Wednesday, December 31, 2014

WOYWW #291

Good morning everyone!  It's New Year's Eve and we are getting ready to jump right into a brand new year!  I always get so excited at what awaits us...new turns in our journey!  So I decided instead of being too busy to participate today I would suit up and show up for this worldwide blog hop hosted by Julia Dunnit. You can visit her blog and read all about the rules and regulations for this blog hop and hopefully you will decide to become one of us.  I've totally become addicted and if I have to miss a Wednesday, I feel like something is terribly wrong.  You see I love getting to snoop around in other people's houses and look at their storage and how they do things.

Today I'm still just trying to get past Christmas and there isn't a lot going on here.  I'm trying to get back in the swing of things and when I am not feeling too creative, I make flowers.  So flower's it is!  I love Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies for making my flowers and this morning I'm using the Arianna Blooms collection and die.  I stamped with Desert Sand by Memento because I don't want anything to fade when I add color and I think it also gives the petals a very delicate look.


In the upper left hand corner you can see the corners of my new Spellbinders dies  (Majesty)  So delicate and very difficult to get out of the die, even with using wax paper.  I've heard that sometimes using two layers of wax paper can make this an easier process so that is next on my agenda.

Well that is it for me this morning.  I'm off to visit as many of the participating blogs as I can.  See you next year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Heartfelt Creations December Alumni Design Team Blog Hop

Good morning everyone and welcome to the December Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop.  Each month we get together to bring you what we have made using our Heartfelt Creations products. As you follow along the Hop prepare to be inspired as there is a lot of talent on this team and each month we love sharing with you!

If you arrived here from Vicki Dutcher's blog you are right on track and remember to leave a comment on as many of our blogs  as you can because you never know which blog will have the winning comment. You could be the winner of a $25 gift certificate for product from Heartfelt Creations.  You have until midnight January 2nd. to comment and the winner will be announced on January 3rd.




I love making tags as they become a gift on their own when you slip it down inside a gift bag.  I used the Arianna Blooms stamps and dies and once the flowers were made I sponged embossing ink on the edges of the petals and sprinkled embossing powder on them to emboss and give the bit of gold shine to the edges.  I will list all the supplies used below.

When you leave here you need to go to Emilia van den Heuvel's  blog to continue along the hop. Good luck in the drawing!

Alumni Design Team
Lee Ann Barrett
Amarilys Doria

Supply List
Large Tag
HCD 729 Decorative Blossom Corner Die
HCPC 3608 Arianna Blooms PreCut Set
HCD 748 Arianna Blooms Die
HCD 732 Decorative Flower Pot Die
HCPC 3532 Beautiful You PreCut Set
White, Green and Brown Card Stock
Ranger Distress Ink
Glue
Anna Griffin-Cuttlebug- Embossing Folder (Foundry)
Spellbinders Nested Pennants die
Fibers From Really Reasonably Ribbon
Seam Binding
Scor-Tape


Monday, December 29, 2014

Craft Room - Storage Ideas......

Good morning everyone and welcome.  I'm here this morning as part of the Craft Hoarders design team and to share with you some of my craft room storage.  All year long when a month had a fifth Monday, some of the design team would be here sharing photos of their space and ways they handle storage in their rooms. So here are some of mine.

My closet of shame.  My husband was given the two doors and he built the cabinet from there.  I love it because it holds so much and allows me to just close the doors when I want the room to look nice.  The jars on the top hold buttons.  I don't use buttons often but they are ready when I am.


This is where I store a lot of my design papers, extra supplies, some flowers some candles and things I plan to alter.  My Cuttlebug is in there and  anything else I might need and not have a place for.  If I have lost anything this is where I go first!  Clearly it could hid something for a very long time before I would find it!


Next is my cutting station that is on feet to raise it to standing working height.  I work here a lot when my poor back gives out and gives me lots of trouble.


Next comes the storage for my dies.....  I'm sure there is probably a better way to store these, but this is what works for me.  I use dies on most everything I do and to have them within reach is a big factor for me. I'm ashamed to say, this isn't all my dies but these are the one's I've used most often.  I have some that are no longer current and some that have the edge dies that don't fit any of my cases.  I also have some Sizzix Dies that I use as well, so you see dies are a passion.  I'm constantly trying to find places that have the best prices so I can purchase more.
You can also see my small light tent there in the corner with blue cardstock as a background.


