Blog hopping with Kelleigh Ratzlaff

Welcome to my little neglected corner of the 'net!  If you're coming from Kelleigh's blog, you're in the right spot!  Don't forget - if you leave a comment on each participant's blog, you will be entered to win a $10 gift card to Kelleigh's shop at Pixels & Co.

What a great way to start iNSD weekend, right?!?!

I've had this little project rolling around in my head for a few months now and, after two back-to-back computer crashes, I was finally able to create it!

This quirky little box is for my sister-in-law who has worked so very hard in the past year to lose over fifty pounds!  She looks great and I plan to tuck a gift card to her favorite store in the box so that she can go shopping for something new to wear.  A new swimsuit, perhaps???

To create this gift box, I used Kelleigh's Hourglass box cutting file (it's also available as a jpeg/png/pdf for hand cutting too!) and a polka dotted paper from Kelleigh's Summer Lovin' mini polka dots paper pack with a bikini shape from the Silhouette store.  

I used a scallop and circle punch to create space for the sentiment.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and the ruler ribbon is from Joanne Fabrics. 

This turned out to be such a fun gift box!  I can see this with some suntan oil or suntan lotion samples tucked in for someone who is headed on vacation or who is into tanning. 

I hope you enjoyed my project and I hope you are inspired to create something off the page!  

Thanks for hopping along with Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs' Blog Hop!

Your next stop is: Rachel's blog.

**Don't forget if you leave a comment on each participants blog you will be entered to win a $10 gift card to Kelleigh's shop at Pixels & Co.**

A New Year and a New Team!

It's been a long time since I posted here on my blog.  I haven't created too many things in the past year due to my work schedule and going to school part time.  But, it's a new year and time to get back to doing what makes me happy - making stuff!!

Last month, I was lucky to be chosen to participate in Deena Rutter's 12 Days of Holiday Hybrids on her blog.  I whipped up these sweet Hershey's nugget gift tins and shared the tutorial on how to make them.

I used Deena's Jolly Holiday papers, Hello December cutting files, and Hello December brushes. 

You can see the step-by-step tutorial on Deena's blog.  I've since joined Deena's team and I am very excited about my teammates.  I can tell they are going to challenge me to think outside the box!  Challenge accepted - Game on!  (but after this card that I'm going to share now LOL)

Deena has a new release at Pixel and Company called Every Little Bit: Fresh Start - January kit and, I can tell you, it is packed with tons of goodness!

and here's the quick and simple card I created with the kit using two journal cards and a brush from the kit:

To create the striped background, I overlapped two of the same journal cards, matching up the orange stripes:

Next, I added the new year journal card from the kit as a new layer and added the "let's do this thing" brush to the same layer.

After printing the 2 layers separately on Epson Matte Presentation paperusing my printer's best print setting, I cut and attached the striped border layer to a card base.  Then, I added the New Year layer and called it done!

Be sure to check out P&Co.'s Dollar Days where Deena has these Journal Card Envelopes available for $1!!!

Stop back again soon for some more projects!  Santa brought me a Silhouette Cameo Cutting machine and I'm in the process of creating my own Girl Cave where I can create, create, create!  I'll be sharing photos of it as soon as we get started.  We're in the "cleaning and planning" stage.

I can assure you that I don't need a fortune teller to predict that a trip to Ikea is in my near future!!!

I'm entering my New Year - Let's do this thing! card to the following challenges:

A Creative Romance

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards

Digitally "Sweet" Challenges

Jellypark Friends Friday Challenges

Totally Papercrafts

Creations by AR blog hop!

Hi Everyone,

If you stopped here for the Creations by AR Customer Blog Hop, please continue to Diane's blog. Unfortunately, I ran out of ink last night as I was printing for my project *boo*

If you get lost along the way, here is the list of blogs that are in the hop:

Lisa http://craftingwithprincesslisa.blogspot.com/

Mary http://handmadeheartfelt.wordpress.com/

Lenoria http://lenoriaslidlbits.blogspot.com/

Diana  http://kreativfenster.blogspot.de/

Penny http://pennydouph.blogspot.com/

Teresa http://www.cardsandcraftsandmoreohmy.blogspot.com/

LuAnn http://livelaughcreate-luann.blogspot.com/  - You are here

Diane http://www.dianesdesigns.blogspot.com/

Deb http://debstampnscrap.blogspot.com.au/

Rhonda http://bluepoohbear753.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to comment on each blog (except mine!! LOL) for a chance to win a template! Have fun and I' hope you are inspired by the projects you see!!

Card Caravan challenge #18 - nature

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan has issued their newest challenge today - inspired by nature.  I've had this card in my head for quite a while now and finally had a chance to sit down and create it.

 To create this wood-sy, outdoor card, I used wood papers from the Absentminded Kit and her coordinating Facebook freebie by Etc. by Danyale. The owl, banner and leaves are from Elise Hansen's Whooo Loves Ya? kit.

Danyale's Facebook fan freebie - LOVE that tree!!!

here's close up of the layers:

 There is another version I want to do some day using the same type of papers and maybe stamp in the center like someone carved their initials in to the wood.

