Think Pink!

Yup, you guessed it! Kelly and Chris had a baby girl and we are all over the top ecstatic to have a new baby in the family. Welcome lil’ Brooke Avery O’Connor! Such a sweet name. We just can’t wait to see photos. We hear she has a cute round face, strawberry blonde hair with light brows and lashes...fair like her mama with some of daddy’s good genes thrown in there too! Whe weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. Not sure how long she was. I got the call around 11:30 am with the news.

Now grandmom Flossie can have a piece of cake for the both of you to celebrate the shared birth date. Will post a photo when I get one either here or on my facebook page.

I pulled this old card sample from my archives. It is one I made for my mom with the pink flowers. Thought it was appropriate in honor of the new mom, Kelly. May you and your baby share love always!

On this I embossed the rose and leaves in gold EP, bleached the areas inside the flower and leaves, then colored with an aqua painter and some ink puddles. This was from a set I designed for Inque Boutique. Talk about a flash back! The pattern is done with Clear EP and scrolly leaves from the same Aging Gracefully See-D’s set.

Spooky Blast From the Past

Here are some oldie but goodie card creations for Halloween using some old Stampin’ Up!® and Inque Boutique stamps. Hope it helps boost your cardmaking ideas! More ideas to come for Halloween and Fall crafts so be sure to check back soon!

Pumpkin Swirl Card

Giggle Boo Card

Pumpkin Head Trick or Treater Card

A Busy Little Beaver

Yes, I have been a busy little beaver trying to quickly make party invitations, coordinating thank you’s and favors for my inlaw’s 50th Anniversary party. It is much harder planning these events when none of the children live near where the party is going to be hosted. Although we were down to the wire with scouting a location and ironing out the details, it seems that everything will pull together nicely and then maybe catch up on some missed hours of sleep on the plane. 

These projects use supplies from Stampin' Up!, Inque Boutique, Recollections, Offray, Marvy and all of the adhesives can be found at GlueArts.com! The 50 embossed on the Marvy punched hearts is from the Sharie Numbers set, retired from Inque Boutique, but still one of my faves!     

The heart embossed on the inside is from the Happy Heart set and the thank you verse is from one of my favorite retired verse sets, Wonderful Words. 

The party bagettes are made by Cousin and can be found at Michaels stores, where you can also locate the mini pearls used on the wrapped chocolates. In the photo you see some silver wrapped Herhey's nuggets, but I plan to use the almond variety with the gold wrappers for the real deal. This was just my planning sample. The wheeled pattern is the Baroque wheel from SU.

And I also included a photo of the matching card and envelope I made for the occasion. 

I have to say that I love, love, love my Textured Plates and the Sizzix machine. Not only on this projects, but I find myself using them on cards and all sorts of things. I am toning up my flabby arms rolling that baby and cranking out the embossed panels and wrappers used on these projects. Who says crafting can't be good for your health? And that is the kinda workout I enjoy! So put your creativity in motion and use some of these ideas for your next project.

Day 3- An Elegant Holiday Trifold Card

This is definitely not one of those cards that falls into the annual Christmas Card category, however, if you are looking to send a special card to a family member or friend with a special Christmas portrait, this is an elegant & impressive choice. Pictured you will see the outside, inside fold, total open view of the inside and the back view with the decorative band closure. It was done using some old Inque Boutique stamp sets with gold embossing and some hand cutting. I used Glue Arts Glue Ring Adhesive throughout, gold brads & red glitter as accent along with some crystal effects from Stampin’ Up!® to get the glitter to be 3-D on the poinsettias. Hope this inspires you to think creatively with your stamps and papers. Banded strips are always an excellent choice to hold multi-fold cards closed. The photo inside is an older one of Dan and I with our girls when we still lived in Shawnee, Kansas.

