December Stamp of the Month

This frame spotlights my new grand-girl and our horse Thunder.  We had a great campout one day last summer complete with riding and s'mores!  I saw the December SOM and remembered these pictures.  Can you guess why?

I've been working on this piece for our guest bathroom.  You know, you always have a captive audience for your work when you display it in the bathroom! haha

This frame is from CTMH and I love it!  When I want to redecorate, I can take all of this off and put it on a scrapbook page and do something else!  How fun is that!

CTMH ingredients include:
You Are My Happy Alphabet stamp set
Believe Lowercase stamp set (retired I think)
Special Care stamp set
Buttons from Huntington Assortment
Brad from Mini-Medley Accents antiqued gold
Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Mini clothes pins
Babycakes Paper
Chipboard shapes from the Cricut Bundle

Ink colors:  Orange (retired), Barn Red, Autumn Terra Cotta, Chocolate & Sunflower (retired)


The orange ribbon and twine were in my stash.  The little towel/wash cloth is really a baby wipe.

This is on its way, at the last minute, to Heart 2 Heart Challenge All Framed Up.  I loved that challenge!  I got two projects done for my house with that one.  My first one was Old Pics of my son and horses.  He loves it.

Happy New Year!

Thank You with Wreath and Berries

We have had such a wonderful Christmas season.  Our new little grand-girl was here, we all went to church together with friends, dinner was great, the weather has been super, and I've been riding the past few days.  I'm feeling extremely grateful!

This thank you was inspired by Color my Heart's Challenge to use Juniper and Ruby.

This card is sort of 'old school'; no Cricut cuts, no bells or whistles, just some paper, stamps, ink, ribbon and pinking shears --- and an embossing folder/Grand Calibur!

I used CTMH Colonial White for the wreath and the card base.  I stamped the wreath and berries with the CTMH Remarkable Wreath set, but before that I stamped it in 2nd generation Chocolate using the 'wood grain' stamp from Universal Backgrounds to give it some texture.

The bow is made from the Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon.  I colored it with a Juniper ink pad.  The sentiment is from the CTMH Always Grateful stamp set.

I did do some tone on tone stamping on the red using a retired stamp from CTMH -Adorable Backgrounds; although it is hard to see in the picture.  * I added a 2nd picture below showing the background stamping a little better!

The Slate cardstock is embossed using a Cuttlebug folder.  This has got be one of my favorite folders; it lends itself to so many seasons.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and your celebrations continue into the New Year.  I thank you for all of your kind comments and support as Katie and I have started in this venture with CTMH.  We are both loving it!  She enjoys the live parties and I enjoy the blogging!

Visit KatiesCorner for your CTMH needs - lots of items retiring and bargains at the "While Supplies Last."

Best wishes in the new year!

My Sister

When I saw this cut from A Child's Year, I knew I had to use it for my sister's card!  This was just way to sweet to pass up!  Sometimes she checks out my Blog, if so, "Merry Christmas, Chris!"  Here's your card!

The snow flakes are left overs from the card "In the barn with Red".  I did that card in a couple of different colors and had lots of snowflakes left over.  The cut is from the CTMH Artbooking!  That is a great cartridge with lots of versatile cuts on it.  If you would like one, check out Katie'sCorner.

Ah, but again, I have digressed.  (This is my 3rd post today!  I'm playing catch up from my busy week.)

The paper is from the CTMH Frosted pack; I think I might order more of that for next year.  I really like that paper!  I need to stay on track!  Geesh, anyway, the top strip and the silhouette are both cut from CTMH Crystal blue and embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  I thought it gave it a cold, snowy look!  The thin strip is off the edge of the paper.  The Sentiment is from CTMH Scandinavian Wishes stamp set.

The snowflakes are embellished with a little glitter and the ivory gems from the CTMH Mocha Gems.  I just can't believe they are retiring those.  I LOVE them.  Have I mentioned that before?  A zillion times?  Ah, yes, I think I use them on every project I make!  It's ok, I've ordered 3 packs and asked for more for Christmas!

These sweet little ones are making their way through the snow to Exploring Cricut.  You have until December 21 to link up over there and your project can be anything Christmas for the It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Challenge!

Nothing more peaceful than CHOCOLATE!

What is more lovely than a box of chocolates for Christmas?  My dad loves birds; a joy he learned from his parents.  He also loves chocolates!  A little joy he shared with me!

This box is for him.  Believe it or not, he is really in to the homemade cards, boxes and tags.  He is in a nursing home and he loves to show them off to everyone.  I'm happy to see him enjoy them so much!