I'm also linking my card up to the following challenges:

• Di's Digis Designs 3E 2W SIO - 2ndW Lets meet our Animal Friends
• Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps - SIR - #126 Springtime
• Clearly Inspired - 2W, 1E, SIO - Week 2, Spring
• Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - 3E – Spring
•  Crafty Catz - 1E – Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - 2W, 1E, JFF - Week 2, F … Feathered Friends

A Design by Dani Sneak Peek!

A few weeks ago, I applied to Dani Mogstad's CT call.  I've always loved the whimsical style of Dani's designs, but was very hesitant to take a chance and apply for any of her calls.  I don't take rejection well LOL.  But I decided to take a chance and I'm proud to announce that I'm now one of

Yay!!  So, that means I get to show off her fantastic designs! And today is a sneak peek day!

Dani's newest kit, Playdate, is loaded with unique, fun papers and elements.  It totally reminds me of those retro reading books from the 70's that my Mom had in the house as I was growing up - you know the ones, "See Jane run.  Run, Jane, run!"  Some very cool memories were stirred up when I saw new kit.

Playdate will be available in Dani's shop on 4/27.  Here's a closer look at the kit which I used to create my project:

top view of the basket:

 and just a close up of the front panel showing the layers:

Supplies: 

• Digital kit:  Playdate by Dani Mogstad
• Template: Pack a Picnic by My Time Made Easy
• Cardstock: Stampin’ Up!
• Adhesives: Glue Arts Glider Pro extreme tac, Glue Arts Raise n’s adhesive squares
• Tools: Big Shot, Spellbinders circle and scallop circle dies, SU! scallop border punch, piercing tool, brads, Gelly Roll white pen, SU! Red craft ink 

I'm linking my Playdate basket to:

• Today's Creative Blog - Do it yourself crafts 
• Inspire Me Fridays – Always Anything Goes
•  

Monster Candy Dispenser

So, I totally planned this project for a blog hop that Kelleigh Ratzlaff was having today.  The idea hit me as I shopped her templates in her store.  I was super excited to come up with a unique way to use her candy dispenser template so I shopped for the perfect papers to use for my project - and I found one that was PERFECT! 

And here is my adorable not-so-scary monster candy dispenser:

and a side view of those sharp teeth:

and... then I realized that Kelleigh's blog hop was to showcase her newest template - a Seed Packet Card template - that will be in her shop on 4/26/12.

You can head over to Kelleigh's blog and see what her team and a few of the Hybrid Chicks did with her template.

After adding a digitial paper to Kelleigh's template, printing it and assembling the template, here's how I created my monser candy dispenser:

I used my Big Shot with my Spellbinders' circle dies and cloud dies from My Favorite Things.  The clouds are what I used to create his eyebrows.   To create his teeth, I simply cut a strip of white felt and then cut triangles along one side.

The maribou is attached with hot glue.

And there you have it - a monster candy dispenser that is totally adorable if I say so myself!

I'm linking my candy dispenser up to the following challenges:

• Crafting for all Seasons - 2W - #25 anything but a card   (2nd wk)
•  Inky Impressions -  SIO - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Card Caravan Challenge #8

Once again, dusting out the cobwebs that have overtaken my blog.  It hasn't been for lack of creating, just lack of time to create unless it's for an assignment - which today's card is. 

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan has issued their 8th challenge - Melissa chose the theme "two".  You could interpret this to be a card for a second birthday, two buttons, two ribbons, two layers, or even two cards. 

I actually had a burst of mojo this round of challenges.  I took the "two" theme "to" an extreme - I used:

• 2 papers from Sarah Jone's A Bushel and A Peck paper pack
• 2 layers to my card
• 2 rows of double twine and 2 double bows (from the Twinery)
• 2 different sentiments from Paper Smooches: Fruitastic set and Chic Chat set and I used "pears"        (ba-dum bump) <---that was my rim shot on the pun LOL

The inside of the card reads "Thanks so much".  Here is the paper pack I used to create my card:

So, we'd LOVE to have you play along with us this week!   Make sure you add your project/card to inlinkz at the end of the post so we can leave you some love!!

I am also entering my card into the following challenges:

• Allsorts  - #133 It takes two
• Marks Finest Papers - #85 Thank you card
•  Phindy’s Place  – Clean & Simple 
• The Crafty Pad - Send Some One a Smile (No Christmas or Birthday cards) 

Card Caravan challenge #2

It's time for The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan's 2nd challenge.

Here’s how the Card Caravan challenges will work – Every other Sunday, members of The Card Caravan will host a challenge on The Hybrid Chick blog. Our challenges will be fairly simple like “use ribbon”, “use glitter” or “use the color blue”. We just want you to get creative with us!

Our 2nd challenge that starts today 9/18 and runs through 9/30 is to use one or more buttons on a card or project.

I'm think my mojo is still packed away in one of the many boxes in my basement from our recent move so I went the easy route..... I used the bus element from Melissa Wilson and Mari Koegelenberg's call called Back to School - The Elements to create my card.



