RUN LIKE FORREST GUMP - HUGE SALE

30% OFF EVERYTHING END OF THE YEAR SALE!!!!!

We are clearing our shelves and guess what.......

That's right!  I talked to him personally and he said that a happy wife makes for a happy life and you should get whatever your beautiful heart desires!  I'm not kidding.  That's a direct quote!!!  Oh, well then he finished the conversation by saying "Who's your daddy?!"  I suppose you know what that means? *giggle, snicker, snort*

We need to make room for all of the CHA Winter 2012 new releases! Now is the time to stock up on necessities, or snag some of our MUST have scrapbook kits!  Just to whet your appetite....ALL Swirlydoos' Main kits, including our newest Christmas Wishes kit, are on sale for $25.55!  WHAT?  Stop rubbing your eyes, you read that price right!

Click here to get to the store!

Before and After SGC

This week I wanted to highlight the Swirly Girl Challenge  hosted by our sweet and talented subscriber Kim.
Here is Kim's original layout



and here is her after.


This before entry is by  Niesia


and here is her after.


This challenge ends on January 1st. For the rules and more details, please visit the SGC forum.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!!

Card day

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

When I visited our gallery this morning, I was so happily surprised to see all the beautiful new aditions, and I would like to share a few of them with you.

The first ones are from Linda (Lindapekrul)

Aren't they beautiful?!!! I love the different shapes.

Gorgeous work Linda.

Then, and this was hard to choose, Jackie (Jax) loaded lots of beautiful tags to the gallery and I picked a few to share here

Jackie shows us different techniques and I think she did an awesome job on these beautfiul tags!!!

Regina (Mharms) loaded the next tags to our gallery

These have such a romantic feel to them, and the use of feathers and trims are simply gorgeous!

Thank you ladies for sharing these awesome tags.

The night before the night before Christmas

Happy Friday!!!  Today is the night before the night before Christmas!!!!!!!!!  *screams and runs out of the room*  Too many things left to do and too little time. *panting*

It was the night before the night before Christmas and throughout the forums screaming could be heard "There is too much left to do!"

The ribbon wasn't glued, the stickles hadn't dried and there was still a card left to make, or two.

The stockings from December's tech kit have been hung by the chimney with care, and I'm hoping my cat doesn't see the ribbon hanging from there.

The savages crawled into bed and said tomorrow must be better.  What's a sugarplum? Is it a candy or a prune?

In the wee hours of the morning light, Krissy threw open the store doors and shouted "30% off everything will make it alright. "

The savages scurried around and hip checked to their delight exclaiming Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Thank you for your friendship and support during this year. We really, really, really have the most incredible members and Designers at Swirlydoos.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family from ours.  XO

Featured Blogger *QT*

One Wednesday out of every month we would like to feature a Swirly Sister's Blog. Our amazing ladies are incredibly talented and work wonders with the Swirlydoo's Kits.

This week our featured Blogger is: QT

Please visit her blog for Swirly inspiration: LSA Design Studio

Cherish

This was QT's entry for the November Round Robin Challenge. We love her fabulous distressing and misting. Truly a swirlygirls style!

Thank you so much QT for sharing your talent with us!

 

For more information on the Swirlydoos Monthly Kits and Challenges, please visit our website.

Happy Scrapping!

Card Day and.....

Today I would like to share some Christmas projects from our DT.

Tags are always a great fun thing to do, experimenting new techniques or just using up your scraps.

They are the perfect little touch to go with a gift. 

Here's a darling little pocket tag from Angelica. I thought it was the cutest!

And this beautiful tag from Lisa V. Look at that beautiful background! She created it using molding paste.

And then our Flower girl.  Lisa showed us how to create a snowy look using Puffy Paint and she even added, that gorgeous flower, as a bonus.  A tutorial for this beautiful flower can be found in our tutorial section.

And the last one from Paulien. (that's me) I used the broken glass technique and gave it a twist by adding Distress Stain Picket Fence, to give it a milky washed look.

I also spotted this beautiful card from Lisa V

*********************************************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!

A little heads up to our most favorite Scrapbooking Savages...


EVERYTHING IN THE SWIRLYDOOS STORE IS ON SALE 30% OFF UNTIL 2012!!!!!!


