Zva Creative November DT Blog Hop!

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.

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 Zva's products you can find a list stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

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

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***

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

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:
Donna Salazar 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...

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...

Happy Wednesday

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...