Cathies Sweet Spot: 2011

MINI CHRISTMAS ALBUM

I have been happily working on some handmade journals over the past few days. I'm making all kinds including Christmas, but not exclusive. I will show you some I have been working on in the next few posts here on my blog. The ones I am making with BLACK GEL PEN PAPER are in limited supply as I am quickly running out of the gel pen paper. It is a paper weight for drawing in gel pen, not black cardstock; so the paper is thin like computer/copy paper.

If you are interested in purchasing one/more they will be

FOR SALE

in my

cathies pARTies

ETSY online shop

If you beat me to it & you don't see them listed yet just leave me a note here in my comments. Leave your email in the comment so I can contact you to see what you want. I don't publish any comments that contain personal emails, so once I have your contact info your comment will be deleted.

EACH MINI CHRISTMAS ALBUM IS UNIQUE NO TWO ARE EXACTLY ALIKE

I have a slide show of my shop on the right side here on my blog too.

Go to the cathies pARTies shop.

Click on the image when you see it in the slide show.

Click on the name of my shop & it will open up my shop.

You can see the other categories of my shop there.

Grab yourself a cuppa & do a little relaxed shopping.

Have fun!

Here are some samples of the Mini Christmas Albums I'm making this year.

They are bound with wire using my Zutter Bind it All.

Love it!

This pic shows the outside cover of just a couple of them.

A couple of inside views.

The little frame on one of the pages I highlighted with gold embossing.

You can actualy slip a little pic into the top end of the frame.

Too Cute!

Another pair of inside pages.

The tied embellishments unfolds to reveal a spot for journaling or adding small pics.

The ends of pages are open little pockets to slide/insert tags for journaling or pics.

They are the perfect gift for a creative spirit just as they are, as I have left lots room for creative play

with stamps, various mixed mediums, stickers, embellishments etc.

Plus you can make the tags to slide into the ends.

BUY ONE AS A GIFT FOR YOURSELF TO RECORD SOME HOLIDAY MEMORIES!

OLD WORLD SANTA DIY - PRINTABLE ENVELOPE

Just click on the image above to save to your files. Print & Create!

*Notes:

Print first.
Then make your card base to fit.
Cut, score & fold envelope.
Use glue stick or double sided adhesive tape on bottom 3/4 of sides flaps. Do not glue all the way to top of side flaps. When you bring the bottom portion of envelope up it will not go all the way to the top of the flaps. So you may want to fold first to see what amount of play room you have for the glue.
Not suitable for mailing unless you add fixitive to your print to prevent smearing/smudging of image & Secure back flap with tape.
Designed for personal delivery of handmade Cards!

ENJOY!

PLEASE BECOME A FOLLOWER & SHARE THIS LINK WITH YOUR FRIENDS VIA:

BLOGS, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, GROUPS/FORUMS, EMAIL ETC.

PERSONAL USE ONLY! DO NOT SHARE THIS FILE PLEASE REFER OTHERS HERE TO GET THEIR OWN COPY. DO NOT COPY TO SHARE, PRODUCE FOR SALE OR USE IN NEW CLIP ART.

*ALL RIGHTS REMAIN COPYRIGHT cathies pARTies, CATHIES SWEET SPOT,

C. THOMPSON 2011.

CHRISTMAS MAKE & TAKES

Here are the rest of the MAKE & TAKES I made recently

@ a local scrapbook shops

Christmas Open House.

This first pic is the ornament made with a snowflake style circle spellbinder die, rosette, glitter circle that can be punched or cut with a circle cutter or on your cricut. The metal snowflake embellishments adds more sparkle with rhinestones on the tips. We used a silver glitter wire for the hanger to finish.

The following pic is a card we made. We added color with copics. The sentiment pops off the background using 3D adhesive squares. The finishing touch was using a glitter pen to add some sparkle to the card.

The last pic shows a CUTE little gift card holder. A die & embossing folder set were used to make the card holder. All the pieces were already cut embossed & ready to assemble, so I don't know the name of the set. We added the ribbon & bell to finish. Gift card was not included! : ( LOL

I put one in the pic to show how you put it in the holder. : )

Pretty SWEET little MAKE & TAKES!

