July Workshop Projects sneak peek

I finished up the pages for the Lucy option for July's workshop.  I used the Workshop On The Go layouts for inspiration, but added my own twist on them to fill in some of the white space.  There is lots of Cricut AP cutting on these layouts. Here is a little sneak peek.....

I will have the pages available in person at our workshop on the 15th.  If you would like to do this workshop from afar, the details will be added to the Kits tab soon. 

Now I have to take a minute to brag.  I am so proud of Emily!!!  She received her Argument Essay back today and she was the only student in the entire 7th. grade to get a 100%.  Her teacher asked her if she could keep a copy and use it for the example next year.  The topic she chose was school uniforms, very interesting statistics and studies out there on this topic. 

I Hope to be back tomorrow with a peek at the second Lucy layout. 

Fish On, ScrapFIT sketch challenge

Yay!  I finally finished the page I have been working on.  This was a fun family outing a couple weeks ago.  Emily was so surprised when she caught a fish.  She decided that the fishing thing isn't so bad after all.

My page was inspired by this sketch challenge over on the ScrapFIT blog .

Papers are from The Paper Loft Hooked on Fishing Line.  To bring attention to the little fish I added some stitched circles around the little guy.  Of course I had to use the AP cartridge for the journaling label.  I don't know how I  scrapped before this cartridge.  I hardly ever use my spellbinders anymore.

I added a little fishing line to my homemade wooden dowel fishing pole with a hook constructed from the spiral wire from a notebook.  Notice Murphy in the background.  He really wanted to have a little fish snack.

Posterboard was my goto alpha for this one.  This is one of my favorite alpha set.  The letters are nice and chunky to give them presence on the page and super easy to handcut because of their size and sharp edges.  Nearly every layer was outlined with my trusty black sharpy to give separation to the layers.

Off to enjoy the day at a cookout and beach with the family!  The temperature is supposed to hit 90 today.  Since we don't have AC, it is the perfect day to head to the lake.

Have a happy Sunday!!!

A very productive day

We had a very productive today in the Highland house today.   Emily and her friend spent a good part of the day working on a display board about Slave Trade for a school project.   I have been thinking a lot lately about how I don't seem to photograph the little details of our day to day lives anymore.  These are the things that make up who we are. 

Emily's hands the way they are, this day, this moment in time.  

I managed to revamp my crafty corner, and finish putting together 40 cards I had leftover from various home party projects.   Woo Hoo!  Granted I started them Friday evening and all the pieces were cut.  All I had to do was stamp and assemble. 

But wait there's more!  After everyone headed to bed, the insomniac in me made a pot of coffee and finished the page I posted a couple days ago.  You know, the "thought process" one. 

I added some flowers stamped with the Hooray Bouquet set, lace trim and the "Ivy" name block.  I really didn't know what else to add and didn't have any "carrots" laying around to go with the story.  

 

How's this for a carrot top? Hijacked this picture from facebook today of Hazel.  Love it!

Holy Scrap Mess!

I sat down to tidy up my little crafty corner and stumbled upon a little bit of inspiration.  A few weeks ago I was cutting a bunch of 1/2" circles on the Cricut.  The negative piece was so cool looking!  I found it last night and was totally inspired to create this.

 

The design  was inspired by a sketch by Karan Gerber on the Sketchabilities blog HERE .  I used so many products for this page, hence the name of the title for today.  There are stamp sets and ink pads covering my work area.  I will spare you a picture :).

I started with this.........

 Notice the head shadow?  That would be me.  Taking pictures at 1 in the morning is a bit tricky.   To mix the paint I used about a nickel size amount of Create - A - Shade  pearl paint and 8-10 drops of Black Re - Inker.  

I used a sponge to spread the paint using the negative piece as a stencil.  This is my first time doing such a thing and love it!!! I am still trying to figure out how to get all the paint out from under my fingernails.  (Should have used a bigger sponge).

To make the flower, I stamped the script stamp from the Universal Backgrounds set to make a "pattern paper".  Then punched 2 - 2" scallop circles and 1- 1 1/4 inch circle from the piece. 

Cut about 1/2 inch at each scallop, then cute the smaller circle so you have a "pie" but be sure and leave the center intact.  Sponge on some ink and layer them up.  You then fluff the petals, some going up, some going down.  Super quick and easy!

