Thank You Sew Much!

I had a chance to craft this weekend and came up with the following card.

Supplies used (all CTMH):
Stamp sets: (C1442) Tailor-Made, (C1494) Card Word Puzzle - new
Stamp pads: (Z2105) Black, ( 1467) Baby Pink,
Papers: (X7148B) Pemberley -- yellow piece for dressmaker form, White Daisy Cardstock, yellow and pink patterned papers (retired)
Embellishments: (Z1384) Pink Ribbon Collection, (Z1702) Baker's Twine - Paradise Assortment - new, (Z1104) Sparkles, (Z1151) Foam Tape, Yellow and pink flowers (retired), Sorbet ribbon (retired)

I was inspired by Heart 2 Heart's challenge from last week to use a CTMH stamp set you haven't used yet (the THANK YOU is from a new set but the rest is from an older set). I raided my scraps drawers and used some much older paper...yay me!
I was also inspired by the CR84FN46 Color challenge to use Light Pink, Yellow and Neutral. I am typically drawn to high contrast so it was tough for me to use these beautiful soft colors (I had to throw in a couple of medium pink accents!).


Finally I was also inspired by Challenge #18 over at Freshly Made Sketches.


In other news, I received my very own Copic markers as part of my birthday present last week from my wonderful husband! I am now the proud owner of three markers in the red family (I specifically asked for a small grouping so I could try them out without going overboard). I experimented today with an open flower stamp from the new Card Word Puzzle set and am loving them (even though I don't really know what I'm doing!). If I'm brave enough, I'll post some of my experiments! If anyone has any Copic advice for beginners, please send it my way!Pin It

You Warm My Heart Red Mug

It snowed over here today! I didn't even realize that it was supposed to. It was a pretty light snowfall and it looked so pretty as it was falling. It has already mostly melted from the sidewalks so we'll see if we have a delay tomorrow with the schools due to ice. After my daughter came in from playing in the snow, I made her a cup of hot chocolate and started working on this card...perfect for this weather.

I was inspired by the Inspired By #5 Challenge and this cozy picture.

I hope you're not tired of this stamp set yet! I was hoping we still had some heart sprinkles that I could use on the Liquid Applique for the "cream" in the mug but no such luck. I used red sugar sprinkles instead.

Supplies used (all CTMH except for sprinkles, circle punch, heart punch, chalk, and Nestabilities--Standard Circles Small and Large):
Stamp sets: (G1031) Wonderland Workshop on the Go stamp set, heart from (D1222) Tiny Typewriter Alphabet, heart from (retired) Solos "L"
Stamp pads: (Z2166) Tulip stamp pad, (Z2125) Grey Wool stamp pad, (Z2124) Grey Flannel stamp pad, (Z2163) White Daisy Pigment ink pad, (Z891)Versamark
Papers: Grey Flannel Cardstock, Grey Wool Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, patterned paper from (retired) Perfect Day
Embellishments: (Z281) White Hemp, (Z1615) Red Ribbon Collection, (Z308) Liquid Applique, (retired) White Daisy Mini-Medley, (Z578) Corner rounderPin It

Wonderland Boxed Set

I used the directions from this wonderful blog to make the following card box which holds a set of five cards and envelopes. I will be offering this as my next workshop! Email me for more information.

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Thinking of You Birdie

So I am only recently realizing how the earlier sun setting times are affecting me...I now really have to plan when I am going to photograph my artwork! I have to apologize for the poorly lit photogaphs on my blog lately. My crafting time is usually limited to the late afternoon. Once in a while I do have some morning time but not very often. This means that I usually am trying to photograph in the late afternoon/early evening...near a window to get some sun on my subject. But the sun isn't there anymore! Yikes! What's a crafter without good lighting supposed to do? Ott-lites anyone? One of these days I'll set up a better system for lighting my artwork when I want to photograph it, but for now I'll stick to being near the window and trying to plan ahead.

Anyway, on to the artwork. I, unfortunately, am in need of two sympathy cards. I always struggle with these. I usually make something and then don't think it's good enough. What I need to do is make up a bunch of one design which I like to just have on hand. Since I don't have to mail these I decided to add some 3-D roses.

Supplies used (all CTMH except Nestabilities)
Stamp sets: (A1104) A Tweet, (D1476) Card Chatter - Sympathy
Paper: Striped paper -Veranda collection(retired), the background patterned paper - (X7139B) Typeset Level 2 Paper Packet, Juniper cardstock, Buttercup cardstock, White Daisy cardstock
Stamp pads: Cocoa, Juniper, Bamboo, Brown Bag
Ribbon: (Z1616) Green Collection
Other: (Z1686) Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for roses, (Z1333) Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems, (Z1336) Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems, (Z1151) Foam Tape,Nestabilities - Lattice Rectangles

I am entering this in The Shabby Tea Room Challenge #95, Time Flies. The challenge was to use the following photo for inspiration and to use something with wings. I was inspired by the brach and the greens and yellows in the photo. In case, you haven't yet, you should take a look at The Shabby Tea Room blog. The artwork from the design team as well as that from the crafters posting their projects is amazing!
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Close To My Heart's newest Idea Book/Catalog goes live on February 1st! That  means we will be saying goodbye to some of the older products. The wonderful Tamytha Jenkins has put together a slide show of the products which will be retiring and shared them with her fellow consultants. Thank you Tamytha! If there's anything that you can't live without, January is the time to get them! Click here to place an order!

There are many things that I am sad to see go but I am particularly sad that we will no longer sell the Soft Set Eyelet Tool and Soft Set Eyelets. I love them! As someone with weak wrists, hammering eyelets is not the best thing for me to do but this tool has been just amazing and I have enjoyed incorporating eyelets into my layouts again. I was hoping for more eyelet colors! I guess I will just stock up on the eyelets now and hope they come back!

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Sweet as Honey

Happy New Year!

Well, break is over for me and the kids so we will be getting our noses back to the grindstone once more. Although I love teaching, I do love my free time, especially having time to create! So I was commiserating with my kids about going back to school a little today. I decided I needed to make something cheerful to end our break and to start the new year.

I've been enjoying Laurel Seabrook's blog for quite awhile now and she has recently started a challenge blog called Inspired By. The Inspired By challenge #4 is to use the following invitation as a starting point.

I was inspired by the layout, texture, and the colors. Here's what I came up with.

Supplies used (all CTMH except for Nestabilities): (B1374) Bee Happy stamp set, Grey Wool Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Corner Rounder, Black stamp pad, (Z2350) Sunflower marker, (Z2310) Buttercup marker, (Z2352) Sunny Yellow marker, Corner rounder to make scalloped edges, Houndstooth paper is from the retired Splendor paper pack, Nestabilities - Lacey Circles, Standard Circles (small and large)

One of the sentiments from this stamp set is, "Don't worry, bee happy," so now I have the Bobby McPherrin song going through my head!

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