Horses Rustic Christmas.....Wait Reverse That!

Christmas Rustic Horse

I was inspired by a few challenges, the first being the challenge over at The Card Concept.
 That picture is so beautiful and I was inspired by the colors, rustic beauty, the horse picture, and the plaid chair.

I started by making my own plaid to go with the colors over at Color My Heart this week.  Cranberry, Fern, and Cashmere with Cocoa, Black and White.  I didn't have any Cashmere so I subbed in Champagne.

Next I grabbed scraps of cardstock, paper, twine and burlap from my desk; they were all scraps from another project!  Love it when that happens!  I printed the postcards, inked my edges and burlap and finally did a reverse image of my horse stamp......that's where the video comes in…..oh and the title of this post!  ; )

Material List:

CTMH Cardstock/Papers:  White Pines, Champagne, Cocoa Fundamental, Daisy White
CTMH Inks:  Cocoa Pigment, Fern, Shin Han Markers, Champagne, Cranberry, Memento Tuxedo Black
CTMH Embellishments:  Fern Twine, Red Enamel Gems
CTMH Stamps:  Horseshoes (retired), Universal Backgrounds (retired), Christmas Post
CTMH Cartridge:  Artbooking








My tidings are off to the following challenges:

The Card Concept:  I'm not really sure which style this would be.......Vintage, Freestyle Collage, or Mixed Media........Ok, I'm going with Freestyle Collage



Color My Heart; Cranberry, Cocoa, Fern, White Daisy, Champagne

Jingle Belles Rock:  Holiday Leftovers

Pile it On:  Use Red and Green

Thanks for coming by and visiting!  Cyber Monday starts today at CTMH and you can check out the specials under the CTMH Special Promotions Tab at the top of the page if you like.  Also, the new Planners should be available starting tomorrow!  That excites me... I love planners!

Watercolor Dove

I love this text from the Christmas Story!  I'm a 70's kid, so I grew up with the Linus quoting the story in the Peanuts Christmas Special…….ok, I heard it in church, too; but there is something about Linus reciting these verses that brings back great memories for me!

I used the computer to generate the verses carefully lining up where my dove would go.  After printing the verses onto watercolor paper, I heat embossed the dove.  While I had out the gold powder, I heat embossed the edges of the card stock under the top layer.

I used a thick, course brush to swipe the color across the text and dove.  I actually used rubbing alcohol instead of water so it would dry very quickly.  I kept the alcohol to a minimum so it would not smear my verbiage too much!

My base was stamped with the snow flakes from Flakey Friends (retired), but there are beautiful snowflakes on the stamp set from the White Pines Workshop on the Go Scrapbooking Kit and of course on the Snowflakes stamp!

I was inspired to try this technique by the challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Watercolor Challenge.

Material List:

CTMH Cardstocks/Papers:  Watercolor, Peacock, Glacier, White
CTMH Inks:  Glacier, Twilight
Embossing:  Versa Mark, Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder
CTMH Stamps:  Flakey Friends (retired), Blessings of Peace (retired)
CTMH Watercolors

If you need some last minute crafting supplies, please check out the CTMH Special Promotions!  There is a wonderful Cyber Week Sale beginning Monday and a New Planner Release and the new Stamp of the Month scheduled for December 1!  Lots to check out over the next few days!  There are still a few days to take advantage of the Simply Fundamental Scrapbooking Promotion; I'm glad I did!

I'm so happy you have taken time from your holiday preparations/celebrations to drop by to see what is happening here!  My best wishes for a delightful Advent Season.

Make it Sparkle!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is over and it's now time to prepare for Christmas!  Wow, the year has gone by so quickly and I know the holidays will be over before we know it and it will be time to scrap our Christmas pictures!  

Over at Cut It Up, we want Christmas to sparkle; so the theme is Christmas Sparkle with Sequins!  Of course we have a wonderful sponsor this month offering a prize, so you'll want to head over to Cut It Up and see what As Cute As a Button has to offer to our winner!

So, about this layout.  Some of you may be saying, "Hey, didn't she scrap that picture before?"  Hmmm,,,well,,, yes, I did!  But I gave it to my daughter and I love the picture so much I wanted one for my own book!

