17T20:15:00.005-05:00

Swirlydoos January kit Mystical Winter has so many possibilities when it comes to designing. I have done a winter and spring LO using the papers in the kit. I have gone from soft and romantic to cold....bbbbbrrrrrr..... Either way, the kit is beautiful and versatile. This LO showcases the Blue Daze flowers that I just did the tutorial on, in my last post. I used cardstock from the add on kit. Card stock is a must for me when creating the LO's. I use it for the flowers, diecuts and backgrounds. The Dusty Attic piece is from a special order that Krissy opens up for the subscribers. If you order, you can get it shipped free with your kits. This piece is from their last collection. We love our special orders at Swirlydoos. The photo is my dear grandmother. I took this picture this week on my visit to the nursing home to see her. She will be 97 in a couple of months. My little sweetheart.

Here is a closeup of the large and smaller flower. The leaves are Spellbinders and sprayed with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist and lightly sprayed with Lindy's Stamp gang Buccaneer Bay Blue Moonshadow Mist then inked with Chestnut Roan (my fave) and distressed.

The Dusty Attic piece was painted with Smooch in Mocha that we got in a former kit. I love the way it pools on the chipboard creating a coppery feel to it. I could of added some blue/green paint to it to give it a verdigris look. hhmmm. Not to late. I'll try on another piece.

I did some punching and lacing. I just purchased a gorgeous wrapping paper rack to store my lace and ribbon rolls, and now I can see everything at a glance. Just pull and cut. I love it!!

I have one more LO in the works from this current kit. I am completing my Zva CHA projects that will be going to California in a couple of days for the show, and I am expecting Swirlydoos February kit around the corner!! It's going to be a creative year !!

Blue Daze Flower Tutorial

2012-01-16T18:50:00.002-05:00

Product List:
*Sunflower Die that has large and smaller sizes. I used Spellbinders for this tutorial.
*Flower Soft
*glue or any liquid adhesive
*chalk ink
*Pearls or crystals

Die cut or punch out 2 large flowers and 2 small flowers. Ink all of the edges.

Curl back each petal of the larger flowers and both smaller flowers but make the curls tighter in one of the smaller flowers. This one will be your center. I used the handle of a small paintbrush to get a tight curl.

Because my larger flowers had a large gap in the middle, I glued them onto a small cut out circle. Layer the 2 larger flowers and stagger the petals.

Next place one of the smaller flowers onto the layer.

The flower with the tight curls place in the middle with your curls going toward the center of the flower.

Place your pearl of crystal in the center of the flowers and place a ring of adhesive around it.

Take some oinch fulls of flower soft and cover the adhesive generously. Gently pat down the flower soft into the adhesive so it gets a good grip onto the adhesive.

Turn the flower over and tap out the excess flower soft. You can always add some more if you see a gap or a space you missed.

The smaller flowers are made the same way except you only use the smaller die cuts. This is a sneak of a LO I completed using the fabulous Swirlydoos January kit Mystical Winter. Once I slap a photo and some butterflies on it, I will upload it into the Swirlydoos gallery. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Off to print up some butterflies to complete this LO.

Swirlydoos January Blog Hop Block Party!!

2012-01-12T06:30:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Swirlydoos' January Blog Hop Block Party!!

Happy New Year and welcome to Swirlydoos January Kit Reveal Blog Hop BLOCK PARTY!!! If you came here from Tiffany Morgan's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today and as a bonus we have 4 manufacturer blogs that are joining in the fun!! There are 5 prize packs up for grabs so make sure to follow along and have fun!!?

The inspiration for this LO came from the current sketch # 190 from Creative Scrappers. And I totally adored my Zva Design Team mate, Karen Shady's take on the sketch. She is Guest Designing for them this week. I loved her banner and had to do one!!

I used my Martha Stewart Deep edge Wild Flowers punch around the page set. It wrinkled and distressed very well.
Here is a closeup of the banner. I free hand cut the triangles, matted them and used a scallop scissor to cut the mat, I added some pearls and rhinestones and attached some letters. I glued the banner pieces onto a twisted piece of ribbon.

For the floral cluster I created some handmade flowers. For the blue roses, I hand cut circle spirals and folded back the edges and rolled them to create the roses. Very Easy. Click here for the tutorial.

The peach colored flowers are just as easy and I will be posting a tutorial at Swirlydoos on Friday. I also created a have a file for the vines in 3 colors to match the kit as a bonus with the January 2 butterfly files I created for the kit. There are 2 different files. Click here for the downloads.

Just a closer view of the flowers.

This next LO started out as my SwirlyHues project, but took a turn when I decided not to put any brown in it. Then I wanted to make it a wintry LO, but I live in Florida and lack wintry photo's. So I just rolled with it. The white decorative background was cut out with my Cricut Expression and I used the Ornamental Iron 2 cartridge. I cut it at 11.5 inches. I cut out the window pane to fit my picture in.

The strip journaling was printed on 4x6 cardstock and then I just cut it into strips and inked the edges.

The blue vines were cut using a Sizzix Sizzlets die and the blue velvet paper in the kit. I adhered pearls and rhinestones along the design of my Cricut cut.

I left the creamy white flowers in their natural color.

This LO is my take on the beautiful sketch by Beggahuna. I did manage to find a picture of Gabbie taken in 2010 at Swirlydoos Camp in Bailey Colorado. It snowed!! She was happy to wear her Parker. She was so happy to experience snow for the first time as she was to young to remember snow on a trip to NY when she was 3.

Just a closeup of the flowers and vine swirls. It is a Cheery Lynne Die.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I have created a couple more projects with the kit that I will reveal during this month.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on January 15th to complete the hop. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do: 1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are beautiful things to see along the way. 2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down. Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence. 3: Finally, go back here to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had AND tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.

My special word is : But

The party continues over at Rae Moses's blog. Have fun!

January SwirlyHues

2012-01-10T07:21:00.007-05:00

Welcome to another fabulous month of SwirlyHues!
Lisa Valentine is our host for January. She picked the colors for our storyboard and picked the sketch by Begahunna for inspiration. See the Rules below.

This is my layout for this months challenge. I chose a few techniques that can be found in the forums at Swirlydoos.
Masking is one of the easiest and most beautiful way to jazz up a plain piece of card stock. I chose to use a piece of white 12x12 Bazzill cardstock from the add on cardstock kit and use stencling/masking. The stencil I chose from my collection is from a wonderful company I recently discovered called Layers of Color. They offer the most beautiful stamps, and stencils as well as embellishments and dies to match their stamps. I chose to use the Vintage Medallion Art Stencil for my background. Layers Of Color is taking a new direction and is having a fantastic sale right now!! But there is excitement in the air for the future and the wonderful designs!! A wonderful transition is happening right now.
I used Distress ink with a foam applicator to go all around the page. I love the look. You could use gesso or clear embossing for a different look. So many possibilities.

Some of the techniques I used on my page are the decorative punched Circle, How to Hand Dye Vintage Seam Binding to make Crinkle Ribbon Tutorial, and stenciling with distress ink. The butterflies are a down load from the Butterflies thread in the forums.

I used Glimmer Mist to add color to the white flowers from the add on flower kit. I also painted the berries spray so that it matched everything else. My blue color inspiration came from the blue cardstock and the crystal flourishes in the kit.

Here is the inspiration sketch that Begahunna created for us from a former kit. We love her sketches so much and they are so versatile. I use them over and over again and always get different results!
So give SwirlyHues a whirl this month and check out what the design team has done. You will surely be inspired.

The Rules:

1) Must stick to the hues provided. You may add black or white, but it can NOT be more than 5% of your total page and can NOT be a main element.
2) You must interpret the sketch provided.

3) Now for the Swirly-fying element – you MUST use one of our tutorials on your page. Here is a LINK to our tutorials. It is really to our forum. Just scroll down. Our tutorials are separated by category. You can choose anything your beautiful, creative heart desires.
4) Create a post on your blog for your SwirlyHues entry.
5) Upload your gorgeous creation to the SwirlyHues album in our gallery no later than midnight eastern time on February 10th. Click HERE to get there. You will need to register to upload photos. It's free! Use the following format to name your item: SH Jan 2012 (insert your project name here). Your photos can be no larger than 600x600. In the description please tell us what tutorial you used and a link to your blog post. If you don't have a blog, just let us know that.
6) 2 winners will be chosen; 1^st and 2^nd place. Each winner will receive one of our highly coveted blog badges (see the right-side bar). Winners will be posted to the Swirlydoos blog on the 13^th of the month (unless otherwise noted), as well as our Facebook page. Check back here to see your name and then contact LisaV at Lisa@Swirlydoos.com She will make sure you get your blog badge and then we'll add you to our blog for the month! Superstahhhhhh *strike a pose*
7) The next challenge will be uploaded to our blog on February 10^th!

Chilhood Is A JourneyStuckOnUSketches featuring Zva Creative

2012-01-06T08:01:00.005-05:00

To kick off the new year, I was asked once again to Guest Design at StuckOnUSketches!! Love that site!! Sandi, Nanné, Leah and their talented Design Team always blow me away with their beautiful creations. It always amazes me, when I see the diverse interpretation of one single sketch! Each one gorgeous in its own right.
With CHA right around the corner, I was pleased to use some of the new products from Zva Creative on my SOUS layout. Purples and Lavenders are some of my favorite colors.

Instead of placing the strip journaling to the side of the LO as shown on the sketch, I opted to place it on the tag that is tucked beneath the photo. The photo is my beautiful friend Faith teaching her precious daughter Emma how to blow on dandelions. I love that the sketch incorporated a tag, I used my Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplate die. It is the same size as the manilla tags that he uses so often for his projects. I adhered the paper over chipboard to give it some body, and I also adhered blue paper to the back for future journaling.

The Zva Flowers are always a perfect match to their pearl and crystal swirls and flourishes.

