Dinner And A Show...

What a blast it was making this card!  I hope you'll tap into your creative mojo and find time to join us over at The Squirrel & The Fox for a very special challenge.
Here is why...

"April 25th, this Wednesday, marks a very special day in Australia, ANZAC Day. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and the soldiers are known as ANZACs. It is a day of national remembrance, a chance to commemorate their soldiers that died in military operations.
Many people remember our ANZACs on this special day by baking ANZAC biscuits. These biscuits were baked by the wives and mothers of the soldiers in World War I, and sent in food parcels to those fighting in the trenches. Made with oats, golden syrup and coconut, they are still an Aussie favourite today." ~ The Squirrel & The Fox Blog
Which is why our two week challenge is all about
FOOD!
With our ever wonderful, Zoe from
Make It Crafty
who is generously sponsoring us and offering a fantastic prize for our winner!

When I saw this table and chairs set from Make It Crafty, titled Paris Elements Digi Collection I knew I wanted to use it for this food theme.  Although you don't actually see food on the table, my hope was that with the sentiment and the cups, Victorian vase and romantic setting, dinner would be implied. 

I've set the entire card to be white on white and only colored the seating arrangement with copics.  I had hoped that using this adorable couple in the background, it would appear as though he's taken his lady to a very quaint setting for two.  The table setting, vase, cups and couple are all free digital images from The Graphic's Fairy.  The sentiment was generated on my PC using Jellyka Delicious Cake font. 

Now for the show part...
I have to take a moment and share a proud moment about my eldest. He recently debuted his talent at the high school Mr. Panther Talent Show and won
Best Talent and Mr. Congeniality.
If you'd like to watch the performance below, we'd be honored.
My son, Brendan, is the tall magician.  This is a skit he wrote himself titled, "Abra-cadavre."
Enjoy!

The YouTube link is here.

I hope you've been inspired by this card and it has spiked your interest to join us for this incredibly fun challenge of food.

Thank you SO much for stopping in today and I hope this finds you all well.

Hugs and Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

The Squirrel & The Fox

Make It Crafty

Cruisin' Vintage Style

If masculine cards are not your forte, you're not alone, it's not mine either. However, a great challenge is one that makes you face your nemesis and so that's exactly what the ladies over at

Our Creative Corner are doing this week for their challenge.

The minute I read it, I knew I had to make a card about cars.  The theme is...

Men's Passion, Hobby or Interest.

How flippin' fun is that? Sooo fun!

 So, here's what my man loves....

CARS!!! 

If it's got wheels, an exhaust (loud preferably) and goes 0-60 in some stupid crazy time, he's all about it.

I researched the new 2013 Boss 302; which he is currently drooling over, but I couldn't find the exact picture I wanted, so I changed gears (Ha! I just made an unintentional pun there) and went with a classic '57 Chevy. 

The background is a cool image of a garage and coffee shop back in the good ol' days (coffee is another passion of his) and thought it would make the perfect backdrop for this red beast.

I printed the car out twice, cut out the silver fin and wheels from the second picture and layered them over the first for more depth with foam squares.  Placed the old $0.15 magazine image the SoCal ad, Missouri map, route 66 Missouri sign, Cruisin' sign, the Fire Chief gas pump and silly sign that says "Still plays with cars" and I thought I was done...LOL!

Silly me,

You can't put a car on display without a sweet wax job, duh!

Can you see the gnarly shine on that red boat? That's the handy work of my husband using Glossy Accent!  He was right, that looks sooooo way better.

 Anywho...that's my card and I had a fantastic time creating this vintage masculine card for the challenge theme over at Our Creative Corner here.

Maybe someone else out there can relate to their man's love of cars.  I don't get it.  Then again, they probably don't completely grasp our love of colored sparkly glue either.

Touche!

Hope you're having a great week so far!

Thanks for Cruisin' by my blog....

Lisa :)

You Stack Up!

 Welcome back everyone! 

 I have a wonderful image, a picnic table tutorial and a super fantastic linky party to share with you today.

This yummy entree is called Big Burger and available at Meljen Designs.  I had such a wonderful time coloring this monstrosity of a meal and decided it needed a unique scenery to show it off, so I designed my first 3D picnic table and free standing banner.

