Memorial Day and Poppies

One of my first childhood memories is making sure that around Memorial Day, we made a donation to the VFW to get our remembrance poppy.  Each year, the poppy would be placed in a little vase on the dining room hutch and stay there until the next year when a new one was secured.  I have endeavored to maintain that tradition to this day.

Poppies became the symbol of Memorial Day in the 1920's to commemorate the poppies that grew wild in war torn Flanders Field of WWI Belgium.  Poems have been written and the VFW and American Legion worked to ensure that poppies would remain forever the symbol of sacrifice for those who have given their lives for our Freedom.

Today, the poppy remains a memorial symbol of remembrance.  The little paper poppies you receive after a donation to the VFW are handmade by Disabled Veterans.  The donations are used to provide support for the good works of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The Poppies blooming in my Garden today.

May we forever remember....For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Paper Folded Man's Shirt

I was busy reviewing the cards that I had for the craft fair/flea market I'm doing next week, and realized that I didn't have any Father's Day cards.  Wanting to do something "different" I decided to do folded men's shirts as the focal point.  I also thought it would be fun to add another card to the Heart 2 Heart Distressing Challenge this week. 

The shirt is made with paper from the CTMH special this month called "Dotty For You."  I read that the inventory on this paper packet is getting very low, so if you don't have it yet, hurry as I doubt that it will be available through the end of the month.  I also used Gray Flannel, Gray Wool White Daisy and Outdoor Denim card stock.  The sentiment is from "Tag The Occasion." and that's the wonderful CTMH Baker's twine.   I found the original directions to fold the shirt on the Scor-Pal website, but as I was trying to do the folding, I realized that a few more measurements and directions were needed.  So here is how I did it...

Start with a Score Board and a 4 x 6 inch sheet of pattern paper.

First, score and fold the paper on the 4 inch side at the one and three inch mark.  Heavily crease all of your folds.

Now, you want to turn your paper and score and fold on the 1/2 inch mark.  Fold it to the opposite side of the folds in your previous set.

Make a very light score mark as a guide for your folding on the 1 1/2 inch mark on the long side of the paper.  Turn over and using the score mark as a guide, carefully fold the points inward to meet the center opening created by your first fold.  Make sure that your folds and points match.  This is the collar of the shirt.



Fold the bottom upward and tuck under the collar points.  Crease heavily.

Using the crease mark you just made, fold the two flaps outward from the center point to the upper edge.  This forms your sleeves.

Last but not least, fold the bottom upward and tuck again under the color points.

  Now you have your shirt! 

To make the tie, cut a piece of card stock 1/2 inch by 1 3/4 inches.  Cut points on one end making sure that your cut marks are equal.  For the knot, cut a  piece of card stock 1/2 inch square and cut it on the diagonal.





This is another card I made using a folded shirt.  The paper used for the shirt is from an old retired set called "Free Spirit." That is Chocolate, Bamboo and Outdoor Denim card stock and "Dad" is from a STOM a few years ago.  Both cards meet the Heart 2 Heart challenge because there is edge distressing, sanding and ink distressing.  I thought about ink distressing the shirt, but thought that it would look like "ring around the collar" so I decided "no."  :o)  Don't forget to check out the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog.  I love these folded shirts and think they would be great on a birthday card, too.  What do you think?  For Now, Happy Crafting!

I'm "De-Stressing"

With all the garbage I've been going through recently (my tooth problems, broken eyeglasses and assorted other junk) it was right on time for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog to have a  distressing challenge this week.  :o)  I've had a lot of fun playing along with their challenges the last several weeks and thank the hosts for listing my card in the April Top 10. 

Anyway, this week the challenge is to create a project that features some sort of distressing.   I'll be participating in a  Flea Market in a few weeks (really need to get rid of some things in my garage) but I also thought that I would take a long a few of my paper craft creations.  So, using up some left over scraps of the Bliss paper packet from this past weekend's workshop, I came up with this layout.

There are so many fun details in this layout.  To satisfy the challenge, all of the individual elements of the layout have been either ink or edge distressed.  In the upper corner, I gold embossed an image from the still current stamp set called "Simple Memories" (D1472.)  This was one of the sets that had been featured with the Bliss paper packet.  I wish that it showed up better in the photograph.

After I had done the heat embossing, I ink resist distressed are the image and added the pearl in the center.

