Wonderful Season for a Latte!

Time for a Cut It Up Challenge!  This time our theme is Sweets for my Sweet; what is creamier and sweeter than a delicious latte on a cool, fall day?  We are definitely getting into that warm drink weather!

My cuts are from 4 different cartridges; if you follow me, you know I can never just go with what is there!  haha  The mug and shadow are from Gypsy Wanderings.  The hearts and steam are from Everyday Pop-Up Cards.  The spoon is found in the Savory Cartridge and the whipped topping in Love You a Latte.

My stamped flowers and sentiment on the outside are from the Art Philosophy Collection and the inside is from CTMH Family is Forever Stamp Set (retired).  The beautiful paper is retired from CTMH and the Cardstock is also from CTMH.  Inks are CTMH Sorbet, Cotton Candy and Flaxen.  I topped it all of with a bit of glitter and some Flamingo Dots.  

Our challenge this week is sponsored by as Cute as a Button!

So, head on over to Cut It Up and link up your Sweet creation!  We'd love to see it!

Thanks for coming by for a visit!  I always welcome questions and comments; just leave me a note below.

Ghostly Quick!

This card is so quick, your ghosts won't be able to catch you making it!

My background is all done with print and cut in Cricut Design Space.  I chose the bats from the new CTMH Artistry Cartridge.  Boo is from CTMH Artbooking Cartridge.

I then cut the monster image from Artistry, but I removed his horns and did a little editing to come up with a vampire-ghost.  (If you are curious about my image editing, check out this post:  Custom Cuts in Design Space.)  I popped him off the card with a little 3-D Foam Tape and called it done!  I did stamp Happy Halloween on the inside using the stamp set from the Artfully Sent Set.

Easy as that!  This made for a great card to make in bulk for my students!

This little guy is flying off to the following challenges:

Bitten by the Bug 2:  Going Batty
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge:  Fright Night
Heart 2 Heart:  Boo

Thanks for visiting my scary ghost today!  I'm happy you came by; always feel free to leave a message or question,  make a video request about something CTMH or Design Space, or just hang out and peruse my site!

Live, Laugh, Love!

Over at Color My Heart there is a fun challenge using Black and White TV colors with a pop of red! Ok, specifically the colors are Black, Whisper, Slate, and Ruby.  

I really liked working with the color palette!  Since it reminded me of black and white tv, I chose my '60's/'70's looking girl with some flourishes and the Live, Laugh, Love sentiment.  I kept it simple and clean to fit my decade(s) of choice!

I used the CTMH Love Life Stamp Set for the sentiment and flourishes.  This has to be my all time favorite stamp set.  I encourage you to get this one if you don't have it!  It is very versatile; I pull mine more than any other stamp!

The girl and heart are from Dreamer (retired).

I started by stamping the girl and masking her off before stamping the Ruby hearts.  I then stamped the flourishes in Slate.  I taped off the stamp for the sentiment.  You can see how that is done in the video below.  Now, don't be judging my nails ~ ~ ~ I do work in a barn, you know!  hahahaha

By the way, the washi tape I used in the video is Smoothie Striped and it is still available!  

Inks:  Ruby, Slate, Black
Cardstock:  Daisy White, Black, Whisper

Thanks for sharing some time with me!  It's always fun to share something crafty with you.  Feel free to check out other posts, pages, shop with me for some great CTMH goodies, leave a question or comment, contact me, etc.  I'm always happy you came by for a visit!

Custom Cuts in Design Space

I've always been fascinated by older photographs.  I remember as a child, sneaking off at nap time to the den to look through old photo albums and my mom's wedding album was one of my favorites!  Now, to tell you how much I've NOT changed since childhood, I actually snuck this album out of their house this past summer to make copies of the wedding pictures!  I guess the cat is out of the bag now if Mom reads this post!  hahaha

In the video below, I mention "Cricut Craft Room"......jeesh, I meant Design Space!  I also couldn't recall some colors and the flower brands.  I've included all that below.  So, for more information on this piece (and some miscellaneous stuff about me, some meandering conversation,  and my thought process), please see the video below.  You might want a snack to get you through my ramblings ........  I'll wait while you go to the kitchen!