 Here are the dimensions and directions to make this picnic table yourself.

With white card stock, make the following pieces:

Table Top - 5.5" x 3" and score each side at 0.5" in from the edges

Benches - 5.5" x 1.5" and score each side at .25" in from the edges

Center Support (2) - 4.5" x 2.5" and score each side at .25" in from the edges

Cross legs (4) - 3" x 0.5"

Tabs - Picture shown below and is used for the benches to sit on.

1.  After you've cut and scored all the pieces. Snip the corners to make the little tabs that will be used to fold, glue and form the table, benches and support.

2.  Run each piece through a wood grain folder

3.  Ink the wood grain to desired color

4.  Once the two support pieces are folded, spot glue with a hot glue gun and adhere both sides together.

5.  Assemble pieces as shown in the photos.  After adding on the legs, gauge how you want to the ends cut at a angle to sit level on any surface.

6.  Cut the little white tabs, shown above, and mount the benches on to them.

7.  Spot ink on the underside where white is still showing to match the appearance of the table.

Now you have a picnic table!

I'd like to share now my,

PICK OF THE WEEK

I'm swooning over the textures and layout and the center stage sentiment as well as the beautifully colored couple! 

This stunning piece of artwork is from Alyce at Kit and Clowder if you'd like to see more images of this gorgeous project.

We would LOVE to have you join in at

Make It Monday

for our always fun and inspiring Linky Parties!

 Thank you also to our Sponsor

Meljen Designs

for providing the DT with images to use and for gifting the winner a wonderful prize!

I hope I've inspired your creative mojo today.  You always make my day with your visits, so thank you for stopping by.

Hugs and Happy Stamping!

Lisa xx

Bouquet For Mom...

Well, it's time again for another 2 week challenge and

I have for you today, this fairly CAS card designed for our theme at

CRAFT US CRAZY; which is...

MOTHER'S DAY and or FLOWERS

I've made three paper spiral flowers and two foil flowers and one ribbon flower then added a wire stem wrapped in floral tape.  Tied a little bow around it and added the Mom tag.  The tag and card are both scored for a little more interest to the white cardstock. 

I hope this has inspired you to join us with your creative ideas and show us what you come up with for our theme.  I know Mother's Day has already been celebrated in other parts of the world, but flowers are ALWAYS popular on cards so hop on over and share your creations with us!

Thanks for taking a look...

Have a great day!

Lisa xx

Thank you also to our wonderful Sponsor

 Limited Runs

for providing inspiration and a prize to our winner!

CRAFT US CRAZY

Blissful Moments...

 Hello there!

I'd like to introduce you to Molly and Sam; Love 4. 

This cute little guy giving his little lady a piggyback ride, is a wonderful image from our Sponsor Stamp Fairy, and they are helping us out at Top Tip Tuesday for our challenge theme of

Spotty Dotty

 For this challenge I paper pieced Sam's overalls and Molly's shirt and copic colored the rest.  I've added little white dots for accent on the clothes and then dotted a background around the couple and a spotty dotted button in the center of the bow.

The hues of the clothing leaned more towards earthy textures so the background is brick embossed foil with a layer of corregated cardboard and then a layer of burlap.  All of these items were purchased at Linda's wonderful Zibbet store, Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I tried to leave the sentiments fairly vague so that this card would be versatile for many occasions.

Sure hope you can drop in over at Top Tip Tuesday and check out the wonderful tutorial from our very own lovely, talented and funny Annette! She's done an incredible job showing how to make A Box In a Bag Tutorial!

Thank you to our ever generous Sponsors also for providing not only images for the DT to use but also for providing the prizes to our lucky winners!

Big Hugs and think spots and dots....

Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

Tippy Toes In The Tulips...

I don't know about you, but I just want to squeeze her!  No matter what kind of day you might be having, seeing an adorable little kid with hamhocks for legs, playing in a bed of flowers, just puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?  This precious little image is called Butterfly Baby Girl and I've chosen her to usher in this next theme at Karen's Doodles which is...

SOMETHING SPRING!

