Saturday, December 11, 2010

Dear Santa

Happy Saturday! Time for another fantastic sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday!!!

I pulled out this adorable image that my dear friend Rachel gave to me and colored her up to coordinate with patterned paper from the Tinsel and Twigs collection by The Girls' Paperie. I think it might be my favorite Christmas paper this year... I just love the patterns and shades of color. And, of course, how can you go wrong when you have an image as adorable as this? It's called Royal Greeting by Penny Black. Love love love!

The greeting is by SRM. I punched the holly with my Martha Stewart Crafts punch. The pearls are by Kaisercraft. I added a bit of Stampendous white Fun Flock to her santa hat, and dotted all the snowflakes with my Signo white gel pen, just to give them a tiny bit of dimension. I inked the edges of the patterned paper with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink to give them more definition.  I hope you likey!

Why not come along and play with us this week? Take a wee break from the hustle bustle of the holiday season and make a card for someone special? We'd love to have you!

Be sure to nip over to the Sketch Saturday blog to see what the rest of the design team ladies have come up with. They are sure to delight! Plus, you'll have a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate to spend at Simon Says Stamp!



Note, this is my second post for today. For Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps December Release... and a chance to win... please scroll down. Thanks!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps December Release Part 2!

Hey everyone! We're back again to showcase the second of two stamps being released right now at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps!!!


Today we are showcasing Valentine Oliver. He is so dapper, isn't he? And Oliver surely knows how to please a girl... roses and chocolates! Yeah baby!

I paired Valentine Oliver with patterned paper and a chipboard piece from the Circa 1934 collection by Cosmo Cricket (which I love love love!).  The sentiment is by Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Valentine Oliver.  Sparkle is giving away a Valentine Oliver stamp to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below) then head on over to the Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps blog and comment on the Valentine Oliver post. You have until midnight EST on Saturday Dec 11 to comment. The lucky winner will be announced the following day!
Lisa Hjulberg (that's me!)

Have a sparkling day!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps December Release!

Hey everyone! It's time once again for a new release at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps!!!


Today we are showcasing Cupid Emily. Isn't she adorable? I just love her! and She's so fun and easy to color. I turned the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #95 on its side and paired Cupid Emily with patterned paper from Papertrey Ink. The large snap is by We R Memory Keepers... something I dug out of my stash from last year (or was it two?)... topped with a bow tied with pink baker's twine. The sentiment is by Waltzingmouse Stamps. Be sure to cock your head so that you won't notice that "be my" is crooked. (*grin*)

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Cupid Emily Sparkle will be giving away a Cupid Emily to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below) then head on over to the Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps blog and comment on the Cupid Emily post. You have until midnight EST on Friday Dec 10 to comment. The lucky winner will be announced the following day!

Lisa Hjulberg (that's me!)

We'll be back tomorrow with a peek at the second stamp being released this month. He's a cutie!

Christmas in the heart...

Hello friends! I'm popping in to share a card I made featuring my favorite Winter Marci and her sweet little dog Tuffy. Have you seen Tuffy? He's darling! And he comes as a set with different poses and phrases.
Actually, he's more like Luka's friend... you'll find him under Products:Luka in the La-La Land Crafts store... or let's say he's a friend to all!

I paired Marci and Tuffy with patterned paper from the Mitten Weather collection by Cosmo Cricket. I love this hue of green and, of course, the red. So vibrant and cheerful! The little heart pieces are from the coordinating chipboard set. The tag is by Making Memories, and the verse is perfect for this card, don't you think? It's Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. I agree!

And here's something you won't want to miss...

If you live in Southern California, here is your chance to get to meet Irina and Eric (and me Lisa)!!  Next weekend we will be in So Cal for not one, but TWO TRUNK SHOWS!!!

Come see us at Debra's Cottage in Costa Mesa, CA on Saturday, December 18th, 12 pm to 3 pm.  This event is hosted by the amazing Eva, aka StampinEJ!!


Then on Sunday, December 19th  we will be at Collective Journey in Redlands, CA from 1 pm to 4 pm!! (I will be there, too!)


as always, your $10 ticket entitles you to:

- an EXCLUSIVE preview of our NEWEST stamps!!
- Meet both artists (Eric Berry and Irina Blount) and have your stamps autographed!! ;-)
- Make-and-Take projects
- a Goodie Bag with a FREE stamp included!!
- Refreshments
- a chance to win a GRAND PRIZE valued $100!!

To purchase your tickets for December 18th at Debra's Cottage please call Eva at (949) 362-0697 or purchase your tickets online, HERE is the link.

To purchase your tickets for December 19th at Collective Journey please stop by the store or call them at (949) 362-0697.


I hope to see you at Collective Journey!

In the meantime, have a la la lovely day!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

On the third day of Christmas...

Hello everyone! Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas Waltzingmouse Style! It's my turn to share with you some ideas for holiday crafting (and beyond)!

My project is a scrapbook page. I know most of you are card makers, but I have a feeling that many of you are also scrapbookers like me. I turns out that many Waltzingmouse Stamps are perfect for scrapbooking!

My first tip is to sew on your pages, not just your cards. It really adds so much interest to your layouts, especially zig-zag stitching.

I use a Janome Sew Petite because it's small and lightweight, easy to set aside in my craft room and pull out when it's time to sew.

My next tip is actually Claire's, but it bears repeating in case you missed it. You know how it can be tough to get a clean image when stamping with solid images? Well, all you need to do is this...

First, ink up your stamp with embossing ink

Then ink the stamp with distress ink, right over the embossing ink. Don't worry, it won't hurt your distress ink pad!


Quickly sprinkle with clear embossing powder

Heat set and voila, a vibrant, clearly stamped image!

