Did you have a blessed Christmas??????

We sure did...
What a huge blessing to be surrounded by family during the Christmas Holiday!!!
We actually have two Christmases in our family.
Our kids (three grown children with families of their own) all live out of state. So in order to make sure we get together, we have Christmas at Thanksgiving.
Usually, the snow doesn't come until after Thanksgiving, so everyone can get to our daughter's home in Chicago.
Our son and family come from St. Louis, MO.
Our daughter lives in Chicago and hosts the whole crew (what a huge blessing you are to the clan).
Then our youngest daughter just moved to Virginia and they were able to come too.
The only one missing was a grandson who is studying at MIT and was traveling with a crew for a project. At age 21 he has already earned his Engineering degree and is at MIT working toward his PhD.
We are BLESSED!!!

Then my hubby and I traveled to my sister's home in Flint, MI for a joyous time with her family.
Their grandkids are growing up too, but two of their daughters still have kids who are pre-teens.
It's a fun time with a traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner and gift opening.
Esther (sister) and I fix a couple of foods that we had when we were growing up and there's lots of talk about our days when we were children in a Lithuanian household.

Before I go on with a Birthday card I made for one of my volunteers at church, I want to share with you a new company that is just starting up. They are the creators of the most beautiful chipboard cutouts you have ever seen. They are doing a give-away right now and you can get on their site to enter your name.
http://design-honey.blogspot.com/2012/12/guess-who-graphic-designer-behind-blue.html Click on this link and follow directions. You won't regret taking a look. Their chippy pieces are gorgeous!!!

So here's the card:

I had wanted to do this dark sky and wind for a long time and just never got around to it. So I took this opportunity because I wanted to do a winter card and it just fit.
Here's the deets:
...I stamped a pretty flourish with Versamark and embossed in white translucent. Thought it would give it a bit more visibility...and it did, kind of! I wasn't too happy with the results.
...Then I did the Tim Holtz version of applying Distress Ink to the sky part. I used several different colors of blue, including a navy blue from SU! They have a beautiful night sky blue that I just love.
...I stamped the trees in black Tuxedo Memento.
...the deer was then stamped in Versamark and embossed with gold. The deer is a small stamp from SU!...and it's my favorite.  My Versamark pad is getting dry and it didn't cover the deer very well, so after I embossed the first time, I used my Versamark pen and filled in. Unfortunately, that didn't make for a very smooth deer, it's ok but not as great as it could be.
...Then I used Artist Spackle from HOTP to make the snow. I added Diamond Stickles to make the glitter and I really like the drift look all over. A little different than the normal smooth cardstock.
...I chose to make a frame with gold and white cardstock. It really gave it a good finished look.
...That gold liner was given to me a long time ago and I just hated cutting into it because it was so pretty. But it is getting kind of ratty just sitting around being moved here and there as I search for papers....it is definitely time to USE IT!!! I tend to hoard papers and have to force myself to just use it and enjoy it!!!

Here's the challenges I am entering with this card:
http://zeusandzoe.blogspot.com/ Sparkle & Shine
http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/ anything goes
http://thestampmanuk.blogspot.com/ winter
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com/ anything goes

That's it for me for today...
Have a wonderful and safe New Year.
Make it a concerted effort to lavish love on all those God has given you!!!

elena

Hello from a lost blogger....

 Wow, you can't imagine what a hard time I am having getting started blogging again...
I start and stop and start over...
I really don't understand what this "block" is, but it's really difficult to get past it.
I hope that this time I can finish it and just get back into this part of my scrapbooking.
I have so many projects that I have done since the last time I wrote here, 
I hope I can get going and start sharing.
It is an incentive to share here and enter some challenges so that we have a chance of winning some free stuff, right??? That is always FUN!!!

This first thing I want to share today is a bookmark I made for my Bible Study group. This was my first time really trying to make a "batch" of the same thing. Usually, I just can't make the same thing over and over...somehow it gets tedious and I only get two or three done. I see others make batches of the same card or tag and I think that's a great thing. You get some stash going so that you have cards when you need them. I use the cards I make and I am always running short and have to buy boxes for back-up.

Anyway, these little tags came out really well and it was fun. I got tired of the process near the end, but I kept on. I still have a few unfinished that I need to get to.