If you've had your eye on something, grab it while we have it! We will be sending a news blast email out in 24 hours - so enjoy a little "uncrowded shopping" just for you on 12/20/2011!!!

CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING NOW!

Thank you all for your love, support and friendship!

NO PLACE THAT FAR

This gorgeous Layout just blew us away. More so for the meaning behind the page. Tacey's neice is fighting Cystic Fibrosis, and although she is a strong little girl, the effects the disease has on her fragile little body can be devastating. She is an angel here on earth that has many people who love her very much. Aunt Tracey is one of them. The distressing adds to the beautiful charm of this page with its soft beautiful colors. Everything on this page echoes LOVE... The angel wings fashioned from the photo corner piece is a perfect touch. It's always in the little details that emotions show through what the artist is trying to portray. We love everything about this page Tracey, and we pray that one day a miracle cure will come in Viviens lifetime... Bless little Viv..See Traceys SB.com Gallery for more of her beautiful work... CLICK HERE

December SwirlyHues and Blog Hop Winners

Check out December's SwirlyHues Challenge!

Your hostess for this month is the uber-talented and gorgeous Angelica!  Look at what she chose for you!

Dark Brown: R69,G34,B15

Cream:  R252, G255, B224

Deep Red: R143,G20, B2

Here is Angelica's beautiful example

Another example from DT member LisaV

Important to know:  This challenge is open to EVERYONE; members and non-members alike. 

The Rules:

1)  Must stick to the hues provided.  You may add black or white, but it can NOT be more than 5% of your total page and can NOT be a main element. 
2)  You must interpret the sketch provided. 
3)  Now for the Swirly-fying element – you MUST use one of our tutorials on your page.  Here is a LINK to our tutorials. It is really to our forum.  Just scroll down.  Our tutorials are separated by category.  You can choose anything your beautiful, creative heart desires. 
4) Create a post on your blog for your SwirlyHues entry. 
5) Upload your gorgeous creation to the SwirlyHues album in our gallery no later than midnight eastern time on January 10th.  Click HERE to get there.  You will need to register to upload photos.  It's free! Use the following format to name your item: SH Dec 2011 (insert your project name here).  Your photos can be no larger than 600x600.  In the description please tell us what tutorial you used and a link to your blog post. If you don't have a blog, just let us know that. 
6)  2 winners will be chosen; 1^st and 2^nd place.  Each winner will receive one of our highly coveted blog badges (see the right-side bar).  Winners will be posted to the Swirlydoos blog on the 13^th of the month (unless otherwise noted), as well as our Facebook page.  Check back here to see your name and then contact LisaV at Lisa@Swirlydoos.com  She will make sure you get your blog badge and then we'll add you to our blog for the month! Superstahhhhhh *strike a pose* 
7) The next challenge will be uploaded to our blog on January 10^th!

************DRUM ROLL*********

First , Krissy and the Design Team want to take a moment to give a heartfelt thank you for another successful Hop.  We were all just taken aback by your very kind and generous comments. A big thank you goes out to the manufacturers that were a part of the hop as well; Clear Scraps, Bo Bunny and Petaloo.  You are all amazing!!

Here are the lucky winners of our December Blog Hop Block Party.  Please remember that you have 7 days to claim your prize. Email Lisa at Lisa@Swirlydoos.com with your name and mailing info so we can get you your prize!

Amy!!!  You've won a Glitz Prize Pack From Swirlydoos!

Nicole!!!  You have won $25 worth of product from Clear Scraps!

Erin D!!!  You have won the Bo Bunny Blitzen Prize Pack!

LaQuette Akins!!!  (where is your avi girl? LOL)  You have won the Petaloo Collection!

Char!!!  You have won the May Arts Prize!!!

Congratulations ladies!  We really appreciate your support and I hope to hear from you soon!!! Stay tuned to our blog for upcoming information on our next Hop.

SwirlyHues Winners!!!!

Our November SwirlyHues challenge came to and end and we were just blown away by the entries!  It is amazing to see people's interpretation of color and the sketch.  

The voting was close!!!  I mean really close!!!  Here are our winners!!