This little box is made from the CTMH Frosted Pack.  The box cut is from CTMH Artiste as well as the dove that was welded in at CCR.  The little tag was Stamped with the Peace from the CTMH Dove Set (not the name of it, but I can't find it as I sit here typing!  UGH, my desk is such a mess right now.  I need to clean and put stuff away so I can find everything again!)

Ah, I have digressed, as I often do.  Back to the box --  I used the dryer sheet technique explained at Grandma's Dove and guess what.... the name of the stamp set is there, also!  Yay!

The ribbon was left over from Katie's wedding.  I'll be using left over ribbon for years!  We did a backdrop with ribbon hanging.  I saved all the ribbon from it and now it's all in a bag to use on projects.

Wow, have I ever rambled in this post!  It must be getting close to the big day.  My little dove is flying over to Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog where you can find inspiration for lots of fun projects this week!

Check out KatiesCorner for great CTMH goodies!

More Sparkle and Shine ~ Easy to mail this time!

I needed more "easy to mail" cards here at the last minute.  So, I reached for the Sparkle and Shine to create a couple more cards.  I thought I would share 2 more with Heart 2 Heart Challenge!

All paper is from the Sparkle and Shine.

Stamp sets are CTMH Illuminate and Scandinavian Wishes.  Cuts are from:  CTMH Artiste and Art Philosophy.  The red ornaments were embossed with a Couture Creations "Washed Away" folder.

Various ink colors, embroidery floss, and silver scrap ribbon finished off the cards!

Check out KatiesCorner for great CTMH goodies!  Many items retiring........ my sweet little mocha gems....... : (

Sparkle Little Light! Shine Ornaments!

 Heart 2 Heart challenged us to Shine this week using the Sparkle and Shine Paper Packet.  I combined it with other wonderful CTMH goodies and here are my creations!

This is going to be a quick post since I crafted all morning and need to go to work.  It's the oboe thing today!

I'll list supplies and if you have any questions, just leave it for me in the comments and I'll do my best to explain!

Papers -  CTMH Sparkle and Shine
Ink Colors - CTMH Slate, Cranberry Pigment,  Juniper & Holiday Red
Folders - M-bossabilities Flowers and Cuttlebug Swirls
Cartridges - CTMH Artbooking, CTMH Art Philosophy, CTMH Artiste
Stamps -  CTMH Artiste Christmas Bundle, CTMH Illuminate, CTMH Poster Tidings
Embellishments - CTMH Grey gems from Licorice Gems Pack, Embroidery floss, scrap of silver cord, scraps of silver ribbon left over from ...... you guessed it, Katie's wedding!
And of course - glue gun, ATG, CTMH 3-D Foam Tape

**Added after work.......oh my, I was in a hurry and forgot the obvious,,,,the sparkle!  Glitter!! and spray adhesive.   Yee gads, how did I forget that when I posted!

All CTMH products from KatiesCorner.

In the Barn with Red

Out in my pastures I see three Sorrel horses everyday!  So when I think Barn Red, I think about those beautiful red horses--Harry, Thunder, and Rubin!  Now, please don't tell the others I'm partial to my Sorrel's; I'll pay tribute to the others on another date!  You know the old saying when it comes to horses, "there's no bad color!"  I guess that could apply to the color challenges over at Color My Heart! (Now wasn't that a clever segue?!)

The cuts are as follows:
Snowflake background -  CTMH Scrapbooking
Tags at top - CTMH Artiste
Horse - Old West
Rectangles - Freehand with corner rounder

I cut the snowflake background and set it aside.  I took a piece of used and pressed dryer sheets from my stash of saved ones and sprayed it with adhesive.  I then sprinkled it with glitter.  I immediately flipped it over onto freezer paper and sprayed the other side.  Then I placed it onto my card base.

The embellishments are ribbon that is vintage CTMH and a jingle bell from stash!  My sentiment was CG--computer generated.  I didn't have a stamp with that sentiment and I'm not great at lining up tiny letters.  I used a paisley folder to emboss the barn red tag under the bow.

I love this little guy galloping across the card.  Looking out my window right as I type my guys are looking for any scrap of grass that could be hiding under the snow!  They would only gallop if there were hay to be found on the other side of the pasture!  ; )

Retired CTMH + Old Pics of Son = All Framed Up

It seems there is Sparkle and Shine and Frosted all over the craft room right now!  I was looking for paper and ideas to finish the Mini-album and ran across this 'vintage' CTMH paper.  I can't even tell you the name of it, but I remember buying it and loving it at the time.  For some reason these few sheets were tucked away and never used!  This paper is from the era when you could buy Levels for your experience/ability/time, etc.  Anyway, I found it and used it for this project that was inspired by All Framed Up over at Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog!