I started with the picture and the beautiful paper!  I absolutely adore this paper from CTMH; the trees are so perfectly adorable.  There's just something about that homespun look.  I liked them so much I wanted a big tree by the picture.  Hmmmmm, how could I make that happen?  I ended up scanning the stamp that coordinates with the paper.  I traced the pieces and imported the seven tracings into Cricut Design Space.  Now I had my tree!  

My title was welded from Christmas and Joy which are both from the CTMH Artbooking Cartridge.

Material List:

CTMH Cardstock/Paper:  White Pines, Cranberry, Poppy

CTMH Inks:  Poppy, Chocolate, Cranberry
CTMH Artbooking Cartridge for the Title

CTMH Embellishments:  White Pines Complements, White Pines Assortment, Fern Thick Twine, Red Enamel Gems,  Bitty Sparkles, Gold Sequins

Laces from stash

My girls are off to the following challenges:

Outlawz Color Challenge ~ Kraft + 2 More Colors:  Cranberry and Fern 

TTCRD ~ Anything Goes

The Shabby Tea Room ~ 'O' Christmas Tree'

613 Avenue Create ~ Anything Goes
Shopping our Stash ~ No Stamping!  The strip with words is from the Zip Strip of Whites Pines CS.

As always, I'm happy you came by for a visit!  May your holidays sparkle!

Snow Outside, Leaves Inside!

Wow, it's snowing outside!!  Yes, here in Indiana, it's really SNOWING outside!  Here at ScrappyHorses, we haven't even winterized the barn or trailers yet!  Yikes!!  So, as I'm sitting here watching the CTMHCreativelive broadcast, my guys are busy working outside!

Anyway, as it's snowing outside, I'm still seeing fall and leaves in the craft room!  This image is from Whimsy Stamps....yes, I do have some stamps that are not CTMH.  When it comes to horses with little girls I can give red hair, I have to have every stamp I find!  ; )

The beautiful leaf cuts are from the CTMH cartridge Artbooking.  These are such sweet little leaves.

I want to share a cheat with you!  I'm not a "colorer"!  So what I like to do is scan my stamped image into Design Space 2 times.  The first time I scan it in a square or rectangle style.  The 2nd time I have it cut the main image; in this case it was the little girl, her foal and the falling leaves.  I color the entire background by sponging with inks.  Then I color the actual image using sponges, pencils, markers, etc.  Once thee image is colored, I glue it to the background.

Someday I may take an actual coloring class and learn to blend with markers, but until then, I'll cheat anyway I can!

Material List:

CTMH Cardstock/Paper:  Sangria, Pomegranate, New England Ivy, Desert Sand, Kraft
CTMH Embellishments:  Burlap Ribbon, Baker's Twine
CTMH Inks:  Pomegranate, Sweet Leaf, New England Ivy, Chocolate, Poppy, Honey, Sky, Barn Red, Sunset
Coloring:  CTMH Shin Han Markers, Copics, CTMH Water Color Pencils
Gold Ink, button from my stash


This little sweetie is kicking' up leaves on her way to these challenges:

Bitten by the Bug 2:  Leaves
613 Avenue Create:  Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft Challenges:  Anything Goes

Thanks for coming by today!  Hope the weather is beautiful where you are and your day is full of fun!  You are so welcome to check out other posts and pages, see what's new on the CTMH Promotions Page, leave me a comment/question/request, link to videos, etc.

Tuesday Information Share

What's in a Name?  Create Together Project at the Library! 

#ctmhcreativelive

I was so excited to teach a class on scrapbooking at our local library!  Our very first layout assignment was to scrap a picture of ourselves documenting the origin and/or story of our given name.  The idea is to start some simple research and documentation/journaling.  Possibly, this will move towards more advanced projects and scrapping vintage photographs with journaling about ancestors!  The class was sponsored by the Heritage Department at out library.

So, I designed this layout and I had the Cricut humming last week getting some *chosen cuts ready for the class.  As you might notice, there are lots of cuts from the new Cartridge Artistry here!  The class had several creative ideas and every layout looked different; it was so fun to see everyone's take on how to put it all together!  * The class participants preregistered and chose from a list of cuts.

