A Little Sunshine and Sarcasm!

CAS, CAS, hmmmmm.......oh yeah, clean and simple.  I remember now.  I haven't done much in that style lately......at least I don't think I have.  I have a skewed image of exactly what my style is.  I think I dabble so much I really don't have a style....or maybe that IS a style!  I don't know.  

Anyway, maybe this is CAS?  

For me, CAS is hard!  There are those immaculate white cards out there with a lovely sentiment on it and they are gorgeous.  Yes, I've tried that.  Cut the CS.  Great.  Stamp the image.  Super.  Adhere it to the card base.  WAIT!!!  Where did that smudge come from???  It wasn't there a minute ago.  Yee gads, now I need to add an embellishment.  Ok, still clean and simple.  Whew, saved..........what the..... I didn't smear that glue when I added that tiny embellishment to cover the smudge.  How did that happen.  Ok, I'll save it by removing this tiny...... crikey, I just tore it.  Think, think.....alright it's not a lost cause, I can add..........  

Before it's over, it's turned into shabby chic or something!  ; )

You get the picture of my attempt at a CAS project!  The color dare over at Color My Heart helped me out on this project.  Not much to say; it was pretty........simple!  

Slate Fundamental CS for the base cut with Artfully Sent.  The cut sentiment is from Artbooking and the sun is from Art Philosophy.  I stamped using the Curlicue Alphabet on Daisy White.  The hearts on the sun are from Whooo's Your Valentine.  I heat embossed them.  

And now for the embellishment list........(this is usually a long list for me) 4 little Epoxy Bubbles.  

I think this will be the Valentine for my son.  I think he'll like this since it borders on his school colors.

So, there it is and it's off to:

Heart 2 Heart:  CAS

Color My Heart:  Daisy White, Slate, and Canary

StuckOnUSketches:  Warm and Cozy Die Cuts

Card closed

Kokopelli goes CTMH

  

Ok, over at Heart 2 Heart we are challenged to use our "Birthday Color."  There is a color assigned to each month and my color is Sunset!

Being a musician by trade, I really have a certain affinity for Kokopelli.  I'm not sure what it is about this guy, but........

This past Christmas my daughter got the most wonderful present from her in-laws; she received 3 or 4 large boxes full of stamps, buttons, stencils, ink pads, etc.  They had been to a garage sale and a woman must have sold all her crafting supplies in one lump to them!  Woo hoo, lucky Katie.  

It turned into lucky me, because she is sharing!  So for this card I used my 'new to me' Kokopelli stamp with all CTMH goodies.  

CTMH Sarita and Hopscotch

 Kraft card base

 Baker's Twine Sunset

CTMH Ink colors 

CTMH Aqua Dots

My little Kokopelli is marching off to Heart 2 Heart for the birthday color challenge.  

Seriously

Sometimes all the planning in the world doesn't prepare you for a 4 year old at a wedding!  But, that's ok because the sentiment says it all!  Life really doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!  

This page was inspired by a few challenges:

Color My Heart:  White Daisy, Archival Black, Indian Corn Blue and Silver

Pile It On:  Hearts and/or Flowers

Sentimental Sundays:  Anything Goes opt New Beginnings (wedding)

613 Avenue:  Anything Goes 

Cricut Cuts are from:  Art Philosophy and Home Decor Vinyl Wall Art.

All fabrics, card stocks and paper (For Always) are CTMH.

Flowers were made from the wedding flower-girl petals and left over gems, beads, etc.  

CTMH Stamp sets include:  Curlique Frames, In the Background, and Seal-Love

The homemade stencil was cut from Pretty Pennants.

I made my embellishments, printed the pics, and
laid it out onto the card stocks.

After placing it all, I decide where I want my stenciling,
stamping, and made adjustments.  As you can see
from the final projects, I never stick to the
original plans!  

Close ups of the embellishments.  The little camera
is from the CTMH Base and Bling collection.
The blue flowers were actually used in the
wedding!

This fabric is from CTMH.  It was part of the
For Always collection.  The buttons were from
my stash.  The gem is also CTMH along with the silver
shimmer trim in the 2nd photo!   

