CTMH Pear & Partridge WOTG cardmaking kit

It's past the normal July time frame I usually start my Christmas cards, but waiting was worth it as CTMH released this wonderful Pear &  Partridge cardmaking kit on August 1st.

This is what comes in the kit: B&T Pear & Partridge paper (the pattern green is actually the back of the pear & partridge pp); card stock Cocoa, Cranberry, & Colonial White (not shown); tan twill ribbon; red glitter gems; 15 Colonial White card bases and envelopes; the instructional brochure & of course the exclusive acrylic c-size stamp set:

Although these cards are beautiful (below a picture of how CTMH presents the finished product)

I made some changes to the instructions by adding a couple other CTMH stamp sets into the mix:

I used the Merry Christmas from the Father Christmas set (left) on the envelopes, stamping them with Cranberry ink in the lower left corner. I used the music block from the Universal Backgrounds set (right) which measures 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" & allowed me to stamp the background for the card base for the card with the presents in only 4 stampings using the new Cashmere ink- the instructions call for using the Merry Christmas from the included set (center) to fill the card (it is the image at the very bottom of that set). Taking a size comparison- I'd be quite awhile repeating that image on 5 card bases. I wanted to present to my customers a quicker way to to make the card while keeping the great look. Music notes are fantastic with Christmas.

Here are my finished cards-

One other change I made is the pearls on the card with the presents- I used CTMH Opaque Adhesive Gems- Mocha in place of the large red glitter gems as shown in the instructions- I liked the contrast on the red & the pearls are a rich warm addition. Also- to make the ribbon go farther, I used knots instead of bows. This way, I can get more card bases, use the leftover papers and make more cards as this kit is the only way to get that wonderful tan twill ribbon. Thus- stretching out the materials getting the biggest bang for the buck- as we all are trying to do these days- but still gives an awesome result. Yup- I bet you had to scroll back up to that other picture to look again at that difference.

If you'd like to purchase this wonderful WOTG (stands for Workshop on the Go) card kit for yourself- please stop by my CTMH web site: http://charcats.ctmh.com
 
The kit comes with a wonderful set of instructions you can do on your own, but you will need some additional supplies as they assume you already have the following: sponge; 3-D foam tape; Memory Book Mini Glue Dots; My Acrylic Blocks 1"x1", 1"x3 1/2" & 3"x3"; Cranberry, Cashmere, & Olive inks. If you live close to Nashville, TN - I'd be glad to have a card workshop with you and some friends- just email me and we'll set a date allowing for the kits to arrive as I do not keep a stock.  FOr a small fee, I'll supply the acrylic blocks, ink, sponges, etc. saving you the cost of those items if you do not have all of them. And it's always a fun time getting together and creating something beautiful.

There is something special about receiving a beautiful handmade card- and there is something more special about being the one to send it :-)

More of my DS 1991

Here's some more LOs of my son-

My DS & DH on the bed- spending some father son wrestle time.

Done for the July Monochrome challenge- New Mown Grass on SB.com. My Daddy is cut using the Cricut Alphalicious cartridge & My Hero from Cricut Stand & Salute. I embossed the photo matt using the Cuttlebug then distressed it with a sanding block. All papers are CTMH- the green is Sweet Leaf- the bg pp is from the Wings set & is discontinued. I kept it simple- just focusing on the bond of father & son.

My DS finally learning to get his legs under himself and move around without holding on to things- he was determined & so fun to watch- of course he had to show off since I had the camera in hand.

For the July Monochrome challenge- Watermelon on SB.com. I used the computer to print the top words & Cricut cartridge Printing 101. The papers are CTMH- the black cs I punched with a Martha Stewart around punch- but chose to use only the straight part; the red pps are called Roxie- the 1 side is a plaid and the back is a tone on tone rose pattern very hard to make out in this pic. The sketch is from last month's June 2012 Monthly Sketch Challenge on SB.com - I thought the photos fit so well- this is such a great sketch for multiple pics like this. 

TFL - I always appreciate your visits- please leave me a note to let me know you stopped by. Have a blessed day.

Family Album Pages

I've been busy this week & have 4 new LOs of my son to share & working on a few more- basically, I'm trying to finish the 1991 family album.

