{ Card patterns #60, Elle's Studio giveaway }

I found this wonderful sketch at Card patterns yesterday and I had to use my new Tweet Life (CL256)  clear stamp set. from Impression Obsession. Look how cute all those bird cages are.

I used my new crinkled ribbon that I made with Shimmerz and Glimmer Mist. Tammy has a wonderful tutorial on how to do this. I love the way mine turned out and I can make any color that I need.

I stamped the bird cage on cardstock and I painted the birds and bottom of the cages with PearlEx watercolors. I think this might be my second time using them, but they are wonderful.

I sprayed my white crepe streamer with Jeni-B-Blue Shimmerz Vibez to get this beautiful color.  I embossed the Core'dinations cardstock with Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing folder.

***Elle's Studio is giving away six different journaling tag sets. Go to the BLOG to enter. All new items will launch at 7:00 am PST this coming Monday, April 19th.

{ Blooming Spring projects }

I was asked to create several Spring/Easter projects for a Swedish magazine Scrapbooking m.m. I made this Spring card using Impression Obsession Stamps: Lg. Solid Bird stamp (E6993), Solid Cherry Blossom Branch (G6968), Blooming Spring sentiment (B5423), and Cover-a-Card Wood Grain stamp (CC034) for the background.

I used this fun flower ribbon I found for a dollar by American Crafts, The Country Fair journaling tag by Elle's Studio and Basic Grey paper.

The background is stamped with Cover-a-card Wood Grain stamp (CC034) that was first sprayed with Licorice Shimmerz Spritz and Sunset Strip Vibez.

I made a matching gift bag with The Cutting Café 6 by 3 inch bag set template. It comes with five different cut-outs for the front.

Here is a close up. I used a Sm. Bird stamp (B6964) for this and the Solid Cherry Blossom stamp (G6968).

One last card for Easter/Spring.  I used Easter Bunny clear stamp set (CL212), Easter Seals clear stamp set (CL164), Cover-a-card Medallion stamp (CC032) for the background. Basic Grey paper and The Country Fair journaling tag from Elle's Studio.

{ Elle's Studio birthday tag, Prompt 3 and 4 }

We are still celebrating our birthday at Elle's Studio! Each order will ship with a free Birthday Cut Out and a raffle ticket for every item you purchase! Raffle drawings will take place every Sunday in March! You can read more details about our celebration here.

Here is a little tag I made for the birthday celebration. I stamped the background with Wood Grain stamp and Shimmerz Spritz.

The rose is made out of crepe paper.

I added pink ribbon and a button to the Birthday Cut Out tag.

Prompt #3 - Ribbon - use up some of that ribbon! I used a photo that I had printed forever ago and it went perfectly with the prompt. Everything here is old, including the Scenic Route paper. .

I did not use my sewing machine to stitch the ribbon I used floss and sewed the ribbon in place by hand.

The journaling note by Jenni Bowlin pulls out from behind the photo.

Prompt #4 - cardstock...using all my cardstock scraps! I embossed white cardstock and made clouds I used my NEW Cricut to cut a scalloped border strip. The journaling is missing in the photo, but it's there now.

I ended up adding a little bit of my scrap patterned paper that was laying around.

I sprayed some crepe paper with Sea Foam Shimmerz Spritz and I love the way it turned out.

I think I am 2 prompts behind, but I have it under control. I am working on several different tutorials and projects that I will share on my blog.

I wanted to share a photo of Alex from the other day when we filled out our Census info. He is officially counted.

Have a great day! Let me know if you have any questions.

{ Impression Obsession DT challenge - "me" day }

The challenge is to show how I would spend a "Me" day. I didn't want to do a card for this so I did something different. I like little books with cute quotes and sayings about friends, love, life...and I decided to make my own. I just adore Sing Loudly (WP276) and Believe Birds (WP277) and the sets are perfect with the sayings from Life & Flowers (CL250) stamp set. I started by stamping a sheet of cardstock with Cover-a-card Wood Grain (CC034) stamp and Sunset Strip Shimmerz Vibez. Then, I stamped the journaling stamp from Journaling I (WP165) stamp set. After I cut them out I started decorating with patterned paper, trim and ribbon.

I used a different stamp for each background and all the different sayings. The album "formula" is pretty much the same for each page with fun little detail changes. Pretty simple and quick to put together.

When I was done decorating I punched a hole and added a ring and ribbon. The flower is from the same Life & Flowers (CL250) stamp set as the sayings. I stamped the flower on patterned paper and colored each one with a marker and added a little colored pearl to the center. What do you think? I can add some paper and a fun photo of me on each page or I can leave it like this. While I was experimenting with backgrounds for the above album I had this left over so I decided to make a little notebook to carry with me. I love to journal and write everything down and this would be a great place to keep things together. It's a small notebook, but perfect for writing down ideas and cute little things that Alex is saying lately. I used Cover-a-card Large dots (CC007) for the background with Journaling I(WP165) journaling stamp. I added some patterned paper and rick rack that was laying around. The beautiful bluebonnet stamp is from Sweet Delights (CL278) stamp set. I used my watercolor pencils to color the flowers.

I hope you'll take the time to visit the other designers' blogs for inspiration! Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Deborah, Rosemary and Laura.

***Would you like to see your card featured on the Impression Obsession blog? Email your challenge cards using Impression Obsession images to Shirley. Every week, cards will be selected to showcase on the Impression Obsession blog!!! You have until midnight this Saturday to enter your green card. A random winner will be selected from the submissions to receive a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate! You can find all the info HERE.

{ Elle's Studio February Projects }

Did you notice my new blog header? I made it!

