The family that's scrapped together...

Whoo-ee crafters, I've been busy busy busy this month! What with making all the pages and the cards featured in this new video, spending more time than ever with my loved ones, and creating a storm of cards to sweep through the latest Key Peninsula Barter Fair, I've hardly known where to hang my hat! Or, I guess it should be a place to hang my scissors. Or the washi! (Oh, the waaashiii)
I counted making something like 20 cards this month... not bad, huh? That's a little more than a card a day. UNLESS you're like me, and postpone somehow the inevetible and then crank out 9 in a single sit down! Okay, I realize you may not have that kind of time, motivation, or inclination. One of the reasons I never sold cards regularly was because it does indeed take a certain amount of discipline. Not a word I tend to accompany with my craft habits lol.
I've found myself in the conundrum of wanting to make, having reasons to make, and yet, not being willing to part from participating with my family to do so... good thing I've raised the girls to make right along side me! But, supervision is often times necessary, and not always easy to give when the desire to create for me is in the way. I suppose being aware of the problem is half the problem itself, and I think with a little thought towards scheduling some paper time, I can get a good little cushion of ready to sell's amassed yet again.
The holidays are coming- no, I know they are not just around the corner- but friend, they are! Lucky for me, my creations didn't sell quite as quickly last year and I have a box of fall through the end of the year beauties to re-release next month. For now, I'm going to turn my attention back to the family, and mentally compose some late summer, early fall colored patterned paper themes, harvesting good times inside and out :-)
As always, hope you enjoy the video, and thanks for reading!

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Dad's don't always get the credit they deserve for doing something wonderful for their daughters, so I want to be sure to highlight something sweet Ray did last week.
Rainier celebrated her 4th birthday with a weekend of slumber party fun with me over at my mom's house, including a trip to the Symphony, lunch out with friends, and a big party after worship at church.

As much as I enjoyed spoiling her with mother daughter time, I couldn't help but feel that our better halves were home missing out. True, we would be hosting a Tea Party for her friends on her actual birthday of Monday the 19th, but I was relieved nonetheless when dad mentioned his plan for a Friday date night for he and his oldest gem.

After a short morning's work under a few horses, he drove home, showered, and packed up their organic popcorn treats, and with Rainie decked out in date night finery they headed to the Harbor for their evenings activities. Shopping, movies, and dinner, just what any lady likes!

While they were gone I had so much love in my heart at the thought of their good time that I had to fashion up a card to show how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness. The perfect sentiment popped out of my stash, but I wanted the background to reflect my heartstrings' song.

Anchors are such a strong symbol. Not only do they reflect his maritime joy but are a true reflection of his importance in our lives...although it may be my love of Washington that has anchored us here for now, he is the foundation of our family upon which most of our philosophies and habits are set.
Often times while I am preparing to make a card, I will glance around my desk to see what leftovers I can use, and my eyes fell upon this Basic Grey sticker sheet. The stickers have long since been used up, a recent trend I've pounced upon btw, and it seems a waste to toss the left over "frames," so there on my desk this sheet sat. I love grid designs, and when I layered the sticker backing over my anchor printed background, I loved the look so just went with it. I did end up turning the backing a couple of times to get the placement right.
An enamel swirl, some blingy bling and I was almost done. After adding some distress ink to the sentiment strip it felt like this card was ready to be hidden in plain sight for hunny to chance upon.
Thanks for celebrating an inspiring dad with me today!
 

My latest video: Card Magic Part 2!

How'd you like that cliffhanger of an ending in my last video, Card Magic Part One?! I knew you'd be looking for this next installment in that three part series :-)

Learn to add some pizazz to your letters and then step up your embellishing game with some tricks on stretching layered stickers and adhering hard to stick items.

Thanks for watching!

Add a Fourth of Fun

Today I'm sprinkling a dash of creativity, adding a Fourth of Fun, and mixing up a big scrap bucket of card fronts!
Occasionally, there are nights I successfully bring myself back downstairs after tucking the kids into bed. Earlier this summer I discovered a way to make a table I can work off while sitting on the couch and it's opened up a few more hours of crafting for me! As hunny and I watch our fill of the Orange is the New Black, I sort through my scraps and find interesting color combinations to play with. Sometime I'm really happy with the results, and sometimes I just love the idea of what I've made, but not really the card itself.

That's the case with this card to the left; I actually like it a lot more photographed and here on the blog than I do in real life. It was fun to create though, and that's what matters most to me. The cute little paper flower was made by folding strips of paper and then topping it with a fussy cut flower and a pearl. A peek-a-boo sticker from the kids and an assortment of additional blings bring the focus onto the flower. Thank goodness I have every color bling under the sun to compliment all the shades shown here, thanks to Queen & Co and their value priced booth at CKC each year!

Speaking of bling, I need to go make some Fourth of July cards for the peeps I'll see. I've got some blue and red star blings that are just dying to get on something.
Have a safe and fun, festive Fourth- and make it crafty!

Charisma Cardz Meets Die Cut Crazy Blog Hop

Welcome to the Charisma Cardz Meets Die Cut Crazy Special Challenge & Blog Hop. The incredible design team at UK's Charisma Cardz have this week teamed up with my peers at Die Cut Crazy to bring you some wonderful inspiration from the world of Die Cutting, as well as a fab packed April Edition which is available for download on all IOS Apple Devices via the Newstand & in PDF format from the website. We've been hard at work creating beautiful Easter and Spring projects to inspire your own crafting with your die cuts.

