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

Dino Hunter

Hi all! Just wanted to share a non-card, non-quilled project that my husband and I did for our grandson Ephram.  He is a DINO FREAK and can tell you EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know (or not) about dinosaurs!  He literally eats, sleeps and lives everything DINO!  So my DH got the idea to re-do his bike in a dino theme after seeing my Dinosaur Tracks Cricut cartridge. 

After taking the heat gun and scraping off all of the decals on his bike, we used yellow Cricut vinyl to make new ones.  One of his favorites (and he does have them ranked), is the Spinosaurus, so I cut out a spino silhouette for the "shield" on the front.  It is made from a piece of plastic 'cardboard' or is it call foamcore?, cutout in a fossil rock shape and spray pained brown.  Then I cut out "DINO HUNTER" with the font on the cartridge and used only the negative letter shapes. 

Next came his name and a spino charm with dino tracks.  The vinyl cut great and with the help of the transfer paper it was easy to put them on them bike.  He says his bike rides faster now.  He can't wait to show it off to the park ranger at Dinosaur Valley State Park (his favorite place) when we go back there this spring.  I see more requests for bike customization coming soon.  

DINO HUNTER

Just a reminder that there will be 2 blog hops on Friday,the 17th.  The first will be for the Lime Light Charitable Design Team at 8:00 p.m. CST and then at 11:30 p.m. the Embellish Me With Quilling blog hop!  Two projects posts in one day, an action card and another quilled jewelry set!  Until then,

Shalom,

Sonya

Lime Light Charitable Design Team Announcement

Hi all, a little preview of what is coming up this week and an announcement of what has been going on here in the background. I have been chosen to be on the Lime Light Charitable Design Team and was able to participate in a very special way today.  One of the charitable endeavors that the LLDT contributed projects to was, the Butterfly Project at the Holocaust Museum Houston.  I was honored to deliver the butterflies that were made by the DT and from crafters all over the US.  I have a video interview of that delivery and pictures that need to be edited and will post when it is finished.  Just wanted to give you a sneek peek at what was happening and what is coming up!

As you can see by the title, the Lime Light Charitable Design Team (of which I am a card-carrying member now) is having a blog hop this Friday at 8PM.  We want you to get to know us and what we do as a team, so we are having a blog hop so that you can visit the various team members' sites.  We also have a couple of the top Cricut bloggers on the net -- Everyday Cricut and Pink Cricut, that will be stops along the way.  The team came together a few years ago because of our love of Cricut, and we wanted to give you a couple of bonus's as these sites are top notch when it comes to Cricut creative inspiration. 


At 8 PM CST on Friday, we'll  be posting the instructions on how you get from blog to blog and what you need to do when you get to each blog (COME TO THE LIME LIGHT BLOG FIRST FOR INSTRUCTIONS).  All simple stuff.  Now, here's the fun part. We'll be giving away some very nifty prizes, including a grand prize stash worth over $150. And because I can't wait, I'm giving you a peek at the prizes. So sit down, take a look at the goodies, and then join us Friday at 8 CST for a fun time!

Here is a link to see the prizes! http://limelightscrappers.blogspot.com/2010/12/lime-light-charitable-design-team-blog.html


It is going to be a busy week here on my little blog with 2 blog hops (on the same day!), and here at home, my daughter is graduating from Stephen F. Austin with her BSN this weekend. 

Shalom,
Sonya

Icey Flower Box

 Hi all, back with another project perfect for your gift giving!  I saw this little cute box here on Cricut Chick's blog, and had to make one, or more! It won't be the last time you see it!  It is easy to make if you don't get too ambitious with the embossing powder like I did and emboss EVERY panel!  The box uses a 12 x 12 sheet of card stock and three different pattern papers.  The link above has a great tutorial so I didn't think I needed to reinvent the wheel with another one.  It can also be made smaller for smaller items. 

 I tipped it up so you can see the Fred She Said Icey Flower, pre-colored, image that is on the four sides. Using these pre-colored images is a time-saver and they are sooo pretty and easy to use! I printed it out and then cut out the three layers then glittered them.  I used pop dots on the bottom layer and just folded and glued the top flower layer onto it, adding a blue crystal.  The flower medallion is mounted on a Nestie scallop circle. 

I had a question on what kind of printer and paper that I used to print out my digi images with.  I print them out on Canon Pixma Matt Photo Paper, MP-101 and use a Canon ip2600 printer.  I never could get the vibrant colors to print right on plain printer cardstock.  When I changed to the matt photo paper the colors popped and were perfect!  The right paper makes all the difference.

The panels are all embossed with a mix of white and silver holographic tinsel embossing powder and has a nice sparkle, which unfortunately the camera isn't capturing.   The glitter on the flowers is Diamond Dust clear.

You can see the inside of the box in the above picture with the wire ribbons and tulle tied to the elastic that is holding the box sides up. I think I will go back and put more ribbons on the top as it isn't as full as hers. The tutorial link has a video also that shows how this is done.  The box is roomy and would look great with homemade treats tied up in pretty cellophane in each of the sides. Or, put paper shreds in the bottom and fill the box with gifts of your choice. It is a very versatile box and could be embellished all sorts of fun ways!  If you make one link a picture of it in the comments, I'd love to see it!! 

