Welcome Everyone!

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Friday, February 22, 2013

PPC105 Playing in Paradise Challenge


Good morning!  Good morning!  It's another challenge today at Playing in Paradise.  Nina has given us the theme of "Travel" to work with.

PPC 105
 
This time I made a clean and simple gift card holder.
 
I don't know about you, but I purchase a lot of gift cards for the males in my life.  They are SO hard to buy for!  LOL.  This gift card holder is just perfect for tucking them into, and so EASY to make.

 
Prima has a book of papers called "Ledger" which are very good for this type of project where you really don't need too much of a decorative inside.  They are also perfect for using as backgrounds for layouts. 
 
So I started out with a piece of ledger paper that was 5-1/2" wide by 8-1/2" long.  I scored it 3 inches from one side, and 2 inches from the other.  Then you just fold the 2" piece up to make the pocket on the inside and glue the edges of the pocket closed.
 
After that, decorating the front can be as easy or as detailed as you desire.  Here are a couple of others I've made.  They are a lot of fun to do and you can use up little bits and pieces like keys and buttons that you have left over from other projects.
 
 
 
 
 
Be sure and stop over at the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog ... the rest of the design team has been hard at work this week... and you really should take a peek at what they've created to inspire you! 

You will also find detailed instructions there on how to participate in the challenge.  It's easy/peasy.

Once you've got it all figured out, grab your supplies and join in!  We'd love to see what you create!  Up for grabs is a wonderful prize package of "The Sweetest Thing" Decorative tape and buttons that is worth $20.  It could be yours!

Take care,
Linda

 
 

Friday, February 15, 2013

PPC104 Challenge - Add a little Sparkle!

A happy Friday to everyone!  Here in southern Alberta we have been promised a beautiful, warm, sunny day ... so life is GOOD!!

PPC #104
It is my turn to host the challenge "Playing in Paradise", over at Scrapbooker's Paradise, and I am in the mood for "bling".  I would like you to take your project up a notch by adding something that "sparkles".  It can be glitter, rhinestones, sparkly buttons... whatever you like, as long as it sparkles!!!  I hope you will come on over and give the challenge a try.

There's a wonderful prize package of "The Sweetest Thing" decorative tape and buttons worth $20 and it could be yours, just by entering a photo of a card, layout, or altered object!

I did a layout of the Spruce tree in my front yard on a beautiful frosty morning. 


The Magic of Snow

I made the snowflake embellishment by die cutting a snowflake shape out of chipboard and painting it with gesso.  I then coated it in a layer of molding paste to give it some texture and sprinkled Diamond Dust glitter all over.  That glitter is wonderful stuff.  It is made of finely ground glass and really sparkles.  The store doesn't have any of this glitter in, but Fairy Dust Sugar Shimmer would be a wonderful substitute!  A couple of flourishes were cut out of silver glitter paper and I added Stickles glitter and a blue rhinestone to the metal flower.  Kaisercraft makes lovely glittery gems, so I added one of those and a beautiful sparkly flower from Prima, as well as a blue one from Petaloo that I had in my stash.  Bo Bunny makes beautiful blue flowers that could be easily substituted for these, and Prima has some gorgeous white ones that just happen to be on sale right now!  You can always sparkle them up by wiping a little Stickles on the flower tips!!



My favorite piece of "sparkle" came from Prima's Fairy Belle Crystal Flourish which I put down in the left bottom corner.


For the second floral cluster, I did a smaller version of the snowflake, only I used a doily as the base this time.  I embellished the photo a little by painting Glitter Snow around the edges and trimming the bottom with blue rhinestones.  I told you I LIKE bling!!




 The last little bit of bling that I added were some little acrylic snowflakes.  They are hard to see in the picture, but in real life, they look really pretty.


So there you have it!  Be sure and stop over at the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog ... the rest of the design team has out-done themselves this week... and you really should take a peek at what they've created! 

You will also find instructions on how to join the challenge and Play along with us.  I can't wait to see the "sparkle" that you are going to dazzle us with!!

Enjoy your day!
Linda


Friday, February 8, 2013

PPC 103 Playing in Paradise Challenge

Good Morning everyone!!

It's all about LOVE at the Playing in Paradise Challenge this week!


Dawn is encouraging you to create a Valentine card, make a layout about someone/thing you love, anything that has something to do with love!  I decided to take the opportunity and make my husband a card, however it turned out kind of "girly" with all the flowers and sparkle, so I've decided to use it as a decoration for the mantle instead!  The wonderful Sizzix Accordian Album Die as well as the matching Bracket Frame and Label Die worked perfectly for this!
 
 
It will be a great die set for making mini albums also!
 
The doily mats were made by using a doily stamp from my stash and embossing it.  Then to make the chipboard letters black, I painted them with black gesso and clear embossed them.  This gave a very textured embossing pattern that I wasn't expecting, but really like.  Here's a close-up so you can see a little better.
 
 
I love the paper line from We R Memory Keepers "Crazy for You".  The pinks and blacks are just beautiful.  I used a few stickers from Authentique's "Lovely" line for embellishments on the front, but I see the store is out of that right now.  However, Pink Paislee has a really cute sticker set that would work just as well!  The flowers that I used were from Prima and my stash.
 
Everyone is invited to play at our challenges! There are no requirements or restrictions on what products you can use to create your challenge entry; items from your stash are just fine!  For full instructions on how to play, just go here.
 
This week you will be competing for a prize package of decorative tape by My Minds Eye "The Sweetest Thing" collection, as well as a package of coordinating buttons, worth a total of $20.  So what are you waiting for???  Come on over and join in!
 
Enjoy your crafting!
Linda
 
 
 
 


 
 

Friday, February 1, 2013

PPC102 Playing in Paradise Sketch

Good morning everyone!  This week at the Playing in Paradise challenge, Allison has given us a really great sketch to work with. 

 
 
I decided to take this sketch and see how many layers I could add to it,
while still keeping the original design.
 
 
It was pretty easy to add layers with the beautiful paper line Serenade by Bo Bunny!  I tucked a few coordinating mats behind and then layered on the top with my image and 
lots of fussy cut flowers from the paper line.  The little yellow flowers I left flat, but the burgundy ones, I crumpled up to break down the paper fibers and then
ruffled them so they had some dimension. 
 
 
The gold roses were made using Spellbinders Shapeability die "Bitty Blossoms".  I really love this die.  Flowers are very easy to make with it.  After I cut the roses from a piece of yellow Serenade paper, I painted them with some glimmering gold paint.  Added some lace and a tulle bow,
plus some red "bling", and I was done!
 
 
You really have to go over to the Playing in Paradise challenge this week and see what the rest of the design team did with it ...  let me tell you ... there's some awesome cards, and even a layout! 
Just goes to show you, how versatile a sketch can be!
 
Then give it a try yourself!  There's a fabulous prize package
of scrapping goodies worth $25 waiting to be won!
You have until noon MST, next Thursday, Februry 7th to get your entry in.
You could be the lucky winner!