Red, White and............ Purple!

I love to make mini albums with Artbooking!  They make great little remembrance books for friends who have done something special.  My most wonderful riding buddy, and instigator of goofy ideas, is Ramona.  She is ALWAYS up for a challenge.  When our friend asked her to ride in a parade with Red Hats Purple Chaps, she was all over the idea!  I, on the other hand, am more comfortable in the arena or pasture!  So, I sat back and took the pictures.

This is the perfect mini album  for the following challenges:
Heart 2 Heart Scrapbook Challenge Red and White Daisy ~  I added Gypsy as my 3rd color!
Pile It On ~ Summer Fun

Of course, I had to include a lovely red hat from Old West Cartridge.  "Fab" is from CTMH Balloon Talk; script stamp is from CTMH Universal Backgrounds.  Glitter tape and gem embellish this page.  The feathers were in my stash, believe it or not!  haha

Chaps and vest are from Old West; Flower from Art Philosophy; page and background star frame from Artbooking.  Stamps are CTMH:  Genuine Country & Yeehaw.

All cuts from Artbooking.  Stamp is CTMH Genuine Country.  I added an Epoxy Bubble for the lens and a Marquee Heart!  (Please excuse the blurred faces.)  

Page cut from Artbooking.  Cowgirl Up is from Old West and the "fun" was cut Artiste and welded.

CTMH Purple Glitter Tape, Cranberry Ribbon Round, and Glitter numbers from Pixie Glitter Alphabet!   I also stitched in a loop of Baker's Twine and attached a Base and Bling Rhinestone Charm!  Every cowgirl loves bling!

What a great parade!  The RHPC ladies and their horses did such a great job!  Maybe someday I'll muster up the courage to ride through all the sirens, noise, and chaos!  But for now I'll take the pics and scrap about it for all my buddies!

If you need some great CTMH products, please visit KatiesCorner!  New Idea Book comes out in just a few days with lots of new products!  You only have a few days left to get your old favorite paper collections.

Everybody Has a Dream!

Everybody has a dream and I suppose horses are no exception!  We have this wonderful 21 year old hunter/jumper horse.  He came to us through some unusual circumstances, but I'll save that for a later time. Anyway, when he first arrived and our vet saw him, Doc B said, "Well, he'll never win any halter classes!  He's one of the ugliest horses I've seen in the Quarter Horse world!"  I explained we didn't bring him in to do halter; although, we usually do have that criteria when selecting horses.  

Thunder is a QH/Belgian Cross.  I'm sure they were breeding for the height and muscle of a Belgian with a mix of the hip, brain, and head of the QH.  However, the outcome was a short, front-heavy horse with huge feet and a Roman Nose!  Now here's the rub in all of this.  This horse THINKS he is a giant, gorgeous warmblood!  He struts around like he's the best looking guy around and loves to jump!  I hope he never sees himself in a mirror!

When we first got him, he was fast and didn't know the word whoa or how to back!  I got straight to work in slowing this fellow down and it paid off 10-fold!  He is now the best horse in my therapeutic riding program and my grand-girl rides him whenever she is here.  She loves him.  We all know what they say about a little girl's love for a horse!  She tells him all the time he is the most beautiful horse in the barn---he believes her!

Grand-girl, high school sweetheart, and the mighty Thunder!

When I saw the cut in Country Life, I thought about Thunder and what he must dream about in the pasture.  I'm sure he sees himself as a mythical creature that could fly through the air and do magic; and you know, in a way he does!  What he contributes to my program really is magical and he makes those kids feel like they are flying.  In his heart he is a unicorn!

