Live Each Day featuring Blue Fern Studios

Today is the day that I posted my first Blog entry into the Blue Fern  Studios Blog. I hope you go visit the blog, as one by one the fabulous Design Team is introducing themselves and posting the most incredible gorgeous designs using Blue Fern Studios fabulous chip board. 

Here is mine...

For the Leaf Frame, I painted the frame with a heavy coat of white Gesso, and while the paint was still wet, I lightly sprayed on some Color Shine spray in Georgia Peach and watched it pool on the chip board. The result was a beautiful design replication of some of the patterned paper I used for the layout. 

 Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE creating my own flowers. I used the Tattered Florals die for the flower petals and the McGill sun punch for the middle. They are very similar to my Passion Daisy tutorial. Just use the same size flowers for all 3 layers. 

This is just a closeup of one of the flowers. 

I painted the nested Circles using Silks Glaze paint in Olive Vine. I ordered a generous supply at Swirlydoos. The  Silks paint gave the chipboard a beautiful shimmer. 

Wasting nothing, I used the throwaway piece after punching out one of the nested circles. I thought it framed the smaller piece wonderfully. 

Blue Fern Studios

                                                                       Nested Circles

Model: 074455

I used the Spellbinders Persian Motifs die under the Nested Circles. The metal butterfly is from FabScraps. All of the little flowers you see were left over from Swirlydoos kits. The journaling frame is a Spellbinders labels die. 

Blue Fern Studios

Leaf Frame

Model: 074356

Please follow along with the Blue Fern Studios Blog, and see what the fabulously talented Design Team will be posting. You will surely be inspired, as they bring you new techniques to adorn your chip board. 

Thanks for stopping by and look forward to more inspiration to come!

xo

Lisa

Our Bank Of America Nightmare

I know this is a happy place. I only post positive, creative, happy things here. But I have a story to tell because I am ANGRY. After 3 years of torture, I cant take it anymore, and I will focus my time on getting my story out there before it is to late. This letter is going out to every single influential person or entity I can think of. Somehow, I want justice....

Personal Message:
After 3 years of no action, and our credit ruined. I am taking my story worldwide until something is done. 

