LESSology

LESSology Challenge #11: Guest Designer Shahrul Niza

2012-02-20T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello there friends! Our guest for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy is the talented Shahrul Niza.

Hello. I am Shahrul Niza from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am lucky to have found this unique challenge blog recently. A blog dedicated for all things altered. I have always loved to alter things, turning 'junk' or something old into beautiful somethings again. Often times, I used altered things in my mini album or scrapbook projects. It's twice the FUN!. I'm happiest when I could recycle things, create altered art and share them online to inspire others. Yes, I do think hard before throwing anything away. LOL. Little steps to minimize impact to the environment.

You could visit my blog for inspirations too @ Such pretty Canvas.

I'm grateful and so excited to be guest designing here today, for the LESSology Challenge #11; Flights of Fantasy. Thank you Angi and Yvonne for such opportunity!. For this project, I like to recycle an old cigar box into a trendy little craft bag. A storage for my scrapbook embellishments, yet trendy enough to bring it along to any crop sessions!. I'm inspired by Kelly Rae Robert's infamous book TAKE FLIGHT, so I'm going to use that big words to adorn my bag. Love it.

... here is the finished project.

... the posterior look. I don't want to cover the
beautiful wood with paint, so I just stamped some
butterflies and ethnic patterns over the cigar label.
Making it look 'rugged' and well-worn.

...I love this quote that says
' Give your imagination wings'.

... basically, I used a cigar box,
a drawer pull and some pattern papers.

... then I applied a few coats of acrylic paint on

the inside and stamped musical notes on the hinge.
And painted the outside cover with cream paint.

... I used a brass drawer pull (found at a flea
market) as a handle, secured by a pair of metal
brads. It looks old and special. A ribbon, a
leather strap or an old belt does the job as well.

... I added two metal corners for t
front cover to make it look a bit grungy.

Wow! This is a gorgeous project Shahrul! Don't you agree? Please leave a little love for our guest Shahrul. :)

P/s: Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy! It ends on Sunday March 4, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Sponsor Spotlight - Jenny Johns - Ippity Stamps

2012-02-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

We are so happy to have the fun & creative Jenny Johns sponsor Lessology Challenge #11 - Flights of Fantasy. Keep reading to learn more about Jenny and the wonderful products that she has to offer.

Hi there! It’s me, YOUR {ippity} Chick, Jenny Johns! I am a Unity Endorsed {ippity} Chick!

Familiar with Unity Stamp Co? Then you already know the fantastic quality of Unity’s deeply etched red rubber stamps, because {ippity} stamps are by Unity! The stamps are mounted on cling foam, pre-cut, and ready to be used with any acrylic block or Unity handle. {ippity} stamps are only available through an {ippity} chick like me. However, we now have some exciting news: you can also order {ippity} from me, at the Unity Stamp Co website (just click on my name/photo)! http://unitystampco.com/ippity-chicks/default.aspx

I've been a crafter all my life and have dabbled in almost every hobby. Papercrafting and stamping is the one I always come back to, and I truly enjoy the "me" time in my craft room. Once I discovered Unity a few years back, I was hooked! Then, of course, I had to immediately join in on selling the {ippity} line 'cause the stamps are just way too cute and fit in with any type of projects. We also have some new {ippity} itty bitty stamps...just right for any budget!

My style of creating is...every type! I love to try old and new products, techniques,and ideas.

I live in Arizona, have a teenage son, a busy job, and a couple of chocolate labs that keep me entertained, but I can always help you with your {ippity} questions too! Feel free to contact me!

