Sweet Christmas

Another great sketch by Maria for our Christmas Stampin' All Year Round.  I am having fun using all of my Christmas sets.  I am sorry this one is retired too.  I have so many that I can't resist using all of them.  Especially since this little gingerbread man calls for liquid applique.  

You can't see my scalloped circle very well, but it is there.  It is the biggest size I had.  I think it would have worked better if I would have made a 6 x 6 card; however, I don't like to mail them.  

Here is the sentiment inside.  I used the candy from this set too.  I put liquid glass on them, so they would shine.  Fun toys!

Materials used:  All products are CTMH unless noted.  Paper - Evensong Level 2 paper pack with matching cs (tulip, vanilla cream, sorbet); Stamp sets - Sweet Christmas, Romantic Backgrounds; Ink - brown bag, sorbet, tulip; Accessories - liquid applique, liquid glass, white daisy ric rac, sorbet designer ribbon, pop dots (unknown), red bling (Paper Studio), gingerbread punch (Martha Stewart), large scallop classic circles (Nestabilities)

Hope you week is going well.  I am off to make dinner!

Happy Stamping!

Alleluia!

Today, I was thinking about what I should create when I came across my Gloria stamp set.  I was going to put it away when I saw this card base.  It already had the Evensong pattern paper and the cuttlebugged barn red and cranberry attached and I knew I had to stamp with the Gloria set I had in my hand.  

I remembered Marianne teaching us a technique with copic markers where you stamp the image on vellum and then color the back with markers.  I didn't have copic markers in these colors, so I used my CTMH markers to match the stained glass pattern paper from the Evensong Collection.  I ran the marker across, so I could put all four colors (sorbet, tulip, barn red and new england ivy) on the image.  I wanted it to have the rainbow of the colors in the background.  I really like how this turned out.   

All materials used are CTMH unless noted: Paper - Evensong Level 2, barn red cs, cranberry cs, sorbet cs, gold vellum, regular vellum (non-CTMH), colonial white cs; Stamp sets - Gloria, Romantic Backgrounds; Ink - black; Markers - sorbet, tulip, barn red, new england ivy; Embellishments - brass brads (non-CTMH), Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl, gold ribbon (non-CTMH)

Happy Stamping!

Wings on Things - Believe

Oh, how I wish you could see this card in person.  The picture does not do it justice.  The wings sparkle with prisma glitter and look so pretty.  The video today is filled with tips on how I made this card.  ENJOY!

Recipe:

Card base - White Daisy cs 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 - scored at 4 1/4 to make a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card

Paper - Paper Garden pattern paper (3 7/8 x 5 1/2), Blush cs (2 1/2 x 2 3/4), 

White Daisy cs 2 5/8 x 2 7/8)

Ink - White Daisy pigment ink, Petal ink, Staz On Opaque White ink

Stamp sets - Wings on Things: Big by Molly Stamps, Romantic Backgrounds by CTMH

Embellishments - White Daisy grosgrain ribbon, white pearl stickers, Just My Type Cuttebug folder, prisma glitter, clear craft plastic by Grafix, EK Success concave punch, EK Success corner rounder.

Happy Stamping!

Thank You Scrapbook Page

My oldest son's school received a grant from the Sherwood Foundation to update the school library, so the PTA wanted to thank them by making a scrapbook of thanks from the children. I was asked to put together this scrapbook, which wasn't hard. I just designed the front cover, the inside cover and then Tate's teacher asked me to design their 1st grade page. Here is the page I did for them:


I stamped Rustic Flowers three times so I would have 21 petals. There are 21 kids in Tate's class, so this flower worked perfectly. I cut that out and took it to school to have each child print their name on a petal. Once I got that home, I designed a page around those flowers.

Recipe: 8 1/2 x 11

Stamp sets: Homestead Alphabet, Rustic Flowers, SANS Small Caps, Romantic Backgrounds

Paper: Paper Garden Level 2, Buttercup cs, Sweet Leaf cs, Blush cs, White Daisy cs

Ink: Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, Garden Green, Blush

Accessories: Ribbon Slides Dimensional Elements, Blush Polka Dot Ribbon, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Buttercup bigger brad, Sweet Leaf bigger brad, Baby Pink bigger brad

It turned out just how I had it in my head while designing it. I hope they like it. I will show you the front cover and inside cover soon!

PERFECTION

I am keeping the promise to myself about getting some scrapbooking done. I don't know how long it will last, since I love making cards so much. I am going to try to do a scrapbook layout a week. Right now that seems like a lot to me, but I will see how it goes.

I finished this layout on Sunday. It is one that I made on National Scrapbooking Day and I needed to add pictures and journaling. That always seems to be the hardest part. I don't like going down to my basement and searching for the best pictures for a layout; however, once I am done there I have fun looking through all the pictures ooooing and aahhhing to find the perfect one. I like the option of being able to size the pictures how I want and changing them to black and white. I have always wanted to use black and white photos in my scrapbooks, but never did. If I do the layouts ahead of time using the CTMH Cherish book, I am creative with my pictures too. By the way, the new fall idea book will have the new CTMH Imagine book. YEAH! It is just like the Cherish book with new layouts and ideas. I will be ordering that first.

I love the picture of of Tanner sleeping with his hand closer to the camera. He fell asleep on our couch, and I put the camera right on the couch with him. Baby's hand and feet are so cute and I wanted to take pictures of him at a different angle than above him. I changed this to black and white, because the colors contrasted with the layout colors.

