Home Sweet Home

Hi there! Today is the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party for May. This month's theme is felt or cozy fabrics. I thought, what is cozier than home?

I combined images from Sewing Box - Hugs with some felt to make my little card. Some hand cut felt leaves accent the branch image, and little strips of felt were glued together to make my bird's cozy nest home.

It was easy to just replace some of the images with felt instead. And since we're going for that cozy, homespun look, the cuts don't have to be perfect (of course, if you have dies, use 'em!). Don't you love that houndstooth felt? Sure do!

I won't keep you, since you've got lots of partying to do. You have until 1:30 pm EST tomorrow (May 25) to link up with us if you would like to create something for the party, too!

Have a great day!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Sewing Box - Hugs - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Kraft, Oatmeal - Wplus9; Soft Sky - Stampin' Up!
PATTERNED PAPER: Distressed Dots - Papertrey Ink
INK: Close to Cocoa - Stampin' Up!
OTHER: Harvest Gold, Simply Chartreuse, Fine Linen, Dark Chocolate Felt - Papertrey Ink; Houndstooth felt; Buttons

Sweet Day

Good morning. I hope you had a good weekend. We finished projects, did some antiquing, caught up on some deadlines - it was very productive.

Today I thought I would share the card I made for my Mom for Mother's Day.

Simple and sweet. These solid and outline images from Strawberry Patch made this cute card a breeze. I used the coordinating dies to cut out just the flowers and adhered them with foam tape. A little glitter to the centers is the finishing touch.

Of course the Strawberry Patch Sentiments set had just the sentiment I needed to finish it.

So at this point, I am about 5 weeks behind on Project Life. I've been taking pictures still (not quite as intently as I had been) but I am determined to get caught back up. I am not sure how I want to approach it, if I want to start with this past week and work backwards, or if I just want to set aside a whole day and just hammer it out. I am frustrated - not with the project or the process, but with myself. If anyone has the secret to being able to do it all, would you mind sharing??

Hope you have a great Monday!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Strawberry Patch, Strawberry Patch Sentiments - Papertrey Ink
CARDSTOCK: Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink; Pear Pizzazz - Stampin' Up!
INK: Going Gray, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight - Stampin' Up!; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko
OTHER: Strawberry Patch die Collection - Papertrey Ink; Diamond Stickles - Ranger Industries

CardSwaps Blog Hop

Hi there!

Today the CardMaker Blog Team is participating in the CardSwaps Blog Hop. You should have arrived at my blog from Ashley. Golda will be your next stop. If you'd like to start from the beginning, head over to the CardMaker Blog to see what our fearless leader Brooke has created.

The theme of today's hop is 'time to shine' and we're focusing on shiny and shimmery elements in coordination with a 'time to shine' event.

Here is the card that I made, which I think would work out great as a graduation card:

I had this idea in my head to stamp the stars from Super Star in rainbow colors, and I love how this turned out. I paired the starburst up with some images from the So 80's set - they really work well together!

In the center of each star, I added a coordinating rhinestone. I also used a glue pen to add glitter along the bursting part of the starbursts. :) Fun, isn't it?

This time of year always makes me think about my own graduation. One of the traditions at Chatham (where I earned my undergraduate degree) was to wear a hat that you made to show what your senior research was about. I studied wetland ecosystems, and I remember decorating my hat with fake frogs, bugs, and cattails. The cattails stuck up about an extra two feet or so, and I remember feeling so off balance! I was pretty proud of that hat. Ah - good times!

There is an unscramble game as part of the blog hop. For those of you playing along, my letter is E. Keep hopping along and you'll end with Lora who will take you to the CardSwaps Forum and give you more information about playing along with the challenges and games that coincide with the hop. Your next stop is Golda!

