Today...

It has been almost 2 months since I last blogged... believe me, I would much rather have been here typing... but life had other ideas for me.

This past two months has been a whirlwind... although I would not give them up, I would not want to re-live some moments.

So where do I start?

I guess I start exactly where most of have asked me to start.

My last post was one of my favorites.. I was asked how it was to work with my husband. This was a tough post because the next day I had planned to turn in my notice at Tattered Angels which meant that we would no longer be working together. I loved working with my husband, he was the highlight of my day, and although I hope to work with him again someday, I knew deep in my heart that what I was doing was the right move for me and for my role in our family. James still works at Tattered Angels and I support all of his efforts. I just knew that as much as I loved what I did for Tattered Angels, that the direction that the company was going was different than that I was originally hired for. That is not a bad thing, I wish them success... I just felt in my heart of hearts that the best thing for me was to part and explore other opportunities.

My last day in the office was Tuesday September 14th, although my official last day with Tattered Angels was September 19th, which I helped assist them with Scrapfest for Archiver's.

On my last day a majority of the staff came to say their farewells with cupcakes... wouldn't be a party without cupcakes (courtesy of Butter Cream Cup Cakery) ♥

The staff on my last day

Some of my favorite peeps

Laycie

Andy

I have made some great friends working in the Tattered Angels office. With our move from California only one short year ago... we are so blessed to call so many of these people friends.

I have to admit that it was a bit scary leaving a full time job not knowing exactly what I was going to do. With the economy still being a little shaky... Some would call it crazy... but as scary as it was... deep down inside I had peace and that is a beautiful thing.

So where does this leave know you ask?

Well as for work... I am excited to explore some other opportunities... work with new companies and some that I have worked with in the past. I hope to do some more marketing, product development and of course... education ♥

As for creativity... NOTHING can stop me :)
I still get my hands full of paint... they still sparkle... I just use ALL art mediums now... This has brought a whole new artistic freedom to my life ♥ and I love it. I don't know where I will go from here, I do know that I will have beautifully painted hands though... and that makes me happy. I had anticipated still being a part of the Tattered Angels education team after my departure, but unfortunately... that isn't the case. And that is OK... I enjoy the opportunity to explore art mediums freely :)

So... this brings me to a new stage in my life and career. I am grateful for some amazing things that have happened this last month regardless of the trials and bumpy road to get there. I am excited to see where my new road takes me... I hope and pray that the bumps are behind me and that the future hold the freedom that I long for.

Thank you all for being a part of this journey with me... I do have so much to catch up on and to share... I still want to chat about our move, new home, BRAVE GIRLS, Scrapfest and my recent trip to Norway....

Eventually I will get through it all... I am going to take my time... heal... restore my soul...create art... and share my heart... I couldn't ask for anything more :)

♥ Liz

The His/Her perspective of working with your husband

Me and James

James' first CHA with Tattered Angels

Hi everyone.....this is James, Liz' husband. I was intrigued by the question of "what is it like to work with your spouse?"
I couldn't be more excited to work with Liz on a daily basis! The biggest reason is because she is my best friend and work is always so much better when you have someone there that truly cares about you. She is also so knowledgeable within the industry and I have learned so much from her!
It is a bit difficult sometimes having to put on the "office politics" hat but we do well and Liz is an amazing woman and she is capable of so much!
So I am proud to call Liz my wife, my best friend and my co-worker.


From Liz---- I also really liked this question. James is a character to be around. He has a personality that is infectious and appreciated by all in the office. He is also a VERY GOOD practical joker, our friends STILL talk about all of his April 1st antics (although, they got him in the end... hence his sparkly keys). We always have to keep our "corporate caps" on and sometimes, our ideas are not so "eye to eye" but our vision and our heart for the company are one in the same so rarely do we differ from each other.



