CREATIVE BLOGGER NOMINATION

I am quite honored that I was selected for this creative blogger nomination.  The nomination came from a fellow CTMH consultant that I met last summer as we were preparing for our annual convention.  I was able to meet Alyson Mayo a few weeks later at convention, and we really hit it off.  We continue to e-correspond and follow each other’s creative activities.  You can check out her great work at createwithalyson.blogspot.ca

This nomination has some specific questions that I had to answer.  It made me really think about some things critically.  So here goes!

What am I working on right now? 

I just finished two weeks where I taught 7 classes, so all I did was cut and assemble kits during that time.  Yesterday was my first day of being back in “create” mode, and it was so much fun :)  I finished the first draft of a scrapbook layout that will be a class in a couple of weeks, and I made several cards.  I am in the “thinking” stage of 3 more cards that will be used in classes next month.  Somewhere in the midst of that I want to just create some cards that are fun – for no particular event. 

How does my writing/creating process work?

Most of my creating is geared for my classes.  I have a theme for each month, so that’s the starting point.  Then I decide which techniques or stamps I want to feature, and then think about the materials that go with them.  I go through a list of challenge blogs to see if the sketches, colors, themes, or photos give me an idea – and try to combine as many challenges into one project.  It stretches me to use colors or materials that I normally wouldn’t consider.    I also have to be realistic knowing that I may have to cut enough to make 30 – 40 of the project!  (I wasn’t so realistic about the pop-up box project).  

How long does it take me to create a project? 

If it is a card, it usually takes me several hours once I start working with the paper.  But as I said above, there is a lot of time spent “researching” and “thinking about” what I’m going to do.  Also, that’s just the first rendition of it.  I always let it sit around and look at it, and I almost always find some way to change it.  So the next day I’ll take a second go at it, and sometimes a third.  The card probably takes a minimum of 5 - 6 hours over several days for me to be satisfied with it. 

What are my favorite things to create with at the moment? 

One of the projects I just finished involved cutting all the parts for 50 pop-up box cards on the Cricut.  Now, while I love my Cricut, I’m glad to have my machine sleep for a while.  So right now I’m enjoying playing with punches and dies to create clean and simple (CAS) cards. 

How do I become inspired and stay inspired? 

I have about 40 ladies who take stamping classes from me on a regular basis, and others who join me for scrapbooking and special project workshops.  Everyone shares what they have been doing at the start of each class.   Seeing what they are doing inspires me.  Blog-land is wonderful – there are several specific blogs of paper crafters that I regularly visit, and then pop around checking out the artwork from the various challenge blogs I like.  Of course, Pinterest is wonderful – but sometimes I pin so many ideas that I forget which board they are on when I’m ready to start a new project!  The final project I create is always fun to see – while I have an idea about what it will be when I start, it rarely turns out that way.  I surprise myself sometimes with the end result!  So that makes me want to keep going and start something else right away – but I usually need to make dinner instead.

What is my signature style?

I love to learn new techniques and share them, but dimensional cards – like the boxes or cascading cards or multi-cut folded cards - are what I feel are unique to me.  You can build scenes on these cards and they are more of a decoration than a greeting card – or so my mom says :)

Well – now that you know a little more about me and my way of doing things, it is my privilege to direct you to the blogs of several of those paper crafters who inspire me.    

Gina Brandstetter is a fellow CTMH consultant, and I first saw her work on the CTMH Consultant Bulletin Boards, which then led me to her blog.  Seeing what she was doing while working a full time job was amazing.  She is the starting point whenever I want to follow a blog-hop for our Stamp of the Month or special products.  You can find her at gmbscrapper.blogspot.com

Another CTMH Consultant is Katrina Brown.  I would see her incredible scrapbook layouts on the Heart2Heart Challenge Blog and wonder how she managed all those great layers.  Then I was asked to be a guest on the H2H design team one month, and Katrina and I “blog-chatted” a bit, and she shared some of her secrets with me.  I know you’ll enjoy seeing her work at scrappyhorses.blogspot.com

