Fred She Said January Blog Hop Chubby Girl Flinging Hearts

Hi all! Are you ready to HOP again! If you made your way here from Nancy's blog, you are in the right place.  Today, January 28 through February 4th, midnight is the Fred She Said January Blog Hop.  The FSS Design Team has created some LOVE-ly projects for your inspiration using Tracey's wonderful digi images.  As you hop along be sure to collect each DT's members special word and enter the completed phrase at the FSS Challenge blog, the last hop stop.   If you would like to start from the beginning, go to the  Fred She Said main blog here.   There will be two lucky winners, one will receive a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Fred She Said Store, and one will receive a $25.00 Gift Certificate to CropStop!

Here is the order to the hop in case you lose your way or want to revisit a blog:

1. Tracey-Lynn 

2. Robin 

3. Tracy McD 

4. Danielle

5. Anne

6. Marlena 

7. Nancy

8. Sonya - That Me your HERE!

9. Carol 

10. Michelle 

11. Darsie

12. FSS Challenge Blog - Enter your completed phrase here!

My project uses the new Chubby Girl I love you THIS much! precolored image.  The front of the card uses the sentiment and the main image is in the inside to show off the surprise!  When you open the card Chubby Girl flings heart confetti at the recipient of the card.  I made a video so you could see the hearts flinging.  I have been waiting to make this card for just the right image, and isn't she perfect! Here is where I found the great tutorial for making this card:  http://www.hogwildaboutstamping.blogspot.com/. 

I added two hearts on little springs to give added action.  You can either put the card in an envelope or hand deliver so you can see the persons reaction.  I hope you are having fun on the hop, here is my special word:

and 

Don't forget to collect the words and enter for the great prizes.  Your next stop on the hop is at Carol's blog where I know you will see some awesome eyecandy!!  Back later with another project!

Shalom,

Sonya

Faith Prayer and Hope

 Hi all, back with a card this time!  I love fancy folds and this Joy Fold card fits the bill.  I have had this on sitting about 90% finished on my table and couldn't get the right embellishments for it.  I tried several different things and nothing grabbed me.  Finally I was searching though some of my Fred She Said images that I had stashed from a previous project and came across one of the vellum flowers in just the right shade of purple. I cut 3 out and added a purple metallic gel pen accents and then layered them.  I added the wispy punched spike flowers and a little flower punched out of 8 layers of tissue paper.

The sentiment is embossed in gold embossing powder and the edges of the card are edged with my 18KT gold pen.  All the layers are sewn with a straight stitch using a variegated green thread.

                                     
 You can see the card has a lot of room to write a message or to stamp on.  I stamped a floral image on each panel in gold embossing powder for some simmer. 

 The left side panel folds down then the smaller right panel over that and it creates a pretty presentation when opened.  It is done in a rectangle but you could do it in a square or any shape that will fold down correctly.

The ribbon is keeping the card closed and was a design challenge in itself. I put two eyelets on each side of the card and wove the ribbon through them. A knot at the end of the ribbon holds it in.  In these days this is the perfect card to send for encouragement!  I am working on a lot of things and trying to get samples and pieces done for my Esty shop, so check back, thanks for visiting!!

Shalom,
Sonya

Quilled Heart Necklace

Hi all, back with another of the projects for the Custom Quilling Newsletter, a Quilled Heart Necklace.  I have loved making quilled jewelry since I found that I could combine the brass/silver stamped filigree jewelry components with it.  I used several shades of the pinks and reds quilling strips to create the heart.  It started out a little smaller but "grew" with the shapes added.  Click on any picture to enlarge.

The jewelry components that were used for the base of the heart were two angel wings glued together to form a heart shape.  I traced a heart shape and then used curved teardrops shapes to frame the heart shape.  Then I filled in the design with two smaller hearts and s scrolls.  After it was dry I used my 18KT gold pen to gild the edges of the shapes. 

Two filigree side pieces, red crystals and beads drops and chain drape were added to finish.  I have so many more designs in work and will be offering these in my Etsy shop that will be opening this month, promise!

