La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge #36

If you're looking for the Your Next Stamp Challenge #15, it's the post directly below this one. Thanks!

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It's time for another La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge! It's my turn to host this week and I want to see your Altered Embellishments! Take a store bought embellishment and change it in some way! For example, you can cut a petal off a flower to make a butterfly, sew a running stitch through some ribbon and gather to make a ruffle, take any embellishment and color it with paints/inks/markers, etc. Please include in your post what embellishment you altered and how you altered it. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Here's my card:


I used Birthday Cake Maya and a sketch from Lili of the Valley. I paper pieced Maya's dress, adding an extra cake and head to go over the pieced dress for realism.

Now for my alterations! First, I did a running stitch through the ribbon and gathered to make a puffy ruffle. I smashed it down just a little so it wouldn't stick up so high.

Then I made 3 altered Prima flowers. Here's a mini tutorial for them (all pics can be enlarged):

First I cut out a circle of patterned paper to go behind the clear button and serve as a base for the new flower. I roughly drew an X on the back to give me a guide for placing the petals. Then I cut apart 2 Prima hydrangeas (that I airbrushed so they would match my card perfectly) into individual petals. Each hydrangea has 1 petal that's just slightly larger than the others (those are the 2 petals on top). I make sure not to place them right next to each other or they throw off the balance of the flower.


This next picture shows how I place the petals. I put some adhesive on the back of the circle and stick the first petal (which is one of the larger ones) on one guideline. The next petal goes in the space between the 2 guidelines, and the next petal goes on the next guideline. And so on until I get to the last 2 petals. I have to lift up the first petal a little so I can tuck the last 2 petals underneath to complete the spiral.


Here's what the back of the flower looks like after all the petals are stuck down, and the finished flower with button and crochet thread bow.


This card is also for:

• Pixie Dust Studio - include a tag on your project
• Our Creative Corner - use blossoms
• Pile It On - Make it sweet

Before I go, I want to let you know that whatever image the hostess uses on her project is 20% off for the week of the challenge, and this week it's Birthday Cake Maya! And since we have a new requirement that you must use a La-La Land Crafts image on your projects, don't forget that we have all these fabulous digi images available now!

We'd love to have you play along with us! All the details can be found on the La-La Land Crafts blog. TFL!

YNS15 - Dots

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Lana and our theme is "Going Dotty" - use dots on your creation. I wanted to do some paper piecing with dot paper and I thought this cute little turtle would be perfect for it! Here's my card:


I used Fhiona's Pet Turtle (which is also available in the Fhiona's Pets and Fav Treats set) and a sketch from CPS.

I stamped the turtle on white cardstock, the green paper and the yellow paper. I cut out the entire turtle from the green paper to serve as the base, then just the shell and hat from the yellow paper. Both pieces were shaped a little, then the shell was stuck on with foam boosters and the hat with scrap cardstock punches. Finally I cut his eyes out of the white cardstock and stuck them on the base. BTW, when you put extra eyes over the stamped image, you can actually change the direction that the character is looking!

I fringed the piece of green "grass" by hand and then zigzag stitched it to the focal panel which had already been pierced. The star was cut out from the same piece of patterned paper as the background and popped up with foam boosters and the number 3 is 2 layers of thin chipboard and 1 layer of cardstock cut out with a Sizzix die.

This card is also for Cupcake Craft Challenges - no square cards allowed, and Papertake Weekly - do something different (this is the first time I've done fringing on a card).

We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks!! You don't have to use YNS images on your card, but if you do you'll get a double entry in the draw!

Also, the challenge hostess will choose her favorite card, and that winner will get the YNS Challenge "Top Pick" blinkie to proudly display on their blog PLUS $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks! You must use a YNS image to be eligible to be chosen for Top Pick.

Full details can be found at the YNS Challenge Blog. TFL!

La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge #35

It's time for another La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge! This week our hostess is none other than Irina and our theme is Shabby Chic. I wasn't exactly sure what shabby chic meant so I had to look it up, and here's a very helpful article about it. This is my first time attempting shabby chic so I hope it came out ok!


I used Fairy Lala (one of my all-time fave LLLC images!) and a sketch from Unscripted Sketches. I paper pieced her dress, and initially colored the rest of her with Copics. Then I realized that the Copic colors I used for her wings and shoes didn't match the patterned paper, and I was ready to throw her away and start over. But instead, I cut off her wings and legs (eek!) and paper pieced them with some PP from the same Basic Grey line. I just glued the new wings (shaded with just a bit of marker and glittered with a Stardust pen) and new legs behind her body and it looks great! Instead of wasting all the effort I put into coloring her hair and face, I was able to salvage the piece!

