Trying Something New And What I have Learned

Hi friends and fellow crafters! I am still working on my mini book for the Noel Mignon FB challenge, Book Of Love. This challenge is They're Playing Our Song. We have to use a song ( title or lyrics) as the title and/or main design element of our project. Now the challenge officially ended last Sunday, but I am going to finish this book and the challenges at my own pace. LOL! We should see the finished project before next Valentine's Day.

For my song, I chose All You Need Is Love by the Beatles to use as the cover for my book. I went back to the lesson from our Halloween Mini Book class and created the front and back covers from a piece of cardboard that my kit came in. I treated the cardboard with a couple of coats of varnish and let them dry over night. The next day I covered the cardboard with Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas. I have never used this before and I really like it. This is my cover.

I have been obsessed with all things mixed media lately. After watching some videos on YouTube by Rach0113 I ordered some Silks Acrylic Paints. I thought this would be the perfect time to try out some new colors. I used Pixie Pink, Moonbeams and Jasmine on the cover. Here is where I discovered a couple of things. First, I should have used a layer of cardstock between the cardboard and the canvas. Second, I should have used Gesso on the canvas. I corrected both discoveries on my back cover and it turned out much nicer. Gesso is my friend.
Here is the back cover. I still need to punch the holes.

Anyway, I used my Cricut to cut the title. I used Iron On Flock from Expressions Vinyl. I looked around the fonts in my Cricut Craft Room and discovered this cute heart font on Rock Princess. I have had this cartridge for such a long time and I don't know if I even realized this font was on it. Once the letters were ironed on, I decided I didn't really like the color of the flock. I thought it was more of a lighter teal color, but it looks more green up close. The hearts that I liked so much on the font were kind of lost, so I used my copics to color them. The one heart on the letter "L" in "All" was the first heart I colored and I didn't like how dark it was. I changed colors and preferred the other hearts. I added some Ranger Glossy Accents and Martha Stewart Glitter to hearts for fun. The heart came from Groovy Times. I love this cartridge. Again. I was disappointed at how dark the flock looked after being ironed on, so I tried to "fix" it with copics. I wasn't happy with it, so I added some Martha Stewart Glitter and Glossy Accents to the  word Love. Meh, it's ok. I used modeling paste and my Heidi Swapp Spray Stencil that came with the February Noel Mignon kit to add some dimensional hearts on the cover. I used Silks to paint them and some glitter on them as well.. I added some doodling and gold Silks to the cover and decided to leave well enough alone. I hope I get better at mixed media as time goes on.

I added a cool piece of Die Cut With A View Neon Chic Stack cardstock to the inside of the covers. I ruined the second piece of cardstock that matched the front cover, so I choose another piece with the same colorings for the back cover. Don't ask...

I like the insides of the covers.  I may redo the front cover somewhere down the road with lighter colors, but for now it will do. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ha, ha!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and don't forget, when it comes to mixed media, Gesso is your friend!

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

Noel Mignon's Book Of Love Callenge: Puppy Love

Hi friends and fellow crafters! This is another layout for my Mini Book I am creating for the Noel Mignon's Book Of Love Challenge on Facebook. The challenge is Puppy Love. It was so hard to pick one  or two pictures for a layout. I have had some wonderful, devoted pets throughout my life. I finally decided to use 2 pictures I love of my son and my dogs, Snoopy and Ricci. I bet you can't guess which dog is Snoopy. LOL!

I used my Cricut and the CCR to create this layout. I used Paper Pups for the title and 3 dogs. I used Create A Critter 2 for the tree, and Sweethearts for the puppy with the heart. The clouds are fussy cut from a paper in the DCWV Sunday Afternoon Stack, the green grass is from the DCWV Burlap stack, and the blue is cardstock Cricut. The pink and green cardstock is from Recollections. I think it's so cheerful. The pages are 6.5 by 7.5 inches.

There are still a few challenges I have to finish to complete my book, and I have to make 2 more Engagement Cards! Wow, three of my 4 nephews all have gotten engaged since December! I can't believe all my guys are men now, starting their own families.  I will be beck soon to share these here.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

Book Of Love Challenges

Hi friends and fellow crafters! I hope everyone had the best Valentine's day! Before I get to my projects, I wanted to announce the winner of the Michael's 15.00 Gift Card. Congrats to Linda, Threadbear who said:

Linda (Threadbear)February 8, 2014 at 8:14 PM

Your banner is absolutely adorable!! Kaylee surely has one of the best aunts ever!!