At the end of the day... what matters the most is our family... We work for the betterment of our children and that not only they are provided for, but that they have an idea of what a responsible adult is. It is so difficult to leave these kids in the morning, and it is only this season that we both have to... but in the future, I know our kids will look back and know that both James and I are doing what is necessary at this moment for our family's success and future...

I LOVE working with James... I agree with him in that working together is great. I wouldn't want anyone else side by side with me :)

Thanks so much for the GREAT questions... I am looking forward to having something to blog about now!



~Liz ♥

National (international) Scrapbook Day starts NOW!!!

This is the project that I am talking about during my three segments for NSD. I used the Travel Chip tile kit, Plus (frozen lake, sun kissed peach, turquoise blue and tuscan sun) glimmer mist, and the compass screen and stamp. Most of the product was included in the kit though.

Hey everyone!!!

Just wanted to let you know that NSD has started over on the Tattered Angels blog!!! My video is up first :)

Check it out here!


We are doing giveaways today and all through out the month, super easy and fun so check it out if you have a chance today! I will be updating the blog and Facebook through out the day so make sure to stay tuned!!!

XOXO~

♥Liz

Tattered Angels NSD- full month event!!!!

SAVE THE DATE!!!!!

National Scrapbook Day is May 1st this year and Tattered Angels is ready and set to give you not only a day full of fun and excitement, but also a FULL MONTH of all things MIST-ifying!

Starting on May 1st at 10 am on our main blog, I will begin the festivities with a fun techniques tutorial that will guide you through the anatomy of Glimmer Mist (all of your "need to know" facts about misting) some fun resist techniques using adhesives by my favorite, SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L. And my absolute favorite technique for using cardboard...I like to call it "The Girly Grunge" technique. Following up behind me will be Michelle Jackson, Tattered Angels Creative Director and Rachel Carlson Tattered Angels kit room supervisor. They will also be sharing some fun techniques with using Tattered Angels products.

So save the date.... you will not want to miss what we have in store for you!!!!! This will begin a MONTH LONG event of fun, challenges and giveaways with some extra special product to share too!!! Believe me, you WON'T want to miss this!!! Also make sure to check us out on Facebook and twitter (you can link through my profiles if you'd like) for the full NSD experience!


XOXO

♥ Liz

This girl has STYLE...

I am not sure exactly at what point my daughter began her fashion sense. I would love to say that she gets it from me, but let's be real here... she has barely seen me in anything but jammies and jeans since she was born.

I guess it is just the girl in her. In this picture she has quite a few things going on. She was wearing a bright printed tunic, with this leopard print hat and she had just had her adorable face painted. But even with all of this going on... this face is simply her and just so cute!


Here is the layout that I did for my Guest Designer Spot over at Couture Cardstock in full, I re purposed a frozen pizza insert for the circle. I then drenched it in Marshmallow Glimmer Mist and added some Tinsel Town Glimmer Glam for that added POP. together this really made the cardboard circle look like pressed metal.

You can see here that the Prima pearl and flower swirls were painted with Oil Slick Glimmer Glaze. I just love the look of these black roses.


Here is a close up picture of one of Heidi Swapp's new Custom Cut out tags that was Glimmer Misted with Frozen Lake and then glammed with Chandelier Glimmer Glam. The trim around the circle is silver sting of pearls from a craft store.

I TOTALLY LOVE THIS! This is some white rosette ribbon that I found at Hobby Lobby. I glimmer Misted it with Turquoise Blue and Sapphire Glimmer Mist and then added a hint of Tide Pool Glimmer Glam for that little added sparkle. You can see the glitter on the netting. I LOVE this!!!!
And well what over the top layout wouldn't be complete with a feather? LOL. I had these feathers left over from Halloween and put them to good use here. Well one to good use, I mean anything more and this layout would have been gaudy! (-I say this in jest... I know... I am gaudy with about most I do...but I embrace it!-)

And tucked on top of glimmer misted party crepe (I sewed a seem down the middle to gather the crepe) is this gorgeous title in the brand new Heidi Swapp Gothic Alphas. These have a resist on the letters that make a nice two tones effect when you use an art medium over them. I used Cinder Glimmer Mist which is a beautiful pitch black with a blue glimmer.
I know... As if this layout didn't have enough going on... I added lace to the black background. This is that gathered lace that you buy by the spool (the kind that looks like a lace ruffle) This made a nice frame around the center of the layout and since the center of the layout is circular, the lace circled the layout nicely. I just sewed down the frame of the black cardstock and trimmed the excess lace off.