Here's my tag:

The tag itself is a free download from http://astridsartisticefforts.blogspot.com/
Astrid has beautiful vintage designs on her site and on Pinterest that you can download for free.
I have been a happy scrapper since I found her beautiful stuff. 

I used the set of four Christmas tags and used the designs on the front and the back, so that both sides are pretty.

Next I stamped the tree from a Christmas stamp set by Stampabilities. This is an older set but has beautiful large designs on it. I stamped with Versamark and embossed in white. 
Next, I used Distress inks "Tea Dye" and "Burlap" on the front and back to shade the sides and give them depth. 

Next, I stamped the back with the "Christmas" stamp...carefully putting red ink on the "Christmas" and black ink on the text. I had to re-write the red with a good pen because it wasn't as vibrant as I wanted it.

Then Versamark and white embossing on the white swirl underneath the tree. This could have been done when I stamped the tree but I design as I go and what to put under the tree eluded me until the very end. I am really happy with how that swirl came out.

Now the fun part...I bought "Artist Spackle" from Hot Off The Press and used it to highlight the tree branches. I put "Rock Candy" Stickles on top of the spackle to give it some shimmer. I also used the spackle on the back to look like snow. It really worked well. When I gave the girls their tags, all of them wanted to know how I got that tree so "real" looking, and what was that stuff that looked like snow.  It's those extra touches that I love to use. I used Tim Holtz' "snow" stamp (little dots all over) on the back. I remember him sharing that he uses that stamp all the time for extra depth. He's right, I never put that stamp away. It is perfect for applying to anything for extra dimension. 

Oh yes, almost forgot...I used white liquid pearls for the snow on the front. I loved what that did for the tag...it just made it look so pretty.

I added cranberry  "Liquid Pearls" for berries, gathered up some ribbons, and I was done. 
It's quite a process to do the same thing to 15 tags, though.
I don't know if I like to do it or not...but if you want to make gifts for a group, there's no way of getting around it.

Here's the challenges I found to enter this tag:

http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/ winter
http://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/ let's get inky
http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com/ a tag

So that's my share for today, I am making a commitment here and now not to allow myself to get intimidated by this blogging thing...gotta stay with it.

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment, I love to hear from people who stop in.

May God bless you this Christmas season and all year through.

e                         

Tag, you're it....

I made this tag for a very special friend...hope she likes it!!!
I love black and white and when I saw a challenge featuring black and white + a color, I just had to do it.
My brain started creating it before I could even catch a breath. I love it when that happens because usually the project turns out pretty well. And tags are fun and easy. I really enjoy working with them.

I had the polka dot butterflies from a Heidi Swapp chipboard die-cuts that I found at a dollar store!!! Can you believe that? I bought three of those packages and knew that I would really enjoy using them.

Two new stamps were put to good use on the left side of the tag. You can't see it too much but these are going to be my favorites, for right now anyway. I love flourishes and the first stamp is about a 2" wide long strip with leafy vines and flourishes. Really pretty. And the second stamp is a large flourish that is very open, just the way like it.
I know I'll be using these stamps a lot!!!

I added a silver leaf, black ribbon, and white pearl flourishes.

Here's the challenges I entered this tag into:

http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com/ swirls and pearls...lots of those on this tag.
http://www.frosteddesigns.blogspot.com/ using chipboard...mine is Heidi Swapp's

Thank you for stopping by,
Be blessed,

Elena

Another Twinchie...

Hello everyone,
It's August, can you believe it?
We had the hottest June and July...and now that it's August we started seeing some rain and much cooler temps. We were sure ready for some cooler weather and we surely need some rain...just seems weird to have this backward weather.

Lately, I have not been crafting nearly as much as I would like. I don't really know how time slips away without accomplishing much of anything...but it does. There are so many ideas I have floating around in my head...I want to get them out on paper!!!!

I am still very interested in "TWINCHIES" http://twinchie-twinchiehotmaillive.blogspot.co.uk/  But learning how to decorate them better is a process for me. So this card I made has a Twinchie on it. I am not very happy with it, but it's a beginning and I intend to just keep trying.

The picture did not come out too well. The twinchie stands out away from that doily in the back of it. Here it kind of looks like they just run in together.