The bottom corner detail was completed with a flourish and butterflies cut with the Art Philosophy Cartridge.  The butterflies and flourish were also ink distressed.  The large flower is from a retired set called "Joy Forever."  I also heat embossed it in gold, cut it out and used just a touch of blush to watercolor the petals.

Just a few more details and products, the title is from another retired stamp set called Precious Love.  And, the pearls are Opaques and Bitty Pearls.  It was fun to dig out some "Pretty Pins" from my stash and I have always love the Foundry Pins.  They are included near the Vanilla Cream ribbon bow.

I really do enjoy the inspiration I get from the Heart 2 Heart Challenge.  Don't forget to check it out for more Close To My Heart projects featuring distressing.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Couple Fun Projects

I wanted to get a quick post up before I head off to "flower world" at Mike's.  :o)  Tomorrow is one of my monthly workshops and I've been working really hard to come up with great projects. 

This is a fun accordion folded purse.  It is done in Vanilla Cream and patterned paper from CTMH "Bliss."  The closure is finished off with a string wrapping technique called Spirelli.  I promise I will tell you how to do it as soon as I have time.

 Yesterday, I spent the day working on samples for my Spotted Canary and paper-ED classes at Michaels.  This is the front cover of my sample book.  Whew, was getting tat book together a great deal of work!

It's time to head off to make some fun floral arrangements.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

Stripes and Polka Dots...A Heart 2 Heart Challenge

What fun...the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is to mix stripes and polka dots.  :o)  How perfect for me.  I'm busy working on my May Workshop using Bliss and Dotty For You is still the Close To My Heart special.

The striped paper is from the recently retired CTMH paper packet called "Bliss."  The Polka Dots are from "Dotty For You."  It really does work together!  :o)  I colored the flower and leaves images using my watercolor pencils.

It is nice to see that stripes and polka dots aren't for clowns anymore.  :o)  Don't forget to hop over to Heart 2 Heart to see other great CTMH projects.   By the way, if you are coming to my May workshop, this is one of the cards you'll be making.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

Mojo Monday Meets CTMH Card Word Puzzle

Just a quick post as I need to head off to work.  Busy (so what else is new) with card workshop planning, class samples and Floral Designing.  Oh, have I mentioned, too, that I am still dealing with the broken teeth and glasses? 

I checked out the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and thought I would give it a try.  One of my workshops this month uses a retired Close To My Heart paper packet called "Bliss."  It is disappointing that it is retired, because it is so usable for so many things.  I was looking at it the other day and released that it coordinates with one of the new stamp sets called Card Word Puzzle (C1494.)  It was made to coordinate with Pemberley but I think it also works well with Bliss.

I love Card Word Puzzle.  It is a set that has every sentiment word imaginable so that you can put it together to make almost any phrase you could ever need on a card.  It also includes flowers and a butterfly.  For this card, I stamped the "Happy Birthday" in Colonial White ink and colored the flower and leaves with my watercolor pencils.    By the way, here is the Mojo Monday sketch..

It's off to work I go....For Now, Happy Crafting!

Mother's Day Challenge from Heart 2 Heart

The last several weeks, I've been playing along with the weekly Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge was to create something for our Mothers.  Well, my Mom has been gone for 11 years now and DH lost his Mom in 2011.  So, this is what I created for both of them...

The image is from a Stamp Set called "Angel Sent" (A1099) and has been colored with my Copics.  I used the Outdoor Denim card stock along with dressing my little angel in blue because that was my Mom's favorite color.  The Colornial White mats were embossed using my Cuttlebug.

I added just a touch of Prisma Glitter to the halo.  Giving credit where credit is due, I found this sketch on Pinterest.  When I tried to track back who had made the sample, I could only find "Splitcoast Stampers." 

I know that both Mom's are watching over DH and myself...You always have your Mother.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

Close To My Heart Team Work!

I'm so proud of my team of Consultants.  One of the members suggested that we do a card swap...what a great idea!  Everyone made multiple cards in the same design and mailed them to me.  I am the clearing house and will mail packages of  samples of each others work back out to each member.  I was so totally impressed with everyone's work.  We had coloring.  We had handmade envelopes.  We had inside pop up embellishments.  Wow..  :o)

I just had to share the picture of all of the cards!  :o)  Nancy, Francis, Liz and Lucy....you go girls!  :o)  Working together as a team is one of the great things about being a Consultant.  Learning from each other and developing your paper crafting skills is yet another.  And, still another great reason is befriending people that you would have never have had the opportunity to meet.  If you have ever considered becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant, the Papers Pads and Pictures Team is really beginning to rock.  Please contact me for more details.