 

Tanks Linda, I'll be sending you an email later!

 

On to my project. Over at Noel Mignon's FB page, we are having a Book Of Love Crop. So I have been working on some pages for a mini book. My pages for the book are 6.5 by 7.5 inches. So far I have completed 4 challenges. Here they are.

 

This will be the 1st page in my book. The challenge is Young Love. I really enjoyed this challenge because it gave me a chance to scrap a very old picture from 1985 of Pete and myself. I used papers and stickers from my Noel Mignon February Kit and a frame from Heidi Swapp. I added some Cute heart embellishments and a DCWV journaling card that my friend Sherry sent me in a wonderful Valentine's Day swap. I will make sure to post the amazing Disney art she created just for me later! Some Diamond Stickles around the edges of the stickers and on to the white hearts on the patterned brown paper add a little sparkle to the page.

 

 

Next is Recipe For Love. For this challenge we had to follow the recipe that  is listed below.

 

1 Photograph
2 Alphas
3 Patterned Papers
4 Pearls/Enamel Dots/Brads
5 Stickers

 

Here is my layout. My picture is from 1981, and was taken after one of Pete's softball games at a party at my BFF's house in Jersey City. My 2 Alphas are the I and U from a set of Story Tellers Alphas that I had. The 3 patterned papers are from my Noel Mignon February Kit and a Recollections Valentine Paper stack. My 4 enamel dots were also from my friend, Sherry, I love them! My five stickers are a heart from DCVW Vintage Collection and the tab, blue pennant, date block and the Be Still My Heart were in my NM February Kit stickers from Jillibean. Gosh we were young.

 

My next challenge is the Wedded Bliss Challenge. Naturally, I used a picture from our Wedding in 1989. I cut my title using my Cricut and the font from Nursery Rhymes. The paper is from Recollections. The banners are from Pink Paislee and I sprayed them with color mists from Mr. Huey  Pinstripe and Heidi Swapp's Blush Color Shine that was included in my Noel Mignon February Paper kit.  I sewed them together and used 2 pretty flowers that came in my February Paper kit. I also used the Sweetheart Primer card and awesome Love paperclip that came with my kit, some Prima flowers from my stash and pretty butterfly I had.

 

 

Finally for today, I completed the Shades Of Love Bonus Challenge. For this challenge we had to use a color palette found at The Sweetest Occasion. I enjoyed this challenge. I used my Cricut and the Baby Steps cartridge and created a page using a picture of Danny when he was 6 weeks old. Oh how I wish I could have a few of those moments back. He is the most precious part of my heart. Wasn't he a cutie? I attached his picture to the mat using my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. I also used it on the hearts. I lifted this idea from my crafty friend Sara.  My hubby loved this layout.

 

I am having lots of fun with the Book Of Love challenges. I can't wait to do more. Hopefully, I'll even come up with my cover for my mini book! LOL!

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!

 

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

 

 





A Hello Kitty Valentine Card In A Box

Hi friends and fellow crafters! Today I am sharing a very special Valentine I made for my Great Niece. I loved the card in a box that Angie created for our blog hop last week, and really wanted to try one out. If you missed our hop, here's the link to Angie's Blog. Her creation is amazing!
My card is slightly smaller and I could have added some more embellishments to it, but hey, it was my first one. LOL! There are lots of these on Pinterest and YouTube if you are interested. I followed the instructions from here on YouTube.

Here is my card.

I used lots of Hello Kitty cuts and a cute heart from Create A Critter 2. I used 2 strips of acetate that I cut to attach the butterflies, so they move. The hearts are from Art Philosophy. The "loves" and 3D hearts are from Recollections. The burlap paper is from DCWV. I can't wait to use more of that! I forgot to take a picture of the back, but that is where I added my message for my niece. I like how it looks when you are looking down into it.

 

Sorry about the blurry picture. I seem to be having all sort s of problems recently getting a good picture. LOL!  I wanted to make sure I noted it was her 1st Valentine's Day on the box. I was happy that I could get this and her banner out before our storm hit.

 

 

These are so much fun to make! I know there will be more of them in my future!

 

Who needs candy with this sweetie around for Valentine's Day!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

 

Happy Crafting!

Colleen

It's Our Valentine's Day Blog Hop!

