Sketch Sunday #36

So, I have missed a couple of posts lately. Whoops! Life here has been crazy. I put my house up for sale before the summer and spent the entire summer (and part of fall) cleaning for open houses and showings. Needless to say, my crafting was put on hold. My craft supplies were packed up in so many boxes that they probably outnumbered boxes in all other rooms (combined)!

I moved into my new house at the end of October and started to set up my craft room. Unfortunately, it was the last room that needed to be worked out, but the one I wanted to the most! It’s almost complete – I will be posting a room tour video soon! The last pieces should be arriving at my house tomorrow, if the snow storm hasn’t delayed their delivery.

I have started to get back into a crafting routine, which includes Sketch Sunday. I even was able to participate in this month’s hashtag event! (You can see the videos over at my YouTube channel – link listed below).

For this week’s sketch Sunday, I used the sketch from MFT Weekly Sketch Challenge: http://www.cardchallenges.com/search/label/sketchchallenge

I started with a pre-made kraft card stock card base that measures 8″ x 5 1/2″. I used my Martha Stewart bone folder to score the card at 4″ and make the creases more crisp. This made the card 4″ x 5 1/2″.

The front of the card was made by using a piece of green Recollections card stock that was cut 1/8″ smaller than the card base. I then cut a piece of white Recollections card stock 1/8″ smaller than the green mat. I took the white piece of card stock and placed it in the MISTI. Placing the My Favorite Things cling stamp Birthday Background in the MISTI, I inked it up with My Favorite Things Gumdrop Green and stamped it on the white card stock piece. Then, I used washi tape to secure the white piece to the Heidi Swapp stencil. In the open areas of the stencil, I used Tim Holtz Mermaid Lagoon distress ink and a mini ink blending tool to create the two blue bands over the words.

I took the same green Recollections card stock and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Simon Says Stamp die that says “Brothers”. I did this four times and then I took all four pieces and secured them together with my Zig Two Way glue pen. After they were stuck together, I used my CutterBee scissors to cut off the “s” in Brothers. Using the same glue, I attached the word “Brother” to the right side of the top blue band.

For the inside sentiment, I used another My Favorite Things stamp set called Delicious Birthday. The white layer is 3 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ and the green layer is 1/8″ larger than the white layer. The sentiment I chose was “It’s Your Day Get Your Cake On”. I inked it up in the same Gumdrop Green My Favorite Things hybrid ink that I used for the background stamp on the front of the card. I also stamped the set of five candles that comes with the set in the bottom right corner.

That is the card for this week. Here is the link to the video:https://youtu.be/ivxEvKVNeqA

Here are two pictures of it:

 

Did you ever have one of those days…..

where no matter what you did, nothing would go your way? That’s how tonight’s crafting adventure ended up! I was working on my last project for the #pawgustart event and every thing I started wasn’t to my liking. I started out trying to watercolor with distress inks, but couldn’t find my heat tool to heat emboss the image. So then I decided to paper piece the image. That turned out ok and I continued to work on the card. The next step was to use ink on an embossing folder to create trees and a blue (inked) background. When I added the paper pieced owls onto it, I did not like the way it looked.

I decided to scrap that project (after making two video parts for it, totaling over half an hour!) to work on making a flip card from a steel die. I have never really done one, so I thought I would give it a try. First attempt was poor at best! I tried to cut two pieces of patterned paper and glue one down to each side. The card would get stuck as you were flipping it. I gave up on that idea and decided to cut a new base out of white card stock, use the center pieces from my failed attempt and go from there.

I took a Heidi Swapp 12 x 12 heart stencil and used Barn Door distress ink to create the background. Next, I glued on the pieces that I cut out from my “failed” attempt at the flip card to cover the middle piece that flipped. I used the stamps from the Simon Says Stamp Circle Friends stamp set to create the background, bear and the sentiment. I added some clear gems for some sparkle to the card.

Here is the video that I made for the event : https://youtu.be/VZSunbePruI

Thanks for stopping by!

Michele

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Sketch Sunday Video

Here’s the new Sketch Sunday video. It’s a little different this week. I was inspired by Operation Write Home. To visit their site and learn more about them, click here: http://www.operationwritehome.org

Here’s the link to the video: http://youtu.be/lnXhsjHOd6A

Two posts in one day??

First I neglect my blog now I can’t stop writing? What’s the deal? Well, I decided that I had some down time while I was in a creative block and I thought writing might help. I did my Sketch Sunday video, edited it and uploaded it to YouTube. And that’s the reason for this post.

