Hexagon Overlay Birthday Card

For the past couple of weeks, I have made cards for the Atlantic Hearts challenges. But I just never managed to post them so I could enter them. I know this is last minute but I want to get this done.

 

I have a lot of summer birthdays in my family. I made this card for my sister. I used this week's Atlantic Hearts sketch #117 for inspiration and will be entering it for the challenge.

 

 

Here is my version:

 

 

I used plain white cardstock as the card base. Then I used sponges to dab all different colors all over. There is probably a name for this technique out there somewhere, but I was just playing around trying to get a tie-dye look and this is how it turned out.

 

 

The hexagon overlay is from the CTMH Artbooking Cricut cartridge. All of the inks are also CTMH. Cardstock is Recollections from Michaels. And finally the sentiment is an old woodblock stamp from my hoard collection.

She's all grown up

It's hard to believe that my oldest has graduated. I know every mother says this but it really seems like it was just last year that I was taping foam to the coffee table so she wouldn't bump her head again. Last month when she broke her arm when she crashed her bike. And last week when I was so worried about her entering High School for the first time. Looking back, time goes by so very fast and I wish that I had started scrapbooks way back then.

Last week, I went through pictures and ordered a bunch of prints from Shutterfly. Today I spent a few hours finally adding pictures to finish some of my old layouts. I also did a new one to go opposite the "then and now" layout. I used this week's Sketch #110 from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge as my inspiration.



My layout:

This layout not only uses the same paper pack as the "Then and Now" layout, but it also has both one of her senior pictures and a series of growing up pics (9mo, 4yr, and 8yr). There is a tiny bling in the corner of the little pictures, but really the pictures are meant to replace the embellishments on the sketch. After all, my girl always has shined brighter than any bling.

It's been a while

Hi Y'all!

It has been way too long since I've posted on here. Sometimes life happens and your plans get turned upside down....

Life sometimes gets in the way of crafting time too. My poor crafting supplies have been sitting there collecting dust for the past few months while I have been doing a million other things. But today I had time for me. Really it was one of those days where I wasn't sure I actually had nothing to do or if I had forgotten everything- either way, I decided it was time to get down to business of making some Mother's Day cards before I run out of time again. 

While I was cutting and gluing and deciding where to put more sparkle, I realized that I definitely needed this craft time. I could feel the stress that has been constant for a while just melt away. So I decided then and there that I need to make this blog active again so that I can be accountable to myself to make some "me" time each week. I really liked the blog hop that I used to do, but unfortunately I no longer sell Close To My Heart and that was mainly for Closed To My Heart consultants. So I decided to look online for some other craft challenges that I can try. 

This week, I am doing the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge - sketch 105

This is the inspiration sketch:



Here is my interpretation used for a Mother's Day card. (I guess it's a good that that even my own mother doesn't actually follow my blog- it can still be a surprise!)

In my version, I flipped the card on its side. I cut the focal "inspire" from the Cricut Craft Room. It is one of the free cuts this week from the Wall Decor and More cartridge. It's fitting for a Mother's Day card, because who should inspire you more than your mother? My mother is amazing and I am very proud when people tell me I am just like her. In addition to my Mom, I have quite a few "honorary moms" that also inspire me to be more creative, to be a better organizer, to be more down to earth, etc.

The picture is not the best, but I really love how this card turned out. The polka dot paper is one of my favorites right now. The lagoon/ teal is one of my favorite colors and I think the dots are really cute. It is one of those papers that I am torn between using in a bunch of projects because I love it so much, and not using it at all so I can hoard it and never run out! Come on, fellow paper crafters- admit it, you know you have a few of these papers too!

Next week, I'll have a new project- I promise it won't be 6 months this time!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!  My husband and I took our 2 younger daughters out Trick or Treating. I think we were one of the few groups that did NOT have a Frozen character with us. 

Today I am sharing the 3 different projects that I made for Halloween. I made them all using the CTMH Artbooking Cricut cartridge. 

This 2 page layout is made using all cuts from pages 70 and 71 in the booklet. It was so easy, I just set the dial to the suggested size and picked the cuts I wanted.  With the cartridge, everything is set to where the default is sized to go perfectly with your project. The hardest part was picking the colors I wanted to use! I am planning on making tombstone journal spots to add once I get the pictures printed.

This next project is a Halloween mini-album cut from pages 54-55. The picture doesn't do it justice... it is super cute but that would have been a lot of pics to show the front and back of each page.  Maybe I might learn how to put a video on here- that would make showing the minis so much easier. Hmmm... will have to do that when I finish the envelope mini I am working on.

Finally, I also made this really cute card. I don't usually make Halloween cards, but I was playing around in the Cricut Craft Room and this is what happened! All the cuts for this card are on page 71. I used the photo mat 1, flipped it on it's side then scaled it down to fit on the front of a 5x7 card. Then scaled down the house image and played with it until I got the size and placement that I liked. I welded the house image to the frame so it would all cut out at once. Then again played with the sizing and placement until I was happy with the "Boo". For the background, I used a Halloween paper that I had in my stash. And the yellow for the windows and door is just a little scrap of cardstock cut to fit behind the house.

Ok, that's all for tonight. I'll be back with a new post soon.

