You're A Hoot!

So I felt the need to pull out the Inspiration Box I got from Brutus Monroe because I hadn't yet stamped this pretty owl and I felt it needed to get some ink on it.  So I had some fun this week playing around with my watercolors and my Copics...

I'm playing along with the Outlawz Twisted Thursday... Fur, Fluff, and Fins... maybe not in that order... but something like that!  I'm positive this owl's belly is fluffy...

Along with all of the goodies that came in my box, there were some beautiful background prints.  They are foil ready, however I don't even know how to do that yet (I think I'm gonna learn next week at our monthly crop) so I die cut it with the Crazy Stitched Die from CDD and then smooshed some watercolors on it.  I just brushed over the whole thing including the trees and then soaked up the extra paint so the trees wouldn't get a watercolor film on them.  Then when it was dry, I splattered some more watercolors and some of my Heidi Swapp color shine in Gold and Brown.  It comes in a spray bottle, but I've decided I love twisting off the top and using my paint brush to splatter it sometimes instead because I love the bigger splotches I get.

This owl stamp that came in the kit... omg... I love her!!  So quick and easy to color.  I was intimidated at first because of all of the little design and was imagining it would be much more difficult, however it really didn't take long to color it in at all and sometimes with Copics small spaces are much easier... I just LOVE way she turned out.  I added a thin coat of Liquid Glass on her eyes to make them shine.. sometimes I overdo it and it gets bubbles... thin coats are best and even if want more dimension just add layers as it dries... much better results.

And that pretty doily die from Gina Marie Designs... LOVE it!

I knew I wanted leaves, but with all of the paper I have none made me happy to cut leaves out of for this card... so I hauled out my watercolors again and some smooth watercolor paper.. cheap... possibly even from the kids' section at Target... and again smooshed some colors all over the page making sure to let them blend together.  When I was done I sprayed some extra water on it and took out (for the first time!) my Gainsai Tambi Starry Colors... a beautiful set of 6 water based pigments in varying shades of gold and I used my paintbrush and smooshed some of that around in different areas in a couple different colors.  Then I sprayed it with more water again to let the paints mingle some more and left it to dry.  Once it was all dry I used a little to cut my leaves with my Lawn Fawn stitched leaves dies and saved the rest for later... 'cause... well... Fall Coffee Hop starts in a week!!!

And of course that sentiment is in the stamp set and I heat embossed it with the Gilded embossing powder from Brutus Monroe and see that big glittery gem??  Had a few of those in the kit too.  They are BIG so I decided just to use one here and then I was lucky and had some pretty sequins that kind of matched it so I used those and some gold thread to finish it off.

So much fun putting this one together... and so happy you stopped by!  A lot going on this coming week... Atlantic Hearts on Monday; Paper Sweeties release starts Wednesday; Coffee Hop starts Friday (got a peek at the freebie from Jessica Lynn Original... OMG... you're gonna love it!)   AND I just got my special Butterfly Inspiration Box from Brutus Monroe .. so... this weekend you can find me in my craftroom!  Me, my coffee, and my dog Slim.  Kinda like most other weekends!  But paper will be flying!

Happy Crafting and come back soon!

Hipster Fox Says What?

Up on the Coffee Lovers Blog again today!  Hop on over there to check out this cutie!  I used the Hello Foxy set again for today's Guest Design post there AND if you haven't hopped along with the Cutting Cafe yet and want to see more foxy goodness see my post from yesterday here!  For every stop along the way, comment and have a chance to win the file that DT member used!  But First, Coffee!

The Cutting Cafe Inspiration Blog Hop-Hey There Foxy!

I am so excited about today's Cutting Cafe posts!  Today we're doing something special and Regina has set us up for a blog hop and you will have a chance at each stop along the way to comment and be entered into a drawing to win the set that DT member used!  You should have come here from Diane Hover's place!  If you get lost, you can always head back to the Cutting Cafe Blog here! 

For today, I chose the adorable Hey Foxy Shaped Card Set... because it is awesome and has soooo much stuff in it!  I made the three cards above (and I have quite a bit more cut, printed and ready to go so you'll be seeing those soon!)

I LOVE this Foxy Word Shaped Card included in the set!  It's so quick and easy to use!  It cuts the base with a dashed cut for the fold and both top layers.. so quick and easy to put together!

