DT CALL

I missed posting 2 days ago and I am sorry. I am busy working on several designs/projects for DCWV first ever Design Team call. If you have been following me or have read some of my older posts you know I am a DCWV girl. I LOVE their paper, how thick it is, the foil or glitter elements they include, and the designs used. I am working very hard on this and making sure I use all my talent and knowledge so I can show case what I do. I am not holding back this time or second guessing myself. I am just going with it. Once I send these projects in and I hear back I will do a blog post on what I made until then I am keeping it under wraps. I hope to be back in 2 days with one of the other projects I am making just for fun.

Have a wonderful blessed day everyone and keep creating!

Workshops on the Go

CTMH comes out with a new catalog/idea book twice a year. In it are several new lines of paper and stamps. To save you money and get a nice assortment of the lines they have Workshops you can purchase. Sort of like Kit of the Month from some sites. Well I fell in love with the Lucy line so I ordered their Lucy Workshop. In it I got 12 sheets of CS some double sided, Lucy stamp set, Lucy glitter rub ons, Bitty Sparkles and an instruction brochure. What I did not realize until I sat down to make the 2 page LO was I would need to have the Exclusive Cricut Cartage Art Philosophy Collection. Lucky for me the consultant was willing to lend me hers.

 This is a perfect paper pack for little girls. I have 2 girls under the age of 5 so made 2 double page LOs from this package just changed the side that is showing to make them sightly different. With this kit I got to try a new technique, at least for me. All the die cuts were made with the Cricut except for the crowns those I fussy cut, UGH. Once all the pieces were cut it was time to stamp. The flowers and butterflies are all stamped. The flowers required 3 separate stamps and 3 separate colours. It was fun to line everything up just right so that it looked good.

The Crowns are rub ons and then fussy cut out. I really dislike fussy cutting, I feel that is why I have a Cricut and my Grand Calibur so I don't have to do that anymore LOL.

 Here you can see the pendant that is on the page, this will hold a title at some point. Even though these pages have identical LOs they look slightly different due to the different colours and patterns used. You can just make out the fact I curled the petals on the flower. I also added rhinestones to the flower centers and the crowns. Princess Pages need some bling, :D

Have a great day everyone and don't forget to get outside and enjoy the sun and your family.

May Stamp'in UP

 So May was the final month until some time in the fall for Stamp'in Up. This time we made a 2 page LO. Not colours I would normally use but looks very elegant all the same.

Each square is layered, inked and embellished. The heart is wrapped with ribbon then a die cut that states "love" is on it. The birds are a punch and the wings have pop dots under them to add some height. I curled the wings on the butterflies to add some dimension and there are pearls in the centre of the flowers. Some of the paper was flocked so gives texture too. I enjoyed putting this one together.

 Have a great day and happy crafting. May the Lord watch over you in all things.

June SOTM

I was not able to get to my Club this month but the consultant was kind enough to drop everything off for me to complete on my own. This is the cards and 1 of the LOs I used the XYRON with. This set was made with the Lucy Paper Pack and the June SOTM Life is Tweet.

All of the pieces were already cut, the die cuts are from the Cricut CTMH Exclusive Cartridge Art Philosophy Collection. As you can see in the cards the stamps fit perfectly.
The first card has a primary layer of textured CS that was lightly sanded to show the white core. The next piece was inked on the edges and then the centre medallion is stamped saying "how tweet of you" with two little birds. A nice fast and quick card to make.
The second card has all the layered pieces edges inked and a couple of the corners punched with a corner rounder. The stamped image fit perfectly on the die cut and says "Life is tweet". I love layering cards and really need to do it more. The ribbon was put through the XYRON and stayed stuck in place LOL. Going to love that tool for ribbon.

The LO has all edges inked again, and a stamp that fit perfectly on a die cut, which I pop doted up, added a bit of ribbon to finish it all off.
Still needs a title, pictures and some journaling. That will be a summer job, going through the TON of photos I have and getting them printed to start putting them on all my LOs.

 Looking forward to Julys SOTM and the fact I will be a consultant for CTMH! I can't wait to sign up, get all my goodies and start sharing my talent, skills and learning more with others.

CTMH SOTM Club

In April I started to attend a Close To My Heart Stamp Of The Month Club. We tend to make one Card and a 1 page LO. The stamps used of course are the set for that month. In this post I will share Aprils but not Mays, unfortunately I had a prior commitment and could not attend.
 This is the LO, which for a new member was a nice simple choice to make. I will most likely add to it before I use it. Needs a title and more embellishments too.

Sorry the card is sideways and that there is a bright flash on the corner. I uploaded this directly from my camera and can't edit it. This was a fun one to make. that back ground is a stamp that had to be lined up each time it was used. It took 4 times stamping the CS to get it to look like that. New technique for me, which is why I attend these workshops/clubs, is to learn. After I got home I added the stickles to the star and the brown pp. Every thing needs a little sparkle on it LOL.



Thanks for looking and following me. God Bless.

Xyron Create-a-Sticker

Well, I had a wonderful Pal at Easter time that sent me an incredible box of goodies for crafting. One of the things in the box was a Xyron 1.5" Create-a-Sticker in the shape of and colour of a Breast Cancer ribbon. Now this tool is one that I have looked at from time to time but have never been able to find any 3rd party info on. Then again I might not of been looking hard enough, LOL. It has sat on my desk since Easter until now.

