Last Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge

Hello blog friends, if you've been to the LOTV challenge blog already then you've already found out that this is our last challenge. There will be an independent LOTV challenge blog but it will be run by our very own Jacqui. Look for it in 2012. The Inspire blog will be LOTV's focus, with lots of new and exciting content in the coming year. While I am sad that challenge blog will be no more, I am eager to see what's in store for the Inspire blog! 

Now onto the final challenge. We're using Pink, White and Silver for our projects today. I thought of this beautiful image right away, 'Christmas Magic'. She looks perfectly elegant in her pretty coat and scarf, and pink is her color. 

I stamped her in Memento Ink, using London Fog instead of black for a softer look. 

She's colored with Copics, and the fur is glittered with Stickles. The patterned papers are hard to see in the pictures, but they're the Victorian Holiday collection from Raspberry Road designs. I love the beautiful pale pinks, soft blue greens and vintage designs in this collection. 


See the tiny tag I attached to the bow? I love tiny tags, but there seems to be a shortage of really small sentiments to fit on them. I have some, but I love variety. I came up with a solution... I printed a ton of little sentiments in all kinds of fonts on a sheet of paper. And yes, I spent an hour punching them all out with a SU tag punch, lol! But at least I'll have a dozen different kinds of holiday sentiments ready to go at any time. 


Thanks for stopping by, take care!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento
Paper: The Paper Co. silver cardstock, Bazzill, Hammermill, PTI Autumn Rose
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Fleur de Lis squares, silver satin ribbon, jingle bells, baker's twine, Copics, Stickles, white trim from Webster's Pages

LOTV Thursday Challenge 'Creature Comforts'

Hello friends, are you gearing up to place your orders for the new stamps from LOTV? Which ones will you be ordering? It's a difficult decision I know!

For our Creature Comforts challenge this week, I went with this adorable critter 'April Showers'. Sometimes these easy-to-color images are great, they are super fast to do. And the matching sentiment is great, no more wasting time digging through my stash trying to find just the right one!

The little kitty is colored with Copics, and I went over the raindrops and the puddle with Crystal Lacquer to make it 'wet' looking. 

What to do you all think of the puffy little rain clouds? I wasn't too sure about these, but I spent so much time sewing them up I couldn't leave them off, lol! They're simply wool felt die cut clouds (die from Papertrey Ink) that I stitched together and stuffed. Then I added little rain drops with clear seed beads dangling from embroidery thread. Guess where that inspiration came from?! Mel Stampz of course....that woman is a genius!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to join in the challenge for a chance to win a prize.


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Distress
Paper: Hammermill, Bazzill, Cosmo Cricket, Memory Box
Tools & Accessories: EK Success edge punch, wool felt, embroidery floss, PTI ribbon/button, Copics, Crystal Lacquer, seed beads, PTI banner/cloud dies

Warm 'n Cozy

Here's something totally different for me. I've seen a few cards with actual knitted items on them and LOVED them, I knew I'd have to try it sometime. I don't knit, but my mother does so I asked her to whip up a bunch of mini scarves for me. She was happy to oblige!

Since Papertrey Ink was featuring a challenge which was right up my alley, multi stamp background building, I figured I'd join in! I love using PTI background stamps, they make it easy to build gorgeous patterned papers. 

I used the Twinkle set as well as a snowflake from Peace Be Still in Scarlet Jewel, Ocean Tides and Antique Linen. I love rustic holiday colors.

I used my favorite Vineyard impression plate to create the Ocean Tides layer and made my own 'label-look' with a Martha Stewart edge punch and a corner rounder. The sentiment is from Snowfall.


Thanks for stopping by!

IO Thursday Challenge Hostess Gifts

Hello everyone! It's time for our Impression Obsession Thursday challenge. This week we're making hostess gifts. I love making projects like this, a pretty package and a coordinating card make such a nice presentation. 

I made a little gable box with a window using my Gazelle and filled it with some fall colored Reese's Pieces. Some pretty patterned papers from Stampin Up and a gold silk bow finish the box off nicely. 

The wreath image was colored with SU and Tombow markers using a blender pen to give it that nice watercolor look. I love fall colors, deep reds, golds, rich browns, just gorgeous!