And last but not least... this gorgeous bloom flanks the right side of the page. I created the base of this flower in a video I did for the Wear Your Adhesives on the outside" Blog Hop. The center is Prima Crystals that I assembled with my Crafty Power Tape.

I know this layout is a bit much, but I can't help but love the vibrancy of color and texture that it has. So many things going on with this layout, but they all make me smile...


Thanks for stopping by today :)

~Liz

A little bit of ROCK AND ROLL...

A few of us on the Tattered Angels team were asked to alter a Clip it up by Simply Renee. These fabulous storage units take up little space, yet offer a great way to organize. I used mine to store my glimmer screens and stamps.






Hop on over to the Tattered Angels blog to see more pics and my story behind why I decorated my Clip it Up with a little Rock and Roll. Kind of a funny story, but what can I say... have to stick true to who I am :)


~Liz

♥ All you need is LOVE- Pleated water color paper ♥

So I realized through the flurry of blog posts that I have been posting that I haven't had a chance to share the details of the projects I did for Couture Cardstock as their guest designer.

I had so much fun playing around with this cardstock. ESPECIALLY their brand new Pure Silk watercolor paper. I used the lighter weight watercolor paper for this really fun pleating technique.

Here is a close up of the four colored pleated swirls. All of the swirls started off white and were Glimmer Misted to these beautiful colors. I used Jazz Blue, Meadow Green, Candlelight, and Cherry Limeade.

Here is a close up picture of the pleating...

Here are the fun little sequin that I sewed into the picture of my daughter.

To create this fun pleating, I took my Crafty Power Tape by SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L and cut strips of Glimmer Misted paper and created these pleats out of each color paper. I then also inlayed them into black cardstock for a dramatic look. I also sewed the seams so they looked inlayed. And of course I followed up with a coat of Dazzling Diamond over the top of the layout for good measure :)



I have a few other projects that I will share hopefully this next week... It funny just how fast life catches up to you... and one blog post... turns into another and before you know it... IT IS NEXT WEEK!

I hope this layout has helped you get your creative wheels going... I just love the way it turned out. I have two others plus a canvas to share (I can't wait to share them!!!).

And don't forget to check out the giveaways both on my blog and over at the paper life blog.


Piece of Heart Glimmer Mist Giveaway from The Paper Life

Wear your Adhesive on the Outside giveaway


thanks again!!!

~Liz

Attention all Aussie Glimmer Mist lovers!!!

Tattered Angels is going to AUSTRALIA! Join them for an exciting Glimmer Experience!!!!

Click on our shop to save your spot!

A big THANK YOU Giveaway!!!!

Well, we are wrapping up our month long blog hop and have truly enjoyed the wonderful and amazing support all of you scrappers have shown us. Our challenge for our "Wear your Adhesives on the outside" blog hop for SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L was to have everyone participate in our techniques. But being that most of you probrably don't have the time or all of the supplies that we shared, we did not get a response to our challenge. SOOOOO what me and Nathalie Kalbach are BOTH doing is a GIVEAWAY of some awesomely fantastic products. All you have to do is.....

LEAVE A COMMENT RIGHT HERE ON THIS POST

And you will be entered into a random drawing for a GREAT prize including a ton of SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVE BY 3L products AND some of the favorites that were featured in our blog hop tutorials. You have until SUNDAY APRIL 11TH to post. A winner will randomly be picked and posted on Monday.

How simple is THAT???

