Lollipop Crafts Challenge 32-Shape Up

Hi there,

I'm a little late, but there's a new challenge at Lollipop Crafts this week. The challenge is to create a non square/non rectangle card and the sponsor is Just Some Lines. You could win $15 to spend in the store. The images are adorable, and definitely worth the chance to win!

Here's what I came up with for this challenge:

I used two different images for this accordion step card. In the back are Alek And Amber Sit and in the front is Emo Paula Stands. They are colored with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. I wanted to make a little scene and chose this style to be my non square/non rectangle shape.

I would have loved to have added more flowers, but I didn't want to block the two little sweethearts under the tree (from Create a Critter, the grass and flowers are, too).

I haven't ever done 'black' hair before and hope I did it justice.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I took this photo with the card laying down on the floor, so you can actually see how it would look "straight on."

It was fun to work out of my box on this challenge. I hope you'll try your hand at a non standard shaped card, too!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your week is off to a great start!

CASE-ing Barb

Hi there,

I loved Barb's card so much, I had to try my hand at the technique of paper piecing. Thanks so much for the inspiration, my friend!

Here's my attempt...

Of course, I don't have the pretty papers Barb used, but I did have this sweet pattern paper from Making Memories' Flower Patch pack. I also decided to try my hand at piecing the overalls instead of the shirt. Then, I colored the image with my Prismas and OMS. All in all, I'm very pleased with the final result. Oh and did you notice the butterflies?? LOL Those are from a Martha Stewart punch. Thanks again, Barb!

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Here's another card I was able to create today:

This one was inspired by this card on September Ninth blog. I don't own the same cartridge(s), but I found similar cuts from what I do own. The pitcher is from Kate's ABCs and the flowers Mother's Day Bouquet. The mats are from Storybook and the paper is from Nana's Kitchen. I added a few pearls to finish the look after I used a white gel pen to add the dots. I really like how this turned out.

Okay, that's it from me for now. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your Thursday has treated you well. The girls and I went roller skating for a little while. It was crowded, but we had a good time.

Robyn's Fetish Image Cards

Hi there,

I thought I'd share a couple of more cards where I used Robyn Fetish images. They don't fit the challenge of butterflies, but hopefully that won't stop you from enjoying them. *Ü*

I colored this (with Prismas and OMS) a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't sure how I'd add a butterfly to it, so it sat on my desk. Barb used the same image and added butterflies perfectly, so it can be done and beautifully.  Then, one day last week, I got the idea to try adding lace. This lace was in a tin filled with lace that  I have from my mom and I was thrilled to see how the scallops fit the scallops on my mat. I wanted to post it last week, but figured I'd better wait until it was the week where Robyn's sponsorship is involved. The paper is from K & Co's Sweet Nectar paper pack. It's been sitting on my desk waiting to posted. Each of the girls stopped by, at different times, saw it, and commented on how pretty they thought it was, so I think it works.

The image here is called Rain, Rain Go Away and while I thought that was a great sentiment, I kind of liked how the girl looks like she is missing someone and I went with that. Not sure that the papers really go together, but I'm trying to stretch myself a little in that regard. I liked the darker blue to evoke a bluish mood. And the stripes to me mimicked the rain falling. Eh, I tried, anyway. Again, this was colored with Prisma pencils and OMS. The stamp is from CTMH, For Every Occasion. I used a Nestability to cut the images out, no Cricut on these cards.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm going to work on another post with some other cards that have been in the works and I finally got them done. Be back soon.

Lollipop Crafts Challenge 31-Butterflies

Hi there!

We are just starting Spring Break Week here and the girls are busily playing Barbies. So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share my take on the latest Lollipop Crafts Challenge, which is to add butterflies. The sponsor is Robyn's Fetish. I really liked the cute little girl images I received. 

Like this one, called Christie Angel. 

