LW Designs: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Sweet Sorbet Layout

It's hard to believe that today is already the last day of Sale-a-Bration! If I had to pick just one of the great items offered for FREE this year, as my absolute favorite, it would have to be the Sweet Sorbet DSP. I love the pretty floral, pastel prints with the pop of black. I sure did use it a lot! Here's one final post showing the Sweet Sorbet papers...

I think it works really well with the bold stamp images from Secret Garden, so I used those to create the background design on the large circle and also for a few of the accent flowers I used for embellishments. Here's a closer look at the left side of the layout...

The title, "Here comes trouble" is something we often jokingly hear when my friends and I get together. We're not really trouble, but I must admit that we do like to laugh, get a little silly and probably a little too loud when we get together...but hey, we enjoy each others company and like to have fun, nothing wrong with that, right?

I will probably still add a little something to the top right of this page above the journaling. I was thinking perhaps a little banner? but I ran out of time and wanted to get this posted while it was still SAB. :-)

So, what was your favorite FREE item offered this SAB?

You "Like" Me...

you really, "like" me!

It's only been a few days since I made a Facebook page for LW Designs and I am amazed that I have already received so many "likes" to my page! Much more than I expected...I feel a little like Sally Field! haha

I knew that friends and family that I invited to my page would probably like it just to help me out...so that's where my first 50 likes came from, but the rest I'm figuring came from those of you who read my blog...so THANK YOU!

I'm hoping you won't be too shy to jump in and comment to Facebook from time to time...I'd like to get to know you all.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

I've Finally Taken the Plunge...

...and created a Facebook Page for LW Designs. So, if you are on Facebook, please like my new page. I just created the page a couple days ago, so there's not much on it yet, but I think it will be a fun way to share projects and we can talk about our crafting obsessions.

CLICK HERE for a link to my new Facebook page.

I look forward to seeing you!

Friday, March 28, 2014

Peaceful Petals Sympathy

We all hate having to make sympathy cards, but unfortunately sometimes we need to. Here is one that I had to make this week.

I always try to keep them fairly simple, yet elegant. If you saw my last posting, you can see that I made this card at the same time, using the same products. I watercolored the pretty floral image from Peaceful Petals using my Aqua Painter and inks pooled in the lids of my ink pads. These are the colors I used:

Wisteria Wonder
Elegant Eggplant
Rich Razzleberry
Wild Wasabi
Crushed Curry

To add a little detail I punched the bottom edge using the Scallop Trim Border Punch and added some Basic Rhinestone Jewels. The Elegant Eggplant panel is embossed with the Beautifully Baroque EF. I used the Loving Thoughts stamp set for the sentiment and the little butterfly was made using the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.

I hope this card brings the recipients some comfort.

Thanks for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Purple Peaceful Petals

I just love the beautiful images in the Peaceful Petals set...especially this one!

Doesn't it look pretty in purple? I watercolored it using my Aqua Painter and inks pooled in the lids of my ink pads. These are the colors I used:

Wisteria Wonder
Elegant Eggplant
Rich Razzleberry
Wild Wasabi
Crushed Curry

I think the Tea Lace Paper Doily accented with Basic Rhinestone Jewels makes a pretty background against the Elegant Eggplant panel embossed with the Beautifully Baroque EF.

Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Think Spring: Sweet Sorbet Banner

Are you ready for Spring yet? This Think Spring banner will certainly make you think of Spring!

The colors of Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe & Pistachio Pudding were chosen from the Sweet Sorbet DSP. Don't tell me you haven't got a pack of this beautiful paper yet?! It's FREE during Sale-a-Bration!

I cut each letter out of chipboard using the Typeset Bigz Dies. Each pennant has lots of little details...like the adorable stamped & punched flowers using the Banner Blast set & Itty Bitty Punches. Here's a closer look...

With just a little inspiration from the beautiful colors in the Sweet Sorbet DSP and my new Spiral Flower Die I created this entire Spring-themed set to decorate my antique side board just in time for Spring. If you don't have this great new Spiral Flower Die yet...I highly recommend it!

Here's a little closer look...