This beautiful Zva crystal flourish is big and beautiful. The photo's never do them justice as they sparkle so brightly in real life.

Here is another group of flowers with some more flourishes in pearls and crystals. Zva also has leaves in all shapes and sizes that go so well with all of their flowers. They are little velvety pieces of Zva goodness to tuck under your flowers. .

And here is the wonderful sketch that was designed by Nanné. I love all of the layers. Now you have to go visit StuckOnUSketches to see what the girls and their Design Team have created using the sketch. You will surely be inspired!! Head on over and create your own LO using the sketch. Just submit your project to SOUS by using inlinkz, its easy .. Just follow the instructions!!
Thank you so much for having me once again and giving me such an inspiring sketch to work with. It has been my pleasure to Guest Deign for SOUS once again!
{{{{Hugs}}}}

Goodbye 2011 Scrap StudioZva CreativeOUAS***

2012-01-05T06:33:00.005-05:00

Well, here is my first Zva layout for this year. Working on layouts for the booth at CHA!! Wait until you see the beautiful blingy goodness Zva has in store for you. Perfectly color coordinated with their flowers. I used Once Upon A Sketch January 1st sketch for my design inspiration. The theme was explain something we did on New Years Eve to celebrate the coming new year that was memorable. Me?? Well you know from my previous post that I am redoing my Scrap Studio, so I started on New Years Eve cleaning up.

There are 4 different Zva flowers in this cluster. The flourishes that grace them are a soft blue and white. They really shimmer on the page in real life.

I just love the Zva flowers that are touched with a little puffy paint, so I added some to the Zva leaves for some texture. The clock is the Tim Holtz Weathered clock die that I painted with distress paint in Pickett Fence. Love the cracks with that paint!

Just a little closeup of the cluster. The butterflies can be found at Swirlydoos where every month I create a file for personal use. Just print, cut and embellish. I usually color the antennae, use Rock Candy Stickles over the whole butterfly and touch them up with whatever else you like.

Just another closeup of the cluster. The Zva tiny tea rose buds are so sweet. Great for filling in.

And check it out...Zva has a blog now!! It is still a baby, but subscribe for the latest creations and news!! Some exciting things are being developed for the future!!

Out With The Old...

2012-01-04T15:11:00.009-05:00

I'm not one to make New Years Resolutions, but with 2011 being behind me, it is time to freshen up and organize my Scrap Studio. On new Years Eve, thanks to some wonderful inspiration over at Swirlydoos, (Amber started it!!!) some of us have decided to purge, clean and organize. Soooo being that my room was a hot Mess, I cleaned up a little and now have decided to freshen it up with a new coat of paint before I redecorate and reorganize..So I am saying goodbye to my current room. Here are the before pictures, and in a few months, I will put up the after pictures.
I am shopping for paint, new window treatments, more organizational storage pieces, and a nice little area rug for beneath my desk. I am hoping to be done by early spring. In the mean time, I am still happily scrapping!!

Happy New Year!!

2011-12-31T20:11:00.002-05:00

Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!

I pray that you all have a wonderful, happy and healthy New Year!! I look forward to more inspiration from all of my scrapping friends!!

My Top 10 Personal Favorite LO's of 2011

2011-12-30T09:11:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to share my 10 Top Personal Favorites of this past year. It was a rough year with some bumps in the road, and scrapping was my therapy. Thank you to everyone who leaves love on my blog! !It means a lot to me. Have a Wonderful and Blessed New Year...

December Zva Blog Hop Winners Announced

2011-12-21T11:44:00.008-05:00

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE December Zva Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Jolanda Meurs

Nicole Marte
Robin Shakoor
Carole Maurin

Lisa Gregory

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

The Zva Blog Hop winner on my Blog is....Beth Hallgren!!! Beth, email me with your addie so that we can send out your fabulous Zva Prize pack!!! Congrats!!

using True Random Number Generator...

See Windys' Blog for a complete list of winners from the 5 Blogs chosen!!

email me at nurselisarn2@msn.com

Zva December Blog Hop

2011-12-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us for our December Design Team blog hop!

The Blog Hop begins at Windy Robinson's blog. She will have the complete list of all the participating blogs in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, December 19th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, December 20th.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 21^st on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Windy Robinson's blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

So you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes! That's a lot of chances to win!

This is the LO I created for this Hop. The colors chosen for me are Browns, taupes and creams. I love the colors. I chose DCWV Lace and Linen Paper Stack for my LO. I used my new Martha Stewart Crochet Lace punch around the page set for the edges of my center piece of paper.

The Design Idea came from this months challenge at Once Upon A Sketch!! Nadia has a fabulous site!! Go check it out!!

All of the beautiful flowers are Zva flowers (FL-04CA-124, FL-04CA-128 and FLBK-02CA-106) and they compliment each other so well.

I love the pearl flourishes (PEB-03CB-111 and PE-03CA-106) They are so rich and elegant looking in real life. And the leaves (FL-04CA-113) are a soft brushed paper that look and feel so real . They compliment any flower cluster.

I just wanted to add a little bit of sparkle to the page with the title. I machine sewed the vine trim to the photo mat using a tiny zig zag stitch.

The blog hop begins here at Windy Robinson's blog. Your next stop is Susan Lui. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us! Happy Holidays!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on January 30^th for our next Zva blog hop!

Believe SwirlyHues

2011-12-18T18:40:00.005-05:00

Come join us for our SwirlyHues challenge this month. Angelica is hostess this month anf has picked 3 colors from the December kit and a gorgeous sketch by Beggahuna to work with. The challenge is open to everyone. Here is my take on the sketch.

The photo's are my sister and I visiting Santa when we believed...
The gorgeous border is the new Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page Set Crochet Lace. It is one of my faves as it is so ornate.

The Swirly vine is from Cheery Lynne Designs. It is so delicate and cuts so beautifully with my Vagabond a a few shims. Same as Spellbinder dies.

I added one of my poinsettia flowers and added a rose in the middle. The beautiful Prima trim flows across the page beautifully.

I cut the tress from the red patterned paper in the kit then embossed them with my Cuttlebug embossing folders, then lighty sanded the raised design revealing the patterns. I enhanced the Petaloo vine with more roses.

Here is the sketch.

Here is your color challenge.

Swirlydoos December Blog Hop and Reveal

2011-12-14T06:30:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Swirlydoos December Kit Reveal Blog Hop BLOCK PARTY!!! We are having a party and you are all invited. If you came here from Swirlydoos Blog then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoo's blog and pick up the trail from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today and as a bonus we have 3 manufacturer blogs that are joining in the fun!! There are 5 prize packs up for grabs so make sure to follow along and have fun!!

This first LO is my sisters granddaughter Nikki when she was a baby. I did some creative editing in Photoshop, and gave her butterfly wings.
I love the little letter stickers in the 12x12 sheet in the kit. The butterflies are a file I created for the kit, I printed them out on photo paper and outlined them with Stickles.

The beautiful vine was enhanced with Petaloo canterberry vine spray and some spiral flowers I created with scrap card stock.

This next LO is of my daughter when I took her to Swirlydoos Camp in Colorado last year before she took off for school. The girly time was just what we needed. She had not seen snow since she was 3 years old , and she did not remember it, so she was fascinated with it. We were lucky that it snow a lot on the last day of camp. Snow at the cabin was truly beautiful!!

Krissy opens up a special order for Dusty Attic for us every so often so that we can order what we want. She also sells it in the store. I purchased these bricks a while ago, and loved the way Gabrielle Pollacco used them on one of her LO's as an accent. I followed her lead. It adds just the right amount of rustic feeling to the LO. I inked it with some soft brown ink, then went over it with Fire Brick Distress ink then dry brushed some white acrylic paint over the whole bunch.

These are a closeup of the last tutorial I did. there are many variations of the poinsettia that you can create.

I created the title in Photoshop, printed it out on card stock cut into strips and inked the edges.

This next LO features a photo that I have used before. This past June in Colorado at Swirlydoos camp, I asked Krissy to snap some picks of me blowing dandelions into the wind. But with this version I used a Florabella overlay for Snow to add to the photo.

Here is a closeup of the poinsettias I created. The leaves are Spellbinders that has been misted with Glimmer Mist in 2 different colors.

The tag was created as a stand alone tag for the reveal this month. Each Designer created a tag with a different technique. I chose to do a puffy paint technique to mimic snow. I used it on the flower, letters, as well as the edges of the tag. I just decided to add the tag to the LO as my contribution to Berry 71 Bleu sketch challenge this month where I am a Guest designer, I turned and flipped the sketch around and this LO is what I came up with . We had to incorporate a tag into the LO. I love tags!! Click on the sketch for details.

Here is my stand alone tag.

Just a closeup of the flower. I love Flower Soft. It looks like real pollen. I purchased 6 different colors and you will see me incorporating them into my flowers more often now.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on December 16th to complete the hop. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all SIX blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, head back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had AND tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.

My special words are Try Not

All winners will be randomly drawn. Winners will be posted over on the Swirlydoos blog on the 17th, which also happens to be the same day December's SwirlyHues Contest is unveiled. YAY!
Have a great time!!!! The block party continues over at Clear Scraps.

Thanksgiving at the Beach RR Swirlydoos

2011-12-12T10:23:00.004-05:00

It was my turn, second week, round 2 at Swirlydoos Round Robin. I got to follow the fabulous Manda!! The twist was to journal a Holiday tradition. Mine is Thanksgiving at the beach .We do it every year. November in Florida is gorgeous. Waking up to the roar of the ocean and a beautiful sunrise is magical on Thanksgiving morning.
I followed my Post Card Edge tutorial for the background. I used the gorgeous Beau Jardin November kit to create this LO.

I used the Sizzix Frame die for my frames and criss crossed some floss around one edge. The title echoes the letters that Manda used. I placed them on a Tattered Banner.

