Michele’s 50th Birthday Blog Hop Bash...

Today is a pretty fun day over at Cas-ual Fridays!  Today starts the celebration for Michele's 50th Birthday!  I am joining in with a group of amazing women to do a little partying.  If you are falling along on the hop, you have come here from the sweet, Shona Chambers' blog.  You can stop by the Cas-ual Fridays blog to see a fun list of stops on the hop.  

Cas-ual Fridays started as a Challenge blog so many years ago and I was so lucky to be on the design team.  And then one day, Michele started designing stamps and I was so honored to be on her first stamp team!  I am really happy to be here today to be able to say Happy Birthday to my sweet friend! 

Michele, here is a birthday card for you!

When I saw these little chicks, I fell in love!  They are so adorable and make for a quick, clean and simple card.  This card was so easy to create.  I lined a white card base with this fun, colorful pattern paper.  Next, I lined up the chicks in my Misti and stamped the perfectly centered chicks.  I masked off the sentiment and stamped it in 3 pieces so it would fit next to the main image.

Last, I kept the chicks simple and white so they would stand out on the colorful cardstock.  I popped them up on foam tape for some dimension.

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GIVEAWAY

Michele has a very generous giveaway today.  She is giving away 5 - $50 gift codes to the Cas-ual Fridays shop.  One will be chosen from the comments on the Cas-ual Friays blog.  Four more lucky people will be chosen from the comments all along the hop, so don't forget to leave a comment on each blog.  Comments will end on April 23rd at 11:59pm EST and Michelle will chose winners after that time.


BLOG HOP

Your next stop on the hop is over to the talented Jeanne's blog.  So glad you stopped in today!  Have a great day!

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FIND ME OVER ON:

Instagram: Laurie Willison (@laurie_willison)

YouTube: Soapbox Creations

Facebook: Soapbox Creations

Spellbinders April 2018 Blog Hop...

Hello craft friends!  I am so excited to be joining in today's hop with Spellbinders.  There are some amazing collections being shared today but my cards will focus on the Folk Art dies from Lene Lok.  

I used the Nordic Tree Etched Die for this first card....

Instead of using a die cut, I decided to use the die to emboss the card front.  I used a light gray card stock, embossed the front of the card and then added some white paint splatter to add a little detail.  Using the Spellbinders Platinum 6, I was able to emboss this perfectly!  I added in some silver floss and a heat embossed sentiment to finish off this card. 

This next card showcases the Kurbitis 2 Etched Die....

To create this card, I did some alcohol ink blending on a piece of Yupo paper and then die cut with this gorgeous die.  I love how this one die alone can work at your focal point.  I added the die to a scored white card base and then completed the card but adding in a heat embossing sentiment.  

There will be so much more to see on this hop.  Check out the giveaway and hop details below....

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GIVEAWAY

To celebrate this release, Spellbinders is giving away a $50 gift certificate to a lucky winner. Please leave a comment on Spellbinders blog by Sunday, April 22nd 11:59 pm EDT for a chance to win. The winner will be announced in the blog hop post on Spellbinders blog the following day. Winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes. 

BLOG HOP

Spellbinders
Jennifer Mcguire
Debby Hughes
Kay Miller
Julia Altermann
Laurie Willison (you are here!)
Miriam Prantner
Emily Midgett
Yana Smakula
Nichol Spohr
Sharyn Sowell
Melissa Phillips
Susie Lessard
Virginia Lu
Nina-Marie Trapani
May Sukyong Park
Rubeena Ianigro
Zsoka Marko
Helen Salo
Sandra Nagel
Janette Kausen
Kittie Caracciolo
Olga Direktorenko
Svitlana Shayevich
Mayline Jung

I am so glad you stopped in today!  Thank you so much for coming by!

 

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FIND ME OVER ON:

Instagram: Laurie Willison (@laurie_willison)

YouTube: Soapbox Creations

Facebook: Soapbox Creations

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge...

Happy Wednesday and welcome to a new week at the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge.  Today's sketch is so clean and simple and so much fun!

To create this card, I did a little ink blending on a card front and then added in the Circle Window and Frame dies, some flowery sequins and a Circle Shaker Pouch to create this easy shaker card.  Next, I added a heat embossed sentiment on a vellum Fishtail Frame Banner.  To finish of the detail of this weeks sketch, I added 3 little star sequin right below the shaker box.  

