Summer Fun Banner

Today I have such a fun project for you to try!

I love using the Reflections Dies in their full size, but they are tons of fun when you just use the halves too!

I am using the Scalloped Oval set on this banner.

I used my digital papers from Echo Park, and created lots of bright and colorful layers as my banner base.

The top tiered portion of the banner is made with the Pennant die.

On the individual banner pieces I embellished each letter with the following dies:

Flip Flops, At the Beach and Little Pink Bicycle.

For the letters I used the Optimistic Font on top of layers of Scalloped Circles.

I love all the bright and cheery colors in this!

It is always fun for me to think of new ways to use supplies and I am very happy with how this turned out.

Now, moving on, have you checked out our new challenge on the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge Blog?

The Challenge this week is Shades of Purple.

I came across and adorable, simple card design and wanted to make this design to show you all.

Here is the card original.

Here is my PURPLE version of the same design.

For this card I used the following dies:

Scalloped Rectangles for the card mats, Black Eyed Susans and Wood Grain Embossing Plates.

Also I used the  Pennant die again because I love that die!

Lots of purple:)

What do you think you can come up with for our challenge?

We’d love to see you link up with us.  Remember there is a $20.00 gift certificate to the lucky winner of the challenge!

I hope you have enjoyed my post today, this has been Jeannie with The Polka Cabana, have a great Friday.

Advertisement

Wednesday Wowzer & Giveaway announcement

 

I have been working with some very fun Embossing Powders from WOW.

This is a whole new line and I was so happy to find out I can use them on whatever I want now!

I knew the mushrooms from the Because of You set would be perfect for these powders.

My card is based on a sketch you can find on the Chick Challenges website.  It is Chick Challenge #10.

Because I photographed this indoors at night you can’t really see the shine of the powders.  I love embossing because it gives stamped images that extra Wow effect.

I layered the mushrooms with dimensional foam and since I need the red to stand-out, I used 2 layers of foam.  You can see the foam from this side shot.

 

Here is one last look, I just love the colors and patterns!

Remember I am now officially the Wednesday Wowzer girl..I sure hope I have WOWED you today!

NOW….for the winner of my giveaway last week for I Heart {ippity}.

I had 6 comments and here is what Random.org chose

The first person to comment on me post last week was…..

Ellen

So Ellen if you are out there..use the CONTACT ME  tab at the top of this page and send me your mailing information.

Be sure to follow me and keep checking back, you never know when I will have another giveaway!

Have a WACKY and WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY.

This has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with today’s post!

Sweet Stamps.com Medallion Challenge

What’s a medallion you say?  A medallion is an ornament, medal, etc used in design.  Sweet Stamps.com has some gorgeous MEDALLION STAMPS.

Today I am using the stamps called:

FOUR HEART MEDALLION

FRIEND #9094B

There are many different techniques that would be fun to try using these MEDALLION stamps.

I chose to use lots of glitter to really make my card sparkle.

I started by stamping the MEDALLION with a pigment Silver pad and embossing it with Clear Embossing powder.

After I embossing, I started in the center and worked my way out applying glitter with a glue pen and

a dimensional glue.

After my glitter was done, I used a clear embossing pen to emboss everywhere I did not use glitter.

You can see here, the whole card is shiny and it is because I have either used glitter or a clear emboss on the whole stamped image.

To make this card extra special, I used some decorative pins and glass beads.

I love using glass beads on cards and using the jump rings to apply the beads adds a fun touch.

The MEDALLION stamp is quite large so I used a small simple word phrase to complete the card.

The new challenge is up at Sweet Stamps.com blog.

If you like to stamp, I would love for you to try Sweet Stamps.com out.

They are reasonably prices and I have been very impressed with the clear stamped image they produce and the fine detail in many of the stamps that I own.

Although participating in our Challenge does not require you to used Sweet Stamps.com, but we would LOVE for you to try the stamps out.

If you head over to http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com/ you will see all the rules to enter the challenge.

1 lucky person per week will win a $20 gift certificate to the SWEET STAMPS.COM store!

You can’t possibly pass on that, right?

I hope you have enjoyed my card today, hopefully you will have a chance to try these SWEET STAMPS yourself!

Have a great rest of the week!

A Sweet Birthday card with Sweet Stamps.com

I am so happy to announce that this week on the Sweet Stamps.com BLOG, the challenge is BIRTHDAY!!

I have to say, of all the cards I make, the ones I give away more than any are Birthday Cards.

 Birthday’s can sneak up on you and it is a good idea to keep a couple of cards on hand for those last-minute well wishes.

