Happy Birthday Tea Party {Pemberly Papers}

One of my sweet nieces is turning two in just a few short weeks and when I found out a tea party may be in the works, I knew what my card would be.  Well, at least I knew what stamp set to use!

Even though she is a sweet and dainty little girl I couldn't use pink for her card because her favorite color is blue.  I choose shades of a soft dusty blue.

The 'ribbon' at the bottom is made from a folded piece of paper.  I added ink to the edges to give it dimension.

And of course I had to add a little sparkle to finish it off.

Until next time,
Meredith


Supplies: (All CTMH unless noted)
Paper: Vanilla Cream CS, Pemberly B&T
Ink:  Outdoor Denim
Stamps:  Happy Birthday (C1257), Tea Party (D1149)
Other:  sponge dauber, edge distressor, micro-tip scissors, bonding memories glue, prisma glitter, adhesive

Pinwheel {Stash Buster Sunday}

I'm back this week, courtesy of my middle child, who asked me to make a pinwheel.  She ran up to me a few days ago screaming (as is her style) that she wanted to make a pinwheel.  Something I'm sure she had seen on a cartoon.

Hmm.  A pinwheel.  I knew what they looked like, but I was a little mixed up in my head about how to actually fold a paper into the shape of one.  So I did what any self respecting mom would do.  I googled it.

And it's really very simple.  You just need a square of paper--any pattern of your choice and a brad.  I've got plenty of both.

Here's what I did.  I folded a sheet of 12x12 paper corner to corner, both ways.  This makes an 'x' shape on the paper.  Then I cut along the lines from corner to center stopping a couple of inches from the actual center.

Fold in the right side of each cut to the center.  You'll need to use a piercing tool to make holes in each folded over tip for the brad and one in the center also.

If these instructions are clear as mud, just google it.  I'm sure someone can explain it easier.  :)  Here's the finished project...

And because I was trying to use up more paper....

These were 10x10 and 8x8 squares.  I wanted to see how they would look hanging up.  So I staged a photo shoot with LaLaLoopsey...

Loopsy rolled her eyes at me, but I thought they looked cute.  And how adorable would they be in a nursery?  Not that I'm planning that mind you!

Until next time!
Meredith

Bonus:  I also just found THIS link of some cute pinwheels as Christmas decor--so cute!

Something Pretty

I just can't seem to find the time to scrapbook, but I thought I'd pop in here to leave a picture of something pretty.  My husband brought these home to me the other day.  And they are still brightening my kitchen.  Enjoy!

Enlarge the photo and take a whiff!  ;)
Meredith

3 Birthday Cards

My dad's good friend is unfortunately going through pretty intense cancer treatments.  To cheer him up, his daughter is organizing a card drive of sorts.  She's collected over 90 so far and plans to surprise him on his birthday this week.

My parents, my brother and his wife, and my husband and I are all sending cards.  I put these three together last night.

They are all simple and all made with retired products.  In fact the third is made with paper I got in my Consultant's Kit the last time I was a Consultant!  The first card is made with some old Christmas papers.  It just proves that CTMH papers are versatile AND timeless!!  :)

Until next time,
Meredith

Clay Pot and Note {Stash Buster Sunday}

Whew!  I barely completed my weekly assignment...to myself...

 The girls had dance recital pictures and then my grocery day got moved and and and this week just didn't allow much time for craftiness.

But I put my nose to the grindstone and came up with this....

A simple little clay pot.  That you could use to store pens....

Or add a simple matching note...

And give to a friend as a gift.

Since this project was just under the wire, I had to take pictures at night in my kitchen.  That's why the bad lighting.  :)  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge for the scallop.  In the future I might not choose a striped print for this sort of project.  Makes it hard to line up the seams.

Hope you are enjoying a great weekend!
Meredith

Smile {Inspired by Current Catalog}

Recently I was flipping through the Current Catalog.  I saw THIS card.  (I would love to just copy and paste a picture of it for you, but sadly I can't seem to do it.)  But I did take a picture of the catalog page with my camera.....how's that for cheating the system??

So I thought it might be fun to try to re-create the look.   I grabbed every color of the rainbow...a few million stamps....and....whatdya think?

Similar anyway.