CTMH Cardstocks:  Daisy White, Buttercup, Champagne, Saddle, and Colonial White

CTMH Inks:  Sky, Sweet Leaf, Barn Red, Slate, and Honey

Cartridges:  Country Life and Paper Dolls Everyday

CTMH Stamp Sets:  Unicorn Dreams and Love Life

CTMH Markers:  Sweet Leaf and Olive

Miscellaneous:  Fine Glitter, Embossing Ink, Silver Embossing powder, heat tool, dryer sheet and gold gel pen

If you are not familiar with the dryer sheet technique, you can check out one of these posts:  In The Barn with Red  or Grandma's Dove.  On this card I heat embossed the unicorn on the cloud before placing the dryer sheet over it!  It hit me after I went to the trouble of heat embossing, it would look more like a dream with the dryer sheet technique.  Such is the process of creativity!

All CTMH products are from Katiescorner!

Thunder is cantering off to these challenges:

Exploring Cricut and More  --  Anything Goes

Artbooking + Shy Stamps = FUN!

I was inspired by the colors over at Color My Heart to do something a little outside my box parameters.  Now, that's what a challenge is all about, right?  It gets us out of our zone and into a different style, color scheme, genre, etc.

I decided to break out some of those stamps collecting dust because I seem to really have favorites.  It's not that I don't like all my stamps,,,, it's just,,,,, well,,,,, some just seem to get out of the package more than others!  Some are invited to almost every occasion, while others wait in the drawers for a special invitation.  Ok, for lack of a better term, let's call them the 'shy stamps'!

If there are any psychologists out there who feel they should address my need to personify my stamps, please go ahead and do so now.  If not, I'll move on to the card!  ;)

I started with White Daisy cardstock.  I went to the stamp drawers and challenged myself to pull as many unused ones as possible and leave the fav's behind!  I was looking for circles and flowers.  Here's how it played out---

CTMH:  Balloon Talk (used new stamp)
              A Flowering Bunch (nothing new)
              Kudos (used new stamp & repeats)
              Remarkable Wreath (used a new stamp)
              You Are My Happy (1 new, 1 repeat)
              Whooo's your Valentine (new and repeat)
              Unicorn Dreams (repeat)

I went into CCR and cut an Artbooking background out of Dura-Lar.  This made a stencil for my first layer of ink.  Then, I actually inked up the stencil and pressed it around different places.  Then I stamped, stamped and stamped some more.  Finally, some of those stamps were out playing!

I used the sentiment from Balloon Talk and cut the matching "bubble" from Artiste.  I embellished with CTMH Ribbon (long retired!) and a flower made from CTMH Baker's Twine topped with an Opaque Gem from the Licorice collection (also retired).

In all seriousness, I really had fun with this card!  I've been working on a larger piece (soon to be revealed), and it was fun to make a card in an afternoon!  Who wouldn't have fun with these colors?

All CTMH from KatiesCorner.  Remember, time is dwindling to get your hands on any of the current CTMH papers!

Season Hopping!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a card with Flip-flops ~ very summery.  Last week I showed my American Cowboy in the fall, and now I'm moving into winter.  Whew, I'm glad the seasons don't cycle that quickly; although, sometimes in Indiana it feels like it does.

Actually, I've had this layout sitting in CCR for sometime and wasn't ready to put it with pictures until I found these pictures from 1993 of Katie and her daddy out on a snow day.  If I remember right, my son was just a few months old and Katie wanted to go to Gram's and play in the snow.  Daddy was probably wanting to get out of the house, also!

I was inspired by Scrap Our Stash Challenge where the challenge is Let's Go Shopping.  The idea is to shop the list of ingredients (from your stash, of course!) and use 5 of the items from that list!

Here is the shopping list:

Die cut, washi tape, paperclip, sequins

Transparency snowflakes, more sequins, die cut

Washi tape

Stars (3 or more)

Striped Paper (not lined)

Enamel Dots (3 or more)

Polaroid Frame

Buttons (3 or more)

Flag

Dimensional sticker

Paper Clip

Arrows (3 or more)

Wood Veneer

Journaling card

Sequins (3 or more)

Use (2) or more types of punches 

Die cut

Tags (2 or more)

Flair button

Rub On

Transparency

Flowers (3 or more)

Cork embellishment

I typed the items I chose to use in red.  The pink heart is a paperclip and the transparency (acetate alternative) was used as a stencil.  Then I used two of the snowflakes cut from the stencil on the right side of the page.  I coated them with white gesso and sprinkled them with glitter.

