Happy Birthday, Ceal!!

Today we have a new challenge at La-La Land Crafts and I'm hosting!!

Also... today is my DT sister and friend, Ceal Pritchett's Birthday & we (at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges) are throwing her a surprise birthday blog hop!!

If you arrived here from Kathy's Blog then you're in the right place! If not, please start this short hop at SSCC blog.

Here is the birthday card I made for Ceal's birthday celebration... because she is "One Sweet Chick!" *Ü*

My La-La challenge this week is to use a LLLC stamp OR digi and PAPER PIECE it!! One player will WIN this Rosie with Bird that I've used on my card! *Ü* Be sure stop over to the challenge blog and see what CUTE cards our LaLa girls have whipped up for you this week!

I've also brought my favorite recipe of all time... Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips for all to enjoy at this "Sweet" party!! *Ü*
Yes, I've actually made this in REAL LIFE and it is SOOOOOOO yummy!! So, I decided that I am going to share this recipe with you all!

Annie's Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
1 tablespoons white sugar (opt'l)
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

Directions
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, sugar, and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.

Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

♫ Happy Birthday to you Ceal!! Hope your day is extra Sweet! ♫

Your Next Stop is LISA's - The Craft's Meow

SSCC32 - Mount Up With Wings Like Eagles

Happy Palm Sunday everyone!! Today it's my turn to host this week's Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge and our sponsor this week is Our Daily Bread Designs, who is donating a $15 Gift Certificate that will go to a random player, chosen by Random.Org!!

I chose this verse to share:

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

As I reflect on this verse, I find it very comforting. We all are hit at one time or another by sickness, disappointment, failure, and tragedy... but this verse assures us that if we put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ, He will give us the strength we need to go on and ride out the storm.

I read once that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it hits. The eagle will fly to a high spot and wait for the winds to come, and when they do, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. The eagle does not escape the storm, it simply uses the storm to lift it higher and soar above it. We too can rise above the storms that life brings by setting our hearts on God. He has bigger plans for us than we can see for ourselves, so put your hope in Him--He will take you to new heights!

CARD CHALLENGE: and so my challenge is for you to "mount up" parts of your image, aka. Paper Tole technique. This is not simply paper piecing an image, but rather restamping your image 2 or more times and cutting out parts of that image to pop it up and make it 3-dimensional.

I used some of my favorite stamps from Layers of Color: Merci Bouquet , Royal Birds, and Gothic Crosses. I popped up the largest flowers individually, the middle body of the bird, and the cross (after stamping it directly onto wood). Did I mention how much I LOVE Layers of Color stamps? And I'm NOT just saying that because I'm a DT either. I truly love these elegant stamps--they are so beautiful and they all seem to really work nice together, combining stamps from various other sets. Anyway, this card appeared at LOC's blog this week for Faith Art Friday! Check out what Lovely Linda created for that as well HERE.

For the window, I cut the shape out of Pretty in Pink using Nestability Labels die and then ran the layer through again with the Textiles embossing folder. I popped up that layer with 2 stacked dimensionals all around so the cross is inset. My sentiment is computer generated and layered onto one of the Fancy Tags (nesties).

Come join us this week and enter to win! You'll find some wonderful inspiration HERE by our lovely design team as well. Have a blessed Sunday!!

TGF - Royal Battle #1 "Retro"

So... I'm participating in The Greeting Farm's "Royal Battle" which is a battle of the teams, and our team NEEDS YOUR VOTE!!!

The teams consist of 3-5 players and one person per team per week will play in the challenge. For 3 days only, (Sunday - Tuesday) all of YOU will get to go vote on our team's card!! Each person can vote for their top 3 cards. The top HALF of the teams with the most votes will get to go on. (ie. so only 30 teams will continue on after this first round.) We are not allowed to vote for our own team's card though, so we need to ask you all to go vote for us!

My team consists of myself, Lisa Hjulberg, Pam Sparks, Kim Yu, and Sue Kment.

Our team name is "Card Sprouts." Lisa played in this first round in which the challenge was to make a Retro card using the colors in this body scrub jar.

So, would you please hop over to the gallery and look for this card and leave a comment to place your vote?!! Voting ends this Tuesday!! Whichever team is left standing at the end of 5 weeks wins the HUGE PRIZE... and I think it's definately worth winning!


