Valentines and Love Cards

Over at My Creative Classroom, the talented Deena Ziegler is offering a class called "Lovestruck" and I have the privilege of participating in it.  I wanted to share a few cards that I recently made with some of her cute printable sentiments provided in class.  They were easy to put together with her printables, some cute papers (from my scraps stash), a little doodling, and fun washi tapes.  Thanks for the inspiration, Deena!

Monday Morning Challenge Check-In

Have you heard?  My Creative Classroom is currently offering a FREE class called "Use Every Stamp."  If you haven't seen it yet, you may want to check it out!  Enroll in the class (for FREE by signing up to receive the Newsletters) and you can participate in all the forums.  There is also a blog that posts from the class and will even have opportunities to win free seats in other MCC classes. 
Anyhooo, the idea is to organize and challenge yourself to use your stash of stamps.  Me?  Well, I have some stamps, but actually not that many in comparison, so I decided that my challenge would be to use every one of my Cricut Cartridges as least once during 2013.
The first thing I did was to create a list of all my cartridges.  I have a grand total of 100 physical and/or digital cartridges (I didn't count individual images that I may have downloaded from Cricut Craft Room).  Not too bad, really.  :)  I printed out the list in table format with some columns for writing in dates/checking them off as I use them.  I keep it next to my Cricut and Gypsy.  Here's my first week of Results.

The Monday Report:

For the Week of January 21-27, 2013:

I created 11 12x12 layouts and 5 cards.  I used a total of 15 different cartridges.  I also used 2 stamps I haven't used in a while (it is technically a stamp challenge, ya know).

Here are two of my layouts (the two in which I used stamps).

My goal is to report in every Monday, so check back often and keep me accountable!



DCWV Stack-a-Holic Challenge for January

I haven't participated in the DCWV Stack-a-holic challenge for awhile, but I couldn't resist the new "Kidlet" stack and it's just in time for January's sketch challenge.   Here's the layout sketch:

I love using circles in my layouts, so I picked up on those right away.  I also love the layers with this sketch.  Here's my fun layout with the Kidlet stack:

I decided to make a big accordion fold circle with the papers and repeated a lot of the circles in the layout, too.  The "LOVE" letters are cut out from one of the stack sheets and the colored circles are punched from another one of the sheets.  I added some rub-on stitching and a few brads from my stash to complete the layout.  This is such a fun stack and I can't wait to create some more layouts using it!

Design Team - 3 Layouts, 2 Collections, 1 Fun Rainy Day

While we are all eagerly awaiting the newly released lines after this last weekend's CHA Winter Show, I wanted to highlight two lines that you may have missed (and you don't want to miss these).  First up is a beautiful collection from Teresa Collins called "Now & Then" that came out last fall.  It's a fun mix of blues and pinks alongside wood veneer backgrounds and other classic Teresa Collins patterns. For my first layout I chose this floral design but wanted to tone it down a bit for my layout.  I created a heart mask first and then applied a layer of gesso which I spread directly onto the paper with a spatula (okay a credit card).  I love the texture that came out and the way the patterned paper comes through.  I used a pen to create stitching around the heart and page border.  The title was cut with my Cricut using Teresa Collins "Sophisticated" cartridge.  I layered a few more elements from the paper collection and a strip of brown polka dot Washi tape to bring it all together.  You'll want to try this masking technique yourself!  It's a great way to change the look of any patterned paper or tone one down and still keep the awesome design work.

This second layout uses a few more selections from the Now & Then collection.  I thought the blues went well with these snowy outdoor photos from last year and emphasized the snow by cutting snowflakes into the main sheet with my die cut machine.  Layering the darker patterned paper behind the white ledger paper  as well as using the die cut snowflakes on top creates lots of interest and dimension to this page. The title was again cut from Teresa Collins Sophisticated Cartridge.

Right now, Scrapdoodles has most of this collection in stock, including a beautiful coordinating button/brad collection and border strips.  Go check it out!

