Amador County Farm Day

Recently I had the honor of chaperoning my daughter and her class at our county’s first Farm Day--what a treat!  Gwen was so taken with the chickens that we might just have to get a couple for our backyard next spring.  I think it will be a great learning experience for the kids and maybe we’ll get a few eggs a week out of it.  By the way, you DO NOT need a rooster if you just want eggs.  I’m sure if you think about it, you’ll understand why.  The reason I’m bringing this up is that initially, after explaining to more than a few people that I just wanted to have some backyard chickens for eggs, they kept explaining I needed a rooster.  Being the understanding person that I am, I just nodded my head and walked away.  Trust me, I don’t want to BREED the hens, I just want their EGGS.

That day, instead of lugging around my big DSLR, I decided to just use my iPhone to take pictures. I couldn’t help but take the pictures and combine them in an album for her as a keepsake of our day together.  The Spellbinder’s Snapshot set came in handy as well as Cricut’s new Mini Books cartridge.

Hopefully I will have the opportunity to go with my son, Raiden, next year.  Maybe after that trip, we’ll plant a vegetable garden, too—Lol!    

The tag above lists all the children that were in our group during the Farm Day tour at the Fairgrounds.

The children were given a swag bag at the event.  Gwen gave me permission to use the ruler she received in the bag as an embellishment in her album.  You’ll see the rest of it at the end.

The tag on the right side includes the folded itinerary for the day that we received at school before leaving on the trip.  Each activity was given a letter on the itinerary which explained the nature of the activity.  Most of the pictures I included in the book after this page will have a letter on the tab which refers back to this itinerary.   The picture below shows the itinerary unfolded.

The picture above shows the other side of the tag with attached itinerary.  Below, you will see how this side will unfold and show a map we used that day of the Fairgrounds to get to each activity.

In the above picture and in the picture below, you see that ruler again!

This entire album, almost every page (except for the manila tags) was constructed with chipboard.  By the time I was done assembling my pages, I noticed it was quite bulky.  With that said, I did have to remove some pages (not pictured above) from the album.  One of the things I had removed was a cardstock folder assembled using that new Cricut cartridge called Mini Books.  Our name tags from the day were going to be nestled in that pocket.  I just loved it but it had to go. In the future, I think most of my pages will be constructed with cardstock instead.  Also, the spine originally was closed---another cut from Cricut’s Mini Books cartridge, but it was just too bulky, so I had to cut it in half.   

All in all I am very proud of it, but most of all, so is Gwen.  It’s hers after all is said and done.  This did take quite a bit of time but we just had Fall Break and Gwen helped me in the planning of her album while we were off. 

Below will be a list of items and tools used to assemble the album.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at cammie1971@yahoo.com.  TFL!

Supplies

All patterned paper and some doodle elements by Nancie Rowe Janitz available at  jessicasprague.com items:

My Doodle Book

Mixed 4:  Mixed Media Canvas

Mixed 3: Backgrounds

Die Cutters, Tools, Inks, and Stamps

Cricut Mini Books and CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridges used with Cricut Expression 2 and Gypsy for album structure

Spellbinders Grand Calibur and following dies for frames, etc:  Snapshot, Nested Lacy Pennants, and Labels Two, Twenty, and Twenty-Five.

Jenni Bowlin For Fiskars Tab Punch and Butterfly Punch

WRMK Crop-a-dile 2 and large eyelets on binding of book and pages

I-Rock and crystals by Imaginisce

Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pens and Pads:  Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, China Blue, Faded Jeans, Barn Door

K&Company Smash Tape and Smash Clips

Stamps by Unity Stamp Company:  Summers Best by Simple Stories, Travel Notes, Slow & Steady, and 1/12 and 9/12 Kits of the Month

More Clean and Simple Cards

Here are some images of cards I’ve completed recently, with the Clean and Simple Card Class techniques and lessons as inspiration, some hybrid and some traditional.  TFL!

Thanks

Colonial White cardstock, Hollyhock cardstock, and Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, CTMH; Vintage photo, Broken China, and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, Tim Holtz/Ranger; Large Flower Background, Hero Arts; Thanks sentiment, Unity KOM 01/12; White embossing powder and black embossing powder; Watercolor pencils, Stampin’ Up; sewing machine and embroidery thread.