In a hurry?  You can fast forward to 4:50 and get to the Design Space portion.  If you are just interested in custom cuts, you can fast forward to around 7:00 in the video.  At about 5:30 minutes in, I talk about attaching the wreathes to a rectangle.  I actually "sliced" it.

I will journal on the note page once I have the facts I want to include!

CTMH Papers/Cardstocks:  Balloon Ride (retired), Champagne, Pacifica, Saphire
CTMH Stamps:  Sweet & Lovely; Mother's Day (retired)
Cartridges:  CTMH Artfully Sent ; CTMH Artbooking; Cricut Suburbia
CTMH Inks:  Champagne, Saphire, Archival Black
CTMH Embellishments:  Black Flourishes; Mini Medley Accents
Other Embellishments:  Tulle from stash, Blue sparkle gems from stash, Prima flowers

I'm sending this layout off to the following challenges:

Scrap it With a Song:  White Wedding
Heart 2 Heart:  Cricut Capers
Scrap Our Stash:  INKS ~ Ink, Indigo color, Negative space, Note paper for journaling,  Kathryn (pic of grandmother on the right), Stamps, Sequins, Stick Pin


Thanks for coming by for a visit!  I really enjoy doing custom cuts and will most likely have more videos on the process.  If there is anything you would like to learn using Design Space, please let me know.  I'm always up for learning a new process and sharing!

Oooh, a Scarey Tuesday Tutorial!

This tutorial is scarier than usual!  I tried to use my latest recording "stuff" and found things just were not cooperating today!  Jeesh!  So back to the old way for today!

I  knew I wanted a shaker card with the little elements shaking behind a web.  I turned to the Artfully Sent Cartridge and found a great web card.  It was easy to turn that into a shaker front by detaching the fold line and slicing off the left panel.  I cut it from Whisper CS.

The Eek! sentiment is from Artiste.  I copied/pasted the word.  I then welded the first one onto my web.  The second one I cut from Eggplant.  I decided I wanted ghosts and bats flying around with some star sequins as shaker elements.  The cut elements are from the Artistry cartridge.  I decided to give them a little more substance and a shiny appearance by heat embossing them using White and Silver embossing powders.  

I backed my shaker window with paper from the Nevermore Collection.  I decided to stamp a few Sunset Pumpkins, Black Bats and Pear flourishes for interest and color.  The stamps are retired Stamp of the Month sets.  The web panel is adhered to Acetate Alternative and that whole panel is adhered to the Nevermore piece using 3-D Foam Tape.  Then the entire shaker is adhered to Pear Cardstock.   I finished it all off with a few Pear Sequins left in my stash---probably from Lollydoodle!

My spooky web is going off to:  

Color My Heart:  Eggplant, Slate, Whisper, Black, Sunset, Pear

Heart 2 Heart:  Cricut Capers

Die Cuttin Divas:  A picture inspiration!

Thanks for coming by today!  I'm always happy you stopped for a visit.  Leave me a message, ask questions, shop with me, check out my other posts and pages, make yourself at home here!  

Resiliency!

It's time for the Mid-way post over at Path of Positivity.  If you are new to my blog or you missed the post on October 5, let me fill you in.  I have recently joint the DT over at PoP.  This is a great spot to share your artwork and your musings on the word/idea of the month.  There are great prizes and many ways to win prizes.  We also have a very talented DT with lots of inspiration from incredible sponsors every month!

When we were given the word resiliency for the month at Path of Positivity, I knew right off I wanted this beautiful image from Ike's Art!  I simply fell in love with this little Pre-K looking child staring at her shoes.

Then the Dr. Seuss words came to me from the book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

There are so many ways to look at this image with the idea of being resilient.