Day 22 (countdown)- Making Vintage Photo Angel Ornaments

Here is another craft idea to turn your child’s photo into a treasured ornament for your tree. Using my template I created, I stamped, embossed and distressed the paper pieces, assembled with Glue Arts Glue Ring Adhesive and Micro Adhesive squares. I cut an appropriate sized photo (leaving the hair and neck so I would have a way to attach this to the body). I created the halo from wire and two prima flowers glued back-to-back. The stamp set used is Joyeaux Noel from Inque Boutique/Darice. The NOEL message was attached using scored pieces of cardstock hung over knotted hemp. I attached it to the hands by wadding up a small piece of the adhesive square and attaching it to the back of the knot. The pretty layered, glitter flower is from Making Memories’ Noteworthy collection. If you are interested in the template, email me or leave me a comment along with your email so I can send it to you! Happy Holiday Crafting!!! Now I have to get busy on one for Ashley, my oldest daughter. This is our daughter, Kylie, 13.

Day 26 (countdown) - Christmas Decorating

O.K., so yesterday we shopped until we dropped, now it is on to holiday decorating or what can also be known as Decking the Halls!!! I created this scrapbook layout from some of last year’s Christmas decor photos. So while you are decorating your house and trimming the tree, don’t forget to snap some pictures of your handiwork to add to your Christmas scrapbooking memories. It is fun to look back and see how your colors, style and taste changes over the years...or maybe not! ;D

Notes on the layout: Adhesives are from Glue Arts; Stamps and Embossing powders are from Inque Boutique/Darice, and I used a white gel pen for journaling and adding accents to the journaling box. Layering ribbons is easy with Glue Arts ribbon adhesive!

Day 29 - You Put the Jolly into the Holly Days

These photos were taken last Thanksgiving day, poolside. As you can tell by the pictures, it was rather warm in Florida. This layout shows how you can combine stamps and an alphabet set to make a fun title. All the stamps are from Inque Boutique. Just love that frame my friend Susan designed and the other cool Christmas stamps, too! I did all the journaling on computer leaving more space between each line to add in some stamped stitched lines in red. I made the reverse scallop edge border using a circle punch held upside down, so I could line them up. The big white brads from Bazzill finish off the points. I used more faux stitching on the striped patterned accent paper. So while you are in the “thankful” frame of mind, make lists of all the things your kids do that you are thankful for or a list of how they put the “jolly” into your holidays! Check back tomorrow for another post!

A Layout from Mom

A detail image from layout...

As moms and scrappers, we have pride in our children and lots of wisdom to share with them. As my girls grow older and college years are not that far off, I feel the sands in the hour glass moving at warp speed, yet I have so much that I want to share and teach them. This layout is one of many that will be an ongoing scrap theme for me as I watch my teenage girls grow up so quickly. I took this photo of Ashley shortly after she turned 15. She had such a sweet and innocent look and I wanted to hang onto that memory for a while. I encourage you, whatever the age of your kids, to create “notes from Mom” layouts. There are so many cool quotes and embellishments that you can incorporate into your page that can help you share some of those words of wisdom and inspiration with your children.

The background CS and many of the fun embellishments used are from Around the Block; stamps are Inque Boutique/Darice and chipboard is Chippies from Zsiage. And all the adhesives were Glue Arts!!!

Ideas for Stamping and Embellishing Your Layout

I did this layout a while ago, but wanted to share some ideas of how to combine a photo and stamping creatively on a layout.  Since I wanted the colors of the stamped flowers to stand out, I printed out my image in b&w {me on our 20th Anniv. trip to Aruba} so the two didn't compete for attention. I stamped these flowers from Inque Boutique’s Tropical Lagoon set directly onto my light patterned paper. Using markers and blend pens, I added the colors to the flowers. Next, I carefully cut along the outer edge of the flowers where I wanted to slide my photo under {kinda like one big giant photo corner}. I set the photo aside while attaching the Queen & Co. scrolled felt ribbon. I then attached the photo, did more stamping for the journaling box. To make the colored flowers pop, I inserted brads into pastel colored Prima flowers and attached them to the scroll. The wave border and title were both done using embossing powders to add texture & interest. Most of these papers {and cardstock stickers, too!} are from the Cabana Collection from Inque Boutique.

Finding Daily Doses of Inspiration - news stand alert!

Finding creative inspiration doesn't mean having to change your daily routine. In my new article published in the October issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine, I will reveal where you can find inspiration in your daily life. It is all around you, if you take time to look for it! The monochromatic color scheme of this “Dream of Being 13” layout features my favorite color, lavender, a super cool outline marker from Pentel Arts, stamps from Inque Boutique, velvety flowers from Bazzill and rhinestone brads from Stampin’ Up. It is a sneak peek of one of the project samples featured in the article entitled, A Daily Dose of Inspiration.

