Love You - A Dollies Trifecta

Got another post for you today.  Isn't that always the case?  When it rains it pours. 

The sketch challenge went up on the Design Dollies site today. 

Well, I just couldn't play along with the sketch challenge when this week's color and elements challenges were so awesome, too, so I went for the trifecta!!

March 2011 issue

The color challenge is red, black, and a neutral.  The elements challenge is lace, something sepia'd, and distressed/torn edges. 

Not sure why but I have several of the earlier pics of my son in multiples.  I think I found 8 of this particular pic.  Guess I was overly enthusiastic about my first!! 

The word "loveyou" is written with some bakers twine.  Looks really cool IRL. 

Head on over to the Dollies site to see what the rest of the Design Team made for your inspiration.  Almost the entire team played along with this sketch challenge this time!!  Play along with us!  You don't have to make the trifecta, but every one of this week's challenges are fun!

Thanks for stopping by again...and if you didn't get to see it earlier today, scroll down for today's Sketchy Thursdays /Torendi post.  I really like the layout I made if I may say so myself!  ;oD

- Heidi

Details:  October Afternoon paper; Stamps - {ippity}, Prima, Delish; Ink - Tim Holtz Distress; Colorbox; Martha Stewart bakers twine; Doodlebug heart confetti; Wilton doily; Stampin' Up! vellum envelope; Carolace lace; unknown tag. 

You Make My Heart Go Vroom

It's Thursday so you know what that means!!!  A new Sketchy Thursdays sketch:

Thought I'd play around a bit with this month's Torendi kit "Love Fool":

Using the black and white circles paper and some of the tickets I made:

Just can't seem to get enough of my Dymo!!!   And rub-ons are always fun.  The "m" in vroom is actually a "w" but thought it had perfect "movement" for the word. 

Can you guess what the heart is covered with?  Hot pink duct tape!!!!!!!  This pic shows just how many glossy and shiny elements are on this layout:

Head on over to the Sketchy Thursdays blog to see what the rest of the Design Team made for your inspiration.  We're also introducing our February Guest Design Team Member Sandra.  Be sure to check out her blog, too, and leave her some love!!! 

We'd love to see you play along with us, too.  Hook up your project to Mr. Linky in the Sketchy Thursdays sidebar for your chance to win a yummy prize from Ormolu!  Wow, you just gotta check out that etsy store.  Some serious yumminess!

Have a great Thursday!

Heidi

Details:  Paper & tickets from the Torendi kit "Love Fool"; Colorbok metal heart; Glimmer Mist; ColorBox ink; Dymo; duct tape; eyelets & alpha rubs on source unknown. 

I'm a Storyteller!

I'm so excited!!!  I am one of the newest Storytellers over on Category Stories!!!!!

Category Stories has AWESOME monthly prompts with great sponsors! 

I was lucky enough to be invited to be their February Guest Storyteller and THEN I was invited yesterday to be a part of the team!!  That's so cool!!

Come check out my fellow newbies, Jess (yes, that, Jess, Miss Ninja Thang!) and Lena Nielsen and leave them some love!! 

This month's prompt is "If I Had a Time Machine".  Come play along!

Valentine's Day 2006

Man, I have sooooooooooooooo many pics the are so scrapworthy and I'm never going to get to them all.   You, too?  When looking through a box of "BK" pics (before kids) I came across a bunch of duplicate pics of the kids much younger made presumably for grandparents.  Pics I'd forgotten about.  Not sure why they were tucked into that box.  In there were these 2 gems staged for a VDay card for my hubby:

January 2011 issue

We all joke that that's the boy's "heartthrob" photo.  Just look at that adorable expression.  Can't you just see that on the cover of Teen Beat (or whatever THE teen heartthrob magazine is these days)? 

I made this layout for this week's SPCC color challenge:

I had this leftover piece of the yellow & white paper already trimmed up like that and thought it looked pretty cool so I left it as is.  To make it a neat rectangle I backed the one side with some yummy leftover Basic Grey.  Ever since spying the gorgeous turquoise and red hot air balloon and birds paper by My Minds Eye on a layout by Tessa I just HAD to have it.  Isn't it just so stinkin adorable??!! 

After fussy cutting out the birds and balloons, I used the leftover red background pieces to cut the hearts.  As you can see from the pic above, there's lots of dimension on this layout.  Of course, had fun with the sewing machine again (the thread is hot pink despite looking red in the pics). 

