A Christmas Gift

Hello Friends.  Well as you may have noticed I have not been posting much since early summer. My mother has been hospitalized since June 2010 & started Hospice Oct 02 2010. Finally after long hard struggle she passed to a better place Friday Dec 17 2010.  She was so weak & sick the last 2 months that she was almost unrecognizable. It was so hard for her & her family... I am grateful that it is over. My heart would drop every time I walked into her room & I would be fearful of just how much she was aware of.  Tomorrow is her funeral & days after that will be Christmas. My husband said something so wonderful to me... He said he felt that this was Mom's Christmas present to us... It has been heart wrenching  &  long .... so this was her gift to her family... peace.
Please hug those close to you... take time to think of those who are struggling with similar issues during the holidays & say a prayer for our seniors. May they have dignity in their final stages of life.
This photo of my mom is how I will remember her! It was taken only a few weeks before she fell ill. It was Mothers Day & we were celebrating with a wonderful brunch. She is 88 years young in the photo!
Thanks again Friends! I will be back in full swing after the first of the year.
Big hugs!
Lynn :)

In Her Thoughts...

Hi Friends! I hope this finds everyone doing well!
I love the Gothic Arches Challenge Blog. It is filled with wonderful artists with oodles of talent!! The 10/24/2010 challenge was "TEXT".  She seems a little distracted by her thoughts... Hmmm I wonder who else does that all the time!!
I altered a black & white Luna Girl image by adding text & layers.  The papers are 7Gypsies & the lattice is a Cuttlebug die! And of course Distress inks!
Again, I love this site! It allows me to do something other than my scrapbook pages that take me forever for some reason. Plus I LOVE vintage images & this give me a chance to use them!!
Thanks again for stopping by!
{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}
Lynn :D

Steampunk Wine Corset & Trifold Card

Hi Friends!! If there are 3 things I love it is wine... Graphic45 & my sister! (Not necessarily in that order LOL!! ) So it was only fitting I made a wine corset using yummy Graphic45 papers for my sister's birthday! I used the amazing papers from the Steampunk Debutante collection. This collection is out of this world!!

The large Steampunk image was the inspiration for the wine corset. I "fussy cut" the image & inked up all edges with Distress Vintage Photo, Broken China & Fired Brick inks. I adhered it to the base of the corset. This was made with 12 x12 paper cut in half , & wrapped around the bottle for measure. I added a punched border from printed papers also inked with the above inks.

The side images were cut from the papers & inked, then adhered.

The back edges were scored & turned under to give it enough strength to hold the lacing. I "eyeballed" the placement of the eyelets & attached them with my Crop-a-dile eyelet tool. I laced the ribbon bottom to top & tied it off!

Another Steampunk images was added to top for detail.

Since it was for a birthday.. the "time flies" image was perfect & butterfly cut from same papers fit in with the wings used throughout.

This was easy peasy & needed no pattern!!! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!! Now for the TriFold card!! I love trifold cards. This one was done from the instructions found here: Tri Fold Shuuter instructions. It is one of the best samples I have seen!

I used black cardstock as the base of the card. The papers & images are all from the Graphic 45 Steampunk collection.

A little charm was added & I mounted the circle images on cardstock to give the card dimension. Tons of inks were added for that yummy warm effect!!!

I then made an envelope from papers using an A5 envelope template from Making Memories. I scored the folds & inked scored areas for a finished look.

This was soooo much fun! I really enjoyed working with the papers & love the fact that it was quick & easy!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!! I appreciate the visits!!

Cheers!!! Lynn :)
Pin It

Thanks Scrapolgy!

Hi friends! I know I have not posted in a bit nor have I left as many comments as I would have liked.. and for that I really am sorry~. As many of you know my mom has been seriously ill since June & recently we have started Hospice. Thanks for all your prayers & thoughts... they mean so much!

I also want to thank Lynn & all the girls at Scrapology for having me as their featured artist for the October 2010 challenge! I am so flattered!!! Please check the site ... it is really awesome & so fun to see the different takes on a layout!
thanks again !!!!!
Take care! Lynn :)

"CUTENESS"

Hi Friends! As summer is coming to a close in the Midwest, the corn is being harvested, the sunflowers are in bloom, & the dragonflies are fewer & fewer. I love all seasons, and this summer as blown by tooo fast. So I decided to do a summery layout inspired by my adorable niece at her birthday party in June! Isn't she adorable & full of cuteness!!!
I used the GirlsPaperie "Paper Girl" collection that was featured in the June Limited Edition Kit from My Creative Scrapbook. Everything is worked around the die cut shield that I cut into quarters & realigned to make a smaller shield. I then added a row of ribbon to cover the cut!

Scallops were done with my all time favorite punch - the plain old Fiskars Scallop punch. Can't beat the basics sometimes!! The pink layer was cut with the wavy blade on my Office Depot cutter. All edges are inked with Distress Worn Lipstick, Shabby Shutters & Mustard Seed. Title work is Basic Grey Euphoria painted with Ranger black alcohol ink.

I layered inked flowers made with various punches & dies and adhered a button as flower center. The flower layers were made with papers used in layout. I punched small retro flowers & placed them around border of 3 sides. The centers are dotted with black fabric paint.

