A Very CREATIVE Birthday Blog Hop and a Coupon

Creative Cuts and More that is! If you arrived here from Lindsay’s then you’re in the right spot=)

But no worries if you just happened along and fell in!! You can start at Die Cut Diva for the whole “cut and kaboodle”…hehe get it?..cut instead of kit?…oh, nevermind.
Be watching for blog candy and Terry is also offering a discount coupon for this event. Just enter in the coupon code birthdaydt0915 for your 15% discount when you place an order thru July 20th.

When Terry asked me if I wanted to be a guest designer for July and participate in their birthday themed blog hop, I said sure!! I mean, what fun to play with die cuts and to make birthday presents to boot!

So, I went shopping…and picked out this FUN Castle made of plain chipboard so I could alter it and Bazzill Smoothies cardstock insert pages in two different colors, Pear Crunch & Almond Cream. I also got the Mini Favor or Purse Bags to match! (they sound good enough to eat!)

Ok, enough talking already…let me show you what I created! Leah, my granddaughter just had her birthday, turning a big 4. Jorden turned 3 a couple months ago. They are bestest friends and totally enamored with Princesses!

Castle Measurements:
Cover measures: 5-3/4”w x 4-1/8”h
First Page measures: 5-7/8"w x 5-1/4"h
Second Page measures: 5-7/8"w x 4-7/8"h
Third Page measures: 5-7/8"w x 6-7/8"h

There are 2 pages each except the front cover. On both fronts I applied Mudd Puddles sand. (mixing my own pink by adding pink flamingo pearl ex to Malibu Beach.)

Each chipboard piece after that is covered with a variety of paper from the Sweet Stack by DCWV, Provo Craft, Kraft by Prism and Bazzill.

I tried to separate it a bit so you could see how it all fits together. Using my Bind It All, I punched the holes and used pink Offray dotted ribbon to tie it all together.
The bling on the front is from The Paper Studio, and Mark Richards bling on the tower page.

The turrets also have Mudd Puddles sand in “my” mix and St Pete Beach.

All the edges on this one are sanded and sponged with Distress inks.

This is one of CCM’s Antique Elegance Frames, run through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and popped up on foam dimensionals. The top is open so a photo can slide into place.
The bling on the flower is from Kaiser Craft.

On each of the pages I just stamped around the edges with Colorbox Chalk ink.

Check it out! Is this cute or what! This is a Pocket with Window &Tag. I ran the pocket through the Cuttlebug and added the pink Inverted Scalloped square over my picture that is attached to the tag.
Measurements:
Pocket with Window measures
3-1/4” x 3-1/2” folded.
Tag measures 3-1/8” x 3-3/4”.

And Leah’s Mini Favor or Purse Bag, also run through the Cuttlebug and tied with Offray organdy ribbon. Sleeping Beauty is colored with Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil. (and I was informed that I colored her skin and her dress is SUPPOSED TO BE PINK!) Her dress has a light Stickles coating and she’s popped up on a dimensional.
Measurements:
2-1/4" wide x 3-1/2" high with handles
(2-1/4" high without handles) x 1-1/2" deep.

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*Here’s a tip*
When I cover chipboard with paper I like to sand the edges. It blends the pieces together so it doesn’t look so much like you just slapped a piece of paper onto chipboard. I used a sanding block and emery board.

 

The top shows the paper just glued to the chipboard.

The next shows the sanded edges. This also helps if maybe your cutting is a bit off *wink*

I just laid the chipboard piece on top of the cardstock and took my craft knife and cut around it.

 

 

Jorden’s is basically the same except I used the wire binder. Her’s has the Almond Cream pages and Mini bag and I left off the sponging.

Cinderella is also colored with Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil and Stickles on her dress and is popped up.

What fun the girls can have putting pictures of all their “Princess” adventures in their Castles.

The recipe will follow…but first I want to make sure you know where to hop to next! Lila is next in line.

I hope I’ve stirred a little spark in you today, maybe you’ve wanted to step out of your “norm” and try something a little different…this could be just the thing! Whatever you do…ENJOY!!

