Thursday, October 29, 2009

Domestic Love Sneak Peek


Whew, it's been one of those weeks!  Sorry for being AWOL - "we've" had a lot of homework for my 8-year-old.  I could rant for an hour about how children need to have time to PLAY, but instead, I'll show you a sneak peek of an awesomely fun set coming out November 3 from Cornish Heritage Farms.  It's called "Domestic Love" and it's from the ATC Collection.  This set is good for Valentines (I know, we haven't had Halloween yet, LOL!) AND for those "encouragement" notes that we all need from time to time - lots of cute puns, vintage images.... wait 'til you see it!

Anyway, I used a fabulous retro image of a couple for this one.  Some Webster's Pages 6x6 Petite Pages paper in the background, and a Tim Holtz journaling ticket.  I masked the image of the couple in order to put all the lovey dovey words spilling out from behind them.  That's another long story... you don't want to know how many times I made the exact same mistake... over and over... try again..... d'oh!!!  Ever have one of those days?  I guess you have to be of a certain age before this affliction takes hold, LOL!

Well, since I already showed you one of the sentiments from this set, I'll show it to you again, in an entirely different style, and leave it at that.  The weekend is just around the corner.... have a good one!



Friday, October 23, 2009

Some More Leafy Fun


Just a quick little post to let you know it's release day over at Cornish Heritage Farms, with the debut of Shady Tree Studios' Nesting Maple Leaves and Nesting Oak Leaves.  Here's another leafy card I made using both the outline stamp and the solid stamp.  Hop on over to the CHF Creative Blog, Farm Fresh to see more samples, and have a look at the new Friendly Kritters release, Turtle Sled (so cute!).

 Have a warm and wonderful Friday.... oooooh, "Friday," that sounds so good :)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Witches Brew ATC


A witchy little ATC for the Wednesday Stamper challenge, which this week is Halloween.  I need to make a batch of Halloween ATCs for my swap next week, so this is one of the things I might work up.  The witch image is by Crafty Secrets, and the "moon" is from NASA.  The stamps are Stampin' Up! and Little Yellow Bicycle.  Vintage German text in the background.

Falling for Leaves



I just LOVE fall - the maple trees are my favorites, especially those that turn a fiery red.  This card uses my favorite leaf shape in a new set of stamps coming from Cornish Heritage Farms tomorrow (see the sneak peek in the intro page from the link?).  Nesting Maple Leaves and Nesting Oak Leaves from Shady Tree Studio at CHF are so fun to use, because these sets come with a solid leaf stamp AND an outline leaf stamp, which you can use together or separately. For this project, I stamped the Maple Leaf outline on patterned paper from My Mind's Eye (actually from their Halloween collection), and cut them out. I used a coordinating strip of the same paper across the bottom. The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms' On the Desk set from The Rummage Bin line. I masked out the stamp so that I could stamp the three lines separate from one another, then stitched around each line and cut them out separately. I threaded a row of vintage buttons on some twine for a little dimension.

If you're game, there's a chance to win both leaf sets over at Gingersnap Creations.... head on over to THIS POST and enter the Orange/Green/Brown color challenge.  Cornish Heritage Farms is the sponsor over there for the entire month, and they've got lots of goodies up for grabs. :)

Below are the deets on the card - have the best day of the year!



Stamps:
-Nesting Maple Leaves (Shady Tree Studio) Cornish Heritage Farms
-On the Desk (The Rummage Bin) Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper:
-Dream Street Papers (Merry and Bright Collection) Warmth
-My Mind’s Eye (the Spider’s Web) “Witches Lace”
-Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)

Ink:
-Ranger Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy

Other:
Buttons, hemp cord, sewing machine

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Spooky Brads


Here's a Halloween card that I made for the Spicy Supply Challenge (which is to use brads) over at Gingersnap Creations.  That adorable little owl is the Owl Silhouette stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms.  She's stamped on some Ambrosia paper by Basic Grey.  The background was made by first embossing the Trees Backgrounder with black embossing powder from Ranger, then sponging in purple, orange, and yellow Distress Inks to make an eerie sky.  I used two shaped brads to adhere the "Spooky" paper and give it dimension - a skull and a ghost - not your ordinary brads! (I got them at Michaels).  If you'd like to participate in the Brads challenge, post your project on your blog/gallery/flickr page and link to THIS post at Gingersnap Creations.  PLUS, your name will be entered to win blog candy from Cornish Heritage Farms (A Royal Birthday stamp set from The Rummage Bin). 

Oh, and speaking of blog candy, there's more...... Enter the Orange/Green/Brown color challenge at Gingersnap Creations and you could win Cornish Heritage Farms' stamps The Pines, Nesting Maple Leaves, AND Nesting Oak Leaves sets.  Cool, heh?  It's all good :)

Happy Hump-day, everyone!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Another Royal Birthday or Two


Know a little princess who's having a birthday?  This card is another project using Cornish Heritage Farms' A Royal Birthday stamp set (coming October 20th).  I had fun making this all girly, with golden embossing powder and flowers and bling.  How about a more mature birthday lady?  Here's a card fit for a queen.



