Exquisite

I was THRILLED when I saw that Liz Qualman was bringing back her Sunday sketches!  I have always been so inspired not only by her sketches but by her work.  So it was a joy to sit down this afternoon and create with her first sketch of 2012:

I used a retired Level 1 kit, Magnifique, for this page:

The loon is Minnesota's state bird, and I can't tell you how many pictures I take for that one little moment when it opens it wings.  We were on Forest Lake, and this particular loon was very friendly and allowed me to get really close.  I just kept snapping until I ended up with this near perfect shot!  One of the reasons Jerry and I love the lakes so much is the call of the loon.  What a beautiful bird!

Almost the whole page was done with Magnifique paper and the matching stickease.  I matted the stickers with black cardstock helping to draw out the color of the loon.  I added some black brads and buttons, chocolate waxy flax, and some licorice gems.  Those of you that know me, know that I already miss the Level 1 kits.  There is just so much more that can be done with them than meets the eye!  Look carefully and you'll notice that I popped up the 9x9 mat to add some interest to the page.  I carried that them throughout trying to achieve balance.

Hope you're all having a great first week of 2012 - thanks for stopping by!!

Twig

Just a short post tonight. I wanted to share this month's sketch challenge at Little Yellow Bicycle.  This sketch was created by Liz Qualman:

Liz always creates such nice sketches that are fun to work with.  Here's what I came up with:

I created this layout using the Twig collection.  That chipboard twig is so cute!  It actually came with five circles hanging off of it, but I took it apart a bit in order for the words to match the layout.  This is one of our favorite places to walk.  It's so gorgeous and lush.  Considering we are expecting 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow (UGH), it's nice to have these lovely green pictures to scrap!