Let's LIKE Helmar USA!!!

For the details on the Helmar competition, please go here. Competition closes Monday 1st May.

Scrapbudz Latte And Cream Challenge

I had a few minutes to spare (right, who am I kidding!!!), so I managed to use this photo as inspiration, to whip up a layout for the April 15th Latte and Cream Challenge over at Scrapbudz.
I wanted to try out a few techniques and embellishment ideas, so in all reality, I was just playing around. And it was really, really late when I did this, so it didn't turn out quite the way I had pictured it in my head. But it's been ages since I've stamped anything, but I actually managed to use 3 different stamps on this layout. So, I at least accomplished something, lol!
I used a Heidi Swapp stamp for the title (Delight), and a Sassafras stamp at the centre of each stamped sun shape (made with a Jenni Bowlin stamp and green Staz-On ink). I then adhered the Prima flower centre into the centre of each stamped image.
I added some Glimmermist splatters, a scattering of pealrs and rhinestones, and a little twine. As I said, It's not what i had pictured in my head, and I'm not 100% happy with it, but I sure did have fun playing with the stamps and bright colours. Totally worth it!!!

Color Combos Galore Challenge #190

Here's our challenge this week for you over at Color Combos Galore. Isn't it pretty? Challenge #190 includes blue, olive green, taupe and yellow. The Designer's Challenge is to create a layout about siblings or pets.

Our sponsor this month was Nikki Sivils, who was so lovely to supply our design team with some papers to play with. This is my creation using those Nikki Sivils papers. Titled: Pandora. It's about my darling Maine Coon that was recently killed. I miss her so much. Sorry for the bad lighting in the photograph, but it's been raining here, and due to deadlines, I just had to do the best I could. (-:
Here's a close up of the pleated paper ribbon and bling.


A close up of the journalling.

Let's "LIKE" Helmar USA!!!

My dear followers and friends, I need your support and help!!! (-: Over at Helmar, they have decided it would be fun to have a friendly competition amongst the new design team members, to see who can get the most NEW Helmar Fans. I always LOVE a competition, don't you? To participate, all you need to do is “Like” Helmar on their Facebook page, and post on the Helmar wall that you were sent by me (Julianne). That bit is really important, lol!!! Otherwise, your "LIKE" vote won't count. The winning Design Team member with the most NEW fans gets to give away a Helmar prize pack, and I would LOVE to be able to give away this pack to one of you. So, gather up all your family and friends, and send over to Facebook to LIKE Helmar, and increase your chances of winning this Helmar prize. But don't forget to mention that I sent you!!!
Are you already a Helmar fan? That's okay, you can still join in the competition to win this prize. Simply post on the Helmar wall that you are already a fan, and that I sent you. You will then be in the running to win this prize pack too. This competition will close Monday, May 2nd (USA time). Good luck, and I will see you back here on Monday for the announcement of the winner!

I Made The Team!!!!

Helmar USA/AUS 2011 Design Team!

We wish to thank everyone who submitted a design team and guest designer application. The amount of applications along with the creativity was mind blowing. We are proud and excited to announce our 2011 Helmar USA/AUS Design Team!

Tracy Weinzapfel (DesignTeam Coordinator)
Erika Taylor
Leanne Garner
Jen Erickson
Carisa Zglobick
Sarah Mullanix
Julie Walton
Carrie Ferrier
Carole Stirrat
Jessica Morales
Letitia Grace Lauer
Cherry Nelson
Connie Mercer
Jessica Diedrich
Jimmi Mayo
Lydell Quinn
Alicia Barry
Michelle Wallace
Beck Beattie
Julianne McKenna-De Lumen (yes, this is me!!!)
Jenny Burns
Mandy Collins
We are so excited to have these wonderful designers work with our adhesives!! Stay tuned for a ton of creativity and inspiration on our Helmar USA Design Team Blog!

Congrats to our new 2011 Design Team, Guest Designers and our Adhesive Ambassadors!!

Tracy Weinzapfel
President, Helmar USA, Inc.

