Tuesday, July 31, 2012

You are my Song

Practical Scrappers is featuring Stickles and Gems today. I so love adding these bits of glitter to my creations and opted for a stamped card as my part in the celebration.
~ You are my Song~
Paper: Glitz Design
Stamps: Prima, Glitz Design, Hampton Arts, Inkadinkado
Gems: MME
Gold Stickles: Ranger

~charity becker~

Monday, July 30, 2012

C & H Sugar

This picture of my family when it was still just the four of us is one of my favorites.
Mama used to call me and my older sister (Heather) "C and H Sugar."
It was one of my most loved nicknames. 
Wasn't I a cutie! :P
~ C and H Sugar ~
This layout is my entry for the Use It Tuesday Challenge #36: Uncut Paper.
I have been hoarding this flowered paper since Lost and Found first came out. It reminds me of the dresses Mama used to make for us from calico fabric. Seems the perfect paper to display this photo.
Supplies:
Papers, brads, gems, stickers:
MME, Lost and Found 1 & 2, Lush 1, and Follow Your Heart
Twine: The Twinery
Tiny Type: MME, Lime Twist
Alpha: American Crafts

~charity becker~

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Anticipate Delight



This is my first EVER monochromatic layout and I couldn't be happier with the result. It is featured at Practical Scrappers today along with a few things I learned on the journey.

~ Anticipate Delight ~
Supplies:
Papers: Graphic 45, Glitz Design, Webster's Pages, MME. Brads: MME and CTMH. Metal Tags: CTMH. Alpha: MME and Authentique. Trim: May Arts, MME, and stash. Ink: Ranger and CTMH. Chipboard: MME. Netting: Webster's Pages. Embossing Powder: Stampendous. Stamps: CTMH. Hampton Art, and Hot off the Press. Corner Punch: Fiskars. Buttons, Wings, and Butterfly: Stash. Liquid Pearls and Stickles: Ranger
This is my entry for the Once Upon a Sketch July challenge. Stop by the blog and view the amazing art that inspires their participants!!! Along with the sketch, we were challenged to interpret the theme friend. My hidden journaling explains why this photo with this title means friend to me. It reads, "It is said that if you raise your child right, in the end she will become your friend. That is my prayer for us."
If you haven't joined my blog please sign up before August 1st, 2012. I'll be choosing a follower
 with www.random.org to receive this prize pack!
~charity becker~

Friday, July 27, 2012

He's a Keeper

You gotta' love a man that likes to clean!!!
Even when my kids are playing pretend
my son is quick to pull out the broom and do a quick sweep.
I just hope this trait of his lasts WELL into his teens.
Supplies:
Alpha: Cosmo Cricket
Brads: Basic Grey
Sticker Tab: Echo Park
Ink: Color Box and Ranger
Mist: Tatter Angels, brick
Burlap: stash
All Else: My Minds Eye.

~charity becker~

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tea Time to Reflect

On the 18th of July MME announced their second monthly challenge, Halfway There. It's all about July being the middle of the year.
This year has been SO jam packed for our family that I had to sit and think for a minute on how I'd interpret that theme. This meant a cup of tea,
and an idea was born.
What if every time I sat down for a hot beverage I had a sweet memory at my fingertips? What if my favorite people could sit down with me every time I had a cuppa? What if I could package up all those good feelings and send them to Mama, whom I see about once every 2 years?
What if I took that empty tea box
and covered it in paper
instead of tossing it in the bin?

What if I had a bunch of photos with people too small to really see well?
What if I trimmed those photos and made "tea bags" for brewing reflections?
What if I had so much MME product that the variety of
papers, trims, and embellishments was endless?
It seemed like such a good plan
that I did exactly that
with photos from the first half of this year.
Hope Mama, likes it!

Supplies:
Ink and Stickles: Ranger
Punches: EK Success, Punch Bunch, and McGill
White Buttons: Basic Grey
Star bling and brads, Crown brad: stash
Stamp: Pink Paislee
Embossing Powder: Stampendous
All Other Supplies: MME