I created the large flower using Rose Creations die. The leaves are spellbinders colored with Glimmermist in a couple of colors. The butterflies can be found at Swirlydoos where I create files for your downloading pleasure.

I created yet another flower from the Rose Creations die using my Puffed Rose Tutorial.

Round Robin at Swirlydoos gets very creative and is always a lot of fun. There is always a design to follow (unless your first!!). Come and join in on the many creative challenges we offer. You are sure to knock out a gorgeous LO every time!!

Guest Designing for * Berry71Bleu* Featuring ZVA Creative

2011-12-10T05:00:00.003-05:00

I have the wonderful privilege to be a Guest Designer for Berry71Bleu this month! I was very excited when I was invited a couple of months ago by Marivic and Lisa Novogrodski (her wonderful DT Coordinator) to join in during one of the most festive months of the year. Marivic (Berry71Bleu owner) has a lot going on this month at B71B, you can check out The Berry71BleuBlog to see what the fabulous Design Team has done with the beautiful Christmas themed tags. There is also a Sketch Challenge with a fabulous prize, and don't forget to visit the Berry71Bleu Etsy page to purchase more beautiful products.

This photo in the first LO is my son on Christmas Morning about 24 years ago. He had just turned 1 years old. He took one look at Mickey and was in awe!! The beautiful tag reminded me of the joys of a childhood Christmas in New York where we spent our wonderful childhood.

I created the title using Tim Holtz Tattered Banners die and tiny letters from making memories.

The gorgeous flourish is a ZVA Creative beauty. The beautiful little ZVA mini rose Cream [FLBK-03CB-132] flowers around the circle are a great size.

I thought they looked so sweet around the punched circle. I also used the ZVA Dots Crystal CRW-04CB-127 rhinestones to create a pattern around the circle.

Here is a close up of one of the tags Marivic sent me. She also sent me all of the beautiful Christmas paper that I used to create the LO's. I just love the vintage photo's on the tags.

This photo in this next LO is my son and daughter on Christmas Day when they were much younger. I did some machine sewing using gold thread and a few different stitches on the papers.

The beautiful ZVA Fancy Bird - Red Crystal [CR-04CB-103] was a perfect match to the theme of the LO. And the ZVA Dots Crystal CRW-04CB-127 rhinestones just made the page sparkle and was a perfect compliment to the whole theme. Dont you just love that flourish tail!!

The big beautiful ZVA Flower looks like it was picked from the branch on a snowy morning. I love the frosty look to it. I created the handmade flowers on either side of the ZVA flower and added the cute middles from the stash that Marivic sent me. They were so sweet!

Here is a closeup of the tag which depicts a scene with a sweet little girl surrounded by Holiday beauty. I just love the embellies on the tags. They make a perfect addition to my layouts.

Once again I used the Tattered Banners and tiny letters for my title work.

I have a new found fondness for tags. I love creating tags, and I have incorporated a couple on my layouts in the past, but I can see myself using them more often as I think they make perfect journaling spots. Thank You Berry71Bleu and Crew for having me Guest Design this month!!

Here is the sketch for the challenge that Michelle from the Design Team has created. Click on the sketch to take to to the details.

And here is the wonderful stash you can win!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!
Happy Holidays!!

Pointsettia Flower Tutorial

2011-12-09T18:56:00.019-05:00

Product List:
Adhesive of your choice
Cardstock in color of your choice
Tulip Puffy Paint in white
water misting bottle
craft heat gun
craft non stick mat
chalk ink
Flower Soft
McGill Starburst punch
McGill Lily Mega Punch or Punch Bunch Lily Mega Punch (I used Punch Bunch for demo)
snowflake punch with 6 points
Stickles

Punch out 6 largest petals, 6 of the next size down petals, and 3 of the second to smallest petals. Punch 3 snowflakes and remove every other point on one of the snowflakes. Also punch out 1 Starburst. (not shown). Ink the edges of the petals for depth, then mist them slightly and wrinkle the petals for texture. Let dry. Do not soak them or paper may tear.

Taking 1 of the snowflakes, glue a petal to each of the points on the snowflakes with the largest petals. Repeat the same for the next size down. And glue the smaller petals to the snowflake with 3 points.

Now layer the flower layers with the largest on the bottom, next size on top, making sure you stagger the petals.

Top it with the flower layer with 3 petals. Twist the petals slightly for more dimension.

Take your Starburst punched shape and dip the very ends in glue.

Now dip the glued ends into the flower soft to create the stamen.

You should end up with stamen that looks like this.

Fold up the ends of each stem leaving the bottom flat. Be careful not to scrunch the stamen or your Flower Soft will come off.

Glue the stamen into the middle of your flower.

You can stop at the last step, or you can give your poinsettia a snowy look by edging the petals with puffy paint. Let sit until dry.

I will also show you a white poinsettia variation. Edge with puffy paint and set aside to dry.

Once the puffy paint dries, hit it with a heat gun until the paint puffs. Be careful not to get to close or keep heat on one place to long or your puffy paint will burn. Once the paint is puffed, take Stickles in a sparkly icy color to give your flower sparkle. Star Dust is a perfect color. Another idea is to use Diamond Dust for an icy look. There are many possibilities to create beautiful pointsettias. Try a gorgeous pink/mauve color for victorian look. Being that there are 6 different sizes in the punch, you can create different sized flowers.

Come back on December 14th to see my flowers used on my reveal LO's for Swirlydoos.

That's How I Roll...

2011-12-08T20:55:00.010-05:00

Well, every once in a while I write little tid bits about my life here. I may share an inspirational post, or quote something awesome I heard recently, and I haven't done that in a while. So to answer a question that one of my wonderful blogger friends and many others often ask me..."How do you manage a full time job, a family and crank out amazing Layouts and top it all off by teaching us how to create flowers by doing tutorials. Tell me please".
Well Ms.Holly, to be honest?? Sometimes It aint easy!! You see for the past few years I have been juggling a full time position at the hospital, and Designing layouts for Swirlydoos. I love both jobs. So the balance I've struck lets me carry on into a few other ventures like taking on 2 terms designing for Heartfelt Creations and Guest Designing for a couple of other wonderful sites. I maintain 2 homes, care for my father in law and all of his affairs since my mother in law passed away in March, do an occasional photo shoot, make time for my friends, never let my role fail as the dutiful wife, and try to maintain sanity through this crap called peri-menopause. I give and take, like giving up Heartfelt Creations and taking ZVA Creative. Instead of a wedding , I'll do a newborn shoot, or I'll just say no... I could probably get it all done and then some if I worked till 2 am...But I dont. And I wont. Take care of your body..Doing it "all" shouldn't come at the price of your health. You can't work at your best (or be as fast thinking) if you're letting yourself turn into a zombie from "The Walking Dead"!
It's difficult, but I believe if you love what you do in your creative world, and are willing to manage your expectations, and you learn to say no once in a while, you can make it work. I make it work. That's just how I roll.
When the world seems to be spinning out of control, I turn to Him...And I pray...

Oh and come Saturday, I will be Guest Designing for a wonderful Company!! Come back and check it out!! Then in January another wonderful place, and for CHA I will be promoting another favorite place of mine!! Big things for the new year. Things good for my soul...

Deck The HallsSwirlydoos December SGC***TCR #87

2011-12-02T14:59:00.009-05:00

Yes, my Swirly Goddess's, it is time for the last SGC of the year. And because I know that many of you will be very busy this holiday season, I am going to make it easy for you!
Every holiday season the air resonates with the sounds of the season. Christmas music, Holiday tunes, some funny (grandma got run over by a reindeer) some beautiful ("O Holy Night") and some traditional (White Christmas). There are many many songs out there...Soooo, for your December SGC I want you to choose a song, and make the title your Journaling Headliner!! Whatever song you want. This challenge is open to everyone who has Swirlydoos kit contents, so come and join in on the fun.

Here are the simple rules.

* You can create anything you want. A layout, a card, a tag,
an altered project. What ever you want.

*I would like you to use at least 50% Swirly stuff

*Use a song for your title or journaling

*Post to your blog or personal gallery and encourage others to join in. Link back to
Swirlydoos.

*Upload your project to the gallery labeled "Sing a Holiday Song SGC" after your title

*Well, here's the twist (optional) Use an altered photo. This will give you an extra vote.

Have your projects posted to the gallery by December 30th. There will be a vote by the design team, and the winner will win a Gift Certificate from the Swirly Store!! The winner will be announced between Dec 30th and January 5th.

Here is my SGC example.

I also tried to adhere to the Color Room Palette #87, but added a little green. Leave it to me to deviate from my original plan!

Zva Creative November DT Blog Hop!

2011-11-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

If you arrived here from Robin Shakoor's Blog, you are right on track!!

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcomes you to join us this November for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special because it is the first hop for many of our new 2011-12 team members! We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! See details below.

The Blog Hop begins at Windy Robinson's blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, November 28th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 29^th.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 30th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Windy Robinson's blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry

So you have FOUR chances on each blog to win one of our FIVE prizes! That's a lot of chances to win!

This photo on this LO is my son holding my daughter in the hospital just hours after her birth. 20 years ago...They are still my precious babies.

I used ZVA's gorgeous 3" Dual-Frosty Flower in pink, clustered with 2.5 inch Leaves #II. I created the smaller pink flowers to compliment the ZVA" flower and leaves. Then I used the Mini Roses in Olive to adorn my Hand Dyed Vintage Seam Binding.

Then I used the Mini Roses in Olive to surround my handmade flowers. I just twisted the stems around a thin paintbrush handle to create the tendrils and tucked more leaves under the floral cluster.

The crystal flourishes just make your LO's shine!! I used a package of Imperial Olive Crystals.

This photo on this LO is my daughter about 2 years ago. I used K and Company paper for both of these LO's. I just love olive and pink together. The pink was punched with Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page in Cherish.