“Tray” Elegance

This summer I have definitely stepped out of my scrap & stamp comfort zone into uncharted territories trying new projects and techniques that I have never tried before and even coming up with a few new ones of my own...which I will share in some upcoming posts.

If you are looking for a gift idea for the holidays, now is a great time to get started on some projects. This is a b&w wooden tray that I made for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day. I primed, painted and sanded it. Then I embossed stamps from Inque Boutique’s Arabesque stamp set, designed by my friend Susan Stringfellow. The corner elements and medallion where just perfect for this project. I handcut the elements out and arranged them on the tray and used Modge Podge to adhere them. I used a couple coats of varnish on top to seal it.  I tied some ribbons to the handles for a finishing touch. For additional photos, you can check out my Inque gallery. If I can do this, so can you!

I won’t be at CHA, but some of my projects will (updated)

It has been a busy summer, and unfortunately, I won’t make it to the summer Craft & Hobby Association show in Chicago next week. However, some of my projects will be on display at the Glue Arts booth. As part of the Glue Arts design team, we were to take three manilla mini albums from Making Memories, add photos and embellishments along with solid colored papers to showcase the Crop & Glue line of adhesives from Glue Arts. One great thing about mini albums is that their size makes them less intimidating than large scrapbook albums to work on. You get started and before you know it, you feel the satisfaction of completing an entire project. And if you have a bunch of photos of a particular subject, vacation or theme, it is a fun way to showcase them. I chose three different themes for my albums: a quirky album showcasing all the goofy ways my family makes me laugh; an album featuring what we loved about living beachside when we first moved to Florida, and an album showing what makes Bella such a loveable pooch. Featured here is the Indialantic, FL album, and the other two are out for publication. The You Make Me Laugh album will be in Scrapbook News and Review Sept. ’08 online issue. The “Our Crazy Dog” mini album will be featured in Crafts ’n Things March ’09 issue.

Beachy Birdhouse: July Glue Arts Design Team Project

I started with a naked birdhouse from Joann’s and used Glue Arts’ Crop & Glue Adhesives along with Inque Boutique’s Cabana Paper Pack, Cabana mini stamp set, Cabana Inqueboard, matching long brads, cardstock stickers and InqueRibbon to create this indoor decorative birdhouse. To view the entire Cabana collection, click on this link to go to Inque Boutique’s website.  

I embellished the beachy birdhouse with floral accents, Jolee’s by You bamboo pieces, mini clothespins and floss. I used white acrylic paint to whitewash the fence and base as well as sponges and assorted Whispers inks for distressing. Go to the gallery section of Glue Arts' website to see this project and step-by-step instructions. To download the paper template for this project, use your ftp software to download the pdf file from my ftp site: ftp.cheriwengerdesign.com, Login: cheriwenger@cheriwengerdesign.com, 

Password: pinkflamingo or email me: cheri@cheriwengerdesign.com if you encounter any problems downloading the file.

Some New Goodies!

It is always fun to combine a bit of stamps you own with some fresh new elements. I distressed some SU Naturals Ivory CS to use as the base of this card and added some of the wonderful new cardstock from Inque Boutique’s Memoirs Mini Paper pad assortment. To create the subtle wave border, I used the new Cabana mini stamp set with one of my favorite blue inks...Whisper's Starry, Starry Night along with Chestnut, Black and copper embossing on the rest of the elements. It is extra fun when you get to design stamps, then use them on your projects. Here, I used the “100% my guy” Lil’ Stamp I designed for Inque Boutique along with elements from the Build-A-Tag set. Adhesives are all from the Glue Arts’ Crop & Glue line. I couldn't resist adding the skull from Inque’s Awesome Mini Set next to the word adventurous since my husband likes cycling, and that can get pretty risky when riding in big groups. He has the battle wounds to prove it! This was the card I made him for Father’s Day. The inside is stamped with some other stamps from the tag set, the Enthusiastic LC mini alphabet and some handwritten words to read...Guaranteed 100% (repeated many times) a terrific dad. You’re a natural. I will post the inside on my Inque gallery.