Tuesday, August 30, 2016

#GrandmaToAKindergartener (eeek, where has the time gone!?)


It's funny with kids. Turn your head away for just a few seconds, and they've grown up from an infant to heading off to school, and the next thing you know, they'll be heading to college and getting married ....

Darling Charlotte, my first grandbaby, started kindergarten today. I swear it feels like just yesterday that she was taking her first steps, saying her first words.  So now I am officially a #GrandmaToAKindergartener.

To celebrate this occasion, her Mom Emily and I collaborated on a few crafting goodies that will help her, and us, remember this day and other first days in the years ahead.

First, I made a card. It's a side-step card, and the paper I used is Close To My Heart's new "Swan Lake" suite, available beginning September 1. I added stamped images from the CTMH stamp set "School Kids", as well as some text cut using my Cricut Explore.

Next, Emily dropped off a very large pink shirt, and asked if I could make a "Class of 2029" to affix to the shirt. I used heat transfer vinyl and designed the cut, again, with the Cricut Explore. The idea behind the shirt is to have Charlotte pose in it every year until she fills it out, in 2029.

The most time-consuming project was making a chalkboard sign for Emily and Charlotte to complete annually, to pose with in their yard.

Emily bought the simple framed chalkboard at Michael's for about $10.  In my stash, I had hoarded a lot of vinyl (both matte and glossy) in a variety of colors. Again, using the Cricut Explore, I set the text in a selection of fun fonts; where the information would change annually, Emily wrote that information in chalkboard markers that she also purchased at Michael's.  Here's the finished project; please don't mind some of the privacy edits. We can never be too safe with our special kiddos.


And today the big day came:

 
 
 
(Baby brother, Evan)
 
...and just for kicks, let's compare Charlotte's mom Emily (left) on her first day of kindergarten (age 5) with Charlotte on her first day of kindergarten (age 5.5):
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Crazy Cat on this Month's Stamp of the Month

Oh my word, how cute is this Stamp of the Month (SOTM) for August from Close To My Heart?                    OK, truth be told, I'm not a cat person (but do have two dogs who think they're cats), and I've outgrown Halloween but still I love this build-a-cat.
And you don't have to relegate it to your "Holidays I Never Celebrate" stash.  Let me show you how I've changed it up:
 
 
 
For this first birthday card, I stamped the crazy cat four times, each on different "Whimsy Fundamentals" cardstock from CTMH's new collection. Then I went to town dressing each up for a party, using my journaling pen and other random embellishments I had hanging around the Paper Jungle. 
 
The guy upper left got a suit of paper, a tie made from CTMH Shimmer Tape, a hand-drawn mustache and glasses, topped with Liquid Glass. The gal below him got a dress made of CTMH's new Sea Glass Glitter Paper, and some twine twisted for her hair. For the gal to the upper right, I used Sparkle gems for her necklace and turned the stamp set's pennants upside down to elongate her ears. Her mask is also stamped on Shimmer Tape. The guy below her has the bat in the stamp set converted to a bow tie, and he earned some freckles thanks to the Journaling Pen.
 
They're set within a picture collage that I designed and cut quickly on my Cricut Explore. I cut it from some of the new Whimsy paper -- isn't it darling?  The sentiment stamp came from CTMH's "Fireworks Fun" stamp set -- it's fun to mix and match! 
 
 

 
This crazy cat decided to party on some older (now retired) Kaleidoscope paper. She's layered onto a piece of acetate that holds back a party full of multi-colored sequins and glitter.  Behind the glitter is a layer of another paper from the Kaleidoscope collection, that has been stamped with the CTMH "Bitty Birthday" M-sized stamp. 
 
At the Crazy Cat's shoulder is a pretty flower that I cut using the brand new Cricut Flower Market cartridge!  The cartridge has beautiful flower designs and other images too -- 700 in all. The collection comes with three D-sized stamp sets from CTMH, and a pack of the new Adventure Fundamentals paper, which includes 7 bright, bold colors including the "Willow" green from which I cut the flower's leaves, and "Lemon" yellow of the flower's stamens.
 
Special for Blog Readers!
 
 
I do have a special for my Blog Readers if you'd like to buy the Flower Market Cartridge this month. Buy the Cartridge and its collection ($99 retail, plus tax and shipping), get the SOTM for just an additional $5, and then I'll reimburse your FedEx Ground shipping ($7.95)!  Just let me know in a comment here that you'll be buying, and I'll look for it, and reimburse your shipping via PayPal or by check, your choice. 
 
 
And now for some results!
 
