Wedding Card and Mini Adventure Album

Besides decorating for their wedding, I wanted to give the Bride and Groom a special handmade gift. I used some Cricut cuts for the card along with lots of ribbons and bling. I kept it all within their wedding colors. {Do you recognize the paper collection?} I even decorated the envelope with some stamping.

The card contained a small gift, but I really wanted to give something personally from me. After hearing plans for their honeymoon, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for them. A kraft mini album for them to keep all the photo's they would capture on their adventures through wineries and vineyards! Why the bicycles? They both enjoy riding their bikes, but their adventures through wine country will be on bike.....how cool does that sound?!!

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a sneak peek of the album cover. I layered the cover with some For Always papers, burlap ribbon and a couple of For Always PML cards. I added some stamping and hand stitching. The neutral colors will be a great base to add any photos no matter the colors. Here is a look at some of the pages inside. I left spaces for pictures and journaling.

 My favorite is the "Happy Hour" page. You know there will be lots of hours that will be happy on a wine tour!!

I also liked the card I created from the zip strip on the For Always paper and the new Documenting Moments stamp set.

Finally, this is how I wrapped the card and book together. Just a simple bag tied together with ribbon.

The kraft mini album is simple to decorate and put together with PML cards. It makes a great gift or keepsake. The My Crush books are also fun to assemble, but wait until next month to see the awesome deal that Close To My Heart is offering on them!!

My First "She Art"

I have seen various "She Art" projects floating around the internet. I saw them posted on Pinterest and some Blogs which made me curious and even found some You Tube videos showing how to create them. I was pleasantly surprised to find some Julie Nutting stamps at Hobby Lobby and purchased some canvas and Mod Podge along with them. Even with the materials at hand and lots of researching I was still nervous to try my hand at this type of art project! So everything sat there in my craft room for a couple of weeks.

Then, last Friday I said, "What the heck, just try it, it's only paper and glue!" I had so much fun just 'building' the girl and piecing together an assortment of patterned papers. In the end it may not have been perfect, but it was freeing, and fun, and sort of addicting!

So here is my very first "She Art" or should I say She Heart!

 
My papers are from new & old collections like For always, Heartstrings, Frosted and La Bel Vie.

I love the idea of choosing a quote or sentiment that really means something to you. This is the one I chose for this first project, it just kept ringing in my head and my heart that day.

At first I was super nervous to free hand all of the outline, not sure if it would just look messy. After a few strokes it became relaxing and even a bit meditative! I even squiggled some curls in her hair!

Besides piecing paper and doodling an outline, I also stamped a sentiment of love and left a flower popped up off the canvas. I simply sealed some mod podge on the surface, but as you can see in the photo it is not completely glued down to the canvas. I love that there are no strict or confining rules. What a great way to use left over pieces of paper too. I have so many ideas for more She Art!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peek~a~Boo Washi Tape

This card contains lots of on-trend products, especially the Washi tape! I made it in response to a creative challenge from the CTMH team to use Washi tape in a creative way. I liked the idea of cutting out a sentiment and having patterned paper and Washi tape peeking through from behind.

To make the banner I simply chose the shape on my Cricut and then in Design Space I chose my font for the hello and cut it out on the center of the pennant shape. For the background I chose random papers from various collections and grouped them with some gold dotted, lagoon heart and arrow Washi tape. Include the twine, gold shimmer trim and mini clothespin, this card is absolutely trendy!!

Fall in Love With Ice Cream

With all of this warm weather right now I have cravings for Ice Cream! That was my inspiration for this clean and simple card for the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

I did a colorful chevron stamp and a zip strip from the For Always paper as the belly band. I thought the sentiment was pretty funny, "every time I see you, I fall in love all over again"! Yeah, it's like that!! How adorable is that ice cream truck? Finally some little heart puffies finishes off the card perfectly!

The Wedding

The youngest of my Brother-in-Law's was married yesterday evening. He is the baby of 11 children and the last to be wed! It was a beautiful wedding filled with surprises and personal touches. I made them a card based on the wedding colors of slate gray and coral orange. I used the Stickease from the For Always paper kit and added some stunning ribbon and sweet little orange flowers. Simple yet elegant!

{The wedding party}



What's Your Favorite Color?

Today is my last day to be a Guest Designer on Heart 2 Heart Challenges! :( I enjoyed playing along with them this month and look forward to new challenges next month.

This week H2H wants to color you happy! We were asked to create a project using our favorite CTMH color. To be honest there are a couple colors that really make me "happy"! I know it's a favorite color when I find that I am constantly re-stocking cardstock or my ink pad starts going dry.

I created this fantastic flip album to celebrate things that make my heart happy and of course it incudes my favorite colors. It's really hard to choose just one color, so I give you my top 3!

3. When I'm looking for a happy color, I think of yellow. Not a blinding, sunny yellow, rather a soft, creamy yellow. My third favorite color is Crème Brulee.

2. I love my pinks, but mostly a strong, bright pink. I especially love to mix it in with black, gray or white. I have a small collection of running shoes all in this color combination! My pink pick and second favorite color is Cotton Candy!