I started with the base piece which already had the border and blue in the middle!  Easy, right?  I cut the horse, saddle , letters and fence from Old West.  The fence has a sort of color texture to it that was already in the paper!

I background stamped the blue behind the pictures with the CTMH Adorable Backgrounds stamp.  The horse's mane and tail were inked by pressing a pointed craft stick onto a stamp pad and making strokes in Barn Red to look like hair and then dabbed with the Sunflower yellow (retired color); the barbed wire was inked with Barn Red.  I lightly rubbed patches of Barn Red onto the horse to give her a dark Palomino color.

The ribbon and concho/button are from days gone by, also!

I popped all the pictures and horse off at different levels!  There is a lot of dimension to this project.  Therefore, I had to put it in a shadow box from Hobby Lobby.

The pics are from 3 different years.  My son is now a Junior at Purdue studying Agriculture.  These are three of his favorite horses.  The baby was only 3 in the bottom picture in the snow; Keith trained him.  The top right is of my favorite horse; the pic was from a vet science project he did for 4-H.  The show picture is of a beautiful mare he was showing for someone else.  She was so fun for him!  Hopefully this will bring back some great memories for him when he sees it hanging in the hallway when he's home for break!

Time to "move on!" The Mini Series Finale: Smash Book Meets Artbooking Mini Albums

This is the third and final part of the Smash Book Meets Artbooking Mini Albums: The Mini Series!  Yay!  It is now time to show you the book in its finished state.  I'll go through the pages in order describing the pages I did not show in the October 31 and the November 16 posts.  For more information on those pages, you may click the dates!

Carol's Baby album inspired me to finish this one and send it over to Heart 2 Heart for the Moving On Challenge.  This album has pages that slide in and out, pages that lift, and tags that can be moved.  Keepsakes can be moved from one pocket to another or into an envelope.  Oh, and it's for my friend who moves around on horseback!  hahaha  Oh yeah, and now that it's finished I can be "moving on" to another big project!

The cover is made using the stamp set from the Huntington On the Go Workshop.  The Paper is Clementine (retired) and Olive.  The button was from stash.  The cute embellishment is from  CTMH Mini-Medley Accents Antiqued Gold Collection.  The gems are, of course....you guessed it....Mocha gems!

Page 1 might also be from the Clementine collection.  The sentiment is stamped with a stamp set from the CTMH Art Philosophy Bundle.  The page was cut from Artiste along with the faux fence and the decorative cuts to make the fence boards!  See the caption for more details on that technique!

  

Pages 1 & 2
The faux fence is really a
pocket for pictures
or notes.
The fence was created in CCR.  I started by welding 2
 Boo cuts from Artiste.
I then went to the ? key used the Accent 1.  I 'hid countour'
the outside of the design and welded in what was left after
copying it several times.

Page 3

Pages 2 and 3 were cut from the Artbooking Cartridge.  To get the copper tarnished look, I started with CTMH Terra Cotta cardstock.  I smudged over it with Chocolate, Barn Red, Juniper, and gold inks.  I colored over the letters with a Barn Red marker.

Page 4

Page 4 was cut from the Artbooking and
stamped with Crystal Blue and Twilight
inks using the CTMH Artbooking
My Life stamp set.

Page 5 Envelope makes Page 6 (See Post Nov 16)

For pages 5, 6 , 7 (the envelope) and 10,
please see the November 16th post.

Back of envelope is Page 7 

Page 8

   Pages 8 and 9 are the front and back of the boot!  I cut the boot from the Old West cartridge one time from Crystal blue and Barn Red and a second time reversed from Champagne.  I used an embossing folder on the toe and pull strap.  On the front of the boot, I colored the sole with a Barn Red Marker.  I decided I wanted more blank space on the back of the boot for journaling or pictures, but I didn't want it blank.  So, I used the  border stamp from the CTMH Scandinavian Wishes to apply a border around the boot.  ( I love the fact that the long stamps are pliable and you can bend them around like that!)  I stamped it in Chocolate.

Pages 9 and 10

Pages 11 & 12

Page 11 was cut from the Artbooking Cartridge.  The pocket is from Clementine, the bottom border is from Florentine, and the top border is one of the paper strips.  The brown strip at the bottom of the pocket is grosgrain ribbon.   The shape for my stamp was cut from Art Philosophy.  The stamp is CTMH Yeehaw (retired) in Barn Red.  I smudged some green ink to make the trees in the background, blue for the sky, and a little brown at the bottom.  "notes" was cut from the Artbooking; I stamped that again with the Scandavian Wishes border to give it some texture.