GOT 4 MAKE & TAKES in one days WORK!

The HANDMADE CHRISTMAS ALBUM WAS THE FOURTH MAKE & TAKE.

It is featured here on my blog in the last post.

It was such a big project & had so many pics it needed it's own post!

LOL

: )

Heres the link to the album:

http://cathiessweetspot.blogspot.com/2011/11/mini-christmas-album.html

MINI CHRISTMAS ALBUM

This is the MINI CHRISTMAS ALBUM I made @ a local scrapbooking store during their recent Christmas Open House with Make & Takes.

It was bound using the UNI BIND system.

Now that I have the book made, all I have to do is add pics, journaling spots, embellishments & do some technique work on the pages before I mount everything.

We were a little rushed for time so it turned out pretty good considering.

We were given a wad of patterned paper & told to choose a sheet for the front & back cover, inside front & inside back.

Then the remaining papers would be our pages.

I took the time to arrange the inside pages to a satisfactory extent.

Now that I see the overall view in these pics I would have liked page 2 to be on the facing side so the margin on the patterned paper would be lined up on the right side of the page like a school notebook instead on near the spine of the book.

I might have placed the red pages more strategically too if I had more time.

They look a little out of balance in places.

Oh well!

FRONT COVER

INSIDE COVER & FIRST PAGE

PAGE 2 - 3

PAGE 4 - 5

PAGE 6 - 7

PAGE 8 - 9

PAGE 10 - 11

PAGE 12 -13

PAGE 14 - 15

PAGE 16 & INSIDE BACK

BACK COVER

Pretty good size mini album. Lots of space & pages to add pics, journaling spots & embellishments.

THIS IS A GIFT TO ME!

I WILL POST PICS OF THE FINISHING PROCESS ALONG THE WAY AS I

DISTRESS, USE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES & ADD EMBELLISHMENTS

SO STAY TUNED!

THIS WAS JUST ONE OF 4 MAKE & TAKES THAT DAY.

I STILL HAVE 3 MORE TO SHOW YOU.

CHECK BACK FOR THE OTHER PROJECTS I MADE.

BO BUNNY HAUL from MY FRIEND

My friend came over today with a bundle of scrap booking goodies just for ME.

Well, she had purchased a PROMO PACK at a CHRISTMAS SCRAPBOOK WORKSHOP we attended last weekend. In the pack were some items she said she would never use - so she passed them on to ME : ) I didn't even know about the promo pack. So NICE of her to SHARE! Now I'm sharing with YOU what she gave me.

This is part ONE today. I'll leave part TWO for another day as there was soooo much stuff to take pics of for posting about. So today I'll start with the HALLOWEEN goodies.

SCALLOP EDGED 12 X 12 WITH SPIDERS & COBWEBS

This is a 12 x 12 paper so some of the image has been cut as it wouldn't fit the scanner.

(So the full length tree that the owl is sitting in didn't get into the pic)

CUTE CYCLOPS SPIDERS ON 12 X 12 PAPER

THE REVERSE SIDE IS GORGEOUS!

HALLOWEEN MINI ALBUM

RUB - ONS

12 X 12 SHEET OF STICKERS

(AGAIN SOME NOT SHOWING BECAUSE SCANNER COULDN'T FIT THEM ALL)

TWO MORE STICKER SHEETS!

WOO HOO!

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2

THE NON - HALLOWEEN

PART OF THE BO BUNNY HAUL

: )

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Today one of my FRIENDS in my paper crafting group posted this pic today. She said she was inspired by another friend there to take a pic whenever you have a MAGICAL DAY - one that has the month, day & year the with the same numbers. Today is 11,11,11 a magical day.

THIS IS HER PIC:

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I was AMAZED @ what I saw!

What do YOU see?

Let me know -leave a comment @ the end of my post.

send me an email if you want you comment to remain anonymous.

Just click on pic on the sidebar it will take you to a new page with a button that says email.

Click on the email button & send me a priviate message if you prefer.

Thanks!

Cathie : )

SHE gave me permission to share this pic with YOU!

She didn't know what I saw in the pic & was focusing on taking a pic on the SNOW that was falling.