Done for the June Monochrome Challenge- Carrot w/the twist of bling on SB.com. I added some Glitz Glitter Glue to the 3 frames & 4 CTMH navy blue gems in the corners of the page. All paper used is scraps. The frames were cut using CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. The title was cut using Cricut Pooh Font Set & then run thru the Cuttlebug and then sponges with CTMH Outdoor Denim ink to highlight the impression.
 
This is my DS at 11-12mo old - just learning to feed himself good- I just gathered a bunch of the pics (since I had taken so many) and put them in a collage. 

Done for the June Monochrome challenge- squash, Doodle Challenge & Use Your Scraps on SB.com.
I used Cricut cartridges: A Child's First Year for the "boy @ play" - Printing 101 for "growing" - CTMH Art Philosophy for the frames. I doodled around the "boy @ play" and on the circle frames. I did the twist of stickers for the Doodle challenge- the tiny hand prints.

This is my DS on varying days- just playing and being his happy self. He loved to ham it up for the camera (still does). I had so many photos- I picked the best shots and put them in a collage.

What do you do with all the big professional photos after they've spent their time on the wall & been swapped out for the next newest photo? You scrap them so they can forever be enjoyed. 

Done for July Monochrome starlight & Page Maps sketch #4 on SB.com. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the CTMH Black cs strip, painted a strip of CTMH Colonial White with CTMH Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint to give it shimmer (although you can't see it in this photo). I then used 2 black & white swirls for under the photo & a CTMH Sparkles Swirls above & tada it's done.

This is my DS & those large professional photos you don't know what to do with after you've swapped them out as the years go on- this was one of his 1year photos- the photographer was great- altho my DS loved being in front of the camera & would laugh and laugh. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the wide black strip & I painted the cream strip with pearl paint to give it a sheen- that you really can't see in this photo.
  

This was done for July Page Maps sketch #5 & July Use Your Scraps at SB.com



My DS at 1year old - I cut down the big picture that is more white than photo- since they did the nice oval effect- this worked out well for fitting on a 12x12 page- I used the Cricut & Cuttlebug in making the circle and the banner pieces- it's hard to see, but each has a different texture.

Done for July Page Maps sketch #2 & July Monochrome Liberty Blue on SB.com.

The pp is CM- but everything else is CTMH- it's hard to see but I used Glitz Glitter Glue on the letters 'Carl' which I also cut with the Cricut Cursive 101 cartridge & outlined the oval, cut with CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge with Glitz silver glitter glue. The stars are heat embossed using CTMH star spangle blue embossing powder mixed with Prisma glitter & blinged in the center. I also used CTMH Sparkles Flourishes under the pictures & CTMH blue gems and white gems in the upper corner.

These photos are more of my son's 1-year professional pics- all the 5x7s that no longer have a home in a frame. They are so adorable, I am glad I can scrap them & continue to enjoy them instead of them sitting in a box. 

Done for July Page Maps sketch #3 on SB.com.

I used CM bg pp, CTMH stamp set 10 Things & then printed out 10 things on some white daisy cardstock & placed the words along the bottom- it's hard to see, but a put CTMH Itty Bitty sparkles on each and a few on the 10 Things at the ':' I cut his name using Cricut Printing 101 cartridge - cutting a shadow in blue for the white letters and putting CTMH Glitz glitter glue on the blue to highlight the letters- the glitter & sparkles are all very hard to see in this picture.

These photos are more of my son's 1-year professional pics- all the 5x7s that no longer have a home in a frame. They are so adorable, I am glad I can scrap them & continue to enjoy them instead of them sitting in a box.

Done for the June Monochrome Challenge- eggplant & June 2012 Monthly Sketch Challenge (week 3 rotated 90deg to right) as well as June Use Your Scraps challenge on SB.com. CTMH cardstock Desert Sand, Gypsy, White Daisy & Outdoor Denim. CM punch for the hearts. The title was cut using Cricut cartridge Mickey Font. The circle & its frame behind the cake was cut using Cricut CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.

This is my DS opening his present, watching mom & dad blow out the candles & checking out the cake- he had a hard time believing me it was any good- after a couple tastes tho- he really got into it- thus the last pic in which I think he was wearing more of it than he ate. The cake pic I cut out and used as the embellie. 

Thanks for stopping by - I always appreciate your visit & please leave a comment to let me know you were here. Have a blessed day. 

all about my Hubby

Mud Volley Ball:

 My DH playing mud volleyball for a fundraiser when he was active duty at Ft Campbell-you can't really see the photos well because of the glare & how small they are & he did land on his butt & get muddy, but he had fun.