This layout had a couple of "new to me" techniques.  The floral border on the blue was done by stenciling a tone on tone.  I've done this before, but I've not done so much of it on one piece to achieve a border.  I also did something a little different on the white page.  I stamped the flowers from In the Background stamp with Daisy White Ink.  Then I smudged over it with silver pigment ink.  This is a technique I want to experiment with further.  I liked parts of it, but other parts got a little darker than I may have originally intended.  I'm always learning; that's what is so fun about this for me.  Sometimes when crafting, I need to remember the sentiment on this page!  ; )

Thanks for coming by today!

Perfect Soup Weather!

Close to My Heart has a Weather Inspired Card challenge on their Facebook page.  I thought I'd play along!  My daughter and I went out for lunch today; it was perfect weather for soup and sandwiches.  So the weather inspired my lunch and this card!  haha

Since this is for a CTMH challenge, I decided I only wanted to use CTMH products.  I couldn't find a spoon and cup/bowl image for my card.  I was determined, so I created my own from the images you see on the left.  These cuts are all from Art Philosophy.  I welded the key and ornament and then did a little fussy cutting.  I also welded the droplet to the vase and cut off the top of the vase.  My steam is one of the flourish cuts.  

My soup is cut from the Hopscotch paper and then inked over in Chocolate ink.  It looks a little like a rice soup!  

I have done some images like this before with CTMH shapes.  If you are interested, here are links to those posts:  Cricut Cuts with a Twist and Charlie and Snoopy Make Me Happy!  

Everything is from CTMH

CS and Papers:  Colonial White, Hopscotch, Cocoa, Fundamentals, and Whisper

Inks:  Slate, Colonial White, Sky, Chocolate and Twilight 

White Embossing Powder and Twilight Marker

Stamp sets:  Love Life and Cup of Cheer

Cartridge:  Art Philosophy

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the weather here!  ; )

Boiler Up!!

My wonderful son gave his dad and me tickets to a Purdue basketball game for Christmas.  I have never been to a college game.  Yes, I went through 4 years of college and NEVER went to a sporting event.  It's true!

So, this was a new experience for me.

We had a great time and I even got into the game.  I have yet to learn the school song.  You'd think after two kids going there and a husband who graduated from PU I'd know that song, but......

I have to say, I was probably more into the pep band!  They sounded great....especially for a school full of engineers and ag students!  There are no music majors at Purdue.

Anyway, we had to document the afternoon with a pic of Keith, and when there's a picture, there's a scrapbook page!  hahahaha  Next time we are taking pics at PU it will probably be graduation.  Wow, time flies!

Thanks to Stuck?! Sketches for a great layout that was perfect for my pic and tickets!

2015: It's a New Year

Yes, it's a new year full of new ideas, goals, and challenges.   I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, but I do like to sit down and think about what I want to accomplish in my horsemanship program for kids with challenges as well as my own personal equine goals.

I must say, putting it down on paper in this way was so fun.  This scroll is going to hang out in my tack room.  I have divided it into 5 sections and will unroll it as the year goes on.  I'll see it everyday and the kiddos will also be able to see what the goals are.  They will see I have personal goals to achieve as well as goals for them!  My hope is they will understand learning continues throughout our lives and when we love something and feel passionately about it, we want to learn!

This was also a great way to explore the words and phrases in the CTMH Artbooking cartridge.  Almost every cut is from that cartridge.  There is a horse and boot from Old West.

I used several CTMH stamp sets; let's see if I can remember them all as I type!

Love Life, Take Note, Curlicue Alphabet, Country Born, Lovely Buckles, and Camper Crazy.

CTMH Embellishments:  Brad and Button from Mini Medley Gold,  Washi Tape, Baker's Twine, Foil from Dakota, Bronze Shimmer Trim, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Floret Paper Flowers, and Aqua Dots.  

Other Embellishments:  Letters from Sticko Stickers; the music note was cut previously and I don't remember what cartridge I used for it!  Miscellaneous pens, pencils, adhesives, inks, etc.

Well, thanks to this project I have reiterated my motto from last year:  "Think it, feel it, do it!" and I've created my 2015 idea: "There is quiet strength in balance."
My new idea is teaching if our life is balanced, we will be stronger just like if we are balanced on the horse, we are stronger riders!

Last year it was about thinking things through and considering how it will feel and then doing it!  Again, with horses we think about the action, feel it (usually the horse reacts at this point, but if he doesn't- we cue it physically or--) do it!

Well, now I'm ready to get started on this list of ideas, goals, and chores.  Let's see, Jan/Feb/Mar.......I've been out to ride a couple of times, signed up for some CE credits, and outlined some lesson plans!  Woo hoo, I'm on my way!

