Mecum Car Auction Comes to Indy.......

A couple of weeks ago the Mecum Car Auction was in Indianapolis.  This was a much anticipated event for my guys who were planning a week of ogling cars from all over the US.  I knew my husband was looking for a new toy, but I was a little surprised when my son came home and told me they needed to go back the next day because he had something to "pick up."

Ah, and there it was, a 1992 Corvette.  That was a great year for cars and kids; my son and the car are the same model year! hahaha

When I saw the challenges over at 1 2 3 Get Scrappy and Bitten by the Bug 2 I knew it was time to scrap the pictures from the big day.  1 2 3 Get Scrappy is like Tic, Tac, Toe; the requirements are in a 9-square grid and you have to complete three in a row.  I chose rectangle shapes, blue background, and gears & cogs.  Bitten by the Bug 2 is challenging us to use a car die-cut.

Material list:

CTMH Cardstocks:  White Daisy, Cranberry, Honey, and Black
Misc Cardstock: silver
CTMH Inks:  Outdoor Denim, Slate, and Black
Cartridges:  CTMH Artiste, CTMH Artbooking, CTMH Art Philosophy, and Paper Dolls for Everyday
CTMH Stamp Sets:  Cricut Artiste Kudos and Take Note
CTMH Embellishments:  Marquee Enamel Shapes and Epoxy Bubbles Black/Gray
Cereal box cardboard to back the gears and lettering

Please stop by KatiesCorner for inspiration, great embellishments, and beautiful paper!

The Kindergarten Graduates!

 This year we have a Pre-K and a Kindergarten graduate!  Yay!  They are both so excited.  (I also have several HS girl grads; you can see their cards here.  I did them  in their school colors.)  Anyway, back to this card!  I cut these little cuties from the Paper Doll Everyday Cartridge.

The cardstock and papers are all from CTMH.  The pattern is Lollydoodle.  The stamps are CTMH You Are My Happy and Artiste Kudos.

Embellishments:  Silk flowers colored with CTMH Glimmer Mist (recipe can be found here), CTMH sequins, CTMH Epoxy Bubbles, CTMH Baker's Twine, Martha Stewart Ribbon, rolled paper for diploma, CTMH Markers and ink.

These darling grads are on their way to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge for the Class of 2014 Party!  ; )


All CTMH from KatiesCorner!

Happy Graduation to all the graduates out there!
May you all be blessed as you go on to the next big adventure awaiting you.

Enjoy the journey!

Remembering......

For me Memorial Day is a day to celebrate all the important people who have passed, military personnel, and first responders.  Sometimes we forget those men and women here at home protecting and serving us everyday:  EMT's, paramedics, police officers, and our firefighters!

My son, much to his mother's dismay, became a firefighter last year.  It's a long story full of deceit!  :)  You see, we have something we call the "Parent Council."  This is a group of very close friends who all look after each other and our kids.  One of my dearest buddies and her husband and son are all on the PTVFD.  The next thing I knew my son was getting phone calls from the chief.  I wondered what it was about, but silly me thought maybe it was for a job reference or something.  Next thing I knew my son was a candidate and then a Probie!  It seems all of the parents on the council knew but me!!  Hmm.....

Needless to say, at this point I am very proud of my son.  He had to overcome great feats to pass the tests--as all firefighters do.  I used the sentiment from the Illuminate because it seemed to sum up the experience for our family.  I'm sure any of you who have family serving understand the faith it takes to watch them walk out the door when the phone rings!  I say a prayer every time.

This picture was taken after he gave his niece a tour of the firetruck!  Now she is talking about being a firefighter........oh my!

Many would have chosen the traditional Red or Yellow for the firefighter
layout, but I was inspired by the Color Dare at Color My Heart:  Sunset, Olive, and Lagoon.  I combined these colors with Chocolate, Slate, Black, and metals.

All of my chipboards were cut from cereal boxes; I then cut them again from Colonial white and inked them with sponges, daubers, etc.  The finished cardstock pieces were then glued onto the cereal box cuts to give them more dimension.

The bricks were created with a stencil cut from Artbooking.  The brown bricks were done with Homemade Texture Paste and a couple of drops of Chocolate re-inker.  The other bricks were done with Colonial White Pigment Ink.

All cuts are from CTMH Artiste, Artbooking, and/or Artiste.

List of Materials:
All CTMH from KatiesCorner except texture paste and cereal boxes (haha); but if CTMH sold cereal, I'm sure I'd buy it!

