Baby Boy Album

Last summer, when the new fundamental lines were introduced, Brenda Rose, a fellow consultant, shared her designs with us. I knew that I would eventually use them, and when I was approached recently to do a baby boy album for my Aunt's great-grandbaby, I knew this workshop would be perfect.

I did not use much of the whimsy patterns, but instead chose to use up a long-retired kit that was actually in my sell pile. The blue and champagne colors were perfect for baby boy, and didn't necessarily scream "Winter" and "Snow". Of the few patterns that do, they were specifically alotted to the months where winter reigns in Northern Michigan. I added Canary cardstock, and even some other retired papers, such as Twitterpated. I mixed stamping and cricut cuts for my embellishments. And my favorite of them all is Month 10 and 11. Foxes and teepees are super trendy right now. Goldrush cardstock was the perfect color for my fox.

I am so pleased with this album. It was THE fastest one I've ever put together, with project completion under 24 hours. I started this on a Friday night at 9pm when kids were in bed, and finished it up at 5pm the next day. And that was with sleep, too.

Hope I've inspired you to look at those papers in your stash in a new light. Just because it was purchased for one theme, doesn't mean it wouldn't work for something else. And don't be afraid to mix and match your collections. 

I would like to enter the fox layout into the H2H challenge for this week "What a Wonderful World". Babies do make this world a wonderful place. 

Happy crafting!

Casandra

Dreamin' Big Layouts

It was love at first sight when I saw the Dreamin' Big paper collection. I pondered for a while what I would use the kit for, and one night as I was drifting off to sleep, a light bulb went off. It was the perfect kit for the childrens' vacation layouts to Busch Gardens and Billy Swamp Safari in 2016.

I plan on using some of the pocket plus memory protectors to include more photos. Busch Gardens was especially fun while taking pictures. The kids were hamming it up and I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. It was worth it having to lug that heavy camera bag through the park. I also kept my Iphone handy, and when I needed to capture pictures quick, it was a snap. 

My first layout was inspired by a sketch I stumbled upon on Pinterest. I added the create-a-critter animals from Design Space, and if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see I used some pattern papers on some of the animals. My daughter said it looked "baby-ish". She's 8, and when the pictures were taken, she was just 7. LOL Oh well.

The final 3 layouts were created pretty much on point from the WYW kit. I thought they worked well with my photos. Sorry for the graininess of some of the pictures; I had Shutterfly print them in a matte finish, and I'm not sure I am happy with the results. It's the first time I've gotten prints that were less than perfect from there, so I'm willing to give them another shot.

If you are interested in the Dreamin' Big collection, it is only available this month while supplies last. You can visit my website here to see the entire collection.

Thank you for stopping by.

Casandra

A Beehive Card

I really can't take credit for this next card. It was scraplifted from one I saw on Pinterest. The original was created by Marlene.

Recipe:
Paper: Paper Fundamentals Whimsy (retired), Chocolate CS, Glacier CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Tools: Cricut Create A Critter, Micro-Tip Scissors, Chalk Pen, Glue Pen (CTMH)
Other: 3d Foam Tape, Smoothie Bakers Twine (retired) (CTMH)

I created this card as another prototype for my son's Valentines this year. He also declined to use it. I thought it would be different than everyone else's, but he doesn't like to be different, I guess. Hornets are the school's logo, too. Pfft. Oh well. You can guess what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks....

Thanks for stopping by. Hope your weekend is crafty!

Casandra

NBUS9 Valentine Card

Good morning. I hope that I can continue to inspire you. I have been finding time, mostly on the weekends, to craft.

Today, I would like to share with you a Valentine's Day card I created as a proto-type for my daughter's class. However, the response in her words: "Mom, we did cats last year." Sigh. Cats are so last year. 8 years old....

Recipe:

Paper: Happy Times (retired), Slate CS, White Daisy CS, Blush CS (retired), Hollyhock CS (retired), Whisper CS (CTMH)

Stamp: Friendly Pets (retired) (CTMH)

Ink: Black (Memento)

Tools: Cricut Art Philosophy, Cricut Create A Critter, Micro-Tip Scissors, Glue Pen (CTMH)

Other: 3d Foam Tape (CTMH)

I have not used this cat image before, but thought it would be fun to combine a cricut cut with a stamped sentiment. I also just cut into that patterned paper with the gold foil print.

It's probably just as well that she declined this as her classroom cards; it would have been terribly time consuming. 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1) NBUS #9 Challenge (Never Before Used Stuff)

2) Heart 2 Heart "Round and Round" Challenge

3) Between the Folds 38B - Love Theme Challenge

4) Shopping Our Stash SOS#287 Challenge -All That Glitters is Gold

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day.

Casandra