The paper is a small 4x6 paper pack I picked up in a bargain bin by K&Company and I love it. Has very nice background paper.
The twinchie is cut from a packaging for a book I just bought for the library. I am always looking at the packaging for anything I buy. Some of it is pretty awesome.
I glued on a flower doily to the twinchie and on top of that I attached a stamped and watercolored Iris I had made a while ago.
The butterflies are Dazzles from Hot off the Press.
The bottom is a strip of navy blue cardstock with large very glittery circles.
The card itself is this moss green cardstock and I used a border punch that I got a bit ago.

So, of course I entered this in this challenge: http://twinchie-twinchiehotmaillive.blogspot.co.uk/ . Their requirement this time is for a twinchie with a flower on it.
http://thecraftypad.blogspot.com/ requires using a die or a punch. The bottom of my card is cut with an edger punch. I have it partially covered with a ruler to show the measurement of the twinchie, but you can still see that it is there.

So, that's it for this day.
I have a couple other projects I want to get to...
Thanks for stopping by. Leave me a note. I would love to hear from you.

Be blessed,
Elena

Shabby Chic love....

I have always liked a mix of different styles and ideas in the scrapbooking/card making world. Lately though, I have fallen in love with shabby chic. I guess that all of a sudden "pretty, feminine, lace, a little victorian, a little vintage", etc. just swims around in my head and I am constantly excited about a new idea that I had seen or thought of. There are several sites that I follow where the designers show off awesome cards and layouts that inspire me to make cards in that lovely, feminine design.

So, this is the card I made for a few challenges that fit my new passion.

First of all, I had found these papers on Pinterest by Astrid Christine MacLean. They are free to print off for your own personal use. It is lovely paper, and this one in particular had a corner image of a woman.  I cut that out and used it on the front.
After that it was easy peasy.
That beautiful lace is from an Etsy Shop "Frilly & Funky"  Her prices for lace are very reasonable and the selection is awesome.
I chose a cute pink chippie from my stash, and that tear in the paper was an idea I found on-line. The designer had pleated the paper back instead of just folding it back and I LOVED the look.
I love looking around on designer sites and finding little touches that they have come up with.

Here's the challenges I entered:
http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/
http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/
http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/
http://tuesdayalchemy.blogspot.ca/
http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

That's it for right now. We are in the middle of watching the Olympics. So EXCITING!!!
I love it!!!

Finally, a card I like...

Last time I lamented about sometimes making a card that just does not work!!!

Well, thankfully, this time I enjoyed it! It was fun, came together nicely, and I like the way it looks.

I like the soft colors, and the flower with that polka dot paper. I LOVE polka dots!!!

I just bought some beautiful lace from Frilly & Funky Etsy shop. She has some beautiful lace and other things, plus it was at a price that was cheaper than what I had checked out in our fabric shops.

I'm very happy!

But, unfortunately almost all of the lace got covered up by my flower and my "Friends" square...aaaaggghhh I hate it when that happens. I like to be able to see all the beautiful embellishments that are being used on a creation!

I also have a new edge punch that is just gorgeous from EK Success...and that shows even less...oh well, next time....

So here's my card:

I'm sorry about the picture...I must have taken over a dozen shots...the sun was too bright and the lighting in my craft room was too dark. I just couldn't get it right.

Anyway, the top paper is a soft tan with white dots. the bottom is a muted stripe with all the colors that went with my work.

The peony is cut from a beautiful paper I have had forever in my stash. It was not nearly as usable as I thought, but it was beautiful. 

The stamp is a SU! stamp I bought a long time ago. I still love it!

See those two little brown stripes on the right side???? That's all you can see of my new border punch.

I hat that!

And the lace shows only one little part but then I cut off another little piece and added it to the bottom of the "Friends" piece.

The stamp I used to add a little more interest is a TH harlequin. First time I used it...I really like it. It is just the right size.

I am entering this to the following challenges:

http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/  "Pretty in Pink" I pretty much followed these colors. Pink & brown is one of my favorite combinations.
http://tuesdayalchemy.blogspot.ca/ Anything Goes...that pretty much says it all.

Thanks for stopping by...
Be blessed with JOY!!!
e

Keep on keeping on....