Details are below.  Hope you're having a weekend fit for a queen!

Shabby Chic Princess Card
Stamps:
-A Royal Birthday (The Rummage Bin line) Cornish Heritage Farms

Papers:
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella and Paris and Co. paper pad collections
-Simply Smooth Vanilla cardstock by CHF

Ink:
-Ranger Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Fired Brick, and Vintage Photo

Other:
-Maya Road Fresh Chipboard Scroll Frames
-Ranger Ancient Gold Embossing Powder in Enchanted Gold
-Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones and pearl
-Bobbin Ribbon twill
-Flower from silk floral stem


Queen for the Day Card
Stamps:
-A Royal Birthday (The Rummage Bin line) Cornish Heritage Farms
-French Script Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Papers:
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella and Paris and Co. paper pad collections
-Simply Smooth Vanilla cardstock by CHF

Ink:
-Colorbox in Chestnut Roan and Ice Blue
-Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo

Other:
-Maya Road Fresh Chipboard Scroll Frames
-Martha Stewart ribbon
-Prima flower
-Adirondack Lights Paint Dabber in Aqua
-Kaiser Scrapbook pearls
-Copic markers

Friday, October 16, 2009

Royal Birthday Tag Book


Today I have a little birthday tag book with a sneak peek of a VERY fun new set from Cornish Heritage Farms called "A Royal Birthday."  It's from their Rummage Bin collection, and will be available October 20.  This set cracks me up, probably because I'm of an age where, um, well, birthdays are a royal pain, LOL!! But, of course, having a birthday is always better than NOT having a birthday, so this set lightens the mood a little with all of its cute sentiments.  I can't show you everything, but here are a few more peeks at the pages.

This picture shows a close-up of a page using a fun mirror stamp... I stamped it on mirror paper to keep with the theme.











This page shows a medallion that proclaims the recipient "Queen for the Day."  Now THAT's what I like about birthdays!



Now.... if you like to treat your friends like royalty for their birthdays, you may want to head on over to Gingersnap Creations, to THIS blog post.  The folks at Cornish Heritage Farms are offering up this Royal stamp set as blog candy!  All you have to do is make a project with brads (don't we all have lots of those?) and link it to the Gingersnap Creations post.  You have until November 8 to link your creations and have a chance to win A Royal Birthday.  How sweet is that?  While you're there, check out the other CHF blog candy you could win (or check out my sidebar - it's listed there, too).

Here's hoping you are all well.... I'm recovering from a very nasty cold virus that thank goodness was NOT the flu.  I'll try to be better at posting (I know I've let it go awhile)!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Swirling Snowflakes Sneak Peek, and Blog Candy Alert


Here's a little Christmas card I made using a new Backgrounder stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms called Swirling Snowflakes, which is coming to the Farm on October 16.  I stamped the snowflake background in white StazOn on acetate, then attached a panel from a wintery scene in the Winter Wonderland paper pack by Thomas Kinkade.  I added some Stickles and a sentiment from the Night Before Christmas stamp set.  This is a fairly quick and easy Christmas card with some "whizbang" that could be good for mass-producing (you just have to wait a little for the StazOn and the Stickles to dry, but the actual production time is pretty short).

These gorgeous Thomas Kinkade papers (HERE and HERE) are a great time-saver during the holidays.  If you're like me and need some pretty packaging ideas, then you might want to head on over to the CHF Creative Blog for a wonderful tutorial by Tracy Harp.  She shows you how to use these beautiful papers to make a pretty box and gift tag set for the holidays.  And while you're there, be sure to give Tracy a little love by leaving a comment to be entered to win a pack of TK papers AND the Vintage Christmas Expressions stamp set!  It's never too early.... :)


Friday, October 9, 2009

Natural Leaf Prints


Today at Gingersnap Creations, we're using natural materials in our projects.  I have a little tutorial over there about printing with leaves (a little step up from what we did in elementary school, LOL!).  You can check it out on THIS post.  AND... don't forget to enter to win the blog candy... some great Cornish Heritage Farms products are up for grabs (see my sidebar to link to them all!).

Sources:
All stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms:
Trees Backgrounder
Fall Harvest - All Things Considered Line
Beautiful (Flourishes) The Rummage Bin line

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Boo Banners


A couple of little projects that were inspired by THIS project by Hilary Kanwischer.  Hilary has a wonderful tutorial on her post if you'd like to make these.  I just got out a bunch of stuff from my stash and had fun.  I used Inkadinkado stamps, Colorbok alpha cards, some Martha Stewart punches and stickers, and lots of old stuff  from my stash (I won't say how old, but the cobwebs looked awfully authentic for some reason, LOL!).

