Blue Fern Studio's...Here I come!!!

Well I have a wonderful announcement to make and I am sooooo very excited!!! I have a feeling this is going to be VERY big!!!!! Blue Fern Studios is a United States manufacturer of detailed, sophisticated papercrafting designs, currently specializing in chipboard shapes for crafters of all kinds! Just check out the Design Team for Blue Fern Studios!! Yes sir, that's me in the mix!!! Keep your eye on this company...And come follow Blue Fern Studio's for more exciting news!!!

Camilla Ekman
Eila Sandberg  
Irene Tan
Irina Gurshak
Iris Babao Uy 
Jennifer Snyder 
Joyce Lawrence
Kelly Foster 
Lisa Gregory 
Mona Pendleton 
Patter Cross 
Svetlana Austin
Vibeke Harila
Erin Blegen

Go check out the blog, become a follower and watch where this company goes!! I promise you, you are going to be very inspired creatively!! The designs are absolutely beautiful!!

BLUE FERN STUDIOS

Hard To Say Goodbye...

My Dear Swirly Girls...

Girls, I just wanted to let you in on a personal decision I have had to make. Believe me, this was a tough one. I feel like I am losing a part of my family with you guys. I hope you understand. 

It is with a heavy heart, and after much thought, that I have decided to step down as a designer for Swirlydoos. As you know I have become a full time guardian for my father in law and caring for him has become a full time job. I cannot promise or guarantee that I would not fall short once again on my commitments here, and rather than fail Swirlydoos, fail you, or fail my father in law, I will bow out gracefully. I will fulfill my commitment for the month of December, and end the year with Swirlydoos. As for camp, I can not commit to go, for fear that because of my responsibilities to my family, I may not be able to make it. Instead of losing everything, I have chosen not to go. Someone will be happy to get that open spot if one remains!! I will surely miss you guys. 

I hope that you are never put in the position I have been put in. I have not been feeling well lately, and I fear that the stress of everything has finally taken it's toll. Today is the first day that I didn't stay in bed since last Thursday. I thank God for my husband and kids who have all pulled together to help make my Father in laws life worth living for whatever time he has left. Steve and I have cut our hours at work to part time, Gabbie has moved back home to help us, and Nick changed to 12 hour days at work to be at my house more often. Between the 4 of us, we have my father in law covered 24/7. So I must also lighten my load. I also have to be there for my sister at this time. If my brother in law doesn't make it, she will surely fall apart...I cant even imagine. I want the chance to say goodbye if he doesn't make it. We are praying for a Christmas miracle. Family is EVERYTHING to me. 

It is also amazing how you all have become like a family to me. You get to know the good, the bad, the ugly (lol), I laugh with you, cry with you, support you, and above all cherish the moments that I shared with you
You Camp girls, well, you are in a league of your own!!! What fun!! It was an honor to have sat beside you all to create. I will miss you guys the most!!!! You all hold a special place in my heart. 

So this really isn't goodbye, I will just be walking through the back door, wondering, maybe one day, I can walk through the front door again!! I have some very exciting ventures in 2013 lined up, so you will see me out there!!! I wont disappear, because after all, this hobby is my therapy.
I will keep in touch. I am sure our paths will cross again, and again, and again...After all, this wonderful thing called scrapbooking is all part of a great big worldwide family!! 
Swirlydoos just happens to be the Elite family. And I am honored to have created for Krissy as she is the ultimate business woman who always made me feel like family, and honored to have worked along side all of you. I have forged friendships that I know will last a very long time. Thank you for all of your kind words and prayers once again. And I hope you understand. My time here in Swirlyville has really meant a lot. I will never forget it. 
I hope that everyone and their families have a wonderful holiday season. I personally have a lot to be grateful for. Be safe, and love on everyone that is dear to you...Life is oh so precious.

Big Hugs, 
Lisa

Blue Fern Studios Giveaway

Look out my scrappy friends...There is going to be a new kid in town!!!  Blue Fern Studios..And they are having their first giveaway. So go check it out and enter. Who knows, you may see your ideas in chipboard in the near future!!