The large vine is a Sizzix BigZ vine...love my Big Shot! I covered 2 hearts with pattern paper, inked and dotted with black fabric paint for detail. Little We R Memory Keepers clips finish off the layout!

I had so much fun scrapping this summery layout! I am ready for fall, but wanted to feel warm sunshine for one more day! Thanks friends for taking a peek & visiting my blog!!

Lynn :D
Pin It

Gothic Arch "She is a Daisy Girl"

Hi friends!
This week at Gothic Arches challenge blog the theme is "daisies". Daisies are my favorite flower, so this was really fun to do! The papers are from Graphic 45 Le'romantique line & cut to measure 4x6. The image is from LunaGirl . I made some small daisies & adhered them to image added a few scrap wooden flourishes & teeny butterflies cut from the G45 papers. Everything is inked with Distress Walnut Stain, Scattered Straw & A bit of Broken China ink.
What fun Gothic Arches Challenge Blog is with really talented artists! Visit the site for some instant inspiration!!!
thanks so much for stopping by! You guys are the best!!

In Youth We Learn

Hi Friends! I hope this finds everyone doing well!
The inspiration for this layout is a photo of our sweet son Nick in deep thought! Nick is 29 & will be 30 this upcoming winter. He is such a great son & husband... Nick is has some awesome qualities & is one of the hardest workers that I know. He is also very kind & we are lucky parents! I thought the quote " in youth we learn...in age we understand" is very appropriate as he faces his 30's!
I used the yummy yummy yummy "So Sophie" papers from My Minds Eye. The papers were featured in the June 2010 My Creative Scrapbook Main Kit. The really awesome thing is this is made entirely from 2 printed papers, 1 die cut shield & 1 piece black card stock, 1 alpha sheet ink & some punches! Very basic!!

I adhered a circle to the die cut shield. Inking was really major on this layout. I inked all edges in 3 shades to bring continuity. The inks used were Scattered Straw, Fired Brick & Broken China Distress ink. The alpha sheet is from My Minds Eye So Sophie line & was cut, inked & adhered.

I doubled matted the inked photo & added black flourishes that were cut with my Sizzix Big Shot. They are actually a decorative strip... I just cut them up & placed them in about randomly

Lastly I added 2 sizes Retro punched flowers about the layout to add some interest, again inking all edges! I placed a few more on the die cut shield & dotted centers with black Fabric Paint.

EASY PEASY!!!

What a fun layout to do!! I love the texture of these papers- so fun to work with!

Thanks Friends for taking a peek! You guys are the best!!

Lynn:)

Pin It

Theme Thursday "Row Row Row"

Hi Friends! I love Artist Trading Cards & decided to start posting more! I found this awesome site that has a different theme every Thursday, thus the sites name "Theme Thursday" . The Thursday Aug 18 theme was "children".

I used a Lunagirl image printed on photo paper & inked with Walnut Stain & Broken China Distress ink. I added some rub- ons, punched border & postmarks! What fun!

I love little paper crafting! Thanks so much for looking!!

Lynn :)

Gothic Arch "School Daze"

Hi friends! I have recently really enjoyed the Gothic Arches Challenge Blog . The theme this week was "Back to School". This is my entry for the challenge. This was fun to do & I hope you check out the blog!! I used a Lunagirl image inked with lots of Distress Spiced Marmalade & Walnut Stain ink. Everything else is scraps! thanks for looking!!
Lynn :)

UNDER A WILLOW TREE...

Hi Friends! It is so nice to be posting! I finally had a chance to scrap & jumped on the opportunity. The humid dog days of summer have me dreaming of the first cools spell of early fall....

The inspiration for this layout is a wonderful photo of my dear hubby taken the first week of Oct 2009. We had recently moved to small town USA & were taking a ride on a beautiful sunny day. The trees had not yet turned fall colors, but the air was crisp & sky was pure blue. We found a huge lake surrounded by weeping willows trees. It was awesome!!!! I wanted to convey that in my layout. It was a such a great feeling under the willow tree!!

The papers I chose are from the K & Co Que Sera Sera collection. This is such a versatile collection & I have used it over & over on all sorts of layouts. As I said I wanted to capture the mood- so I used the blue paper symbolizing the skies & the lake, the orange & yellow round circle to symbolize the sunshine & the green die cut branches to symbolize the willow trees.
I inked the edges of the blue paper with 2 ink colors- Ranger Spiced Marmalade & Broken China Distress Ink. I then mounted it on brown card stock. The sun was inked with Ranger Mustard Seed & Peeled Paint Distress Ink & lastly the branches & mat was inked with Ranger Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

The lettering is Basic Grey raw chip inked with Espresso Alcohol ink. The small "under the" are My Storytellers from Websters pages. The butterflies are made using a Martha Stewart butterfly punch layered on same paper used for sun.

The branches are made using my Sizzix Big Shot & the "Branch w/ Leaves" die. I cut both from green paper & brown yardstick. I then layered the card stock behind the green & adhered it to give a shadowed effect & add some dimension! I then added little metal leaves that I purchased in the jewelry supply department at local Michael's. A tad of Stickles was dabbed on the leafy part & a few gems were scattered about the layout!

I had such fun with this layout! Maybe because I have not scrapped in so long, or perhaps it is such a great memory ...or both!! OH yes... did you notice..... no flowers!!!

Thanks again Friends!!! You guys are the best!!!!

Pin It