These are my most used ink pads I just slide this under my desk and it is close and ready to go.  I am a huge fan of Ranger Distress Inks for most everything I do and I use Memento Ink when I don't want it to smudge. It stays put no matter what process you are using.


I also like to keep my sponges for each color ready to go.  It keeps you from always having to wash and wear out the sponges.  This is something I have just started doing so a lot of the sponges are still clean.   This way the colors stay in their own little area and are always ready to go.


So there you have it.  Nothing fancy but it is very functional.  I would love to have all white furniture but the fact is, like most crafters, I have to make do with what I have.  Mostly I love my space and I don't fret too much about the fact there are white pieces and cherry pieces.  It's all good!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas to One and All.....

Sending you best wishes of great joy during this wonderful Christmas Season!


This is my Bella my little bundle of joy.  She is a lap dog in the truest sense and weighs a whopping 5 lbs. soaking wet.  She will be two in January and is so much fun!


Bella and Maggie...Maggie is 14 and slowing down considerably but still such a loving dear!  Maggie never takes a photo looking at the camera.  She is photo wise and when she sees the camera she makes her way out of the shot or just totally looks the other way.  

Anyway...Merry Christmas from our house to yours!




Monday, December 22, 2014

The Cover of My Mini Album.....


Good morning everyone.  As we draw nearer to this Christmas holiday I just wanted to pop in and share the cover of my mini album I'm making for myself.  I used 1.25" wires on this one so I can load up the pages with anything I want and have room so as not to crush my flowers.  I'm using Graphic 45 "A Ladies Diary" papers and Heartfelt Creations Flowers and Leaves.  The die cut under the flowers is a Anna Griffin Flourish die and the lace piece and corner pieces are Spellbinders dies.  I used Tattered Blossom stamps and dies and colored the edges of the petals with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  Then for the shine I used a sponge and applied versamark ink and Angel Wings Gold embossing powder from Lindy's Stamp Gang.  It gives the flowers and leaves the very pretty extra, over the top look.  I used a Tim Holtz frame with Snow-Tex smeared on it for extra texture and also Tim Holtz  knobs for tying  the ribbon for closure of the album.    The Memories stamp is from Flourishes Stamps.  I love how this turned out and will be working on this over the upcoming Holidays.  This will be something just for me; something I seldom do.

Well that's all for me today.  I'm off to visit some of my blogger friends to see what they are doing this morning.  Have a wonderful day and be sure and take a moment to breathe during this busy Christmas season!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

WOYWW #289

Good morning everyone!  Wednesday has once again rolled around and I am showing you another picture of my desk.  I have been so caught up in the Christmas hustle and bustle that I almost forgot I'm supposed to show you what I have going on in my little world.  Like everyone else I seem to be in a dead run right before the holiday and I'm having to make lists so I get everything finished on time.

Now if you are a bit confused by this; each Wednesday we take a photo of our desk and blog about it then link our blog to Julia's blog.  Then we can visit each other and it becomes the world's largest blog hop ever!  I love visiting everyone and seeing all you have going on!


I will have a bit of time on my hands over the holidays and I've decided I will work on a mini album for me!  I'm using the Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary papers and I brought out my Cinch and bound this one!  I will tie ribbons down those wires I think.  I'm just working on the cover of the album and my sign says Memories. I'm in the process of making some flowers that match the pink in the paper. I can make this one as frilly as I like!  These albums are still a learning process for me so I just take my time and I plan to make all the flowers myself. I'm already planning my next one.  A Heartfelt Creations album is next on my agenda!

Well that's it for me this morning.  I'm off to visit as many of you as I can!

Monday, December 15, 2014

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #22...Have a Nice Trip...

It's really hard to believe that we are on our last challenge for the year, but here we are.  Challenge #22...Have a Nice Trip.  Many of us travel round the holidays, so let's celebrate our adventures!  Dig into and find some items that are vacation or travel themed.  Do you have a hoard of cruise ship ephemera?  Do you have a box of transportation stamps?  Do you have a stash of camping themed papers? Or piles of Disney embellishments?  Show them off!  Create a vacation or travel themed project for us!