The ZVA pink crystal flourish pictured below is Lovely in pink/rosy. I fussy cut the flowers out of the patterned paper and used Stickles for a little sparkle.

I used a Dusty Attic corner flourish die cut. Painted it with Claudia Helmuth acrylic paint in Blank Canvas and inked the edges in soft brown. I used the feather stitch on my sewing machine around the photo and mat.

These beautiful crystal flourishes are ZVA's Flourish III rosy/crystal, and once again I used the 3" Dual-Frosty Flower clustered with a few Mini Roses in Cream.

The blog hop begins here: Windy Robinson . From here, your next stop is the very talented Karen's Shady's Blog!!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Next month's blog hop will be happening one week early so mark your calendar to join us on Monday, December 19^th for another inspiring Zva blog hop!

STRONG* Girlie Grunge November Challenge*and Once Upon A Sketch

2011-11-23T16:38:00.005-05:00

Well, I am putting the finishing touches on all the LO's I have been working on the last 2 weeks. This LO is for Donna Salazars Girlie Grunge Challenge (November 2011 Challenge)
that Natasha Naranjo Aguirre is hosting.

For the first challenge, you will need to create a layout, card or off-the-page project that must include:

Hand-made Flowers
Corrugated Board
Any Donna Salazar Product

Well that was easy for me as I have a brand new stack pack of the Antiquities paper, I already created flowers using the Donna Salazar Rose Creations die, and I have plenty of corrugated cardboard... But what to create..That was my challenge. I started with the sketch from Once Upon a Sketch and it took on a life of it's own!! But I love it!!

Here is mine for the challenge...It has been a tough year for me, caring for, then losing my mother in law whom I loved so much, and having to take my father in law in to live with us. Having my daughter 3000 miles away in school and it killed me when she was hospitalized for having an anaphalactic reaction while on the train coming home from school. Changes at work, taking care of 2 households, and trying to keep it together...I did it, I guess that makes me strong??? Thus the title in my LO...Sometimes I felt like a face on a brick wall while the world just watched and walked by...Some helped (my husband and kids) some didnt (very sad) ...The photo represents how I felt. It's all good now. Everything is settled in my life, but it was a tough year...Thank You for letting me share a little piece of my life.

Join the challenge!! There is still time left. Or just go join Girlie Grunge. You are sure to get that grunge mojo going and have fun at the same time. Paint, ink, spray, scrunch, shmear, swizzle,

Swizzle??? Well anything goes when your being artistic!! And check out Once Upon A Sketch for an awesome starting point for your layouts. It is very inspirational!!

I use Tims Tattered Banners for the backdrop for my journaling. My Cropadile got a workout setting all the eyelets!

I created a file of butterflies at Swirlydoos that you can download. I always use Rock Candy Stickles all over, then just hit the edges with a little Stickles in a sparkly color.

I used my Rose Creations Die for the flowers and used puffy paint on the edges. I got these WONFERFUL packs of gemstones by The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. I used assorted colors and sizes for the flower middles. There are more than 10 different shapes in each pack. I bought 6 different color families. 450 pieces in each pack. 50% off!!

Just a closeup of the flowers.

My Boy Nick

2011-11-20T19:45:00.004-05:00

I don't know why I don't do to many LO's of my son. I have plenty of pics of him. After all, if it wasn't for him, I would probably not be scrapbooking.
This LO is for week 3 for November Round Robin at Swirlydoos. I followed Shelly and Erin. What great LO's I had for inspiration!! Thanks girls!! And Thank you to Peggy for giving us a great challenge time after time.

The leaves were die cut with my Spellbinders die and the backing to some Petaloo flowers we got in the kit. Go Green!!

The roses are the ones I did for the last flower tutorial I just posted. Puffed Roses.

I fussy cut the birdcages in the paper without cutting them out all together. I slipped the diecut paper underneath and layed the birdcages over the red die cut paper.

I never had the desire to purchase the Tim Holtz Tattered Banners, but picked them up at Hobby Lobby with a 50% coupon last week. I love them!!
I'm glad I did.

Puffed Rose Flower Tutorial

2011-11-15T15:08:00.003-05:00

It has been a little while since I created a flower tutorial. I have so many ideas in my head. Right now I am waiting on my delivery of Flower Soft. I have a tutorial coming up on creating just stamen.

Product List:
Spellbinders Rose Creations die (or any flower punch or die in 3 different sizes L_M_S)
adhesive
Puffy paint
Stickles
tweezers
heat gun
McGill Molding Mat (or mouse pad)
Embossing tools
soft chalk ink

Instructions:
Die cut or punch 6 flowers, 2 of each graduated size.

Using your embossing tool press down using a circular motion on each petal until the petals are cup shaped and curl upward.

Repeat on all Flowers until done.

Take one of the smaller flowers and curl in onto itself to form a bud. Place a few dots of adhesive on the inside of the petals to keep the petals in place.

Glue the formed bud onto the other small flower.

Fold the petals up around the bud to create a bigger bud.

Glue the bud on to the medium flower and place a glue dot on each of the petal bases as shown close to the bud.

Bring up the petals around the bud base and hold a few minutes until it holds, then staggering petals, add the next medium flower to the layers curling back the petals slightly.

Add your 2 large flowers the same way. Shape the flower petals a little to fluff up the flower a bit.

Outline your petal edges with Puffy paint and set aside till almost dry. It will be slightly tacky. Approximately 30 minutes depending on the humidity.

Holding the flower with a pair of tweezers, use your heat gun to puff up the paint. Do not hold the gun in one place to long or you will burn the edges. Be VERY careful and work quickly.

When cool, hit the petal edges with a bit of chalk ink , then outline the edges over the puffy paint with Stickles.

Enjoy your new Puffed Roses. They really are beautiful in real life. Rivals any manufacturers roses any time. To add some real sparkle, after hitting the edges with Stickles, before it dries, sprinkle some Diamond Dust over it.

Swirlydoos November Reveal and Blog Hop...

2011-11-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Swirlydoos November Kit Reveal Blog Hop BLOCK PARTY!!! That's right, we are having a party and you are all invited. If you came here from clearsnap.blogspot.com then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoo's blog and pick up the trail from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today and as a bonus we have 3 manufacturer blogs that are joining in the fun!! But wait! We also have a Guest Designer along for the ride this month, Natasha Naranjo Aquirre!!! *confetti in the air and noise makers galore* There are 5 prize packs up for grabs so make sure to follow along and have fun!! You could be a winner!!

Let's start with my first LO. The photo is my daughter Gabrielle. She was home from school a couple of weeks ago and I snapped a quick pic while we were on the floor playing Uno. We were having a pajama party by ourselves...lol... She made the most amazing Jerk Chicken that night. Working with the best Chefs at Epcot in Disney is giving her the best cultural experience in cuisine in the world! She loves her job!!

I created 3 different flowers for this LO. The daisy and the bigger flower were done with my tattered Florals die by Sizzix. The rose in the middle was done with one of my other favorite dies. The Rose Creations die created by Donna Salazar and manufactured by Spellbinders. I thought I would use it as Natasha has joined us this month, and for those of you who don't know, she is Donna Salazars Fly Girl (that's Design Team Coordinator!!) And I recently joined Girlie Grunge and love it!!

I was introduced to the Rose Creations die when Heartfelt Creations created a stamp from it. And sometime next week I will be doing a tutorial for the flower. So get out that Puffy Paint, we're playing with it again!

Just another closeup of the corner floral cluster. The leaves are also Spellbinders dies from 2 different sets.
I also did some machine sewing on the page as well as corset lacing. The brown flourish is a Sizzix Sizzlet die. The butterflies from my files at Swirlydoos.

Here is my take on the sketch. I have been experimenting with my Punch Around The Page punches using the corner punch and a regular edge punch. Great way to get more designs!!

I used my Tim Alterations die for the pink flowers and the green one from my Tattered Florals die. The leaves are a Sizzix die as well. I painted the Tower with this Great Claudia Helmuth paint that my lovely Friend Zandra (my Fairy Scrapmother) sent me. She lives near the Ranger Warehouse and went to a great sale, and she shared with me!! Thank you Zandra!! She also sent me great Ranger pop dots that I used behind the journaling plaque.
The butterfly is from my files at Swirlydoos. And the trail is ZVA!!! I'm anxiously waiting for my DT package.
Some more stitching closeups and the corner is a rubon in the kit.

This next LO is of my sisters grandaughter Nikki. She is the little redhead you see in some of my LO's. I am loving the greens blues and browns in the papers of the kit.
The flowers were created with the Tattered Florals die and I added the Kaiserkraft flowers to the middles. I adore the Prima birdsnests.
I found the journaling on Pinterest. I just created the words in Photoshop and cut them up then matted them .
I did some machine stitching and corset lacing once again. I fussy cut the little bird from the paper. The scalloped paper was done with a Crafters Workshop template. I think I have them all...And love each one!I just wrinkled and ink distressed the edges a little.

I folded back one corner and tucked in a flower and leaves. I used one of my corner punches for the circle following my tutorial.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on November 9th to complete the hop. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all EIGHT blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already.
Grab a cuppa somethin' and take your time. There are beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” word and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, head back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had AND tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.

My special word is LITTLE UMPH

All winners will be randomly drawn. Winners will be posted over on the Swirlydoos blog on the 10th, which also happens to be the same day that I am hosting November's SwirlyHues Challenge when it is unveiled. YAY!
Go forth and have a great time!!!! Your blog hop block party continues over at Swirlydoos Blog.
Have a great creative day. I hope you were inspired!!

My Wellspring Of Joy List...