First, I had a couple of cards to make and they had ribbon on them. For the longest time I have been trying different adhesive with ribbon to see how it sticks and how it lays. Until now my preference was Scor-tape in close to the same width as the ribbon I was using. Not a favourite way but better then most until tonight. I put my ribbon through the XYRON and presto adhesive on the back of my ribbon. Not only that but it was the right length too so no folding back extra adhesive. The hold was just right too. In the next post you will get to see the cards I made using the XYRON.

Next, I had this great Workshop I purchased from CTMH. Again I will tell you more about that LO Workshop in a different post. Here is what I used it for. I cut out some embellishments using the Cricut and fussy cut around some rubons. Here I have to say that I am not a fan of RubOns, nor of fussy cutting. Once I stamped a couple of images on the die cuts I then inserted them into the XYRON plus some strips of paper that I sanded. Made assembling the LO a whole lot easier.

The XYRON is a very easy tool to use and comes in quite handy. I am already planning on picking up some refill cartridges for it because it needs to be available every time I craft. This would be well worth the money to have on your desk, especially if you love to use ribbon in your crafting!

Thanks for reading and see you in a couple of days with a new post. May God hold you in the Palm of His Hand!

I am back with another Tool Review. This is the i-Magic ribbon cutter by Imaginisce. When I saw this I knew I had to have it, LOL I think I have said that about almost all Imaginisce's tools. Like most of the paper crafters out there I have TONS of ribbon and hate using a lighter to burn the ends so they don't fray. This cuts and burns the ends in one simple push of the large button on top. You can't see it with this picture but where you lay the ribbon done is a grid so you can have that perfect angle cut. Now I must say it is very easy to use and heats up quickly, cuts and burns nice crisp ends but the one issue I have had so far is the scorching on the ribbon ends. Now this might be do to several things, I might be holding it to long to burn the ends, wire might be too hot for the type of ribbon I am cutting. I will have to play a little more but I do like it. It does a wonderful job on some shear ribbon just needed to cut the wire in the ribbon because that is still there.

I have another Tool Review later for you once I have played with it more, it is the Xyron sticker maker so watch for that in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for stopping in and following me, I read every comment so please leave me one :D. God Bless.

Door Hanger and Plaque

If you follow me then by now you know that I LOVE to do Altered Swaps and my favourite hostess is Martica of http://marticadesigns.blogspot.com/ and that I belong to http://www.scrapbook.com/ . Well here is the latest Secret Sister Swap she had.
She assigned requested that when we signed up to list our favourite colours or the colours we wanted our Plaques and Door Hangers in, then gave us a partner. Well lucky for me my partner was Lorna Lee and she loves Purple which is one of my Favourite colours too. I had tons of different things to choose from to create with.

The requirement was to decorate both sides of the door hanger, I first pained all the pieces I was decorating with Sea Glass Green. Cut a piece of lace to hang on the bottom of the hanger. The rhinestones around the opening are purple adhesive ones, next I added the butterfly. I then played with the layering of the pearl bead string. Once that was in place I could add the flowers. Oh and I forgot about the little purple bow at the top.

On the other side of the hanger I cut out and punched a piece of purple Cardstock by DCWV. The punch used is Martha Stewart Double Arches in the corners. I then cut out a circle from adhesive Cardstock Spring Fling again by DCWV. Using a Pink by Design stamp I added the little saying that states "Life isn't about finding yourself it's about creating yourself." I then added the pearl string around it. Used some different flowers and another butterfly, the package I picked up add 4 different ones to use.

 Here is my favourite piece of this set. I cut and punched out the matching cardstock to the hanger and mod poded it on. Once dry I used Imaginisce i-Rock stencil to put on the crown. This was a surprising long part of the project. Then using some letters I got in an envie swap I added the sediment "A Royal Daughter of GOD" Using Smooch I painted the two Ls, I then placed them on the plaque and added my Secret Sister's name. Attached some great purple lace to the back and then added the flowers and butterfly. I used all the same elements so that it coordinates very well. As soon as I saw who Martica had picked for my pal I KNEW what I wanted the plaque to say just was not sure how to decorate it. I believe that I was inspired to make this for her, and that it will remind her how truly important she is to GOD, just as we all are.

Back and Creating

Hello all, thanks for sticking with me during my absence. I have been struggling with the fact that I am having trouble creating. Also the month of May was a little crazy for me, my oldest Graduated from High School and her boyfriend came over from Ireland came over for 3 weeks to attend it. This week I have been thinking about why I could not create, I am surrounded by wonderful projects that have been created just for me and tend to help inspire me to get out of my comfort zone. I realized on Friday that I am not being challenged enough, weather that is by me or the swaps I am in. I spent yesterday searching the Internet for different templates to make and try and also making deadlines for myself. That way not only will I have different things to try making I will have set times to have them done by. This should help me be more creative which in return will help me post more regularly. I am going to avoid the swaps that are for mass producing things and concentrate more on individual project. I do have some great projects for you that I just completed and a couple of new tools that I have and tried out and need to review. Also bought a new medium for adding colour that I need to do some reading on and try out. I will let you know how that goes.