MARIA'S STUDIO

Magnolia-licious Blue and Brown Challenge

2012-02-14T03:00:00.008-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I've made a gift bag for the Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge which is BLUE and BROWN. Can't wait to have you play along with us. You could be the lucky winner of a $25 gift certificate to Diana's online store Magnolia-licious.

My project features mini Tilda with Wrapped Heart coloured with Copics on Make it Colour Blending Cardstock. BTW, did you know that Diana sells a mini doily die perfect for the minis Magnolias? I've just ordered mine and can't wait for it to arrive. I used My Mind's Eye DP called Pretty Please "Flower Drops". Edges of image were sponged with chalk ink and the blue rhinestone swirl I got at Michaels.

Here's a side view of the gift bag. It was so easy to put together using my Scor-Pal ~ absolute must-have for all crafters ~ and sticky tape. The decorative edge on the top flap of the bag I created with the Magnolia Doohickey Tilda Lace Die. The mini Magnolias are just the perfect size to embellish the bag and can be used for all sorts of occasions.

Here's a view of the bag with the top flap open. Brown ribbon is from my stash. Instructions for making this super easy and fun gift bag are HERE.

Well that's it for today. I'm entering my project into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show ~ Anything Goes
Stampin for the Weekend ~ Photo/Colour Combo (blue and brown)
Inspire Me Fridays ~ Anything Goes

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by to visit.

Hugs,
Maria

Save the Date

2012-02-11T17:47:00.009-05:00

Have you heard the rumours? There are 3 companies releasing together! Can you guess who they are? Click here for clues and to guess for a chance to win. Here's one of the clues: Three are true, the rest a rue; that's the clue, if only you knew.

Good luck and don't forget to save the date, February 14th.

Hugs,
Maria

Happy Australia Day Hop with MIC ~ Oi Oi Oi!!!

2012-01-26T05:00:00.047-05:00

It's Australia Day in the Land Downunder and what better way to celebrate than bring you some NEW Australian themed Digi Stamps and offer you some inspiration with a quick blog hop!!

What is Australia Day? Well in short, it's the day that the first fleet of convicts arrived in Sydney Australia (yup we are a bunch of convicts!! haha) but today we celebrate what's great about Australia with our family and friends and it usually involves a few snags on the barbie (BBQ)!

So let's celebrate amongst friends from around the world and share some crafting inspiration with an Aussie Outback theme!

If you're already on the hop then you should have arrived from Jen J otherwise if you want to hop from the start head on over to say G'Day to AJ.

My card features Magnolia's Aussie Tilda combined with the new MIC digi Outback Dunny. I had so much fun colouring these images with Copics. I distressed the papers and sponged around with DI. Lace, Prima flowers and pearls are from my stash. The beautiful heart branch was a gift from my talented friend Angela.

Now I guess you're looking for the next mate to hop on over to??

Well before you do... Make sure you comment below for your chance to win an Australian Souvenir. Each of us will be selecting someone from our comments to receive a little Aussie Souvenir from Zoe!

PLUS Zoe is offering 20% OFF store wide at Makeitcrafty.com until the 28th January! Hurry on over (when you get through the hop of course!) to grab some bargains!!

OK OK... It's time to head on over to see my fabulously talented mate Ruby.

Thanks for celebrating with us!! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!!!

I'm entering the following challenges:

Creative Inspiration Paint ~ Pink
Craft Your Days Away ~ Distressing
Totally Tilda ~ Tilda with a Non-Domesticated Animal

Hugs,

Maria

Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge

2012-01-24T07:12:00.018-05:00

It's time for our inspiration challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. Our fabulous Cabio is hostess this month and the photo below is for your inspiration. I hope you play along with us for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Magnolia-licious online store. Don't forget to check out the wonderful creations by my talented DT buddies.

I created another gift box which is a Valentine's Day gift for my daughter's teacher who ROCKS! I just loooove the curly hair on Tilda Sending Love Letters, which is available in Diana's Magnolia-licious online store as a mini. I got the idea for the acetate gift box on the uber-talented Claudia's blog, Pretty Pressings ( November 2, 2010 post). My box is filled with lots of yummy Hershey's Kisses. Papers, flowers, heart brad, rhinestones and ribbon are from my stash and I've promised myself to use what I have on hand before buying new. We'll see how strong I am to resist the temptation of buying new stuff ~ lol. I wanted to use my MS heart punch to edge the box but it malfunctioned and so I used another MS punch and added pink rhinestones to pretty up the edge. Tilda is coloured with Copics.

I'm entering my gift box into the following challenges:

Cupcake Craft Challenges ~ All You Need is Love
Let's Ink It Up ~ Anything Goes
Paper Pretties Monday Challenge ~ Valentine's Day
Simply Magnolia ~ Anything But a Card

Thanks for visiting and have a great day.

Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Challenge ~ Pink, Red and White

2012-01-10T16:23:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012 Everyone! Hope the new year brings you and your families much health, happiness and prosperity!

Today marks the first colour challenge of 2012 for the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. We're challenging you to use Pink, Red and White so it's perfect for you to get a head start on those Valentine's Day projects. I don't have a project for you today but the amazing DT has lots for you to oooh and aaah over. So check out their fabulous work for inspiration and get busy crafting with love.

Hugs,
Maria

Oh My STARS!

2011-12-13T02:37:00.008-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's Inspiration time at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog and for the last challenge of 2011, we're looking for STARS. I've got 7 stars on my card and Diana's looking to give one lucky winner with the most stars a prize. You've got lots of time to enter because the challenge ends January 9th, 2012.

I've stamped and coloured Sitting Tilda with Teddy Bear from the new Sweet Christmas Dreams 2011 Collection. The stars were made with a Sizzix die and cut from sparkly coloured foam sheets from my local dollar store. The rest is from my stash including the ruffled red ribbon and gold bell which I recycled from my daughter's Lindt Chocolate Teddy Bear packaging.

I'll be taking a break to spend time with family and friends over the holidays. Wishing you and your families Happy Holidays. Thanks for taking a peek and see you in 2012.

Hugs,

Maria

Blue and Silver at Magnolia-licious

2011-11-08T01:15:00.031-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's time for another fun colour challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog and this time it's blue and silver.

I think Halo Tilda from the new Sweet Christmas Dreams 2011 Collection is just the sweetest. I got her at Diana's online store just last week and I couldn't resist inking her up right away. Lots of rhinestones, sparkly recycled buttons and Stickles for this sweetie.

I'm entering this project into the following challenges:

Make it Monday ~ Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show ~ Up-Cycling/Re-Cycling
The Crazy Challenge ~ Something with Wings
There She Goes ~ Holiday Projects
Stamps and Fun = Creativity ~ Winter

Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

Hugs,

Maria

Introducing Agent Popcorn at Little Miss Muffet

2011-10-21T09:43:00.002-04:00

It's time for another fabulous release at Little Miss Muffet Stamps and I'm showcasing Agent Popcorn (from the Operation Treehouse Collection). I've made a little purse with this fabulous Magnolia Popcorn DP I thought would be perfect to hold a gift card to the movies. Agent Popcorn digi was coloured with Copics and I added rhinestone and red pearl swirls from Michaels to the front.

Here's a view of the insided which I stamped with a Happy Birthday sentiment from Stampin' Up. Purse/gift card holder made with a Sizzix XL Bigz die.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Pixie Dust Studio ~ Happy Birthday
My Mum's Craft Shop ~ Food and Drink
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge ~ You Choose

For a chance to win two Little Miss Muffet stamps of your choice, all you have to do is enter a project at the Little Miss Muffet Challenge Blog using a Little Miss Muffet stamp image and follow either this week's Girly Girl challenge theme. AND don't forget to take a peek at the fabulous creations by the talented DT.

Have a great weekend,
Maria

WINNER!!!

2011-10-14T12:01:00.003-04:00

Hiya Everyone! Short post to announce my winner of the Make It Crafty Christmas/Zoe’s BIRTHDAY Blog Hop.

Congratulations to Lynn from Lynn's Designer Creations!!! Send me an email with your address Lynn and I'll send you your goodies.

Click HERE for the complete list of Hop winners.

Hugs,
Maria

Tilda's Chocolate Delight Gift Box

2011-10-11T01:54:00.008-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's time for another fun colour challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog with blue, green, white/transparent. Here's a photo for your inspiration along with my interpretation.

I decorated an acetate box I've had for ages with a belly band I created using a MS doily punch and BasicGrey Euphoria DP. I added rhinestones and a green ribbon from my stash to showcase Fairydust Tilda ~ available in Diana's Magnolia-licious online store. I got the idea for the gift box on Claudia's blog, Pretty Pressings. I hope to find more acetate boxes to make as gifts for Christmas and fill them with chocolate. Ooooh and Diana has the new Magnolia Sweet Christmas Dreams collection available on pre-order. So be sure to check them out!

I'm entering this project into the following challenges:

Hooked on Crafts ~ Anything But a Card
Anything Goes ~ Punches and/or Dies
Just Magnolia and Hanglar & Stanglar ~ Anything Goes
Creatalcious ~ Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

Hugs,
Maria

Little Miss Muffet New Release

2011-10-07T09:09:00.006-04:00

Phew, what a week!! But today is FRIDAY and I'm so happy for the upcoming weekend and a bit of a break as we celebrate Thanksgiving on Monday here in Canada.

I'm so excited and honoured to announce that the fabulously talented Barbara, entrepreneur extraordinaire behind Little Miss Muffet Stamps, has asked me to Guest DT for the month of October. Today is day 2 of new releases at Little Miss Muffet Stamps and I'm showcasing Agent Bubblegum Spying (from the Operation Treehouse Collection). Doesn't she look like she's ready for an adventure!

I paired Agent Bubblegum Spying with a parachute sticker and old world map paper I bought from Michael's. When I saw this image, I knew she would be parachuting somewhere around the world and be on the lookout for Fun Trouble. After all, life is an adventure so why not grab a hold and enjoy the sometimes bumpy ride ~ lol. Sentiment came to me during some long car rides this week, but I had already made the card so there wasn't enough room to add it. There's always next time though!

