Tres Romantique!

Bonjour!

This is a quick one-page LO I made this morning featuring my daughter. She and I are Francophiles (and she is in her second year of French language class), and she is a Polyvore/fashion/couture addict, so I wanted to create a LO that simply felt like her.

Supplies:

The base patterned paper is by Websters.

The pink pp her photo is matted on is ctmh Amore ( with a MS scalloped punch across the top).

The black scallop CS is DCWV.

The music paper that I created the flowers with is cut from a music book I purchased at a flea market or book sale for less than 25 cents.

The pearls are from CTMH

The ink on the music flowers is glitter mist by Tattered Angels.

The lace ribbon is left over/old stash, and just glue dotted down all bunched up.

The black velvet ribbon is from the Philly fabric district.

The sentiment/Chanel stamp is from Stamping Bella.

(the CS it is stamped on is CTMH Vanilla Cream, cut out with a Nesties Labels One, and sponged with Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tattered Rose)

The Eiffel Tower die cut was purchased at Michaels last year.

The black button is by Making Memories.

As always, you can click on the photos and see the details much better.

Inky, Glittery Hugs...and Happy New Year!
Cheryl

Shabby Chic Cheryl Style and my Cupcake Box Template

Greetings,
School was cancelled today, due to the massive snow storm we had over the weekend, so I didnt get done as much as I'd hoped.
The first thing I made was this card. I wanted to make a vintage/shabby chic/romantic looking card. Hopefully that is what I accomplished.

*You can click on the pictures to see the details ( since my photography skills kinda stink), but the products used are all CTMH ( except the lace ribbon, whihc I have had laying around forever).

The stamped snowflake ( stamp set: New Fallen Snow) is heat embossed. I "ink" the stamp first in VersaMark then in Dessert Sand and stamped onto Vanilla Cream CS. Then I sprinkled it with detail clear embossing powder and prizma glitter (mixed) and heat set it. Then I added pearls. (love them...and yeah, I went a little pearl crazy on this card) I matted that on top of white CS and glittered around it.

The other snowflake is from 2 punches, and I glittered, inked and layerd them, and added a pearl.

I used Blush CS and PP ( patterned paper) from That's Amore; and the other stamp set used was Snow Flurries ( just the end of one of thesnow 'swooshes', if you dont mind technical terms)...I think that's all the deets on the card. Pretty simple.

Okay, this next project was indeed a project. Here's the story: We dont have a snowblower. Our neighborhood/developement has minimum one acre lots (most far larger)...so we all have LONG driveways. But, we rarely get any real snow, so we just shovel or I hire one of the people that come thru our little 'hood to plow it. Well, we got over 25 inches (record breaking...of ALL TIME on record!). Needless to say, we didnt have street plowers through, let alone small business guys to do my driveway...and there was NO shoveling our driveway...a fleet couldnt have done it. (I'll post picture sometime this week). Anywho, a neighbor we rarely see pushed his blower down and started blowing our driveway. We did replace the gas (have some for the rider mower always ready) but wasnt that so sweet of our neighbor (that I dont really know)? I know, it really was. So, I made muffins at the kid's request today, and a snowy thank you card for the neighbor (I didnt take photos of it...sorry)...but wanted a cute way to take a muffin to the kind neighbor. Somewhere, a long time ago, either on the art boards, or splitcoast, I remember seeing a cupcake box made from CS. I searched the net, and either I had to pay, or it wasnt what I envisioned/remembered seeing. ( maybe it was a dream?)

