Zva Creative April DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and our talented Design Team welcome you to join us for our April Blog Hop! We are happy to have you join us and hope you enjoy all that we have to share with you along the way!

The Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative's NEW blog! Be sure head on over to check it out! Leave a comment there for a chance to win an extra prize package just for visiting the blog and telling us that you stopped by! You will also find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way).
As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals. We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project. If you like what you see you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

My colour this month was Pink/Rosy Pink.  Just love all the beautifully coloured bling and the coordinating flowers!

 I've used the Elise Rebel Collection from 7 Dots Studio to coordinate with my ZVA goodies!

If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path. I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

Hidden on FIVE of the designer's blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, April 30th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, May 1st.
The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 2nd on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Zva's blog as well. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday... plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there.
All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.
We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize! To increase your chances of winning:

* If you are on facebook, please hop on over to Zva's page and share about our hop!   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zva-Creative/219498574796457

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products. If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

*Hop over to Zva's blog and leave a comment there to tell us that you made it there!

The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative's blog. Your next stop is Jolanda Meurs . Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on May 28^th for our next Zva blog hop!

Beautiful Life

I was instantly drawn to the soft tones of the All I Ever Collection from 7 Dots Studio and had originally planned to do a very feminine, pink, layout with lots of flowers and frills. For whatever reason, the darker toned paper kept staring at me…beckoning me to make my first cut.

I had already chosen the black and white photos that I wanted to use for this project and because the photos included both my son and daughter, I felt I could go either way – masculine or feminine. When I placed the photos next to the darker paper I actually preferred how it complimented the papers so well.

So… what was originally going to be a very shabby chic, girly layout, turned out to be more of a shabby chic, gender neutral layout – LOL! I hope you like the final outcome. Just goes to show that not every layout requires flowers to be ‘beautiful’ or girly.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Welcome Spring!

Spring has sprung and the Cultural Extras - Spring Celebration Challenge has been posted over at the 7 Dots Studio blog.  The design team was asked to be inspired by all things spring - Flowers, colours, celebrations, etc.

I chose to feature a carefree photo of myself taken recently on a trip to Hawaii.  Just love the relaxed feel emanating from the photo.  Girly beverage in hand, sunglasses on and eagerly awaiting the glorious sunshine promised from the new season of Spring.

I added touches of cream paint to some of my embellishments as well as around the edges of my papers to lend a more shabby feel to my project.

The beautiful, crystal blue flourishes and flowers are from ZVA Creative and the vintage inspired papers are from the 7 Dots All I Ever Collection.

7 Dots Studio Supplies: All I Ever Collection
Patterned Paper: Sandy Beach, Vanilla Buttercream, Velveteen Dreams
6×12 Alpha Stickers – Summer Nights
6×12 Stickers
12×12 Elements
ZVA Creative Supplies:
Leaves: FL04CA112
Flower: FL04CA104
Flower: FL04CA125
Bulk 3D Roses - turquoise

Happy Monday!

Good Monday morning to everyone! We had a wonderful weekend with the family as the weather was so beautiful. We all headed to our favourite park for a picnic and to feed the bunnies. Such a fabulous time!

I'd also like to share a card with you that I created using the timeless Fashionista Collection from Graphic 45

Lots of wonderful layers here with some fussy cutting and a little rolled up paper to add dimension and contrast.

Thank you so much for your visit today.  Before I go, I just have to share some absolutly beautiful music with you all.  How can you not fall in love with these songs and feel completely, utterly relaxed and inspired while listening?  Just love instrumental pieces.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8MzHqkNBwo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=qmxFAT581T4

Prince Charming

Today's challenge over at the Bo Bunny blog focuses on a monochromatic colour scheme. While I tend to stay within 2-3 colours in my projects normally, this was still a bit of an effort on my part.  How do you hilight only one colour without having a completely washed out layout?  The way around this, I find, is to introduce different tones of the same colour as well as pairing with a neutral colour (like the cream I have used on my layout).

I've always been drawn to a very matchy-match kind of look so when my embellishments aren't exactly the right colour for my papers, I will either paint them or mist them, which I have done here on my flowers.

The gorgeous pearl flourishes and flowers are from ZVA Creative. I've honestly never found a paper or project that I couldn't easily add these embellishments to - perfect for every layout, card, altered item or mini album.

I also wanted to point out some stamping that I have done on my page.  I DO NOT STAMP.  At ALL. But, Graphic 45 has come up with a mini wooden alphabet stamp set.  Within the set are a few adorable images - butterfly, clock, etc.  Well..... look what I used!! (so proud of myself - LOL)

Thanks so much for your visit today!! Be back again tomorrow with a girly, girl card from Graphic 45 to share.

