Homespun with Heart

More Amber Road...

2009-11-16T21:04:00.016-05:00

Thought I'd share another Amber Road project that I did, this was a little frame that I made for CHA this summer and not sure if I posted it here yet or not. :)

I found a neat inexpensive frame at Dollar Tree (shhh! don't tell!) and covered the front with the gray paper, then added little bits inside the frame with more of the yummy papers. I cut a hole out of the back of the die cut paper for the stand to poke through the back (that holds up the frame) and then attached the die cut paper to the back of the frame. A border rub on was applied at the top and a die cut/brad from the collection.

The little tree rub on is the same one I used on the card below...I just adore that tree! I added it to a transparency, cut around it loosely and then attached it to the front of the frame with a glue dot!

Everything here is from Pink Paislee with the exception of the twine. I love how this collection looks with black and white photos!

Busy hearts are happy hearts...

2009-11-14T22:44:00.010-05:00

The Flanders' household has been busy, busy, busy!
Let's see... last week, we:

had Taylor's birthday party last weekend...we rollerskated our feet off, we ate pizza, the kids played til their hearts were content, then crashed watching Polar Express...it was a late night, but we all survived! lol
I've been watching a 6 month old little sweetie pie named Ava a couple of days a week.. isn't she cute...

doing lots of yard work before it starts to snow,
took Taylor to the dr yesterday...poor thing just got over the flu a week ago or so and now has an ear infection. I'm happy to say though that the flu virus has left the house finally, after infecting us all. Not the H1N1, thank goodness...
and today we went Christmas shopping, feels good to get a lot of that done too. Now I'm in the mood to put up the tree! Busy, busy time of year....

I have some sad news to share regarding Label Tulip, and that is that I have decided to end my position there. It was an extremely difficult decision and not one that I took lightly. I am not a quitter and I do try my best to put my all into everything I do. I don't want to go into particular details, but I starting feeling that the situation happening there isn't what I wanted to be involved in. The teams that I am on are ones that I whole-heartedly believe in and endorse. I do want to say that I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of that team and have met so many wonderful scrapbookers, and I wish Label Tulip all the best. I hope they can get back on their feet. I apologize to those of you who were excited about my card kits there.

Stay tuned...I have some things up my sleeve coming soon! Maybe something that has to do with this line? Is anyone interested? :)

Cardalicious #31...

2009-11-10T18:11:00.007-05:00

I've been such a bad Cardalicious team member lately and have been forgetting to get my cards in! I feel terrible. But I did manage to make one this week. The challenge this week is to "create a thank you card using red, black and flowers."

I used Pink Paislee's Amber Road line. The tree is a rub on from the collection, and then I added an Amber Road clear border sticker on the bottom, red Expressions alphas and some Winsome sticker letters. I'm not sure who makes the ribbon..I've had it in my stash for awhile and purchased it one day when I went on a bus trip to a few scrapbook stores out-of-state.

Thanks for stopping by, have a good one!

Tattered Angels pairs up with Graphic 45...

2009-11-07T04:00:00.004-05:00

Today I have my very first post on the Tattered Angels blog! It felt so wonderful to work with new products...so inspiring. I had many ideas brewing this week and didn't quite know where to start!

The first page I created is this one, "Fairy in Flight". I have been thinking about scrapping these photos of my daughter for a few weeks, but was waiting for the right products to come along. I used Graphic 45's Ode to Joy paper in the background and sprayed it with Suede Glimmer Mist in a few places. It's very subtle but adds a bit of texture and shine!

I love to add dimension to my work and wanted the stamped words to be over the top of the butterfly, so I cut out the acrylic part of the stamped image that comes with the stamp set. You can also stamp onto a transparency and cut it out. I also love to use these to place around my pages when deciding where I'll put the stamp before actually stamping on my page. They are quite handy! (you can make these for all your stamps!) The chipboard butterflies are sprayed with Olive Vine. Lastly, I cut apart the chipboard swirl to get a smaller piece and sprayed it with Suede for the butterfly's "trail". My daughter, Kati who is 4 loves to dress up and pretend! She asked me to take pictures one day of her and her wings.

