All about Me!!

   Hey all, I was nominated to do a little piece all about me by my mom at www.scrappyhorses.blogspot.com.  I will answer a list of questions after I give a little speal about me!

   My name is Katie and I have been married for about a year and a half.  I love my husband and my step-daughter!  They are my world and I can't wait to expand our little family in the near future!

(This is my little family on the 4th of July!)











   I am currently an assistant at our small town library in the children's department. I love working with children.  I graduated from Purdue in Early Childhood Intervention and have been working with children most of my life.  I get to do some fun little projects for the kids and when I taught preschool I did a lot of fun neat activities with the kiddos!

   We are currently in the process of buying a house which is why I haven't had a chance to post anything n a while.  My stuff is mostly packed and I have been going a little crazy not being able to use it!

ON TO THE QUESTIONS!!!

1. What are you currently working on?

   Right now I am in the process of working on my wedding scrapbook.  This is a LOOOONG process because I do everything so carefully because I want it to look as perfect as possible.

(This is a little pic of the ceremony.  I loved my dress, my colors, and EVERYTHING!!!)






2. How long does it take me to create a project?

   Wow, that's a tough question.  It really depends on what I am working on.  If it's a card, it can take anywhere from an hour to 3-4 hours.  On the other hand a scrapbook layout can take much longer.  I tend to walk away from a layout before I adhere it to the page so I can look with fresh eyes and make sure it looks the way I want.  So layouts can take a few days.

3. What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?

   I absolutely love my cricut!  I use it all the time when I am crafting.  Close to my Heart products are a must have.  The stamp sets are too cute for words this season!  Plus I love the new ink colors they added.  I am a very bright color person and the new colors fit into my color schemes VERY well!

4.  How does my writing/creative process work?

   Geeze, they are asking all the tough questions.  Trying to get to the secret of my awesome!  Well my creative process is pretty simple.  If I am working on a card, I don't tend to just make cards for contests, I actually have to have a person in mind and make it for that person.  I want my cards to be personal and geared to the person receiving it.  A layout is very different.  I choose the pictures I want and base the layout on the pictures.  After the pictures, I choose what colors I want to back them in and where they will go on the layout.  Now comes the fun part.  I get to choose embellishments and how I want the rest of the page to look.  Adding stamps here and there and little gems and such is what makes the page stand out!
   Writing my blogs is a little harder.  I don't have a specific design, I just sit down and get to work.  My work is a little erratic.  I work on different sections and pieces all at one time.  So writing about my process and how it all came together is difficult for me.  I try to put in as much detail about the products I use and how I used them so others can try the same things.

5.  How do I become inspired and stay inspired?

   This isn't too tough a question.  I stated before that I enter contests on occasion.  Contests are a great way to get inspired!  If you have a layout or a card to make for something you can head over to one of the many blogs used for crafting and find a plethora of fun things to work with and design ideas.  Use things at your disposal for inspiration.  Like I use my pictures for the base of my layouts.  Work off of colors or a specific cut or stamp you really want to use.
   Staying inspired is a little more tough.  When I work on a layout I said that I walk away for a while to look with fresh eyes.  Sometimes to stay inspired, you have to give it a break.  You can't rush creative awesomeness and if you need a break, take it.  Go watch tv, eat a snack, or take a walk.  Sometimes inspiration will strike and you will know exactly how to finish up that pesky empty corner!

6.  What is my signature style?

   Well...huh.  That's hard to say.  I love to use embellishments and I tend to use a lot when working on stuff.  When I share my creations people love to comment on the items I have chosen to display on my layouts and such.  I don't really have a signature style per say, but I do have a style all my own that changes with every creation I make.  I suppose that's a signature all on it's own.  

   So that's me in a nutshell, creatively that is.  There's a little more under the surface, but you can sense that from my craftiness.  I hope you learned a little and that I helped anyone who was in a creative slump.  At the very least I hope I made someone out there smile!  

