BBTB-Walk In My Garden

Our BBTB challenge this week - Grass, from Cricut cartridge "Walk In My Garden" with a wonderful surprise of 2 fonts, these are from Scrapnfonts.com one is a dingbat "DB Mulberry Lane" and the other is a font "LD Outline Curl". And all together they are so darn cute.

This is a standard A-2 card (5 1/2"X 4 1/4"), the background paper is from Chatterbox Inc.,
"Scarlet Brooch", the photo corners are remnants from another Martha Stewart punch. Misc. ribbon and the bird is from Cricut cartridge "50 States". Coloring was done with Copic Markers and the Copic Airbrush System. Happy Monday, Sandi

Friday Morning Clutch-Enfys Cashmore

Good Morning, please grab a cup of coffee/tea and join us for the Friday Morning Clutch. A series of interviews with some of our favorite inspiration personalities. This is the last interview for this year. As we head into the wonderful season, life is busy, if not a whirlwind. So I will resume the first of the year. Thank you every one for stopping by, for saying hi to our featured artist and for just being you. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and the Best of the New Year to each of you.

And here we go, it is my pleasure to introduce Enfys also known as En. If there is a jet setter among us, it is Enfys, flying between her home in Hudson FL and across the ocean to her home in the West Midlands region of UK. She is wife, mother and loving grandmother. She is design team member many times over and has a respectable list of publications to her credit. Also one of my favorite tid-bits "she has little sense of direction", her lost stories are close to my heart because I could get lost in a closet. So without further ado: Here's En:


1. What time of the day is your time to create? Do you have any exercises that get you started?
Exercise? The only exercise I get is lifting my coffee mug to my lips! I probably create more in the evenings than earlier in the day. I am not a morning person.

2. From where or what do you take your inspiration?

I often see a stunning unusual colour combination in a fashion garment, that inspires me. I get a lot of inspiration from blogs, there is such a wealth of talent out there, and if I am having a dry spell, challenge blogs and sketches always get me kick-started again

3. Are you a neat creator or a messy one? What frustrates you most in the process?

Incredibly messy. Being messy I often search for ages for a completed die-cut/stamped image to finish a card. I know I put it on the table, but in the tornado like conditions it vanishes. I usually find it stuck to the seat of my pants when I go to bed......

4. What do you think is the most important thing in creating a card or project?

The idea............if the creative urge is there, everything flows

5. From 1 to 10 where do you rate color? What is your favorite color?

Definitely a 10. I love using unusual and clashing colours together. In crafting the colour I couldn't be without is black, it gives such a pop to any card, although funnily enough it's a colour I rarely wear.

6. If you could have an afternoon tea with any 5 people alive or not, who would you invite?

Right now, when I am in Florida, it would have to be my four little grandchildren, with the bonus that they are too young to come to tea themselves, so I would get to see my kids as well.

7. Who is your safety net?

My husband Mike, he is incredibly supportive of me, puts up with the endless hours I spend crafting, bringing me frequent cups of tea and coffee. He is proud of me as well, and that makes me feel so good

8. If you could go anywhere in the world to gather inspiration where would that place be? Real or imaginary?

I think it would have to be India - all those fabulous jewel colours and the hot sun...... I am lucky enough to have travelled pretty extensively over the years, and one of my favourite places is South Africa

9. What is your definition of comfort food?
A quick fix - I am the sort of person who eats to live not lives to eat. Having said that, my idea of heaven is a large iced carmel latte swirl with lashings of whipped cream.

10. If you could thank only one person in your life, who would that be?

It would have to be two people, I can't differentiate between them, my parents. I had a most lovely childhood, they guided my sister and myself very wisely, and although they died some years ago, I miss them still.

Play Date Cafe-Challenge #4

Well, this is my week to host the challenge and I eagerly invite all of you to play along, as these are some of my favorite colors. I chose blue/green, chocolate brown, tan and creame. There is a peace and tranquility to these colors, which I am sure is the reason the bedroom in the picture just calls out for a nap. Speaking of naps, there is no creature on earth that has so perfected the art of napping as the cat and/or the husband, which of, both have become the object of my affection in this card. I wanted to use whimsy and humor, so to share that, elegant colors don't always need elegant presentation to work. You may all take one lovely nap when your challenge is completed, LOL.

The cards overall size is 5 1/2"X5 1/2". The background papers are Bazzill,EKSuccess and Imaginisce. The cat and it's hat was cut with the Cricut cartridge "Every Day Paperdoll". The photo corners are from a Cuttlebug Die. My verse is on a Nesties Oval. All coloring was done with Copic Markers and the Copic Airbrush System. Have a great Wednesday. Hugs

BBTB-Bird-StoryBook

I am a type A personality, it is something I try to pooh-pooh away and sweep under the rug, but I am. Especially this time of the year, I question my need to take on more than I can humanly accomplish, but I do it every year and every year I say I am not doing this next year, LOL. So as I began designing this challenge in my head, I kept resisting this bird, what was I going to do with this bird, why would someone choose this silly bird? I answered my own question with "well it is a challenge isn't it?" Most of the time I am up for a good challenge but no, please not when I am in over load but as I learned Saturday morning that is probably the time you grow the most. Okay so back to the challenge. I cut the bird and laid it on my design table and just looked at it for a couple of days, white, blank and it looked like one of those sweet oriental birds on a Shoji Screen. So I started pulling pattered paper with squares but they were not filmy enough, so I decided to put the Copic Airbrush to work (which was the reason I got it in the first place), I first cut a 5 3/4" block for my 6"X6" card, sprayed it with BG-72, then laid string across it and sprayed it with E25 (examples attached). I then cut the branch with flowers from Cricut Cartridge "Home Decor". The coloring for the bird and branches was done with Copic Markers also. The card is done, nope it just did not look finished, so I tried a bazillion photo corners, photo corners to me are like the lining in a purse, no one really notices it, but I know it is there and love a good lining in a purse, to me it says that someone took the time to do it right. The card sat on my table waiting to be finished as I worked on some other less mind controlling items. Friday was a whirlwind day for me, I did this and that and when it was time to call it a day, I just left everything where it was (please don't get the wrong impression, that is how it generally is, lol.) Saturday morning very very early, dark Saturday morning, I stood looking at the card and still nothing came and I went into the kitchen to fix a cup of tea and as I walked back into the studio area, I looked down and I had punch residuals all over the floor, so decided to pick them up and then I saw IT! I could not believe my eyes, I had used the Martha Stewart cut out flower punch a lot on Friday and when I picked up the voided image it was a perfect photo corner. So the card is finished. And the moral to the story? What's on your floor? and Don't begrudge the challenge. Happy Monday, Hugs, Sandi

Illuminate Your Life

Good Sunday Morning Everyone. I was watching a movie last night and almost nodding off, when a commercial for Glade came on. Have you seen their new illuminaries? Well my "What If" buttons went off and I started surfing channels for this commercial, I caught it another 5 times, lol, I am sure they will re-run my movie. I cut from the Cricut Cartridge "Tags,Bags and More" the rectangle box twice, once at 3 7/8" and once at 4", I airbrushed the base, and wrapped the smaller base with handmade paper 4" tall. Stamped a word block with "Happy Thanksgiving" Hero Arts Calendar Stamp and adhered it to the base. I added a battery operated Tea Light it just sits inside on the smaller base and wha laaaa, my very own illuminary. A month or so back I won the "Scent My Cards" liquid from Die Cuts R Us, so I treated my paper and cardstock with and it smells good also, just like the Glade illuminaries. Claudia carries this product, so check it out. I did not go out with add-ons on this because the paper lent itself to a contemporary/asian style but I will be doing some Christmas ones for sure.

The picture below is the best I could get with the illumination, but I think you can see it. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Hugs, Sandi

Friday Morning Clutch-Sharon Caudle

I sincerely hope you missed the Clutch last week as much as I missed posting it. My computer was down and I can think of a million things I would rather have happen. But we are back and ready to go.

When we begin with this paper love thing, we seek out inspiration, someone who sparks our imagination, someone who uses color to bring a blank piece of cardstock to life. Someone that can bring images and patterns together in that perfect picture. We stand in stores leafing through magazines in wonder and pull up websites to stare at jpegs. Quickly we begin to put names to our favorites and begin looking for them and their creations. But the real magic does not begin until we begin the creating, maybe a little off color at first, a little lopsided, lacking the ummmph factor but we are hooked. That is the magic because it is then we realize that all that color and design doesn't just fall onto the cardstock and call itself done. Someone has angst, laid down, taken up, tossed, started over many times until it is finally deemed DONE. She or he is just like you or me, started the same way, and this morning I would like to introduce you to one of my favorites, so let's get on with it as I introduce you to GrammaS, Sharon, Sharon Caudle.

Sharon lives in that small city of lights and Sierra views, Reno, NV. She is a mom, wife and if you can believe it a Gramma. She puts in 8 to 10 hours every week at a real job and still manages to pull off some of the most incredible projects you have ever seen. It is my pleasure to introduce: Sharon Caudle.


1. What time of the day is your time to create? Do you have any exercises that get you started?

Since I work 10 plus hours every day, I'm pretty limitied with my craft time during the work week, so most of my creating is done on the weekends. I also have a house full of family, so I really love crafting into the night when things are quiet and everyone else is in bed. No excercises for me, I just grab my paper and glue and go for it.

2. From where or what do you take your inspiration?

Oh my gosh, I think from everywhere! I do love looking through card magazines and blogs. I'll be sitting at work and have an idea pop into my head. That's when I grab for my post-it notes.

3. Are you a neat creator or a messy one? What frustrates you most in the process?

LOL! Do you want me to answer this, or should I let my family answer this? I am so messy when I work on my crafting! It gets so bad that I can't even put my paper cutter down and open the arm to measure a piece of paper. Wow...I can't believe I'm telling you this! I think my biggest frustration is that I have so many wonderful things, and then forget I have them. I need to do a monthly check of what I've actually got in all my little organized drawers.

4. What do you think is the most important thing in creating a card or project?

For me, the most important thing is that I continue to enjoy the process. Sometimes I get so caught up in the "I have to get all this done by this time", that I can start to lose myslef and my love of the craft in the deadlines. That's when I have to take a step back and a couple of deep breaths, and remember why I do all of this.

5. From 1 to 10 where do you rate color? What is your favorite color?

Color is soooo important. No matter what color you use, it sets the entire mood for the card or the project that you are making. It can make or break a creation. So either 1 or 10, whichever is most important. My favorite color is, and always has been yellow. Just ask my poor sister. She has yet to forgive me for making her wear a yellow dress to my first wedding which was 35 years ago. The girl can hold a grudge! LOL!

6. If you could have an afternoon tea with any 5 people alive or not, who would you invite?

Believe it or not, I would not invite anyone famous that everyone knows. I would invite my Mom and Dad, both my Grandmothers, and my Dad's Dad. They all passed way too soon in my life, and there are soooo many stories I would love to hear. My Dad's parents came to America from Lithuania, and I would just love to hear about what life was like when they were young, and about the voyage to America.

7. Who is your safety net?

I don't even have to think about this one. Without a doubt, my husband. He is my rock, my compass, my North Star. He supports me in anything and everything I do. And not only does he put up with me, he loves me for simply just being me. Does it get any better?

8. If you could go anywhere in the world to gather inspiration where would that place be? Real or imaginary?

Oz , only I would prefer not to travel via tornado, thank you very much.

9. What is your definition of comfort food?

Carbs, anything with carbs. Cake (keep the icing), bread, pasta, and potato. You can have your chocolate, just give me a pound cake!

10. If you could thank only one person in your life, who would that be?

My Mom. She was such a talented woman and had a great love of crafting. My entire childhood was filled with tables full of feathers, sytrofoam, wire, and anything else your imagination can dream up. So thanks Mom, for that and a million other things.

Sharon thanks so much for participating. Please everyone, say hi to Sharon and have a wonderful Friday and weekend. Hugs, Sandi

The Play Date Cafe Challenge-Red/Black/White

When I think of Red, Black and White, I often think of pure energy, and sometimes when thinking of pure energy I think of horses, so marrying all of this with a quote from "Henry V" by William Shakespeare was more than I could resist.

Please take our color challenge this week, cause these are FUN colors. Just create your wildest red, black and white and then submit it HERE!

So you don't have to squint, here is the quote from "Henry V".

.... he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him; he is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts. ~William Shakespeare, Henry V

The background paper is double sided and is by g.c.d. studios "Zebra" and Red. The horse was cut with Cricut Cartridge "Winter Woodland". The quote sits upon two nesties ovals. Misc. ribbon and QK photo corners. The left corner is turned down and then adhered to give the zebra stripe even more motion. Happy, happy, Thursday, Hugs, Sandi

Take a minute and smile on these:

1. Red also means "Beautiful" in Russian.

2. The word "ruby" comes from the Latin word rubens, meaning "red".

3. The color red doesn't really make bulls angry; They are color-blind.

4. There are at least 23 different shades of red crayons.

5. The red stripes on the United States Flag stand for courage.

6. Chinese brides traditionally wear red wedding dresses for good luck.

7. Seeing the color red can make your heart beat faster.

8. As few as two percent of people in the United States have red hair.