See the good thing about being a paper crafter is that we can always come up with last minute gifts using the supplies we have on hand. Some pretty papers, nice ribbon and tag and you can bang out a box or a bag in no time. You don't even have to have the chocolates or candy in the house, just stop at the convenience store on the way over to the dinner party and fill 'er up, lol!


Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Leaf Wreath, Happy Thanksgiving
Ink: Memento
Paper: Core'dinations, SU
Tools & Accessories: Silk ribbon, Spellbinders labels, EK Success scallop punch, SU markers, Tombow blender marker, Crystal Laquer, Stickles, Gazelle

For more hostess gift ideas check out what the other DT members are making:

Jeanne

Julie

Daniela

Dina

Laura

Lily of the Valley Thank You Challenge

Good morning! This week we're making Thank you cards. You can never have too many of these in your stash! I chose to use 'Milly Flower Power', she's just too cute!

She's colored with Copics. I did a bit of hand stitching around the border of the card, I should really do it more often. Such a little thing adds so much to a card.

Check out that ribbon, is it not divine?! I am such a ribbon junkie, I have too much of it, but it's never enough!
The sentiment is also LOTV, from the Mixed Circular Sentiments set. Papers are Memory Box.


Hop over to the LOTV blog to check out more thank you cards from the DT, get inspired and make your own card. You can enter it to win some awesome goodies from The Ribbon Girl!


Thanks for visiting!

Impression Obsession Orange Challenge

Hello everyone, it's time for our IO Thursday challenge, and our theme is ORANGE. This one kind of scared me, because me and Orange do not get along real well. But then I got to thinking that Halloween is all about Orange, and I love Halloween! Clear as mud right? I don't get it either. I hate orange unless it's for Halloween, lol.

Well once I had my plan for a Halloween card, it was simple to pick a stamp. I've been itching to color this little baby up. It's called 'Trick or Treat' and it's by the new artist Claudia Pearl. Have you seen all the new stamps by this wonderful artist?! They are adorable! 

I water colored the image with Distress inks and a water brush. I went back after it was all dry and deepened some of the shading with a chisel blender using a dry brushing technique. 

The patterned paper was stamped with a couple of Cover-a-card stamps; Gingham and Distressed Corduroy. I wanted some speckles all over it too, so I got my old toothbrush that I use specifically for this technique, watered down some black and white acrylic paints and spattered some on the paper. Love that effect.


We'd love to have you join in on the challenge with us, head on over to the IO blog for all the details on how you can win some IO bucks!


Here's the rest of the DT ladies that are joining in on the challenge too:

Jeanne

Jenny

Julie

Daniela

Dina

Laura

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Impression Obsession Sweetest Pumpkin, CAC Gingham & Distressed Corduroy, Trick or Treat

Ink: Versafine, Distress

Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, PTI, SU, Heavenly White 

Tools & Accessories: PDC spider web cut w/ Gazelle, Glimmer Mist, Spica pens, polka dot ribbon, Americana acrylic paint, old toothbrush

Lili of the Valley Roses Challenge

Hello blog buddies, I'm ready for the LOTV Thursday Challenge! Our theme this week is to use roses in some way on our projects. Not hard to do, I love this rolled rose die from MFT and use it when ever I can! I created a pretty pink one from my hand dyed wool felt. Delicious stuff to work with - that real wool! 

I chose 'Oh Christmas Tree' for my nontraditional colored Christmas card, colored with Copics. While browsing new-to-me digital scrapbook sites last weekend I came across Raspberry Road Designs and ended up purchasing quite a few digital paper packs. I fell in love with this Victorian Holiday set, the colors are beautiful!

I matted the image on two gold die cut frames from Marianne Designs Creatables. Love those elegant scrolls. The rose was attached to some sparkly snowflakes and a couple of pine branch punch outs. A pretty blue-green bow and voila! 


Now if you need more rosy inspiration head on over to the LOTV blog and check out what the rest of the team came up with. Then you can create your own card and enter it for a chance to win some much needed LOTV cash!


Thanks for visiting!

Lili of the Valley Thursday Sketch Challenge # 107

Hello blog friends! We have another sketch this week for our LOTV challenge, a pretty simple one by our very own Domi. 