My creative blog: http://jenscupofcreations.blogspot.com/

My {ippity} site: http://jenscupofippity.blogspot.com/

~~~~~~~

Here are a few of Jenny's fabulous creations made with Ippity Stamps:

A special tribute to design team member Audrey Pettit!

2012-02-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hello altered enthusiasts! Happy Valentine's Day to you!:) Here at LESSology, we want to pay a special tribute to design team member Audrey Pettit, who is stepping down to spend more time with her family. Audrey's work has been nothing short of extraordinary and though we will miss her, we are proud to have had her on our team.

Here's a slideshow of Audrey's creative projects for LESSology. Please leave a little love for Audrey.

P/s: Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy! It ends on Sunday March 4, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight winners!

2012-02-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! :) We loved checking out your LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight creations! What a bunch of creative people you are. Our winner for this challenge is

Libeeti with this beautiful floral frame

Congratulations Libeeti! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! Please email us with your mailing details so that we can get your RAK to you! :) [Please grab the winner badge from the sidebar.]

And now for our Top 3...

Lynnda

Irit

Ros

Congratulations to our Top 3! [Please grab your Top 3 badge from the sidebar.]

LESSology Challenge #11: Creative inspiration from Amy Tsuruta and Lisa Saunders!

2012-02-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hope you are hard at work with your projects for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy! Or maybe you just need a few more ideas to get their creativity engine started?

Hello!!!

Amy T here, sooo excited to share my Flights of Fantasy project with you today!

Can you read the sentiment?

It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.~Erma Bombeck

I made a wall cardboard 'canvas'....the base is packaging material that I've been hoarding {10.25 x 3.5}. All the papers are from my latest Pink Paislee purchase, the Nantucket collection.

The left panel is all Pink Paislee:

The middle panel uses October Afternoon silhouette stickers:

See the butterfly? I used the Stampin' Up die on yup, a Starbucks Coffee Cup Sleeve...love those things:) The center is a Pink Paislee Chip Tile...

I had such a fun time putting together this project and it has a home in the 'ole scrap room:)

I can't wait to see how you're inspired by the challenge!

My sister and her family have just booked their first trip to Orlando.
So I decided to make my nieces and nephew little notebooks for their flight.

I covered these hardbacked spiral bound notebooks. Each one has clouds and planes, but each one is slightly different. I have added their names and covered the front of each one with modge podge to secure it all down nicely.
I have laminated a cloud and plane for each book and tied with ribbon to the top wire spiral.

I'll give them the books before they go with a pack of pencils for each of them.

Lisa x

Some really fun ideas for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy! Please feel free to interpret the challenge in your own unique way as long as you include at least one upcycled item in your creation. We would love to see your entries! :)

LESSology Challenge #11: Creative inspiration from Angi Barrs, Mandy Dodd and Julie Tucker-Wolek!

2012-02-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

Ready for a second round of inspiration for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy from the design team?

Happy Wednesday ya'll! Angi here with a fun project that incorporates wood and canvas. I made a birdie and mini card set for the Flights of Fantasy Challenge.

I got the little wooden birdie from Michael's. I thought about painting it white, but changed my mind because I like the natural wood color. I used a glue dot to add a piece of recycled canvas and a mulberry paper flower to dress it up a bit.

I also made a coordinating mini card with more of the recycled canvas!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with for this challenge!

Hi its Mandy here with a fun flight of fantasy!!

This takes me back to my childhood making a kite with my Dad.

He was wonderful at making 'stuff' and showing us kids how things worked.

Constructing it pretty much came back from memory ...

One piece of fabric. I had a piece of yellow fabric

laying around, so I misted it orange!

Two pieces of wood, one longer than the other (depending how big the kite is to be. Mine is 22x16ins) and tie the middle where it criss-crosses with string The taped area on the wood is where I'll tie the string that we hold onto to fly the kite.

Forgot to take a photo of the fine sting that runs from each point of the wood (rolling eyes) but you can make out its shadow where I've folded over the edges and glue down.

Stamped all over with some hearts with white paint

Embellished with some white and yellow vintage doilies and buttons with some lemon seambinding and added the tail.

AND IT WORKS!!!

Kite flying is so much fun with the family...

And I'm really looking forward to your ideas too!

Hi everyone!!! :)

For my flights of fantasy challenge, I decided to take a different approach with mine! This being the month of love ;) I went a little romantic on mine!! I had some older banner pieces and I made a banner full of butterflies! :)

Can't wait to see what you all create for this fun challenge! :)

Another round of jaw-dropping goodness...Are you blown away by the ideas by our awesome design team? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy!

LESSology Challenge #11: Creative Inspiration from Audrey Pettit, Kirsty Vittetoe, Laurel Seabrook, Linda Lapotka and Yvonne Yam

2012-02-07T00:01:00.002-05:00

Curious to see how the team interpreted LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy?

Hi everyone, it's Audrey, here sharing my project for our new challenge, Flights of Fantasy.

I absolutely adore our challenge theme this time around! So many possibilities! I mean, is there any end of cute bird products on the market these days? For my project, I made a card with this adorable owl die that I fell in love with at first sight and couldn't wait to use. What a perfect opportunity to try something new.

I die cut the owl from several different patterned papers so I could mix and match the parts to create my own design. I used foam adhesive on some of my layers to give depth and dimension to the little guy, and centered him in an ornate frame that was die cut from kraft cardstock. A little bit of white paint around the edges gives an instant sense of age to the design.

Added a hand-stamped sentiment banner and a layered pom-pom, seam binding bow, and perched my owl on a twig, my up-cycled goody for today. I do love to incorporate a bit of nature into my projects. :)

Hi all, Kirsty here for LESSology Challenge #11 - Flights of Fantasy.

My daughter is a music major at Calarts, she is preparing her solo recital and I know she will love this.....

Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, one of her all time favorite

I intend to put a little gift in there just for her...

this project started with a little favor box I got from a wedding dinner party

it is old and torn so it needs a little make-over

old book pages, stamps, glimmer mist, tissue paper tape, and the new look!!!!

now Pixie is ready to take her flight........

flight of the bumblebee, which is.......

Hi Laurel here. When I saw this challenge I immediately thought of some of my old maps that I was given and decided to make a travel themed mini journal. I altered a chipboard album and made a little travel journal for jotting down some quick, short notes on the day's adventures, making it easier to scrap the photos when we get back. Some of the journal spots are adhered on three sides only, so as to make a pocket for receipts and tickets. I stamped a tag on one of my maps to use as an embellishment on the album cover.

Now a couple of photos of some of the inside pages:

Now to go on a trip!

We have a fun challenge called Flights of Fantasy. I took the flight part seriously and made this whimsical bird.

I formed the bird with two cells from an egg carton. Then I painted it white.

The legs are the metal things you tie your turkey together with to keep the stuffing from falling out.

For the base I covered a box with DP from CTMH and poked the legs into that. Then I covered the bird with feathers. Next I added a flower to the front of the bird, and the base. The base flower is a daisy that I added a homemade embellishment to the center.

The last thing I added was a Tim Holtz ticket tags that says SOAR. This was so much fun. Feathers were flying everywhere. LOL This whimsical bird will remind me to SOAR with my ideas.

You can see how I created this in a video at my blog.

I hope you will join the challenge. We look forward to seeing your Flights of Fantasy.

Hello friends! It's Yvonne here to share my inspiration for LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy.

My project is a combination of my fascination with hot air balloons and my recent love for making tissue paper pom poms.

This little basket used to house some delicious lychees. The lace and ribbon were from an ugly bridemaid's dress.

I love that I could put candy in the basket at a party and keep it neatly away for use on another occasion.

All I need to do is fluff up those pom poms! :)