Please visit some other blogs I enjoy visiting!

http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com/
http://scrappyhorses.blogspot.com/
http://pippascraftyworld.blogspot.com 

Dr. Suess Inspired

The outside looks pretty plain.  But once you get past the awesome lettering from Chalk Fonts you get the Dr. Suess inspired thank you.
The colors are from the adventure pack and whimsy.  I also used a black and a daisy white piece of cardstock.

On the inside it says:
From the bottom of my heart
All the way to finish from the start
With the graphing lines of this chart
From the center with my dart
And with a delicious chocolate tart
I hope this card made you smile
And you'll think of me fondly, at least for a while

This is for Heart 2 Heart's Inspired by a book challenge and I chose Green Eggs and Ham as my book!

Boys Camping Out

This card is for a family friend and he has two grandsons that he adores.  I thought this would be perfect for the Fantabulous Cricut Camping Out Challenge.

The cuts are all from Nate's ABCs and the paper is all from Close to my Heart.  I thought these cuts were fun and fit together well.

Sorry for the shine on the tent, the lighting in our apartment isn't great and I had to use the flash.

Hoddie Birthday

This card is for my father-in-law.  I don't have a challenge to put this in, but I wanted to share it anyway.  The sweatshirt is like the ones he and my husband wear when they are touring.  They both work part time at a Ziplining activity in Crawfordsville, IN.  

The zipper really works!  I had to use a hot glue gun to get it to stay in place.  

Happy Koala

This card is for my step-daughter's birthday.  She will be 6 this year.  

I chose bright colors having purple being the base color.  Lucy loves purple and the other colors are my favorite color, my husband's favorite color, and Lu's other favorite color.  

The koala is a cut from Create-a-Critter and I thought this would be a great card to put in Fantabulous Cricut's Sketch Challenge.

All parts of this card were made from Close to My Heart products.  

CTMH Party Invite

   I am having a Close to my Heart party and needed to make an invitation.  I used the Create a Critter cartridge to create the four layers of the owl.  

   The base of the owl is gypsy, the second layer is pacificia, third layer is lagoon, and the feet and beak are sunset.  These are all part of the adventure pack at Close to My Heart. 

 The stamp on the back is from the Cricut Art Philosophy Tags from the Cricut collection from Close to My Heart stamps.  

   I love the create-a-critter cartridge, the critters are adorable.  The colors are fun and seemed to go well together.  The only part I didn't really like was how small I had to write.  

   Challenge I will enter: BBTB2

Colorful Thank You

   This thank you card is for the Color My Heart challenge.  I used all Close to my Heart products for this card.  
   The colors used were: Barn Red, Crystal Blue, and Pacifica.  I used stamps sets: A Flowering Bunch and Dancing Notes.  
   Three hearts signify the three people in my family, me, my husband, and Lucy.  I liked how the flowers turned out because they kind of look like fireworks at the bottom of the card.  
   It's a simple card, but it's a fun one.

Day. Father's Day.

   We are spending part of father's day with my husband's mom and step-dad.  He asked me to create a card for his step-dad.  Knowing he likes cars I decided to go with a James Bond theme.  
 

   The car is from Nifty Fifties, the character is from Create-a-Friend (I added the tie with a gel pen.), and the lettering is from Nate's ABCs.  I really wanted to get some sunglasses, but I don't trust myself to be able to cut a pair and I couldn't find any in the cartridges I had. 
   I plan on entering this in the BBTB2 challenge and Fantabulous Cricut.

My Daddy

   This card is for my Daddy.  I have been and always will be a GINORMOUS daddy's girl.  My dad is one of the best dads in the world.  He has always been there for me and my brother through everything.  My brother was diagnosed with Autism in elementary school and my dad was right there at the Dr. appointments and therapy sessions.  He supported my mom when she took him out of school to home school him.  He talked me through boy problems, math problems, and issues with friends.
   When we were younger we would spend evenings watching tv together.  Sometimes we would talk during shows others we would just sit as a family.  In high school we watched A LOT of Everybody Loves Raymond.  My dad played Wally Cleaver in a community show.  For all these reasons I chose a TV themed card.  
   The picture in the TV is one from my wedding where he is walking me down the aisle.  The names around the TV are the names of different TV dads from my dad's time and ours.  Names like: Steve Douglas, Tim Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Ward Cleaver.  I wrote Daddy at the top because no matter how old I get or what I am doing, he will always be my daddy.
   The TV is a cut from Nifty Fifties and I used some CTMH paper for the body of the TV.  On the inside of the card I wrote, Thanks for putting all those TV dads to shame.  Happy Father's Day.  I plan on placing this card in BBTB2, Moving Along With the Times, Fab 'n Funky, Pile it on and Fantabulous Cricut challenges.    

