Oh La La

I'm moderator for the Oh La La group at Bella Creations.  We're in the countdown to announcing a prize winner for our current challenge.  To qualify, you need to be a member of our ning group, Bella Creations, a member of the Oh La La group within Bella Creations, and make a tag using our group avatar--a lovely couple chosen by our ning site owner, Lacee.  All tags must be made and posted to the Oh La La group by midnight central USA time, January 30, 2011 in order to qualify.  One winner, chosen at random, will receive a prize.  All other entries will receive lots of Oh La Las from the group! If you're looking for a little project to make this weekend, perhaps this is it!  Just click on the Bella Creations blinkie badge in my right sidebar to be transported to Bella Creations.  See you there!

I'm also entering this Valentine tag in Vicki  Romaine's challenge on her blog, The Cheerful Stamp Pad.  Vicki is a member of Bella Creations and the January Visiting Artist at Gingersnap Creations.  I follow her cheerful blog.  Since we play in the same yards, it's only fitting that I enter her challenge #10 Be My Valentine

Coffee and Cream

January is just flying by.  This is the last Gingersnap Creations challenge from our January hot beverages theme.  Today it's the color challenge:  GC88 Coffee and Cream. 
You have plenty of time to play along.  This challenge is due on February 20, 2011.  You may be the next random winner or declared one of the Ginger Gems!  Just click on the GC88 link for the details.  You'll also find there more Coffee and Cream examples from the Gingers and Visiting Artists. 

I chose one of the images from Crafty Individuals and stamped it with Sepia Archival ink.  The base is a cream blank card.  I cut a mat and sanded it from my new Core'dinations cream of wheat embossed cardstock.  What I didn't cut I used as my background for the photo.  You can see the before and after sanding.  I just love this stuff, and now the company has partnered with Tim Holtz and Graphic 45 for even more great choices. 

I tried Linda's coffee stain technique on my natural colored coffee filter.  I think since it was brown to start out with, it's hard to see the pattern made with the coffee grounds. But it was interesting to give this technique a try.  Here's a link to her tutorial on Gingersnap Creations.  I used part of the coffee filter for a mat (run through the Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder) and part for two punched out tiny flowers.  The brown pearls are Kaiser Craft.

A Tea-rific Template

I am lovin' this little teabag template. I keep thinking of all the different papers and stamps that could be used with it. There are so many possible uses: gift cards, little notes, placement on a card or layout...(I have an actual teabag in this one!) Then there are the little surprises you can put inside such as the clever ideas posted by our Ginger Penny or our Visiting Artist Deb.  You'll find their work and lots of other ideas by the Gingers and our other two Visiting Artists, Vicki and Evelyn, at Gingersnap Creations' Random Redhead challenge today. 

If you'd like to make one of these teabags, you'll find all the information, including the template, at Gingersnap Creations. This challenge will run until February 13 so you have plenty of time to create a little something fabby and link it up at GC87. You just may be the next random winner or one of the Ginger Gems!

Materials:
Graphic 45 double sided paper: Playtimes Past Collection: Hopscotch
Graphic 45 Playtimes Past Collection Tags. Note: I cut up the tag, using part of it on the flap with baker's twine. I cut out the teapot portion and backed it with more of the hopscotch paper.
Tim Holtz for Ranger Distress Ink Tea Dye (you knew that was coming!)

Victorian Fantasy Challenge

An old layout for a new challenge.  I'm entering this layout in Sandy Ang's Challenge #2 Victorian Fantasy.  I chose the Steampunk prompt.  Your entry can be something new or something previously created, and you can enter more than once.  So here's a start with something old while I work on something new.

Materials
Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers
Websters Pages ribbon trim and bloomer
Tim Holtz Idea-ology word stick and gears; grungeboard flourishes;
Distress Crackle on watch
Martha Stewart fence punch
Lots of fussy cutting and layering!

Fragile

This is my second attempt at collage.  I'm much happier with this composition.

As you know, we have a new site, Bella Creations.  After one week, we're 71 members strong!  Please note my badge in the right sidebar.  The first one hundred members are considered the founding members and get to wear this badge proudly.  I hope you'll join us.