Right now Blue Fern Studios is working on some page/card titles!  They need your input though and what would be better than gifting some chippies to some randomly drawn winners?!!

So what do you have to do?  First, Go to the Blue Fern Studios Blog and be a follower if you aren't already.  Next, leave a comment telling them a title that you would like to have designed as chipboard.  That's it.  Pick your favorite and most desired title though as there can only be one entry per person!  The drawing will end on Dec 22,

Welcome to Swirlydoos December Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

If you came here from Swirlydoos'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 !!  We have 3 manufacturers hopping and 3 designers from Webster's pages!!!  Also, as an extra special twist, 2 of our designers are hiding secret prize on their blog!!!!!  Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!!  Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!  

 

THE SKETCH

 

 

This is my layout based on the beautiful sketch shown above,created by Beggahuna.

 

  One of the papers in the kit is an "inchie" paper, and I thought it was perfect to cut apart and use some of the inchies to create the banner along with the pretty trim in the kit. The title is die cut from the Alterations Typeset Alphabet die.

I used pop dots under the matted photo's  of my sister and I visiting Santa. I used scraps of paper from another layout to create the flowers using my Alterations TATTERED FLORAL GARLAND die. The pearl flourishes are from ZVA  (not in the kit).

  This next layout is of my daughter taken on a cold winter evening on Thanksgiving a few years ago. Florida can have some weird cold weather at times. Thank goodness it doesnt last long.  I did some punching and distressing on the background. I die cut a couple of Sizzix film frames and was going to do something else with them in the design, and changed my mind. I still incorporated them into the background.

I created another banner using one of the tags from the paper.

I created a file of the butterflies to match the papers. You can find them at Swirlydoos along with many other files I have created over the years. I use a little Rock Candy Stickles on them and color the antennae with a block sharpie. The title was die cut with the Alterations Typeset Alphabet die.

The photo on this last layout was taken in Baily Clorado a couple of years ago at Swirlydoos camp in the mountains. We were tucked away in the hills and it was just so peaceful. The outer circle was punched using my new Martha Stewart circle punch exclusivily sold on HSN at the moment. It wont hit the reatil stores until sometime next year. It came with 3 puch designs, and all you do is purchase the punches for the machine. What is nice is you can punch a 12x12 paper for the size shown in my layout.

I created the flowers using the new Sizzix Tattered Poinsettia die. I forgot that I also had an a embossing folder to match. Using it would have given the flowers so much texture. next time!! The pearls came in a spray in the kit that I just cut apart and used as stamen. Puffy paint is edged on the petals and heated to puff after it dried. Then I just stacked some layers for the middle flower. The others are singles.

Here is a closeup of the single flowers. The green leaves are also a die cut that I cut aprt to create the individual piecs. I sprayed them with Glimmer Mist.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Friday, 12/14 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Saturday 12/15. 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 REALLY 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 to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.

 

                                                              My special word is : SEEK

 

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

Here is the order and blog addresses just in case you get lost along the way!!

Swirlydoos CLICK HERE

Lisa G - CLICK HERE

Miranda - Click Here

Faber-Castell - CLICK HERE

Lynne - CLICK HERE

Prima Educators - CLICK HERE

Heidi - CLICK HERE

Iris Babao Uy (Webster's Pages) - CLICK HERE

Gabrielle Pollacco (Webster's Pages) - CLICK HERE

Jaz Lee (Webster's Pages) - CLICK HERE

Lisa V - CLICK HERE

Rae Moses - Click Here

Angelica - CLICK HERE

Paulien - CLICK HERE

LuminArte - CLICK HERE

Vicky - CLICK HERE

Magic Mike and my Vagabond!!

Remember the Sizzix Where In The World Is Your Vagabond promo???? hhhmmmm....Wondering how mine got here!!! Magic Mike..Your a naughty boy!!!

