Ornamental Dylusions Christmas

Howdy Candies…So I’m completely smitten over some gorgeous shares lately & I would say they are just stunning Eye Candy heARTistry!  I’m very certain that you will find them to be too!  Along my journey I decided that I wanted to dibble a bit and combine a plethora of products together to create some ornaments that I’m in a swap for & admittedly I also wanted to join in this months Inspiration Emporiums “Joyful Creations” challenge.  I will say that I’ve officially incurred the “Dylusionsenal Syndrome”…Warning: The voices in my head say there is no cure!   Of course it’s no wonder that I’m experiencing an Ornamental Dylusions Christmas lately. 

Whilst I’m inspired by the lovely shares from the Design Team at IE, I’ve also seen many handmade Christmas Cheer along the way from those I admire deeply & personally follow along in the Blogosphere.  They are more then just Designers but heARTists that truly create to share their love of the crafts as much as I do.  Along my journey this past year they have also become Friends!  I’m so excited to share some of their heARTistry with you in what is dubbed “Blogworthy Eye Candy!”  I’m so thankful to them as their inspiration touched my heART & they are some of the most amazingly generous souls I know.  So Stay TUNED for the end of this post for a list of my Favorite Holiday Creations that inspired a bit of mine.  (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

Dylusions Ornament – Configuration Style: (Crushed Grape, Bubblegum Pink, Vibrant Turquoise Dylusions sprays, Tim Holtz – Configurations, Ideo-ology Findings, Tinsel, & Woodland, Claudine Hellmuth – Sticky Back ATC Canvas)

Top: Color Ready Ribbon, Tinsel, Broken knob, & Fabric Glue

Inspiration Emporium “Joyful Creations” Challenge Submission: (Click the Photo to Join the Challenge!")

 

Edited FB Cover “Ornamental Dylusional Christmas”

 

Instead of mass producing Christmas Cards this year I wanted to make one single card for each recipient that is a quality handmade card with a small ornament to hang on their tree from the Candy Studio. I thought it would be a Fantabulous way of using these treats & also play around with various techniques along the way. I’m so excited to share each of them in posts leading up to Christmas, Yay! (Doing the Happy Dance) I will also be including one of my treasures in the give-away from my blog post “One BRAVE Evening” isn’t this just exciting!?!

These were also inspired by our CC101 Continued Journey Challenge this month for “Vintage” and/or “Christmas” creation.  This Christmas Card with “Twinchie” ornaments was created using a multitude of different techniques & products.  I was just playing around with different things I received as gifts from Heidi Swap, Inspiration Emporium, Tim Holtz, StudioL3, Ellen Hutson, & Ribbon Carousel.  First I want to say that I love masking!  It is a FUN technique & the trees are not a stamp.  It is actually a 6x6 cardinal thin chipboard set that I punched the pieces out & used the reverse of the inside to spray Heidi Swaps ‘Chartreuse’ Color Shine.  (Love the glimmer effect, just blingy to me!) I also used Tim Holtz Coordinations Distress paper, Paper Stash “Holiday’s Past” & my FAV Glassine, to cover the “Twinchie” ornaments along with some fragments, findings, & glossy accents.  

 

Christmas Card:

Christmas Card Back:

Christmas Card & Ornament Set #1:

I also found myself playing a bit with backgrounds because I plan on making a few of these gorgeously quick Star ornaments that Dyan Reavely shared a video about that you can do in 5 minutes!  Yes that’s right 5 minutes.  Can you imagine them all over your home?  I mean I can get totally Dylusionally Ornamental & that will be my next post!  (Click The Photo For the Video, It’s pretty Hilarious!)

Reverse Image “I love not having to waste a single drop of ink with my craft sheet!”:

I want to thank each of you for your outpour of support & response in my last posting.  It’s not always easy to put yourself out there but it did free my spirit enough to find my muse & just have FUN creating!  Of course I had quite a bit of inspirational help from some Fantabulously heARTistic Friends along the way….so without further ado…”Blogworthy Eye Candy”:

