FOR THE LUCK OF THE IRISH

Pinque Peacock is having their first challenge on their new blog.  It as for creating altered masks.  This was a time consuming but interesting project to work on.  This is my second and I am hoping to sneak in one more before the end of the day.  

Here are the rules:

1.  Your altered mask MUST fit within of one of the following themes (the theme you followed on your mask must be recognizable to the challenge moderators)

•  Valentine's Day/LOVE 
•  Mardi Gras
•  St. Patrick's Day
•  Shabby Chic 
•  Steampunk

2. Your entry must have some sort of Bling element. Lets see some sparkle!

3. The mask must feature your choice, either feathers, ribbon or lace, or some combination of these.

For my entry this time I have chosen a St. Patrick's Day theme.

Here are the details:

This was my mask as I had just started.

 

and here it is complete!

Close up of Left Side:

Close up of Right Side:

I hope you have enjoyed viewing this fun creation.  Come back later to see what I create for Mardi Gras!  Have a great day and if you are on the East Coast/MidWest of the US stay warm!  These bitter cold days are wearing thin on me!!!

WHO IS THAT?

Who is that hiding behind that mask?

Pinque Peacock opened a new challenge blog with this first unusual challenge - create an altered mask.  

1.  Your altered mask MUST fit within of one of the following themes (the theme you followed on your mask must be recognizable to the challenge moderators)

•  Valentine's Day/LOVE 
•  Mardi Gras
•  St. Patrick's Day
•  Shabby Chic 
•  Steampunk

2. Your entry must have some sort of Bling element. Lets see some sparkle!

3. The mask must feature your choice, either feathers, ribbon or lace, or some combination of these.

I decided this might be fun to try and I gathered some masks and a bunch of my odd assortment of trims, and then I put it off for nearly the entire month.  Now that we are down to the wire I finally got to it.  

I was so out of my comfort zone that I never took photos as I was going along but it has lots of feathers on the left, there is a slew of different ribbons and lace hanging down the side and it's rimmed in lace.  For the bling the eyes and edges are rimmed in pearls and there is a vintage button with a sparkly stone in a flower mixed into the feathers.  

Here it is - 

Here are a few close-ups so you can see some of the details a bit better.

I was happy with the end results but the photos really don't do it justice.  It's so hard to capture the details with everything being black but I wanted to keep with the elegance and there just wasn't any color I wanted to add to it that I felt would keep the feel.


Although it is down to the wire, if I finish up my DT assignments I may try and sneak in another mask since I have supplies to make a few more.  

Hope that you have enjoyed this unusual project.  Thanks for stopping by.  Please come back soon!

FOR THE BIRDS!

Yesterday I created a card for sketch challenge #YNSFFCO9 at 'Your Next Stamp.com' and Crafty Creations Challenges #256 For The Birds.  

Here is the sketch:

Michael's Mom loves cardinals so I had picked up this great Jolee Cardinal awhile back and was so happy to get to use it.  

Here is my card:

I know the background looks white here but it is actually a cream color and the box on the right is a pale blue with tiny dots.

I hope that you enjoyed that little peek of creativity.  My plan is to get to a few things tonite so that I will have more to share with you tomorrow.  

WELCOME BABY WITH THE SCRAPS TO TREASURE TEAM

Welcome to the February challenge of the Scraps to Treasure Team.  

You should have arrived here from Robin's blog, Scrap & Chat .

Our theme for this month is Babies Galore!  Robin, Our Team Leader is expecting her 6th Grandchild any time now.  We are creating cards, layouts or other projects to welcome a new baby - using only our scraps.  My Pastor just had a new Grandson so the timing on this challenge was just perfect.  

I decided to create a card.

I chose a batch of scraps from my basket.

Next I selected this sketch from Mojo Monday.

And here is my card:

Now go and gather up some of your scraps and create your own baby creation and stop back at the Scraps to Treasure blog and enter it in the challenge for a chance to win a great prize.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Today is Valentine's Day - the day of love.  Last night I finally finished a project for my love.  