2011-11-03T21:25:00.002-04:00

Happy Wednesday

2011-11-02T22:04:00.005-04:00

It feels strange not to do my Heartfelt Creations post today....BUT, I will share some photo's of my most recent Photo Shoot. I usually dont advertise or post my work online, but I will post these few...I love my new Barn Door Floors...They are portable and AMAZING!!! I just pack all my props and equipment in my car and bring the studio to you.
This newborn is a sweetest little girl..Abigail Marie...9 days old...

A Big Internet Scream!!!!! ZVA!!!!

2011-10-26T09:31:00.006-04:00

Well, I can finally shout out my wonderfully exciting news!!!
I made the 2011-2012 ZVA Creative Design Team!!!!
It is so wonderful that a few of my very good scrapping friends did as well!! Lisa Summerville, who I worked with designing for Heartfelt Creations, and Robin Shakoor who I designed with at Swirlydoos!! Congrats girlies. And Tara Orr whom I have befriended and love, will be returning for another term! I am ready to cruise the rest of the Design Team Blogs to get to know them better!! Bitter sweet for me to announce that I will not be returning to Heartfelt Creations for another term, but SWEET that ZVA's door opened and welcomed me to join their awesome team!!!
So without further ado...Here is your 2011-2012 Zva Creative Design Team!!!! Congrats to you all!!! It is going to be an awesome and Creative ride!!!!

Windy Robinson – US (DT Coordinator) 

Andrea Ewen – US

Sarah Gough – New Zealand

Lisa Gregory – US Thats Me!!

Christin Grönnslett – Sweden

Lisa Johnson – US

Susan Lui – Singapore 

Nicole Martel – US

Carole Maurin – France

Jolanda Meurs – Netherlands

Yukiko Ochi – Japan

Fabi Oremerod – Brazil

Tara Orr – Canada 

Karen Shady – Australia

Robin Shakoor – US

Lisa Somerville – US

Now if you want wonderful inspiration, go check out what each and every designer creates! Go visit their blogs for tons of creative ideas!! What a diverse group of artists!!

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday...The Last...

2011-10-26T00:01:00.003-04:00

It is with a heavy heart, that I announce that I will be stepping down from the Heartfelt Creations Design Team. I have served 2 terms, and feel the need to move on. Emma Lou, Linda and the rest of the Design Team have been a wonderful source of encouragement to inspire creativity. Some of the DT is staying on, others are leaving to pursue other avenues, and I know of 3 girls, who are going to be so happy to hear the announcement of the new DT!! Lisa Novogrodski...(my swirly girlie!!!!) Amarilys Doria...and Lisa Blastick ...3 of my favorite artists! They will make a gorgeous addition to the Team!! Congrats girls..My heart is with you !!I am pumped for you 3 and cant wait to see you Rock the stamps!!! The last year with Heartfelt Creations has been incredible. I will surely miss my Wednesday morning posts!!
BUT....when one door closes, sometimes, instead of 1, a few more open!!! Let me just say, I am excited!! And cant wait to share some news with you all. Very Soon.
So I give to you, my last Happy Heartfelt Creations post..."I Know A Girl"...I took the words from a John Mayer song.
I used Swirlydoos October kit "Midnight Waltz. I hope you got this kit and all of the add ons, because it is incredibly gorgeous!! The new papers from Glitz are beautiful!! As well as Kaisercraft papers. This LO is part of the October Reveal at Swirlydoos.
The photo is my sisters granddaughter. She really is a joy. Makes us laugh!! She turns gray skies blue!!!
I used one of my favorite Prima masks on the lighter side of the pattern paper. Inked a few spots here and there and used the wonderful transparency for the photo. I created the journaling in Photoshop. I used my Martha Stewart Laurel Leaf Punch Around The Page Set...this one just came together.
Although the Sizzix Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die doesn't match the Flora Grande Stamp I used, they went together so well. Gave the petals texture and dimension. I used 2 of my favorite leaf stamps for the flower clusters. Glimmer Misted and inked for color and dimension. I topped the flowers with some Prima E-Line pearls.

Just another close up of the flower and leaf clusters.

So Thank you Heartfelt Creations for a wonderful year!! It has been an honor and blessing to have been part of an incredible Company!! I will be cheering the new Design Team from the sidelines, and I will be sure to keep creating with the wonderful stamps and Dies I have received. and I look forward to the new creations.

HCPC 3374 Grande Flora PreCut Set
HCPC 3405 Leaf Medley PreCut Set
472123 Foliage Shapeabiliies Spellbinders
472117 Nested Leaves Nestabilities
HCPC 3376 Distressed Leaves PreCut Set
HCPC 3323 Large Elegant Word Background

Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page Punch Set "Laurel Leaf" Prima E_Line pearls Glitz paper and acetate embellishments Prima Mask Bazzill card stock Glitz Paper Tim Holtz Distress Ink Ranger Ink Glitz tiny alphbet stickers Glimmer Mist Tim Holtz Sizzix Tattered Florals die

Punch around a piece of 12x12 pattern paper using a Martha Stewart decorative punch around the page set of your choice. Using the word stamp, ink around the outsides of the paper. Adhere to a solid colored 12 x 12 cardstock. Using a mask and distress ink, load your ink onto the foam applicator and very lightly in a circular motion, rub the ink around the mask, lightening the pressure toward the outside of the mask. Mat your photo and adhere to the middle of the page. Using the tattered floral die, die cut a few of each of the sunflower shape and the 2 smaller flowers. using the Flora Grande stamp, stamp the flowers. The stamps do not match the die cut flowers, but leave a beautiful impression on all flowers as you can see. I used the middle sized stamp for the sunflower shapes and the smaller stamp for the 2 smaller flower shapes. Stack the layers to create the flowers, curling the petals back for dimension. Place a pearl in the center of each one. Die cut and stamp your leaves. Spray with Glimmer Mist and ink the edges. Place your paper embellies to the side of the photo as shown, then arrange your flowers and leaves in clusters as shown on the layout. The tiny stickers were placed on the paper frame to the side and the title journaling was created in Photoshop, printed out on a 3.5x5 piece of paper and cut out in strips. The strips were inked along the edges and arranged on the layout. A butterfly was then placed in a random spot on the layout.

Swirlydoos "Midnight Waltz" reveal...

2011-10-23T07:33:00.006-04:00

We are getting ready to reveal Swirlydoos October Kit "Midnight Waltz".. But with my work schedule this last month,(flu season) and the typhoon holding our product hostage, I got a late start on my DT layouts. But I think with November, we will be back on track and so will I...So, here is my first layout...I have a 2nd that will reveal on Wednesday as I used this beautiful kit for my Heartfelt Creations reveal. And I will upload a 3rd one today as soon as the sun comes out for a visit. Number 4 is sitting on my desk almost done. Thank you everyone for being soooo patient during Swirlydoos crazy schedule during the last 2 months. It has been a wild ride...

And OH.....I am sitting on a butterflies lair (is there such a thing??) Well they are fluttering in my tummy with excitement...(no I am not pregnant)... But I have some very exciting news to share with you soon!!!

Midnight Waltz has the beautiful papers from Glitz and Kaisercraft. They go so well together.
I chose to use the lighter side of all of the papers except for 1 layout.

I created the flowers from the beautiful bkue card stock in the cardstock add on kit. I used my McGill punch for the petals, layered them, then added the roses in the kit to the middles. The leaves is a Spellbinders die that I used Glimmer mist on the buttery yellow card stock to color, then inked them up a bit. The butterflies are from the file I created for the kit.

I did a little machine sewing along the scalloped edge of the paper. A small cluster of flowers from the kit adorn the corner.

I used the Prima brick stamp randomly on the page. It was bright warm sunny day the day we took these pictures. The song just stuck in my head.

This is my kitty Willow..he is actually 12 years old. He is an indoor cat, but once in a while when I go out to the lanai, he loves to go out with me. He quickly finds a patch of grass on the wood porch to lie near and chew on. Then he eats it till there is nothing but a nub...My Willow...

I fell in love with Tania Martyns layout in the color room. I love how she did the journaling, so I lifted the idea.

I used my Tattered florals die for the base of the big flower and the smaller flowers were done with my McGill flower punch. I just layered the petals to form the flower. You know how much I love this Heartfelt Creations leaf die. Sprayed with Glimmer Mist and inked with chalk ink for dimension.

I have a gazillion eyelets. I use them once in a while. But Natasha Naranjo uses them all of the time and I love it!! So I was inspired. More eyelets on my layouts...

I did a little sewing on the page. And punched out a few sweet Martha Stewart butterflies.

Here is a file for the butterflies. Just right click on them to make the file bigger, save to your computer and print them out. My favorite size to print is 5 x 7 . I generally print on 110 lb cardstock, cut them out and use rock candy paint or stickles on them. But you can print them out on transparency and double layer them over a card stock printed one. I will do a tutorial on this method.

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday.

2011-10-19T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday..In some parts of the country Autumn is in full swing..Leaf peeping is going on in the most beautiful and remote places..And I am GREEN with envy!! (It's always green in Florida). There is no Autumn in Florida. I miss the northern seasons. So until I build that cabin in the woods in North Carolina, I will create LO's in fall colors to remind me of what I have been missing.
Heartfelt Creations has the most beautiful collection called Autumn Splendor. I revisited this collection this month to create a few LO's. I also added the flowers from the Botanical Garden Collection.
I found an older LO that I just wasn't satisfied with. I never did like it, so I picked it apart and this is the revised version. I like it much better. Go visit the Heartfelt Creations Blog for more inspiration. The girls really do beautiful work on cards, LO's, and projects.
The semifinalists are working on their projects for the final round!! I am very excited!! The the new Design Team will be revealed on October 26th. That's next Wednesday...I have seen their work and it is Uh-Mae-Zing!!!

I love my Martha Stewart Maple leaf punch around the page set. It was perfect for this LO.

Just a closeup of the flower and leaf cluster. I gave the leaves a little sparkle with some Stickles. I edges the flower layers with Gold Lumiere Paint. It looks so much like gold leaf. The Lumiere paint is so rich in color.