Has the design team inspired you to give LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy a try? You are free to interpret the challenge in any way you want as long as you include at least one upcycled item.We would love to see your entries! :)

LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy

2012-02-06T00:01:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy! :)We want to see projects that incorporate flights in an innovative way! Remember to include at least one upcycled item in your projects! :)

From this month onwards, you will have 4 weeks to play along with our challenges as we move to a monthly challenge blog! Each challenge will be posted on the first Monday of the month and the design team will play along with ALL the challenges so there will be plenty of eye candy to inspire you! We hope that with the extended deadline, more of you can come join in the challenges here at LESSology. :)

Our sponsor for this challenge is {ippty} Chick, Jenny Johns. If you love Unity Co Stamps, then you will love this month's fabulous prize package of 3 Ippity stamp sets (valued at $22) which includes

Ippity giggles x 3

Ippity Gurnsey Gingham (background stamp)

Ippity Wise Guy (itty bitty)

Design team sneak peeks of LESSology Challenge #11: Flights of Fantasy

Here's a sneak peek of our design team's creations! :)

Ready to play along? Please link up your challenge via InLinkz (located at the end of this post) by Sunday March 4, 11.59pm EST. Please read our challenge rules to ensure eligibility for our prizes. :)

Sponsor Spotlight - Vintage Street Market

2012-02-01T10:55:00.000-05:00

Vintage Street Market is our fabulous sponsor for

Lessology Challenge #10: Floral Delight.

Vintage Street Market celebrates memories, and the textures, sentiments and simplicity from times past. It is our intention to not only offer exceptional products, but to also create a community where nostalgia can be shared, creativity explored, and memories preserved. Vintage Street Market's online store offers themed kits and accessories made of authentic vintage and vintage-inspired items available directly to the consumer. Vintage Street Market is also very excited to introduce it's own branded product line, which includes the innovative multi-texture Paper Sheets & Tags, unique cellophane Tinted Tape, and our new line of Craft Pantry Staples. While our unique vintage kits are only available on our website, www.vintagestreetmarket.com, these branded products can be found at local scrapbook stores.

Here are some of their yummy goodies

Farmer's Market Vintage Kit

Vintage Valentines

Bingo Craft Cards

Rose German Glass Glitter

Be sure to visit their wonderful store and blog.

LESSology Challenge #10: Guest designer Virginia Lu

2012-01-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

Let's give a warm welcome to Virginia Lu, our guest designer for LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! :)

I am Virginia Lu from Canada. What can I say about LESSology blog? I love love the concept of this challenge blog and the people behind it are so very talented and inspiring. It was my absolute pleasure to be invited to guest design here today. Living in Canada, every citizen is very much aware of preserving our beautiful environment. Reduce, re-use and re-cycle is our way of life. I love to incorporate used paper (some may call them “junk”)into my projects. Upcycling is the BEST! I am sharing two paper flower cards by using candy wrap and card board. They are your average “supplies” that you can readily find in your house!

I used Godiva Chocolate Candy wrap for this card. The stem and leaves were stamped and the bottom part of the card was dry embossed. Since the candy wrap is very strong and pliable, it was easy to turn it into a flower. I merely cut the top part into strips! Love the effect that it gives!

Here is the close-up

For my 2nd card, you can see the supplies that I used in this photo.

Instructions:

1. Emboss flower over card board in Martha Stewart Red Embossing Powder and then cut out careful. (note: choose a simple shape flower for easy cutting), cut out.

2. Light stamped background in Distress Ink (Scattered Straw) and then apply flower to card stock with thin strip of double-sided tape

3. Punch out small flower and roll the ric rac for the flower center.

4. Apply Glossy Accent to secure the flower.

5. Apply SRM Sticker over Hero Arts Grenadine layering paper and make a banner

6. Apply white and yellow Dimensional Glue to the flowers for interest

A close-up

The dimensions from the card board flower is perfect. There is no need to add the extra bulk!

Thank you, Yvonne, for the invite. I thoroughly enjoy this Floral Delight Challenge and have even more ideas to make some more! Hope you are inspired to join the challenge! Making paper flowers is so fun, especially you already have the supplies!

These are such delightful floral creations Virginia! Hope you are inspired to give LESSology Challenge #10: Floral delight a try! :) Please leave some love for our awesome guest Virginia! :)

LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board winners!

2012-01-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who play along with LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! :) The winner of the challenge is...

Shahrul with this beauty...

Congratulations Shahrul! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! Please email us with your mailing details so that we can get your RAK to you! :) [Please grab the winner badge from the sidebar.]

And here are the Top 3!

Michelle

Mitra

Mynnette

Congratulations to our Top 3! [Please grab your Top 3 badge from the sidebar.]

P/s: Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! It ends on Sunday February 5, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #10: Creative projects of Mandy Dodd, Dora Dekker and Tesa Broman

2012-01-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hope you have all been inspired by the design team's floral delights! Today we get to see how Mandy Dodd, Dora Dekker and Tesa Broman tackled this challenge! :)

Hi, it's Mandy here,

And I've actually called my dh in to help me!

We had some old fence palings for ages that I was dying to do something with, so asked him to saw up and nail together some frames out of them with a solid backing.

I was thrilled when I saw them, glued on a couple of half flowerpots (from our dollar store) and dabbed on some paint....

Then it was about arranging some flowers and vines in them, adding in a little birds in nests...

with bows and a bit of moss

Hope you have as much fun with your interpretation for this challenge!

Thanks so much for looking

Such a fun challenge again!
I have used an old little record.
Painted it white 3 times and already know wich image to use, also a sentiment with flowers.
Actually a little project but I love the way it turned out.
You can send it as a card but also use it as a wall hanger.

Hi all! Tesa here with a wall art that started as a flower project where I had this idea of combining different materials to make a special flower and once done I liked it so much I put it on a canvas with a much needed reminder these days - BREATH!

The flower base is a fabbie crochet flower a dear friend made for me and the topper is a flower made out of aluminum tape, gesso and retro punch with a pearl in the center. Both the crochet flower and aluminum tape is colored with gesso. There are a lot of gesso on this one!

The base is old newspaper covered with gesso and the clothes pins are also painted with gesso and then stamped and heat embossed and then covered with a thin layer of gesso again to get a soft look.

I really like the pins, they make it really easy to change the message of the canvas - the day I don't need to breath... :)

Goodness! These are just the most delightful bloom projects right? We would love to see your take on LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! :)

LESSology Challenge #10: Creative projects of Angi Barrs, Julie Tucker-Wolek and Linda Lapotka

2012-01-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

Let's check out the floral delights from Angi Barrs, Julie Tucker-Wolek and Linda Lapotka! :)

Hello everyone! Angi here with a flower decor project for those of us who are "flower challenged". I can't make pretty flowers like my fellow dt members can...so I decided to "pretty up" my flowers for this project.

I used coffee filters to make a scallop shape to peek out from behind the Prima flowers. I also rolled small pieces of coffee filter to place next to each flower. I think it dresses it up quite a bit.

I love to "dress up" small kraft boxes so I must make more of these. I hope to see you all play along with us!!!

Hi everyone :)

I love to make paper flowers! They are a little time consuming, but when you have them on your finished product.. it's all worth it :)

For my project, I made paper flowers and added them to a 12x12 canvas with one of my favorite quotes :):):):)

Can't wait to see what everyone creates! :) ~~Julie :)

It's time for Challenge #10. The challenge is "Floral Delight" I l-o-v-e making flowers. The hard part was picking which flower I wanted to make for this challenge. In the spirit of LESSology I decide to make my flowers from egg cartons.

First I cut apart the cells and trimmed them down. I made one petal that I liked and traced around it on the inside of the cell. Then I cut it out.

Next I mixed Ceramcoat Pearl Finish Acrylic Paint and re-inkers to get the color that I wanted. I painted both sides and let them dry. Next I layered the flowers with hot glue and added a vintage button for a final touch.

And here you have my fun funky flowers.

I used my egg carton flowers on a journal to keep track of what I spend and sell each month.

