Surprise - It's a Jacket

This piece of knitting was quite a challenge for me.  I was intrigued with Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket and wanted to give it a try.  The instructions are written for someone more experienced and very comfortable with knitting.  Fortunately, our local library had a DVD by Meg Swanson showing how to complete each step of the pattern.  The knitting itself is not really difficult, and I was able to complete it with help from the video instructions.


When the knitting is complete, you have a strange piece with some interesting bulges.

Simply flip up each side, sew the shoulder seams and SURPRISE, you have a baby jacket!  This is difficult to envision with the pictures, and believe me it is a surprise that it turns into a jacket.

The yarn is Felici from Knit Picks.  It is self-striping and was wonderful to work with.  It is so soft, and machine washable.  Finding buttons was a bit of a challenge.  Went to four different stores, and could not find a good selection anywhere.  Finally, remembered that I had the perfect size wooden buttons with my Close To My Heart embellishments.  They worked perfectly for the jacket. 

Avery modeling his jacket.  Unfortunately, his Nana did not have the buttons sewn on yet. 



   

Card Café from Creative University

For the fifth straight year, I have enjoyed a snowy February weekend at Creative University in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  It is a fun-filled four days of creating and enjoying time with fellow crafters.  


This year, Tresa Black asked me to design and teach the Card Café.  At the Card Café, there were stations set up for each card where CU students could work at their own pace to learn some new ideas while creating four birthday cards using a variety of papers, stamps, and card designs.  All four cards use the new CTMH Just A Number stamp set, along with other stamps and embellishments.  Coordinating envelopes complete each card.

Based on comments from fellow CU students, the favorite card was definitely this fun one using papers from Footloose and the cute Under the Sea stamps.  There are actually two flaps on the front of the card - the piece with the whale opens and then the Creme Brûlée piece also opens from the opposite direction.  There is a birthday greeting under the Creme Brûlée flap.  A Bitty Sparkle is added for the eye of the whale and some Glitz Glitter Gel to add sparkle to the water bubbles. 

For more of an elegant look, papers from the retired Bliss kit were used along with Taffy card stock for a bit of color.  The hearts were cut on the Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge and then run through the Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder for some texture. Using a sponge dauber, Grey Flannel ink was added to the edges of all of the papers and to the embossed swirls to make them more prominent.  As a finishing touch, Bitty Opaques were added to the tips of the swirls on the hearts. 

Patterned paper with stripes and with stars from the Superhero paper packet are just right to create this fun card.  The pinwheel is made using 1"x1" squares that have been cut in half diagonally and then a corner rounder used on one corner.  Simply adhere the triangles to a piece of card stock, and add a button in the center.  

The beautiful striped paper from the Florentine kit is accented with a flower cut on the Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge and stamped using the Just For You stamp set.  Even if your stamped images do not line up perfectly, adding a Designer Brad to the center of the flower does a good job of disguising it.  




   

Potential (March SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Potential stamp set from Close To My Heart.  This set will be very useful for creating a variety of cards, especially ones with a more 'masculine' feel. 


If you have come here from 'Krista's Crafty Corner' blog, you are on the right path! With over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other CTMH products on their blogs, you should be able to find lots of great creative ideas to use for your own projects.  Blog Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

One of the patterned papers in the Victory kit has small fleur-de-lis on it, so I paired this with a stamped image from the Potential set to create a card that can be used to show a little encouragement.  This card is very quick to create and put together.  The circles for the stamped image were cut using the Cricut-Art Philosophy cartridge, and some Durables Studs were added as a quick embellishment. 
 

Now "Hop" on over to the 'Fancy Melissa' blog to see her work!  Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas!  Remember, the Potential stamp set is only available during the month of March 2012.  The regular price is $17.95, or you can purchase it for only $5 with a minimum order of $50 in other CTMH products.

If you get lost on the Blog Hop or find links that aren't working, there is a complete list of all participating blogs on Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' blog.

 

Avery has arrived!

Welcome to the world - Avery David Bennett.  He arrived on Wednesday, February 22, weighing 8 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 19" long.   


My son is now a father, so that makes me a grandmother.  But, I have been trying to avoid using that "G word" as I just do not feel like an old grandmotherly type.  Instead, I will be Nana to Avery.  Since my Nana passed last year, my son thought it would be nice to carry on the name with a new generation. 

For the pages, an argyle print from the Cruisin paper packet was used along with the New Arrival stamp set to create 'baby' pages without using traditional baby pastel colors and images.

Avery is very content being held in his Dad's arms. 


  

Thoughtful Tidings (February SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Thoughtful Tidings stamp set from Close To My Heart.  With a nice variety of 'thank you' sentiments, this stamp set will come in handy all through the year.  Remember, the red lines around some of the images indicate that the shape can be cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge on a Cricut machine. 


If you have come here from Angela's 'Tutton's Treasures' blog, you are on the right path! With almost 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other CTMH products on their blogs, you should be able to find lots of great creative ideas to use for your own projects.  Blog Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

This card may look familiar, there is a very similar one posted in the 'Just A Number - Birthday Card workshop' post.  Actually, I created this 5"x5" card first using the SOTM and liked it so well that I adapted it for the birthday card workshop as a smaller 4"x4" card.  In contrast to many cards, this one has a more masculine look.  An argyle print from the Cruisin paper is used with a sentiment from Thoughtful Tidings and a notched frame cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  A piece of Juniper cardstock was embossed using the Cuttlebug Argyle folder to coordinate with the printed paper. 
 

Now "Hop" on over to Tamytha's 'Paper HeARTIST' blog to see her work!  Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas!  Remember, the Thoughtful Tidings stamp set is only available during the month of February 2012.  The regular price is $17.95, or you can purchase it for only $5 with a minimum order of $50 in other CTMH products.

If you get lost on the Blog Hop or find links that aren't working, there is a complete list of all participating blogs on Kathleen's 'Life's like a Bowl of Stamps' blog.

 

Under the Sea (Spring/Summer New Product Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Blog Hop featuring new products being introduced in the Close To My Heart Spring/Summer Idea Book as of February 1.  If you would like a copy of the new Idea Book, use the "Email Me" link on the right side of the screen. 


If you have come here from Elizabeth's 'Broken Treasures' blog, you are on the right path! Enjoy your adventure through the Blog Hop, and you will see a lot of fabulous new stamp sets, patterned papers, and embellishments.  Blog Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

One of the cutest new stamp sets is Under the Sea.  It includes several sea creatures, along with a 'pun' sentiment for each of them.  On this card, colored pencils are used for the blow fish along with new papers from the Footloose kit and some pieces of cardstock embossed using the Tiny Bubbles folder for the Cuttlebug.  There is also some Glitz Glitter Gel added to the bubbles for some sparkle and shine
 

Now "Hop" on over to Kristine's '@ home with Studio K' blog to see her work!  Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas!  


If you get lost on the Blog Hop or find links that aren't working, there is a complete list of all participating blogs on Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' blog.