Just another closeup of the flower.

Products Used on This Project

HCPC 3334 Open Falling Leaves PreCut Set
HCD 707 Autumn Splendor Diecut
HCPC 3406 Botanical Floral 1 PreCut Set
472186 Rose Creations Shapeabilities 426312 Eyelet Lace Martha Stewart

Wilton Doilies, Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page Maple Leaf ,Darice rhinestones, Making Memories tiny letter stickers, Prima E-line pearls, K and Company paper, Bazzill card stock, Lumiere paint, Glimmer Mist.

Start with a 12 x 12 piece of pattern paper and punch around the page using Martha Stewart punches. Cut a 9x9 solid card stock using a template. Using a 6x6 cards tuck, punch around the page in autumn leaves design for a photo mat. Adhere photo to 6x6 piece adhering more to the right side. Center matted photo onto the 9x9 template cut piece and adhere that to the background piece. Tuck a glimmer misted piece of doilies under the 9x9 piece as shown . Die cut and stamp them color your flower layers. Once they are colored, touch the edges with gold paint, layer the flowers using 2 and 3 layers staggering petals and place a jewel in the middle of each. Die cit and color the leaves. Edge the leaves with a sparkling Stickles paint. Arrange the flowers and leaves in clusters as shown. Place your title and add butterfly to finish the layout. Place some rhinestones on either side of the photo for a finishing touch of bling!!

Porcelain Petals Flower Tutorial

2011-10-17T17:01:00.010-04:00

First of all. thank you Joyce for the suggestion for the wonderful name for the flowers. Porcelain Petals it is..Thank you LisaN, Regina, LisaV, Kathy, Jackie, Patricia (PG), and Lynda for the other name suggestions..I have them in the flower memory bank...I will need them you know...

PRODUCT LIST :
Card stock
soft chalk ink
tweezers
McGill Paper Blossoms Paper Tool Kit
McGill Paper Blossoms Molding Mat
McGill Medium Pear Punch
McGill Sun Punch
Punch Bunch Small Hydra Cluster punch
Ranger ink foam applicator
adhesive of your choice

Punch out 8 pear shapes, 6 stars and 8 tiny flowers.

Lightly ink the narrow end of the pear petals.

Using 8mm stylus press down on the petal (non inked side) and move around in a circular motion to soften the card stock making it easier to manipulate. The petal will curl.

Pinch the ends of the narrow side of the petal together(ink sides together) . Bend back the edges of the wider part of the petal slightly.

Your 8 petals should look like this. Set aside.

Using the same size stylus press down and using a circular motion until the sun shapes cups up.

Do this to 5 of the sun shapes and start pinching them into a tight bunch . Save one for the base.

Stack the sun shapes and fluff the stack when dry.

Start gluing the petals to the sun base. Glue 4 to the base as shown.

Then the other 4 petals in between for the second row.

Place your sun shaped middle to the center of your flower.

Using a small stylus, cup your tiny flowers.

Start gluing your tiny flowers to the outer edges of the sun flower middle.

Your flower is now complete.

Swirlydoos September RevealRENDEZVOUS

2011-10-13T13:36:00.015-04:00

Well, it is FINALLY here!!! The Swirlydoos September Reveal Day!! That darn Typhoon had our Swirly Products stuck at sea and then at customs forever!!! Oh the price we pay for the latest and greatest right out of CHA!!! But here we are, getting back on track. And so without any more delays, here are my Design Team Creations for Rendezvous.

Swirlydoos Camp in Colorado every year is a blast. I have forged wonderful friendships with 2 of the alumni...Robin and Shelly join me in this photo. Last year we all sat together with Jan...This year they broke us up...2 Designers at one table is just way to much, couple that with the Queen of layouts (Jan) and the one with the way cool stories and introduced us to way cool music (love Bossa n Roses) (Shelly)..Well, The principal broke us up...lol...Thats OK...We were all cozy enough and traveled around the room!!

I used my Swirly Sweetheart Daisy Tutorial for the flowers.

I created a butterfly file for the kit. Grab your copy below this post.

I used my Decorative circle tutorial and I created the tiny letters using Microsoft Word.

I have been getting a lot of use from my masks and stencils lately. It's a great way to add design and color. I did a little machine sewing around the page.

This photo is my daughter when she had her "Marilyn Piercing". I kind of liked that one. It was very pretty (and I hate facial piercings!!) I enhanced the emphasis on the piercing by placing a tiny Prima rhinestone over it.

Love my Prima Stencils!! And love my MS deep edge punches as well. The frame from Dusty Attic was left raw with just a brushing of ink and Rock Candy Stickles.

The flowers were hand made and I will post a tutorial for them tonight.

The title says it all. For those who do not know, the Marilyn Piercing is a facial piercing done exactly where Marilyn Monroe had her mole. Gabbie always had a tiny diamond in hers. She out grew it...I thought it was cute...

I just realized this one doesn't have a title...Hmmm..Do we need one?? I think not. There is actually hidden journaling on the tags tucked in the top of the photo.

More Prima Masking. I love my Tim Holtz Distress ink using the foam applicator. You get a soft edge depending on how much pressure you use.

I used my Passion Daisy Tutorial for the pink flower. The others are Prima from the Flower add on kit.

I also love my Timmy dies. I dont think I ever used the bird with the cage. I did on this one. Used crackle paint and light inking on the edges. I added some Dusty Attic flourishes.
Just a closeup of the flowers and birdcage.

And a closeup of the hidden tags tucked up on top of the photo. I cut the little decorative shapes from one of the papers, folded them in half and placed them over a tag I created and cut from the back of the paper. I tucked some decorative edge punching in the back of the LO.

This LO is my take on the beautiful sketch that Beggahuna created for us. Gosh she is just the best sketch artist out there! Go see how each Designer interpreted the sketch.

For the title, I used a rub on that I have had in my stash for a very long time... And more Dusty Attic as well.

I love the flowers in the kit. The little blue flowers look like porcelain with a touch of gold.

The last 2 were already revealed in previous posts but were done with this kit.

The butterflies..Click on the picture to enlarge, then save them to your computer and print them on 5x7 paper for a perfect size.
I hope you enjoyed this round...Stay tuned for the October Reveal, then in November, we have a special treat with a wonderfully talented Guest Artist and our Blog Hop!! Make sure you join us for Octobers SwirlyHues Challenge hosted by Robin.. Click on the palette below to take you to the details!!

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday

2011-10-12T10:32:00.005-04:00

Heartfelt Creations is pleased to introduce the Classic Christmas Collection features 6 new precut stamp sets that coordinate with the Heirloom Ornaments 2011 and the Labels Seven Spellbinders dies. The classic images in this collection are perfect "not only" for your Christmas projects but very versatile and you will find yourself using them throughout the entire year!

Chance to Win: Leave a comment on the Heartfelt Creations blog by October 18 for a chance to win the entire release valued at $89.99. The winner will be announced on October 19.

My daughter just spent the last year living in Washington and going to school in Portland Oregon. She did manage to get a few great pics of the first snow of the season on her way to school in the wee hours of the morning. I thought the photo in this layout was beautiful. She purposefully left the footstep trail, then walked back around to take the picture. That's my daughter, like momma always trying to get that creative shot...
The new Magnificent Spruce Trees PreCut Set mimics the trees in the photo. They were perfect to stamp on the background.

The Book Frame 2 PreCut Set has 2 sizes and goes perfectly with Spellbinders Nestasbilities Labels 7 set..Oh, the little books you can create. I used 2 layers here for a dimensional effect.

The flowers were created with Petite Poinsettia PreCut Set from the last collection shown The Christmas Cheer Collection. These 2 different collection put together will give you endless possibilities for your stamping pleasure!! Amazing how well they go together! Of course the Poinsettis stamps coordinate with Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities...How awesome is that!! No more tedious cutting!! A perfect match every time.
Just a closeup of the flower cluster...
I heat embossed a lilac color (ZING powder) onto the diecut flowers, then used Ranger Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord to color the flowers. The embossing acts like a resist and the foam applicator gave it such a soft and blended look. I love the way they turned out and the colors are beautiful together. I just touched the spots here and there with the lightest touch of tea Dye, just to tone down and antique the flowers a bit.

Products Used This Project

HCPC 3432 Magnificent Spruce Trees PreCut Set
HCPC 3433 Book Frame 1 PreCut Set
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 7
HCPC 3415 Petite Poisettia PreCut Set
Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia

Bo Bunny Papers

Ranger Distress ink

Zing Embossing Powder

May Arts vine trim

Bazzill Card stock

EK Success Fleur De Lis edge punch

Prima E-Line pearls

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Using the music stamp, stamp the edges of a 12x12 piece of card stock. Using a foam applicator rub ink onto the edges using a light circular motion. Adhere Die cut paper over the middle of the finished card stock. Frame the photo with strips of decorative edge punch. ink the edges. Adhere photo to background paper slightly off center as shown. Stamp the tress along side of the photo. Emboss and die cut layers of the poinsettias in 2 different sizes. Ink the flowers using a two tone effect with a foam applicator. Layer the flowers and place a pearl in the middle of each flower. Arrange flowers as shown. Tuck pieces of vine ribbon in between flowers. Stamp and die cut the book stamp.Stamp the music stamp in the book. Cut the music stamped piece slightly smaller by cutting along the inner line and place the smaller piece over the larger piece then wrap a ribbon over the book and secure using the Tiny Attacher. Trim the edges of the ribbon. Adhere to the layout.

