Jewelry Creations

Once I put away my sewing mess from my last creative buzz, I decided to get out my jewelry making mess ;-)  Thanks to some ideas I found on Pinterest (click HERE to view my Jewelry Board to see my inspiration pieces) I've had a lot of fun creating.

These ones are so simple and the possibilities are endless since you can use any paper and colors you want.  I ordered my glass tiles and bails from Amazon and used Liquid Glass to put them together.

I think I am going to turn these ones into magnets instead of jewelry.

Here is a simple birthstone bracelet that I made for my mom.  It has all of my family's birthstones plus my brother's family.

Kaylee wanted to make a birthstone bracelet as well, but she wanted to include grandparents and great grandparents from both sides of the family too, so hers can be a double wrap bracelet OR a necklace.

I also had fun with the nest jewelry that I've seen all over - I had a good variety of wires in my stash, so it's been fun to mix and match.  My pictures are not good but you get the idea.

Brianna loved these and wanted to join in so here are the rings she started with:

Then she wanted to make a matching set which turned out super cute.

I remember wanting to do these Washer necklaces a couple of years ago when I first saw them but then I forgot about them until I saw them pop up on Pinterest.  So fun and simple, and like the tile necklaces, you can really customize with the papers and colors you want.

I made this one for a friend's birthday last month, so I decided to make a little gift box to put it in. I cut the box using my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  I kept the box simple, just sanded the cardstock and tied with a ribbon - here it is closed...

...and open.

For the inside piece I cut another box, just 1/4" smaller and trimmed off the half circle edges. Then I punched holes with my Crop-a-dile and cut to the holes to hold the cording.  Here it is before I put each piece together to give you an idea. 

Another thing we've been playing with are Shrinky Dinks - but I will share those pics in another post.  I have been attempting to make rings from it but so far no luck, they cool too fast and break as I'm bending them :-(

My Creations Spotlight Blog Hop

I am so happy to be participating in another blog hop - it's been a while!  This month for our Spotlight Blog Hop we are featuring the My Creations 3-D products from Close To My Heart.  Be sure to check out all the inspiration by hopping around to see what everyone created.  If you came here from Haley's blog, you're on the right track!

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I decided to play with the new My Creations® Mini Banner - it was the first thing that I ordered out of the newest Idea Book and I hadn't done anything with it yet, so it was just the motivation I needed!  We recently got out our Spring/Easter decor and realized I really don't have a lot of stuff so I wanted to add to my collection and decided a 'SPRING' banner would be fun and something new.  The best part is, I still have banner pieces left so I'm not done playing with this product yet - may just have to order a few more when I'm done with this one!

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Anyway, on to my project...I am not much of a pastel girl so I broke away from the traditional Easter/Spring colors and used the new Florentine papers for my banner - I had (3) 6"x6" sampler pieces of paper from this pack so I was able to use each pattern.  I used the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection to cut my letters from Garden Green Cardstock - love my Cricut and this cartridge rarely leaves my machine!  Another handy tool I used on this project were my Finishing Files - so handy and I love the look they helped me achieve!

If you are ready to continue along the hop, the next stop is Adeline.  If you would like to check out more of my project, keep reading - but don't forget to see what the rest of the gals in the hop have created! 

Here is a close-up of each letter so you can see the minor details and the gorgeous papers.

S - Just Blooms™ Flutter Paper Shapes

P - bitty Bamboo brads

R - used paper pieces that I cut out from some scraps.

I - this paper has so much pattern that the letter 'I' almost gets lost - I tried to make it stand out by simply wrapping it in Colonial White Waxy Flax - I could have used a different color of cardstock to help this letter stand out more, but I wanted to keep all of the letters the same color.

N - used a bit of Indian Corn Blue Waxy Flax to tie on a metal tag from the Colonial White Mini Medleys - the heart was cut from another scrap of patterned paper from Florentine.  I just realized I was planning on covering the heart in Liquid Glass but forgot - I'll have to add that.

G - a simple Just Blooms flower folded and tucked under the letter.

I have been attempting to hang this banner on the mirror above my piano (using removable glue dots) but so far am not having any luck.  Any suggestions on getting it to stay without leaving holes or marks?

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Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to continue along the hop by checking out the next super talented lady, Adeline!