I told her to go have another look @ the photo & REMEMBER what day TODAY is besides being what she refered to as a MAGICAL DAY refering to the numbers lining up.

Waiting to here back from her on what SHE sees now too!

THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR PHOTO! (L.B.)

'LIKE BEAUTY - ART IS ALSO IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER!'

UPDATE 11.12.11:

Sorry I'm just getting back to you all now about the photo posted yesterday. The one @ the top of the post here.
Of course you all know she was inspired by B to take a pic on a MAGICAL DAY one having the day, month, year with the same number. Well yesterday was one of those days 11/11/11. She was focusing on the MAGICAL SNOW that was falling - that was the magic she seen.
Well yesterday was REMEMBRANCE DAY here for us in CANADA & in the US you had your VETERANS DAY. Soon as I seen the pic & clicked on it to enlarge. I seen some ghostly grave stones in the foreground & lots of grave stones falling from the sky to join them. While I know these were snowflakes, I thought it was odd that they all looked liked rectangles. So for anyone who looks at a piece of art or a photo I guess everyone can see something different. When my hubby came home I asked him to look @ the photo & tell me what he thought of it. First he said that's MY tree, because he has a photo similar to this with a lone tree as the focal point. After some reflection he said he seen gravestones in the foreground & more gravestones falling from the sky. That's EXACTLY what I seen I said. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I thought maybe knowone else could see that. Anyway. MYSTERY solved: for anyone who cares. I seen this photo as a REMEBRANCE to the fallen SOLDIERS. The LONE TREE perhaps representing the one fallen soldier who's unidentified. This photo made me think of them all day instead of for a few short minutes. Thanks for Sharing your pic L. : )

Large Vintage Flocked Poinsettia

The red leaves of this Vintage Poinsettia are actually flocked - it's flocking still intact after many years of careful storage preserving it's original condition. There are a few cracks of the paper noticeable on the green leaves, but I think this just as to the charm of the piece being vintage. Personally I would not find the need to fix it. I LOVE IT just the way it is! Hope you do too!
This is my largest gum backed sticker poinsettia measuring a whopping 4" wide x 3 1/2" high.

This sticker dates back @ least to the 1960's or possibly earlier - 40'/50's.

I think the flocking is great, and you could add your own flocking to make it just like the original.

This would be perfect for an embellishment on a card, or print as a card itself.

Re size to make tags of assorted sizes for BIG & little pressies.

Make your own sticker labels for homemade preserves you might add to gift baskets this year.

Make your own hang tags for home baked goodies for Christmas gifts or to hang on your tree.

*Print out the contents of your homemade/home baked goodies (as in the last two suggestions above) on the reverse side of your poinsettias before you cut to size.

Print out on your computer to the size you want.
PERSONAL USE ONLY! DO NOT USE TO MAKE NEW CLIP ART, COPY, SHARE, SELL OR PRODUCE ITEMS FOR SALE. ALL RIGHTS REMAIN. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR CREATION IN CHALLENGES, ON BLOGS, IN GROUPS/FORUMS, SUBMIT TO PUBLICATIONS AS LONG AS YOU CREDIT CATHIE'S SWEET SPOT.

THANKS! : )
I would love to see how you put this clip art to use in YOUR HOLIDAY CREATIONS.
If you would like to share your creation with myself & my blog readers send me an email. Just click on my about me button on my sidebar to the right & it will take you to a page with my email button. Click on my email & send me an attachment or link for me to share on this blog post.

THIS CLIP ART IS FREE COURTESY OF CATHIE'S SWEET SPOT!
PLEASE AS A COURTESY TO ME FOR OFFERING FREE CLIP ART, DIGI STAMPS ETC. BECOME A FOLLOWER & SHARE A LINK WITH YOUR TWITTER, FACEBOOK, GROUPS/FORUMS, BLOG/FAVORITE BLOG FRIENDS & FAMILY etc.

Cathie : )

ENJOY!

MY HOUSE MOUSE CARD

My HOUSE MOUSE CARD got published TODAY on the HOUSE MOUSE Website!
Woot, WOOT !!

ONLY the title is suppose to read: 'DOUBLE THE JOY'! Don't know what happened there, but hey it made it on to their website so I'm happy.