Supplies used:

Paper: Graphic 45 - Ode to Joy
Glimmer Mist: Suede and Olive Vine
Stamps - large butterfly, words and swirls: Nature in Flight Stamp Set
Chipboard Butterflies: Embossed Glimmer Chips - Nature
Chipboard Swirl: Embossed Glimmer Chips - Regal
Other: Prima flowers, American Crafts Thickers

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On the next page, "Let It Snow", I misted over the snowflake stencil with Olive Vine onto creme colored cardstock to go with the Graphic 45 angels die cut. The letters are misted with Suede Glimmer Mist, and I used a chipboard wreath under the frame in the title to add a bit of blue to the page, since my photo had a blue tint to it. I loved the big snowflake and didn't want to cover it up, so I added a smaller photo of my girls making snow angels.

Supplies used:
Paper: Graphic 45 - Let It Snow (stripe), Around the World (black), Christmas Past Tags (angels)
Stencil: Glimmer Screens - Fanciful
Glimmer Mist: Suede and Olive Vine
Alphas/frame: Framed Fonts Glimmer Chips, Regal
Wreath: Frosty Memories Glimmer Chips, Stamped
Swirls: Nature in Flight Stamp Set
Other: rub on sentiment and chipboard snowflake - Melissa Frances, misc. button and pin.
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These are little holiday photo holders that I found at the craft store last year for under a dollar! I sprayed them with Graphite Glimmer Mist, crackled them with crackle paint and creme paint over the top. I used chipboard photo corners and pearls for the garland on one tree and a wreath on the other.

Supplies:
Paper: Graphic 45 - Christmas Past Tags, Jolly Old St. Nicholas
Glimmer Mist: Graphite
Chipboard wreath and photo corners: Glimmer Chips - Frosty Memories
Other: string pearls and tree photo holders- craft supply, white pearls - Melissa Frances,
lace - unknown, creme paint - Delta.
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And last but not least, a card which could be used for a fall or holiday card. I sprayed the chipboard with Red Velvet Glimmer Mist and the Family piece with Suede. I punched 1" circles to create large scallops.

Supplies:
Paper: Graphic 45 - Jolly Old St. Nicholas (stripe), Exotic Destinations (compass and circle)
Chipboard: Glimmer Chips - Regal
Glimmer Mist: Red Velvet
Family Memories: Bingo Boards - Family
Other: Ribbon is SEI, pearl is Melissa Frances, lace is Wrights.
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If you are still reading after all of that, thank you!
Hope I inspired you in some way.

Get a jump start on your Christmas cards...

2009-11-05T13:37:00.002-05:00

For the Dream Street blog this month, I created a couple of winter cards using papers that aren't typically for winter...you can see them here! I'll admit, I've been very bad at creating holiday cards and usually just end up doing a photo card to send out. But if I could get started soon enough, I'd love to create my own cards for those special people for the holidays! I used to a few years back when I wasn't on design teams, but it seems as though I don't have as much time anymore. Please share with me any quick, easy holiday card ideas you have! I'd looove to see them!

This week I've been busy, busy creating my first 3 projects for Tattered Angels, which I'm SO excited to show you. I am absolutely in love with the Tattered Angels goodies!! This month we are teaming up with Graphic 45 papers. Every other day or so, you'll see 3 projects that the design team has made on the blog (see link above). I'll be back on Saturday to show you my projects! :)

Ten?!

2009-11-02T13:33:00.005-05:00

Today this sweet girl of mine:is turning......
Seriously...where does the time go? Just yesterday she was born while we lived in military base housing. She had colic so badly.. and we just couldn't figure out what she wanted. Every day was a new challenge, she definitely kept us on our toes! Well, come to find out...that was just her personality... and she still keeps us on our toes! :) But we love her to pieces and couldn't imagine it any other way.

**Happy Birthday, Taylor! You mean the world to us, and we're so proud of you!**

She loves to take pictures (do you think she got that from me?!), so we got her a digital camera for her birthday. Can't wait to see what she thinks of it, and hopefully she will take good care of it. We'll be celebrating her birthday this Saturday with her friends (rollerskating).

Well, I'm off to do some last minute things before she gets home. I'm looking forward to tomorrow....I am going to start taking care of my friend Stephanie's 6 month old daughter a couple of days a week. Kati is just as excited as I am, and can't wait to help me take care of her! Think I'll let HER change the dirty diapers (muahhh!). Just kidding.

Happy belated Halloween!

