I'm back! (again)

Heeeeeeellllllllooooooo!!!!!!

I am back yet again. I tend to get into blogging and then get so many things going on that this is the first thing to take a break.... maybe my new year's resolution next year should be to blog more regularly.....

Well Kathy from For Fun Challenges, who I guest designed for a couple months back, contacted me and asked me to come back!

What a perfect reason to get blogging again! :)

So this weeks challenge is

Bunny- No Easter

KnK sponsored this weeks' challenge but had to close its doors last month. They still honored their commitment to sponsor and you will win the digi images the design team got to play with!

I really had to rack my brain for this one. As soon as she said no Easter, all I could think of were Easter bunny cards! lol. But somewhere in my searching I came across the perfect Dr. Seuss quote to go with this cute bunny image

 It says "The more that you read, the more you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go" Perfect for a un-typical graduation card, and it just so happens that I have a cousin graduating from high school in a couple months.

I used Stampin Up markers to color in my cute bunnies and their books. Regal Rose, Creamy Carmel, Temping Turquoise and Always Artichoke. Then used Quick Quotes Pink Cheeks to sponge the edges of my quote. The paper is from Echo Park Co's "a walk in the park" line. I have a 6x6 pad of theirs.

Well I hope you enjoyed this card and maybe this challenge will get you motivated to start crafting again like it did for me!

I have lots to catch you up on in the next couple of weeks. I am still going strong with my New Years Resolution of a birthday card for everyone in my family. And I have Ministry scrapbook pages to share. Along with Quick Quotes news! So stay Tuned!

~Liz

Guest Designer @ For Fun Challenges!! - Project 1

YAY!!!!

I couldn't be happier to tell all of you that I am the guest designer at For Fun Challenges for 2 weeks!! If you are not a follower of For Fun already, you really should be! They always inspire me with great challenges.

This weeks Challenge is Anything Goes! 

There is no sponsor this week so just use some of your stash and have FUN!

I knew I wanted to use my new Tim Holtz On The Edge Die: Scrollwork. And keeping with my New Year's resolution, I wanted to make a birthday card. I started pulling supplies and knew I was going to end up with a masculine card so that is how it ended up being my cousin's husband Tim's card.

I used the Stampin Up set Sense of Time for the background and the big clock and Bring on the Cake for the Happy Birthday. I distressed the edges and used Quick Quotes ink in Mocha Mama to make the distressing darker

After stamping and cutting and distressing, I used Tim Holtz tiny attacher to attach the border and the Happy Birthday rectangle. Then I used it to "hold closed" my torn spots on the clock.

I absolutely LOVE the way this turned out. 

Then I have a little funny story. I mailed this out to Tim on his birthday and on my way home I realized I never signed the inside of the card! LOL. Has this ever happened to you? My return address is on it, so he should know who it came from but I couldn't believe I just simply FORGOT! So now as soon as I stamp the inside of my card, I am signing it immediately!

So I hope this inspires you to use some of your stash and enter this great challenge. Entries are due by 1/17/12!

Come back next Wednesday the 18th to see my second project with For Fun Challenges!

~Liz

Something New with Color!!!

Happy new year everyone!

It is that time a year for new year's resolutions! Most people have typical goals: lose weight, save money (which are 2 of mine as well lol). But I wanted a different resolution!

My mom inspired me for this one. She is normally pretty good about sending out a card to each family member around their birthday. I say around because some tend to be a couple of days late and I am giving myself that time frame as well. So my new year's resolution is to send everyone in my family a birthday card. Doesn't sound too bad huh? Well there are 28 of us of my mom's side! And one of my cousins is pregnant so I am adding the baby to the list to make a total of 29 cards! That is more cards than I have ever made in 1 year!

There are 3 birthdays in the first week of January! So for my first card for my Aunt Dawn I went to check out some challenge blogs for inspiration.