I'm entering the following challenges:

Make it Monday ~ Anything Goes
I Brake for Challenges ~ Girl Power
Papertake Weekly Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers ~ Anything Goes

For a chance to win two Little Miss Muffet stamps of your choice, all you have to do is enter a project at the Little Miss Muffet Challenge Blog using a Little Miss Muffet stamp image and follow either this week's challenge theme (Animals or Monsters) OR use the theme Anything Goes. AND don't forget to take a peek at the fabulous creations by the talented DT.

Have a great weekend,
Maria

MIC Christmas Blog Hop and Zoe's Celebration

2011-09-27T08:16:00.009-04:00

************************* CLOSED *********************

OOPS!! Pics disappeared when I pre-scheduled my post. I'm back and have 'fixed' whatever was going on with Blogger. Thanks to everyone who left a comment even without pics. You are all entered into the draw for the blog candy. Hugs

Welcome back to my second post today! What an exciting day to be celebrating both a Christmas Blog hop for Make It Crafty's new Christmas release AND Zoe's Birthday too ~ Woohoo!!! Happy Birthday Zoe!!

I created a gift bag using this adorable Holiday Elf Tinkles and MIC Fine Swirls Chipboard swirls just in time for Christmas. Wait til you see the rest of the simply amazing images. ALSO, to celebrate Zoe's birthday, we'll be offering blog candy sooooo my BAG AND the GOODIES in the picture below will be shipped out to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by midnight on October 12 (EST) and I will announce a winner on Friday, October 14.

So visit each member listed below for a sneak peek at the new Christmas images and also to enter for a chance to win their fabulous goodies.

Make it Colourful

Tracy
Debbie
MARIA ~ You are Here
Beccy
Carole

Barbara

Because Zoe is SUPER - FABULOUS, she's offering 15% off ALL the Christmas digis from now until Sunday, October 2nd. The sale's on only for this week so hurry on over to Make It Crafty to pick up a few of these adorable new Christmas digis. There will be a coupon code listed at the Make It Colourful blog.

AND AND AND ~ we're giving away this sweet-adorable-must-have Party Girl Zoe digi as a freebie to everyone who wants to join in and spread some birthday cheer!! All you need to do is create a new project using a Make it Crafty image or chippies and upload it into the gallery HERE by October 12th. Then email Barbara at ForgottenScraps@gmail.com with a link to your project to claim her!

Grab the Christmas Blog Hop badge on my sidebar and display it on your sidebar to spread the word about Zoe's Birthday and Blog Hop! Have a blast doing the Hop and don't forget to stop by Zoe's personal blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!

Hugs,

Maria

Inspiration Challenge at Magnolia-licious

2011-09-27T07:33:00.006-04:00

It's time for another fun inspiration challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. Below is a photo for your inspiration along with my interpretation.

I created a treat bag using TIlda with Spider, available in Diana's Magnolia-licious online store as a mini. The tutorial on how to make the treat bag is HERE. I added a brad to keep both the ribbon and outside decorative shell in place so that the box can slide from side to side to get to the treats easily ~ hehehe.

I used a MS punch for the top trim on the bag and added googly eyes I got a few years back. Other embellies are all from my stash which I have had a for a few years as well so I can't remember where I purchased them or what company made them.

Thanks for visiting and have a spooky-licious fun day.

Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious September Colour Challenge

2011-09-13T07:27:00.003-04:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone and thanks for visiting!

Our talented Tracy is our hostess this month and she's picked the following colours for September's colour challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. Head on over to take a peek at the DT's fabulous creations.

This is not a combo of colours I normally use together but I really like it now that I've tried it. It's perfect for Fall creations. For my card, I used Secret Tilda, available at the Magnolia-licious online store. All supplies used are from my stash even the paper which I've had forever. I tried using some different Copic colours to colour Tilda's skin and quite like the effect of E30, E11, E21 & R02 together. The rest of the Copic colours I used are: BG000, B01, B02, B05, E23, E27, E30, W00, W01, W03, R02, R05 & R15. I finished off the card by sponging some Wheat VesrsaMagic chalk ink around Tilda.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Magnolia Stamp Lovers ~ Fall Colours
Simply Magnolia ~ Anything Goes
Magnolia Monday #18 ~ Fall Fun
The Crafty Pad ~ Autumn Colours

Have some fun creating and join in our challenge for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Magnolia-licious online store.

Have a great week,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge #10

2011-08-25T15:04:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone! My post is a bit late due to some pre-scheduling glitches while on holidays.

I'm hostess this month and picked this picture for the 10th Inspiration Challenge. Checkout the fabulous DT creations on the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog.

For my card, I used Tilda Goes Shopping ~ one of my fave stamps. I made this card for a friend of mine who loves shopping as much as I do and I hope she likes it. I coloured Tilda with Copics (E11, E21, E30, R02, R20, R05, R15, BG000, B00, B01, B12, W0, W1, W3, W5, E23, E25, E29 & Y13). Pearls, flowers and clip are from my stash and the butterflies and leaves were made using MS punches.

Thanks for your visit and don't forget to participate for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Magnolia-licious Online store.

Enjoy your summer,
Maria

Black & White and/or Monochrome Challenge

2011-08-09T02:30:00.028-04:00

Hello Everyone and thanks for taking the time to stop by to visit! I'm holidays so my post is prescheduled and I won't be able to visit your blogs until later this summer.

Today I'm hostess at the Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge Blog and have picked a Black & White and/or Monochrome Colour Challenge. It's a tough one for me but I think so elegant that I hope you play along and share your projects with us. The DT has outdone themselves so checkout their fabulous creations!

Here's the picture I chose to provide inspiration.

I've chosen a simple design to spotlight Tilda Goes Shopping and Magnolia's Eiffel Tower (sorry out of stock at the moment). When I think about Paris, I think about all the beautiful things to see, the wonderful food and of course the shopping!! I haven't been yet but when my girls are older, we're going to take a trip to Paris for sure!!

I've used my C (Cool) & W (Warm) gray Copics to colour the images. I don't use my W Copics much but I really like how Tilda's cheeks and top turned out with the Ws. Now I wish I had coloured the Eiffel Tower a bit darker but at the time I was worried it would blend into the DP and Tilda too much. DP is Webster's Pages and although it looks like the paper is yellow and black, IRL it is old white and black so I didn't cheat ~ lol. Pearl Swirl and the black centres on the flowers (whose edges were dabbed with Memento Tuxedo Black) are Prima. Organza ribbon, black pearl heart and other pearls are from my stash.

That's it for today folks! I'll be posting again in a couple of weeks so come on back for a peek.

Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge #10

2011-07-26T03:01:00.009-04:00

Hi everyone! It's time for a Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge and here's a picture to get your MOJO going.

I inked up a few older Magnolias this time: Tilda with Bike (available as a mini). The Pier and the bird are currently out-of-stock. Images stamped with Memento and coloured with Copics. I added some pearl cord, WOC flowers, leaves punched with EK Success and organza ribbon from my stash. I purposely tried to add texture to the sky by streaking Copic blues across it but am not sure if you can see it in the pic. The DP is by Magnolia and it's a great quality paper. Be sure to check-out Diana's great assortment of Magnolia Paper Packs on-line.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Dutch Magnolia Lovers ~ Summer
Poodles Parlour Challenge ~ Red, White & Blue
All That Scraps Magnolia Challenge ~ Summer

Hope you get a chance to play along with us. Have a great week.

Hugs,

Maria

Change the Colour of Your Embellishments

2011-07-23T05:32:00.002-04:00

Hello Lovelies! Can you believe it's almost the end of July!! Summer is just flying by.

Today's card is for Make it Colourful's new challenge, Change the Colour of your Embellishments. I loooove this new Make it Crafty digi, called Zoe Celebrates! She's printed on MIC Blending Paper and coloured with the following Copics: E000, E00, E01, E11, E21, R20, C1, C2, C3, C5, C7, C9, E32, E27, R11, R22, R32, R35, R43, Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, Y38, B0000, B00, B01, B02, B05.

So I coloured the pearls with Copics and voila ~ a customized embellishment. Then I coloured the lasercut chipboard Swirly Corners and butterflies from the Fine Swirls set with Frosted Aqua and Taffy Smooch.

I'm entering the following challenges:

My Mum' Craft Shop ~ For a Teen
Everybody Art Challenge ~ Dots
Ladybug Craft Ink TLT ~ Summer Birthday

Head on over to catch a peek at the rest of the fabulous creations by the talented DT. Hope your mojo gets excited too and you get creating with a project of your own to submit.

Have a great weekend,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Summer Bash Blog Hop Party

2011-07-18T04:19:00.005-04:00

Hiya Peeps! Hope you're enjoying your summer so far. We're having a party at the Magnolia-licious Highlites Challenge Blog and want you to join in the fun. Both DTs have created summertime projects with a Beach, Summertime BBQ/Picnic or Fishing Theme. Checkout the Challenge Blog for all the details on how to play, the yummy prizes up for grabs and the complete Blog Hop List.

I've used Tilda Gone Fishing, available at the Magnolia-licious online store at the end of July. I paired her up with a scene I created using a brayer and the Stampscapes set called Light and the Sea. There are NO embellishments or DP on this card ~ yikes ~ which is a very huge first for me but I wanted to keep the focus on the background scene and Tilda.

MY LETTER IS: L

Now please hop to the super talented CHERYL next to see more inspiration and collect another letter! When you are finished collecting the letters you will put them together to create a 3 word sentence. You have until July 31st to enter so go to the Magnolia-licious Highlites Blog HERE for the full contest details!

Thanks for joining us!

Maria

Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge #9

2011-07-12T02:50:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! It's been a few weeks since my last post as I'm taking it easy for the summer to spend time with my family. But I couldn't miss today's fabulous Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge and this time it's RED, WHITE and BLUE.

My card features the sweet Tilda with Many Hearts. She's currently out of stock at the Magnolia-licious online store but is available as a mini.