Now there's also fun to be had at 613 Avenue Create where it's an Anything Goes Challenge with an optional Create your own Challenge!

Column 1:  bling
Column 2:  die cut
Column 3:  solid color paper, stencil, dry and wet embossing
Column 4:  sequins and buttons
Column 5:  baker's twine

Cartridges:  CTMH Artbooking, CTMH Artiste, Speaking of Winter, and Nate's ABC's

CTMH Papers:  Slate, Dakota, Indian Corn Blue, Lollydoodle, White Daisy, Crystal Blue, Balloon Ride, and Cotton Candy

CTMH Inks: Cotton Candy, Slate, Crystal Blue, Pigmet White Daisy, Indian Corn Blue, Sky, and Homemade Glimmer Mist (CTMH Create a shade paint Pearl, water, Sky re-inker)

2 of the 3 buttons, wash tape, sequins, more die cuts

CTMH Embellishments:  Sequins, Blue Epoxy Bubbles, Licorice gems (retired), Washi Tapes, Durables studs, and Baker's Twine

Embossing folders:  CTMH Chevron and Cuttlebug Paisley

Stamps:  3Twenty Crafts Winter Wonderland

Other:  Buttons, Embossing powder, Heart paperclip, gesso, homemade texture paste (white paint, glue, powder, and water), stencil cut from Artbooking & Dura-Lar acetate alternative, and glitter

All CTMH from Katiescorner.ctmh.com

It's the last month to get all the current paper packs.  They all retire at the end of the month!  Like the seasons, they'll be changing very soon!

Red, White, and Blue ----Cowboy Style!

What's more American than the cowboy?  When we went to see world-renowned horseman Clinton Anderson from Australia, he shared how he dreamed he would one day be an American cowboy.  

Some of us grew up watching them gallop across the silver screen and others of us remember seeing them on TV.  We learned good ol' fashioned morals from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.  We fantasized with The Lone Ranger, and we heard great philosophy from Will Rogers who started his career in a traveling Wild West Show.  One thing is for sure, when you're dealing with cowboys, the good guy always wins.  You can count on it!

Many of the challenges this week are American, so I'm choosing the American Cowboy as my theme.  I was inspired by the Americana/Rustic Colors from the Color My Heart Challenge.

I was reminded by Sarah Stone's project I have some of these papers!  So, I dug deep into my CTMH paper stash and found old papers I had been saving for the just the right project (and then forgotten about until this project)!  We won't mention that to my husband who always wonders why I NEED more paper - especially since the new Idea Book from CTMH goes live next month!!  Sorry, I have digressed, as I often do.  Back to the project.

Anyway, I don't even know the names of some of the papers, but I can tell you they all had CTMH stamped on them!  I think they are Sasparilla and Dakota.  I know the blue paisley paper and sticker elements are from the Dakota papers.  I am unsure of the paper with COWBOY on it.  The background is from CTMH Timberline.

The flowers were made from the Balloon Ride and inked with Barn Red.  The middle is a mocha gem.

My Cricut cuts are from CTMH Art Philosophy, Old West and Nate's ABC's.  All cuts were done with cereal boxes (various brands -- ;) ) and inked, stamped, sprayed, etc.  Ok, I lied, the barbed wire was cut from Barn Red CS and then sprayed and inked!  I didn't really lie, I just forgot I had done that one differently!  But I rectified!  Whew, I started this blog about American morals and then I go off and lie!  Gee Whiz!



I used CTMH Burlap Ribbon, CTMH Pewter brad, CTMH Pewter Badge, Mocha Gems, CTMH Brown and White Canvas Ribbon, CTMH Glitter Tape and Dakota stickers to embellish.  The piece under the "weeds" and flowers is a piece of ribbon/mesh that was on my table.  I sprayed it with my homemade CTMH Glimmer Mist and frayed it.  I have no idea of brand or what it really is!  I think I found it at Cracker Barrel during the holiday season!

