Heartfelt Creations Wednesday

Its Heartfelt Creations Wednesday!! That means you get to see what the Design team has created using all of the HC beautiful Stamps, and a sneak peak of the new set coming out April 12th...If you love cardinals, you are going to love the new sets!! The Springtime Cardinal Collection, 8 new sets and the beauty is you are going to be able to use some of your existing dies that coordinate with the set!! How cool is that!!??
I made a card for this weeks reveal..Next week I go back to 12x12 LO's...It's hard doing small scale... I admire the card makers of the world!!


Products Used on This Project
HCPC 3377 Sympathy Sentiment PreCut Set
HCPC 3376 Distressed Leaves PreCut Set
HCD 708 Decorative Window Die
HCD 703 Daisy Patch Die
452069 Labels 4 Grand Nestabilities

Adhere pink card stock onto the green card stock slightly off center measured to the front of a plain white card. Die cut the Decorative Oval Window and adhere to center of pink card stock. Tie a bow around the layered card forming the bow to the right side of the card. . Stamp sentiment on pink card stock and die cut using the Spellbinders Labels 4 Grand Nestabilities die. Ink the edges with black ink, then stamping off the edge, use the distressed leaves stamp. Adhere to center of Window die cut. Color die cut leaves with Glimmer Mist, die cut the daises from patterned card stock add a rhinestone to the centers and arrange the flowers and leaves around the bow. Add a little butterfly to the opposite corner of the card.

Clara

I was honored to be left the family albums in my mother in laws personal will. She knew how much preserving memory meant to me. I will cherish each and every memory that each photo holds. And I will start to scrap copies of the beautiful photo's. This one is my mother in law taken in 1951. She sure was gorgeous. She loved butterflies and Easter was her favorite holiday besides Christmas for obvious reasons. I wanted to reflect her memory with the colors of Easter, as she passed away during Lent. This LO was done for the Round Robin Challenge at Swirlydoos. It was pure therapy creating this LO. I used parts of 2 Spotlight kits from Swirlydoos. Annalee and Fairy Flora. Both kits are gorgeous!!
The circle is punched with a Martha Stewart corner punch and dotted with Prima crystals.
I painted Dusty Attic with Lumiere paint and did journaling on a Prima Fairy Flora journal card. I created the flowers using my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die and my Swirly Hibiscus Flower Tutorial.
I used 2 of Martha Stewart's deep edge punches and wove some ribbon through it. I painted the Thickers letters with Lumiere paint. I stickled the butterflies. I used some old satin to make the yoyo flowers and sewed some old buttons for the centers. The larger flower was made using my Swirly Hibiscus tutorial. I used Rum Punch Glimmer Mist to color the cream card stock. and Inked the edges in an olive colored ink.

Sad day in our family...

I have been absent from the scrapping world for the last couple of weeks, only trying to fill my obligations on assignments and responsibilities. My dear mother in law whom I loved so much, passed away Tuesday evening. It has been extremely difficult as the family thinks I am the glue that will keep this family from falling apart with grief. I have been a part of the family since I was 18 years old...32 years...My mother in law used to feel that I was the daughter she never had. Although she had 2 other daughter in laws, we were the closest. Always. I never said a bad thing about her, well, because there was nothing bad to tell. Not many people can say that they have a terrific relationship with their mother in law, but I did. I learned soooo much from her. She was good and generous and very talented. She was an artist and one hell of a terrific cook. You know those old Italian woman were the best cooks.
Up until one month ago, she just had the regular ailments of an 84 year old. And in the last month she started to decline, not knowing she was going into renal failure. She was admitted to the hospital on March 10th. We thought it was just another routine hospital stay, they pump her with fluids, remove the excess, fix her up and send her home. But she was giving up the fight. Tired of feeling sick, she just wanted to go home. She said "No more, I am done". Thats when I knew she was giving up the fight. My mother in law was the matriarch.. the strong one..Let me tell ya, she wore the pants in her family. We loved her for her strength and her kind heart. It was very big and she gave without ever wanting back.