1. Finally, my number one pick is everywhere in home décor, jewelry and fashion trends lately. My daughter and I fight over who gets to buy the blouse, shorts or sandals in this color. Some stores refer to it as turquoise, teal or tropical breeze. In my CTMH world it's Lagoon and I love it!

 I popped a little Pear green in there too! That would be a 4th favorite color and rounds out my primary colors!!

This flip album idea came from a video posted by Heidi Swapp. I found the basic supplies I needed to create my own from Walmart.

It all starts with a simple clear acrylic standing frame. Mine is only 7x5, but you could make it larger if you wish. A piece of texture paper quickly dresses up the background. I chose some chevron For Always papers.

The next item was a little tricky! I needed to find binder rings that were on a bracket so that they would be able to mount to the frame. I was fairly certain that these are not sold individually and I would really need to be on the hunt for something I could tear apart. I just so happened to find these little index card binders in a plastic folder. I was able to pop the binder piece out of the folder and hot glue it onto the face of my frame.

All I had left to do is add fancy Cricut cut pages. So far I only have 4 pages created, but you can see that I have plenty room left on my ring to add more pages.

 

 

So what's your favorite color? Can you pick just one? Submit your favorite color project on Heart 2 Heart this week.



Thanks! {with green and a pop of bling}

I combined two challenges today for a fun, graphic "Thank You" card!

The pop of Pear green with black and white is so stunning! That was the color combination this week on Dynamic Duos! I chose some chevron paper from the For Always kit. The little Thank You sentiment is from a special stamp being offered for a limited time to help provide relief to the Oklahoma victims. You can get the details under the Current Specials tab!

I splashed just a little chartreuse Color Shine {Heidi Swapp} on the base of the card giving it a bit of shimmer. I then added some green bubbles and black sparkles for some "bling". I hope it was enough for the challenge on The Paper Players , Bring on the Bling!

 

 

Dynamic Duo Wedding Cards

Earlier I posted some anniversary cards I intend to donate. I also wanted to contribute some cards with a wedding theme. I thought the Dynamic Duo colors of red and purple would work well. I used up some more of the For Always My Stickease Assortment. I simply added in some purple ribbon with the black, gray and ruby red colors!

For Always Anniversary

One of the organizations that I donate cards to was in need of some anniversary and wedding cards. I pulled out some of the gorgeous For Always papers and the coordinating My Stickease. These cards were super simple to put together. I only needed to do some cutting and just a little bit of stamping as the Stickease images were really the star.

This first card uses the Freshly Made Sketches pattern. I used a background stamp as if it were a border stamp by only stamping a portion of the stamp on the edges of the cardstock base. I like the pop of yellow with the black, white and juniper colors!

 

 

Here are the other cards I created with the same papers and My Stickease images. Changing the colors really changes the whole look. This first one uses the same colors as my own wedding day! A classic color combination. The other card is more of the juniper color with black & white. I have noticed a growing trend everywhere of turquoise and coral colors! The second card really blends with the current trends.

 

Every Mile a Memory ~ Thanks

Another thank you card for you today using the sketch this time at Freshly Made Sketches! This time I've combined the graphic black & white chevron from the For Always papers with just a bit of Dream Pop shimmer cardstock. You may think this is such a strange "thank you" card, but it was for my son's recent Birthday in which he received some gas money!

Celebrate You {Spinner Card}

Who says you're required to used paper that only come in a pack together? I love mixing various papers from all the packs! I especially love popping colorful paper with black and white prints. Check out this fun spinner card that is full of color and has great graphic appeal!

Oh Snap!

Tomorrow I am hosting a Birthday themed card exchange. I have already received several cards and can't wait to share them here with all of you. These ladies are so talented and their artwork inspires me every time!

In the meantime I have some cute cards to share with you today using the Sightseer stamp set. I like the simple, trendy images. I especially like the people, camera and the arrow graphic which I turned into chevron stripes on a card posted previously.

This first card uses some For Always paper and just a strip of some older Dotty papers. I wanted the look of a polaroid picture and with the addition of Washi tape the card looks like a page in a Smash Book!

Even though this card is a Birthday theme, it was not worthy enough for the upcoming exchange. However, I was able to play with some new Heidi Swapp Color Shine shimmer spray and Color Shine Heart. In person this card sparkles and shines!

Be sure to come back soon to see the fabulous creations from my Birthday card exchange!

Fun Friend Card

I saw this idea of creating a rainbow effect using a zig zag or chevron pattern. I chose the image from the new Sightseer stamp set. I was also able to use the sketch on Freshly Made Sketches, it all came together perfectly!

The Swing Card

Having some fun with the Swing cards on the Artiste Cricut cartridge! Just press the 'S' key!!

 

This was a class that I taught earlier this week. Did you know there are 9 different swing cards that can be cut on the Artiste Cricut cartridge? In addition there are multiple shapes in the center of the card that can be cut on either the Artiste or Art Philosophy cartridges. With all the coordinating stamps for each shape you can make dozens of unique, interactive cards!

 

Go ahead and hit the 'S' key! Your going to love playing with these cards!