~charity becker~







Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wave Walker

There is always that collection you can't quite get over, no matter what may befall. Genuine by Authentique is that for me. Is it the blues, the sketch book look, the butterflies, the pops of yellow, the damask, the stitched effect? That would be yes, yes, and yes! No collection could better compliment these classic pics of my daughter enjoying the waves.
~ wave walker ~
I used a few different dry embossing techniques on the papers behind the photo, but saved my favorite to frame my sweet girl. The photos were placed in an embossing folder so that the design framed my focal point. Then I sanded the raised design to get the distressed look.
Imagine my delight at receiving these yellow toned die-cuts from October Afternoon as part of a prize package from Scrapbook Steals! I combined them with sticker usage tips by Katerina Hunt and Enamel Accents by Ranger.
But the true inspiration behind this page is the amazing Erin Schultz with her Guest Design spot on Scrapbook Steals as the Pearl #1 Sketch Artist.
Pure Yum...check out the sketch and then play along at Scrapbook Steals.
It's just too much fun NOT to!
Supplies:
Paper, Stickers, Alpha, and Tiny Type: Authentique. Ribbon: May Arts. Twine and Brads: MME. Gem Flowers: Theresa Collins. Die Cuts: October Afternoon. Embossing Folders: Provo Craft. Ink: CTMH. Enamel Accents: Ranger.

~charity becker~


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

So Glad, You're Back!!!

Graphic 45 has such fun images that I can't help but pull out the scissors and start cutting. The clowns from the Le Cirque collection are so happy and come in such great poses that I was inspired to make a welcome home card.
~ So Glad ~
I added a little black flocking (Ek Success)
with a corner stamp (Glitz Design) 
and red twine (The Twinery) to compliment the characters.
~ You're Back ~
The fussy cut clowns spilled right over to the inside of the card where a flying pig and shocked children looked on. Stampendous embossing powder, with an MME stamp and Ranger ink
helped create a fun border. I also added a sprinkling of Clearsnap glitter fibers.
I used my balloon punch and beading wire for the clown near the top of the house. The alpha is EK Success with a touch of mesh behind the letters to help them stand out. The curtains are made from bits of lace I had in my stash. The corners of the card are stamped with Ranger, Acrylic paint and a CTMH stamp. 

Don't forget to become a follower before August 1st
for a chance at this prize pack!

~charity becker~

Monday, July 23, 2012

Drift Wood

Snip apart a mesh produce bag, add a few pins, tie on some twine and you'll have a very eclectic kind of layout. This page I made especially for today. Practical Scrapper's is having a feature on projects with Pins. The Paper Girl's Challenge is featuring Mesh ...any variety. Please check out BOTH sites today and get lot's of scrappy inspiration!!!
~ Drift Wood ~
Papers: MME and drafter's vellum
Die-cuts: MME and Prima
Alpha: American Crafts
Pins: Theresa Collins and stash
Twine: MME and The Twinery
Mesh Produce Bag: Sunkist
Assorted findings: stash
Be sure to become a follower on my blog before August 1st.
I'll be choosing a winner for this prize package.
Fancy Pants Chipboard Banners
My Mind's Eye Twine
We R Memory Keepers Clear Stamps
Clear Snap Smooch (Banana Custard, Sweet Melon, Lettuce, and Plum Berry)
Bazill Basics Vintage Marketplace Stickers
Fancy Pants Beach Babe 6x6 paper pad
Ranger Enamel Accents
Studio 18 Butterfly Charms

GOOD LUCK!!!
~charity becker~

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Damsel

A Ladies Diary, by Graphic 45 is not printed in the colors I normallly scrapbook with, but the illustrations are so yummy I decided to buy just a few pieces.  After a bit of hunting I found this photo of my daughter and husband at the local father/daughter dance. She looks so classy in her simple dress and beaded jewelery that I knew it was just the right one. Lots of flocking, a little fussy cutting, and some dimensional embellishing later...
~ Damsel ~
Rather then cut this beautiful lady out completely I left a rim of paper around the design to give the look of a die-cut. A few Gems and a littl Glitter Glue and she was ready to grace my layout.
SUPPLIES:
Paper: Graphic 45
Stamps: CTMH, Glitz Design
Gems: Recollections, MME
Pearls: CTMH
Flocking Powder: EK Success
Glue and Glue Pad: Tsukineko
Trim: Recollections
Alpha: Making Memories
Glitter Glue: Hampton Art
Ink: Stampology
Shaped Scissors: Fiskars

~charity becker~



Friday, July 20, 2012

MCM 91: Thanks

I have a giant stash of black and white papers, but I scrap with them SO little.
I'm digging into that stash and going classy with Thank You cards.



These two cards are created with a mixture of Me and My Big Ideas and GCD Studios paper and some other stash goodies as well as Imaginisce flowers, drafter's vellum, CTMH stamps and ink, and punches from Stampin Up and EK Success.


