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Friday, January 31, 2014

Spotlight Technique at Heart 2 Heart

Spotlight technique is a technique placing a spotlight on one part of your piece.  I was inspired by the challenge over at Heart 2 Heart to give this 'new to me' idea a try.

I started by cutting my card base by welding to shapes together in CCR.  This shape as well as the circle is from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.

I stamped the post, sentiment and lantern with the CTMH Illuminate. The little heart is from CTMH Whoo's Your Valentine.

I would take out the glow marks around the lantern and just keep the glow, but once it's there, there's no going back!  ; )  But.... that's ok.

As I was getting ready for Katie's wedding I learned an important lesson about creating.  I had several decorations sitting on tables and as different people would see them I found no two people liked the same ones.  There were some I had done that I didn't like at all and someone else would say it was their favorite!  I learned very quickly that I don't have to love everything I create and there can be elements that aren't my favorite.  It took me a long time to learn that, but I'm finally there!

That's the fun thing about challenges; they push me to create out of my zone.  Sometimes I like the outcome and sometimes I don't, but I always walk away with a new idea for the next project!

So, if you aren't sure about entering a challenge, go for it!  If you love CTMH products, head over to Heart 2 Heart and check out their weekly challenges.  They last all month so there's plenty of time to mull over the early challenges and don't forget to see the scrapbook layout challenge.  Monday starts a new month of challenges.

Materials not mentioned earlier in post:
White Daisy Cardstock
Inks:  Sunset, Archival Black, Hollyhock, Ruby

Love to Read!

Ok, I'm a year behind scrapping these pictures, but for Christmas this year I got Cri-Kits pens for my Cricut and I've been playing with different images to color with CTMH markers.  The little girl in the lower right hand corner is from Kate's ABC's.  Instead of cutting the pieces, I had them drawn with a black glitter pen. 

 I started by going into CCR and adding in all the layers carefully positioning them on each other in the order that made sense for the drawing.  It is important to NOT weld them!  Keep the lines in there for your picture.  Some lines you do not want can be eliminated with the 'Hide Contour' feature.  Tip:  For the really minute lines, zoom in as much as needed and it is MUCH easier to get those little guys out of there!  (See last picture of post for a close-up.)

I colored her with CTMH markers and skin tone Copic markers. I embellished the piece with hearts and a backing cut from Art Philosophy.  The gems are all CTMH as well as the silver Base and Bling Floral Accent.  Now I had this cute little colored image.  I had fun creating it, but what should I do with it?  Hmmm...........

Exploring Cricut and Fantabulous Cricut Challenges!  Once I saw these challenges I was inspired to use my CTMH Chantilly paper and embellishments for all of the coordinating patterns!  This paper also has a beautiful blue!  Now I have the papers and one Cricut print, but I need some more cuts and a project.  Stumped until I remembered Lil' Lu got Reading Pinky Pony and I had pics on the computer!  Yay, now I have it!  

The little book above was cut from Cursive 101. The heart to the left was cut from CTMH Art Philosophy.  The letters 'to read' are from CTMH Artbooking welded in CCR.  The frame in the top pic with 'love' cut out of it is the negative from a photo mat in CTMH Artbooking.  This was a fluke; I found the piece in my Chantilly packet and decided to use it.  

I can't even remember why I had cut the original piece!  I probably have it tucked away with a started project somewhere.  Sometimes I get stuck and move on to something else.  Then later I find the started project and am inspired to finish it!  Other times I find it and wonder what I was thinking!  

Anyway, back to this project!  I am also sending this over to Heart 2 Heart Scrapbooking Challenge.  The challenge is called Sentimental Journey.  Lu is a very special girl to us and it has been an adventurous journey.  Lucy is Katie's new daughter.  Katie got married last June and this precious little one came in the package!  What a perk for Katie's mom (me) and dad!  

Materials used:

M-Bossabilities Heart folder

Cartridges:  Kate's ABC's,  CTMH Art Philosophy and Artbooking, Cursive 101

Papers:  CTMH Chantilly (retired)
Warsau Stardust
CTMH Sky, Blush, Ruby, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf

Embellishments:  CTMH Pink Glitter Gems, *Base and Bling Floral Accents, *Chantilly Assortment (the cute little fabric badge in the 3rd picture.)  Ribbon, heart button, embroidery floss were all in my stash.

