"Oh So Lovely" Altered Photo Display Tray

Welcome back crafty friends. It's been a few weeks since I posted anything on my blog, but I got a good reason, I promise. You see, I uh...lost my mojo. I know, I know, that's crazy right? I tried and tried to sit down and create something pretty, but my mind was just  blank. Nothing was coming to me and I was just dying to create!After several days of ,well, nothing, I decided to take a break and just ride this one out. I've been stressing out a lot lately and I think that had a lot to do with me not being able to create. I knew my mojo wasn't gone forever ( or so I hoped). I think I just needed a little  "me" time with no DT projects and commitments. Sure enough, a few days ago, I was finally able to sit down and like magic, all my creative juices started flowing again! Yippee, my mojo was back! I've never been happier to get my hands all inky and create a mess in my craft space,lol. Today I'm sharing the fruits of my labor, a true labor of love.

You have no idea how happy it made me to finally craft! I had recently purchased Kaisercraft's "Oh so Lovely" paper pack and I was inspired by the beautiful mother/daughter sentiments throughout the collection. So, I decided to alter a photo tray, I had picked up at my local  craft store, and create a tribute to the special bond I have with my girls.

I wanted the tray to be bright, fun and feminine. The girls and I took silly selfies that I changed to black and white to coordinate better with the paper collection. I added bits of lace and sweet feminine touches throughout the tray.

I love the look of bare wood embellishments,that's why I left the word "Smile" as it was. The frame was die cut from chipboard and pattern paper and then I cut it in half.The sentiment in the center is from the coordinating Collectables pack by Kaisercraft.

 This is the sentiment that inspired the entire tray. I popped it onto another die cut piece and layered it over a paper doily. The birdcage was fussy cut from the collection and I also added two glass vials on the lower right hand corner. The vials are filled with tiny beads from my stash.

 Here's a silly picture of my oldest daughter and I . She has a habit of taking pictures with half her face gone,lol. I added a cute resin bicycle and lots of handmade flowers. The words are stickers that I cut up and popped up with foam tape.

I created a cute little banner to spell out "Love" and adhered it to the top of the compartment. Here's another silly picture of my little girl and I.A bit of lace and pearls round out this compartment.

For this compartment, I created a little "art journal" using Spellbinders Labels 7 dies. I created a little book and used a script stamp to stamp on the pages. I cut out the individual words from a sticker phrase.

All of the gorgeous flowers were handmade out of coffee filters. You can check out my coffee filter flower tutorial here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Hope to see you all real soon.

Vintage Tea Themed Paper Bag Card

Welcome back to my blog! Today, I just have a quick card share I created for a challenge on Youtube. The challenge was hosted by Not2Shabby shop and required us to create a paper bag card. Having never made one before, I thought I'd participate and give it a go. Not only was so easy to make, but the card turned out great! Let me know what you think.

I went for a vintage, tea theme for my card with browns and pinks. I just love this paper collection by DCWV, appropriately called "Garden Tea Party". The paper bag I used is just a standard lunch bag size. I folded it in half and then adhered my papers. The closure for my bag is a bit of lace ribbon I had in my stash.

 

I created all the flowers from coordinating cardstock using Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms Dies. Then I dabbed them with white acrylic paint to make them more shabby. The leaves were fussy cut from the paper collection and I added pips to my flower clusters.

For the focal point of my card, I used a stamp set by Graphic 45 called Tea party. I stamped the images onto a piece of pattern paper and then fussy cut them out. I then,  adhered them to the Spellbinders circles with foam tape for dimension. The cute sentiment is from a Fiskars stamp set called Latte Love.

The inside is also decorated with the pattern paper. I created a pocket on the left hand side that's perfect for adding a gift card. The stacked tea cups and flowers were also fussy cut from the collection and adhered to the bottom right hand side. This still leaves plenty of room for me to write my message to the recipient.

 This is the back of the card, also covered with the beautiful papers.

That's it! I love the way it turned out. The paper collection and the stamps were just perfect for what I had in mind. Hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

"Adorable" Gorjuss Girl Altered Photo Display

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm here again, to share another Guest Design Team project for Sacrafters shop. Today's project is a fun 3D scene I created with one of Sacrafters Photo Display units and an adorable Gorjuss Girl stamp. She carries several different styles of these fun, wood Photo Displays in her shop, as well as other awesome off the page products. You can check out Sacrafters store here and if you make a purchase of $30 or more, you can save an additional 10% off your purchase with my discount code "LIZFANS".

