April Publications Part 2

Sadly this may be the last time I am sharing my publications from Northridge Publishing...although there hasn't been an official announcement they seem to have disappeared.  I'm still holding out a little hope for a surprise reappearance but I know it's doubtful :(

So without further adieu here are my two cards that were in the April issue of CARDS Magazine.

This one I had submitted several times to different magazines under different themes...just goes to show sometimes it takes a couple times :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: GCD Studios

Stickers: Jillibean Soup, Simple Stories

Button: Jillibean Soup

Ribbon: American Crafts

This one I built off of the frame and mitered edges and built from there.  The gold happy is probably my favorite element :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: American Crafts

Stickers: Bella Blvd

Chipboard: Crate Paper, American Crafts

Cardstock: CutCardStock

A New Design Team!

Today is my first post as a design team member for Leaky Shed Studio.

As soon as I saw the kites, I fell in love!  They are so fun and whimsical and I knew I wanted to do my first project with them!  Today I have two different cards to share with you! I am also linking these up at the current issue at Paper Issues - Mum's the Word

For this one I just used the outline piece and backed it with patterned paper.  Combining it with other spring elements makes for a fun whimsical card perfect for sharing with a friend!

I used acryclic white paint to color my kites.

For this card I went more clean and simple.  I back each quadrant of the kite with a different patterned paper and then also did the same on the card making sure they didn't match up.  It's a quick technique that allows you to share some patterned paper that you love but keeps the focus on the awesome kite!

I went a little less heavy on the paint on this one allowing the chipboard to show thru a bit - it gives a little bit of the worn wood feel that a kite might have.

Leaky Shed Studio Products

Summer Kites

Other Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper: Pebbles
Die Cuts: Pebbles
Washi Tape: Pebbles
Ribbon: CutCardStock

April Publicatons Part 1

I am running behind on sharing my publications for April!  As the publication world continues to evolve and magazines go online or die altogether, I have been searching for some new ones to try to get my projects published in.  Today I thought I would share some projects from a new online magazine called Create.  It is published a store called Scrapbook Generation which exists both in brick and mortar form and online!  The magazine is primarily sketch based with some additional articles from the design team thrown in.  Best of all it is FREE!!!  You can check the issues out here! This was my first time submitting to them and here's what they chose to use!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions, Imaginisce

Stickers: Bella Blvd, Pebbles Inc

Chipboard: Studio Calico

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions, Imaginisce

Doilies: SRM Stickers

Stickers: Doodlebug Design

Irocks: Imaginisce

Die Cut: Imaginisce

Supplies Used:

Sticker: Jillibean Soup

Washi Tape: My Mind's Eye

Supplies Used:

Washi Tape: Bella Blvd, My Mind's Eye, Doodlebug

Stickers: Doodlebug Paper House Productions

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Stash Blog Hop Prize Winner!

A quick post to share the winner of my Practical Scrappers Scrapping Our Stash blog hop prize!
I follow you via GFC: allibrary. Thanks for the giveaway.
Nancy

Nancy please shoot me an email at cbtlmeyer@gmail.com to claim your prize!

Frozen Party Theme with Samantha Walker and Sketchy Saturday

***If you are looking for the Kiwi Lane Blog Hop it is the next post down or you can click here***

Happy National Scrapbooking Day! Let's go back to winter for a little bit today!  I hear the collective sighs....but if you have a child in love with the movie "Frozen" you are probably still seeing winter type things around right???  My sweet daughter wanted a "Frozen" birthday party last month.  Newsflash...there is not "Frozen" party decor to be had yet.  If it exists, I could not find it.  So I had to get creative.  And in came Samantha Walker with her gorgeous winter files to the rescue.

Now, we're talking about a 7 year old here.  So I wasn't going to go overboard with decorations.  But I definitely wanted a banner and snowflakes.  I got my Silhouette cranking and cut full size snowflakes on 12 X 12 cardstock and then also some reduced size ones.  

I like to create a backdrop for her parties that we can take pretty pictures up against.  I started with an aqua blue colored fabric (could be a cheap tablecloth too - I just happened to have some shimmery material on hand.  I draped twinkle lights behind it.  I then taped the snowflakes at varying lengths to the the ceiling making use of some bakers twine. 

 Next came the banner.  I used Samantha's Par-tay Thyme Font to cut out her name.  The L in Lucy just has to be in a script font right!?!  

I simply attached those to some metallic cardstock (yay for shimmer) and punched a cute border along the bottom. A hole punched in each top corner allowed me to string it up and space it out easily.

This all took me about an hour and the personal touch I was looking for.  Beyond creating those special decorations I added some of my Christmas winter decor in coordinating colors and of course Olaf!  Finding him was a pleasant surprise and a perfect decoration addition since I had little else.  I was really pleased with how it came together and satisfied that I was able to make it work for her even without a party store's help!

Doesn't it look just beautiful!?!  I should mention that I created a couple of tissue paper pom poms (you can see them in the upper corners) those were also very easy - think back to your elementary art class days and making flowers!

I came up with games to go along with several of the songs and the girls loved it!  

Here's what we did:

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?: For this I gave them toothpicks, big marshmallows and little marshmallows and told them to build snowmen while the song was playing.

Fixer Upper: They used toilet paper rolls and fixed up one of their friends as a lovely snowman.

Let it Go: This one was the most fun...I gave them big marshmallows and they had to stand behind a line and throw them at my hubby's head trying to knock a cup of it (yes he's that good of a sport).

In Summer: We did the traditional "hot potato" game but used a chunk of ice instead of passing something else.

Now of course I had to document the party and share that with you today also!  It is National Scrapbooking Day after all! First off I am going to share the sketch that coordinates with this as my Week 9 Sketchy Saturday!  I still have a giveaway going for those who participate in my Sketchy Saturday and you can find the details on that here!

I used Samantha's Par-tay Thyme Font for my title but other than that I stuck to using her Keepin' Cozy line from Echo Park.  The colors in it just worked perfectly!  I did lots of fussy cutting and then topped it off with stickers!  

Now, let's get back to spring!

Samantha Walker Supplies Used:

Par-tay Thyme Font (57535)

Snowflake (38926)

Snowflake (38924)

Snowflake (38922)

Snowflake (38919)

Snowflake (38921)

Kiwi Lane Designs - May Blog Hop - GIVEAWAY Alert!

I love blog hops and am excited to be joining a group of Kiwi Lane Fans in one today full of scrapbook inspiration with ideas to use their designer templates! I have a cheery spring layout making use of these fabulous templates to share!

First off here's the Hop Order

Kiwi Lane Blog

Lissa Mitchell

Leslie Prikki

Connie Wallenbrock

Sandi Presley

Me :)

Alicia O'Bryant

Suzanne

Roselyn Riley

Arin Flynn

I am also linking this up in the current Paper Issues Link up - Mum's the Word

 There is a great big giveaway of a $25 gift certificate to the Kiwi store to one random person for commenting on the blogs. Guess what??? I have a giveaway too!  Kiwi Lane will be announcing their winner on May 8th!  More details on mine after the layout!

Doodlebug Designs is one of my absolute favorite manufacturers so I decided to pull out some of their goodies for my layout today!  I used the Brackets template and the Floral template to just add to my whimsical layers.  I love that the floral one kind of resembles the sun!  The brackets help to draw the eye to my photo.  Most of this layout uses the Springtime line from Doodlebug but I also added in a big blue circle from their Kraft line because it just matched the photo so perfectly! I love how it adds a surprising color twist to things!  

Today I am going to be doing a giveaway of the Floral Templates from Kiwi Lane and I will also stick a few of the 6 X 6 papers from Doodlebug's Springtime line in there for you too!

You can do any or all of the following to enter:

1) Become a follower here

2) Like my Scrapping with Christine facebook page

3) Pin this project onto Pinterest

And lastly leave me a comment to let me know which you have done!

I will leave this open until next Friday, May 9th and announce a winner on the 10th!

Thanks so much for joining in the hop today!!!

Now, head on over to Alicia's blog and  make sure to leave a comment and get yourself entered for the big prize!

Anniversary Layout

 Our challenge last month at Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine was to create a project using a faux technique.  I love to do faux stitching with my pens so I highlighted that for my layout!

I did it to create a border on the gray lines and also added it to my hearts.  This picture was of us from nearly two years ago!  I was pregnant with Bo still at the time!  This layout incorporates lots of fussy cutting and papers and stickers from Imaginisce, American Crafts, and SRM Stickers!  I love the colors in Amy Tan's newest "Plus One" line and built the whole thing around that!  It's always nice to sit back and document a little about just Ben and I :)

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: American Crafts, Imaginisce

Stickers: American Crafts, SRM Stickers

Die Cuts: Imaginisce

Chipboard: Studio Calico

Mist: Studio Calico

Paper House Productions - Blossom Cards

Recently I had the chance to look up close at more Paper House Productions paper pads.  One of them that really caught my eye was the Blossom pad.  It is 6 X 6 so it is ideal for cards.  I have mentioned before that my card style tends to dabble in a variety of styles.  Sometimes clean, sometimes graphic, sometimes artsy and romantic.  Today I dabbled on the more layered and romantic side of things.  Have I said how much I love to just play :)?  One of my goals for these cards was to use some of the exact same supplies to produce a different result.  You will notice both cards have several of the same embellishments.

I have noticed that stems/vines trending...and that was my jumping off point for these cards.  I cut several out on my Silhouette Cameo.  The background paper on this card is the number one reason I bought this pad.  I just love it!  I cut it into diagonal strips to add some interest.  I then fussy cut the pink mum out and added that to the corner.  I also fussy cut the sentiment.  My final step was figuring out what to add to the top corner.  I tried big ribbon bows and they just didn't work...they were overwhelming the whole card.  I finally decided on a little vellum banner with a twine bow and clothespin.  

My second card is way more basic (although it may not look that way).  The entire background is one sheet of paper that is made up of rows of springy, blossomy designs.  I knew I wanted to keep that as is!  I then fussy cut a frame from the Generations Paper Pad (another favorite of mine).  I mounted the sentiment onto white cardstock and popped it up with dimensional adhesive.  The same die cut stem, clothespin, and twine adorn the frame topped with some 3D stickers.

Supplies Used: 

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Stickers: Paper House Productions

Twine: The Twinery

Clothespins: American Crafts

Kiwi Lane Designs and My Mind's Eye Layout

How in the world is it already April 29th?  I volunteered to do a second posting for Kiwi Lane this month because I was having sooooo much fun playing with My Mind's Eye and this months new templates!  Having three boys the new "Now and Then" line is just perfect for me!  

Today I thought I would incorporate both my Silhouette Cameo and some doodling with my Kiwi Lane templates!

  

Before I go any further I have to give a shout out to the uber talented Stephanie Buice - she inspired my background!  It doesn't have anything to do with the Kiwi Lane Templates so I didn't talk about it there - but I wanted to give it a moment here :).  She has done several layouts recently that have this painted background with stripes, etc...she has used a variety of mediums to create hers.  I went with what I had - which was mists.  I just used my mists and dry brushed a line across diagonally.  I started with the darkest and then went from there.

Now on to the Kiwi Lane stuff :)

First off I used two different patterned papers and cut out the word HAPPY on my Silhouette.  I made sure to leave space between each of them so that I could use my balloon template to cut them out.

You can do this with any die cutting machine!

I then traced a balloon around each letter and cut them out.  

The other way I used my templates was to create another layer to my background.   Once the mist painting was dry I used my Cloud Template and traced clouds throughout. I made sure to overlap them and added some loops for a whimsical touch.

Now you may be wondering, why go to all that work for a background?  I didn't have a paper on hand that coordinated without being too busy.  So when that happens...I take to making my own.  One thing is for sure - it is one of a kind.

Have you ever used your templates to create one of a kind layouts?  That's one of the best things about Kiwi Lane - you can make things personal!

Kiwi Lane Templates Used:

Wacky 2

Celebrate 2

Family Birthday Wall Hanging

I got to work with the new "Hip Hip Hooray" line from We R Memory Keepers for The Scrapbooking Studio this month.  For one of my projects I decided to use a mini album base and create a Family Birthday Wall Hanging.  This thing was tough to get a good picture of so I am going to share bits and pieces with you.

I started with a top piece decorated with the title.  I then did birthdays down each page.  Each one is different because of the number of birthdays and some months have nothing!  I only did aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.  Can you tell we have a huge extended family????

I tried to add dates next to each picture but I already see at least one mistake - lol that is what I get for making this during the craziness that is Holy Week in the Meyer House.  Sorry Courtney - I will cover that up and fix it!!! Now we can all see why I need this because clearly relying on my memory is not the best route to go :)

August - no birthdays - so I acknowledge that it exists but that's it :)

 

I tied each section together with ribbons that coordinate and decorated each page with various stickers from the line.  The month titles are actually fussy cut from a calendar page.  The only tricky part in this was finding pictures that were the right size of each person's head.  I had to make do in a couple spots - but overall it works!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: We R Memory Keepers

Stickers: We R Memory Keepers

Gems/Pearls: BoBunny

Mini Album: Little Yellow Bicycle

Confirmation Card

It's confirmation weekend here at our church.  If you aren't Lutheran you may not know what in the world that means!  Basically it is the weekend where after a couple years of studies with Pastor, the 8th graders become members of the church and take communion for the first time.  Pretty exciting day!  A friend asked me to create a card for her to use so I dug into my Paper House Productions goodies first and then added an SRM sticker for my sentiment.

My base is created from some paper from the Live by Faith Paper pad.  I then added a white tag and fussy cut a frame from the Generations Paper Pad.  This Paper Pad has some really neat options for fussy cutting!  I then topped it with some puffy stickers.  These have a really neat texture to them and it was my first time to use them!  I added some bakers twine, some faux stitching, and some quick SRM sentiment stickers.  Have you made any confirmation/first communion cards this year? I'd love to see your creations!

Supplies Used:

Stickers: SRM Stickers, Paper House Productions

Patterned Paper: Paper House Productions

Sketchy Saturday Week 8

First up just a reminder that Cathy and I are both doing a giveaway and you have plenty of time still to enter!

The first giveaway will be to someone who shares one of their sketch interpretations with me by May 15th. You can complete any sketch you'd like and share it on my Scrapping with Christine Facebook Page. You can enter more than once!  The prize package is pictured below:

And the second prize will be for a follower (on either of our blogs - or both for two chances) who leaves a comment.  Just let us know which sketch has been your favorite (you can find them all here).

Now on to this week's sketch: 

This week I used the sketch to make one of my samples for The Scrapbooking Studio using some birthday goodies from We R Memory Keepers!

This one came together quickly using stickers and a little fussy cutting.  With a busy enough background I stuck to minimal embellishing.  It seems based on this and my last post I might be on a bit of a triangle kick!  Hope you are having a great weekend!  If you haven't checked out the blog hop below make sure to do that too!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: WRMK

Stickers: WRMK

Wood: Cosmo Cricket

Practical Scrappers - Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop - GIVEAWAY!

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop 

where we are Scrapping our Stash.  

You should have arrived from Laura's blog - if you didn't you may want to go back and check out everyone's blogs - lots of inspirations and giveaways!

This month (and from here on out) we are inviting anyone who's interested in joining the stash busting hop to join us.  If you want to join us next month email me at practicalscrappers@gmail.com.

Here's the whole hop list for you in case you've gotten lost along the way or missed anyone!  

Practical Scrappers

Jennifer Haggerty

Audrey Yeager

Lee-Anne Thornton

Suzanna Lee

Monica Bradford

Brenda Ragsdale

Nicole Laha

Susie Bentz

Wendy Coffman

Erin Morehouse

Bobbi Smith

Wendi Robinson

Lisa Peeples

Alison Day

Majken Pulin

Cheryl Freet

Laura Cox

Christine Meyer ***You Are Here***

Kerri Yarus ***Hop Here Next***

As always our rule for the hop is that you have to create from your stash!  This month I decided to just play with some old goodies that I hadn't gotten to.  I had a set of chipboard letters that came with one letter each - I had run out of uses for it but liked the colors.  So I kinda built my layout around that using it as graphic embellishment instead of a title

I have been in a bit of an experimental phase with my scrapping - trying new techniques, styles, and often just going more simple.  This was no exception - it came togeter very quick once I figured out the placement of the letters and triangles.  Hard to believe that this was actually 3 years ago and this little guy is approaching 4 years old now!  

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: Echo Park

Stickers: Echo Park

Chipboard: Colorbok

As a thank you for coming by today I have a giveaway to do!  I will send the winner 1 yard of 5 colors (winner's choice) of twine from The Twinery!  You can do any or all of the following to enter:

You can do any or all of the following to enter:

1) Become a follower here

2) Like my Scrapping with Christine facebook page

3) Pin any of these projects onto Pinterest

And lastly leave me a comment to let me know which you have done!

I will announce a winner on May 3rd!

Now it's time to hop on to Kerri!

Happy Birthday Card

I have a slower week design team wise - so I am going through my files to see what I haven't already shared! Today I have a bright birthday card that showcases some Imaginisce and American Crafts!

I used a round "Happy Birthday" cut and cut it in half, putting the scalloped paper in between.  I fussy cut out some of the scallops and popped them up to give a ruffled appearance.  I also created a pinwheel as an accent.  Chipboard, enamel dots, hot rocks, and twine help to add some dimension and texture while bringing the colors together.  I love the way that Navy and Bright Pink can play off of each other and coordinate with so many different colors!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: American Crafts, Imaginisce

Stickers: Imaginisce

Chipboard: Studio Calico

Hot rocks: Imaginisce

Enamel Dots: Studio Calico

Cardstock: American Crafts

First Post for The Twinery & Some WINNERS!!!

First off a giant Congrats to "Kirby" who is the winner of the Live by Faith line from Paper House Productions and "Carla from Utah" who is the winner of the kiddo goodies from Paper House Productions! Please email me at cbtlmeyer @ gmail dot com to claim your prizes!

Now onto my newest team venture!!!  I have long been a fan of The Twinery and one of my favorite things to do is to use a variety of colors to create a rainbow of sorts.   Being a mom with three sons I love to embellish with stars and am constantly looking for new ways to create and showcase stars.  Today I have a card to share with you that shows off some hand-stitched stars.

To create these I used a paper piercer and did the five point stars just like we draw but I poked holes for each of the tips.  This isn't going to produce a perfect star but I wasn't going for perfect I was going for more graphic and freestyle. 

 I started in the center with the blue one and built out from there - knowing that I needed six stars.  Almost all of them overlap another star.  I then just embellished with some cork stars and sentiment stickers.

Here's the colors I used:

Creating a Sunburst using Kiwi Lane Templates

First and foremost: Happy Easter blog friends!  Hope you are able to spend this day enjoying family!

This post went up on Friday over at Kiwi Lane but because of other blog commitments, you get it today!

I love playing with my Kiwi Lane Templates because you just never know what they are going to inspire!  Today's post uses some of the brand new "Wacky" templates which are definitely some of my new faves!

This layout is full of techniques but for today let's focus on two things: creating a sunburst and stitching.  First up I'll show you how I created the sunburst!

1. Choose your template and set it where you want it on your paper.  You will be using this paper as a template for the papers that you will actually cut up.  Outline your Kiwi Lane Template.

2. Use a ruler to draw lines from a point to the outer edge.

3. Label each section of the starburst with a letter so that you know how to put it back together.  Cut out each piece and use those pieces as your templates for cutting out your patterned paper.

4. Put the whole thing back together and glue it down.

Now that you have assembled the whole thing you might find you have some kinda rough edges between your bursts.  I like to use a zigzag machine stitch to connect the papers and hide and little flaws.

1. You are going to do a long zig zag stitch between each of the patterns - begin at the tips of the sun and work towards the outside of the paper.

2.  Once you have done all of them you will be left with a mess of strings all over the place. Simply trimming won't work because you run the risk of them slipping out. My favorite thing to do is go to the back side and pull the strings all through to the back.

3. It's a mess on the back but that's no big deal! Tape them down with some washi tape.

4. Now you have a nice clean front!

Supplies Used:

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye

Stickers: My Mind's Eye

Overlays: My Mind's Eye

Enamel dots: My Mind's Eye

Buttons: My Mind's Eye

Sketchy Saturday Week 7

***If you are looking for the Paper House Productions Blog Hop, it is in the next post***

First up just a reminder that Cathy and I are both doing a giveaway and you have plenty of time still to enter!

The first giveaway will be to someone who shares one of their sketch interpretations with me by May 15th. You can complete any sketch you'd like and share it on my Scrapping with Christine Facebook Page. You can enter more than once!  The prize package is pictured below:

And the second prize will be for a follower (on either of our blogs - or both for two chances) who leaves a comment.  Just let us know which sketch has been your favorite (you can find them all here).

Now on to this week's sketch:

And here's my interpretation!

On this layout I was going for a quick, clean and simple look.  So I limited myself to 5 or less products which I was able to accomplish: patterned paper, punch, wood, stickers, pen.  Limiting myself sometimes helps me to move a little more quickly thru a project and not spend quite so much time picking and choosing!  Can't wait to see your interpretation of this sketch!

Supplies Used:

Stickers; Simple Stories

Patterned Paper: Simple Stories

Wood: Studio Calico