I created my shaped card simply by resizing the bus element to fit on a 5.5" x 4.25" card base. After printing and cutting out the bus, I adhered very close to the fold of my card base and cut around the bus.


Now, I can hear you asking, "where is her button for the challenge???"

I took a creative liberty and used my Sizzix button die to die cut two buttons to use for wheels. After tying some lemonade twine that I bought from The Twinery in the holes of the die cut buttons, I adhered them in place using 3D foam squares.


I added some Studio G glitter glue to the red lights on the bus for a little sparkle.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Dream Valley Challenge #16 - use buttons
Bloggers Challenge Button Challenge

Hope to see you playing along with our challenges!
LuAnn

Birthday gift bag

Hi there! Quick post today showing off my latest creation using Nikki Epperson's About to Snap digital kit and some of my Paper Smooches stamps.


Here it is.....


I used the Sugar Rush stamp set and the Sentiment Sampler on my project. It also uses Lauren Meader's Carry Clutch template. Here's a close up of the front panel...


The candle and cupcake are all paper pieced since I don't own any markers. Here's the hanging tag...


My daughter has already laid claim to the gift bag for a friend's birthday party later this month.

That's it for me today - I need to get to work on my project for my Hybrid Chick blog post tomorrow.

Anyone for some toast?

What's a hybrid gal to do when she's out of ink and she wants to create??? Get out some non-digital papers and some new stamps and get creative! I'm still so very new to this whole stamping thing but I'm having a great time learning a new way to get creative!!!

April was my first month as a Paper Smooches club member. In my first package was a stamp set called Boob Tubes. Talk about Ca-yute!!!


After seeing some cards made by the PS club members and the design team, I started to see a new use for one of the TV stamp sets. Here's what I came up with:


I used the TV on the bottom left to create the toaster. I added two narrow rectangular pieces of black cardstock for the toaster slots.

I used bits and pieces from the set to create the toast. The toast was created using the screen part of the TV on the bottom right. The eyes were created using what I think is a knob in the top right of the set and the retro antennae in the middle of the set (see arrows below)


I used a sketch from the Sweet Sunday sketch challenge but didn't get the card done in time for that week.

Additional supplies: cardstock, patterned paper, silver brad and corner rounder punch from Stampin' Up!, brown gems from Joann Fabrics, twine recycled from Paper Smooches packaging, Scallop circle and circle Nestibilities.

I've been working on a little something with the PS May release - the first idea I had didn't quite work out so I had to go back to the drawing board. I'm such a thinker when I create - I can't just stamp, cut, and adhere. Nooooo, not me - I need to sketch out my ideas on all sorts of little pieces of paper.

Well, that's it for me - thanks for stopping by!

3.27.11 Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge

Happy Monday!!

Quick post today sharing the card I created for Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #110.


recipe for card:
stamps - digital sentiment by Arty Pants Digital Stamps (thedigichick.com), whale and ocean template (myscrapchick.com)
paper - Pixel Gypsy By the Sea digital papers (thedigichick.com)
accessories - Epson Matte Presentation paper, sewing machine, thread, scissors, scallop oval (spellbinders), ric rac, tombow adhesive runner, foam 3D squares

Hybrid Pot O' Gold

Happy Friday to you! Nice to see you again!

Today I am going to show you how to make your own Hybrid pot of gold. Wouldn't this be cute waiting on the table when your kids get up St. Patrick's Day morning?


You could fill it with gold coins, Hershey nuggets, Rolo's candy or anything else that your heart desires!

I was inspired to make this pot o' gold after seeing Amy Stoffel's new kit at ScrapMatters called Lucky Charm:


Aren't the colors so vibrant?

Next I went on a hunt through the SM store for a template. I knew it needed to be something that I could put gold coins in but it also needed to be a template that I could turn into my pot so I looked for a template with a rounded bottom panel.

And here's what I used - Krisi's Kreations' Egg Baskets template:


What? You don't see how I turned the egg shape into a pot for my gold?

After printing the basket template out onto paper using my printer's draft option (so as not to hog up my ink), I traced the egg basket template onto black cardstock.

After cutting out all the black cardstock, I cut the egg shape side panels down into a pot shape.


Then I measured across the top of my pot and went back to my Photoshop and resized the rainbow elements to "fit" as handles - when I cut the rainbows out, I left a tab of plain paper under each end of the rainbow so that I could attach it to the inside of the pot using double sided tape.

To form my shamrock, I printed out a 4 x 4 inch square of the green paper from the kit and punched out 3 small hearts. Join all the hearts together using a glue dot, cut a small strip of green paper for the stem and add a button to the center.

I used my scallop circle Nestibilities to cut out the felt - the flair is printed from the kit and attached using 3D foam squares. I used a teeny punch to add the holes to the felt piece. This is attached to the pot using 3D foam squares also.



Last thing I did was use some silver ink around the edges and on the top rim of the pot - this gave it a little more definition.

And that's how the egg basket template ended up as a pot o' gold!


That's it for me today! See you again soon with some cards and other projects!