If you try your had at making quilled jewelry, leave a link in the comment section below to share, I and others who visit would love to see it!  Working on some card projects to post soon.  I have rearranged my craft room again, trying to get it better organized and user friendly.  I have acquired a lot of rubber stamps that have never been inked and so I am going to try my best to make projects with them!  I will also be working on the video tutorials that have been requested also.  I am not a techie and it takes a lot of trial, error and figuring out how to do it for me, so it unfortunately takes me longer.  Have a good day and thanks for taking the time to visit me and leaving comments!!

Shalom,

Sonya

Floral Punch Rose and Quilled Hearts Cake Box

Hi, all!  Wishing everyone a blessed and great new year!  I have another project to show you, one that was made for the January Custom Quilling Newsletter, a Rose Cake Box.  This is one of those projects that I have had on my "want to do list" for a bit.  I used two paper mache boxes and painted them a light pink.  Then I sprayed them with Glimmer Mist Bubble Gum for a pearly shimmer to the "icing". As usual that isn't showing up well in the photos.  Next I added the border "icing" from a pre-pleated ribbon that looks like real cake border icing.  For the top icing of the "cake" I used a light pink satin ribbon that has tone on tone circles.  Click on any picture to enlarge.

The "cake" decorations are floral punch roses and punched accent flowers with textured pearl centers.  I used the pinks and pearl papers in the January Custom Quilling kit to make these.  To make the roses I used the medium pear punch and punched about twenty or so per flower.  Then I inked the edges of each pear and snipped a bit from the stem edge.  The pears were then shaped and mounted onto a green 6 pointed snowflake base.   

I used about 1/3 of a styrofoam ball covered in pink tissue paper under the roses on top to give the cake embellishments some height.  The rose leaves were inked and added along with the punched icing and pearl  flowers.  Quilled hearts, made from the strips in the kit, were added and were made from two teardrop shapes glued together with a crimped darker strip around it.  Bits of the pre-pleated ribbon were added in among the roses like real icing would be.  A multi loop bow was added at the back of the flowers on top and has accent flowers and a quilled heart nestled among it.

The roses, buds, flowers and quilled hearts cascade down the front and as an accent on the back.  The top box is glued to the top of the bottom box so you can use each box for trinkets or gift giving.

I used these same punched flowers and quilled hearts to embellish the paper mache frame that came in the kit also.  The only change from the cake is that I sprayed the frame with Glimmer Mist Red Apple instead.

Both were fun projects and I have one more to show you, another quilled jewelry piece that I will post this week.  It has been hectic this last month with graduation, the holidays, visiting with family.  My brother is down from Pittsburgh and we have been seeing the sights of Houston with him.  The last time he has been down was about 20 years ago, he is loving the "warm" weather here in Houston!  Thanks to all who have and do take the time to visit my blog and comment.  It keeps me motivated and is so very encouraging to continue when I am stumped for creativity or down with pain. 

Shalom,

Sonya

Birthday Shark and a BIG THANK YOU!

Hi all!  Several things I wanted to share with you today.  First, A BIG THANK YOU to all who hopped all night with the LIME LIGHT CHARITABLE DT  and EMBELLISH ME WITH QUILLING blog hops! Your response and comments overwhelmed me!!!  Thanks to Gracie from LL and Linda for organizing the quilling hop!!  Here is an announcement from the LLDT blog about the whopper prize packages.

From Gracie:
"I can't thank you all enough for participating in the Blog Hop. You left some wonderful comments that I and the other members of the team truly enjoyed reading. We couldn't ask for better supporters than those who took time to blog hop with us last Friday (and on to Sunday).


At this point, we have a grand prize worth at least $150 and seven other prizes worth $20-$50. We want to make the announcement on Wednesday, but please be patient with us. Everyone is sooo busy with the Holiday season, and it takes a while to verify that the randomly drawn winners are followers/left a comment on each blog on the hop. So if it takes us a few extra days, please be patient.


Thank you again, what an incredible group of hoppers we had." 
 