Glad to see you today!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Super Star, So 80's - Wplus9
CARDSTOCK: White - Papertrey Ink; Going Gray - Stampin' Up!
INK: Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Going Gray - Stampin' Up!; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko; Pumice Stone Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Adhesive rhinestones - Recollections; Dazzling Diamonds Glitter - Stampin' Up!

CardMaker Magazine Blog

Good morning!

Today I am posting over on the CardMaker Magazine Blog. I am sharing some tips for one of my favorite techniques: background stamping!

I hope you'll head over and check it out!

Anya

You Planted the Seed

Good morning!

I am so glad that it is Friday! Tonight after work Bill and I are headed to a local greenhouse to stock up for planting weekend! I am so excited, I look forward to this every year. I hopped right out of bed this morning :)

I have a Mother's Day card to share with you today. I put this together using one of my favorite Wplus9 sets, Woodgrain Silhouettes.

Just love fussy cutting those flowers.

I stamped one row of the woodgrain background on my Rustic White cardstock and then used a mask along the bottom of my cardstock to just add a little more of the woodgrain pattern - I didn't want a whole second row.

The flowers were stamped onto Rustic White cardstock using Wisteria Wonder ink and then cut out. I adhered them to my card with foam dimensional tape and then nestled the sentiment in that space under the stems. I distressed the top and bottom edges of the panel and then adhered it to a Wisteria Wonder card base. The finishing touch was a bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter along the blooms.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there! I am just a puppy mom right now, but I'm hosting brunch for my Mom and Nana on Sunday. Looking forward to a beautiful day!

Take care,

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Woodgrain Silhouettes - Wplus9 Design Studio
CARDSTOCK: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink; Wisteria Wonder - Stampin' Up!
INK: Sahara Sand, Wisteria Wonder, Early Espresso - Stampin' Up!
OTHER: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter - Stampin' Up!

CardMaker Blog Team Hop

Hi there!

Today is blog hop day for the CardMaker Magazine Blog Team. Our theme this time is: What a difference you've made; thank you cards for teachers or mentors.

To me, thank you cards are one of the most fun type of cards to make. You can go with just about any style, and its easy to customize it for the recipient. I didn't necessarily have anyone in mind when I made today's card, but thought a little about creating something for a male teacher or mentor - they always seem to be the hardest to create for. Here's what I came up with.

I kept the layout simple and graphic, and let the label be the main focus. I used shades of green to help it to pop - this combination of Wild Wasabi and Spring Moss is one of my favorites. I also like the wording of the sentiment - hearfelt appreciation - which, to me, is just a little different than saying thank you, and allows for the opportunity to write a little inside the card about what you appreciate about that person.

I'm so glad you've stopped by today, please make sure you hop on over to visit the other Blog Team members!  I can't wait to check out what these outstanding ladies have come up with!

Kimberly Crawford

Carolyn King

Colleen Schaan

Anya Schrier - You are here!

Trudy Sjolander

Michelle Woerner

Have a great day!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Super Star, Label Layers 4, A Pocketful - Wplus9 Design Studio
CARDSTOCK: Spring Moss, Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink; Wild Wasabi - Stampin' Up!
INK: Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi - Stampin' Up!; Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Label Layers 4 Die, Banner Trio Die - Wplus9 Design Studio

WMS May Release Blog Waltz

Hello there! Happy release day! Today the three new Waltzingmouse Stamps sets we've been previewing for the past three days will be available for purchase.

You should have arrived here from Laurie's blog. Claire's blog is the start of the waltz, so head back to her if you're just popping in, she has a list of all the Design Team members participating. Tosh will be your next stop after this one.

As usual, Blog Waltz prizes are up for grabs! One winner will be randomly chosen from the comments left on one of the Design Team blogs, so let us know what you think of the new release! You have until Friday, May 11 to leave your comments. Winners will be announced on the WMS Blog on the 12th.

Let's get on with it, shall we? My project for today is a mixed-media canvas, something I've been wanting to do for ages.. especially after seeing the amazing ones that Mona makes!