1.  The Gentlemen Crafter – “The Joyful Jetting Santa”

2.  StudioL3– “Updated Tim Holtz Configurations Holiday House”

3. Annette’s Creative Journey - “The House That Annette Built”

4. Trash To Treasure – “White & Gold Christmas”

5. The Little Shabby Shed – “Dylusions Cuff”

6. Inky Obsessions – “My Favorite Art Journal – Dylusions”

7. Tim Holtz – “12 Tags of 2012 – December”

8. Dylan’s Blog – “Catch Up At The Studio”

Wowza…those are some seriously creative inspiration flowing through these talented hands.  I hope you have some time to take a gander at those who are inspiring me this Holiday Season!  From different uses of Configurations, Canvas, Sticky Back, to Tags, Cards, & Backgrounds…there is plenty of Eye Candy to rave over.  I’m experiencing Holiday Cheer this year & can’t help but spread it about.  Remember to enter the Candy Give-Away for a personal set of these handmade treasures along with the “Wear Your Words” bracelet from the “One BRAVE Evening” post.  Thanks for Stamping By…(To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

Creations with Cricut “Artiste” & more…

Howdy Candies…It’s Autumn!  My Favorite time of the year.  There is something about having a sip of warm apple cider with a hint of cinnamon & whip cream to top it off, the smell of the morning brisk Autumn air, & the gorgeous color hues that Mother Nature bestows upon our landscapes that just inspires my soul.  This is the time of the year that I get creatively motivated because of the natural influences that surround us.  I’m an avid lover of this season & to be quite honest it has nothing to do with the up-coming Holidays.  Of course I enjoy creating hand-made gifts!  Albeit the reason mainly is because it’s the time that I can sit down & focus in my Studio to learn new techniques and try different things. 

Today, I want to share a few things I’ve been working on in the Studio over the last week.  First there is this stationary set that I fell in love with during my local Creative Hearts training meeting a couple weeks ago.  I was completely inspired by: Something About Sharing’s use of our Monograms / Perfect Fit Frames stamps & our Close To My Heart Cricut “Artiste” & “Art Philosophy” collection, that I wanted to dabble a bitty with it & also complete an entire WOTG “Advent Calendar” .

There is a lot to share that I’ve done using these collections this week and a couple of outside the box background creations too!  For more details about the “Featured” product Cricut “Artiste”  & “Art Philosophy” collection, please stay tuned for after the photos of this weeks creative venture!  (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

Stationary “Monogram” & “Perfect Fit Frames” Inspired By: Something About Sharing:

Close To My Heart Colors: Black, Colonial White, Smokey Plum

Cards:

 

Stationary Bands:

Stationary Set:

Let me tell you…if your looking to complete some incredible gifts, I highly recommend getting your hands on this incredible Cricut “Artiste” collection.  There are tons of ideas and options that make gift giving easy and FUN!  You don’t have to click far to get your hands on one…just click the last photo to order your set from Creatique Candy today!  I’ve only tried a couple of cuts and I’m completely addicted. What I love the most is that the cartridge has tons of 3-D items, it compliments our my acrylix stamp collections and there is an exclusive set of 3 D-size stamp sets that accompany the cartridge that are normally priced at $17.95 each!  Here is what you get for $99.00:

Collection includes:

• 1 – Cartridge (700 images: themed projects, cards, fonts, shapes, and 3-D items)
• 3 – My Acrylix® D-size stamp sets
• 3 – 12" × 9" Dimensional Elements (3 sheets of different shapes)

Of course the Stationary Set isn’t the only thing I was able to create with the Cricut “Artiste” collection.  I was also able to configure an entire WOTG “Advent Calendar” from our new My Creations Cubby Item# Z1804 which has a lot of options including creating a game too!  There really are tons of options in this unique ensemble.  With the guide included in this particular WOTG you can switch out the papers, colors & use any “Perfect Fit” stamp set to create a whole new look.  Talk about themes of plenty; here are a couple of ideas Halloween, Birthday, Valentines, Parties, Showers, and more. 

Here is what I did with my “WOTG Advent Calendar” Item # ZG1044:

Of course I enjoy my Close To My Heart projects sooo much that I also decided to delve into mixing some base mediums around & tried my clear cardstock Item #3222 via the Papertrey Ink to place over the top of backgrounds that I normally wouldn’t of thought to do before.  I found that being able to play around with stamp images (as you can clean the clear card stock with ranger all purpose stamp cleaner) and redo the image if you don’t like how it looks.  Check out some of these ideas:

Close To My Heart & Ranger Product Mixed Base Mediums:

Here is another version but using a different embossed background:

Alternative Background Tag using clear cardstock:

Here is some Background in Progress just Playing with the Metallic Distress Stains & Dylusions Sprays along with Distress Ink & archival:

So you can tell that though I’ve been missing in the “Blogosphere” I’m totally creatively motivated in my studio playing about & learning new techniques along the way.  I want to thank my Creative Chemistry Student Body for the tons of inspiring shares they’ve been showing lately.  When I couple the gift of blessings from their creative heARTistry with the supplies I have on hand I would say that more then Autumn is inspired me…wouldn’t you?  Now I’m off to re-visit a technique shared by Tim & this weeks CC2C challenge “Riveted Patchwork”.  I hope that you found a lot inspiring new things to try from the Candy Studio.  Thanks so much for Stamping By… (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

Fall In Love with Kiwi Lane…

Howdy Candies, I’m over the moon excited to bring to you a special new line of ‘tools’ that I honestly have no idea how I’ve lived without!  It’s totally rejuvenated my passion & love for paper-crafting in a whole new way and I’m just smitten as I’ve totally Fallen in Love with Kiwi Lane Designs.  So much sooo that I can officially announce that they personally contacted me to ask if I would share a New Design to highlight on their blog for their Technique Spotlight – “Ideas That Inspire”, how Ah-mazing is this!?!  The wonderful thing is that they are looking to share this with others locally here in the Treasure Valley area and would love to feature New Ideas and techniques with their incredible ‘tool’ and process of “Framing”.  What is “Framing”?  Well I’m going to take you on a journey through the process of “Framing” using their DT’s ‘tool’…so without further ado Photos: (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

“Framing” Is a simple 4 Step process: (Click the Photo to Open the Kiwi Lane Design Blog Post for a tutorial on another Design I made for their Spotlight Technique using the Cricut Artiste’ Collection)

Here I took the “Mini Madison Avenue” DT: 3A, 3B & “Tiny Wildflowers” DT: 3T, 6T for Step 1: Visualize the way I wanted my Colonial white die-cut card base to be both inside and then outside.  Step 2: Cut my NEW “Clementine” paper.

Step 3: Replace the DT’s position and adhered my pieces down with adhesive. 

I also wanted to add some stamping from my NEW “Words of Comfort” C1524 My Acrylix CTMH stamp set to the DT “Tiny Wildflower” 3T mini floral B&T.

Step 4: Cherish, I got to embellish with CTMH accessories to create this lovely FRIEND colonial white die-cut card.  (Apart of the “Clementine” WOTG with bonus project) along with other CTMH New product: Burlap ribbon, Canvas letters, Cottage Assortment Fabric Flowers, Opaque Pearls, with Brown & Tan Sparkles.  (I stamped the little flower flourish randomly on the Canvas Alphabet)

Outside of “Friend” 3 1/4” x 8” Colonial White Die-Cut Card:

Inside of “Friend 3 1/4” x 8” Colonial White Die-Cut Card:

Supplies Used in the “Clementine” Friend CTMH Colonial White Die-Cut Card:
G1046 “Clementine” WOTG  / Z1738 Colonial White Die-Cut Cards & Envelopes / Z1753 Sparkles Brown & Tan Assortment  / Z1336 Peal Opaque Adhesive Gems  / Z1760 Burlap Ribbon  / Z1777 Canvas Alphabet / Distressed in Chocolate Exclusive Inks Pad w/ sponge (All pieces). (You can purchase any of the CTMH supplies listed above via my “Shop With Me Badge”)

"Framing” Process: Kiwi Lane Design Templates; “Thoughtful” 3A, 3B “Tiny Brackets” 1T“

“Avonlea” Cricut Artiste Collection ‘Dress Form Card’ Photo Tutorial:

 

Step 4: Cherish (Embellish As Desired) 

 

Supplies Used in the Avonlea Cricut Artiste “Sew In Rare Form” Card & Instructions :

G1045 CTMH Avonlea WOTG Card Kit (Cards, Envelopes, Ribbon, Accents Included) 4 ¼” x 5 ½” A2, Kiwi Lane Design Templates: “Thoughtful” 3A, 3B “Tiny Brackets” 1T / Z1790 Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste Collection Cartridge – Dress Form Base & Overlay, Ranger Glossy Accents – Highlight / Z1336 CTMH Bitty Opaque Pearls / Z2111CTMH Chocolate Exclusive Inks Pad, Z697 Sponge / Z1783 SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer / Tim Holtz / Tonic Scissors / ATG Tape Glider /Glue Dots & Tobow (You can purchase any of the CTMH Item# Supplies listed above via my “Shop With Me Badge”)

“Framing” (Choose your paper, “Frame with DT’s, Cut Dress form 1st)
Outside Card Front:

1. Focal Point:
Cricut Artiste Dress Form: Base & Overlay cut at 5 ½” Adhere Outline to Base

2. Using Glossy Accents add dimension to the chocolate sections of the Dress Form.
(Set aside to allow time to dry)

3. Card Base Front: 4 ¼” x 5 ½” Diamond B&T paper.

4. Front: Juniper Dots B&T, Reversed & Flipped Opposite DT “Thoughtful” 3A, 3B

5. ½” Cut word B&T overlaying ¾” chocolate cardstock

6. Distress all pieces with Chocolate Exclusive Inks or your preferred Distress Ink.

7. Weave the Dress From into the piece from steps 5 & 6 to the ¾” word band strip. Adhere to the Front.

8. Using Bowdabra & the ¼” “Slate” organdy ribbon create 2 loops for the dress.

9. Randomly place CTMH Bitty Opaque Pearls (Embellish Front as Desired)

Inside of Card:

10. “Thoughtful” 3A, 3B overlay one another opposite the outside of card front.

11. Sentiment: Jet Printed on Colonial White Cardstock using Font – Ugly Qua altering the color with RGB values in word pro 2010. “Juniper” RGB: (R-55 G-141 B-110) “Sew In Rare Form” Framed with DT “Tiny Brackets” 1T then cut & Distressed with chocolate exclusive inks. Placed behind the 3A & 3B strips.

12. Using the Step 3: Replace Adhere pieces to inside of the card.

I have loved their flair & passion for paper and just adore each handmade piece of heARTistry they share.  They are armed with years of experience in the industry coupled with incredible Designers and to top it all off they are having their 3rd Birthday this year August 3rd.  You don’t want to miss all the Festivities going on during their 3rd Birthday Bash!!!  To Join in the FUN on their FB Page.  (Just click the “Framing” image to link-up)  I also wanted to extend a huge Thank You to Susan Budge for reaching out to me on behalf of Kiwi Lane Designs and bringing a new tool into my Candy Studio that has sparked a renewed way of integrating the various mediums I already use in a full-circle blessing. Thanks for Stamping By…

Stretch Your Stamps–Day 3

Howdy Candies…I’m ooober excited about today’s course for a couple of reasons.  1. I’m an avid hoarder of Alpha stamps.  Not to sure why but I reckon as much as I love Fonts I also love the ability to be a bitty hands on in creating with them too.  2. I have this ribbon that has never been touched for about 6 years now that I’ve loooong awaited to use.  & 3. I was able to learn how to create a really awesome card set for some INCREDIBLE Peeps.  See the interesting thing is this…sometimes in life there is someone or a couple someone's that come along in your life that just happen to stumble there at the perfect moment in time that just gels.  I’d be remise to say that this unexpected blessing happened in a moment that well let’s just say we never thought was ever possible.  I would LOVE to explain it to y’all but to some degree it is inexplicable!  Let’s just say that my inspiration for today’s CTMH (other than the ribbon & punch) July SOTM “Live Out Loud” S1207 is dedicated entirely to the Hague Family.  So without further ado photos:  (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

“Stretch Your Stamps” Day 3 – Collage: (Below is a list of supplies used CTMH)

July Stamp of the Month $5 with a $50 order “Live Out Loud”: (Outside of Card & Envelope Front)

Inside of Card & Closure side of Envelope:

Honestly I think the card says it all about this Family & everyday I’m blessed to know they are only a pebble away.  HUGS to the Hagues’ for just making the world a better place!  I am sooo excited about the diamond ribbon & the fact that the online card class “Stretch Your Stamps” gave me the foundation to think outside of the box & pull some boxes out, literally to get crafty with this ensemble.  You will notice that of course I only have one card today & that Day 2 is missing, that’s only because it is Summer time & I was literally busy doing some summer cleaning yesterday along with awaiting some supplies to do the course.  Today I only have time for this one because I’m totally excited for this afternoon’s trip to Eagle Island.  Thanks for Stamping By…

Items Used:

S1207 “Live Out Loud”

D1250 “Extreme Caps” (retired)

Paper: CTMH – Colonial White, Pear, Cocoa, & Elemental B&T (for inside the envelope)

Inks: CTMH – Pear, Cocoa (All pieces are distressed with a sponge using Cocoa ink)

Embellishments: Martha Stewart zig-zag border punch, Diamond Ribbon by: The Ribbon Boutique, & CTMH Sparkles Blue/Green Assortment