As I have gotten older, I don't travel nearly as much as I did while I was young but my destination of choice was always the beach!

Our sponsor again for the challenge is Spellbinders Dies and I used several on my project.  I love, love, love Spellbinders and use them on almost everything I make!  I created a card using the Graphic 45 By The Sea collection and it's a pocket and tag card.  The red and white checked tag is a Spellbinders die, as well as the flower petals and the swirls under the flower.  And let's not forget the corner piece.  I will list all of them in the supplies section at the bottom of this post!

The lucky winner of this challenge will receive the following:


How wonderful would it be to find these in your mailbox?  So get busy and create a project about travel or vacation and show us your stuff!  I can't wait to see what you create!


Design Team:
Supplies List:
Spellbinders Dies (Rose Creations, Large Labels, and Corner Flourish)
Seam Binding
Graphic 45 papers
glue
Gesso
Gold Pearl

Friday, December 12, 2014

A Quick and Simple Card......

Christmas is bearing down on us and I'm rushing to make a couple extra cards just in case I forgot someone.  As I get older sometimes I just forget.  I don't like it but it is a part of who I am these days. Old age is definitely not for the faint of heart!


This is pretty straight forward in that there are not a lot of bells and whistles.
Just plain red card stock and a white die cut with a pretty red ribbon.  I am trying to learn to tie bows with my Bow-It-All and this is the second one I have done.  I think I am going to love this thing and it will be a great help to me in the future.
The die cut is from Anna Griffin the Fretwork series.  I love it!  Anna has just become my go to girl.  I'm re-discovering all her products and love all the elegant details of her dies.


Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday #288

It's Wednesday and I'm here to share my desk with you.  If you are wondering why I would be showing you my workspace it's because every Wednesday we all get together and take a photo of our space then blog about it.  Then we go to Julia's blog and link to her blog hop and then we can visit each other and see what we have going on in our lives.  Julia has all the instructions and rules listed at the top of her blog so it is really easy to join in.  We are a group of crafters from all over the world and we share our space, ideas and thoughts with each other on Wednesday.


This was taken yesterday afternoon and it still looks the same this morning.  I've been working on a card and it is going to have a blue flower.  You can see I'm working with Graphic 45 paper...By The Sea.  I will share the card with you next week.

Now I'm off to join in at Julia's blog and begin my visits.  Keep the coffee hot and I will be through to see you as soon as I can.  Come join us; we always love seeing new faces!

Monday, December 8, 2014

The Mini Album.......

I have always loved the idea of the "mini-albums" but have shied away from them in the past. Well I have just embraced them!  They are definitely a lot of work and much blood sweat and tears go into them I fear!  My grandson got to take a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska this past summer and I wanted to preserve the memories for him and make a keepsake for him.  So I jumped in with both feet and began the process.

The following pictures are just taken on my desk and not in the light tent and please excuse the quality of some of the photos.  I wanted to keep this album un-fru-fru since Spencer is a very manly guy!  So I tried to keep all the bling down to a minimum.


I found this digital paper and thought it very appropriate; so it became the front and back cover for the album.  I used rawhide string to attach the metal emblem and to hold the album together.  


Right inside the front cover I printed his itinerary and a photo of their first stop (Tok, AK)  Pretty straight forward and I did some corners using die cuts.

My very first pull-out.  I put two pictures of the beautiful cabin they stayed in while visiting Tok.


I was able to store 6 photos in this folder.  I printed a picture of Alaska for the front cover of the photo folder.






This was a brown paper bag that I folded and covered with paper.  It made two pockets for photos and tags.  I love this idea!


See the half circle cut out of the red sheet?  It is to be pulled out and there is a picture on that as well.  I found lots of ideas for this on YouTube.  There is always a video there for whatever you want to learn about!


I used mostly Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport papers and think they made a great background for most of my photos.





I tried to stay true to the fact that I didn't want this to be all dolled up with lots of flowers and ribbons which is my trademark.

The back page has another two pockets to hold a little tag about his flight on July 15th.  to Alaska.  Also the larger pocket houses the extra photos I printed out for him to keep.

So there you have it.  There was a lot of work that went into this album and my grandson was really impressed that I took the time to learn to make all these ways to store his photos.  I think he will enjoy looking at this little treasure for a long time.  