Blessings OUAS and Swirlydoos Round Robin

2011-10-09T12:36:00.007-04:00

Sometimes, people cross your path in life, and you wonder why. I believe that God just wants to send you a dose of daily blessings. This is my dear Swirly friend Jennifer. She keeps us laughing with the adventures of Escape Kitty, she teaches us to keep the earth friendly with her use of recycled material in her scrapping, she always has a kind word to say, and she is terrific company on a Photoshoot!!! She is really a dose of blessing in my day.
This is also my Noteworthy thought I had this week and thought it perfect for the Once Upon A Sketch Challenge. I thought about all of the people who make me smile every day. An event that happens all the time. They are just a dose of daily blessings.
I am also leading my team at Swirlydoos in this months Round Robin, and this is my entry. I love Round Robin. The challenge is always wonderful. The twist this time is to use something at least a year old..That would be my K and Company paper. Thank You Peggy, for another wonderful challenge!!

The October 1st "Once Upon A Time" Sketch...
I used Spellbinders Sunflower Dies to create the Passion Flower Daisies.I painted Dusty Attic with Shimmers paint.

The leaves are a beautiful Stamp and Die from Heartfelt Creations. I used Glimmer Mist and Lindy's Spray on them for color shine and shimmer.

I did some quilling. These are bleeding hearts.

Here is a file for the butterflies I used on this layout. They are perfect for your Fall layouts. Just left click on the image to make it bigger, then left ckick and save to your computer, print on 5x7 cardstock. After you cut them out, rubbing on a little Rock Candy Stickles brings out the color in them.

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday 10-5-11

2011-10-05T01:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday!! I cant believe how the weeks are just flying by...
Autumn is upon us, and for some of the lucky ones, they are in, or close to being in the midst of an Autumn Splendor show!! Unfortunately, I live in a state where there are 4 seasons...Summer, Summer, Summer and Summer..No falling red, yellow or Orange leaves. Yes, I may get that crisp morning air smell some mornings, or the occasional scent of burning leaves, or the smell of a fireplace that is blazing in someones family room. Oh How I miss the northern season!!
Fortunately, Heartfelt Creations has created stamps that allow my imagination to take flight. To create the vision in my head. The vision of AUTUMN. With all of the colors in all of it's glory. And even though the picture of my beautiful daughter was taken mid summer in 90 degree heat...the colors in the photo echoed Autumn. So I created this layout around the photo and its rich Autumn colors.
Please visit the Heartfelt Creations Blog to see more beautiful creations from the Fabulous Design Team.

I opted for a postcard style background. I did a tutorial so that you can create your own. Very easy...

Just a closeup of the flowers. The Aztec Sunflower stamp is so beautiful that you don't even have to create a middle for it. But you know me..I like fluffy flowers!

I coupled the flowers with the gorgeous leaf stamps. Then colored them with Glimmer Mist and Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Mist. I edged the flowers with Stickles in Paprika.

I used the tutorial for the Faux Scrapbook Letters. To get small letters, I printed the sheets in 4 x 6 size. They are perfect for smaller titles. I used distress ink in Spiced Marmalade to ink the edges. The color was perfect match with the papers.

I misted a Wilton Doily. I think I picked up a pack in every size!! I just love them. The flourish is a Sizzix Sizzlets die.

Here is just a close up of the corner flower cluster. I tucked some flourish swirls between the flowers just as a filler. See below this post to get the fine details on how I put this whole layout together, and get the links for the stamps and dies from Heartfelt Creations.
I hope you are inspired to get out those autumn colored scrappy supplies and start creating your own Autumn Splendor...
Products Used on This Project

HCPC 2293 Aztec Gold Sunflowers 2 PreCut Set
Blossom 2 Spellbinders Nestabilities
HCD 707 Autumn Splendor Die
HCPC 3334 Open Falling Leaves PreCut Set

Other: Sizzix Sizzlets flourish die McGill starburst punch Glimmer Mist Lindy's Starburst Mist Wilton Doily K and Company Paper Bazzill cardstock Ranger Stickles Ranger Archival Ink Black

Follow the link to my blog to get the direction on how to create the Postage Stamp Background. Color the doily using spray of your choice. I used Lindy's Starburst Spray. Position your doily and matted photo slightly off center as shown. Die cut and stamp your leaves in black on white card stock and spray with the desired colors. Stamp and die cut various sizes of the flowers in your desired color card stock, enhance with color sprays and layer then staggering the petals for a full look. Crunch the flowers slightly for dimension. Punch 6-7 Starburst layers for each flower, Adhere each layer by placing a dot of glue in the middle of each layer. When the layers are dry, scrunch the layers upward to form the middles of each flower. Adhere each to a flower middle. Using Ranger Stickles, outline the edges of the flower petals. For the title, I used my tutorial on the Faux Scrabble Letters. I die cut the flourishes. Arrange your flowers and leaves in clusters as shown and then tuck your flourishes in between the clusters.

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday9-28-11

2011-09-28T06:31:00.005-04:00

Wednesday already...This week, I bring to you a layout created not only with Heartfelt Creations gorgeous stamps and dies, but Swirlydoos has just shipped their September kit, and this is a sneak peak in to one of the layouts I did with it. It is just dripping with Prima and Bo Bunny goodness. The neutral colors of the papers give you free reign to add color. I used lots of masking and inking and a new found love,...Texture paste..I will do a tutorial on how I created the corners of this layout. Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies are so versatile. There are cards, layouts and lots of altered items done by the designers. Even our very sweet and talented owners get into the groove of not only designing and creating the stamps, but working their magical talent with them. So head on over to the Heartfelt Creations Blog to see what the Design Team has created this week. The new Christmas Collection is a huge hit!!! My project for next week will feature parts of that gorgeous collection.

The photo is of my dear sweet kitty Willow and my daughter Gabbie, sharing a quiet moment.

The corner treatment was crated with texture paste. Easy and beautiful and so fun to do.
A little bit of corset lacing goes a long way in your designs. I used a few eyelets from my own stash and took apart the jute that was in the September Swirlydoos kit and just did a little lacing.
The flowers were stamped, die cut and the color I used on the flowers is just incredibly amazing!! It shows like a fine Dupioni Silk fabric.Dupioni silk is woven with two threads, which create a stunning shimmering effect to the fabric. Often the two threads are of different colors, so when the fabric angle changes, so does the color.( Dupioni silk is woven with two threads, which create a stunning shimmering effect to the fabric. Often the two threads are of different colors, so when the fabric angle changes, so does the color.) The colored sheen in the paper when you spray it with Moonshadow Mist is simply incredible. The spray mist I used is from Lindy's Stamp Gang and the color is Buccaneer Bay Blue. If you have never used Moonshadow Mist before, your missing out on the results from this unique spray. Magical...
I just love the Botanical Florals stamps that matcch the Spellbinders Donna Salazar Rose Creations dies. This time I used the Swirly Leaf Stamps for the leaves. Love to mix and match the stamps!! I lightly sprayed a Wilton Doily with the same Buccaneer Bay Blue, just lightly though so I got more of that antique tea color with a hint of the gorgeous blue.
I used a piece of Dusty Attic for my layout and just spread some texture paste on it, let it dry, then inked it up a bit. It looks like a stucco architectural piece. A very easy project with awesome results.
Heartfelt Creations has the most beautiful stamps and coordinating dies. A new collection is revealed every month. So head on over to the site and check out the stamps. You may want a few for your stamping pleasure!!

472182 Fleur De Lis Accents Die
HCPC 2254 Leafy Swirls PreCut Set
HCPC 3406 Botanical Floral 1 PreCut Set
HCPC 3407 Botanical Floral 2 PreCut Set
472186 Rose Creations Shapeabilities

Other Products: Moonshadow Mist Buccaneer Bay Blue ,Glimmer Mist Olive Green ,Colorbox Chalk Ink Chestnut Roan,Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tumbled Glass and Tea Dye ,Jute ,Wilton Doily ,Dusty Attic Chipboard ,Recollections jewel brads ,Golden Texture Paste ,Americana stencil, Making Memories brads ,EK success edge punch ,Tim Holtz distressing tool

Using a stencil, texture paste and a palette knife, position the stencil in each corner of the background paper and smooth the paste over the stencil in a 1/8 inch thickness, then lift the stencil carefully. Also apply some texture paste onto your chipboard piece. Let dry for a few hours. Cut out a square within the background paper and distress the edges. Place a coordinating paper behind the textured paper. Punch a lacy border punch in strips, ink the edges and tuck the strips under the textured paper all around your distressed square opening. Die cut the strip from the Spellbinders Fleur De lis Accent die and tuck it in the edge punched strip at the bottom of your opening. This creates some layers. Secure 2 rows of eyelets on one side of the page, and string some jute, corset style. Using a foam applicator, ink some Tumbled Glass over the edges of the page and onto to the stenciled texture paste corner treatments. Also rub some color onto your chipboard piece then hit the edges with a brown ink. Spray mist a small doily. Die cut, color and ink your flower layers and leaves. Layer your flowers (tutorial here up to step 8 ) and place a brad in the middle of each flower. Place doily to the left side of the square opening, the photo towards the right side and the chip board piece underneath. Arrange your leaves and flowers as desired and place some random butterflies around the page. Place your title anywhere.

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday9-21-11

2011-09-21T05:15:00.004-04:00

Is it Wednesday already??? Before I leave for work, I will leave you with another creation I did with some of Heartfelt Creations THE CHRISTMAS CHEER COLLECTION... I just adore the Layered Poinsettia in the set. So many sizes in one set is wonderful. And I love the ornament stamps...So so pretty and so mny possibilities. Go check out The Heartfelt Creations Blog and see what the fabulous Design Team has done with some of the collections. Cards, tags, altered art...They have it all. Until I have time to give you details on each picture, the bottom of the post will let you know how I created this layout..Until then..Happy Scrapping!!