Flashback Friday - 6th Grade Graduation

We got hit with a yucky sick bug at our house this week - the older girls missed a couple of days of school and we haven't done much this week.  For some reason (named Valerie) I got the urge to go through some old pictures so I pulled the box out of my closet and started my trip down memory lane.  For my friends on Facebook, sorry if you're sick of all the old pics I've been posting ;-)  Anyway, it also got me in the mood to start scrapping again - like hands on scrapping, not just digital.  Since moving here I have hardly printed any new pictures, which is a good thing, I guess, since I do have a lot already printed!  In R-ton I lived a block away from Walgreens so I would go online, order the pictures I wanted to scrap, pick them up in less than an hour, and do a page or two.  Here we don't have good local photo printing options - I have to take a memory card or jump drive to the hardware store, sort through and order my pics on a dinky little kiosk, which is just no fun, especially with kids.  Plus I've never been pleased with the prints, the colors always seem off, and it takes forever for just a couple of prints.  Now I know I could always order them online and have them shipped but I am just never that prepared in advance to know which pictures and what sizes I want to order a large quantity of pics to make it worth the shipping cost. Thankfully Studio J has kept me scrapping recent pictures, so I can't complain!  If I want to get some hands on scrappin' done I will turn to my box of already printed pages - it's a good way to accomplish that goal anyway!

Anyway, didn't mean to ramble - what I really came here for today is to share some pages that I finished up yesterday.  I used some Fancy Kewl papers from Fancy Pants Designs that I've had in my stash for a few years now.  I picked this paper because of the teal color (which matches my dress) and notebook lined papers (which goes along with my school theme).  I only had one page of the teal pattern I wanted to use, and only a few inches left of the lined paper, so I had to stretch it as much as I could.  I will show you how I did below.  I used a sketch from the PageMaps 2 book.

You can see that I used the patterned paper along the top of both pages.  Then I got the idea to use my Cricut and the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to add some leaf shapes to the bottom white space and tie in the pattern above.  Then I got the idea to use my spray pen (mixed with water, re-inker, and pearl paint) to mask some designs with the shapes that I had just cut out.  I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I used the Field Trip Alphabet and Classmate Alphabet stamps for my title.  I used the CTMH ink colors Ocean (retired), and Tulip as they matched well.  I think Lagoon would have worked as well, but Ocean was the first color that came to my mind.

But wait, that's not all - I also wanted to fit more pictures without adding more pages, so I used the handy Flip Flaps (I used one 4x12 and one 8x12) and now the entire right page opens up to reveal more.  Here you can see how I stretched the last 4x12 piece of teal flowered paper - the top piece is actually the back of the pattern from the front page - I was going to cover it or fill it up with something but decided to leave it as is.

Here is how it looks in the page protectors/Flip Flaps all put together (except the top flap is closed in this picture).

This scrapbook is the very first scrapbook I ever received - my grandparents gave it to me years ago and ultimately (along with some help from my aunt) got me started in scrapbooking.  This one is full of just my childhood pages and is about 4 inches thick, but I think it's time to divide it up!

Thanks for looking and joining me on my flashback!

UFO No More!

If you saw my last post, I posted this UFO (Un-Finished Object) that I was going to finish on Tuesday...

... and I am happy to report that it's done and I'm so thrilled!  I don't remember how the original idea board looked at Super Saturday (it was over three years ago) as I ended up with 3 extra rectangle pieces - I'm thinking they were supposed to go behind the F, H, and E but I wasn't liking how it was looking, so I chose to do it this way.  I was going to add some flourishes and more embellishments like fibers or buttons or something, but I decided to keep it simple, and I'm glad I did.  Here is the finished project:

I used Apple Barrel Barn Red paint for the board.  For Christmas I got the Calligraphy Cricut Cartridge, and I used that for my big letters.  I was going to cut the names and other words with the Cricut, also, but decided it would be easier to stamp them.  I used the Felicity stamp set on the names and A Typeface stamp set for the assignment stars.  The papers and Stickease I used came from the retired CTMH Heirloom collection.  After I attached everything I used Liquid Glass to go over the Stickease and the large letters - love the dimension and shine that it adds.

I found another project that I haven't shared here yet.  This was one of my Creative Tuesday projects just before Christmas and I made it for a family gift.

I used the Passages paper and some black grosgrain ribbon.  The name is cut using the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, and the date is stamped using the Friendship Small Alphabet.  I attached the Opaques Licorice Gems and the rolled flower (also cut from the Art Philosophy Cartridge) directly to the glass.

Thanks for looking!

December Crafty Projects

Okay, lots of posts lately but I am determined to catch-up so I can move on!  Here are just some quick pics of some of the projects we worked on during the month of December.  Sorry for the poor picture quality but they were all taken with the iPod because I was usually in a hurry to get a pic before sending off the gift ;-)  I will post the rest of our projects once I can share!

This one was fun - I was asked to make a crown for the Boy winner for a local Snowflake Pageant.  I made it out of felt and it's fully adjustable in the back with velcro.  I came up with my own pattern, cut it with pinking sheers and sewed it with contrasting thread.  Here is Trysten trying it on for me.

I made a couple custom glove pom pom puppets.  The picture here is really bad, but this is Old McDonald with his chicken, cow, pig, and sheep.