OCTOBER 2014 STAMP CLUB

October's Stamp Club dates are just around the corner, so thought I'd better get this posted!  We will be making fall and Christmas projects this month.  Everyone will be able to choose one of the pop-up boxes to make, as well as the 5 gift tags.  If you want to purchase the CTMH Holiday Happenings Assortment, you will receive the materials necessary to turn it into a Christmas mini-album.  If not, you can make a second pop-up box.  Cost of the class is $20 and includes the materials for the pop-up boxes and tags, plus the added items for the mini album. 

Dates for Stamp Club are:

Thursday, October 2

Tuesday, October 7

Saturday, October 11

Monday, October 13

Click here to see more details about these projects on the Stamp Club page.
Email me - scrappingailaz@gmail.com - if you are interested in joining the group this month!

DECONSTRUCTED SKETCH #165

My monthly "Girlfriend Day" is tomorrow, and for the first time this year, we are stamping again!!  We decided to take a break from making cards this year, although we continue to get together for our special girl time.   I had cut too many of the tag shapes for my CTMH Open House last month and thought I could make use of them on a card to swap.  The Deconstructed Sketch this week was perfect - the design of the large circle worked well with what I already had.  I just had to cut the top on the Cricut and emboss the bottom. 

Here's the list of materials that I used to make this card. 
All are CTMH unless indicated:

Stamps:
You Mean the World to Me (B1467) - front greeting
One-Way Borders (C1561) - long arrow border
Hello Summer (C1595) - small arrow
On Your Birthday (SU retired) - inside sentiment
Papers:
Chalk It Up background paper (X7184B)
Glacier, Sorbet, Black and Colonial White cardstock
Inks:
Black, Lagoon and Sorbet
Other:
Chalk It Up Assortment (Z3009) - sorbet foam heart
Black Striped Twill Ribbon (Z1988)
Mini Stapler (Z2027) to secure ribbon
Cricut Artiste Cartridge - tag shapes
Cricut Artbooking Cartridge - chevron overlay
Sizzix embossing folder - connected circles

Take a look at the other great cards made with this sketch over at the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge Blog.   Thanks for stopping by!

INSPIRED BY . . . FOOD! at Heart 2 Heart and Freshly Made Sketches 150

 

This is my last week as a guest on the design team over at the Heart2Heart Challenge blog.  All month long, we've been working on the "Inspired by ..." theme.  This week, it's food.  And I do believe that candy is one of the major food groups - wouldn't you agree?!
 The images are from the new CTMH Hostess Reward stamp set "Sweet as Sugar" (D1615).

I used the sketch from the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #150 for the design.  Sketches from these challenge blogs really help me when I'm in the design process.  Sometimes you just get a block and looking at what others have done with a sketch or theme can give your brain the boost it needs!

I like to add a little something to the inside of my cards, so why not more candy!  There are actually four different candy jars in this stamp set, with five different "fillers" for the jars.  I always need chocolate, so that's the main direction I went with mine.

Here's a list of what I used to complete this card (all products are from
Close to My Heart):
Stamps:
Sweet as Sugar (D1615)
Papers:
Brushed background paper (X7190B)
Lagoon, Glacier and White Daisy cardstock
Inks:
Lagoon, Glacier, Pear, Canary, Cotton Candy, Cranberry, Chocolate and Cocoa

Hop on over to both of these challenge blogs to see the marvelous creations other paper crafters have submitted.
Heart 2 Heart - Inspired by ... Food
Freshly Made Sketches #150

Thanks for stopping by - and have a great week!

SEPTEMBER STAMP CLUB

These are the four cards we will be making in the September Stamp Club.  We'll be coloring and cutting to assemble these fun cards, and learn one new technique to create a special background paper that is used on the raincoat card.  More information and detailed photos of these cards can be found on the Stamp Club page of this blog.