For more Halloween inspiration, check out Gingersnap Creations, where Lynn Stevens has a frightfully inspiring post of several of her gorgeous Halloween projects.

AND.... there's a chance to win some great Cornish Heritage Farms blog candy over at Gingersnap Creations as well... check out these two posts: HERE and HERE.

One more little card before I go... During World Card Making Day over at theCLASSroom, I came across a wonderful card posted by Nimue (HERE).  I was super inspired by her design idea of letting the patterned paper do some of the work, so made this using Memory Box Twilight paper:


 Happy Haunting! :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Haute Couture


A couple of cards today from a fantastic new release from Cornish Heritage Farms - it's Haute Couture from the All Things Considered line.  This set is pure heaven for a vintage-loving girl like me, I tell ya!  It is sure to be one of my forever-favorites.  For both of my cards today I used the image of the two "fashionistas" as my focal point.  (I used the Eiffel tower image in my Paris themed card in THIS post.)   Another thing I love about this set is the many wonderful ornamental elements, which are great for creating your own patterned papers and borders. I used one to make the green and white border in the card above, and also for the border across the top.


For this card, I used another one of the ornamental elements to stamp over the top of a pale blue patterned paper to give it a bolder feel.  I thought that little flapper girl button from JoAnne's went perfectly, so I gave her hat a little bit of bling and attached her to the card over a flower and some velvet ribbon.  I had so much fun playing, LOL!

The "recipes" for the cards are below.... thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day.

Sources:
All stamped images for both cards are from the Haute Couture set from Cornish Heritage Farms

Pink and Green Card:
Papers
-Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)
-Bazzill Basics cs
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella 12x12 paper pad
-Basic Grey June Bug 6x6 paper pad
Ink
-Memento Tuxedo Black
-Memories Apple
Other
-Flower (Martha Stewart)
-Velvet ribbon (Dashes, Dots, and Checks from Michaels)
-Copic markers
Technique
-Paper piecing

Powder Blue Card
Papers
-Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)
-Bazzill Basics cs
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella 12x12 paper pad
Ink
-Memento Tuxedo Black
Other
-Hero Arts Art Flower, colored with Copics
-Velvet ribbon (Dashes, Dots, and Checks from Michaels)
-Button from JHB (from JoAnnes)
-Rhinestones (Kaiser Scrapbook)
-Copic markers

Monday, October 5, 2009

World Card Making Monday? EHWCMD1 Inchie Challenge


Well, it's a dark and rainy day here in my patch of North Carolina, and so, thanks to the weather and Ellen Hutson's generous gift of an extra day of cardmaking, I'm still at it, LOL!  This card is my entry for Cindy's challenge over at the CLASSroom, which is to arrange three inchie squares on a simple card, and stretch the image over the three squares.  This was great fun for me, since I usually don't do clean and simple cards (jumped out of my box again!).  All images are from Inkadinkado.

If you want to get in on the fun, there's still time to play in the World Card Making Day challenges and have a chance at winning a great little batch of goodies from Ellen Hutson's store.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Home Decor Inspiration Challenge - EHWCMD5


All righty then, here's another WCMD challenge card, this one for Kim's Home Decor challenge at the CLASSroom.  Kim gave us a couple of pages from fashion and home decor magazines to use as inspiration, and I chose this page.  I just love the blues and greens of the two photos here, and the sky-and-foliage feel.  I also love shabby chic decor, so combined it all in this card.  I used Karen Lockhart's Sweet Pea stamp and yes, I know sweet peas aren't really blue (although there are some varieties called "blue," they are actually rather lavender).  I just wanted to use this stamp and I'm claiming artistic license, LOL!  Anyway, I felt like distressing, so I painted, I sewed, I ripped and tore, then cut out my image (colored with Copics) using Nestabilities Labels One die.  A little Martha ribbon, and a sentiment from Cornish Heritage Farms' The Homestead set finish it off.
I'm starting to lose steam, don't know if I'll get another WCMD card up tonight or not.  My scrap table is seriously buried!

CHF Harvest Greetings - EHWCMD2


Hello again... still working on WCMD!  This one is for Susan Roberts' sketch challenge over at the CLASSroom.  All of the stamps for this card are from Cornish Heritage Farms, the sponsor for October over at Gingersnap Creations, where the theme for the month is "Harvest."  I used stamps from the Fall Harvest and Can It! sets (both from the All Things Considered line), as well as a sentiment from the Classic Essential Expressions set from Mona Lisa Moments.  The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye the Spider's Web collection.  I also used a bit of ribbon from Jenni Bowlin, a vintage button, some hemp cord, and some Copics to give the images a little soft vintage color.  There's still time to play along in the World Card Making Day contest over at Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom - some seriously fun blog candy is up for grabs!  (I think I just set a personal record for most links in a single post!  Hope they're helpful at least, LOL!)