I was going through my supplies earlier today because I wanted to use something that I haven’t used in awhile. I found some Hero Arts Neon inks that I just HAD to have. It’s not that I didn’t use them because I did. But, unlike my distress inks, which I seem to use for every project, I haven’t used these in awhile. 

I also saw the pack of kraft card stock that has been sitting in my cube underneath my tv for awhile, unused. I had never tried neon inks on kraft (or at least if I did I don’t remember). I thought that I would give that a try. I only ended up using one color on the kraft card stock for this project. (On a practice piece, I used all four neon inks that I have). I love the results because it’s not as neon as if you used them on white, but it’s still pretty vibrant. 

Here’s the video of how I made the card and the sketch I used to make it. Click here for the Sketch Sunday video

What did you think? 

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave comments or questions and subscribe. 

Michele

YouTube – Chelebelle1120

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My latest trip to Michael’s

Hi everyone! I know, I know. It seems like the only time I post to this is when I have videos. It’s been a crazy summer. I have been traveling for work every week, training new people. And let me tell you, watching someone work and telling them what they did wrong is exhausting! Who knew standing around could be so much work?? (BTW that was totally serious. I can’t believe how tired I am after each day!)

So, that leaves me with very little time to create, but when I am away, there’s always a Michael’s or AC Moore (sometimes both!) near by. I can always shop. And so I have!! This time it was actually a local Michael’s and I went after I finished working for the day. It was in the same shopping center, so how could I say no??? Plus I was in Wal-Mart ALL day and I needed to interact with some intelligent people. (sorry not sorry. I HATE Wal-Mart!!)

Here’s the link to the haul:

Michael’s Haul Video

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave comments or questions and subscribe. I love to hear what you have to say!

Michele

YouTube – Chelebelle1120

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Today I had my niece over to work on some Christmas “projects”. It all started out when her cousin (my goddaughter) decided that she wanted to make necklaces for her mom, Nona and Mom-Mom, with picture frames for her dad and two Pop-Pop’s, plus gifts for her cousin and assorted animals. I tried to redirect my goddaughter into making things for everyone instead of buying. Well, I guess I am a convincing salesperson because she bought it and I have been helping the girls make gifts for everyone!

A couple of weeks ago I had Allie over and we started making the “shells” of her projects. We first went shopping and she picked out what she wanted. I love that when we got to a certain point she looked at candles and said $5??!! I can’t buy that! Between the two of us and some 55% off AC More coupons, we got really good deals on presents for all the adults on her list!

Two weekends ago, I had both of the girls over. Bella is a little younger and I wasn’t sure how she was going to take to making crafts. I know Allie loves to make things, but it seems like both girls got the creativity genes!! I was so impressed with their selections and how good they were at working with my crafting things. Of course there were things that they needed help with, but overall they were the lead designers. I was just there to do the things that they couldn’t.

Today was just Bella and I and it was great to work with her one on one. They are both so funny and have big personalities, but at the same time are different in so many ways. Bella tells stories like no other kid. She loves to gossip and give her opinion on everything. Bella rolls her eyes a lot and can be dramatic in a more subtle way than Allie, if that makes sense!

Tomorrow is my day with my goddaughter. We have a lot to do because she is super ambitious! She was so thoughtful to have put together a list of people she wanted to buy for that she loves. (I did notice that my name was missing, but I am assuming that it’s just because she and I were creating the list together and not because she didn’t think of me. HAHA. I know it was!) I can’t wait to see how her projects turn out. She loves to craft almost as much as I do. I love when she asked me when she can come over and make something. She’s like my rent-a-kid! I get to do the fun things with her and then send her home. : )

Crafting with both of them has taught me patience. I am usually a perfectionist. This time, I sat back and let the girls pick what they wanted. At some points I asked, are you sure? But, I needed to keep in mind that this is their present. Crafting with both of them has taught me patience. I am usually a perfectionist. This time, I sat back and let the girls pick what they wanted. At some points I asked, are you sure? But, I needed to keep in mind that this is their present. I learned to let go and just watch them have fun. If they messed up, they just used a different color or added that “carrot” so they could put in the word they forgot. It was so simple. I need to be more like that in my crafting.