I thought this would be perfect for the CTMH Create Together on-line event happening November 20-21.  For more information click HERE.  There's a chance to win one of the new CTMH Planners everyone is talking about!  Everyone is invited; go check it out!

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

Through the Craft Room Door:  Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create:  Anything Goes

Material List:
CTMH Paper/Cardstock:  Zoe, Canary, Lagoon, Champagne, Sorbet, Slate, Glacier, Colonial White, Daisty White, Fundamentals 
CTMH Cartridges:  Artistry, Artbooking
CTMH Inks:  Sorbet, Glacier, Slate
CTMH Stamp Sets:  So Many Smiles, In Review, My Story
CTMH Embellishments:  Smoothie Baker's Twine (retired), Grey Enamel Gems, Smoothie Striped Washi Tape, Lagoon Hearts Washi Tape, Aqua Shimmer Trim

Thanks for coming by to check things out here at ScrappyHorses!  Make yourselves at home and peruse other posts/pages, check out the CTMH page, ask questions, or leave a comment.  I'm always happy to help and love hearing from you.

Grateful.......SO Grateful!

I shared with my followers I would have a very fun announcement in this post and I do!

Being that it's the Midway Post date for Path of Positivity, I found this to be the perfect time to tell you some incredibly positive news!!   What better way to share than through a card...........

Yes, it's true....I will become a become a grandma to a baby for the first time in January.  Now, I say "to a baby" because I couldn't have been more grateful than when I became "Nanna" to the most beautiful little almost 4-year old red headed girl in the world!  I adore and love my little Lu; she is such a blessing to all of us.  

Now, two and a half years later, I am grateful again for another little girl in January.  I am especially grateful because my daughter was told she wouldn't be able to conceive a child without expensive intervention.  She and her husband had decided to put that off for a while.  

In the meantime, she became very ill and couldn't swallow anything.  A scope was scheduled since she had been in the hospital with severe asthma and mystery symptoms.  It seemed to take forever for the nurse to come in and prep her for the scope.  Finally, she came in with a piece of paper and a shocked look on her face.  She handed the paper to Katelyn and a positive pregnancy result was recorded there.  The nurse knew Katelyn's situation, so she had them run the test twice!  

What incredible news!  It's been a bit scary with her asthma, but she's been to see some incredible specialists and so far that little girl is doing great!  

So, have I mentioned feeling incredibly grateful?  I am!

                                                *      *      *

Gratefulness is the theme over at Path of Positivity this month!  Come and share your gratefulness through some sort of art form; could be a card, layout, written piece, anything that expresses our theme this month.  You'll be grateful you did; there are lots of prizes there and we are thankful to our amazing sponsors this month.

The card above was made with the beautiful images from KittenScraps!  This kit is called This Year Girl Kit - January and it is so fun and inspirational!  There are so many colorful images and papers!  You will want to go see that!  

We are also sponsored by Scribbles Designs, see my post using her lovely design here.

Head on over to PoP and see the beautiful inspiration from the rest of the team and then join in the fun!  We can't wait to see what you create!  

Inspired by a Song....and Pre-Wedding Events

I love scrapping songs!  I have to say it is one of my favorite inspirations for scrapping!  One of my favorite ideas is scrapping off the first song I hear on a given day!  I also love being inspired by movies and books.  How about you?  If so, you need to check out the challenge over at Cut It Up!

The challenge ~ Inspired by movie/book/song!  You'll find lots of inspiration at Cut It Up, but if you'd like to see more inspiration from me personally, see these past posts:

Stairway Bride, Overcomer, You've Got a Friend in Me, Opportunities, I Like to Move It!, My Valentine, Noel, Let It Go, Yankee Doodle, Sisters, Let's Hear it for the Boy,........and many more.  I told you I love scrapping from movie/book/song inspiration!  It's my all time favorite way to scrap!  Thanks, Amy, for this challenge!!