I have a lot of photos to share, so I'll try and keep the chit-chat to a minimum.

I made a set of four canvases, each 4 by 5 inches, and each featuring a different image from Half Pint Heroines (and one thrown in from HP Heroes because they go so well together). I used products from Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Line from Ranger to prep the canvas, paint them, adhere the patterned paper, and seal them.

These are intended to be displayed together, they tell a little story, and would be ideal for a little girl's bedroom. Here are close-ups of each:

The balloon is my favorite :)

This project was so FUN!  The sentiments of encouragement in this set are so perfect and go so well together that I think this would really be great for a little girl.  I loved working on these and can't wait to create more canvas art.. it was fun to step out of the card zone!

Tosh is your next stop! Enjoy the rest of the waltz!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Half Pint Heroines, Half Pint Heroes - Waltzingmouse Stamps
PATTERNED PAPER: Collections from Basic Grey (Out of Print, Basics White) and Bo Bunny
INK: Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko
OTHER: Matte Multi-Medium, Gesso, Studio Acrylic Paints - Claudine Hellmuth for Ranger Industries; 4 x 5 Traditional Canvas - Michaels Stores

WMS May Release - Day 3

Good morning. Today is day three of the countdown to the WMS May release. Today's preview is for Compact Sentiments Part 2 - a follow up set to Compact Sentiments and loaded with lots more fun phrases. I didn't think Compact Sentiments could get any better, but Part 2 has some really cute ones!

So, I'm just going to come right out and say that this weekend officially whopped my butt. I am hanging by a thread here, so please bear with me! Short and sweet is the word today.

Without further ado..

Combining Chicken Wire with the little bees from L'il Buddies, I played off the bee's knees sentiment.

I used one of the old WMS sketches as my starting point. I colored the little bees with a Copic marker and then added some Stickles to their wings. I think they are pretty cute!

I hope you'll forgive me for the short post today and head over to see what the other ladies have cooked up using Compact Sentiments Part 2!

Anya Schrier - you are here!
Becca Feeken
Belinda Chang Langner
Clare Buswell
Julia Aston
Jennifer Holmes
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Mona Pendleton
Sandie Dunne
Claire Brennan - Owner
Tosha Leyendekker

Have a great day!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Compact Sentiments Part 2 (available May 8th), Chicken Wire, L'il Buddies - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Harvest Gold - Papertrey Ink; Oatmeal - Wplus9
INK: Tuxedo Black Memento, Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Grand Circles Nestabilities - Spellbinders Paper Arts; Diamond Stickles - Ranger Industries; Copic Marker (Y21)

WMS May Release - Day 2

Hello, hello!

Here we are at day two of the Waltzingmouse Stamps May Release countdown. Three new sets will be available for sale on Tuesday, May 8th. We will be sharing previews until then! Today's set is another companion set, coordinating beautifully with Compact Sentiments. Called Compact Family, this set contains just about all the words you might need to address your sentiment to someone specific! I'm sure you'll quickly see how well this set goes with others, but my samples for today focus on the phrase building you can achieve just with Compact Family itself.

The set includes the ability to use either spelling of Mom/Mum, so you'll be covered regardless of which one you use!

For this card, I stamped my sentiment (all separate words) and then filled in around it with the mum images from Big Blooms Chrysanthemums. A post-it note mask was just the ticket here. Right in time for Mother's Day!

This next card is a little scrappy fun.

Again, my sentiment phrase was created using all separate words - see how wonderfully these will go with the simple phrases in Compact Sentiments?

Heirloom Patterns, Chicken Wire, and Vintage Banners make an appearance on this card as well, bringing some fun patterns to the mix.

I love the ability to create a custom sentiment! How fun for your recipient. Well, I won't keep you any longer - head over to see what the other ladies have created today!

Anya Schrier - you are here!
Becca Feeken
Belinda Chang Langner
Clare Buswell
Julia Aston
Jennifer Holmes
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Mona Pendleton
Sandie Dunne
Claire Brennan - Owner
Tosha Leyendekker

Have a great day!