Other colors include:  Archival Black, Chocolate, Slate, Pigment Bamboo, Pigment Chocolate.

CTMH Stamp sets include:  Distressed Backgrounds, Universal Backgrounds, In the Background.  I love Background stamps!!

My cowboy, who happens to be my son, is galloping off to these challenges:

Color My Heart - Barn Red, Pacifica, and  Crystal Blue
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge - Anything Goes
Exploring Cricut - Vacation ----- Because any day on a horse is vacation for a cowboy!
Bitten by the Bug 2 - Independence Day -- Who's more independent than the American Cowboy?
Pile it On - Outdoor Fun -- uh, outdoor and fun....... we usually don't bring the horses indoors...well unless it's an indoor arena or inside the barn! haha

All CTMH available from ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com!

The Holiday Plan?  We'll be going to watch my friend ride her horse in a parade with RHPC, parade hop to another town to see a beautiful young fair queen contestant ride in a car,  and then it's off to a horse show later in the weekend!  How about all of you?

Have a wonderful, safe 4th of July!

Happy!

 Happy!  Who isn't happy when they're wearing flip flops!  I'm either in flip flops or boots all the time.  Ok, sometimes, on Sunday for example, I wear shoes -- real shoes with heels and everything, but any other time it's barn wear or sandals!

When I saw the colors over at Color My Heart, they looked so happy.  So, this is where I went--- my happy place!

The HAPPY comes from the You Are My Happy stamp.  I hand cut the flip flops because I didn't have any in my cartridges.  The flower is made form Creme Brulee Baker's Twine and the paper is from Lollydoodle.  The flowers are from the CTMH Base and Bling.  I painted them with Create a Shade Paint mixed with Blush re-inker.

My inside sentiment is, "May you always walk in happiness!"

Hope you all have a happy day!

Playing With the Queen of Hearts....

"Playing with the queen of hearts

Knowing it ain't really smart

The joker ain't the only fool

Who'll do anything for you!"

The wedding challenge over at Exploring Cricut inspired me to scrap some of the pictures from Katie's wedding last June!  I guess I needed a little break after it was over and now I'm excited to go back and look at the pictures again!

My daughter and her husband are avid game players.  Since we all play Euchre quite a bit, the kids decided to give out decks of cards as their favors at the wedding.  The photographer saw the cards and decided to capture a picture of them with the cards "exploding in the air" behind them.  This has to be one of their favorite pictures from the wedding!

I started with a piece of CTMH For Always paper.  I dry brushed it with gesso.  I adhered a heart cut from Art Philosophy in CTMH Jublilee paper.  

I used a stencil, cut from Artbooking, and texture paste to add a bold pattern on the right side.  Then I turned it over and rubbed the excess off in the middle.  I stamped some flower bouquets around the area where my pictures would eventually go.

The crown and fleur de lis were cut from Artiste and Art Philosophy respectively, painted with gel medium and glittered.  To give it a weathered look, I rubbed in the glitter, but only in spots!

I gave the playing cards a coat of gesso and then inked them with CTMH Sky, Indian Corn Blue, Chocolate, and Slate.  I added a little tulle from the wedding under the pictures and a little pewter heart brad.

The silk flowers are from the wedding.  I used CTMH Create a Shade Pearl Paint mixed with some Sky Re-inker to paint them.  The silver flower is from CTMH.  I added some Sparkle Flourishes under the flowers.

The wire embellishments were actually parts of the headbands worn in the wedding!  I made them and had one laying with my craft "stuff."  So, I decided to cut it apart and use it on this layout!  

I stamped the picture with "Love much" and "Laught often" from the CTMH Stamp "Big Hug".  I had the other Joker left and decided he needed to be watching all of this from the corner!