Stretch Your Stamps–Day 1

Howdy Candies…I’m back to Online Card Classes to ‘Stretch My Stamps’ & learn a bitty more about what types of stamps I own & how to use them in various ways.  I enjoyed Creative Chemistry sooo much that I’ve been waiting to take another course & this is one, it’s absolutely perfect for me!  With an inventory of over 500 sets not images but sets I had no idea that there are so many different kinds of stamps with tons of uses for them.  So today I’m sharing my rendition of the class material.  Though since my move I'm finding that to gather up my myriad of supplies is a bit daunting so I’m only posting the first 2 cards I created.  There truly is a 1/2 dozen ways to use today’s particular stamp.  However, if your eager to know what it is, I highly recommend joining along in the course with me.  It’s only $25.00 US & it allows you a lifetime unlimited access to all the class content, forum, galleries, & sooo much more!  To join in this incredible course just click on my participant badge below to read more all about it. Bonus I get to utilize this posting to demonstrate an ongoing CC101 FB BONUS Challenge that is only for those Student Body that attended “Creative Chemistry” showing how to use Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Pallets.  Of course I had to use every color in the Seasonal Re-Inkers that I own. So without Further Ado Photos: (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

“Stretch Your Stamps” Day 1 – Collage (Every background color uses Winter, Spring, & Summer Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Re-Inker):

Card #1 – CTMH June Stamp of the Month “Life is Tweet” S1206:

  

Card #2 – Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous “Papillion” CMS106 :

 

I’m truly in love with this learning style just because it is at my own pace & honestly I can do what I want with so many ideas given without any pressures.  Plus it is absolutely wonderful to see so many Friends I’ve met from my prior CC101 class participating.  Of Course my main goal in all of this is to learn more about what I own & use it but also to do at least 2 technique based cards daily through the end of class!  I wonder if that is possible given our schedules and of course the heat.  I don’t have AC where I’m getting creative so the heat has me beat lol :D.  I’m quite sure with the Nation wide heat wave their will be many of you that understand.  Yes, yes I know…the solution is to get up really really early in the morn but then again I’m the type that it takes me a bitty to get my bearings when I sit down to create my heARTistry.  I hope you’ve enjoyed my creations from “Stretch Your Stamps” Day 1!  Thanks for Stamping By…

Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 2 Challenge

Howdy Candies…I’ve been looking forward to the start of this challenge for over a month since I got my autographed copy of Tim Holtz amazing “Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 2” book.  I’m so excited because it all starts with an incredible neighbor who just so happens to be a Ranger U Educator with a Fantabulous blog StudioL3.  I stumbled upon her looking up information about Ranger University about the same time I returned from CU2012.  I absolutely fell in love with her artwork & in the process discovered that she does these amazing challenges from Tim’s books!  So of course I had to carpe’ diem…it’s all apart of my new artistic journey & I’m truly excited to participate along with several of my Student Body members from Creative Chemistry.  This is such an exciting journey for all of Us.   So without further ado my CC2C Technique 1 Challenge: (To leave a comment, thoughts, suggestions, or feedback - just click the title to this post & scroll to the bottom)

Sneak Peak & Close-Up of the First Technique Page 66 – Custom Foam Stamps:

(Click the Photo to Purchase your Personal Copy from Tim Holtz of Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 2 today!)

I ended up creating a 5x7 card & was able to incorporate tons of different ideas & products wrapped up into this special message to all my Student Body.  This was pretty neat because I just received my CTMH “Dotty” NSM promotion paper & thought hmmm…there is the perfect color combinations to work with using my Distress Inks “Peeled Paint” & “Broken China” & who would of thought that it goes very well with CTMH “Lagoon” & “Pear”?  I used a couple stamp techniques to get the base flower images I wanted (of course it wasn’t without playing with several different outcomes)  I have to admit I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.  My very first mixed medium card exploring outside of my comfort zone & admittedly I have to say, that this Custom Foam Stamp making is totally addicting!

Inside of the Card – Please click the photo below to find out more about joining in the FUN with CC2C at StudioL3 & This incredible Technique I learned creating custom foam stamps from his “Compendium of Curiosities 2”:

What a way to start off these weekly challenges!!!  The generous sponsor of this weeks challenge is: www.SimonSaysStamp.com I’ve ordered a few hard to find items via SSS & some class materials during Creative Chemistry and I have to admit they are good about shipping and offer International shipping too…Thank You SimonSaysStamp for sponsoring our challenges.  I also want to give a HUGE cyber HUG to all of my Student Body for the generous shares of artistic talents.  This card is for YOU!   Thanks so much for Stamping By…& don’t forget to grab your “Dotty for You” National Scrapbooking Month paperpack via my blog badge to shop.  In order to qualify you only need to spend $35 in our current Spring/Summer Idea Book & get the “Dotty” pack for only $5 (while supplies last).