I was inspired by my uber talented friend Zoe's colouring HERE. I kept the card fairly simple with no DP but couldn't resist adding the pretty rhinestone and red pearl swirls I found at Michaels. I've been promising myself to use my CB embossing folders more so get ready to see more embossing in the near future. Image was coloured with Copics but I didn't get a chance to jot down the colours.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion ~ Just for You
The Crafty Pad ~ Lots of Texture
The Shabby Tea Room ~ Flower Power
Papertake Weekly ~ Anything Goes
Paper Creations Ink ~ Red, White & Blue
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central ~ Simple
Our Daily Bread Design ~ Red, White & Blue

Pop by to see the rest of the DT's beautiful creations and play along with us for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Diana at Magnolia-licious.

Have a fantastic week,

Maria

Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge #8

2011-06-28T07:16:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone! It's time for another Magnolia-licious Inspiration Challenge and here's a picture to get your MOJO going.

I masked mini Tilda in the Garden and mini Romantic Window from Diana's fabulous online store Magnolia-licious.

Here's the list of accessories:

Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento + Copics

DP: Prima & Stampin' Up cardstock

Stash: butterflies, pearls, lace & pearl sprig

Flowers: WOC & Prima leaves

Die: Spellbinder frame & dies

I'm entering the following challenges:

By the Cute & Girly ~ In the Garden
Hooked on Craft Challenges ~ Flowers
All That Scraps ~ Summertime
Stamps R Us ~ There was a Little Girl
Wags 'n Whiskers ~ Summertime
Just Magnolia & Hanglar and Stanglar ~ Butterfly

Pop by to see the rest of the DT's beautiful projects and play along with us for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Diana at Magnolia-licious.

Hugs,

Maria

Let's Party ~ Make It Crafty Turns One!

2011-06-25T06:01:00.056-04:00

Happy Saturday everyone and thanks for popping by to visit. The party's begun at Make it Crafty to celebrate turning one! You don't want to miss all the fun and loads of prizes too!!!

Rather than a blog hop to celebrate, there's a SPECIAL CHALLENGE going on using Make it Crafty products!! Hop on over to the Make it Colourful challenge blog for inspiration and to see all the amazing creations the fabulous DT have created for this event! PLUS find out all the details on how you can play along and WIN WIN WIN some outstanding prizes too!

My card falls into the category of Merge as many Make It Crafty images into one scene. Yup, a first for me cause there's 8 digis and after duplicating a few, a grand total of 11!!!! Zoe Extraordinaire kindly created the scene for me and then challenged me to get creative with my colouring!!!! Wooohoo, talk about a challenge BUT I had so much fun. This is for my hubby for our anniversary later this summer so shhhhhh. I sure hope he loves it!!

The scene was printed on Make It Crafty Blending Card and then coloured with Copics. The fabulous Filigree Border is of course a lasercut chipboard embellishment from Make It Crafty and was coloured with Moonlight Smooch ~ I loooooove these!!! The card was kept very clean and simple so the scene remained the focus. Here's a list of all the Make It Crafty digital images Zoe merged for me to create this scene:

PLUS....

Zoe, the owner of Make it Crafty has a super duper HUGE Candy give away – choc-a-block FULL of Make it Crafty goodies!! AND I have heard a whisper that she is planning on having random giveaways on her blog throughout the month of July! All you need to do is leave her some love as she’ll randomly be choosing people who have commented on her posts throughout the last year!!

PLUS...PLUS...
For THREE DAYS ONLY until June 28th, you’ll be able to get 40% off Make it Crafty Digi Stamps when you enter the coupon code: CELEBRATE

PLUS....PLUS....PLUS....
We're celebrating with Quixotic Paperie who's turned TWO and they have something for you too! Make sure to pop over HERE to enter your name for a chance at MORE Make it Crafty Goodies!! Quixotic Paperie was the very first company to take on the Make It Crafty line of stamps, laser cut embellishments and now Make It Crafty blending card.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon ~ Anniversary Cards
My Time to Craft ~ Extra Images (More than One)

So I do hope you will celebrate with us this month and get into the Make it Crafty spirit of FUN!!

Hugs,

Maria

Sparkle at Crafty Creations

2011-06-22T03:01:00.010-04:00

Hi Everyone! Hope you've had a chance to enjoy some sun although here in SW Ontario it's been playing a bit of peek-a-boo.

I'm so excited to be this week's Guest Designer for the CRAFTY CREATIONS Challenge Blog. Thank you to Bernie and the rest of the lovely ladies on the team for inviting me! Many of you know how much I love to add bling bling to my projects so this week's SPARKLE ~ LET IT SHINE challenge is perfect for me ~ woohoo! Even my papers sparkle this time~ lol. The pic doesn't show it but the DP has shiny red stripes going through it and the butterflies have lots of glitter. This week's generous sponsor is Wags 'n Whiskers.

School's out in 7 days so I thought I'd make a thank you card for one of the teachers. Papers are from the DCWV School Pack stack. I've used an older Magnolia stamp called Tilda with Slate from the So Heavenly, Travel & School Collection (2008) and paper pieced her clothing with DP from the DCWV pack. I then coloured directly on the DP with my Copics to add a bit of depth to the clothes. I used the following Copics to colour the rest of the image (E0000, E00, E01, E11, R20, R000, R01, R02, R05, R29, Y0000, Y11, Y13, Y15 Y17, B91, E23, E25, E27, E50, C1, C2, C3 & C5) and then added 2 small red rhinestones to the centre of the ribbons on Tilda's shoes. Rhinestone swirls + gems, ribbon and star charm hanging from ribbon are all from my stash.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Just Magnolia and Hanglar & Stanglar ~ Paper Piecing
Everybody Art ~ Anything Goes
A Spoon Full of Sugar ~ Ribbons and Bows
Aly's Sunday Challenge ~ All About Kids

Checkout the fabulous projects by the talented DT at Crafty Creations and don't forget to join in the fun and submit your creations too.

Thanks for visiting and for any comments you might leave which always brighten my day. Just want to let you know I'll be slowing down with crafting and blogging during the summer so I can spend quality time with family. But I'll still be posting albeit sporadically.

Pop by on Saturday for a peek at my next post. Big Hugs to you all.

Maria

Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge #8

2011-06-14T07:37:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone! It's time for another Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge. and this time it's the colour PINK.

My card features mini Tilda with Heart Lace and the sides of the card were made using Magnolia's Tilda Lace die. Both are available at Magnolia-licious.

I'm NOT happy with my colouring this time but sometimes things don't turn out the way I envision and that's ok too. After all, it's all about having fun while learning new things.

Here's the list of accessories:

Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento & Copics (E000, E01, E11, R20, R81, R83, R85, E23, E25, E27, Y0000, Y11, Y15)

DP: Webster's Pages & Stampin' Up Rose Red

Stash: rhinestone swirls, pearls & lace (flowers coloured with Copic R81) + gold filigree ribbon

Flowers: WOC

Corner: lasercut chipboard Filigree Jewels by Make It Crafty

I'm entering the following challenges:

Paper Sundaes ~ Girly Girl
Shabby Tea Room ~ Pink, Green, Neutrals & Flowers
Meljens ~ Pink & Pearls
Magnolia Stamp Lover ~ Anything Goes
Stamp with Fun ~ Pearls & Flowers

Pop by to see the rest of the DT's beautiful projects and play along with us for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Diana at Magnolia-licious.

Hugs,

Maria

Arrrrgh Matey!!

2011-05-28T06:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday mateys! This week's challenge at Make it Colourful is to use yellow and purple in your colouring. Our sponsor is Diana from Magnolia-licious.

I coloured Magnolia's Jolly Roger Tilda, available at Magnolia-licious, with Copics (E000, E01, E11, R20, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, V01, V15, V17, V09, C01, C03, C05, C07, E50, E30, E33 & E35). For Tilda's backdrop, I used Make it Crafty's new Treasure Map digi from the new fabulous Arrr Pirates Collection. To give the map an aged look, I crumpled it up 3 times ~ yup crumpled it up!! ~ and then sponged it with Tim Holtz Distress Inks ~ Old Paper & Tea Dye. I've had this skull and cross bones DP by Magnolia for ages. I distressed the edges and sponged them and the cardstock with Old Paper DI. Flowers are a combo of Primas and WOC combined with a Make it Crafty leaf swirl chipboard.

The beautiful must have Make it Crafty lasercut chipboard embellishments ~ Filigree Gems (to look like a compass), Filigree Borders and Flower Leaf Swirls ~ were all coloured/brushed with Smooch's Gold Lame. I edged the flowers with the Smooch too so OK I may have gone a little overboard with the gold but what pirate matey doesn't just loooove gold ~ arrrgh!! Purple rhinestones are from my stash.

I'm entering the following:

ABC ~ V is for Violet
Divas by Design ~ For the Girls
Creative Card Crew ~ Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles ~ Distress, Rip, Tear, Crumple
Paper Crafting Journey ~ Anything Goes/Your Favourite
Digi Tuesday ~ Texture

Here's hoping you get a chance to play along with us this week. For more inspiration from the fabulous DT, don't forget to pop by Make it Colourful for a looksee.

Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Photo Inspiration Challenge #7

2011-05-24T07:48:00.008-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! This week we have the following photo inspiration for you at the Magnolia-licious Challenge blog.

The colours purple and yellow are a challenge for me but I had some fun with this combo. My card features mini Tilda with Balloon (#294), available at Magnolia-licious. I kept the paper layers fairly simple this time and used only 1 small piece of the Magnolia Butterflies DP. The paper pack is currently out of stock but there are many others to choose from at Magnolia-licious and the quality of the paper is excellent.

Other embellishments are: Prima flowers & rhinestone swirls, MS butterfly punch, Spellbinder die, heart and ribbon (which is actually purple IRL but did not photograph that way) from my stash. Inks used are Memento to stamp Tilda and Copics to colour (E000, E01, E11, R20, BV0000, BV000, BV11, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, E50, E30, E31, E33, E35 & E27).