This layout is headed off to the following challenges!

Exploring Cricut - Wedding 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous - Spray it, paint it, mist it, be messy

Pile it On - Wrong but Right:  I used playing cards and parts of a headband!
ScrapbookerPhD - Add texture

All CTMH from KatiesCorner.  

As for the song lyrics, I just couldn't get the song out of my head as I was working on this layout!  Does that happen to anyone else?  

Love Lifts us Up Where We Belong.....again!

Obviously, I can't get that song out of my head when I work with hot air balloons!  hahaha

Over at Color My Heart, the color challenge is to use Indian Corn Blue and Buttercup!  These are such pretty colors.

This is a pretty straight forward card, so I'll just list the CTMH materials I used!

Cardstock:
Daisy White
Buttercup
Indian Corn Blue

Ink:
Indian Corn Blue

Stamps:
My Sunshine
Whoo's Your Valentine

Embellishments:
Ribbon (retired)
Marquee Enamel Shapes

Embossing Folders:
Dot
Stripe

Misc:
Silver gel pen

All CTMH from KatiesCorner!

DANCE of the Horse

I recently found an interesting challenge over at Paper Secrets.  It's a Sketch Challenge with a word theme.  The word for this challenge is DANCE.  Well, when I saw that, my mind went to Dressage.  I dug out some old pictures of Keith showing Harry in a 4-H Dressage Class and went at it!

Dressage actually started as a form of English riding used to train horses for war.  It is an old art of training.  When done correctly, it is absolutely beautiful!  The training technique is so beneficial, Western riders have now adopted it and there are classes in Western Dressage at many of the breed and open shows.  

Ok, enough history on Dressage.  I could go on and on............, but instead I'll tell you about my layout!

D = Dimensional Tape

A = Arrow

N = New England Ivy Cardstock from CTMH

C = Crowns

E = Embossed with Cricut Folder

 Materials List:

Cardstocks:
DCWV Once Upon a Time
CTMH New England Ivy

CTMH Inks:
Smokey Plum
Archival Black
New England Ivy

CTMH Cartridge:
Art Philosophy
Artbooking


CTMH Embellishments:
Base and Bling Storyteller Charms
Durable Triangle Studs
Mini Medley Gold (retired)
Mini Medley Black (retired)



CTMH Stamps:
You Are My Happy Alphabet
Universal Backgrounds (retired)
Love Life
Art Philosophy


All CTMH products from KatiesCorner.

Lucy: Guest Designer

Hello!  My name is Lucy and this is my Gram Katrina's blog page. She is letting me put one of my pictures I made on here. She said I am a guest designer on her blog!

I am 5 years old ~ almost 6.  We made a gift for Daddy.  I chose the paper, picture, and the sparkly stuff!  I love sparkle!  Green is Daddy's favorite color.

The paper is Lollydoodle.  My step mommy sells CTMH paper.  This one is my favorite!  My favorite thing on the picture is the purple glitter tape!  I love that!  I also like the purple flower!

It was fun to put the sponge in the ink and rub it on the paper.  It's fun to paint the glue on with a big spongey thing.

I'm going to let Gram tell you the rest!

Lucy and I had a great time making this together!  She used Lollydoodle paper, Mark's Finest Cowgirl stamp set, CTMH Epoxy Bubbles, a canvas, sticker letters and a pink ribbon from my stash.  The canvas is from Hobby Lobby.

Lucy wants to put her picture in a challenge so lots of people will see it!  So, we're posting in:
 Heart 2 Heart Bow challenge
Jo's Scrap Shack "I love you, Dad" challenge
Curtain Call Sweet Pea Challenge
Craftitude Flowers and/or Lace Challenge


Thanks to Lucy for being my guest designer today!

All CTMH from Katiescorner.