Can't seem to leave my Dymo alone, either.  Ran some pinkish Basic Grey thru and sanded the raised letters to make them stand out. 

Be sure to head on over to the SPCC blog to check out what the Design Team made for your inspiration.  This was such a fun color combo and you will not be disappointed with the samples.  Be sure to hook up your project to Mr. Linky for your chance to win an awesome prize from Miss Sam herself!

Busy, busy blogging day today.  The first day of the month AND a Monday so lots of fun business to attend to.  Off to make something for the Dollies and then SLEEP!!!  Hopefully I'll actually get some tonight. 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Heidi

If I Had A Time Machine - Category Stories February GDT!!!

I'm so excited!  I'm the Guest Storyteller over on Category Stories this month!!!!  The prompt is:

If I had a time machine I'd give my kids the opportunity to meet and get to know their namesakes, my grandparents. 

Everything on this layout is from the Pink Ninja Addicts kit "Three Little Birds" except the stamps, microbeads, and thread.

March 2011 issue

Head on over to the Category Stories blog this month and show us what you'd do if you had a time machine.  You have all month to play along and one lucky winner will receive an awesome prize supplied by Bre from Category Stories!!

Have a great Monday!!

Heidi

It's Febuary 1st! Have you seen the new kits yet??!!

Two new kits to crow about today!!! 

Torendi's new kit is "Love Fool". 

This kit includes:


3 pieces of American Crafts Cardstock
2 pieces of Jillibean Soup Great North Beans Patterned Paper
1 13 x 7.5 inch sheet of E.A.D Designs Vinyl Love Hurts Rub-ons in Dark Red
1 Piece of Jillibean Soup Kraft Paper
2 stamps from the Shinzi Katoh NY Stamp Set (this month is the hot dog and condiments)
Shinzi Katoh NY Stamp Set storage box and 4 colors of chalk ink.
15 red tickets
1 yard of black and kraft twine from Ikea.
Black and white buttons

Isn't that just gorgeous??!!

Aaaand, the Pink Ninja Addicts have released their next fabulous kit "Mommy's Little Monster".  (Is the song in your head now??  It's been stuck in mine for a day now.  Not a bad thing.  One of my all-time faves!!  Reminds me of high school.) 

This is just chock full of fun.  The kit includes:

*ten pattern papers

*one speciality paper {the dinosaurs}
*one package of rub one from american crafts
*one package pearls and crystals from prima marketing
*one set of thickers alphabets from american crafts
*almost one yard ponchello {you know, that rad mesh material,,, youll see},,,
*one strip camo fabric
*almost one yard black sequins trim
*one yard green sequins trim
*one yard black beaded trim
*one yard blue beaded trim
*two korean bingo cards
*two strips of plastic grass accent
*two fimo friends hand made by ninja master nely
*one dinosaur flair from indie art fair
*one bowling pin
*four cute softie stars
*one cutie pie 3-D dino friend
*one feltie fabric creation by ninja master ally
*six chipboard embellishments from american crafts
*one hand made feltie friend by ninja master nely
*two clear star embellishments
*two hand made resin bottle cap by ninja master nely
*two hearts cabochons
*one blue flower cabochon

Check out the Addicts website to see closeups of all the goodies you get.  This kit is just STUFFED.

I can't wait to start playing along with both kits!!!!!  Woohoo!

- Heidi

"Bright" card

Quick post.  Just had to share a cute little card I made using the Torendi "Bright" kit. 

May 2011 issue

Everything on the card is from the kit except for the white cardstock and the orange microbeads covering the heart.  (Oh, and of course the thread.)

You know me, everything has alter potential so I don't usually feel constrained by the color of anything.  Often there are items in kits of which you randomly receive one of many different choices.  In this case, there were a variety of colors of heart brads I could've received.  I just happened to get yellow ones which didn't go with the feel of my card so I covered it with microbeads that did.  Easy peasy!  

I had so much fun this month playing with the Torendi "Bright" kit and I'm sure you will, too!  It's so wonderfully colorful and fun.  Wouldn't it be great for documenting those upcoming Valentines Day parties and Easter celebrations?

Well, I'm off!  I'm being urgently summoned to attend a teddy bear tea party replete with Tinker Toy cookies and tea served in Barbie boots and toy lipstick containers. 

Cheers!

