Project 365 Challenge/Days 45-47 Photos & Flowery Sympathy

Some more daily doses of inspiration... I am getting caught up on photographing and posting some of my daily project challenges. Day 45 was a struggle in trying to get good digital photos at a volleyball tournament with very low lighting and no tripod or use of my flash. I just eye spied in a magazine a new gizmo...a tripod that fits onto a water bottle. That may just be an investment for an upcoming tournament. So, as it sometimes goes...you take a whole lotta shots just to get a couple good ones. In this case, this was my only real favorite from the bunch...of one of my daughter's friends (aka, one of my adopted daughters) right before she was ready to serve.

Day 46 - Flowery Sympathy Card

It is funny  how in life God brings you different people and different experiences that forever change your life. We have been going to the same Life Teen mass for several years and have shared the same pew with this sweet elderly couple. As time passed we got to know them a little better. Ginny was suffering for throat cancer and has been gradually losing her battle for the past year. They are a couple who remind Dan and I of one another in height and stature. Walter is real tall and slim and Virginia is short like me and petite. They don’t have any children or local family so we bring them soup and other meals when I make them up. We also invited them for Christmas dinner, but they both came down sick and weren't able to attend. Well sadly, the day after Valentine’s Day, Ginny slipped away from Walter’s caring hands in to those of the Lord. Our hearts are saddened however we know she is at peace now. I made this card to send to Walter to let him know that we are here for him and our friendship will continue. Her services are being held in Indiana so we have no way to formally say our goodbyes. Making this card with Ginny in mind made me feel just a little better, as creating always does!

inside view...

Day 47/ Sweet Floral Sympathy

It seems that death comes in pairs or trios. Just as I finished making one sympathy card, I found the need to make one to comfort another friend who was dealing with the surprising loss of her stepdad, Jim. 

I really liked the color combinations I used on the other card, so I introduced a deeper linen CS with embossing to make this card for her. Check out my Picasa gallery for supplies.

inside view...

Although I don't have formal sketches for these cards, you can use these basic layouts 

mixed with your favorite ribbons, CS, papers, stamps and embellishments to create

lots and lots of cards for any occasion. Hope this weekend, you live life creatively!

Project 365 Challenge/ Day 44 - Valentine Love Folio

At first when I spied these folios in Staples, I thought about making a jumbo size card to put 

inside, but then I had a different plan in mind for my husband’s Valentine’s Day Gift. 

I still have an IOU out on that gift so I can’t share right now what I planned to put inside, 

but he is going to use it to store some assorted prints he has of the girls.  

The collage at the bottom is made up of some of the things he loves...cycling (chipboard 

from Crate Paper’s Restoration collection), Family (this stamp image and the love one 

are from K&Company Que Sera, Sera clear stamps) and the beach (a retired shell stamp, 

blender pens and markers from Stampin’ Up!® - also the embossed heart die used 

on two hearts is from SU!). I decorated the folio further using border stickers, 

CS matts and cut outs (like the pretty flower) from the beautiful papers in Crate 

Paper’s Restorations collection. For adhesive, I used my Glue Glider Pro with 

high tac adhesive along with some micro extreme adhesive squares for 

the buttons and some U Cut It foam to raise up the white heart die cut.

A closer view of the bottom stamping, die cuts, etc.

Just think of ways that you can use this same folio concept to create great gifts for 

other occasions. It would make a great teacher appreciation gift with cards or 

drawings inside from the class or it also would make for a fun way of 

presenting a gift certificate to a boss or co-worker! 

My challenge to you today is to find an ordinary office supply 

and turn it into something creative!

Live Life Creatively!

Project 365/ Days 42 & 43 - Twice the Love

We were away this weekend at my daughter's volleyball tournament, but I managed to get these two card projects created along with a Valentine's Day Love folio that I will share with you tomorrow. If you are still needing to whip up one or two more Valentine's Day cards, here are some cards for inspiration. Both use elements printed out and colored with markers and blender pens using designs from my Sweetness Collection.