I have one more layout to share this week and it uses this beautiful sunny paper from Authentique.  This collection is relatively new and it's perfectly named "Renew" as there are many spring elements to this line.  You can check out the whole collection online here, or go see it in person at Scrapdoodles ;).  I've been meaning to scrap a page about Hannah with "sunshine" in the title (we sing "You Are My Sunshine" every night) and knew these papers would be perfect as soon as I saw them.  On this page I used some of the fun new "Puzzle Pieces" elements that coordinate with this line and I fussy-cut the swirls and flowers one of the sheets of patterned paper.  Scrapdoodles also has the 8x8 and 6x6 paper pads in which are perfect for all kinds of projects.  You'll love the colors in this versatile collection - the blues and yellows with the black highlights are really awesome and need to be seen in person.  It's become one of my favorites so I may have to stop by and pick up that 8x8 pack soon!  Happy Scrappin' everyone! ~Karen

What's on Your Craft Table?

What's on your craft table today?  I know I am very blessed to actually have a table that I can really call my craft table - as opposed having to work at the family kitchen or dining table.  I love that I can leave a project out for a few days and work on it as my schedule allows - even it means just minutes at a time.  I know I would not get nearly as many projects finished if I had to pack everything up and set it out the next day.  So, here's a photo of today's lovely mess.

Today you get a sneaky peek at one of the wreaths I made for my next new class over at My Creative Classroom - Welcoming Wreaths: Spring Edition.  I also worked on making several birthday cards for this month (and a few extras while I was at it).  Both of the design ideas came from Pinterest - I just used what I had on hand to make them my own.  Not pictured, but also worked on today - a cute little birthday banner for my daughter's 4th Birthday and a set of simple birthday hats we can wear to celebrate!

So, really, what's on your craft table?

Christmas Neighbor Gift Ideas and We R Memory Keepers

What a super exciting day when a box of goodies arrived on my doorstep from We R Memory Keepers!  They sent me a generous assortment of papers, chipboard, die cuts and even stamps from their lovely Christmas collection, "Yuletide."  I put together 3 different neighbor gift ideas to share - a recovered cd case (to gift favorite Christmas tunes), a simple tea or hot chocolate holder, and a sweet paper stocking for a few little goodies.

Clear CD cases are easy to find.  You can create a fun mix of holiday tunes (follow all copyright laws, please!) or share photos on a cd as your gift.  To decorate my cd case, I used a variety of papers from the 6x6 paper pad and a layered on a few of the coordinating die cut elements.  My deer is cut with my Cricut (Theresa Collins Demcember 25th cartridge).  I also added one of the chipboard sentiments to the outside of each case.

For my second gift idea, I filled small 3x5 baggies with loose tea and cut a strip of We R paper to 3 1/4 x12 inches and folded it over/around the bag.  I secured it all together using one of the fabric covered coordinating brads (these are really lovely!) and some decorative red/white twine.  I also hung a die cut that could double as a gift tag.  These would be easy to make several of and have on hand for "unexpected" guests and friends, or to give as favors at your holiday party.

For my final project, I cut a stocking pattern with my Cricut (Teresa Collins December 25th cartridge) and coordinating patterns from the Yuletide collection.  I cut two stockings, flipping one image, and then sewed up the sides using my sewing machine.  I added some trims and a stamp or two (CUTE gingerbread stamp from We R!) before filling it with a few sweet treats.  These could be made any size (mine are only about 6-7 inches long) depending on what kinds of treats you want to fill them with.  I think they would also be cute at any holiday table setting - maybe an adorable utensil holder for each place.

Thanks again to We R Memory Keepers for inviting me to be a guest designer and sending me such a generous assortment of products from your Yuletide collection!  And thanks to all of you for visiting me here on my humble little blog.  I hope you've been inspired.

Blessings,

Karen

Stashing Through the Snow...Ornament and Card

 

My niece loves mustaches and I had the joy of drawing her name for our family Christmas gift exchange.  I've been seeing these fun ornament ideas on Pinterest, so I knew I wanted to make her a cute mustache one.  It was super easy!  I started with a plain white porcelain ball (on sale, no less!).  I penciled out my mustache and then went over it with a black sharpie.  I added the phrase "stashing through the snow".  I messed up the first time and used a q-tip dipped in alcohol to wipe it off and start over again.  I also stuck it in my oven for about 20 minutes or so at 350 to make it more permanent.  As an afterthought (and after it was out of the oven and cooled), I added some fine glitter to the bottom of the mustache. 

I made a quick card with the same theme.  I cut the mustache (Cricut - Billionaire) and added a few sticker embellishments from Echo Park, a brad from Teresa Collins, and a twine ribbon.  And that

was it.  I hope your Christmas is merry and lots of fun!