I filled the pocket with a piece of notepaper cut from Artbooking and stamped with the Take Note Stamp Set.  The shapes were all cut from the Art Philosophy from various papers.  I welded in shapes from Old West and tied the shaped decorative tags to plain ones.  I rubbed Chocolate ink over the Orange cardstock from the DreamPop.  The ink really brings out the texture!  The middle tag was embossed.  

Page 12 includes a little 6 page booklet.  In CCR I elongated the shape from Art Philosophy, cut it twice, and folded them over.  I stamped all the pages with Universal Backgrounds Stamp, tied it with twine and attached a little lantern from the Illuminate Stamp Set.  The sentiment is also from this set.

Pages 13 & 14 See Post Oct 31

Pages 13 and 14 are explained in the October 31st Post.

Back cover

The back cover is from Florentine.  The ribbons are scraps--the lace literally is scrap!

So, there it is!  My Mini-Album meets Smash Book!  I think my riding buddy is going to love writing about her horse adventures in here.  There is room for pics, journaling, old bridle tags, camping receipts, notes from clinics, tags from tack, brochures from horse fairs, etc!  I can't wait to give it to her!

Frosty! Clearly, it's you!

I have been thinking about doing another card with acetate.  I experimented using it as a cover with leaves back in my Sept 16th Post, but I wanted to try one that was a clear base.  

I cut my acetate to size.  One hint here:  be sure your work area is CLEAN!  Acetate picks up every little piece of anything on your table/desk!  I used StazOn opaque ink and stamped little snow flakes from the Winter Wonderland Stamp set 3Twenty Crafts.  

I cut my scene from A Child's Year and the paper is all from CTMH Frosted.  My first layer is the cut; I backed it with the shadow.  Then I cut 2 shadow pieces from Colonial White larger than the original shadow.  I adhered the basic cut to the original shadow.  I adhered it to the inside cover of the card with ATG along the bottom edge.  To cover the tape, I used the strip of paper from CTMH Frosted on the front of the cover.

I adhered the larger shadow to the inside of the card and then the other to the back.  The sentiment tag was cut from CTMH Artiste and stamped with Artiste Stamp Set.  The back of that sentiment is stamped in Twilight; I used the CTMH Seal-Love Stamp to make all the swirls!  I love the versatility of CTMH stamps!  I'm always using parts of stamps or contorting them in some fashion.  For example, the sentiment is not curved; but because they are clear and pliable, I can curve it and make it fit my space perfectly!

Frosty's flower is from the Winter Wonderland set and is embellished with -- you guessed it -- a Mocha Gem!  He also has a tan bow!  

So, would I do another acetate card?  Hmmm........ I'll have to think on that!  It was tough to keep it clean looking!  I also had a really tough time photographing it!  I'm sure in time I'll forget all of that and do it again.

The inside has room to sign or write a quick message.

Frosty is on his way over to the FCCB for the Holiday Card Challenge!

Cocoa!

Who doesn't love cocoa on a winter day?  It's one of my all time fav's!  I'm partial to white chocolate cocoa, but milk chocolate with some marshmallows and whipped topping will definitely do the trick!  Add some coffee in there and I'll be really happy!  When I saw the challenge over at BBTB2, Winter is on the Way ~~ Winter Project Challenge, I knew it had to be these simple cocoa envelopes!  

These are so very cute and so very easy!  Cut the cardstock to desired size.  Fold over the corner on the front.  Tape the bottom edge and fold in half.  Hole punch the right side and tie your ribbon.  And now the fun part; decorate as you like!  

The cuts are:  Silver scalloped background and ornament - CTMH Art Philosophy; Cup with steam - Graphically Speaking.  

The silver was left over from Katie's wedding.  All other paper/cardstock is from the CTMH Sparkle and Shine.  

Well, now I'm in the mood for some cocoa....off to the kitchen for an afternoon treat!

Doll House Gift Box

Those who follow my posts know I'm just a little bit too excited about the additions to our family over the past year!  This will be my first Christmas as an official Nana, and I couldn't be more delighted about having this sweet, lovely, beautiful, smart, etc, etc 5 year old grandgirl in my life!  I could go on forever about how much I adore this little angel, but instead I'll show you the gift box I was inspired to make for her!  The cool part is it can hang from the tree when she comes for Christmas.

Over at Bitten By the Bug 2 the design team has challenged followers to make a Christmas Gift Container.  I'd been toying with this idea and this was the push I needed to try it.  Also, going over to FCCB Beyond Red and Green Challenge!

So..... Here it is!