My dear mother in law passed a way peacefully on Tuesday evening. We moved her quickly from the hospital, to hospice house. I asked her if she wanted to go home, and I would care for her, or if she wanted to go to hopice House and we would all be there with her. She agreed to Hospice House. She was still of sound mine when we got there, and she felt at peace that if this was the end, she would'nt die in the hospital. And we were all there. She went unexpectedly, but quickly and the way she wanted to go . With her family at her side all around her. My father in law holding her hand on one side, and my husband holding her hand at the other, and I sitting at the foot of her bed holding on until she took her last breath. She is suffering no more, and I am so sure that she has entered the Kingdom in all of it's Glory. She waited her whole life to be able to reach her final destination.
I am the executor of her will, and have started the arduous task of keeping the family from falling apart in their grief. I am heartbroken, and although I may appear strong, it is only show for the boys and my father in law. I have moved him in with us as he cannot live alone. He would surely die of a broken heart. Next month would have been their 60th Wedding Anniversary. This will be very difficult for him.
I have been busy this past week making funeral arrangements, moving my father in law here, trying to organize their home, making the appropriate phonecalls, getting my daughter home form Washington State, etc...I have not stopped. Saturday I spent the whole day shopping and cooking as we had the "Celebration Of her Life" in my home after church yesterday...She was a very simple but a generous woman. She didn't want a funeral service with crying and flowers. She hated both. We discussed in length what she wanted. Her wishes were, She wanted to be cremated, and the Sunday after her death, she wanted the family to go to church and attend mass, say a little prayer for her, and go back to the house and celebrate her life. I am cooked her typical Sunday Italian dinner, making her favorite cake, (the one she always baked for us) and using all of her pots and pans to do it. It wouldn't be Nanny's "Sunday" macaroni if I didn't...She didn't want flowers, but she did say if someone felt compelled to do so, then they should plant a tree, a bush, or flowers in her honor. That's what we are doing.
I have had company everyday this week, when all I really want to do is go into my scrap room and create. That is my therapy. So I will create some of my next work in her memory. I will miss my mother in law soooo much. She really was the best mother in law in the world. I was grateful to let her know that many times. And honored to be part of this wonderful family. Thank you for letting me share this intimate part of my life...When the dust settles, I will be back with a vengeance!!!

Beautiful Life...

This Lo was done with bits and pieces of Swirlydoos kits. I used pink card stock and sprayed Glimmer Mist onto a Prima mask on all 4 sides of the card stock, then distressed the edges and sewed around the page. My daughter is in school pursuing a dream, and she calls it her Beautiful Life. She is very happy in her life right now, and that makes her dad and I happy.

I took apart a piece of Prima vine for this corner, The flower was cream color but I Glimmer misted it to match the flowers on the other vine.
I used my new Martha Stewart punch for the trim under the brown floral trim. I love the punched design!!
The title was die cut with the Sizzix 12 inch strip die Love Letters. The beautiful trim is my new Martha Stewart punch Garden Gate.
The butterflies were from a file I created. Just down load, print, cut out, and ink and Stickle.
The paper layers are from the Basic Grey Curio collection and Spot light kit I created for Swirlydoos. I edge punched the outer one with one of my Martha Stewart punches.

Quiet Strength

I felt like doing a LO with delicate warm spring colors. I wanted flowers and vines and a feeling of serenity. Spring is a time of renewal. And after a long and busy winter, I need renewed strength. But I am usually pretty quiet when it comes to complaining about being tired. You wont hear me whine..So I call this LO "Quiet Strength". I close my eyes, take a deep breath of the clean spring air and feel renewed. My life is still running in the fast lane at the moment..I must remember to pace myself. and as I sat in my scrap room today, working on this LO, I already felt stronger. At least until tomorrow morning when I am back to work...go go go..That will be me. All I can do is hope. Hope that peace will soon prevail...