Dates are:

Tuesday, September 2

Thursday, September 4

Saturday, September 6

Monday, September 8

All groups start at 9:30 and run about 4 hours.

Cost is $20 and includes all materials to complete the four cards.

Email me at scrappingailaz@gmail.com if you are interested in attending.

INSPIRED BY A ... BOOK! Heart 2 Heart Challenge

This week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart is "Inspired by a ... Book!"  I chose The Secret Garden as my inspiration for this cute little purse.  While the outside of the purse looks like a beautiful blooming garden (thanks to the new Brushed CTMH papers), the inside holds a secret.

It's actually a holder for a set of cards!

I have to give inspirational credit to the ladies who originally designed this purse - Linda Bradbury

 and Linel Mehus over at ClassicExpressions.org  I tweeked the design a bit to make it work for me. 

Here's a list of what I used to complete this project.  All materials are from CTMH:
Stamps:
A Budding Friendship D1602 - floral images
Seaside Greetings D1609 - birthday & congratulations sentiments
Big Hug D1584 - just because sentiment
Casual Expressions D1525 - thinking of you sentiment
Papers:
White Daisy, Pixie and Black cardstock
Brushed background paper X7190B
Inks:
Canary, Pixie, Hollyhock, Sweet Leaf, Pear and Black
Other:
Floral embossing folder Z1994
Small Sparkles Clear Flourishes Z1812
Brushed Assortment Z3013 - metal flowers
White Daisy Grossgrain Ribbon (retired)

Check out the other projects over at the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog that are inspired by books!
And watch for information coming about the workshop so you can make this set yourself.

SCRAPBOOK WORKSHOP - August 21 or 23

On Thursday, August 21 and Saturday, August 23 I will hold a workshop where you will create both of these 2-page layouts.  Click here to go over to the Scrapbook Workshop page of this blog to see all the specifics of this workshop.

INSPIRED BY A SONG

It's Monday, so time for my next contribution to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge as a guest member of their design team.  This week's challenge is to create a project inspired by a song.  My mother loves the movie The Wizard of Oz, and especially Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow.  I've seen so many projects recently using the masking tape technique, I had to give it a try.  So I tried to create a rainbow on my card - and think it turned out pretty well!  I tried to get all seven colors of the rainbow using the masking tape technique, but it just seemed too long.  So to include those last two colors, I added the appropriate cardstock at the top and bottom of my rainbow piece.

Everything I read and watched about this technique suggested using painter's tape so that the tape wouldn't stick to the card.  But the blue painter's tape I had was too wide, so I decided to use washi tape.  I had lots of it in different widths, and found the one that worked best for my size.  I do suggest using gloves to protect your fingers (and save your project from getting ink where you don't want it).  You just put the sticky side of the tape on the ink pad, press it to get the ink on the tape, and then apply it to your paper.  The amount of pressure determines how much ink gets onto the tape, and then you rub it on your paper to release it.  A different look for each strip you put down!

The stamped images and sentiment are from the CTMH set "Your Own Kind of Wonderful" (D1627).  Here's the rest of the items I used on the card (all are CTMH) :
Inks -
Sunset
Canary
Pear
Crystal Blue
Thistle
Black
Papers -
Wanderful B&T paper (polka dot background)
Brushed B&T paper (yellow for large butterfly)
Glacier cardstock (small butterfly)
Cranberry cardstock
Gypsy cardstock
White Daisy cardstock

In addition to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge, I am also entering this card in the Case Study Challenge.  They also had an "Inspired by" theme, but the inspiration came from one of the projects created by their design team.  I chose two designs as my inspiration -  Laura Bassen, as she had a rainbow-like color progression, and JJ Bolton with her rainbow stripes.

I hope you'll check out the other projects created for both of these challenges.  Just click on the links below:

Heart 2 Heart - "Inspired by a Song"
Case Study - Anniversary Inspiration

Once you've checked these blogs out, I hope you will be inspired and join along with one or both of them!!

Thanks for stopping by.