Over the weekend, I participated in the Disney Pixar Blog Hop (scroll down if you missed my project!), and offered a prize of a free (and now discontinued) package of 12" assortment Flip Flaps to a random commenter.  Random.org chose the #2 comment by "LYN or GARY MEEKER."  Lyn or Gary, please leave a comment here or send me an e-mail with your contact information so I can get this pack out to you!  Congratulations!
 


Friday, August 5, 2016

Disney Pixar Blog Hop for August: The Magic of Flip Flaps!


Welcome to the
Disney Pixar Blog Hop!

Disney and crafting are a magical combination!  We are so happy you joined us today for this blog hop.  Some of the crafters participating in this event (including me!) have been doing this together since 2011!
 
Over the years, the hop has grown but one thing has always stayed the same . . . amazing crafting projects that feature your favorite characters from Disney and Pixar movies.

For 2016, we are going to have a hop every other month for the entire year!  If you missed one of the hops we already had this year, you can still go back and see the projects. For February click HERE, for April click HERE and for June click HERE.  If you are on Facebook you can like our group page so that you can be the first to learn about each upcoming event.  And who knows? Maybe you'd like to join in to show off your Disney project. Just click HERE to go to the Facebook page.

To make sure you don't miss any of the fun, be sure to start at Shawn's blog to see all of the projects.  Just click HERE to head over to Shawn's blog and then follow the hop line-up at the bottom of the post to see everyone's projects.
 
Here's mine:
 


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Blogger friends, I'm sure, know that my pride and joy are my two grandbabies, Charlotte (5) and Evan (2).  In May of this year, the kids and their parents were taken by their granddad (my ex) to Disney World. It was Charlotte's second trip -- we took her 3 years ago -- but Evan's first. It made for some perfect scrapbook moments.
 

And *I* have the perfect scrapbook paper for their album: Close To My Heart's "Magical" Disney-themed paper suite.

Of course, there are zillions of fun pictures from this trip, and there's no way I could fit them all in a single album -- or is there?  Well, with Close To My Heart's Flip Flaps, I can fit more pictures than meet the eye!  Check this out:

Above, you see just two pictures, right? 

But here, you see the follow-up to Charlotte's hug -- her smooch on her brother's cheek -- just by lifting the miniature page protector (or "Flip Flap") that's adhered to the top of the standard 12x12" page protector.



I'm still working on this double-page spread, but I wanted to share with you how very Magical these exclusive Flip Flaps can be. Here's the outside of the standard two page layout. Imagine this with a collection of photographs -- I'm thinking Cinderella's castle on the right, and some pictures of rides and other Disney scenes on the left.

 

How many pictures do you think I'd be able to comfortably fit in a two-page spread?  Six?  Eight?

 
How about 26 ... or more?
 
The outer upper panel flips up, the outer lower panel flaps down, and inside, there are different sizes of mini-page protectors flippin' and a flappin' in all sorts of directions!
 
Flip Flaps are available in many different sizes from Close To My Heart, most in packages of 12 pieces.  A new feature this year is that half of the pieces have their adhesive strip and opening on the horizontal side, and half are on the vertical side, to allow for greater flexibility in your layout design.
 
There are the small ones (3"x4") as I show in the set of 18 pictures on the top half of the layout above. (Click on the size of each to be taken directly to my shopping site to buy your own!) 
 
Then the most popular size (4"x6") standard for many photo prints. And another standard photo size (5"x7") is new this year too. Also new is the cute 2"x2" size of flip flaps; this size is perfect for not just photographs, but also souvenirs and mementos, like pressed coins the kids collected at Disney, stickers, charms, and trading pins.
 
I'm sorry to say that the popular 12" large assortment of Flip Flaps has been discontinued, but I have one extra set that I'm willing to award to ONE randomly-selected person who comments on this blog post.  So leave a comment below, along with your e-mail address please so I know how to reach you when you win, and answer this question:
 
Have you ever been to Disney World or Disneyland, and if so, what was your favorite part of the trip?
 
This prize is awarded by me personally!  I'll announce the winner on this blog on Monday, August 8.  BUT WAIT!
 
Before you go, make sure to enter to win the official prize for this Blog Hop . . .

We have a prize from Clear Scraps!  You could win one of their sandcastle chipboard albums!  This is perfect for your summer beach photos or with a little magic, this castle becomes the home for any Disney Princess. 


Enter here:
- - - 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Now, move on to Melissa Cady's beautiful blog called "My Disney Life."  She can be found by clicking here:
 
http://mydisneylifebymelissa.blogspot.com/

 
The full blog hop line up is below. Thanks for visiting, see you next time!