Sunday Sketch & Winner

Here is the sketch for this week and again I apologize for not creating an example. But...not to worry. Next week will begin the awesome line up of Guest Designers who will create some amazing interpretations of my sketches. I cannot wait, and we will have at least 2-3 examples to share with you each week.

Without further ado - here is the winner from last week's sketch challenge.

Congratulations to Robin for winning the drawing for my February 21st sketch. Below is her amazing layout that she created with my sketch. I just love the feel of winter in her design and how she stretched the ideas of the sketch to make it her very own. Well done my friend. Please check out her blog here for more of her wonderful creations.

Thanks so much for stopping by -

Visiting San Francisco

I have been at a reading conference in San Francisco for two days. Last night I had an opportunity to go out on the town and here are just a few images of what I saw and where I ate. Silly me did not bring my camera, cause I was trying to travel light, but this is a google image of what the Bay Bridge looks like at night. We drove right past it to get to our dinner destination. It is almost 2 miles long.

This is the Italian seafood restaurant that we ate at last night. It had delicious food and doesn't seemed to have changed much of anything for probably 30 years.

And one more thing....

Is anybody watching this season?? When did Jack get a son and WHO is that kid's mom? Looks like there will be a lot of ghosts coming back from the photo above...Where are Walt and Aaron and how will that be handled? Looks like the writers have some splaining to do.

I'm so confused...

Thank you for stopping by -

Tuesday Mornings

Lookie, lookie at what I am currently waiting for... Found this new punch set from Martha Stewart, which includes both the edger and the corner at amazon.com for less than $20. I love flowers and pansies happen to be one of my favorites right after tulips, but somehow I think the pansies look better as a punch. Hope you get one too...I know that's what everyone needs, right? Another punch. Spring will be here sooner than later and flowers are a must have.

Thanks so much for stopping by -

Sunday Sketch, February 21st

For this sketch, I was just really playing with elements and tried to include more shapes, flowers and bows. Sadly, I did not have a chance to make this layout myself. But... I would love to see what many of you create with it. Just leave a link to your blog in the comment section of this post and I will draw for a winner to receive a special RAK from me. You have until the end of the month to add a link and I will announce the winner when I reveal the new guest designers. Anyone can play including those of you who have shown interest in being a guest designer. See this earlier post for information on being a guest designer.

Imaginisce iTop Challenge

Hey everyone,

If you cruise by the Imaginisce Facebook Page and post a photo of yourself holding an iTop tool, you will be entered into a drawing to win a super cool prize. If you do not actually have an iTop tool, you can photoshop the above photo into a photo with yourself for the same effect and a chance to win. Hope to see you there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Scrapbooking and Beyond...Give Away

The Spring issue of Scrapbooking and Beyond is out and and I am excited to announce that my friend and partner in crime Robbie Herring has made the cover with the layout from our latest series called Kit Kraze. Here's a little excerpt from the magazine about our series...

"This series will show readers what it is like to receive a scrapbook kit and some possibilities for projects as shown by the four designers participating in this series. Get inspired to create fabulous pages by checking out the work of these talented designers, grab your own kit, and get to scrappin’."


Here is my layout...I had so much fun styling this kit with the Pebbles Inc. Lil' Miss collection. My goal for the layout was to use a little bit of everything in the kit without making my layout look too cluttered. The color palette on the printed papers were a perfect compliment to the photo of my daughter. I laced some sheer ribbon through every two holes of the Creative Imaginations die cut to create a more dramatic border.



Now for the AWESOME part - we sent one extra kit to the magazine to give away to one lucky person. All you have to do is click here to enter. There will be a kit to give away in each issue this year. Stay tuned for the summer issue which features a styled kit from the very talented Susan Dupre. The amazing Julie Howard is the other designer working on this project and both she and Robbie will also be putting together wonderful kits.

Thanks for stopping by -

Tuesday Mornings

I love finding smaller online stores that carry specialty papers and goodies...and take paypal. As I've mentioned before, they are much better at customer service than some of the larger online stores and will sometimes mail your items the very same day. It definitely makes shopping online oh so easy and oh so fun. This little store called Clear Dollar Stamps specializes in stamping and carries a few lines of specialty papers that I was only too happy to pick up on sale. Please take a look around. The owner, Lori, is quick to respond to orders and I had my stuff in just a couple of days. She also has her own design team and a blog full of really good ideas that you may want to check out.

Looking for Guest Designers

I'm still looking for guest designers to help me out. Please see this earlier post for details on how to participate. Thank you so much for stopping by - Liz

A Little More Love...

I already posted one Valentine layout, but wanted to add one more project for this special day of love. It's a fun layout for the sketch challenge at My Mind's Eye. I'm enjoying using other people's sketches for a little creative "break", and the sketch for this layout is from the very talented Anam Stubbington. These are also the MME Love Me Do papers and die cuts which are super cute and bright. I used my Cricut Calligraphy cartridge to make all of the hearts and vines. I do so love RED as a primary color or as a complimentary one.


Thank you for stopping by - Liz

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to thank my friends at Ideas for Scrapbookers for inviting me to be a guest designer this week. I created this sketch and the layout especially for them. Afterall - we all love this hobby with a passion like no other.

Please visit their blog for all kinds of ideas from some very talented designers who are only too happy to share their ideas with anyone who cares to stop by. Just tell then Liz sent you.