2009-11-01T12:24:00.011-05:00

Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween eve! We were expecting 80% chance of rain here in N.Y., so I decided to take the girls to the mall to trick-or-treat yesterday afternoon, just in case we weren't able to go later on. Turned out to be a wise decision, because about 4:30 it started pouring and didn't stop for a few hours! We did get a few die hard trick-or-treaters at our house later, but not many this year. Here are some pics of the girls ~ Taylor was Supergirl and Kati was a Barbie Witch...
I had my white balance set on the wrong setting and this photo turned out really blue, so I changed it to black and white.Taylor wanted some pics of her cape blowing in the wind. lol She's such a ham.
It's so nice of the mall to host Halloween, especially for the little ones, much easier to go from store to store than from house to house.
Another Halloween over..I love the holidays, but it's such a bummer when they are over and you have to wait another year to do it again! Halloween is definitely still one of my favorites.

Tomorrow my little baby turns 10! I'm off to work on some goodies for her to take to school and make a cake. We are having her party next weekend, but we'll celebrate her real birthday tomorrow, just the 4 of us. Enjoy your day,

Home again, home again!

2009-10-26T21:51:00.036-04:00

Hey, everyone! I'm back from Connecticut and really had such a great time, all of the ladies were so friendly and welcoming! It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive for me and a gorgeous one. You wouldn't believe the view on the Taconic Parkway. This is exactly what it looked like, I'm not kidding you! The trees were in full peak and the colors were amazing.
Thank you to everyone at Lasting Memories for a wonderful experience! Next time (I hope I can come back!), I plan to stay longer, crop and make a whole weekend out of it. We did quite a few techniques on our pages, including machine stitching....yes, gotta have the stitching! I would be one of those croppers bringing my sewing machine. :) Here are some of the fun ladies working on adding the details...And a huge thank you to Nancy for all her help while I was there!
I have just a FEW of each kit left and wanted to offer them to my blogger friends! So, if you see anything you like here, just shoot me an e-mail at dflanders71@hotmail.com and let me know which kit you are interested in.

Pink Paislee Layout kit (2 left) - $35 includes shipping - US only please. Includes:

2 sheets of cardstock, red and grey
Twilight Postcards paper
Twilight Eclipse paper
Twilight Horizon paper
Amber Road Autumn Blossom paper
Amber Road Apple Cider paper
Mistletoe North Pole paper
Mistletoe Reindeer Games paper
Black Expressions glitter alphas
Red Expressions glitter alphas
Mistletoe Borderline stickers
Amber Road stamp set
Mistletoe stamp set
Mistletoe brads
Twine, floss, ribbon, patterns and instructions for 4 layouts.

(Here are the pages we made with this kit.)This was Kati's first candycane! She sat and quietly devoured the entire thing while we were putting up the tree one year. She looked like she was enjoying every little piece!
These photos were taken on our 10th anniversary. Hubby took me out for the day and Kati came along. I adore these pics and snapped them while they were checking out a water fountain together. I created tags on this page and made my own ribbon flower.

This one has a tag also that lifts up also and journaling is underneath. This was Kati last year, she was a witch and then at the last minute found a crown and decided to be a princess, so I'm glad to capture these photos before she changed. Can you tell she was putting a spell on me? ha

(paint, mist and Twilight stamp set not included)
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Pink Paislee Christmas Card kit: (4 left) -$30 includes shipping - US only please. Includes:

Pink Paislee's Mistletoe line: 6 double-sided papers
Mistletoe Punchout die cuts
Mistletoe stamp set
Mistletoe brads
Mistletoe canvas patches
Mistletoe rub ons
Black Expressions glitter alpha set
Blue Expressions glitter alpha set
Twine, ribbons, patterns and instructions for these 4 cards. (You can make MANY more cards with this kit, lots of extra here.)
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Pink Paislee Amber Road - Thankful mini album kit: (3 left) - $20 includes shipping - U.S. only please. Includes:

Amber Road line: 6 double-sided papers
Amber Road stamp set
Amber Road brads
Amber Road Punchout die cuts
Pearls, ribbon/fabric, button, floss, transparency page

Directions and photos to create mini album, along with tutorial on fabric covered buttons. (12 pages front and back)
And last but not least..
Pink Paislee Twilight kit: (3 left) - $18 includes shipping - U.S. only please. Includes:

Twilight Horizon paper
Twilight Eclipse paper
Twilight Postcards paper
Twilight stamp set
Twilight die cuts
Green Expressions glitter alpha
Ribbons, floss, pins, and candy for treat bags
White card base/envelope

Directions for 3 treat bags and Frankenstein card, although with the Postcards in the kit, you can make 12 treat bags.Sorry for the massive post today! I'll be back soon! Please e-mail me at: dflanders71@hotmail.com if you are interested in any of these kits!