So, I embarked upon a cupcake box creating journey. It took a couple trial and errors...and I must tell you now, I would use heavier CS than ctmh's...ctmh's is too thin for this project. (though it is what you will see here) I have never attempted to make my own template or tutorial , so none of this will probably make sense...but I tried, just for you, to make it so that you could recreate it, if you wanted to. Lastly, in my defense, it took me a while to figure this out (I had nothing to copy or go by, just an old memory picture in my head....and a need)...so this isnt perfect, nor is it fancy. I will later make some dolled up fancified versions that re floating around in my pea brain. To make my template work, you will have to do some jimmy-jammin' and playing w/ it yourself, since I didnt have time to do a good job. ( I needed to make it and deliver it to the neighbors)

So, without further ado, may I present my cupcake box and (lame) template. (*click pix to see details and dimensions)

The cover/lid startes with an 81/2 square piece of paper ( I would use CS next time, or heavier paper...it was flimsy but fit perfect...I was so proud of myself!) then scored at 2 1/2 inches in (the 2 1/2" mark and the 6" mark) Then score all around...only cut one slit per side. If that doesnt make sense, let me know.
When it is all folded up, the top comes out 3 1/2' square, just as the box is.




I just free-handed the "muffin/cupcake" top and the "baking cup" bottom. ( I used the stripe from Jingle, and blush CS) The sentiment is from Cupcake sprinkles. (heat embossed w/ clear and prizma glitter over blush ink) and more prizma glitter (natch). Okay, that's all for today. :o)
I can picture doing "gift" looking boxes with holiday or bday cupcakes inside, and a bow on top. This is with plain white CS, cuz I was playing with it to create a template. I didnt want to use any fancy stuff yet while I experimented. I know this can be improved upon, but that's another day. (unless any of you come up with or have something better. I'm open to suggestions :)

Okay, I'm very tired and tired of looking at this project. (sorry if there are a lot of typos) So I bid you all a good night, and a good night to all.

Glittery holiday hugs,

Cheryl

Snow Day Playtime!

Hi there, and Happy Snowed-In Day!! ( thank God my Christmas shopping is done...whew!) Here in the mid-Atlantic Region we are getting an awesome snowstorm, more than a foot of snow today... it looks lovely out there. Perfect for holiday crafting, yes? Yes!

So here are a few of the things I created today. ( due to the blizzard, there is NO natural light to help a girl out in the photog arena. So I apologize for the off-color-balance and low light)

*Dont forget, you can always click on the photo's and see them close up and the details.

This first Birdy card is SIMPLE and FAST:

Products used are all CTMH:

Stamps:

"string"- Holiday Trinkets

branch/leaves- Twitterpated WOTG/hedgehog set

cage/sentiment/bird/heart-Love Birds

inks: cocoa, black, ocean

PP-Veranda

CS- garden greeen, textured CS Ocean ( the backside/lighter side)

Next up, my Cozy Winter Anya card:

Products used:

CTMH White Daisy Cardstock, and Heavenly Blue CS ( run thru the Cuttlebug, snowflakes folder and sanded to show the white core of the CS).

Copics

Prizma Glitter and Fun Flock ( on furry muffs and trim)

White Organza ribbon

snowflake punches and more glitter and a rhinstone

Stamp: Anya from The Greeting Farm

Even though she is simple & unmatted, I just love her and the simplicity of this card. I was going to mat her in pink, to match her scarf, but it looked too busy. I tried a few other things, but with the snowlfake tx background, it all looked too busy. So I just left her simple.

If you have any questions, just shoot me a comment and I'll respond.

Happy Snowday!

Cheryl

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Hi Friends!

I am SO sorry I have been away so very long. H1N1 went through my house, and then it was Thanksgiving, and then I had to take down fall decor, and decorate (and shop) for Christmas (which we are having here this year)...and so my story goes. But I am back baby!

Over the weekend I put the finishing touches on the tree(s) and the entire house, inside and out, is DONE. Most of the shopping...DONE! ( key word: most) Have I sent cards yet? Nope. Have I wrapped anything? Nada. Zip. Zilch. Still plenty o' time, right?

BUT, the good part is our home is a winter wonderland, sparkling with twinkle lights aplenty, and glittered within an inch of its life. ( I will take some photos and post in the next days or so). I really, REALLY love LOVE me some Christmastime! I think I may actually be a magpie...anything sparkles and I am all over it.

Speaking of glitter and yummy sparkliness: I finally, for the first time in over a month, got to play in my studio and create!! I didnt do as much as I wanted to...I had planned to do a 2 page LO using the new Rockstar papers, but when it came to sitting down to create, I really just wanted to put Christmas music on and play in the glitter. So, I made a few holiday cards instead.

