Home Is Where The Heart Is!

I love home!  And I LOVE MY home... as I was cleaning house some this past weekend, I couldn't help but to think how very lucky I am to have such a beautiful place to call my home each and every day.  I am truly thankful, proud and blessed to be "planted" here with my husband... home is where the heart is!  And with that notion in mind, today I am happy and excited to be sharing something wayy cute and "home-crafted" from one of my super creative online scrappy friends, Shanna Vineyard! 

Shanna has combined her love of hand-drawing and painting, mixed with her fondness of bright, happy colors to bring us all a kit that is different than anything you’ve ever seen! In celebration of her relocating back home to Arizona next week, she was inspired to create this kit, “Home Is Where the Heart Is” that includes over 50 different hand-drawn and painted images. The imagery can be used in your digital projects or can be easily resized and printed to cut out and use with your traditional scrapbooking and card making creations. The possibilities are endless and you will have them to use over and over again as much as you like for as many projects as you wish! So FUN!!!

I can't stress enough how cute this digital kit is!  I don't venture too far into the digi world myself, but I do on occasion dable with creating some Hybrid projects.  I must admit, I was quite flattered that Shanna would ask me to experiment with her new kit, and I really had a blast with it too!

Here is a little project that I put together with some of Shanna's darling pieces... a door hanger, fitting for Spring...

(Please click on photo to view details larger).

The Kraft house hanger is a piece that I found awhile ago at Michael's in the clearance section. I knew I could come up with something cute to do with it one day, and well, that day is NOW, lol! The circular "Home Sweet Home" phrase, the bird, the heart, the fence and the sun are all from Shanna's kit content. I printed out all my pieces onto Core'dinations Core Essentials and Whitewash cardstock and I also did some Cuttlebug embossing on the phrase (Meadow Lark folder) and fence (Distressed Stripes folder). Inking the embossed areas with some Tim Holtz Distress inks also really give the images a different look, as does printing the imagery on colored cardstock too!

I added some extra glitz to the sun by painting on some Smooch ink and spritz with a bit of glitter dust too. I then printed out, "The Amu's EST. 2000" and added the strips to the hanger with a bit of burlap beneath the bird and then finished it all up by tying some yummy chevron May Arts ribbons onto the wire. Cute, ehh? I really like my first Spring creation of the season... so THANK YOU, Shanna, for creating your fabulous kit! Now I just need some scrappy time to make some fun cards with the ton of other images I've already printed out! ;)

Visit Shanna’s blog to purchase this kit and see LOTS of other awesome samples that were created specifically to share with you today! In celebration of this fun, new release she is also doing a huge giveaway valued at over $275.00 with lots of fabulous new scrappy goodies and several ways you can win! So head on over and check it out! You don't want to miss out!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy your day! :)

Sous Sketch for February 17th!

Hey there!  Yes, it is time for another SOUS sketch reveal, and I myself am a day late getting mine posted here, but all excuses aside, the 16th was my Birthday and I guess I was in party mode, lol!  Sorry to be tardy!  Anywho, we had a cool sketch to play around with this week, designed by our very own, Leah Schaeffer!

 

So, here is what I came up with...

I wish I could've captured a better photo of this page, because it certainly does no justice for the richness and texture of these gorgeous papers from Teresa Collin's, Christmas Home collection!  And I just loved these photos of my husband stringing the lights on our Christmas tree this past holiday.  The  TC line was perfect for creating this page with them! The background base for this page is a sheet of the black Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock from Core'dinations... a definite favorite in my cardstock stash.  If you haven't gotten yourself some Kraft Core yet, you really need to.  I'm tellin' ya, it's the best!  Here I debossed a Cuttlebug border along the bottom edge and sanded over it all to reveal the Kraft core.  I also scored along the other three edges and sanded them as well.

 (Ohh, and a side note, I believe this is the first project in a long time that I have NOT used my Cricut cutting on it in some way, shape or form! Are you all gasping, lol?? I really just may go cut some bits and pieces to add to this down the road. I do believe I need some Cricut flair on this somewhere!)

That's all I have to share for now, but I do hope you'll join us over at Stuck On U Sketches and show us how you can work the sketch too!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Playing With Card Sharks!

There's a fun card contest happening over at the Nook right now, and I've been busy playing around with some of this weeks challenges today.  The Card Sharks contest is an elimination rounds style of competition, so I do hope that I can continue swimming on with the card sharks after this week!  ;)
Here are the first challenges that I've finished up so far...

The introduction challenge is Challenge ZERO - POKER FACE.  We had to create a card with the envelope taking center stage and the sentiment on the inside card hidden from view.  The card also was required to contain a stamp image, a ribbon and the color black. 

I used Core'dinations cardstock (Tim Holtz Kraft), Glitz Designs pp, Technique Tuesday script stamp, May Arts ribbon and trim, SEI pearl brad and MME decorative brad, Kaiser black gems, Cuttlebug emboss folders, Glimmer Mist, Papertrey Ink twine, paper lace doily and the Damask Decor and Lacey Labels Cricut carts.  Here are details of the front and back inside pull out tag-card ...