Papers and Cardstocks:  Olive, Babycakes, Huntington, Lagoon, Dream Pop, and Colonial White

Inks/ Markers:  Sunset, Lagoon, Olive, Chocolate, Slate, Colonial White and Archival Black

Stamp Sets:  Love Life, Illuminate, Cricut Artiste Collection Kudos, and Universal Background

Embellishments:  Mini-Medley Olive, Sparkles Assortment, Mini-Medley Pewter, Memo Assortment, Badge Buttons, Shimmer Trim Bronze, Gold Polka-Dot Washi Tape, and Durables Triangle Studs.

Since there are some cool metal elements in my layout, I'm sending it over to Craft Hoarder Anonymous Challenge.  Scrapbooker PhD challenges us to use die cuts!  Wow, I got those!  Pile It On Challenge Blog has a Metal theme this week, also; so we're going over there, too!

I can't go without saying how incredibly proud I am of my son-in-law who serves with National Guard!  I need to do a layout of him in his uniform for the next patriotic holiday!  Stay tuned.....

Happy Memorial Day!  

So Many Inspirations

As I was checking out the Blog Challenges, I found many of them to be inspirational.  So, I decided to combine them all and see what I could create!

This is my time for "horsing around" and I don't spend nearly as much time up in my studio practicing oboe or crafting!  I'm out in the barn cleaning, ground-working, or riding.  This will be a quick one since the weather is great out there and I have some work to do with a couple of my guys!

Color My Heart - Buttercup and Hollyhock
 Retrosketches - I picked up the long rectangle in my trellis and the circle in the handle!  The dots are represented by my pearl gems.
Bitten by the Bug 2 - Gift Packaging
Heart 2 Heart - In the Garden
Fantabulous Cricut - May Flowers

These sites are so much fun and you have time to play all of these challenges!  Check the sites for due dates on your projects.

The purse is from CTMH Artiste; butterflies and roses are from Art Philosophy.  The trellis is cut from Dura-Lar Acetate Alternative using the Artbooking cartridge.  Ink colors were Buttercup and Hollyhock.

I made the roses with Hollyhock cardstock.  Then I went over the tips with CTMH Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint.  I also used it on the trellis!  I mixed the paint with a drop or 2 of Hollyhock re-inker to get the color/shine.

The butterflies are all a little different.  I stamped a couple of them with flowers on the wings to give them some texture.  I used the Hollyhock pigment to go around them or splatter them.  The vine is CTMH Baker's Twine.

Stamp sets are CTMH Sweet and Lovely and Love Life.  The bow is from CTMH Color Ready Seam Binding (retired.)

Thanks for stopping by!  If you need any CTMH products, please check out Katiescorner!

Out to the barn to horse around for awhile!

Little Girls and Unicorns Are So Magical!

What could be more magical than a little girl's giggle and a unicorn (or a miniature horse who thinks he's a unicorn!)?

Little Lu was over one day all dressed in her tutu and cowboy boots to play with Charlie.  She decided he needed a new hairstyle.  So, Nana Katrina and she played beauty shop with Charlie!

He looks quiet stunning all cleaned with braids and such!  As you can see, Lu is quite pleased with the outcome!

I started with paper from the Ivy Lane and went over the entire sheet with Sky ink.  I laid out the pictures and most of the embellishments and then decided where I wanted any background stamping.  I stamped the music staves from Universal Backgrounds and some stars from the Unicorn Dreams stamp.

I then broke out the Texture Paste and decided to make some stencils from Dura-Lar Acetate Alternative.  The patterns came from CTMH Artbooking.  I applied the Texture Paste; the recipe is listed below.  The stars and the left bottom corner are the textured areas.

All of the silk flowers were left over from Katie's wedding and were white.  I colored the blue by simply pressing some Sky ink into the centers.  The pink flowers were colored with a CTMH Glimmer Mist Recipe.  I'll put that in below, also.


Papers:  Ivy Lane, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy, Blush and Hollyhock, scrap of gray

Cricut Cuts:

"Dream" ~ Winter Woodland
Unicorn - Spring Seasonal
Clouds and Crown - Paper Doll Dress Up
Stencils, Stars, and Frame- CTMH Artbooking
Frame Left Pic - CTMH Art Philosophy

Stamps:  CTMH Universal Backgrounds, CTMH Unicorn Dreams and CTMH Illuminate

CTMH Inks and Marker:  Blush, Sky, Chocolate, Twilight, Colonial White, Gypsy, Slate and the marker was Whisper Light

Stars on the clouds were inked with Stampabilities Silver Pigment ink.

CTMH Embellishments:  Opaque gems, Pink Glitter Gems, Blue/Green Epoxy Bubbles, Zipper Lace, Flamingo Dots, Marquee Enamel Shapes, Silver Glitter Tape and Ivy Lane Zip Strip

Other Embellishments:  Glitter, Silk flowers, Blue Gems and Lace

This project was so much fun!  I loved getting out the embellishments for this one.  I have to say the glitter was driving me crazy as I was trying to get the pics for the blog.  There was glitter all over the pictures on the page!  I had to keep brushing them away.  I couldn't help but think of Amie Kiger and her sparkle!  Anyway, I'll leave you with a couple of recipes!

