I am sharing another two page layout that I made using the Crate Paper Pretty Party collection.  The layout idea is of course from a PageMaps sketch.

Supplies list:

Paper:  Crate Paper: Pretty Party; CTMH textured white cardstock; CTMH textured Baby Pink cardstock; CTMH Cranberry cardstock

Ink:  CTMH Cranberry; Stampin' Up Old Olive

Stamps:  "new" - CTMH Friendship alphabet small; "space" - CTMH Polka Dot alphabet; "flower" - CTMH From Me To You; Papertrey Ink Just the Ticket

Embellishments:  Papertrey Ink vintage buttons

Tools:  Stampin Up scallop border punch; Tim Holtz tiny stapler

Dies:  Stampin Up Framelits-Labels Collection; Spellbinders nestabilities circles and scallop circle; Papertrey Ink-Just The Ticket and medium scallop border

Cards

Two quick cards to share with you today. 

The Mother's Day card was inspired by the May 2012 issue of CardMaker magazine.  I loved the simply stitched alphabet that had a DIY, but I was too lazy, so I just search online for stitched fonts and I found this really cute blanket stitch font, but I can't remember which site I downloaded it from since I visited so many.

Supplies:

Paper:  Kraft Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), Patterned paper all from My Mind's Eye Howdy Doody except sheet music print which is from My Mind's Eye Follow your Heart.

Stamps:  Hero Arts Printer Type

Inks: Copics B000 and B13

Tools:  Stampin' Up! flower punches and tiny circle, Papertrey Ink flower dies and Limitless Layers circle dies. 

Embellishments:  Button, pins and lace from stash.


This next card is another card inspired by Mish.  I think I have found a new favorite paper!

Supplies:

Paper:  Rustic Cream Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), Howdy Doody (My Mind's Eye), plain notebook paper.

Stamps:  Take Note and Mat Stack 3 for sentiment (Papertrey Ink)

Inks:  Juniper (CTMH)  The mist spray I mixed to get a color match and I used so many blues and greens I can't even remember them all.  Let's just say this is a one of a kind color because I probably will never be able to create it again.

Tools:  Butterfly punch, circle punches (Stampin' Up!), scallop border die (Papertrey Ink), Tim Holtz tiny stapler

Embellishments:  Vintage button (Papertrey Ink), baker's twine from stash.

A Card and some Storage Space

A pretty little spring card that I CASE'd from Michelle Wooderson.  I loved the layout, so I used it to make my own version.

Supplies:

Paper:  Rustic White Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), background paper, Soiree (Pink Paislee), polkadot paper, Mitten Wheather (Cosmo Cricket)

Stamps:  Button Boutique, Friendship Jar (sentiment), (Papertrey Ink)

Inks:  Sorbet (CTMH), Enchanted Evening (Papertrey Ink)

Dies:  Button card (Papertrey Ink)

Embellishments:  Fabric, Buttons and trim from stash


I also wanted to share a new storage unit that I purchased for my studio.  I am so happy to be able to better organize my stuff.

This is meant to be used to store CD's and DVD's, but since some of my stamp sets are in CD cases, it works awesome.

I can store all my Spellbinders dies since I transfer them to CD cases when I purchase them.

All of my Papertrey Ink dies, which I just leave in the little zip-lock bags they come in, plus the small stamp sets.

My Papertrey Ink stamps, which come with a CD case for storage.  (I did read however that PTI is going to start using DVD size storage for their stamps.)

Stampin' Up! stamps that come with a DVD case for storage fit in here great as well.

Though I have to put them on their side, all of my Unity Stamps will fit too.

Sadly, most all of my stamp sets are CTMH and they just won't fit, so I either will have to transfer them all to CD cases or just store them how I am currently doing it.

I can also put a lot of little odds and ends into these drawers.  I love being able to store so much stuff, and I still have plenty of empty drawers I can use in the future.

 Random paper items such as tags and envelopes.

 Lots of brads and lots of bling.

The one downside to getting my storage unit is that I had to move my vintage Costco cart out of my studio to make room.  I really loved using it to store my Big Shot and large dies, but I was able to find another use for it.

Bit-tea Boutique

This week's challenge at H2H is an ABC challenge (Anything But a Card).   Being pressed for time with so many other custom orders coming in, I came up with something very simple, yet very useful and too cute. 



I called this post Bit-tea Boutique becuase the color combination just reminds me of a boutique and I use these little treat bags all the time to give small tea tins as Thank You gifts.

One little tip I will share when making projects with a window of some sort.  When using a punch or die, I punch out my border and then attach it to my project BEFORE I punch out the center window portion.  By punching out the window section through all the layers it ensures a perfect window and border.