These pictures are from my daughter's wedding a few years ago.  Her Uncle Rich came into the bride room before the wedding and played Butterfly Kisses for Katelyn and her daddy.  It was probably the most memorable moment of the day for me!  Kelly used to sing that song to her; Katelyn loved it as a little girl.

Material List:

CTMH Cardstock/Paper:  Balloon Ride (retired), Ariana (retired), White Daisy, Slate, Sapphire
Vellum for Butterflies
CTMH Inks:  Crystal Blue
CTMH Embossing:  VersaMark, Ranger Silver Powder on frames around pics of flowers
CTMH Cartridges:  Art Philosophy, Artfully Sent, Artbooking, Artiste
Embellishments:  CTMH Sparkle Flourish (retired), Offray lace
Wedding leftovers:  White butterfly, glue gems, ribbon to left of bride picture
Text printed from computer:  Butterfly Kisses lyrics

Head on over to Cut It Up for more great inspiration and the opportunity to win a great prize from One Happy Cut.

Thanks for coming by to visit!  You are more than welcome to stay awhile and check out other posts/pages, ask a question, make a tutorial request, or comment.  Make yourself at home.

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

 Through The Craft Room Door: Anything Goes
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge:  Anything Goes


Stay tuned for a very fun announcement post on Monday, November 16!

Vintage Country Christmas Girl

This is sort of a mixed medium card.  It seems that is a very popular trend bringing several mediums into card making and I love it!  This card joins machine sewing, ribbon, burlap, fabric, lace, paper, paint and jewels.  For me, there is something so beautiful about adding metallics ~ gold & copper ~ with burlap and lace!

This card was fun to make since I could pull scraps from every direction!  I was in my painting, stamping, and sewing stuff for this card.

Material List: (Grab some coffee, it's a long one!)

CTMH Paper/Cardstock:  Kraft, Skylark (retired), Colonial White, Daisy White
CTMH Inks:  Chocolate
Embossing:  VersaMark, Hampton Arts Copper embossing powder
Sewing:  Coats Gold thread from stash
CTMH Embellishments:  Teal Shimmer Trim, Mini Medley Accents Rosewood
CTMH Stamps:  Universal Backgrounds (retired, but could sub in Assorted Edges for the pattern on the snowflake), Christmas Post
More Stash:  Brown Gros Grain Ribbon, CTMH Paint Create a Shade Pearl (retired), Lace from old curtains used at Katie's wedding, Gems, Blue Ribbon from Katie's wedding (that wedding stuff will be around forever!), Offray Lace
CTMH Cartridge: Artbooking
Adhesives:  Micro Glue Dots, ATG, Aileens glue, Glue gun

This little sweetie is carrying her tree off to the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge:  Anything Goes
Heart 2 Heart:  Trending Now (My trend is mixed mediums and metallics)
Outlaws Paper Ala Mode:  Christmas
Through the Craft Room Door:  Anything Goes


Thanks for visiting today!  I'm so happy you came by for a visit; know you are always welcome to peruse other posts and pages, leave me a comment or question, shop at my CTMH site, or contact me.  I'm always happy to hear from you!

Stairway Bride

This is an older photograph ~~ although, at the risk of sounding like my mom or grandma, it just doesn't seem that long ago!  I was inspired to dig it out and scrap it when I heard the challenge song over at Scrap it with a Song.  "What's the song?" you ask; Stairway to Heaven!  I was of course inspired by the title word stairway remembering this photo taken in my grandparents' home--which was a beautiful old colonial style that doubled as their Funeral Home.  They lived above the business....but that's another story for another time!

The words "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold" and "There walks a lady we all know

Who shines white light and wants to show How everything still turns to gold" inspired all the gold in the layout.  

Here's a video on the process and lace stencil technique:

After watching the video, you probably noticed I added Ruby ink to the edges after the video.  I wanted to add a little more color to balance the red in the photo and paper.