*Just a reminder, many of the items from CTMH are retiring today.  I don't think the Chantilly Paper is available anymore, but you can still get the Assortment (Fabric Badges), Textiles and Elements.  Many more great products in the Retiring Items!  But, you only have today!  So visit KatiesCorner today and pick up those last minute goodies.  Remember, the new Spring and Summer catalog comes out tomorrow; so be sure to drop by KatiesCorner again to see the new items.  There are some great new products including embossing folders --so I've heard!  I can't wait to get a glimpse of the new papers.




Thursday, January 23, 2014

Mother's Day Easel Card

Since I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone and try some new things, challenges are ideal for me.  They really push me to try projects that do not have anything to do with horses, barns, and country life!  (For those of you who enjoy that, don't fret; there'll be plenty of it!)  They also encourage me to try new construction in my crafting.

When I saw the easel card challenge over at MFP Speedy TV Challenge, I knew I wanted to give that a try.  I immediately went to YouTube and found these video tutorials on drawer'ed boxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X2j6rzF90E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhBVTxXP7aI

Now for the paper selection.  Hmm.........what to choose.  I was over at Heart 2 Heart where I was inspired by the Two-Faced Challenge.  I had just received some new goodies from CTMH, so this inspired me to use some of those with both sides of a sheet of Chantilly paper.

I started with a piece of heavy, textured cardstock from Core'dinations.  I still wanted it more substantial.  I cut a piece of cardboard from a cereal box the same dimensions as the wrap around the drawer.  I glued them together and scored them.  This gave it more strength.  I made the drawer and embellished it with CTMH Floral Accents to look like drawer pulls.

I chose the theme of my card around the brooch from the CTMH Brocade Assortment.  This assortment is really pretty in 'real life.'  It is "while supplies last;" so if you are thinking about trying it, now is the time!

This is for my mother, so the other embellishments on the face of the card are from my daughter's recent wedding!  The beads were all used in headbands for the bridesmaids; the flower petal was pulled out of one of the pew markers still sitting in my house.  I can't seem to get rid of them, yet!  My friend made them and they were so beautiful!  Sorry, I have digressed, but you all knew it would happen!  The ribbon under the brooch was used on the tables and the backdrop for the cake table.  The blue gems were on the invitations.

I attached the clear and silver beads to a fine gague fishing line.  I ran the line through a hole that the flower is stuck into.  (Sorry for that preposition just sitting there at the end of the sentence -- couldn't find a better way to say that and make it clear!  Actually, I probably could if I sat here and thought about it, but.......) The little heart with the blue stone was an earring that was broken.  No one actually wore it in the wedding, but it was the right color!  Anyway, I ran fishing line through the wires and attached it in the same fashion.

The flower holding the easel in place is from the Floral accents.  The black with polka dots is the strip from the edge of the paper and the pink ribbon was in my stash--not from the wedding--but I thought it would tie in the pinks and reds of the print.

Hopefully, Mom won't check out my blog anytime soon, but if she does she still won't know what is going inside the drawer!





Monday, January 20, 2014

Life IS Good in the Country!

January 1 is the official birthday of horses who are shown and/or raced.  Therefore, breeders are hoping for January 1 or 2 babies.  This means the baby truly is one year old the next January 1.  The worst is to have a December 31 foal because he turns 1 year old the next day!  Not good!

As you might have gathered from prior posts, I live with horses in the country.  We have dogs, cats and have kidded around with goats~~pun intended!  Despite the fact we have never foaled out here -  (currently we only have geldings, so that would be a difficult feat!) - I thought this would be perfect for the challenge over at Mark's Finest Papers Salutations Challenge.  The challenge this week is to create a new baby card!

My cousin sent me a great birthday card colored in markers and I decided I wanted to get a handle on this technique.  I colored the horses with skin tone Copic markers to create the Palomino color.   The grass is done with CTMH Sweet Leaf and Olive markers.

I sponged the sky in Sky Blue and the grassy area in Sweet Leaf.  I then framed my mother and foal with Barn Red, CTMH pattern paper (maybe Clementine...it was a scrap), and a golden-yellow color cardstock.  I think it might be Goldrush.