I decided to go back the the adorable girls from our previous release, 'Maisie Two Balloons'. I never got around to coloring this little cutie, and I knew I wanted to do some paper piecing with some pretty papers. Once again, theses papers are digital. These are from Tracy Ann's Digital Art. Gorgeous papers in that shop!

I colored little Maisie with my Copics, added some shading to the paper piecing too. The little flowers were punched from some EK Success flower punches with Viva Decor Pearl Pen centers. 

I added the scallop border around the oval using a straight edge punch. I punched a long strip of paper, then cut tiny little slits all along the un-punched edge vertically every 1/4" or so. It was simple enough to curve the strip around the oval using this technique. You could add scallops to any shape, lol!


Hope she puts a little smile on your face, thanks for stopping by!

Impression Obsession Sneak Peek Week 2011

Hello again everyone! I've got another card using one of Impression Obsession's newest release and a new to IO artist, Hannah Davies. I LOVE this artist's folk art style. The images and designs are so unique! Wait till you see all the rest of the stuff IO has coming...

I used my new favorite technique, Burnished Velvet for this card. The image was covered with a double sided adhesive sheet tape, Glitter Ritz sprinkled all over it, then burnished it down with my finger. After glittering, I went back with some markers and a water brush and water colored the whole thing. I love the way a little bit of the colors bleed with this technique, it's got a bit of a tie-dye look. 

Make sure you stop by all the other DT member's blogs to get peeks of more new stamps coming to a store near you! 



Jeanne


Jenny
Julie
Daniela
Dina
Laura

If you join in on the challenge, using ONLY IO stamps to make any kind of card you like, you can enter for a chance to win some IO bucks. You're gonna need it when you see all the beautiful stamps coming out! Read all the details on the blog. 


Thanks for visiting!

Lili of the Valley Pink and Blue Challenge

Hello everyone, it's time for our weekly challenge, but I have some news first. Next week Lili of the Valley and Wild Orchid Crafts will be having a Christmas in July party all week long. Make sure to stop by the Inspire blog for all the details.

Now back to the Thursday challenge...

This week we were creating Pink and Blue projects to inspire you. I was feeling a bit blank for a layout and wanted to try something different so I headed over to the CPS blog for a sketch to follow. This sketch was perfect! I've never done a card with large circles, but I thought it would look really pretty. Now, I realized after I had already committed to this sketch that my Nestabilities were not quite as large as I wanted the background circles to be, so I had a dilemma. I thought about tracing and hand cutting them, but with my cutting skills they would be pretty wonky I was sure, lol! Then I remembered an old tool called the Circle Scissors from EK Success. I dig it out and set to work. NOT the easiest tool to work with, and the cuts were less than perfect so I had to distress all the edges. But, I'm pretty satisfied with them.  

I colored Emma's Swing with my Copics. I made the roses from paper with a MFT rolled rose die and the scalloped trim around the largest circle is actually a straight border punch that I cut little slits in so it could curve around the circle. 

We'd love to have you join in on our challenge, head on over to the LOTV blog for more inspiration from the DT, then create your own card and enter for a chance to win a great prize!


Thanks for peeking in!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley, PTI sentiment
Ink: Memento, Distress
Paper: Memory Box, PTI, Hammermill 
Tools & Accessories: MFT rolled rose die, seam binding, Tonic corner rounder, Copics, Circle Scissors, EK Success edge punch, PTI tiny tag die

Impression Obsession 'Hello' Challenge

This week the IO DT are creating cards just to say hello. This one might not actually say hello, but it's a card for no occasion in particular. Perfect if you just want to drop someone a line, let them know you're thinking of them.

I chose this beautiful 'Spiral Shell' stamp, and once again, I've used the burnished velvet technique. Love it! I used some Tombow markers to add a little color right over the glitter with a water brush. 

The papers are Kaisercraft, some Prima lace, and the Martha Stewart shell border punch and we have the perfect card just to say hello!

The sentiment is 'Find the Beautiful'. 


Check out the rest of the DT's hello cards for more inspiration, then create your own card and enter it for a chance to win some IO bucks!