It's a mini-book of love quotes.  I created it for my February 15 Design Team challenge project at Colorful Creations new challenge blog.  The challenge was to be inspired by 'LOVE'.  

And without further ado...here it is:

I hope you enjoyed this fun little project.  (and I sure hope that Michael will like it even more!) I know I struggled with it...I find it much easier to work in a large size like 12x12 than a small one like this 4x4.  I did enjoy all the different touches I was able to use though - ribbon, fun trims, stickers, rhinestones, die cuts, punches, washi tape, buttons and more, oh and the SEI With All My Heart collection.  

I am also entering this project in the SEI Lifestyle Blogspot Rustic Valentine challenge, Fussy and Fancy Friday Be My Valentine challenge #107,  and Word Art Wednesday #119 Anything Goes.  

Hope that your Valentine's Day has been awesome!  Stop back again over the weekend as I hope to have more inspiration for you.

I AM FINALLY...

NOT MARKED

Yesterday was the launch date of the latest Mary DeMuth book 'Not Marked'. This book is probably the most important book (other than of course The Bible) I have ever read.  

Mary has openly shared her story - all of it  - from the early childhood rapes and sexual abuse to her healing through the almighty power of Jesus Christ.  

I posted this journal page of my experiences on my blog in May 2013.

(taken from my May 2013 blog post)

To me it spoke a lot of the conflicts that are tearing me apart.  It is symbolic of the struggles I am going through emotionally, physically and spiritually in my life and how it feels to be torn apart. Inside this broken heart is the little girl who was the first one to encounter the abuses of this life.  I know that I am not the only person to have had a dysfunctional childhood, bad teens and abusive twenties (in fact, I know many personally who have had it much much worse) and I am fortunate to have found the love and grace of God to help me through the years ahead and to live with and deal with the memories of the past.  But...this does not negate the painful feelings that exist and continue through the behaviors created in defense to try to prevent these things from reoccurring.  They are old and inappropriate but hard to eliminate.  They often cause me to seek approval in all the wrong places and by doing all the wrong things.  This is always followed up with guilt, depression and unforgiveness both to myself and often by others in my life.  The one good thing that has happened for me recently is that I have finally started to realize the enormity of the love and forgiveness of God.  No matter what stupid mistake I make He is forgiving in ways that humans simply are not.  That is helping me to forgive myself although not as quickly or totally as I need to in order to escape the pain of the depression and anxiety.  I realized that I need to forgive myself because these past, present and future sins and mistakes were all taken and nailed to the cross of our Savior Jesus Christ.  If He did this for me what right do I have to hang on to the unforgiveness of others or for not forgiving myself.

Mary's book took me through the pain of 3 rapes and other childhood sexual abuse, through the flashbacks, the tears, the denials and left me with the most comforting healing image at the book's end.  

For anyone that has been abused, and for anyone who has ever loved someone that has been abused you simply MUST read this book.  

Get your copy of the paperback here.

or the Kindle edition here.

THE LAYOUT THAT TOOK FOREVER...

I knew what photos I was going to use for this.  I knew what papers I was going to use, what trims (well most of them) but for some reason everyday I sat at my art table and tried and tried to get this done.  Finally yesterday it all pulled together and here it is...

I started with the sketch over at Paper Secrets:

AND ...

you must include items, colors, brands, etc. beginning with each of the letter of the word - KISS.  You must use a different item for each letter ( for example you CAN NOT use white cardstock to represent "w" and "c" as "w"hite & "c"ardstock). 

- See more at: http://paper-secrets.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-1st-sketch-challenge-kiss.html#sthash.4MAlIgMJ.dpuf


I also wanted to use this layout for the challenge over at Scrap Our Stash. 

Here's how this challenge works:
Create a layout with Red AND/OR Pink (50% of layout) with the following stash items: 

S. - Stitching (machine, hand or faux), W. - Washi Tape
A. - Arrow, K. - Kraft paper/embellishment
(Arrow, wash tape and kraft embellishments must be PREMADE/PACKAGED scrap products and each letter MUST be a separate item.)

