My Wild Sprout

Yipeeeee! I did it! I entered The Greeting Farm "Design My Sprout" contest!

Please let me know what you think!

You can go HERE to see my entry in their gallery.



Here's the sketch:




Here is my colored version:





Koh-i-noor Pencils, Gina K Design's odorless mineral spirits, and Copics.



This was so much fun to do!
I don't go into contests like this... was a bit nervous about hitting that "process" button. LOL!
Isn't that a bit silly? Knowing that this is simply an entry and not expecting anything but still getting the butterflies? Baby steps!

Have a thrilling Thursday!!

LLWWC6 - Paper Pieced "Trick or Treat" Lala

It's time again for another La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge!

Before I go on to this week's challenge, I just wanted to thank everyone who participated in last week's challenge. Congratulations to our four winners (second was a tie!) - Victoria of Blue Jelly Too, Carolyn of Handmade Treasures by Creative Card Corner, Alexandra of Scrapbookende Zwergnase, and April Rose of April's Roses! It seems to be getting harder every week to decide on the Top 3! Such awesome talent out there! I can not wait to see what this week's challenge brings on!

Sheila is our host this week and she has chosen paper piecing as the challenge!

She says:

"This weeks Challenge is Paper Piece it!! I'd love to see your Paper piecing I love this techinque and love to see what others do with it, you can use other items to embellish your creations with to, like gems/flowers/ brads, just go for it and have fun"

I had so much fun with this challenge!

Here's what I started out with:

"Trick or Treat Lala"

This is what Lala ended up looking like after I was done piecing her together:







The card:






Just in case you are curious about the process:

Base:
I colored Lala's face, arms, hands, and legs with E0000 and E00. R00 for blush.

The shirt/sleeves:

The jumper:

The pumpkin:

The mask:

The hair:

I used Clear atyou Spica glitter pen to add some bling:

Pitch Black and Lavender atyou Spica Glitter pen used on this cutie:



Let me know what you think!
Come join in on the fun!!! Click HERE!
I want to see what you come up with!

Quick coloring tutorials and a giveaway!

I made this Acetate Treat Holder for a tutorial over at Scrapbooking Supplies R Us.

I also made this quick and easy card.

Before you head over to the acetate holder tutorial, I wanted to show you how I colored the pumpkins on the tag and on the card.

For the tag, I stamped the image on watercolor paper in Staz-On.


I inked up my craft sheet with Tim Holtz Dried Marigold Distress Ink.


Before applying color to my image, I like to "wet" the work surface.


Then I pick up some of the Dried Marigold off of the craft sheet and start "painting" the pumpkin.


Here is the image after several layers of color:


Then I started to "pull" the colors from the pumpkin out onto the surrounding area.
This allowed me to create highlights on the pumpkin and add some color to the watercolor paper.





Here I added some bling with my clear atyou Spica pen.


A quick and easy way to rough up the edges is to simply use your fingernail!

I used Copics on the card. The paper I used is Coconut Swirl (Bazzill).

I used the chiseled end to give the pumpkin a quick coat of Y17.

I used YR04 to add some dimension to the pumpkin...



Then I went back over the entire image with the first Copic, Y17



I used G99 once to cover the stem and leaf.

Then I went over it again to create some shading.

Here's the pumpkin as is:


Here is the same image with a touch of gray all around the image:

Now for the information for the giveaway!

Everything you see on the little card can be yours!

- Copics I used (Y17, YR04, G99)

- Happy Halloween Pumpkin stamp (Hampton Arts)

- a bottle of Spooky Dew Drops

- Boo to You "Monster Mash" paper

- Boo to You "Frightful Friends" paper

- 1 yd of Orange swirl ribbon

Simply go to my Halloween Acetate Treat Holder tutorial on Scrapbooking Supplies R Us.

Scroll all the way down to my signature and click on "Leave A Comment".

Leave me a message there about what you thought of both tutorials (coloring and treat holder) by this Friday (Sept. 25th) and you will qualify for the drawing!

Good luck!!

Time for awards!

I wanted to take a moment and thank all who have been so sweet to leave me awards.
It makes me so happy!
There's just a small problem.
I haven't been very good about keeping track of who sent me what.
I will work on this!

In the meantime, here are a few awards that have been waiting acknowledgement.

The Lemonade Stand:

"Choose seven ladies who according to this award show an attitude of gratitude"

From my dear friend, Siobhan Kline

Thank you so much for thinking of me, Siobhan!

I am so glad we are online friends across the miles.

I can not wait to meet you in person next month!