My design teammate, Starr, is group leader for Cartes Classiques.  Her first challenge was to make a card that had a vintage image, a vintage stamp, and the sentiment: You are far bigger than anything that can happen to you.  The end result is this card on a blank black card  5-1/4"x5-3/4". And here's a close-up of the sentiment:

Supplies:
Green Paper: photo of woman entitled Resignation
Graphics Fairy: Arc de triomphe , French postage stamp, and Parisien ticket
I added the sentiment to the ticket: "You are far bigger than anything that can happen to you." I also stamped on it the word "fragile" from the Red Lead Paperworks postage plate.
Stampabilities Paris Post Mark stamp;
Rusty Pickle background paper; Antique Linen Ranger Distress Ink
black card stock card

First Collage

 He begged her to stay but she already had booked passage.....
I signed up for Mary Green's Green Paper Collage Club.  I've been admiring her work and lurking around her blog for the past year. The first lesson was emailed to me a few days ago.  I was to use a busy background, such as the map she sent and add only a couple of elements.  Of course I can't do that!  She also posted on her Green Paper  site the first January challenge.  I downloaded the sheet and used the 3 required elements: the couple, rose, and ledger paper.  Somehow, these two separate projects became one!!! The hardest thing for me was keeping the project one dimensional.  So obviously I needed to sign up for these collage lessons! It took me forever to get this done because I didn't have the right size gluebook.  I settled on an album with the wood cover and decided to write on the kraft pages as if this were a journal.  Since the pages are a little larger than I wanted, I think that's how the two assignments got intertwined.  So we'll see how this project develops.  Perhaps by the time I get to the last page of the album, we'll both see some improvement in my efforts to do collage.   I feel pretty brave posting this on my blog.  I'm anxious for some feedback from Mary and the collage group.

One Thing Leads to Another

I added some upbeat music, Pretty Woman walking down the street, to my blog to go with our new Bella Creations Design Team logo.  And, of course, that made me think of a layout I did a while back of my working girl mom walking down the street in Milwaukee (photo taken by street photographer).  I hope you don't mind revisiting this layout.  But it makes me happy as does this music and my new adventure. 

A New Year and A New Adventure

You'll notice my sidebar is a little different today.  On the left, I have everything to do with being a Design Team Ginger on Gingersnap Creations.

On the right, I have something brand new: Bella Creations
My friend Lacee started the site today, and I'm so excited to be a part of it.  I'll be on the Design Team and the one hosting the Oh La La tags and bookmarks group.  Come on over and be part of all the excitement--we have a real vintage, French flair!

A new year, and the beginning of a new adventure!  And in that spirit, here's a little vintage piece I'm showcasing at Bella Creations.  It's entitled I am fully occupied.  Perfect for this January as I'll be occupied helping Lacee develop her new site, Bella Creations.

I'm also linking this up to Cindy's Whimsical Musings Blog as any entry of something that's my favorite for her Creative Spirit Challenge.  With helping Lacee with her new blog, I'm certainly in the creative spirit this month.

The Garden Gate

 DD2 took this photo on December 25 of our White Christmas.

Gingersnap Creations:  GC84 Color Challenge: Snow, Pine, and Mahogany (I'm a DT Ginger, so this is just for inspiration as I didn't make a sample earlier for the challenge reveal)

Simply Scrapping Crafts December 24 Color Challenge
White, Red, Green, and use a tag

Pages In Time Thursday Sketch for Dec. 23 by Suepup:

To match the papers, I wanted to use the flower I made at a Prairie Stampers Club meeting and the cute reindeer buttons that I found in my Christmas stocking. The challenge called for a tag, and before I knew it, I was using the techniques from Tag 7 of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas. 

Materials:
Making Memories 12x12 Diecut Glit MiniDot Red Mistletoe
Three Bugs In A Rug 12x12 Snow Much Fun (plain backside of Santa's elves)
Reindeer from Walmart trim
Tag diecut from Prairie Art Stamps store
Wood Grain Sissex die from Tim Holtz
Tim's grungeboard flourishes
Ranger Distress Inks:  Weathered Wood, Shabby Shutters and Pumice Stone
Maya Road leaf stick pins
Rock Candy Stickles
Pearl Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber
antique BINGO marker
flower made by me
the ribbon and Santa are from my stash and no longer identifiable by manufacturer