The Sweet Stamps images and supplies I have used today are:  

STAGGERED BIRTHDAY

CHERRIES 311

CUPCAKE 160 (DIE SET)

LITTLE STACKERS SCALLOPED OVALS by CHEERY LYNN DESIGNS

Here is my card using the above items, plus A WHOLE LOT MORE:)

I really like the font that Sweet Stamps.com uses for a lot of their sentiments.  

It reminds me of the font that Mary Engelbreit uses.  

There are many layers on this card and when you work with many layers, you have to also layer your dimensional foam/pop dots to keep the layering in perspective for each layer.

You can see that I used the CHERRIES stamp for the topper on the cupcake die.

I love the finished look of this stamp and thought it would look great as the focus and then use the cherry that comes with the Cupcake set as embellishments.

For my color palette, I kept all my colors in the COOL TONES.

I used stripes, dots, cherries and fun bright colors for this card.  I stamped and hand cut the phrase for the main sentiment.

I then mounted the sentiment on a couple of LITTLE STACKER SCALLOPED OVALS.

I just adore this card and I hope you have enjoyed today’s creation.

As always, the new challenge is up on the SWEET STAMPS BLOG.

Here are the rules:

Challenge Rules 

1. Our challenge is open to everyone; those submissions using a Sweet Stamps rubber stamp will get a second entry into the drawing.
2. Your submission must be new art made for this challenge.
3. You must follow the announced challenge theme for that week, adding a link to our blog in your post or mentioning us in your gallery.
4. Leave a link to your actual blog post for the challenge (not just to your blog) or to an online gallery.
5. You may enter the weekly challenge only once.
6. Feel free to combine our challenge with others, but please, limit the number of challenges to 10 (including ours).
7. We reserve the right to remove any submissions that do not follow the rules.

So get in on the giveaway!  A $20.00 shopping spree at SWEET STAMPS.com 

I would love for any and ALL to link up and join!  

Have a great week and Happy Crafting!

Challenges entered:

It’s time to be a kid for Monkey Challenge 56 –  http://alacardmonkey.blogspot.com/

Challenge 116 Birthdays  –  http://corrosivechallengesbyjanet.blogspot.com/

ONE FOR THE KIDS – http://www.inlinkz.com/insertImage.php

Make a Birthday Card  –  http://paperandsuchonline.blogspot.com/

Birthday Card for a Girl:  http://www.claudiaandcompany.blogspot.com/

Birthday Challenge  –  http://2cuterubberstamps.blogspot.com/2011/05/birthday-challenge.html

Tuesday Sweet Stamps BUTTERFLY theme, hooray!!

It’s a new week and that means a new theme for the Challenge up at Sweet Stamps Blog.

This challenge was exactly up my alley, since I love to work with butterfly images.

I used the stamps called:

Curly Butterfly

and 

Butterfly Kisses

When I am working with an intricate image, I love to take the time and really try to bring out all the detail.

I was so excited to work with this GORGEOUS stamp.

I stamped out the base (on the mustard cardstock) and almost wanted to stop there.  The stamp is really that pretty.

But, I went ahead and kept going.  I used lots of patterned cardstock and paper pieced this breath-taking butterfly.

I added lots of shimmer and glitter with various products, including the

PEARLESCENT WATERCOLOR PAINTS.

I also decorated the inside.  The faint lower half is for writing a message to the card recipient.

Oh, and of course I used the brand new Cheery Lynn Designs Dies.  The ones I used on this card are:

MINI EXOTIC BUTTERFLIES &

RIBBON EYELET BORDER WITH PIERCING

I have to say, this butterfly might be my favorite stamp so far.  The possibilities are endless with it.  

I can’t wait to make another and see what path I go with it next time.  Maybe solid glitter?  Solid beads?  Who knows, but I will show you when I am done.

Now, this is a super easy challenge this week.

Head on over to the SWEET STAMPS blog and read the entry rules, make a card with our new theme:

BUTTERFLIES

and be in the running for the $20.00 gift certificate at the Sweet Stamps Store.

Just think of the stamps you can buy with that.  Make your shopping list after you  post your card.  Have fun with this great challenge.

Entering this card into:

MIM #36

It’s a Cheery Lynn Designs Thursday?

I know this is traditionally NOT my posting day with Cheery Lynn Designs, so I thought I would continue with the theme and do a Scrapbook Page, which I normally do not do on my Cheery Lynn Days.

This is for a Scrapbook Page is for a Challenge on Tally Scrapper.

I am part of a Survivor challenge and we are in our 11th week of the challenge.

My requirements for this weeks layout are:

It needs to be about ME

It has to have Metal somewhere

It must have buttons, flowers and a stamp.

Here is my page.

