Lazy Saturday!

It is a very beautiful Saturday, and here I sit!  I am absolutely lazy... have not done a thing but flip the stupid remote.  I don't know what's wrong but I just can't find my motivation plus I'm sad because today is Knoebel's opening day, and since the dh is working, that means we aren't there :(  What a perfect day it would be for a day at the park! 

So since I have no urge for housework, I thought I'd at least squeeze in a blog post!  How bout' a look at some recent publications?  First up, I had 3 layouts and a card in the April/May issue of Cricut magazine. 

Once more, I can not stress enough how awesome the Cricut mags are!  Absolutely my favorite publication now.   And since Mother's Day is just days away, I can show a card that I made for my mom which is in this magazine...

For this card I used the cute button frame which can be found on the Cricut Wild Card cartridge.  It worked perfect with the sewing theme!

I also had a few pages in the issue, including this fun page of a photo I snapped of my crazy niece hugging a tree.

This one is of me doing one of my favorite Springtime activities... hanging out my laundry!  I used the Straight From the Nest cartridge to create the clothesline and to show that you can easily mix your Cricut diecuts with various company product lines as I have done here with the clothesline to match up with the American Crafts Dear Lizzy collection.

And my last published item in the issue is the first 2 pager I've had published!  This one was for their banners section and I used all Bella Blvd. for this layout, and once again, the Straight From the Nest cartridge. 

For some reason, blogger is not allowing me to change the sizes of my pix on here at the moment, so hopefully you can just click on a picture to view it larger.  This 2 pager has a ton of fun details... esp. with the banner.

 

And one more publication to share... a card that I had published in the March 2011 issue of CARDS. 

The butterflies used on this card I had cut from a roll of printed kraft paper wrap...

And the other "ingredients" came from one of the Yellow Bag kits from For The Luv of Art.com!

 

Okay... that's all of my projects for now.

Before I go though, just wanted to share one more thing that's near and dear to my heart.  As most of you know, I am a mommy to 3 beautiful Heavenly angels whom I'd give anything to just be able to mother them here on Earth.  Mother's Day is coming up shortly, and although I enjoy celebrating that day with my own mom, I still can't help but to feel let down, disappointed and hurt that I do not have my children here with me on that special day (and EVERY day).  Even though in my heart I know I am a mother, it's often very difficult to "feel" like a mother.   All mother's who have experienced their own loss feel this way to some degree and that is why International Babylost Mothers Day was established.  This day is celebrated tomorrow, Sunday, May 1st.  Please, if you have a close friend or family member who is missing their child, don't forget that even though their child is not here with them, they  still deserve to be a celebrated mother!

If you know of a mother who holds her baby in her heart and not in her arms, let her know you are thinking of her that day. "United in grief, we find love and strength"!

Just For You!

It's another cold and wet rainy day here... the day before Easter! Kind of makes me want to crawl right back under the covers, but I have stuff to get done so there will be none of that today! 

Anyway, thought I'd come onto my blog and post the one and only crafty thing that I got accomplished this week.  One card!  Disappoints me when I don't have more than that done is a week's time... afterall, I usually like to do a little something crafty every day.  And to think, I only worked 2 days this week, so I have no clue where the rest of the week went.  Hopefully later tonight I can get my scrap on... it's not like I don't have any pictures or lack of product to work with, lol! I need a scrappy play day :)

Well here's my card... Just For You...

I really like the color palette that I put together for this one.  All the cardstock except the kraft is Core'dinations (Cosmo Cricket Impressions and Vintage Core).  The sentiment and the butterfly stamps are from myStampBOX... love these for Spring!  The patterned paper and mini brads are new Fancy Pants and the crinkled bow is vintage seam binding that I colored myself with some Glimmer Mist.  Almost forgot... the large butterfly is a Cricut cut from one of my favorite carts... Straight From the Nest.  So, there ya have it.  I am off now to make a trip to the grocery store... the day before Easter.  Should be lots of fun.  Yea!   And if you are celebrating Easter tomorrow, I do hope everyone has a very special day with the people you love! 

Woodland Animals and Woodpeckers!

Hello, and good Monday to all!  Um, I know Mondays aren't all too popular, but hey, at least it's NOT raining here!  I'm so tired of the rain.  And how nice it is to even hear the birds chirping too... so yeah, I'll take a Monday without rain!

Thought today I'd post my most recent projects that I did for CreativeXpress.com. 

First up is a sweet notecard set that I made using the Cindy Loo Cricut cartridge. 

I am lovin' this cart... so many neat images, ranging from the woodland creatures that I've used here for this set, to florals and even a dainty looking font! Anyway, this all started as a recycle project.  Instead of throwing out a box of unused notecard envelopes for which I previously used all the notecards, I decided to utilize my Cricut to create an entirely new set of notecards, and not only that, I even decorated the white box flat holding them.  Here's what I'm talking about... this is what the set looked like before the big revamp...