Sweet Getaway

I absolutely fell in love with the new challenge from 7 Dots Studio. The design team was asked to use doilies and lace on their projects. Since I pretty much use both of these details on almost all of my layouts, I jumped at the chance to do this assignment. I love mixing different textures of crochet lace and doilies as well as paper doilies. I feel they add a certain warmth and vintage feel to my projects as well as offer a soft and feminine feel.

I find many of my doilies and lace at thrift shops or old antique shops. You can find paper doilies pretty much everywhere – including dollar stores as well as many restaurants! I often tuck the ones found under teacups and plates into my purse straight away!!

I used the beautiful All I Ever Collection from 7 Dots Studio - adore the purple tones in this line and oh how well it coordinates with the gorgeous purples flowers and crystals from ZVA Creative!

Here are a few more close up shots of my layout.  This smaller flower was actually white to begin with but it stood out too much on my layout.  I ended up spritzing with some glimmer mist and voila - a lovely, soft purple flower!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! See you again soon!

7 Dots Studio Supplies: All I Ever Collection
Patterned Papers: Sandy Beach, Velveteen Dreams, Peaceful Place
6x12 Stickers
6x12 Alpha Stickers - Summer Night
12x12 Stickers
7 Dots Chipboard
ZVA Creative Supplies:
ZVA Creative Flower (FL04CA124)
ZVA Creative Flower (FL04CA132)
ZVA Creative Flower (FL04CA105)
ZVA Creative Leaves (FL04CA112)
ZVA Creative Self Adhesive Crystal (CR04CA130)
ZVA Creative Self Adhesive Crystal (CR04CA107)

Always & Forever

It’s funny how our lives turn out. I had always assumed that I would one day get married and have kids but every now and then I will get this surreal feeling like I’m living in a dream – or living someone else’s life. There are days when I will sit in awe and watch my kids playing together and I think to myself – holy cow!! I have THREE kids!? These kids are all amazing and healthy and smart and sweet and they are all MINE! On this one day in particular, I had snapped a photo of my eldest son – my first born who is so very much like me. He always follows the rules, never strays from the path, is a natural leader and perfectionist and as a result, very hard on himself. He loves order and schedules and is suppose to set good examples for his younger siblings.

Upon seeing this photo however, I was reminded of how very sweet and innocent and young he still is. How much he still needs to be loved and nurtured and cared for; to be led and to be allowed to make mistakes and to not be perfect all the time. He is still my sweet angel baby – always has been and always will be.

I used the gorgeously grungy Wonderland Collection from 7 Dots Studio to create this layout - just love how well it works with black and white photos and it's also perfect for creating boyish layouts as well.

Thank you so much for your visit today.  Wishing you all a wonderful long weekend and a Happy Easter to all - Hope the Easter bunny is good to everyone :>

Graphic 45 & Paper Crafter's Library Blog Hop

Welcome to day FOUR of the Graphic 45 and Paper Crafter's Library Blog Hop!! So glad you could join me today as I share with you a sneak peek of my project using the gorgeous Tropical Travelogue Collection from Graphic 45.

Hop on over to the Paper Crafter's Library Blog to see my entire project!!

By the way, is anyone interested in winning some amazing prizes??? All you need to do is hop on over to the featured blogs during this week's blog hop and leave a comment! We will be choosing a random winner from one of the comments left on this week's featured blogs.

You could win this stunning Tropical Travelogue gift set! A Tropical Travelogue 12x12 and 8x8 paper pad, both sets of coordinating stickers, chipboards and our gorgeous new Antique Typewriter Wood Stamp Set! Wow! So be sure to hop around to this week's blogs and leave your comments! A random winner will be announced this Friday !

Bo Bunny April Card Challenge

The April Card Challenge is now posted on the Bo Bunny Blog! You will have until the end of the month to play along for your chance to win a fabulous prize package from Bo Bunny. 

APRIL CARD CHALLENGE: For the challenge this month, we want you to use something from NATURE on your card. It can be anything you want to use as long as it is something that can be found in nature. Let your imagination run free!

 Here is the card I created for this challenge using the gorgeously vintage Country Garden Collection!

The item I pulled in from nature was a twig that I found in my backyard.  I used it as a type of hanger for my centre embellishment which sort of reminds me of an old scroll.

To play along with this card challenge, all you have to do is create a card based on this month's challenge and link it to this post. Bo Bunny will announce the winner when they post next month's card challenge. Good Luck!

Memories

Happy Sunday to you all! Today we are having a family birthday celebration for my youngest son so I am in the process of trying to make a Canucks cake - should be interesting.... I have a sweet, vintage layout to share with you today using the gorgeous Country Garden Collection from Bo Bunny.

This entire collection is so soft and airy - love the subtle tones and the vintage vibe - perfect for my style.

The elegant flowers, leaves and pearl flourishes are all from ZVA Creative - just adore this company! I think I will be a lifer for sure. There isn't a project you can't add some beautiful bling to here and there right?!  They have every colour of the rainbow and every style you can imagine! Love, love it!
Thanks for popping by today!!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!