Didn't Lisa do an amazing job on this "RETRO" challenge?!! I think she did a smashing job. But it's not skill that counts, it's VOTES! Thank you so much for your vote! *Ü*

KLSNS Challenge: Boxes-n- Baskets

Happy Saturday!! I have a a FUN project to share today as well as some really great news!! Ok, first, the good news... this week at KL Stampin N' Scrappin we not only have a fun challenge but you will have a chance to win a surprise Easter package worth $15-20!! *Ü*

And now for the challenge: It's my turn to host the challenge and I figured with Easter fast approaching this might be a good time to make a box or basket for someone. There's lots of possibilities! Splitcoast Stampers resource page offers lots of tutorials to help you out.

I decided since I've made a few baskets recently, that I'd attempt one of these 4-drawer easel cards! This adorable Gillian Roberts stamp is available at KLSNS here.

For my card front, I used this Sweet Stop Sketch with a twist: fuzzy wuzzy.

*Note: I used brown glittery fun flock for the teddybear.

{Fuzzy Wuzzy Teddybear}

I saw this tutorial by my friend Chris Olsen, and in reading it I realized that she used a Sizzix die to make the drawers. I don't have that, so I made my own version for the drawers, using simple origami box instructions. I will be posting a tutorial for my version that anyone can try this Wednesday at KL Stampin N Scrappin!

I hope you'll come on over to the challenge blog to see what our design team has created to inspire you and enter to win our prize pack this week!! There's also store coupons over there too ;) What are you waiting for?!

Handmade Paper Roses for My Bella Rosa

Welcome to Kristine's LaLa Land!! (aka: "my happy place") I've been having so much fun with my newest stamp, Bella Rosa... Oh, I mean Porsha, from LaLa Land Crafts! Isn't she beautiful? AND... since our challenge hostess used her this week as well, Porsha is ON SALE all week long at 20% off!!

I paired her with some older DP that I had called Bella Rose. Speaking of "roses" this week's LaLa challenge is for us to make our own flowers! The lovely Kim is our challenge hostess today, and as always the rest of the Design Team has lots of inspiration for you over on our DT blog!
So I used some DP from a retired Bella Rose pack to make my roses. I saw this technique online somewhere but I decided to share how I made mine so here is a little tutorial for ya.

I cut a circle using my Creative Memories circle. (I actually used a variety of sizes for my card.) Then, I turned it over and drew an even spiral. You can also use double-sided or solid color paper works great too.

Cut on the lines.

Then hold it so the colored/patterned side is facing you and sponge the edge whilst at the same time bending the outside edge over as you go. SORRY for the blury pics. My 9 yr. old took them as I was working.

Then I added a tiny bit of tape to the outside end of the spiral and started rolling it inward. At the same time , you want to bend those top edges over slightly until you get it all rolled up. Then adhere more tape to the center spiral piece and press the top center of rose down. If it's wound too tight, you'll want to (before you tape the end) let it go a little bit so it can loosen up and then tape the end down.

and here are my final roses! It's okay that they are a bit ripped as it gives a distressed look and it gives "character" to them ;)

Ok... did I totally lose you on that lame tutorial? LOL! You'll be very happy to know that I'm going to direct you to the tutorial I followed which is so much better, which I could have just directed you to in the first place but then, I already had the pictures so I might as well upload them right? *rolling eyes* Here ya go!! Knock yourself out!! *Ü*

There's LOTS of inspiring handmade flower ideas on the LaLa Blog this week. If you'd like to play along in our challenge, please use a stamp from LLLC on your project and enter using Mr. Linky by Monday night!

Have a great day! *Ü*

Easter Cross

I'm back again with another Easter Cross card I whipped up today *Ü* This card was inspired by Yvonne's card here. I came across her blog a couple weeks ago and am in awe of her style and creative talent! You must go take a look!

I used this Easter Cross digi from McMahon Five Design (only $1.99!!) and some champaign pearls from her store as well. The DP is from K and Co.'s Ancestry pack and I used gold thread to stitch it up. The butterfly is from this month's Key Ingredients pack from Taylored Expressions. You'll also find lots of great inspiration on the M5D blog here! Thanks for dropping by today! I'll have a cute card from LaLa Land tomorrow... bye!

SSCC31 - A C.A.S. Challenge

Good morning! Today is Ceal's turn to challenge us at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges! She picked this verse to share:

Psalm 51:7-10 "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spririt within me."