April Zva Blog Hop Winners Announced

We'd like to congratulate the FIVE March Zva Creative Blog Hop winners! Their names will be found on the following blogs:

Ingrid Danvers
Jillian Deiling Cassity
Nancy Doren
Guiseppa Gubler
Jolanda Meurs

One winner from each of the 5 blogs will receive a Zva prize package worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

Here's a little something I put together today. Titled: I Love You With All My Heart And Soul. Sorry for the glare on the photo, but I always have trouble with glare when photographing transparencies. Zva Creative products used: 2mm foam dots, 1mm foam dots, blue roses, pearl butterfly flourish (cut in two); pearl swirl flourish.

I love, love, love the new Zva Creative flower ranges. But I am particularly fond of these roses. And the colours - just absolutely amazing.

And if your pearls or rhinestones are the wrong colour - well, just colour them to whatever colour your heart desires, with a copic pen. These were originally cream pearl flourishes, but I needed and orange-red to match the roses. Copic to the rescue!!! Other products used: Pink Paislee papers, Pink Paislee die cuts, Webster's transparency, Glitz mini alphas, Carolees Creations mini alphas, AC Thickers, Dimensional Magic, Glimmermist, Liquid Pearls.

Zva Creative April DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and the Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special!

As you know, Zva Creative offers so 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.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, 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 blogs is a Zva Creative prize package ...WOOT! WOOT! 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 25th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, April 26th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 27th on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). 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 Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.


This month, I had a combination of nominated colours: cream, red and black. So I took a white/cream Zva Creative flower, and misted it red (Santa Baby Glimmermist). I then added flourishes in red and black. And I finished off with some cream pearl leaves. I couldn't resist added some bling to the banner as well. A girl can NEVER have too much bling, lol! Layout titled: That Dress. Zva Creative products used: flower embellishment (FL-04CA-124); pearl leaves (PEW-03CB-101); rhinestone flourishes (CR-04CA-105 and CR-04CA-102); pearls (PE-02CB-101/CR-02CA-127); rhinestones (CR-02CB-101); and 2mm foam dots (AD01CB102). Other products used: Lily Bee papers; Lily Bee banner stickers; Lily Bee alpha stickers; ribbon; Martha Stewart border punch; and Glimmermist.

The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes
Your next stop is here: Camilla Elkman

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us. I hope you have been inspired to go have fun and create, and I hope we see you back here next month for the May Blog Hop! Don't forget to drop by on Wednesday to find out who the lucky winners are!!!

The Wait Is Over...

We are finally home, after an 10 hour trip in the car. We took our time coming home, stopping at several tourist sites along the way, and getting held up in traffic. So it was a long trip home. But I found a secret weapon to keep my girls happy in the car. I put on the Twilight audio CD. They loved it, and were quiet the whole way home (except when they decided they were hungry and insisted that we stop for food, lol!). I don't know why I didn't think of using this weapon sooner. (-: And I have New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, all on audio CD too. Yes, even my husband enjoyed it, much to his shock. Too funny!!!

Now I am back, I can share this layout with you. Titled: Married. I created this using the Jump And Jive kit from Noel Mignon, and a sketch from the Dare To Be Different Challenge site. Due to some upcoming changes in my life, I've had to resign from my Dare To Be Different commitment. Yes, I know that was short and sweet, but unfortunately, I have no control over what life dishes up. Will share some of these details with you soon.

And don't forget, the April Zva Creative Blog Hop commences in just a couple of hours. I hope you will come back to join in the fun. Plus we have all kinds of inspiration to share with you.

Guess Who Got Spotted?

Little ol' me!!!! Over here at Imaginisce.... Very unexpected considering I made this card 6 months ago, lol! I'd forgotten all about it. But I am happy that Imaginisce chose to share it with their readers...thank-you Imaginisce. (-:

And Today We Did...

The day started with craft classes for making Easter baskets and bonnets.

So we are all set for the Easter egg hunt tomorrow morning.

In the afternoon we went to the beach.

The water was so warm and clear...divine.