The card base is from DCWV Rustic.  The image and sentiment from the CTMH Life is Good in the Country stamp set.  The little flower on the right hand corner is from "A Flowering Bunch" stamp set (CTMH stamp of the month.)  I used Cuttlebug embossing folders on the Barn Red and the Goldrush cardstocks under the sentiment which is Autumn Terra Cotta on Champagne cardstock.  The twine was out of the bag!

Snow Much Fun!

Birthdays are "Snow much fun!" when you are turning 3!  We have had so much snow here in the midwest, I thought this would be a fun card for a little one having a birthday this week!

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge this week is Snowmen!  Yay!!  I love Snowmen.  Want to see more adorable little guys?  Click on Snowman Family Reunion!

I'm trying new techniques with my Cricut as well as coloring with my new CTMH markers and experimenting with a new light box.  Lots of learning over here in 2014!

I started with a piece of Wausau Stardust cardstock.  (I have tons of it left over from Katie's wedding!) 

I went into CCR and chose the snowman tri-fold card from Speaking of Winter Cricut cartridge.  I sized it appropriately to end up with an A2 sized card.  I chose hide contour and got rid of everything except the card outline.  This made up Layer 1. 

I then found the snowman and sized him to fit inside the right hand side of the card.  I put him in layer 2.  I didn't want the carrot nose so I hid that as well as a couple of other small cuts.  

I replaced the cutting blade with a Cri-Kits black glitter pen and "cut" layer 2.  (It didn't actually cut, it drew it.)  I did NOT unload the paper!  Instead, I switched out the pen for the blade again and cut my Layer 1.  Lastly, I cut a second Layer 1.  

I colored my snowman with CTMH markers and embellished him with a felt, rick-rack scarf.  I went over his nose and broom with gel/glitter pens.  I stamped snowflakes with CTMH Sky, Twilight, Cornflower Blue and Crystal Blue inks.  The snowflakes on the outside of the card are from 3Twenty Crafts Winter Wonderland.  I also stamped those snow flakes all over the back left and middle section of the 2nd Layer 1 I had cut.  

Since I colored with the markers, the ink bled through.  I knew this would happen and that is the reason for cutting the 2nd layer 1.  I cut the entire panel with the colored snowman off of the first layer 1 and attached the blue rick-rack and glued the panel onto the 2nd layer 1 card.  Picture above and to the right shows how it now looks (excluding the sentiment.)  

The Sentiment was stamped in Gypsy ink with the CTMH Flakey Friends set.  The snowflakes on the inside of the card (see pic below) are from this set, also.  I popped the outside sentiment with 3-D foam tape and this, along with the tiny slit the Cricut cut (see Pic 1),  helps the card stay closed.  The background for this sentiment is Sky Blue cardstock.

The 'Happy Birthday' was also stamped in Gypsy color and that stamp is one I picked up at a craft store years ago.

I hope this all made sense.  It was much easier than I made it sound in this post!  Please ask if you have questions; I'm more than happy to make it clearer if you are interested in trying this and can't figure it out!  Hey, at least I didn't get off on a tangent about something totally unrelated in the middle of this post.......that's a first for me.  I usually start rambling on about something going on in the barn or some past event that has NOTHING to do with cards, crafts, or scrapbooking!  I guess it's just my personality.....wait, is this it!  Is this the point where I have digressed?  Whew, I thought there was a problem!

Check out Katiescorner.ctmh.com for any last minute shopping for retiring items before the new catalog goodies are available!  We have until the end of the month to get the Cloud Nine deal!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Love Sets Us Free


This card was inspired by the Color My Heart Challenge.   If you are looking for a place to be inspired, share projects, and get some wonderful feedback come on over!

Cranberry, Sunset, Honey, Juniper, and Smokey Plum are the theme for this card!  All cardstock and inks are from CTMH.

The bicycle is cut from Heritage.  All balloons are from A Child's Year; the heart is two balloons welded together in CCR.