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe ~ Flowers, Ribbon & Bling
Crafty Catz ~ Anything Goes
Crafty Creations ~ Flower, 1 Paper & Ribbon

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Hugs,

Maria

Flower Power

2011-05-22T15:39:00.005-04:00

Hi there and Happy Victoria Day weekend to all our Canadian families and friends! Challenge #17 at Sundays with Crissy is all about FLOWERS. I've made a flower pot pocket card featuring Crissy's adorable digi, Bunny with Flowers. Here's an outside view of the card.

Here's a view of the outside of the card plus taaadaaa the insert with the Bunny digi. This bunny is so versatile and can be used for soooo many occasions. The insert alone could also be used as a bookmark. My girls have birthday parties coming up and some of their friends like reading books so this would be perfect. Of course this could also be a 'just because' card too and I love that I can insert something extra into the pot.

Tutorial for the flower pot pocket card is HERE. Flowers are Primas, leaves were made with a Magnolia Doohickey die, scalloped edge with an SU border punch, butterflies with a MS punch, Spellbinder oval dies for the sentiment and the pearl brads+ribbon+rhinestones are from my stash. Tim Holtz Tea Dye DI was used to sponge the edges of the papers, flowers, leaves and background for the bunny. I coloured with Copics (C00, C1, C3, C5, YG11, YG05, YG07, YG17, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, B0000, B00, B01, B05, R01, R02, R05, R08, R15, R27, R20, RV00, R83, R85).

I'm entering this into the following:

Stamps & Fun ~ Creativity ~ Flower Power
Sweet Stampin ~ in the Garden
2 Sisters ~ Use a digi
Fairy Knoll ~ Flowers

Sooooo what are you waiting for! Add some flowers to your projects and then pop on over to THIS BLOG POST to enter your creation by May 31st!

Hugs,

Maria

Going Dotty with Make It Colourful

2011-05-14T15:28:00.005-04:00

Hello Everyone! It's time for another challenge at Make it Colourful and this week's DOTTY BACKGROUNDS challenge is sponsored by Sunday's with Crissy. I've looooooved this technique every since I saw my super-uber talented buddy Crissy Armstrong's video tutorial.

Crissy's new Nose to Nose and Make It Crafty's, Petals and Palings fence digis are featured on my first front panel side step card ~ template from my talented friend Norma HERE.

Images coloured with Copics. Prima Pearl swirls, WOC flowers and Make It Crafty lasercut chipboard butterflies embellish the card.

I'm entering my card into the following:

Dutch Dare ~ Winged Things
Creative Belli ~ 'S' for Spots
Crafty Creations ~ Anything Goes
Prairie Fairy Fridays ~ For the Girls
Stamps and Fun ~ Dots
Divas by Design ~ Anything Goes
Mami Doodles ~ Spots and/or Stripes
Stamp Something ~ Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments ~ No Sentiment
Craft Us Crazy ~ Favourite Embellishment/Something New
Delightful ~ Flower
Southern Girls ~ For the Girls

Don't forget to pop by the challenge blog for inspiration from the rest of the talented DT. This dotty technique is so much fun so I hope you try it and play along with us.

MWAH,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge #13

2011-05-10T03:05:00.035-04:00

Hi Everyone: it's time for a new Colour challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. This time our hostess and very talented DT Norma has challenged us to use Black, White plus 1 other colour. Hope you are inspired by the DT's beautiful creations and that you will play along with us.

I've used red with the black and white and featured Secret Tilda, available at the Magnolia-licious online store. She is one of my absolute fave Tildas with beautiful flowing hair and so versatile for almost any occasion. I couldn't resist using the Romantic Lace Border Doohickey Die and it's on sale at Magnolia-licious. DPs are by Basic Grey ~ Jovial. I added a Prima stud and pearl centre embellishments to the flowers from my stash as well as Prima pearl swirls. Image was coloured with the following Copics (E000, E00, E01, E11, R20, R01, R05, R08, R11, R15, R27, C00, C02, C03,C05, C07, C09, B0000 and the Blender Pen). I also inked up a Stempelglede Grunge Corner stamp with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. I wanted to add some bling so there's Star Dust Stickles on the present Tilda is holding behind her back. Pins and pearl sprays are from my stash.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Just Magnolia ~ Anything Goes
Cardmakin' Mamas ~ For a Loved One
Incy Wincy Designs ~ Mother's Day/Girlie
PaperPlay ~ Show Us Your Style
Creative Stamp Friends ~ Mother's Day
Craft Your Passion ~ Plaid or Gingham
Totally Papercrafts ~ 1 image, 2 papers & 3 Embellies
Simon Says Stamp & Show ~ Anything Goes

Your visit and any comment you might leave are heartwarming. Hope your week is off to a good start.

Hugs,

Maria

Make it Colourful Kids Challenge

2011-05-07T08:33:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone! It's time for another Kids challenge at Make it Colourful with the DT's kids providing this week's inspiration. This week's theme is all about dots.

My daughter Juliette was so excited to be part of the Kids DT she made 2 cards for the challenge. The first features the digi Peppermint by Little Miss Muffet Stamps. She coloured Peppermint with ShiHan Touch markers which are very similar to the Copic Sketch but a lot cheaper to purchase. Papers, flowers and other embellies are all from mom's stash and done pretty much in secret as a surprise. I gave her a small hand with the Cuttlebug die cutting but the rest she did on her own. Dots on Peppermint's skirt were done with a Sharpie White Painter's Pen.

Juliette's entering her Peppermint card into the Little Miss Muffett Diecuts and/or Punches Challenge.

For her second card she stamped out Kitchen Tilda and coloured her with the ShiHan Touch markers. Again papers and embellies are from mom's stash and dots were done with Sharpie pen.

Thanks for stopping by and for any sweet comments you might leave for Juliette.

Hugs,
Maria

Black Hair at Make it Colourful

2011-04-23T13:28:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter Saturday everyone! Make it Colourful has a new challenge today to colour Black Hair. This is my absolute fave because I find it the most challenging. Join in and give it a try and you're sure to get hooked. This week our generous sponsor is Some Odd Girl.

My card features Some Odd Girl Flower Kaylee and Make it Crafty's Ornate Floral Frame.

Images coloured with Copics and background sponged with Wheat chalk. Papers are My Mind's Eye ~ Tickled Pink~ and pearls and Prima flowers are all from my stash. Sweet as Candy brad is My Mind's Eye ~ Whirlybird. I used Martha Stewart punches for the butterfly and leaves.

I'm so far behind this weekend and am literally running so I'm sorry I can't leave many more details about my card. I keep forgetting to write down the Copics I use for colouring but will do my best to remember for next time.

I'm entering the following:

Fuzzy & Fancy ~ Springtime
Frosted Designs ~ Birds and/or Butterfly
AI Factory ~ Flowers in Bloom

Have a great Easter,
Maria

Hop on Over to the Carnival

2011-04-21T02:00:00.069-04:00

Clowns, Fairy floss, sticky fingers, squeals of delight and of course complaints of sore feet near the end of the day... Where are we?

THE CARNIVAL!!

Hopefully you have just hopped on over from the super talented Tracy.
If you just popped on by to say g’day and want to join us on the super carnival hop then you’ll want to START HERE at Jak's.

Zoe from Make it Crafty and Mo from Mo’s Digital Pencil, came together to share the delight and fun of The Carnival. To celebrate - the two fabulously talented teams have come together for a massive blog hop to offer you plenty of inspiration when playing with these images.

Along the way you will find balloons with a letter in them. Write down the letters as you go because at the very end we want you to guess what the saying is! Here's mine and just in case the letter's not visible, it's the letter 'T'.

There will be THREE grand prizes randomly drawn from the correct answers PLUS there will be hidden prizes along the way so make sure you leave some love as you hop along!

Now we know this is a super big hop, but we wanted to make sure you would get LOTS of inspiration! The hop will be open until the 28^thApril so you will have plenty of time to come back each day with a cuppa to soak it all up! (Just don’t lose the letters you have been collecting!)

Here's my card featuring the Fair Carousel digi by Make it Crafty and JoJo the Clown by Mo Manning. Images printed on MakeitColour Blending Card (awesome paper for blending) and coloured with Copics. I coloured the background with B0000 and wish I had used a darker colour now as it's not showing up in the pic. Papers and all accessories are from my stash and the flower edges were brushed with Tim Holtz DI. There is also a lasercut Flower Leaf Flourish hiding under the flowers which I also coloured with Tim Holtz DI.

We would like to thank our fabulous sponsors, Mo’s Digital Pencil, Make it Crafty, Stamping Bella and Quixotic Paperie for providing the fabulous prizes for this grand carnival hop!

To top things off Mo Manning is also offering the Cotton Candy digi below for $1 throughout the Hop with all proceeds being split between the Make a Wish Foundation in the US and UK.

Have a fun-tabulous time at the Carnival Hop and don't forget to leave a comment for a ‘possible’ chance at winning some hidden treasure
NOW head on over to your next Hop which is the super duper-liciously talented Annika.

Hugs,

Maria

Pink and Green at Magnolia-licious

2011-04-12T07:03:00.008-04:00

Hi Everyone! Hope you've had a fabulous weekend and a great start to the week. It's Tuesday and time for a Colour Challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog. This week our challenge colours are Pink & Green.

I've made a shadow box project featuring Tilda with Stuffed Animal available at Magnolia-licious. Isn't she just darling with her Spring hat and little lamb!