Heidi

Details:  All items from the Torendi "Bright" kit except - Stampin' Up! white cardstock; Martha Stewart microbeads; thread. 

My Bowl Is a Perfect Fit

I think I may have mentioned I have been recently inspired by many different sources (notably this one and this one) to give an art journal a go.   And these last couple months I've been neglecting some of the fun challenge blogs I love to play along with, including Category Stories.  They have such creative prompts and I simply just had to play along with this month's which is "Perfect Fit".  

Now, I could think of all sorts of lovey-dovey perfect fits for which I have oodles of photographs I could use but I really wanted to do something in the art journal so I racked my brain for picture-less representations of a perfect fit in my life and this is what I came up with...

This is a combo of oil pastels, watercolors, and stamping. 

The fishbowl (which is supposed to look like it's got its reflection under it, which now looking at it I realize doesn't work but that's a whole other story...) is done with oil pastels.  I remember loving to use oil pastels when I was a kid so when I purchased my art pad I also picked up a new set of them.  And my memory was not disappointed...they're like fingerpainting.  I'm probably "doing it wrong" but I've always liked applying them with my fingers for the most part.  Otherwise I feel like they make too sharp a line.  Actually, I tend to apply lots of medium (paint, Stickles, etc.) with my fingers.  I feel like I have more control than with a brush and it's just more fun that way!!!!  The little fish is a Basic Grey stamp. 

The journaling says, "My husband says I'm a goldfish.  No matter what it is...time...space...relationships...whatever, I expand to fit my allotment.  Maybe he's a little right...  But I say my bowl is a perfect fit." 

All the background area around the bowl is done with watercolors. 

I do concede maybe he's a little right sometimes.  I'm usually the last one to submit my layouts for my design team reveals and you could give me an empty Taj Majal and I'd fill that sucker to the hilt in no time at all, but I don't think I'll share with him that maybe he's right.  Nah!  We'll just keep that between us.  (You can keep a secret, right?)

Hope you liked my maiden foray into the world of art journaling.  I hope to keep it up because it is super fun!  (Like totalleeeee, ohmuhgawd!  Sheesh, when did I turn into a teenage girl??)  I am hoping to participate with the weekly prompts over on the Tyggereye Art Love blog.  This week's prompt is "under control".   Check it out!

- Heidi

p.s.  Torendi is back from CHA and they brought goodies!!!!!!!!  Jenn will be giving away various YUMMY CHA scores to Torendi followers at 125 followers, 150, 175, & 200!!!!  Check out this post to see all the swag.  Here's just a peek:

ALSO for all you BamPop! fanatics out there, all BamPop! in the Torendi store is ON SALE right now.  This includes some new arrivals!! (Of which I've already snapped some up, thank you very much!)  Woohoo!  A taste...

i is for ice cream stamp set

bots like us stamp set

I bid you go forth and shop Torendi!!!  ;oD

Get Down With Your Bad Self

It's time once again for a fabulous sketch from Sketchy Thursdays!!!!!

Isn't Diana just the most talented??!!! The girl has mad skillz in all areas! Sneak on over to her blog and give her some love!!!

This is one of my all-time favorite sequences of pictures, my son getting his groove thing on. Can't you just see him shaking his booty?

Had to get a bit of bling in on a dancing layout!

Head on over to the Sketchy Thursdays blog to see what the rest of the Design Team made for your inspiration. If you play along with us, hook up a direct link to your project to Mr. Linky in the sidebar for your chance to win this gorgeous kit from Kenner Road:

That is truly yummy.

Have a great Thursday!

Heidi

Details- Paper: American Crafts, Scenic Route, Shutterfly calendar (orange pp); Fibers:  Wrights, DCWV, Darice; Jewelry Essentials rhinestones; EK Success alpha stickers; thread. 

Sheesh! Just Do It!

It's time for our next Pink Ninjas prompt.  This one is brought to you by our Ninja Star Christina.  If you missed it, click here to learn a little more about her.  She is so much fun!!!!!!

Prompt:  Personal Motto
Technique:  Stamping
Pink Twist:  Transparencies

I admit I was a bit stumped on this one at first.  I just couldn't think of anything new to do with a transparency.  And then the mojo gods smiled on me and brought me inspiration in the form of THIS awesome layout by Mme. Leah L'Orange herself!!  Transparency + gesso = happiness. 

