Halloween treat boxes for CMH #116

I kept telling myself I wasn't going to craft for Halloween since I'm now an empty nester, but then I decided to send treats to my daughter and her roommates at college.  And, as I'm sure any crafter can understand, once I got started crafting these cute little treat boxes I couldn't stop!  LOL  Luckily, there are a couple of Halloween-y challenges this week so I am submitting this at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and over at the Color My Heart where this week's challenge it to use Sunset and Thistle (which just happen to be prominent colors in Close To My Heart's Scaredy Cat paper kit).

Anyway, I used some of the Scaredy Cat papers as some discontinued paper kits, 3 of CTMH's exclusive Cricut cartridges, as well as a discontinued stamp set for the "Happy Halloween" sentiment with the bat, and the Perfect Fit stamp sets -- I love working with these sets!

Happy (crafty) Halloween!  Annette

  

details:  Art Philosophy cartridge was used to cut all treat containers as well as the scalloped circles in the center and the corresponding shapes for the Perfect Fit - Frames 2 stamp set.  The PF - Halloween stamp set was used for the smaller center shapes which could be cut with the AP cartridge or a 1 1/4" punch.   Jack o'lantern faces were cut from the Artbooking cartridge and the spider from the Artiste (with off-brand orange glitter glue for the eyes.  I chose to emboss the spider web design (from Paper Studios) rather than try to glue it onto 3-D projects.  The "Happy Halloween" sentiment with the bat is from an older, discontued CTMH set I borrowed from a friend; I can't find the name but the number is D1381).  White background/polka dot paper is from retired Spellbound kit and the darker fry box and spiders are from the Mischief kit, which is also retired.

Inspired by...

As soon as I got my new Chalk It Up paper kit I knew the first project I wanted to use it for was the Heart 2 Heart inspired by a movie challenge.  But, almost as soon as I decided that while this was the perfect paper to spotlight the movie I had in mind, my layout would be more about an unexpected pleasure in my life:  the fact that not only does my teenage daughter still want to go to movies with me but she and her best friend sometimes invite me to go with them.  Since my daughter graduated a year before her friend, her friend and I have even gone to see a couple of films together.  The three of us are self proclaimed book nerds and I love that we have a lot books and movies in common.  Even more than that, though, I treasure these times with my daughter because I missed out on these years with my own mother who passed away when I was 17 years old.

So, here is my project which was inspired primarily by the movie "The Fault In Our Stars," from the book by John Greene, as well as the favorite movies I have seen with just my daughter, just her friend, or the three of us together.  I have also included it at this week's Color My Heart challenge to use Lagoon, Flaxen, and Sorbet, which happen to be featured colors in the Chalk It Up kit.


details:  Chalk It Up paper kit, Circus alphabet (July stamp of the month); and the Artiste Cricut cartridge for the word bubbles and the film strips (each strip is actually 2 individual strips "welded" together using my Gypsy).

Happy crafting!  Annette

sketch challenge at CAS

I *just* missed the deadline to actually enter this challenge but I was in need of a little crafting therapy today so I whipped this out over my lunch hour, and I wanted to share it anyway because the sketch from (CAS) Colours and Sketch Challenge #78 was so versatile it really had me thinking but no one else used torn paper for their project.

details:  I went back to one of my all time favorite CTMH papers, For Always, which {sadly} is retired, but it lends itself so well to torn paper projects.  I backed the patterned papers with Ruby cs and used blank ink and another piece of Ruby cs to stamp the sentiment from the Casual Expressions set.  While this is one of the sets that is Cricut-compatible (specifically, the Artiste cartridge) but I hand cut this one just for the sake of time.


Happy crafting!  Annette

New stamp, old paper for AHSC

Nothing like a few new bumps in the road of life to remind you of who your true friends are, not to mention how LUCKY you are to have them in your corner.  I love this particular stamp from the Lollydoodle kit and have had it in mind for a 'just because' kind of card for my best friend but her favorite color is red and she's just not into the pastel colors of that particular kit.  So as I was working on the ongoing task of organizing my stash to better fit my craft area, I was inspired by an older paper kit which just happened to be one of my favorites because I *love* the quilted look of this paper but it also had a rich, vibrant red as one of the main colors AND the stitching in the pattern really lent itself well to this stamp.  I was further inspired by this week's sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  All products used are from CTMH but unfortunately, just about all of them (except the stamp and the Cocoa cardstock) are retired or discontinued items.  But, hey, if you can't break into your most precious stash items to make something  special for your BFF, what's the point of having all this stuff?

details:  As mentioned, the stamp is from the Lollydoodle scrapbooking Workshop On The Go and the dark brown "base" pieces are from Cocoa cardstock.  Both patterned papers are from the retired "Stella" kit and I used the ribbon and little faux button brads from the Sunset mini-medley embellishment set, the white crocheted doily from the White Daisy mini-embellishment set, and one of the antiqued copper designer brads (all of which are retired) in the center of the doily for a more flowery look.  Just fyi, I also used these same papers and basic arrangement for a 6x4-inch title piece for a future pocket-style page to celebrate my 32 1/2 year friendship with my BFF, although I could easily devote an entire scrapbook to the things we have been through together --- if only we had taken the pictures to go with the stories!