Now I have to get motivated to do the paperwork!  Yee gads, I really don't like doing taxes, making new forms, organizing the old paperwork.

I'm hoping this year it will be a little easier since I made a book to keep track of things last year:  Book.  It is stuffed full of receipts, ideas, notes, pictures, and scribblings!  I should make a new one for  2015.  Hmmm.............

Ok, you've suffered through enough rambling!  Thanks for coming by today!

My scroll is off to:

Heart 2 Heart:  Old is New - that scroll has been sitting waiting for quite a while

Sentimental Sundays:  New Beginnings and a sentiment


Bitten by the Bug 2:  Cricut Letters or Phrase(s) 

Perfect Colors for Vintage Layout

 Thanks to a few challenges this week/month, I was inspired to get Dad's old photo album out again!  I love old photographs; I truly enjoy everything about them: the history, stories, fashion, facial expressions, everything!  Nothing makes me feel more relaxed and still full of life than old pictures.  My Grandma Kathryn kept her albums in a black trunk in the 2nd bedroom.  I remember as a child going in there and looking at the books wondering about the people.

My dad is in a nursing home due to a stroke.  I spent several hours there with him going over all the old pictures and getting as much history as I could.  Now, I'm making copies of the images and scrapping them in a new way to put in a book for him to enjoy all over again!  I know he'll love it; he seems to be fascinated by all the embellishments and papers.  Of course, this shouldn't surprise me.  He always enjoyed art and woodworking.

Anyway, enough about Dad and my love of vintage photos -- on to the page!

First, I'll share the 3 challenges that inspired me!

Color My Heart:  Bamboo, Black, and Champagne (white optional)

Stuck? Sketches:  Sketch

123 Get Scrappy:  Gems, 3 different Patterned Papers, and Stamped Image

What I used -

CTMH CS, Fabrics & Papers:  For Always (retired), Champagne, Daisy White, Fundamentals Bamboo and Champagne, and Black.

CTMH Inks:  Bamboo, Champagne, and White Daisy Pigment Inks; Black Archival Ink

Paints/Gesso:  CTMH Create a Shade and Liquitex Gesso mixed with rubbing alcohol for the splatter on the bird.

Cricut Cartridges:  Artiste, Artbooking, and Heritage.

Embellishments:  CTMH Black Epoxy Bubbles and Black Shimmer Trim;  pearls from stash

I added paint to give more
and texture to the bird
cage and key.

CTMH Stamps:  Pick a Posey, Amour, Sweet & Lovely, and Fabulous You.

I machine basted and gathered the fabric under the key.

These flowers were cut using a pattern cut from
Art Philosophy.  I cut the flower in 3 sizes.  I cut 2 from
fabric and one from old lace.  I put a few stitches in to
hold them together and give them dimension.  I dabbed
the vine with the paint.

This little guy is speckled with
Gesso mixed with alcohol.

This was such a great project for me!  It's nice to be up in my craft room remembering fun times with my grandparents.  I still need to get their wedding date and pen that into the right hand bottom corner of the white journaling spot, but then it will be ready to put into the book for Dad.  

Thanks for coming by today!  If you need any CTMH goodies, visit KatiesCorner and see what is going on there!   

Let It Go!

Time for another canvas!  If you've been following, you know the story of these canvases.  If you are new to my blog, you can check out some previously posted canvases for the story:  Yankee Doodle, Ode to Joy, and Happy.

I can show the face in this picture; she's my little grand-girl!  She looks like Anna from Frozen with her blue eyes and red hair; she acts a little like her, too!

I started by mixing Sky re-inker with Create a Shade Pearl Paint (retired) and painted the pretreated canvas.  (The canvas was already pre-gessoed.)  While the paint was wet, I sprinkled with glitter down the diagonal of the canvas where the snowflakes would be.

I cut the snowflakes from the Artbooking cartridge.  I adhered the white CS to the canvas.

I printed/cut the Frozen images, downloaded from KraftyNook, using glossy photo paper on the Cricut Explore.  Ok, I'm going to digress a bit----- I really never thought I'd use this feature!  However, I really like it.  It's a real time saver when you are doing intricately pieced or small cuts.  It's also great if you are in a time crunch and need something quickly!