To watch how I made my flowers you can check out my YouTube channel (LindaLap) or visit my blog Scrapcat Cards by Linda.I hope you will join our challenge. I can't wait to see how your flowers bloom.

Aren't these fabulous? We would love to see your take on LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight!

LESSology Challenge #10: Creative projects of Laurel Seabrook, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam

2012-01-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Are you ready to check out the floral delights of Laurel Seabrook, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam?

Hi there, Laurel here. I had fun with my project today. I took an old garage sale frame and painted it to look shabby. For the inside I stencilled on a piece of scrap fabric. Finally I used my Cricut to cut out the flowers. I then distressed the flowers and Seam Binding with a bit of ink.

Hi, it's Kirsty here with my project for LESSology Challenge #10 Floral Delight

I started with a hanger, those that you got from the dry cleaner, they are very easy to bend into any shape you like, and then some bits and pieces of fabric left over from other projects

since Valentine's Day is coming, the heart shape is perfect, use hot glue and wrap the strip of fabric around, don't try to trim those frills away, I just love that shabby look.

Tada...... that's it!!!!

I am so proud of myself, every bits of material I used here are just things found in my "bits and pieces bowl", that is what LESSology is all about!

now I have a pretty thing to hang on my door for Valentine's Day ....

Hi there! It's Yvonne. I upcycled an old tin box and used some remnant felt to make a loopy felt bloom! :)

Come play along with LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! :)

LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight

2012-01-23T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hello there friends! Welcome to LESSology Challenge #10: Floral Delight! :) Oh yes, we want to see what you do with blooms, glorious blooms! Remember to include at least one upcycled item on your project! :)

Our sponsor for this challenge is Vintage Street Market who is offering an awesome pack of goodies! :)

Here are some sneaks from our design team!

Ready to play along? Link your creations via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Sunday February 5, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Sponsor Spotlight - Whisker Graphics

2012-01-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

We are so happy to have Whisker Graphics sponsor us here at Lessology.

Whisker Graphics is the creative out-pouring of Whitney Beard. Founded in June of 2008, Whisker Graphics was a long time in the making. Whitney's love of design and paper goods started when, as a child, she would save her allowance to buy sales receipt booklets and bookkeeping journals (oh, those grids made her little heart skip a beat!) and progressed over the years to include a degree in Graphic Design and the appreciation of all things paper and crafty.

In the Fall of 2009 Whitney created Divine Twine®, bakers twine in yummy colors, and introduced it to the market. In Spring of 2011 she created Bitty Bags, fun paper bags in a variety of designs and sizes.

Whitney lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two children and their schnoodle, Lola. Oh, and she blogs too. Sometimes free crafty downloads are offered. Stop by and say hello.

Here are some of their fun products!

Be sure to play along to win 2 spools of yummy baker's twine from Whisker Graphics! Link your creations via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Sunday January 22, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #9: Guest designer Heather Jacob

2012-01-16T00:01:00.005-05:00

We are delighted to have the talented Heather Jacob as our guest designer for LESSology Challenge #9 Inspiration Board! :)

I was so thrilled and excited when I was asked to be a guest designer on this fabulous innovative site called LESSOLOGY … super, duper awesome !!! thank you so much Angi and Yvonne for having me.
I adore incorporating up-cycled items in my work … it truly stretches me out of my comfort zone. I was asked to create an inspiration board !!!! soooooooooo I decided to turn a CANVAS inside out and create a design adding pockets to hold tags with affirmations … my intention is to choose a tag each day for myself to inspire me throughout the day . I will change the tags each week and I will be adding more tags throughout the year with inspiring affirmations ..

My name is Heather Jacob, I am passionate about all things arty . I live in Australia in the capital city of South Australia … Adelaide .. I am blissfully married to my supportive soul-mate Baden and our treasured family are all featured throughout my work .
To me this craft is the perfect combination of art, photography, beautiful paper glorious words and complete freedom to express myself .. I can incorporate all the arts and crafts I love in one hobby…My books are a reflection of my life, my history, my family and my friends . Also who I was yesterday and who I am today. I am inspired by color and texture.. I love to include stitching, chipboard, journaling, fabrics, metal elements, inking, masking, texture paste and of course “RECYCLED ITEMS “….
Off the page projects, altered ART, tags,cards and minibooks are all faves of mine .. My style is “classic” with attention to detail often leaning towards monochromatic themes with a little shabby chic thrown in .

MY BLOGS
www.heatherartandlife.blogspot.com
www.heather-artandsoul.blogspot.com

I chose to create a board using a canvas turned inside out ...

I used an old lace doilie from a second hand shop as my upcycled item and also there is a button and a small piece of muslin tucked under the strip of paper where the Eiffel Tower is situated.

I have created some tags with affirmations and will be adding to them over the year ..

my intention is to have 7 tags in the pockets each week and pull out one every day for inspiration on that particular day ....

then add some different ones for the following week .. a rotation kind of idea ...

Isn't this a splendid idea for an inspiration board? Just gorgeous work Heather! Please leave a comment for our guest Heather.

LESSology Challenge 8: Frame of Life winners! :)

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

A big thank you to those who played along with LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life! :) There were many wonderful entries....and our winner is *drumroll*...

Kissinia with this beautiful rustic piece

Congratulations Kissinia! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #8 : Frame of Life. Please email us with your mailing details so that we can get your RAK out to you! :) [Please grab the winner badge from the sidebar.]

And here are our Top 3!

Stampersuzz

Katy

Sav O'G

Congratulations to our Top 3! :) [Please grab your Top 3 badge from the sidebar.]

P/s: Don't forget about our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration board :) It ends on Sunday January 22, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #9: Creative inspiration from Amy Tsuruta and Lisa Saunders! :)

2012-01-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

Let's see what design team members Amy Tsuruta and Lisa Saunders came up with for LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board.

Hello! Amy T here sharing my LESSology Challenge #9 project:

Inspiration Board

It's funny how the creative process is for me, and I'm guessing for a lot of others. I totally had something in mind for my project...years ago my son was Elvis for Halloween...absolutely hilarious...he walked around with his portable karaoke machine...his outfit was made by a friend of mine..white sweats...jeweled up...flared pant legs...popped up collar..oy, so cute. Anywho's, so one year for Christmas I bought him a cheesy framed Elvis...it now sits in the garage...its a staple at my never ending garage sales but nobody wants to take him home:( I was going to alter that into my Inspiration Board project but then something else popped in my mind:

Embroidery Hoops

One year my friend gave me a bunch of hers because I had mentioned I was looking for some and well, she's crafty too in the sense with fabric etc so she had tons of the hoops in her stash.

Remember my sneak peek from Monday?

This is the finished project...well actually it isn't 'finished'...

"thrive"

That is my 2012 word.

The embroidery hoop is 10.5 inches in diameter so it's pretty big...it's meant for me to use straight pins to keep those special trinkets/memories about 2012 that will motivate me to thrive through the year and that have helped me to grow during the year.

The blooms are made by my bloggie friend Sherry....she does lovely work eh? The fabric that everything is nestled on is vintage....I picked up a pretty large piece of it from a Japanese rummage sale that I use to go to on an annual basis...sadly they don't have them anymore...rummage sales are a great way to pick up recycled items...someones trash is another person's treasure.

I look forward to seeing YOUR inspiration board!!!

I like being and feeling organised.
Over the Christmas break I had been thinking of ways to make our household run smoother. The kids are getting older now and need to start helping out more. Plus they are wanting pocket money and we feel this should be earnt not just given.

So my inspiration board doubles up as our weekly planner.

It's rather large, measuring about 45x60cm and I've used my favourite papers, My Minds Eye Lost and Found. I love these colours. To me they are happy are soothing and just make me feel good.