And her challenge is for us to make a clean and simple card. I made not one but 3 cards for this challenge! Of course, everyone is going to have their own ideas of what constitutes "clean and simple" for them. To me, it's not a lot of coloring in images or lots of embellishments and layers. Soooo hard! LOL. Here's what I came up with...


This first one I made using this new digital stamp called Easter Cross from McMahon Five Designs, and get this... it's on sale right now for only $1.99!! I also used some walnut wood for the cross (I printed the cross directly onto the wood in my printer) and for the strip down the side. My image may not be very clean and simple, but my overall card is with no added layers behind the image or ribbons and pearls etc.
For this next card you may be thinking this is not "clean and simple" but what I was thinking was how quick and easy this was to put together. I started with some black/white DP and added some ribbon. Then I stamped my sentiment and cut some c.s. with nesties. This cross is from the gorgeous stamp set called Gothic Crosses from Layers of Color and I just added a bit of teal w.c. pencil to it and cut it out and that's all... you get an elegant look but not a lot of fuss!

... and for my last card, I used the newly released stamp set called Fruitful Harvest by Layers of Color and went for the Toile look. I stamped the large stamp all over the background and the smaller fruit bowl for my focal image.

I hope you all will try a CAS card this week and come enter our challenge! Our sponsor is once again Simon Says Stamp who is donating a really fun girly ballet stamp set called Heather's Dance. You will have until Saturday night to enter!

Hippity Hoppity it's a New Challenge at KLSNS!

Happy Saturday!! We have a fun challenge at KL Stampin N' Scrappin this week and we'd love for YOU ALL to come play along! Our hostess is the lovely Jodi who wants to see us using flowers and stitching (may be faux or machine/hand) in honor of National Quilting Day!

I've used Mercy's Tuesday sketch for this card, along with my new HR Designs set called Hippity Hoppity and paper by Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry collection. I did actually get my sewing machine out for this one (just don't look at the inside! LOL. ) I also tried to make him look "furry" hence the splotchy look. I think I need a little more practice ;)

The KLSNS Girls (DT) have provided some fun and sweet inspiration for you, so come hop on over and check them out! *Ü* OH, and before I go I want to remind you to check yesterday's post for COUPON CODES! There's some really great new items in store.

Also, this week, 3 of our players will be chosen as our "TOP 3" and awarded this cute blinky for their blog!

I'll be back tomorrow with a card for our Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge. Then I'm not sure what Spring Break will hold for me next week as far as how much stamping time I'll get in. I can tell you that my allergies hit about a week ago and nothing is working to help. I do love Spring weather, but would love it more if I weren't so miserable 80% of it! LOL. On another note my friend Helen is expecting 6-8" of SNOW in Kansas this weekend--WOOOHOO! Can you box some of that up and send it my way??! PLEEEEASE?!!!! *Ü*

We have a Special Guest Designer at SSCC!

Here's a little sneaky peek at our Guest Designer's mixed media project for our challenge this week--it's gorgeous!! Come on over to Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges and find out WHO she is and see her whole project!!

LaLa Weekly Wednesday Challenge - Go Green!

Hello! Welcome to another fun challenge in LaLa Land! But before I get to that I want to point out that we made some changes over there for the challenges and many players didn't read the new requirements--Uh Oh! *giggle* You are now required to use a stamp or digi from LaLa Land Crafts store to be eligible to win the $10 GC or be awarded our Top 3 badge! What's that you say?? You don't HAVE any LaLas yet??!! That's okay! Because you can now buy our latest Spring release stamps in DIGI form so they come to your inbox right away!! How fun! *Ü*

So now that THAT'S out of the way... let's get to today's challenge: Go Green! WAIT... STOP!!! It's not the color green that we're talking about! The lovely Elena wants us to use RECYCLED items on our cards! Try to find something you would have thrown away... bubble wrap, a page out of an old book, buttons or lace from old clothing, cardboard, etc. Lots of ideas on the Challenge Blog, so be sure to check that out AND see all the fabulous DT's cards!!
I used this cute girl stamp named Portia along with some gorgeous DP that Irina sent me in my DT package... isn't it lovely?! I CASED (sorta) my coloring of her from a beautiful card sent to me from Kathy, aka. distressed stamper! For my recycled item, I punched some flowers out of a page from an old hymn book and distressed them. You can't see it here but the bottom layer is a scallop circle punched out of peach c.s. The sketch I used is from this week's Mojo Monday.