Play Date Cafe's color challenge was this great combination:

Very typical Christmas. But since we are past christmas time, I wanted to use the colors in an untypical way. I pulled out a 6x6 paper pack from Echo Park's Victoria Garden line and found the perfect paper. 

I love the pink and green roses. But I had to make sure I got red in there so I made this tissue paper rose that I saw on Tim Holtz's blog during the 12 tags of Christmas.

I love the way it turned out! I added a pre-made flower for the center of my tissue flower, some bling and I was done!

So that is my "Something New" for For Fun Challenge Blog's challenge this week too! My New Year's Resolution! Wish me luck throughout the year!

Also this week is my cousin's husband Tim and little cousin Manny.

Tim's card will be a special one. He is the lucky guy with a birthday close enough to get the card I am making as my project for a Guest Designer next week! Check back on the 11th to find out where and see my masculine card.

~Liz

Christmas Ornament Gift

Hi all!

I have had a BUSY couple of weeks! I think I am finally feeling all better and have had some time to do some crafting. Yay!

I have had this wood cut-out ornament from Archiver's since LAST YEAR! I forgot I had it last year so I pulled it out to do a handmade gift at our crop's handmade gift exchange. You don't know who will get your gift until you get there so I thought an ornament is always a great idea. My mom and I have a tradition that we get each other at least one ornament every year. So I have a very full Christmas tree full of ornaments going all the way back to my first Christmas! Someday I want to make a scrapbook of all my ornaments so I can try to remember where I got each one and why it was special that year. 

When I was trying to think of what to wrap it in, I remembered I got these cute little pouches with a tag from the Mega Meet last year at Melissa Frances' booth. They were super cheap since they were punched wrong (you wouldn't know that since I covered the punch holes) :)

So here is my wrapping and my ornament. I am entering this in a couple of challenges this week.

Over at Papertake Weekly they are having an Anything Goes challenge with the additional option of adding something dangly :) Right up my alley. Wee Memories is also doing a Free for All! Woopie! Lastly For Fun Challenges is challenging us to make Christmas Sparkle! I love sparkle! Let me show you what I did

I love this reindeer from the Cricut Christmas solution Cartridge. I knew immediately I wanted to use him on this. I pulled out my DCWV Christmas stack and found some paper I liked. I choose this pattern since it already looked layered so I didn't have to do anything more to it. I inked the edges with QQ Powder Puff ink in Mocha Mama and added hand stitching Stampin Up! Close to Cocoa.

 I cut a random shape to put the Noel on (I don't remember which cart that is from). I used my liquid pearls to add the white dots to the word. I cut strips of green paper and folded them to look like a ribbon behind the phrase. I used glimmer mist (graphite), my first Christmas sparkle, on the reindeer, the whole phrase with ribbon and the flowers. I used a different glimmer mist (brick) on the chipboard swirls. I love glimmer mist to make everything sparkle!

One you pulled out the tag, which I covered in red paper, you see a white pocket with the ornament inside

Here is the ornament I did. It came in a pack of 2 from Archiver's. They have all kinds of different shapes to choose from. I painted it all white so you couldn't see the brown wood of the cut out. Then I used modge podge across the top and with Martha Stewart glitter, my second Christmas sparkle! It doesn't get much more sparkly thank that! I sprinkled the silver randomly, then I took the red glitter and covered everywhere else. I took some silver bells, my something dangly, and tied them with twine to the ornament so you can hang it from the tree!

I had a TON of fun making this gift pouch and ornament. I hope the recipient enjoys it for years to come :)

~Liz

QQ Challenge - White Space

Hi all! Hope everyone is having a good week this far. I am feeling a little better but you wouldn't know it by the way it sounds. I completely lost my voice overnight :( All the congestion moved from my head to my chest. Vicks for me tonight :)

Over at the Quick Quotes blog they are hosting Friday Challenges. This week for the holiday they gave us 2 weeks which is awesome since it normally takes me a week to think up of something to work in a challenge! This weeks challenge was "White Space" and I have to say I LOVE the way my page turned out!!! I also have a confession. This is the first page I have scrapped for myself in over 3 years! I tend to scrap for gifts and my classes and never make time for myself. My boyfriend points this out all the time. I keep buying things and he keeps asking me where the scrapbook from our Florida trip is. (We went in August 2010). So I'm a couple (4) years behind! So it is time to get motivated!