The stamp set is CTMH Whooo's Your Valentine?.  I stamped the Honey balloon with Sunset; the Smokey Plum is tone on tone stamping.  After stamping the Cranberry heart balloon with Honey ink, I sparkled it with some fine glitter.  If you look closely you can see the xoxo pattern in the balloon.  I used the xoxo stamp to give the basket some texture.

I used the M-Bossabilities folder Hearts for the Daisy White background.  The card is on Cranberry cardstock.

The inside is stamped with the same stamp set in Sunset, Cranberry Pigment, and Honey.  The sentiment is in Smokey Plum.

This is sort of a 'subtle' valentine.  My son thinks it looks more like a spring card.  I can see that with the little flowers on the basket of the bicycle.  I'm not sure what brand those are.  They got dumped into an embroidery floss caddy and the package is looong gone!

I will digress on purpose now; I just received my January package from CTMH!  I ordered the Cloud Nine card package ~~  I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who wants to try card making, but isn't quite sure how to start.    This kit, plus one or two ink pads, plus adhesive equals finished cards!  I'm glad I bought two of them because I'm gifting one to someone who is new to this craft!

I really like the papers in this and LOVE the embellishments -- especially the glitter trim!

I also picked up some of the retiring papers-Chantilly for one.  I fell in love with that pattern and used most of it for a doll house/gift box I made at Christmas time.  In the "While Supplies Last" section I picked up lots of goodies.  I do lots of western/horse theme crafting over here, so I picked up the pewter badges; they are going to be great for conchos!  The Brocade assortment -- oh, my, these are really lovely!  I'm seeing a mother's day craft coming out of this......maybe a shadow box of some kind.  Hmmm......check out Katiescorner.ctmh.com to pick up any last minute goodies.  You have until the end of the month to take advantage of the great deals.

Of course, then the new catalog comes out!

C T M H Valentine

Crazy
Technique using
Metallic pens and a
Heart!

My mother-in-law gave me a Cri-Kit Pen Set for Christmas!  Yay!  The CTMH challenge over at Heart 2 Heart gave me the perfect opportunity to play with my new toys!

My idea was to do a valentine with the letters ctmh in the sentiment.  Finally, I decided on a word search.  I love creating word searches and have done several for the 4-H Hippology Team.  My husband and I coached the team for 4 years ........ great fun, lots of road trips, laughter, tears, and trips to Steak-n-Shake learning words like equine protozoal myeloencephalitis and coprophagy!

Anyway, I have digressed, but you have come to expect that, right?

Where was I?  Oh yeah, word searches.  I created this word search in CCR.  I started by using the heart cut from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  I chose another layer and typed in the letters line by line adjusting them to fit the heart. The font is also from Art Philosophy.   I left the letters right on the heart.  I copied the heart and sized the second heart larger.  Then I inserted the pen into the machine and it drew in all of the letters.

I left the mat in the machine.  I then exchanged the pen for the cutting blade.  Once that was accomplished, I went to the heart layer and cut my two hearts; one cut from pink, one from the Chantilly paper.

I distressed with Blush ink and went around the edge of the Chantilly heart with Cranberry Pigment ink.  I colored in the letters with a gel pen and popped the final layer off the card with 3-D foam.

The card base is Hollyhock.  The background is Daisy White embossed with the M-bossability Hearts folder. The card is embellished with a little Cranberry colored embroidery floss to look like twine wrapping it all together.

There are two pictures because I've been playing with my new light box I got for Christmas from my guy!  (He always gets me cool horse and crafting stuff for holidays; he's a keeper!)  I have a lot to learn about photography, lighting, use of backgrounds, etc.

Oh, I almost forgot, ctmh is in my puzzle!  I'm sure you saw it right away; it's in a square pattern and not a traditional line!

This little Valentine is also going over to Curtain Call Challenge where the challenge is Love Letter.  I thought this would be perfect since letters are the star of this card!  The packages inspired the twine look in my card.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Snowman Family Reunion!

No contests or blog challenges for these guys.  They were inspired by cards I saw on the Heart 2 Heart Challenge last week.

 Remember to check out KatiesCorner for the incredible January deal on the Cloud Nine Cards!  It's a great month to pick up the retiring items before the new catalog comes out in February!  Can't wait to see what is in there!!!