Here is the sketch from Scrapbook Steals. Join us and post your creations on the Facebook Page!

~charity becker~


Thursday, July 19, 2012

You Are So Special

My Mind's Eye, Lost and Found 2 has such yummy glitter and patterned papers it makes putting a card together a *snap*. After trimming these design elements from a single page, and layering them with a little seam binding and twine I had a card ready to go!
~ You Are So Special ~
Supplies:
Paper and Twine: MME
Seam Bindng: 7 Gypsies
Gems and Button: Stash
Lagoon Stickles: Ranger
I used this sketch by Kristy Lee for Scrapbook Steals.

~charity becker~

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Gluten Free Snickerdoodles

This cookie has become a recent favorite at our house and is just too good NOT to share.
The recipe is mine after reading, trying, and adjusting several BISCUIT recipes.
Please feel free to print, share, or gobble with delight. Just remember to link with
 love if you re-blog.



preheat oven to 400
mix 1 tablespoon of cinnamon with 1 tablespoon of sugar
set aside

MIX TOGETHER:
1 1/2 Tablespoons of butter or shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
ADD:
1 1/8 cup almond meal or flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

MIX WELL, FORM INTO 8 BALLS,
ROLL IN SUGAR-CINNAMON MIXTURE
PLACE ON PARCHMENT LINED COOKIE SHEET
FLATTEN TO 1/2 INCH THICK
BAKE 10-12 MINUTES

ENJOY

~charity becker~


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sweet Bliss

I recently had the great joy of
celebrating my cousin's wedding.
The reception was held at a local park.
The midwest is still in the grip of a
heat wave and the bride and groom
wisely provided water guns for the guests.
Needless to say we were ALL a bit damp
but full to the brim with laughter when we left.
~ sweet bliss ~
Supplies:
Paper: DCWV, Mariposa and Drafters Vellum. Embossing Powder: Stampendous and Wow. Punches: EK Success and Creative Memories. Trim: stash. Flower: Prima. Stamps: CTMH. Heart Brad: WRMKeepers. Ink: Ranger and Stampology.

~charity becker~

Monday, July 16, 2012

my MESSY cake baby

DCWV paper packs a colorful punch and mixes up so beautifully. This layout uses papers from the Be Mine, Tajmahal, and Mariposa stacks. This is my interpretation of the July Stack-a-holic challenge.
~ my MESSY cake baby ~
Supplies:
Papers: DCWV
Trim: May Arts
Alph: MME
Brads: MME, CTMH, stash
Tiny Type: Authentique
Stamp and Inks: CTMH

~charity becker~

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Fashion?

Here is my layout for Scrapbook Steals Turquoise #10 sketch, and now I am Totally Turquoise!!!!
Graphic 45's line, A Ladies Diary, is full of fashion plate images and delightfully chic ladies. It gave me an ironic pleasure to use a few of those images to illustrate this "early morning" photo.
~ Fashion?
this is my Gucci mug! ~

The flowers are made with two EK Success punches, Webster's trim, and MME gems.
Supplies:
Paper: Graphic 45
Punches: EK Success
Alpha and Brads: Basic Grey
Trim: Webster's Pages
Blue Flowers: Bazill Basics
Tiny Type: Authentique
Gems and Twine: MME
Ink: Stampology and CTMH

~charity becker~












Friday, July 13, 2012

Be Happy

I love the dreamy, whispy quality
of this MME paper.
It combined so beautifully with hot air balloons.
Really there isn't much to say
so take a breath and just
~ be happy ~
Paper: MME
Trim: Stash
Pearls and Ink: CTMH
Tiny Type: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: Glitz Design and Michael's

~charity becker~


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Point of View

I've been out of the loop lately with the MME challenges, but slowly I'm catching up on everything. This month's first challenge was to make a monochromatic layout. I have SO much My Mind's Eye it was hard to pick just one color. But in the end I choose blue because it had the same tones as my photo. The journaling reads,
"Sometimes the slightest shift in the way you look at things, a seemingly insignificant change in perspective can alter your life forever."
Author Unknown
~ Point of View ~
With the exception of the stamps, ink, Stickles, and punches, this layout is entirely MME.
Ink: CTMH
Stamps: Scrappy Cat
Punches: EK Success, and CTMH
Ranger Stickles: lagoon and Black Diamond
Sketch: Kerys Sharrock for Scrapbook Steals, MCM# 89

~charity becker~

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

All on a Twiny Day

One day last week I woke up to rain and busy children. They had all gotten up early and were deep into an imaginary game. I prepared their breakfast and headed off to my scraproom,
with a half hearted invitation for them
to join me when they had finished. They tend to play these imaginary games for hours
and hate being disturbed.
Not so much.
They gobbled their food, loaded up their craft supplies, and made it to the scrap room before I had my sketches printed!!!!
We made twine necklaces instead.
I guess those sketches will have to wait.