My title is cut from Everyday Fonts-Best of Times.  I finished it off with some blue gems left over from the wedding.  I must have a thousand!

This canvas is heading over to these challenges who just happen to have some snowy themes this week!

Bitten by the Bug 2 - Let it Snow Snowflakes
Fantabulous Cricut - Winter Fun

It's such perfect crafting weather here: it's cold, snowy, icy, slick, etc-----also great online shopping weather.  I ordered the promo item, along with some other goodies, from CTMH and I can't wait to see the paper!  I think I have some items for the Seasonal Expressions 1 book, also!  You can check all of this out at KatiesCorner!

Thanks for coming by today; stay warm and safe out there!

 

White Chocolate Cappuccino!

Who doesn't love a hot drink when it's negative degrees outside?  Especially if you have to work out there!  I get to the barn quickly and get 'er done; then I'm back inside and drinking hot coffee or cocoa to warm up again.  I much prefer crafting over horse work in this kind of weather!

Challenges inspired this one:

Color My Heart:  Snowhaven colors
Pile it On:  Something edible
Sentimental Sundays:  Winter Sparkle

The fun for me on this project was creating the background!  I saw a pre- made BG on a video from Clips n Cuts.  I liked it and wanted to duplicate it with CTMH stamps.  I started with Black CS and stamped with CTMH White Daisy Pigment Ink.  Here is the list of stamp sets:  Believe Caps, Believe Lowercase,  You Are My Happy Icons, Curlicue Alphabet, Cup of Cheer, and Skylark.

The cup and whipped topping are cut from two different images in Love You a Latte.  The cup colors are Cranberry, Slate, and Glacier.  The whipped topping is sprayed with adhesive and sprinkled with glitter!

Cranberry Baker's Twine is from CTMH.  Red gem was from my stash.

You still have time to play at all the challenges listed!

Thanks for checking out what is happening here!  Stay warm and enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee, tea, cocoa, or whatever is your desired beverage!  ; )

Love

I have been so inspired by the incredible challenges coming out this morning and the past weekend!  Lots of new inspiration and technique challenge.  Since it's cold and icy here, I'm holed up in my craft room with nothing but the wind howling outside the window and a hot cup of coffee.  I'm ok with that!

The idea for this card template and layout is from Such a Pretty Mess.  Gabrielle is so talented and I find myself wanting to recreate her projects quite often.  She uses a lot of Bo Bunny and Dusty Attic. As you might guess, I'm a CTMH fan----since my daughter is a consultant!  Now, let me add even if she weren't a consultant, I'd still be a fan.  So, this is my CTMH take on her card!

The fold on this swing card is interesting; I'm not much into measuring and such, but I wanted to give this a try!  You can see the dimensions and the card in action at her site.  I have yet to get into the video part of blogging.  Maybe this will be the year for that.....hmm.....  I'll think on that one!

Anyway, as I always do, I have digressed.  This card has lots of "bells and whistles" besides the cut.  I cut the burlap hearts freehand from the CTMH burlap ribbon.  The top two layers of the flower are cut from Art Philosophy; the rest of the flowers are from the CTMH Floret Paper Flowers (retired).

Note the twine in the upper left hand corner as well
as tied on the button.  That is a strand
I pulled from burlap used on another project.

The background on this Barn Red CS was created by
sanding the CS on top of an open embossing folder.
The button, little piece of lace, and thread were all laying
on the table from a past project!  There are some
advantages to being messy!

Everything here is from CTMH except the buttons, thread, embossing folder and seam binding.  Here are the supplies:

CS:  White Daisy, Barn Red, Paper Fundamentals, and Seaside

Inks and Powder:  Barn Red, Chocolate, Archival Black, Daisy White Pigment and Hollyhock Pigment; White embossing powder

Blush and Chocolate Homemade shimmer mist:  Re-inker colors, water, and Create a Shade paint (retired)

CTMH Embellishments:  Burlap, Gems, Floret Paper Flowers

CTMH Stamps:  Universal Backgrounds, Just to Say, and Art Philosophy Stamp Set

Techniques:  Sanding over an embossing folder, distressing, sewing, stamping, inking edges, hand cutting the swing card, hand made flower, heat embossing

I was inspired by the following challenges:

Alphabet Challenge Blog - X-periment:  this was a new card cut for me!
Craft Hoarders - Choose your Challenge from a chart:  ink, fabric, seam binding, thread, lace, stamping, die cutting, folding & scoring, mixed media (?), distressing, sand paper, heat embossing, buttons, bling, flowers, and found items!
Heart 2 Heart - bling, ribbon, Cricut or stamping distressing, ribbon
613 Avenue - 1001 Techniques

Check out the challenges above!  Lots of fun.  While you are surfing around, be sure to stop by KatiesCorner and take a look at the new ideas over at CTMH.  If you haven't seen the new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book, you should take a peek!  There are some great new products and ideas in there!  Did you also know there are inspirational videos at that site!  Yep, click the tab CTMH TV and you'll find them.