This card's base is Colonial White stamped in Sky, Crystal Blue, and 2nd generation Twilight using the snow from Flakey Friends stamp set.  All snowmen are from Flakey Friends, also.  I colored them all with CTMH markers and gel pens.  All cardstock from CTMH.  Little blue gems are leftovers from Katie's wedding!  The Thank you sentiment is an old one I had in my stamps; I think I picked it up at a craft store.


This handsome fellow is backed with CTMH Frosted.  He is wearing a red scarf made from felt rick-rack ribbon.  I stamped the image twice and cut the head and body separately on one of the images.  I glued the scarf down on the first image and then added the head and body on 3 D tape so his nose would stick off over the scarf.  This sentiment is from a CTMH Bundle.  Snow flake was cut from Artbooking and the border from Art Philosophy.  The stamped border was in the same set as the 'thank you' in card #1.  All the rest is same as snowman #1.

This one is full of fun and color!  This purple cardstock was in the drawer of scraps.  Everything else is CTMH.  The ribbon is Color Ready seam binding and the gems are from the Opaque collection.
This might be my favorite one!  He has sort of a rustic look about him with his browns and beiges.  Again, I used all CTMH except the sentiment and ribbon/twine.  The background paper is Clementine (retired).  I loved the little tan sparkle gems.  I used 3-D tape to pop the sentiment.

This one is very bright!  I used a Cuttlebug circle folder on the background.  The blue cardstock is from DCWV Butterflies and Blossoms.  The blue embroidery floss was in my stash.  Everything else has been described in the other snowmen!  Opaque pearls adorn this card.

 Last, but not least, is the florescent one!  The pink gel pen really pops in his scarf!  The little tag, cut from Art Philosophy and cut in half, is stamped with the snowflakes as in the first card; however, I added a few little Blush flakes!  The eyelet is from JoAnn's.  He is popped off with 3-D tape.  Three colors make up the bow tied to the tag.  They coordinate with this guy's fashionable scarf!  Card is from DreamPop.

The 'cool' thing about this set is no 12 x 12 sheets were cut!  Everything was basically laying on my table from past projects!  I did have to search out the purple and pink cardstock from the drawers, but everything else was literally laying there in front of me!  Hmmm.....  What does that say about me?

I need to clean!



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Out in the Country

What a wonderful husband I have!  He got me all kinds of crafty things for Christmas.  I recognized the square box wrapped up under the tree right away!

I must admit, I couldn't figure out what was in the BIG box.  I was excited to find a light box with lights!  So, today I'm playing with some of the options in color of backdrops, lights, angles, etc.

Here are pictures of the same card shot with different colored backgrounds and slightly different angles.  It's so funny how perspective and color can change the way the actual card looks.  I'm going to have tons of fun trying out this new toy!  I've learned the white background makes my image look a little sharper.  My next step is to figure out 'exposure compensation' on my camera.  Ah, I have digressed -as usual- I'll get back to the card description!

This card is made with all CTMH paper and cardstock.  The Mocha gems, my fav's, are also from CTMH.

The blue background is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder - paisley print.  The ink color is CTMH Dutch Blue (I think that color is retired.)  The sentiment is stamped in CTMH Barn Red.

The stamp set is Hello Truck Stamp Set from Mark's Finest Papers.  Most of my stamps are CTMH, but there are a few others in my collection I couldn't resist.  When ever I see a rugged type country set, I have to get it.

This truck is rolling on over to Creative Craft Challenges 2 for their Anything Goes Challenge.

 Check out KatiesCorner for CTMH goodies.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Let's Ride!

I was surfing around today, since it's too cold to do anything else and we're still snowed in the house, and found the SWAT challenge over at Mark's Finest Papers MFPSpeedyTV.  I love paper crafting challenges, but I have to admit I've not done a sketch challenge before.  This one intrigued me since it is a Sketch with a Twist.  The twist is to use an embossing folder.  I love embossing folders, so.... I'm in!  I also just bought a couple of new stamps from there before Christmas and this is a wonderful opportunity to try them out!  The boots and "Let's Ride" sentiment are both from the same stamp set - Cowgirls Rule.  I bought this particular set because of the adorable little girl and horse also on the set.  I just posted a card made with that stamp at Ticket to Ride if you are interested in seeing that stamp, also.   This set is just waaay to cute!