Pssst...Mother Nature, I'm all ready for Spring!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Product List

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Think Spring: Vintage Rose Candle Wrap

I'm back today to share the third piece I created for my Think Spring Decor Set. I just love the flameless, battery operated candles...but lets face it, they really are kind of plain all on their own. I like to cover mine with candle wraps that coordinate with the season or my room decor. Like this...

I started with a strip of Sahara Sand card stock that fits all around my candle with a 1/2" overlap in the back. I attach some thin velcro strips there so that I can easily remove the candle wrap to change with the season. The Sahara Sand layer was then stamped with the Hardwood background stamp and layered with a Tea Lace Paper Doily in the center and Natural Chevron Ribbon which wraps all the way around. A few roses created with the Spiral Flower Die, some Crochet Trim & Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon and some Basic Pearls finish it off nicely. Here's a closer look...

Here is my decorated candle in it's natural habitat...

Thanks for visiting today...make sure to check back to see the last piece in my Think Spring Decor Set.

Product List

Monday, March 17, 2014

Think Spring: Sweet Sorbet Bird House

Here is the second piece I created for my Think Spring Decor set...this cute little Sweet Sorbet Birdhouse.

I started with a 6" tall wooden birdhouse that I picked up from the craft store. I painted the edges that would not be covered in Sweet Sorbet DSP with acrylic paint. I used a shade as close to pool party as I could find. Then by measuring each area I wanted to cover, I cut the DSP to size. (This is the hardest part) Then I just adhered each section to the little house using Mod Podge.

Tip: I cut the side sections of the house a little wider than needed and applied those first wrapping the extra around the sides. That way when I applied the front & back sections I didn't need to worry about any gaps in the seams if I accidentally cut it a little too small.

I finished off my little bird house with a "home sweet home" sign cut using the Bitty Banner Framelits and a couple pretty roses made using the Spiral Flower Die.

Thanks for visiting today...I hope you'll come back to learn more about the next piece in my Think Spring Decor Set.

Product List

Friday, March 14, 2014

Think Spring: Sweet Sorbet Topiary

You may remember this post from a couple of weeks ago when I went crazy making all different colors of paper flowers using the new Spiral Flower Die? I had a huge pile when I was done and decided to make a set of coordinating spring decor items to brighten up my antique sideboard. In my upcoming posts I'll share each of the pieces to my "Think Spring Set" that I created using these pretty paper roses and the Sweet Sorbet DSP. I'll start off with the first piece I created, and perhaps my favorite...the Sweet Sorbet topiary.

I picked a couple of the colors from the Sweet Sorbet DSP plus I also added a few more. The colors of the roses are:

Pool Party
Crisp Cantaloupe
Blushing Bride
Strawberry Slush
So Saffron

It sure took a lot more roses than I thought it would to create this topiary! Can you guess how many I used? Here's a closer look...

To start, I used a 3" white styrofoam ball which I already had on hand, so I had to paint it green using acrylic paint. (you can skip this step by purchasing a green styrofoam ball ;-) While I had the paint out, I also painted the wooden dowel that would become the stem of my topiary. I used my hot glue gun to attach each paper rose to the foam ball, and worked around the entire thing until all the spaces were filled. When finished, the topiary ball measures approximately 5". So how many roses do you think I needed to make this? I ended up having to make 39 of those puppies to fill it all in. I had a pile of around 20 on my desk when I started and I thought that was going to be plenty! At this point I've had a LOT of practice making these flowers!

For the base of the topiary I used a 3 1/2" clay pot. I painted the edges with acrylic paint as close to Pool Party as I could find. Then I made a template with some light weight copy paper by wrapping it around the pot and pressing it into the creases with my fingers and marking it with my pencil. I then cut out the template and traced around it on my patterned paper. I made it slightly larger than I thought I needed figuring I could always trim it down a bit. I did a dry fitting onto the pot to check the fit, trimmed where necessary and then adhered it to the pot using Mod Podge.