I used an Adirondack paint dauber in snow cap on the white paper in the area I wanted to glimmer mist and let dry. I glimmer misted using a brick mask in fully purple then took a paper towel and rubbed over the areas were the paint was to make it a lighter purple and give it a distressed look. I layers a couple pieces of Tim Holtz tissue tape right below my picture. I cut out 3 butterflies, the saying (both from Sentinmentals) and the strip to go behind my picture out of Quick Quotes Julie Je t'aime paper line which is one of my favorites! I inked the edges  of the cuts and the side of my white 12x12 with Quick Quotes Powder Puff ink in Purple Passion. Their ink really is the best to work with. I added the phrase and glitter dragonflies from Quick Quotes chipboard. I felt like my page needed some more bling so I pulled out the new American Crafts glitter ribbon that I bought at the Mini Meet in Toledo last week. I love it! It doesn't flake off like I thought it might. I took a white flower and used the same glimmer mist to make it match. Folded it in half and glued it behind the picture. It needed a center and I wanted to pull in the teal from the paper so I added this cute swirl clip I had in my stash. Then found 3 buttons and 3 bling brads to match. Whew!

The picture is of my mom and I from the Mega Meet in 2011. We decided to take one class together since we didn't get to see much of each other during the day since I was working at the Quick Quotes booth. We LOVED the class and got someone to take a picture with out half-finished projects. Mom of course has finished hers by now and I haven't touched mine since I got home :( I am adding that to my to do list!

Hope you enjoyed my page and make sure to stop by the Quick Quotes blog to check out the rest of their great inspirations!!

Until next time!
~Liz

Owl be Thinking of You

Hi everyone! Not feeling the best today but I still managed to get this card done today. I am sending it to the owner of Quick Quotes. She had double knee surgery last week. So as sick as I feel today, I knew I had to do this card to send to her tomorrow. QQ says she is doing well.

I am entering this card in a couple of challenges. Over at Wee Memories they are holding a theme challenge. It is Woodland Animals. I don't have any of their stamps (yet) but I do have the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge so I cut a super cute owl to use. I combined that theme with the sketch from The Paper Players.

I used some paper from My Mind's Eye Fly a Kit line. I have a 6x6 paper pad for use on cards. Like I said, the owl and branch are cut from Create a Critter. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the border around the striped paper. 

I cut out a couple of the clouds out from an extra piece of cloud paper and attached them using pop dots to the side.

Thanks for checking out my card. I hope Patsy likes it. I had fun making it for her :)

Until Next Time
~Liz

Birthday Card Giveaway

Hope everyone is having a great week. It has been a rough work week here and I am getting excited for my move! So I should have one more post before the move then I will be off for at least a week while I get my new room setup.

So I thought I would get one more challenge card in this week. It happens to be a birthday card, so if your birthday is coming up, or you know someone's birthday coming who would love to get this card, be a follower of my blog and leave a comment here before Tuesday 3/24/11 at noon EST and I'll pick a random comment to receive this cute birthday card. Great for male or female (although there is some glitter on it)

The stamps are all from Stampin Up! as is the scallop punch

I used packing tape to tape the wrong side of the card over the opening created from the scallop punch so that the sticky side was up and covered it in glitter

I used zots and a stapler to create this ribbon loop

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Clauda & Co.: Girl Birthday Card (I think this card is great for girl or boy)

Wee Memories: Get Sticky! (the packing tape and zots)

The Paper Players: Cherry/Navy/Brown

Remember if you want to get this card from me to post your comment below 

(after you are a follower of course)