Here is this week's sketch.....

Check out the MFT Challenge Blog for more details about this week's sketch.  I hope you can play along!  

Thanks for coming by!

Altenew April 2018 Stamp/Die Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello crafty friends!  I am so excited to be joining in with the girls over at Altenew today for the April 2018 Release Hop.  Keep reading to check out my cards using the new sets, Happy Heart, Gradient Lines Cover Die, Mega Hello, Mini Hello, and Watercolor Dots.  

There are also 2 different Giveaways to check out at the end of this post.  

To see the entire April Release, click HERE. 

If you are following along on the blog hop, you have stopped in here from Virginia's blog.  That is one amazing lady!  If you would like to see a complete list for today's hop, scroll down or head over to the Altenew Blog for all the details.

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CARDS

To create this first card, I used the Gradient Lines Cover Die in the background.  Instead of using the actual cover die cut, I used the negative lines directly on the card base....

Here is a quick video showing how made this card....

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To create this card, I did a little ink blending on a white card base and then added the new Gradient Lines Cover plate over the top....

I die cut 5 of the Mega Hello's and stacked them up to create a bold hello.  These colors are so much fun and a theme with today's cards for sure!

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This last card was super simple to create.  Clean and simple is definitely my favorite!

I inked up the new Watercolor Dots stamp with Worn Lipstick Oxide ink after placing the stamp in my Misti.  Next, I did a little water spritz right on the stamp.  I stamped this amazing background stamp on a piece of Neenah white.  I love what a little bit of water does to that ink!  Last, I stamped the Mini Hello in Versafine Black Onyx ink.  I kept this card simple by popping the watercolor dot panel up on fun foam.  

The next stop on the hop is over to my friends, Kymona's blog.  I can't wait to see what that crafty girl has up her sleeve!

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STAMP BUNDLES

Check out the Stamp and Die Bundles available over at Altenew...

                                                                                              

GIVEAWAYS

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by Saturday, April 21st for a chance to win. 6 winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on 4/22/2018.

*I will also have a Giveaway here on my blog. Leave comment here for a chance to win a $30 Gift Certificate. I will announce the winner on 4/30/2018.

BLOG HOP

Here is a complete list of the stops on the hop....

Altenew Card Blog

Erum Tasneem

Kay Miller

May Sukyong Park

Nina-Marie Trapani

Svitlana Shayevich

Lilith Eeckels

Jenn Shurkus

Agnieszka Malyszek

Lydia Evans

Jennifer McGuire

Flora Monika Farkas

Janette Kausen

Sveta Fotinia

Lydia Fiedler

Debby Hughes

Virginia Lu

Laurie Willison (you are here)

Kymona Tracey

Keeway Tsao

Sandra Dietrich

Gayatri Murali

Vicky Papaioannou

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Therese Calvird

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Nicole Picadura

Justine Hovey

Reiko Tsuchida

Amber Rain Davis

Enza Gudor

Kelli Cool

Laura Bassen

I am so glad you stopped by today.  Hope you have a fantastic day!

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FIND ME OVER ON:

Instagram: Laurie Willison (@laurie_willison)

YouTube: Soapbox Creations

Facebook: Soapbox Creations

MFT and Friends....

Hey there!  I am here today with a new card for MFT and Friends.  The latest April release is full of all kinds of goodies, but I wanted to create something using the new Star Graduate stamp and Tassel Time stamp set.



To create this card, I used the large die from Blueprints 30.  I heated embossed the front flap with the Contrast Graduate stamp with gold embossing powder.  I added in the little hat image from Tassel Time.  I added the card flap die to a card front after adding in the little strip of striped paper.  

The inside of the flap lifts up to show a gift for the graduate.....

This was easy to assemble.  I die cut another of the flap frame dies but this time cut off just the flap.  I lined each side of the back of the die with removable dot adhesive....



and then attached the bill to the flap....

This gives the money a more firm structure and then its easy to slide.

I attached the main frame to the card base by using 2 long strips of foam tape on the top and bottom of the frame, that way the money slides right in the side and is easy to remove.

The MFT Blog will have a list of places to stop so you can see more of the latest April Release. 

So glad you stopped in today!