Tilda's coloured with Copics and the background sponged with wheat chalk and Tumbled Glass distress ink. Flowers are a mixture of Primas and Wild Orchid Crafts. I'm loving the lasercut chipboard butterfly and Love sentiment from Make-it-Crafty, which were sponged with Tim Holtz distress inks too. Pearls are from my stash as are the Prima papers. Here's a close-up.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Card Makin' Mamas ~ Embellish it
Dutch Dare Card ~ Spring has Sprung
Anything Goes ~ Pearls
Our Daily Bread Designs ~ No Ribbon
Crafty Pad ~ Spring is in the Air

Big Hugs,

Maria

Help for Japan Blog Hop

2011-04-04T12:00:00.120-04:00

Hello and welcome to a very special blog hop today! The illustrators of Whimsy Stamps have come together to draw a special set of digi images for the purpose of raising money for the relief effort in Japan. All proceeds from the sale of these images will be donated to that cause. Kenny K, Raindrop Echo Designs, Meljens Designs, and Crissy Armstrong all contributed art work.

For the whole month of April, you can purchase the images as a set or individually (your choice) by visiting this page on the Whimsy store site. Please consider helping this special cause by purchasing one or all of the digital images we are offering.

If you have landed here from Crissy's Blog, you are right on track cause my blog is the 2nd stop in the Hop. Crissy has the blog rotation order posted if you need to refer it. The amazing ladies of two design teams have come together to host this blog hop for you! Crissy's Crew from Sundays With Crissy and Denise's DT from Whimsy Stamps have joined forces to design some amazing jaw dropping creations for you.

The hop runs from now through til Sunday, April 10, at noon. You have seven days to hop through all the blogs and enjoy all the lovely creations from these talented people. PLUS there will be several opportunities to win blog candy! Four random commenters will get a chance to receive one of the three individual images or Ann's sentiment set. So be sure to leave comments all along the way for your chance at a free digi! Also, if you post the "Help for Japan" button on your blog's sidebar, you can enter into the draw for the grand prize! The grand prize will consist of the entire digital set made just for this cause as well as a gift certificate donated by Ann of Raindrop Echo Designs worth 10$ to use at the Whimsy Stamps store! To enter, you must help us advertise for this cause by posting the "Help Japan" button on your blog's side bar (just grab it from my side bar) and then get your name on the Inlinkz option on Crissy's post so we can be sure to find the winner.

My project features the fabulously talented Crissy's digi Heartfelt Angel. I coloured her with Copics and sponged Tim Holtz' Tumbled Glass Distress Ink for the background. Papers are a combo of Webster's Pages and Basic Grey, which I distressed with, believe it or not, a pair of scissors. The lace, gold ribbing, doily, Prima rhinestone flourishes and butterflies are all from my stash.

Next you'll want to visit the blog of my uber-talented friend Lisa to continue hopping. Thank you so much for stopping by and for your support of this very worthy cause.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Dream Valley ~ Things with Wings
Secret Crafter ~ Butterflies
Bling It On ~ Bling + Digi
Crafts and Me ~ Yellow
Paper Pretties ~ Bring on the Bling

Good Luck Hugs,

Maria

Colouring Backgrounds with MIC

2011-03-26T05:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Saturday everyone and thanks for popping in! This week's super fun challenge at Make It Colourful is to color backgrounds. Our fabulous sponsor is Magnolia-licious. Here's my card featuring Circus Tilda available at Magnolia-licioius and the Kissing Booth from the new Carnival collection at Make-it-Crafty.

Images were coloured with Copics and I used colours that are a bit brighter than my usual colour palette so the images would pop. Can't remember the name of the DPs I used but the pearls, metal butterflies and Prima flowers are from my stash. The beautiful lasercut chipboard swirly corners are from Make-it-Crafty and they are just perfect.

Now for my background: I added clouds using Tim Holtz Distress Inks. First I sponged some Tumbled Glass DI throughout the whole background and then I used the darker Broken China DI and sponged around using a scalloped Spellbinder die as my template. This is my first time making clouds and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I'm entering the following:

Crafts and Me ~ Anything Goes
The Crafty Pad ~ Use a Digi
Little Red Wagon ~ Butterflies

Don't forget to checkout the jaw-dropping projects the rest of my teamies at Make it Colourful have lined up for you for inspiration. Their links are in my side-bar. Looking forward to seeing your creations so hope you get a chance to play along with us.

MWAH,
Maria

Gotcha at Magnolia-licious!

2011-03-22T03:01:00.047-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone and thanks for visiting. Today's Inspiration challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog is hosted by our talented teamie Angela who has provided the following photo for your inspiration. Hope you join in our challenge. One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend at the Magnolia-licious store.

I couldn't wait to ink up Tilda with Hanging Rabbit from Magnolia's NEW Butterfly Collection. Diana has the stamp on re-order so keep your eyes peeled at the store for new stock.

My daughters would love to catch that sneaky Easter Bunny! So when I saw this Tilda I thought GOTCHA ~ hehehe! Image was coloured with Copics and VersaMagic Chalk. Papers are Gypsy by Basic Grey. Pearls, ribbon and butterflies are from my stash. Other tools I used were Sizzix Sizzlits and Spellbinder dies.

I'm entering my card into the following:

Stampavie & More ~ Spring or Easter
Do You Stack Up ~ Add a Bow
Magnolia Stamp Lovers ~ Use Dies
Charisma Cards ~ Dies
The Crafty Calendar ~ Spring
Stamp Something ~ Something Sweet

Have a great week,

Maria

Easter-Spring Extravaganza Contest

2011-03-21T04:01:00.013-04:00

Happy Spring everyone and welcome to your next Hop on the Magnolia-licious Easter-Spring Extravaganza Contest. Hope you're having fun hopping and getting inspired to play along. All the rules and details for this fabu-licious contest, hosted by the sweet and generous Diana at Magnolia-licious, can be found HERE.

I just couldn't resist pairing sweet Tilda with Lace Jeans with Magnolia's Bunny Background. Tilda is part of the NEW Butterfly Collection and is available as a Pre-Order and the Bunny Background is from last year's Hoppy Easter/Spring Collection. These images remind me so much of my girls as they hunt for Easter Eggs but secretly hope to catch the Easter Bunny too. That sneaky bunny hasn't been caught yet ~ hehehe!

Images were coloured with Copics. Colouring background scenes is a real challenge for me so I tried a dotting technique to give these areas more texture and umph. I've seen this technique throughout blogland but I first saw it on Crissy's Art & Heart. I had a lot of fun with this technique and like how it turned out.

Papers are from the My Mind's Eye, Stella & Rose Collection, called Gertie. Prima Pearls, bunny charm, lace ribbon and butterflies are from my stash. Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The border peeking under the lace was created with the Magnolia Doohickey Old Swedish Lace Cutting Die. Once I masked Tilda onto the Bunny background, I cut out part of the main image with a Spellbinder die.

If your first Hop was at my blog, go back HERE for the complete list of talented ladies participating. You don't want to miss out so visit each for a peek at their gorgeous creations. For your next Hop stop, head on over to the super-talented Patti Jo.

I'm entering my card into the folllowing challenges:

Just Magnolia & Hanglar & Stanglar ~ Fave Colours (pink, blue & yellow)
Stampavie & More ~ Spring or Easter
Magnolia Stamp Lovers ~ Use Dies
The Crafty Calendar ~ Spring
Wild Orchid ~ Use Dies or Punches
Stamp Something ~ Something Sweet

Sending Spring Hoppy Hugs,
Maria

Stitching at Sundays with Crissy

2011-03-20T17:50:00.008-04:00

Stitching is this month's challenge theme on Sundays with Crissy and you can add either real or faux stitching to your project.

This is truly a challenge for me because I've never sewn on my cards. Actually, I don't even pull out the sewing machine to sew clothing ~ hehehe. So I've opted for faux stitch doodling around Crissy's digi image for Wags 'n Whiskers, called He Loves Me. I love this sweet angel and I was worried I would ruin the image with my first attempt at faux stitch doodling BUT it was super fun and I know I'll try this again.

Image was coloured with Copics to colour and the papers are called Gypsy by Basic Grey. Prima Crystal Pearls, flowers and butterflies are from my stash. I used a flourish die to surround the image and sponged around the angel with Tim Holtz' Tumbled Glass DI. I dotted her wings with Copics and then covered them with Star Dust Stickles. I'm entering my card into the following:

There will be five free digi's given to one lucky challenge participant who will be chosen by Random.org at the end of the month! You may now use images from any company and still be included in the draw for the blog candy prize! Those who use one of Crissy's images, either from her rubber or digital collections will be entered twice in the draw. But please respect the rule of no more than three entries per month. Otherwise your entries could be deleted.

Hopefully you're feeling inspired enough to join us! Add stitching to your project either with a machine, the Sew-Easy tool, completely by hand or do faux stitching using a pen and link your project up on the Sundays with Crissy Blog HERE.

Hugs,
Maria

Woohooo ~ Extravaganza-licious Contest

2011-03-18T15:23:00.001-04:00

Who's ready for Spring!!! For 2 days now the snow has been finaaaally melting in SW Ontario and the sun is shining bringing some warmer weather our way. Last weekend we 'sprang' forward our clocks 1 hour and our calendar marks this weekend as the beginning of Spring. Soooooo to celebrate Spring, Diana Crick at Magnolia-licious, is hosting a super fun Easter-Spring Extravaganza Contest complete with 3 fabu-licious prizes. There are 3 fun playing categories which means 3 chances to win one of these fabu-licious prizes:

1st prize for each category - $150.00 Gift Certificate to the Magnolia-licious Store
2nd Prize for each category - $75.00 Gift Certificate to the Magnolia-licious Store
Random prizes chosen by Diana will receive $25.00 Gift Certificates

Projects must be uploaded on the Magnolia-licious Highlites Challenge Blog by 11 pm EST on April 19th. Magnoli-licious Yahoo Group Members will vote for their favourite card/project and the winners will be announced on May 1st, 2011. So what are you waiting for? Head on over HERE for the full contest details.

Come back on Monday for a peek at my Easter-Spring card. I hope it will inspire you to participate.

Big Spring Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Green Challenge

2011-03-08T02:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today's colour challenge at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog is to use the colour GREEN just in time for St. Patrick's Day on March 17. Be sure to check out the DT's fabu-licious creations as they are sure to inspire.