The papers I used for this set were Basic Grey's Marjolaine collection.  I was drawn to the blues and greens in this line, and the plaid pattern especially!  I cut strips of the plaid paper to 3/4" and used tacky tape to adhere the strips around the edges of the box flat.  Then I cut 2 panels from a floral design to fit the bottoms of the inside and outer side of the box.  I took the long diamond border sticker from the sticker elements sheet in the Marjolaine collection and cut the sticker strip in half to finish the detail of the 2 longer sides of the box flat.

 

I made an entirely new set of 6 cards to go with the envies and I made these as monogram notecards using the pretty font included on the Cindy Loo cart.  I also embellished each of the notecards with a fabric Bloomer from the Marjolaine line, and to complete this set and make it perfectly presentable for gift-giving, I wrapped it all up with a piece of blue tulle secured with a cute clear blue button, also from the Marjolaine collection! 

 Next, I did a scrapbook page featuring the Cricut Paper Lace cartridge and the Basic Grey Pyrus collection.  This Paper Lace cart also happens to be a great companion to the Cindy Loo cart, as well as the StoryBook cart!  It's packed with so many beautiful and intricate lacey designs for backgrounds, and equally elegant borders.  You will also find a classic looking font included on this cart which is very useful!

I believe I created a well balanced page here using the content from this cart.  I used an all over pattern for the base background and also included some of the border imagery for accenting above and below my photos.  I also used the font for some of the title work (Woodpecker).

Okay, that's all I've got for now... hoping to go finish up some cards I started earlier since I'll be away all day tomorrow.  Hope you enjoyed your Monday and I'll c-ya around!

More Rain, More Core'!

Another rainy day here in PA!  Days like this, all I want to do is stay inside and snuggle up on the couch! I never seem to get much at all accomplished around the house when it's raining cats-n-dogs! So at least for today while I'm waiting for some sunshine to make it's appearance, thought I'd share a few other cards that I've made recently with lots of gorgeous Core'dinations cardstock.  Afterall, Core' is sure to brighten up any dreary day! 

So for this first card, I made a "Welcome Home"  theme for which I used some lovely Jenni Bowlin Studio Core Impressions in cream... it's the pretty floral print embossed cardstock in the background! 

 I love that the print is so vintage and subtle. 

I also used some Whitewash Core'dinations on this card for the pineapples... the yellow reverse side of a piece of Whitewash for which I debossed a diamond texture with a Cuttlebug machine and a Sissix Basic Grey design folder.  I used a Brilliance inkpad in Coffee Bean to color the diamond texture.  The green palm tops of the pineapples are also made with Core'... some Cosmo Cricket Core Impressions!  I cut the pineapples with the Cricut Serenade Solutions cartridge.

And, here's yet another card that I made using the nesting dolls embossing with Core' cardstock. 

For this card I used three different colors of Core Essentials cardstock.  I paired up 2 different shades of pink in the Pretty-In-Pink Color Family (St.Valentino, Fuchsia Fizz) with Deep Lagoon, from the Teal Blues Family. I created a double matted look to this card by embossing the nesting dolls pattern onto 2 panels of the Blue Lagoon cardstock, cutting one down smaller and mating it with the Fuchsia Fizz pink.  I then mounted the smaller panel onto the larger panel, making sure to line the dolls up evenly with their outlines.  I did sand over the embossed pattern with the Core Sand It Gadget, but then I wanted the pattern of the dolls and the texture of the Core' to be even more intense, so I shaded over the embossed cardstock with a white colored pencil. 

I only used this colored pencil technique on the smaller center panel, whereas the outer panel was only sanded.  To finish this card I added two extra pink embossed dolls to the middle of the card with foam dimensional squares.  I highlighted the flowers of these two pink dolls with a teal blue colored pencil and applied silver pearl accents.  Popped on a pretty pink Prima bloom  to complete the look!

In other crafty news this week, I was extremely giddy to have had a total of ten cards picked up for publication over the weekend!  I'll have a card set and one other card in the August issue of Cricut magazine and then seven more cards in their special Cricut Cards issue!  One of my cards for that issue will even be featured as a tutorial so that makes it all the more exciting for me. 

Okay, I need to get going... I have piles of laundry that need sorting.  I do really need to do something today since I work the rest of the week.  Hope everyone is enjoying their week, and as always... thanks for stopping by :)

My Core'dinations Creative Frenzy!

Yes, I'd say I've been in a frenzy!  Ever since learning of the new Design Team call at Core'dinations Cardstock a few weeks back, I've been in quite the busy, creative frenzy!  I told you all in my post before this that I'd be posting my submissions this week and I just finished up a cute card-set today so I am anxious to show you all what I've been up to with all the wonderful Core!

My first project is a framed "Butterfly Collage" that I actually made during a recent scrappy weekend retreat and I made it specifically as a piece of wall decor for my bedroom. I wanted this to have plenty of texture and dimension, attributes that are EASY to acheive with the different variations of Core cardstock!   

