Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge #9 - Memorial Day

Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge #9 - Memorial Day

It's Wednesday again and that means another fun challenge over at Isabella's Sketchbook!

This week we would like you to make a card with a patriotic theme with your country's colors.

In the United States, next week is Memorial Day, a day where we remember the veterans who fought for our country and honor the soldiers who are still fighting today.  Your card can be in red, white and blue or if you prefer, it can showcase the colors of your specific country.  Memorial day also conjures up images of summer, cookouts and picnics so your card could also relfect that theme!  Remember you must use an image from Isabella's Digi Boutique for all challenges.  There are over 200 images to choose from so you are sure to find one that you love!  Depending on the amount of entries we have for this challenge our talented design team may choose one winner this week!  Tell all of your creative card making friends to check out this week's challenge and enter their card along with you!  The winner will receive 2 free images and the "I Won" badge for thier blog!  Get your creative mojo on and let's see what you come up with!!!

My cupcake card above uses Isabella's July 4th cupcake image which you can find here among

many other patriotic images!  Don't forget to check out all of the other cards that our amazing design team has created for inspiration!  We have some very talented ladies over there!!!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

♥♥♥{hugs} Lisa♥♥♥

♥♥♥SHABBY TEA ROOM WINNER♥♥♥

WOW!!!  I just had to share some great news with anyone who might be interested!!!  I've won my first card challenge and it happened at one of my favorite challenge blogs!!!  THE SHABBY TEA ROOM!!!  My vintage patriotic card took first place in the week # 10 Stars and Stripes challenge and I'm so excited!!!  I must say it is nice to be recognized for doing what you love!!!  There are so many talented card designers out there and it is an honor to be among them!!!

Also this week I was recognized in 2 other challenge blogs

I was a top 3 pick, for the second week in a row at the Die Cut Dreams "Lace It Up" Challenge for my "Loving" card
and
I was also a Super Six pick at the Card Patterns Challenge for sketch 64 which was also my "Loving" card.

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog or just stops by to view a few cards and leave some lovely comments!!
Have a great day!!  I already am!!
{hugs}♥♥Lisa♥♥

!

Exciting News and Embellish Magazine

Tonight I am very excited and I have some great news!  For the second week in a row I made the top 3 in the Die Cut Dreams weekly challenge!  It's nice to see your name "up in lights" so to speak, well, it's my version of "up in lights".  LOL  It's nice to be recognized for doing what you love to do... 

And speaking of loving what you do and being recognized, there is an amazing designer named Ashley Newell and I have been following her blog daily for quite some time now!  Her gorgeous cards have been published in many magazines (a total dream of mine)!  She has a wonderful clean and classic style and her blog is beautiful!  Recently, Ashley began publishing an online crafting magazine named Embellish Magazine.  It is a terrific magazine that you can access online for a small fee and it has gorgeous pictures, great inspiration by the design team and fun challenges.  My card above is for their challenge this week and it is called Butterflies Color Challenge and it is sponsored by Skipping Stones Design.  The color challenge is to use black, green and kraft colors as in the picture shown below.  I can tell I am going to enjoy reading this new magazine, following their blog, and joining in their weekly challenges!  Good luck Ashley, I wish you all the best with your new endeavor!
♥♥♥{hugs}Lisa♥♥♥

Butterfly Card Supplies

Stamps: PTI Background Basics Text Style, inque boutique What A Feeling.

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink.

Punches: Martha Stewart small and large butterflies and lace border, Marvy scallop circle punch.

Twine: Basic twine from Michaels.

Pearl Embellishments: Recollections from Michaels.

Embossing Plates: Swiss Dots by Cuttlebug

Card Positioning Systems Sketch 168

Good Evening!  Another sketch this week over at CPS, #168.  I love their sketches because they seem to be so easy to incorporate any theme and so practical!  I was in a butterfly mood today as you can see above and I just LOVE my little butterfly punch from Martha Stewart!  The background script stamp is from PTI Background Basics : Text Style.