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday #287

Good morning everyone and welcome to WOYWW!  For those of you still in the dark about this little Wednesday get together, I take a photo of my space and blog about it then I link to Julia's blog.  Julia is the owner and creator of this happy gathering of crafters and each Wednesday we participate in this world wide blog hop.  As we grow nearer to Christmas, you are apt to see all kinds of beautiful creations in the making from all over the world!  So come join us for this little bit of madness!  And I say that is most loving way; I've become so addicted to this blog hop that I don't know where I would be on Wednesday without being a part of this!


There are new dies in the house!  These are from a set from Anna Griffin called Fretwork!  Can I just say this is the first cut of these dies and I love them.  I can envision beautiful cards made with these and today I will play!  I've just recently become re-acquainted with Anna Griffin and I'm finding such elegant embossing folders and dies.  I'm so excited to get these and to play with them.  I see a lot of cards using these in the near future!

OK that's it for me this morning...I'm off to visit as many of the participating blogs as I can.  It's always a foot race to see how many I can visit but I never seem to get to everyone.  I keep changing my tactics but I struggle each and every week and never seem to make it all the way through.  But I do keep trying!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #21 - Celebrate the Season

Good morning and welcome to Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #21 - Celebrate the Season.  Raise your hands if you hoard Christmas or other winter holiday items?  Who has a drawer full of "retired" holiday papers and embellishments?  Who goes crazy over the candy cane ribbons or the sparkly embellishments?  Share a winter or seasonal holiday project with us.  We would love to see your Christmas projects, but you may also enter Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Year's, other holiday celebration projects, or any winter-themed projects.
Celebrate the season with us!

The design team sponsor for December is Spellbinders.  I have to say, I'm a walking advertisement for this company and have many of their dies. Some of mine date back to the very beginning of the company...so yes, I have hoarded them!



The lucky winner of this challenge will receive the following sets of dies from Spellbinders.


Here is my card.  I started with a 6" X 6" card base and layered a piece of red and then a piece of white cardstock.  I did some cut outs on the card to showcase my ornaments and raised one of the layers with dimensional tape to give it more interest .  Heirloom Ornaments 2010  and Heirloom Reflections  are the dies I used.  I think these die cuts set against the red just makes them pop!  Tie it all up with a pretty piece of ribbon and it is all ready to go!


Now you have until midnight PT on December 14th. to enter your projects.  I can't wait to see what you come up with.  I know the holidays are upon us but take a moment to create something wonderful for the season!

You can visit the design team by clicking on their names below or on the side bar of this blog.  Go see what they have created...I'm sure you will be inspired!

Design Team


Supply List:
Red and White Cardstock
Spellbinders Dies (Heirloom Ornament 2010 and Heirloom Reflections)
Heartfelt Creations HCD 702 Corner Die (Mfg. by Spellbinders for Heartfelt Creations)
White Seam Binding
Dimensional Tape
Glue

Crafty Secrets December Linky Blog Hop

Good morning all you Crafty Secrets lovers out there!  It is December 1st. and time once again for a new linky Party over at the Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Blog!  I have been asked to be a guest designer for this hop and I'm so excited to be playing with these very talented ladies of the Crafty Secrets Design Team!  The theme the design team is following is Christmas/Calendar/Cooking but you can create anything using Crafty Secrets products to enter the challenge.
I am in the Christmas mode so that is what I chose to work with.  I'm needing to finish my Christmas cards very soon so what better way than to create another card using these wonderful products!

Now get busy with your creation and link it at the Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Blog.


For my card I printed off images and papers from the Creating With Vintage Christmas CD and then I did some fussy cutting and glittering to make me happy and I made a pocket card with a Christmas Tag.


I just love all the pretty papers and those tickets and the old world images and I could go on and on. And check out the red bird flying on the corner of my card! I just think he is gorgeous! All I had to do was add a card base, some lace, a little glitter and a few die cuts and the card is all ready to go.


I cut out the Santa face and put Crystal Lacquer on it and it made a wonderful dimensional element.

Follow the hop by clicking on the Crafty Secrets Design Team names below. You will be inspired by the beauty you find along the way.  Thanks Crafty Secrets for having me as a guest designer this month!

Crafty Secrets Design Team
Glenda Brooks- Guest Designer (You are here)