First off, we come into this world without confinements of shoes!  Any mother will tell you her child would much rather have those shoes off, but somehow we learn to wear them, walk in them, and even run, dance and play with them on our feet!

Then there is the whole idea of resilience as we learn we have the capabilities of making decisions and choices in our lives.

Finally, and I feel the most awesome and sometimes overwhelming way to look at this, we must take responsibility for the the decisions we make!  Wow, that sometimes is the hardest bounce-back we have to make in our lives.  It's not easy to be resilient when we are the ones who made the decision that landed us in a difficult spot!  However, when we take that step in acknowledging it was our decision, then we can make the next step to be resilient and make the change to move on in the positive direction!

Ah, yes, resiliency is such a great gift for us.  As is with any gift, the more we practice it ~~ the better we do it!  (Of course, I sit and type all of this with no shoes on my feet and my brain feeling a bit foggy!  hahahaha....    Off to practice some resiliency!)

Thanks for joining me in my pondering moments!  Please feel welcome to stay and visit other posts and pages.  Your thoughts, ideas and questions are always very much appreciated.  You can leave a thought below or contact me through the contact form at the right of the post!  

PPFC Program

Oooh, it's that spooky time of year when we hold our Pumpkin PATCH Fall Classic!  Again, it was a great success and eight exhibitors had a wonderful time.....almost as good a time as I had!

I really enjoy making the programs and decorating our barn for the event.  Here are the programs for this year.

I saw that CTMH stamp, Backdrop Charmed, and thought how perfect it would be for the our Pumpkin PATCH Fall Classic!  The program idea was born!  I chose the Sangria paper for its bright, colorful whimsy!  The outside was a great color to pop off the harvest moon and the my moonstruck kitty while the inside added texture and interest.

Think it...Feel it....Do it! is our theme.  We want the kids to learn through this sequence how to work horses efficiently.  Then they can transfer that to other areas of their lives.

Ok, I have digressed from the program,,,,, the kitty is cut from Artbooking and stamped with Eek and Shriek Stamp.

My moon highlights the title of the program; this font is from Artistry, the newest of the CTMH Cricut Cartridges.

Inks included:  Black Archival, Sunset, New England Ivy, Goldrush, and Honey.

The inside of program (font) was computer generated.  The programs were assembled using a stapler and the Embossing Push Pad.

My Show Program is off to:
Chocolate, Coffee and Cards:  Halloween
Crafty Catz:  Anything Goes
Fussy and Fancy:  Orange, Black or Purple
Simply Create Too:  Halloween Colors

As always, I'm so happy you came by for a visit!  Stay as long as you like and peruse the blogs posts and pages.  I hope you find some inspiration.  If you are interested in learning more about the products, have questions about them or just want to make a comment, please ask/share with me.  I'm more than happy to show you how to use the tools and artistic goodies!  Teaching is one of my favorite things to do; so if I can help you reach your artistic potential, I'm all about it!

Have an idea for a Tuesday Tutorial/Share on my blog?  Is there an item you'd like to see up close and more personal than the CTMH Idea Book?  Maybe there is some project on my blog you are wondering how I made?  Let me know and I might be able to clear it up in a post!

Now I leave you with a few pictures from the In-hand Freestyle Miniature Horse Class and awards!

Enjoy ~~

 For more information on PATCH by Design, our therapeutic horsemanship program, please go HERE!

Halloween Games: Tag Your It!

Remember the Pumpkin PATCH Fall Classic I talked about in my September 30 post?  Well today I want to share with you a tag I made to put on baskets of apples I gave to my team members!  I have the greatest therapeutic horsemanship team of volunteers anyone could ask for.  You could say I have the Dream Team!

I have to brag a little here; I have 7 people who work with me and here are the stats:  3 firefighters, 2 EMT's, 1 nurse, 1 Hippology coach, 2 instructors who were certified through NARHA, and every single person has extensive horse experience with half of them having show experience!  I may have a vet tech coming on board.......ooh, then my team would be complete!  ; )

Now, over at Cut It Up we are looking for YOUR Halloween tags!  Yep, that's right; we want to see your tags.  So head on over to Cut It Up and link up a Halloween tag for a chance to win a gift certificate from One Happy Cut!