And finally here is my layout:

For Paper Secrets you can see the sketch.  And here are my KISS items.  K - K & Company red overlay. 
I  - Edges of everything are Inked.  S - SEI Patterned papers.  S - lots of Stitching.

For Scrap Our Stash the word is SWAK (Sealed With a Kiss) Layout must be at least 50% red and/or pink.  S - Stitching red & white bakers twine at top. W - Washi Tape - On the photos top of left, bottom of right. A - Arrow - 2 of them on either side of the journaling block. K - Kraft paper embellishment - paper chain underneath photos.

Hope that you have enjoyed my efforts!  I hope to be spending time at the art table again today - it's cold and snowing out so I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.  Have a great day and a wonderful weekend.  

LOVE STRUCK WITH THE KRAZY CRAFTING CREW

Are you Love Struck by someone that you never thought would enter your life, your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, son or daughter? Maybe even your pet!

Well here we are again for another Krazy Crafting Crew blog hop, Lissa Marie at "So Many Crafts, So Little Time" will be your hostess today if you would like to start there, but since you are here... let's have some fun!

If you have never hopped before it is fun and inspiring, grab your favorite drink and stay awhile for these inspirational valentine projects that are linked one after another. Lissa Marie has provided a layout sketch and a card sketch for the team to go with, and have them show you their take on how they will interpret this piece of art. We only have to do one or the other but I opted to do both. Stick around for the blog candy that Lissa is giving away for those who have hopped by. Here are the sketches courtesy of Google on the layout and a sketch Lissa re-interpretated of the scraplift of a card she saw on Google.. oh yes, she is a scraplifter!

Layout Sketch:

My Layout:

I am also entering this layout into the color palette challenge at Creating with Paper and More.  I used 4 of the 5 colors.

Card Sketch:

My Card:

We all appreciate you stopping by and checking out all the projects, we all love that comment lovin' so please feel free if you like even if it was just to let us know you were here! We love visitors too!

If you didn't start from the beginning, don't forget to stop by So Many Crafts, So Litte Time to grab her instant download for blog candy!

Then you can get all the blogs in on the hop!

Here is your line up to help you navigate through..

Your hostess 

Lissa Marie So Many Crafts, So Little Time

and the rest of the Crew

Christina ~ Crazy about Scrappin’

Janet ~ Janet's Creative World 
Paula ~ Precious Pages with Paula 
Miranda ~ Nana’s Scrap Spot 
Kathryn ~ Creations with Kathryn 
Zenita ~ Scrappin' with Z 
Robin Scott ~ Scrap and Chat 
Lori ~Scrappin' my stress away 
Liz ~ Tryin' to Craft 
Robin Lane ~ Create-a-Latte
Jearise - Lorby's World

I hope you have enjoyed our hop.  Be sure to come back again soon!

Find Colorful Creations and Scrapping Everyday February challenge post here.  Find the Scraps to Treasure hop here.

INSPIRED BY...

Today I have a layout to share with you.  I used the inspiration photo from Colorful Creations new Blogspot and a sketch from Scrapping Everyday Miracles.

Here is my inspiration:

and the sketch:

and here is my layout:

Please be sure to stop at both sites and find out how you can particpate in these fun challenges. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

SCRAPS TO TREASURE BRINGS YOU A COLOR CHALLENGE

Hi!  This month the Scraps to Treasure Team is here to bring you a color challenge. Our colors for the month are Pink, Grey and White.  Here is the pile of scraps I chose to work with:

I chose a sketch for my Design Team Sample at Scrapping Everyday Miracles  February card sketch challenge.

and here is my card:

Here is the hop order:

Kerri

Robin

Paula

Camille

Now go and gather your pink white and grey scraps and make a creation then come back to the Scraps to Treasures blog and link it up!  Don't forget to hit all the blogs in the hop for a chance to win some fun blog candy. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to come back tomorrow for another hop!