And I have. Yesterday, I went out of my comfort zone and did some more water coloring. I had done a piece for my mom for her birthday. When I saw it on the mantle with the other cards I actually said out loud, wow – it almost looks as good as a store bought card. Of course, my mom being the smartass that she is said to me – you’d give me something that isn’t good?? But, she knew what I meant. It’s hard for me to praise my work. Maybe because it’s so personal? Not sure. But, since I went out on a limb earlier in the month, I decided to try again. So, here is what the card front looks like so far. I have to mount it on some scrapbook paper and then put it on a card. (I know, what am I waiting for???)

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave comments or questions and subscribe. I love hearing from you!

Using the new Disney cartridges

I made a Mickey head the other day from the Mickey and Friends cartridge. Of course I can’t find it now to take a picture. One of my new followers was asking about the Disney cartridges I got recently after she watched one of my videos. She wanted to know how difficult it was to make some cuts from the cartridges.

I watched other people’s videos and learned some tips and tricks. I leaned that if you used the slowest speed, the cuts come out better. Also, make the cuts the biggest size possible. I made a video of all the tips and tricks and posted it on YouTube. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=cQQkbsDAgPw&feature=plcp if you want to check it out!

Tonight, I decided to tackle the Disney Classics cartridge. I broke one of my own rules and made the cuts at 4 inches. I should’ve made the cuts bigger because a lot of them didn’t cut out properly. I made adjustments, however, and made due with what I had and salvaged as much of the cuts as possible. (Having a white and a black gel pen doesn’t hurt either!)

Im not overly thrilled with the way Alice turned out. You can recognize that it is her and I’m sure that most people wouldn’t notice the things I did notice. I did have fun making Alice in Wonderland though and I can’t wait to make the other characters on the cartridge.

Yesterday, I made two characters from the Mickey and Friends cartridge. I made a Minnie Mouse and a Donald Duck. When I was at AC Moore a couple of days ago, I bought a bunch of the $1 bin stamps. One of them said “Oh Heck! I missed your birthday”. I made the Donald cut of him jumping up and down, where he looks like he’s mad.  I thought that it would be perfect for that sentiment.

The Minnie Mouse cut I used was the one of her jumping in the air. I used one of the My Pink Stamper stamp sets that has the stamp “Kick up your heels”.  The interior of the card is blank so it can be a thinking of you or a get well card. I am really happy with the way those two cards came out.

The last card that I made was one using a new stamp I got from AC Moore and a new paper pack I got from Joann’s. I also used a Fiskar’s edge punch that I never used before that I thought mimicked the bubbles in the “Hello Friend” stamp I used. It was from another stamp set that I got from the $1 bin. I used VersaMark and some Stampendous white embossing powder on the sentiment.

Here are some pictures of the four cards. I am off to make some more cuts from those (and my other) new Cricut cartridges! Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment or question and subscribe.

Michele

South Jersey Etsian Mother’s Day Blog Hop

Welcome to the first official South Jersey Etsian blog hop! Thanks for joining us. There are five great projects today, so please be sure to visit everyone’s blog to see what was made. If you don’t know about us, we are a team of local, Southern New Jersey artist who sell on Etsy. We have marketing mixers to help promote each other and our shops, give ideas on new ways to tag and list items and brainstorm on ways to drive traffic to our shops. And the SJE blog hop was born!!

Since we each sell very different items (from jewelry to up cycled coasters to cards), we decided that we would “hop” around certain themes. With Mother’s Day not so far away, what a perfect theme for our first hop. So, here it is!

My project was a Mini Album for the new mother. It seems all of my friends are having babies (while I’m just getting awesome! Check Pinterest for this awesome ecard!!), so I decided to use my new Mini Album Cricut cartridge to create a baby boy book. First, I went through the paper stack I used – Me and My Big Ideas Baby Boy Paper stack – and picked the patterned papers that I liked and thought would go well together. Once I selected those papers, I went though the booklet for the cartridge and selected the cuts that I wanted to include in this album. I didn’t use the smallest cuts (Horizontal 9 and Horizontal 14) because they come out really small and you can’t put much on them.

Once I had all my cuts done with designer paper and some other blue card stock I had in my stash, I started assembling. The directions in the back of the book are easy to follow and once you’ve made one book, it’s easy to see how the other books will come together. (There is also a Vertical and Square Mini Album option). I used a light baby blue ribbon to hold all the pages together.

Then I started decorating. I used two of the baby cartridges I have – New Arrival and Baby Steps – to make some of the embellishments. I also used some of the stamps in my collection to add some quotes. I used a variety of inks including distress, Stazon and Versa Magic.I used coordinating colored card stock as mats for pictures.