ALSO, If you loved the Emma Snow Angel image I just wanted to tell you that you have a chance to win a $20 GC from Fred-She-Said that is in for the winning also! Good luck to all!!!  There is also hop candy on the Embellish Me with Quilling hop that will be giving away!!

 There were some questions and comments that I would like to respond to.  Yes, I will be making a video and pictorial tutorial on how to make the Emma Snow Angel and it should be ready by the end of the week.  I also will be doing one on the quilled jewelry, and one on floral punch flowers, not all in the same week!!  If you left a comment on my blog I will be visiting your blog in the coming days if you have a site.  It may take me a while though because I usually stay to explore and I have a long list of new ones now!!

Now for the Birthday Shark card.  My grand son, the Dino Hunter, wanted to make his brother Anthony a birthday card and wanted me to help him make it.  I gave him all my Cricut handbooks and he went though them one by one and picked images that he wanted to use on the card.  He then drew a mock up and we went to the Cricut to cut out the images. 

He chose to use the shark card from the Life's a Beach cartridge and we cut it out in a light blue.  I inked the shark silhouette in grey and white for him and used a white gel pen on the teeth and highlights.  A white scrap of card stock was put behind the sharks eyes and a big of black was colored in.  I had a row of red crystals sitting on my craft table and he wanted to use them for the eyes, so they were next.  The next image that dino hunter had picked out was an "A" for Anthony.  That A was cut from the Storybook cartridge as well as the Happy Birthday letters.  All of the letters had gel pen dots.  He wanted the shark to be eating the A.  The background behind the shark is a specialty paper that shimmers like water, I don't know what it is called, I purchased it at Hobby Lobby.  We glittered the edged of the cut out and added the Happy Birthday floating around the shark.  He was pleased with his creation and excited to give it to his brother. 

Thanks again for taking the time to visit and leave such wonderfully encouraging comments!  Y'all are truly awesome!! And glad to hear that many are inspired to give quilling a try!  And hope you all visit the Lime Light blog and participate with us!!

Shalom,
Sonya

Embellish Me with Quilling Blog Hop

Hi all, back again with the 2nd hop for today! Two hop posts for your inspiration and chance to win!

1st hop - LIME LIGHT CHARITABLE DESIGN TEAM happening now, see post below this post!

2nd hop - EMBELLISH ME WITH QUILLING - starts NOW.

Let's get started with our 2nd hop - the EMBELLISH ME WITH QUILLING BLOG HOP.  If you came here from  Emma's blog then you are in the right place.  If you would like to start from the beginning click here.  The hop runs from 11:00 pm CST Friday to Sunday the 19th.  To enter for a chance to win the HOP CANDY click on the beginning hop link here for instructions. 

Here is my Embellish Me with Quilling project, a Golden Floral Quilled Jewelry Set.  I had decided to do another jewelry set for the hop before I knew what the blog hop name was and it worked out that it fits perfectly.  It is a quilled 'embellishment' that you can wear!

After doing the first quilled set here, I knew that I would be doing more.  This one uses antique gold bases this time and off white and beige gold edged strips in an off-center design.  The metal bases were jump ringed together and the quilled motifs were glued onto them.  I added topaz crystals, czech crystals and tube beads for accents and for, of course my favorite, sparkle! It really catches the light.

The earrings were made with the same method as the first set and are accented with the same crystals and beads.  My oldest daughter is the model for this set, I wonder if I will get it back from her? I love the vintage feel and you will be seeing more of these sets as my mind is abuzz with all sorts of colors and variations. 

Have fun on the hop and here is your next stop on the hop: Jessica-  www.kinderstampo.com where I am sure you will see an amazing project that she has made for your inspiration.