I assembled the card using the image as my inspiration.  Everything seems to pop right out in this picture.  The tulips budding open, the butterflies in movement, her little frills on her dress; so I wanted to make the card base in a similar style.  I've cut out two scalloped circles and mounted the left and right sides on velum in an attempt to bring this darling image out even further and leave the background details still visible.   A little bit o' stitching, a pearl here and there, a ribbon division and some large scallops down the right side and little Miss Thing, colored up in copics and it's all done. 

I hope you've enjoyed your visit and thank you for stopping in to take a peek.

Big Hugs and Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

(I'm off to hunt for Morel mushrooms.  Wish me luck.  I'll probably find more ticks than mushrooms!)

Ciao for now...

Flowers For Hamlet...

The Pansy is the flower given by Ophelia to Hamlet in Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.  When she presented him with them she said, "There's Pansies; that's for thoughts."  The word pansy comes the French word pensée, meaning 'thought.'    Another little fun fact about the word pansy is that Margaret Mitchell, writer of, Gone With The Wind, had originally selected Pansy O'Hara as the name for the heroine of her novel.  It's a cute name, but I like Scarlet much better!

The little penny wrapper happened by accident.  I was actually looking for seed packets and came across this.  Having the origin of the word Pansy in my head, I thought it made sense to add "A penny for your thoughts?" as well.

Are you mowing your yards yet?  It's ridiculous here.  Soooo much rain and the grass and dandelions are taking over.  I can't stand them ugly things! Now, if I had a yard full of these gorgeous flowers, I'd let them take over.  However, since I have to live in reality, I'll just cover cards with them.  This beautiful image in the oval frame, is from Bugaboo in Skye's Pencil Pic Collection titled, Pansies. 

I hope you found this card inspirational and if it has fallen short of that, that's okay because the amazing ladies over at Make It Monday are sure to please your creative muse!  We'd love to have you join in our linky party this week. 

 Before you go, I'm so excited to show you my...

PICK OF THE WEEK!

Oh my goodness, where do I start with card?

I like the masculine and bold feel as well as the amazing metal embossing background, the wonderful image and that BAM bow! 

Thanks so much Shirley at

My Pinkie Is In Inkie in Boxertown

for sharing your amazing talent with all of us at Make It Monday.

 Make It Monday

 And our stupendous Sponsor who is so generously awarding the prize for this week's winner!

I am tickled pink that you've stopped by.  I love each and everyone of your visits!!  I'm out of town right now and probably on the road as this posts, so I apologize for not visiting or responding to your comments, but I will as soon as I return home. :)

Hugs and Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

Livin' La Vida....

Helllllloooooo there! I am so happy that you stopped in today, well any day you visit is wonderful, but I'm just thrilled to 'see you' here again. 

I have a fairly simple card today, but I think it depicts exactly what it's supposed to for our challenge going on over at

The Squirrel & The Fox

where the theme for this challenge is....

THINGS WITH WINGS

I really admire the uniqueness of these peacock feathers, titled Beautiful Blocks-Life In Color at Bugaboo Digi Stamps.  Background papers were picked to draw out the hues of the feathers and the bird paper compliments the theme as well.  The feathers were colored with copics, a simple ribbon and bow were added with a centerpiece flower.  For additional texture, I punched out eight squares and foam layered with papers that accented the feathers as well.  The sentiment was recreated on the PC and placed to the side for fairly CAS look.

That's it for this card, but there's even more amazing inspiration over at

The Squirrel & The Fox by the other fantastic DT ladies.

 A sincere thank you as well to our generous sponsor who is providing the winner's prize!

I hope you have an amazing day!

Think things with wings....

hugs,

Lisa xx

Bountiful Bonnet o' Butterflies & Beauty....

If I were ever to pick a day to be speechless, today would be it! But alas, my vocal cords are still in tact and so I must prattle on about the 'splendiferous' news I received from another riveting challenge blog, Our Creative Corner.  Awhile back I was so honored to have won a challenge there and as a prize, I was gifted the opportunity to join in this weeks challenge as a GDT with the ever talented ladies who DT over there!  Here is my card I designed for their latest challenge...

In Your Easter Bonnet

 Here are the details for the challenge that is being hosted by Marcy Kaminski:

 Design a card/project that is inspired by a frilly Easter bonnet. 

Use elements that you would put onto your own bonnet, such as lace, flowers, pearls, etc.