 

Swirlyoos November Kit 2nd Reveal "Nouveau"

 Krissy introduced us to Luminarte Silks Paint over at Swirlydoos a while ago, opened a special order for us  that allowed us to buy whatever we wanted from Luminarte and added a yummy pot to the current kit. I bought so many gorgeous colors. I couldn't wait to use it on some dimensional molding paste on my layouts. In the add on Embellishment kit was a bottle of Heidi Swapp Color shine mist in Georgia Peach. Such a beautiful color shine!! The photo is my son and daughter in law during a fun moment. The journaling reflects how they took a simple little house they bought when they were first married and turned it into something beautiful just by the happiness of being together.

I used a gel pen to write the journaling. I found the quote on Pinterest.

  I used texture paste and my Donna Downey mask to create the flowers. When the paste was dry, I placed the mask back over the design and sprayed the Color Shine over the tops of the flowers, then used the Silks paints for the base and the stems.

I created a file for the butterflies to match the kit and the colors. I had a lot of fun with this simple layout. It has a lot of texture in real life.

With this next layout. I tried out a new tool I bought. It is the Martha Stewart Decorative Circle maker. Wow...I love it!! It is an HSN special right now and wont find it in stores for a while. I just had to get it. It will punch up to a 12x12 piece of paper. Perfect for the larger circles. The photo is a self portrait I did in the bathroom mirror of The DoubleTree Hotel in Chicago when I was there for CHA in June. The lighting was perfect!! Once again, I found the quote on Pinterest.

The "guilded" flowers were die cut from 2 different dies and after they were put together, I rubbed some Inka Gold in gold over the petals. I also rubbed some on the die cut clock and the photo.

I die cut the tag from card stock in the add on card stock kit, sprayed it with Glimmer Mist in Suede, embossed it and then rubbed some Inka Gold over the raised areas on the tag before inking the edges and added the journaling and the butterflies.

Here is a closeup of the flowers. The dies I used are Alterations Tattered Florals and Tattered Pinecone for the middle.

The little orange berries and leaves is a die from Sizzix. I painted the stems and leaves with acrylic paint and used flocking on the berries for a fuzzy dimensional look.

So go check out the kits at Swirlydoos. The kits are full of the latest projects. Some of the product has not even hit the stores when we get it.
So  join the club and don't miss out on another beautiful kit. Your creativity will be boundless when you start working with all of the beautiful product!! And the inspiration in the forums will get your creative juices flowing in no time!!

Here is the file for the butterflies I created and used on my layout. Feel free to download, print and use. I print them on 4x6 or 5x7 size cardstock, fussy cut the antennae longer, use a sharpie to color them and then spread Rock Candy Stickles over the whole butterfly. Very simple. You could add your own embellishments, rhinestones, stickles glitter. Give your wings some bling to beautify them!!

Welcome to Swirlydoos' November Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

 If you came here from Larissa'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 !!  Also, as an extra special twist, 1 of our designers is hiding a secret prize on their blog!!!!!  Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!!  Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

The Kit... Nouveau

click the photo to see the kit and all of it's glorious add ons. 
 

The Sketch created by our very talented Beggahuna.

 Here is my interpretation on the sketch. I took the photo's last year during a newborn photoshoot. Little Abigail was so darn sweet.

I created the flowers using the add on card stock and Spellbinders Rose Creations die set. The smaller flowers are from Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms die. I used Prima ink in worn jeans  on the Dusty Attic

 A file on the butterflies can be found at Swirlydoos. I did some machine sewing on the page and the small flourishes are Die-namics. I added the Wilton doily after coloring it with Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mist. The 2 tone shimmer of those sprays are amazing. It is like Chromalusion Car paint. The color changes in the light. I bought the paint during one of Krissy's open Special Orders for subscribers at Swirlydoos.

This layout was created  when I became inspired by the cooler weather here in Florida. I could smell autumn in the air for just a moment. I just found out a few weeks ago that a lot of the Alterations dies also have a matching embossing folder. I had the Tattered  Leaves die and was so excited to find out that their was an embossing folder to create the veins in the leaves. So I ordered it online and waited for the man in the brown truck to deliver!! 4 days later I was creating fall leaves. Using the lighter tan card stock from the dd on kit, I sprayed the leaves with Glimmer Mist and Lindy's sprays. Then I embossed the veins and finished them off with a little Inka Gold for a golden autumn shimmer.