Day 42 - Pure Sweetness Hybrid Card

using Epoxy Hearts and papers from LYB's Cupcake Love Collection 

and digi verse and gumball heart machine graphic from my Sweetness collection.

 

Day 43/ Country Charm Cuckoo Hybrid Card

featuring cuckoo clock graphic and button heart art

from my Sweetness Collection along with buttons

from Stampin’ Up!® and papers from Little Yellow 

Bicycle’s Cupcake Love collection.

This is a view of the inside of the card with cute

colored in verse.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Want to win some crafting supplies from Glue Arts? Here are the details of what you need to do...

Happy Valentine's Day Glue Arts Fans!! We would ♥ to see you change your Facebook picture to our new image. We'll enter you to win this amazing prize package + a Glue Glider Pro. Simply copy our picture, paste to your Facebook wall & then come here and leave us a comment. We'll give you all day today and pick a random winner tomorrow morning! ♥

Sweet Deal - 40% off Today Only on Cheri Wenger Digital Designs at MyGrafico.com

It's the perfect time to treat yourself to some crafty goodness. 40% off on everything in the MyGrafico shop today only until midnight! You can stock up on some basic brushes or svg cutting files, get a jumpstart on Spring crafts and scrapbooking or take advantage of the sale by purchasing some of my sets that have Love/Valentine's related images, such as Love is Plentiful Scrapbooking Kit, The Loving Tree color clip art, my new Sweetness Collection,  Forever in Love Flourishes, Forever in Love Style Collection, Forever in Love Frames, Fluidity brushes or Fluidity Color Clip art, Hip and Happy, Lovey Dovey clip art and brushes. You can click here to view my entire shop.

Need a fast E-Valentine or clip art to make a last minute card? Download this Cheri Wenger A Little Love digital card freebie today! Enjoy and have a happy Valentine’s Day! I will post some additional Valentine's day Project 365 creations later.

Project 365 Challenge/Days 40 & 41 - Think Storage!

The theme for these past two days of projects is storage minded. Another common theme is repurposing...making a container into something completely different than it was.

Day 40 - Love Birds Keepsake Box

The focus of this project is on Fancy Pants Designs’ completely adorable Love Birds Collection combined with Glue Arts Adhesives, of course! For Valentine’s day, I wanted to make my daughter a box where she could keep all her memorabilia from her relationship with her beau. She is very creative so I knew that she would appreciate having a nice place to keep photos, ticket stubs, letters and other memories. I used papers and stickers form the Love Birds Kit and paired it with some other yummy stickers and chipboard from Little Yellow Bicycle’s Cupcake Love Collection...along with flowers and other bling, of course you know I couldn’t make anything plain. hehehe!  This project will be featured as my design team project on Glue Arts’ blog. So keep checking in there for it and be sure to leave a comment. Who know's you may just win something on their blog for doing it! Here are a few photos. You can check out my gallery for more showing the steps in making this. Big thanks to J.B. & K.W. for being good sports and letting me use their photos and allowing me to post on the internet. ;D

Day 41 - Sweet on You Container

In an effort to be more eco-friendly and eco-minded, I decided recently to turn the packaging from some Glue Arts’ refills into some fun Valentine’s containers. I shared the first one with you just the other day, Day 39’s May Arts Gift container, and now here is one I made for my sweet niece for Valentine’s Day.

A peek inside the lid!

Here is what it looks like filled with some goodies!

Project 365 Challenge/Days 37 - 39 A Whole Lotta Lovin’

Day 37—Love Birds Pink Dot Card

I recently shared with you one of my new digi  sets, The Loving Tree Collection.

 I used that set and Adobe Photoshop to create this digital card. 

Here is a preview of that set:

Day 38 — A Little Love Digi Card Freebie

Just in time for Valentine's Day this next digi card can be downloaded at:

http://www.mygrafico.com/freebies/a-little-love-square-card-freebie/prod_4426.html

Day 39 — Repurposed Packaging made into this Sweet Valentine’s Container 

featuring Glue Arts Adhesives, May Arts Ribbons and Little Yellow Bicycle collection.
Keep an eye on Glue Arts’ blog for complete list of supplies and instructions for this
eco-friendly, easy-to-make project idea.