Material List:

CTMH Cardstock/Paper:  Yuletide Carol (retired), Black, Colonial White

CTMH Inks:  Ruby, Flaxen, Archival Black

Embossing:  VersaMark, Ranger Princess Gold, Ranger White  

CTMH Embellishments:  Button , Gold gems, Gold Sequins

Laces:  Offray laces, Applique from stash, old curtain strips from daughter's wedding

CTMH Stamp:  Universal Backgrounds (retired)

Stencil:  Time Travel from Designs by Jaime

Spray:  Prima Color Bloom ~ Tea Stain

Off to the following challenges:

Heart 2 Heart:  Trending Now ~ Gold!  Gold seems to be the hottest color in crafting right now!

Scrap it with a Song:  Stairway to Heaven (See paragraph 2)

Scrap Our Stash: ALBUMS:  Applique, Lace stenciling Technique from old Lace curtains, Bias Tape, Banner cut from Art Philosophy, Universal Backgrounds Stamp from CTMH, Metal Button, Stencil for clock, Sequins, Spray

Stuck?Sketches:  I rotated the sketch; the circles inspired my clock and gold wedding bands.

Through the Craft Room Door:  Anything Goes

As always, I'm so happy you came by to visit!  Stay as long as you like and peruse other pages/posts, check out the specials at CTMH, shop, check out other videos by selecting the Video Tutorial tab above, ask questions, leave me comments, or contact me.  I love your questions and requests; they truly inspire me!

Make it a scrappy day, Friends!

Big Discovery in Design Space!

Ok, I have a big discovery to share in Design Space!  Check out the video below!

I'm sending this off to the following challenges:

Bitten by the Bug 2:  Pumpkins

Color My Heart:  Kraft, Sunset, Black and Green

613 Avenue Challenge:  Anything Goes

CTMH Material List:

Cardstock:  Sunset, Pear, Kraft, Black and Photo paper
Inks:  Sunset, New England Ivy, Archival Black
Stamps:  Amour, Distressed Backgrounds, and Season of Thanks
Cartridges:  Artbooking, Artiste, Artrisry
Embellishments:  Small Black Flourishes and 3 Dimensional Tape

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you found the video enlightening!  I'm really excited about the prospect of importing photographs and the possibilities it will bring to crafting in Design Space!  Any questions, please ask.  Feel free to check out my other tutorials under the Video Tutorials Tab at the top of the page for more information on Pattern Fill and editing images.

Through the Window

Through the Window is the theme over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week.  I thought and thought about this one and as I was approaching my front door, looking through the window of the storm door I thought about how bare my horseshoe wreath looks without the Christmas lights that originally came on it.

I took off the lights after the holidays in January and left it up with nothing.  So, I decided to make a Sunset mum and some leaves to put on it for the Thanksgiving season!  I chose my colors with the challenge over at Color my Heart as inspiration.

My cuts are from Art Philosophy, Artbooking, Artiste, and Artistry.

To give my sentiment a little more pop, I heat embossed it using Ranger Clear Embossing Powder and VersaMark.  (For an interesting embossing technique I used recently, see this post!)

I used the Floral Embossing Folder on my banner and I embellished with some  Black Epoxy Bubbles, a black button from Mini-Medley Accents Black and twine from my stash.

I have to say, it's nice to have some fall color when I look through the storm door window at my front door when I drive by my house!  I'm sure my visitors and the guys delivering my crafting supplies will appreciate some new seasonal decor greeting them!

I have recently found a very creative site:  Through the Craft Room Door.  I'm sending my wreath that direction to their Anything Goes Challenge!

Thanks for coming by today and taking a look through the window of your computer screen to see my wreath!  I appreciate your visit.  Feel free to peruse other posts and pages, leave a comment, ask a question or contact me.  Lots of fun things going on at CTMH currently.  Visit ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com for more information on specials or visit the tab at the top of this page.

Masking and Embossing

I love the rich colors of fall; they are so beautiful!  This Sangria collection from CTMH is the perfect example of lush color with its Poppy, Pomegranate, Eggplant hues.  When I created this card, I chose a simple design that would push this Autumn paper to center stage.

Since all the colors are so rich, I wanted a bright pop.  That's when the idea of gold heat embossing came to me.  Check out this video for some ideas on masking over sentiments and masking for dimension.  