My card features Tilda in the Garden from the new You Are So Special Magnolia Collection available at the Magnolia-licious online store. Isn't she a sweetie and she's holding my absolute fave fave flowers (next to Roses) Peonies! She's going to be available as a mini soon too so stay tuned at the Magnolia-licious online store.

I used VersaMagic's Wheat chalk and Tim Holtz' Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to sponge around the edge of the paper doily. The centre of the doily was sponged with another combo of Tim Holtz' DIs to create a backdrop for Tilda (Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass & Spiced Marmalade). Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the remainder of embellies including the papers, ribbon and pearls are from my stash. I used the following Copics to colour Tilda (Face: E000, E00, E11 & R20 ~ Hair: E25, E27, E30 & E35 ~ Dress: YG03, YG05, YG11 & YG17 ~ Shoes: C1, C3, C5 & C7 ~ Flowers: V0000, V000, V06, V12, RV09 & Y38).

I'm entering my card at:

For Fun Challenges ~ Purple, Green & Yellow
Aly's Sunday Challenge ~ Anything Goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts ~ Spring Flowers
Crafty Pad ~ Ribbon
Gingerloft ~ Flowers
Wild Orchid Crafts ~ Anything Goes
Craft Us Crazy ~ Nature Theme
Totally Papercrafts ~ Pearls & Lace (I hope the doily counts for lace)

So get your green papers or green colouring medium and/or green embellies out and join us at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog for some papercrafting fun. We're looking forward to seeing your projects.

Thanks for your visit and enjoy your week.

Hugs,
Maria

I'm Back with Sad News

2011-03-07T11:12:00.007-05:00

Hello friends and thank you for visiting after my long absence. I took a break to spend time with my father who suddenly became very ill in December. It is with a heavy heart that I share with you he passed away late January after a short but heroic battle with cancer. Here's my fave picture of me and my father taken on my wedding day. His absence has left a huge void and I miss him greatly.

Thank you to so many of you who have dropped me a line and/or sent a card of support and understanding. Your thoughts and prayers have meant so very much to me and my family. I will be slowly coming back to DT commitments and posting projects but you may find I will be a bit quiet for a while in between posts.

Hugs,
Maria

A Break

2010-12-15T17:58:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone! Happy Holiday Hugs to you and your families. I hope 2011 brings you many happy, healthy and prosperous surprises.

Please note I will be taking a crafting and blogging break for the next little while to spend time with family. I will not be posting or blogging for many weeks.

Hugs,
Maria

White Magnolia-licious Challenge

2010-12-14T03:01:00.026-05:00

It's time for another fabulous Magnolia-licious challenge and if you're surrounded by lots of snow like me, you'll have lots of 'WHITE' to inspire you for our colour challenge this week.

Merry Christmas from sweet Lazy Summer Day Tilda in stock at the Magnolia-licious online store. I used the Swiss Dots and Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folders on the layer of white cardstock and added Silver Ice Stickles along the distressed edges. Tilda is surrounded by a large snowflake made with a Spellbinder die and then covered in glitter with pearls and rhinestone embellies. Background for Tilda sponged with blue chalk as was the distressed circle edge. Coloured Tilda with my Copics (E000, E01, E11, C5, C7, C9, R000, R20, R81, R83, R85 & R89) and used Stickles for her wings. I also added the following embellies: Prima rhinestone swirls ~ snowflakes made with a MS punch and glittered ~ mesh pearl ribbon ~ and a Whimsy Christmas ticket sentiment.

Play along with us and don't forget to checkout the DTs gorgeous creations for inspiration. One lucky participant will win a $25 Gift Certificate to spend at the Magnolia-licious store.

Happy Holiday Hugs,

Maria

Christmas at A Spoon Full of Sugar

2010-12-07T03:15:00.004-05:00

Hi Again Everyone and thanks for stopping by for my second post of the day. This week's challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar is Christmas. Take a peek at my Teamies creations for inspiration and we hope you will join us with a project of your own just in time for the holidays. We have 2 generous sponsors this week: Denise of Whimsy Stamps is offering a $15 Gift Certificate and Nikki from Bunny Zoe's Crafts is offering a $10 Gift Certificate ~ woohoo.

I couldn't wait to use my new Webster's Pages Christmas DP with this beautiful Bildmalarna image, Mimosa Lights the Way, purchased at Bunny Zoe's Crafts. Mimosa was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black in onto Xpress-it Blending Card and coloured with Copics. I had a bit of a hard time colouring with the reds as they tend to bleed like no other colours do. For embellishments, I added a felt Poinsetta flower, sentiment sticker from Michael's, yellow rhinestone star on top of the tree, Cuttlebug corner die, round red rhinestones and some yellow flourishes that were left in my stash. I didn't add any other layers of DP because I didn't want to 'hide' the pretty paper. The balls on the Christmas tree spell out Joy, Love, Believe and Miracle ~ perfect holiday sentiments.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Dutch Dare ~ Christmas Card/Tag/Ornament
Artistic Stamper ~ Christmas

This is the last A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge for 2010 and the challenge will stay open until January 10, 2011. We'll be back with a new challenge on Tuesday, January 2011.

Hugs,
Maria

Pink, Blue and Green at Magnolia-licious

2010-12-07T02:01:00.005-05:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone! This week's colour challenge at Magnolia-licious is to use Pink, Blue and Green on your creations. Checkout the beautiful creations made by my fabbie Teamies. Hope to see you join in the fun.

I made a gift bag using my fave My Mind's Eye DP and the sweet Tilda Wants a Hug, in-stock at Magnolia-licious. Image stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with Copics.

Felt flowers made with my new fave Sizzix die called 3D Flowers, available at Scrapalicious. I added pearls to the centers and punched out leaves with my EK Success hand punch. The pearls on Tilda's ponytails were a very light green so I coloured them with Copic YG03 to make it a more vibrant green. Beautiful ribbon was a gift from my fabulous friend Bernie. Prima Pearl swirls, hatpins plus heart charm are all from my stash and finish off the bag. Copic colours: E000, E00, E11, R20, White Sharpie Poster Paint Pen for the dots on Tilda's cheeks, YG11, YG03, R0000, R000, R81, R83 & R85.

I followed Angie's fabulous tutorial for the 6" Circle Gift Bag. This pic provides a side view.

I hope I've inspired you to join in the fun and submit a creation. You have until December 21 AND one lucky participant will be selected by Random.org to win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Magnolia-licious online store ~ woohoo!

Happy Hugs,
Maria

Gift Card Holder

2010-12-05T04:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday Everyone! I'm sneaking in a quick post today as I've been so busy and yet still very behind getting ready for the holidays. We now have snow in SW Ontario accompanied by gusting howling winds - brrrrrr. This girl is not a fan of the cold snow and icy weather!

I've made a few gift card holders for Christmas and thought I'd share one today BUT there is no specific image showcased. I've got plans to use my Mini Magnolias when they arrive and think they would be perfect here. Here's a peek at the inside:

I'm entering the following challenges:

Crafty Creations ~ Gift Card Holder
Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Anything But a Card (Winter Theme)

Have a great Sunday.

Hugs,

Maria

Mini Magnolias are Here!

2010-11-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! Magnolia-licious has the new Mini Magnolia Holiday Collection in stock HERE so hurry before they sell out! The possibilities for the minis are endless, including gift tags and smaller cards and gifts. I can't wait for mine to arrive so I can play.

Hugs,
Maria

One-of-a-Kind Show and Sale

2010-11-26T07:30:00.004-05:00

Happy Friday Everyone! Short post today to announce I'm participating in a

One-of-a-Kind Show and Sale

in collaboration with Cossa's Creations on Sunday, November 28 from 1 - 5 PM at the SARDO CLUB located at 770 Maxwell Street in Sarnia, Ontario. Please email me for directions.

The show will feature unique handmade jewellery and Christmas accessories by Cossa's Creations PLUS my all-occasion handmade cards shown here on my blog. Just in time for Christmas for that special someone. But don't forget about spoiling yourself too!

Hope to see you there. Hugs,
Maria

Make It Crafty's Anything But A Card

2010-11-25T01:22:00.009-05:00

Ooooooh I'm so late folks but I hope my first eeeeeeever attempt at a 3D project makes up for it! It's time for another super fun challenge at Make It Crafty. Our super talented and innovative leader Zoe is our Hostess and she's challenging you to Anything But a Card. AND for eye-popping inspiration, be sure to checkout the talented DTs outstanding creations.

I was so nervous about making a 3D project because this is 100% outside my comfort zone but what is a challenge if not that. The Wishing Well template was soley developed and created by our Zoe Extraordinaire ~ a genius ~ at Make It Crafty. The kit comes complete with easy to follow step-by-step written and photo instructions PLUS it is so easy to assemble and this is coming straight from me a NEWBIE at 3D. All you need is a cutting blade, glue and whatever embellies you want. AND the hardest part was waiting for the glue to dry! The kit comes flat with ALL the pieces cut out and marked. Oooooh and once assembled, you can turn the handle and the bucket will lift up or down.

I paired up the well with Fairydust Tilda, available at Magnolia-licious, and used lots of goodies to embellish. Prima flowers and the lavender pearls are from my stash. The lace ribbon, pinky/violet ruffle, string of pearls wrapped around the front posts, and the lacey/gauzey trim on the roof were all bought at my local Fabric store at bargain prices too. So what are you waiting for?

I'm entering the following challenges:

Hodge Podge ~ Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog ~ Flowers
Gingerloft ~ Outdoors

You have 2 weeks to finish and submit a project PLUS be in the running for 1 of 3 Wishing Well Kits. Yup, there are going to be 3 WINNERS for this challenge and the Wishing Well will make a wonderful Christmas present ~ woohoo!

Hugs,
Maria

Inspiration Challenge at Magnolia-licious and A Winner

2010-11-23T06:01:00.056-05:00

Here's my second post of the day and how often does that happen ~ lol! Is anyone else panicking because Christmas is literally around the corner ~ 4 weeks yikes! Well I hope my card and those of my uber talented and sweet teamies at the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog inspire you to ink up those festive holiday cards. We are so pleased so many of you played along with our first challenge and we hope you'll come and play with us for our Inspiration Challenge too. Deadline to enter is December 6 and Diana has generously provided one Magnolia Mistletoe Doohickey Die as the next prize for a randomly selected participant.