So here it is! Isn't it adorable? 

The unit was so easy to put together. First,I used a warm white acrylic paint to paint the parts that weren't going to be covered with paper. Then I used Prima's Princess 6x6 paper pad to cover the rest of the unit. All the edges were buffed with a sanding block then inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The Gorjuss stamp is called "Hang me up to dry". I colored the sweet image with my Copic markers and paper pieced the dress and cute little socks. I used foam tape to adhere the stamped image onto the hanging piece and then added those cute little cloud die cuts. Both the cloud die and the grass and flowers die are from the Magnolia Doohickey Club Volume 4.

Here, you can see the green ribbon I used to wrap around the unit. I love how it looks like vines. I then added those tiny, pink roses from my stash.

I used two Martha Stewart butterfly stamps to stamp onto scraps of paper using archival ink. Then I fussy cut them out, added pearls to the centers and adhered them randomly to the unit.

I knew it would be very difficult to cover the title with the pattern paper so I used paint instead. First I painted the letters with a warm white acrylic paint.Then I took a a script stamp inked with brown archival ink and randomly stamped onto the letters.Next,  I used a sponge dauber and dabbed pink, peach and white acrylic paint on top. Lastly I inked the letters with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I really love the way the title turned out because it matches the papers so well.

The back of the unit is also covered with paper and here, you can see that cute picket fence I adhered to the posts. 

I really do love the way this project turned out. It was so fun and easy and just looks adorable in my daughter's room.

If you like this project, head on over to Sacrafters shop and check out the rest of her amazing off- the-page products. They are all constructed of high quality materials and so fun to alter. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day.

See you all real soon!

"Little Miss" Altered Shadowbox Stand

Hello crafty friends! Welcome to another project share for Sacrafter's shop. Like I've mentioned in my previous post, I'll be guest designing for her shop for the entire month of May. If you are not familiar with Sa's store, I highly recommend you check it out, here. You will find wonderful wood pieces to alter as well as amazing,one of a kind, wood and chipboard die cuts for all your crafty projects. I also have a a special discount code you can use to save 10% off your purchase of $30 or more.Simply type "LIZFANS" in the coupon box and, instant savings!
So today's project share is an altered shadowbox I created for my oldest daughter.It's just a little reminder for her to remember to always "shine"!

This is Sacrafter's Square Shadowbox Stand. It is made out of MDF wood and is so easy to put together. I covered the wood pieces with Bo Bunny's Little Miss collection. I only had a few pieces left of this collection and I put every scrap to good use.

I adorned the shadowbox with different fussy cut elements from the paper collection. Then I draped some pearls for an elegant look. Lastly I added flowers in coordinating colors and a beautiful Magnolia Doohickey butterfly to the corner of the box.

There's a picture of my lovely daughter inside this cute, resin frame. I just look at her picture and can't believe how much she's grown! She's turning into such a beautiful young lady, inside and out.The background paper had a really great quote that I thought fit perfectly with the project. It reads "Don't be so hard on yourself, choose to shine." She's had problems with low self esteem in the past and I've always told her it's a matter of choice. It's our choice to "shine" and be happy or to choose to be down in the dumps.Embrace who you are and be the best at being you! I think she's actually listened,lol!

This is the base of the shadowbox stand. I created a little cluster of  flowers, pearls and a fussy cut birdcage at the bottom.

 Side views of Shadowbox Stand.

 Back view of Shadowbox Stand.

My daughter loved the final outcome and called it her "little shrine". I'm just happy to have put a smile on her pretty little face.

If you would like to get your hands on this shadowbox or other similar products, head on over to Sacrafter's for a huge selection of off-the-page products. Don't forget to use my discount code for even more savings.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you like my project and I'd really love to know what you think.

Have a wonderful day and I'll see you all real soon!

Tilda "Happiness is Homemade" Altered Dresser

Good morning crafty peeps! Today I want to share another project I created for Sacrafter's shop. I'll be guest designing for her store the entire month of May and you can use discount code "LIZFANS" to save 10% off your purchase of $30.If you are not familiar with her store, you definitely want to head on over and check it out. She carries the most amazing and unique wood pieces to alter.All her products are so easy to put together and are made of quality materials.But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself, here.
So today's project is another storage piece for my craft space. I altered her Wood Chest Dresser to store all my needle craft embellishments.