Happy  crafting!  Annette

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patriotic card for "Less Is More" challenge

Hello!  I have had such a lazy and relaxing day reading and napping, and I have to admit this little break was greatly needed.  I had planned to do a little reorganizing in my craft area after I finished reading my book but then inspiration struck so I have had a little fun creating first.  This card was inspired by a friend's family; she is an Army wife and she and her husband just went on a trip to DC as he was the recipient of a prestigious (and no doubt well deserved) leadership award.  I have always admired this family as they are such a great example of service, values, and teamwork so I wanted to do a little something to say "thanks" and help them celebrate this achievement.  As I used multiple stamps, I will also be entering this in this week's "Less Is More" challenge.

details:  All products used were from Close To My Heart.  I used a spare piece of CS and made my own striped background using the backside of one of the border stamps from the Stitch Wonder set in Cranberry and the stars background is from a retired set called Vintage USA in Outdoor Denim.  I then used the USA outline border stamp from the Adventure USA set (also retired) in black and then fussy cut the image and adhered it to the center of a 6 x 6" card base.  The sentiments "Land of the Free" and "of the Brave" are from one of last year's promotional sets called "Home of the Brave."  The second sentiment actually reads "Home of the Brave" but I used decorative tape to mask off "home" and the used the Keyboard Uppercase alpha to spell "because."  On the inside of the card is a sentiment that reads, "Thank you for your dedication and sacrifice." which is from the "Courage" stamp set that was also part of last's summer's promotion.  By my count, that's 6 stamp sets so I think that will qualify for the challenge.  :-)

Happy crafting!  Annette

new school colors for graduation

This is the first graduating class of our recently combined high school and the school colors are teal, black, and silver.  It took me a while to get something worked up (considering graduation was last week, lol) BUT I did come up with something I'm happy with just in time for the reception of my daughter's best friend.  I was also inspired by this week's sketch at Mojo Monday.





















details:  I made my own background paper for the main portion of this card.  To do that, I stamped using the BACK side of the cross stitched border stamp from the January '14 stamp of the month, Cross Stitch Wishes, in Lagoon.  I then stamped the stitched looking lines in black using a stamp from the same set and I used CTMH's metallic silver marker for the thin solid lines.  I must say, using the Versamat and our ruler to line up and space everything.  I embellished with the teal, black, and silver shimmer trims and aqua dots and the silver glitter gems from the Frosted card workshop on the go in the last catalog.  I punched a 2" scalloped circle with a punch and used black ink and the Congrats Graduate stamp set for the focal point.  I also used the metallic silver marker again to hand-draw a faux stitched border around the scallop and inked the edges in black.


Happy crafting and best wishes to all the new grads out there!  Annette

some get well hugs

Oh, life can get so busy sometimes!  What projects I have been working on lately have been for my own enjoyment so I have not taken time to post them here but I will soon have more free time on my hands to catch up on posting those projects.

At any rate, this week's color combo at the Color My Heart challenge was to use Buttercup and Hollyhock.  My best friend Kathy's daughter, Jackie, is an incredibly gentle and caring soul but the necessity of having a 2nd major surgery in less than a year has even her disheartened.  Her favorite color is currently bright pink and so when I saw these colors, I knew I had to make a special get well card to try to put a smile back on her face.

Although I have yet to get her mom to join me in scrapbooking, as a good friend Kathy listens patiently and sometimes looks at my current projects and pattern books when she comes by to visit, and she really liked the "hugs" card (pattern 19) in Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 so naturally I used that pattern for Jackie's card.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the letters at 3/4", the Artiste cartridge for the shape (p.61) at 1", and I colored a set of (retired) color ready borders with markers in the appropriate colors.  I recently purchased some old patterned B&T papers from another another consultant so it was fun to find and play with some papers in the CTMH palette but with different patterns than what we currently have.  What can I say?  I am totally addicted to CTMH and papercrafting!  I can't wait to bake a batch of strawberry bread (a little tradition between Kathy and me, we always share a batch when times get tough) and pay a visit to my besties when they get back home!

Happy crafting!  Annette