UPDATE: The layout kits and the mini album kits have sold out. I still have a couple of the Christmas card kits and a couple of the Twilight kits. Thanks so much for your interest!

I'm off!

2009-10-22T20:15:00.004-04:00

Well~ I'm off to my classes tomorrow! If you live or are going to be near Danbury, CT this weekend, please stop by and say hello. I'll be at the Danbury Plaza with Lasting Memories teaching 4 Pink Paislee classes ~ 2 on Friday night and 2 on Saturday. I'm excited for a little bit of a get-away! Hope to see you!

Congrats goes to....

2009-10-19T08:16:00.005-04:00

I have randomly chosen a winner for the Pencil Lines give-away.....

Diana said...

So, so CUTE!! Love Frank! :)

October 16, 2009 8:59 PM

Congrats, Diana! And a huge thank you to everyone for leaving such sweet comments for me!

Pencil Lines blog hop!

2009-10-16T15:36:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Pencil Lines' Pass the Parcel blog hop! Happy birthday to Pencil Lines, they are 3 years old! If you want to start at the beginning, please go to Pencil Lines to get started. I have a couple of cards to show you... and a give-away at the end for one lucky winner!This card was created with Pink Paislee's Twilight line of papers, clear stickers (cut the spiders from it) and Expressions chipboard letters , also a Tattered Angels chipboard piece sprayed with Graphite Glimmer Mist. Pearls are K&Co. and ribbon is by Morex. This is a tri-fold card made with Eclipse paper and a scalloped edge from the Horizon paper.
And I made this little Halloween "Frank" card awhile ago, but wasn't sure if I'd share it or not. ha My friend Linda talked me into it, so here it is. Just for you, Linda! :) I used Pink Paislee's Twilight line for this one as well... and can't forget a little bit of hand stitching.
To create the raised portions of his face (eyebrows and nose), I just cut strips of paper and folded them in the center. I used brads for his eyes and scalloped paper for his hair.
Leave a comment by Sunday 12pm EST for your chance to win the prize pack shown below! I've included 2 packs of Pink Paislee's canvas patches, one pack of rub ons, 3 letter sticker sheets, some Tattered Angels embossed chipboard and some of my favorite ribbons, Making Memories buttons and brads.
Next, please go directly to my sweet, talented friend DENA's blog! Have fun hopping!

Label Tulip kits are up!

2009-10-16T08:41:00.016-04:00

The Label Tulip Fall Festival kits are up for sale today, and you won't want to miss these super fun kits this month!! Very colorful with new Sassafras Lass and Crate paper goodies! Also, I'm thrilled that my first card kit is up for sale too! When you buy the add-on kit called "Card Festival" you will get instructions and patterns for these 4 cards:
(These hearts are cut out of the Creative Cafe felt flowers.)
Grab a CARD KIT here!
And these are a couple of things I made with the main kit. The Piles page was created for a challenge where we were to pick a technique out of the Label Tulip "Tips and Techniques forum" and try it! I tried Julie's "stamping with a toilet paper tube" idea. Love how it fills up the extra spaces on the page! If you haven't seen Julie's work, you need to~ she is flipping amazing! Go here to B alzer Designs!
And last, but not least a card made for a lift challenge of "Mette" over at Label Tulip!
Stop by to see the whole gallery. Such inspiration there! And be sure to come back later today for the Pencil Lines blog hop!

Trick or Treat, You're So Sweet!

