Swirlydoos Kit Club's November Blog Hop and Reveal!

 Welcome to Swirlydoos' November Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!


If you came here from Rae's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today !! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

Are you a subscriber? If so, your kit is on it's way! If not, check out the Swirlydoos store to see if there are any November kits or add ons in the store!

Here are my projects for the reveal! You know it, paint splatters and more... mixing it up with color palettes and boy vs. girl layouts. :)

"His Perfect Smile"

And here is this month's sketch and my take on it!

And finally a card! Still trying to get used to making these on occasion!

That's it for me, for now! Here's the skinny on the hop...

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday 11/6 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 11/7. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.


My special word is : TODAY


The party continues over at Swirlydoos' blog. Have fun!
xx Heidi

Swirlydoos' October Blog Hop & Kit Reveal!

Welcome to Swirlydoos' October Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!


If you came here from Paulien's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today !! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

This kit, called "Sweet Things", truly is sweet. The colors are impossibly adorable, and the combinations of embellishments are brilliant. I love how easy it is to create a whimsical layout like below...

"Imagine"

I wanted it to appear dreamy, with all the colors and a touch of pearl like paint. So I used a royal palette of golds and pinks, still keeping it messy and playful with gesso, splashes of color, ripping apart one of the flowers for the sprinkled petals, and her flower balloon that she is holding.

"The Amazing Journey"

 I love how my daughter can get lost in a book, and I wanted this layout to look just that... like she was lost and bursting in and out of the page. I used minimal paint here, just a bit of gesso and Shimmerz, but the rest was fussy cutting details from the kit. LOVE everything that could be re-arranged!

 I also have the great honor of bringing you this month's Anatomy of a Layout! To see the process that led me to the layout below, please don't forget to pop into the Swirlydoos Forum to check it out!

"Fall Ball '13"

I'm not going to shed much light on what I did here, so that you can check out the all the steps at Swirlydoos, but as you can see - lots of paint, cutting, layering, and blinging was involved!

 

The Nitty Gritty DETAILS...

You have until midnight, eastern time, on 10/5 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Sunday 10/6. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.


My special word is : IS


The party continues over at Angelica's blog. Have fun!
xx Heidi

September Swirlydoos BLOG HOP and Reveal!

Welcome to Swirlydoos' September Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!


If you came here from Angelica's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today !! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win!!! Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us!!!

I am sooo thrilled to be back this month. This is the first time in months that I have played with paper, paint, and anything crafty, and it just felt great. :)) Trust me when I say that the DT has knocked this reveal out of the park, honestly, I just can't get over how we all get the same kit and come up with completely, and totally, different projects!! ENJOY!

 "12"

A project about my girl, that one who is in junior high, who has her ups and downs, who is sometimes unsure of herself, but always and forever, beautiful. :) Love my Ahna.

  I fussy cut like crazy (I mean after all, it had been MONTHS, lol) , layering, framing, and of course adding some color with paint.

 "Xander 'Suger Dumplin' Kelley"

Seriously. This child's face. :) Even my three year old boy can't resist his brother, having dubbed him "Sugar Dumplin'" and it totally fits. (Especially because we call Jax "Cookie") 

 I totally dismantled the fringe in this kit, used it to frame my photo, and then brushed on a thin layer of glue onto the page and dropped the cut fringe on top. I then drizzled some gold paint, and flicked some spots everywhere of course.

 The Prima feathers were so fun to add, gave it almost a nest like feel, or perhaps a bit like an Indian Dream Catcher? (I hope so, that is what I was going for.) My hubs and kids have a bit of Cherokee Indian in them and I have never added anything like it into our pages, sooo I thought I would give it a shot!

Next up, we go wedding gift-ish. Using some of the flowers and embellies, I thought it would be pretty to dress up a simple, white, package.

Just a simple cluster, made wow with some paint splashes & flicks.

Of course, the present needed to have a card to go along with it...

After cutting the pieces of paper that I wanted for the card, I dressed up the envelope to match, simply by adding a rectangle of the paper, then splashing with paint and outlining it as well.

Did you like what you saw? Here is the gorgeous kit "Gilted Pleasure"

Well, that's it for now! Thanks SO MUCH for popping by, it is fabulous to be back as a Swirly girl.

Here's the nitty, gritty, details of our hop...

You have until midnight, eastern time, on 9/5 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Friday 9/6. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.
2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down.
Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence.
3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.


My special word is : LIFE

The party continues over at Vicky's blog. Have fun!


The name of the kit is Gilted Pleasure.

Gone, but not missing!

Hugs and love to my creative friends, and muses, especially those that have quietly and privately emailed me with concern about my "absence" recently in creating. I thought it time to quick pop in and give a little update on the Heidi "happenings" so that I am not leaving you all wondering where I have gone... :)

I have some littles in my life who currently need my attention :) and for that reason, I have stepped down from the design teams that I had contracts left with. (Most of my contracts were up for renewal or over as of June first.) Without a doubt I can say that I just felt it unfair for me to be holding a position that I could not give 100% to and because of my need to prioritize my little ones, it was time to let go for a bit. It has been such a pleasure to work for some truly amazing companies, alongside incredible artists, inspiring, and being inspired!

Without going into great detail, my youngest (16months) has been in therapy for gross motor delay, and they are also talking about some sensory issues. All tests so far have ruled out anything grave, we are awaiting the results of a few more blood tests, but feel that he is making awesome progress already with his physical therapist. In addition to this, my three year old son was diagnosed with SPD in January, specific to food aversion and is in "food therapy" currently also. We are almost to the other side of battling that issue, he's doing awesome, but we aren't quite finished there either. Two of my four have weekly appointments for allergy issues, and we just discovered that my oldest daughter has had a dislocated hip for potentially years, which has impacted her in several ways physically and she is now in physical therapy as well. Soooo.... The short story is that my kids need me more time wise :)) because we are averaging 6-8 appointments per week right now. I know that we are all busy, and every family has its load of ups and downs and I only share all this with you because I had received quite a few questions, and I wanted to thank you for your concerns, it truly has meant the world to me. We are so blessed that nothing has been grave medically, we've ruled out so much, and things could be so, so, so, much worse. Time, prayers, and lots of lovin' is just what my kiddos need from me right now, and I'm ready to give it to them 100%!

Thank you all for joining me, playing along with me, and being such great friends! I'm not gone for good, just going to be MIA in the crafty world for awhile until we get some of this settled. :) Don't be  strangers! While I might not be posting here, I still have email and my Facebook page.

Love and Hugs!
Heidi

Maja Design!

 Have you had the pleasure of working with Maja Design papers? Oh, my goodness, they are BEAUTIFUL! I have the great privilege of being a Guest Designer for them this month, and when I received my box of goodies to work with - I was entirely blown away. The papers are gorgeous, and can be used in so many ways. Here is my first project for them, but keep popping by, because I have a few more that I get to show you in weeks to come. 

"Still Unwritten"

 

 If you haven't had the chance to see their products... click HERE!

 And to be inspired... please visit their blog, by clicking HERE! Their DT is brilliantly, creative.

 Of course, I also used some Shimmerz paints, and some Prima goodies on the page as well.

Supplies Used: Maja Design Vintage Summer Basics “Minnen-memories, 1921, 1905, 1923″, Prima flowers and Junkyard Findings, Shimmerz Paints, Ranger alcohol ink, gesso, craft wire, misc. rub-ons.

I'll be back later this month, with a few more projects for Maja Design...but in the meantime, check out their blog, and play along with their Mood Board for the month! It's beautiful, and summer-ish... perfect for those of us who are craving those summer hues.

 

xx Heidi