Happy Anniversary

   This is another card for my husband.  Our one year anniversary is on Sunday.  We have had some really tough times through the last year, but we made it!  I am very proud of us!  Ice blue and silver were our wedding colors, so I tried to incorporate that theme in my card. 
   I plan on entering this in the BBTB2 challenge of manipulating a cut.  I used many different cartridges for this card.  The groom is from Create-a-Friend, the church is actually the dog house from Nate's ABCs, and the lettering is from Nifty Fifties.  All cuts were done on the Cricut 2.
   The church was the cut I changed.  I used a sharpie to create the roof by just coloring in the space and edging.  I used gel pens to make the cross at the top and the garland around the arch way.  The most involved process was making the bricks.  I went the old fashioned way and just used a pencil to create the old worn look to the church.  The hearts are pop up stickers and I used a gel pen to write my husband and my initials.  
   The groom is giving his heart to his bride and carries love with him.  
 

Father's Day?

    It may not look like it, but this is a Father's Day card for my husband.  The neon green is his favorite color and the sentiment is right on the money.  When we got married I not only gained a husband, but a daughter as well.  I am still getting used to being a mom and he makes it look easy at times.  Practice makes perfect, I guess.
   I used the Sweet Treats cartridge to cut the cake, letter, and platter.  I will be putting it in the Father's Day challenge by Exploring Cricut.  It doesn't look like the typical Father's Day card, but my husband is NOT a typical Father.  He is the epitome of a DAD.  He does his best to teach and play with her, as well as try to do the tea parties and hair.  I'm proud of him.  He is a great dad. 

Happy Anniversary!

    This card is for my grandparents' anniversary.  They both have a great sense of humor and I am super close to them.  I used the nifty fifties cartridge for the cuts on this card.  I really liked the font on this cartridge.  I cut the floor squares myself. 
   Bitten by the Bug 2 has a challenge with cars.  I liked the car from nifty fifties and decided to create a card based on that. 
   The only part of this card that wasn't as enjoyable was how many pieces it took to create the jukebox.  

Roots in Love

   There wasn't a challenge I wanted to enter this card into, so I just thought I would share it.  My husband's step-brother and his wife are having their 3rd anniversary and he wanted me to make them a card.  The couple just had a baby girl, so I thought doing something about creating a life would be perfect.  
   I asked Crockett for something to go off of and he said tree.  I had a tree sticker and drew roots from the bottom of the tree.  It actually turned out pretty cool.  
   

Happy Graduation!

   One of my good friends, Taylor, is graduating this year.  She helps with my mom's Therapeutic Riding classes, volunteers with Best Buddies, and is a good friend to everyone.  I had a lot of fun putting together this page for her.  Black and gold are Taylor's school colors so they added to the theme of page.   
   I used the Create-a-Friend cartridge for the cuts on this layout.  Fantabulous Cricut has a challenge focusing on the graduates of 2014.  

People and Cars

   This card is for my Grandpa.  His birthday is in early June and I wanted to make something special for him.  One of his favorite colors is red and I decided to use Nate's ABCs for the car cut.  The saying I put on the card reads, "People are like cars, they only get better with age."
   I used many different colors from Close to My Heart.  The lettering and ink are Barn Red and an alphabet from CTMH.  I popped the tires slightly off the paper with sticky dots in order to make them stand out on the black paper.  
  Looking at the card, I considered putting a driver in the car, but I liked it without one.  The car without a driver kind of represents driving through life, aging, on your own.  You are the car.    
   This card will be entered in Exploring Cricut's summer challenge.