This card also qualifies for Allsorts - "In Stitches."

Before I go, I want to let you know that whatever image the hostess uses on her project is 20% off for the week of the challenge, and this week it's Princess Lala! And since we have a new requirement that you must use a La-La Land Crafts image on your projects, don't forget that we have all these fabulous digi images available now!

We'd love to have you play along with us! All the details can be found on the La-La Land Crafts blog. TFL!

La-La’s Weekly Wednesday Challenge #34 & New Releases!

If you're looking for the Your Next Stamp Challenge #14, it's the post directly below this one. Thanks!

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It's time for another La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge, and we also have a bunch of new releases for you today as well! La-La Land Crafts just released 7 new images for you to play with! We have 3 new digi images (and 2 of them are new characters!) and 4 images in rubber! Stop by the La-La Land Crafts blog to see all the new images as well as all of the amazing cards from the DT and guest DT!!

For this week's challenge our theme was chosen by Jane and is scraps - scraps of cardstock, patterned paper, ribbons... whatever you have lying around!

Here's the sweet stamp I got to play with - Sitting Pretty Rosie:


And here's my card:


I colored with Copics and paper pieced Rosie's dress. Here's a pic to show how I did the piecing:


You can see that I actually took a craft knife and cut most of her arm and hand out from the white cardstock and then slipped the paper pieced dress underneath her arm. The reason why I do it this way is because when you look at it in person and up close, it looks more realistic than just cutting the dress to fit around her arm. Here's a close shot of the finished piecing:


Oh, and if you think I totally missed the boat when it comes to the challenge theme, I have to tell you that everything on this card (except for the card base) is scraps! The larger pieces were leftovers from 12x12 sheets of patterned paper, the white cardstock were leftover pieces, and even the bling swirls were leftovers from when I cut up some Prima bling frames to use on other cards!

The sketch is from Card Patterns and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I hope you like it!

Before I go, I want to let you know that whatever image the hostess uses on her project is 20% off for the week of the challenge, and this week it's the Lucky digi stamp! And since we have a new requirement that you must use a La-La Land Crafts image on your projects, don't forget that we have lots of fabulous digi images available that you can use right away!

We'd love to have you play along with us! All the details can be found on the La-La Land Crafts blog. TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #14

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Kerri and is stitching - either real (machine or hand stitching) or faux stitching. I already stitch on almost all of my cards so this challenge was a great one for me!

Here's what I came up with:


I used Fhiona's Pet Dog (which is also available in the set Fhiona's Pets and Fav Treats) and I put his head on a spring! When you tap his head, it jiggles and makes a springy noise - so fun! Here's a shot from the side so you can see what I mean:


I stamped him twice on brown cardstock (so I wouldn't have to color all that area) and also just his face on white. I cut out his nose and eyes and glued them over the brown version so that he would have the proper coloring. However, for his ears and tongue, I just used a Copic marker and colored right on the brown cardstock.

One special step I did: for the first stamping on the brown cardstock, I only inked his body, and not any part of his head, and then I stamped him. The reason I didn't just stick the second head over the first like I normally do when popping things up, is because when the head jiggles around, you would clearly see the stamped head underneath! After I stamped though, I did take a black micron pen and extend the lines just a bit so they would go further under the head.

Lastly, I wrapped wire around a pencil to make the spring and glued it between the head and body.

I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursday, and my card also works for Stamp Something - Stitch Something, and Papertake Weekly - use a cute image.

We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks!! You don't have to use YNS images on your card, but if you do you'll get a double entry in the draw!

Also, the challenge hostess will choose her favorite card, and that winner will get the YNS Challenge "Top Pick" blinkie to proudly display on their blog PLUS $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks! You must use a YNS image to be eligible to be chosen for Top Pick.

Full details can be found at the YNS Challenge Blog. TFL!

La-La Land Crafts Sneak Peek!

Hi everybody! On Wednesday, La-La Land Crafts is releasing a bunch of new stamps (rubber and digi!), so everyone on the DT is posting a little peek of their new release cards!

Here's mine:


Can you guess who it is?

To see all of the other peeks and for a super fun contest where you could win a $25 credit at La-La Land Crafts, hurry over to the La-La Land Crafts blog - you only have until midnight Pacific time on Tuesday, April 13th to enter!!