Anya

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Recipe
Best Mum Ever Card
STAMPS: Compact Family (available May 8th), Big Blooms Chrysanthemums - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Purely Pomegranate - Stampin' Up!; Oatmeal - Wplus9
INK" Wisteria Wonder, Purely Pomegranate, Going Gray - Stampin' Up!; Walnut Stain Distress Ink - Ranger Industries


Lovely Friend Card
STAMPS: Compact Family (available May 8th), Heirloom Patterns, Chicken Wire, Vintage Banners - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Fine Linen, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink; Wild Wasabi - Stampin' Up!
PATTERNED PAPER: Storyteller (Out of Print Collection)- Basic Grey
INK: Spring Moss, Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink; River Rock - Stampin' Up!; Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Tab punch - Jenni Bowlin; Tiny attacher - Tim Holtz/Advantus; 1" Starburst punch - Martha Stewart Crafts; Wood Veneer Arrow - Studio Calico; Washi tape - Cavallini & Co.; Standard Circles Large Die - Spellbinders Paper Arts; Button

WMS May Release - Day 1

Well hello there! Welcome to day one of the countdown to the Waltzingmouse Stamps May Release. This month, three new sets will be released. The sets will be available for sale in the WMS webstore on Tuesday, May 8th. Claire, as well as each of the Design Team members, will be sharing previews of the new sets each day until the release, so I hope you will stop back to see what we have going on. Let's get started!

Today we are sharing previews of Half Pint Heroines, an often-requested follow-up to the Half Pint Heroes set.

This set is adorable in every way, featuring some really unique images in the same 'half pint' style.

Tell me who doesn't love a gingham elephant!

These line images are perfect for paper piecing, and that's what I used on this card. I pieced just about everything separately, lovingly fussy cutting all those bits. The elephant's head was cut out twice, and the second layered onto the first with foam tape to add some dimension.

This little girlie has some spunky pigtails, and I added her to the elephant's basket. Combined with the perfect 'need a lift' sentiment, this card is really appropriate for any age.

Of course since the new Half Pint Heroines set is styled in the same vein as Half Pint Heroes, the sets are easily interchangeable.  How about a fun wedding card?

I have to admit, I did a little happy dance when this one worked out!

The car (along with the gent) are from the original Half Pint Heroes. With just a little bit of masking, I managed to fit the bride and groom in the car together - don't you love her hair flowing out behind them?

The tin cans (do you have the tradition of tying tin cans to the bumper of the newlywed couples' car? I hope so, or this card won't make any sense to you!) were almost hand-drawn, but then I spied the periscope on the submarine from HP Heroes. With a little bit of fancy inking, I managed to just stamp a portion of the image and could go in with a fine-tip black pen to fill in the rest. The string from the car was drawn in as well. 

The wedding day sentiment is from the Compact Sentiments set.

I hope today's cards got you thinking, you don't need little ones to have tons of fun with both of these sets.  Now, if you DO have little ones, you will absolutely need to add this set to your arsenal!

So that's what I have for you today! Here is the list of the rest of the Design Team members sharing previews today:

Anya Schrier - you are here!
Becca Feeken
Belinda Chang Langner
Clare Buswell
Julia Aston
Jennifer Holmes
Kelly Schirmer
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynn Mercurio
Mona Pendleton
Sandie Dunne
Claire Brennan - Owner
Tosha Leyendekker

I can't wait to hear what you think so far! I just love hearing all your feedback on the new sets. I'll see you back here tomorrow, ok?