Supplies:

Paper:  Patterned paper from  Cherry-O paper pack, vellum

Inks:  Tulip

Stamps:  Tiny Tags (Papertrey Ink)

Embellishments:  Metal Rimmed Tags (CTMH), Wrinkle ribbon from my etsy shop

Tools:  Sizzix treat bag die used with my Cuttlebug, scalloped oval and plain oval paper punch

Spring Tea

I have been rather preoccupied as of late with an amazing book series.  I have just begun the third book from the series of 4, so once I have finished I will be posting on a more regular basis as before.  I am just the type of person that once I pick up a good book, I literally will not put it down.  My DH can confirm this as he often asks how I can mind dinner on the stove and read at the same time.
To tide you over for a bit, I am posting a project I have made with some pretty spring colors.

Enjoy!

H2H Bunny Hop

Welcome to the first Heart 2 Heart blog Bunny Hop!  Here are a few details, first, create something Easter or Spring inspired, then on Monday, April 18th, visit the H2H blog here and post your link on the Mister Linky.  You can ONLY post your artwork between 8 a.m. EST and 8 p.m. EST.  After 8 p.m. the link list will close.  Your project MUST contain Close To My Heart products.  Then you can bunny hop through all the links to see all the wonderful creations!

My project for the H2H Bunny Hop is an Easter door hanging.  I used papers from 5 different CTMH paper packs and the adorable March Stamp of the Month, Sensational Season.  I also used Sky, Sorbet and New Leaf wrinkle ribbon from my Etsy shop as well as several soft shades of mulberry paper roses.

Supplies:

Paper:  Patterned paper from Magnifique, Sweetheart, Sophia, Mayberry and Lucky.  Paper doily from Wal-Mart.

Inks:  Olive ink pad for sentiment

Copics:  E31, E33 and E35 for bunnies fur

              R20 and R22 for Miss Bunnies shirt and present

              YG91 and YG93 for Jr. bunnies jacket

              Y17 for ribbon on present

              W00 and W1 for shading

Stamps:  Sensational Season (D1454) and sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Embellishments:  Cotton Candy crochet ribbon from CTMH Designer Pink collection, pink baker's twine, mulberry paper roses from Wild Orchid crafts, Wrinkle ribbon from my Etsy shop.

Other:  Chipboard base is from Melissa Frances, Tiny Tag die from Papertrey Ink, scallop paper punch from Stampin' Up and leaf paper punch from Martha Stewart.

Thanks for hopping on over and don't forget to hop back over to H2H to check out the DT creations and visit all the links!

H2H Sketch Challenge

A sketch is the challenge this week for H2H. 

This week I chose to use the new Mayberry paper pack.  I really liked this paper once I seen it in person.

My card base is a 6" circle which I covered the front with the large quilt pattern paper from Mayberry.

I made the inside of the card similar to the front, just toned down some with the omission of the large pattern paper.

Supplies:

Paper:  White Daisy Cardstock, White Daisy Textured Cardstock and Cocoa Cardstock, Mayberry Paper Pack

Ink:  Cocoa

Stamps:  TLC (C1364)

Embellishments:  Flower is cut from Mayberry pattern paper, CTMH Pink button assortment, CTMH chocolate flower buttons, Chocolate baker's twine.

Tools:  Papertrey Ink Limitless Layers die (for scallop circle and plain circle), Cuttlebug Butterfly die and Cuttlebug tiny dots embossing folder, Cuttlebug.

Thanks for looking, and be sure to stop by the H2H challenge blog to see what the design team created using this sketch.

OH BABY!

The theme this week at H2H is Babies.  How sweet!  As sad as this sounds, this is the first time I have ever made a baby card.  It was tons of fun and as usual, I got in over my head with details.  I must be in a mood for patchwork lately as I have continued that scheme here as well.

This will also be my first entry to The Shabby Tea Room challenge blog.  The theme was to use 3 in a row, which I was able to accomplish with the tiny quilt blocks which were made using a punch.  There are the buttons too, but they are 4 in a row.

I made two cards, one for a boy and one for a girl.  They are both the same design, I just changed the colors slightly.



To make the patchwork, I cut 1/2" squares from 4 different patterns, all from the Sweet Pea paper pack.  I glued them onto cardstock making sure I made a section large enough to accomodate the stamp I would be using.  For the smaller squares I just glued the squares in groups of 4.

The elephant stamp I chose was not an outline stamp but a solid, so I stamped him onto the back of my cardstock in the area where my patchwork was.  He just ended up being backwards which for this project did not matter.  If I were using an outline stamp, I would have stamped the image directly onto the patchwork in a coordinating ink color.

After being sure that my project was entirely dried, I cut out the elephant and turned him over so the patchwork was facing up.  I estimated where his eye and mouth should be and drew them on using the Blush (one shade darker than Baby Pink) marker for the girl and Heavenly Blue for the boy.  I again stamped the elephant onto coordinating paper and cut out the ear portion to attach to the front of the elephant.

For the four-squares I just used a square paper punch and punched them out ensuring that all edges were even.