You can also check out the details of a fabulous sale going on right now! TFL and I hope you'll be back tomorrow for the full release!

YNS New Releases - Day 3

Thank you for joining me for our last day of new releases! Today we have a new-ish character for you - Fhiona's best friend Ellie! Ellie actually made her first appearance with our limited edition Winter/Christmas digis last year, and now she's back!! Don't forget to stop by Karen's blog to see all the Starlets' creations and enter to win some of the new release stamps!

I was delighted to play with the Shirley Temple Ellie set and here's what I came up with:


I stamped Ellie, colored her with Copics, and paper pieced her dress. I stamped the flower included in the set on the same patterned paper and cut it out to go over the smaller flower in her hair. The sentiment is from the Cheers set.

Challenges:

• Sketch Saturday - sketch (flipped to match the direction Ellie is facing)
• Crafty Creations - paper piecing
• One Stop Craft Challenge - also paper piecing

Just a quick reminder: there's a big sale going on now until April 15th where you can get up to 20% your order!! Click here for all the details.

TFL and I hope you enjoyed our New Release Party!

La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge #33

If you're looking for Your Next Stamp New Release - Day 2, it's the post directly below this one. Thanks!

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Hey everybody! It's time for another La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge! This week our hostess is Lisa and she did a sketch challenge:


I always use sketches for my cards and love this one that Lisa made! Here's what I came up with:


I used the digi version of Lala with Rose, but she's also available in rubber if that's what you prefer! I printed Lala, colored her with Copics, then cut her out with a petite oval Nestabilities die. I finished off the card with distressing on most of the edges, sewing, some pearls (there's also a tiny little one on Lala's dress bow), and a ribbon with button center.

This card also qualifies for the following challenges:

• Our Creative Corner - buttons
• Kaboodle Doodles - use a digi image of a girl
• The Pink Elephant - nature

Before I go, I want to let you know that whatever image the hostess uses on her project is 20% off for the week of the challenge, and this week it's Cupcake Rosie! And since we have a new requirement that you must use a La-La Land Crafts image on your projects, don't forget that we have all these fabulous new digi images available now!

We'd love to have you play along with us! All the details can be found on the La-La Land Crafts blog. TFL!

YNS New Releases - Day 2

Thanks for joining me for Day 2 of the Your Next Stamp New Releases! Don't forget to stop by Karen's blog to see all the Starlets' creations and comment for a chance to win some of the new releases!

Today we have some stamps that may look familiar to you already - they are miniature versions of some of the existing Fhiona stamps!! There are 10 Fhiona Minis, plus a Mini Greetings set that comes with 21 mini greetings and 18 mini images! The minis are too cute and really quick to color! I think they're the perfect size for gift tags so that's what I made for you today:


This is a little flower tag using Mini Bubbly Fun Fhiona. I stamped her, colored her with Copics, then cut out with a circle Nestabilities die. To make it into a flower, I cut up 2 Prima hydrangeas into individual petals and glued them around the back of the circle. Lastly I glued a blank circle to the back, which holds the ribbon hanger in place, hides the ugly back with all the flower petals, and gives me a space to write a little note to the recipient.

Here's a shot of the tag on a bag of bath salts:


Just a quick reminder: there's a big sale going on now until April 15th where you can get up to 20% your order!! Click here for all the details.

TFL and I hope to see you back tomorrow for our last day of new releases!

YNS New Releases - Day 1

Yay! Your Next Stamp has a whole bunch of new stamps coming out so we're having a 3-day release party along with a giveaway and a big sale!!

First up we have Garden Greetings, which is a set of 4 gorgeous flowers, plus a whole ton of sentiments to go along with them, or you can also buy each flower individually. There's a cute story about the set, all the DT samples, and details on the giveaway on Karen's blog.

I had the great pleasure of working with the absolutely beautiful rose image. A while back I made a card where the images were stamped in white on kraft cardstock and colored with Copics and I really loved the effect so I decided to try it with this rose. Here's my card:


I absolutely LOVE how it came out and hope you do too!! BTW - the sentiment I used is also in the set.

I used a sketch from Clean & Simple Stamping and my card also fits for Crafty Creations - "anything goes" and Allsorts - No DP.

Last thing before I go: starting today until April 15th, you can get up to 20% off your order!! Click here for all the details. TFL and I hope I'll see you back here tomorrow for Day 2 of our New Releases!