Cheap and Easy! I'm laughing to myself, because those are the words that came to mind when I created the tutorial for this layout, but then I had to pause and think, "Are those the words I would use to describe Valentine's Day?" Depending on what you plan to get out of the evening, those might be the exact words you would use to describe this momentous event - hee, hee.

Seriously though...cheap and easy is meant to describe the major design element on my layout which is a heart-shaped doily from Walmart, which I purchased for a whopping $2 and included 4 of the large white hearts and 8 of the smaller red ones. Just enough product to get me in trouble if you KWIM...



Materials:

• Heart-shaped doily
• Craft knife
• Marker
• Ink

First: Use your Craft knife to cut along the inside edge of the lace part of the doily.


Next: Use your marker to add some depth by tracing some of the lines in the doily.


Finally: Ink the edges of the lace to add some definition and lift when you add the doily to your page.

Kicking it Old School

Do you ever feel the pressure to always use brand new product? What happens to the mounds of "old" product that is stacking up in your scraproom? How do you keep the balance? There are so many delightful older collections out there like this one from Pebbles Inc. called Sweetheart. You can buy the whole collection which includes two sheets of each double sided paper, stickers, die cuts and ribbon for $8.99. Sometimes you just need to dig through the archives to find that special paper like I did for the layout in the post above.

Thanks for stopping by - Liz

Temporarily Under Construction

Hi everyone - I'll be working on my blog throughout the day today, so I apologize for any inconvenience while you are visiting. Just need to feed the kids and get them entertained so I can finish what I started. Hee, hee. Thank you for your patience - Liz

A Heart Felt Card

I was inspired to create this card while looking at the myriad of Valentine cards in the grocery store. So many choices and too much money to spend. So, I used my Cricut Create to cut various sized hearts with the Don Juan cartridge that came with the machine and I used the solid backsides of the Linnie Bell papers, because they have just the right mixture of red, pinks and peaches to give this card a fun-loving feel. Then I added a glittered flourish Pebbles Chip and some Pebbles Ribbon along with two duplicate Pebbles Rubons. The effect is quite "lovely".

Looking for Guest Designers

Need Your Help

It's a new year full of new responsibilities and as much as I love to make layouts of my own sketches, I am finding it tough to keep up. I also really appreciate the layouts that I see other artists creating with my sketches...sometimes more than my own - hee, hee.

So...without further ado, I am looking for approximately 20 sketch happy artists to create two examples of my sketches this year. In return for creating an example of my sketch, I will post your photo, a brief bio, your layout with a description of your techniques and thoughts on the sketch and a link to your blog. This is really about networking, getting the passion for sketching out there and honoring my sketchy friends.

As far as who I am looking for, I really appreciate all kinds of styles and I equally enjoy artists who follow my sketches verbatim as well as those who really push the boundaries. I am also open to novice as well as experienced designers - no resume necessary. Where I will be a stickler is in the presentation of your work. I am looking for clean , clear photos that are shot straight on, in good light and cropped accordingly. I would also like one or two close ups of your work to follow your main layout. Readers love to see the goods and the better you can showcase your work, the better we can enjoy it.

If you are interested in participating, please email me at lizqualman@gmail.com

Please include:

• a link to your blog - must have one to participate
• an example of your best sketch work (It would be great if the example was of one of my sketches, but it's not a necessity)
• your contact info

I will accept emails of interest until Sunday, February 28th. Artists will be contacted some time later that week with a schedule and we will begin posting work the following week.

Thanks so much and looking forward to hearing from you.

Liz

Sunday Sketch, February 7th

It' getting closer to Valentine's day and thought I would leave you with some hearts to work into your layouts. The example layout is from the February Main Kit at My Creative Scrapbook. Hope you have fun with this one and use up some of your fancy die cut papers. I would recommend lavishness with this sketch :).


Thank you so much for stopping by - Liz

My Creative Scrapbook February Reveal

It's here! The February kits and Design Team Gallery at My Creative Scrapbook are ready for much adoration. With so much love in the air this month, we had such a blast designing this month's delicious main kit with the Love Struck collection from Making Memories. Not to mention the super yummy and complimentary products from Adornit - Carolee's Creations. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek and head on over to the dt gallery to see what the other girls created.

Take care - Liz

Tuesday Mornings

Now that the "major" shopping holidays are behind us, I can start prowling for some of my favorite scrapbook deals again. One site that I have been lured to by some friends is called ScrapbookSteals.com. Everyday they have an awesome special on scrapbook products for at least 60% off. I have found many of my favorite collections there at a huge discount with reasonable shipping. Check them out by clicking on the image below and then bookmark the site to check back daily.

Imaginisce Sketch Challenge

It is the first of the month and Imaginisce is having a sketch challenge with a prize worth $50 for participants who enter the drawing. This is my take on Julie Bonner's sketch, which was really fun to work with and a treat since I don't often get to work with other artists sketches. BTW - I used my Cricut Calligraphy cartridge to make the large and small swirls.

You can visit here for the actual sketch and more information on the drawing. But... here is the skinny - you can enter multiple times by leaving a comment on each of the design team member's blogs who participated in the challenge, plus one more for leaving a comment on the home blog. If you visit them all, you will be entered to win about 20 times. Good luck and happy blog hopping (you can find all of the team blogs here on mine in the right hand column).

Don't forget to watch Lost this week and thank you for stopping by - Liz