Here is a list of the hop sites if you lose your way or want to revisit any site:

Linda- http://krazyquilling.com/

Momo- http://madebymomo.blogspot.com/

Jennifer- http://creativequilledcreations.blogspot.com/

Carri- http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/

Leesandra- http://sweetspotcards.blogspot.com/

Trish- http://techniquesbytrish.blogspot.com/

Christina- http://cardcreationsbyc.blogspot.com/

Emma- http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

Sonya- http://appelquilling.blogspot.com/ That's me, your HERE

Jessica-  www.kinderstampo.com 

Cheryl- http://cardsbycheryl.blogspot.com/

Carol- http://happyexpressions.blogspot.com/

Tracey- http://quillynilly.blogspot.com/

Debbie- http://craftydeb-ddscrafts.blogspot.com/

Linda- http://krazyquilling.com/

If you have never tried quilling before I hope you will be inspired and encouraged to give it a try. Pre-cut packaged strips are easy but you can cut your own 1/8" strips from any text weight paper. Start with the slotted tool to get the feel of coiling the strips.  Keep practicing until you get even pressure, this is the key for an even consistent coil. Any good craft glue is ok to glue the end of the strip to the side of the coil. Tearing the end of the strip before you coil it will give you a better finish and a will hide the end joining of the coil better.  Experiment with looser coils and tighter coils until you find the look you like better, it is your choice.

Experiment with pinching the shapes and combining them into motifs.  The needle tool will give you a smaller center but can be a little trickier to use.  The needle is held stationary and the strips are "rolled" around the needle with your fingers instead of being "locked" into the center like it is on the slotted tool (the slotted tool is twirled in your fingers to make the coil).  Think of the needle tool as the thread spindle on a sewing machine that allows the thread spool to turn freely.  The same motion that you would use to rewind a spool of thread on this "spindle" is the same motion that the quilling strip makes on the needle tool.  The Yahoo quilling group helped me with that info as I couldn't get the hang of the needle tool until I understood that it wasn't supposed to "lock" onto the needle.  It is a great resource for quilling tips, encouragement and help.  There are lots of online sites that show how to make the shapes and to get inspiration from.  Give it a try!

For all of my quilling blog friends who are already hooked onto quilling and visit me often (and new friends), I hope you have a great time and get lots of inspiration from the projects!

If you missed the first hop of my double-header blog hop posts today, just look at the post below this one for the Lime Light Charitable Design Team Blog Hop that is still happening, with awesome inspiration and over $150 in great prizes!  Have fun hopping and good luck!

Shalom,

Sonya

Thanks for all your encouraging messages and for visiting me!!!

Emma Snow Angel for the Lime Light Blog Hop

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry for the mix up in the blog hop order, I had my post to auto-post because I am out of town and so I had to drive to find a place with internet access to fix it!!!!  It is the right order now! Sorry for the mixup, HAVE FUN!! ALSO - for all those who commented before the mix up, I have added your names to the Lime Light blog for entry if it isn't already there!

ANOTHER EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to the response on the hop, we have this announcement:

UPDATE AS OF 10:30 AM SATURDAY MORNING: YOU CAN CONTINUE TO BLOG HOP THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT(MIDNIGHT EASTERN) AND YOU ARE STILL ELIGIBLE FOR ONE OF THE PRIZES. WE STILL HAVE THE GRAND PRIZE, AND ARE ADDING TWO MORE PRIZES TO THE FIVE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED. SO, INSTEAD OF 1 GRAND PRIZE AND 5 RUNNERS UP, WE ARE HAVING A GRAND PRIZE AND 7 RUNNERS UP. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US!!.

Hi all! It's a hoppin' day!  Why?  Because there are 2 blog hop's for today. What a surprise when I found out the date for the two hops that I had been asked to participate in were for the same day! Well you know what they say, "great minds think alike"! So a real treat to hop to your hearts content, lots of inspiration and chances to win great candy!

1st hop: LIME LIGHT CHARITABLE DESIGN TEAM starts NOW.

2nd hop: EMBELLISH ME WITH QUILLING hop posts at 11:00 p.m. CST tonight.