Thinking of You (Hybrid)

Cotton Tail Papers, Samantha Walker, jessicasprague.com; Heart die, Sizzix; Embossed button punch, Martha Stewart; Butterfly layering punch; EK Success; Broken China, Mustard Seed, and Festive Berries Distress Ink, Tim Holtz/Ranger; Thinking of You sentiment, Hero Arts/Two Peas digital product; Sewing machine and embroidery thread.

Thank You Very Much (Hybrid)

Holly Lane Paper Pack, Ki Memories, jessicasprague.com; Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, CTMH; Ribbons and Rosettes Cricut Cartridge; Thank You Very Much sentiment, Hero Arts/Two Peas digital product; Festive Berries, Broken China, and Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Tim Holtz/Ranger.

Oh Happy Day!

Black and Bamboo cardstock, CTMH; Prismacolor Pencils; White ink; white embossing powder; Wildflower Garden, Hero Arts; Happy Days Clear Stamps, My Minds Eye; Border Punch, EK Success; Button, Autumn Leaves.

It’s All About Love

It’s All About Love stamp set, Unity; White embossing powder; water color paper; Faded Jeans, Broken China, Peeled Paint, and Wild Honey Distress Ink, and Tiny Attacher Tim Holtz/Ranger; Pearlized water; string; Everyday Pop-Up Cards Cricut Cartridge.

Clean and Simple Cards Round 1

Hello Sunshine Hybrid Card

jessicasprague.com supplies:  Hello Sunshine Patterned Paper and Candy Candy by Cosmo Cricket.

Other Supplies: Tim Holtz scallop On The Edge die by Sizzix; brad, eyelet, and twine; 1-inch round punch.

Just For You Hybrid Card

jessicasprague.com supplies:  Clementine Patterned Paper by Cosmo Cricket; Meet and Greet Wordart by In The Making Designs

Other Supplies:  Just A Note Cricut Cartridge (Cosmo Cricket); sewing machine/thread; Hero Arts/Basic Gray Out of Print Flower Dot Pattern Cling; Tim Holtz Evergreen Bough Distress Ink, and Imaginisce i-rock gems.

You’re Precious To Me

Supplies:  Versafine black onyx ink; Hero Arts/Basic Gray Out of Print Flower Dot Pattern Cling; Hero Arts You’re Precious To Me rubber stamp; DCWV cardstock; Tim Holtz tiny attacher; brad, circle punches, and twine.

It’s All About Love

Supplies:  Tim Holtz Festive Berries Distress Ink; various stamps by Technique Tuesday, K&Company, and Unity. Cricut CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge (to make mask); red ribbon and EK Success border punch.

Boo To You!

The above door decor was inspired by a project I’d seen at simplykellyb.  The door decor rosette is a whopping 18 inches in diameter!  I had to put my hybrid spin on it by printing some papers and elements from the Cosmo Cricket Haunted Paper Pack Collection and Haunted Candy Candy available at jessicasprague.com.  The word art was matted by a die cut from the paper collection using the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  Some Tim Holtz Walnut Distress Ink was applied to the rosette and perfect pearl pigment powder (spray) applied to activate/accentuate the distress ink. A 3D flower was die cut from the paper collection using the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge with a black sharpie using the Cri-Kits insert.

This year I thought I’d have some fun with die cut paper on my pumpkin!  I die cut from the Cosmo Cricket Haunted Paper Pack Collection using the Happy Hauntings Cricut Cartridge.  The “ribbons” were made by ripping some white cotton fabric and coloring them using glimmer mists.

Hope you all have a boo-ti-ful, happy, and safe Halloween!

What?! It’s October already?! YIKES!

September flew by!  Here’s some projects I’ve been working on during the month.  Also, I’ve discovered the joy of ATCs and will be posting some soon. I can’t wait to share.  They’re so fun and addicting.

Happy Halloween Hybrid Card

Creativity by Crystal:  Crystal's Too Cute To Spook Papers and Crystal's Too Cute to Spook Elements available at jessicasprague.com.

Other Supplies:  CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Tim Holtz Rosette die by Sizzix, buttons, brads, and embroidery thread.

My Beautiful Girls Hybrid Bracket Album

Jodie Lee:  Gorgeous Hybrid Bracket Album available at jessicasprague.com.

Other Supplies:  CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Tim Holtz Rosette Die by Sizzix, Martha Stewart Embossed Button Punch and flower punch, and Zutter Bind-it-All and 1/2-inch O-wires.

Comic-Book-Sized Panel Home Decor Frame

Splendid Fiins: Splendid Tutorial 6 Super Comic Photos, Super Elements v1, and Super Comic Book Size Panel Layouts available at jessicasprague.com.

Other Supplies:  Frame stand made using Fancy Frames Cricut Cartridge, chipboard, and pop dots.

Halloween Rosette Ribbons

Just thought I’d make something fun to wear this Halloween Season!
Creativity by Crystal: Crystal's Too Cute To Spook Papers available at jessicasprague.com.

Other Supplies:  Tim Holtz Rosette Die by Sizzix, Stampin’ Up label punch, EK Success Circle Punch and Scalloped Punch, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Ribbon Die by Sizzix, felt, ribbons, chipboard, and recycled pins and crochet coasters from the thrift store.

Splendid Finds!

I’m in love with these Feedsack papers by Splendid Fiin’s (available at jessicasprague.com), my Cricut, and the spontaneity of finding something that can be useful and made for me personally.  This shelf was found at my local thrift store but needed some drawers to make it more useful.  I printed some Feedsack papers onto thick cardstock,  die cut them using the box from Cricut Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge (fit to page), added a “handle” using a label from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (cut at 1-inch), which was embossed using my Cuttlebug, and attached to the box using brads.  A circle punch was used to cut a half circle at the top of each box so that I can peek at the contents of the boxes.  Voila! In less than half an hour I had something I was proud to display.  I love craft technology!

Monthly Inspiration Binder

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by a scrapbooking tool/embellishment that it completely spins you into overdrive?

I was so overwhelmed with inspiration using Splendid Fiin’s Evidence Notes and Frames that I spent most of the weekend putting together a handmade binder I didn’t know I even needed!

It became so clear to me.  Every month, I complete about four to six projects, either scrapbooking, papercrafting, sewing, or home decor.  Quite often, I find inspiration everywhere—online through tutorials, on my phone in apps such as craftgawker, looking through home decor or scrapbook magazines/sketch sites, or looking at products in a catalog.  It occurred to me that keeping a tangible binder with these ideas might make life easier for me.  I can actually PLAN to do them.

For each one of the above subjects, I’ve made a divider using the note frames as a prompting tool in my binder.  Each divider contains information and a picture of the inspiration I’ve found.  The information includes the tutorial or origin of inspiration, the month I’d like to complete it, why it inspired me in the first place, and what products I would like to use to complete that project, etc.  Each month, I am going to print out the note card and place it in my binder with hopes of completing it.  If I don’t get to it that month, it stays in the binder until I complete it—then onto another inspiration note card prompt.  A lot of times, I find some pretty good inspiration out there and save it to my browser, phone, etc., only to find I’ve forgotten about it.  At least if I print out these prompts and save them some where tangible, I can actually DO them and keep the inspiration alive by planning to do them.  I’ve included plastic pockets in my binder, so that I can store/save sticky notes for those ideas that pop in my head from time to time. 

The binder itself is not cumbersome, small but not too small, and was made using a lot of the tools/mediums that inspire me in the first place. It was binded using principals from this tutorial by Francine Clouden.  I used loose-leaf binder rings so that I could add to my binder instead of using the Zutter O-wires.  Also, I discovered that my Cricut will cut canvas sheets.  I pressed Heat-n-Bond to the back of 1 canvas sheet, trimmed to 12-x-12, that I had previously painted on.  I cut 2 of the bracket cards from this canvas sheet using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge (fit to page), one for the front of the album and one for the inside of the album, using fabric settings on my Cricut Expression 2.  I then cut the same shape again from chipboard, using chipboard settings and my deep cut housing with blade.  I pressed the canvas die cuts to this chipboard piece, one on each side.  You would not believe how sturdy it feels. It’s going to last.  As you can see from the picture, I can keep a pen in the binding.  I’m hoping to replace the pen with one of those smash book pen/glue sticks by K&Company.  That would be more useful, I think for something like this.  The pen is attached to the binding by sewing and tying  one hair tie, cut in half, to the holes that were placed by the Bind-it-All.  A hair tie with button was also used to make the closure.  Paper bag pockets were included to store sketches, magazine clippings, etc.  All in all, it was a lot of work but didn’t seem like it at the time because I really wanted to see the idea come to fruition.  I’m very satisfied with the outcome and hope it inspires someone to make an inspiration binder of their own.  Here are some pictures of he outside and inside.  TFL!

The doily and colored label (seen on the back) are from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  “Craft” is from the Word Collage Cricut cartridge.  The Ohh-LA-La! mat is from the kit of the same name available at jessicasprague.com by Jodie Lee.  The folder pages you will see in the binder is also available in this kit but will be full 12-x-12 pages. I printed and then cut them using my Sizzix folder die.  The dress form is a rubber stamp, stamped on the paper, then cut and attached.  The heart was a chipboard shape I had lying around, embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, painted with red acrylic paint, and then UTEE was applied in several layers to add dimension.  

Here’s a peek at the inside paper bag pocket where I included Becky Fleck sketches that inspire me.

Above is the scrapbooking inspiration prompt.

Plastic pocket that holds some sticky notes for those inspirational a-ha moments.

Above is the home decor prompt.

Another sketch pocket and plastic pocket to include magazine clippings, etc, that may come and go with my binder.

Above is the papercraft inspiration prompt.

Card sketch inspiration pocket, perhaps I could add some quotes/sentiments that might inspire me as well. 

Above is the sewing inspiration prompt.

I’m sure ideas will pop in my head following the printing of the prompt, so I can jot them down in the back of each prompt.  Also, another pocket for sewing projects I may find in magazines, catalogs, etc.  In this plastic pocket, I might include color inspiration, like paint chips, palettes, etc. 

July Projects with Art Philosophy!

I’ve been having quite the good time exploring Close To My Heart’s new Cricut Cartridge. It’s got a ton of useful shapes and banners, an appealing and useful font, cards, borders, 3D flowers, and quite a few boxes that aren’t available on other cartridges like the French fry box pictured below.  Plus it coordinates with stamp sets made by CTMH.  The cartridge even comes with three stamp sets and chipboard shapes that coordinate.  This partnership has got me thinking about using stamp sets I already own with my Cricut.  I've probably done this in the past but this has inspired me to try it some more, also some computer journaling with it as well.  Anytime I can use things I already own with my Cricut makes me a happy crafter! 

TIP:  When using stamps with Cricut shapes, I’ve found it easier to outline the shapes with my Cricut pens, run the cardstock back through the Cricut, cutting the shapes, and then while the shapes are still stuck on the mat, I stamp the appropriate images.  Also, the sizes are listed on the stamp sets, but I’ve found I like cutting the images 1/4-inch and even 1/2-inch larger so that I have a bit of a border around the shape.

a la carte just for you French fry box jessicasprague.com supplies

Gourmet Paper Pack and Gourmet Word Art and Labels Pack--COMING SOON; Meet and Greet Wordart Pack by In The Making Design

Other Supplies:  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and Large Scallop Punch, white eyelets, and jewels

Cosmo Cricket No-Sew Iron-On Patches (Tutorial Coming Soon to MPL) jessicasprague.com supplies

Social Club Elements, Cogsmo Elements, and Material Girl Elements by Cosmo Cricket.

Other Supplies:  Heat-n-Bond, Scissors, Felt, and PhotoFabric

Big Trees Hybrid Layout jessicasprague.com supplies

Its A Start Templates Set 5 and Retro Mango Paper Pack by In The Making Design.

Other Supplies:  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, string, Autumn Leaves stamps, and black ink.