The sketch this week looks like this.  Thanks for stopping by!  ♥♥♥Lisa

Unscripted Sketches #55 - Shabby Flower

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I made this card today and I have to say I love the way it turned out!  Very vintage which of course is my FAV!!!  The flower was so much fun to make.  First I stamped, with brown ink, my script background stamp from Papertrey Ink onto some pink tissue paper and then I punched out some flowers with my circle scallop punch.  I punched two 2" circles and two 1 1/2" circles and then put a brad through them to hold them together.  I then scrunched all of the flowers together and opened them back up.  I finished it off with a pearl accent in the middle.  It has a very shabby feel and I love the results!   I am entering this card in the Unscripted Sketches challenge this week, #55 which can be seen below.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!
I already am!!♥♥

{hugs} Lisa

2s4y Laura's Sketch #52

Once again, it's the middle of the night, 2:30 to be exact, and I should be sleeping, but am I??? Of course not! I just can't help it, it's so peaceful in the middle of the night and sometimes my best inspiration comes at 3 a.m. One of my favorite challenges is the weekly sketch at 2s4y and this week Laura's sketch had a huge scalloped circle in the center. I love those scalloped circles! They give such a finished look to a card and I love finding just the right patterned paper to punch them out of! Here is Laura's Sketch #52 and my card can be seen above.

I have fallen in love with apron clipart lately and I've been looking for cute aprons.  I ordered the new Papertrey Ink Homemade stamps and it has a cute apron image in it but it hasn't arrived yet.  Also, Isabella's Sketchbook has some absolutely darling apron images to choose from and you can check them out here.  The apron on this card is just a random image that I picked up along the way on my neverending journey across the web!  I am SOOO ready for bed now!  Have a great day everyone and I'll see you real soon!

{hugs} Lisa♥♥♥

Isabella's Birthday Card Challenge #8

Good morning to everyone!  It is a Wonderful Wednesday morning so you know what that means...  It's challenge day over at Isabella's Sketchbook.  This week the challenge is to create a birthday card using any one of Isabella's images.  There are soooooo many cute images to choose from so head on over to her store and browse a bit!  This week I chose the image titled "Cake Tower" to make my birthday card!  I love how the cake looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it's so adorable.  I chose to use soft colors on my card to give it a slightly vintage feel.  Make sure to head over to Isabella's Challenge website and look at the cards that the rest of the DT has made, they are just gorgeous and will give you the inspiration you need to start your own creation!  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

The winner will receive
2 free images from Isabella's store
The beautiful "I Won" badge! 
And this week Isabella is also including the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Lace Tree"

Good luck and  have a great week!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Patriotic Meets Shabby Chic

What happens when Patriotic

meets Shabby Chic?

Week #10 at The Shabby Tea Room is titled Stars and Stripes and their challenge is to make a card using Red, White and Blue and be inspired by the Grand Ol' Flag!  This week I taught myself how to make those cute accordion folded medallion/flowers and I thought this would be the perfect card to use them on!
I am also entering this card in the "Just Us Girls" challenge this week.  Their theme is red, white and blue as well in honor of Memorial Day!

This card is in honor of all of the brave Men and Women fighting for our country every day!  May they all come home safe and be returned to their families!  God Bless America!!

Have a wonderful day!

♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Monday, May 17th and Happy Birthday To Me!!!  What a wonderful  birthday it is!  I woke up last night to do my nightly blog crawl (at 12a.m. it's a crawl not a hop) and I found out that my card from last week was recognized on 2 different websites.  It was one of the top 3 at Die Cut Dreams  and it got an honorable mention at The Shabby Tea Room!  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come!  This was the very first time one of my cards was noticed in a challenge (actually 2).  It's very exciting and now my new goal is to actually win one!

 

Which brings me to my next order of business.  The card I made last night was so much fun!  There were two challenges I was working towards and this card is for both of them.  The first one is the Die Cut Dreams Challenge.  Their challenge this week was to use lace.  Not a problem, I LOVE LACE! The second challenge was from Card Patterns and it was their sketch # 64.

 









I toiled over this card for a couple of hours to get it just right and I'm very happy with the way it turned out!  I hope you like it too!  The sentiment is just perfect too, I am LOVING this wonderful world of cardmaking!  Have a wonderful day, I'm already having one!
♥{hugs}♥ Lisa