It's about to be hung on the kitchen door so that everyone can see what's planned, the kids can see if they have any chores to do and the very last piece of frame is where I will make a note of the pocket money they have earnt.

Texture to me is really important when creating. I don't like 'flat'. I love the glittered details on these papers. Although each piece of frame is behind a piece of glass (for me to write on) I have added chipboard embellishments on the top to add my texture.

I love that something so practical and helpful is made using my favourite colours and papers.
Hopefully I will be full of inspiration now each morning when I get up and head into the kitchen.

A great start and challenge for me in 2012.
Happy New Year ladies.

Hope you have been inspired by the design team to create your entries for LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! :)

LESSology Challenge #9: Creative projects of Angi Barrs and Julie Tucker-Wolek! :)

2012-01-11T00:01:00.008-05:00

Let's see how Angi Barrs and Julie Tucker-Wolek interpreted LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! :)

Hello everyone! Angi here. Glad to see you all back for our first LESSology challenge in the new year! This challenge is a lot of fun!

Inspiration boards are all about personality. You need to make one that fits your style. I made this one for a friend of mine that loves birds. She wanted it small enough to fit on her desk and wanted an area to hang a picture or her to do list. I kept the design clean and simple for this one.

The white panel is from a storage cube that I got at Michael's craft store. The cube is falling apart and I didn't want to throw the pieces away, so I decided to upcycle it.

The chocolate colored vinyl bird is from Stampin' Up and the bottom border is from Creative Memories. I put some small clothespins in the upper left hand corner so that she can hang whatever she likes on that side of the board.

Hope you liked my little creation.

I can't wait to see what you all make for this challenge.

I decided to take a different approach to my inspiration board :) I have chosen "HOPE" as my OLW (One Little Word) for 2012, and so I decided to take a wood clipboard that I had and alter it to include one of my all time fave quotes (from the movie Hope Floats) and have this be my inspirational board for 2012 :)

Here is the quote that I used: "Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome. That's what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will..."

Can't wait to see what you create for this challenge :) ~~Julie

Fabulous projects ladies! We would love to see your take on LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! :)

LESSology Challenge #9: Creative projects of Audrey Pettit and Kirsty Vittetoe! :)

2012-01-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

Are you ready to check out the inspiration boards from Audrey Pettit and Kirsty Vittetoe?

Hi everyone, Audrey here, sharing my inspiration board project for our next challenge here at LESSology.

For my inspiration board project, I turned to the colors and theme of one of my favorite new lines, Year.o.graphy by Simple Stories. The mix of neutrals in the line, along with the accents, word strips, and pops of color spark the perfect combo of creativity for me. And with all the great embellishments in the collection pack, this project was quick, easy, and best of all, a ton of fun.

I started with an old framed cork board that was in desperate need of an update.

I liked that the board was already framed, had a hanger and string in the back, and came with push pins. Perfect candidate for a little make-over. First I took the cork board out of the frame, and painted both in neutral tones. I then divided the cork board into quadrants, delineating the sections with a cardstock border sticker and dark brown hemp cord.

I created a layered title focal point for the center of the board using kraft cardstock, alpha stickers, burlap, and embellishments.

And then added accents and titles to each quadrant of my board using alpha stickers and word strips.

The original pushpins were given a face-lift, too. By simply cutting a few elements from the patterned papers and gluing them to the old pins, I now have a completely new, coordinating look.

Happy New Year everyone, it's Kirsty here, sharing with LESSology's first challenge of 2012

* Inspiration Board *

My craft table is always messy, filled with bits and pieces of paper cut out from my project, photos I want to use for my next project, beautiful images I cut out from magazine that provide inspiration, unfinished project or pieces that left behind after I changed my mind. It's 2012, it is time to get organized!!!!

Let's start with a $1 frame from thrift store that I can never resist...

I always love white frame but since my the wall in my craft room is white, I pick a different color this time....

see this "beads garland" that I used to hang my holiday cards on our stairway? we bought something new this year so I trim it up and use it for my inspiration board (I never throw anything away, trust me!)

When I do my project for LESSology, I always look into my box for bits and pieces that were left behind after other projects, look! I just found tons of doily pieces......

now all my photos, magazine cutting, printed vintage images have a place to go.....

I just need my Tall Guy to hang this up right in front of my craft table for me.... : )

So come on and join us at LESSology challenge # 9 - Inspiration Board!

Aren't these awesome inspiration boards? Inspired to create your own inspiration board? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #9 Inspiration Board!

LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board

2012-01-09T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hello there! Happy 2012 and welcome to LESSology Challenge #9: Inspiration Board! :) Oh yes, let's get organized for 2012! :) Remember to include at least one upcycled item on your projects!

Our fabulous sponsor for this challenge is Whisker Graphics and the prize is 2 spools of Baker's Twine! :)

Here are some sneak peeks from our awesome design team!:)

Ready to play along? Link your creations via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Sunday January 22, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Sponsor Spotlight - Really Reasonable Ribbon

2011-12-21T00:01:00.004-05:00

We really do love ribbon here at LESSology! We are honored to have Really Reasonable Ribbon sponsor Challenge #8 - Frame of Life.

Bonnie Garby is the fabulous owner of Really Reasonable Ribbon. This online store has been meeting the ribbon needs of crafters, wedding planners, rubberstampers, scrapbookers and the artistic community for over 10 years. They offer great wholesale pricing on full spools of many of their styles, and really reasonable discount retail pricing on ribbon by the yard.

Their large selection of ribbon styles includes a variety of colors and widths in grosgrain, organza, gingham, satin, ric rac, twill tape, velvet, bakers twine, jute and much more.

Shop - http://www.reasonableribbon.com/index.php

Blog - http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com

Here are some fabulous altered projects from the RRR design team.

Joanna - Altered Wreath

Jan - Altered Train

Trudy - Altered Dixie Cup

Dawn - Altered Sleigh

Corrie - Altered Paint Can

Misty - Flower Clip Bouquet

Fabulous projects! Thank you RRR design team for the wonderful inspiration. If you're still feeling inspired be sure to playing along in LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life! The deadline for all entries is Sunday January 8, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #8 Guest Designer: Audrey Frelix

2011-12-19T00:01:00.006-05:00

Hello, everyone! I'm Audrey from Cute and Some and I'm delighted, and so excited, to be a guest designer today on Lessology today. Thank you Lessology Team for having me!

My project is an altered frame and because I wanted it to represent what I'd like if I purchased a frame --very basic and not too ornate -- here's what I came up with:

This was such a fun, quick, and inexpensive project to put together! In gathering my materials I found an old 5"x 7" pressboard frame around the house and along with the following scraps I began preparing my altered frame:

5" x 7" sheet of foam board (cut to size for the frame back)
1.50" x 4" piece of foam board (cut for the frame stand)
4" strip ribbon (frame stand hinge)
4.50" x 6" sheet of transparency (for the frame window)
Tulip Permanent Puffy Paint
Gesso

For the frame corners, I cut a strip of 1/2"x4" ArtEmboss Brass Metal (light weight) which I ran through a Cuttlebug embossing folder; then cut the metal lenthwise in half and evenly into fourths across the width.

Next I formed my clay flowers as outlined on the pictures below and baked according to the manufacturers instructions:

With everything assembled I was ready to start! To give the frame some dimension, using the Tulip Puffy Paint to paint them on, I miminicked branches and leaves onto the pressboard frame and then allowed it to dry. Once the paint was dry, I arranged and glued on my flowers to my liking, and painted the entire frame twice with Gesso (letting each coat dry in between)