Thank you all again for checking out and interacting with our blog hop. It was tons of fun. So much fun that I have decided to do it again this month with another "out of the box" crafter. I will be joining forces with Marion Smith from A Piece of Craft. We have a very similar approach to product and I hope that our wild and crazy ideas will spark some ideas of your own! We are still figuring out the details, so as soon as we figure a start date and such... I will let you all know!


Thanks again!

~Liz

The.Time.Is.NOW.

Well it is no secret that my heart belongs to my family. As many a mothers, I live and breathe my children and my wonderful husband.

April is always special to us.

Two of my three babies were born in April.

April is also Autism Awareness Month

One of those babies just happens to be on the Autism spectrum.

and I am SO VERY proud of that.

Meet Sawyer

Sawyer is a bright and witty 5 (almost 6) year old. He loves kindergarten, Play Mobil and Webkin toys and video games. Sawyer was diagnosed at age 2 with Pervasive Developmental Delay (Not other specified) . If you have been with me for a while than you know that this was a very hard time for our family. Sawyer endured daily therapy (early intervention) in our home and eventually went on to receive speech services. in short it was tough. I still remember the stress of that time and how hard it was on our family. But never was there a doubt in my mind that it was not worth it. Looking at Sawyer now, I am so grateful for seizing the opportunities that were offered to us early on. He now thrives and I know that early intervention played a major part in this. I will always remember this time, although tough it brought us to where I feel that Sawyer is given an opportunity to succeed. I will always remember the blessings that our therapists have given us in Sawyer (THANK YOU DANIELLE, ADRIENNE, AND ANDY!). They will forever be a part in our lives and in Sawyers success.

Sawyer is an amazing little guy. He is comical, loving, brilliant (I know I am his mom, but I have to be a little bias ♥) and each day he is growing into the young man that I have prayed for him to be. I love this little boy and I will do what ever it takes to make sure that he grows up to be a blessing unto this world and that he has the opportunity to be a responsible adult. I think that is pretty much what any parent would want for their kiddos.

I was fortunate enough to be able to work along side with Patti Slade our Inventory Specialist over at Tattered Angels to create a special color in honor of Autism Awareness.



I am so excited to have had this opportunity to mesh my crafty passion with a cause that is so dear to my family. If you get a chance, hop on over to the Tattered Angels Education blog to check out the info on our new campaign, "Glimmer of Hope". This philanthropic effort will continue to serve a variety of charities through out the year. We are planning to do a full launch in 2011 but will still try and service a few charities this year, Autism being the first ☺.


For Autism Awareness, we at Tattered Angels will be donating part of the proceed of the sale of this special bottle of Glimmer Mist towards Autism Speaks. So please tell a friend. There are limited bottles, and the color is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I hope you will join me this month in sharing awareness through my story or through our "Glimmer of Hope" Campaign. Sharing this in anyway that you can is doing your part to raise awareness.

Join me the rest of this month as I share more of our journey through "Making the Pieces Fit". It has been a difficult road, but so worth the travel!


Thank you!

~Liz ♥

♥ Tattered James ♥

Last week I introduced you all to Rachel our newest employee over at Tattered Angels and her weekly segment called "Tattered Tuesday".

Well this weeks employee is none other than my James♥


James joined the Tattered Angels staff a few months after I did. After being a stay at home mom for 8 years, it was so very comforting to have my husband by my side as I took on the role of working mom. Being able to see my sweet husband everyday at work makes the days go by quickly :)

I am so proud to work side by side with James. Being able to see first hand (and experience it too!) all of the hard work and sacrifices he has endured to provide for our family makes me appreciate him so much more.

So if you get a chance, check out his tips and techniques over on Rachels blog. He recently took my Glimmer Mist 101 class, and I have to tell you there is nothing cuter than your husband sitting down and falling in love with Glimmer Mist while he creates.