Shabby Tea Room Chipboard Challenge

I think my first love when it comes to style is definitely "Shabby Chic"!  Although I love to experiment with other styles I always come back to the vintage, shabby, carefree style of Shabby Chic!  The Shabby Tea Room has become one of my favorite blog/challenge websites because of this love!  This week at TSTR is week #9 and it is a chipboard challenge.  Lord knows I have my share of chipboard but to pick only one for a card was a challenge in itself!  I settled on a beautiful little butterfly from Tattered Angels and sprayed it with pink glimmer mist for some added shine.  You can't go wrong with Prima flowers so I embellished the butterfly with 2 mini roses and placed one large glittered rose on top!  The stick pins from Maya Road have also been a favorite of mine lately and they remind me of something I might have found in my grandmother's attic if I had the chance to look!  I also love the combination of the pink color with the kraft paper.  I got the new Damask stamp set from Papertrey Ink yesterday so I stamped the pattern on to some Sweet Blush cardstock from PTI as well.  I am very happy with how the card came out and I am entering it in TSTR this week and 2 other challenges:
The City Crafter Challenge Blog - week # 4 colors challenge
and
Die Cut Dreams - challenge #47 Shabby Chic (How Appropriate!)
That's all for now, have a great day and do something creative today!
♥♥♥Lisa

Isabella's Color Challenge - Week #7

Good morning everyone!  I hope your week is going well!  Here we are again on a beautiful Wednesday morning with Isabella's new weekly challenge.  Challenge # 7 is a color challenge - using one or any combination of beautiful colors on Isabella's Challenge Blog header.  Here is a picture of that header with those vibrant colors.

The DT over at Isabellas came up with some beautiful cards this week to give you some inspiration so check them out and visit their blogs, they are gorgeous!  All you have to do to play is go to Isabella's amazing store and you will find lots more inspiration!  Pick out an image and create a card using that image and those wonderful colors!  You could win 2 free digi images and the I Won Badge!  Here is my card below.  I used the image "A Place To Dream".  I loved those curtains so I printed them out on floral paper and cut them out and popped them up off of the card, so much fun!!!  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this week!  Have fun!!
♥♥♥Lisa

2s4y Kazan's Sketch 52

I absolutely LOVE this card and all the technique that went into it!  The flower was punched from an old novel and sprayed with glimmer mist then scrunched for added interest and the background of the card was made to look like faux silk.  It's hard to see in the picture but I had so much fun making it!  The scalloped edges at the bottom of the card were my favorite!  It looks like a pretty ruffled dress!  Thanks Kazan for the inspiration!  This card is for 2s4y's sketch this week Kazan #52 and their sponsor this week is Whimsy Haven.  Below is the sketch that I worked off of.  Enjoy your day everyone and I'll be back soon!

♥♥♥ Lisa

Card Patterns Sketch 63

One more blog entry for the day to post another card for the Card Patterns Challenge Blog (sketch 63).  This was a very versatile sketch to play with and it could be interpreted so many ways.  Their sponsor this week is The Stamping Boutique!  One of my favorite tools in my collection has to be my scalloped edge border maker!  I think it makes such a nice clean edge and it looks pretty with any paper, solid or patterened!  I've had this cardstock flower image in my drawer forever and I thought it would make a nice focal point for this card!  Below is the sketch from Card Patterns that I based my card off of!  Have a wonderful day everyone!
♥♥♥Lisa

CPS Sketch #166 Challenge

Good Morning Everyone!!  Now with the Mother's Day cards out of the way for another year, it's on to some fun cards and some more fun challenges!  CPS has a fun and funky sketch this week that I thought would be fun to play with!  This week's prize is sponsored by: JustRite Stampers.   I have had some cute clipart in my computer for a while that I've been dying to play with and I got some inspiration from the talented Lea Lawson over at CPS!  I love her blog and the name of her blog "Lea's Cupcakes and Sunshine".  Her happy rainbow card reminded me of the clouds and rainbows in my collection so I thought I'd give it a whirl!  Thank you Lea!!  To the left is my card and below is the card sketch that I was working off of!  I hope you all have lots of happiness and rainbows in your life this week and always! 
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Mother's Day Card

Well, Mother's Day is right around the corner and the original card that I made for my Mom was pretty and of course my Mom saw it right after I made it like ALL the cards I make but....  I wanted a special card that she wouldn't actually see until Mother's Day.  A card that was special enough for her, since she is so special to me!  My Mom is my best friend and without her in my life I know that I would go insane.  So in honor of my Mom on Mother's Day and always, I Love You Mom and on Sunday you will have in your hands this beautiful creation!!!  And by the way Mom if you read my blog before Sunday consider it your sneak peak!!
I Love You,
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

http://sentimentalsundays.blogspot.com/2010/05/challenge-2-for-that-special-someone.html

http://bobunny.blogspot.com/2010/04/card-challenge-tuesday.html

http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/2010/04/challenge-49-april-showers-bring-may.html

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2010/05/reader-ideas-week-of-5210.html

Sparkling Cider

Just a quick post today to add a card to my blog.  I've been making teacher cards lately since it is Teacher Appreciation Week at my kid's schools.  The Shabby Tea Room is having a challenge this week entitled
"Get Your Bling On" so that's just what I did.  I decided to glitter up some apples for the teacher's cards to give them some pop!  Here is the card and have a lovely day!!
Lisa

Isabella's 6th Weekly Challenge Honoring Mothers!