Beary Happy Mother's Day

  My step-mother-in-law loves bears, so I had to quickly put together a card for her.  (My husband doesn't give me much notice when he needs something done.)  This is what I came up with.  It's from create a critter and I hope it goes over well.  I will be entering it in the fantabulous cricut challenge of celebrating mom.

Teaching is an Art

It's coming up to the end of the year and since I am an aid in a kindergarten class, I made my head teacher a thank you card for everything she has done this year.  Teaching is definitely an art form.  Not everyone appreciates it nor understands it.  

I used create a friend to make this card and even my mom thought I had bought it from the store!!  I will be using this card in the BBTB2 challenge School Days.

Easter Egg Hunt

   I used the Create a Critter 2 cartridge for this card.  The paper I used is from a variety of Close to My Heart packets.  The pink sparkles are also from CTMH.  I created the clouds with daisy white ink.  
   We are taking my step-daughter Easter egg hunting a week from Sunday.  Last year we got her on Easter, but since we live in an apartment her hunt was just inside.  She enjoyed running all around her Aunt's yard looking for the 188 eggs she hid.  
   This card is going to be used as a thank you card for my Mam.  I have been trying to get her into paper crafting and hopefully this will help!
   I will be entering this card in the BBTB2 challenge.

Hunting for Eggs

   Sometimes we have to change around the dates of our holidays so we can celebrate with my step-daughter.  It depends on which holiday it is, but this year we do not have Lucy for Easter.  But we still plan on doing an Easter egg hunt.  I really enjoyed putting this page together because of the bright colors and fun cuts.  I used Create a Critter 2 and the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridges.  

   I really wanted the bunny to pop off the page, so I decided that backing it with a bright oval would help a lot.  Since I used the bunny, this layout was perfect for the BBTB2 challenge.  This particular challenge, was just that, a challenge for me.  I usually do a page based on the pictures I want to use.  Now I have a layout to just place pictures on when I get them!

Water Lily

I was having a hard time deciding what kind of card I wanted to make for my in-laws.  I decided to use Kate's ABCs and wanted to use a flower of some kind.  Using a cut I haven't before, I cut the water lily.  I put my card together and thought it was missing something.  There was too much dead space.  That's when I searched the cuts for something else to use on the card.  Deciding to use the fish from the fish bowl on the table, I cut two of them and the greenery to add a little flair.  This card fits the challenge at Fantabulous Cricut and I hope it does well.

Country Life

My family lives on a "farm."  They have horses and a barn, but it's not a farm where they make money off of it.  I am INCREDIBLY allergic to horses so I have to be super careful when I go over and how much time I spend there.  But a lot of my closest friends I met through my parents and my brother.  Audrey was my maid of honor in my wedding and she got me a GREAT present!  (A scrapbook carrying case!  She knows me so well!)  So I made her a card that depicts her and her horse Missy.  
Audrey's favorite color is green so I used some green and the barn is used with barn red cardstock.  The dots for the eyes are apoxy bubbles.  The clouds and the thank you are made from daisy white ink and a Q-tip.  The cuts are from Cricut Create a Friend and Create a Critter.  I decided it would work great in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge for country.  I really hope she likes it.

Thanks for Flowers

The BBTB2 challenge is flowers this week.  Usually I am not one to work with flowers, but I needed to do a thank you card for a distant relative.  I liked this cut because the watering can makes it a little less girly.  In case you haven't quite figured it out, *whispers* I'm not really a girly girl.  They yellow is supposed to kinda represent the sunshine.  

This cut is from Kate's ABCs.  The majority of the paper is from CTMH Dream Pop. I used daisy white ink and a q-tip to create the clouds.

The grass turned out a lot better than I thought it would.  Honestly I just cut random places and then cut cross ways.  