(I'll get to the Rockstar pages this weekend and post.)

So, for my Mother In Law I made this swanky cocktail Holiday Cheers! card... it goes along with some of the gifts we bought her. I used all CTMH products (except the cocktail stamp, which I colored in with Copics); ctmh Jingle Papers and cardstock; the snowflakes are made using punches (mainly MS punches) on ctmh white cardstock; the sentiment is from Ms. Holiday stamp set. The red and silver glitter is from the retired glitter stack, but any fine red/silver glitter will work. The rest of the glitter is Prisma.

My Party Animal/Happy New Years Card is bright, festive and fun...oh, and sparkling, natch! The martini and sentiment stamp is from 'our craft lounge' (everything is colored in with copics)...everything else is ctmh, except the mad amounts of Stickles I used. The paper is ctmh Whoops A Daisy, and ctmh cardstock hydrangea, ocean and textured cardstock in Citrus Leaf. CTMH stamps used: Merry Monsters, Spot On Backgrounds, and Please Join Us. ( the icicles border punch is by MS and the google eyes are from craft store). Cheers! ( hmmm...seems I had a cocktail theme going for a bit there)

Lastly, I wanted to make a winter street scene with the houses from the Neighborhood Stampset by CTMH. This is what I came up with.

Products List:

Patterened paper: ctmh Aspen

Cardstock: (ctmh white daisy)

Stamps: (all ctmh) Festive Thoughts ( for the sentiment, which is heat embossed in Silver, but you cant tell that in these horrid pictures, sorry); most of the trees are from The Beauty Of Christmas; and then, yes, Neighborhood. The houses, the bit of fence, the lamposts and the car are all from the 'Hood.

I paperpieced a bit, foam-squared, and prisma'd my heart out. The car tires are stamped in black, black embossed and cut out. The wreaths, they were a bit of a pain. The scale of the houses/doors were so darn tiny...so my wreaths had to be tiny. So, I used a tiny hole punch for the middles ( on green cardstock) and regular sized hole punch around the little hole, viola wreath(s)! The tree on the car I just free cut out a triangle from green cardstock, and a little trunk. The same with the tree on the townhouse. It was a bush on the stamp, but I wanted a conical holiday tree shape, so I just free-hand cut one out.

As always, you can click on the photos and see it bigger/in more detail. And, feel free to ask any questions you may have, I promise to get back to you.

Happy Holidays!

~Cheryl

My Fair Weathered Fickle Fairy

Have you ever had a vision in your mind of the project you wanted to create ...and NOTHING went as planned? ( usually when that happens it ends up as happy accidents for me and I am pleased with the end product ...not today) Today I decided I wanted to make a paper moon to go with my blog name. I had this old moon stamp ( from SU!) and some no-name fairy stamp that I hadnt ever used before....hmmm, she might be cute. Anyway, I had this ethereal, magical, lovely picture in my head how this was going to turn out. However, nothing I tried made me happy. The cloud looks more like a snow hill. She didnt come out nice at all...even the moon didnt turn out all glowy like I invisioned. So, I wasnt going to post it, but then I figured it is good to see that we all have craptastic results sometimes, but the fun is in the journey. I have a few ideas to try some other time, but I dont want to look at that moon or fickle fairy stamp for a while.

All the products are CTMH, except the stamps ( brands mentioned above), the Stickles, and the fabric Believe Your Dreams sticker ( which is Disney).

On an up note, I got quite a bit done on my magical Christmas project today. But I am waiting for something to arrive, hopefully it will come tomorrow so I can finish it and post it.

What I listened to while I got inky today ( happy music that I love):

-'Fireflies' by Owl City

-'Falling In Love In A Coffee Shop' by Landon Pigg ( unfortunate last name, yes, but I am soo smitten with his music)

-Regina Spektor

Thanks so much for visiting.

Inky, glittery hugs,

~Cheryl

Happy Manic Monday!

I started lots of projects today, but I only actually finished one measly little card. Real life and chores stand in the way of my progress. Best laid plans... sigh.