I busted out my Tilda "Happiness is Homemade" paper pad because I thought it was perfect for the  theme I was going for.

I really love this page with the Tilda doll so I used it for the front of the drawers and just added the little knobs. All the edges are inked with Vintage Photo.

I had a hard time cutting into this paper pad because the papers are just so beautiful. That's the reason I didn't embellish the sides and  just showcased the papers.

The top of the dresser looks so cute with all the needle craft themed embellies.I love the die cuts that come in this collection; cute little button cards,thread cards, flowers etc.I added some embroidery floss and a sewing needle to one of the thread cards to give it a realistic look. The little basket was a find from the thrift store and I created the little yarn balls from some leftover yarn.I made the knitting needles out of toothpicks and adhered a pearl to one end.The wooden spools are from my local craft store and I just wound a bit of lace around them.Then I added flowers, buttons and that cute scissors charm from my stash.

I love the way the dresser turned out and the 3 drawers provide enough storage for my embellishments. Plus the piece looks so cute sitting on my cabinet!

Hope you enjoyed today's project share. Please come back and visit me soon.

Have a wonderful day!

Tags of 2015, May

Hi everyone! Today I want to share my take on Tim Holtz's May tag. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to play along in April but I made it a point to make time for this month's tag.  Especially when I saw how gorgeous it was! Tim really did an amazing job with this one. I loved everything about it from the burlap, to the vintage photo, to the handmade blooms. It was just stunning!

 May 2015 Tag

I worked on my tag the day before Mother's Day and as I was going through the Photo Booth  photos, I came across one that reminded me so much of my mother, when she was young. I just knew that was the one I was going to use and I decided to play tribute to my mom's love of sewing on my tag.I followed Tim's steps exactly but just improvised with products I had on hand.

Here's a closeup of the photo I used. I tinted it with Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass and Wild Honey Distress Markers.The ephemera pieces I selected worked really well with the sewing theme I was going for and I even added a little scissors charm to the top of my tag.

I love the way the flowers turned out, so pretty and vintage. I didn't have Tim's Mini Tattered Florals dies so I had to improvise with Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms dies. I die cut them out of Coredinations card stock and dabbed them with Walnut Stain Ink to give them that vintage look.

The pretty pink bow is made out of crinkled seam binding colored with Worn Lipstick Distress Stain. I just love how vibrant that pink looks. Then I just added the little Small Talk stickers and done!

I'm so in love with the way it turned out!!! Every time I look at it, it reminds me of my mom, and that just makes my heart happy!

There's still plenty of time left for you to play along. It really was so much fun working on this tag. Bring on the next one!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope your day is a blessed one.

Mother's Day Coupon File Folder Folio

Good morning crafty friends. With Mother's Day only  a few days away, I thought I'd share with you a sweet gift idea for the special woman in your life. I was inspired by a grocery store run and a childhood memory. Weird, I know.When I was about 9 years old, I remember making a coupon book for my mom, for Mother's Day. Do you guys remember those? Each coupon was good for a small chore or kind gesture for your mom, to show your appreciation.Well, I was remembering all this while pulling out my coupon folio at the grocery store.You know, the kind that has pockets inside to sort your coupons? I combined the two ideas together and created my grown up version of that childhood coupon book to gift my mom this Mother's Day.

Here it is! Isn't it pretty? I thought Graphic 45's Precious Memories collection would be perfect for my project. I love the sweet mother and baby images and it has lots of blues, which is my mom's favorite color. The folio is constructed of card stock and I found the tutorial here. It measures 7x9 inches and has 6 pockets inside.

Here's a view of the cover. I did a lot of fussy cutting to create a collage, if you will. You can see bits of lace peeking out in the back and I used one of the post cards from the ephemera pack.I also used one of the chipboard pieces from the collection and accented it with tiny pearls and a sweet little bow.

I created 5 large, tag shaped coupons.Each has a sweet sentiment stamped onto one of the smaller journaling cards. Then I added fussy cut flowers and used the sticker sheet to spell out "coupon" at the bottom of each tag.

I printed out the coupons ,cut them out and adhered them to the back of each tag. So all my mom has to do is select a coupon and hand it over to redeem it. Easy, and this guarantees me some quality time with mom! We can take pictures during our times together and she can keep these pictures inside her folio. Precious memories! 

I do hope you like my Mother's Day gift idea and to all the mothers out there, I wish you a wonderful Mothers' Day!!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be seeing you all real soon!