Jeanne

Jenny 
Julie
Daniela
Dina
Laura


Thanks for stopping by!


P.S.- I have two posts up today, to see the LOTV challenge post see here.

Lili of the Valley Thursday Sketch Challenge 104

Hello everyone! Still no Ottlite, so my pictures are seriously edited and not up to par, please excuse. 

I chose this adorable little pup for my card this week, because he goes perfectly with this sentiment from Inkadinkado. I love it. 

(For those of you looking on the LOTV web site for this stamp, please note that it isn't there BUT will be released this autumn.)

Lots of bright primary colors for this card, the puppy got into some paint buckets! I stamped the background paper with a large spatter pattern stamp from Impression Obsession. I colored directly on it with red, yellow and blue watercolor crayons, then misted it with some water and stamped it on water color paper. 

A couple of embossed pieces of Core'dinations paper (sanded) and a bright yellow ribbon. 

I even added a bit of Liquid Glaze to the paint to make it look 'wet'. So bright and colorful, I'm pretty happy with it!


Thanks for looking!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Inkadinkado, Impression Obsession
Ink: Memento
Paper: Water color paper, Hammermill, Core'dinations, Heavenly White card base
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, Copics, Sizzix texture plates, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Liquid Glass, Caran d'ache water color crayons, PTI ribbon

Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge 'Celebrate'

Hello everyone! My OttLite craft lamp saga drags on. I searched high and low for the right replacement bulbs, most places wanted $12 some places wanted $35 for the same bulb! Outrageous, IMO. It's just a light bulb for crying out loud. So as I search online, I see that Lowe's carries them too, for significantly less. I head on over to my nearest Lowe's. Oh, too bad, they don't carry the bulb I need for my lamp. I check online again. Another Lowe's carries them, so I head over to that one. Apparently they're on clearance, there's three left at less than $2 each. I snap them up, bring them home, pop them into my lamp and flip the switch....nothing. I'm getting really upset at this point. I try another bulb, plug it in. Still nothing. I've had this lamp for less than a year, and I get this?! I've contacted OttLite and the customer service rep says they may be able to help me with a replacement. Not sure yet because I don't have a receipt. Hmmph. I'll let you all know how this turns out.

Anyway, enough rambling, it's time for the challenge! For a celebration  I think a wedding is the ULTIMATE of occasions, so I went with that. I chose to work with 'Wedding Carriage' for this card. 

I had to do a lot of finnoogling and editing of these pics because the lamp I'm using now makes everything look so yellow, grrrr....

I decided to use the Burnished Velvet technique to get a really soft look to the image. I just stamped the image on water color paper, colored the skin with Copics then covered it with Sookwang full sheet adhesive, peeled off the liner and sprinkled Glitter Ritz all over it. I rubbed the surface gently with a finger to really stick the glitter down and 'burnish' it. This glitter is so fine, it's almost like powder and this actually feels like velvet. 

After glittering, I went back with some Tombow and Stampin Up markers and water colored the image right over the glitter. I learned that there's a bit more bleeding painting this way, but it actually worked to my advantage because I got some really pretty blending of colors completely by accident. I think it helps not to use too many different colors as the result could get muddy. I kept the colors simple. 

The last picture is a bit darker than it actually is IRL, but when photographing an almost all white card, the contrast needs to be higher to show all the detail.


Thanks for looking and I hope to see you join in on our challenge and enter it for a chance to win some LOTV cash!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley, PTI sentiment
Ink: Memento
Paper: Water color paper, PTI c/s and vellum
Tools & Accessories: Taffeta ribbon, pearl head pins, Martha Stewart small tag and PATP punches, Sizzix texture plate, Creatables die, Viva Decor Pearl pen, silver bugle beads

Lili of the Valley Thursday Sketch Challenge 102

Hello everyone! We have a lovely sketch by Donalda for this week's challenge over at LOTV. I think working from sketches are my absolute favorite challenges. They really help me break out of my usual layout 'rut'. 

I used the new Emma in the Garden stamp, colored in pencils. I went with a very Victorian theme to go with the beautiful Pink Paislee 'Butterfly Garden' collection of papers. Lacy doily and some distressed texture for the background layer. 