Thanks for dropping by! OH! Before I forget... Pirate LaLa is the special of the week! You can purchase her for 20% OFF this week!

Faith, Hope, and Love .... and more!

Hey stampers... did you get over to the Layers of Color blog today? We are having a PARTY and you're all invited! There's still time tonight to get in on it! Four gorgeous art stamp sets released and also, you've GOT to pick up your FREE DIGIS!! There's a very cute one that says Faith, Hope, and love with pots of flowers... there's a couple of super cute birds and even a glorious Fleur de Lis! Make sure to leave a comment on the blog there as Laura drew them all herself and would appreciate knowing you stopped by!! *Ü* And don't miss the DRAWING for a chance to WIN ALL 4 STAMP SETS! Ooooh, the winner is gonna be sooo thrilled!!

LOC Spring 2010 New Release is HERE!!

Today's the day!! Layers of Color has officially released four fabulous new stamp sets today, and we're having a PARTY!!

You can have a chance to WIN all 4 stamp sets, so hop on over to the LOC Blog right now to see LOTS of inspiration by Design Team and enter to win!! And if you visit us at SNR, you will get your name entered twice for this amazing stamp package *Ü*

Also, you will be able to purchase these stamps right now in the Boutique. Even more... you can pick up some FREEBIES there and I also heard something about a discount coupon too, so head on over! I'll be waitin' for ya there ;)

Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge #30

Good Morning stampers!! Today we have another wonderful and inspiring challenge for you at Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenges. Our hostess today is my super sweet friend, Helen who chose this verse to share:

Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Her challenge then is to create a card/project using a peaceful image or use a verse about peace. I created a teacup-shaped card because enjoying a cup of tea with a good friend can be very peaceful.

I used the Vintage Rose stampset that is soon-to-be-released at Layers of Color tomorrow!! This is one of 4 new releases and if you come visit the LOC blog tomorrow (Monday, 15th) you can enter a drawing to WIN ALL 4 SETS!!

Anyway, our sponsor at Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenges this week is none other than Whiff of Joy!! One of you (random drawing) will win this stamp, Willow Reading a Book. Awwww, isn't is so cute? And peaceful too!
Don't miss these sneak peeks from the Layers of Color Design Team as well!

• Abby of Abby's Garden (Guest Designer)
• Heather of The Patchwork Heart
• Laura & Jessica of Layers of Color blog
• Linda of Linda's Craft Central
• Patter of Triple the Scraps
• SNR Group
  
  All FOUR of these new release sets will be available for purchase TOMORROW!! Wooohoo! They are gorgeous, and I hope you've enjoyed all the great peeks this week! Stop on by the LOC BLOG tomorrow the 15th for your chance to WIN all 4 Stamp Sets!!

KLSNS Bunny Basket & a Sketch Challenge

**Note: This is my second post for today. Please scroll down one post or see click here to see my Sneak Peek at my Fruitful Harvest card for Layers of Color!

Yay, it's finally Saturday!! And that means a new fun challenge at KL Stampin N' Scrappin! Our hostess this week is the lovely Jacilynn and she asked us to follow a sketch (shown below). I incoporated the sketch into my paper basket instead of a card this week. *Ü* Doesn't this basket look so fun?! And it's so easy too. I followed Dawn B's instructions HERE. This time I made mine starting with a 12x12 sheet of double-sided DP. (her instructions use a 6x6). This adorable bunny is called Baby Bunny Butterfly by C.C. Designs and is available in the store HERE. Kelly has ordered LOTS of super CUTE stamps for Easter and summer and beyond and I'm so delighted with them all!

Here is Jacilynn's sketch to follow. We'd LOVE to have y'all play along with us! And be sure to hop on over to the challenge blog to see what the rest of the KLSNS Girls created to inspire! If you upload to online galleries, please use the keywords KLSNS as well as KLSNS21. Thanks!!