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chipboard castles, bazzill insert pages, mini favor/purse bag, pocket with window and tag, antique elegance frame-creative cuts and more
spellbinder’s large classic inverted scallop square
offray ribbon
ink: worn lipstick, tea dye, walnut stain by ranger- lime pastel, pink pastel, chestnut colorbox chalk by tsukineko- memento tuxedo black by tsukineko
stamps: disney princesses by ek success, sing to the Lord by our daily bread designs, flourishes clear stamps by impression obsession, tropicals, birdies, aging gracefully by inque boutique
sand: st pete beach, malibu beach sand by mudd puddles
glue: zip dry, helmar
bling: the paper studio, mark richards, kaiser craft
cuttlebug/embossing folders
bind it all
craft knife
border punches

Thanks for stopping!

Dawn

 

Through The Viewfinder and A Guest Spot!

A combination of some new textures and techniques I’ve learned throughout the week with Jessica Sprague …and, yes, some Elegant WordArt.

I’m using PhotoShop Elements 7 and my camera is a Canon Rebel XTI

I just found out this morning that I’ll be a Guest Designer in September for Our Daily Bread!! Excited? YOU BET!!!

So…I have a wedding shower this morning, 4H’rs coming to work with their llamas, zucchini coming out my ears (well…not literally…you get the picture!), yellow wax beans producing like rabbits!…and still projects to finish for the blog hop!!

Have a wonderful day…we’re hoping for some rain!

Thanks for stopping=)

Dawn

Textured Photos and More WordArt

Jessica’s class today was adding texture to your photo. Starting with a black and white and pulling layers overtop. An interesting look for sure and fun nonetheless! Of course I had to add some Elegant WordArt too!

Today is Leah’s birthday (on the right)…she’s a big FOUR! She and Jorden (her cousin, 3) are best buds. I took a bunch of pictures of the two of them last evening. Hopefully on Monday I’ll have a fun project and blog hop to share with you!

   

The possibilities are endless! I can see lots of printing in the future!! LOL…everyone will be getting framed prints for every occasion!

Well, it’s almost time for the big birthday party! Hope your weekend is filled with fun, love and productivity…and some restful, peaceful moments too!

Thanks for stopping!

Dawn

Lucky 7 Sale!

Gina K is having a Gynormous Sale, calling it
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All the deets are on Gina’s blog…be sure to check it out!!

 

 

 

Photo Editing Fun!

I’ve been taking a free photo editing class online by Jessica Sprague. It’s way too much fun!! I’ve also been adding some Elegant WordArt.

I wanted to share some of the projects I’ve done and to let you know I’m still around…just very busy!! I’ve got several stamping projects due soon…State Fair and our County Fair will be here way too soon!! and the garden is starting to produce at lightning speed!!

Grunge Frame and WordArt

Photo Tinting, Framing and WordArtPhoto Tinting,  Framing and WordArt

Fun Frames

Grunge Frame and WordArt

   Grunge Frame and WordArt

Fun Frames and WordArt

Photo Tinting

Photo Tinting and Framing

Now, how cool and fun is that!! And it’s so easy too! Of course you need some sort of photo editing program like Photoshop, I’m using Photoshop Elements7.

I could use some hours in the day for sure!! I’d best get off my you-know-what and get busy around here!

Hope your day is wonderful!!

Thanks for stopping

Dawn

A Modern Grid Challenge, Some Sand and a Design Team Call!

I get to issue the challenges for the month of July to our CCEE group.

A while back, Frances, one of our group, did a card using the Modern Grid technique…it was cute and I’d never done it before, so I thought it would be a good one to start the month!

Basically what you do is (took this from our CCEE blog, thanks Frances!! LOL)

Stamp your image or images randomly over your card

Now take a ruler and black marker and draw lines equally spaced vertically and horizontally. Make sure you stop your line when you get to the stamped image and then start again on the other side of the image.

Add dots or doodles to some of the squares. You can also color in some squares if you desire.

Here’s my card

I used “Boys Will Be Boys” from Artful Inkables, colored with Copics. I made masks for the tree/tree house and the boy/vine (I didn’t bother with the leaves!), then used my ABS and airbrushed, then I made the grid. I wish I’d figured in more dashes, but I’d already done some solid lines before I thought about it! LOL!

The image panel is 4.75 square and is faux layered using a black marker and ruler. The card measures 5x5.

Be sure to see how the other girls did the technique! …CCEE Blog

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Yesterday for the Featured Stamper on SCS I made this card using another set from Artful Inkables, A Friendly Light. It’s colored with Copics, even the layers are Copics around the edges of white cs! It’s a great way to save on cardstock and get colors that follow your theme! The only other cardstock is the Cuttlebugg’d layer, Prism Kraft.