2009-10-14T09:31:00.007-04:00

For Dream Street this month, our assignment was to work with the Superstition line by Tracy Whitney. I adore Halloween and the excitement of it all, so I had fun coming up with an altered project with this line! I decided to make a lollipop arrangement...
I found a wooden box from the craft store, covered it in paper and topped the edge with some of the Superstition chipboard. Then added a "trick or treat" rub on to the edge. To help all the goodies stand up, I put a good size piece of floral foam in the bottom that you would find in the floral department of the craft store. I covered the top with webbing to hide the foam and then just popped up the chipboard pieces with bamboo skewers attached the back of the pieces. They easily poke down into the foam!
To create the little lollipop creatures:
1. Spider - Cut a circle from the patterned paper about 2 1/2 inches around. Distress edges. Punch 2 small circles in the lower body of the spider to slide lollipop through. Add chipboard photo corners for legs with glue dots adhered to the back of the body. Lastly, punch hole in the chipboard tag and tie it onto the lollipop with a bit of twine.
2. Ghost - Cut a ghost shape from patterned paper. Punch 2 small circles from black paper for the eyes. Punch 2 small holes near bottom of ghost to insert the lollipop stick. Cut "beware" strip from patterned paper and attach to bottom of ghost. Add chipboard piece to ghost.
You can just poke these little guys into the foam and they are a cute addition. Or you can make the lollipop creatures just how they are to hand out to the children at school! Thanks for visiting today!

Label Tulip card kit sneaks...

2009-10-11T14:27:00.004-04:00

Hope you are all having a great weekend. Hubby and I had a "date day" yesterday without the kids, so it was refreshing to spend some time with him alone and go out for a nice dinner. We are just relaxing today (well scrapping for me..ha).

I wanted to let you know about a new card kit coming out soon. Label Tulip has its very own monthly card kit beginning this month! This kit is just an add-on kit that goes with the main kit. It comes with the latest and greatest 12x12 papers that you can use for your layouts, but upon purchase, you will get instructions for 4 cards made by me! The instructions are free and will be downloadable upon purchase of the kit. Make sense?

You won't need to subscribe to buy these kits, and you can pick and choose which ones you want when they go up for sale on the 15th of each month!

These are some sneaks for you of the fun, colorful card kit coming out in a few days! If you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter to get more information when the kits come out, etc., go to the main Label Tulip page and scroll down to the bottom. Just put in your e-mail address, then when the kits are available, you'll get a notice. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Cards Magazine spotlight...

2009-10-08T11:32:00.011-04:00

Do you subscribe to Cards Magazine? If so, you've probably seen the September issue by now and my mug in there along with an article about me! I haven't seen it yet, but about 6 months ago when Alisha Gordon from Cards Magazine sent me an e-mail asking me to be the Spotlight Designer for September, I about fell outta my chair! Me? You've got to be kidding! I'm anxiously awaiting my issue. Here are a few things I created for it...
Back 2 School card: Here I used a Worldwin card base and printed out a teacher poem that says, "Teacher: For all the time, all the care, the things you know, the wear and tear. For all you do we want to say, Happy Back to School Day!" I added some Pink Paislee papers from the Winsome collection, rub ons and their sticker letters.

Happy Fall card: I used the Captivating line by Pink Paislee on this one and the gorgeous flower turned into a little fall tree. I added the autumn rub on over the chipboard letters. This is still one of my favorite lines..the colors are yummy for fall!4 You card: This one has lots of different things on it...Captivating paper, Enchanting paper, stickers and chipboard letters, Pop Fashion rub ons and Vintage Moon rub ons (Press Ons as they call them)...all by Pink Paislee.
If you haven't seen Cards Magazine before, you should definitely check it out. I think they are offering on-line issues as well for a cheaper price point now.

One question I have been asked is: How do you mail your dimensional cards?
I do have to admit...I love adding dimension and things that pop up off my cards. Not sure why...it's a sickness. ha I just think it makes a card come alive. My family all live in South Dakota and usually I am mailing boxes with gifts inside, so it's easy to just stick my card in the box with the gift and it won't get squished or harmed in any way. So most of my cards are sent in the mail that way. But..if you have a special card you want to make for someone like a teacher or friend, you could certainly hand deliver it instead of putting it in the mail. If I know I am going to mail it the regular way, a button or two won't harm anything, but I wouldn't go all-out dimensional in that case. Hope that answer helps!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

2009-10-05T11:23:00.011-04:00

I've been creating a couple of things for some magazine calls, so I don't have anything scrappy to share with you today, but I found some super cute Halloween cupcakes and couldn't resist sharing them with you! One site that I visit often for inspiration...scrappy and otherwise...is Better Homes and Gardens. They always have awesome ideas and beautiful, colorful photos that inspire me!