HEART 2 HEART CHALLENGE - Inspired by a Movie

This week’s challenge at Heart 2 Heart is to create a project that is inspired by a movie.  Since I love winter, I selected the movie “Frozen.”  Of course, that meant that I actually had to WATCH the movie Frozen in order to honestly say the movie inspired me for the card!  My husband cooperated and we enjoyed an evening of Disney animated fun. 

 

As you probably know, Elsa’s magical powers trap the kingdom of Arendelle in an eternal winter.  There was one view of the kingdom where it looked so beautiful, with all the snow-covered roofs and smoke rising from the chimneys.  I know it’s not that great in reality, having grown up in the Midwest.  But I can look back fondly on it now that I live in the high desert of Arizona! 

The serene snow village scene that I used on my card to replicate Arendelle is from the new “Frosty Fun” stamp set (D1611).  I embossed it in white on our new Glacier cardstock and then used our chalk marker to color the house roofs.  I fussy-cut around the top of the image before popping it up over the snow-filled sky.  Snowflakes from several sets were used on the sky – Snowhaven Cardmaking WOTG (G1085), Polar Bear Holiday (C1557) and Snowflakes (D1480).  I stamped the lighter layer of snowflakes in White Daisy pigment ink, then let them dry.  I came back and stamped some of the snowflakes again, but added white embossing powder this time to make them stand out.  I must say, I am SOOO glad that CTMH is offering embossing powder again.  It is one of my favorite items.

When Elsa was heading up the mountain and winter swirls were all around her, I noticed a beautiful bright color, and realized it was Thistle!  Now that’s a CTMH consultant for you – thinking in our color palette *U*.  So I stamped the sentiment on this card in our new Thistle ink and added a thin Thistle cardstock mat behind the Glacier cardstock before mounting it on the card base.  The sentiment itself is from the Flakey Friends stamp set (C1506). 

I like to add a little something to the inside of my cards as well, so found one of the larger snowflakes I hadn't used in the sky and added a few small flakes around it to finish it off.

Think about a favorite movie of yours, or maybe watch one you’ve been wanting to see, and design a project around it.  Add it to the challenge posting over at Heart2 Heart.  I can't wait to see what you all create.

HEART 2 HEART SCRAPBOOK CHALLENGE - INSPIRED BY NATURE

This blog post is a first for me – the first time I’m on a design team, this time as a guest member for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog.  This is one of the blogs I follow regularly, even if I’m not always able to participate.  So this is really an honor for me.

Now – on to the project!  Today is the scrapbook challenge, which is “Inspired by Nature”.  The added challenge for the scrapbook layout is to use distressing.   On this layout using the new Seaside papers from CTMH (now available!!!) you can definitely see the inspiration of nature, and hopefully you’ll see several different ways I’ve added distressing.

 

First – the paper itself has the distressed, weathered wood appearance.  

Second – the stamped title and the stamped image behind the journaling block have the distressed look to them.

 

Third – I inked the edges of the cut-out accessory pieces.  I used the Desert Sand ink to tone down the Colonial White cardstock and make it blend in better with the other elements.

Finally – I used the edge distresser on the Chocolate Cardstock photo mats to rough them up, and even turned over several corners for that worn look.

The pattern for the layout is from the “Magic” Interactive Scrapbook Designs book – Out of the Hat found on pages 82 & 83.  I took several elements from the Seaside Workshop on the Go layout, substituting the Cricut Artbooking photo strip and frames for regular matting.  I also used an Artbooking overlay instead of a solid piece of cardstock on the left page of the layout.

In addition to the Seaside WOTG stamp set, I used “Hello Summer” and “Have a Happy Day.”  Embellishments are the Seaside Assortment (those darling metal shells and fish) and Aqua Dots.  Inks used are Pear, Sorbet, Chocolate, Glacier, and Honey.

Check out the other layouts inspired by nature over at Heart2 Heart – and give it a try.  You have until the end of the month to enter this challenge, so put your thinking hat on and create away!