Friday, March 29, 2013

Spring into a Blog Hop!

SCRAPPING EVERYDAY MIRACLES
HOP into SPRING BLOG HOP!
MARCH 29th - 31st


Hi SEM Blog Hoppers! Lisa here… and I'm so excited to be part of this Scrapping Everyday Miracles Hop into Spring Blog Hop! For my spring project I did the March tag from Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013. I kept pretty close to his design this time although instead of doing the tinsel behind for the bunny, I used a piece of wool sweater that I had felted. I love how the flowers came out. It's the new Distress Paint on metal flowers. I think it sticks a lot better than regular acrylic paint. Anyway, enjoy and check out his blog for all the directions on how to create it.


I'm sure you are just dying to find out more about me (wink wink). Well wonder no more, here are some tidbits:

What do you love most about Spring? I love when everything greens up and flowers are blooming everywhere. My daffodils are usually the first to get going in my yard and I love seeing their cheerful yellow blooms.

Where do you live? San Jose, California, USA. Our area is known as the Bay Area (as in San Francisco Bay Area) and Silicon Valley. We're in the thick of it and there are SO many people here. That part is not so fun but the weather is beautiful and there is tons to do.

I appreciate you visiting my blog today and I'm offering a mystery prize. (Well, not a mystery to me because I know what it is but you will have to find out. It's a good one though!) Just leave a comment for me and I'll randomly choose a winner from all the comments left by Sunday, March 31st at 11:59pm. The winner will be announced on Saturday, April 6th. 

And don't forget that on the SEM Blog, we're going to choose a Grand Prize winner! To win this prize you'll want to leave a comment on each DT member's blog and we'll randomly choose one blog to select the winner from. All winners will be announced Saturday, April 6th.

Also you'll want to head over to our SEM Facebook Chit-Chat Page for another chance to win. We have a fun Blog Hop Challenge for you and another great prize from Genuinely Jane Studio. (If you're not already part of the Chit-Chat page, just request an invitation, and we'll get you added right away.)

Now… have fun Hopping! Happy Spring from all of us at SEM!!
 
If you've missed any stops along the way make sure you go back and comment for your chance to win… have fun hopping!

Elizabeth Lisa --YOU ARE HERE

Most of the supplies I used to make this tag can be found at Inspiration Emporium - see the links below. Use the code JUICE on your purchase and save 10%! 

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

More Challenges!

Scrapping Everyday Miracles has a great challenge for March (and you could still join in if you hurry!) It is all about how it is more of a blessing to give than receive. You can create a project about a gift you have been given or given yourself or you could make a present for someone and enter that. I had a brainstorm about what I could do and was able to complete it, hurray! I made a little decorative canvas with a friend's favorite encouraging verse on it. I hope she likes it (and doesn't see this post first, lol).



The verse is Psalms 145:8-9, "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." I think that is a great verse and I should make one of these for myself! When life is hard it is certainly good to remember that God knows what is going on in your life and that he has great compassion for you. He will help you through your struggles. I encourage you to go to SEM and see what the DT did for this challenge. It's very inspiring. =) Link up your own take on the challenge and you will have a chance to win this month's prize from ScrapChicKits.


SEM is also sponsoring a blog hop this weekend! Mark your calendar and join in for fun and prizes.


Most of the supplies I used to make this card can be found at Inspiration Emporium - see the links below. Use the code JUICE on your purchase and save 10%!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Almost Spring!!

Tomorrow is the first day of spring! (officially) For us it's already been springlike for the past month or so. My daffodils are already done (boo hoo!) I'm sorry for those of you still in the grip of ice and snow! Here is a little paper crafting spring cheer for you:


I got my hands on some of the new Tim Holtz Distress paint and let me tell you, it is really fun stuff. You may think it's like any other acrylic paint out there but it's not. (See the video about them on Tim's website here.) I used the "marbling" technique for the background behind the butterfly. I put dabs of the paint on my craft sheet and swiped the cardstock through the paint. It made this really neat marbled look. I spritzed it a bit with water but not too much this time (it is reactive with water while wet). After I dried it, I put Picket Fence paint on my stamp and stamped the chicken wire pattern right on top. Be sure to wash your stamp off immediately if you are stamping with the paint! The butterfly I stamped with archival black ink and then "watercolored" it with Distress Pens and re-inker inks.