Witch legs

Under Wraps
Gone Batty

Peekaboo
Frankenstein

Bare Bones

Aren't they adorable? Fun for any Halloween party! I would have to make ALL of these, but then the kids would be fighting over which one they wanted. ha

Also, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Check out these gorgeous buttons by Tessa Ann:A good scrappy friend of mine lost her mother to breast cancer 20 years ago today. If you are blog hopping, please stop over to Amy Tara's blog to read her story, see photos of her beautiful mom, and leave her a comment for a great give-away she is hosting. What a beautiful reminder for us to take care of ourselves. Sometimes we forget that the best thing we can do for our children is to take time to make sure we are healthy too.

Thanks for reading today,

Grateful...

2009-10-02T09:08:00.008-04:00

I can't believe it's October already! Time flies much too fast. I love this time of year when we get to pick pumpkins and enjoy the corn maze, and take out all our warm, fuzzy sweaters! I apologize that I don't have any balloon festival pics to share with you. We arrived, and they couldn't fly the balloons because of the wind. We were soooo bummed!

The 2nd of each month is my day to post on the Pink Paislee blog and if our day lands on a Friday, we are to do a project that has to do with journaling. I'll admit, I'm not the best at journaling. So, after playing around with the journaling spots, I decided to come up with an alternative use for them! I used it as a photo matte on my layout. Lately, I've been really loving to do all different size of pics! I really enjoy having a photo printer at home. I use Photoshop CS2 to resize the photos I want to use, then open up a new document that is 4x6" and move all my photos to that new document. Then I can print a ton of little photos on a small sheet of photo paper. If you don't have a printer at home, you could certainly use wallet size photos on these journaling spots too.
Have I told you how much I LOVE this line? This is the Amber Road line of papers, rub ons, die cuts, postcards (journaling spots), brads, and the Expressions chipboard. Seriously, one of my all time favorites by Pink Paislee. Anything red and I'm hooked!
In other news, tomorrow is World Card Making Day! I was asked by a Brazilian scrapbooking forum to host a little card challenge for their site. The site is called ScrapbookBrasil.com if you speak Espanol un poco and would like to visit! (I'm not very fluent in it anymore!)

My challenge is to create a card using spray ink, mist, or paint somewhere on your card, and I put together a couple of samples...I used Melissa Frances fall chipboard, rub ons, patterned paper, and resin pieces on these. The cat was sprayed with Graphite Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels and the tree was just painted black with acrylic paint. I quickly brushed paint on the background of a Worldwin card base so the rub on would show up better. On the Boo card, I sprayed over the Boo chipboard with the same mist, and then added a rub on over the top. It's very shiny in real life!

I hope you get time to make something for World Card Making Day! I appreciate your sweet comments~ thanks for stopping by,

Harvest time...

2009-09-30T15:26:00.004-04:00

There's a chill in the air here today, and I need to go grab me a sweater! Brrr! The colder weather has really put me in the mood to create fall things the past few days, so I'll share a little bit with you at a time. These are both made with Melissa Frances products...

On the Happy Harvest card, I layered some chipboard numbers over a resin frame and added the bat rub on to a transparency to add it over the top. I can't get enough of the Melissa Frances resin!

I know the next card looks blurry...but really that IS what it looks like in real life! :) It sort of has a hazy look to it. To create this card, I stamped the damask onto white cardstock with Versamark ink, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then I rubbed my brown stamp pad over the entire card. A damp paper towel takes off most of the ink from the white embossed portion. You could certainly use watercolors over the embossed image for a softer look!
Thanks so much for visiting me today! I'll be back with a Pink Paislee blog post on Friday and some cards for World Card Making Day!

Update on Danbury, CT classes...

2009-09-29T09:09:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to give you all an update on the scrapbooking classes I will be teaching in Danbury, CT. They will be held on Friday, Oct. 23rd and Saturday, Oct. 24th and we've added 2 classes (4 all together)! They are listed now at the Lasting Memories site, so pop over there and sign up soon! You do not need to sign up for the crop to take any of my classes. There will also be a professional photographer giving classes on portrait skills and such...how cool is that! Hope to meet you!

New card kits are coming soon...

2009-09-28T08:48:00.007-04:00

Good morning! I wanted to pop in and tell you about a little venture that I'm so excited about...and hope you will be too. As you may know, Create My Keepsake has closed its doors recently. I was deeply saddened by the news, as CMK was my "scrappy home" for quite some time. Two years or more! But when one door closes, another opens, right? Seems so true...