Here's a link to last week's post about masking:  MASKING

Material List:
CTMH Cardstock/Paper: Sangria Collection, Kraft
CTMH Inks:  Pomegranate, Versa Mark
Embossing Powder:  Ranger Princess Gold
Embellishments:  Darice Twine, Stash Button
Stamp:  CTMH Pathfinding Workshop on the Go (retired), Season of Thanks


My card is off to the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion:  Anything Goes
Crazy Hazlenut's Patterned Paper:  Use Patterned Paper
Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create:  Option Twist ~ Host/Hostess Thank You

Thanks for joining me!  Since it's the beginning of the month, you might want to check out the new Stamp of the Month and the Simply Fundamental Scrapbooking Campaign at ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com.  But wait, there's more going on over at CTMH; there is a really cool new planner to be released this month, so stay tuned for more information on this item.  It would make a great holiday gift as well as a staple in your own office or everyday planning.  I can't wait to get my hands on one since I'm a planning junkie!

In addition to all the fun at my CTMH site, you'll want to check out the CTMH Special Promotions tab at the top of this page for my personal November Specials!  This is a great time to shop for the holidays or send your family members to my site with your list of desired goodies!

Gratefulness!

It's time for another Path of Positivity post!  Yes, it's that time to ponder and take a positive approach to our key word/phrase for November.  Now, what could be better than thinking about Gratefulness this month?  Here in the US we spend our month of November preparing for Thanksgiving and remembering to give thanks.  

But......what if we were truly grateful every month?  every day?  

My own example:  So often I scramble to the barn, clean stalls, rush off to teach oboe lessons, hurry back home to feed, reluctantly take phone calls, struggle with business decisions, write lesson plans, work with horses, et cetera, and I totally miss the big picture!  

However, when I look through eyes of gratitude, I see what is around me and realize just how fortunate I am to have been given such unique opportunities.   I am blessed with the joy of watching the lives of children change through horsemanship and music every day.  I am charmed to spend time with all the kids, my family and friends.  

This unique leaf from Scribbles Designs reminds me of my life filled with so many facets.  It seems there are so many dissimilar  parts to this leaf, but still it is curiously beautiful ~ ~ much like my life!  Yes, this leaf in my art journal will prompt me to look through eyes of gratitude as I go through my daily routine!  

This month at Path of Positivity,  prizes and beautiful sponsored images are from: Scribbles Designs and Kitten Scraps.   

Ok, now it's your turn to visit Path of Positivity and tell us your thoughts on Gratefulness and share an influenced piece.  I look forward to seeing what you have to share with us!  Please check out the inspirational projects from the Design Team and all the prizes offered on the site.  

As always, I am grateful you came by for a visit!  

ScrappyHorses SUPER NOVEMBER SPECIAL 

This is one excited ScrappyHorse!  Who wouldn't be with these November Specials?

The 12 Days of Grateful

Here's the scoop, the first 3 orders of any amount will receive a free mystery stamp set from me!

Now, here's the super fun part of this…….all orders of $50 or more will have the chance to receive a free ScrappyHorses Theme Card Kit made up of CTMH papers and embellishments.  

This month the theme is "Grateful."

This offer will only run for 12 days, so be sure to get your orders in quickly!  This is a great time to shop for the holidays.  Oh, and I might mention a little tip……..even though I am a consultant, I still give my husband and kids my wish list and the online address for shopping!  

SO, LET'S SEE….. YOU ORDER $50 WORTH AND YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO BUY THE CTMH STAMP OF THE MONTH FOR $5.00 AT PURCHASE TIME.  THEN YOU ALSO RECEIVE A MYSTERY CTMH STAMP SET FROM ME AND YOUR NAME IS PUT IN FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN A SCRAPPYHORSES THEME CARD KIT FROM ME!  

This special offer from me runs November 1 - 12, 2015.  So hurry and place those orders for your chance to get in on the fun!

*The fine print:  My specials can only be mailed to the 48 contiguous states of the US.  

The November special runs from November 1 - 12, 2015.  

My own specials are not affiliated with CTMH, but the prizes are made up of CTMH products.  

For more specials from CTMH, please click the 

CTMH Special Promotions Tab at the top of the page!

Time to gallop off to see the specials for November!

ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com