The butterflies, of course, were cut out using my Cricut.  For me, using Core'dinations cardstock in conjunction with my Cricut and Cuttlebug machines is a no brainer!  All three are a perfect marriage for each other and I love the degree of texture and dimension that is created when all three are integrated.  So here I used a mix of Core in teal and brown tones.  I used both positive and negative images of the butterfly diecuts with the teal glittered cardstock from the Core Couture collection.  I absolutely love this glittered cardstock on projects because the glitter stays intact and does not flake off... wonderful quality!  Then I amped up the texture of this collage with a mix of several patterns from the embossed Core collections...the woodgrain (which I sanded) and cross-hatched patterns from the Cosmo Cricket Core Impressions and the floral embossing from the Jenni Bowlin Studio Everyday Impressions.  Now I did not use my Cuttlebug here since I was already using so many other terrific pre-embossed designs from Core'dinations, but Core'dinations cardstock is made perfectly to be embossed and I did pull out the emboss folders for my card set which I'll show here shortly!  Another thing I like so much about Core'dinations is that most often the cardstock can stand all on it's own... you don't always need to use a lot of other patterned papers or extra embellishing with it to make a project shine, although you absolutely can if you want.  Here I used only a few bits of scraps from a BoBunny patterned paper to back up my negative butterfly images and to punch a few borders.  A few glazed brads completed this wall decor perfectly, but it's the Core cardstock that most definitely steals the spotlight!

Okay, for this next creation I was inspired by a project that I spied in the latest April issue of Country Living magazine (pg.53)... basically a paper-mache nest made from shredded dictionary pages and brown kraft lunch bags.  I instantly thought to myself that using some great Color Core cardstock instead would make the sweetest rustic looking Easter nest, so that's what I did here!  

This was so fun to do.  Almost like being back in grade-school art class!    

I first shredded 2 sheets of 12x12 cardstock into strips with my home-office paper shredder.

I used a sheet of Core Essentials (Izmir Purple) and a sheet from the Vintage Collection (Oasis Aqua Blue).  The Vintage Collection is some of my favorite from Core'dinations because it really does give a sanded look to the cardstock without all the handy work! 

 

Then I took a kitchen bowl and wrapped it tightly with plastic wrap and flipped the bowl upside down onto a sheet of wax-paper.  After mixing together equal parts water and white Elmer's glue into another container, I took the paper strips and dredged them through the glue mixture then began draping the strips over the bowl form, overlapping them until the entire surface was covered with the strips.   Extra dry paper strips were then also lightly pressed along the outside edges here and there to create a more rustic "nesty" look.  I let my nest dry a full 24 hours before carefully pulling the nest away from the plastic wrapped bowl. 

Here you can see what it looks like on the bowl after the strips have been layered and dried...

I also shredded some other Core to use for the nest filler, and filled the nest with some decorative speckled eggs.  I used some Core Essentials in aqua and some purple Vintage Core to make my filler which I simply scrunched up the strips with my hands.  Here's another view of the filled nest...

 

And last, I've created a Paisley and Nesting Dolls card set, which I've used no patterned paper and minimal embellishing.  I focused primarily on the quality of the Core'dinations and the results of texture achieved through embossing!  

The first card in the set is a "Thinking of You" card and I used Core Essentials and Vintage Core with Cuttlebug stitched squares and border folders and paisley folder and dies.  I sanded over areas of the embossing and debossing with a Core'dinations Sanding Gadget to hightlight and bring out the color of the core.  The only extra embellishing used here was some pink sequin trim, tiny pearl rhinestones for the paisley centers and tiny type alphas for the sentiment.

This second card is more embossing on Core using a nesting dolls emboss folder from Cuttlebug.  I embossed the dolls on three seperate colors of Core Essentials, pink, yellow and green, and then cut out one of each color.  I created my card by embossing a panel of the purple Core Essentials and matting it on a Vintage Core card base.  After sanding the purple dolls with the Core Sanding Gadget, I sanded and mounted the pink, yellow and green dolls onto the card with foam squares.  A floral stickpin was stuck through the backs of each mounted doll, piercing through the foam squares.  I also completed the card's look with some paisley Cuttlebug diecuts and some pink sequin trim.  A sticker was used inside the paisley to make this a "SISTERS" card.

And for the third card in the set I used a mix of Core Essentials, Vintage Core and Whitewash Collection (Grandma's Rocker yellow) with imagery cut from the Paisley (nesting doll) and Cindy Loo (flower card base and vines) Cricut cartridges.  I used the paisley emboss folder for embossing the nesting dolls head wrap and sanded the color of the embossing with the Sanding Gadget.  I also sanded some of the edges of the whitewash card base to allow some of the reverse side yellow color to show through.  Again I used minimal embellishing here to concentrate on the quality of the Core'dinations cardstock! 

Okay, I know this got a bit long-winded, but I do hope you've enjoyed my projects using Core'dinations just as much as I've enjoyed creating them!   Core'dinations cardstock is such a versatile product and it's so easy to play and experiment with it's various uses.  Please do come back again soon, because I plan on sharing some other crafty things I've been making with Core lately! 

And if there's other readers here that are also applying to be a part of the Core'dinations Design Team, please do link me up!  I'd love to see what all you are creating with Core too! 
Good Luck and Best Wishes!  :)