Can you guess which card is mine???



Wait for it...



Here it comes....

For Now, Happy Crafting!

National Scrapbooking Day

Celebrate...It's National Scrapbooking Day!  Before I headed out to work today, I had to post two scrapbook layouts I did in honor of this annual event. 

There are many fun elements in this seemingly simple layout.  The pattern papers are from "Dotty For You."  I had to use those papers as "Dotty For You" is the CTMH special paper packet in honor of Scrapbooking month. 

To make the title, I covered a scalloped piece of chipboard with Pear card stock.  It was sanded and then "Picture Perfect" from the Instant Memories stamp set was stamped in Lagoon.  The flourish (also from Instant Memories" was rock and roll stamped with Pear and Lagoon onto Colonial White..  Last but not least, I punched scallop circles from Gray Wool.  Using those wonderful fibers from my cross stitch stash, I did Spirelli wrapping.  If you attend my monthly workshops, keep your eyeballs peeled...this is one of the techniques that we will be doing shortly.  :o)

This is a totally different style layout that I did as a store sample.  The two corners are heat embossed in gold and then using Tim Holtz inks, I did ink resist sponging.  The papers are from EK Success and Recollections.  My intent for this layout is either a wedding or heritage page.

This is what is so much fun about scrapbooking!  These 2 layouts are so totally different.  The type of layout, the papers and techniques used help tell the story of the memories you preserve.  Well, it's time to head out to the store to enable many more people to enjoy the wonderful world of scrapbooking.  Enjoy the day and For Now, Happy Crafting!

Fiesta...A Copic Coloring Challenge

It was my turn today to play hostess for the monthly Copic Coloring Challenge on Crafting By Designs.  Since tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, I couldn't resist the temptation to make a card featuring a Martguerita.  :o) 

I have no clue where or when I got that great Martguerita glass.  The sentiment is from Rubber Cottage.  The pleated paper is from "Dotty For You"...the CTMH special for this month.  What a terrific deal...if you spend $35 on products in the current Idea Book, you can get the paper packet (24 brightly colored papers) for $5!  The lace doily and lace edge were both cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.

Anyone who know me well, knows that the place to be for Marguerite's during the summer is the Leek's patio.  DH makes the best Marguerite's as many "sloshed" friends will attest.  I thought I would share his recipe (but don't tell him.)

Rick's Major League Margaritas

18oz. prepared Martguerita Mix

5oz. Triple Sec or 3oz Cointreau

8oz. Tequila

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Splash of 7Up

Ice

Mix half portions of all the ingredients in blender with 7 ice cubes.  Blend until smooth.  Pour second half of ingredients into blender and fill with ice until 2 inches from top of blender.  Blend for 30 seconds.  Add 7Up and sugar and blend for another 10 seconds.  Serve immediately and store remainder until sober enough for second drink!

By the way, the challenge at Crafting By Designs is a photo inspiration challenge so I thought I would also share the inspiration.





I love that photo!  Don't forget to check out Crafting By Designs.  It is a great website to help you keep your creative juices going and a way to make new friends.  Also, don't forget about Dotty For You.  It really is a great deal.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

April Showers Bring May Flowers - A Flower Pot Card

The challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog was right on time today!  Yesterday I started putting together my May Workshop and this morning comes along the challenge.  The challenge is to create flowery creations...so here is mine...a flower pot card!

The "flower pot" is cut from CTMH Crystal Blue and covered with a retired Creative Basics pattern called Emporium.  The flowers and leaves are cut using, what else, the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  Besides the Crystal Blue, I used Sweet Leaf, Vineyard Berry, Cocoa and Blush card stock.  The fun part about the card  is the hidden pocket for your sentiment...

The hidden sentiment is from CTMH Beautiful Friendship My Acrylix Stamp Set.  I've also used Card Word Puzzle and the little tiny flourish is from a retired set called "Smiles." 