 I took the self portraits of me a couple of years ago in the peak of autumn in the woods behind our home. The leaves don't really change color here.

The sweet flowers are KaiserCraft. I just dusted them with a little chalk ink.

And can you believe I made actual  pinecones for the first time from my Tattered Pine Cones die???!! I usually just make the roses. I nestled them in my tattered leaves.

This layout was built around the photo of my son when he was just a wee little one sitting on the steps of my parents home. The iron railing, the potted flowers my mom always kept at the base of the steps inspired my design. There was a bird bath and plants that always attracted butterflies in her front garden. I miss sitting on those steps.

Here is a closeup of the Alterations birdcage. I used a Sizzix die for the bird. The Hot-air balloon chip board is from the embellishment add on kit. The roses were created with the Alterations tattered Pinecone die and sprayed with the wonderful Heidi Swapp Color Shine that was in the Embellishment kit. Georgia Peach is the color. Gorgeous!! The butterflies were the file I created specifically for this kit and can be found in the forum at Swirlydoos.

Just a closeup of the stitching, flowers and different leaves cut for the layout.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, 11/14 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 11/15.  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 REALLY 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 to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.    Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : Good

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

Zva Creative October DT Blog Hop!

 Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcome you to join us for our October Blog Hop! We are happy to have you join us and hope you enjoy all that we have to share with you along the way!

The Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's 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 will be sharing 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 photo in the layout is of my mom, sister and grandmother on Mothers Day. 3 Generations. At the time, we had 5 generations, but now we are back to 4 with the passing of my beloved grandmother. For this layout I used K and Company's new Susan Winget collection "Floral". It is beautiful! The colors are divine. Using Zva Creatives products on this layout seemed fitting.



I used Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die to create the pink flowers. And the McGill Sun punch for the middles.

The  gorgeous pearl  flourish is Flourishes- Taupe Pearl -[CR-05CB-109]

The beautiful frilly pink flower is the  3" Dual-Frosty Flowers - White & Pink -[FL-04CA-124] It comes in a 2 pack and the other color is white.

The daisy flowers were created using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and the middles were created the same as the smaller pink flowers.

Just a closeup of the flowers.

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, October 29th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, October 30th. 

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, October 31st on Zva Creative's blog. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva's blog on Wednesday.

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 blog and leave a comment there to tell us that you made it there!

 The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative's blog. Your next stop is to the very talented Susan Lui's blog.  Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

FabScraps The Enchanted Garden Collection.

 I had the pleasure of working in the FabScraps booth at The Collins Show in Orlando last week. What gracious and beautiful hosts, Michelle and Bee were!! While they worked their retail magic, I demonstrated creating flowers, tags and cracker boxes with FabScraps wonderful papers!! One of the newest collections is The Enchanted Garden. With 4 different color ranges, I chose the purple/lavender papers in the collection to create this layout.

 The 2 papers I chose were Pink Flamingos C52 005 and Pink Flamingos C52 006. I found a coordinating solid card stock to compliment the papers.

Enchanted Gardens Paper Flowers Die-Cut 8x8 pad  is full of wonderful prescored flowers so all you have to do is pull them apart, fold and secure them with your favorite adhesive. There are half fans as well as full fans with eyelet edges. 

  

FabScraps also makes the most wonderful chip board pieces to go with each collection. In this LO I used Birds On A Wire Border 6/Pkg, 7"X1.5" DC52 005 and Die-Cut Grey Chipboard Word Girl 2"X1.5" DC52 022. For the purple flowers I used Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters Collection die,  and the smaller flowers are Spellbinders bitty Blossoms. die.