About my tag:

All products are CTMH except tulle from my stash

Sangria paper

Cardstocks:  Colonial White, New England Ivy

Inks:  New England Ivy, Thistle, Slate, Honey, Outdoor Denim (retired)

White Shimmer Trim colored with a Buttercup marker (retired)

Sunset Baker's Twine (retired)

Stamp Sets:  Halloween Greetings, Eek and Shriek, Just to Say (part of Artfully Sent Collection)

Cartridge:  CTMH Artiste

My tag is also going off to the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge:  Autumn
Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge:  Anything Goes w/Twist!
I chose the top row ~ tag, die cut & twine OR the diagonal row ~
different layers, stamped image, twine!

Thanks for coming by today!  As always it's great to have you here; stay as long as you like and check out other posts/pages, ask questions, leave comments, or contact me.  

Yes, It is CTMH!!

Ok, I know what you are thinking, "That's not Close to My Heart!"  But I say, "Sure is!!"

Now you're considering the papers, stamp and inks and saying, "Ok, that is CTMH, but not everything....not that image!"  Again, I say, "Sure is!!"

Alright, I'll quit toying with you and admit the black Sharpie I used was not from CTMH,,,,,, but seriously the image is!

Time for a Tuesday Tutorial:  How to Make Kermit!

This super fun paper is from the CTMH Sangria collection.  Kermit is made from Pear and Sweet Leaf.  His mouth is Cranberry and Pixie.  Then of course there is White Daisy and Black.  The banner is cut from Canary.  The stamp set is part of the new Artistry Collection.

I hope you'll decide to give this a try.  I love it!  Here are links to other cartoon creations I have done: Charlie and Snoopy and Cricut Cuts with a Twist.

I have another altered cut I will share in the near future I'm using on a bridal layout.

Kermit is hopping off to 613 Avenue Create where the challenge is Anything Goes!

As always, thanks for visiting!  It's always fun to read your comments and get to know all of you who come by my blog.  Make yourselves at home and visit other posts, pages, shop, contact me, etc.

Mystical Ponies!

I don't know many little girls who don't dream of riding mystical, magical ponies through a starry night sky!  There's something about this Gorjuss Girls image that made me think of little girl in her night gown and slippers.  I'm sure that's not what the artist intended, but that's what I see.  

This card was inspired by the challenge over at The Outlawz Challenges:  Paper Ala Mode where the theme this week is Girl Power!  Make a girly card!  

Now, let me preface with I'm not a "colorer" per say!  I sit down to use markers or paints or pencils or  inks and I simply cannot commit!  I find myself reaching for another medium.  

I started by embossing some Daisy White cardstock using an M-bossibilities folder.  I then used a stencil from Latina Crafter and E-brushed the stars using a blue Spectrum Noir pen.  Once my stars were set, I used sponges to apply CTMH inks.  The colors are listed below.  

I colored the mane and tail with CTMH Water Color pencils and went over them with a Copic and glitter.  The body was colored with Copics.  His tack was colored with a CTMH Honey marker (retired).  The hearts, ribbon, and the little scarf were done with gel pens.  I went back to the Copics for her hair.  Her dress is paper pieced with a scrap.  

I was reading a blog the other day where the author was saying she only uses her stamps one or two times.  Yikes, that must get pricey!  Here is a great example of using an older stamp on a birthday card.  I have a tendency to use, reuse, and recycle stamps.  I cut them apart to use different words, mask unicorn horns to make horses, use die cuts to cover parts, etc!  

CTMH Inks:  Sky, Gypsy, Sunset, Lagoon, and Pixie

CTMH Cardstock:  Canary, Black, Daisy White, and Dream Pop (long retired!)

CTMH Stamp:  Illuminate

Gorjuss Girl Stamp:  The Runaway

Latina Crafter:  Star Stencil

Misc:  Spare Parts Star Sequins, CTMH clear gem,  E-brush system

Thanks for coming by today to visit!  Hope your day is magical!