Hello everyone,
Well.....this card that I want to show you today is one that just REFUSED to come together!!! It was really hard to put it together in a way that resembled what I had in my head.

After I looked around at the challenges that I would like to enter, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Even the colors came to me right off the bat. But from there on, I had to work and re-work everything before I was satisfied with it. The piece that really put it together for me was the beaded hanger. I liked that addition.

Sometimes I wonder if it's a good idea to keep working on a card that is just not coming together. Maybe it would be better to just throw it away and start over. I don't know. Have you had that problem? What do you do????

Here's the card: 

And here is the inside:

Here are the challenges I am entering this card into:
http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.com/ Bling it on
      I have beads and lots of Stickles on the stars. Also the inside has shiny stars.
http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/  Stars and sparkle
      As you can see, I have the stars and the sparkle is in the Stickles, shiny stars & beads.
http://cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ Bright and a button
       We have bright colors and one button on the front and many star buttons on the inside.
http://twinchie-twinchiehotmaillive.blogspot.co.uk/  A twinchie and anything goes.
       The front closure part is a twinchie. The card is only 4x4 so it takes up a lot of that front.
http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/ spritz, spray or stencil.
        I used polka dot paper on my squares and sprayed Tattered Angels mist through a lacy pattern.
        The twinchie was cut from the overspray; as well as several of the stars. The star on the right on the
        twinchie was first drawn through a stencil then cut out and embellished with Stickles.

Thanks for coming by...hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts and if you have any ideas about what to do with a card that isn't "working", leave me a comment. I would love to read what you have to say.

Blessings,
e

More fun with a tag...

I love tags...they have so many ways you can use them...and they make nice small gifts or an "extra" to a larger gift. They are also a great place to try a new technique...and that's usually how I make mine.  I am really, truly a technique junkie. I take down the information and make copies of all techniques I find interesting (especially those that make embellishments) and then I try them as soon as I can gather the supplies I need. I try to find techniques that use products I already have or those that don't require a lot of purchases.

So here's my tag for today.

I made this for my granddaughter's high school graduation. I watched a video by a Prima Designer who demoed how to make artsy backgrounds by using different mediums. I still have a lot to learn because I have a hard time getting my colors in the right places. This turned out bluer than what I pictured but then I was afraid to add more color because I didn't want it to turn muddy. The designer used an art medium that had a lot of texture to it and I had never seen that to purchase. I tried out paint, puffy paint, stenciling medium...but none of it turned out to have that look that I think she achieved with the textured medium. She showed what it was and I most definitely need to get some. I love texture on my stuff and I have to try this.

On to the deets:

I make my own chippies by layering several layers of heavy cardstock. And that's what I did here with the Memory Box flourish.

The butterfly is a Memory Box die too but I left that thin and covered it with a clear sparkle emboss powder. 

I think dies are my most favorite embellishments to use. The new ones are so delicate and thin and they are gorgeous!!!

I am entering these into these challenges:

http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/ They want us to show our chippies. and I think my thick layered flourish fits the bill.
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com/ Show us your style...I'm not sure what I am. I am very drawn to shabby chic & some vintage (not too grungy or old & torn) I like it beautiful and elegant too. I guess it's wherever my heart is at the time.

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/  All sorts says "any die will do"....ladies after my own heart..
http://panpasteluk.blogspot.com/  This one is "anything goes"...Their prize is a sample of pan pastels. I would love to win that...I've never tried them!

Thank you so much for visiting...
Please leave me a comment...I would love to know what you think,
Blessings,
e

A really wonderful day in June...

Hello Everybody!!!
It's been so long since I have written here that I think I might have forgotten what to do.
My life took a different turn and even though I was still working on my craft, it wasn't in a way that I could enter my work in any challenges. So I kind of gave up on that and waited until I could start again.


Well, I am ready!!!


I have made a couple of tags for gifts that I need and I will show one here and one on the next post... 

This one is for my husband...a bookmark. 

The brown is a faux leather paper I bought a long time ago.

Then some shredded burlap, some paper ribbon and a bronze colored arrow trim.

The two metal love and kiss pieces are from Hot Off the Press, many moons ago also.

They have holes punched in them to put small brads in.

I found a twill manly looking ribbon that says "joy, peace & love". 

Perfect for his Bible or our devotional book.