See that gorgeous sparkly butterfly in the upper left corner? That's one of those Stampendous Class A'peels stickers that I saw used on this blog and absolutely fell in love with the technique! So beautiful, and that microfine glitter, wow, you can color over it with markers and make it any color you want. 


Now make sure you check out all the inspiration from the other DT members, then create your own card for a chance to win some LOTV bucks. 


Thanks for dropping by!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley, PTI tiny tag sentiment
Ink: Distress
Paper: Neenah, Heavenly White, Pink Paislee, Core'dinations, PTI
Tools & Accessories: SU embossing folder & ribbon, colored pencils, Cheery Lynn doily die, Copics, Class A'peels butterfly sticker, Art Institute Glitter, SU markers, Nestabilities, PTI Tiny Tags die

Impression Obsession 'Summer Greetings'

Good morning blog friends! This week for the Impression Obsession Thursday challenge we're creating Summer themed cards. And you know what came to mind when I think of hot summer days? Sitting by a still lake looking out over the reeds and rushes and watching the dragonflies zooming around. The sound of peepers and crickets filling the warm air, the sun hot on my shoulders. I'm starting to sweat already, ha ha!

This image was perfect for my vision of summer, 'Cattail Dragonfly'. 

Trying to recreate the amazing colors and shimmer of dragonfly wings is near impossible with paper, but I did my best. I stamped them first on Neenah cardstock, and once on vellum. I colored the main image in colored pencils, then colored the back of the stamped vellum for more subtle colors. 

The body of the dragonfly looked a little dull to me, so I went over it with a Sakura Glaze pen to make it look shiny. I went over the vellum wings with a clear Spica pen for a bit of shimmer. I wanted to use glitter to really make them sparkle, but I remember using Stickles on vellum once before and the vellum warped pretty badly.

I added a bit of brown flocking to the left side of the cattail for some texture. I really wanted to make the whole thing fuzzy like real cattails, but I wasn't sure it would look right. Maybe I'll try it next time. 


Are you ready for more summer inspiration? Head on over to the rest of the DT's blogs and check out their beautiful creations. Then you can create your own card and enter it for a chance to win some IO cash, read the details on the IO blog. 


Thanks for looking, have a great day!

• Daniela Dobson
• Deborah March
• Dina Kowal
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Julie Koerber
• Laura Fulcher
• 
  

Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge ANYTHING GOES!

Good morning one and all! It's time again for LOTV's weekly challenge, this was an easy one because anything goes. Of course I chose to work with the sweeter-than-sweet new images coming out next week, this one is Milly- Cuddle Time.

I went rather clean and simple for this card and I'll tell you why. I really wanted to used several different patterns from the Cosmo Cricket De Lovely paper pad, without too much else interfering with them. I find using too many patterns, colors, embellishments can be a bit overwhelming at times. Especially if the colors are very bold. 

Sooo, clean and simple it is, at least CAS for me, loL! 
Little Milly and her friends are colored with colored pencils, blended with OMS. I only used Copics for her skin. 
I may add a sentiment to this one, just not sure what. Suggestions?


Thanks for dropping by!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Paper: Neenah, Core'dinations, PTI, Cosmo Cricket
Tools & Accessories: PTI ribbon/button, EK Success tiny scallop punch, colored pencils, OMS

Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge 'Punch it'

Hello blog friends, it's time for our LOTV challenge, this week we're using punches, dies, whatever to create some shapes. I almost always use some sort of punches, or die cut shapes for most of my projects anyway, they're so much fun! 

I chose this little guy with a sailboat for my card today.

He's colored with pencils, quick and easy. I decided to use different patterned papers to create a sort of 'scene' around the image. The waves were cut using a MFT die-namics from Cosmo Cricket Salt Air paper, the 'sand' is some kraft colored Crepe paper, and the sunny yellow cloud paper is also Cosmo Cricket. 

A few little wool felt clouds cut with a PTI die complete the scene. I also added some strips of red striped ribbon to resemble flags that might be on a sailboat, or at least, I think I've seen something like it on some kind of boat, lol!


The sentiment is also from LOTV, 'Happy Circular Sentiments'. 