I have been on the Label Tulip team for about 6 months and really love the kits that they put together there, so I proposed to the new owner an idea. How about turning one of her add-on kits into a card kit? Much to my surprise, she was thrilled with the idea and agreed!

Starting next month (October 15th), one of the add-on kits will automatically come with directions, photos and patterns to 4 cards created by me. The add-on kit can still be used for layouts or anything your heart desires. The directions are just going to be a "bonus" for you when you buy that add-on kit!

Please see the Label Tulip blog today for more information! I have posted a sample of what you will get. (Note: These are NOT made with the first card kit, they are just samples of cards that I made with last month's kits.) Kits will be stocked with all new goodies...the latest and greatest.

You will not need to sign up for a subscription for these. They will be sold on a first come, first serve basis! The price point will be kept within the $20-25 range. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this idea. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or requests for particular items for these kits!

P.S. I forgot to mention that you are SO welcome to join us in the Label Tulip forum to chat about anything/everything! You can also post in the gallery any creations you make, they do not have to be made with a Label Tulip kit for you to post there. Come on over!

Autumn is upon us...

2009-09-26T11:36:00.008-04:00

Good morning, it's Saturday and the fall weather has certainly arrived here in New York! It's a brisk 56* here this morning and the leaves are falling left and right. We are headed to the Adirondack Balloon Festival this afternoon, and I'm so excited to see the girls' faces when 90 hot air balloons take off into the air! We haven't been to this event yet since we have lived here. (I think I'M more excited than the kids..ha!)

I'm in the mood to create fall things and love the warm colors associated with this time of year. I worked on a frame last night with lots of yummy Melissa Frances supplies: stamps, resin, chipboard, rub ons and pearls.

The frame is just an inexpensive one from the dollar store that I've had in my stash for awhile. I covered the matting with cardstock that I stamped with 2 different stamp sets by Melissa Frances. I added the chipboard letters and rub ons over the top of the glass and cut out a few more of the leaves for dimension on the top of the frame.

You could certainly paint or spray the resin with mists or glitter, but I chose to leave them white and love the crisp look with the browns/golds.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your weekend!

Melissa Frances supplies used:
Pop Out Glitter Alphabet GN16
Stately Applique Resin CX12 (swirls on bottom)
Tea Party Applique Set CX811 (flower)
Scroll Applique S/4 CX710 (swirls in top corner)
White Pearls GN278
Autumn Splendor Transfers FW042
Baroque Stamps ME11
Flower Stamp ME12

Urban ink...

2009-09-25T09:06:00.008-04:00

Over at Dream Street, our assignment this month involved working with the new Urban Ink line by Dana Miron, and I have to admit, when I first pulled out these papers and such, I was a little intimidated! Scrapping "boy style" has been really tough for me. Must be because I have 2 girls at home and have always scrapped "girly" things. But....as I got going and started creating, I had a LOT of fun pushing myself to create this card set:
I added some striped ribbon from my stash and tied it in a knot, it's supposed to look like an ! at the end of congrats. ha Love this striped paper too!Next, we have an encouragement card, "Aim High". When I saw the swirly lines on the paper, I thought of a big arrow.
And the dude card. My personal favorite!
I cut a star shape out of the paper myself and popped it up with pop dots and then wrapped twine around it for a boyish, rustic look. The barbed wire is an Urban Ink rub on and the arrows and chipboard letters are Urban Ink chipboard.
If you have boys, snatch this line up! It's perfect!
Click HERE to see more projects being posted throughout September with the Urban Ink line. I love Katrina's "Typical Teen" layout. She's so good!

Come and scrap with me...

2009-09-23T17:05:00.006-04:00

Hey, all-
Anyone live in or near Connecticut? I will be coming to Danb ury Plaza the weekend of Oct. 23-24th to teach a few classes! One will be a mini album class and one will be a layout class. Both are going to feature the new Pink Paislee lines. I hope you can make it! I'd love to meet all you on-line peeps!The layout class is going to feature Amber Road, Twilight and the Mistletoe lines by Pink Paislee. The Mistletoe line comes out next month, so you'll be getting brand new stuff in your kit including two stamp sets to take home and lots of extras! I have many prizes to give away too!