I already posted the pic of the can Brailee and Trysten took to their preschool teacher, but here are the cans the older girls took to their teachers.  The big tall one was for the ladies in the office so we could fit all three of their gifts inside.

I think this idea was in last month's Family Fun magazine - I love that magazine, it's the only subscription I have and it's well used!  I've always loved the fingerprint creations but never tried them before.  We started with these snowmen using the whole finger - next year I want to do the reindeer, I'm hoping to do a new one each year.  The kids wrote their name and the year on the back.

Along with the Peppermint Oreo Balls, Peanut Butter Balls, cookies and dipped pretzels, I also included these little individual packets of hot chocolate mix layered with Andes Peppermint chips and marshmallows for our goodie plates that we delivered.  The tags were cut using my coluzzle and stamped using the A Sip stamp set.

Remember this Flower Topiary that I made for my MIL?  Well, I got one done for Brianna as well.  The furniture in her room is black so I used the black pearl corsage pins.  I used the retired Breeze cardstock - glad I stocked up on lots of that before it was gone as it's her favorite color plus it matches her walls.  I sponged the edges of the flowers with Pacifica ink to tie in the darker blue from the pot that I picked up on clearance.  These iPod pics really don't do the colors justice - it's much brighter a prettier in person!  Maybe I'll get some better pictures later.

Here is one more project that I started but haven't finished yet.  It features a product from this month's Close To My Heart special, Rock the Block.  If you order just $25 in product, you can get this set for just $15 and it includes an E-sized stamp set!  The blocks will be available in the new Idea Book starting February 1st for $14.95, but the E-size set, exclusive to this special, is a $29.95 value!  It's really a great deal and a fun project!  I can't wait to finish it up and post it all - for now here's a quick peek!  Click here or contact me for more details on this special.

Thanks for looking!

CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop - Embossing

Hello and welcome to this month's CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop!  This month we are featuring projects using an Embossing Technique.  If you came from Luisa's blog then you are on the right track!  If you are starting here, then just keep hopping along to check out what everyone else has created.

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I love embossing, whether it's heat embossing or dry embossing, it's always a fun addition to any project.  Click HERE to view all items available from Close To My Heart to meet your embossing needs.  Today I am featuring some projects using heat embossing.

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I gave a little sneak peek last week, here are a few of the full pages.  I created these pages for a friend's baby shower.  She only scraps in 8 1/2 x 11 so I had to challenge myself since I've never scrapped this size before.  On these following pages, I heat embossed on a clear transparency to create my own type of overlay.

For these Halloween pages I modified the Dialogue pattern from Imagine.  I also used some retired Enchanted papers and Creepy Cobwebs stamp set.  I heat embossed the title and the spider on the right page directly on the white paper.  I heat embossed the spider web on the transparency and trimmed around it.  I attached it with carefully placed dots of Liquid Glass (to hide under the image) and a few coordinating brads.

For the following 4th of July pages I modified the Levitate pattern from Magic.  I used some retired Blue Ribbon paper, along with a Stamp of the Month from this summer, American Celebration, and an old favorite stamp set, Circle Around.

I embossed the firecrackers on the transparency and added a touch of Prisma Glitter to the image while the embossing powder was still hot.  It added just a touch of sparkle.  Like the spider web, I trimmed around the image and attached it to the page using Liquid Glass behind the stars and a few dots.

I added a few Bling Buttons as well - this one covers up the glue dot that I used to hold the transparency down.

Here are some pages for Baby's First Christmas with a few different embossing touches added.  I modified the Full House pattern from Imagine.  I used the retired Jingle papers on these pages.  My title was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection.

I used white embossing powder mixed with Prisma Glitter to color this Dimensional Element Ornament.  It adds just the perfect touch of sparkle and shine.

Another thing I like to do with Embossing Powder is color brads with it.  I took some plain white brads here - heated the brads with a heat gun then dipped them in Baby Pink powder and heated them again.

For some regular embossing, I did a little bit of that here on the Blessing Day pages.  To create these pages I modified the Simple Contrast pattern from Cherish.  I used the retired Silhouette papers.  The title was cut using my Cricut Art Philosophy Collection - with a little help from my Cricut Design Studio I was able to change the look of the alphabet by making it taller and skinnier.  I do NOT use my Cricut without the Design Studio anymore - I know exactly what I am cutting and get the exact size I want without guessing, plus I am able to use my paper better and really customize the look.

I embossed the word DAY on these black banner pieces (also cut using the Cricut) using white embossing powder and Felicity stamp set.

A few more close-ups from these pages just because I love them so much ;-)  Here's a cluster of crochet flowers attached with various sizes of black brads.

The journaling piece was stamped using lines from the Comments stamp set and accented using the Cherish the Moment stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by - to continue along the hop, your next stop is Nikka!