This is a really fun card and if you attend my monthly workshop, this is one of the cards you'll be making!  Don't forget to check out the Heart 2 Heart Challenge for more fun projects created with Close To My Heart products.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Fun Photo Frame

I've spent the last few days working at my floral job at Michalels.  As you know, I am the floral designer at my local store in addition to teaching the Paper Crafting classes there.  I thought it would be fun to post one of my store samples.  This is a class that I will be teaching later in May.

This is a painted wooden frame and the sentiment and flourishes have been heat embossed with 2 colors of distressing inks applied.  Both images are Tim Holtz as well as the inks.  The sparkles are from Recollections and the hand rolled flower is made using an EK Success punch.  The leaves are from a Martha Stewart punch/stamp. 

This sample is proudly hanging near the Martha Stewart/Tim Holtz products in the store.  So, if you are in the Philadelphia PA area, stop by the Bala Cynwyd store and sign up for one of my classes.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

"A Note" for Mojo Monday

In between designing projects for my many workshops, I took a little time today to create a card for the Mojo Monday blog.  Mojo Monday is a fun site that weekly offers a sketch challenge. 

I haven't played with my Copic Airbrush System in quite a while so I thought it would be fun to dust it off.  I took a sheet of White Daisy and sprayed it with BG10 and B02.  I cut the pieces for the background.  The A2 tent card base is made using Sky and the first mat is Pacifica.    The scallop circle is Sky and the cute fish (colored with my Copics) is from the new set called "Under The Sea." 

By the way, here is the Mojo Monday Sketch...

For Now, Happy Crafting!

Heart 2 Heart Photo Inspiration

The last several weeks, I've have fun playing along with the Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge.  This week, the challenge is a fun photo challenge.  First, let me post my card and then I'll explain my inspiration...

...here is the inspiration photo...

In the picture, I saw Hollyhock, Sorbet and Juniper immediately as the dominate colors so I set out to put together a card.  I chose the Elemental pattern that feature Sorbet.  I came up with the sketch to mimic the wall behind the sink and tub.  If you look closely, the Colonial White panel has been scored to reflect the wainscoting and the Sorbet strip is the top portion where it meets the wall.  The Happy Birthday Sentiment was framed using my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to pick up the framing of the mirror.  The piece of Juniper ribbon on the Sorbet strip represents the towels.  Last, but not least, the 3D flowers were cut with Art Philosophy and popped up to reflect the flowers on the wall.  By the way, those are pearls in the centers of the flowers.

What fun!  I posted before about drawing inspiration from the world around you and this card is no different.  Even though there really is nothing resembling the picture in my card, you can see how I used the picture to design my project.

Don't forget to hop over to Heart 2 Heart to check out other great creations featuring Close To My Heart products.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Little Bit of Everything...

Good Morning!  I have been so busy creating, how about you?  I wanted to show off a couple fun pictures...the first one is from my weekend Workshop...What fun we had.  This is everyone showing off the card portfolios we made featuring CTMH Florentine paper.

I had to take this picture.  Before class, I was walking in the backyard of my studio.  I spotted these Blue Bells blooming.  Oh what a smile it brought to my face.  I remember these blooming when I was a little kid...  :o)

And, last but not least, here are a couple of the fun floral arrangements that I have been doing at the store.

My goal today is to complete a few paper projects and get them posted.  For Now, Happy Crafting!



Dotty For You Meets Heart 2 Heart

The last few weeks I have been playing along with the Heart 2 Heart weekly challenge.  This is a blog that features Close To My Heart products.  What makes it so much fun, are the samples and unlimited ways to use CTMH goodies.  This week's challenge is to add stitching to your project.  Recently, I've done a few projects with stitching.  So in order to complete the challenge, I dug out that terrific stamp set that features faux stitching (Stitched Together C1459) and combined it with the new CTMH campaign "Dotty For You" and a cute new stamp set called Under The Sea (C1500.)

I used a Colonial White Die Cut Card (Z1738) as a base.  I combined Papers from Dotty For You and Pacifica to create a watery feel.  There are actually 3 different patterns used on this card from the Dotty For You packet!  The background paper, the mat for the cute little fish is actually a circle punched out from one of the papers and the chevron stripes are cut from a third piece.  See how well they work together?  By the way, I used my watercolor pencils to color the fish.