The first one starts right now and is the LIME LIGHT CHARITABLE DESIGN TEAM BLOG HOP and if you came here via Agnes's blog you are in the right place.  I am honored to be chosen to be on the DT for Lime Light and to be able to share my papercrafting to bring a little light and hope to others.
If you would like to start at the beginning of the hop then click here, you will also find there the INSTRUCTIONS for how to enter for a chance to win the hop prizes, that are worth over $150 and to see what all the goodies are. I gave you a sneak peek earlier this week at what to expect on the Lime Light blog hop today and hope you are ready to hop!  Let me tell you a bit about what the Lime Light Charitable DT does.  From the web site:

"We are a design team with a unique purpose. We use our crafting skills to help and bring light to others. We invite you to visit the site often to find out whom we are crafting for and what we are planning in the months to come. We have exciting plans that include making cards and bookmarks for our men and women in uniform, making journals for families whose children are in the hospital, making cards for baskets that help raise money for playground equipment....and that's just the beginning. " 

 
Here is a link to the Lime Light website (starting place for the blog hop) so you can see some of the charitable projects that the current and past DT members as well as other from around the US have participated in.  As a way to introduce the current DT members we are hosting this blog hop so you can get to know who we are and what we do.  And in a couple of days I will post a video interview of my first DT participation with the LLDT (as soon as it is edited, there was a bit of a challenge to this)!
 
On to the project for the hop! Click on any picture to enlarge. I chose to use Emma the Snow Angel pre-colored image from Fred She Said.  I love this one, so much fun to do!  This time I decided to make it an action card and used a little spring under the image of Emma that I cut out and layered on the bottom image.  Below is a short video showing how it moves.

 
The base card is a fancy fold and instructions can be found here.  I used my Cricut to cut the two large scallops.  One is embossed with my Cuttlebug folder, Tiny Bubbles.  The bottom digi image is popped up on foam tape.  The side and bottom panels have punched trim that is again embossed with the Cuttlebug and has superfine glitter added. Faux snow was added to the base digi image and folds of the card that was dusted with super fine glitter for extra sparkle.
 

I punched snowflakes out of white card stock and then used my Diamond Dust clear glitter to give them that icy look.  A polka dot grosgrain bow that matches the base layer paper with a sparkly gem at it's center finishes the front.  The inside of the card has the same paper and punched panel for writing a message on.

I had this card sitting on my counter and the it would sparkle and shine just like snow every time I would pass by it and I could resist giving it a little thump to make it move!  A fun card that would bring a smile to a child stuck in a hospital when they would rather be out in the snow making snow angels!

Your next blog hop stop is at back at the Lime Light DT blog -- http://limelightsrappers.blogspot.com/

 

Here is a list of the Design Team members and their blogs in case you lose your way or want to revisit any of their blogs:

Start at: Lime Light DT Blog -- http://limelightscrappers.blogspot.com/

Gracie -- http://everythingcricut.blogspot.com/

Sue (our training coordinator) http://suescricutandcrafts.blogspot.com/

Joanne -- http://www.bigislandlady.blogspot.com/

Joy -- http://cricutholiday.com/

Terry -- Director of Publicity --  http://inspire-a-tion.blogspot.com/

Peg -- http://pegscraftingcorner.blogspot.com/

Kim -- http://dontbothermeimscrapping.blogspot.com/

Kathy -- http://www.kathy-thebeautifullife.blogspot.com/

Agnes -- http://flowerdiscosscraphut.blogspot.com/

Sara - - http://pinkcricut.com/

Sandra-- http://t42originals.blogspot.com/
co-project coordinator with Sue

Samantha -- http://samanthajdesigns.blogspot.com/

Sonya -- http://www.appelquilling.blogspot.com/  That's me, your HERE!

Lime Light DT Blog - - http://limelightscrappers.blogspot.com/

I am looking forward to the projects that the DT will be participating in and to light the world with love and hope!

Today is a busy day here on my little blog with 2 blog hops.  If you would like to hop again come back at 11:30 p.m. tonight through Sunday the 19th for the EMBELLISH ME WITH QUILLING BLOG HOP and see my quilled floral jewelry set.  Have fun hopping! And THANK YOU for all your very encouraging messages and visits!

Shalom,
Sonya