Elle's Studio February gallery is up on our Inspiration page. You have to check it out! Here is what I created this month! I love this card. The colors are so soft. I used XOXO Bazzill Cardstock for my card base...it's embossed with little dots. XOXO Sweetheart pink tag is layered over XOXO Coupon. I like that only the number is showing on the bottom of that tag. This handmade pink flower goes perfectly with Granny's Doily Circle tag. Do you remember these flowers? My mom made them for me when she was visiting two years ago. This layout started with that adorable paper that I received in one of my Cards boxes. They are arriving filled with goodies for all my published work. If you ever want to see what is being published I have a link on the right at the top of the page...my published work. I used several different tags here and I love how bright the colors are! Chic Journaling Tags, The Country Fair, Very Berry Journaling tag, Date and Place strip, Vintage Summer Flash card and Chic note tags. I cut the color part from the Chic Journaling Tags: blue, yellow, and green. I splattered some Morning Mist Pearlz and Dec Sky Blingz on the background. Here is one last layout. The photo of Alex few days before Christmas when it was 73 degrees. I found these cute felt shapes at a new scrapbook store in town. The pinwheel is made from Very Berry Journaling tag. I made it just like this. The background is stamped with Impression Obsession Cover-a-card Dots stamp. Other tags used: Scalloped Journaling tags, Vintage Love flash card - used for the title, Prompts, Patterns and Journaling tags. I machine stitched some of the felt elements and the paper at the bottom of the page. ***We have some fun things planned in March! Join us all month long, as Elle's Studio is celebrating their 3rd birthday!

{ Impression Obsession DT challenge - Cover-a-card background stamps }

Here is the card I created for the challenge using 2S4Y #46. My background stamp is Cover-a-card Music (CC029) using Red-y or Not Shimmerz Vibez. The second background (yellow paper) is stamped with Cover-a-card Quilt (CC033) two times, once with Concrete Shimmerz Spritz and second times with Red-y or Not Shmmerz Vibez. The sentiment is from Greetings Galore (CL48). I love that Happy Birthday font...so elegant.

I stamped Floral Birdcage (C6996) on cardstock, colored it with Prismacolor pencils and cut out. I used dimensional adhesive to raise it up so it looks like it's hanging from the ribbon. The scalloped journaling tag is from Elle's Studio.

I hope you'll take the time to visit the other designers' blogs for inspiration! Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Rosemary and Laura.

***Would you like to see your card featured on the Impression Obsession blog? Email your challenge cards using Impression Obsession images to Shirley. Every week, cards will be selected to showcase on the Impression Obsession blog!!! You have until midnight this Saturday to enter your green card. A random winner will be selected from the submissions to receive a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate! You can find all the info HERE.

Here are two more cards from CHA. The first one uses Cover-a-card Quilt (CC033), Cover-a-card Wood Grain (CC034) and Fill Your Day sentiment (B5539).

Cover-a-card Quilt (CC033), Heart Notes (C8320) and Happy Heart sentiment (B8346).

{ Mojo Monday 124 and Melissa's photo inspiration challenge }

Melissa Phillips posted this beautiful photo for an inspiration challenge. I have this photo saved as one of my favorites, too. I love the colors.

Here is my card and I had so much fun making it. I used Mojo Monday 124 sketch for the card. Our new Shimmerz Vibez were released today...see my post below. The colors are so vibrant and shimmery. My favorite: Red-y Or Not and Rusty Bottom Vibez.

I stamped the card base with Cover-a-card Music (CC029). I heat embossed Cover-a-card Large dots (CC007) with clear embossing powder over that. I sprayed the background with Ruby Shimmerz Spritz, first, then Red-y Or Not and Rusty Bottom Vibez. I used a towel to wipe over the embossed area, to "clean it up" so that the polka dots show up really well. I made my little flower out of old book paper. You can visit my tutorial if you would like to know how I make these. I sprayed the flower with Licorice and Ruby Shimmerz Spritz and Red-y Or Not Vibez. Like my tutorial says, I use a heat tool to dry the flower, it heat sets it and the flower keeps the shape. I painted the edges with Pearl Shimmerz Pearlz. I used October Afternoon patterned paper that I punched with Martha Stewart punch and Jenni Bowlin journaling note. The sentiment is from Anytime Sentiments (CL43). The sun finally came out and I was able to capture the shimmer.

{ Introducing Shimmerz VIBEZ }

Introducing VIBEZ....16 Vibrant Colors with intense Shimmer and Shine!!! Watch our announcement below and share it with your friends! We are giving away a FULL Collection Set of Vibez Miniz to one lucky blog reader that makes a purchase from our site today! Set contains all 16 colors! NEW VIBEZ VIDEO
Because we are so excited about VIBEZ we are giving you more chances to win...be sure to drop by the Ed team blogs and leave them a comment. They are each giving away a free bottle of Vibez today!!! Jeni Boisvert Lori Renn Lucy Edson Bethany Kartchner Here is the layout I created using new Sunset Strip Vibez.

I sprayed the cream background to give it a vibrant color.
I used My Scrapbook Nook February kit for this layout. I made the little banner by cutting some squares, folding them in half and then cutting at an angle to make a triangle. I used fabric-tac to attach the paper to the twine. For the bottom edge I used a stencil to spray Sunset Strip Vibez and a touch of Licorice Spritz. Here, I lightly sprayed with Sunset Strip Vibez, Sea Foam Shimmerz Spritz and Chickadee Shimmerz Spritz. I heat embossed Dandelion Seed stamp using white embossing powder. I added more Sunset Strip Vibez over the top. The color are so vibrant and have the same Shimmer Factor as our Shimmerz Spritz.