This card was made with CTMH cardstocks in Pacifica, Crystal Blue, Chocolate, Champagne, and Autumn Terra Cotta.  The belt and buckle are also from CTMH: Lovely Buckles stamp set (retired).  I embellished with CTMH Mocha Gems and Jo Anns Craft Essential Eyelets.

I started by embossing with a Paisley Cuttlebug folder.  I then sanded the embossing to expose the white core.  I stamped "Let's Ride" using the stamp from Mark's; I chose CTMH Pacifica ink.  I sprinkled with embossing powder and heat embossed.  I chose a little flower print Cuttlebug folder to emboss the sentiment cardstock.

Now for the boots!  I used Copic and CTMH Markers to color the image from Cowgirls Rule.  

As you can see I chose to use the sketch horizontally and use the boots as the forefront rectangle.  My belt and buckle are the long rectangle at the top.  Yeah, I have trouble staying 'true' to sketch challenges!  I simply can't adhere to rules----I try, really I do!  hahaha

Thanks for coming by!  Here's hoping we all stay safe and warm.  I'm looking forward to when I can replace my winter boots with cowboy boots and go out to ride, but for now I'll go out long enough to feed and come back to the warm house and craft!


Ticket to Ride!

Image 1

When I saw the challenge Scrap Your Hobbies over at BBTB2, I finally got to pull out my new horse stamp!  But I needed a Cricut cut on my card.  I knew I wanted a simple sentiment and 'ride' just fit the plan!  Image 1 card has a ticket and letters cut from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  I went into CCR and welded the letters into the ticket.  Image 2 ticket is from the Artiste cartridge with the same letters welded into it.

My challenge to myself in the new year is to experiment more in my crafting.  I want to challenge myself to get out of my routines and try different techniques and maybe create a few of my own!

This is my first attempt at any marker coloring on a card.  Fact is I don't think I've really colored much of anything since the days of 4-H posters back in the '70's.  Wow, remember the days before computer generated pics, Cricut, and digital photography?  I look back at those 4-H posters that took great ribbons and know they couldn't come close to competing with what is out there now!  Yes, I really do still have some of them!

Again I have digressed, I always do.......

Image 2
This stamp is from Mark's Finest Papers.  The majority of my stamps are CTMH, but I saw this and fell in love with this little girl struggling to get that saddle in place.

I stamped image 1 in Chocolate pigment ink and image 2 in Chocolate coated with a layer of Black pigment inks.  I think the darker one was a crisper image.  (Actually, there are several in the trash can where I tried lighter colors that just didn't work for me!)

Since I'm new to the whole 'coloring' idea, I don't have many markers in my collection yet.  So, I worked with the CTMH markers I have so far:  Sweet Leaf, Sky Blue, Denim Blue, Barn Red, Olive, and Cream Brûlée.  (*Needless to say, I've placed an order for more markers and got the great deal going on over at CTMH!  Yay!)  I shaded the horse with colored pencils and sponged ink.  I used a gel pen for his headstall.  Of course the headstall is adorned with a CTMH Mocha Gem.

The Sweet Leaf cardstock, embossed with a Paisley Cuttlebug folder,  is from CTMH as well as the card bases:  Colonial White and Cashmere.  All patterned papers are CTMH scraps (retired).

The cards are embellished with twine and CTMH Tan Sparkles.

Ok, when I designed this card, 'Ticket to Ride' was not remotely on the radar of my thought process.  However, once I saw the cards put together, the lyrics popped into my mind and now they're stuck in there.

Monday, January 6, 2014

Snow Angel - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue!

I had already submitted a card for the color challenge at Color My Heart, but I wasn't very happy with how the colors played out for the challenge.  Well as fate had it, I was snowed in all day and was able to create another card following the color scheme much more closely!  So, inspired by the incredible snowstorm yesterday,  the color challenge at Color My Heart, the FCCB Use a Sentiment Challenge and the New Beginnings challenge at Heart 2 Heart, a little snow angel was created!