Hi friends and fellow crafters! Welcome to our Valentine's Day Blog Hop! I hope you have been enjoying the hop so far!  You should have reached here from Brenda's Blog, Random Thoughts Of A Scrapbooker.  She is very creative, isn't she?

 

If you are just joining us, you may want to go back to our wonderful hostess, RockinRenee's blog.  There are so many great projects and I don't want you to miss a single one!  Today we are highlighting Valentine's Day inspired projects. 

 

 

 

 

My project is a banner for my sweet great niece. It's Kaylee's 1st Valentine's Day, so I wanted to make sure I sent her something special.

 

I started by cutting my banners from Pretty Pennants. I cut them at 5.5 inches. I used Elmo's Party for the letters, cut them at 1.5 inches and popped them up on the banners.

 

I wanted the banners to have a little sparkle, so I used Platinum Stickles and dotted all the holes on the heart layers. I love how they look.

 

 

 

 

I finally had the opportunity to use the Elmo and Friends Holiday cartridge that I bought ages ago. I cut both Elmo images at 4 inches. I used some Ranger Glossy Accents on the eyes and mouth. Now that I have finally cut some images from this cartridge, I think I will be using it much more. The images are adorable!

 

 

 

I used a pale pink ribbon to string the banner together and it is ready to be mailed off to my niece. Cute and simple!

 

I would like to share some love with my crafting friends this Valentine's Day, if you would like to be entered in a drawing to win a $15.00 Michael's Gift Card, leave a comment and I will announce the winner on February 14th!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I really enjoyed creating this banner. Your next stop on the hop is with the very talented Hrvatica. I know you will love her Valentine's Day creation!

 

If you get lost along the way, here is the entire blog list:

1. RockinRenee - I came, I saw, I created.
2. HappyScrapper64 - Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker 
3. gonescrappin - Col's Creative Corner  (YOU ARE HERE)
4. Hrvatica  - Croatian Crafter
5. Scootingranny - Scootingranny's World
6. MamaC - Carolyn's Creative Corner

7. Greenie8705 - Gina Beana's Crafts
8. MariaJ - Stamp, Cut, Create!
9. Di&Co - Creating Is Like Breathing
10. Dragonfly50 - Designs by Dragonfly
11. TiffysMom - Angie's Paper Passion
12. *Violette* - Whimsical Treasures
13. cricutaddicted - ScrappingForMoreFun
14. LoriSjogren - The Singing Shell
15. Scrapalette - Around the Block with Scrapalette

I am entering my banner in the Bitten By The Bug Challenge this week. You need to create a project using a Cricut Heart.

 

 Happy Crafting!

Colleen

Simple Valetines

Hi friends and fellow crafters! I don't know about you, but I am officially sick of winter. We are expecting anywhere from 3-6 or 6-12 inches of snow tomorrow depending on which TV station is on in the house. Today being Ground Hog day, I was hoping the little critter would promise some relief, but not even he could help us.  He sees his shadow and we are in for 6 more weeks of winter. Ugh. So to beat those winter blues. Danny and I decided to warm our hearts by doing something good with our snow days.

There is nothing that warms my heart like crafting for a good cause. Today I am sharing some super cute and easy to make Valentine's Day cards. These cards are going to be donated to a crafting friend whose little girl is celebrating 7 years cancer free! Go Lindsey! You can see her FB page here. She is a beautiful little girl and to celebrate the miracle that she is, Lindsey and her family donate cards and goodies to the East Tennessee Children's Hospital on Valentine's Day. Last year, they brought Build A Bears with them as well as cards, goodies and supplies for the Ronald McDonald House. The Build A Bear was such a success that they are doing it again. We decided to send a pre-paid gift certificate along with our cards and let Lindsey have the honor of creating a bear for some well deserving children.

Here are the cards we made. I used my Cricut, the Spring Holiday Cards cartridge and a digital card with a dinosaur that I bought last year with some credit I had. They were so simple and fun to make. Danny had lot's of fun helping with the glitter and gluing. I still need to use an adhesive eraser to get some glue off of the cards. Thank you to my Nikon camera for picking that up for me. LOL!

All totaled, we made 22 cards. I hope next year we can send more.

 

Other than snow, love is in the air! Next week I am participating in a super blog hop! There are some great crafters joining in! Make sure you stop on by to visit on February 8th! I will have some blog candy and another Valentines day project to share with you!

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!
 

Happy Crafting!

Colleen