October Team Blog Hop - Moonlight

Welcome to the Roxybonds Scrappers Team Blog Hop!  

 

We will be featuring artwork from the Moonlight paper pack.
 
  If you have come here from Stephanies's blog, then you are on the right path.  Your next stop will be Jen's blog.

  Today I have created Halloween cards for my little ones.  I have three grandchildren and decided that from the Moonlight Workshop on the Go (WOTG) I would make cards.

The Moonlight WOTG is a great set!  Not only do you get the stamp set and papers but the Haunted Assortment  and Sparkles Assortment finishes everything off so nicely.

I used three different CTMH inks - Smokey Plum, Slate and Goldrush.

Here's my first card ....

Don't you just love the owl and the saying?
Card number two ....

I used the Trinity stamp set from Close To My Heart for the word "boo".  To color in the mummy, I used a sponge tip applicator and lightly inked in Smokey Plum over the Slate ink outline.  Yep -- this is my second attempt.  I was a bit heavy-handed with the Smokey Plum the first time around.

And finally, card number three .....

I think the sparkles just finish this off nicely, but I like a bit of sparkle on my cards and scrapbook layouts.  At least this spider is cute - because spiders are NOT my favorite thing!

Inspiration ....  put the record player on because I say it over and over again:  I use magazines and CTMH workshop guides for inspiration.  My Moonlight cards were inspired from the CTMH Hooligans WOTG card guide as designed by Jeanette Lynton.  You can tell I use the guides sometimes very closely as seen in card #1 and #2 and with card #3 for inspiration.

Here's a snap of the workshop guide from Hooligans.

These were fun to make.  I love everything about the Moonlight set.  I do hope my two teenagers will want to carve pumpkins this year because this will be a great set to use when scrapbooking those pictures ... if i get any pictures that is.  And not to brag, but I'm getting better at taking pictures for my blog.  I still have a long way to go and lots to learn. 

Now hop on over to Jen's blog for your next stop. Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration - Zoology

Last week I realized I had not sent out a card for my new great-nephew.  WHAT!!  I needed to make a baby card .... pronto!  Looking through my stamp sets I happened upon my Close to My Heart (CTMH) stamp set:  Zoology.  I have used the ticket stamp - but nothing else.  I quickly hit Google search and found my inspiration - and quickly pinned it on Pinterest. 

So, my inspiration came from Scrapbook Snippets she had done a series of cards using the Zoology stamp set.  I picked her elephant card to mimic.

 

Supplies: 

• 4 x 5 1/2 white card (I usually purchase cards in bulk)
• CTMH paper - Elemental Workshop on the Go (WOTG)
• Stamp set - CTMH Zoology .... the 0905 on the ticket is the Baby's birth date.  
• Stamp set - Ali Edwards, "Beauty of Spring" from Technique Tuesday
• Cricut cartridge - CTMH Art Philosophy
• Inks:  CTMH Dutch Blue and CTMH Tulip
• a scrap of Tulip ribbon ... I think.
• A button from my button stash

This was a fun little card to whip up.  And in case you are wondering --- this is my copy.  A friend of mine from whom I first learned stamping told me to make two of each card and to keep one.  You should see my stash of cards!

Avonlea Blog Hop

Welcome to the Roxybonds Scrappers Team Blog Hop!  

  We are featuring artwork from the Avonlea paper pack and the Scholastic Paper Pack.
I have chosen to use the Avonlea Work Shop on The Go.

  If you have come here from Catherine's blog , then you are on the right path.  Your next stop will be Stephanie'sblog.

  Today I have created a two page layout using the Additional Layout option available in the Avonlea Workshop on The Go.

Here is my finished layout:

Keep reading for more information on my layout....

One of the things I like best about the Close To My Heart, Workshops on the Go is that they take the guess work out of creating a layout.  I never created 12x12 layouts until I started using the WOTG's.  I go back to the WOTG guides over and over again as I look through pictures and the guides and then the paper and mix and match but I use them again and again.  Even this one, I put my own touch on it not following everything exactly.  That's why it is so much fun to use these.  They are a GUIDE - not a rule.  Each person's individuality comes out in the finished product.

I used the Avonlea WOTG paper pack, CTMH chocolate, olive and bamboo inks.  Also, the canvas alphabet, velvelt parlour rub-ons and mocha opaques.
This is the inspiration layout:

You can see from my finished layout that it is similar, but not exactly the same.
I tend to have a very messy desk as I get started.
Upper Right -- paper, guide and stamps --- Lower Right --- paper inked and ready to go ---- Lower Left --- embellishments and more stamps --- Upper Left -- getting started with the layout.

Expert --- no.  Passionate Enthusiast.  YES!!
Thanks for visiting my very first BLOG HOP!!

Photo - or - Recipe Box

December!  Well sometimes life just gets in the way -- so I need to get back in the blogging habit -- next month I am going to be in a blog hop so I had better figure out what I'm doing!

I'm officially a Close To My Heart (CMTH) consultant.  That is the blog hop I will be participating in next month.  So, to get started, I worked on covering the photo or recipe box I received in my new consultant kit.

I really didn't think I would use this but after thinking about it I realized it would be a good thing to store bling in -- BLING!! As in all the little bits of gems and pearls you add to your scrap-booking and card-making projects.