Next up is the Week One - Challege One (Phase 10). 
For this one we were given 3 different phases to complete. 
First phase was to create the BASE of the card using these 4 elements:
-1 patterned background
-1 block of patterned paper or cardstock
-1 strip of paper or trim
-1 decorative edge

I used BoBunny double-dot patterned cardstock for my background, a block of MME patterned paper, American Crafts ribbon rose trim, and a MME decorative edge punch-out.

The second phase was to then EMBELLISH the card from phase 1, using any embellies I have to create the best handby the end of the game.  Then onto the 3rd and final phase we are to UPLOAD the picture of our card to the appropriate thread and Nook blog post.   My final phase looks like this...

I embellished with a MME transparent flourish and 3-D sticker, a Prima chipboard journal tag, a K&Co. journal tag, plastic rosettes from Making Memories and a handwritten sentiment.

I have not yet completed the 2nd challenge of the week which is SOLATAIRE, but I will finish and post it later. 

The 3rd challenge for the first week is the UNO Challenge.  For this one we needed to create a card where the #1 is somehow incorporated into the card's design!

I dug out some BoBunny Blast Off collection for this one...

To create the #1 on the Canvas Corp. star, I used some Thickers as a mask and sprayed the canvas star with Sapphire Glimmer Mist!  Love the result!

So there ya have it so far!  I'll be back later in the week with other challenges I've been working on.  It's been so much fun swimming with the sharks this weekend!

World Card-Making Day Contest and Cricut!

Yes, today is October 1st, and it's World Card-Making Day! I love October AND card-making so it's a perfect fit!  And I happened to see that one of my favorite blogs, The Cricut blog, is offering up a super cool contest for the occasion.  :)  All you need to do is submit a card creation for an opportunity in winning one of 3 Cuttlebug machines that they are giving away!  Awesome, because although I have a Cuttlebug, I've been wanting to upgrade to the new and improved machine, so here's my chance!

Here's my card creation... perfect for October as well...

I used the Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge for this card... and I LOVE this holiday cartridge!  To make the spider's body and Dracula's hair more textured here, I used some green pom-poms that I cut off of a section of  American Craft's Dear Lizzy trim.  I took the pom-poms and smooshed them and pulled them apart slightly then inked them with some black Staz-On ink.  After adhering the inked fibers to his head I took a white gel pen and used it to draw some emphasis to his hair part, as well as details to his eyes and fangs.  The web background was created with the Cuttlebug Spider-Web folder.  Hope you enjoyed my Halloween inspired, Cricut and Cuttlebug created card and thanks for stopping by!

Peachy Keen!!

Howdy!  If you haven’t seen the July Challenge at Core'dinations  make sure you check it out here. You have until July 27th to enter for the chance to win some fabulous Core goodies! Make sure you link us up on that post or link us on Facebook.

All you need to do is use this color palette as your inspiration. Again, there are more deets on the original post….

Anyway, here is the awesome inspiration photo for this fantastic color challenge which came from Pinterest!

Isn't it the perfect, delectable Summery feast for the eyes? 

And take a look at the colour combo that dt member Lydia Jackson devised through Colour Lovers to match up to the inpiration...

Such a terrific palette!  Anyway, I was inspired to create a card for this challenge, and I was happy to use these turquoise, peacock blue, and peachy colors together.  And the peaches in the photo looked soo yummy and fresh that I even decided to use a peach as my card's theme,

"You Are Sweet As A Peach"!

I used a variety of Core'dinations Core Essentials and Vintage cardstock and my peach image came from the Cricut "Just Because Cards" cartridge.  To make the peach more realistic, I inked the edges of the cuts with some Ranger inks and also did some light sanding to the outside edge.  The leaves were embossed with the Cuttlebug Herringbone folder and I used patterned paper and stickers from the "a FAIR day" sei line!

So now I hope that you too will be inspired to take on this fun colour challenge!  Remember, you have until July 27th, so hurry up and play along with us to win some delicious Core!

In other news, I was very saddened to learn of some heartbreaking news this morning that a fellow scrapbooking friend in our communities has passed away rather suddenly after her battle with breast cancer.  Her name was Chris Hertel and she was such a dear sweet soul who gave so much of herself.  She lived right here in PA, and although I've never met her in person (and we used to live rather close to one another, her in Greensburg, and I in Altoona)... we did communicate via message boards, emails and our blogs.  Chris also created some of her own digital designs and was kind enough to share them.  Her houndstooth print has been one of my favorites for quite sometime and I have downloaded and printed it so often for many of my projects.  In fact, earlier last week, I was pleasantly surprised to have one of my card designs using her houndstooth print, picked up for publication in the upcoming December issue of CARDS magazine!  I was so thrilled that it was a card using her design and I was eager to email her to tell her to be on the watch for it later, but I never got the chance.   Here's a link to another blog post of mine with another page that I created not too long ago.  I tell ya, I've used it a lot!  I will certainly miss her spunky spirit and friendship in our scrappy community!  She fought a good fight and all I can say is that the world was only a happier place with her in it!  I pray that her beautiful family will lean on one another and find much comfort, strength and peace!

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!  :)