Supplies Used (all CTMH unless stated otherwise)

Pattern Paper : Bo Bunny , CTMH retired Sweetheart

Cardstock: Black, Vanilla Cream, Sky Blue, White

Ink: Crystal Blue, Grey Wool, Black, Baby Pink, New England Ivy

Stamp Sets: A Typeface, Stitched Together, Universal Backgrounds, Florentine WOTG set

Embellishments: Retired Shimmer Brads, A Garden Color Ready wooden shapes, Banners DE, Mixed Shapes DE, Neutral Bakers Twine

Cutting Tools: 2" Scallop circle punch,  1 1/4" Circle Punch, Quickutz alphabet / Cuttlebug

Other: Create - A - Shade Paint, Black Re - Inker, Black Sharpie

Off to the store to get the supplies for some Zuppa Toscana soup for dinner.  I stumbled upon the recipe on Pinterest and am so excited to try it.  Zane isn't a big fan of soup, so hopefully he likes it!  If not, I suppose he will have cereal :).

MoJo Monday Entry

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family and friends.  We over indulged on dinner at Zane's parents.  Tyler had extra in preparation for the dreaded wisdom teeth extraction tomorrow.  Said he was storing up since he will be limited on what he can eat for a few days. 

I managed to put together this card for my entry into the MoJo monday challenge this week. You can find the sketch and challenges here .

I used more papers from the Dotty For You special coming up.  Have I said yet how much I like them?

Supplies Used (all CTMH unless stated otherwise)
Paper : Dotty For You
Cardstock: Colonial White
Ink : Black, Lagoon
Stamp Sets: Stella WOTG set, April SOTM
Other : Black Sharpie , Cricut AP cartridge and Neutral Bakers Twine

Thank you for stopping by!

Dotty For You

I was finally able to play with the Dotty For You papers that will be available to you on April 17th.  You can find all the details under the specials tab.

For my page I used a sketch from sketcheswithatwist.blogspot.com.   I recently stumbled upon this blog, and since I am all into banners lately, it was perfect!

I used one of the sunbursts from the March SOTM set to stamp a border around the page.  There are 5 different sunbursts in the set and can see using them a lot for this.

The butterflies and the 3 labels were cut out of a couple of the Dotty For You papers.  The Journaling block is from a retired Mayberry Stickease set.  Am always happy to use up a little retired stash :).

Products used, all CTMH unless stated otherwise. 
Paper: Dotty For You  B & T , Sweet Leaf and Smoothie Cardstock
Ink: Black
Border: Cut from the AP Cartridge
Embellishments: Colonial White Designer Brads, Neutral Bakers Twine, vintage lace (unknown brand)
Stamp Sets: Bohemian Alphabet (E1019) , and April SOTM


This picture sums up our day today.

My nephew Daniel is in Afghanistan right now on his second deployment to serve our country.  Before he left, he drew Zane a map to his mushroom spot.  We drove nearly 2 hours to find it, then strolled around the woods seeing what we could find.  We only found 5 mushrooms, NOT GOOD!  I took several pictures, but this one is one of my fav's.

We did learn a couple things.
1. I should not lead us out of the woods.  Tyler, Emily, and I started heading back to the car.  A few minutes later we heard Zane yelling that we were going in the wrong direction!  It's a good thing he noticed before we were out of ear shot. 
2. Tyler really needs to work on his braking and accelerating while driving.  He tends to be a little heavy on the pedals.

That's all for today, have a Happy Easter!!!

Oh how I wish......

Every time I pull out older pictures of  Tyler and Emily, I really wish they were small again.  Gone are the days that they do crazy things like this.  They are entertaining in a different way as teenagers, like always needing new shoes for various sports, bringing all their friends over to raid the refrigerator, and sulking when they have to clean their room. 

I think I used a sketch for inspiration, but can't seem to locate it.  So if it's yours, let me know and I will give your proper credit. 

Supplies used - all CTMH unless indicated otherwise

 Victory Paper, Hexagon Quikutz die, SU embossing folder, AP cartridge for photo corners, unknown brand floss and alphabet stickers.

Since the Nieces and Nephews are producing offspring, we have these little munchkins to entertain us with their silly antics. 

It appears that Roman has a little obsession with his belly button.  

His facial expressions remind me so much of his dad when he was this age.  I am secretly hoping he is just as mischievous too!  Like the time he clipped the frogs on the clothesline so they would stop hopping away :)

Notice any blog changes?

I really wanted to make the blog a place my customers could go and find out information on upcoming events. Notice the tabs at the top! Yay!!!! Now you can click on the tabs and have information readily accessible.

Plus, all my internet friends can join in on the workshops that my local peeps and I do each month.

I will be adding more tabs, workshop projects, and updating the calendar over the next few weeks, so check them often. It is my goal that you can say "Hmmmm.... I wonder what I need to get for Angie's workshop next month and when is it?", hop on my blog and have the answers at your fingertips. How awesome is that!