Rhapsodies and The Blues

I know I've already put a couple of entries into the Heart 2 Heart Rhapsody in Blue, but this is what happens when a challenge runs for a month!  ; )  Whenever there is a musical or equine related challenge, my creative side goes into hyper-drive, the OC kicks in and I simply can't stop!

Almost everyone in my family plays and many of us are musicians by trade.  Now here is the kicker, the majority of us play oboe or trumpet and to top that off we marry into the same instruments!  It's true!  Now for any of you who are musicians, you know this really is sort of an unlikely pair.  There is a lot of ego when you mix principal trumpet players with principal oboists......but, somehow we make it work!

As for my immediate family, I, an oboist, married a HS trumpet player/vocalist who is now in computers.  Neither of my kids played in band, but my daughter was in show choir and musicals.  As for my son, well, the only thing he can carry in a bucket is water for his horses!  hahaha

Going back in time, my maternal grandfather played trumpet.  Both of his kids played trumpet.  The next generation was 1 trumpet and 3 oboists; 2 of the oboists married trumpet players.  The next generation was 3 trumpets and 1 oboist.  We'll have to wait a while to see where it goes next.

This is a picture of my nephew who was principal in his band as a Freshman!  He has already won the Louie Armstrong Jazz Award and the Director's Choice Award; he is only through his Sophomore year!  What a guy!

Alright, enough about my dysfunctional, yet talented family with all their strange quirks!  Onto the layout!

Stenciled bricks and staff lines sprayed over with mist.

I started with CTMH Indian Corn Blue CS.  I  stamped in the music in Indian Corn Blue using the Universal Background stamp.

To achieve the staff lines under the picture, I created a stencil in CCR using lines from Art Philosophy.  I simply changed the shapes of squares and welded them into a staff.  I cut it from Dur-Lar Acetone Alternative.  I placed it on the CS and rubbed my Colonial White Pigment ink over the stencil.  I then stenciled in my bricks in the same manner using a stencil I had made for a prior project.  That's the nice thing about cutting stencils from Dura-Lar, you can wash them and use them over and over!  CTMH Artbooking has so many overlay cuts perfect for stencil work!

Once the pigment ink was dry, I again stamped in the music in Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim, and Archival Black using the Universal Background stamp.  Stamping before and after the stenciling gave it a layered/textured look.  I sprayed over the background with homemade CTMH Glimmer Mist.  I make this out of CTMH Create A Shade Pearl Paint, Re-inker, and water.  For this project I used a few drops of Blush and twice as many drops of Chocolate.  I stamped a couple of film squares from CTMH Take Note under the keyboard banner.

The bottom sheet of music was embossed with an M-Bossabilities folder EL-011.  I rubbed over it with Archival Black and smudged it with Indian Corn Blue.  The next layer is Outdoor Denim embossed with the CTMH striped folder.  I then sanded over that to bring out the white core.

Keyboard banner

Now for the keyboard banner.  This was put together by taking a banner from Art Philosophy and welding in lines for the white keys.  Then I welded thicker lines over the lines to make the black keys.

The trumpet was cut from the Cricut cartridge Quarter Note.  I had to borrow this cartridge from Mom.  I suppose I could have created a trumpet somehow from my cartridges, but I couldn't figure it out!  Sometimes it's not worth re-creating the wheel!  haha  I heat embossed it with Colonial White Pigment Ink and silver embossing powder from my stash.

The little banner was hand cut, stamped with the music stamp, and embellished with a CTMH Marquee Enamel Shape.  The treble clef is from CTMH Sparkles Flourishes (Small); I cut away some sparkles I didn't need.  I can save them for later!  I sparkled it a little further using the silver glitter trim, and placing the CTMH Blue Epoxy Bubbles around.

Again, I had so much fun creating this layout!  I'm putting together a book for my nephew, so you'll be seeing more of him in the future!

All of the CTMH comes from ScrappyHorses.ctmh.com.  There are some great promotions going on at CTMH this month!  Be sure to check them out!  My understanding is there are some exciting changes coming over there; I don't have the info, but my daughter is bursting with excitement over what's coming!  Be sure to keep an eye over there!