I pass this award on to:

Irina Blount - Everything Paper Crafts

Jacqueline Nordaune - Family and Crafting

Jana Weaver - Jana's Creative Pursuits in Stamping

Joni Moore - kix in life

Kim Blakey - Poppy Petal Designs

Michelle VanWiggeren - Michelle's Great Paper Chase

Nancy Grant - Inkcicles

This lovely award is from fellow La-La Land Crafts DT member, Kim Blakey.

Kimmi has been going through some very tough days.

She lost her brother suddenly in a car accident a week ago.

If you get the chance, please stop by her beautiful blog and give her some love. xx

The rules for this award are to link back to the person who gave it to you and list 5 things you love to do!!

Well now, 5 things I love to do...

I love to snuggle with my two little boys.

I love to watch movies while I stay up late and stamp the night away.

I love to bowl.

I love ordering "white gummi" or "pink star" at Jamba Juice.

I love to read!

Now I have to choose 5 of my friends to give this to...

Ethel Amutan - The Paperquilter

Helen Laurence - Ellephantastic Cards & Crafts

Mariska van der Veer - Sending You A Little Smile

Siobhan Kline - Adventures from the Monkey Hut

Tracy Falco - crafty insomnia

This one is from my online friend, Helen Laurence.

Thank you, sweetie! Honoured to have you in my circle of friends!

The terms of this particular award are:-
1. Make reference to award and publish it on your blog
2. Share 5 things you like to do
3. And share with 10 blogs
4. Inform each blog

The 5 things I like to do are :

I like to make people smile.

I like listening to my boys giggle.

I like to stay up late... very late. :)

I like colouring and drawing.

I like hanging out with my friends... ya know who you are! ;)

This award goes to all of my friends and readers.

Thank you!

Please take this award and pass it on!

La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge #5 - Embellish It!

What a month! My oldest had a fever of 103.8 the other day and now has a bad cough that is keeping him up. Last week was a stomach virus. The week before that was another stomach thing. Let's hope this is it! I have a couple of packages that are waiting to go and they will be heading out Thursday morning, come rain or shine!

Well, it's Wednesday and that means it's time for another fun round of La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge. This week's challenge is to "Embellish It!".It is hosted by our talented Maureen. She has this to say: "I love to embellish my creations so I want to see how you all embellish yours! Please use at least 3 different types of embellishments on your projects this week. They can be anything - buttons, ribbon, charms, brads, flowers, glitter, etc., as long as you've got 3 different types! I hope you have fun with this challenge!"

I know many of you love to embellish. How many of you have tons of fabulous embellishments just waiting to be used? I love to collect embellishments (amongst other crafty things) and never really use them. I decided to use the three things I really love to hoard... ribbon, buttons, and bling. Hope you like what I came up with!

Introducing: Pirate Rosie






Please join in on the fun!
You do not need to use La-La Land Craft stamps in order to play along.
Stop by La-La Land Crafts to check out what the Design Team and the Guest Designers have created for this week's challenge!

Cheers!

LLWWC4 - Distressing!

Hi everyone! It's Wednesday and that means it's time for La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge!

This week's challenge is Distressing!
Our host this week is Kathy.
She says "Distressing can be done in a number of ways ~ tearing, sanding, inking or with a distress tool!!"

I decided to get my Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads out and make my own background.

Paper: Whisper White (SU)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads: Peeled Paint, Broken China, Worn Lipstick,

Dried Marigold, Dusty Concord

Copics: E0000, E00, E21, E30, E33, R22, RV34, BG93, Y28

atyou Spica: Clear, Gold

Rub-ons: Mini Vintage Pink (Hambly Screen Prints)

Accessories: Mini Mister (Ranger)

I will be back later today to show you step by step how I coloured La-La's hair and also how I created the background. Today is my first day back to work in the classroom. Most of you know that I teach preschool. This year, I am taking the lead and feeling a little of the first day jitters. Wish me luck! :) Keiji also goes into the 4 yr old room by himself. No more "Teacher Mommy"!!

For more information on this week's La-La's Weekly Wednesday Challenge, please visit La-La Land Crafts' blog HERE. There, you will see what our design team and guest designers have come up with!!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!!!

hugs!

Happy Birthday, Maureen!

Today, we are celebrating a birthday at La-La Land Crafts!

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday...
We love you!
Happy Birthday and may all your dreams come true!
When you blow out the candles,
One light stays aglow
It's the light that's in your eyes
Where ever you may go!

Hau`oli la hanau, Maureen!

Stamp: Fairy La-La (La-La Land Crafts)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper: Flirty Stripe (Bo Bunny)

Copics: W5, W7, E47, E0000, E00, R00, BV13, RV11, Y28, 0

Atyou Glitter Pens: Clear, Sand, Lavender

Ribbon: Pretty in Pink Taffeta (SU)

Wishing you love and laughter on your birthday and all throughout the year!