Here is one of the pages for the Pemberly option in May.

On that note, the Mushrooms are popping up!

One of our favorite things about spring. Walking around the woods looking for the little sprouts of fungus.

They were very tasty on our burgers tonight. YUM!!!

Instagram inspired.......

What a horrible no good week!
This week that was just bad from the get go. We didn't have computers for the two days at work... What was supposed to be a smooth transition from one update to another, just plain wasn't. Which led to the rest of the week playing catch up. What a relief to walk out the door Friday evening.

If only I could play with paper as my "real" job instead of my "fun" job. As a wise Dr. I work with would say..... "If wishes were fishes, we would all have our poles in the water". Love it!

After all the frustrations of the day, the reports and files I needed to work on at home just weren't happening. Instead I pulled out my challenge folder and went to work with a little creative escape.

I am totally in love with the instagram photos that smart phones offer, really makes me want to update my android to a newer version. The instagram photos inspired the edge treatment on my creation today.

This page started with a sketch on the rock paper scrapbook blog. I recently stumbled upon her blog and am looking forward to more challenges Ashley has to offer. You can find her blog at www.rockpaperscrapbook.blogspot.com

Here's the sketch....

My Take...

Papers are from the CTMH victory line. I sponged ink around the edges to get the "instagram" effect around the page. Then stamped a border stamp from the Victory WOTG stamp set with White Daisy ink around the edges of the page.

Stamp sets used....
Vintage Type

Victory WOTG stamp set.....

Embellishments used........
Round Durable Studs and Foundry Number Plates

Now, off to do the paperwork and reports that need to be done for the "play" job.

Blog Post Winner!!!

As promised, I had Emily pick a random number for the $31 in Free CTMH products. She chose #17. The 17th comment posted during February was......

OLENA on February 9th. Congratulations Olena, email me at angiehighland@gmail.com and let me know what you would like! You can browse the products online at www.angiehighland.ctmh.com

Here is another page I made during my scrappy weekend this past weekend. I used sketch #197 from The Creative Scrappers blog over on the left. This one also fits into the color challenge on the creating keepsakes site. The challenge was to use Red, White, and Brown. I would have never chose this color combination, but absolutely love the results!!!

I must say, I love the technology of phones nowadays. Silly me, I forgot my camera when we were visiting family over Christmas. This picture was taken with my phone. I think it turned out pretty good, especially since it was printed in 5 x 7.

These papers from the Pebbles Fresh Goods line are so addicting, I love the Kraft background. All of the other supplies are CTMH. The Heart and Label are the Irresistibles Persnickety Journaling Spots. They have the coolest resist on them. They start out white, sponge on some ink in whatever color you choose and the pattern shows through. FUN!! Here is a little picture of them before inking.

Sorry, the picture is a little wonky (is that a word?).

The only stamping on this one is the faux stitching with the Stitched Together stamp set (C1459). Much easier than pulling out a sewing machine.

Today is the beginning of spring break. Emily is already making plans for each day. I have a feeling the food bill will easily triple this week. She has 6 friends coming over tomorrow for a hiking adventure. Normally it is still quite cold during spring break here in Michigan. We are about 40 degrees above average this week. Crazy!!!

I had better run and start packing for tomorrows crop / workshop night at Scrapbook 101. Looking forward to catching up with everyone!

Finally a page

Thank you for being patient while I had to take a break from the blog. I haven't forgot about the blog candy for February and will be drawing a winner tomorrow. I am going to have Emily help me make the drawing slips and do the drawing. She likes to do the drawings for me and I am happy to have her help.

I finally was able to squeeze in a little scrappy time this past weekend. Of course, I printed off a slew of challenges to take with me and went to work. I did manage to make a dent in the pile, but have several more on my to do list for this weekend. Yay! It looks like I finally have a nice little pile of artwork to share with you over the next few days.

This page of sweet little Hazel was inspired by the Imaginisce sketch contest over on the page maps blog. If you have never checked out the page maps blog, it is surely worth your time. www.pagemaps.com is the place to go.

I used papers from the Close To My Heart Lucy line. Love the pinks and greens in this set. Perfect for girl or Easter pages.

The doily and border were cut with the AP cartridge then edged with a little stickle bling. The stamped doily image and the quote in the bottom right hand corner are from the Beautiful Friendship set (B1400).

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your evening :).

MoJo Monday 227

Here is the card I made for the MoJo Monday sketch this week. I started out simple, then kept adding, and adding, and then added yet some more.....