I am entering this into the http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

Their requirement is "anything but a card" and also into the 

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/

this challenge is "show a bit of brown"

I guess I fit right into these two challenges and I am glad. I LOOOOOVVVEEE

Simon Says. I know they get a lot of people linking in, but they have a great store and their prizes are AWESOME!!!!

So........thank you so much for stopping by.

Please leave me a note...it's been long since I have connected with this blogging world.

Have a great weekend,

Blessings,

e

Dreaming of flowers....

No, it's not spring yet here in Michigan. We still have a little snow on the ground and it's really cold.
Thankfully, we did not experience the tornado devastation that happened in some parts of Michigan and other states. How absolutely horrible to lose everything in the blink of an eye. Times like these call for extreme faith and trust in a God who can bring good out of pain. We don't understand the life we are called to live. Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense.
So to all those who have suffered such great loss, I lift my prayers up asking God to heal, comfort and bring blessings into your life.

Now for the card I made for the challenges at:
http://www.thehousethatstampsbuilt.com/designers-choice-challenge/dcc229-spring-challenge-with-pastel-colors/
http://cceestampers.blogspot.com/

Both of these challenges required a spring theme and I sure am in the mood for one. We have had a very light winter, but it doesn't matter...March comes and we are ready for warm weather.

I love lace and it seemed so fitting for spring.
The background is a Hero Arts stamp that was covered with VersaMark and embossed in white.
I then applied Distress inks in several colors and rubbed them together until I was happy with the result.
I stamped the orchid on watercolor paper and painted with Twinkling H2o's. I really do need that class for these watercolor paints. It turns out ok but certainly not as pretty as I would like.
Added a scalloped border, my lace and some Zva flourishes. I colored these purple...aren't they pretty?

So...that will do it for today.
Blessings on all of you
Please leave me a note and let's "chat"

e

It's MARCH already!!!

A very warm "HELLO" and  welcome to everyone who is reading this.
It has been quite a while since I posted anything...
I don't know how it goes with you, but I came to a time when I seemed to be reevaluating everything. I love ART in many forms, and it wasn't about giving up my papercrafting...I just didn't seem to know what direction I wanted to go in. I was very busy with a scrapbook I was working on for a grandson's graduation from college (important stuff right???) and a great-granddaughter's baby scrapbook...they were so much fun for me...
but somehow blogging about them or putting any of those pages into challenges just didn't seem to be something I wanted to do.

I continued to read your blog entries and devour all the tips, tricks, new techniques and ooh and aah over all the new stuff to buy. But I kept myself from buying hardly anything because it seemed like I had so much stash already that buying more was almost greedy. I used the stuff I already had and tried to put the new techniques to work. I think that all of us who do this for the love of crafting, come to the place where using the stuff that's been hanging around becomes a real challenge.

In keeping with the idea of using stash we already have on hand, I also decided to take some new classes or participate in free tutorials that are around the internet. I need an injection of new teaching with stuff I have and don't really know how to use all that well. It isn't that the information is not out there...it  just takes time to work along with someone who is teaching new ways of using a product and learning it so well that you can apply it to whatever you are wanting to make.

So, on to my first project I have made to enter into a challenge.

I chose http://www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/ because they feature Tim Holtz AND I like their site a lot.

I Stamped the tag with TH wildflowers stamp, using VersaMark and then embossed in white.
I then layered Distress ink colors onto the background and spritzed with water to get the colors to blend and topped it off with Tattered Angels' "Wheatfields" spray. I love that spray...it's very subtle but beautiful.
I stamped and cut out the TH bird on a limb and colored it with watercolor pencils.
The fence is a TH die cut and I tied brownish hemp cord over it.
I colored an acrylic round, small tag with alcohol blue & green ink and attached an orange butterfly to it.
It is slipped onto the hemp rope with a small ring.
I just watched TH attach beads to a new tag he made and I loved that look. So, I did the same by attaching the beads into the ribbon at the top of the tag.

I am happy with the results. There's lots more I want to learn to color & embellish my projects but this is a good beginning.

I am giving this to a friend for a belated Birthday. Hope she likes it.

Thank you for reading through my ramblings.
If you have anything to share with me from your life...I would love to read it.

Blessings,
e