I'm also entering this basket in Rosie-D's challenge #66 which is "Think SPring"!! *Ü*

WAYS TO SAVE: New coupon code for March is MAR20 to get you 20% OFF your entire order when it reaches $50 or more. ALSO, you can get 20% OFF on all Magnolias currently in stock with the code Maggies (cannot combine the 2 codes in the same order, however if you place the Magnolias seperately you can use the code and save on everything!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous weekend!! Tomorrow I will be back with a new challenge at Stampin Sisters in Christ and another sneak peek at Layers of Color!! *Ü*

LOC Sneak Peek {Fruitful Harvest}

And here we are... day 4 of the fabulous sneak peeks of the soon-to-be-released stamp sets at Layers of Color! Today the DT are showing you "Fruitful Harvest"... this is just one of the many stamps in this set. There's so many uses for this fruit set and if you go a hoppin' you're sure to be inspired by what the rest of our team has come up with!
Sorry today's post is so short. Got lots to do and it's already been a really busy week (as you can see from all my posting *wink*) so I will leave you with these MUST SEE links:

• Abby of Abby's Garden (Guest Designer)
• Heather of The Patchwork Heart
• Laura & Jessica of Layers of Color blog
• Linda of Linda's Craft Central
• Patter of Triple the Scraps
• SNR Group

Hope you've enjoyed the sneak peeks so far?! Remember we are sharing peeks every day up until the 15th, when YOU can have a chance to WIN ALL 4 STAMP SETS!! Mark your calendars for THIS MONDAY!! See you at the LOC blog! *Ü*

LOC - Day 3 Sneak Peek {Acanthus Leaves}

Hello, and welcome to another fun day of sneak peeks!! I hope you've enjoyed the sets you've seen so far?! Today we are showing you peeks of the set, Acanthus Leaves which will be released with the other 3 new releases on March 15th at Layers of Color!!

(Pardon my photo quality--I had to take the pic in the evening with bad lighting. I'll try to swap it out when I can take it outside for a better shot. In the meantime, you can click the pic to enlarge for detail. Thanks!)

Today I went a little out of my element with this set when I had the idea to fit most of the flourish leaves in a puzzle-like manor onto a bird template and it worked perfectly!! I used 6 of the 8 stamps in the set just for the bird, and they are all colored with metallic pencils. The piece on my poem is also from this beautiful set, and yet another stamp is on my background. I found this "Parent's Creed" from an older hymn book that was in my garage. I distressed it a bit more for an aged look as it apparently wasn't "old enough", LOL. I love this poem and at the end it talks about your children stretching their wings and leaving the nest to fly. So it goes perfectly with this beautiful bird. The metal piece below the poem says, "Live, Laugh, Love."

Here's a close-up of the bird. The metallic pencils actually have a sheen to them and are so pretty IRL. You won't want to miss these peeks from our Design Team:

• Abby of Abby's Garden (Guest Designer)
• Heather of The Patchwork Heart
• Laura & Jessica of Layers of Color blog
• Linda of Linda's Craft Central
• Patter of Triple the Scraps
• SNR Group

Hope you've enjoyed the sneak peeks so far?! Remember we are sharing peeks every day up until the 15th, when YOU can have a chance to WIN ALL 4 STAMP SETS!! Stay tuned for more deets *Ü*

EDITED TO ADD: I was asked about this poem so I thought I would type it out for you here.

The Parents' Creed

I believe that my children are a gift of God-the hope of a new tomorrow.

I believe that immeasurable possibilities lie slumbering in each son and daughter.

I believe that God has planned a perfect plan for their future, and that His love shall always surround them; and so

I believe that they shall grow up!! - first creeping, then toddling, then standing, stretching skyward for a decade and a half - until they reach full stature - a man and a woman!

I believe that they can and will be molded and shaped between infancy and adulthood - as a tree is shaped by the gardener, and the clay vessel in the potter's hand, or the shoreline of the sea under the watery hand of the mighty waves; by home and church; by school and street, through sights and sounds and the touch of my hand on their hand and Christ's spirit on their heart! So,

I believe that they shall mature as only people can - through laughter and tears, through trial and error, by reward and punishment, through affection and discipline, until they stretch their wings and leave their nest to fly!

O God - I believe in my children. Help me so to live that they may always believe in me - and so in Thee.

~Robert H. Schuller

LLLC29 and a Friday Sketchers

Here's my 2nd card for this week's La-La Land Crafts challenge by Maureen: PASTELS! This is La-La with Rose and is available right now as a digi stamp. I'm loving this new hairstyle...cute bob! *Ü*

Here is the Friday Sketchers sketch by Claudia Rosa, although I'm getting it uploaded in just the knick of time! Tomorrow they will have a new sketch.

Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you'll come play in our LaLa Land challenge this week--you have until Monday night to enter this "PASTEL" challenge! And remember you need to use a LLLC stamp... but there's lots of new digis available and no waiting for them in the mail! *Ü*

I'll have another sneak peek at one more new release tomorrow from Layers of Color Spring release, so I hope you'll check back then! Have a great evening!

Make a Joyful Noise

Good morning friends!! It's time for another sneak peek at some of the fabulous new art stamps from Layers of Color (being released March 15th!) Today we are showing you "Joyful Noise."
My card also fits this week's Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge, which is to make a card/project that shows or expresses JOY or JOYFULNESS! Yes, I'm a few days late with this due to vacationing all last week, but as Lisa would say, "Pretend it's Sunday today" - lol. Come on over and join in the challenge ladies! *Ü*
I used just one of the various stamps in this set; the music note butterfly. This is just a li'l notecard cut out with the largest scallop circle in the lg. scallop Nestabilities set (looks larger in this photo). Wait til you see the rest of the stamps in this set! If you love music you will LOVE this stamp set! ;)

You won't want to miss these JOYFUL peeks from our Design Team:

• Abby of Abby's Garden (Guest Designer)
• Heather of The Patchwork Heart
• Laura & Jessica of Layers of Color blog
• Linda of Linda's Craft Central
• Patter of Triple the Scraps
• SNR Group

Hope you've enjoyed the sneak peeks so far?! Remember we are sharing peeks every day up until the 15th, when YOU can have a chance to WIN ALL 4 STAMP SETS!! Stay tuned for more deets *Ü*

Layers of Color Spring Sneak Peeks Start NOW!

This is my second post for today. If you are looking for my LaLa Land Crafts Challenge post, please click here or scroll down.

Woohooo!! The sneak peeks have begun!! We are so EGG-cited at Layers of Color because we are releasing four [4] awesome new stamp sets on March 15th!!

So today, and every day until the release, the DT will be showcasing projects made with these new sets. More great news!! You will have a chance to win all 4 of the new release stamp sets, so stay tuned for that on the 15th! Today we are showcasing the Vintage Rose set.

Romantic Vintage Rose Basket

I found a great tutorial yesterday on how to create this easy basket. (I started with a 9x9 instead of 6x6 though.) The paper I used is from K&Co.'s "Ancestry" 12x12 pack.
I watercolored the roses on thick 140 lb. wc paper and added stickles for highlights. The two individual roses are covering up the brads that hold the handles on and allow them to swing open.
And now, you've GOT to meet our new Guest Designer, Abby Bastedo of Abby's Garden!! She is amazingly talented has created a gorgeous femininely soft romantic purse with this Vintage Rose set. In fact, all of the girls have created some fab projects to share today, so I do hope you'll share in our excitement for this new release by stopping by our Design Team's blogs and be inspired!!

• Abby of Abby's Garden (Guest Designer)
• Heather of The Patchwork Heart
• Laura & Jessica of Layers of Color blog
• Linda of Linda's Craft Central
• Patter of Triple the Scraps
• SNR Group

One more EGG-citing thing to share with you: I'm HOT! (lol) I just saw that my roses that I used for this basket is "What's Hot" on the LOC store front page today!! Yay Me!! LOL. I'm so excited to have my artwork showcased like this... well okay, wouldn't anyone?!! ;) THANKS A "BUNCH" Laura!!

LaLa Weekly Wednesday Challenge - Pastels

Did you all play along in our Spring Release Blog Hop?! Wasn't that AWESOME?!! I love all the new releases and LOVE that they've gone DIGI!! Make sure to check the DT Blog this morning to day see if you won!!

It's time for another EGG-citing challenge in La-La Land today!!
Before I tell you what the challenge is, I must inform you of some changes we have made at LLLC. You must use a LaLa Land Crafts stamp for our challenge, however it is now easier than ever to do that because ALL of our Spring release stamps are available as digis in the store! PLUS... the winner of this week's challenge will get a $10 gift certificate (to build your LaLa rubber stamp collection) and great news for EVERYONE.... whatever stamp the challenge hostess uses, that stamp will be 20% OFF the whole week!! So let's get to the challenge!!

Maureen Wong is our challenge hostess and would like for us to use PASTELS this week in honor of Spring coming!! I've used the Easter Bunny Digi stamp with the Sweet Stop Sketch for this week.
and last but not least, our design team and guest designers have all provided inspiration to help jumpstart your creativity for our challenge!!