I also used a new Mudd Puddles sand I just got called, Sunset. I’m going to have to do a step by step tutorial with this sand so you can see how cool it is to work with! That layer is completely bendable, yet it’s hard! I have a lot of new colors to play with…I just need TIME!

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My time with Kristin and Artful INKables is almost over...wow, that was a fast 6mos! She's having a call for new design team members. Visit the AI blog to see the deets. Kristin is great to work with, you'll have a blast!!

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The State Fair Llama Show is in 3 weeks…are we ready? NO! Our county fair starts 2 weeks after that with our 4H show the following week! I just know the garden is going to produce something that’s going to need canned or frozen during that time too!
So, if posts get a little scarce, you’ll know why!!

Hope your week is a good one!

Thanks for stopping!

Dawn

Creative Cuts & More DT Call with Gina’s Crayon Resist

Here’s your chance to try out for Creative Cuts & More! Terry is wanting some special people to have fun and create with her fun products! Check out the blog for all the info.

 ink: memento tuxedo black, adirondack espresso/butterscotch/sunset orange/meadow/stonewashed
paper: Creative Cuts & More pocket/tag (glossy)
stamps: a year of flowers, arranged with love- gina k designs

This is one of CCM’s cute pockets! Everything comes scored so all you have to do is fold and adhere it together!

I used Gina’s technique this week from Stamp TV, Crayon Resist. Now, before Terry wonders what I did here…the pocket set comes with a regular cardstock tag and for crayon resist you need glossy! So I just traced the tag on glossy and cut it out.

Using Melanie’s, A Year of Flowers and the sentiment from Arranged with Love, from Gina K Designs, I stamped the top sunflower then the sentiment and masked it and continued stamping the leaves and flowers. I left the oval mask in place as I finished the the resist sponging.

The front of the pocket is Cuttlebugged. I love the little window! The pocket measures 3.25x3.50…with the tag, it measures 3.75.

Enjoy your day! I’m off to take a walk and hopefully get some creating done for some upcoming hops!

Thanks for stopping!

Dawn 

Gina's Center Stage!

Exciting! Yes!
I get to be "Center Stage" with 5 other great ladies for the month of July!

Thanks Gina!!

A Cozy Loving Nest, a Quilt and a Sketch

The other evening while Leah (almost 4) and I were picking raspberries, we discovered a little nest with 2 eggs. I'd noticed Mama Sparrow "warning" us so I figured she must have a nest close by! Leah must have had me pick her up so she could see the eggs at least a half dozen times!

Yesterday I took my camera out and snapped a couple pictures.

She's almost invisible, she blends so well! I waited a while until she left then took this one of the eggs. Notice the llama fiber!

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Then Jennifer stopped by with a quilt she'd just finished so I could take some pictures! She's become quite the "quilt maker"!
The reason she had to show me? She'd used one of my background stamps and ink! The stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms

Isn't it pretty?! I love the colors!

The center with the blue is the Flying Geese pattern, then she just created the rest around it. The fabric is variegated from dark to light.

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And today's sketch on SCS. NO, it's not the Brady Bunch! I sat and stared at the sketch for a while trying to figure just what set I'd use. Picked up this one...nope...picked up that one...nope. So thought I'd go with one I haven't used in eons, Kids At Play!

I thought the kids would be cute and as it ended up....there are 9, 4 girls and 5 boys, just how many grandkids I have! LOL
But, what I think I'll do is put one more boy inside the card, and this will be the "thank you" for our llama show judge at county fair! Am I clever or what!! HAHA...no, it just worked out that way!
Ah...Serendipity!

Colored with Copics, Spellbinder's Nestabilities for the circles/scallops. Actually pretty quick once I got the set figured out! LOL
They're stamped on Hollo's paper, layered on Prism Blush Red dark and Kraft.

Well, I'd best get off my backside and get busy! It's another GORGEOUS day here!! Hope it's nice where you are!

Thanks for stopping!

An Arranged Birthday with a Supply Challenge

Our CCEE challenge today was to use the supplies that Charlene sent us.

• designer paper by g.c.d. studios-rose colored glasses collection-light wallpaper
  
• 2 chocolate brads


• 1 pink gemstone brad


• 1 chocolate oval and 2 white ovals


• 1 pink curly label punched piece


• 2 ribbons, pink & chocolate
  

Requirements:

• Must use all or a portion of the designer paper


• Must use either the pink gemstone, the chocolate brads or both


• Must use a portion of or all of the ribbon, or both


• Must use the oval punched shapes together or with the curly label

Now....before anyone gets buzzer happy on me, I did use the lovely designer paper but got a little.... ok... a lot! "sponge happy" and sponged on so much distress ink that it's hard to see the design! LOL

Seee, if you look reeeeally hard, you can see a little of the pattern behind the cut out flowers!