Goodness this was so much fun to do a page about me.  I had a blast using the MAY TALLY KIT also.

The new CHEERY LYNN DIES are so versatile.

I wish I could guide you to just one of my favorite new dies, but I can’t! I love them all!

Here is the mid portion of my page.

Here is a little more of a close shot.

I have used many of the new dies.

Here you can see the HEART CHAIN BORDER, FANCIFUL FLOURISH, RIBBON EYELET BORDER W/ PIERCING and JUDY’S BLOOMS.

I have really enjoyed playing around with the depth of my pages.

Here I have tried to show you the different layers.

Behind the frame that says “me” I have also used the new TROPICAL LEAVES.

On the bottom of the page, I have used the

GARDEN GATE and the HEARTLAND AMERICA HEART.

How was that for a last minute page?

I hope you are inspired to want to try these dies. Whether you are a scrapper, a card maker or paper crafter Cheery Lynn Designs has a die set for you.

Good luck on our contest and be sure to leave some BLOG love here, but especially over on CHEERY LYNN DESIGNS blog, for your chance to win the Gift Certificate for one lucky person.

Until next week, have a great day. This has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with today’s project.

Products used in today’s project:

HEART CHAIN BORDER

FANCIFUL FLOURISH

RIBBON EYELET BORDER W/ PIERCING

JUDY’S BLOOMS

TROPICAL LEAVES

GARDEN GATE

HEARTLAND AMERICA HEART

My first Challenge for Tally Scrapper, come play along!

Now, I know I have been mentioning Tally Scrapper a lot, lately.  Why?  Because they are the BEST challenge blog there is.

I have tried others before, but there is something about the ladies on Tally Scrapper, well you feel like you have found home once you are there.

I entered a challenge to be their  MAY DESIGN STAR and I made it!  I have been working with this GORGEOUS kit I received as the STAR!

Goodness, I am a star!  Here is the link to prove it:

http://www.tallyscrapper.com/blog_view.php?blog_id=794

I am sooooooooo excited!

As I am a star, I am making a card challenge for the ladies.  Here is the LINK to my CHALLENGE.

 http://www.tallyscrapper.com/scrapbook_gallery_challenge.php?challenge_id=1181

I found this wonderful card online, see HERE:

http://1cardcreator.blogspot.com/

She has a tutorial up that is HERE:

http://vintagedragonfly.blogspot.com/2011/05/pop-in-for-pop-up-card.html

Maybe I am tutorially challenged, but I needed MORE!

I thought if I need more instruction, surely one with less card making knowledge than I have, would need MORE too!

So, I have revamped the tutorial to hopefully suit any level of card making skills, that you all have out there.

These are instructions for a card that will measure 5″ wide and 7″ tall.

Start with 2 – 12 x 12 pieces of paper and cut them down to ‘

10 long and 7 inches high.

Score the paper for the CARD FRONT down the middle the 10 inch side at the half way point.

5 inches:)

Then fold.

On the paper for the inside, turn it to the WRONG SIDE and mark your middle point.

If you have a score board, line your MIDDLE POINT  up with the word CENTER on the score board.

score lightly down the center.

Now, on that card center line you just scored, mark 1 1/2′ from each edge.

Then be sure to make those marks longer lines, like this.

The reason why, once you get a punch in there, you will want the hole you punch to be horizontally straight, the line help you line the punch up easily.

You will take you punch, like this one and only cut half the length of the punch out.

When done, you folded in half paper will look like this.

Here is what it looks like open, with the wrong side facing up.

Here is what you want to do next…you want the are in-between the cut out punches to fold along the score line going in,

like you are tucking that portion of the paper in while folding in half.

Here is a side view of what is happening to that center portion.

Now, glue with a ATG gun type glue the WRONG SIDES together or your card.

Here one side is done, I am getting ready to put the adhesive on the other side. (The white paper)

The pink indicates where I have applied the adhesive.

Here are all my butterflies cut out ready to go.

I have used my CHEERY LYNN DESIGNS dies.

BUTTERFLY BUNDLES

ORIENTAL BUTTERFLY DOILY

Spray them all to make them shimmery!

Now fold about 1/2 inch on the right side of what ever image you are using.  Stamps, paper, dies what ever it is.

Here is the butterfly, wrong side up with it’d folded part showing. Put your adhesive on that folded up side.  The adhesive goes on the part of the butterfly that would be considered RIGHT SIDE.

Adhesive is on the far left side that is facing out towards the left of the picture.

Take that adhesive edge and stick it down to that CENTER PORTION that pops up.

Add another large image, here I applied a tab to help with the glue, since I am using a design with so many openings.