Manda is November's Swirly Siren!  She is a master with misting and we all loved how soft and touchable this looks.  Manda used two of our tutorials on her page; Faux Stone and Template Stitching.  Isn't it beautiful.  To see more of Manda's inspiring creations, please visit her blog at www.mandadk.blogspot.com

JennieA is November's Blue Betty!!!  Jennie used a vintage photo of her mother and embellished it so  beautifully.  Jennie used 3 tutorials!!  She used Camilla's Layering and Clustering technique, a technique from Lisa V's 101 Gesso tutorial, and Lisa G's Swirly Hibiscus tutorial.  Beautifully done Jennie!!  To see more of Jennie's beautiful creations, please visit her blog at http://jennie-livethedream.blogspot.com

Congratulations ladies!!! Make sure to email me at Lisa@swirlydoos.com so that I can get you your blog badges.  I also need an avi from you so I can put your beautiful faces on our blog!!

Make sure to stop by tomorrow because we will be announcing our Blog Hop winners as well as unveiling our December SwirlyHues challenge!!

Product Pick

Swirlydoos has a great section in the store for different seasons. We are in the middle of winter and for wintery projects you can find (amongst many things...) white flowers:

...and snowflakes from Dusty Attic:
...and perfect glimmer glam from Tattered Angels.Good luck with your layouts about winter.

Welcome to Swirlydoos' December Blog Hop Party!!

Welcome to Swirlydoos December Kit Reveal Blog Hop BLOCK PARTY!!! We are having a party and you are all invited. We have some amazing projects for you to see today and as a bonus we have 3 manufacturer blogs that are joining in the fun!! There are 5 prize packs up for grabs so make sure to follow along and have fun!!

Take a look at our December kit Christmas Wishes.  It is full of holiday cheer. 

Check out the prizes that are up for grabs!! 

**Swirlydoos - Glitz Prize Pack

**Clear Scraps - $25 worth of product!!!

**Bo Bunny - a collection of Blitzen papers and assorted embellishments

**Petaloo - 54 pc Canterbury Flower Collection

**May Arts - Loads of Ribbon

You have until midnight, eastern time, on December 16th to complete the hop. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:
1: Visit all SIX 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 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, come back here to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had AND tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected.


All winners will be randomly drawn and you will have 7 days to claim your prize!! Winners will be posted here on the 17th.  Have a great time!!!! The block party starts over at Lisa Gregory's Blog. 

Here is the order just in case:
Lisa Gregory  http://what-a-beautiful-mess.blogspot.com/
Clear Scraps  http://clearscraps.typepad.com/
Angelica  http://angelicascrappenings.blogspot.com/
Bo Bunny  http://bobunny.blogspot.com/
Lisa Valentine  http://www.randomonpurposelife.blogspot.com/
Petaloo  http://petaloo.typepad.com/
Back here to Swirlydoos

If you are unable to access a blog, or it hasn't been updated due to Internet connection, Blogger, TypePad, and acts of God problems, please let us know you are missing that word when you come back here to comment.

Card Day

As reveal day is coming closer I just want to take you back to our
last month's kit *Beau Jardin* I so LOVED that romantic kit. While I was looking through
our gallery, I saw the most GORGEOUS projects made with this kit. Today I would like to share this
B E A U T I F U L card,  made by one of our DT members. It catched my eye, because of the romantic feel
it has, but also it was brilliantly (is that a word?) designed. Here it is:

Gorgeous work LisaV!!!!

I also came across the next AWESOME project, made by JennieA

Look at all the detail.....Absolutely Love this steampunk tag.

Layout Of The Week December 11, 2011*** Jan Connors***

First, London, for its myriads; for its height,
Manhattan heaped in towering stalagmite;
But Paris for the smoothness of the paths
That lead the heart unto the heart's delight. . . .


Fair loiterer on the threshold of those days
When there's no lovelier prize the world displays
Than, having beauty and your twenty years,
You have the means to conquer and the ways,


And coming where the crossroads separate
And down each vista glories and wonders wait,
Crowning each path with pinnacles so fair
You know not which to choose, and hesitate --


Oh, go to Paris. . . . In the midday gloom
Of some old quarter take a little room
That looks off over Paris and its towers
From Saint Gervais round to the Emperor's Tomb, --


So high that you can hear a mating dove
Croon down the chimney from the roof above,
See Notre Dame and know how sweet it is
To wake between Our Lady and our love.


And have a little balcony to bring
Fair plants to fill with verdure and blossoming,
That sparrows seek, to feed from pretty hands,
And swallows circle over in the Spring.