Ok, this layout is going to the following fun and creative challenges!

Heart 2 Heart ~ Rhapsody in Blue
Simon Says Stamp ~ Stencil It
Craft Hoarders Anonymous ~ Ink it, Spray it, Paint it, Get Messy

Thanks for checking out my blog today!

Dad & Grandpa ~ 1949

Ah, where do I begin with this post?  Do I start with the story, the many elements of this design, or how I feel about the work..............?

Ok, I'll start from the heart; I love this picture.  I love everything about this photograph from a historical, emotional, and familial aspect.  I adore the story behind the picture and tried to tell the story through my elements.  

My dad and grandpa were sort of rebellious when it came to Grandma's rules.  She had a strict rule about eating too many sweets and we definitely could not have them late in the afternoon.  "No, that will spoil your appetite," I can still here her say!  I'm sure she was twice as strict about this with Dad as she was with us!

Dad told me the story of how he and Grandpa would walk down to Hatfield's, the corner drug store, for chocolate sodas under the guise of errands.  One day the druggist, as they were called back then, shot a photo of them and threatened to show Grandma!  I suppose if that's the worst bribe anyone had on them, they were somewhat safe!  

I'll hit some highlights on this canvas picture I made for Dad's gift.  The background patterned paper is from CTMH Huntington.  I distressed it, stamped it, rolled it, and sprayed parts of it with homemade CTMH Glimmer Mist.  (I made this batch with Chocolate and Blush Re-inker, Create a Shade Paint, and water.)   

The studs are from the CTMH Durables Triangle Studs.  I painted them with the Create a Shade paint, sponged over them with Archival Black and then gave them a coat of Mod Podge to seal the ink.  I could have mixed the paint with re-inker, but I didn't have black!

I cut all the elements from CTMH Art Philosophy, Artiste, and Artbooking.  The sign was printed using the Cricut Metallic pens in Artbooking font.  I first cut them from cereal boxes and then from Colonial White or Black CS.  This made them very sturdy and gave them more dimension.  

The striped pattern paper is the zip strip from Jubilee.  The store tabs, or bills, were from the CTMH Dream Pop (retired) collection.  

The key was heat embossed with White Colonial Pigment ink bronze embossing powder I have in my stash -- not sure of the brand.

Materials List:

CTMH Papers & CS:  Jubilee, Huntington, Black Colonial White, Dream Pop and Balloon Ride

CTMH Inks & Paint:  Create a Shade Pearl Paint, Chocolate, Slate, Barn Red, Autumn Terra Cotta, and Archival Black

CTMH/Cricut Cartridges:  Artbooking, Art Philosophy, and Artiste

CTMH Embellishments:  Durables Triangle Studs, Mini-Medley Black, Opaques Licorice, Memo Assortment, Opaques Mocha, and Mini-Medley Pewter

CTMH Stamp Sets:  Universal Backgrounds and Art Philosophy Celebrations

All CTMH supplies from KatiesCorner.

Other:  Miscellaneous adhesives/gel mediums,  embossing powder, and an 8 X 10 canvas

I hope this brings back fun memories for my dad on Father's Day!

I'm sending this off to the following Challenges:

Bitten by the Bug 2  Father's Day
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge  Celebrate Dad Use at Least one Cricut cut -- I used several!
Heart 2 Heart  So Studly  -- I used Durables Triangle Studs
Pile It On  Use Some Patterned Paper --  I used Jubilee and Huntington
Scrapbooker PhD  Use Your Die Cuts --  I used Cricut/CTMH Cuts

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Anniversary X Two!

 Today is my daughter's first wedding anniversary!  However, in a couple of weeks my mom and dad will be celebrating their 54th anniversary.  So I thought it would be fun to make a picture for them!

I found this picture of them from their student days at Ball State University in the late 1950's.  We have been compiling pictures and placing them in computer files.  It has been so fun looking at all the old photos!