I did this using June Page Maps Week 5 sketch (worked perfect because I really had to crop the dickens out of these pics to focus on my DH- that and some lady's head was a huge part of the left side LOL).

I also did this for the June Monochrome Challenge Week 1, Asparagus. The corresponding page is going to be my DH's promotion to SGT and using the greens worked perfect for both subjects. The papers are CTMH Lucky (now discontinued) w/Desert Sand card stock. The VolleyBall theme items are cut using Cricut Sports Mania cartridge, I stamped the date and Summer using CTMH Save the Date & accented with CTMH durables round & a swirly paperclip & ribbon. The green matt behind ACE! is CTMH New England Ivy cut with the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and run thru the Cuttlebug to give it some texture (hard to see that in this pic tho).

 Promotion to Army SGT:

This was done for the June Monthly Sketch challenge, week 1

Used CTMH paper set Lucky (disc) & CTMH stamp sets Freedom & Hero's Pride. The flourish, scallop oval, star, circle & bg for the boots are all cut on the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. Everything but the bg & flourish are from scraps. I put the tan banner strip & the scallop oval thru the Cuttlebug to give some texture- lightly sanding to bring out the designs- although the gear design on the brown doesn't show well in this picture. The C on the scalloped oval is a cake I made to celebrate the occasion- it says "Made the Cutoff! SGT" on top and I think "Made it at LAST! Finally" around the outside with E-5 on the edge of the C. It's been too long to remember all what was written and this was the only pic I have of the cake. I made a lot of cakes back then.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a note & let me know you were here. Have a blessed day. 

Collage pages of DS 1991

Gotta Eat:

Done for the Monochrome Challenge on SB.com- Carrot w/the twist of bling - I added some Glitz Glitter Glue to the 3 frames & 4 navy blue gems in the corners of the page- All paper used is scraps except for the bg pp. The frames were cut using CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. The title was cut using Cricut Pooh Font Set & then run thru the Cuttlebug and then sponges with CTMH Outdoor Denim ink to highlight the impression.

This is my DS at 11-12mo old - just learning to feed himself - I just gathered a bunch of the pics (since I had taken so many) and collaged them here.

Growing Boy @ Play:

Done for the June Monochrome challenge on SB.com- squash, Doodle Challenge & Use Your Scraps.
I used Cricut cartridges: A Child's First Year for the "boy @ play" - Printing 101 for "growing" - CTMH Art Philosophy for the frames. I doodled around the "boy @ play" and on the circle frames. I did the twist of stickers for the Doodle challenge- the tiny hand prints.

This is my DS on varying days- just playing and being his happy self. He loved to ham it up for the camera (still does). I had so many photos- I picked the best shots and colloged them here. 

Thanks for stopping by- please leave a comment and let me know you were here. Have a blessed day.

At Play

My hubby graduated from Army Warrant Officer Candidate School on 23 May - so I kind of took a break from scrapping for a couple weeks. Yesterday (Sat, 9 June) was SCRAP Day here at my house where the ladies come over & work on whatever they have going & we share, have a sack lunch (or leftovers- whichever) and really get the creative juices flowing. So- here's what I worked on and got finished (well- the 2nd page wasn't done until 10pm last night, but I was working on it all afternoon & evening):

This is my DS in August 1991 - he was such a happy baby- loved the camera (still does). I used CTMH Lagoon bg card stock & ink & CTMH stamp sets Boys at Play & Legend. I originally was doing this for ScrapBook.com's May's Monochrome Teal challenge, but could not finalize this side of the 2 page LO - so I finally was able to lay it out and finish it yesterday with stitching and canting the 2 pics and adding some tone on tone stamping. The center pic is boardered using a rope punch by ek.

 

This is the right to the page- I used all scraps except for the bg CTMH Lagoon cardstock- I then stamped using CTMH Stitched Together and wet embossed w/olive embossing powder the star, heart & circle. Next I stamped Play & august using CTMH August & September Word Puzzles. Lastly I got on the computer and put together some adjectives and facts using different fonts & printed on white card stock- then cut into strips and trimmed the ends each in a different way to really add some character. Oh- I punched the rope along the brown to tie in with the frame on the left page. 

Here's both pages together- sorry the color is so off- just couldn't get it to brighten up.

Thanks for stopping by & please leave me a note to let me know you were here :) Have a blessed day.