Products Used on This Project

HCPC 3416 Poinsettia Ornament 1 PreCut Set
HCPC 3415 Petite Poinsettia PreCut Set
12156 Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities
472177 Fancy Tags 3 Shapeabilities
HCPC 3421 Dove of Peace PreCut Set

Other Products: Wilton white doily Martha Stewart Punch around the page punch set kaiser kraft pearls Tim Holtz Paper Martha Stewart leaf punch Joanns white embossing powder Offray ribbon Liquid Pearls

Use plain card stock as the base of the layout. Cut 2 other coordinating patterned background papers 1inch smaller than the last. Use the punch around the page set all around on smaller page and only the corners on the other. Adhere layers together. Adhere doily to middle of page. Mat photo and off set slightly to the side of the doily. Punch and heat emboss multiple layers of flowers and the ornament using white embossing powder. Layer the flowers 3 or 4 layers with largest on bottom and smallest on top. Top with a pearl. Using liquid pearls, place a dot at each intersecting line of the stamped and embossed ornament. Let dry. Adhere a layered flower over the flower image on the ornament. Place a few punched leaves to both sides of the flower. Place a bow on top of the ornament and adhere the ornament to the side of the photo. Die cut the Fancy Tag. On a white and inked piece of card stock, stamp the sentiment. Adhere the sentiment to tag and place on the layout. Create a flower cluster in upper right hand corner and place the punched leaves around the flowers. Place a few butterflies randomly around the page.

Swirlyhues Color ChallengeLovely

2011-09-15T21:56:00.006-04:00

Swirlydoos kits went out a bit late this month. The Typhoon in China delayed the latest and greatest Summer CHA products that Krissy was putting in the fabulous kit. But good things come to those who wait. And the wait is almost over as kits are now being shipped out. This new kit is just fabulous!! So we skipped a DT reveal this month , and instead introduced you to Swirlydoos new Challenge ...SwirlyHues.

This layout was done with the new kit and I used the wonderful colors from our very first Swirlyhues challenge.

The flowers were diecut from the blue card stock in card stock add on kit and enhanced with Glimmer Mist in Mallard (bought in the Swirlydoos store) and a spritz of Suede. Then after the flowers were assembled (tutorial follows this post) I rubbed some Colorbox Chestnut Roan over them.
I finally got the hang of using the flocking. The trick is to get it a little warm by rubbing it with your finger to warm the plastic and making sure you rub it really well into the paper using a Bone folder or a tool similar. a Popsicle stick works just as well. I saved a rubber one from a previous rub on set.

I love the Petaloo Vines in the add on flower kit, but they seemed a bit plain, so I quilled some leaves and added them to the stems.
The blue butterflies were 1 of 2 sets I created specifically for this kit. You can get them HERE. Feel free to download, print, and cut, for you butterfly pleasure!! All I do is free cut the antennae when I am cutting out the butterflies, color them with a black Sharpie and then rub some Rock Candy Stickles over the whole thing. But you can use glitter, Liquid Pearls, dimensional paint, twinkling H2O's, Pearlex powder and whatever else glitters to enhance the butterflies.
It's all up to you...

Passion Daisy Tutorial.

2011-09-15T21:46:00.003-04:00

This flower was totally inspired by Lisa Valentine (my Swirly Design Team Sister!!) . I had the dies in my stash for so long and never used them. Lisa makes a flower, and the ideas keep coming. Thanks Ms.Valentine. You got my flower mojo going!! Please go see the gorgeous Layout that Lisa did using the flowers that I found such an inspiration. It really is beautiful....And look for her tutorial on the flower.

PRODUCT LIST:
Glimmer Mist
card stock white or cream
McGill stylus kit, or a ball stylus
Mcgill mat. or you could use a mouse pad
adhesive
ink for distressing
Daisy flower die, I used Spellbinders
McGill Sun Punch

Die cut 2 large flowers, 2 smaller flowers and punch out 4 suns. I used Glimmer Mist in Mallard to enhance the blue card stock. I also sprayed one spritz of green color and Suede and swirled it around the craft mat to tone down and muddy the blue color a little. (not shown in the tutorial, but in the top photo). I also sprayed the light yellow sun shapes with a vibrant yellow Glimmer Mist and one spritz of Suede once again to tone down and antique the color.

Using a ball stylus in a circular motion, curl up the petals slightly on each petal of the large flowers.

Using the same motion on the 2 smaller flowers, after using a circular motion on a petal, do not lift your stylus, but drag the stylus towards the middle of the flower and this will force the petal to curl upwards and inward.

Both of your flowers should look like this. 2 small cupped flowers.

Using the stylus, using a circular motion, cup your sun shapes.

Your 4 sun shapes should be tightly cupped. This will make the next few steps easier.

Pinch the first cupped shape sun and glue it into another cupped shape.

Scrunch up the sun shape onto the next one and repeat this step until all of your sun shapes are used.

Using your 2 smaller flowers adhere one into the other staggering the petals and then adhere your sun middle into the middle of your layered flowers.

Glue around the inner rim of one of the larger daisy and stack the other layer on top staggering the petals.

Glue around the inner ring of the stacked petals.

Now place your smaller daisy cluster on top of the larger flower cluster. This is your finished flower. Ink the flower if desired and ruffle it up a bit for a shabby look as in the top photo.

The smaller flowers were made the same as the top part of the flower, but instead of using the 2 larger layers, another smaller layer was used underneath curled the opposite way.

Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday9-14-11

2011-09-14T16:00:00.003-04:00

Happy HC Wednesday.
Heartfelt Creations is pleased to introduce the Christmas Cheer Collection.The collection features 14 new precut stamp sets that coordinate with one new exclusive Heartfelt Creations die manufactured by Spellbinders and existing Spellbinder dies. The possibilities with the classic images in this collection are absolutely endless. I can see how much I am going to make poinsettias..More Flowers!!!! The stamp images are beautiful. Very elegant.
I chose to start out with a simple but very cute project...Mini Note Cards. I am on a Kraft kick lately, and wanted to do some white embossing on Kraft paper, and this is what I came up with.

I pulled out my Cricut Wild Cards Cartidge and picked this cute card and envelope set. I cut 6 sets at 3.5 inches.
The front of the card was stamped with the Snowy Winter background stamp using a white pigment ink, then each card was folded in half. Some seam binding was added and a bow was tied it the top of the card.
The Poinsettia were stamped using embossing ink, and Fine White embossing powder was heat set with a craft heat tool. The flowers were cut and layered, then a pearl was added to the middle and the finished flower was adhered to the middle of the card.

3 petals from a one layer flower was adhered to the top front of the flap on the envelope and the last 2 petals were folded over the flap and adhered to the back of the envelope. Each note card slips into the mini envelopes ready to use.

Chance to win: Leave a comment on the Heartfelt Creations blog by September 20 for a chance to win the entire release valued at $240.00. Go check it out as it is AWESOME!!!

Thank you Krissy and Swirlydoos for introducing me to Kraft paper...I really didnt know what the fuss was all about..I'm hooked...

Products used on this project:

HCPC 3415 Petite Poinsettia PreCut Set
HCPC 3426 Snowy Winter Background PreCut Set
Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities

Other Products used:

Cricut Expression
Joanns white fine embossing powder
Colorbox Chestnut Roan chalk ink
Heat gun
Prima E-Line pearls
Seam Binding Kraft Cardstock

Heartfelt Creations Guest Designing for Catered Crop!!

2011-09-11T10:57:00.003-04:00

This week as a Heartfelt Creations Designer, I played along with the current Catered Crop ~~Follow the Recipe!~~ I used most of the ingredients in the sample project, added some of my own spice and cooked it up in Heartfelt Creations style!! It gave me a chance to go Shabby Chic, my favorite style, and use purple, my favorite color. Linda McClain invites you to share your recipe creations at the Catered Crop for the current Catered Crop Follow-the-Recipe Linking Party (here, FTR20) ... So show everyone what you can cook up and link it!! You have the chance to win
a $30.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE AT HEARTFELT CREATIONS!

The thought of using Kraft paper was always non inspiring to me..Please, brown paper sack paper?..But oh my word, we received Tim Holtz Resist Kraft in my Swirlydoos Resist It Technique kit and I was hooked!! All you need to do is add a little color and BAM!! Brown Paper bag transforms into something beautiful!!Who would have thought!!?? Well here is my creation for The Catered Crop using Swirlydoos and Heartfelt Creations wonderful products. Can I say, I LOVE Kraft paper!! The pic is my Aunt Maggie and Uncle Ray on a trip they made to Hawaii. They both recently celebrated their 60th birthday together and this LO is a gift to them.

I cut about 2 inch strips from opposite ends of my Kraft Resist paper. Then I took my new Martha Stewart Corner Punch and punched along the edge of each strip. I then used the wrong side of the strips and adhered them to the pattern side of the paper and stamped the design using Archival ink in Sepia. Then I adhered that piece to a 12 x 12 piece of card stock from a Swirlydoos kit.

I used Tim Holtz Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die - Paper Rosette for my purple flowers. For the leaves I used Heartfelt Creations HCPC 3390 Bella Rose Leaves PreCut Set and the matching die HCD 712 Bella Rose Die
Just another view of the flower cluster.

The smaller cream flowers were made using The Heartfelt Creations Posy Patch die (HCD 701 Posy Patch Diecut). The Faux Scrabble Letters can be found in my side bar here. To make them smaller, print them up on 5 x 7 paper, then follow the instructions. The doily came in a Swirlydoos kit a long time ago. I glimmer Misted it in Cranberry Zing. The Tim Holtz tattered clock die that my wonderful Swirly sister Peggy lent me at Camp, was painted with Distress paint in picket Fence, misted with Glimmer Mist and the edges were inked with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan.

The butterfly came from one of the files I create for Swirlydoos, Click here for the hundreds you can upload print and cut. ) I used Rock Candy Stickles on the butterfly and free cut the Antennae then color them with a black sharpie. The borders of the background paper was stamped with HCPC 3324 Daisy Patch Swirls PreCut Set.

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