I made a loopy bow from pool Party Seam Binding & White Organza Ribbons to finish off my topiary. I also shredded some Pistachio Pudding card stock to cover up the styrofoam inside the pot that holds up the topiary and added the cute little chickadee I had in my craft stash. (don't remember where I got him?)

Here's a look at my finished topiary in it's natural habitat...on my antique sideboard.

The cheerful Spring colors really brighten up the room...which is just what I wanted while I'm trying to "think Spring" when it still looks like Winter outdoors! Here's a little peek at the rest of the set.

Thanks for visiting today...I hope you will check back soon for all the details about the rest of my Think Spring set featured in my upcoming posts. Have a great weekend!

Product List

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Thank You, You're Lovely (but this weather is not!)

This pretty, springy card is perfect for any occasion...like when you are in the middle of yet another blizzard and want to see some pretty flowers! The past few days here in Michigan we've finally had a taste of (almost) Springlike weather...it's been in the mid 40's and sunny, and the mountains of snow were finally starting to melt. Now this morning it is gloomy and snowing, and we're expected to get at least 6 inches before it's done. The roads are really icy and all the area schools are closed. I'm thankful I don't have to go anywhere today! I've been working on some pretty spring decor items, so I plan to finish that today while dreaming of Spring flowers.

The pretty image from the You're Lovely set (FREE during SAB) was stamped in Black Stazon and then watercolored with my Aquapainter and ink. You could stamp the sentiment as shown above, or right onto the label itself. I kept this card fairly simple and easy to put together as it was a Make & Take at one of my recent events. To add a little more detail to this card an embossed background would be pretty.

Thanks for visiting me today...check back soon to see the Spring decor set I've been working on.

Supply List:

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

New Weekly Deals

Tuesday means it's time for new weekly deals! If you have a Big Shot, you're going to love these deals!

Visit my SU! Store to shop now.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Oh, Happy Day Pages

The Occasions Catalog has so many great, new products perfect for scrapbooking...and I've been having fun making some pages with them! This is my cute little Great-Nephew on his 1st birthday. I just loved watching his face and many expressions as he tore into his presents!

The "Oh, HAPPY Day" image makes the perfect title for these pages, don't you think? I just love the little Polaroid style frame included in the On Film Framelits set! Here's a closer look...

The little arrow is also included in the On Film Framelits set. I used the FREE SAB set, Banner Blast not only to create the adorable little banner but to also add background to the die cut arrow. Here's the second page in the layout...

The chevron border that runs across the bottom of these pages was created using the Tasteful Trim Bigz Die. To add a little extra dimension, the number 1 was cut out of chipboard using the Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die. The DSP I used here is from the retired Sweet Pea stack, but luckily it is still available from My Digital Studio in the My Sweet Pea Digital Kit.

Here's a look at the two pages together...

Thanks for visiting today...have a HAPPY day!

Friday, March 07, 2014

Spring Break Memories

I spent the day with my sweet Auntie on Wednesday and she taught me all kinds of great tips & tricks using the My Digital Studio program. I've had the program for quite a while longer than she has, but I haven't really worked with it too much, and she's done so many cool things with it! Thanks to my Aunt Roberta, I now know a lot more about using MDS and I think I'll be using it more. Our little get together even inspired me to give my blog a whole new look...see...now it's ready for Spring!

I created the header, the buttons and the footer all using the Spring Break II Digital Download. While I was at it, I even whipped out a quick scrapbook page using a favorite photo from the BEST Spring Break vacation I ever went on.

This is my hubby & I in Kauai. Wish we were in Hawaii right now! Hopefully some day again soon. Until then I will dream of palm trees, warm weather & ocean breezes. (it sure sounds a lot better than pine trees, cold weather & bone-chilling breezes!) Todays forecast here in Michigan is going to be a balmy 40 degrees! Actually, it really will seem warm after the weather we've been having.

Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Sweet Sorbet Baby Pennents

Here's a cute, gender neutral baby card perfect for a shower or just to congratulate the mommy to be.

The soft, pastel colors in the Sweet Sorbet DSP work well for a baby theme. I punched out letters from the Occasions Alphabet and popped them up on each pennant for this sweet, yet simple card.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Product List