I'm entering this one into the Twisted Thursday Challenge over at the Outlawz!  It's Anything Goes with the twist this week of Fur, Fluff or Fins... you should check it out!  This is a Ning site and you have to sign up the first time, but it is soooo worth it... great big group of crafty people!

And that cute little fox was part of the digital stamps that come in pdf form and also in jpg.  The pics are all on one photo so the first thing I did was crop them out to be single jpg files and then I pulled this fox for instance into Word and copy and pasted it it in different sizes... printed and ready to cut either by hand or on my brother.  These I fussy cut just cause I was in the mood and they were easy.  I added a sentiment from my stash on vellum 'cause it went so well with the word Foxy and some premade paper flowers and sequins.

I did the same with the sentiments as I did the foxes... cropped them all separate so I could play with sizes and spacing... I like to leave space so I can cut my printed sentiments with some stitched dies if I want... and this oval fit perfectly in the center..

This guy... probably the best part of the set... isn't he adorable!!  The cutting file does cut some black eyes for you, but I added some googly eyes to this one instead 'cause I could. And in the set you also get the cut files for a few different hats:

 Pretty cute, right?  I used the antlers of course... and then I did this...

I used this Deer sentiment from my stash because I thought it was hilarious!  'Cause he's a FOX dressed up as a DEER!!  Get it?  Oh I crack myself up!  And then on the inside:

I combined a Happy Holidays set from my stash with one of the sentiments included in the printables... I just make myself giggle... so sorry...

And the printables also include this cool stamp!  I printed this one in a bigger size so I could make a quick and simple card!  I just cut it out with some layering dies and colored it then cut two other layers and put them together... it even left me time to decorate the inside a little:

Here I used some of the same paper from the front; a sentiment from my stash and one of the adorable little foxes I printed, colored, and cut out.

Here are the printable stamps you get:

So Foxin' Adorable, right!  So like I said, I print and cut lots of extras so you'll be seeing these again soon!

Now comment here for your chance to win this complete Hey Foxy Cutting and Printable Stamp File Set from Regina along with a little gift from me!  And if you don't win it, but you must have it, you can buy it here!  My drawing is open until Thursday, September 14th and the winner will be chosen using Random.org.

 And when you're done here, check out the rest of the Design Team makes ... comment.. and you could win the file that each of them has used!  For blog hop post you comment on, you get a chance to win!

Now you can head on over to Lisa Snowdy's neck of the woods, and if you get lost you can always head back to http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/cutting_cafe_blog/2017/09/its-time-for-our-blog-hop.html

My Layout With Seemingly Not So Disparate Elements

So... recently I was creating some card or other piece at some time and I pulled out a baggy of stuff that Yvonne Yam had sent me after we had the final Lessology challenge (which I miss terribly by the way).  And it made me realize I had not been to her blog in way too long.  I don't know why... I LOVE visiting her blog... along with Mitra and Julie and Tracey, Yvonne has some of the yummiest layouts I ever see.

The post that was at the top was all about making layouts with seemingly disparate elements and making them beautifully "parate"..lol... yeah I know... I made it up... you can use it.  She had some really great tips on how to accomplish this and it made me want to create a scrapbook layout which I hadn't done in FOREVER!  So I told her I was going to make one the very next day... and of course I didn't... but wonderful Yvonne called me on it!  She actually came to check out this wonderful layout I had done and found some card or other and said... HEY!  Which prompted me to promise that the very next day I would create said layout... and I DID!  And here it is!

So... It's no Yvonne, Create More With Less, Yam, but I'm pretty happy with it.  And I cheated a bit... as a lot of my items are quite "parate" because they came together with the CTMH Falling For You Workshop... so I really didn't have to work too hard to put them all together... BUT!...

I did so love her tip about having cut out characters looking at your pics.. so I did that here with these cute little pheasants from the Falling For You Complements.

I did use up lots of scraps.. I really only cut one full piece of paper.. the white one with the flowers.. all of the rest were cut from scraps leftover from previous projects so that was pretty good!

And I kind of made a rule that although it was an Autumn themed page, I was not allowed to put ANY leaves on it... well... as you can see I broke down.. but I used only one because I needed something in the very plain center, but nothing too big or bulky and this leaf was perfect.

I also used some items I've had in my stash and never used.. the beautiful Happy laser cut chipboard from Make It Crafty (all the way from Australia); the wood pieces, like this circle with a heart cut out of the center, the other little hearts floating around and maybe an arrow.. and best of all, I dug into that baggy of items from Yvonne and pulled out that pretty bejeweled flower and the two stars that match it (all the way from Singapore!).