I also die cut my own flowers using card stock and leftover scraps of the FabScraps paper. For the leaves I die cut the lighter part of the paper and lightly sprayed it with some Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine.The 2 beautiful brass filigree butterflies on the layout are part of a beautiful collection of Boxed Filigree Embellishment Assortment 80 Pieces. 
They are perfect for embellishing tags and cards as well as altered items and layouts. I can picture them as part of jewelry making as well. There are 10 each of 8 designs. Plenty for all of your projects. 

 Step by Step Instructions on creating the layout:
1. Punch around the page C52 005 using a decorative punch
2. Adhere this piece to a solid colored card stock in a complemented color.
3. Layer a 10x10 piece of  C52 006 over the C52 005. I used my sewing machine to secure. 
4. Pop out and create some of the Enchanted Gardens Paper Flowers. 
5. Die cut some leaves from the lighter part of the paper and color with your choice of sprays or inks. 
6. Cut a circle from C52 006 and distress edges. 
7. Punch one side of a small strip of C52 005 using a decorative punch and back it with the coordinating solid card stock. 
8. Place Circle in middle of page and secure. 
9. Place matted strip toward and over the bottom part of the circle. 
19.Mat your photo and place it over the circle and strip as shown.
11.Arrange your flowers and leaves around the page. 
12.Tuck some diecut flourishes under the flowers. 
13.Paint the chipboard pieces and place them on the page. 
14.Place your filigree butterflies on the page.
 

Swirlydoos October Blog Hop and Kit reveal "Belle Chanson"

Welcome to Swirlydoos' October Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!

If you came here from Larissa's'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 !!  Also, as an extra special twist, 2 of our designers are hiding secret prizes on their blogs!!!!!  Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!!  Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!
Click on the kit picture to take you to the main page and see all of the gorgeous add ons for this months kit. Belle Chanson.

This photo's on this first layout are of my daughter in uniform and a close up of her present Chef Coat. She loves her job at Jack's Place in Orlando. She is proud of what she does and wears an invisible crown while she works. And there is always a smile on her face as she is happy when she works...

The smaller flowers were created with Spellbinders Rose Creations die and colored with Lindy's Moonshadow mist. I topped them with the sweet Prima Roses. The banner was cut out free hand and glued to a lightweight jute.

Here is a closeup of the cluster. The smaller pink rose was created using Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms die. The leaves are also part of the set. Die cut and colored with Glimmer mist in Olive Vine. My all time fave green color for leaves. I hope they never stop making this color!!

The beautiful trinkets from Prima are just so sweet. I used one to dangle from my flower cluster.

Just another closeup of my framed photo, banner and flowers. I colored the little Wilton doilies (not in the kit) with the same color as the flowers.

This is going to be The Anatomy Of A Layout. Step by step instructions are posted in the forums for this LO. It will also include a quick tutorial for the flowers.

The banner was cut from the packaging from Prima. A bonus!! The pictures on some of them are so sweet. See the little nest with the robins eggs? I love it!!

Just a closeup of the flowers. They were die cut from A Heartfelt Creations die made by Spellbinders. The name is Tattered Blossoms. The stamp that goes to the die by Heartfelt Creations is also beautiful, but I opted not to stamp the flowers this time.

This next layout is a picture of my daughter when she was really little...She manages to climb up this chair by herself. She was always my little adventure seeker.

I created the roses with Sizzix Tattered Pinecone die. It makes the cutest quickest roses. The leaves were stamped using Heartfelt Creations Leafy Swirls die (retired). Then they were colored with Glimmer Mist in Olive Vine.

Just another closeup of some of the different leaves I die cut from the excess paper I cut out from behind the blue card stock strip in the middle of this LO. The butterflies can be found in the tutorials section at Swirlydoos. I always create a butterfly file to match each kit.

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, 10/10 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 10/11.  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 REALLY 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 sentemce. 
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.     Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is :  meaning 

The party ends here...But stay tuned at Swirlydoos all month long as the Design Team drop off layouts  throughout the month for the second half of our reveal!!!

If you joined the party somewhere in the middle. Head on Back to Swirlydoos Blog to start the Hop.