~Liz

Quick thank you card

So as some of you may know, I am moving in less than 2 weeks now (OMG I have so much to do! LOL). I also happen to be moving in with my boyfriend. He called me tonight to tell me that his mom bought us a beautiful black/red/white mosaic dinnerware set. It is perfect for us and our new place. So I put together a sweet and simple thank you card for her. I needed some inspiration so I checked some blogs for challenges and came up with these two:

Little Red Wagon has a "house" challenge. Thought this was perfect since it was a housewarming gift (well apartment-warming to be technical, but who is so technical? lol)
Play Date Cafe  has a cute color challenge of eggplant, lime and gray. I just thought this was a unique and challenging color combo so I thought I would give it a shot.

I just love what I found in my mom's stash (thanks again mom for letting me create in your space)

 The paper is from a local paper-by-the-pound store.

The pattern paper, brad and flower are from mom's stash

The house is cut from Don Juan cricut cartridge

The stamp and tag punch are from Stampin Up!

I used the Elegant Eggplant marker for the hand stitching

I hope you like my quick card, and even more I hope my boyfriend's mom likes it too

:)

~Liz

Challenge Entries!

I feel pretty new to blogging since I just got going on a regular basis. So right now I am addicted to all the challenge blogs around here! I think I find a new one everyday. They are great to get me motivated to make something for myself. Or even if it is not for me, they are a great source of ideas and inspiration. So today I present you with a card I made last night that I plan on entering in 6 challenges :) The links to the challenge blogs are at the bottom of this post.

 

I have no idea which picture/angle I like the best so here are all 3 I took. The card is all white for one of the challenges and I used 3 brads in the upper right corner for metal on my card for another challenge. The flowers are punched from vellum paper and I used a stylus to give them some dimension. I used another snowflake punch for the center of the flowers. The large snowflake is a sizzix die-cut that I added some stickles too.

I'm not sure what I will use this card for yet. With the flowers sticking up off the card it would be hard to mail without flattening it. So someone lucky in my life will probably get this for christmas!

Here are the links (as promised) to the challenges I have entered my card in:
A Pocket Full of Posies: Winter Bouquet
Craft Your Days Away: All white
Crazy 4 Challenges: Card Sketch
2 Sisters: No Designer Paper
For Fun Challenges: Use Metal
The Paper Players: Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!
~Liz

My new bookmark :D

I was going to wait to post this until tomorrow, but in order to make an entry into one of the challenges, I have to get it up by midnight. I was blog hopping around today and noticed that some of the blogs I follow have challenges that could be combined into one item. I found 6 challenges to enter!!!! That's crazy! But the good thing: I finally got to make something for ME! edit - ok after doing some more blog hopping today I found tons of more challenges to enter my new creation in. yay!!!

So my current bookmark was something a friend of the family made that has a copy of my grandmother's obituary laminated onto the back. The front is a Thomas Kincade picture. I have been told by more than one person this may be a little creepy. So when I saw a challenge today to make a bookmark, my mind started working. I then went on the hunt for more challenges. Here is what I created and I absolutely LOVE it!!!

 

The charm, spider circle, bracket and thriller tag are from Making Memories. The rest of the stuff is from my stash. I cut the "31" from the blackletter cricut cartridge.

This is perfect for me for year-round use since my birthday also happens to be Halloween! Yay!!!

I am entering this in the following (in no particular order) challenges: wish me luck!
Simple Betty Challenges: Use spiders
For Fun Challenges: Halloween with no orange
Your Next Stamp: Bookmark
Tip Top Tuesday: Anything Goes
Crazy 4 Challenges: Halloween
The Play Date Cafe: Black/White/Burgandy Colors
Pear Tree Designs Challenge: Halloween
Ooo-la-la - Scary Stuff
AiFactory Challenge: Halloween
Cupcake Challenge: Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge: Anything Goes
A Crafty Little Place: Make it Spooky
Ellephantastic Challenges: Halloween
Little Red Wagon: Halloween


Thanks for stopping by!
~LizAiFactory Challenge: Halloween