My card features Tilda with Fir, available at the Magnolia-licious online store but currently on re-order. I stamped my Imaginisce sentiment happy Holidays right on the Bo Bunny Cut Out DP with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. DP and Copic colours were a challenge for me but I had an adventure playing with colours outside my comfort zone. I made my first felt flower with one of my new birthday toys ~ Sizzix Bigz Die-Flowers 3D ~ and placed a lavender pearl in the centre. Embellies including gauzy ribbon are from my stash but the rhinestone snowflake was purchased from my local dollar store.

Copics used are as follows: Face: E0000, E00, E11 & R20~ Hair: E30, E35, E25 & E29 ~ Hat, Shoes & Coat: V0000, V01, V12, V06 & V95 in that order & Icicle Stickles for the trim on Tilda's hat and coat plus her mitts ~ Stockings: V0000 & V01 with Blender ~ Fir Tree: Y28, E30, E35, YG11, YG03 & W3.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Paper Cutz ~ Lots of Bling
Creative Inspirations ~ Winter Woodland
Paper Play ~ Let it Snow
Really Reasonable Ribbon ~ Christmas
Stampin' B's ~ Snowflakes
ABC Challenge ~ X is for Christmas with Optional Flowers

Thank you to everyone who participated in my celebration blog candy. Your lovely comments and good wishes warmed my heart. Random.org has selected #25, Kathy Gerace, as the winner of the $25 Gift Certificate to the Magnolia-licious Online Store. Congratulations Kathy!! Please email me so I can provide you with the info on how to redeem your gift certificate.

Have a great day,
Maria

Anything Goes with A Spoon Full of Sugar

2010-11-23T04:01:00.110-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Anything goes is this week's challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar. Check out the DT's fabulous creations for inspiration and get inky for a chance to win a $10 GIft Certificate from our generous sponsor DRS Designs.

My card features Snowy Hug which is available at the Magnolia-licious online store but currently on re-order. I loooooove this image b/c it reminds me of the snowmen we make every year at the first snowfall. I used non-holiday papers from my stash which were cut and ready to go but can't remember if they were part of a class kit so I don't have any info on the papers, flowers or buttons. The rhinestone snowflakes are a recent find at my local dollar store. The felt ribbon is a recycled piece from my daughter's blouse. It was 2 long pieces used to tie a bow at the back but one half of it came off so I clipped the other half and will save it to use for more cards. My family ROFL at my idea but I love it and I know my friend Leah would be ooooh so proud of my attempt to recycle and reuse ~ hahaha!

I meant to stamp the Imaginisce Be Merry sentiment with Vintage Sepia Versafine to match the CS but used Versafine Black Onyx. It was a bit stark so my friend Zoe suggested I haze it a bit with the brown so its now blurry/smudgey/hazey on purpose in case you're wondering ~ lol. BTW a little TIP: I find Versafine ink works the absolute best for clear stamps and sentiments and doesn't leave that bubbly look impression like other inks.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Magnolia Stamp Lovers ~ Punches
Pile it On ~ Winter
Totally Papercrafts ~ Snow & Snowflakes
Crafts and Me ~ Glitter

Thanks for your visit.

Hugs,
Maria

Red, Green and Gold with Little Christmas Angel

2010-11-18T04:56:00.007-05:00

Happy Hump Day! It's already the middle of the week and where does the time go?!

Here's my creation for this month's Red, Green and Gold challenge at Sundays with Chrissy. I've used Chrissy's adorable NEW Little Christmas Angel digi image, available at Whimsy Stamps. I used another of Bo Bunny's DP Cut Outs from their Tis the Season Collection and added flowers I stickled around with Crystal, green pearls, red crinkled ribbon I recycled from chocolate packaging and added a gold bell. The gold snowflake brads added to the centre of the flowers, I've had forever in my stash. I made the small angel charm and hung it with gold chain link from the light green brad on the red bow. Image was coloured with Copics and I see that the pic did not clearly capture my light colouring of her dress with blue and gray.

This month LSL Diversified is sponsoring with another generous prize they donated to give to one lucky challenge participant:

LSL Diversified is a wonderful Canadian paper crafting store. I don't think you'll find lower prices on all our favourite crafting supplies anywhere else in Canada. They also have really low shipping rates and super fast service!

Chrissy will add to this package of stamping related accessories from LSLD, and throw in three of her digital images of the winner's choice from either Whimsy Stamps or Squigglefly! All you need to do to be eligible for the draw is to use one of her digital images on your creation. If you are just playing in the challenge, you may use any image you wish from anywhere. This is just a rule for the candy draw.

And now, it's your turn! The challenge runs all month until November 30th at midnight. Please enter a link HERE to your challenge card only and not the whole blog so we can find your entry.

Hugs,
Maria

Distressing with A Spoon Full of Sugar

2010-11-16T09:48:00.004-05:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone! I can't believe I've been MIA for one week but we've had a lot going on here so it couldn't be helped. Stay tuned as I have a few posts planned for the week.

This week's challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar is distressing and our sponsor this week is Blackleaf Studio. I am a recent happy convert to everything distressing and now I only cringe a teeny tiny bit ~ lol ~ when tearing into my pretty papers or sponging ink around them. You have until next Monday, November 22 to submit a creation and I hope you'll get a chance to give it a try.

I've inked up Magnolia's Tilda Wants a Hug from the Merry Christmas 2010 Collection, available at the Magnolia-licious online store. You should see the rest of the fabulous stamps in the Merry Christmas 2010 Collection . AND if you loooove Magnolias as much as me, then don't forget to enter my blog candy HERE for a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Magnolia-licious online store.

This image is one of my faves because it reminds me of my youngest who still loves getting hugs and cuddles. I had a chuckle when I read the sentiment on the DP too because combined with this Tilda, I couldn't think of anything else but "All I want for Christmas is.......THIS MUCH". Don't all kids just want it all at Christmas ~ teeheehee! This card was super easy to put together because I used the Bo Bunny, Tis the Season, Cut Outs, available at Skribbles and Scraps. I bought a few sheets so I can whip up some Christmas cards using various cut outs and then just pop on a different image on each. I kept the card simple with the red pearls at the corners as the only embellishments so Tilda and the papers remain the focus.

I'm entering the card into the following challenges as well:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Christmas
Creative Inspirations - Christmas
ABC Challenge - H is for Holiday

Have a great day and see you tomorrow for my Sundays with Chrissy creation.

Hugs,
Maria

Snow and/or Snowflakes with A Spoon Full of Sugar

2010-11-09T17:26:00.012-05:00

Oh how times flies and so my apologies because my card is late for this week's challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar. Our challenge this week is Snow and/or Snowflakes which is perfect for those already working on holiday cards.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is the marvelous Nikki of Bunny Zoe's Crafts and 1 lucky player will win a £10 Gift Certificate to spend in her store. Hope you will be able to play along with us this week because we'd love to see your creations. So hop on over to checkout the DT's fabulous creations for inspiration.

I did something totally different for my creation this week. Can you guess? The Magnolia Snowman with Lantern is NOT coloured with Copics ~ shocker, no! I took a fabulous distress ink class with the talented Angie Hunt this past weekend. This is one of the images we coloured in class and as you can very well tell, I need LOTS OF PRACTICE.

Papers are Bo Bunny from their Midnight Frost Collection. Charm and brads are from my stash and the blingy snowflakes were made with Micro Fine Glitter Ritz and Sookwang Paper, all available at Skribbles and Scraps. Love this new glitter and it has so many possibilities with the Sookwang Paper.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon ~ Use Some Red
ABC Christmas Challenge ~ W for Winter Wonderland
Magnolia Down Under ~ Make Your Own Embellishments (my snowflakes)
Just Magnolia ~ Anything Goes & Beads (my pearls)

Hugs,
Maria

Magnolia-licious Colour Challenge & Celebration Candy

2010-11-09T06:01:00.066-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to my first post as part of the DT for the NEW Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog! We're so excited about the new challenge blog and hope you will be too! Our wonderful Team Leader Candy has chosen Pink and Yellow as our first colour challenge.

Our challenges run on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. We'd love for you to join in and submit your creations so we hope you get inky with a Magnolia image and play along with us. Deadline to enter the Pink and yellow colour challenge is November 22. Oooooooh and to encourage you all to join the Challenge Blog, Diana will be pulling random names as people join for fun surprise gifts ~ more people, more surprise gifts ~ woohoo! Soooo head on over for more exciting details and don't forget to check out the rest of the fabulous DT's creations for inspiration. Links to my teamies listed in my sidebar.

I've created my first ever Tri-Shutter card and used my favourite Princess Tilda for the main image. She is out of stock at the moment at the Magnolia-licious store but she is on re-order. This Tilda is one of my faves from the 2010 Fairytale Collection and she is so versatile for birthdays, thank yous or just because. Here's a frontal view of the card all folded up.

I followed Beate's fabbie video tutorial on how to make the Tri-Shutter card and used the Scor-Buddy (mini Scor-Pal) to neatly and perfectly align all my folds. Papers are from The Girls Paperie, Paper Girl Collection, and the yellow polka dot paper is MME from the Be-Loved Collection. Heart rhinestone, flower, charm, brad, rhinestones for the shoes and crown plus the ribbon are all from my stash. Sentiment is Stampin' Up ~ leaves punched with EK Success leaf punch and I also used a MS edge border punch. I used Stickles to add bling because all princesses have bling ~ lol.

Here's a view of the shutter card all opened up and unfolded. It's pretty cool once you've cut out and pasted all the paper on the different panels. I'd say that was the most time-consuming part about making the shutter card. But it was super easy and loads of fun to try something new.

AND to celebrate becoming part of the fabulous DT for the Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog, I'm offering a $25 Gift Certificate for one lucky winner to spend at the Magnolia-licious store. Deadline to enter my candy is November 22 at 8 PM EST and I will announce a winner on November 23. How's that for an early Christmas present!