My crazy, brave girls jumping off the rocks. I loved watching this (because I used to do the same thing as a child). But it freaked their daddy out a little bit. (-:

The girls were super excited to see a group of scuba divers.

Cartwheels on the beach...

Wet, sandy hugs for daddy. Daddy hates being wet and sandy, lol!!!

Collecting shells on the beach...

One of my fav photos for the day.

Here's my other fav photo. Just a note - I haven't edited any of these photos yet. So I apologise for the not so perfect shots.

Slice Of Heaven...

The morning was spent fishing, less than 100 metres from our front doorstep.

The afternoon was spent at the beach (2 minute drive away).

Family time together.

Checking out all the rockpools.

Lazing by the water.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

A Crazy Child...

I took this photo yesterday on our way to Southwest Rocks. When one is desperate for coffee, one gives up being fussy, and takes whatever caffeine she can find in the middle of nowhere. After 5 hours on the road with these two, I think I had earned that coffee!!! Looking at this photo, maybe my youngest was spot on this morning when she told me "You were born to have a crazy child." Ya think?????

Hello Silence...

After 8 hours in the car, and 2 or 3 pit stops along the way, and "how much longer?" hundreds of times, we finally made it to our holiday destination. This is the view from our cabin deck. The best thing about being here is the silence. There is nothing. No traffic. No sirens. No NOTHING!!! Absolute bliss...see you all after Easter. (-:

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover...

Oh, the things we do for our children. Yes, my two girls begged me to take them to see Justin Bieber's Never Say Never. Grudgingly, I agreed (not being a fan and all). I was dreading having to sit through 1.5 hours of torture. But I am willing to admit that I was wrong, and I am now a fan. And I sure have a lot of respect for this youngster. Did you know he is an AMAZING musician, not just a singer. He plays incredible drums, guitar, piano, and a couple of other instruments. Did you know he was also a great at sports? Yes, I have been converted. I believe he has a HUGE future ahead of him. I wish him all the best...

And after the Easter school holidays, I will be giving my blog a little facelift. I will add links to my Facebook page, my Twitter page, and my Pinterest page (my new addiction...sigh...like I need anything else). Plus a couple of other links. And don't forget, the following Monday (25th April) is the next Zva Creative blog hop. I hope you will come back to join in the fun...happy scrapping until then!

Bright Bunny!!!

You might want to wear sunglasses when viewing this, lol!!! (-: I created this layout for the Bo-Bunny April Sketch Challenge Friday. Titled: Sweet Butterfly Kisses. As soon as I looked at this range of papers, I knew it was going to be "all bright" or nothing!!! LOL. I've layered lots of Bo-Bunny cut out paper flowers, chipboard, and icandy chipoard, with rub-ons and icandy jewels. I've added in some Martha Stewart paper doilies and punchwork, with lots of Liquid Pearls for the finishing touches. I've added a few mini words (Cosmo Cricket) to describe my darling girls. More liquid pearls...mmm...guess I might be addicted after all??? I won't say this layout was "easy" because it definitely wasn't. It took me hours...and hours...I moved things around. And moved them again. (-: I even had to take a break and walk away from it. It wasn't until I came back that it started to fall together. But finally, I can say I am happy with the end result. Thanks for stopping by, and have a scrappy weekend!

Blog Candy Giveaway!!!!!!

Don't forget about my Blog Candy Giveaway!!! Details here.

I have also added a Prima Moulin Rouge Sticker Sheet.

April Crate Color Challenge

I joined in the fun over at the Crate Paper blog. The April Crate Color Challenge is up - use coral, aqua and butter-cream. What fantastic colours to play with!!!! My layout is titled: I "heart" U. All the papers, stickers, chipboard, button and die-cuts are from Crate Paper (I used some really, really old paper ranges). The cage and ticket are Pink Paislee/House of 3; the alphas are Sassafras; the pearls are Kaisercraft; the mist is Tattered Angels Glimmermist; and I have added some twine. Masking tape, gesso and misting. They are such a perfect combination. Sigh...would it be too much if I used them on every layout that I make? LOL!!! Pretty flowers, butterflies, and buttons. Finished with some bling.