(excuse the grainy pic, this is a cell phone pic)

James is going to start taking over the traveling in the family. I have had fun getting to travel around and meeting some very fun crafters, but I need to be with my kids this year. Last year we had family to help us out while I traveled, but being in Colorado by ourselves doesn't give us the same freedoms. I will still do a few shows here and there but not nearly as much as I did last year. Our kids are still young, and these next few years are crucial. I want to take full advantage of being with them while I can :)

I can't wait to see what fun adventures James and the Tattered Angels team has this season. If you would like to keep up with them on Twitter or Facebook check out the links below.

Follow James on Facebook

Follow James on Twitter

Follow Tattered Angels on Facebook

Follow Tattered Angels on Twitter


I am sure that you will find some "interesting" stories by following these guys :)

Thanks again for stopping by!

~Liz

Water Color Paper- {Pleating}

As soon as I heard that Couture Cardstock was coming out with watercolor paper, I KNEW I needed to have some! Here is a sneak peek at my project that I used their new watercolor paper in. I created a paper pleated pattern and inlayed it into cardstock. When I can post full pics here I will and I will go ahead and share how I created this yummy effect.

Until then,

~Liz ♥

California here I come!

So I am leaving today for yet another trip to California, I know it doesn't make sense to have left California when I keep going back! lol! This time I am going to Northern Ca. I will be at the Pleasanton Scrapbook Expo teaching Glimmer Mist 101 and 201 to crafters. Although the Glimmer Mist 101 classes are all sold out, there are still a few seats left in the 201 class. This class is a little more in depth and will explore surfaces and mixed media products. It is a great way for scrapbookers to get a glimpse into a little altered crafting. So if you are in the area, please stop by and say hi!

As well I am happy to announce that I have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at Couture Cardstock. I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to cardstock. I mean, who wouldn't????
So I know I already posted this pic on Monday's post, but I had originally scheduled it for today. I decided to keep this pic in this post because well, I am just so excited to share it with everyone.





This is a sneak peek at one of my projects for their blog. I was asked to do three, although I ended up up with 4 (go figure!), Here is a sneak at one of the projects I did for them. This one is called "Style". It is an over the top (who, me?) layout of my daughter. I caught this cute pic of her while we were shopping at Clothes Pony in old town. Although she didn't want to stop and try on this hat initially...she is my daughter and well we tend to gravitate towards to opulent. This hat looks so cute on her and that little side way glance melts my heart :)


Here is one that I called BE YOU-NIQUE. Inspired by a conversation that I had with someone whom is so dear to my heart. When I can post the full image I will share the full story with you all.





I was given some GORGEOUS red, turquoise and lavender card stock to work with, and wouldn't you know...they look awesome together!

I can't wait to share these all with you, and especially this one, because the story touched me so very much.

I believe that they will be posting my stuff this week, but for now join me each day as I share a little sneak peek at what I did for them. I have one other sneak peek to share this week which shares an AWESOME pleating technique.

Thanks for peeking!

~Liz

Tattered Tuesday...

So as some of you may have seen, we have a new employee over at Tattered Angels. Recently Rachel Carlson has joined our staff. She will be supervising kit design and assembly. Rachel will also be joining our travel circuit as well. As an introduction to what she is now doing at Tattered Angels, Rachel has asked each employee to join her in her "Tattered Tuesday" segment. Each Tuesday she will ask one of the employees over at Tattered Angels their favorite techniques in using Glimmer Mist.

Here are the two I chose to share (as if I could choose just one!):

Watercoloring on black and white pictures that have been printed on watercolor paper

Girly Grunge Cardboard (Glam Board)

So hop on over to Rachel's blog to check out the step by step to these favorite techniques. I will try and link back each week as she shares a new employee, should be fun! Also make sure to give Rachel a BIG WELCOME!

