Hearts of the West Blog Hop

Welcome to the FIRST Hearts of the West Blog Hop!!

This is a circular blog hop - no matter where you start....  if you keep on going ... you will end up back where you started!  There is a complete list of participants at the end of this post .... just in case you get lost.  

If you came from Chelsey at Personal Touch Scrapbooking, then you're on the right track!

Our fearless leader, Nancy Klein, chose our first color challenge:  using Buttercup, Sorbet, New England Ivy, Gypsy and Lagoon as well as any neutral colors we wanted to use.

I was a little intimidated by these colors at first, they're not what I usually work with, but as I played around with this and that, I started to love what I was seeing develop.  It just goes to show it's good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while!  I DID use a little bit of artistic licence though, and added in some pink roses, because I wanted to tie them in with the pink in the photo.

To create this layout I used a couple of the papers from "Ivy Lane".  In addition, the sorbet piece is from the retired "Flirty" collection, the lagoon is from "Skylark", and the purple mat is from "Laughing Lola"

The title piece was made by combining some of the "Flirty" chipboard pieces together.

The purple flowers were cut from the Artbooking  cricut cartridge, on page 48.  I used 3 - 3" pieces and one 2" piece for the large flower, and two 1-1/2" pieces for the smaller ones.  The piece of bling for the middle of the large flower is from the "Babycakes" assortment.  The beautiful resin flowers came from the Skylark Assortment, the Ivy Lane Assortment, and The Base & Bling Purple Jewels.

For the large flower, I used a stylus to form them in an upward cup shape, and for the two smaller ones, I did the opposite and had the cup shape face downward.  The centers from the smaller flowers are from the pink glitter gem pack.

The leaves were cut from the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge on page 43, and inked with Gypsy on the edges.

To add dimension, I pinched the tips of each leaf and scrunched it, then inked the folds as well.

Before I go I'd like to give credit to Amarilys's Scrappy Corner.  I used the following sketch of hers to create this layout.

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know what you think of the hop!  Comments are always appreciated!

Your next stop is Diane at Paper Crafters' Sorority.

See you next month for the Hearts of the West Team Challenge.

We're always looking for new consultants to join our amazing Hearts of the West Team.  Contact one of us from the list below and we will direct you to your nearest consultant and get you started!

1.  Nancy Klein 
2.  Chelsey Vorosmarty 
3.  Linda Pekrul -  That's me!  
4.  Diane Fischer 
5.  Chantal Pearson 
6.  Christine Marshall 
7.  Freya Hall Dunbar 
8.  Michelle Marciniw Olson
9.  Corinna Murphy 
10.Janet McCormick 
11.Donna Digby 

I'm a Swirlydoos Guest Designer!

I can hardly believe it!  

The talented ladies at Swirlydoos have taught me so much over the years, and I'm over-the-moon happy that they've invited me to be a Guest Designer sometime this year.  WooHoo!

They introduced 3 new members to their design team today as well.  Check it out here.  It's going to be a great year with that kind of talent to inspire you!

Wild Wednesday at Scrapbooker's Paradise

Good morning everyone!

I'm hosting Wild Wednesday today at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  I love Kaisercraft's Kaleidoscope paper pack, and used it to create this layout.

For inspiration, I used the Tiffany Sketch at Swirlydoos.  Take a peek at it here.

It's a fun challenge using whatever supplies you like!

I'm off to work on my income taxes.  (Yes, I'm one of THOSE who waits till the last minute!!)  Hope you're having fun in your craft room and not stuck punching in numbers as I am!  LOL

Take care,

Linda

Sign ups for May Swirlydoos Challenges

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that signups are being taken for a couple of FUN challenges over at Swirlydoos for the month of May.

First up is the Monthly Round Robin featuring layouts.

Next we have a Card Round Robin.  I am hosting this one this month and I sure hope you will give it a try.  I'd love to see some of my following friends enter!  If you have any questions, comment on this thread below and I will put the answers there, so everyone can see them. We will be making Center Step Cards.  I've put the link for a tutorial on the Swirlydoos thread.

These challenges are open to anyone who wants to participate.  You do NOT need to be a subscriber to the kits.  (You can use whatever supplies you have on hand.)  You DO need to be a forum member.  However, that's easy!  Just go here, enter your information and when you receive a confirmation email, you will be able to access the forums and comment on the threads.  (As well as sign up for the round robin!)

If you're confused as to what a Round Robin is, it's simply lifting the project of your teammate from the week before you and making it your own.  There are full explanations at each of the challenge threads, just click on the links that I have given you above.

Hope to see you visiting us over at Swirlydoos this month!

Linda

Time for a new CHALLENGE at Playing in Paradise!

Hi everyone,

Pam is hosting today's challenge at Playing in Paradise.  She would like to know ... Spring or Easter - What does it mean to you?  Your entry can be a layout, a card, an altered project, anything you like ... so have fun with this challenge!

I have always loved Easter. It is SO welcome after our long, cold winters!  I think my most favorite part is all the baskets of beautiful flowers that start to appear and put a smile on your face.  Today as I was grocery shopping, the shelves were full of tulips and azaleas and hyacinths and violets and lilies and all sorts of greenery ... it was WONDERFUL!!

So when I found this basket tutorial on Pinterest, I just HAD to make it.  :)  I used G45's Botanical Tea patterned papers, stickers, flowers and chipboard tags to create this.

This is a good sized basket and could be filled with a LOT of treats.  Even a small pot of flowers could be tucked inside!  The handle can be switched for a lid.  Or you could leave the handle off and use it for a flower pot.  Lots of possibilities!

For those of us who STILL use Imperial measurements, (even though Canada's gone to the Metric systems for MANY years now LOL),  here is what I used:

12x12 inch piece of card stock to cut out body of basket. (Each section is 4" square.)

My lace strips for the side were 1-1/4" wide by 4-1/4" long (My advice for these strips is to make a sample with the punch that you are planning to use, and try it out first because your widths might be different from mine.)

The squares for the inside of the box are 3-3/4 inches.

The handle is the same width as the lace strips, 1-1/4", and is 12" long.  

I used Scor Tape while assembling the basket, because it is strong gripping and I know my basket won't fall apart now. 

The tutorial has a lot of photos and detailed instructions and I found this basket very easy to make. 

Be sure to check out the post at Playing in Paradise and see what my team mates have to say about Spring and Easter.  Their projects are sure to WOW you!!

And THEN... think about giving the challenge a try yourself!  It's very easy to do, all the directions are right there, and we would LOVE to see what Spring and/or Easter mean to you!!

Have a wonderful time preparing for SPRING!

Linda

Technique Tuesday at Scrapbooker's Paradise

Hi everyone!

I hope you'll join me over at Scrapbooker's Paradise for a technique I did using Distress Stains and a Penny Black stamp.  (There's even a mini tutorial on how to make a daffodil!)

I did this card for a round robin at Swirlydoos.  Check out the challenges there.  They are a lot of fun!

See you there!

Linda

Wild Wednesday Panorama Matchbox

Hi everyone,

I'm up today on the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog with a Wild Wednesday post.  Please come join me as I share the details on how I made this Spring Panorama Matchbox, as well as a template to make your own.  There's lots more photos and close-ups!  Check it out here.