I love this new set, Arranged with Love, by Melanie Muenchinger from Gina K! It's colored with Copics and a few hightlights with a gel pen, then I took my craft knife and cut around each leaf, stem and flower! Then popped it up on the "heavily" distressed, scalloped paper and added the chocolate ribbon.

The sentiment (also from the set) is sponged and popped up also.

To see what the lovely paper actually looks like and to see how the other girls used their supplies, check out our CCEE blog.

Now, I'm off to start my week...more raspberries...more shearing...and maybe more yardwork!

Enjoy your day!

Thanks for stopping!

Raspberries, Jam…and Roses!

First, the Roses!

Click on the picture to see how to make this Rose frame!

I love how the picture turned out! I had to send the frame to Crafts n’Things because it was Winter when they needed photos…somehow snow and smelling roses just didn’t work!! LOL

And…the fruits of my labor

Four and a quarter pounds of red raspberries! YUM!

Eight pints of jam!
I wish I could say that was freshly baked bread!
haha, but, nope it’s store bought.

I started my day picking berries, went for a walk, vacuumed… THEN was planning to make the jam. Well…Amber’s neighbor had other plans for me.

She decided today was a good day to thin her Iris and Hostas… and send her hubby to deliver a TRUCKLOAD to me!! I’m not kidding!! Although it’s not a full size truck, but still, it was FULL!! I was to split it all with Dianna…and it had to be planted ASAP as it was all bare root!

Do you know what the temps are today? UGH!! Right now it’s 93, thankfully it was just under 90 when we were digging holes! And she’s got MORE!!! Hope she waits to send them up till it cools off!

Hmmmm, think I need some more toast! *wink*

Stay cool and thanks for stopping!

Dawn

Arranged With Love for a Blog Hop

When Melanie asked me if I’d like to play with her new set coming out and showed me a picture, I *gasped* and jumped at the offer! Anyone that knows my stamping style knows I LOVE flowers and floral scenes!
This set takes the guesswork and fussing with sticky notes to mask away… it’s all done for you! Just stamp it!

“Arranged with Love” is a floral beauty! It’s available for purchase at 10CST on Thursday the 25th at Gina K Designs.

This is one entire image with 10 lovely sentiments you can put on the “card”.

I stamped the image twice on Gina’s Pure Luxury #80 with Versamark and Black Soot distress ink. (although distress ink stays wet long enough to apply embossing powder, with this being such a large area I didn’t want it to dry before I got all my ep sprinkled on, so I added the Versamark)

It’s a combo of Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils, starting with Copics to lay down my base colors then doing most of the shading with the pencils blended with baby oil. I went back and added some highlights with Copics again… cool thing about the combo is the Copics slide around on the waxy Prismacolors and barely soak in, making it easy to blend and hightlight! *wink*

And this is why I stamped and embossed it twice! All the flowers are layered and some of the leaves. This meant double coloring too! I think it was well worth the effort though don’t you?! Some of the petals are double dimensionals to raise them a little higher.

Towards the bottom of the flowers I took my green dauber (just the distress ink left from previous usage) and sponged. (all the sponging was done before layering the petals!) Then I took Faded Jeans distress ink and sponged around the top area.

The “card” is outlined with a Zig Painty gold pen.
*Here’s a tip* The area to be filled in is narrow and when I started my pen (you know…shake~shake… press the tip…) it left a puddle on my scratch paper and the tip was TOO wet to fill in the narrow part! So I got rid of the excess on my scratch paper and used the “puddle” to dip the pen tip in and color the border.

I wasn’t sure what sentiment I wanted until the very end, and since I need an anniversary card for some friends, I chose this one to stamp and emboss.

Popped up on foam mounting tape on Prism Candle Glow med then layered on Blush Red med.

Now, be sure to hop around to all the others so you can see their awesome creations!

Gina, Carolyn, Cathy, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Jessica, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, Theresa , and Melanie Muenchinger, and, be sure to check out Gina K’s CenterStage Spotlight girls joining us in Previews today: Carla Suto and Melissa Waldorf and Melanie’s Guest Designer this month: Selma Stevenson! plus Denise

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Thanks for Stopping!

Dawn

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