There of an evening you shall sit at ease
In the sweet month of flowering chestnut-trees,
There with your little darling in your arms,
Your pretty dark-eyed Manon or Louise.


And looking out over the domes and towers
That chime the fleeting quarters and the hours,
While the bright clouds banked eastward back of them
Blush in the sunset, pink as hawthorn flowers,


You cannot fail to think, as I have done,
Some of life's ends attained, so you be one
Who measures life's attainment by the hours
That Joy has rescued from oblivion.

This LO is a knock out!! We love the way the Alan Seeger poem was used for the journaling! The position of the photo's, especially the one of the Eiffel Tower is wonderful. It gives perspective to just how massive the Tower is and leads you to the next photo. Very artistic. The gorgeous spray of flowers and little touches like the french doily, gives the LO a very romantic feel. After all, Paris is the city of romance. Think Casablanca!! Beautiful work Jan...We love it!!

Big, Ginormous News!!!!!

I have some really exciting news!   We have some new Designers joining our team as well as a brand new "department" to unveil!!

Before I get to the introductions, it is with a heavy heart that I tell you Camilla Ekman will be leaving the DT.  :(  Camilla has been a member of our team for a year and there comes a time when we all must stretch our wings.  To me, as well as to others, she has been a mentor, a friend, and a beloved Swirly Sister.  I've personally learned so much from her and was always amazed at her willingness to jump in and help out at a moment's notice.  Camilla was more than a member of the DT.  She jumped into the forums and made herself at home.  In the process she found a forever family.  I hope that we will continue to see you around the threads and in the challenges.  We wish you continued success, health and happiness in all of your endeavors.  Once a Swirly Girl, ALWAYS a Swirly Girl!!!  Thank you so much and WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

_______________________________________________________________________

Our Swirly DT is growing!!!  I am over-the-top excited and keep pinching myself.  Please join me in giving a warm, Swirly welcome to our newest Design Team members (in alphabetical order)

Heidi Kelly - Heidi's Blog

 Rae Moses - Rae's Blog

 Karola Witczak - Karola's Blog

______________________________________________________________________

This has been a long time in the making! Our members mean everything to us.  When they ask, we try really hard to deliver.  Our members are always asking for tutorials and classes.  We have some fearless members!!  Krissy is passionate about paying it forward and helping others who want to learn, learn.  It is from that passion that a whole new department within Swirlydoos was created

INTRODUCING, SWIRLYDOOS' NEWEST DEPARTMENT

The Swirlydoos Imagination Lab

The Imagination Lab is a place where you can go and throw paint at the wall, get all goopy, shred paper and ink to your heart's content.  But, the fun doesn't stop there!!!  We have two new designers joining us.  Their official titles are Education Team Designers.  I wanted to call them Imagineers but I think Disney might have a problem with that.  These two ladies are going to rock the house with tutorials, tips, tricks, challenges and so much more. Come around the forums and learn more.  Please join me in giving a warm, Swirly welcome to your newest Education Team Designers (in alphabetical order)!!!

 Lynne Forsythe - Lynne's Blog

 Tiffany Morgan - Tiffany's Blog

These 5 ladies will be kickin' it Swirly style beginning in January!!!  I can't wait!!!  Welcome to our crazy world!!!

Make sure to come back on 12/14.  We will be having our December Kit Reveal Blog Hop Block Party!!!!  Lots of prizes and inspiration!!!!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Big, really big, ginormous news!

Come back to our blog tomorrow and read all about our super, exciting news. 

Product Pick

Alterable projects make perfect Christmas gifts. How about altering a photo tray? This one is from 7gypsies and holds small mementos, ATC cards of photos. You find alterable projects in the Swirlydoos store.

Card Day

It is that time of year again, and I don't know about you, but I LOVE to recieve Christmas cards.
Especially handmade Christmas cards. I really treasure them. They bring so much joy.

Whilst browsing our gallery I came across this lovely card from Jackie.

Look at the gorgeous details. The stitching, embossing, matting... it is simply gorgeous!!!!

Are you gonna make your own Christmas cards this year? I do, and here's one of them:

I know this time of year is a very busy one for each and everyone of us, there for, give yourself a break.... get creative and make some Christmas cards.