Love the new Susan Winget K and Company papers. Birds, butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. The colors are beautiful!! The pattern is Botanical.
Did my Corner Punch Circle technique on this one. Placed some May Arts vine ribbon around it and dotted it with some Liquid Pearls.
Made some of my "Savage Beauties" except made little rosettes for the middles.
I used the pretty chip board from the Botanical Collection.
I just got the Ornamental Iron cartridge for my Cricut Expression . It is beautiful!! I cut the gate, although the card stock wasn't stuck to the mat all the way and it tore a little on top of the gate so I had to cut out a scroll. It still looks good. The Swirly Vines are the ones I share at Swirlydoos. You just download, print and cut.
This is a closeup of the flowers. I added 2 layers of flowers from my Alterations Tattered Florals Die for the large flower. Inked it and wet distressed it slightly before shaping them .

Prima's March Palette

Is sooooo beautiful!! Green is one of my favorite colors. Here it is and here is my take on it!!

Scrap Mart Blog Hop and Happy Heartfelt Creations Wednesday

Scrap Mart has teamed with Heartfelt Creations for a fantastic journey to check out the creations with Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies. It just so happens that today is reveal day for the brand new set the Dutch Iris Collection. FLOWERS!!! You all know how I love flowers! I had fun creating this LO of sweet Lily. I took the picture of my dear friends precious daughter while she was just 1 day old. There is nothing sweeter than a brand new baby!!

Tucked the photo in the middle of the page and sewed 3 buttons to the side and tied with embroidery floss.
Stamped the distressed leaves (HCPC 3376 Distressed Leaves) around the perimeter of a 12 x 12 piece of cream card stock. Sewed a distressed piece of plum card stock to the background stamped piece. Stamped and punched another piece of cream card stock and adhered to the plum card stock. Using Colorbox chalk ink in Merlot, I stamped the leaves on a pice of cream card stock , cut out and colored them with Glimmer Mist and inked the edges in brown chalk ink.
Stamped and die cut the Grande Flora flowers (HCPC 3374 Flora Grande 2 /HCPC 3375 Flora Grande 1) in all sizes. Cut in between the individual petals to separate them. sprayed with Glimmer Mist and when they were still slightly damp, curled the petals under a bit for dimension. Stacked the flowers in different sizes. Using Glossy Accents, I added some to the middles and dropped in some green glass beads. Arranged and clustered the flowers and leaves around the page. Die cut the flourish (HCD 711 Dutch Iris Coordinating Die) and added each to the ends of the corner flower cluster. The stamps are so beautifully detailed.

Swirlydoos and Prima BAP...Together...

Every month Prima has a feature...BAP..Build a Page. It is actually a sketch you can follow to build your Prima Products on. Swirlydoos just loves Prima products and so Building my Page makes it easy using my kits. This month Swirlydoos kit " Cabaret" featureT Prima's Moulin Rouge papers. They are wonderful!! The flowers in the kit and add on kit are Prima's finest! I love them all!! Of course sneaking in a DA piece always adds to my pages. Swirlydoos is a big supporter of Dusty Attic and Krissy opens up a special order section T Swirlydoos to place your orders. Then she will ship them in your next monthly kit, and that saves you on extra shipping. As you may know, Dusty Attic recently had a tragedy, a fire in their facility..So you may have to wait a bit longer for shipments, but the delay is minimum. We love Dusty Attic. We will wait!!

Prima has the prettiest flowers in the prettiest colors.
Dusty Attics has the finest detailed scrolls. They are among my favorite shape! The circles were done with a Martha Stwart corner punch.
I created the tiny letters in Microsoft word and cut the letters apart and inked them before sticking them on the Prima Chipboard piece.
The new Prima Flowers with the crystal dangles are beautiful!! Very chic!! The leaves can be found at Swirlydoos where I created files so that you can download and print them out. Cut, ink and distress them a little for dimension.

Swirly Hibiscus Flower Tutorial

I just love making my own flowers. My fave all time die is the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals..I think he needs to devise another with different petals...I think I am going to Sizzix myself and propose a few designs I have come up with!! lol...Well here is another flower tutorial for your creating pleasure. I used a combo of Moonshadow Mist and Glimmer Mist to color the cream card stock. Krissy intruduced us to Moonshadow Mist from Lindy's Stamp Company, and I have never looked back..I love them!! They are slightly different than Glimmer Mist as the colors pool like no other. Leave a gorgeous sheen in different hues. The look is gorgeous!! I usually top my flowers with a sheer Glimmer mist just to increase shimmer. I used Iridescent Gold on these flowers.

Product List:

Card stock in cream or white
Glimmer Mist or your favorite color spray
adhesive (glue)
chalk ink
Ranger foam Ink blender
Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers Die
Mcgill Starburst Punch
Craft Dryer
nonstick craft mat

Step1.
Die cut 3 big flowers, 3 medium sized flowers and punch 2 star burst.

Step2.
Place your cuts on the craft mat and mist away!! You can swirl the flowers in the excess mist to soak them in the color. I used 2 different colors and a gold spray for shimmer.

Step3.
Make slits in between each of the petals on the 3 medium sized flower, but DO NOT cut all the way to the center.
Step4.
While still wet, Ink the edges on each of the flowers.
Step5.
While the flowers are still wet, Crunch them and wrap them around the end of a paintbrush or pencil as shown, then dry them with a craft dryer.

Step6.
Open up your dried flowers and flatten them slightly. Take one of the large flowers and curls each individual petal in different directions. Take another large flower and curl the ends inward toward the center of the flower, and take the last large flower and curl the ends slightly outward.
Take the smaller flowers and curl all of the ends outward. I use the handle of a small paint brush.

Step7.
Start to layer your flowers.
Large flower with twisted petals on bottom, next place the flower with the petals curled outward.

Step8.
Next place the flower with the petals curled inward on top.

Step9.
Layer your 3 medium flowers together and fluff them up a bit.
Step9.
Place the medium flowers into the center of the larger layered flowers.
Step10.
Layer your 2 punched starburst pieces.
Step11.
Using your fingers, curl them into a bundle so they look like stamen.

Step12.
Glue and tuck them into the middle of your flower.
Here is your finished flower. Enjoy making these beauties. I would love to see your versions. Link them in your comments!!

March Swirly Girls Challenge ***Strictly Homemade***

If you have ever hung out at Swirlydoos, you will know there is always a challenge or 2 or 3 going on. And they are wonderful to get your mojo going. Peggy who has been with Swirlydoos since it's inception, is the hostess with the mostest!! She does an awesome job hosting challenges for us!! Well, I try to join as many challenges as possible, but as a designer, mine are for inspiration only.
This Layout was done for Peggy's challenge "Strictly Homemade"...Go check it out. There are many tutorials in the Tips Tricks and Techniques section to make your own embellies. There are files of butterflies, birds, leaves and flourishes. All for anyone to download and use. And every month I add more. I used this months Cabaret Kit to create this LO.


I call this LO Bloom II, because I used this pic a couple of years ago on a LO I named Bloom.. I love this photo of my daughter.
I made the Prima inspired Sugar Letters. I used the tiny Prima script stamp from the kit. You can follow the tutorial HERE. I made the ribbon and pearl trim. I gathered a piece of ribbon on my sewing machine and sewed it on to the punched card stock, then tacked the string of pearls over the ribbon.
I created the vine using wire and Martha Stewart Floral tape. I love that tape the best. I printed leaves from a file that can be found HERE and wrapped them as well.
The butterflies were scanned from BG Curio paper and a file was created with different sizes. I used Rock Candy Stickles to enhance.
Close up of the flower. Just a variation of some of my tutorials using my Tattered Flowers die. I used the Smooch ink that came in the kit to enhance the card stock color and make it shimmer.
I did some sewing around the page close to the punched edge. I used a Sizzix Sizzlets die for the butterfly trail. I really enjoyed this months Kit Cabaret. Until i finish the next one, i hope you are inspired to create your own embellishments.