I won...I WON...really!!!!

WOW!!!
It's really fun to win something, isn't it???
In this scrap world of ours most of us enter challenges, do blog hops, and whatever else is available to have a chance at winning some of the wonderful giveaways that go on.
I don't make it a point to enter too often because blog hops, etc. take a lot of time.
They're fun, but you have to have a hunk of time dedicated to doing just that one hop.
And I'm glad that I do take the time to do these now and then
          Because somtimes good things happen ......
I was the lucky winner of not one but TWO prizes from two different manufacturers.

I could hardly contain myself when I saw my name on their blogs...it was AWESOME!!!

First one I want to show you is the prize package from Blue Fern Studios.

Blue Fern Studios are new and they make BEAUTIFUL chipboard pieces. As you can see here from the pictures, the designs are beautiful and the cuts are very intricate. They're the type that we all want to have on our pages. The pieces are sturdy and ready to be anointed with whatever kind of paint or media you want to use. I had been looking at their site and oooing and aaahing over everything!!! This was right around Christmas of course, and buying new goodies for scrapbooking was not on the agenda right then.

When I received my package from them I was just so THANKFUL and absolutely THRILLED
with what they picked to send me.
Here's the link to their store and blog.
http://bluefernstudios.com/

Thank you, thank you...

 Elena  

Did YOU get anything new from CHA??????

Hello fellow bloggers,
Mid January already...WOW!!!
Of course, that means that CHA has happened and we are flooded with NEW EXCITING stuff!!!
I don't know if it has something to do with crafting, or some other personality trait that seems to pop up in this field, but I want everything that I like!!!

Every year the manufacturers come out with products that are just MORE of what we want!!!
It isn't just the trends...it's that the things we already have and love to use are even more appealing than they were before...
     the die cuts are more interesting,
     the papers are gorgeous,
     the stamps are more artistic
     And the stencils & masks....what can I say...I WANT SOME!!!!

BUT...hold on, take your time and enjoy getting some products little by little.
Unless you have unlimited funds, you're going to have to work with your budget...and you CAN do it!!! That's what I'm telling myself, and I know it's what I have to do.

So with that, I want to show you a page I made for my Life/Prayer Journal.
This journal is happening as I am finding inspiration for pages that reflect my feelings at that time.
 Right now this is my first page. I don't know if it will stay that way, but I am using a 3ring binder so that I can change the order if I feel like it.

  It seems kind of plain on the post here...but I really like it.

Here's the challenges I am entering with this layout:
   
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/ one for the girls
         No pinks for me...this is as girly as I get :o)
http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.co.uk/ follow your muse
           I am journaling my inspiration for 2013
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/ anything goes
http://foryourinspirationchallenges.blogspot.com/ inspiration photo
         I love the photo and the red of the trees was exactly the color of this paper I had that
         I wanted to use. I had to add the green because I want to remember that after the red
         of fall comes the white beauty of winter and then comes green and the earth is renewed 
         again!

I used "Lost & Found" paper by DCWV...I love this paper.
There's a  rub-on butterfly, a metal butterfly and a handmade flower that is specifically made to
     stay flat.
I have used rub-on words, bling letters & words cut from paper.
I have stamped & embossed the gold flourishes and the typewriter is printed on the paper.

That will do it for me this time.
Please leave me a note to let me know you've been here...I would love it very much!!!

A New Year...a new adventure!!!

I pray for all of you a wonderful and blessed 2013!!!

May you grow in grace and beauty.

May you lavish your love on all those God has given you.

May your relationships be beautiful and sweet and fill you with healing and peace.

This crafting world that we are a part of is so supportive with such a positive attitude on their blogs.

I follow quite a few of my favorite designers, and there are so many more that I am not even aware of,

but it's so good to see everyone sharing their knowledge, their creativity, their spin on things...

Most share freely, spelling out everything they have done so those of us who want to learn more can do so.... Even to having some free wonderful classes (or at a small cost).

I am so EXCITED!!! I saw a class that was being given "Creative Jumpstart 2013 Summit" by N*Studio

and it started on Jan. 1.  It was free but you had to sign up (I don't know if you can still sign up or not).

Anyway, there are many designers who are participating and it's so exciting to have an email class every morning when I get up.  This morning it was HEIDI SWAPP!!! My absolute favorite from the time I started in scrapbooking (back in 2005) and she is just so creative...you just can't help but want to get up and go MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL!!!

So now I want to tell you about a very new adventure for me.

I started a Life/Prayer Journal.

I know, I know, the whole crafting world out there is into life journals...

And after reading about all these themes of "make sure you get yourself into pictures",

"journal about your dreams, your wishes, your life", it finally started to sink in that that's a world

of scrapbooking that I had never really thought about.

I think I even felt self-conscious of even wanting to scrap about me.

But the more I read about it, the more I wanted to do it!!!

Then it hit me, I wanted to document my life as I really am and want to be...

       a Christ follower...a daughter of the King...a lover of the LORD of my life.

I actually got my first page while I was visiting my daughter last September. 

I hadn't brought any materials with me, but I was bored while she was studying and decided it was the time to start.

We went shopping at a Michael's (in Virginia Beach)...got some great buys, beautiful paper and enough stuff to work on my first page.

What fun!!! 

I was happy!!!

Now, the one I am showing today is not my first page but it is so appropriate for the theme of the new year...I called it "I See Beautiful"  sounds weird, doesn't it? But the phrase comes from a music album by Tammy Trent, done a few years ago. She did a concert at our church and she called it "I See Beautiful". And that just never left my head. I loved it!!!

So, I see beautiful too...beautiful Scripture,

      beautiful people,

      beautiful things...

I added some of my favorite Scripture on the page (in my own handwriting, of course...gotta do that to be journaling about me, right?) and made the page beautiful (at least in my eyes)...and that's what counts, right????

Here's my layout: 

Here's a closer look so you can read the heading easier:

The paper is from a pack I bought that I just love. It's called "Lost & Found" by My Mind's Eye.

    The big beautiful pink flower is from a magazine. I saw that flower and  instantly knew that I needed to do a page on beautiful things that I see. The colors are just so striking. And I am a person who is totally passionate about color. It's what I see.  It always has to do with the color.

     Then I wanted to set off the title and I used my Cricut for the word.

      I cut some flourishes with the Cricut and also used other flourishes, flowers, the butterfly and other embellishments from my stash on hand.

I am entering this on these challenges:
http://zeusandzoe.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-challenge-your-word-for-2013.html ... My word for
         2013 is I see Beautiful.  It is what I will live by and make it a practice to see the world through
         God's eyes
http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/ It's all about me.
http://wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/ Trust in the Lord...My focus is to see my world through God's
          eyes.

Ok...one last bit about this journal.

Working on these pages somehow is different than working on my other projects.

I think it might have something to do with emotions. 

These pages are about my feelings. My passions. What is important to me.

I leave a hunk of me on the page.

Not that I didn't invest myself into the other projects. I did. 

I never stopped making cards and albums of trips, gatherings, etc. and I enjoyed doing them very much.

The memories were great and it was fun.

But this journal is more than that...

If you have not started one yet...try it, you'll like it!!!

Many blessings,

e

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