Now, personally I was bothered how the weight of the butterflies, and I would assume anything you use, kept flopping forward to the right side of the card.

Thus, obstructing the view of anything I might want to place there.

My solution was to fold 1/4″ strips of paper in zig zag fashion and attach them to the back of  my images and the Left side of the Card.

You can see in a couple of images down, how these work.

Finished card front, nothing magic, just decorate the front.

I am again using items from the fabulous MAY TALLY KIT.

Here is the inside of the card.

A close-up.

Here  you can see the anchors on the backs of my pop-ups.

Another view of how the whole pop up works.

Once again, the finished product.

Now for those of you who are on Tally, or want to join, I am hosting a challenge for you to use this tutorial and make one of these cards however you want to!

The winner of the challenge, (done with TALLY POINTS) will win this

toTALLY awesome BUTTERFLY SET.

Valued at $24.95

The only catch is you have to do it the TALLY way!

So, go join up on Tally Scrapper and play along!

My Paper Tree House – Blog Hop Challenge

First I want to say, thank you everyone that stopped by for the blog hop.  I think we will announce winners tomorrow and hopefully you have had time to create a layout or the challenge.

I have been sick, sick and more sick.  Doing a traditional layout just was not going to happen.

So I defaulted to digital for this challenge and managed to still get all the required elements in.

We had a sketch to go on:

 

We also had random items we collected on the hop to add to the page.  Here were the items:

Sketch

Patterned Papers

Stitching

Bling

Quote – “I have one desire now – it is to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” Elisabeth Elliot

Chipboard

Something Messy ( I used beads)

Lace or Ribbon

1 Flower (oops used more ) 😦

Rub ons or stickers

Buttons

Butterfly

 

Here is my page with everything except as I just noticed while writing this post, I have too many flowers!!

 

I do have to say I LOVE IT!!

I did not have a picture of me to use, that matched the phrase.

I used my daughter because right not in her life, she still thinks it is wonderful to talk about Heavenly Father and Jesus.  She loves to tell me when she feels Jesus in her heart.  If I can just figure out a way to keep her feeling those feelings she has now, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

 

I will be back tomorrow with news from the BLOG HOP, so until then …..I am going back to bed!

 

The most important blog post EVER!!

I really hope I have not used that Title before, because, truly this is my most important post yet.  I have been waiting awhile to post this.  Ever since September of this year.

Right around the time when I was VERY new to blogging, I was able to attend a women’s conference called Time Out for Women.  It took place in Sacramento on Friday September 10 and 11th, 2010.   It was and incredible experience.  I was able to go with my Mother and Sister in-laws and some other wonderful friends of theirs.

One of the speakers, Jill Manning, tackled a very difficult topic.  One that we all want to pretend will just go away on its own.

Her presentation was titled, “The Uncensored Truth About Pornography”   Why this topic?  Jill says, “Because women are impacted by pornography in unique and profound ways, we play an indispensable role in the fight against it.  Although the statistics are daunting, we know that pornography cannot win, in light of Who and what is on our side.”

She shared some disturbing statistics about the age at which children are first introduced to this topic, and sadly most images are seen within their own home.  Thanks to technology, our children will see images of things that we never came across when we were kids.  Moms and Dads, the internet IS NOT A SAFE PLACE.  No filter is fool-proof and even sites geared towards children still need to be monitored.  We would not let our toddler who has had one day of swimming instruction swim in the Pacific by themselves.

So, why would we let a child go on the internet unmonitored while they are still young and innocent?

Jill shared a remarkable story of elephants living in the wild.  Elephants roam in packs.  Did you know that when you see images of those packs, that all those elephants you see are females and their young?

Male elephants are solitary animals and only join a pack during mating season, and then they go back to their solitary roaming.

Now, who is considered the King of the Jungle?  Well it is the lion.  No animal would dare go up against the lion, because they are strong, and will over power any animal it targets as its prey.

There is one animal that the lion can not go up against.  That animal?  The elephant.

Here is why:

 

 

Do you notice anything here?  When there is danger, the momma elephants form a circle.  This circle in impenetrable. Inside their circle is where they keep those that are most precious to them, their young.

I have to tell you, to just look at those images, brings tears to my eyes.

At the end of Jill’s presentation she compared us to the elephants.  She reminded us that we WOMEN had the power to form an impenetrable safety shield for our children.  We are the matriarchs, it is our duty.

At the close of Jill’  presentation, I have to say, I was moved and I did feel empowered, thinking that if all the women took a stand against this, we could really make a difference.

We were all given a printed card that was a card to take home, go over with our families and children and take an oath to make good choices, while online, while watching TV, etc.

