Sundays With Lorraine

Hello my crafty friends, and welcome back to Weekly Scrapper. I just returned home from our first Stamp & Scrapbook Expo of the year and I am happy to report that a fun time was had by all in the Creativity Center. Those ladies in Texas are on fire! The show was great and I can’t wait to start the new cat mini album kit that I picked up in the Pinecone Press booth (they offer wonderful classes and did you know that you can purchase them “to go”?). The album is so cute; I’ll have to post a few pics when I’m finished putting it together. 😉

A Moment In Time

Let’s start out with an adorable digital layout that I discovered on the Scrapbookgraphics blog. I fell in love with the priceless photo against the soft, warm colors. This is one of those layouts that just makes you smile; it’s a reminder of a carefree time that the girls will never forget. Layouts like this inspire me to dive into digital scrapbooking. I hope it does the same for you.

Whether you’re an experienced Digital scrapbooker or are getting ready to give it a try, I highly recommend stopping by the Scrapbookgraphics blog.  The site is full of inspiration; they have a great gallery that is sure to give you tons of ideas and some serious treasure to add to your collection. They have something for just about any occasion. Keep up the good work by preserving your memories one page at a time.

Hello Sunshine designed by Amy Sheffer

As many of you know, watercolor techniques combined with heat embossing are my techniques of choice at the moment. I can’t get enough of them; they are so simple and yet at the same time, very showy. I always have A2 size pieces of watercolor paper on hand, so if I’m not feeling extremely creative I break out all kinds of different coloring mediums and create background panels to be used for future projects. It’s a very therapeutic way to get those creative juices flowing again.

Click here and I will be happy to take you over to Pickled Paper Designs Blog so you can jot down the supplies that Amy used to create this sweet card. I hope you’ve been inspired to break out a few different coloring mediums and have fun creating your own one-of-a-kind backgrounds. A few coloring mediums that work extremely well for this technique are Faber Castell Gelatos, Distress Inks, and Ken Oliver’s Color Burst (to name a few of my current faves). When activated with water, magic is created! Enjoy your creative playtime.

Bonjour! Designed by Nicole Heady

The sweet umbrella full of flowers is what first caught my eye. Upon further inspection I discovered that there’s a lot more going on than first meets the eye. There’s multi-level stamping, coloring with colored pencils, blending with Gamsol, and paper piecing.  Laurie is the queen of fine detail and she has prepared a detailed step-by-step video on how she made this adorable card.

If you would like to follow along as Laurie shares her tips for altering your die cuts and adding additional color to stamped images with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits (also known as Gamsol) click here and I will be happy to take you over for a visit – you are going to love the video. Thanks, Laurie, for being such an inspiration to your fellow paper crafters.

Prima’s Lanties

It was love at first sight when I noticed these little cuties in the Prima booth at CHA. Each package of these festive, light-up garland strands contains five and a half feet of gorgeousness! Each is LED and battery-operated, so they can be hung anywhere and everywhere; the possibilities are endless.

But wait, there’s more! 😉  Check out the Collection Lanties. These are absolutely adorable with glass and metal accents. So retro – I just love them!

I knew you would love them! Just click here and I will be honored to escort you over to the Prima site so you can take a closer look at the different designs. There are at least 10 different patterns (not including the Collection sets). My mind is spinning thinking of all the fun ways to use them; wouldn’t they be perfect to light up your next backyard BBQ, baby shower, birthday, over your craft table, etc. What are you going to do with yours?

Lemon-Garlic Penne with Crab

Your family is definitely going to feel the love when you serve this delicious seafood pasta dish. It’s quick, easy, and oh-so-tasty, what’s not to love? The entire dish takes about 15 minutes to prep and 20 minutes cooking time. “Ya gotta love it!” Less time in the hot kitchen means more creative time in your craft room.

Serve with a simple salad and your favorite loaf of artisan bread and you’re good to go. Click here and I will take you over to the Taste Of Home Blog so you can print out the recipe. Enjoy!

Have a great week. I’ll see you here next Sunday on Weekly Scrapper or if you happen to be in the Pleasanton, CA area on March 4-5, we’re having a Stamp & Scrapbook Expo and I would love to meet you in person. I’ll meet you in the Creativity Center!