"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.

Magnolia Altered Wood Gift Bags

Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog.Today I want to share a design team project for Not2Shabby.
Jamie was kind enough to send me some really cute stamps to work with this month and I received another Tilda! Would you believe it is only my second Magnolia stamp ever, lol. Between the cute stamps and the Dookickey dies, I'm officially hooked on Magnolia!
Since I'm all fired up for Spring, I created another Spring themed project.

I had picked up these cute wood gift bags at my local craft store and thought it would be cute to alter them as little favor boxes. I painted the inside of the boxes and covered the outside with Prima's Songbird collection. It's an older collection but oh so pretty and I just love the soft colors.

The sweet Magnolia stamp is Tilda with Hanging Rabbit and it was stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolors for a soft look. 

 I used a lot of my Doohickey dies to create an outdoor Spring scene. The butterflies are from a MS punch and all the edges are inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. 

I inked all the die cut pieces too,to make them pop against the soft background. Then I added little pearls to the flower centers and on the hanging sign.

 On the back, I created a little envelope to hold a small card for the recipient. 

This is the second one I made. It's very similar to the first one so I'll just post some pictures.

I think they turned out so cute. Now, all I have to do is fill them with goodies and they're all set! 

Head on over to Not2Shabby and don't forget to use discount code "LIZRUSSELL" for 10% off your purchase.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Spring Garden Card-in-a-box

Hello there crafty friends! Today was the first time I've seen the sun in what seems like forever. It's been so dark and gloomy, here in Spring, Texas.. Now I know I shouldn't complain when some of you are dealing with 6 feet of snow and blizzards, but I'm just so ready for warmer weather. Aren't you? So in my attempts to get myself ready for  spring , I  created a garden themed card-in-a box. This is only the second time I've made one of these cards and I have to say they are so much fun. Not to mention adorable!

 The card is a Design Team project for Not2Shabby. I used an older paper collection by DCWV called The Preppy Princess Stack. I just love the soft colors and the images, perfect for fussy cutting.

The sweet image stamp is by C.C. Designs, called Rose. I've used her before on another card and I think she is just precious. I stamped the image onto watercolor paper and then colored her skin and hair with watercolors. I paper pieced her outfit using scraps from the paper pad.

I used 4 strips inside my card to get a fuller look for the garden. I love how it looks like she's standing in the middle of all the flowers. I die cut the  little fence from a Magnolia Doohickey die and the cute little clouds are felt stickers from my stash.

The sentiment was fussy cut from the paper pad as well as all the flowers on the side panels. I added cute little pearls to the flower centers.

This is the back of the card where I can write my message to the recipient. Some simple fussy cut elements adorn the corners.

 I think it turned out so cute and I really cannot wait for my roses to bloom come Spring.I really miss seeing all the beautiful colors in my garden.

Hope you like my card! Head on over to Not2Shabby to get the best deals on all your favorite image stamps. Use discount code "LIZRUSSELL" for 10% off your purchase.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Hope you all have a great day!