~Liz

Wear your Adhesive on the Outside Part 3

It's that time again! I have had so much fun this month doing this blog hop with my friend Nathalie Kalbach. This week I will be sharing a fun technique using the E-Z Runner by SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L . The EZ Runner (the red one) is a great permanent white adhesive. It also is dispensed in a series of lines that allow the adhesive to be used and run nicely along curves. Here is a video in which I used the EZ Runner to create this beautiful bloom setting to center with my Prima flowers. This was a technique I used for Couture Cardstock. I will be there Guest Designer next month :)

Excuse the fact that there is no sound, Our camera has been causing some horrible static and we haven't been able to find a way to fix it. So for this video, we have substituted in some music until we can add the voice over.






Here are a few sneak peeks of the layout I used this bloom base on.





Along with the EZ runner, Me and Nat are also doing some fun stuff with the Keepsake Envelopes that SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L makes. In this layout I created a nice wall hanging and used the keepsake pockets to back the letters and offer a cute glossy background.



You can really see the Keepsake Envelopes shine in this picture :)


Thanks for stopping by and checking out our fun little blog hop. Remember to join in on the fun and email me (primadonnaliz@yahoo.com) or Nat a pic of your creation. We would love to see what you come up with!

Also don't forget to sign up for updates at "The Shape to Come" to be the first to find out all about what new and innovative things SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L is coming up with!


Thanks for stopping by!

~Liz ♥

Quick projects with the NEW Vintage Hardware by Tatttered Angels

Here is a quick project I did for an ad for the brand new Vintage Hardware release Tattered Angels did for CHA Winter 2010. I can't remember what magazine this was for, I think it was for Northridge Media though. This is a quick tag that used Frozen Lake, Turquoise Blue, and Patina Glimmer Mist. I used the darker two colors on either end of the tag and used the lighter color (patina) to blend the two darker colors together. This is an easy blending technique you can use while the colors are wet. I then added some texture with a grid stamp (similar to the one that Heidi Swapp has designed for Tattered Angels) with a monochromatic ink to apply a soft texture. I then used the brand new Timeless Romance Stamp set and applied just the inner part of one of the hearts (the "Lock") to the corner of the tag. I made sure to only use the inner portion of the stamp. The book plate was something I found in our craft room at work. I then added twine, a cute little Timeless Romance quote from the bingo board set (LOVE) and a new copper key from the Vintage Hardware collection.

For the Key Chain. I used a Pocket watch Framed Font and punched out the letter in the middle of the font in order to only use the frame. I sprayed it with Gold and sunflower Glimmer Mist and used residual brown Glimmer Mist to antique the edges of the frame and highlight the embossing of the frame. I then used the brand new Tattered Traveler stamp set with a brown ink pad to stamp an image that fit directly into the framed fonts. From there I used one of the pieces of the brand new Tattered Traveler ivory embossed chipboard pieces to anchor the middle of the piece. I finished it off by adding a book ring, some twine and the three brand new colors of keys that will be offered in the Tattered Angels Vintage Hardware line.

The lines although different, work so well together. It was such a fun time getting to play for a little bit and come up with something fun!

Thanks for peeking!

~Liz

Feeling BLUE in a GOOD way!

With our fun little blog hop going on this month, I thought I would share some of my other projects for SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L. This is one that I was asked to do for their home office (which I later found out they have displayed in their front foyer!) This of course uses all of my favorite items, Glimmer Mist, Glitter, paint, canvas, flocked paper, cork, pattered paper and flocked acetate. I also bought this sweet little butterfly punch from Micheal's (Martha Stewart) to help accent the piece.

I free handed small squares of each surface and painted, misted or glittered them accordingly. I used the adhesives sheets to apply all the glitter.



I then placed the squares along the 12x12 piece of misted paper and arranged them as I liked. I used the 3D Foam Squares in both the large and the small (black) to allow a few of the squares to appear raised up and add depth to the piece.




I love the monochromatic look of this piece and am so happy with the way it came out. And although all the pieces have a different feel or texture, the hints of blue help them to cohesively work together.

Thanks for peeking!

~Liz