I used a Copic Multi-Liner pen and a ruler to hand draw stitches around each square and just hand drew the stitches around the elephant and his ear.

I finished each card off by adding buttons, ribbon and a tag with the sentiment.

Supplies (all CTMH unless noted)

Paper:  White Daisy Textured cardstock, Baby Pink and Heavenly Blue Cardstock, Pattern Paper from Sweet Pea paper pack.

Stamps:  It's A Zoo (C1360), Miracle (D1140)

Inks:  Heavenly Blue and Baby Pink ink pads, Heavenly Blue and Blush markers, Copic multi-liner

Embellishments:  Pink buttons (CTMH pink button assortment), Blue bottons (CTMH blue button assortment), Baby Pink and Heavenly Blue safety pins (CTMH, retired), Heavenly Blue Designer Ribbon (CTMH) and Sweet Blush ribbon (PTI), small tags are from my stash.

Tools:  Spellbinders square scalloped lace die, Papertrey Ink large scalloped border die, Cuttlebug.

From Your Heart to Ours

I am a big fan of the "From Your Heart to Ours" challenges at H2H.  It gives us more than just a project to think about.
This week for the "From Your Heart to Ours" challenge,  we are to feature a Home Decor item along with a little story or information about us and our artwork.

So, just a little info about myself.  Hmm, where to start?  Well, I am a fanatic about ancient history.  Yep, that's right.  When I am not in my scraproom you can almost always find me with my nose in a history book of some kind.  I am particularly fond of ancient Celtic folklore and traditions but I also love the Greek and Roman civilizations and culture.  Not only do I read about these subjects on a regular basis, but I am compelled to take notes as well, so I have notebooks full of information that is useful to me for later reference.  I know that it seems a bit odd, but I just can't help it, I'm a history nut!  I have a niece who rather enjoys my stories about faeries and the summerlands,  which of course I have read about since I was probably her age, so at least I have one family member who shares my passion.  I also enjoy playing the violin and piano and obviously I love paper crafting as well.  ;-)  I try to incorparate my interests into my artwork when it is possible, so that is why you often see faeries somewhere in my artwork.  (Even in todays project there is a wee bit of whimsy, can you find it?)

My project for this week is a wall hanging with a monogram.  I just completed it this afternoon, so it is something I made new, however,  I based it from a previous wall hanging I created this past fall.  Click here to see my original.

I used Silhouette paper which has the black and creamy bamboo colors.

The rosette is made from pleated Vineyard Berry and Black Ribbon with a black corduroy brad as the center.

The monogram "M" is cut from Black and Bamboo cardstock using my Cricut and then I dressed it up with Pink Paislee rub-ons, as I did on my original.  The vintage postcard pattern is from the Once Upon A Springtime collection by Graphic 45.  I mounted it onto black cardstock and then used a "stamp" edge cutter.

The entire center circle is attached using two layers of foam tape to give it some height.  All the edges were distressed using Vanilla Cream pigment ink except for the center circle where I used black ink.

Supplies (All CTMH except where noted):

Paper:  Silhouette pattern paper, Black and Bamboo cardstock, postcard paper is from Graphic 45 - Once Upon A Springtime

Inks:  Black and Vanilla Cream pigment ink

Embellishments:  Vineyard Berry and Black pleated ribbon, Black grosgrain ribbon, ivory crocheted trim (from stash), white lace trim (from stash), Black corduroy brad from the black Mini-Medley, rub-ons are from Pink Paislee.

Tools:  nail file used to sand edges even and smooth, Cricut to cut "M", Bonding Memories glue pen and rubber brayer to get an air-bubble free bond.

Thanks for stopping in!

Etsy shop update

New wrinkle ribbon to match the CTMH color palette.  I spent almost 3 months working out a "recipe" that made for the most true color match and finally my hard work is complete.  They are available in 3 yard bundles and are hand dyed.  Click my Etsy banner on the left sidebar or here. 

Feelin' Springy

I am so ready for Spring to come.  I just don't like cold weather (hard to believe I grew up in Northern Wyoming).  I can begin to see our grass greening up and some potential leaf buds on my apple tree, so I know it will be here soon. 

I have a few spring-y projects to share today and note that I am playing around with some different ways to photograph my work.  Since my studio is in the basement, I have been using artificial "natural" light for photos and they just don't turn out how I would like, so I opened up the french doors this morning on the east and tried photographing there, so will see.

First, a scrapbook LO that I taught for class.  Inspired by Sheri Tossi.

Next is a spring banner using the same CTMH "Wings" paper.  I started teaching this last night for scrapbooking class (sometimes I have my class do something other than layouts).

And last is a card made using Pink Paislee "Sweetness" paper.  I have not stamped a sentiment yet as this may be one a customer would want personalized or I will use it for something and stamp it when I know what that something is.

~Shari