Good Wednesday Morning To Everyone!!

So glad to be back home in Florida where the weather is beautiful!  My daughter and I were in Nashville over this past weekend and managed to fly home on Sunday despite the bad weather.  We made it out just in time as now we are seeing the images on TV of the mass flooding!  We found out that the hotel we were staying in was evacuated due to flooding.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of the people who are still dealing with the aftermath of that terrible storm!

On a lighter note here we are at our sixth weekly challenge over at Isabella's Sketchbook!  We had 15 beautiful entries for our first challenge and saw some lovely cards made by some talented ladies!  Thank you to everyone who played along, we hope to see you back this week again!  This week Isabella is sponsoring   a challenge honoring mothers, the winner will be chosen by random, and will receive 2 images over at Isabella's store and the I won badge!  Head on over to Isabella's store and pick out the digi image that most reminds you of those wonderful women we call Mom, and enter your card in our challenge!  Isabella has been busy adding new images to the store and you are sure to find the perfect one!

Here is my card for this week's challenge honoring mothers.  It uses the image "A Trusted Friend" over at Isabella's store.

There are about 200 digi images to choose from at Isabella's store so head on over and pick out your favorite and make sure to link your creation to our new challenge!  Who knows??  You may win 2 free images from the store this week!  Can't wait to see everyone's cards!  Have a great week everyone!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

I have also entered my Mother's Day card in the following challenges!

http://paperplaychallenges.blogspot.com/2010/04/10-week-17-pretty-pastels.html


http://dareu2digistamp.blogspot.com/

http://sentimentalsundays.blogspot.com/

http://digidoodleshopsbest.blogspot.com/2010/04/anything-goes-challenge-5.html

http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/

http://stampinbsdesignteam.blogspot.com/
http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/
http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/
http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com/

Exciting News!!! Isabella's Sketchbook Design Team!!

I MADE IT!!!  It's what I've been waiting for.  An official design team member position!  I will be designing for Isabella's Sketchbook and I am so excited!!  The new design team went live today and you can see all of the wonderful cards from the design team on Isabella's Sketchbook's Challenge Page!!  You can visit Isabella's store to see all of her wonderful images.  Play along this week and design your own card with one of the many adorable images!!!  You can win free stamps from Isabella if your card is chosen!  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!  Gotta run but I'll be back later to check in!  Check out this adorable badge that Isabella has created for us to display proudly on our blogs!!  Below the badge is one of my cards using one of Isabella's adorable beach girl images! 
HAVE A GREAT DAY!!  I ALREADY AM!!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Exciting News and a Chocolate & Strawberry Sundae!

Very quick post today because I should be sleeping right now since I worked all night but I am so excited for tomorrow I just had to blog a little!!!  I will have big news to post on my blog and I can't wait but for right now, I am here to quickly enter my card for Isabella's Sketchbook's Challenge ( a wonderful website with adorable digital stamps!!)  This week's challenge was to use one of Isabella's digital images that had to do with food.  I chose this yummy ice cream sundae and glittered it up!  Hope you like it!  Please check back on my blog tomorrow for my exciting news!!!!!
For now, here's my card and have a wonderful day!
♥♥♥Lisa

Shabby Tea Room Week #6 Sketch This

I absolutely love the new sketch over at the Shabby Tea Room! 

It has the sweetest teapot and a very colorful background!  I searched high and low for the perfect teapot to put on my card and I found one at My Grafico. 
They have the cutest digital images and if you can believe it, this gorgeous teapot was one of their freebies!  I fell in love with it!  I printed it out on patterned paper and cut it out.  I am very happy with the final layout!  Just a quick post this morning, LOTS of errands to run today!! 
Have a great day!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥


Here is my card...