This is a second card I did using Dotty For You along with the same stamp set.  The Lagoon stripe has been scored on the diagonal and then sanded.  The fish was colored with my Copics.

Visit my website for more samples of the Dotty For You papers.  The paper packet can be yours for $5 after you spend $35 on products featured in the current Idea Book.  It is well worth it!  And, don't forget to check out the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog for more fun Close To My Heart ideas.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Challenge on Crafting by Designs

Good Morning Everyone!  It is my turn to host the April Get Ready For Christmas Challenge over at Crafting by Designs.  The goal is to get you Holiday card stash going so that we're not running around like chickens in November and December.  I provided a sketch and a sample card to get everyone going.

This is my card...The image is from Hampton Arts and all the other products are from Close To My Heart.  The bonus project on the challenge is to add a bow to your card.  I tried to do a written tutorial on how to tie a bow, but couldn't get it to work.  So, I turned it into a YouTube video.

Hop on over to Crafting By Designs for some fun projects.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

Another Heart 2 Heart Challenge Card Using Elemental

I love doing challenges and I especially love sketch challenges.  This week over at Heart 2 Heart there is a sketch challenge!  Just perfect for me...  :o)

I studied this sketching thinking about what stamp set I wanted to use and all of a sudden it hit me!

I just love Lagoon and Pacifica together!  I think it is so calming. And, if you remember our discussions on color matching, blue and green are next to each other on the color wheel making them a perfect match every time you put them together.  Each of the colors also have the "gray value."  Perfect every time!  The pattern paper is from Elemental.  This is a current paper packet that is perfect for so many uses.  It contains colorful geometric patterns.  The little duckie is from another of my favorite retired stamp sets called "Makin' Waves." and the sentiment is from a current stamp set called "A Tweet."   The ribbon and "metal" is from the Pacifica Mini-Medley Accents Collection.  BTW, the duckie was colored with my Copics.

Don't forget to check out the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog for more great Close To My Heart projects.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

A Picture Inspires a Handmade CTMH Card!

I am often asked where do I get the inspiration for my creations.  Well, the answer is the world around me!  I am always thinking about how I can turn what I see into a paper crafting project.  Earlier today, I was thinking about the Spring season and sitting on my patio.  I remembered a great picture that I had taken a couple years ago and a card immediately sprung into my mind.

I love the hummingbirds that come to visit my garden each summer.  These magnificent creatures just fascinate me.  How do they dart from flower to flower so quickly and with such ease?  It is a miracle of life that these 6cm (3 1/2 inch) beauties sometimes migrate thousands of miles twice a year.  Each Spring, I eagerly anticipate their arrival after their long trek with brightly colored flowers planted and multiple red nectar feeders filled for them to feast upon.  . 

This card is made using a retired CTMH stamp set called "So Sweet."  The pattern paper is from a retired set called Mayberry.  I did use 2 new products on the card.  There is a the Color Ready Seam Binding.  Love It!!!  It is Colonial White in color and you can sponge ink on it to make in any color you wish.  I also tied a strand of Smoothie Bakers Twine around the ribbon.  The image is colored with my Copics.  By the way, the card stock is Smoothie and Cocoa. 

I thought I would share a photo that I took a few years ago right in my very own garden. 

The world around you can give you all kinds of inspiration for your creations.  Look at photographs, look at your own garden, look in the parking lot at the smiles on children's faces.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

Heart 2 Heart Spring Challenge

I had a few minutes today before I had to head off to work, so I thought that I would make a card to enter in to the Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge this week.  Heart 2 Heart is a weekly blog challenge that features Close To My Heart products.  This week's challenge is to create an Easter or Spring themed card.

One of my favorite stamp sets has always been "Bunny Love."  It is retired now, but the bunnies remain just as cute.  For fun, I made a diamond pop up card that really highlighted one of the little guys.

I used a sheet of pattern paper from "Lucy," one of the fun new paper packets.  The back trim and larger mat is done in Sweet Leaf and the small highlight mat is Blush.

This picture shows the folding mechanism behind the pop up diamond.

And, this is the cute little bunny colored with my Copics. 

It is a beautiful day here in Philly so I am not too happy about having to go o work.  With Spring here, it is time to begin working in my garden.  It is also time to make some fun, brightly colored cards!  For more inspiration featuring CTMH products, hop on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog.  For Now, Happy Crafting!