Back in 2009, my Mortgage with Countrywide was transferred to Bank of America (BOA) , and that is when our BOA nightmare began. We have owned our current home since 2003 which was the year construction was completed. My husband and I have been homeowners and have been paying a mortgage payment since 1988 and have always been covered with homeowners insurance. We have NEVER missed a payment, never lapsed on a payment, never took advantage of the “skip a payment” option offered, never received any kind of assistance to help us with payments. We have always met our financial obligations. One month, I received my mortgage statement in the mail, and it was more than my regular payment of $1055.21. I could not understand and thought it to be a mistake and called Bank of America to find out why my payment had increased. I was given a song and a dance about the amount needed to cover my escrow account. I proceeded to inform them that I did not have an escrow account with Bank of America. I got nowhere with the representative. So I sent my normal amount of 1055.21. The following month, I received my next statement with a different amount even more than the last statement, PLUS late charges. I called Bank of America again, explaining to them that we had a fixed rate, 30 year mortgage. There is no way that my payment should increase, after some searching, the representative told me the money added to my payment was part of funds placed into an escrow account that Bank Of America created to cover the Lenders Placed Homeowners insurance they imposed on our home. We explained to them that we had Homeowners insurance and our premiums were paid through Statefarm. I called Statefarm, and they confirmed they had given the bank a Declarations Page for the Insurance, as we had as well. Like we did every year since homeownership. The representative said that because they had no proof of insurance Re: A declarations page ( Did Countrywide neglect to transfer over that vital part of information when BOA took over our loan??) that BOA just went ahead and imposed the insurance on our home. I never received any information prior to this about Lenders placed Homeowners insurance, and I didn’t get any letters or phone calls explaining why they did his without letting us know. And I never received notification that they didn’t have that information prior to imposing their own insurance on our home. As far as I was concerned, because nothing had changed with my State Farm Homeowners insurance, there was no need to do anything different. Then the harassing phone calls began. Phone calls from Bank of America Collections department trying to collect the money that they said I was delinquent on. In the meantime, I continued to pay my scheduled monthly payment of 1055.21. I would make them every month and on time. I made numerous phone calls and each and every time I spoke to a representative, I was transferred to another one. It was always a different department. We hoped they could clear up why the debt collection department was calling us and make it right. Instead, we were back to dealing with whatever nameless, faceless BofA customer rep happened to take our call, who in turn would bounce us around to countless other reps in countless other departments, each time having to retell our story, until, a few hours later, we were ‘accidentally’ disconnected, or we parted with no resolution. They could not give us names, phone numbers or emails of anyone to whom we could speak directly about our problem. The right didn’t know what the left was doing. Then I was told they could not speak to me because I wasn’t authorized being that my name is not on the loan. I had to fax confirmation from my husband allowing them to speak to me. I faxed the confirmation. Over and over and over again.The harassing phone calls continued throughout the day and evening. Sometimes as many as 12 phone calls a day. Each and every representative refused to help me stating there was nothing they could do about it, or they would transfer me to a different department and I would have to repeat my story again and again and again. Most of them gave me the same number to call over and over. The number always took me back to the collections department. So many times the call ended abruptly either through disconnection, or a representative that just didn’t want to be bothered. Some were downright rude. Still the harassing phone calls continued. And these phone calls were coming from India…Really??? There was always a foreigner on the phone trying to “extort” money from us. I finally got a representative who said if I sent them the Declarations page for my Homeowner’s Insurance from State Farm, that they would be able to fix the problem. So I faxed over the Declarations Page proving that I had insurance. She said it would take about 48 hours to process. I waited to hear back from them…Nothing. We received more continuing harassing phone calls and more statements with increased amounts including mounting late charges. I called again. This time I went to Statefarm. Had them investigate the last 4 years of statements and payments, proved that I had NEVER lapsed on Homeowners insurance and proceeded to call Bank Of America once again. This time I had Statefarm call bank of America with the information. State farm faxed over the information that Bank of America asked for. (State farm also faxed me the same information they faxed to BOA) A couple of weeks passed and the harassing phone calls continued. The statements never changed and now we were getting letters threatening foreclosure proceedings if we didn’t bring our account up to date. We would also get packages from FedEx that I would have to sign for from Bank of America containing application for Loan Modification. What for??? We pay our loan payments on time. Why would I need loan modification? By this time almost a year had passed since the problem started. All I got was empty promises from Bank of America that the problem would be rectified. One day, a woman appeared at our home. She was walking around the house with a clipboard in her hand. My husband went out and asked her who she was and what she wanted. She wanted to know if the homeowners still resided in the residence. My husband was dumbfounded. He explained that he was the homeowner and yes he still lived there. She proceeded to tell him who she was and explained she was sent to the house from Bank of America. They wondered if the house was abandoned. My husband told her to get off of the property or he would call the police. She left. I called the bank and never got an answer as to who this woman was just that it is their policy when they need to see the condition of the home or whether or not it has been abandoned. Now we were in shock and feeling totally helpless. When I called Bank of America to find out if they received the Declarations page from Statefarm, they said they could not rectify the matter because the page was from the wrong year. I went back to Statefarm and told them what happened. They contacted BOA and sent them the last 4 years Declarations pages proving that we always had insurance. And the information was ALWAYS forwarded to our Mortgage servicers. BOA apologized and explained to us since the take over there must have been a “glitch” in the system and the insurance information was either lost, not carried over, or sitting in a different department that had not crossed the information over. A glitch in the system was the representative’s exact words. Once again there were promises that the problem would be rectified. But they weren’t. By this time, I had spent countless hours on the phone, taken days off of work to deal with the problem and suffered many sleepless nights dealing with the situation. All the while feeling helpless against one of the biggest corporations in the world and getting nowhere fast. BOA appeared untouchable. My husband’s credit was ruined and the stress this mess has caused just kept getting worse. Sleepless nights, heart palpitations, headaches, stomach problems and anxiety had taken over. I cried more than anyone should have over this awful situation. Over a year had passed and we were in limbo. On the advice of an attorney, he informed us that it was illegal to call so many times in a day, I wrote a letter to BOA and the 12 -15 calls a day dropped to about 2-3 a day. This was a small improvement. But the statements still reflected the amount due and kept accumulating late charges along with the amount due for the ridiculously high amount of BOA’s Lenders Placed Insurance. I made phone call after phone call, talked to one representative after another to try and resolve the problem. Each one saw the problem, and either tried to help or passed it on to someone else. I had to deal with one department after the other, and in more cases than not, the department they transferred me to was the same department to make a payment to bring my account up to date. 75% of the transferred phone calls were to the collections department. Some