There are no requirements to be eligible for the candy but if you spread the word about the New Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog by posting the blinkie below on your sidebar, that would be greatly appreciated. If you'd like to follow my blog that would be great too but again NOT a requirement. Enter for a chance to win with Mr. Linky below but only ONCE please. HOWEVER, if you submit a creation in our Pink and Yellow challenge, you can enter my candy a SECOND TIME with Mr. Linky here. One lucky winner will be selected with Random.org.

Hugs,

Maria

Exciting Dancing News

2010-11-08T09:53:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone! I'm bursting with excitement!

Diana Crick has announced a NEW Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog that will go live tomorrow, Tuesday, November 9. AND she's invited me to join the team! Woohoo ~ I'm so over the moon ecstatic that I'm singing, dancing, twirling and doing the smiling giggling thingy! This is such a HUGE dream come true for me! I can't fully express into words how appreciative and happy I am to be given this great opportunity!

The super talented line-up of crafters on the DT are listed on my sidebar and I hope you will help me congratulate my new awesome teamies. Prepare to be amazed by their inspiring creations.

I'll post a blinkie with a link to the NEW Challenge Blog bright and early tomorrow morning along with my first project plus a SURPRISE to celebrate my Happy News. Hope to see you tomorrow for the big reveal.

Dancing Hugs,
Maria

Birthday Candy Winners

2010-11-04T06:21:00.016-04:00

Hello everyone and thank you for participating in my birthday blog candy, for your sweet comments and for your warm and wonderful birthday wishes. I'm overwhelmed by your response and in such good spirits I've decided to add more candy as a surprise. So........ there are 3 winners selected by Random.org as follows:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
22 28 50
Timestamp: 2010-11-04 02:42:22 UTC

# 22 Leah the Orange wins Berry Sweet Tilda and the You're So Sweet sentiment HERE
# 28 Denise Esteves wins Tilda in Veil
# 50 Forgotten Scraps wins Flower Girl Tilda

Tilda in Veil

Flower Girl Tilda

Congratulations and please email me your address by Sunday, November 7, so I can mail out your prizes. If I don't hear from you by Sunday, another winner will be selected on Monday.

Hugs,

Maria

Relish to Embellish with ASFOS and Candy

2010-11-02T00:35:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! A Spoon Full of Sugar challenges you to RELISH TO EMBELLISH this week with our generous sponsor Black Leaf Studios. Checkout my wonderful team mates' creations for inspiration and hope to see you submit a project too.

I made this card for a very sweet friend and I hope she likes it. Digi Curtsy Kaylee from Some Odd Girl is a change from my Magnolias but I so love her spunky fun outlook. I think she is my fave but a few of the SOG lovelies fell into my cart as I had my girls peering over my shoulders saying, 'pick that one and that one and that one too mommy...." ~ hahaha.

I don't have a lot of details today as the layout sort of came together as I started 'doing' and the papers and embellies are all from my stash. I also found a pack of my fave Flora Doodles hiding under a mountain of paper on my craft table and I think they worked out perfect for this gal and the DPs.

As promised, here's today's candy: Berry Sweet Tilda with the sentiment You're so Sweet. Candy expires on Wednesday, November 3 at 10PM EST and I will announce a winner on Thursday, November 4 so be sure to link up with Mr. Linky for a chance to win.

Good Luck Hugs,
Maria

Halloween Treat Winners

2010-11-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

Yup, title says WINNERS! I have 2 Loving Tilda with Hat stamps so thought I would have a surprise and have two winners so each of my girls could pick a number from 1 to 29.

So the Halloween Treat winners are:

#10 Danielle C. AND
#15 b

Congrats ladies. Please email me your addy deets so I can mail out your packages right away.

Thanks for participating everyone! I have a bit more candy this week to celebrate my upcoming birthday. So stay tuned for more candy surprises and also for my A Spoon Full of Sugar creation on Tuesday.

Enjoy your Monday,

Maria

Happy Halloween with MDUC and A Treat

2010-10-30T16:12:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween weekend everyone! Time for trick or treaters and fun dressing up. My girls and hubby love love love Halloween while I stay behind handing out treats. So how about a blog treat too! Keep reading for all the deets at the end of my post.

This week's Magnolia Down Under Challenge falls on Halloween so we're challenging you to create something Halloween-inspired. It could be Halloween colours, costumes or even something to do with candy.

I want to take this opportunity to also express my heartfelt thanks to the MDUC team. I've had an amazing time with these super talented gals and am very thankful they honoured me with a Guest DT spot for the month of October. This card brings my Guest DT spot to a close but I'll be back playing with their challenges as a participant. Be sure to checkout the awesome DT's creations for inspiration so you can get inky and join in the fun too!

I've had this Tilda for a while and thought it was time I inked her up. She is currently sold out at Magnolia-licious but if you send Diana an email she'd be happy to order it for you. Most of the embellishments and papers used on the card are from my stash. Some are scraps I've had for over a year ~ eek. I've been hoarding these googly eyes since March when I scooped them up in Florida. They are so cool all propped up on mini springs so they move around like they're following you ~ oooooooh forgot to take a side view pic for you.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Sketchy Colors ~ Green, Orange and Black
Little Red Wagon ~ Halloween
Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Black and Purple

OK, are you ready for my Halloween treat for one lucky participant? Here's Loving Tilda from the 2009 Love Collection. All you have to do is link with Mr. Linky below by Sunday, October 31 at 10pm EST. If you want to post a pic in your sidebar with a link back here that would be greatly appreciated but is not required. A random winner will be announced on Monday, November 1.

Happy Halloween Hugs,
Maria

Vintage Plus Sketch with Make It Crafty

2010-10-27T06:00:00.129-04:00

Hi everyone! It's the 4th Wednesday of the month so its time for a Fun challenge at Make It Crafty. We have a sketch for you and we're challenging you to make it vintage.

I've distressed every possible DP edge on my creation and Zoe will have restocks of the distressing tool soon. I've used only 2 DPs to showcase this exclusive Make It Crafty Open Window digi which I combined with Magnolia's Longing Tilda stamp my friend Nikki sent me. Isn't Tilda just perfect with this window? I cut up some extra flowers too and popped them up around Tilda's hand. Images were printed on Xpress It and coloured with Copics. DPs and embellies are all from my stash as I'm trying to use up what I have so I can of course make room for more new things. The flowers were made with my new Magnolia Doohickey Doily Flowers die, available at Magnolia-licious and the swirls were made with a Marianne's Creatables die.

Oooh oooh ooh, have you heard the news? Make It Crafty has RUBBAH stamps too! Look at Zoe's first Santa Rubber Stamps just in time for the holidays. They each come with a sentiment too ANNNNND a 7% off introductory discount this week. Check it out my crafty friends cause you won't be disappointed. I can't wait for mine to arrive!

Be sure to checkout the talented DTs creations for inspiration. We'd love to see your creations so have fun, get inky and submit for us to see.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Totally Tilda ~ Pink & Pearls
Top Tip Tuesday ~ Anything Goes
Stamp Something ~ Digi Day
Aly's Sunday Sketch ~ Distressed
Just Magnolia ~ Think Pink

On a final note, I'm so excited to be going to the Paper Pickle today to take a class with the extraordinaire Linda Heavens who is going to teach how to combine Copics with Prismas. Woohoo! Hopefully I'll remember my camera so I can take some pics and share next time.

Thank you so much for visiting and for any comments you might leave. Have a fabulous day.

Hugs,
Maria

Winner, Winner, Winner

2010-10-26T15:00:00.005-04:00

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my blog candy. I so appreciated your visits and comments. I'm a day late posting the winner as I wanted to make sure I had a chance to visit everyone's blog. It's such a nice adventure to meet so many wonderful people from all over the world who share a passion ~ ok sometimes maybe its an obsession lol ~ to create beautiful handmade expressions from the heart.

I've been having major computer issues lately so I had my girls pick a random number from 1 to 95. AND the winner is ..................

#25 ~ ROSEMARY B.

Congratulations Rosemary! Please email me your address so I can mail your prize package.

I have a some wonderful news to announce very soon PLUS my birthday is coming up. So I'm going to have more blog candy to celebrate. Stay tuned.

Hugs,
Maria

Make It Crafty Rubber News!

2010-10-24T21:00:00.001-04:00

Make it Crafty has just released Santa in Rubber! Not only can you print Make it Crafty images, now you can also get all inky fingers and stamp! These funky Santa images are so different from anything I've seen in Blogland that I've already placed my order. Christmas is only 8 weeks away so this is perfect timing. Annnnnd Zoe is offering 7% off as an introductory price for one week. So check it out HERE. There will be more images available soon in RUBBAH so stay tuned so you're one of the first to get your hands on Make it Crafty RUBBAH!!

Have a great Sunday,
Maria

Thanksgiving Sweet Candy

2010-10-24T18:00:00.007-04:00

Edited to Add: Please scroll down for more recent posts.

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we're celebrating Thanksgiving in Canada so I thought it would be the perfect day to post sweet calorie-free blog candy to say THANKS to YOU for your visits and kind comments. One lucky winner will receive a few of my favourite things ~ all new and I will ship worldwide:

Candy Includes:

Hanglar & Stanglar Girl with Heart String rubber stamp
assorted charms, hatpins, lace, pearls and Wild Orchid flowers
2 Clear Crystal Drops (Chandeliers) on silver stems
2 of my favourite CB embossing folders ~ Swirls and Swiss Dots
PLUS my Bat Tilda card which I created for the Make it Crafty DT challenge HERE

To Enter:

Spread the word about my candy in a post or in your blog sidebar with a link back here
Enter ONLY ONCE using Mr. Linky below please
Become a Follower ONLY if you want to (not required)
Deadline to enter is Sunday, October 24 at 8pm EST.

Easy peasy, right! Thanks for taking a peek and for all your endearing comments which mean so much. Good Luck to everyone!

Maria