Supplies:  CTMH Recipe Box, CTMH Bamboo Ink, CTMH Elelmental paper and Stamps from Wings and Live Inspired sets.  I used an Antique Copper brad and bitty sparkles and regular sized pictures.  The flower I made from some muslim and tulle that I had on had and a paper flower I already had too.   I had some vintage lace too.  I like girly girl things - can you tell?

First steps .... Start with the box and the supplies.

Next -- Ink the edges of the box, cut the paper and ink the edges.  I made the flower - sorry no tutorial coming for that.  LOL!  I just keep adding until I'm happy with it.

Finally - put it all together using a strong adhesive!  I used some double-sided super sticky adhesive I had on hand.  The color of paper from the Elemental pack fits quite well with the color of my craft room --- ok -- it's the color of the entire first floor of my home.  A very warm gold color.

Perfect!  Perfect for storing my BLING!!
Decided  I had better add on more finished picture.  :) 

Christmas Ornaments

I'm still a complete noob when it comes to posting on my blog.  One of these days I will get it.
For now I am going to show a some crocheted Christmas ornaments -- just a sampling because I added embellishments to so many of them.
Either way - I got the free pattern from Good Knits.  It is called the Simple Statement Ornament.
It was the first time I have crocheted with beads - my own addition - and I even made some of the ornaments to match what Linda Permann did on her blog.

So on to some pictures .....

ornaments -- a couple blocked and one waiting .....

waiting for embellishments ... you can see the different designs I used

whoa!  What a close up!!

Not as polished and beautiful as the ones over at Good Knits but I had a lot of fun making them.

Thanksgiving Cards

NOT - that I have been a good blogger mind you, but I decided I needed to get back in to blogging -- with a purpose of course.  I have been "pinning" quite a bit over at Pinterest -- not maniac pinning but when I find something I like, or I see something someone else has "pinned" then I pin it too.
So, there I am finding all these things to pin -- but what happens after that?  aaahhh!! That is what I am going to do!  I'm going to create a board on my pinterest of the crafts that I have done and where my inspiration came from ... so here we go .... Thanksgiving cards!

supplies - magazine, stamp, ink and lace

supplies - paper, cards, thread, buttons, craft borders

So to get started - I gathered all my supplies.
The inspiration card:  see page 23 of Stamper's Sample - Take Ten - Autumn 2011 magazine.  I often get inspiration for cards from magazine's.  I never said I thought up designs on my own!
I used my new Technique Tuesday "Give Thanks" which was October's stamp of the month - specifically the sentiment - happy Thanksgiving.
The ink, a brown Versafine.  The lace -- thank you Lori H! for giving me your lace.  I dyed it from the bright white is was to an off white using coffee!
Continuing on ... I just purchased the cards from Hobby Lobby, they are a craft paper brown.
The paper -- 3 odd sheets from my stash.  Two of them are Creative Memories papers and one is a Cosmo Cricket paper.
Buttons from my button stash and some very old DMC off white embroidery thread.

I need 14 Thanksgiving cards to send to parents, siblings and children.  I learned from a friend to make an extra card, so I was planning for 15 cards.  First --- count out the cards, then cut the paper .. 3.5 x 5 inches.  Next stamp and trim the sentiment using a cream color card stock.  Cut the lace into 4 inch pieces and add thread to all the buttons (that took a while).  Here are all the supplies ready to go.

Step 1 - adhere the background paper.
Step 2a - add the lace.
Step 2b - add the craft border -- STOP -- after realize the craft border is not going to work. {sigh - Put the craft borders away.}
Step 3 - start to add the buttons and realize - yeah it needs something more.
Extra step ---- get out the pre-punched leaves and play around a bit and realize --  I need leaves.  Find the right color paper and punch leaves (the punch I used was a Creative Memories punch I have had forever)
Step 3 -- add the leaves --- ahh that looks good.
Step 4 -- add the sentiment
Step 5 -- add the buttons.  Get one card done ... hmmm.... add the buttons to another -- NOPE!  It's not working ..... rip the buttons off.  Dang!  They won't come off  the one -- ok -- one card now has buttons. {sigh -- put the buttons away }

DONE!!!!!!!  Don't they look nice? See the ONE with the buttons?  I think I'll just keep that one.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Time to Reorganize

We are back from our short spring break trip.  In fact, we had a huge thunderstorm last night.  Seems that spring has really arrived!  It's now time to get organized and get off my bum --- which actually may mean fewer posts and challenges.  It all depends on how well I can manage my time.
One thing I want to do is take another look at my craft room and see if I can take it one more step in cleaning and simplifying it.  I recently used the book: Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker (available from Amazon my FAV place to shop!) to reorganize my scrapbook room.   I personally think this book would help any kind of crafter.  The one thing I definitely learned about myself is that I am an "open & visible" kind of crafter.  This means I really need to see what I have in order to remember that I have it and use it.  Maybe a 'duh' comment from you to me, but I was struggling with my room's use.  I have reached a relatively happy place in there so far, but need to review my room a bit more.  I know I'm not happy with my paper storage right now so that is one thing I want to change and soon. 
For now -- here are some before pictures of my craft room.  Hopefully some after pictures will be on their way!

I told you it was messy!!!!!

I definitely need to glam it up a bit.  It really is almost working -- a few tweaks and I need those tweaks to be cheap!  I really have reused items from around the house.  No new furniture - except the office chair I purchased.  Must think ......  if you have suggestions let me know!