I only own 4 copic markers & in that I only used 2 to color the stamped image so I think that's pretty darn good.

I wrote a detail on how I put the card together - the inspiration etc. Check it out I left a link to it.

I'm HAPPY

HERE IS THE DIRECT LINK:

http://www.house-mouse.com/php/stamped_show.php?id=1436">>

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

My SWEET White Owl & Pumpkin

I bought both this white pumpkin & owl @ Michaels after Thanksgiving a couple years back & just love them. I use them to decorate for Thankgiving & Halloween. Just change the surrounding a bit for each Holiday. Love the big eyes on the owl & the simplicity of the white. Nice change from orange. It's an unusual pumpkin too not seen it sold there since either. It has a realistic stem with vine & leaves attached.

Here's a close up of the pumpkin itself:

The pumpkin, stem & leaf have a dusting of shimmer & just a hint of glow in the dark paint in the ribs of the pumpkin. You can see some of my sewing handiwork in this photo too! The runner is quilted with harvest vegetables on one side @ the ends there is a graduating watercolor pieced farm scene. On the reverse side is a Halloween scene in a watercolor quilt effect with Haunted Neighbourhood full of Trick or Treaters & ghouls of all kinds. I like how the runner does double duty for the fall holidays. It's trimmed around the edges with black bias tape for a clean bold look. It has to be one of my favorite pieces that I ever made.

PS if you click on the bottom pic to enlarge it you can see that I was stamping on my table. LOL There is a very noticable imprint of black ink just to the side of the runner. Oops! It did come out eventually. Can't say the same for a watermark left by leaving a real pumpkin on the table overnight without something underneath it to protect the table. That mark never came out. So I have a permanent reminder of Halloween past. : )

Cathies' Easy Peasy Handmade Bra Embellishment

Here is an easy peasy way to make a bra to embellish a handmade card or scrapbook page. You need very little materials & tools so you'll probably be able to make one with your supplies right now.

I chose to use sparkly pink paper for my embellishment I made for this post in support of the GIRLS
& BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. You can choose whatever paper you want - plain, patterened, embossed, sparkly, whatever. You can also use a different paper for the straps if you want.
I chose to use one piece of paper to show how simple you can do this with only one piece of paper.

MATERIALS:

Cardstock of your choice
1" circle punch
Scissors
foam tape, squares or dots
glue/pen

The picture below shows the steps I took to get to the results which I think is pretty in pink! Try it!

Just click on the picture to enlarge or save to your files.

PERSONAL USE ONLY

designed & copyright Cathie

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH - NOVELTY CRAFT PROJECT

OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

I am participating in an international

friendship scrap book pages swap.

I seen these PINK TIC TACS

supporting breast cancer awareness with proceeds to the cause

and had to buy them for a little project to share with my partner

& share the instructions with you so you can make one too.

This project is easy peasy & uses very little supplies & tools,

so most of you should be able to make one.

The hard part might be trying to find the Tic Tacs.

There's only one shop around here that I have seen selling them.

If you don't get your hands on a pack you can always find other colors & flavors.

Keep in mind this is the larger Tic Tac box that comes out for special reasons.

You would have to reduce the size of your projects papers if you are using the regular size Tic Tacs.

I have made these before myself with the regular size - maybe you have too.

I wanted to share the technique I used to get my result on the construction/embellishment.

Oh & the PINK TIC TACS for the CAUSE!

I appologize for the pics not being clear. It's a very rainy day here with bad lighting.

MATERIAL REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT:

1" CIRCLE PUNCH ( IF YOU DON'T HAVE A 1" CIRCLE PUNCH TRACE SOMETHING ABOUT 1" ROUND & - PIERCE OR PUNCH WITH REGULAR HOLE PUNCH WHICH MOST PEOPLE ALREADY OWN, THEN FUSSY CUT THE CIRCLE WITH SCISSORS)
1 STRIP OF PATTERNED CARD STOCK TRIMMED TO 3 1/2" X 5 7/8" (USE PLAIN IF YOU PREFER TO STAMP SOME IMAGES ON YOUR PAPER)
SCORE BOARD & SCORE TOOL
PAPER TRIMMER (IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE JUST SCISSOR CUT TO DIMENSIONS)
12" PIECE OF RIBBON
BIT OF DOUBLE SIDED TAPE
RHINESTONE FOR BLING (OPTIONAL)
CORNER ROUNDING PUNCH (OPTIONAL)
GLUE/PEN (FOR TRIM ON HAT)
GLUE DOT FOR HAT BASE (USE GLUE IF YOU DON'T HAVE DOTS)

