Kraft Cards

We had lots of family birthdays to celebrate in the fall, which means lots of card making!  I love the warm and neutral G45 Kraft line, which I used for this card and tag.  

Check out the Hens' Den blog for details and step by step directions.

'Tis the Season

It seems that Christmas preparations creep up every year.  This year, I noticed that Hallmark put out its Christmas ornaments in their stores last month -- yes, in JULY!  Craziness.  I avoided buying anything just to protest!  I have no problem using Christmas scrapbooking supplies all year long though, so I finally finished my last 2010 picture: our family portrait.

I used Sketch N Scrap's sketch, My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Christmas and Lush lines, and added some pretty Prima to it.   Happy . . . summer!

East Coast Tour

We just got back from a fun, whirlwind tour of the East Coast.  We started in Maryland, where we spent some time at the Bay with Jesse's mom's side of the family.  We saw some relatives that we rarely get to see and stayed in charming Chesapeake City.  A bunch of us took a canal tour, which was a fun way to explore the area.

We got in our car and drove all the way up to Boston to see Matt, Merida, and her parents, who were fun to meet.  We got to see their place and take a tour of some neat Boston landmarks such as the Old North Church, 

its crypt,

beautiful neighborhoods,

the state house,

Boston Common,

and the Sam Adams Brewery!

Our last East Coast stop was in Connecticut.  My mom took us to Gillette castle, which was really neat to see and learn about.

We also went to the sub museum and got to see a working sub coming back to base.

We also got to celebrate my favorite niece's birthday (can you believe she is six?!?)

We were so blessed to be able to see everyone!

August Sketch Off

This week I am sharing a sketch off project with you.  Here is the sketch that I worked from:

I have never taken a card sketch and turned it into a two-page layout, but that is exactly what we did here, and I really enjoyed it.  The clusters on the card sketch inspired me to create embellishment clusters featuring fussy cut clocks from Graphic 45's Kraft line, which I accented with Petaloo vine sprays.  I used three different patterned papers for the background and accented some of the kraft paper with some ink to add color.  Finally, I used striped ribbon from May Arts as the strips that you see in the sketch, adhering the ribbon to the paper using staples and pleating.

Check out both sketches and vote in the sketch off at the Hens' Den blog.

Hens' Den August Newsletter

It's time to reveal the Hens' Den's August Newsletter.  I also want to share my "Ghibli" layout of our trip to Studio Ghibli two months ago (time flies!)  I wanted to keep the focus of this layout on the pictures and film strips, so I simply accented the Bo Bunny Serenity paper with a large Petaloo flower, Serenity trinket and May Arts rose ribbon.

Check out the newsletter for more projects and store news!

Open publication - Free publishing - More card making

Hens' Den Serenity Layout

I am here to share another layout with you from our trip to Thailand.  Nicole had an underwater camera, and we had a ton of fun taking these pictures at the pool.  I still can't get enough of Bo Bunny's Serenity line, which made it so easy to put this layout together.

You can see more details about this layout here.