Use Your Scraps

I made these for a die cut swap using only scraps for the May June Die Cut Swap - all cut using the Cricut- strawberries from Country Life, yellow ribbon from Stand & Salute and flowers from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridges.

Pepper- 11 dog years - 60 human years

This was done for 3 challenges on SB.com: 
May Ugly Paper Challenge (scroll down to see original papers) - the slide paper is the clouds and the tags- the red is in the center. I cut 6" widths & lined everything up, attached them w/scotch tape so I could evenly punch the paw prints across the top. The embellie rick-rack is used on the banner- the banner flags & sun were cut using CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge & the letters Alphalicious.

May Scrap Your Pet challenge.

May Use Your Scraps challenge- the banner pieces, white on the tags, sun & the left and right green papers are all scraps.

Pepper is our older dog now- she is 11 as of March this year- she came to live with us in May 2001 as a mangy pup (left upper pic) shown w/my son who was 10 at the time. She loves to go for car rides. We call her bat dog because of the ear thing when she is expecting something. She is very sweet natured- until she's chasing a squirrel (our younger dog, Zoe- shown w/Pepper in bottom far right- caught a squirrel yesterday & Pepper took it from her to claim & kill it). She is slowing down & has a bad knee, but she is still a pup at heart.

If you want to know how I figured out she is 60 Human Years- go to http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/age.htm where they have a great chart that better represents the age relationship between dogs & their persons (hint- it's not 7 times their current dog years)

 Left side:

 Right side:

The ugly papers I started with:

As always- thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and let me know you were here. :D Have a blessed day

Veteran Birthday Card

Here is a birthday card I made for my Korean vet father-in-law- he turned 81 the other day:

 Everything is scraps but the card base. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the blue strip & then sanded it - I used CTMH stamp set Vintage America & Paper Lantern.

Thanks for stopping by. Please let me know you were here :D as your comments are always appreciated.

Water Baby

My son was 8 mo old & my sister-in-law & her 3 kids were visiting from CO. My son was so excited when we picked up his float- he LOVES the water- still does. Here's the 2-page view:

 I created this 2-page LO for the SB.com monochrome challenge. I'm so glad I stumbled across it as I would probably have never considered CTMH Sunset card stock to use with these photos. Really makes them pop.

 First I stamped CTMH stamp sets Just Chillin' (sun, umbrella & flip flops) & Love Life (swirls) using CTMH Sunset ink for a tone on tone. The umbrella & flip flops were stamped on Colonial White card stock & cut out. The journaling I typed up on the computer and printed on Colonial White - then cut into strips inking the edges w/Chocolate. I kept all the elements simple so the photos really take the stage.

Thanks for stopping by. Always appreciate your visits and your comments. Please let me know you were here. >^..^<

Splendid Day Cards

I made 2 cards, but only 1 is for Mother's Day as my mom is gone now- I figure I'll use the other as a birthday card or other special day card later.

The card pattern is from CTMH Originals card making book- Center Sash. The flowers, leaves & oval were cut using the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. I stamped the flowers using CTMH stamp set Hooray Bouquet & used Sunny Yellow & Pansy Purple embossing powders.
The leaves & oval saying are stamped using CTMH Harvest Happiness - the leaves embossed w/clear powder mixed with Prisma Glitter and the saying using  clear detail then sponged w/CTMH Blush ink to bring out the edge design and saying. The yellow flowers and saying are applied w/foam tape to give more dimension. I used clear buttons for the flower centers for a little more shimmer without taking away from the colors of the flowers.

 As always- thanks for stopping by- please leave me a comment to let me know you were here. Have a great day.

made for the April MMM Swap on Scrapbook.com

 I couldn't resist making these cute little puppies using Cricut Best of 2006 cartridge. Simply used White Daisy as base & black for the top layer. I topped it off giving him a cute little Itty Bitty Sparkle collar.

 Simply cut dog tags using the Cricut Stand & Salute cartridge- 1 w/USA & 1 to back it. Used White Daisy as back so when I put the Glitz silver glitter glue in it, it would stand out more. Inked edges in black and topped off with a yellow ribbon.

2" squares embossed w/Red embossing powder using the CTMH Brilliant Backgrounds stamp. Next I cut stars using CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge at 1.25" & embossed using CTMH Wishing Star & Star Spangled Blue embossing powder. I used foam tape to pop the star up & topped it off with a Sparkle in the center.