Here in the midwest we are getting hit hard with snow and frigid weather.  I'm sure our creative friends in Minnesota and Wisconsin are wondering what the fuss is all about throughout Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; but believe me, for us these are blizzard conditions!  Our windchill is negative 35!  Yee gads!  All animals are secured in their stalls with lots to eat and heated water buckets.  Hopefully, with full bellies and warm water they will do ok in the barn.

Ah, and yet again in posting, I have digressed!

Back to the card...I first embossed Sky Blue cardstock with a Cuttlebug folder.  It is difficult to tell, but the snow is in three different layers of Colonial White stamped in Colonial White pigment ink and heat embossed with white powder.  I stamped with the words from the Universal Backgrounds.  I stamped slanting up and then down to try to get the effect of a hill.  (A new technique for me!)

I cut the little angel from A Child's Year in Pacifica.  I glittered her wings and star.  Her shadow is cut from Slate cardstock. I double-popped her off the card to give the piece lots of dimension.  I did not glue down her wings.  The glue/glitter made them slightly curl outward.  I liked the effect and decided to leave it!  She is waving her little snow crystals everywhere!  The snowflake on her wings was a leftover cut from my snowy horse card In the Barn with Red; it is from Artbooking.  The trees and hearts are cut from Art Philosophy.

I used the Adorable Backgrounds stamp (retired) to stamp the trees in Lagoon.  I sponged the trees with some ink and then dipped the edges in Colonial White.  After sprinkling with white embossing powder, I heat embossed the edges.  The large tree is popped off the card with 3-D tape.

My sentiment is from CTMH Flakey Friends stamp set.  The little gems were all left over from my daughter's wedding.                                                    
In this 2nd picture I wanted to show how from a distance the stamping on the tree really does look like evergreen trees with snow.  I noticed this when I was looking at the card across the room.

Here's the scoop:

Something Old - The idea of a snow angel is old for me.  As you might have seen in my bio, I'm a musician by trade.  Years ago, I wrote a song and titled it Snow Angels.  If you're interested in hearing it, you can click the arrow.


Something New - I've never double popped anything from a card before.  I single-popped the large tree; therefore, I had to double-pop my angel!  I also have never heat embossed to create texture before.  I think it gives my snow an interesting look.  Lastly, I used my new light box for the first photo. The light box was my Christmas gift from my wonderful husband! Oh yeah, and very lastly, I didn't use a Mocha Gem!  (Those who follow my blog know I love those gems and use them on EVERYTHING!)

Something Borrowed - I had to borrow Lagoon ink from my daughter.

Something Blue - Ok, I won't state the obvious!  hahaha

Wishing you all a safe and warm week!

Friday, January 3, 2014

Cowgirl's Memories

The memories of this cowgirl must be amazing with her map, letters and photograph!

I have been stuck in "retro" lately using older paper hiding in the bottoms of drawers.  I've sort of challenged myself to combine them with new technology or techniques.

Here I've put some retired CTMH patterned paper and stamp set "Yeehaw" with CTMH's newest Cricut cartridge "Artbooking."  There are also cuts from "Art Philosophy" and "Old West."

This stamp set has made several appearances on projects donated to 4-H auctions, cards sent to my riding buddies, and now this card.  It is being joined with others to go to another horse group auction.  Who doesn't need some cards in their stash, right?

I also used CTMH's "Universal" stamp set for the letter behind the picture.  I embellished with ribbon from the bag and a stud from CTMH Rosewood Mini-Medley Accents.

 The paper inside is a very light tan polka-dot I found in my drawer.  Not sure of the brand on it.  The little strip at the top is from a retired CTMH, but I can't remember the name of it either; might be Dakota?
The little saddle, along with the map and hat, were "penned" with blue & copper gel markers.




These cold, wintery mid-western days and nights are just perfect for sitting around a fire drinking cocoa and sharing memories of warmer days out on the trails!  So, my cowgirl is on her way over to the silver screen at Curtain Call  where the challenge is to create something you are smitten about this time of year!  I guess you could say I'm smitten with reminiscing!

I'm also sharing these memories with Color My Heart this week --even though I'm not sure the colors are all there. The calico print has several blues, but I'm not sure they are the exact colors: Pacifica, Lagoon and Sky!  Closest I could get to -as my cowgirl would say- "get 'er dun!"