If you haven't visited Fred's (Tracey) site lately, drop by and see her latest post and freebie, click here to see the cute angels! A lot coming up this week so drop back by for a visit.  Thanks for all your encouragement on my last post, you will see more of the quilled jewelry!

Shalom,

Sonya

Quilled Floral Jewelry Set

Hi all, back from celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary. I don't know where all of that time went! We didn't do anything extravagant, just went away for the weekend camping.  It was nice to get away for a couple of days, we don't get to do it as much as we used to.  My DH and I enjoyed our time together even though we didn't catch any fish, again!

I have a project that I made for this month's Custom Quilling newsletter and one that I will be making more of, quilled jewelry.  I have seen many quillers who have made beautiful earrings and such, but I have never tried it.  So when I was making one of the other projects for the newsletter out of the silver edge black strips in the kit and it reminded me of antique silver jewelry and I decided to gave it a try. The kit is sold out but you can get these great strips from Denise at Custom Quilling Click on any picture to enlarge.

For the necklace I used three filigree pieces as bases to put the quilled motifs on and give it a little more stability and attached them together with jump rings.  The center motif is a two layer fantasy flower made from tear drop and marquise shapes.  The two side motifs are buds with looped leaves and tight coil berries. There is a little dangle drop of looped shapes.  I added aurora crystals to the centers and beads among the flower bud motifs.  There are black crystals and bead drops from the black chain necklace.

 The earrings use the same double layer fantasy flower motif.  I used two premade wire jewelry pin loops in between the layers that help with the stability and even hang of the earrings.  No filigree piece was used as a base.  Looped leaves and tight coil berries were added to the bottom of the flower.  Three dangles of chain and beads and aurora crystals finished the matching earrings.

The next piece in the set is a pin.  For the base I used two solid fan pieces glued together.  Another flower motif and beaded chain dangles and aurora crystals with a pin back. 

They can be worn together or separately.  I love the vintage look these silver edged black strips give the quilling and they are perfect for creating quilled jewelry. My youngest daughter is modeling the jewelry and my oldest daughter took the photos for me. I loved making this set and it will be the first in many.  Back with another of the projects later!  Thanks for all the comments!

Shalom,

Sonya

Golden Hanukkia

Hi all back with a project that I was waiting to post until today, the First day of Hanukkah!  It was one of the projects that was for the Custom Quilling newsletter last month.  Tomorrow I will post a project from this months newsletter that I must say is my favorite so far.  But back to today, I used 1/8" gold edged white quilling strips to make my hanukkia and mounted it on a gold cardstock die cut mat.  It was very easy to do, much easier than the 3D hanukkia that I did last year! I took the picture at a slight angle so the quilling would show better and it looks a little catywampus, that is Texas for "a bit crooked"! The gold mat is popped up on another mat that was cut from a white pearlescent patterned paper.  Some gold gel pen, gold pearls and ribbon and it was finished.  These metallic edged strips are fast becoming a favorite!

Below is a picture of our hanukkia lit for the first night.  I have my mantle decorated in silver and blue with blue lights.  I changed the lights this year to LED's and they are really brighter and the second picture is with the lights in my den off and just the hanukkia lit with the blue lights.  My husband says it's kinda erie looking but in reality it is very pretty.  Blue is my favorite color so I like it!

I also have hanukkias and Star's of David hanging from the ceiling.  The grand kids made them out of popsicle sticks that we spray painted blue then glittered in sliver and blue.  The LED's shine little blue spotlights all over and my grandson Ephram commented how there were stars and menorah shapes in the lights.  He was right, these new LED's shine throw shadows of the hanging menorahs and stars on the ceiling that dance in the spotlights. The "erie" picture shows these "spotlights" on the fireplace.  You know me, I love anything sparkly and shiny!! Below is a picture of them from last year and you can see the mantle and my other hanukkia. We also have an electric one for the window that has flicker flame bulbs that one of our neighbor's little daughter watches from outside and loves to see each night lit.

I saved the best for last.  My daughter sent these pictures to me today.  I couldn't resist posting them.  I as her nana, of course, am prejudice, but I think that this is the cutest Yoda baby there is.
 

Yoda baby aka Chaiya Violet uses the "Force" of cuteness to get what she wants and when she doesn't she starts to turn to the "dark side" to enforce her rule of the "empire".  But the "empire strikes back" and uses the "force" for good and luls her into a nap. Cuddly as an "ewok".  If you are wondering who she favors in the family, she is a "clone" of her daddy. He is the same one that I made the Star Wars Tie Fighter for and loves all things Star Wars.  My daughter has always cringed when I watch my Star Trek reruns, and now DVDs, over and over, all the years that she was growing up, and still do.  Funny how she married a Star Wars fanatic! Love it!

Thanks for indulging the nana with the "cute baby pictures" and Happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate this week!  More later!

Shalom,

Sonya

Thanks for visiting, if you have any questions please email me at the link on the sidebar.