A ton of texture going on here.
I did a couple techniques shown in past Technique Tuesday posts.
The first being, I cut the "we can't thank you enough" stamp from the February SOTM set to seperate the sentiment from the frame. I then used the frame to stamp the 2 smaller squares of pattern paper.
Once the pattern papers were adhered to the card base, I stamped the stars randomly, running some of them off the edges of the squares.
Next I embossed the entire card front with the Cuttlebug and a SU embossing folder. That's the second technique, remember the strips?
Then added the striped ribbon, sentiment, and lace.
That still wasn't enough for me.....
I hand stitched around 3 sides pulling it all together.

A very vintage feel to this card. Lots of texture and layers, just my style :)

Papers are from the CTMH Stella line and all the stamps from the February Stamp of the month set (Thoughtful Tidings).

Don't forget about the blog candy giveaway this month........

Happy Crafting!

Homemade Embossing Plate

As promised, today is all about making a homemade embossing plate.

As soon as I seen this being done, I had to run out and pick up a deep cut Cricut blade. Thank you to my friend for sharing some perfect weight chipboard with me! Thanks Sue!

First, I designed a file on the Gypsy with hearts from the AP cartridge.

Then cut the design out of chipboard with your Cricut and Trim it down so it fits through your embossing machine. I cut mine 5 x 7.

Next layer the cuttlebug sandwich. (A plate, B plate, chipboard embossing plate, paper your embossing, rubber mat, B plate, and a shim or two for extra firmness) I only showed part of the layer in the picture, but you get the idea.

Here is what you get after running through the little green machine, AKA Threads in the Highland house.

Now isn't that awesome! Think of the possibilities! Before I had the deep cut blade, I made this embossing frame by cutting the image 4 times out of cardstock and layering them together to get the thickness of chipboard.

I used it on this picture from the Five and Feisty layout I showed you in a earlier post. I love how the embossed frame on the picture made the black and white picture look almost like metal. It's hard to see in the picture, but if you look around the picture you can see it.

After all Texture and layer is the name of my game:). Speaking of "game", Emily has her fist Volleyball game tomorrow! Crossing my fingers I can get out of work early, since I went in on my day off today. Here's hoping!

Happy Crafting!

A couple of cards for today

Some days are harder to create something than others. Today was one of them days. I just wasn't feeling it. I did manage to do these 2 cards. I can't say that I am thrilled with them, but then again cards are not my strong point.

Card 1........

I used some retired wings paper and the stamp set Trees & Things.

Card 2........

For this one I used some retired Bliss paper and the new Just For You stamp set. I don't think I like the color combination here.

Oh well, tomorrow is a new day. By the looks of our house when I got home this evening, I will be spending a good part of it tidying up.

It was so good to chat with Vanessa and the other ladies at the Scrapbook Nook in Ludington today. Which is likely why there was not mojo flowing. I was to busy talking to get into the groove of things! Go figure :)>

It's Blog Candy Time!

Welcome to February! The new Spring / Summer 2012 Close To My Heart idea book is live today! To celebrate the new wonderful products and 31 days of blogging I would like to give someone $31 in new products!

All you have to do is comment on my blog posts. For every comment you leave during the month of February, you will get one entry in my drawing bag. On March 1st, I will draw one lucky winner. The winner will get to pick out $31 in free products from the new book!

On that note, here are some more examples with the February SOTM set. These were copied from the examples in the book, only I switched up the paper to both Pemberley and Florentine just to mix it up a bit. All of the boxes and pieces were cut from the AP cartridge.

Have a happy February!

Five & Feisty

With Valentines day just around the corner, a layout with hearts is in order.

I used papers from the CTMH Roxie line. Such a feisty paper line, perfect for a feisty five year old. How about the fun little stamped accent in the upper left corner? Not to many stamps say "we" on them. This one is from the February Stamp of the Month set Thoughtful Tidings that will be available tomorrow along with about a gazillion other fabulous scrappy items!!! Okay, maybe not a gazillion :)

If you are not familiar with the Stamp of the Month. Each month CTMH features an exclusive stamp set that you can get for just $5 with a $50 purchase. This one is perfect for little personalized gift bags and boxes. I have a few fun ideas rolling around up in the noggin for this one.

Notice the little fold down journaling book to hide the stories about how feisty Emily was at 5. She's still full of spunk at 12! I didn't feel like there was enough space on the layout to say what I wanted to say. When all else fails, make more room!

I know I usually do a Technique on Tuesday's, but the little technique I am working on isn't quite ready for posting yet.

Since today marks day 31 out of 365 with keeping up with the blogging, I have a little surprise tomorrow. Keeping up for 31 days is a HUGE accomplishment for me, considering I only posted 62 times in 2011.