INSTRUCTIONS:

First Cut your strip of patterned paper to 3 1/2" x 5 7/8". Then place the paper horizontal across the top of the score board- pattern side up. Score @ 2 1/2"and 3 3/8". Fold on the score lines & use your tool to press firmly on the score line. This gives you a little book shape. I rounded the corners, but you don't have to - it's optional.

Here's the start of the snow lady.

Punch a 1" hole near the bottom right of the paper- the right side of score lines. Save the patterned circle you just punched.

If it is white on the reverse side you can use it to make the face of the snow lady.

Just use the punch to snip off a a bit to fit the curve of the hole you cut out of the patterned paper. Glue down. I chose to use a scrap of white to make the face. I used the punched pattern piece that was punched out of the patterned paper to turn into the snow ladies hat. I just snipped off a bit as in the step for making the head of the snow lady. To fit the curve of the top of the head. Then another just above that by about 1/4". This made a kind of barette style hat or fastenator if you will.

I also used the little snippets that were created when cutting the circles down for the curves. This makes a little detail glued onto the hat.

I finished the hat off with a pink rhinestone of course keeping with the theme. I simply hand colored her facial features on with gel pens. Anyone can do that. Trust me. You could use googlie eyes if you want. I just kept things simple to show you what you can do with as little supplies or tools as possible.

Cute!

To finish the project I put a small piece of double sided tape at the center of spine inside book-like cover, as well as on opposite sides halfway down near the edge. This is for the ribbon. Attach the ribbon leaving even on either side. This is to tie closed into bow. Use more double sided tape to secure your TIC TACS in place.

Here's another version that's even easier. Just Punch out a shape on the front. I chose a folk heart.

I put a glue dot on two seperate 6" pieces of ribbon here & stuck them to the inside edge for tying it into a bow to close.

You'll have a S W E E T little niftie-giftie for someone special. I used Pinks in my patterned papers because I was doing this project with the PINK RIBBON campaign in mind. You can do one in any color of your choice. Remember this was done with the larger Tic Tacs too. Adjust to the ones you purchase.

Enjoy!

THINK PINK!

Paper Pumpkin & CHALLENGE

I made this adorable pumpkin a couple of years ago after seeing one on another site. You may have previously made these as Christmas ornaments as I have, which is basically the same idea. I altered the instructions slightly to suit the materials I had on hand. This plump little pumpkin was the result.

Materials:
Although I chose a piece of pumpkin colored cardstock for the pumpkin & brown cardstock for the stem, you can choose whatever color you want - be CREATIVE!

Instructions:
A piece of scrapbook paper -
8” 1/2 x 11” or 12” x 12” size doesn't matter
scrap piece of brown scrapbook paper about 1” x 1”and ½
1” piece of double sided tape
rotary cutter/scissors
12” piece of thin green jute/hemp-like twine
blunt needle – the eye of the needle has to be big enough for the twine to pass through doubled.
hole punch with small hole
Decorative bits: Small piece of ribbon and decorative trim – I used a leafy bit of ribbon
stamp – I used a foam stamp with a vine & leaf design U can use acrylic, rubber or foam stamp etc. doesn't matter, it's to your liking.
Ink pad – again your discretion.

1.Stamp image all over paper, let dry.
2.Cut paper down to 6 x 12” or 6 x 11” depending on size paper you started with.
3.Cut paper into 1/2” x 6” strips.
4.Punch hole on both ends of strips.
5.Fold piece of jute string in half tie a knot, and draw folded end (*Not the Knot end) through the eye of the needle.
6.String all strips through hole at one end.
7.Then thread through all holes at the opposite end while twine is still attatched to needle.
8.Pull slightly so strips come together a bit like a crescent moon; you're giving the pumpkin its beginning shape here.
9.Tie off in a knot.
10.Place double sided tape along edge of brown paper scrap.
11.Roll starting from edge with no tape to opposite edge with tape to create a stem, stick edges together with tape on edge.
12.Thread twine through stem.
13.Add decorative bit to base of stem.
14.Separate each strip of paper a slight bit as you go around you'll create a pumpkin shape. When circle is complete you can squish down on it a bit to give even more shape to your pumpkin.
15.Add ribbon tied bow.