Did you spot these project at Winter CHA 2011?

If you just returned home from CHA, you may 

have spotted these projects for Glue Arts that were on display at the show. 

This fun apron was crafted from a white ribbon purchased at Michaels Arts & Crafts store

and transformed using amazing ribbons from May Arts, the Glue Glider Pro with fabric bond

adhesive cartridge, some buttons and extreme adhesive squares.

Or maybe this coordinated set made with Glue Arts adhesives 

Hero Arts Stamps and beautiful papers from The Girls Paperie.

If you haven't checked out Glue Arts Blog or facebook page, be sure to make some time this week to check it out. And if you are a fan of digital artwork that can be used to create digital scrapbook pages, used for embroidery, used for creating web banners, hybrid cards, t-shirts and more... then be sure to check out mygrafico's monthly giveaways. This month’s giveway is a sweeeeet deal!

Project 365/ Days 35 & 36 - Digi Art & A Hybrid Card

What do you get when you combine a digi design with traditional cardmaking techniques? In this case, you get two days of creativity and one hybrid card! What I didn’t mention is that this Sweetie Gumball card uses a different digi stamp from the one I designed on day 35.

Some of you who are my facebook friends know that it is has been a rough month of January searching for answers to some health issues my daughter has been battling. They say that art can be healing, and for me, it has kept my mind focused on things other than being a worrying mother. After a rough night on Thursday and wondering which direction to turn next for answers, I woke up with a cheery little image in my mind of a bug peeking through some flowers. I know that God put that image there to help Kylie and I get through the day ahead. It was a long day at the doctors followed by barium shakes, a CT scan and some blood work. I told her I was so proud of her acing that test, as we got some fairly good news. Now we just sit back and wait on the labwork results to see if we will have more clues before going on to the next specialist. So as you view this snippet of the digi art (can't show the whole image just yet!), if you will please send up a prayer for answers and healing. We would greatly appreciate it. I spent the rest of Friday evening working late to turn my sketch into a new digi stamp. Hope you like this sneak peek.

Day 36’s project uses a couple paper and a cardstock sticker from Little Yellow Bicycle. I can't get enough of their fun collection of sweet papers and embellishments filled with hearts, cupcakes and yummylicious colors!

To create this card, I scaled the gumball machine to size I wanted to use on this standard size card. I colorized the heart in red with the I Luv You verse in black, then printed these out with some other images from the Sweetness Collection, one of my current digital collections on www.mygrafico.com. I love working with blender pens and markers which is how I colorized the heart gumball machine. Afterwards, I used some 2-way glue on top of the hearts with some iridescent glitter to sugarize them and add some sparkle. I also added some shiny framing around the heart and sweetie sticker by re-using some silver mylar cardstock that I saved from some perfume packaging. It made these two items stand out a little more. On my next card, I plan to do some silver embossing on the digi stamp to make the gumball machine extra metallic.

Project 365 Challenge/Days 27 to 34 - A Week of Creativity

Day 27 - Be My Valentine Card

Valentine cards don’t have to take hours to be wonderful. Here is a simple card idea created using stickers, cardstock cut outs, some ribbon, some punched decorative elements and a little bit of bling in the form of some adhesive pearls. This design can be used over and over again by switching out elements, punches, ribbons and papers of your choosing.  In my sample, I paired some reddish-brown Cardstock with wonderful papers and elements from the manufacturer Little Yellow Bicycle.

Day 28 - Cork Board Date Night Card

Wanna try a fun card idea? For this Date Night card I used paper die cut elements from Shabby Chic Crafts along with a scrap piece of cork to create a faux cork board. Try this idea with your own layered elements. I used a paper clip and stick pin to add to the stationery look with two colors of twine from the Twinery and a diecut ribbon heart strip from May Arts. This card was featured as a design team project on the Glue Arts Blog. See the link for instructions and a complete supply list.