I've used the largest ornament stamp from the Vintage Ornaments stamp set, which coordinates with Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament dies. Here's a tip... once you've positioned the die over the stamped image, tape it down with some removable tape.

Your stamped image will turn a different color! LOL... not really. I just decided the Fired Brick version of my ornament didn't match the paper, so I made another one with Peeled Paint. (*grin*)

Another tip is to stamp images directly on your designer paper. You can use images or text to create more interest. Here I've used the pine branch stamp from Festive Foliage and stamped in Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink.

Raise your hand if you've ever tacked things down and then decided you should have done one more thing beforehand. I do it more often than I care to admit. I should have inked the edges of all of my paper layers with Walnut Stain distress ink before stitching. But at least I was able to go back and add ink to the outside edges, which I think gives a nice effect.

Here is the final page. I also added some ribbon to the top of the ornament. I haven't put anything inside the blank space of the ornament yet because I plan to use that for journaling once I pick the pictures for this layout.

I also added a vintage tag for good measure. It's a fairly simple layout, but one I think will showcase a couple of Christmas snapshots very nicely. Note that I stamped "Photo" on my placeholders using Victorian Alphabet, which is an especially good set to have for creating titles for your scrapbook pages.

I hope you've picked up an idea or two. Do try adding some stamped images to your scrapbook pages... you will love the results!

Please be sure to join us everyday through December 17th for more tips and ideas! You'll find all the links on the Waltzingmouse Stamps blog.

Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Dashing Through the Snow!

Hi everyone! Time for another fabulous challenge at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps!!!

Yep, it's a color challenge, and I have to say I LOVE this combo! Who knew that brown, white and red would make a terrific Christmas card? Not me!

It's double the fun because Sparkle is hosting sweet Carly Breach's sketch challenge, which goes until December 16th. Carly is my friend Kris Breach's 12 y/o daughter, and she is super talented... just like her mom! She draws up fantastic sketches... a great resource in case you ever find yourself in need of a sketch to get your juices started. (which would be me most of the time!)

Anyhoo, I flipped Carly's sketch on its side for my card featuring Sledding Chloe. Our girl Chloe sure knows how to ride in style!

I created the brown background panel by embossing the star background (by Hero Arts) in white. Reminder: before you heat emboss, use your static remover (e.g., Stampin Up's Embossing Buddy)! I'm going to stick a note on my forehead so I don't forget again next time. lol

Because the image is large, I stitched around it instead of creating a cardstock border. I punched out the snowflake on white cardstock and then covered it with chunky glitter.

Why not come play with us AND Carly this week??? There's a chance to win a stamp in our color challenge and a chance to win the two newest stamps to be released by Sparkle this month if you play in Carly's sketch challenge!!!

For more inspiration, please visit Sparkle and the rest of the design team to see what they've cooked up for the color challenge. You will love them all!




See you again soon!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

More Joy!

More joy indeed! Happy Saturday!!! Because of my recent travels, I've been on break from Sketch Saturday the last three weeks. Yikes!!! I'm so glad I could finally sit down and make a card for this marvelous challenge. Yes, folks, it's time for another fabby sketch at Sketch Saturday!!!

Terry Wietsma-Girbes is our sketch hostess this week and has a very special guest sponsor. You'll have to jump over to the Sketch Saturday blog and check it out! (*wink*) I love Terry's sketch, but I could not figure out how to add an element underneath the angel. I was so anxious to ink up this cutie (Angel Delivering the Christmas Tree by Elisabeth Bell for Whiff of Joy), that I didn't think it through! LOL

The patterned paper is from the beautiful Holly Jolly collection by My Mind's Eye. I stamped text from the Text-It stamp set by Waltzingmouse Stamps on a piece of the patterned paper with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink and then sponged around the edges of the oval and the main panel with the same ink. The JOY greeting is done in felt by Hero Arts. I created the holly in the left corner with a Martha Stewart Crafts punch.

I love angels because my mother loved angels, and I think of her every time I see one.

I hope you likey and will join us this week for our sketch challenge!

I'm off and running today to, of all places, the American Girl store in Los Angeles to belatedly celebrate my and my sweet friend Alicia's birthdays. We have reservations for tea. Both of us love dolls. Alicia has the most amazing collection of American Girl dolls and accessories I've ever seen, and I'm totally enchanted. I can just imagine we will feel like little girls today. It will be a blast!

I hope you have a JOYFUL day, my friends! Thanks for stopping in!


Friday, December 3, 2010

Joy!

Hey there! Wow, I sure haven't been posting much lately, have I? First, I was preparing for and then away for a trip "home" for Thanksgiving, and now I'm back and distracted with Christmas decorating and various and other sundry things. I imagine we're all feeling the excitement of the holidays upon us once again. I, for one, am determined to finish decorating in the next couple of days so that I can really enjoy the month without stress. It's all part of my "live the life you've imagined" goal. (*smile*)

Today I would ordinarily share a card for the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge, but we're preempted by the new release. You really should pop over and see what new goodies Taylor has in store for you!

Instead, it's my great pleasure to share the latest Christmas card I've made featuring sweet Santa Marci from La-La Land Crafts! Isn't she sweet? I just love that she's carrying her little panda buddy, ready to share with him whatever she finds in her stocking.

I paired Santa Marci with patterned paper, die cuts (Joy) and chipboard (holly and red bird) from the I Believe collection by My Mind's Eye. The sketch is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge 102. I added a bit of zig zag stitching around the edges of the background panels, and some white Fun Flock by Stampendous to the fur on Marci's hat, dress and boots. I love the texture and dimension!

Stay tuned! I'll be back soon with something fun to share. In the meantime, have a la la lovely day!