So, I went to town on an old Creative Imaginations transparency I'd been hanging onto forever because I've been unsure how to put it all together.  Let me tell you, I will now be scouring my stash for all transparencies contained within (and there are a "few") because they're all getting painted and stamped and generally "piled upon"!!! Woohoo!!!

~back detail~
I began by masking taping down my picture and then just slathering on the gesso with a bit of pink, black, and yellow paint dribbled in.  Then I smooshed in some floss, dictionary scraps, and flowers.  I'm showing you the back of the transparency so you can see these added goodies as they only very subtly peek through on the front. 

I realized when I went to photograph this layout that it would be hard to visually demonstrate on the screen that the entire layout is on a transparency.  There are many areas where either the gesso is thin or not covering at all and I wanted to show that.  So I photographed the layout with two different cardstock backgrounds.  Above is with a black background, which I think looks best.  Below is with a hot pink background.  I think it makes the layout look too cloying and some of the pink paint gets lost on this background.  But I was torn which is actually the best.  Which do you think?

I'm a procrastinator at heart.  (Just ask any of my Design Team Coordinators!  I'm that DT member slipping in her layout 2 minutes before the deadline even though I've had the prompt for a month.  ~shake head~)

As my stamping says, I ponder, I ruminate, I list, I plan, I collect, I prepare...I just don't get anything done!!  I'm spending too much time preparing for Pete's sake!

~heart detail~


So I'm adopting a new personal motto:  Just Do It. 

~title detail~


This area that is covered with flowers actually said "LOVE" on the transparency.  See??!!  Another alterable discovery for my arsenal.  Woohoo!!! 

Head on over to the Pink Ninjas blog to check out what the rest of the Design Team made for your inspiration.  And let me tell you, you will most definitely be inspired by this batch.  There is nothing but incredible talent on this DT.  I am not worthy!!  But I sure am enjoying the ride!

Play along with us!  You don't want to anger any Ninjas do you??  ;oD

Have a great Wednesday!

Heidi

Details - Creative Imaginations transparency & bling; Making Memories paint; StazOn ink; EK Success & Tim Holtz stamps; Prima flowers & pearl bling; Heidi Swapp & Rhonna Farrer chipboard; DMC floss; unknown metal and brad alphas; gesso; vintage dictionary page.

That Is How You Do Smash Cake

This week's elements challenge on the Design Dollies is "birthday".  My first instinct was to make a card for my hubby since tomorrow is a milestone bday for him, but somehow that proved too daunting.  So I went for another milestone bday...Numero Uno with the requisite...

My son was so reserved with his cake.  When he was a baby he didn't like his hands to be dirty.  (Doesn't seem to have that problem anymore...)  But this little miss just did the smash cake concept justice:

(Come to think of it, she still plays with/wears her food in a similar fashion to this day and she's now 4.)

WHY aren't there smash cakes for every birthday??  Wouldn't that be so much fun?  So freeing?  How could you NOT enjoy your birthday with frosted hands, cake up your nose, and green goo flecking your hair?? 

So funny, check out what the rest of the Design Team made over on the Design Dollies...you'll notice a theme.  A majority of us (independently) used Sassafras Lass products!  They're just so darn cheery and birthday-y. 

Come, play along with the Dollies!  And while you're at it, check out yesterday's color challenge and stay tuned for Thursday's sketch challenge.  If you can combine all three of the week's challenges into one project you can enter for the Trifecta!  Woohoo!

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Heidi

Details:  Sassafrass Lass paper, border paper, & card; Heidi Swapp tapes; ki Memories acrylic letters; Doodlebug & SEI alpha stickers;  Bazzill rhinestones; unknown epoxy alpha stickers & trims.

Green With Envy

This week, Jenn, Tiff, and Kelly of Torendi are at CHA. 

I'm sooooooooo jealous!!!!  I practically had the tix in my hot little hands but couldn't justify the cost of travel and lodging to myself so I passed up the opportunity to go.  I'm soooooo regretting my decision right now with all the excitement and sneak peeks circulating around the blogosphere.  ~sniff~  I'm downright GREEN WITH ENVY! 

I have been wanting this adorable Bam Pop! monster stamp for AGES and was lucky enough to win him from a challenge on Design Dollies a while back.  (You can get him for yourself in the Torendi store!!)  This is the first time I inked up the little sucker and I love him!  I stamped him twice, a little offset, once in lime green and once in honeydew metallic. 