TFL - please leave a comment & let me know you stopped by. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Sparky - our Special Order Kitty

This is a layout I made for the April Ugly Paper challenge where you are assigned someone to send 2 pieces of 12x12 ugly paper and an embellishment to someone & you also receive a set from someone else, not necessarily who you sent papers to. You will have to look at my Scrapbook.com gallery to see the original papers (I actually got them in December, but due to my mother's health and other family issues at the time, I had to press pause on this challenge).

One paper was Christmas w/ice skates and sleds for which I punched using a paw print edge punch and cut it into strips to make the boarder around this page. The 2nd ugly paper is that which you see peeking out from behind the left picture- big sun flowers on a red bg. I used a rope edge punch on it. This way I get the papers more as color and texture as the only thing that went together was the color red. I used some CTMH Colonial White paper as my background and a back matt of New England Ivy. I also used those same 2 colors to cut the title Sparky using Cricut cartridge Printing 101. I offset the letters so it makes them look more dimensional. The embellie was 2 overlapping hearts- I cut one off and inked it with blue as hot pink did not seem to fit well with a male Russian Blue cat. Since I had a lot to put in the journal box, I used the computer & printed on Colonial White cardstock to match the bg- I used Chocolate ink & a sponge dauber to give the edge some definition. Overall- very simple. I had to stare at these papers awhile before it came to me though. And I still adjusted the picture placement as how I started isn't where I ended up. I let the pictures tell me where they need to go.

Thanks for stopping by- please leave a comment to let me know you were here & what you think of my project. Your visits are always appreciated.

Banner pieces for Scrapsisters swap

Here are the rest of my banner pieces for my swap I finally finished today:

 The butterflies in both the front and back of this banner were cut from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I then stamped the top butterfly using the CTMH Universal Backgrounds stamp- the bottom black piece I used silver embossing powder & the top of the butterfly w/clear embossing powder mixed w/Prisma glitter. The butterfly on the back (below) was done the same using the CTMH Diverse Backgrounds stamp and the white lower part in silver & the upper in clear w/Prisma glitter embossing powders.

 I used 4 different Cricut cartridges to make each of the elements of this banner piece.

 This I used the CTMH stamp Thriller for both images- then cut them out and attached using foam tape.

 I used the Cricut cartridge Animal Kingdom for the penguin- then used Glitz Glitter glue on the black part to give it some sparkle- the background paper is purple although the picture seems to have not come thru. The volleyball figure below is clipart that I printed on cardstock then sponged the green going darker on the edges.

Banner pieces I am making for a swap- 5 done, 4 to go- we are decorating both sides. Each of us has a theme/color scheme we are asked for so when all have been 'swapped' we will have a themed but unique banner to hang in our scrap space:

 The dragonflies I cut with the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge then I stamped the layers with different CTMH background stamp patterns using VersaMark & embossing powder for dimension. Then I glued the top on using Liquid Glass and inserted a wire for the antenna. I attached the large dragonflies with foam tape to give them more presence.

 The ice cream cone was done by taking CTMH white core Cotton Candy card stock and scoring lines and then using a sanding block on the raised side to highlight the waffle-cone effect. I then made the ice cream by cutting 2 sizes of circles then arranging them to resemble the edges of a scoop on a cone- then I painted them with Pearl paint. I added little colored beads for the sprinkles.The little ice cream cone on the 2nd side is actually Cricut cotton candy since I thought it looked most like soft serve. I painted it as well with pearl paint to give it the luster of ice cream.

 This one was very simple- I had to order the Hello Kitty patch and I found the ribbon at WalMart- the colors were per her request. I think it came out pretty cute.

 An outdoors theme with summer colors- this lady loves to camp and spend time outdoors so I stamped the tree & swing from the CTMH Trees & Things wet embossing the leaves on the tree. Next I used another CTMH stamp In the Month of April for the grass- embossing that as well. Then I cut it all out. I attached the top of the tree and the grass with foam tape. The swing I added hemp to be the rope & cut out the squirrel using Cricut Camping Out cartridge.

This theme is supposed to be grunge punk rock princess- I used the CTMH stamp set Thriller using black & gray flannel ink to create the background paper. Then I cut the guitar & music note using Cricut Quarter Note cartridge.

I have 4 more banner pieces to make- hope to post those by this weekend.