For the charms we used Tim Holtz
Type Charms, and MME paper.
I added jump rings and strung them
on baker's twine. We used twine by
My Mind's Eye, The Twinery,
and a generic brand from Pick Your Plum.

We dug through my box of broken jewelry and found 3 clasps. After using a Slip knot and two Sailor's knots I snipped the loose end to 1/4 of an inch. Then I got out the glue gun and coated the knots with hot glue. I found that if I used the tip of the hot glue gun to spread the glue the result was similar to a clear sleeve. (the bright blue twine) However, if I let it cool a little and used my fingers to roll it I ended up with a more opaque finish. (red and blue twine) Either way, now they won't be fraying.
(And the kids are pretty happy too! :)


~charity becker~




Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sea Stars

Practical Scrappers is offering tips on how to get vellum out of your stash
and onto your pages. Stop by for some great ideas.
I love these photos of the kids with their "giant" starfish and wanted to
highlight how proud they were of what they'd "caught."
A quick punch with a star or scalloped circle and my
proud beach combers were standing in the spotlight!
~ Sea Stars ~
(No starfish were hurt for these photos and I CERTAINLY didn't let them bring any home!)
Paper and Chipboard: My Mind's Eye
Punches: The Paper Studio and CTMH
Alpha: Jillibean Soup
Brads: Crate Paper
Ribbon: CTMH

~charity becker~

Monday, July 9, 2012

LAUGH and the world laughs with you

Watching children laugh is one of the most enjoyable, heart warming activities on earth!
Getting them to laugh during a photo shoot is nearly unheard of.
When my three started giggling my husband started snapping photos.
They were nearly falling off the fence before they could finally stifle the mirth.
 I was laughing right along with them!
~ laugh ~
The wide open sky line and obvious emotion in these photos made a perfect combination for adding rub-ons to my layout. I used an office supply alphabet to be sure I would have enough of each letter.
~ and the world laughs with you ~
Paper and Diecuts: MME
Rub-ons: HeadLine Sign
Trim: yard sale
Ink: CTMH
Chipboard and Brads: Basic Grey
Alpha: Basic Grey and The Girl's Paperie

~charity becker~

Saturday, July 7, 2012

The Color of Home

One of my favorite parts of the drive home is the mountains in the distance.
I love listening to my children ohh and ahh over their beauty.
The closer I get to the mountains the happier I am.
One day we will move back to my mountains and I can see them everyday.
Till then I'll dream about them in color!
~ the Color of Home ~
Kristy Lee's MCM sketch # 88 provided the basis for this layout.
I used My Mind's Eye; Follow Your Heart paper and chipboard.
Gems and Pearls are all MME.
Alpha is American Crafts.
Ink is CTMH.
~charity becker~

Friday, July 6, 2012

Spring 2012

School photos have surely come a long way since I was in grade school. Gone are the pukey backgrounds and the stiff, crying children. Maybe that Mona Lisa smile really means she just KNEW is was going to use MME Lost and Found 2 for this double page layout!!!
This delighful sketch by Julie Koets, for Scrapbook Steals. She has a simple, tailored style, that I had fun dressing up with LOADS of hand made blossoms.
Because the background paper was so detailed I went with charcoal blossoms for simplicity.
Papers and Trim: My Mind's Eye, Lost and Found 2
Punches: E K Success and Punch Bunch
Alpha: K and Company
Ink: Close To My Heart
Buttons: Basic Grey
Stickles: Ranger

~charity becker~

Thursday, July 5, 2012

'Bot Wars


A companion page to Tuesday's post and done without a sketch!!! So Proud of myself!
But really, with such adorable subjects how could I go wrong?
~ 'Bot Wars ~
Papers: Fancy Pants, To the Moon
Brads: Basic Grey and stash
Punches: CTMH, Uchida, The Paper Studio
Trim: gift from Misty Buck
Stamps: American Crafts
Ink: CTMH

~charity becker~