April Workshop of the Month

It is said that April showers bring May flowers, but what if you don't want to endure the rain and wait until May?

Then check out my "Flowers without Showers" 18 Card Workshop. I've combined the great new Spring Blossom color pallet with the Fancy Cut Botanical punch out flowers to create these beautiful spring themed cards.

Purchase a "virtual workshop" for just $20 (includes shipping). You will get a full color, 7-paged PDF instruction sheet for immediate download, and your materials by snail mail. Everything you need is included in the kit. Cards will be blank when completed - so you can stamp your own sentiment to suit your card giving needs.

To purchase the virtual workshop, click this button --->

Note: Workshops purchased this morning will ship today. Workshops purchased after 11 am (pacific) will ship out mid/late next week after my brads come in. Thanks for your patience!

Spring Sneak Peek!

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend - busy but productive. I completed Cathy's digital scrapbook of her son's wedding (50 pages!). I finished 3 knitting projects, finished reading book 4 of the Twilight series, hit the bank, post office, and yarn store, and designed invitations for an upcoming church auction.

On Saturday evening, Dave and I went on a date and saw Duplicity -eh... not as good as I had hoped. We had church this morning, and while he did homework and got the car's oil changed, I worked on crafty things. We rounded out the weekend by celebrating my step-dad's birthday tonight (yummy steak dinner at Outback and dessert back at their place).

Finally, and what brought me so much excitement that I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish (and now almost 2 am to blog about) - I just completed the finishing touches on my Kit of the Month for April! Here is a sneak peek - I think you'll love this great kit/instructions!

Come back on April 1st for all the details - and while that's not a joke, I'd love to hear some funny April fool's stories. Post your funniest TRUE april fools story here, and I'll pick one winner to receive the instructions for this Kit of the Month FREE!! ($5 value!)

Melanie - you're the winner! Send me an email so I can send you the instructions for free!

Almost done

Here is another digi layout for the wedding album I'm working on. My goal is to finish this project today! Unfortunately, I have a horrible head cold and staring at a computer screen is not helping!

Anyway... I love how these pages turned out. I was going for a fairy tale/magical feel for these pages. Papers and embellishments are from the Jessica Sprague classes and Oscraps designers. Brushes are from Katie Pertiet and J. Gaylor. Oh! And Cathy reminded me of the photographer's name. It is Daniel Usenko and his website can be viewed here.

You can click on the picture to view it larger.

Easter Cards - yes! I still make cards! :)

I recently purchased some stamp sets from Verve. I'd been looking for elegant scripture stamps for LONG time, and these are just gorgeous. I love their "Plain Jane" collection too - individual verse stamps for just $3!

All of these cards feature the Verve Easter set "Everlasting Life" as well as Floral Tapestry papers by CTMH, and embellishments (buttons, waxy flax, ribbon, brads, mini brads) by CTMH. I also used my piercing tool and a few punches to add some pizazz.

For each card I used a "paper piecing" technique. I stamped the cross/lily image onto patterned paper and cut out the image. Then I stamped again onto plain cardstock and glued the cut out images to it. This is how the cross can look textured, but still have detailing swirling around it on the plain cardstock. Clear as mud?

Here are a few close ups:

A Winner...

You guys simply blew me away... there were so many awesome name ideas for my leg warmers! I had a very, very, hard time deciding. After much deliberation I've decided to go with....

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CHUBBIE WUBBIES!!!

Congrats to "The Peterson Family". Contact me at nonapearl@firebin.net to discuss the color you would like for your free pair of infant Chubbie Wubbies.

In a very close second were Pudge Protectors and Chubb Huggers. Thank you ALL again so much for the help. :)

Here is my latest pair of Chubbie Wubbies. Yarn is from Blue Moon: Marino Twisted in Storytime colorway.

Also, here are two new things just added to my etsy store! I'm going to try to be much better about adding a few new things there every week.

Little Lacy Baby Sweater in blue (size 12 months)

Women's Fingerless gloves (sz Med/Large)

Top 10

Thank you so much Rachel for this awesome gift!

I don't normally do the quizzes or tags, but Dave and I just got home from our marriage retreat, I'm tired, and don't feel like editting photos to post tonight. Soooo..... here goes - 10 of the blogs/websites I visit almost every day(in no particular order):

Knitty

Knitpicks

Karen Russell's blog

Jessica Sprague's website

Ravelry

Facebook

Christine's blog

Sparkle's blog

Barb's blog

Lisa's blog

Amy's blog

p.s. Don't feel bad if I didn't mention you! I visit dozens of blogs daily and am always finding more great ones! If you've ever commented here I've visited your blog! :) I'm just not very good about updating my side bar with cool links. Adding that to my "to do" list.

p.p.s... I'm *loving* all the names you guys are coming up with for the baby leg warmers! A few are definitely in the lead, but please keep adding your ideas! I'll leave the challenge open until Monday then announce the winner!

Finished Baby Leg Warmers - and a Challenge!

I finished the leg warmers in time! Our friends came over for dinner Wed evening, and we tried the leg warmers on Baby Sebastian. They fit great - and there's room to grow! YIPPEE!!!

I gave Sebastian his own pair for being such a great model for me. :) He is such a camera ham! His face just lit up when I started shooting. (I gave the face pics to his mama and papa).

These little leggies are going to be up for sale in my etsy shop soon - and available for purchase here too. They will be $22 for the 0 -12 months size (as shown - little S is nearthe middle of that age range) and $26 for the 12-18 months size. Shipping is extra. Email me if you are interested in purchasing a pair and we can discuss color and shipping options. (As always, all proceeds go to our adoption fund!)

For those wondering WHY a baby would need leg warmers there are several reasons... They keep baby's legs warm during diaper changes (perfect for babies who hate being naked), they protect the knees in the crawling stages, and they are Oh So Cute!

my fave shot of the day:

So now that you've seen them, here's the challenge: I need a cute name for my leg warmers! Post a comment with your ideas for a name. The one I select will get a pair of baby leg warmers in the 0 -12 months size FREE (you can even pick the color from my available yarn stash).

Erin Go Bragh!

Happy St. Patty's day everyone. Not being Irish myself, I will pretend today so as to get extra smooches from my man - not that I really ever need an excuse. ;)

Here's a fun little project I started this evening. Colors are festive - doncha think? And it wasn't even intentional. These will be little leg warmers for baby Sebastian. We are seeing him and his parents tomorrow so hopefully they knit up fast! There's nothing like procrastination...

In other news, I didn't even need six extra hours today - I got a sweater finished, some fingerless mitts finished AND another digi layout done. Woot!

Now I'm off to knit and catch up on some Grey's. Hope you have a great evening! Don't get drunk on green beer, you'll regret it in the morning! =)

Another Digi Layout

Here's my week 2 assigment layout for the Digi-In Deep class by Jessica Sprague. I love it! We learned some cool things this lesson - blending photos, changing colors of patterned paper, using a stitching brush, etc. Man... if you ever considered wanting to learn to digi scrap - you have to check out JS's classes. They rock!

I have 3 knitting projects stacked up on my end table needing finishing touches. I hope to have them done this week to share! Also a big stack of cards to post too...

Sigh - I think I need an extra 6 hours in the day.

Digi Layout

My pastor's wife (and wonderful friend) Cathy asked me to create a scrapbook for her of her son's wedding. I've been doing it digitally, and have yet to share any of the pages, but just couldn't resist posting this one. I *just* finished it!

The pages will be printed in a 12x12 book -so this is a 2-page spread. I like to create both pages in one document so that I can see how it will look when printed.

The wedding photographer was just amazing. It makes me want to have my wedding all over again - just so I can hire him. I'll post his name when I get it from Cathy again. I can't remember it right now... but WOWIE!!


The design is my own. I'm going for simple and elegant in this book. Supplies include papers from Shabby Shoppe's Carousel, a Katie Pertiet frame, Anna Aspnes Old Film Frame, and a patterned word paper from Jessica Sprague's Digi -In Deep Assignment 1.

Fingerless Glovies

I actually finished these fingerless "gauntlet" style gloves in February - but am just getting around to posting them. :) The pattern is called Feather and Fan Flower Market Gloves and it is by Dolce Handknits. The photos really don't do these gloves justice. They are so scrumptiously wonderful! As you can see, they hit at about mid arm - 5 or 6" above the wrist.

The yarn is the same as I used for my Mable Scarf - it's Blue Moon Twisted yarn in the colorway "Rolling Stone". I just love it! When I put it up to my clothes it matches EVERYTHING! Which means I can wear my scarf and gloves everyday! YAY!

You can see the feather and fan pattern a little better on this one:

So I had just a smidgen of yarn left over and decided to make some fingerless gloves for my li'l pumpkin. I made the pattern for these beauties up myself, although I have some tweaking I'd like to do on them. I think these will be my next project for etsy - kid sized fingerless gloves. :) I have a new batch of Blue Moon yarn coming in today or tomorrow, so I'll start on these as soon as it arrives.

The fronts of the gloves have a ribbed pattern (this makes them stretchy)

The palm sides are just stockinette.

Sammie loves her gloves, but she does not love posing for pictures. :) I have to try to catch her unawares. But, aren't those always the best shots anyway?

Digi Stuff!

I'm a little behind in the lastest digi classes taught by Jessica Sprague. This is lesson one from Digi - In Deep (the 301 level class). She really turns up the skill level between the 201 classes and this one. SHeeSH! But I love the resulting layout. Now I just have to come up with a second page that is worthy of sitting next to this beaut.

You can click on the layout for a closer view.

Sam Gets Creative

"Hey mom - look at my hands!"

Don't worry! It's not what you think. My sweet angel didn't get into my paints without permission, and my scraproom isn't destroyed. :)



Last week Sammie had a playdate with a preschool friend. Their house was filled with incredible artwork everywhere - really fun, funky, ecclectic beatiful stuff - and come to find out the mom and grandma of Sammie's friend did most of it! So already I know they are an artsy family.

One piece was obviously done by Sammie's friend, Eliana - a giant 4'x4' canvas that hung over their fireplace. I asked them about it and her mom told me that starting when Eliana was 2 they gave her paint and let her do whatever she wanted with the canvas. They hung it up, and then every few months they take it down and let her add to it, or even paint over entire sections. Eliana is now almost 4, so it has evolved quite a bit over the years, but it is still fabulous.

Of course I just happened to have a few canvases laying around in my art studio. So this weekend we let Sammie do one for herself. She had a BLAST. She painted for close to two hours! (That's a long time to keep to one project for a 4 year old!). Now her picture is over our fireplace and I love looking at it. We also plan to let her add to it every few months, so I'll be sure to update pictures here as it changes.

For those with young kids - this is an awesome project to do on a rainy day. Just be prepared for the kids to get a little messy! :)

A productive weekend...

We stayed busy this weekend. We cleaned the house from top to bottom, I taught one of 3 card classes (the others are tonight and tomorrow night), and I finished up a knitting project.

I made this sweater for a friend's baby shower. It was my first stab at Elizabeth Zimmerman's "February Baby Sweater". The pattern is a fun one, but a bit obscure in many respects so I had to muddle through (with the help of several knittering blogs). I decided to make this one short sleeved, and because of a technical detail that I missed, it is a 0-3 month size instead of a 12-24 month size. BUT, it has some give so I think it will get a goodly amount of use. :)

I've finished the body of a second sweater so now just have to add sleeves and buttons. It IS the correct size and I'll be sure to post it once it is complete.

I also had some scrap yarn leftover and started making fingerless mittens for Sammie. Can't wait to share those with you! They are adorable!

My Class at C.U.

This is part of the class that I taught at Creative University. My topic was on interactive scrapbooking - or pages that move.

Both layouts have elements that move. The left page has a 3 pocket picture pull out (say that three times fast!) that reveals 5 photos. The right page has two photo pockets that fold up to reveal 4 more photos.

When you pull the photo out from under the chipboard arrow, several more photos are revealed!

This is the back side. So you see 3 photos on the front and 2 more on the back.

This is the right hand page.

When you lift up the 2 front photos, four more photos are revealed!

Another Creative University Make and Take

After seeing this I think you will ALL want to attend Creative University (Tresa Black's retreat) next year. She is such an *amazing* artist! WoW!! This was one of the optional make and takes...

It features a 12x12 canvas that we painted, then embossed. We added distressed paper, wet cardstock paper roses, painted and embellished paper flowers, and distressed metal accents. The letters are stickers that were sponged. Most of the paper layers also have a coating of mod podge for durability.

This project was pretty involved, but totally worth it! I'm thinking of making more of these for mother's day gifts (and my craft fair in the fall).

Here are some close ups for detail:

A Virtual Workshop!

You're Invited...
to make this awesome Hello Birdie Celebration Mini Album with me!

This "no stamp" creation can be made in just 1 hour and is a fabulous mini album for birthdays, easter celebrations, or other spring activities. We'll be using Close To My Heart's "Hello Birdie Card Kit", a Braggin Tags Album, and matching cardstock.

Join me in person Friday, March 27th at 7 pm (at my home) for this workshop.

Cost is just $15 and I have space for 8 guests! RSVP today by emailing me at nonapearl@myctmh.com

Don't live near Seattle? No worries!
Attend my "Virtual Workshop" on Saturday, March 28th at 7:30 pm (Pacific).
Cost is $20 and includes all the materials needed for the workshop - shipped priority mail to your door! The day before the workshop you will receive an email with a link to a chat room where we will gather, and where I will lead the cutting and assembly of the mini album.

If the timing isn't right for you, feel free to use the full color PDF instructions included with your materials to work on the album at your leisure.

To attend the "Virtual Workshop" you must order by midnight on Tuesday, March 1oth. Your materials will be shipped on or before Monday the 23rd, and should arrive within 2-3 days. This offer is good for U.S. residents only.

To order your Virtual Workshop click this button --->

Neither of the above options work for you? You can still make this great album!

Purchase the full color, 6 page PDF instructions for $5 and make the mini album at your own pace. All materials needed are listed, along with precise cutting dimensions and diagrams.

To purchase your instructions click this button --->

(note: This is for instructions only. After paying you will be directed to a secure site where you can download the PDF file to your computer. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read the PDF file. This is a free program that you can download HERE. One final note - 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these instructions goes to our adoption fund! Thank you for your support!)

Note - I've had people ask if they can purchase the instructions to hold workshops. YES! You may do this as long as you do not give out the instructions to your guests. :)

One QUICK correction to the instructions - the GREEN color in the kit should be CITRUS LEAF (not Kiwi as stated in my instructions!)

Cupcake Make and Take

I'm home from Tresa's retreat (boy was it a great time!), and I have so much to share with you! I think I'll draw it out over this whole week to make it more exciting.

The first thing I have to share is one of the make and takes that Tresa provided. She had us make these adorable paper cupcakes! You can go to her blog to see her tutorial. There is so much potential for these - from gift card holders to the photo display that we made.

I'm amazed mine made it home in one piece. Flying can be rough on handmade projects. :)

ps... that was Sammie when she was just a widdle, biddy baby. :)