When the last coat of Gesso was dry, I created the brass corners by folding the metal strips around the corner edges on the front of the frame to the back; next I glued the transparency on the back to cover the window opening, and then glued on the frame back. For the stand, I folded the strip of ribbon in half lengthwise and glued only one-half of the ribbon to the frame back aligning the bottom of the ribbon to the bottom of the frame. The remaining half of the ribbon that was not glued down to the frame back is where the stand was glued by laying and gluing an edge (lengthwise) along the top-side edge of the ribbon (being very careful not to glue down the ribbon to the frame on the side where the stand is attached); this allows the stand to lay flat when not in a standing position. To finish the back of the frame, I covered it with kraft paper to hide any flaws and painted all the edges. The pictures below illustrate these steps:

To complete the frame, I painted the flowers using Viva Inka-Gold colors; next, to age and color the brass corners I used Cranberry color Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink, and finished with Crystal color Stickles to highlight the frame.

All that was left was to pop in the picture!!!

I hope you enjoyed my altered frame, I most certainly enjoyed doing it for you! Again, many thanks to Lessology (love you guys!) and I hope I'll be invited to come back again. Thanks too to all of you for taking the time to stop by and joining me!!!

Isn't this a fabulous creation? Thank you for sharing Audrey! Please be sure to leave a comment for Audrey.

Hope you are inspired to play along with LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life! The deadline for all entries is Sunday January 8, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail winners!

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

A big thank you to those who played along with LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! :) The winner is

Charmaine who created this lovely Christmas card and matching envelope! :)

Congratulations Charmaine! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail. Please send us an email so that we can make arrangements for your RAK! [Please grab the winner badge from the sidebar!]

And here are the Top 3!

Mandy

Lynnda

Gisele

Congratulations ladies! [Please grab your Top 3 badge from the sidebar!] :)

P/s: Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life. The deadline for entries is Sunday January 8, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #8: Creative projects of Dora Dekker and Tesa Broman

2011-12-15T00:01:00.002-05:00

Are you enjoying the design team showcase for LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life? Today we get to see the creative projects of Dora Dekker and Tesa Broman.

Hello everyone!!
What a great challenge again, I love old frames and when I see them in a antique shop I need to buy them. Like I did with this beauty.

I painted it white, a fewe layers that's all I did.
Removed the back of the frame, made a little box out of cardstock and placed it behind the frame.
After that I started decorating and as you can see, it looks like an old sewing studio.
Hope you like my altered frame!

Hi! I have made a vintage looking altered frame out of an old metal colored frame I got from a flee market for nothing.

I wanted to frame a vintage tag of Santa so I went for a white crackled look by painting the frame with Gesso and then uneaven coat of Antique Linnen Crackle Paint and then a coat of gesso again. Finally I inked the edges with some chalk.

The inner part of the frame has a line of Puffies Cream - like snow... A flower and a few leafs finish it off.

I have the perfect spot for this one on the wall next to our Christmas tree.

Aren't these frames just lovely? We would love to see your altered frames for LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life! :) The deadline for entries is Sunday January 8, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Please leave a comment for Dora and Tesa! :)

LESSology Challenge #8: Creative projects of Angi Barrs, Mandy Dodd and Julie Tucker-Wolek!

2011-12-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

Today we get to see the creative projects of Angi Barrs, Mandy Dodd and Julie Tucker-Wolek. :)

Hello everyone! It's Angi here to share my altered frame creation! And I have a little confession to make. This is not the original altered frame that I made for this challenge. After staring at the original one for hours, I decided that I really didn't like it very much. LOL Have you ever created something and just didn't like the end result?

Here's my frame design re-do! I like this one must better! (smile)

My flowers had missing pearls and brads, so I recycled some and added them to the middle of each bloom. The ribbon that I used was ripped in the middle. I used some extra thread that I had lying around to patch it up for this frame.

The frame is from Ikea and the beautiful paper is from My Mind's Eye. This frame will be under the tree for a good friend of mine! :)

Hi, its Mandy and I've been creating with a 12x12 decorative edge (or diecut) scrapbooking paper which is mounted on a cardboard backing for strength. You could use this idea to show off artwork/scrapping page etc with a pretty frame you can hang!

Start with a 12x12 diecut - it needs to be good for cutting out a frame

So following the conture of the decorative edge...

cut out the frame... and measure cardboard to match its size

Paint directly on cardboard OR cover the cardboard with artwork, or scrapping LO

Place foam mounting tape on the underside of the decorative cut-out frame

And here's the end result!

A 12x12 piece ready to be hung

(my youngest dd (15) claimed this already!)

Cant wait to see what you create!

and thanks for looking

Hi everyone :)

When I saw our altered frame challenge, I decided to take a different twist on it :) I found this on clearance - it's from Plaid Crafts - and as you can see, it looks like they intended it to be a memo board. Well, I decided to make my own version of a frame from this :)

And here is what I created with it :) I used Graphic 45's Christmas Emporium line on here :)

I can't wait to see what everyone creates! :) ~~Julie :)

Aren't these just awesome projects? We would love to see your take on LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life. Please leave a comment for our design team.

LESSology Challenge #8: Creative projects of Laurel Seabrook, Linda Lapotka, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam!

2011-12-13T00:01:00.003-05:00

Ready to check out how the design team interpreted LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life? Today we get to see the creative projects of Laurel Seabrook, Linda Lapotka, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam.

Hi there, Laurel here with a very quick, easy and inexpensive home decor piece for you. I picked up this little frame at a garage sale for 10 cents! There was only the frame no glass or backing but it worked perfectly for this little piece. I spray painted it black then I just used some of my scrapbooking supplies to create this little Santa portrait. I love Santa and especially this vintage, chubby little guy. Added a bit of sparkly ribbon and done. This took less than an hour to complete and is now sitting on a ledge in my house right where I can see it everyday.

Hi Linda here, The challenge this week came just in time. My hubby hung this on our door to remind me to turn down the heat before I leave the house.

I needed to do something about this and I created this...

The frame is one of the dollar ones from Michael's but I got it at a garage sale for $0.10. It had some paint on it but it was easy enough to sand and paint over. Then I cut the word winter using Gypsy Wanderings and glued it to some 2008 DCWV Christmas paper. Next I cut some snowflakes using MFT Die-namics. The door is metal so I put two long magnetic strips on the back and woooolaaaa I now have a pretty reminder to turn down the heat before I leave the house.

There are so many things you can do with an old frame. I hope you will join our challenge this week. We look forward to seeing your creations.

Take time to do something you love today,

Linda

Hi, this is Kirsty here!

I love thrift stores and I love picking up an old frame like that for a dollar. Since the frame doesn't have the glass, I added the wooden stick I bought from Michaels

next.... spray it with white paint

a little crackle paint gives an additional shabby look to that old frame

tada......

the bits and pieces of scraps on my craft table are perfect for this little banner...

I had fun altering this old frame and I hope that you can join us too!

Hello friends! It's Yvonne here to share with you my frame of life - a gift for my friend K.

I covered each panel with some remnant fabric. And spray painted some doll furniture.Then added some misted chipboard frames with photos of my friend K's family.

Hope you have been inspired to alter your own frames! Please leave a comment for our awesome design team! :)

LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life

2011-12-12T00:01:00.011-05:00

Welcome to LESSology Challenge #8: Frame of Life! :) Decorate an old frame or fashion one out of cardboard....we want to see your frames! Remember to include at least one upcycled item on your creation!

Our fabulous sponsor for this challenge is Really Reasonable Ribbon. The prize pack is a ribbon and baker's twine pack worh $15!

Here are some sneak peeks from our awesome design team. :)

As this is our last challenge of the year, you will have 4 weeks to play along! Link your creations via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Sunday January 8, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Sponsor Spotlight - Pixie Dust Paperie

2011-12-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

We are so thrilled to have Pixie Dust Paperie sponsor our current challenge here at LESSology. They are generously giving away a $20 gift certificate to their lovely shop. How cool is that?

A big thank you to our very own Kirsty Vittetoe for her generosity for this challenge.