Resiliency and Halloween!

A few weeks ago I hinted about having some news.  Well, here it is……..

I am currently sharing as a member of the Path of Positivity Design Team.  This is a great place because it is not only filled with creative inspiration, but stories of inspiration!  Those of you who follow me might suspect this is a perfect place for me since I like to ramble on about philosophical ideas and such.  Each month there is a theme word for our challenge.  This month our theme is Resiliency.

It's also the perfect place for crafters to visit because you also have the opportunity to create projects, write your thoughts, link to the site, and vote for your favorite!  What can be better than that?  Hmmm, prizes, you say?  Yep, PoP has prizes every month; I've listed October prizes below!

Please visit PoP, read more about it,  and share your ideas about Resiliency!

As we approach the fun and frivolity of Halloween, I want to take a different spin on the day.  Have you ever thought about the children behind those masks?  Have you ever considered who they are the other 364 days of the year?

Children are the most resilient of beings!  They truly are clowns, super heroes, witches, and all the other characters they portray on Halloween.  Children have a knack for moving past adversity and believing in their dream as they face the world.  They look past all obstacles and see what the world has to offer them.

Where does this resiliency go?  When is it in our lives that we figure out we can be beaten by difficulties?  Is this resilience in-born and lost through the hardships of daily living?

Wow, what a philosophical musing!  The great news is when we feel we've lost our resiliency, we can rekindle it!  We can look toward that goal and past the obstacles.  We can look into the eyes of children and feel that hopeful spark.

This Halloween, I'm going to look beyond the costumes and see the little super heroes behind those masks -- the I never give up attitude -- those beautiful little Resilient Souls.                                 

~~~

About this card:

This adorable image, Smoochie Halloween, is from The Stamping Boutique.  She is colored with CTMH water color pencils, Shin Han Markers, Copics, and gel pens.  The crinoline and the stars are embellished with Studio G Glitter Glue.  The fall chevron paper is from the CTMH Sangria Collection.

Here are the prizes you'll find at the PoP site:

PRIZES:

• A $10 gift certificate from Ike's Art, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.

• 2 images from The Stamping Boutique (3 if you use a TSB image), one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

There will also be:

• One digital designer paper (made to order in a couple different ways) from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge timeframe.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge. 

So, what are you waiting for?  PoP on over to Path of Positivity and check out what the rest of the team is sharing!  You'll be glad you did.  If you need a little more inspiration on this topic, don't fret!  The team is back on the 3rd Monday of the month with another inspiration on the same topic.

My Little Witch is also flying off to The Outlawz Challenge for the Halloween Party challenge:  Must include a sentiment on the front of project.  Tag:   GCC100515

Serenity

It's Friday and time to check out what the theme is over at Cut It Up!  It's a theme that fits into my lifestyle so well; Back to Nature!  Create your project using die cuts of things found in nature.  What a great fall theme; don't you agree?

The prize is a gift certificate from As Cute as a Button.  Check out Cut It Up for all the details.

A little about my layout:

My weed cuts are from Nate's ABC's.  The "serenity" cut is from Cindy Loo and the floral background is from Paper Lace.  For the latter two cuts, I rubbed the cuts over a versa mark pad and coated them with colored embossing powders --Bronze and Teal.

Material list:
Bo Bunny CS: Somewhere In Time
Flowers from stash
CTMH inks, Wildwood Journal Card, Year Noted stamp, Mocha Gems, *Antiqued Gold Collection embellishments, *Accents Rosewood Collection, numbers, and burlap

*These embellishments are currently in the clearance section of ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com!  Might want to check that out!

Ok, so you've seen my cowboy getting back to nature.  How about you?  What's your take on nature? We can't wait to see your creation!

Thanks for coming by; whether you're here for inspiration, my crazy thoughts, or simply to see what I'm up to, it's always great to have a visit from you!