I may have more for you in a bit.... sorry to all my followers who are getting deluged with posts today!  Can't help myself :D

Pumpkin Greetings - Crafty Secret Challenge EHWCMD3


I'm having so much fun completing my projects for World Cardmaking Day!  This card took the longest (so I probably shouldn't have started with it, LOL!) but was definitely the most fun!  I used a sticky back canvas image transfer technique that I learned from Becky Olsen's post over at Ellen Hutson's "the CLASSroom" blog. I just love the totally distressed, shabby chic effect that this technique produces.  I won't go into the details of the technique here (you can check out Becky's post for that).  But as for the rest of the card... All the patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye Spider's Web Collection (I'm trying not to hoard this paper, but it's very hard!).  I sketched a pumpkin freehand on some swirly grungeboard (Tim Holtz), cut it out, painted it with acrylics, and distressed it a bit.  The leaf was cut using a Cuttlebug die.  The sweet little greeting and jack-o-lantern are stamps from Crafty Secrets' Heartwarming Vintage Collection Vintage Postcard Kit for Halloween.  The buttons are vintage, tied with some hemp cord.  

I hope you're having a fun, crafty weekend!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Unexpected Pup


I just looooove decorating for fall, and of course I love to have handcrafted items all through the house.  Over at Gingersnap Creations, the theme for the month is Harvest, and our sponsor is... can you believe it..... Cornish Heritage Farms!! (My universe has perfectly aligned for the month, what fun!)  I've had this little Pumpkin Puppy by Cornish Heritage Farms stamped for some time, just trying to find a front-and-center use for him. As I've been blurfing, I've noticed that banners and vintage hanging paper ornaments of all kinds and for all seasons seem to be HOT right now, so inspiration took over.  The base for this little guy is from Colorbok's XY&Z Large Monogram Deck of Cards in black and white, and they are the perfect size for making ornaments for a typical decorative tabletop tree (see mine in the background, it's black, from A.C.Moore).  They come preprinted with a letter and a word or phrase, and I thought that "Expect the Unexpected" was perfect for this little pop-up pup!  For the puppy, I colored in the main areas of the image with markers, "huffed," and stamped.  Then I went back in with markers to give some of the smaller details (lie a few leaves and the stem) some extra color.  I added some distress ink around the edges to give him a more vintage look. (The entire recipe is at the end of this post.)

This is a wonderful time to go on over to Gingersnap Creations to check out their inspiring posts and  "no-stress" challenges!  In addition to the fabulous ladies on the GC team already, my very talented Cornish Heritage Farms teammates will be collaborating all month, posting sneak peeks of the October releases and having some fun with the challenges.  Lots of creativity and inspiration all around!  Plus, there's still time to enter a bunch of the challenges from September, in which you'll have a chance to win some gorgeous stamps from The Stampsmith (September's sponsor).  So... if you're looking for some inspiration on World Card Making Day, or any day, stop on by.


Stamps:
-Pumpkin Puppy (Sara England) - Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper:
-XY&Z Large Monograms Deck of Letters in black and white (Colorbok)
-Also used is a strip of Memory Box paper from the Twilight 6x6 collection.

Ink:
-Ranger Distress Ink in brushed corduroy
-Markers to color directly on the stamp

Other:
-Ribbons by Sheer Creations (hanger ribbon), Ribbon to Bead (in the chipboard button), and Michael’s (the pumpkin ribbon)
-Chipboard buttons (Colorbok)
-Martha Stewart glitter in onyx
-K and Co. craft glue

Friday, October 2, 2009

Postcards from Paris


It's time for another sneak peek... this one is a peek at a new All Things Considered set coming from Cornish Heritage Farms, called "Haute Couture," available next week (October 6).   Oh, boy, do I looooove this one!  For this card, I combined some new images from the set with some of my other faves, like On the Desk and French Script backgrounder.  Vintage heaven, I tell ya!   If you see something you like, my "recipe" is below.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!  It's the start of hockey season for us tonight, so I'll be at the Carolina Hurricanes game, being very LOUD!  Let's go CANES!

Sources:
Stamps:
-Haute Couture (ATC line) - Cornish Heritage Farms - available Tuesday, October 6!
-On the Desk (The Rummage Bin) - Cornish Heritage Farms
-French Script Backgrounder - Cornish Heritage Farms

Papers:
-Bazzill cardstock
-Cosmo Cricket Storytime Line “Chicken Little” patterned paper
-Graphic 45 Renaissance Faire Collection “Triumphant” patterned paper

Ink:
-Memento Tuxedo Black
-Versafine Vintage Sepia
-Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy

Other:
-Making Memories Vintage Findings Stamps
-Vintage ribbon