I hope you can join in on our challenge, we'd love to see what you come up with for the Punch It theme!


Thanks for stopping by!

Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge 'Believe in Fairies'

Hello fellow LOTV fans, it's that time of the week again. Our theme this Thursday is 'I believe in fairies'. Who doesn't love the LOTV fairies?! I know I do and this little darling is called 'On Tiptoe'. My first LOTV fairy stamp and I love her just as much as when I first inked her up.

I pulled out the ole Copic markers to color with this time, just to keep with the times. I do prefer my pencils, but it's good to keep practicing with all the other coloring mediums I have. I have to justify spending a small fortune for them, so they do get used once in a while, lol! I'm always afraid I'm going to run them dry though, and I'll have to invest in refills, which I can not afford at the moment! I've had them about a year and had to refill three already, hmmph!

See the pretty background paper? I made that with some of the clear 'additions' stamp sets. I used the 'Folk Flowers' set to stamp on a plain piece of light blue paper from a Memory Box collection. You know how you always get one or two plain papers in those paper pads? I never use them as is, so I spruced it up a bit. I just stamped in white embossing powder and added a bit of pale colors here and there with my Copics. Soft and subtle, I really like it. 


I added some grass on the bottom with a die cut, but when I saw the piece of paper left after cutting, an idea hit me. I could use it as a stencil to create inked grass. So I did, just used a little sponge dauber and Distress ink for an extra dimension behind the die cut grass. Pretty neat!


Want to see some more fairies? Head over to the LOTV challenge blog check out the gorgeousness from the rest of the DT, then you'll be inspired to join in on the fun. 


Thanks for visiting!


Stamps: Lili of the Valley- On Tiptoe, Folk Flowers and Dreamy Days sentiments
Ink: Memento, Versamark, Paper Salon, Distress
Paper: PTI, Memory Box
Tools & Accessories: MFT Die-namics grass, lime ribbon, white embossing powder, Copics, Stickles, Nestabilities, McGill circle punch

May 2011 PTI Blog Hop 'Flowers'

Hello everyone! I was home sick today (nasty sore throat) and had some time, so I decided to join in on the Papertrey Ink blog hop. The challenge was to showcase our favorite take on flowers. Well, thanks to the talented Michelle Wooderson, I first saw gold embossed flowers on her blog a while ago. Now it is my favorite way to stamp flowers!

After embossing the Violets I water colored them and cut them out. I decided to use them to embellish a tiny envelope because my Postmarks stamp set has not seen ink yet. Yeah, terrible I know! I love making the pretty little stamps, in any color- a bunch of different stamp combinations and a matching die. So cute!

Now I'm off to check out the other blog hoppers, looks like a ton of beautiful cards to look at! 
Thanks for peeking in!


Stamps: PTI YOF Violets, Postmarks
Ink: Versamark, Memento, Memories, PTI
Paper: PTI, small gift envelope
Tools & Accessories: purple satin ribbon, PTI Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon, Filigree embossing powder,Viva Decor Pearl Pen

Lili of the Valley Summer Challenge

Well, I know I'm late posting my LOTV summer challenge card, but after a very stressful week at work, it's hard to summon up the energy to do anything. I'm not even stamping as much as I want to! :-(

Anyway, when I think summer, I think picnics, plaid tablecloths, flowers, bumblebees and yellow sunny days. This card captures it all.

I stamped the BG papers myself since I didn't have anything close to what I had in mind, and because I love making my own BG papers. The image is Teddy Bear Picnic, colored with my colored pencils. 

I even attached a glass bumblebee charm to the bow, I don't know how I'd mail this card, but it's just so darn cute I couldn't resist!


You can play along with us in the challenge, just create your own card using a LOTV stamp and enter your link for a chance to win some LOTV cash. Read all the deets here. 


Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Waltzingmouse background stamps, Catslife Press
Ink: Memento, Perfect Match, SU
Paper: PTI, SU, Neenah
Tools & Accessories: EK Success tiny scallop edge punch, PTI ribbon/bow, lampwork bee charm from Oriental Trading, EK Success daisy punches, Spica pens, Sizzix plaid embossing folder, Viva Decor brown pearl pen