Most of you know, I have a lot of kids, 7 to be exact.  I took one look at that 5 x 7 card and thought there is not enough room for all us to sign.

So, I  made my own version and have used the exact same wording that was on the CLEAN & SAFE MEDIA PLEDGE, that was given to all 2,400 of us matriarchs there.

My design in based on the free tote bag that, again, all of us attendees were given.

 

I took one look at that bag and knew, that was a layout waiting to happen.

Being that I was so inspired to do something about this pledge, I have come up with some ideas.

I want to challenge any of you to take the PLEDGE with your families too.

I would love for you to create something beautiful to spotlight this in your homes.  Hang it on your wall, in a frame next to all your home computers.

Talk about this with your families and take this wonderful pledge.  Can you imagine if every one of my blog visitors took my challenge and then referred a friend her to take the challenge also?

I am so passionate about this that for EVERYONE that links up a project to this post, I will tally all of you up and create and send you a blank THANK YOU card based on the design I used for my CLEAN & SAFE MEDIA PLEDGE.

So, you will be rewarded by me for putting this pledge into your home.

I have many friends from all faiths, but I plead with you to look past the small differences that our religions may have.

When it comes to our children and our families, churches and religions and individual beliefs we stand UNITED.

So please join with me and share this with friends and family.

Print that pledge out and make something beautiful for your home with it!!

If anyone has any questions about the pledge, just let me know!

Thank you to GROOVY DEB at If It’s Groovy for posting this project today.

Hope you all like what I have done.

 

The PLEDGE is done on a transparency sheet.

The saying on the BLUE says:

“BE WHERE YOU ARE, WHILE YOU’RE THERE”

I thought that was perfect for this.  To me, this from means, be constantly on guard and not to let our defenses down.

The phrase is WORD ART Created by Bethany Harty, the QUEEN of Word Art!

Her Blog:

http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com/

She has AMAZING things!!

I was able to find an awesome frame at Michael’s, for $3.00, WOW!!

All the blue birds, are done with a FISKARS punch I won from entering a FISKATEER contest.

On each bird, you will find, every one of our my family’s signatures, that we agree to take the MEDIA PLEDGE!

There are 9 birds…9 of us agree to “keep our home a happy and healthy place to be.” (Wording taken from the PLEDGE)

Now, to be eligible to receive the FREE handmade card from me, I ask a couple of things:

1) Go leave a comment at If It’s Groovy

2)  Go and get a COPY of the Pledge here: http://deseretbook.com/files/family_mediapledge.pdf

3) Create something, anything.  Even if you just print it and frame it, I will accept it.

4) Take a picture of your creation.

5) Blog about this with your creation

6) Linky up to the MR. LINKY below

7) Follow My Blog and If It’s Groovy

Now that might seem like a lot, but I AM GIVING YOU SOMETHING IN RETURN!

If I have to make 100 cards, it will be the best thing and the hardest work for something important and so worth it to me.  I will also have a Permanent Gallery here on my blog for any and all submissions I receive.  I truly hope it will be a HUGE Gallery.  This is for the best cause, your family and your children.

Refer someone here and you both give me each others name, you get an additional prize.

The MR. LINKY is open until January 15th, 2011.  Enough time to get through the holidays, refer friends and get your Pledge creation done.

I hope that all who stop by will link up with me and that we all can make a difference in this world, one family at a time.

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Tiffany Doodles BLOG HOP WINNER!

Thank you to all who hopped with me.  I had 19 comments and I will use the random.org widget to generate my winner.  In case of a DT member being my winner, we will draw again.

Today’s winner gets to have this DIGI STAMP from Tiffany Doodles.

 

Here is my 1st random number generated by random.org, if it is a team member, we keep going!!!

Comment #2 was from:

No laughing…I have to go check TIFFANY DOODLES to see if she is a DT member, I do not have all of us memorized yet!!

OK, she IS a DT member 🙂

Ok..draw #2!

Comment #6 was from:

Let’s see if Tabitha is a DT member…

 

NOPE!!!

 

HOORAY, on my 2nd try!!  TABITHA..contact me with your email addy and I will send your free DIGI file off to you!  I would 100% love if you would create something..and I will too and I will show our things off in a  blog post!!

What do you think?

Are you up for the blog challenge??  Let me know!!  It would be FUN!!!!  FUN!!!  I LOVE THAT DIGI!!!

 

That is it for today!  I am tired and computer dazed!!

 

Thank you, everyone who hopped along with us.

 

Next week.. hop again with me!

This time with:

STUDIO ALOHA DESIGNS:

December 16th and 17th

and

MY PAPER TREE HOUSE:

December 15th through December 19th

More details soon!!