You're done! Now that you've made one, bet you'll make more. Too cute !

You will all get a unique result as each of you will be using your own
stamps, ink and papers choices.
So now let's see what you can come up with.
Post pics and link back to me so we can all see them,
and I will post a picture of a pumpkin patch using them.
Make one for your Fall - Halloween - Thanksgiving décor
If you're my fave I'll send you a sweet TREAT – no TRICK!

Looking forward to seeing yours! :)

LEAVE A LINK TO YOUR PUMPKIN!

PS
This is the perfect size for decorating a Harvest or Halloween Buffet, even put one on each persons place setting & give them away as small gifts to each person @ a dinner party! Make them in any color, use patterned paper instead of stamped, add bling etc. This is an easy & affordable decor to make!

My Own HALLOWEEN BINGO CARD Clip Art

I created this Halloween Bingo Card Clip Art for use in Cards, Tags, Altered Art etc. I started with the vintage photograph then searched far & wide for the perfect Witches hat to sport on both the doll & the little girl. I worked this out in many layers to achieve this look. Added the primitive style hand penned star highlighting the number 31 for Halloween. I like how this one turned out. Who can resist these Sweet Wee Little Witches wearing their sweet little party dresses!

A GOOD HAUL - YARD SALE FIND!

This is a

GOOD HAUL

I got from a yard sale just a few weeks back in the summer

when yard sales were in full swing around here.

This was my lucky day!

The following pics are a haul from just one yard sale.

You read that right!

I was blown away -

I got all this great stuff for - are you ready?

$2.25

Can you believe that? It's true. There was so much stuff, it took me about an hour to scan it all into my files so I could share this with you. It took all morning to blog about it too! I just wanted to let all you crafter's out there to not forget about yard sales as a great source for your creativity! If you have yard/garage sales in your neighbourhood - check them out. You never know when it's going to be your lucky day! I'm going to be sharing much of this stuff with swap partners. I'll keep the items I'm most likely to use and pass on the rest. So if your one of my swap partners watch for some of this stuff coming your way.

The show/story starts here:

I struck a gold mine of creative goodies at a yard sale when I came across a box, or I should say my DEAR HUBBY came across a box of what he calls CRAFTY STUFF at a yard sale. Before we went yard saling that day I told him what to look out for today on my behalf. We help each other out that way. He spotted the box, asked the lady to hold it aside because he was going to get his wife to come take a look at the contents in the box. He came to me & said "I found something you'll want to take a look at". Maybe not in those exact words, but they meant the same thing, no matter what words he strung together. So I go to see what he might have found for me. WOW...I was blown away by a box full of BEADED TRIM, LACE, TASSEL & TRIM, FABRIC YARDAGE, PATTERNS, ETC. I inquired about the price of the entire contents of the box. $2.00 was their asking price. Who could argue with that.

SOLD!

But the story doesn't end there. At the same yard sale I spotted a Chess/Checker board & game pieces. "How much for the Game board & pieces"? .25 cents Can't argue with that!

SOLD!

At the same yard sale they also had a sewing basket with bits & bobs. I was really interested in the gold wire & filament thread I spotted in there. "Oh just take it!" was there response to my inquiry. So now I was going home with a cute little vintage sewing basket too!

Well after paying a whopping $2.25 for total of purchase at this one yard sale, hubby & I started for the car with both our arms full of my goodies. On our way there was a FREE STUFF pile at the same yard sale. I couldn't help myself, I had to pick up the free bottles we spotted we could use for a HALLOWEEN project.
MY OWN HALLOWEEN CLIP ART LABELS. Plus we took a darling little vinaigrette bottle from the pile for some homemade dressings or vinaigrette's. There was so much stuff in this haul I'm just showing you some of the contents as it related to the creative goodies. Some I've already used too so it didn't even make it into the pics.