Overall, this particular album can hold approximately 21 4 x 6 photos, with some room for additional smaller (3×3) photos. There are plenty of journaling spots – just turn some of the images over! The album is very interactive.

Here are some pictures of the album:

The Cover:

Inside the first pocket – a bottle that has journaling on the back and baby’s info with a spot for photo on the back:

The back:

One of the tags:

The crib, which houses the bear and the onesie:

Front of the bear and onesie – goes in the crib:

Back of the bear and oneseie:

One of the 4 x 6 photo pages. The baby is only partially glued down, so a picture can easily fit under the baby’s head!

Same for this camera icon. It’s partially glued, so a picture can easily slip into it!

Baby’s binky holds a journaling spot:

Cute train page has room for one of the 3×3 photos:

Another 4 x 6 photo mat:

The back cover:

Thanks for hopping along with us. Please visit the following blogs and see what they have made for Mother’s Day!!

Michele – https://scrapsecrets.wordpress.com/ YOU ARE HERE

Erin – http://serendipityblu.wordpress.com/ HERE”S YOUR NEXT STOP!!!

Jaime – http://jewelrybyjaime.wordpress.com/

Lisa – http://rooftopcreations.wordpress.com/

Heidi – http://heavymetalglam.com/

Operation Write Home

So, I’ve been really pretty depressed lately. First with all of my health issues and just thinking about all the new tests they have to run and all the restrictions to my diet and life. Then, I got rejected from a craft show I participated in last year. And not just any show – it was my first ever and it was one that I helped out with. So, I felt pretty down.

But then I watched one of Jennifer McGuire’s videos on how she made cards for the troops overseas. It’s an organization called Operation Write Home. For those of you who don’t know, I am a big believe in giving to charities. Recently I donated over 8 large trash bags of clothes to Goodwill, made cards for Hayden’s Heart and am in the process of making cards for March of Dimes fundraiser. Sometimes I’d rather make things to give away just because I like making cards.. (Although I do sell them on Etsy, so if you like them, you can certainly buy them – who am I to turn down money??  : ) ) I try to give back as much as I can.

So, I went over to the website to check out the rules and requirements. I signed up for my free Operation Write Home stamp that has to go on the back of every card and I learned what you can and can’t make for the troops. (In a nutshell – NO glitter, NO handwritten sentiments, standard A2 size card, positive themed, grown up type cards). I have some ideas in mind and am going to start working on some designs today. There is a calendar for when they need to receive cards by for specific holidays, themes and images to stay away from and themes they are looking for.

They also do HeroMail, which is when kids send in pictures or cards to the soldiers. I thought this was such a sweet thing. I am sure that the soldiers appreciate any kind of mail, especially pictures and cards that were so thoughtfully made by kids! If any of my teacher friends are interested in using this as an activity in their class or if any of my crafty friends are interested in participating, the website is : operationwritehome.org.

This certainly came at the right time. I needed something to focus on that was positive and I am glad that I did. I will post pictures of the cards I make in a couple of weeks. (It will take awhile to get the stamp for the back so I can’t send them right away).

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to comment and subscribe!

Get Well and Pet Sympathy Cards

A couple of weeks ago I received a custom order request from a friend that I went to grad school with. She asked me for a pet sympathy card. I didn’t think that there would be a market for those type of cards, but to my surprise, I was wrong! My last sale was in fact the same card I made for her! So I have to say thanks to Kara for the idea!

Here is the original card:

And here is the card I made for the Etsy sale – I emailed the customer to tell her that I could customize the dog to the colors of her friends’ pet and she chose tan and white:

The colors are slightly different. I don’t like to make two of the exact same card – I like to make each card unique. I also added a collar and a tag with the letter “Z” for the dog’s name.

The next card I made is for my coworker. She had surgery on Thursday. I know its going to be a long road to recovery for her. She came down last week to get cards that I was donating to Hayden’s Heart fundraiser this past weekend and she liked the Thanks a Latte card that I made. So, I wanted to use that image in the card for her. But how do you turn a coffee card into a get well soon card?

Well, this might be a stretch, but I used the sentiment “How’ve you bean?” on the front and get well soon on the inside. I had to think long and hard about how to make it work and I think I might have succeeded. We’ll see once she gets it!

Here are the images from the card:

The coffee cup was cut at 5 1/2 inches and the newspaper was cut at 3 1/2 inches.

Hope you like the cards! Thanks for stopping by. As always, feel free to leave a comment and subscribe. Also, if you want to see more about the cards, check out my YouTube channel – my username is chelebelle1120.