Hope your weather isn't too bad where you are.  But if it is, stay in and enjoy some crafting time!

the sweetest!

My cousin is now a grandma and that is the sweetest news!  She has the cutest little grandson who I'm sure will be the joy of many lives.  I thought I'd send a card off to the delighted grandparents as well as the happy parents!

This cut is from Life's a Party.  The sentiment is from Cutie Pie a CTMH Stamp of the Month.  The embellishment is a partial cut from one of the CTMH Flourishes.  For some added interest, I used the CTMH Dot embossing folder on the white CS.

Colors were inspired by the Color My Heart challenge this week - perfect for the new baby boy!

Thanks for stopping by today; be sure to check out Katiescorner for the January deals!

Yankee Doodle

Charlie and student during practice
assisted by Miss Audrey.

In the fall PATCH by Design had the Pumpkin PATCH Fall Classic.  This is a horse show for all the students who have their weekly lessons at the barn.  These are incredible kids who experience life challenges of one kind or another.  Each student had the opportunity to ride, show a miniature in a showmanship class, and do an in-hand musical freestyle to the music he/she chose.  I was so inspired by their freestyle performances, I chose to do a canvas for each of them.  This young lady chose Yankee Doodle.

I started with a canvas and gesso.  I used CTMH inks to spray the background.  I then found the words to Yankee Doodle (who knew that song was so long?), copied it onto neutral paper, and went to town on it.  I tore it, distressed it, inked it, and stamped it with the stamps from CTMH Love Life set.  I glued that down to the canvas.

Next I went to the Cricut and cut the frame, flag, title, shooting stars, and silhouette.  I inked and/or glittered those and set them aside.  I made a stencil out of Acetate Alternative cutting stars on the Cricut.  The stars are from CTMH Art Philosophy.  I then got out some homemade texture paste and added a drop of Sky re-inker to stencil in the stars.  

Now for the assembly!  Yay, that's my favorite part!  I laid it out and it still needed more embellishing.........hmmmmmmm.  Wait, I have some 4th of July embellishments from forever ago!  Ok, now the trick is to find them.  Dig, hunt, look,,,,,,,,,,,, there they are!!  Talk about finding the old and scrapping stash!  Ok, I looked it up, they are from Summer 2006.  I think it's one of the first CTMH sets I purchased!  

Yankee Doodle is off to these challenges:

Scrap our Stash

T twine, title, and texture paste

W words

I ink

N neutral parchment color; new stencil I made 

E  embellishments

Lasting Memories - Simple Pleasures - for me that's kids with horses!

Bitten by the Bug 2 - All time favorite Cricut cut---uh, not fair!  If I have to choose it's the horses from Old West.  I use them a lot over here!

Heart 2 Heart - Old is New - Embellishments from 2006

This month there are some great promotions over at KatiesCorner.  I haven't placed an order yet; but believe me, I'm on my way over today to check out the fun!  One of the promotions is the Year Noted Paper Kit.  You can check out the video here!  Of course, there is the Stamp of the Month as well as some others.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Kraft, Daisy, and Glacier

What a great color combo!  The challenge over at Color My Heart is to use White Daisy, Glacier, and Kraft.  However, I didn't have any Glacier except for the cardstock.  Therefore, when I colored my bird I had to use Sky Blue marker.  Everything here is CTMH except the blue gems and black embossing powder.  

The stamp is CTMH Fabulous You.....a Christmas gift from my fabulous husband!  

This month there are some great promotions over at KatiesCorner.  I haven't placed an order yet; but believe me, I'm on my way over today to check out the fun!  One of the promotions is the Year Noted Paper Kit.  You can check out the video here!  Of course, there is the Stamp of the Month as well as some others.

Thanks for stopping by today!