MLS Blog Hop Winner

I'm just getting back from a week long vacation during which I ate, chatted and generally enjoyed myself tons and tons. But alas, my deadlines didn't go away while I was gone. What is wrong with them?

So I will be working like crazy on a few projects and my blog may be a little neglected while I catch up on the laundry, cleaning, class prep, etc.

To tide you over, here is a pic of my sweet Dani's head. She was in need of a cute hair clip so I wizzed to my studio, found this cute crocheted flower by Harmonie and glued it to a plain silver clip. Tacky glue didn't hold for long, but E6000 would. It turned out really cute for a project that took about 30 seconds plus 5-10 minutes of drying time.

While I was gone, my review of Donna Salazar products appeared on The Scrap Review. Sometime in the next week or so I'll post those projects here too. I'm quite pleased by how they turned out.

I also want to thank you for all of your sweet comments on the MLS Farewell Blog Hop. If I am ever down, I'll be reading those little gems to lift me up. Thank you so much for all your support. Especially all of you who have been commenting for 100 years. I'm so grateful for your love. Thank you.

You're probably all waiting at the edge of your chairs to find out who won my MLS giveaway...it is ROSE! This was a totally random thing, but once I found out that Rose won, I went to her blog and totally fell in love with her. She is so talented! You gotta check out what the girl can do with copic markers. Wow.



Rose, email me at kartchnerfamily@cox.net with your addy and I'll get your prize out to you sometime in the next month (or so). giggle...

xoxo
Bethany

On Reaching Goals

This month, I finally reached a goal that I've been working toward for years. It is one of those goals that I never really thought I'd reach and when I found out that I did, I cried.

I was published this month in Somerset Studio.

I submitted a piece to the Alice in Wonderland call 100 years ago and hadn't heard back. I assumed that it was because I was rejected. So when I opened up my issue and thumbed through and actually found ME! I screamed with joy. Of course, this frightened the poor children sitting in the car with me half-to-death. (I look at magazines during red lights much to the annoyance of people sitting behind me in traffic. It is a terrible habit. I'm getting help for it.)

Here's my piece. Do you recognize it? (It is the heart with wings. On the very top!)

I hadn't come down from my Somerset Studio high before I got this magazine in the mail a few days later.

Hmmm. I thought to myself...I didn't order this...I wonder why I got it? Then it occurred to me that perhaps I had something published in it! And I did!

I'm still kinda in shock over the whole thing. And so happy. So very happy.

The Silhouette SD: Digital Cutting System Review

Today my review of the Silhouette SD went live at The Scrap Review. I had so much fun playing with this machine! If you are looking for a cutting system, you need to check out my review before you purchase. (Since they are a major purchase!)

I'll be chatting about my layout later this week, but here are a few projects that don't need to much explanation.

Here is a card that I made using flowers cut into various sizes, sprayed with Shimmerz Vibez and stacked. The swirl was also cut out using the Silhouette, stamped and sprayed with Shimmerz Spritz. (Both the flower and the swirls were cut out of basic copier paper.)

The Congratulations sticker is from SRM.

Now for a cute project that my girls are absolutely ga-ga over. (BTW, Old Navy kid's shirts are on sale right now!)

Isn't it beautiful? It took a long time to place all the rhinestones, but the happy smiles and refusal to remove their precious shirts at night make all that time a labor of love.

Next, I made a mini-art quilt using a dress form that I cut out from copier paper, sprayed with Shimmerz Vibez and sewed to a piece of muslin sprayed with Shimmerz and stamped. The heart is also a piece of muslin that I sprayed with Shimmerz. Can you tell I'm loving the Shimmerz? (giggle)

I've never etched glass before, but I attempted it for this review. It was amazingly easy. I was a bit worried about the whole chemical reaction thing, but it turned out to be painless. I've got plans to etch the bottle that I keep dish soap in. Won't that be pretty?

Have a great Monday!

xoxo
Bethany

Splash Hearts

I've been having so much fun playing around with my new Shimmerz Vibez. I made these Splash Hearts for Valentine's day using Vibez, muslin, watercolor paper and cardstock. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out.

 

  

  

  

I made a two part video if you are interested in making a Splash Heart for your sweetie this Valentine's Day.

I hope that you enjoy it! (I apologize for the doorbell and dogs barking. Oh and the crying baby. Sometimes life happens while I'm trying to be all professional. Darn it.)

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Home Mini-Album

My home mini-album is really a project straight from my heart. When I was preparing for this project, I culled all my bins and drawers for images, stamps, colors and bits that made me think of HOME. It was really enlightening to see what ended up in my pile: birds, eggs, flowers, hearts, children, keys. All of my favorite things.

I got the idea for this album from an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. I can't remember the artist's name, but it was a great article. (Almost every article in that magazine is great.)

The bones of this album are pieces of cardboard that I saved from Christmas gift packaging. I adhered a piece of paper cloth to the front and back of my house. (Before I adhered the paper cloth, I sewed on it.) I did a two-part video of how to make paper cloth here.

Here is a picture of the front.


A side view. The rings that I had on hand are too small. Hence the reason why my album is pretty wide. I really need to get bigger ones, but I haven't quite gotten to the store yet.


Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a momma. I wanted to have a large, boisterous, energetic family and I do. It makes me happy. (And tired, too.)


In order to do the drips on the background, hold your cardboard vertically and spray your Shimmerz Spritz in Mudpie really close. Let it run and run.


I think that I use sequin waste on every single project. I love it so much.


A close-up of the tags.


On this page, I tested out some pastels and stamps that my sweet momma gave me for my birthday.


I used a lot of GCD Studio's Artsy Urban leftovers on this page.


I combined my own writing with stamped letters on this circle page. Love how it turned out.


This rose is a piece cut out of some lace that I had in my stash. I blinged it up with Shimmerz Blingz.


I adore everything about this page.


Isn't that image so precious? It is from Crafty Secrets.


This image is also made by Crafty Secrets.


The back cover.

This project may look very complex, but it is actually a series of very simple steps. It all starts with a coat of paint, some Shimmerz Spritz and some stamps. Very doable. Really. I promise. Would you be interested in learning how I did the backgrounds? I'm considering doing a video, if there is enough interest. Let me know.

Speaking of videos, if you liked my first videos, I am sure that you will be pleased to learn that I'm working on a few more. I'll be doing video reviews for The Scrap Review, some Basics videos for Shimmerz Paints as well as a few more just because. Be on the lookout!

Also, my CHA-W faves will be on The Scrap Review tomorrow afternoon. You'll get a peek into what I'll be playing with shortly!

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Grubby Angel

Because of the new release of Shimmerz Pearlz, I got a little behind last week and wasn't able to get my paper cloth projects up as planned. (You can learn how to make paper cloth right here.)

(There are some really rocking examples of Pearlz on the Shimmerz blog, by the way. You're going to want to check them out. I was totally inspired to get painting last night...)

I took the photo for Grubby Angel this summer at a family picnic. When I took the pic, all I saw was how beautiful E looked with her flushed cheeks, bright eyes and smiley face, I completely missed her runny nose and soda mustache. Later, of course I noticed those things, but I still wanted to use the picture because her eyes are so soulful. Putting in in B&W helped a bit, but not completely. So, I decided to embrace the flaws and do a page on my Grubby Angel.


Materials: My Little Shoebox papers, overlays and chipboard letters; Stamps by Stampin' Up!, Heidi Swapp, Inkadinkadoo and Fontwerks; Shimmerz Blingz in Pixie Dust and Shimmerz Spritz in Chickadee, Cotton Candy, Sea Foam; Ruby; Fashion Jewels, StazOn and Encore stamp pads, Gesso; cheesecloth, unknown manufacturers of the ribbons; Sharpie pen; Prima flower

The title is My Little Shoebox chipboard letters painted with Shimmerz Blingz. I love the chunky look.


You can see the beautiful iridescence on the paper cloth in this pic.


More Blingz on the wings. (hehehe. I'm a poet!)


I think that cheesecloth should become a staple in the scrapbooker's diet. I absolutely loved working with it. It takes color beautifully and pretty much stays in place without much glue. I love the soft, dreamy look it gives too. I'm going to be stocking up on this material. Just need to get to a fabric store.


I'm really excited that Martin Luther King Jr. day is tomorrow. The kids and I have plans to go to the Phoenix zoo and see the new Komodo dragon exhibit. I don't think I've seen a Komodo dragon in real life, have you? I'll take lots of pics so we can enjoy the exhibit together. Okay? I'm also pretty excited because Cam is a major animal lover and he is now old enough to actually get something out of a zoo visit. Can't wait!

I'm working on my blog again. What do you think?

xoxo
Bethany

Easy Felt Food for Children

I am very proud of my very first technique video. It is on making really easy felt food. I hope that you enjoy it!



I learned tons by doing this video. For example, I am a bit long-winded (I never suspected such) and I talk a lot with my hands. A lot. There is much to be improved upon...

Sunshine Art Quilt

In case you haven't already been there, my first tutorial is up at The Next Step. I made this mini-art quilt (measures about 5x7 inches) for it.


This was such a fun and easy project (really!). I hope that you'll play along with us.

A Quick Hello!

This week is Spring Break for the girls so we are doing all kinds of fun things. Going to museums, figuring out what clothing everyone needs for the summer, going shopping, reorganizing my studio, purging, baking, cleaning and going to bed completely wiped-out every night.

I wanted to pop in and say a quick hello from my home to yours!


This mini-art quilt measures about 5x7 inches. The paper is all My Little Shoebox. So cute! And the paint is Making Memories.



Have a wonderful week!

Thank You Sakura

I was recently the winner of a pack of Sakura's new Moonlight gellyroll pens thanks to a challenge at Creative Therapy. When she sent the pens, Linda (at Sakura) asked me to make a card for them. So I did.


I used some Autumn Leaves alpha stamps and colored them in with the moonlight gellyrolls while holding a very wiggly baby boy. (Sometimes, you just gotta create when inspiration strikes...) Luckily, this was a very easy card to complete. I love the vibrant results! Aren't those colors lush?

However, I wanted to do something more because Linda was so sweet and sent me an extra set of purple shade gellyrolls. Just because.

While I was making my card, I found that the pens were extremely juicy. Delightfully so. Like a sweet peach in summer. (However, the pens have no nutritional value whatsoever. Just so you know...) I wondered if they would work on fabric too.


They do.


And so the mini-fabric quilt was born.


The first quilt (4 1/2 x4 1/2 in.) was made with the Moonlight pens. They were the best because of their juiciness. The second quilt (5 x 7 in.) was made using the purple shades pens. The package consists of three different shades of one color. They aren't quite as juicy, but the subtle difference in color lends to some cool effects. Unfortunately, online you cannot appreciate the sparkle that is in the "however long the night" part. Too bad. I guess we'll all have to pay Linda at Sakura a little visit. Very soon. (giggle...)

I sent off all of these beauties today. I do hope they arrive safely!

New Hobby

When I was a girl, my mom lovingly stitched these gorgeous season girls. They hung in our hallway for years and years.


When I got married, I found them in the attic (horror of all horrors!) and quickly swiped them to hang in my own home. They now reside in a special place near the older girls' room. I love them just as much today as I did when my mom completed them forever ago.

These sweeties inspired me to take up floss and needle and begin embroidering. So this is my very first embroidery project...



Relief Society is the name of the women's organization at my church. I made this bag to carry all my stuff on Sunday. The letters came without directions in a SIStv kit so I didn't realize that if I touched them with the iron (after I adhered them) they would melt all over everything. Hence the reason for the "grunged" letters. The "Y" was really bad so I just put my signature over the green mess. It seems to cover it up nicely.

By the way, don't you just love those Helly Kitty socks that D is modeling? Adorable. Wish they came in mongo-size.

Here is a close-up of my embroidery since this is what it is all about.


I doodled my own design, copied it onto the fabric and 2 naptimes later, voila! Done! It was so much fun. Like doodling with string. I'm totally hooked.

On another note, I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! We watched Hulk with my bro and sis. I thought that the movie was an excellent medium for getting more work done on Q's stocking, but other than that, I wasn't too interested. I do remember a lot of roaring and a lot of green. Oh, and the shooting was pretty pervasive too. I also worked on a few scrappy projects (funk, funk and more funk) that I'll post later this week. And I went to Hobby Lobby with Becky to get a few necessary (and a few unnecessary) supplies. Other than that, it was pretty quiet around here. I also got quite a few more very kind comments and emails that I've so enjoyed reading. I am deeply touched by all of you. Another big thank you. My spirits are soaring and my knees are brushed off. New opportunities are calling me and because of all of you, I'm ready. Thank you. I just hope that I can someday do the same for you. Have a great day.