of the representatives sounded like they were sincere in wanting to help us. Other representatives were cold and nasty in their response to me over the situation. I got answers like “pay your fees and late charges and your problems will be resolved”. Or “We can’t do anything for you until you meet your financial obligations with BOA”. Or Sorry, there is nothing we can do as this is a system error”…WHAT??? Then there were the returned checks. BOA issued us a check a few times because they could not accept partial payment. I would send in my $1055.21 payment on time every month , BOA would state I owed more and take some of the money and send me back a check (refunding my mortgage payment)with a letter stating that they do not accept partial payments so they refunded my mortgage payment minus some money.. We NEVER cashed these checks. I continued to make my regular scheduled mortgage payments on time. Every month…Every time… Finally after almost 2 years, a representative said she investigated the problem and would be able to help us. Her name was Betty. After months, the lenders placed insurance was removed as were some of the other charges. All except around $245.00. I was told I would have to contact another department to have it refunded because it came out of another department. . I contacted the department and they said they would take care of it. Here we go again. Department after department kept transferring me from one to another. The letters continued that I was behind on my mortgage and the late charges are still mounting. Once again, no one is able to help us rectify this situation. I was at my wits end at one time not too long ago and contacted BOA through their online banking service and threatened to go to the St. Petersburg Times in Tampa (our local newspaper) and expose BOA for everything they have put us through in the last 2 years. That is when I got a phone call from a woman named Angel Baker who said she was from the BOA Office of the CEO and Presidents Executive Customer Relations. She apologized for the mess that BOA has caused and she would do everything she could in her power to help straighten out the mess. She left her number and extension number if there were any problems. 877 498-7226 ext: 2796. In her follow up phone call because it was a weekend, she would follow up with me the following week. In that follow up phone call she said the problem would be resolved but to give it time for all parties involved to fix the account. Last month, when I tried to call Angel Baker at the number she gave me, when I dialed the extension, I got a recording that the number no longer existed……And there were no options to speak to anyone else. I truly believed the problem would finally be resolved…We were sadly mistaken… Once again, we started receiving phone calls and letters stating that we were now 1 month behind on our mortgage. And when we told them we paid, BOA stated that our current payment was taken for the month before. No one was able to tell us when the payment was missed. 2 weeks ago, a man came to the house, placed a note on the door, my husband asked where he was from and he told my husband to call the number on the paper. We called the number on the paper and got nowhere. All we got was a recording that it was a debt collector from BOA, and only offered options, to make a payment. Finally on November 13, 2012 we were persistent and called the number again this time going through all of the motions until we were able to speak to a live representative. The representative went through the payment history and found that we were 1 month behind on our mortgage which we were still in foreclosure proceedings since 2010. She took her time going through the history from 2009, but became very confused as to where the problem started, she was able to see dates where it looks like the account reflected different reversal payments, and still could not find where the problem started. Only that we were a month behind. When we explained our situation and told her that we had contacted an attorney to assist us because we had been unable to have the problem resolved after almost 3 years, she told us that because of getting an attorney involved, that she would have to transfer us to a supervisor. The supervisor Aron Alvarado listened to our story researched the payment history and after about 30 minutes told us that he found out what the problem was. One of our mortgage payments had been applied to an escrow account BOA created for lenders placed homeowners insurance they took out on our property, and even after proof that we always maintained our own, and BOA’s insurance was removed, that mortgage payment was never applied back to our payment history. It just sat in escrow. He offered to rectify the situation and said we would have to call a different department, and then offered to call it for us. He then said he would have to research and call the department, it would take him about 30 minutes and he would call us back. But he would be able to have everything reversed and it would take about 48 hours before we would see the change in our statements. We left him 2 contact numbers, our home phone and a cell phone. He never got back to us. He never returned our phone calls. And the problem was never resolved. Over the course of the 2+ years, BOA could never find a faxed letter of authorization to allow me to speak to a representative. Another frustrating situation as I am the one who takes care of the household finances and record keeping. We believe a serious injustice has been committed against us as homeowners. We have been in a BOA nightmare since 2010. The worry, that one day we would come home from work and there would be a notice to evict on our door. The worry that after 34 years of hard work to maintain home ownership, that it would be taken away from us in the blink of an eye because of a “glitch” in the system. The sleepless nights, the times taken off from work to spend making phone calls, the countless letters, emails, the worry, the anxiety. I have recently cut my hours at my job, because I can’t handle the stress anymore. This nightmare has taken a toll on my health. This is when we finally decided that we could not let this go. That BOA was going to compensate us for all of the problems they have caused us and our family, so this will NEVER happen to anyone else, ever again. We want to finally awake from this nightmare, and be able to move on with our lives in peace, without the worry of not having a roof above our heads. Now the new nightmare begins. BOA has transferred our mortgage to Residential Credit Solutions. Inc…I have been investigating to find out what kind of company this is, and I read these words… “RCS is a Fort Worth financial services company that describes itself as expert "on credit-sensitive residential loans" -- which means at-risk loans or those slipping into foreclosure.RCS says it buys troubled loans, many of them subprime, and works to help owners keep their homes. Foreclosure, a company spokesman once told me, is the last resort.But that's not what a customer and hundreds of other RCS customers say. They claim in complaints on consumer websites, with government agencies and with The Watchdog that the company is a foreclosure mill where employees purposely delay responses to customers' concerns to make it difficult for owners to keep their houses.” On January 3, I called Residential credit Solutions because I got a letter stating my December payment was not received. I explained to them that the December payment was made to BOA as instructed by them and the next payment in January was to be paid to RCS. I did an online payment to RCS today January 3, 2013 for my January payment. RCS states that I owe them Dec and Jan. RCS told me it does not have the full payment history from BOA as of yet. I explained to them the history behind this missing payment, and it is now assumed that BOA did not rectify the situation, probably applying my payment to the “missing” payment therefore reflecting I was 2 months behind on my mortgage. BOA basically transferred a “bad” loan and is now making it RCS’s problem. We are not amused as I am hearing a lot of negative press about how quickly RSC forecloses on customers. Now we are really scared. What has BOA done to us? We have a spotless payment history. Law abiding citizens. Would never do anything to cause anyone problems. Now BOA won’t even talk to us. And we are being harassed by RCS for money that we don’t even owe. BOA transferred our mortgage that they screwed up, promised to fix, never did and And now we probably have to pay for an attorney to get out of a situation BOA placed us in because of a “Glitch” in their system. I want BOA held accountable for all of the stress and heartache they have caused us. This is our life!! I am looking for someone who will help us. We want our story told. We want FRONT PAGE NEWS!!! I am at a loss for words…and desperate to find a solution to end this nightmare… Regards, Lisa Nazario-Gregory