The mini album class is going to be a fall mini featuring the Amber Road line:
Please visit Lasting Memories for more information. Sign ups will be taken soon!

Cherish those loved ones...

2009-09-22T14:04:00.013-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I hope this day finds you well, healthy and happy.

We have had a sad time this week. I don't want to bring you down, but I've been feeling so helpless this week with the death of my cousin's little boy. They live in Minnesota and had a baby boy 3 weeks ago, and he's been in the ICU. He wasn't able to move his arms and legs and was having trouble breathing. They had him on a ventilator and did multiple tests to find out he had Spinal Atrophy. It wasn't good news, as most babies born with this live only a few months. Well, on Friday evening, he passed away on his own.

It just breaks my heart so much. Words can't express how it hurts and I wish I could help them in some way. I remember when Kati was in the ICU when we found out she had a heart malformation and how it felt not being able to bring her home. But it was for only a few days. Losing a child would be worst thing imaginable. Josh, my cousin, and his wife Jess have been keeping everyone updated on caringbridge.com and her journal entries have been so heartbreaking. Please keep them in your prayers, if you could. Here is a slide show I wanted to share. They are going to be playing this at the funeral. Just to warn you, you will need lots of tissues. Amos Bennett's slide show

Now onto happier things. I must have needed to lift my heart today, so I created a few colorful things. This first page is made with Noel Mignon's Core Curriculum kit. I wanted the page to have a funky, crazy feel to it. What do you think?

Taylor is such a goofy girl with a fun personality! She is always silly and making jokes and being funny. I love it.

I first started with the idea to create buckles out of the Scenic Route rub ons. I applied them to the kraft paper, cut them out and then cut slits into the ends to slide the ribbon through.

The title was hand drawn and hand cut by me. I don't have a cutting machine, so I improvised.

Everything here was from the kit except the ribbons (from my stash).

Next up is my card for Card-a-licious this week. The challenge is to create a birthday card with red, blue and yellow. I used the Pink Paislee Sweet Cakes line, a Prima flower, a Melissa Frances resin flourish and rub on, and I think the scalloped paper is Making Memories.

Thank you for stopping by today and give those loved ones a big hug.
Appreciate them and love them with all of your heart.

Label Tulip creations...

2009-09-16T18:14:00.012-04:00

The Sept. kit at Label Tulip went up for sale last night and...well...it's sold out already! If you've had your eye on these kits, don't hesitate! Sign up soon on the main Label Tulip page for next month to guarantee your kit! Here are some creations I made with the kits:

1. Note to Self was a challenge for us to scrap a page to our 18 year old self. I couldn't find any old photos of me (think my mom still has all of them at her house in S.D.), so I just scrapped a recent photo of me. It was fun to do this, as I never seem to do pages about myself. I loved reflecting on how I've changed since then. If only I knew what I know now! 2. This little headband was made with the crocheted butterfly (from Etsy) in the kit and the ribbon. I just hot glued the ribbon onto a basic headband and then hot glued the butterfly on top of that. Kati wore this headband for 2 days straight...she loves it and it was so simple to make! I love that it's a custom headband that no one else will have here. Aren't these butterflies divine?
3. The next page, Kiss Me, are photos of Kati and daddy at the apple orchard last weekend. We had just finished up picking apples and sat down for some cider donuts. She is so loveable. Always giving love and it's so hard not to love her back! (This is the lift of Leigh's page that we were challenged to do.)
4. I *Heart* You card: This card is made with some of the Graphic 45 papers and some of the Prima packaging. I used the little die cut circle letters to create a sentiment on the side of the card. The black floral paper was cut into an arrow to draw your eye to the heart.
5. Hugs card: This red ribbon reminded me of warm hugs. It is so lush and pretty. So I wrapped it around one of the journaling spots and stamped "hugs" on the bottom with some alpha stamps from my stash.
Love these pearl gems...so pretty!
6. Hi card: The last card was made with one of the add-on kits. I got my inspiration for this card here. Such a neat idea. There is a how-to there also if you visit that link.
The new owner at Label Tulip, Jennifer, did an amazing job putting these kits together. Can't wait to see what she has in store for next month.

I want to thank you so much for all the kind wishes and congrats! I can't wait to get started with Tattered Angels and feel so blessed that they want me as part of their team. =) Hugs,