Anyway, here's my little Slimy Monster card. He was very simple ( which is why I actually finished him). I don't think you need a supply list or any instructions...he is self-explanatory and basic cardstock. ( all ctmh except the googly eye and pom ribbon...both from craft store. The stamp set is Merry Monsters)

Here's the start of a cute little surfer dude...I am going to put him on a scrap layout from our summer surfing down in the Carolina's. I colored him with Copics. The cardstock is CTMH and the stamp is from CC Designs. I promise to post the Layout when it is finished.

Tomorrow I should be done with a large holiday project using Jingle papers and has a vintage vibe. And LOTS of glitter.

I would love if anyone can share some artwork photog/lighting and downloading tips, and any other suggestions. I'm technically challenged.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Cheryl

This weekend's artwork

The Original Fangster Yo!

My little vamp fangster was originally going to be a card, but them I remembered I needed a festive gift bag to give my in-laws some Halloween treats. They are so sweet to us , they really deserve a tricked-out swag bag...so this is what I came up with.

Supplies used:

Stamp(s):CTMH ( Little Spooks set)

Cardstock: CTMH ( cranberry, sunflower, orange)

Patterned Paper: CTMH ( star paper from Game On pack); Making Memories

Inks: CTMH ( black , orange)

Other: black and orange Stickles, Copic markers, computer font for text

This Happy Haunting card uses all CTMH products with LOTS of sponge inking and torn sticky notes for masking.

Supplies used:

Stamp(s):CTMH ( The Beauty of Christmas-trees , Spellbound

Cardstock: CTMH ( aut.umn terracotta, black, white daisy)

Patterned Paper: (none used)

Inks: CTMH ( black , sunflower, honey, orange, aut. terr., chocolate, desert sand)

Other: corner punch, black glitter, sticky notes

This spooky tree card also uses the Spellbound stamp set and LOTS of sponging/inky fingers. The ground/horizon line is masked using ripped sticky notes and brayers black on the ground side and sponged in blues and black on the sky side. I also used a white paint pen for highlights and the stars.

Ooh la la!

Isn't mon cherie tres adorable, yes? She is colored w/ copics, and I colored a second set of legs and cut them out and foam pop-dotted them, so she is 3-D. I love layering, paperpiecing and adding textures and layers. I used CTMH Pear Paint ( brushed on w/ a foam brush) on the butterfly to give it shimmer and hold its shape. Overall, I think she turned out romantic and sweet.

Supplies used:

Stamp(s):various--Gorguss Girl; Eiffel tower (SU!)

Cardstock: CTMH ( amethyst, black, white daisy, key lime)

Patterned Paper: Websters

Other: CTMH ( ribbon, pearl paint); Copics ( colors shown below); Stickles

Jingle-Bread Land

I LOVE this yummy new paper pack by CTMH called Jingle...you are sure to see so much more of it this week, heck the next couple months! I also really adore the CTMH November Stamp Of The Month ( SOTM), Around The Block,

Another CTMH consultant ( shout out Karen P) had the brilliant idea to use this cute house stamp set to make a gingerbread house. Well, that got my creative juices flowing and I decided to try and make a little gingerbread scene. ( next I will make a village! tho, it will likely be a scrap page or something larger) This is just a quick & dirty experiment, so please excuse the sloppy heat embossing ( white daisy embossing powder).

I just hand drew the gingerbread man and little candy cane and cut them out. The tree is also just a hand drawn triangle cut out of a sheet of (Chistmas) music, then inked and glittered ( natch).

All products are CTMH except the stickles and sheet music paper.

Firefly and Crazy Frog

I made this firefly card for my girlfriend who gave us a bottle of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka...sooo yummy. A perfect summer cocktail. Anyway, it is all CTMH products with the usual brayering and sponging and glittering. Again, skyline masked with a sticky note.

The silly frog uses the same technique and is all ctmh except the frog stamp, which is by Whimsy stamps.

Go Phillies!!! ( I need to make some Phillies cars and scrap pages soon!)