I started by cutting the 3-D Building 1from Winter Woodland as large as I could make it and still fit it to the 12 x 12 cardstock.  Then I had to create a box to slide into this house.  I ended up sort of free handing it combining the pattern from the Art Philosophy bag and the measurements from the building. It took me a couple of tries, but I got there!  : )  I decided to make the box yellow to coordinate with the papers and make it look like there were lights on in the house.

I started by placing acetate behind all the windows.  I free hand cut the curtains for the windows.  The snow border is from CTMH Artbooking.  I sprayed it with adhesive glue and applied white glitter.  The kitty looking out the window and the puppy are both from Animal Kingdom.  The presents in the window were free cut.  The sleigh is from Winter Woodland.  I cut the star and tree from CTMH Art Philosophy and glittered it.  The tree is decorated with some gems and embroidery floss. The pink gems are from CTMH.  The snowman is from the CTMH Flakey Friends Stamp Set.

The paper is CTMH Chantilly (retired); I'm so glad I saved this paper because I think it was perfect for this project!

Now the roof!  I ended up cutting free hand a couple of triangles for the front and back.  I adhered them to the house.  Now came the challenge for me.  I had to think this one through.  I decided I wanted the roof to slide on and off.  I cut the rectangle and folded it in half, but then my shingles were upside down on one side.  I cut it just off center of the fold and glued it back together and then evened up my sides.  (Luckily, I had cut it bigger than I needed it!)  I reinforced the fold of the roof with a strip of cardstock and cut four squares of the same cardstock to reinforce the sides where the holes would go.

I ran the ribbon through the holes and knotted the ends.  Now the roof (box top) stays with the house (box)!

Ok, off to prepare for the winter snowstorm headed our way.  We all know what that means.......a day off from work and lots of crafting!  Yay!  C'mon snow!  Wait, that also means more barn work......hmmm.

Need fun paper, visit KatiesCorner!

Pine and Cranberry Colors

This creation was inspired by the Color My Heart Challenge.  These colors are so rich and made me think of the  Scandinavian Wishes Stamp Set from CTMH.  Of course this reminded me of a video on Youtube by Joy from Obsessed with Scrapbooking and her Double Gate-fold Card.  For dimensions and instruction on this type of card, check out her video by clicking the link!

Since I wanted to stay with the color scheme, I used Ponderosa Pine cardstock.  This is not double sided; so when I went to adhere the triangles, I made my own paper by stamping a green background on Champagne cardstock with a CTMH Universal Backgrounds (retired) stamp.  I also used this same stamp to add texture to the background heart.  I used Chocolate ink for that.  I chose this background stamp to co-ordinate with the middle of the flower on the heart!

I cut a 2nd set of triangles for the tops.  I used the border stamp from the Scandinavian stamp set to put around the top of the card.  The heart and border are stamped in Cranberry Pigment Ink.  The sentiment and bird were from the same stamp set and done in Chocolate.

The embellishments were from some old buttons and my bag o' ribbon.  That button has its own story.  When I turned it upside down, I saw there was red and green on it.  This may have been an imperfection, but it was perfect for this card!

Now, back to shopping, planning and more cardmaking!   First stop - Katiescorner for more supplies.

Did Someone Say Sparkle?

I think snow has the most amazing sparkle when the sun or moon hits it!  I love that look. So when I saw the Christmas Card Challenge over at BBTB2 and the Sparkle and Bling Challenge at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog I was inspired to make this snowman card.

I started with a stair step card.  I found dimensions on Youtube a while back and wrote them down.  I tweaked them a little for this card to fit the snowmen from the CTMH Flakey Friends stamp set.  The sentiment "Snow much fun!" and "snowflakes are kisses sent from heaven" are both from the same stamp set.  Sentiments are stamped in CTMH Twilight.

The swirly pattern on the background of the "Snow much fun" and the sign is from CTMH The Happy Couple stamp set.  I used the cake bottom and stamped it in 2nd generation CTMH Crystal Blue.  All of the paper is from the CTMH Frosted Pack.

The snowflakes are cut from the CTMH Artiste Cartridge.  Frosty Kisses is from the Winter Woodland Cartridge.  The sign and little patch of snow is from Walk in My Garden Cartridge.

After cutting the flakes, snow and the letters, I sprayed them with spray adhesive and sprinkled them with glitter.

I felt the card needed a little red on the near side to off set the red on the scarf of the little fellow on the right.  I found the fleece rick-rack ribbon in my bag o' ribbon and thought it added the right feel.  Who doesn't want fleece when they are out playing in the snow?

I finished it off with a CTMH opaque snowball ~ I mean pearl!  ; )

Check out Katiescorner to add some Sparkle and Shine to your holiday decor!