I had a blast coloring her up with my Prismas and OMS. I got all excited when I chose to use two cuts from my Cricut to make a monochromatic frame(I forgot to note the cartridge I used, but I think it's Lacy Labels). I thought it was cute to add the wish sentiment all around the edges. All in all, I was quite pleased with my efforts on this card and sent it off to Alanna. Then I realized there isn't a single butterfly on the card! I completely forgot about that part of the challenge!!! Ooops! I didn't know how I could add one without it looking plunked down. So, I tried again.

I decided to start from scratch using this image called Flowers for Mom. I had a lot of fun again coloring the image with Primas and OMS and I decided this time to make my card a butterfly! Covered myself well on that decision, right? Can't forget the butterfly that way. LOL 

Here's how my second attempt turned out.

I had seen a card on a blog somewhere (I made this card a few weeks ago and didn't note the tutorial I used, so sorry!) with a neat shape and thought, ooooh I can do that with a butterfly cut. So, basically, I found a butterfly image on a cartridge (I think I was Paisley....must make notes to myself), cut it out, then traced it onto a cardbase, so that it would be a butterfly shaped card. Then I folded up the bottom edge, basically where I thought it would work to attach the focal shape. Then I cut out my image and made her the "body" of the butterfly. Not extremely clever, but I covered my bases on the butterfly part, right? LOL 

It was a lot of fun and Robin's images are very sweet. Head on over to the Lollipop Craft blog and try your hand at this challenge. You could win! Oh and you MUST see Barb's card. I adore it and think you will, too. 

In the short time it took to write up this post, one of the girls got annoyed with the other over some part of their Barbie game and stomped off. It looks like my playtime is done for the moment. LOL Could be a long week if that keeps up. 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a great start to your first week of Spring!

Lollipop Crafts Challenge 30-Let's Make It With Lace

Hi There!

It's time for another Lollipops Crafts challenge. This week it is to use Lace, either real lace or the paper kind. I hope you'll head over there and check out what neat projects the design team came up with.

Here's the card I created for this challenge.

I'm very happy with the final result of this card. As you can see, I gathered up the edge of the lace I had and pulled it tight to form a circle. I added a lovely button from my stach as the center. I thought it looked rather elegant and maybe a bit vintage. My go to paper for this style is DCWV's Linen Closet stack. Of course, I had to use the Cricut again and my Lacy Labels cartridge. (ps I've heard rumors that there will soon be a full cartridge full of shapes with fancy edges-could be announced later this week...just sayin') The corners are a punch from Martha Stewart, but I don't remember the name. It comes with a border and the corner punch.  I inked the edges with Desert Sand ink (CTMH) and added some pearls for the flower centers. The sentiment is probably from Papertrey Ink. Anyway, hope you like it! And I hope you'll try the challenge.

Because someone asked or mentioned it, my watermark was made for me by my dear friend Erin G. I love it! I do forget to use it a lot because I need to use PSE to insert it and most of the time I don't edit my pictures before posting (I know, gasp! What can I say? I'm a little lazy about it). LOL By the way, she just posted about a great sale going on at Lettering Delights. Click on her name to see what it's about, if you are interested. The sale is called Dollar Days, if that piques your interest.

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In other news, Amy's team had their last basketball game of this session on Saturday. They won with a score of 38-8. Um, yeah, that's not a typo. I couldn't believe it, the most points they've ever scored. There are a couple of boys on this team that are real firecrackers and they were definitely ON during the game. They were fun to watch, believe me, but I couldn't help but feel bad for the other team. Amy had fun and wants to do another session, so we signed her up. They'll start practice in early April with games starting mid-late April. I'm glad she gets these little breaks in between the sessions.