Welcome to Pixie Dust Paperie,

a place for pretty paper crafting products and lots of inspiration.

Pixie Dust Paperie is a monthly kit club dedicated to bringing you the newest products available in the paper crafting industry. Each month, you will receive a beautifully designed kit with the latest papers and embellishments, all designed to coordinate perfectly, and ready for you to create, whether it's scrapbook pages, cards, a mini album, a coffee table brag book, or altered projects, you will find lots of inspiration and new ideas here at Pixie Dust Paperie.

And check out their beautiful December Kit!

You can find it at their shop: http://shop.pixiedustpaperie.com/

And be sure to visit their blog:

http://www.pixiedustpaperie.blogspot.com

Also, the City Crafter Challenge design team played with us for Challenge #7 - You've Got Mail. Be sure to click on their blogs to check out the amazing tutorials and details of each project.

Linda Robinson

http://www.myhappyplace-linda.blogspot.com

Ros Crawford

http://www.ros-mikeysmom.blogspot.com

These projects are beautiful! Thank you ladies for sharing them with us. Hope you are inspired to play along with LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! The deadline for all entries is Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #7 Guest Designer: Sandi Taloumis

2011-12-05T00:01:00.002-05:00

Our guest for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail is Sandi Taloumis.

Thank you so much for this wonderful invite...such a honor! I had a lot of fun and I'm so pleased that I could be a part of your very talented DT's showcase!

For this challenge I decided to take a Priority mailing box, that I received in the mail, and pretty it up to send it back out as a gift to my sister at Christmas time.

I took the box, painted it with a sand color paint then when that was dry, I put on a thin coat of modeling paste, so that the scene would be pressed into it, so that when I mailed it nothing would be torn off the package. I then glazed over the entire scene with mod podge to seal everything. (please note, I left the back and left/right sides in it's original form for mailing purposes. The front and top/bottom side is painted).

Since I'm sending the box, I needed to put something in it so I created a mail holder. I thought that this would be a pretty way to store received mail until you're ready to go through it. Once again, I took another priority box, that I had received in the mail, opened it up and then cut it into the shape and length that could hold mail. Then I added some paint, sewed it, decorated it, put a button on the front for a closure, and added ribbon to hang it. Inside is something special...I took a birthday card that she sent to me, with a kitty on it, cut it and sewed it to the holder...she will love this because she's such a cat lover and it's a form of sharing an image that we both love!

Thank you once again LESSology for this wonderful invite! I can't wait to see what everyone creates for this fun challenge!

Isn't this a fabulous creation? Thank you for sharing Sandi! Please leave a comment for Sandi.

Hope you are inspired to play along with LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! The deadline for all entries is Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology challenge #6: Hanging mobile winners!

2011-12-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

A big thank you to those who played along with LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile!:)

Congratulations to Mandy and Sophie! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile. Please email your contact details so that we can get your RAK sent out to you. [Please grab the winner badge from the sidebar.]

And now for our Top Three....

Amy

Stampersuzz

And our youngest player to date - Priya's 5 year-old son!

Congratulations to our Top 3! [Please grab your Top 3 badge from the sidebar!]

P/s: Don't forget about our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail. :) It ends on Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #7: Creative projects of Amy Tsuruta and Lisa Saunders

2011-12-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Ready to check out what design team members Amy Tsuruta and Lisa Saunders did for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail?

'ello!

Amy T here with my "You've Got Mail" project.

I'm a big fan of taking the 'cover sheet' of a 12 x 12 Collection and fussy cutting items.

Today's projects uses the Crate Paper I Love Winter Collection:

I decided to decorate my 'rescued' note card set. For those of you that follow my blog may remember me mentioning that a gal at work recycled a bunch of 5x5 note cards/envelopes to me! They were headed into the recycle bin because of the change in stationery.

Here's the envelope:

The Trio of Snow Peeps and the "happy winter" sentiment were fussy cut from the collection 'cover page'.

Here's the coordinating card:

See that Christmas Tree? Yup, it was fussy cut too! I cut it in the shape of a tree and did some stitching to make it seem like the pieces were stitched together:)

Here's the duo together:

Can't wait to see how the challenge inspires YOU!

I've made this for my Mum. She's been struggling abit lately. She's taking on too much and is really tired. Seeing as we don't live close I though I would send her this.

I've taken a plain 125x125cm envelope and stuck down the flap and them trimmed off the top so the envelope has become a pocket now. I've decorated the envelope and this Maya Road Chipboard Teapot and taken this Dr Suess quote.

I have a gift card for her local coffee shop to slide into the pocket so she can take some time out and have coffee and cake with her hubby : )

I shall pop it in the post and hopefully it will be a lovely surprise.

Are you inspired to create your own mail art for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail? The deadline for entries is Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #7: Creative inspiration from Angi Barrs and Julie Tucker-Wolek

2011-11-30T00:01:00.003-05:00

Today we are showing you the creative inspiration from design team members Angi Barrs and Julie Tucker-Wolek.

Hi everyone! Angi here! I'm so excited about our new challenge. I love getting pretty packages and envelopes in the mail. I also love making altered envelopes. Here's my latest altered envelope creation.

I "dressed up" a Maya Road kraft envelope. I added some some recycled stretch canvas to the front then layered it with paper & embellies from My Mind's Eye.

I loved this challenge so much that I made a second envelope that I'd also like to share. I designed a Christmas theme for this one. These envelopes are just the right size for adding gift cards too.

I can't wait to see your "You've Got Mail" projects for our fun challenge.

Hi everyone :)

With the holidays approaching fast - I wanted to make a mailbox that fits in with my Holiday decor :)

Here is my little mailbox that I started off with :)

And here is what I made :) I used Graphic 45's Christmas Emporium collection :)

Can't wait to see what everyone creates for this challenge :)

~~Julie :)

Aren't these just fabulous projects? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! :) Please leave some love for our designers.

LESSology Challenge #7: Design team inspiration from Audrey Pettit, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam

2011-11-29T00:01:00.001-05:00

Today we get to see how design team members Audrey Pettit, Kirsty Vittetoe and Yvonne Yam interpreted LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! :)

With the holidays just a few short weeks away, I am on the look out these days for good small gift ideas for all those folks on my Christmas list that I want to remember with a little something. One idea I really like is putting together a set of note-cards with matching envelopes. It's a gift made from the heart, and is useful and practical for most anyone on your list. Best yet, it can be quickly put together using supplies most of us already have on hand.

When creating a set of note-cards, I try to keep my design fairly simple and easy to replicate. I also like to keep the supplies to a minimum to keep cost down, and leave the design fairly flat so that it could be mailed. Here I used just two sheets of white cardstock and one piece of patterned paper to make four note-cards. To add interest to the design, I added a paper doily in the center, followed by a die cut label I cut from scrap paper. The circle in the center is leftover pieces of doily I've had sitting around forever. I added hand-stamped sentiment strips and vintage buttons, and Santas I fussy cut from patterned paper. Talk about an inexpensive way to get multiple focal images.

To dress up plain, ordinary envelopes, I simply cut a piece of patterned paper to size and adhered it to the front of the envelope. Since I had only one sheet of patterned paper to do all four envelopes, cutting a piece for just the front was a paper-saving solution. Print mailing labels, and these fancy envelopes can even go right through the mail. Wouldn't that be a fun surprise when you open up your mailbox?

For a gift presentation, I simply tied the note-cards and envelopes together with some Christmas ribbon and added a vintage-inspired postcard and a holiday quote that was leftover from my envelope project. My up-cycled item? The fun red mesh bow I added on top. It came from a bag of oranges I got at the grocery store.

Hi, it's me Kirsty here, sharing with you my project for LESSology Challenge # 7 - You've Got Mail

I don't know about you, but I love getting my scrapping supplies online, that end up with lots of this....