This week at Charisma they have an ‘ANYTHING GOES’ Challenge where you can join in by linking or emailing Charisma with your cards/designs- and of course as always there are some fabulous prizes to be won! The  winners will be announced next week on the blog, AND featured in next months issue of Die Cut Crazy. Fame awaits you!
As well as this we have a spring influenced blog hop, showcasing all the designers. You should have a look around! For each comment you leave at each stop we’ll be drawing some random winners for prizes. This could be YOU...
If you just joined our hop, be sure and go back to the Charisma Cardz Challenge Blog to start from the beginning! But first, my little Spring Fling Mini-Album!

Ah, Spring...there's just nothing like the feeling of the earth stretching towards the sun all around you, is there? There's also nothing like the feeling in your legs and back after a full day of gardening, which, lets face it, usually is just weed pulling with a nicer name!

You may have guessed, I'd much rather be creating with paper die cuts next to a window than sowing seeds out in the sun! What's a crafty girl to do? In a few months I'll drag a used bassinet outside and soak up the sun. This table is just the right height and has a bit of wind protection around the top edge, making it perfect for outdoor crafting! 

As the days get longer and the rain falls less often in our state, we approach the most beautiful weather of the year. You can see that trend reflected in many online mood boards and in our favorite YouTube crafters too.

In the spirit of following my own passions while honoring the traditions of another, I chose to create a custom seed collector for the master gardener in my life, my mom!

I found the idea for this fun mini-album on the Score-Pal blog. It was really easy to put together and even easier to customize. What really makes this mini ideal for seed collectors are the tabs that slide in and out of the pages- ideal places for envelopes holding a bounty of beauty waiting to burst from the ground!

The base of my pages is the "B" side -or maybe it's the "A" side, I can never figure out how that works- of a beautiful soft pink, DearLizzy's Neapolitan: Delightful Bouquet 12x12 sheet.

 As the name suggests, a delightful bouquet is indeed on the reverse and helped me to pull and mix in colors for my project, like Heidi Swapp's Primrose Color Shine Mist.

Here's a fun idea I recently shared here on my blog: next time you have a few extra holes punched out, cover them with some Liquid Glass or another clear-drying hard glue. Let them dry overnight, and you'll wake up to your own custom enamel dots!Sprinkle amongst ink splatters and enjoy the bling!

Me & My Big Ideas die cut notecards, some generic small manilla envelopes, layered with Graphic 45's Secret Garden die cut tags and pockets made every page pop with a little bit of unique, and then I tied on an orange ombre ribbon to close it all up.

No, I may not have a green thumb; instead, I possess have a tombow mono-ink splattered thumb that can tie a mean bow tie! Let's see your next die cut covered mini; just tag it on instagram or Twitter with #DCCMini, and you may see your creation in next month's issue!

 Thanks for stopping by the Charisma Cardz Meets Die Cut Crazy Magazine Blog Hop & Challenge! I hope seeing my project leads you to create your own Spring/Easter piece.  Please leave a comment to let me know you stopped by, I love to read those comments!
 Next up in the hop is Eemeli. Enjoy!

In case you just joined the hop at my site, here are the other bloggers to hop about for inspiration:

You are Here -->--->Anna Bradshaw - craftwithanna.blogspot.com

Going on to Eemeli's site--> –> www.eemelike.blogspot.com

Stacey – www. lasatas.blogspot.co.uk/

Natalie – http://ngcards.blogspot.co.uk

Charisma – www.charismacardz.blogspot.com
Carlyann – www.sweetncrafty.blogspot.com

Emma Pountney – http://tinyurl.com/m42q998

Sarah  – www.sarahshandmadecardsx.blogspot.co.uk

Mandy – www.mandysparkles.blogspot.com

Marie – www.cardmakingmazza.blogspot.co.uk

Jo  - www.determinedcrafter.blogspot.co.uk

Vee- www.bearykrafti.blogspot.com

Susan – www.mixamatoasties.blogspot.co.uk

Lorraine – www.travellingcolours.com

Emma – www.emgoescardmaking.blogspot.co.uk

Tina – www.tinamarie997.blogspot.co.uk

Dianne Grayson's work will be featured on Die Cut Crazy's home site! Get your copy of April's issue on your IPad. You will see MANY ways to use your die cutting equipment to produce incredible works of art. I've been inspired again and again by my peers manipulation of die cuts. Some styles are whimsical, like fairies, cartoon like stamping and paper piecing, or animals. Lacy borders and doilies seem to be another beautifully textured inclusion. "Add feathers, and voila it's Fans-chy!" As my daughter Rainie would say :-*. I love making a few little deluxe paper animals with my cricut and a lent Pooh Bear cartridge- thanks DF!
Don't forget, instagram #DCCmini to show off your die cut mini album!

Wait! Don't throw that away?

I admit, I have a problem throwing away little bits of pretty paper. So I'm not surprised that I was inspired to create my own version of enamel dots with this tiny punched circle from a cricut cut tag I used.

It doesn't look like much, but you wouldn't believe how proud I am of this little shiny dot and it's friends!


They were really easy to make, I just  added a blob of Close To My Heart's Liquid Glass to the top and let it dry overnight on a shred of wax paper. I wanted to be sure it was really dry before I touched it because sometimes I get over eager and ruin things!


This isn't a project I would necessarily recommend, as it was a tad tricky getting the paper to come off the glue tip without spreading sticky all over the place, but it was fun, and now I know how to make a very coordinated little blingie for any layout that "needs" it. And since you bothered stopping by today, now you do too!