She started the mandated state testing this week(this is completely different from the district assessments they also take). On Monday. Right after we started Daylight Savings Time. And the week before Spring Break. AND they get to continue testing the Monday after Spring Break. Because this testing session is eleven hours long. I believe they are being tested on Reading, Writing and Math. I know today they actually had two one hour long sessions (and will have them tomorrow and Thursday). One for reading or writing and the other for Math. In third grade they have 2 days of testing. In 4th, I think it takes 7 or 8 days. Big difference huh? Add to this, my sweetie was selected to help with the morning announcement program. It's called ***TV (the symbols are for the initials of our school). The kids broadcast announcements and the pledge via the tvs in the classrooms. Amy was a broadcaster yesterday and today flipped the cue cards. She does this for a 3 week period. So, lots of excitement for her this week! LOL So far, she is handling everything like a trooper. Of course, she's most excited about the fact that during this testing period she has no homework, other than to get to bed early, eat a good breakfast and  be at school on time. hee, hee.

Jessica got to do World Thinking Day for her scout troop and go to a super fun (for her) birthday party this weekend...lest you think she is being left out of fun stuff. She had a great time at both.

Well, thanks so much for stopping by! I sure appreciate the visit and hope your week has gotten off to a great start!

Another Meljen's Designs Card or Two...

I can't help myself, I just think her images are adorable.

Add to that, I picked up some new Prismacolor pencils, thanks to a Michaels coupon and a non chain craft store I sometimes frequent. Oh, and I had a 50% off coupon for being an email subscriber to Michaels. I picked up a paper pack from K&Co called Sweet Nectar. Yeah, I so don't need more paper, but the colors in this paper pack are soooooo pretty. Well, add those together and I just had to make another card. hee, hee.

All the patterned paper is from this new 96 sheet mat stack (which equals several sheets of the same pattern, yay) and I tried to mimic some of the colors in my image, rather than color first and search for paper that would go with it. LOL I then used my Cricut and Lacy Labels cartridge for the mats around the image. I cut the oval with my Nestabilities. I think this would be a sweet card for a young girl or a gal who is young at heart.

I colored another image that Alanna posted on the Lollipops Crafts blog here. It's the Sponsor Spotlight post. I hope you'll check out the other ladies' great cards. Thought I'd share it here though, because I'm nice like that.

I don't generally make feel better cards, but with this poor sweetie, how could I resist? Everybody all together now....awwwww. The pattern paper is Making Memories, Chloe's Closet. The rest is pretty self explanatory, I think.

Now don't forget, if you try the challenge and win, you'll be able to select four  Meljen's Designs images. She's got freebies, too. You can find them here. Just in case you want to try before you buy. So, go check out the Sponsor Spotlight post and hopefully, you'll be inspired enough to enter the challenge. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lollipop Crafts Challenge 29

Hi there! I hope this Monday finds you well and happy. The weather here is reminding us that winter isn't quite over just yet. We've got some drizzly rain with the "promise" of snow later today and tomorrow and temps in the 30s. But, on the positive side, later in the week, we may hit 60. I can be patient for that. *Ü*

The challenge this week at Lollipop Crafts is to use a critter on our project and we got to use images from Meljen's  Designs. Oh gosh, color me happy about that! Love her images! Sure makes me wish I was eligible for the prize of 4 digital images. hee, hee.

If you've never worked with digital images, you really ought to try them. You can resize them to any size you need and pretend you are a kid again when coloring them. So much fun!

Here's the card I created using the super cute Garden Bun Bun Fairy. I thought with Easter coming up soon, this would be a great image to have fun with. This little bunny fairy just makes me smile!

For my image, I did my usual routine...printed out on Georgia Pacific cardstock that I got at Walmart and started coloring with my Prismacolor pencils &/or Kooh-i-Noor woodless pencils. I blended the colors using a stump dipped in Odorless Mineral Spirits. Of course, you've gotta have a little bling, so I added a few rhinestones on the flowers and used Lace Stickles on the lacy part of the dress. I wanted to add something for a little more texture, so I thought using a little bit of ribbon on the stripes would be fun. I really like the look of  penstitching, so I pulled out my Signo White Uniball pen and went to town. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set. The striped paper is from DCWV's spring matstack from a few years ago and the cardstock (Honey and Petal) are Close To My Heart and are inked on the edges with the same color.

Now, you really should pop over to Lollipop Crafts and check out what the team members created. Such a talented group of ladies.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have fun creating!