Day 30 - Uplift Card

I used pieces from a craft I made at last year's CHA show (the butterfly) to create this inspirational card for my daughter. I love pairing brights with black and white. It gives a high contrast look. Since the butterfly had a stamped french verse, I paired it with a wheeled elegant background in Tempting Turquoise ink. I smudged black ink on the white grosgrain ribbon to make it stand out from the white cardstock and add to the vintage feel. A torn bottom edge with a strip of black glued to the inside panel makes the deckled edge stand out. Try this fun handmade embellishment - layer rhinestones over top of sequins to create your own fun bling accent! I used my Glue Glider Pro and some mini extreme adhesive squares for assembly of the pieces on this cheery card design.

Day 31 - preliminary tree art for digi set

This art shows some preliminary ideas and the evolution of the loving 

tree 2 color clip art which will be the basis of a new themed digital clip art collection.

Stay tuned for the reveal of the completed collection.

Day 32- Guess Who Card

Day 33 - The assembly of the 1st Birthday Invites

Day 34 - The Loving Tree Collection

(the finished set based on the digi art created earlier this week)

Next week's creativity will include some layouts and other crafty surprises, 

and some more digital artwork concepts, too. Please tell your friends to visit. 

I will reveal the details on MY Favorite Things Giveaway contest. 

Project 365/ Day 26 - Oh So Tweet Frame

Day 26  was spent working on my Frame Project for Glue Arts Design team utilizing their Accent-It-All vinyl with one of my digi collections, Lovey Dovey, that contains some bonus svg files. For those of you who don't know what an svg file is, it is a file format used with plotters and digital diecutting machines  such as Cricut, Silhouette, etc. You can use software that is meant for your cutter to scale, cut or print svg files for use on assorted projects. SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot is a very popular one used with the Cricut).

Here are some photos of the frame project. For a list of the supplies I used on this and complete step-by-step instructions, you can go to Glue Art's blog post. The one thing on this project that I really enjoyed was creating the sugared flower. I made it from punched cardstock using a flower punch from Marvy. This technique was inspired by flowers I created with a friend using a technique she showed me with Stampin’ Up’s five petal flower punch. I applied the same steps and adding a few ideas of my own. Try it out...perfect for a Valentine's gift or card!

Here you can see how I used scrap vinyl to add the Crystal Effects to the flower with a small paint brush. This is step one of the sugaring process.

I held the flower in my hands while brushing on the clear laquer, then I lightly sprinkled iridescent glitter on top to make it look sugary and sparkly.

This photo shows the finished flower attached to the frame.

Project 365/ Days 24 & 25/ New Ideas for Digital Sets

Day 24 and I started working on a brush set of swirls, Swirly QZ’s that can be used on their own as brushes, that can be colorized in solid colors, used as a mask with patterned papers or even combined with other graphics to create interesting page elements or card accents. I also want to include svg files that will work with personal diecutting machines i.e. Cricut or Silhouette and software that allows you to cut out the svg files. Just think of how fun it would be to have these as diecuts for scrapbooking! Stay tuned for updates on the release of this new set. I would love your thoughts and ideas on this.

These pen and ink Gnome Garden sketches are just a starting point in the design process in a set that will be full of color clip art designs. From these preliminary sketches I will work on combining items and creating final digital artwork for the set making sure to include elements that make it full of fun designs to work with on a variety of projects. Thought you might enjoy seeing how set designs evolve.

Check back for future posts to see how these sets develop or you 

can visit www.mygrafico.com for releases of other new digital collections.

All design concepts © copyright 2011 Cheri Wenger

Project 365 Challenge - Day 23/ Lots of Catching Up!

Sorry for the long delay in posts, but this past week was a bit overwhelming in many areas of my life. I did manage to do something creative each day, however, it is taking me a little bit to get it posted to share with all of you.

My day 23 project has actually been an ongoing (almost daily) project...a top secret design of a 1st birthday invitation for my cousin’s little girl, Brooke. I can only post a snippet of the project not to spoil the whole surprise. The reason I chose today is because this is the day we finalized the papers, colors, etc. The theme is cupcakes!