Caardvarks Monochromatic Card Challenge

I got the cutest stamp set in the mail today from Lawn Fawn stamps!  It's called Sew Lovely.  It has the sweetest stamps in it including a sewing machine and a beautiful dress form.  I decided to use my new set to make a card for the Caardvarks monochromatic card challenge.  I also got the most delicious prima roses in the mail the other day that I've been dying to use and they went perfectly on this card.  Although I tend toward the pinks usually, I decided to go with the creams and browns for this card.  I think it has a vintage feel with the dress form, roses and lace but I gave the dress a bit of sparkle with some glitter just to jazz it up a bit!  Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you think!!
♥♥♥Lisa

Heather's Bonus Sketch from 2S4Y

Hi Everyone!
Another quick post to enter one more card over at 2S4Y's website.  This one is for Heather's Bonus Sketch.  I really enjoyed sewing and pleating the ribbon on the card.  I just love how it gives nice dimension to the card.  Here's the card and the sketch...
Have a great day everyone!
♥♥♥Lisa

Laura's Sketch 50 and DT Call

Hi Everyone!  Just popping in quickly today to post a card for 2S4Y's website.  This card is from Laura's sketch # 50 and it is the second week for the Design Team call ( a dream of mine as you know :-))  I really had fun with this card.  The adorable digital stamp of the two girls is from a cute website called Isabella's Sketchbook, they have adorable graphics!  I took a leave from shabby chic and went bold, colorful and fun and I really love the results!!  It's nice to actually challenge yourself once in a while!  Here is the card and the sketch!
Have a great day!
♥♥♥Lisa

Kazan's Sketch 50 and Design Team Call

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!  It's my dream come true!!!  2S4Y is looking for a few new design team members!  Those of you who know me, know that this is a DREAM of mine!!  The requirements are to submit cards for this week's sketch and next week's sketch.  Kazan and Laura are looking for uber talented designers and I am crossing my fingers that this 40 year old mother of 3 has what it takes to be UBER TALENTED...  LOL  Oh well, it can't hurt to try, right??? 
Here is Kazan's sketch #50

And here is my take on the sketch.  I must admit I had some help in the picture taking department.  My creative consultant Jasper was there to oversee production.  He's such a ham!!!  He can be found in the last picture.  :-)

Here is the supply list for the card:
Cardstock : Papertrey Ink Sweet Blush
Buttons: Papertrey Ink Sweet Blush
Ribbon : Pink Gingham and Pink Organza
Crocheted Flowers : Compliments of my Mom!  (thanks Mom!)
Stamps : Papertrey Ink Baby Button Bits and Background Basics:Text Style
Background Music Paper : Scanned vintage music sheet
For finishing touch card was machine stitched around the edge for added interest. 

Hope everyone has a great day!
Comments are much appreciated!!!!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Shabby Cup Of Healing Tea

I love to get up in the middle of the night and design cards but boy do I pay for it the next day!  Tonight I can honestly say it was worth it!  I absolutely LOVE the card I made tonight (actually this morning), seeing as how it is 3:30 a.m.  My new favorite blog is The Shabby Tea Room and their challenge this week was to make a card based on this picture of an old quilt and the theme was "It's Hip To Be Square"

I am missing my mom tonight but I understand why she is away.  My uncle is very sick so she has gone to be with him and my cousins.  My thoughts and prayers are with them for a speedy recovery for my uncle, they are all hurting so badly and it just isn't fair...  So this card is in honor of my Mom and her love of quilting and it is meant to be a healing cup of tea for my uncle!  Get well quickly Uncle Rocky!!!

Addicted to Papertrey Ink and CPS #162 Challenge

They say the first step is admitting that you have a problem!  Well, I'm admitting it!  LOL  I have a GOOD addiction to Papertrey Ink products!!!  I can't help it, they are so pretty and well made and versatile!!  I just received the Delightful Dahlia stamps and dies and they are even more beautiful in person!!  What fun I had making this card!  The CPS 162 card sketch this week was a perfect layout to showcase the beauty of this lovely flower!  I love to read Dawn McVey's blog and see her new creations!  She definitely gave me some of the inspiration for this card!  You should most definitely check out her blog if you haven't already.  She has some wonderful ideas and a clean fresh style of design.  It's no wonder she designs for Papertrey Ink, which is of course a dream of mine!  Well, enjoy the card and have a great day!
♥♥♥Lisa♥♥♥

Here is my card, I used Papertrey products of course and here is the list:

Cardstock: Papertrey Kraft, Hawaiian Shores & Raspberry Fizz
Stamps: Papertrey Delightful Dahlia & Background Basics : Text Style (Watermark Behind Dahlia)
Dies: Papertrey Delightful Dahlia
Buttons : Papertrey Hawaiian Shores

And here is the sketch from CPS # 162: