Proud to be an American Mini Book

I always put my pictures in wrong so you see the book backwards! Sorry! This is a mini book I made for this next quarter's class. I think it turned out great and I was able to use my new "A Child's Year" Cricut Cartridge, which was fun. I've only shown about half the book here but this gives a good idea of the style and different shapes of pages. It was great fun to make and it is always fun to work with different sizes and shapes of chipboard which were cut out using our die cut machine at work. The sheet music cover is from an old music book I purchased at our local DI and the papers used on the inside are from The Paper Company patriotic line. I also mixed in a BoBunny dots paper and a sheet of cardstock stickers from Creative Imaginations. For one of the pages I took a chipboard rectangle and painted it with dk. brown, then used the product called Weathered Wood by DecoArt. After letting that dry for an hour I put a top coat of cream colored paint. It really works for this style of mini book. I also used my Sizzix die with the little door flaps. Fun, fun, fun! Anyway, I will be teaching this class in June at Heartland Paper in Utah. If you are interested in the kit we are starting to mail kits this quarter and you are welcome to call starting March 9th to reserve yourself one - 801-294-7166.

Easter Cone

I made this cone a week ago for my next stamping class. I realize this is a stretch for a stamping class but actually we are going to be working with flocking, petal soft, and some Martha Stewart mini beads (I think that's what they are called). I started by making a cone from the new Anna Griffin paper and then I experimented with crepe paper that I bought at the grocery store. I first tried to sew it to get the gathered, overlapping look but found the sewing flattened the paper quite a bit so I used the tried and true Scor-Tape, 1/8" size, (I love this stuff - I have it in every size). I placed the score tape along the top of the cone and then gathered the crepe paper right onto the tape. It worked beautifully. I took all sorts of luscious ribbon (the light blue ribbon over the cream ribbon is brand new from May Arts and is probably my favorite of the bunch) and hung them from the top and then I took flowers from Prima, sprayed them with different Glitter Mists from Maya Road, and then used flocking and the bead for the centers. I then punched out a circle from a sheet of Scor-Tape and took my wide ribbon and started going around in circles with it as I stuck it to the Tape. I then used some light blue Petal Soft in the middle of the ribbon flower. It was great fun. In class we will also be making an Easter Card, a box for chocolates (See's of course) and a gift tag. Such fun!

Winners for One World, One Heart

Today is the big day!!!! The winners for the two card kits are...............Susan at piecesoffatesusan.blogspot.com and amanda31gifts.blogsppot.com. Thank you so much for all of the comments and it was great to visit so many blogs and see so many others who are so creative. I will send off the kits tomorrow and if anyone else would like to purchase one please visit my blog at makeathomecards.blogspot.com.

Mixed Media Girl

I have just finished a mixed media piece that I am going to teach a class on at Heartland Paper in Utah. I love how it turned out and I hope some of those mixed media artists will come and join me and share with me their items. We do not have many mixed media people come into the store but I'm hoping we can attract more artist type people who want to try something a bit more creative. I started with an 11"X17" canvas and painted it with a mix of colors. I then designed dresses and cut them out of the new Quite Contrary Line from Making Memories. I love, love, love this paper. It is bright and cheerful, full of pinks, blues and lime greens. I then pulled out a bunch of embellishments and opened a pack of Making Memories Vintage pieces (this was the mini kit girl) and started embellishing and adding ribbons and buttons and all sorts of small pieces. I cut out background pieces with my Storybook Cricut Cartridge and started layering. I used Mod Podge for the background papers and the ric rac ribbon around the edges and used Scor-Tape, Glue Dots and Foam Dots for the rest. It was great fun!!! This class will cost $30 and can be mailed as a kit with pictures and instructions. If you would like to order a kit just email me thewrightteresa@mac.com and I will let you know when it will be available. I love the creative process - it keeps me happy on such a rainy day!!!

Cards on a rainy day

Here are two cards I designed for Heartland Paper. The first one is a favorite type of card for me. It is a 4"X12" strip that has been scored at 2" and 7 1/2" and folded to create a 3 part fold. There is so much you can do with this shape. I love it and use it often. This is new paper from Imaginisce and I love the bright colors and the bit of glitter that is added. It is so cheerful on such a rainy day as today. Where has all the snow gone? We haven't hardly had any January or February which makes it tough for my son-in-law who started a snow removal business this winter while finishing up college. Oh well, this card would cheer up anyone!

The next card is of course for St. Patrick's Day. A few hearts cut from the Cricut and an expensive stamp from Studio G and an easy card is born. I also used an edge punch which I think fits perfectly for this card. The paper is Best Creations.

This week has been busy with visiting the new grandchild and getting ready for next quarter classes at Heartland. I will post again later today with one of my classes I will be doing.

I am a new GRANDMA!!!!

I am so moved! My first grandchild was born this morning about 10:30 am. He is the most precious baby ever! I am so excited to be a grandmother. My daughter-in-law is incredible and delivered the baby quickly and efficiently! What a wonderful day. I haven't heard Corbin cry yet but he is absolutely beautiful. He is a miracle baby - my son had cancer at the age of 18 and because of the strong doses of chemo he was not suppose to be able to have children, luckily his beautiful wife was willing to take a chance and a year and a half after their marriage they have a beautiful little baby boy, Corbin. They are an incredible couple who have been so blessed in so many ways. As a parent and grandparent I could not be prouder. The happy parents, a proud grandpa and my youngest, beautiful daughter, Brittany and myself holding the precious child. A simply wonderful day!!!

Men and Stamping

This morning was VERY interesting. I taught an embossing class this morning which involved 4 projects, two of which are in the pictures above. Yesterday the manager informed me that Studio 5 (a local TV show) was coming to my Stamping class and that they were bringing 2 local radio personalities from the Night Side Show on KSL in Salt Lake City. The TV show is focusing on starting new hobbies this month and thought it would be fun to have the radio guys try out some new "woman type" hobbies. Well, it was a hoot and the guys really had fun with the whole thing. They brought "guy" treats - Cheese Whiz in a can, crackers and a Salami Roll. The guys tried their best at each of the products, and one of them even tried to add his bit of creativity, although I have to admit his box (see above) was quite hilarious. The paper he wrapped around the box was VERY crooked and provided us all with a good laugh. It was interesting trying to teach and demonstrate something to people who are not familiar in the least with glue dots, tape runners and foam dots. I felt like I was back in kindergarten for scrapbookers!!! I have to admit though they did pretty good with a glue stick although I think they used one whole stick just putting the paper on the box. The other women in the class were so helpful and they were eager to show them how to use all of the products that we take for granted. When I find out when the show is going to air, I will post it and we will all watch it together. (Of course you have to understand I had a one day notice on this so I wasn't able to lose 20 pounds in time!) I'm also eager to see what they have to say about us tonight at 7 pm on their radio show.

Anyway, I love how the hanging turned out above. It is so fun to use all those embellishments that sit in my drawer. I have to say I love the Big Shot by Sizzix because it can cut chipboard and felt which brings so much texture and dimension to a flat object such as paper.

The little box is just one I picked up at Roberts and decorated it and changed out the twine handle for a beautiful ribbon. There are so many possibilities for these boxes - perfect for treats and little things for friends and neighbors. They would look great painted, covered with paper and even some Maya Mist on them would be fun. I just used the plain box since it was for a stamping class. The vintage picture on the tag came from Graphic Fairy, a great blog where you can download vintage images and use them.

Well, I have one more stamping class tonight and then I will start work on next month's projects which will be fun Easter items. Have a great day and maybe if I'm lucky I will become the next Martha after making my debut TV appearance!!