Where's Spring

Here in the Midwest it is still SUPER COLD!  My birthday was last week and it has been a long time since it has been this cold on my birthday.  I feel like I haven't seen or heard any birds yet.  I made this card and thought of my Grandpa.  He used to bird watch and tell us about which birds were out at his feeder.  Now he is in a nursing home and doesn't get out much.  Maybe this card will help brighten his day and bring a little spring to his room!

I cut the bird from Nate's ABCs cartridge for my Cricut.  I thought this card would be perfect for the Bye Bye Birdie challenge at Fantabulous Cricut Challenges.  I used paper from Close to My Heart's Dram Pop and Later Sk8er.  The birdie and I want to know the same thing...WHERE IS SPRING and WHEN IS IT GETTING HERE!?!?!

Learning to Weave

My mom, grandma, and I took my step-daughter, Lucy, to the Art Museum.  Not always a great idea with a 5 year old, but at least now she knows that some people think that chairs and everyday things are artsy.  On the plus side, the museum has some areas for younger children where they can touch and try out things.  On this trip, Lucy learned that Native Americans made a lot of their clothing and blankets from weaving.  

I used Close to My Heart Dream Pop paper and two different Cricut cartridges.  The font is from Nate's ABCs and the little girl is from Nursery Rhymes.  I created this layout for the Exploring Cricut challenge.  I only used one cardstock and one pattern paper.  The paper in the corner is Lucy's weaving practice!

Irish Celebration

Top of the Mornin to ya!  I spent some of my time creating a card for my husband.  I used the Cricut cartridge: Create a Critter 2 and a card from CTMH.  I am enjoying playing with my Cricut and trying new things.  This is my first card I have attempted.  I thought this would be a great entry for BBTB2 with their St. Patrick's Day themed contest.

I used a pattered light green for the turtle's under layer and a deep green for the shell and hat.  I don't have many inks yet and I didn't want to use gray.  So I used a sharpie to write out my sentiment.  Unfortunately, my handwriting isn't the best, but I tried. 

I am very lucky to have found my husband.  He's away at drill right now, but will be home for St. Patrick's day!  I am excited to have him home and to give him his card!

Create a Critter Fun!

This is my most recent page.  These pictures were sent to me and I decided to make a page using my new Cricut cartridge: Create a Critter.  This happens to be my favorite cartridge!  So it fits the challenge over at BBTB2.  The paper used on this page is all from the CTMH paper pack of Lolly Doodle.  I loved the bright colors.  The kitty and yarn were cut with my Cricut.  The little pink sparkle dot is also from CTMH.  

This page is a very simple layout using 2 pictures and cut outs.  I chose the color scheme and then picked the words I wanted to use.  

Lucy is now 5 almost 6, these have to be 3 or 4 years old.  This just shows you that you can do layouts any time.  

Honeymoon Fun

My husband and I got married almost a year ago and I finally finished our honeymoon book.  There are many different types of paper and techniques used throughout these pictures/pages.

 Pictures can be a focal point of a page or you can use an embellishment as the main portion of the page.  Here I used the Cinderella carriage to be a main point of the page and used the car pictures to show what the carriage represented.

This is not one of my best pages.  I enjoyed this page because I liked the stickers I found to use. The plane ticket is backed in a very bright color to make up for the bland coloring of the actual ticket.  The photo should have had a fun backing to it, but like I said, I'm not super proud of this page.

This a great page to show the potential of oddly shaped things.  Not everything you use on cards or in your layouts is going to be a square or rectangle.  Shown by our resort, you could use some very differently shaped things.  I used a backing to make the pic pop and then used the pictures to show what the center pic was about.

I love this page!  The pictures are the focal point with the schedule just being a large embellishment.  All the colors made choosing stickers and backing colors easy.  As you can see with the sun glasses, you can back as many times as you want with as many colors as you want.  The purple letters are being made to play double duty in two words to make them last a little longer (because we all know that once we start with letters, there are never enough to make the words we want).  Using stamps is a great way to make sure you don't run out of lettering.


These are just a few of the pages from my book.  I have a few more I will share at a later time.  But these were a good starting point to show some good things and bad things.