Well I hope you've enjoyed this bit of spring! It's not too late to join in the March challenge at Inspiration Emporium. Your project can be anything that has some POP and dimension to it. Go see the details, join in and you have a chance to win $50 to spend in the store! Most of the supplies I used to make this card can be found at Inspiration Emporium - see the links below. Use the code JUICE on your purchase and save 10%!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

…and Happy St. Patrick's Day! It sure is festive celebrating my Mom's birthday since it conveniently falls on March 17th. I usually make her a themed birthday card and this year it's extra special (and partly edible!) This is the very first card I made with my new Pop 'n Cuts dies ( Karen Burniston's Pop 'n Cuts die system ) and it was so much fun. It took a little figuring out and some practice cardstock, but I'm pleased with the results. Now, from several views, here it is:

Top View

Side View

Inside!
This is a pretty bulky card so I used a Basic Grey magnetic disc set in between the layers of the card halves to help it stay closed. I also used another set of the magnets to stick the card to the top of the candy bucket:


I built up a little tower of chipboard circles so the magnet would be flush with the top of the bucket (I found the bucket at Michael's). One half of the magnet set is on the tower and the other is on the back of the card at the center.

In addition to remembering to wear green, don't forget that the March challenge at Inspiration Emporium is about creating a project that POPS. You don't have to use the Pop 'n Cuts dies, it can really be any technique that gives your project some dimension. Go see the details, join in and you have a chance to win $50 to spend in the store! Most of the supplies I used to make this card can be found at Inspiration Emporium - see the links below. Use the code JUICE on your purchase and save 10%!



Sunday, March 10, 2013

POP up love!

Well for my birthday I finally got my hands on the base tray for Karen Burniston's Pop 'n Cuts die system and I really really love it. You can make the coolest cards with it! Here is one I made for my sister-in-law's birthday (KATIE DON'T LOOK ANY FURTHER! lol) :


The magic happens when you open the card:


There is an inner 3-D pop up element that is part of the die that cuts the card. Anyway, it is endlessly customizable and you can make all sorts of fun things with it. I can't wait to make more cards! If you want to know more about how this works, check out the videos on the Sizzix website.

Now, for some more details on how I made this card. I knew I wanted to make an ocean/mermaid themed card because Katie loves mermaids. I was checking out Tammy Tutterow's Tuesday tutorial from last week and thought her Picket Fence Distress Stain felt stamping technique would be really cool for the watery look I wanted. Go check out her tutorial for all the details but short version is you use a shape cut out of felt to stamp with and it creates varying textures which makes a nice effect. Tammy used a die cut cloud shape for her project but I hand cut a "swoosh" shape and used that:


Lots of blending with Distress Ink, flicking with water, and misting with Perfect Pearls gave me just the watery look I was going for. The stamped and die cut "seaweed" and coral shapes are actually from sets that are supposed to be tree branches. It pays to think out of the box to extend the uses of your supplies! The shells and mermaid were "water colored" by using a drop of Distress Ink from a re-inker bottle as my paint. Just dab a wet paintbrush in and paint away (use waterproof archival ink to stamp your image first!) Some dabs of Liquid Pearls added a little under sea bling. Ta dah! See, pop up wonderfulness!

Speaking of popping up, the March challenge at Inspiration Emporium is about creating a project that POPS. You don't have to use the Pop 'n Cuts dies, it can really be any technique that gives your project some dimension. Go see the details, join in and you have a chance to win $50 to spend in the store! Most of the supplies I used to make this card can be found at Inspiration Emporium - see the links below. Use the code JUICE on your purchase and save 10%!