as you know at LESSology is all about recycling and I am going to show you how I altered this mailing box into a gift box....

gesso is what I used to cover-up all the unwanted text on the box...

now let's work with water colors....

remember that old book I altered? all the cut out pages now become green grass

green grass, blue sky, white clouds.... now let you imagination take flight......

now this little box is ready for a gift to get in, and then off it goes......

Hello friends! It's Yvonne! My mail project is an upcycled priority mail box! :)

I started off with this small little box which I covered with brown paper.

Added some paper scraps and stamping...

Are you inspired to create your own mail art for LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail? We would love to see your entries! :) Please leave some love for our designers.

LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail!

2011-11-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

Welcome to LESSology Challenge #7: You've got mail! :) There's no reason why you shouldn't make the outside of your mail as pretty as the contents inside. Don't forget to include at least one upcycled item in your creation.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Pixie Dust Paperie. The winner gets a $20 gift certificate! :)

Here's a sneak peek of what our design team created! :)

Ready to play along? Link your creations via Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Sunday December 11, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

Sponsor Spotlight - Nikki Sivils

2011-11-23T00:01:00.001-05:00

We absolutely love Nikki Sivils here at LESSology. Nikki is so generous and has sponsored not one...but two of our challenges this year! Her products are bright and colorful! They are perfect for both altered and traditional projects.

And check out the new Nikki Sivils Gingerbread Lane Collection!
We are giving one of these fabulous collection kits away to the winner of LESSology Challenge #6 - The Hanging Mobile Challenge.

We hope you enjoy these fabulous Altered Projects made by the
talented Doghouse Divas design team!

Julie Tucker - Wolek: Altered Advent Calendar

(made with the Gingerbread Lane Collection)

Mimi Leinbach: Altered Perpetual Calendar

(made with the School is Cool Collection)

Jen Mattott: Altered Pumpkin

(made with the My Lil' Monster, Boo-tiful, My Friend

Birdie, and the Tree Love Collections)

Carina Lindholm: Altered Band-aid Box

(made with the Get Well Soon Collection)

For more inspiration be sure to check out the Nikki Sivils Shop & Blog.

http://nikkisivils.com

http://nikkisdoghouse.blogspot.com

LESSology Challenge #6 Guest Designer: Maggi Flynn

2011-11-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

Our guest designer for LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile is the fabulous Maggi Flynn! :)

Hi everyone!

My name is Maggi and I run a little blog called Just Add Glitter and Stir where I talk about my crafty endeavors: crochet, mixed media, scrapbooking and anything else I can put hook, glue or glitter to. I am thrilled to be guest designing for LESSology this month! I just love repurposing items to use in (and on) my projects. My current favorite thing to do is find canvas wall pictures at thrift stores, Gesso over the pictures and use them for my own nefarious creative purposes. lol Sometimes you can find them for less than a dollar which really appeals to my wallet since blank artist canvas can be expensive.

But today I'm here to show a mobile I created from an old wooden embroidery hoop, cardboard, fabric remnants, jewelry pieces and who knows what else I stuck on there. lol Under piles and piles of whatchamacallits and doodads in my craft room, I came across a piece of Wonderland fabric given to me by my good friend Deb. We're both big Alice in Wonderland fans and this fabric remnant became the inspiration for my "Wonderland Mobile":

I started with a wooden embroidery hoop to which I Mod Podged a piece of fabric, stamped onto it with red acrylic paint using star punchinella as my stencil, added some Stickles and sheet music (accented with Distress Inks). I then stitched on the fabric and created the hanger using Punchinella and a clock jewelry pendant for the top of the hoop. The crown, glitter flamingo and Hatter brad were unearthed from my crafty stash. :D

For the outside of the hoop, I crocheted around it using blue acrylic yarn. The pink and blue tassel trim (from Gauche Alchemy's ACME kit) was mounted onto a piece of cardboard, cut out and attached to the hoop and cards using silver jewelry wire. I then attached a key to tie in the Wonderland theme.

The fabric featured graphics of playing cards with various characters on it so I cut two of them out, then I Mod Podged those onto pieces of cardboard. I stitched around each "card", added Stickles, more stenciling with star punchinella, added small pieces of distressed sheet music and wired a crystal to the bottom of each one.

This was one of those projects that I'd work on for a while, go to something else, come back and do a little more, stop and start, stop and start. lol Do you ever have projects like that or am I the only crazy crafter out there??? :D

I did have a lot of fun making this for LESSology and want to say thank you to Yvonne and the LESSology team for letting me show it off. Thanks for having me on the blog today! :D

Now, as I like to say: Go glue something awesome onto some awesome something!

Maggi

Altogether now...."Awesome project Maggi! " Are you totally inspired to make your own hanging mobile now? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile! :) Please leave some love for our guest Maggi.

LESSology Challenge #5: Jars of Cuteness winners!

2011-11-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

A big thank you to all who participated in LESSology Challenge #5: Jars of Cuteness! We love how creative you got with your jars! The winner is

Amy with her cute jars of blooms! :)

Congratulations Amy! You are the winner of LESSology Challenge #5: Jars of Cuteness! Please send us an email so that we can get your RAK out to you! [Please grab your Winner Badge from the sidebar!]

Here's a shoutout to our Top 3! :)

Isay

Mrouh

Deanne

Congratulations to Isay, Mrouh and Deanne! [Please grab the Top 3 badge from the sidebar!]

P/s: Don't forget to play along with our current challenge - LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile. The deadline for entries is Sunday November 27, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #6: Creative project of Dora Dekker! :)

2011-11-17T00:01:00.002-05:00

How are your hanging mobile projects coming along? Have you been rummaging through your junk drawer to find the perfect pieces for it? Take a look at what design team member Dora Dekker did! :)

Hi here's Dora again.

This is great to make, and I never thought this would be so much fun and also work right.

I have used two wooden skewers. You normally use them for your meat, perhaps at a barbecue, but you can do so much more with them.

I used some tape, placed the two wooden skewers together, and wrapped the tape around. You need to do this twice. Then you need to grab some twine. I love white twine. You can also used baker's twine as well. Wrap that around the wooden skewers with tape.

After that make sure you know were the center is, and wrap them together. Turn the twine around both compartments, tie them together really good, and make sure you have some twine left to make it a real mobile hanger. It should look like this.

And then you can do whatever you want...I have used my favourite quotes, hearts and butterflies.

Have fun!

Isn't this pretty? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile! :) The deadline is Sunday November 27, 11.59pm EST. Please read the challenge rules to ensure your eligibility for our prizes.

LESSology Challenge #6: Creative inspiration from Julie Tucker-Wolek and Mandy Dodd! :)

2011-11-16T00:01:00.002-05:00

Ready to check out Julie Tucker-Wolek and Mandy Dodd's awesome hanging mobiles? :)

Hi everyone :) I actually wasn't going to do the hanging mobile challenge...as I couldn't figure out an idea for this one...then one day I was looking through a catalog that came in my mail... and LOOKY there -----inspiration from a catalog :)

Of course, mine's not solar powered lol!! But I have some ornaments that my Mom painted for me several years ago... and I thought.. I can do something like this! So, I did! :)

This is what I started out with :)

The round box is a box I found at Michaels awhile ago - since the lid was missing - I got it on clearance for dirt cheap ;) Gotta love a bargain :) Before I put an paper on the round box, I poked holes in it to make room for my wires :)

And here is my mobile all put together :)

Can't wait to see what everyone creates for this challenge! :) ~~Julie :)

Doilies are so versatile! I had a few of these cotton doily tableclothes put away in a box (from my 80's days!)- so time recycle them and cut them up! I've used the white doilies from my piles here to create my

Doily Hanging Mobile.

I also used my dd's cast away and long forgotten bead collection

Using a needle and thick thread, pick the beads you'd like...

Then thread through the centre of the doily

Add some more pretty beads on the top....

There... all put together!

Its so easy to put together, and hung from a plastic white ring was made in a short amount of time.

Thanks so much for looking
Mandy

Aren't these hanging mobiles just fabulous? Inspired to make your own? We would love to see your entries for LESSology Challenge #6: Hanging Mobile. Please leave some love for our designers. :)