If you are feeling "magical" visit Heart 2 Heart where the Scrapbooking theme is Magical May.  The challenge is to make your own background paper using stamps.  Hmmm...... I altered the paper with stamps and CTMH Stencils....wonder if that counts?  Now if you're feeling "dreamy," you should pop over to Curtain Call where the challenge is Pajama Party!  I was inspired by all the girly colors over there!

Texture Paste:
Combine 1/2 cup of powder, 2 Tbs white glue, and 1-2 Tbs white paint.  Add water for a thinner texture

CTMH Glimmer Mist
Combine warm water, Create a Shade Pearl Paint, and Re-inker in a spray bottle or CTMH Spray Pen.  I didn't have a spray pen, so I combined it in a spray bottle from the barn; I washed it first!  (As many of you know, I hate going into town for errands, so I try to make do with what I have around here!) Anyway, I made way more than I probably needed to make!  If you Youtube it, I'm sure you can find a recipe much more exact.  I sort of guessed til it seemed right.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day seemed like the perfect time to pull out the Some Bunny Stamp from CTMH!  Seriously, this little girl was hunting eggs at Easter, but now she is picking flowers for Mom or Gram!

I used the stamp and stamped a flower in the basket and on the ground.  I then covered the rest of the eggs with a bow tied from CTMH Baker's Twine.  So, now it looks like she's gathering flowers in that basket.  The flower is from the CTMH Wild About Love stamp; it is the flower the little fox is holding.  I inked up just the flower and added it to the scene.

My card is inspired by the themes at the following:  The theme over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge is Paper fun + a Cricut cut.  Exploring Cricut is all about Mother's Day + a ribbon.  Bitten by the Bug 2 is also Mother's Day!  Over at RetroSketches there is a great sketch to check out!  I sort of stretched that one a little bit, but the main idea is still there......I think!  Anyway, I did use the sketch to design the card!  I started with the sketch and went a bit astray!  Oooops.....

Now, over at Heart 2 Heart the challenge is Take 5!  I have two interpretations of that challenge here! #1 My mom should "take 5" to remember all the Beautiful Memories and smell the flowers!  #2 There are 5 layers to my flower embellishment:  Baker's twine (ribbon), two layers of flower, a sequin, and a mocha gem!

The banner is made by welding a banner cut to a tag in CCR.  The flower and the background for my little girl are all cut from Art Philosophy.  The patterned paper is from CTMH Skylark and the background piece is Colonial White sponged with Sweet Leaf and Sky.

CTMH Materials used:

Art Philosophy Cartridge
Skylark papers
Colonial White CS
Kraft CS
Some Bunny Stamp
Wild About Love Stamp
Universal Backgrounds
Baker's Twine
Sequin from Lollydoodle Card Making Kit
Opaque Mocha gems (retired)
CTMH Inks:  Chocolate, Sweet Leaf, Sky and Lagoon
CTMH Markers:  Sweet Leaf, Autumn Terra Cotta, Whisper, Sky, Twilight, Honey and Topiary
(Copic markers for skin tones)

If you need any of these crafty items, visit Katiescorner!

Hey, all you moms out there, Take 5, relax a bit, and have a wonderful Mother's Day!

What? Beautiful Spring colors and you design...........this?

Yep!  For some strange reason Christmas came to mind!  Whenever I see green and blue together I think Christmas; so I thought I'd do an early Christmas card.

Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue are the colors over at Color My Heart Color Dare this week.  I'm a bit late, but you still have a couple of days to play with these lovely colors and enter your inspired piece!

I was inspired by Gretchen's use of the Kraft paper.  (Check out the Design Team's creations this week; they are really pretty!)  My embossed background is Colonial White.  The Crystal Blue is stamped in Colonial White Pigment ink using the little flower from the CTMH Love Life stamp set.  I then went back and stamped again with Crystal Blue ink.

The trees are from the CTMH Always Grateful set and stamped in Sweet Leaf.  I sponged around the trees with Crystal Blue.  I embellished with Silver Glitter Tape, Opaque gems (retired), Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon (retired), and some silver ribbon from my "bag o' ribbon"!

The sentiment is from CTMH Scandinavian Wishes and stamped in Slate.  I used a Cuttlebug flourish embossing folder on the background.

Quick post today before I head off to work.  I typed this really quickly; so, if I forgot something and you have a question, please ask!

As always, Katie would love to help you out with any of your CTMH needs!  You can visit her at KatiesCorner!