 After much research and great guidance from another inspiring blog buddy, I decided to stick to my usual and go over the top.  After all, bonnets are a sign of flair and uniqueness and if I had the opportunity to sport one for the day, it would not go unnoticed! So sky high I went.

I decided it should be on an easel card base.  The dp that I used for the base is actually a sewing pattern for bonnets and can be found free here.  I've painted over it with antique green and blue acrylic paints.  The top section of the easel card is covered in, yet again, free paper from Far Far Hill that can be found here and comes in a down loadable pack that contains these...

I decided to create a brim off the top of the easel card, creating a bonnet affect and built out and up from there.  By placing this vintage woman's silhouette on the underside of the brim, making her the focal point, I then designed the bonnet's accoutrement from there. 

This is a compilation of glossy accented ribbon that has been twisted around a pencil, Tim Holtz tags and bird cage, a section of a view master reel, a vintage library card, silk flowers and butterflies.  I love vintage and reading and butterflies and birds and flowers, so it's a true representation of me all stuck on her head.  A closer look shows where I added mesh directly over the top of her forehead to symbolize a veil. 

The letters spelling 'Beauty' were a chipboard collection I've had for ages and thought it would complete the look. Plus, it had a blank space and my obsessive compulsive disorder wouldn't allow for that, so there you have it!  The little straw bonnet has been around for years and I never knew what to do with it, but it came in very useful as the 'kickstand' for this easel card.

I sure hope this was inspiring and you really must go see what the tremendously creative ladies at Our Creative Corner have done for this challenge as well.

I'm so glad you stopped in today for a visit. :)

Hope this finds you all happy and well and ready to craft for their challenge of

In Your Easter Bonnet

Hugs and Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

You're A Banner Friend

Friend

Hello you wonderful people!

I have some sad and disturbing news to share with you....

I received an email notice from Blogger three days ago notifying me that my account with them was to be permanently deleted due to my "offensive" posts.  Apparently, someone in blogland doesn't care for my humor.  Regardless of the fact that they visit of their own free will, it is best for the reputation of blogger that I be banned permanently.  I was informed that my IP address would be tracked and any further attempts to create a new account would be thwarted as well.  After contacting "those in the know" I begged and pleaded that I at least be allowed to post a final farewell and allow my friends, family and followers the courtesy of knowing that I wasn't leaving of my own willingness.  I was granted permission to do so and I have until the end of the week to correspond and then I will no longer be visible in blogland.

So, with that being said, I would just like to say from the bottom of my heart.... 

I ain't going nowhere!

Hee hee...

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist the day of pranks.  I apologize if you were actually excited about my departing. 

I Heart You All!!!
Thank you Pamela for the wonderful April Fool's sign as well.  This image can be found here.

Since you're going to have put up with me (smiles!) then I'll get back to the serious business at hand and that is the ever FaNtAsTiC linky party that is going on over at

Make It Monday!

Our Sponsor for this week is the amazing

Cupcake Cards & Crafts

that will be providing the winner's prize!

If you're still with me on this post, I'll just briefly recap the highlights of my DT card for this week.  I've incorporated a couple techniques that I have seen from a few crafters out in blogland.  The first is the inked Houndstooth embossing folder, which comes from Sue aka Onion at Scrumplescrunch and the next is the metal bird who's concept came from Mitra over at Mitralee.  Wonderful crafters and always thinking out of the box!  The crocheted, and I use that term lightly, banner is my own creation design.  What the mind perceives and the body produces....are not always on the same page.  BUT, I had fun with the 15 attempts.  The one seen here is the last straw.  I'll need to be contacting my grandmother for pointers on this one.  The rest is self-explanitory so I'll move on to the best part of my post, my....

PICK OF THE WEEK!

This fantastic card is made by Lisa S at Adventures In Paperland...if you want to see some incredible talent, check out her wonderful blog. This is her first circle card and what a fabulous one it is and look at the adorable eggs and bow and 3D chickadee.  So cute!

Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us at Make It Monday, Lisa :)

I thank you SOOOOOO very much for stopping and I congratulate you if you've actually read to the very last.  I hope this card has inspired you to join us for the linky party fun at

Make It Monday.

I'm off to devise more pranks to play on the family, so I bid you a fond adieu and hope that you have a splendid and fun filled day!

Hugs and Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx