Christy Sheffield

*The Real Me* layout for PageMaps challenge

Here's a layout I made for a PageMaps challenge. I'm new to PageMaps, but already I know I love it. I like coming up with sketches, but it's so nice when somebody has already done it for you.

Supplies used: Cardstock (Bazzil); Patterned Paper (Studio Calico); Fabric Strips (Studio Calico); Foam letter stickers (American Crafts); Ribbon (American Crafts); Thread; Font: Huxtable

Everything but the ribbon came from Studio Calico's March kit (Garment District). It's already sold out, but if you like it then you will like their others. I recommend subscribing. It's a great price and you get a ton of stuff! Also, you can purchase the fabric strips without subscribing to a kit.

The Big 5-0!

My dad turned 50 last month. I don't normally make layouts for every family member's birthday, but turning 50 is a pretty big deal. Definitely worth commemorating.

I used supplies from Studio Calico's May kit, "Playground." The lovely ladies also hosted a challenge on their blog this week to make a pinwheel. You can find the post (with a easy to follow tutorial) here.

Supplies used: Cardstock (Bazzil, Die Cuts with a View); Patterned paper (Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket, Studio Calico); Die cut cards (October Afternoon); Cardstock stickers (Jenni Bowlin); Name, Date, Place labels (Jenni Bowlin); Brad (Sassafras Lass); Rub-ons (Pink Paislee); Pen (American Crafts, Faber-Castell)

I've had this idea toying in my head about a way I could include a ton of pictures on a layout without showing all of them at once. I have a ton of cheap picture books on hand. You know, the kind they would give you when you turned in a roll of film to be printed? Anyway, I found that it was easy to tear the plastic protectors from the yucky cover and still keep them sewed together. I adhered some patterned paper to the front to cover up the seam. And, there you go - a photo book on my layout. How awesome is that?!?

Here you see my lovely hand pulling up all the photos and showing you the last page. Instead of a photo I adhered 4x6 journaling card. The rest of the slips hold photos.

CFH Blog Hop Winner + New Cards

Wow, what an amazing weekend! There were some absolutely gorgeous cards! Every person who participated (blogger & hopper) worked hard this weekend to make the blog hop a success. Great job! CFH is sure going to be busy this summer!

I urge you, if you are not doing so already, to consider making a card for CFH. While you are at it, make two cards - one blank card for a soldier to use and an AnyHero card where you write a personal message inside thanking the soldier. Find out here how to send cards to CFH. (Be sure to check out the cardmaking tips blog where you can find out what cards are needed and what cards to avoid. Also the shipping info page shares specific needs as well. Plus, there's where you can find a shipping address and packing label.)

Not creative? Lacking time? That's okay, too, because you can send a donation to CFH to help with the shipping costs. A box of 325 cards cost CFH $11.95 to ship, so any donations would be great. Find out how to donate here.

Now, onto the winner! Thank you, everyone, who left such kind comments. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one of them. I used the Random.org Interger Generator, and the winner is...

Congrats, LadyDoc! I hope you enjoyed the blog hop (and I hope that the papers and tests weren't too unbearable). Check your email because you should get one from me (Christy Sheffield - christysheffield@yahoo.com). I'll need your mailing address so I can send off your goodies.

I was so wowed by this lady's commitment to make a card for every comment left, that I decided to do the same. 113 comments - good thing I'm off this summer!

Here's two more cards I made this weekend for CFH (only 110 more to go):

Supplies used: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned Paper, Circle die cut (Scenic Route); Letter stickers (BasicGrey); Distress Ink (Tim Holtz for Ranger Industries)

Supplies used: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned Paper (Rusty Pickle); Circle die cut (Scenic Route); Metallic marker (Martha Stewart); Distress ink (Tim Holtz for Ranger); Wooden stars; Ribbon

Both cards used some distressing techniques. I even distressed the ribbon on the second card so that it would match. I'll share details in a post later this week.

CFH Blog Hop: *USA* Card

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a great time looking at all the amazing cards in the Cards for Heroes Blog Hop! Note: This is not the first blog post in the blog hop. Be sure to start at the beginning of the blog hop by going here and clicking on the blog hop button.

I decided to go with a patriotic theme since CFH is taking cards for Independence Day.

 

Supplies used: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned Paper (Scenic Route); Chipboard letters (Maya Road); Clear Star Shape (Maya Road); Silver Pen (Martha Stewart Crafts); Ribbon (Offray)

This is a super easy card to make and can be easily adapted to any theme.

1. Cut your cardstock to 5.5 inches wide by 8.5 inches tall. Fold the card in half to make the card 5.5x4.25 (which will fit in a A2 size envelope).
2. Cut a piece of patterned paper to 5.5 inches wide by 2.75 inches tall. Adhere to the bottom of the card. Trim off any excess paper.
3. Using the silver pen, draw faux stitching around the entire card. Also draw faux stitching around the clear star.
4. String some yellow ribbon through the hole in the top of the clear star and wrap around the card where the patterned paper meets up with the cardstock.
5. Tie the ribbon into a bow and slide around to the left of the card. Trim off excess ribbon. To prevent the ribbon from shifting, put a little glue behind one spot of the ribbon. It isn't necessary to put glue behind the entire ribbon; just a little dab will do.
6. Color the chipboard letters with the silver pen. If you are using the Martha Stewart pen, it will dry quickly. You could also use silver paint.
7. Adhere the chipboard letters to the clear star. Depending on the size of your letters, they might hang over the edge of the star. That's perfectly fine. When placing your letters, center the S first, then add the U and the A.
8. Be sure to add some cream colored cardstock or patterned paper to the inside of the card for the soldier to write on. A lot of times soldiers have only pencils or black pens with them, so the navy isn't suitable for writing. Adding some light paper to the inside will really help them out!
9. If you are sending this card to CFH, click here to find out how.

This is my first time making a card for CFH and I absolutely loved it! I posted earlier about CFH, but in case you missed it, here's what CFH is all about. Cards for Heroes began in 2007. Cardmakers from around the world make handmade cards and send them to CFH so that the cards can be distributed to soldiers overseas. Obviously, a soldier stationed in Iraq can't head to the local drugstore to buy a card for his or her family member, so this is a great way to help our troops out. In addition to sending blank cards for soldiers to use, cardmakers can send AnyHero cards, which are cards of encouragement for the soldiers themselves.

Some of you may not know that my father served in the army when I was a child. We lived on army bases until 1989 when we finally settled down in Petal, Mississippi. In fact, my father was stationed in Augsburg, Germany where me and my younger sister were born. While we were fortunate to be with him then, there were other times that we could not go with my dad. I remember being four years old when my dad was stationed in Korea. We stayed back in Massachusetts at the time. Therefore, CFH's efforts mean a lot to me. Though no one is my family is currently serving in the military, I understand the sacrifice the troops are making.

CFH has sent 140,875 cards, so let's make it more! To encourage you to make your own card for CFH, I have a little happy for you to win. 

Here's what you can win:

• (1) 5.5x4.5 navy card with cream envelope
• (1) 5.5x2.75 patterned paper strip
• (1) Maya Road clear star
• (1) Martha Stewart silver metallic pen
• (1) 18 feet Lemon Satin ribbon spool
• Maya Road chipboard letters: u, s, a

To be entered in this drawing, please leave a comment sharing your Memorial Day plans. Comments will be closed MIDNIGHT on Monday night (May 25). I will pick one winner at random, so be sure to leave your name and email address. The winner will be announced Tuesday morning.

EDITED: Comments have been closed. I will draw a name in the morning and post the winner then. Also, I will notify CFH of the winner, so check CFH's website for a complete list of winners. Thanks for playing and thank you for all the kind comments.

Edited: This lady has committed to making a card for every comment she received. Great idea! In fact, I'm so inspired by this commitment that I'm pledging to do the same. So, leave some comments and make me a very busy woman! I'm a teacher and have summers off, so this will be a great summer project for me.

To continue in the blog hop, please head over to Bridget's blog and see what she's been crafting.

Bridget is a Stampin' Up demonstrator from Australia (HOLY MOLY - that's awesome!) and her cards are gorgeous! Bridget made two cards - one for a male, one for a female. How cool is that?

Cards for Heroes Blog Hop

I will be participating in the Cards for Heroes Memorial Day Blog Hop tomorrow. Cards for Heroes is a wonderful organization that sends handmade cards to soldiers stationed overseas. Cardmakers donate blank cards that soldiers can send home to loved ones as well as notes of gratitude for the soldiers themselves. CFH began in 2007 and has sent 140,875 to date.

Crafters across the world will be making cards for tomorrow's blog hop. Here's how it will work:

• Go to http://cardsforheroes.org/bloghop/ tomorrow around noon Pacific time (2 p.m. CST).
• Click on the Bloghop Button to go to the first blog.
• Each blog will feature a handmade card that will be going to CFH along with a link to another blog.
• Be sure to post a comment because there are some awesome prizes from CFH Blog Hop sponsors. Also, some of the bloggers will have their own prizes, too.
• After posting a comment, click on the link to "hop" to the next blog. Keep going until you are returned back to the CFH Blog Hop page.

If you have any time this weekend, please participate in this blog hop. This is a great organization with a wonderful purpose - showing support to our troops.

Click here to learn more about Card for Heroes.

P.S. In case you are wondering, not only am I making a card but I will also have a small giveaway for commenters. Hint, hint!

 

Anniversary purchases from 2Peas and more

This year my husband and I will be celebrating our second anniversary. I know that most couples get things such as jewelry, etc. for anniversary gifts, but Jason and I are a little nonconformist. We are definitely an nontraditional couple. Since we are both huge hobby enthusiasts, we get stuff that could support those hobbies.

Case in point: Last year's Valentine's Day present was not jewelry. It was not roses. It was not chocolate. It was a wooden stool plus fabric and foam to make a cushion. Boy, does that speak romance! (At least to me! I would rather have something like that than roses anyday!)

For our second anniversary, we decided to give each other money for our respective hobbies. My husband, an avid Magic the Gathering player (a card game involving strategy and a lot of nerdy stuff that if you sat down and talked to a magic player would literally blow your mind away with how in depth this game really is; think yu-gi-o, but way more involved and for grown ups), is using his money to buy cards. I think I've literally bored you to death. (Just kidding, hubby. No wait, I'm serious.)

I, on the other hand, love crafts. So I decided instead of purchasing one big product (such as the Zutter Bind-It-All that I got last year) I would get a bunch of smaller items. Plus, I stocked up on stuff such as ink, stamp, and adhesive...items that I could use over and over again.

Since I haven't posted a Friday Finds in a while, I thought I'd share my latest purchase. The stamps were on sale 30% and the flowers were free after I used a coupon.

*TIP: I highly recommend signing up for the Two Peas and Scrapbook.com newsletters as there are always monthly coupons. Also, if you love Studio Calico and already subscribe to their main kit, you can purchase add-on kits AND any other supplies that they sell, and all items will ship for free with the main kit. Pretty cool.

1. Kokuyo Dot 'n Roller Adhesive Refill Pack
2. Prima Daisy Dreams Flower Collection - Apple
3. Fired Brick Distress Ink
4. American Crafts 3x3 Baby Dots Wood Mounted Stamp
5. Ink Blending Tool
6. Ink Blending Foam
7. Broken China Distress Ink
8. Florets Mini Mask
9. Heidi Swapp Acrylic Escape Stamp
10. BasicGrey Bitsy Gracious Acrylic Stamps
11. Hambly Woodgrain Antique White on Lemonline 12x12 Paper
12. Heidi Swapp Wings Clear Stamps
13. BasicGrey Bitsy Sahara Acrylic Stamps
14. BasicGrey Ambrosia 6x6 Paper Pad
15. Sassafras Lass Olivia & Pals Clear Stamp Set
16. BasicGrey Ambrosia Element Stickers
17. Art Warehouse Star Die Cut 12x12 Mistletoe Paper
18. Amy Butler Butterflies Die Cut 12x12 Tea Box Paper
19. Antique Linen Distress Ink
20. Kitschy Digitals DigiKit Woodland Book-Lover's Printable Kit
21. BasicGrey Bittersweet Bitsy Blossom Stamps

Layouts from NSD Weekend

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day (May 2), I spent my weekend scrapbooking. It was exhilarating. I haven't scrapbooked in quite some time. In fact, the last time I scrapbooked was to work on a baby album for my sister. Besides that, it has been two months since I scrapbooked for me. Unbelievable!

Side note: I go through craft cycles a lot. Sometimes I spend a lot of time scrapping. Other times it might be sewing, cross-stitching, embroidery, cooking, etc. Just depends on my mood.

I participated in two NSD online crops: Two Peas in a Bucket and Studio Calico. I absolutely love Two Peas! There is a great online community there with tons of free classes. Plus, they carry nearly every product I want. Not quite all, but not bad. I try to support my LSS (local scrapbook store), but let's face it - sometimes they don't have what I want, and sometimes they are too expensive! Did you know that Two Peas always has something on sale? Plus, if you save up and have $50 or more to spend, you can use the free shipping code that is in their newsletter.

The other online crop I participated in was Studio Calico. I subscribe to their monthly kits, and let me tell you - I LOVE THEM! Exactly my style! The prices are reasonable and the kits have the coolest looking papers and supplies. Plus they always come with an acrylic stamp designed by Studio Calico. There's a vintage eclectic feel to their stuff. If you haven't checked it out, I urge to you take a look. You'll be tempted, trust me!

Here's what I did this weekend (I'll try to link to as many products as I can):

Supplies used: Yellow patterned paper, Pink paper, Aqua paper, Gray patterned paper, Orange patterned paper (American Crafts); Aqua fabric letter stickers (American Crafts); Rockabye foam letter stickers (American Crafts); Vinyl letter stickers (American Crafts); Buttons (American Crafts); Pen (Faber-Castell); Paper flower (Sassafras Lass); Pop up dots (EK Success)

Supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts); Patterned paper (Prima Marketing); Rockabye foam letter stickers (American Crafts); Buttons; Thread

Supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts); Patterned paper (Making Memories); Word stickers (Making Memories); Chipboard flowers (Maya Road); Buttons; Paint (Making Memories); Corner rounder punch (EK Success); Scalloped rotary blade (Martha Stewart), Pop up dots (EK Success)

Supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts); Pink and orange double-sided patterned paper (American Crafts); Vinyl letter stickers (American Crafts); Ribbon (American Crafts); Thread; Scalloped rotary blade (Martha Stewart); Corner rounder punch (EK Success)

Supplies used: Cardstock (American Crafts); Patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket); Rockabye foam letter stickers (American Crafts); Ribbon (Martha Stewart)

Supplies used: Patterned paper (Pink Paislee); Aqua fabric letter stickers (American Crafts); Cardstock (Die Cuts with a View); Paper flowers (Sassafras Lass); Pearl flowers (Jenni Bowlin); Fabric squares; Thread; Pop up dots (EK Success)

*Inspired by an Elizabeth Dillow layout in the May issue of Simple Scrapbooks*
Supplies used: Patterned paper (Martha Stewart); Patterned vellum (Martha Stewart); Cardstock (Michaels); Quote stickers (Martha Stewart); Pen (American Crafts); Chipboard letter stickers (Heidi Swapp); White ink (Memories), Vellum adhesive (3L Scrapbooking)

Inspired by Jennifer Johner's layout here.
Supplies used: Cardstock (Bazzil); Pink patterned paper (Making Memories); Green patterned paper (Studio Calico); Floral rub-on (Creative Imaginations); Chipboard butterflies (Heidi Swapp); Chipboard flowers (Maya Road); Glitter (Martha Stewart); Eyelets (Makng Memories); Instant setter (Making Memories); Chipboard letter stickers (American Crafts); Fabric letter stickers (American Crafts); Scallop border rotary blade (Martha Stewart); Black ink (Memories); Pen (American Crafts)

Supplies used: Kraft cardstock (Studio Calico); Animal and crossword patterned paper (Sassafras Lass); Green and red patterned paper (Studio Calico); Graph paper (Studio Calico); Die cut arrow (Scenic Route); Clear star (Maya Road); Yellow snaps (Making Memories); Yellow ribbon on stars (American Crafts); Chipboard stars (Scenic Route); Gel Medium (Liquitex); Aqua fabric letter stickers (American Crafts); Paper piercer (Timeless Touches); Aqua cardstock (DCWV); White pen (Sakura); Pop up dots (EK Success); Yellow thread

Supplies used: Kraft cardstock (Studio Calico); Patterned paper (Studio Calico); Fabric chipboard elements (American Crafts); Ledger journaling spot (Jenni Bowlin); Rockabye foam letter stickers (American Crafts); Brown marker (American Crafts); Thread

New layouts posted

I spent the weekend scrapbooking. Click here for pics of all my layouts.

"Hi Abigail" Layout

Using my March '09 Studio Calico kit, I created a page about my new niece, Abigail.

Hi Abigail, originally uploaded by wonderfully complex.

Hi Abigail 02, originally uploaded by wonderfully complex.

Supplies used: Cardstock (Bazzil); Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket); Fabric embellishments, Foam letters, Chipboard letters, Marker (American Crafts); Journaling card (Jenni Bowlin); Flower; Button; Ribbon

Color Me Happy felt journal

I'm taking an online class offered by Elsie and Rachel (aka Red Velvet Art). Sooooo much fun! I'm already having a blast, and we've only done one project.

Felt Journal Image 01, originally uploaded by wonderfully complex.

Sunday's project was to make a scrapbook using felt and cardstock. I went a little further. After gluing the felt strips down to a sheet of cardstock and running it through the sewing machine (the glue was for some stability as I sewed), I glued a ribbon on the inside. The ribbon extended past the cover, so I can use it to tie the book shut. And, to keep everything looking pretty, I added another piece of felt to the inside cover and sewed that down. I used 10 sheets of Paper Source interior text paper and using my handy-dandy book binding needle and thread to bind the book together. I think I'm going to use this as a journal to record the things that make me happy.

Felt Journal Image 02, originally uploaded by wonderfully complex.