Anya

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Recipe
Need a Lift Card
STAMPS: Half Pint Heroines (available May 8) - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Pink Pirouette - Stampin' Up!; Fine Linen, Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink
PATTERNED PAPER: Story Teller - Crate Paper; Farmhouse - October Afternoon; Que Sera Sera - K&Company
INK: Onyx Black Versafine - Tsukineko; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger Industries
OTHER: Postage Stamp Die - Spellbinders Paper Arts; Sewing Machine - Janome; Washi tape; Rhinestones - Recollections


Wedding Day Card
STAMPS: Half Pint Heroines (available May 8), Half Pint Heroes, Compact Sentiments, Heirloom Patterns - Waltzingmouse Stamps
CARDSTOCK: Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow, Melon Berry, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
INK: Onyx Black Versafine, VersaMark - Tsukineko
OTHER: Standard Circles Large Die - Spellbinders Paper Arts; Polka Dots Embossing Folder - Provo Craft; Copic Markers - Imagination International

CardMaker Magazine Blog

Happy Thursday!

Today I'm posting over on the CardMaker Magazine Blog - I hope you can go check it out!  Here's a little peek at what I have made:

I hope you can pop over and take a look!

Anya

Project Life Weeks 12 and 13

Hi there. Today I thought I'd share some of my weeks of Project Life that you haven't seen yet.  Picking up where we left off, this is Week 12 (March 19-25).

This week we have lunch with my Mom, the first day of Spring, a zero balance letter from an outstanding credit card that was finally paid off..

.. Lots of birthday celebrations including a friend at work and my sweet niece..

Wrote directly on the photo for this one. Why not? The 'remember this' tag is from Elle's Studio.

Used my Silhouette a bit more this week and changed up the layout of the second page since I had so many photos. The only thing about this is remembering that for the first half of next week you'll be using the other side :)

This is Week 13 (March 26 - April 1). Again, lots of photos - it seems everything started growing. Used some digital elements as well as some things cut with the Silhouette.

A trip downtown to see the Symphony and some ephemera from that trip, and shots of our super long grass before we cut it. I couldn't believe we had to start in April!

I liked having all these flower pictures this week - so colorful. I used all different products to finish this off, including more stuff from Elle's as well as some Martha Stewart tags and some Avery tags.

Across from Heinz Hall in downtown Pgh there is an art installation that is an old storefront decked out to be a Robot Repair Shop. We first saw it at Christmas when we were down there, but it gradually changes over time. This time there was a robot in the window holding up a sign. It is fun to see and I like including things like this in my pages.

Hope you enjoy these - have a great day!

Anya

Smile!

Morning!

Popping in to share a card I created for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge.

I stared at these colors all weekend, thinking how I wanted to use them. Finally, at 9:30 last night, I gave myself half an hour to whip something up. Challenging myself like this is fun sometimes - I am a very sloooooow cardmaker, so it leaves no time for deliberation.

I pulled my supplies together and just went with it! Am loving all the camera images popping up in stamp land, so I jumped on that wagon for this card, tapping into the supplies I have set aside for my Project Life.

The camera stamp is from Dear Lizzy and was stamped onto a grid lined journaling card. The chevron pattern is from the Mint Motif Beyond Borders set.

These colors are all so intense, I thought the 'less is more' approach was a better one. I brought the springy green color in with some washi tape, a button, and a punched tab. I just picked that punch up, but I seriously love it.

Thanks for stopping in to see me today, have a good one!

Anya

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Recipe
STAMPS: Camera - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection; Beyond Borders - Mint Motif
CARDSTOCK: Vintage Violet, Rich Razzleberry - Stampin' Up!; Soft Stone - Papertrey Ink
PATTERNED PAPER: Spring Moss from 2008 Bitty Box Basics - Papertrey Ink
INK: Vintage Violet, Rich Razzleberry - Stampin' Up!; Slate - Amuse|Studio
OTHER: Grid Design Journaling Card - Becky Higgins; Banner Trio Die - Wplus9; Tab punch - Jenni Bowlin; Tiny attacher - Tim Holtz/Advantus; Spring Moss button - Papertrey Ink; Washi tape - NGL