There is one of those cute little stars right there!  

My kids and I used to go to either Chestnut Ridge in Hamburg, NY or Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY every autumn and take pics... as they got older and had jobs, it kind of waned, but now when I go back to visit in the Fall, Corey will suggest a trip out to Letchworth (my favorite) which makes me very happy.  Maybe I'll use some of those pics next!

And yes, every once in a while I'd get in the picture... here Ryan wanted to play photographer so here I am striking a pose... not so photogenic as my kids...lol!

So if you like these types of layouts, please do visit Yvonne's post here!  I made mine with her post in front of me so I could scroll through it for inspiration.  And I will definitely be doing this again.

Come back soon!  We've got something special planned for the Cutting Cafe on the 7th!  There is going to be a Blog Hop with a chance to win a file at every stop!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #228

Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!  I'm happy to share one of the full page layouts in my handmade scrapbook today!  I used the sketch for the bottom of my layout and added my photo above it.

Using these sketches has made it so quick and easy to add photos and embellish my pages!  I just look at the sketch and my pages and photos and choose something that will fit and the work is half done!

My beautiful family... no wonder this is one of my sister in law's favorite pics... it's one of mine too...

Will you play along with us this week??

Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenge #6 - Falling For You

Welcome to the September challenge at Three Amigos Blog Hop Challenges!  This month we're using the Falling For You Paper Pack!  And here is what I've made for you today:

So it's possible that this doesn't quite make you think of the Falling For You papers, however that beautiful krafty colored stripe in the back is from the pack.  I should say that this is not the color scheme I started out with.  I was going to go all (yes) gold, with kraft, orange and green... you know fall-ish!  But when I made the decision to heat emboss some of those pretty feathers from the Feel So Blessed September Stamp of the Month on vellum in Aged Gold; I accidentally picked up my shabby pink container, sprinkled it on and was like.. what is all the pink?... idk... meant to be?  And since I had heat embossed about 7 of them because I knew I'd be using them again, I decided to go with it instead of starting over.. although I'm sure I could easily use 14 if I'd done 7 more...lol!  

I've been using a lot of vellum in my crafting lately... I just love the light layers it creates and here, I double vellumed it!  When I was trying to decide my layer in between the stripe and the sentiment, I first thought white and embossed... but I wanted the stripe to show through so I decided embossed vellum layer.. I LOVE it!  I also love that retired embossing folder from CTMH-so happy I snagged one before it was gone!

And I wasn't planning on coloring in the feather, but when I added it to my cluster in plain white it got lost with all of the other vellum layers so I think pink was just right.

That pretty ribbon was in some happy mail from a crafty friend and I used some of the kraft leaves in the Falling For You Complements.  And I added some of my favorite paper flowers from Hobby Lobby and some tiny pink Prima ones I bought from the Funky Junky.

I mimicked some of the embellishments at the top too and finished it off with sequins that came in my Falling For You Workshops Your Way bundle... I love to get the Workshops Your Way even if I'm not going to follow the workshop because I get all of the coordinating items in one tidy package...

Hope you enjoyed your visit!  I sure enjoy having you here!  Now be sure to check out what Donna and Susan have for you!  And don't forget about our wonderful guest designer, Tracey Pierce!

Hope you'll play along for your chance to win a small gift from us!  You don't have to use Close to My Heart Products... just use the photo of the paper pack for inspiration and link up!  New projects only, no backlinking and we don't mind if you play along with other challenges as well!  See the Three Amigos Blog for more details and to link up!

I'm also playing along with the Outlaws Twisted Thursday, which is always Anything Goes with a Twist and this week the twist is ... well... Anything Goes... that's right up my alley!  You should check it out...there are prizes and it's a Ning site so you either have to sign in or sign up but it's so worth it!  A wonderful group of crafty people!

And very excited because I found out that this card is being featured on the Outlawz this week!

Hope to see you again soon!  We're having a Blog Hop over at The Cutting Cafe on the 7th... fun and different and lots of chances to win free files!  And the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Hop starts on the 15th!!  Wooo Hoooo!!  See you soon!

Coffee Loving Cardmakers Guestie Post 3!

I'm back up on the Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Blog guesting again today!  Here's a sneak peek ... for more details, links and pics, click here!

If you're here for Paper Sweeties September 2017 Anything Goes Challenge, click here!  But still check out the Coffee Lovers because there's lots of Paper Sweeties there too!

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