Sorry for the glare on the second page of the layout. My camera flash would not go off on the first page and went off when I was taking a picture of the second page. Pictures of me are not usually on my scrapbook layouts, because I am the one behind the camera most of the time. I had to take advantage of this picture of Tanner and me. I love it! Below is the recipe for this layout. All products are CTMH unless otherwise noted.

paper: Heaven Sent pattern paper (retired); Sweet Leaf, Heavenly Blue, Buttercup, and White Daisy cardstock

stamp sets: Little Angel, Romantic Backgrounds, Believe Caps

ink: Sweet Leaf

embellishments: dimensional elements, Buttercup brads, Heavenly Blue bigger brads, White Daisy grosgrain ribbon, White Daisy buttons, Colonial White waxy flax (it looks white), spring buttons, EK success concave corner punch.


Thanks for stopping by!

Cherish Layout

I can't believe I finished another scrapbook layout. I created five layouts using the CTMH Cherish book on May 5th and this is the second one I have totally completed with pictures. I thought I had pictures of this layout without the pictures saved on my computer, but I can't find them. I was going to show you how the pictures make a layout, but I got tired of searching through files.

I am so happy when I finish a layout and the boys love to look at them, but it seems to take me forever to go to the basement to print pictures. It takes a long time to find the ones I want to print, and then print them the sizes they need to be. It is not as much fun as playing with all of my scrapping and stamping toys, so I put it off.


Here is page one of the double page layout. I can't believe how little Tanner was, and shame on me for being this far behind on his scrapbook. He will be three in September. I don't think I will ever catch up, but I will have fun trying. The picture on the left he was just a few days old, and the picture on the right he was almost two months old. Boy, they grow up fast!

When Tate saw this layout, he said, "Mom, your hair looks funny." I tried growing it out, when I was pregnant. It didn't take long for me to cut it off. Don't you just love kids and their honesty. I guess he likes my hair now.



Of course, page two has his big brother and him as the main picture. Tate sure loves his little brother. Sometimes Tanner doesn't want that many kisses and hugs. LOL!


Saturday night I went to Archivers to scrap all by myself. I like going to scrap places and meeting new people, who share the same passion for this great hobby! My DH had a gig in his home town and the boys went to stay all night at their grandparents leaving me all alone. DARN! LOL! I usually scrap at home, since I have so many supplies, but a girl needs to get out once in awhile.

Another question:

Terese asked, "When you sit down to make a card what do you do first to come up with an idea?" Most of the time, I usually sit down and look in my scrap container and see if I have a scrap big enough for a card base, then I pick a stamp set to will work with that color. For example, if I am using hot pink, I won't do a sympathy card. If I don't get a card base from my scraps, I start with the stamp set and pick out a color combo I want to work with. I just start building and looking at my supplies to see what I can add. I love using my scraps, because I feel like I am saving money that way. Save a little here, spend a little there! LOL!

There have been times that I will like a color combo on a ribbon or pattern paper and I do start with that and build a card around it. One time for scrapbooking, I designed an entire two-page layout around a tall skinny clown that stretch down the page. Remember, Terese! LOL! For those of you who don't know, Terese is the one who turned me into this obsessed scrapbooking addict, which lead me to stamping! She would laugh at me when I would buy an embellishment just because I thought it was cute. Terese would ask me how I was going to use it, and I would tell her I can build a layout from this. She would just shake her head. Thanks, Terese!

Happy Stamping!

For You

YEAH...my blog has reached 1000, so I will draw a winner on Monday, July 2nd. I want to give those who don't check their emails every day or surf the net to enter the drawing. It happens to be my oldest nephew, Nic's, birthday too! So we will celebrate by giving away goodies on that day. I have been reading your questions and they are good. I will start answering them at the bottom of my posts. If you haven't posted a comment and want to win blog candy see the posting below.

Here is a card that I created a few days ago and just couldn't share it until I got the ribbon correct. This was my third attempt and I am finally satisfied with it. I have had this stamp set for awhile and this is the first time I used it. This is a card for firsts, because this is the first time I used my empressor guide and tool for a card I created. That is how I made the sanded lines on the Clover Meadow cardstock. I have used this before on my scrapbook layouts and like the look, so I tried it as a frame. I think it looks pretty good!

Stamp sets: Elegant Floral, Romantic Backgrounds, Sweet Occasions

Ink: Clover Meadow, Blush, Hollyhock

Paper: White Daisy, Clover Meadow, Hollyhock

Embellishments: Brads, American Crafts polka dots ribbon, CTMH Clover Meadow gingham ribbon, Clover Meadow baby pin

Beth asked: How do I find time to do it all? Well, I am at stay at home mom, so that helps! My scraproom is combined with our family room, so every time the family sits down to watch tv, I sit down at my scrap table and work on something. I am able to leave my on-going projects out, so I don't have to spend time getting my supplies out each time I work. Every free moment I have I try to continue a project I am working on to post. If I don't finish a project to post, I pull something from my archives and post a layout or card. I do try to stamp every day. I didn't do this until I read other stamper's blogs and they make time every day. I thought...I can do that! I think I have gotten faster the more I stamp. I am constantly thinking of stamping. I create cards in my head while driving my car, before I fall asleep and unfortunately even at church. I am working on not daydreaming about scrapping there. LOL! I guess I would have to say I am obsessed and addicted to this great hobby that I started four years ago.

Pattyjo: I wish I could have reached you before July 1st, because the opportunity to earn Kindred Spirits for free is over. It is a promotion that Close To My Heart ran in June. If you held a gathering and the sales were $350 or more, you would automatically get the stamp set free. Sorry!