I created my title by using the heart shape punch-out from the Martha Stewart border punch (that I used at the top of my page). I simply added some Helmar Scrap Dots to the back, put it in place, and covered it with Kindy Glitz. I have finished my page off with some yellow pearls.

Jean's Art Dolls - Challenge No. 3

Here's my layout for my first assignment with Jean's Art Dolls. Titled: You Are My Dream Come True. The challenge is to use the word DREAM somewhere on your creation. You can find all the details on the "Dare To Be Different" blog site. I've fallen in love with Glitz papers. I mean, seriously fallen in love...sigh...they are so bright, and bold, and beautiful. That red polka dot paper - I could use that 100 times over, and never be bored with it. Love, love, love!!! Here's a close up of all my bling. And misting. (-:

And a photo showing the details that have been highlighted with Liquid Pearls.

I also apologise for not blogging recently (you can blame it on my two girls and YouTube, Kate Perry and Justin Bieber). They used up all my download limit. Sigh...my computer is SO SLOW!!!! And it will remain that way until the end of the week. At which point I will return to my usual scheduling, and ban my daughters' from playing on my computer EVER AGAIN!!!!!

Color Combos Galore Challenge #187

It's a new month over at Color Combos Galore, so we have a new theme for you. This week, Challenge #187 is all about getting wet and messy. The colours include red, blue, yellow, and green, and the Designer's Challenge is to use "wet" products. And our sponsor this month is Nikki Sivils, who was lovely enough to share her products with our team.

Here's my take on this weeks challenge. Titled: Hello Sunshine. For my "wet" products, I've used Glimmermist around the outer edge of the cardstock, Dimensional Magic on the button cutouts, and Stickles glitter to highlight the arrow and turtle cutouts. Products used: Nikki Sivils papers; Zva Creative felt flowers; Sassafrass alpha stickers; Cosmo Cricket mini alpha stickers; Liquid Pearls; and Autumn Leaves stamp.

Need A Dare?

Well, why not come and join me over at Dare To Be Different. Yes, that's right, I've joined the Jean's Art Dolls team for 3 months. I'll be participating in new challenges that are set every fortnight, on the Dare To Be Different blog site. It might be anything from a colour challenge, a sketch, an inspiration photo, or anything else that the team can come up with. I really hope you come and play. After all, who knows what sort of inspiration you might find... (-:

Let's Play...

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the Noel Mignon kits? Well, I'm going to mention it again, because I absolutely adore her latest kit "Jump And Jive" (be quick, there are still a few left!). The colours, embellishments and papers are divine. Ever so yummy!!!!! I've created this layout using the Jump and Jive kit, plus a few extras from my own stash (blue tisse paper, Helmar glue dots, Helmar Vellum spray, transparency, pearls, rhinestones, Liquid Pearls, kindy glitz, twine, and Cosmo Cricket mini alphas). Titled: Buddies. For Christmas, my DH purchased me a gorgeous carry bag. But the best part of that gift, was the beautiful blue polka dotted tissue paper that it was wrapped in. Do you know he actually tried to throw it out? Yes, you can just imagine me yelling "DROP IT!!!!". He wanted to know why I wanted to keep it. Sigh! They just don't get it, lol!!! Anyway, I wanted to use the tissue paper, but I wanted it smooth and firm, and not just glued to the cardstock/paper background. So I grabbed a piece of transparency, sprayed it with some Helmar Vellum spray, and adhered my piece of tissue paper, smoothing it down gently. Once it was dry, I simply cut around the shape I wanted, and adhered it to the page with Helmar glue dots so that it could be raised without white foam dots showing through underneath (it is semi-opaque). I then decorate with pearls, tags, chipboards and buttons. I've found a new love - the Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type mini alpha stickers. Love, love, love!!! And they come in so may cute colours and styles. I added the word "details" to my hidden journalling tag using the clear mini alphas. I finished off my layout with a FUN chipboard banner in the corner, with a little coloured twine. Yeah, I'm addicted to that too (thanks Noel, I blame you for that, lol!!!).