Everything ABC Blog Hop- letter U

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter U. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their U element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda Norman- Scrappy Therapy

If you came from Jenny Gilbert - Jen's Creative Classroom then you're on the right track!

My "u" project is for Unicorn. When I first joined as a Close To My Heart consultant, the very first stamp set that I HAD to have was Unicorn Dreams.  This stamp set totally reminds me of my oldest daughter who loves unicorns. It was a Hostess Exclusive, so I was so happy that I was able to have a qualifying order that first month so that I could get it. This beautiful stamp set is no longer available, but there are lots of new Hostess Exclusive stamp sets that are pretty great too! And if you aren't into stamps, you can use hostess rewards to get other goodies, like papers or inks.

For the card, unicorns need to have pretty colors and sparkle!  On the base, I used my sponge to apply ink around the edges. 

  I used Canary, Thistle, and Glacier for both the border colors and for stamping the images on the card front. I used Desert Sand for the sentiment.

Finished the card with just a little bit of glitter glue on the horn for sparkle- because you just can't have a unicorn without the sparkle! Actually, it was killing me to JUST glitterfy (that's a word, right?) the horn.  I wanted to go overboard like usual and add sparkle to a bunch of the stars.  Once the glue dried and I saw the finished card, I am really glad I stopped when I did.  The picture does not do this card justice- it is sooo pretty, I just love how it turned out!

The products I used were:
Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads in Canary, Thistle, Glacier, and Desert Sand
Unicorn Dreams Stamp set (retired)
Daisy White cardstock

Just like Unicorn Dreams, don't forget that some stamps and promotions are for limited time only.  This month's Stamp of the Month is this really cute Home for the Holidays! Available for only $5 with a $50 order during the month of October- just in time to start all those Christmas cards. 

 

Another great promo going on this month is our Ribbon Revelry.  With your $50 order, you will get a free roll of chevron ribbon in either Outdoor Denim or Ruby ($6.95 value). Don't miss out on this awesome deal! 

Check out my website to see all of our wonderful products.  There is something for card makers, scrapbookers, stampers, and all papercrafters! You won't want to miss out on these limited time offers.   melissahegwood.ctmh.com

I hope you all enjoyed my Unicorn card. It was a lot of fun to make and it still makes me smile every time I look at it.

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Allie Gower- Chaska Card Company.

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

What do you do when you are stressed?

So what do you all do when you are stressed?  

I've been having a pretty stressful couple of weeks between work and other personal obligations.  It finally dragged me down enough this week for me to say "The heck with this! I need some me time." So on Tuesday (my day off), instead of laundry, or errands, or a million other things that needed my attention... I went to my crafting beginnings and just sat down and made cards... lots and lots of cards.

I decided that with all the new paper lines in the new CTMH book, there is no reason to hold on to my retired B&T sample swatches. Of course, no way am I just going to toss those 6x6 in. beautiful patterned papers! I did what every other scrapper would do- use them to make cards.

I did all the cutting and made the bases of the cards on Tuesday while the girls were at school.  That helped with enough stress to get me through the rest of the week. 

Watching my girls at their respective games on Thursday and Friday, set up a perfect relaxing weekend. On Saturday, I helped my oldest prepare for her final Homecoming dance. Both her and her date were stunning and it made this Mom's day to see my girl so happy.

After they went off to dinner and the dance, I sat down to finish those cards. After what seemed like stamping a million sentiments, they were finally done! 

And the crafting didn't stop there- I also did my project for the upcoming Blog Hop (early for a change) and today I made a cute little mini album that I will post about hopefully next week.  I have plans for coordinating layout pages and want to share them all at the same time. 

Hopefully after all the crafting this week, I have recharged enough to face reality and obligations again. I think I really needed that break from everyday stresses. And Hey, guess what? The kids survived, work is still there, and the laundry didn't completely take over the house!  I think life is still good....

Everything ABC Blog Hop- letter T

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter T. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their T element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda Norman- Scrappy Therapy

If you came from  Lauren Moore- CTMH Craftings then you're on the right track!

I did another double layout for my Letter T post.  This one focuses on my two younger girls.  Both girls are on teams for the county rec department. My 13 year old has been playing soccer since she was 8. She lives, breathes, dreams soccer.

This past spring, my youngest finished her last year playing baseball in the Mighty Mites division (pitching machine). After 6 seasons of baseball, she switched to soccer this year, which she LOVES.  Sadly, I think my hopes of having any of my daughters becoming the first professional female baseball player has gone out the window.  Guess it's a good thing I have learned to actually like soccer!

Anyway, my letter T layouts focus on their spring teams. So T is for team, Flying Turtles, and the Artbooking cartridge Teamwork and Teen layouts.

The pattern paper that I used for the back ground is from my stash. I've actually had it for at least 3 years (that's how long I've been  procrastinating  planning to do a sports page for the girls).

All of the cuts for the pages came from the Artbooking cartridge. Seriously, I love this cartridge!  It just about lives in my Cricut machine. The word "Girl" is from the "Teen" layout and all the rest are from the "Teamwork" page. If you want to get this awesome and super versatile cartridge, click here to go to my website: melissahegwood.ctmh.com

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Anita Autore

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!