Don't miss it: Easter Bunny Rosie is this week's special and 20% Off, which makes her only $3.40 (USD)!!! And just so you know, when you purchase a digi at LLLC you will recieve BOTH the line drawing for YOU to color as well as a full color version for inspiration (or print her and use her!). Happy Shopping!! *Ü*

Big News & a New Spring Release

Layers of Color Art Stamps is coming out with their Spring 2010 Release on March 15th and we start the sneak peeks tomorrow!! The DT blogs as well as the LOC blog will be showing you peeks of all the new sets every day up until the release, and the best news of all... YOU will have a chance to WIN all the NR sets!! Woohoo!! So stay tuned for some exciting things happenin' later this week!

I'm Back from Disneyland!!

Happy Sunday!! It's great to be back home after a whole week of vacation. Betcha didn't even miss me huh? LOL. We had a fabulous time last week, and best of all I got to have dinner with my wonderful friend Lisa Hjulberg! Our 2 hours together wasn't nearly long enough as we could chat for hours and still not get caught up! Lisa, I'm treating you when you come up to visit ☺ And you'd be proud of me... In keeping with this new "excercise program" that walking all over Disney started, I took the dog for a nice long walk today. ; p

The pic of Lisa and I is the 2nd one down in the far right column. Lisa also met my girls (who were more excited to meet her than any of the characters in D-land!) as well as my BIL and his wife. I have so many pics to share, but I chose just a few and put together a little collage, (trying to save space on my blog, however you can click it to see the pics a li'l better).
Don't forget!!

• Today is another Scripture Challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges! (I hope to get a card made for that soon and post this week). Our sponsor this week is The Town Scrapper who is donating a really cute stamp!



• La-La Land SPRING RELEASE Blog Hop is happening right now!! And best of all, they are going DIGI!! All of the new releases are available as digis right now in the store! Not only do you get a line drawing but you also get a full colored version for reference! *Ü* You can WIN some free digis along the way, so get a Hoppin'!!
  

Hippity Hoppity SPRING is on its Way - BLOG HOP

Welcome to La-La Land Crafts SPRING RELEASE Blog Hop!

GREAT NEWS!! La-La Land Crafts is going DIGITAL!!!! All of the images in this release are available as digi stamps!! We can't be more excited to move in this direction. No, we are not going to stop making rubber stamps. We are just expanding our collection by providing you more options for your paper crafting needs!!
To celebrate the release of our 6 new Spring DIGI stamps we are doing a bunny trail blog hop! To make it more fun, along with the cards you will find some clues (a secret word or two) on every blog. When you follow the order of the Blog Hop and get to the end, you will have collected all of the words and will be able to put them together into a sentence. Then you'll need to go back to the LaLa Land blog and leave a comment, but DO NOT leave your sentence there. The winner will be contacted and asked to reveal the secret sentence.

My word for you is "HOPPITY."

What's in it for you???

Well, besides seeing all the gorgeous cards from our Design Team, the winner of the Blog Hop will receive all the goodies in this picture below!!
What's even more? While on your treasure hunt for secret words, you might even find some more treats offered by our designers!!!

If you didn't start this hop at the beginning, you'll want to go start at the La-La Land Crafts' blog. If you've been hopping along, you should've come here from Jana's blog. Congrats...You've made it half way through the blog hop already!!

I've used LaLa with Rose

(isn't her new hairstyle adorable?? LOVE IT!)I used last week's Pink Elephant sketch, however I didn't want the sentiment to cover up my pretty DP, so I made a little tag that pulls out! *Ü* It says, "If friends were flowers, I'd pick you!" I created a little holder for the tag underneath the blush layer--kindof like a beltloop!

All of these DIGITAL stamps are already available for purchase in our online store! Once you have completed the purchase, your digi stamps will arrive to your mailbox within 24 hours. Our digi stamps come in the set of two of the same image, one is a line art and the other one is a colored image. If you have not used the digi stamps before, you will be surprised how easy it is to print the images from your computer on your home printer. We have even created a step-by-step tutorial for you!!

Now it's time to hippity hop over to SPARKLE's BLOG!!

We will draw the winning number from all the entries next Wednesday, March 10th , around 10 am PST. Everyone is welcome to participate. Even if you don't have a blog!! HAVE FUN!! *Ü*