I changed the sentiment, to make it fit with the stamp sizes I had.  Here's a fun fact:  Those circles behind the letters are actually the back side of another stamp.  It's a cool little trick you can do with the MyAcrylix stamps.  The reverse side of the stamp is smooth, so if you like the shape of a particular stamp, just put it on the clear block facing in and voila! you have another stamp.  In this case the actual stamp is the large center of a flower with some texture detail.  But when I flipped it over it became a somewhat misshapen circle.  Perfect for what I needed!

Hope it brought a smile to your face!
Meredith

Supplies:  (all CTMH unless noted)
Ink:  Black, Watermelon, Sunflower, Hydrangea, Sunny Yellow, Heavenly Blue, Sorbet, Citrus Leaf
Stamps:  Solos "S" "M" "I" "L" "E",  two of these stamps came from Workshop-on-the-Go kits, Just for You (B1398), Family Love (D1506)
Other: card base (Hobby Lobby)


*all current CTMH products can be found on my shopping website listed on the sidebar*

Cookies from the trash...

taste SO much better!  At least according to my son.

One day after cleaning and re-organizing the pantry I noticed my son had chocolate all over his face.  When I figured out where it came from, I did what any self respecting mom would have done.

 I grabbed the camera and made him re-create what he did....

I titled this LO "Gah-ya" because that is how he says Gotcha!  And he does say it often.  I haven't added the journaling yet.  I really love the look of the spool of film.  Finally I remembered about a punch I had that makes paper look like a spiral notebook.  In this case I think it works to look like a some negatives...

Click on the pictures to enlarge the details.

Thanks for stopping by!
Meredith


Supplies: (all CTMH unless noted)
Paper:  Sweet Leaf CS, Black CS, White Daisy CS, Olive CS, Tan Camouflage (Hot Off The Press)
Stamps:  Star Struck (D1237), Boutique Alphabet (E1003), Journaling Jots (B1269)
Ink:  Olive, Chocolate, Black, Chocolate Marker
Other:  adhesive, punch (Stampin' Up)

 *All current CTMH supplies can be found on my shopping website listed on the sidebar*

Show me the bunny!! {Stash Buster Sunday}

Happy Easter!  I hope you are having a wonderful and blessed day of celebration with family and friends.

Last week my mom came across a Martha Stewart craft that she fell in love with.  She showed it to me on the computer and I thought eh, whatever...


"But isn't it adorable!?"  She kept at it until I decided to make one.  And guess what??  I fell in love with it too. So much that I couldn't stop making them...

I printed the template on the backs of the patterned paper from my stash, cut it out and inked the edges of some of them.  Then I poked the holes and assembled them easy as pie!

HERE is the link to the Martha Stewart page.  And THIS is the link to the bunny template.  Try making one yourself.  They are so cute with patterned paper.  And what another great way to work at that stash you have sitting there!

Happy Easter!
Meredith

From the vault....

Since I can't seem to get anything new finished (except my scheduled Stash Buster Sunday post) I've decided to share one of my old projects.  The original idea to make a birthday calendar is not my own.  I found the beautiful idea HERE at Amazing Paper Grace.

I pretty much used one paper pack (the beautiful, but retired Perfect Day) and about a million stamp sets.  If you have a question about a particular image, contact me and I'll find out which one it is.  I ordered the giant clothespins from Oriental Trading.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Meredith

I'm official...

I know it's silly to be this excited, but I just got my first ever business card in the mail.  (Well I guess that's not entirely true...I did have business cards in my past life when I was a police officer.  But these I designed myself at Vistaprint.com).

I love the way they turned out....

Front:

And back:

In other news, I am also in love with that new red nail polish...it's China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  Gotta love the sparkle!

I'm also working on a LO using pictures of my son eating cookies out of the trash....

Until next time,
Meredith

Heart bookmark {Stash Buster Sunday}

My daughter loves to read!  And I love to encourage that habit!

As a first grader--nearly second grader now, gasp!--she has started reading chapter books.  I figured it was time to make some bookmarks for her....

This one was based on my beach card from the other day.  But instead of making 'beach' paper, this paper is printed to look like sand.  Also I used White Daisy pigment ink and a Sponge Dauber to add the 'foam' to the surf.  

The possibilities are endless.  You can make them any size.  I choose to use back-to-back CS for the base to make them more durable.  Then finish off the front.  You can add a tassel of ribbon or yarn to the top, but I usually keep embellishments flat since they are supposed to fit in a book.  :)

Happy April Fools!!
Meredith