Blue Fern Studios Inspiration.

 I am having so much creative fun with Blue Fern Studios beautiful chipboard designs. Here is a sneak of just a couple of the designs that are available right now. I used a window and a flourish on this layout.  I opted to do some acrylic paining on the pieces  then used some Silks glaze over the paint. On the flourish, I used a Uni-ball pen in white to add some detail to the leaves and vine. There are so many possibilities to adorning the chipboard. Keep your eye for some tutorials on how to dress up your chipboard pieces. I used K and Company papers in spring patterns and colors because I wanted this layout to fell light and airy. I absolutely adore the Princess Window chipboard. I just adhered the photo beneath and it framed the photo beautifully. 

Blooming Flourish Model: 074509

Princess Window Model: 074578

Visit Blue Fern Studios Blog to learn more about Blue Fern and it's history, and get to know the people involved. And in the coming weeks, you will meet each of the designers behind the creations. You will surely be inspired as the Design Team is packed with Top Talent!! I am proud and honored to work among each and every one of them!!

Goodbye 2012

Well I have a scrapping lineup for 2013!!! I cant wait to get creative this year. With 2012 behind me, I am taking on a new approach to the way I will be creating my art. Fun, fun, fun... No, not changing my style, but I will dipping my paintbrush in a few different places. So look out for tutorials, more layouts, and I will continue to supply you with butterfly files. I look forward to my new venture with Blue Fern Studios and watch it grow like Wild Fire!! And I will be Guest Designing for some amazing companies along the way. I am very excited for this year to bring me creative adventures. You never know where you will see me pop up!! For now, I will leave you with my favorite layouts that I created in 2012.

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!!