Hey, Foxy! Check Out This Stamp of the Month

Hello and welcome to the February Stamp of the Month clog hop! If you've arrived here from the talented Melinda Everitt's blog , or if you are just starting out, you are in the right place. When we're done here, you'll hop along to  Dana Kessler's awesome blog and see what she has to inspire us this month.

In case you get lost along the way, I have a list of everyone participating in the hop here.

Wild About Love is a set of 9 fun & fabulous stamps that celebrate all things "foxy". If you follow my Facebook page, you have already seen a couple of sneak peeks, including one from my Creations by AR Design Team post here on the 21st. I have a couple of other projects coming up this week as well.

For today, I'm sharing a fun 2-page layout from a day we spent at a state park.

 

Obviously, this little fox family is having just as much fun as we did.  I paired them up with the new Timberline papers and MyStickease, 2 kinds of Washi Tape, Timberline Assortment embellishments, and the Irresistibles Frames. All of those items, except the MyStickease, come in the Timberline Workshop On The Go Kit with another great stamp set (and all at a reduced price!).

I used a sketch from Make It From Your Heart volume 2 to design my page, modifying it slightly. It called for a 6x8 photo here, but I wanted to use a 4x6 so I created a title scene in the bottom half.  I cut the plaque from the board patterned paper using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, and stamped it in Chocolate. "Take A  Hike" came from the MyStickease and "This Way" is from the Timberline  Assortment.  I stamped the foxes in Autumn Terracotta on Colonial White cardstock and cut them out using my micro-tip scissors.

I colored the Irresistibles Frames using sponge daubers and Ponderosa Pine & Twilight ink pads. I adhered them to the 2x2 Flip Flaps using Liquid Glass.

I used the 2x2 Flip Flaps to add 3 more pictures on top of the memory protector. A great way to squeeze in a few extra pictures of personalities and sweet moments.

I used more Flip Flaps (3x4 size) on the other page to add more pictures of the scenery. I included another fox here, along with a stump stamped in Chocolate on the board patterned paper and cut out with Micro-tip Scissors.

These hearts are also cut with the Cricut cartridge and stamped in Autumn Terracotta and Lagoon. I popped them up with 3-D Foam Tape and inserted a stick pin from the Timberline Assortment.

I hope you enjoyed my project today; I'd love to hear what you think! If you'd like to shop, I have a list of all the products I used below. (The links open in a new window so you can continue the hop.) If you're ready to hop along, let's head over to  Dana Kessler's blog and check it out!

Products used here:

• Wild About Love, February Stamp of the Month
• Timberline Workshop on the Go
• Timberline MyStickease
• Timberline Assortment
• Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads in Chocolate, Ponderosa Pine, Autumn Terracotta, Twilight, and Lagoon
• Sponge Daubers
• Micro-Tip Scissors
• Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape
• Honey Triangles Washi Tape
• 3-D Foam Tape
• Flip Flaps Small Assorment
• Liquid Glass
• Make It From Your Heart volume 2

Design Team Day with Lisa

Hello and welcome to another Design Team Day! Today, Lisa has a great layout to share with us. Here's a little sneak peek:

It looks like she's mixing it up a little this month, so head on over and see the entire project here.  And remember, if Lisa inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Lisa's My Creative Endeavors sent me!"

Creations By AR January New Release Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the January new release blog hop for Creations by AR! We have a fun new 3-D project for you today as well as a fast & easy card, along with a chance to win the new files as usual.  If you are new to CbyAR files, they come with both SVG and DXF files, as well as a PDF format for those of you who cut by hand.  My projects are all cut on the Silhouette Cameo using Make The Cut! software.

So now, on to the new projects! Up first is a 3-D project, the Lovely Cart.

My cart is currently empty, because I can't decide what to put in it yet! There are plenty of things to choose from though, like a cupcake, some candy, a couple of K-cups for a neighboring coworker, and more.  I decorated mine as a flower cart since I thought that was pretty fitting for Valentine's Day.

To make my flower cart, I used patterned paper and a sticker from Echo Park Paper's Yours Truly collection, along with Close To My Heart cardstock in Ruby and Cotton Candy, and some flowers from my stash. I inked the edges of all of my papers in coordinating inks using sponge daubers that fit on my finger.

I chose this star pattern wheel variation, and added pearl brads from American Crafts to the centers.

I added this sign to the awning using a piece of white cardstock as wide as the sticker I used. I scored 1/2" from the edge, added the sticker, scored at the top of the sticker, then eyeballed the final score line and trimmed the length to another 1/2" past the final score line.  I covered a printed flower image on the sticker with the paper flowers.

Now to put my thinking cap on and come up with something fun to gift in this sweet cart.

Time to move on to a simpler project! This XO Heart Card is a cute little card with two banner options, in a perfect size for classroom exchanges or to leave a little treat for all of your coworkers.

From now until January 28

the XO Heart Card is included with the  Lovely Cart template!

(but it's also available separately)

I am in love with the current fox trend, so I popped one right on the front of my card. I added a blue card base so the colors would feel a little less girly (plus blue is trending in a LOT of Valentine collections this year).

 

I put him on foam adhesive to stand out a little more from the background. I chose the solid banner piece for my card and stamped a sentiment of my own. I'm planning to use this for my son's class valentines and I'm certain he does NOT want XOXO on any cards he hands out.

I have almost everything cut out for his entire class and they only take a couple of minutes each to put together.  I placed each shape on a different virtual mat in the MTC! software, and duplicated the shape to fill the page. I was able to fit 6 card bases, 20 hearts, or 28 banners on a page.

Supplies for the card are Close To My Heart cardstock in Lagoon and Blush; Laughing Lola patterned paper; Wild About Love stamp set (available February 2014); ink in Sunset,Lagoon, Cotton Candy, and Black; sponge daubers; 3-D foam tape; and a sentiment stamp.

Now, are you ready for your chance to win a set of files for yourself? Just leave a comment on all of the DT blogs and on the Creations by AR Facebook page until Friday, January 24, 12:00 noon Eastern time. One random winner will be announced on January 25 here:

AR FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creations-by-AR/154314751303824

AR Website:  http://creationsbyar.com

Following is the list of Design Team members participating this month. You'll notice some new faces - the Creations by AR Design Team has grown! Be sure to give our new team members a warm welcome when you visit their blogs.

• Adela
• Doris Molina
• Julia Aston
• Lisa Eisner
• Lisa Somerville
• Lori Brown  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>YOU ARE HERE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
• Lyn Bernatovich
• Monica Soto
• Patti Gilliam
• Penny Duncan
• Sue Kment
• Tina Milbourn

Thanks for stopping by today and checking us out!

Color Confusion Made Clear!

Do you have color confusion? Are you intimidated by that color wheel? Today I'm here to help! I do get compliments on my colors, and I thought "it's really not that hard", but then I realized one thing. That color wheel can be darned confusing! There's no way to memorize all the possible combinations, and you might just sit there saying "what are all these shapes in the middle for?"

Now, there are many different versions of color wheels available, but this is the one I have:

This is the one I recommend, and it you can probably find it in the art supply section of your nearest craft store. You use the holes in the center of each color grouping to help you decide which one your paper matches best. (Obviously this wheel can't cover an infinite range of colors.)  The center spins, as you can see in my video, to help you choose the combination of colors for your project.

I forgot to mention analogous color schemes in the video. this is just a group of 3-4 colors in a row along the color wheel. So perhaps you might use yellow-green, green, blue-green(turquoise), and blue. Or a monochromatic scheme where you use varying shades and hues of the same color.

You can see the color wheel in action in this video here:

If you want details on any of the layouts in that video, here they are:

Note - All of my layouts started with a sketch. My go-to sources are Scrapbook Generation and Close To My Heart, but some come from other sources and I also draw my own.

 

This layout started with the die-cut paper, and I had some scraps of the stripe, both from The Girls Paperie Vintage Floral line.  I pulled the blue from a small portion of the stripe for more contrast, using Frosted Teal cardstock from Bazzill as my bases. I added the green pattern from The Girls Paperie Vintage Travel line and the pink pattern from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line.  Title was cut with the Cricut Artiste cartridge, brads were from my stash, and all other embellishments are The Girls Paperie Vintage Floral line.

I wanted to capture the feeling of a Creole plantation with this layout, reflecting the colors of the house itself. A perfect choice were these papers from Graphic 45's Olde Curiosity Shoppe collection. I added a journaling sticker and chipboard tag shape from the same collection. I used some felt flower shapes in my stash with the Epiphany Crafts Round 25 shape studio tool and bubble caps, some stickers from the collection and CS scraps. The title was cut with the Silhouette Cameo using Times New Roman and Black Jack fonts.

This layout began with leftover items from this month's promotional Cloud Nine card kit from Close To My Heart. (I made 1 set of 5 cards instead of 2 so I had large pieces left.)  All of the embellishments and stamped title shapes are from the same kit. I added White Daisy CS for my bases, along with Lagoon, Cranberry, Sunset, and a scrap of Honey CS.  I added stamping from January's stamp of the month, Cross-Stitch Wishes for an arrow border and a few tone-on-tone hearts in the background.

This layout started with a discontinued kit from CTMH, Avonlea. My color wheel declared Ruby red the winner of the add-a-color contest, so I added a few CS accents and some embellishments from the kit and the Ruby Mini-Medley Accents collection. The title is stamped with some discontinued stamps.

This layout uses the ProPlayer kit right out of the package - the experts know what they're doing. But, you CAN add other colors if you choose. If you didn't watch the video yet, you can see there how to add more colors to this combination. The titles and gears are all cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.

If you have any other questions about using a color wheel, feel free to ask them right here! I'm happy to help out.

Design Team Day with Mandie

Hello and welcome to another Design Team Day! Today, Mandie has a nice masculine card for us using Huntington papers. Here's a little peek:

Go see the entire project over at Mandie's Scrappin'! And remember, if she inspires you to go shopping with me, be sure to click the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' invited me!"

Design Team Day with Amber

It's time for yet another Design Team Day! This time, Amber has a sweet scrapbook page using For Always and Kraft cardstock along with some other items from her stash. Here's a little peek:

Be sure to head over to Sew-Ink and see how she put all these products from her stash to use with this beautiful collection from Close To My Heart.  And remember, if she inspires you to go shopping with me, be sure to click on the link that says "Amber from Sew-Ink sent me!"

Design Team Day with Mandie

It's time for another Design Team Day! Today, Mandie from Mandie's Scrappin' has another Laughing Lola project to share with us. Here's a little sneak peek:

Go over and check out her entire project here. And remember, if she inspires you to go shop with me, be sure to click the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' Invited Me!"

Design Team Day with Mandie

It's time again for Design Team Day, and Mandie has another Laughing Lola project to share with us today. Here's a little sneak peek:

Just a little hint, these cute stamped flowers are going on a fun scrapbook layout. Go check it out over at Mandie's Scrappin' and remember, if she inspires you to go shopping, be sure to click the link that says "Mandie's Scrappin' invited Me!"