I was inspired by the challenges over at 123 Challenge Blog (themes are Blue, Together, and Masking), Scrapbooker PhD (use your die-cuts),  Bitten by the Bug 2 (alter a Cricut Cut), and Heart 2 Heart  Rhapsody in Blue.  Speaking of music, I couldn't help but think of "Vincent" or the Starry, Starry Night song from the 70's the entire time I worked on this.  Ah, but I have digressed.....

I started with a canvas.  I stamped a floral design over the edges and rubbed light blue ink over that using a sponge.  I chose a piece of older CTMH paper and placed a star template made from Artbooking over that.  I used homemade texture paint and created the stars.  I then used a dry brush and dabbed the stars with CTMH ink.   (For more information on this technique, please see this post.)

Once the stars were dry, I did my stamping with CTMH Adorable Backgrounds (retired) and CTMH Lovely.

The paper behind the photo is from the Jubilee collection.  I smeared it with Create a Shade Pearl paint to give it some shine.  The rolled corner is painted with the same paint mixed with Sky re-inker.

The rose is cut from CTMH Artiste from Daisy White cardstock.  I rolled it for the 3-D effect, painted it with Create a Shade paint mixed with Sky re-inker, painted the edges with Indian Corn Blue ink, and placed a clear Epoxy Bubble in the middle.  The border along the bottom of the picture and the vine were also cut from Artiste, painted, shaped, and inked.  The silk flowers at the corner are from my daughter's wedding!

The title of the piece was cut from Graphically Speaking.  The shimmer comes from the pearl paint.

All other shapes were cut from CTMH Art Philosophy.  The stars and butterflies were adorned with paints, stamps, and or gems.

CTMH Materials:

Papers:  Honey, Buttercup, Indian Corn Blue, New England Ivy, Jubilee, and one retired piece

Inks, Markers and Paints:  Sky, Indian Corn Blue, New England Ivy, White Daisy Pigment, Honey, Buttercup, Create a Shade Pearl Paint

Embellishments:  Epoxy Bubbles, Mocha Gems, Mini-Medley Rosewood (retired)

Stamp sets:  Lovely, Universal Backgrounds and Adorable Backgrounds (retired)

Cartridges:  Artiste and Art Philosophy

Other Materials:  Canvas, silk flower, Gesso, homemade texture paint, and Graphically Speaking Cartridge

If you've not worked with the Create a Shade Paint from CTMH, I highly recommend trying it!  It adds so much to die cuts and embellishments!  Visit KatiesCorner for inspiration, a super promo deal this month, and beautiful papers!

Happy Anniversary Katie & Crockett and Mom & Dad!

Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong

Ok, does the blog title give away my age?  ;)  I wanted something catchy for the balloon motif used as my parents' anniversary card and that's where my brain went!  So, I'll go with it.  Now I can't get that song out of my head......

I had the Balloon Ride papers and hadn't really done anything with them yet.  This challenge was great timing; I used the papers to make 2 cards today!  This card is going over to Color My Heart Color Dare where we are challenged to use the colors from Balloon Ride or Crystal Blue, Creme Brulee and Sorbet.   

All of the papers are from Balloon Ride.  The flowers and vines (branches) were cut from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge.  The little gems are from the Mocha Gems (retired).  I used an embossing folder I won in a contest!  I think it is Darice.                                                                                                                                   

While I was working with Balloon Ride I decided to make a Birthday card for my stash.  I used Balloon Ride, Bronze Glitter Trim, Sparkle Gems Tan/Brown (retired), Crystal Blue CS, and the Joyful Birthday stamp set.  I love the bronze trim on the Balloon Ride paper!  This is going over to Heart 2 Heart where the challenge is Rhapsody in Blue.  The challenge is to use Blue and a musical motif is a bonus!  See the music on the blue balloon!

If you want any of this beautiful paper, visit KatiesCorner!  It's there along with all of the great CTMH goodies!