I also used 3 of the papers you get in this month's Torendi "Bright" kit (solid gold background and pieces from the two patterned papers, which are also displayed behind and below the card in the pic). 

Details - Available in the Torendi store:  Papers from the "Bright" kit, Bam Pop! stamp; Alpha stamps: EK Success, Karen Foster; Ink: StazOn, Tsukineko; Prima rhinestones; thread. 

Well, while the girls are off at CHA scouting out new TRENDY stuff for the Torendi store, YOU can get 20% off everything in the store until Tuesday 1/26!!!!  Just use coupon code CHA2010!!!

I'm looking forward to a weekend full of birthday parties to attend.  Hope you have fun weekend plans, too!

- Heidi

Circles & the Wisdom of Elvis

It's Thursday so you know what that means...time for another Sketchy Thursdays sketch!

This week's sketch is sponsored by Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker so I played with her U R My Favorite line to create this layout.

This is another photo taken a few months ago when I asked the kids to pose for me so I'd have current pics to show friends that hadn't seen us in a while.  This is the "sensitive" picture.  (See the other pic HERE.)

I covered a couple of chipboard circles with some of the Nikki Sivils paper.  I seriously did not plan for the hearts on the two circles to overlap so perfectly, but they did so yea!  The small oval punch I have, perfect for threading ribbon through, would not have punched through this chipboard so I used my Cropadile to punch several holes and then sanded it to create a smooth oval of sorts.

Here you can see the dimension of this layout.

As a wise Elvis once sung (the good Elvis, lol, of the Costello variety), "What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?" 

This is a Technique Tuesday chipboard ring which I rubbed with some pink ink, wrapped with some floss, and wrote on.  I'm a bit impatient and didn't wait for my ink to dry before I tried erasing some pencil marks causing the ink to smear.  But I thought it looked cool so I "erased" over all the lettering.   I love it when mistakes become good things. 

Head on over to the Sketchy Thursdays blog to see what the rest of the design team made for your inspiration and then play along with us.  Hook up your direct link to Mr. Linky in the sidebar by 11:59pm EST Wednesday 1/27 (my hub's 40th bday, oh my!) for your chance to win a sampler of Nikki Sivils' U R My Favorite line plus some more of her embellies. 

Details:  Nikki Sivils U R My Favorite collection:  paper & corduroy button; Bazzill chipboard circles; Technique Tuesdays chipboard ring; Colorbox ink; DMC floss; Michaels ribbon; Cropadile; Zig Millennium pen.

I also made this layout earlier this week using more of the Nikki Sivils U R My Favorite line. 

Speaking of circles, this week's Design Dollies sketch challenge also centered on circles:

I knocked this sketch on its side:

I was feeling in a playful mood so I drug out my Amercian Crafts Teen collection.  I sooo love that line!  (And some of it is featured in this month's Torendi kit "Bright"!)   I also used some pink prismatic and pink glitter papers from Colorbok.  What a find those were!  Two sheets each for 99 cents!!!!!!  Got them at Target and by the time I realized how cool they were (about a day later) when I went back to get more it was all gone.  :o(  Oh, well.  I also got some blue prismatic, too.  Can't wait to break into that one, also. 

I had this great pic of my daughter which I've been dying to scrap.  It may look as if she's throwing a tantrum but if you look closely at her hands you'll realize she's actually rocking out.  Look at her in all of her four years in a High School Musical t-shirt rocking out!  The words in the circle next to her pic say, "rock on".  There are also circles with the words, "lip gloss" and "nail polish" in them.  She's becoming quite the girly-girl, despite having a pretty tomboy-ish mom.  Which just goes to show that "girly" isn't necessarily taught, it just IS. 

I ran a strip of the pink prismatic paper through my Dymo machine for the title, "Four Going On Tween".  I rubbed over the raised letters with some black ink to make the letters stand out a bit more. 

Head on over to the Design Dollies blog to check out what the rest of the design team made for your inspiration and then get yourself hooked up to the Mr. Linky on that post for your chance to win a fabulous prize.  If you've been following the Dollies so far you know their prizes are awesome! 

Details - Paper: American Crafts, Colorbok; Dymo; Slick Writer; Zig Millennium pen; thread. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Be sure to check in tomorrow for an awesome offer from Torendi! 

Happy Thursday!

Heidi