Mini Album Peek

Good Morning Friends!!  I don't know about you but I LOVE mini albums.  I think they are a fantastic way to remember a specific event. 

The reason for this mini album?  My daughter's very first horseback riding lesson.  I know...I'm an uber proud Mum.  Our daughter is 7 and has been asking to ride since last fall.  We were in the midst of trying soccer at the time which she enjoyed but is not so much into the team thing.  Which is absolutely fine.  So we went through the Winter and once Spring hit I started calling around to the many Equestrian centers we have near where we live.  I found the most perfect stable for her and our family.  They are wonderful, caring, and nurturing AND they have the most stunning horses and ponies.  She's had three lessons so far and is really taking to it.  I think this is her sport.  Sigh...I just love it.  Here is the picture that inspired the color palette.

The pony's name is Spirit.  He is sweet and gentle.  Perfect for a first rider.  Oh and the sweater you ask?  It was made my my darling husband's amazing Grandmother.  It was made for my sister-in-law when they were kids and has been passed down which I absolutely love.  Grandmother is turning 100 this Fall and she is just tickled that her Great-Grand-daughter has taken to riding.  She herself was an Equestrian as are two of her daughters (my hubby's aunts).  So it runs in the family! 

So, to honor this occasion, I'm creating a mini-album with pics from her first lesson.  I have the cover done and I'm almost done with the first page but I have a little sneak peek of the cover to show  you.

I pulled lots of scrap papers (Making Memories, Recollections, MME, and Bazzill) in blue and limes along with an assortment of stickers and embellishments.  I added the pop of red in lieu of pink as it just seemed to work better with the papers I had.  

As you can see, I've used some delicious resin flowers that I got here as well as my MFT Fishtail Banner Die-namics to really make the cover pop.  

I threaded my sewing machine with red thread to make the entire cover pop!  

I promise to share more when it's all done!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

My Darling Valentine

I simply love to SWOON about Valentine's Day.  I love everything about it.  I don't care if it is a "Hallmark Holiday" I just love it.  The colors, the sweets, the decor, the fun gifts, and just another excuse to express my love to those around me which I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE to do!!  My darling husband just moved into a new office where he works and it's really blank.  So I've been working on a few things to spruce up his space and make it warm and inviting. 

I found this wall hanging a long time ago in the clearance section at Homegoods.  I think it might have been $1 as whatever was on it originally had fallen off but the hanging was very sturdy.   

Not to mention that I LOVED the sentiment!!!

 I have had a picture of my husband and I from the summer that I absolutely adore so I knew I was going to use that.  I also purchased some of my new favorite acrylic paints from Martha Stewart.  I buy them at Michael's but I'm sure you can get them in lots of places.  They come in high gloss, pearl, matte, glitter and glow in the dark!  I also purchased some Sparkly Mod Podge.  Yes...I said SPARKLY Mod Podge.  The stuff ROCKS!!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and always keep it in my stash. 

I also just received in my newest purchases from MFT - one of which is the new Botanical Beauty Die-namic Flowers.  Talk about SWOON!!!??!?!  I cut a whole bunch using Ouchless Cardboard from Gauche Alchemy and PTI felt in Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy. 

Once I had all of my flowers cut I put the felt one together with twine from the Paper and Such store.  I punched a hole in all of the layers.  I doubled up on my twine and threaded it through one of the button holes on the button that I wanted to display on the front.  I then put it through every flower and threaded it through another button to anchor it in the back.  I threaded it through the other hole in the back button, up again through all of the felt flower layers and through the other hole in the button on the front.  I tied a sweet bow and set that flower aside so that I could work on my cardboard ones. 

I then set to working on my corrugated cardboard flowers.  I laid them all out on a sheet of aluminum foil and coated them generously with my sparkly Mod Podge.  Once they were dry I used a sponge applicator to literally plop the new Martha Stewart paint colors all over them.  I purposefully did this haphazardly as that is the look I was going for.

I don't have a lot of patience for the drying process so once I had the paint colors down I zapped everything with my heat gun and got it all bubbly and dry.  I then assembled them with the help of my glue gun.  For an added scrappy effect, I took a lot of the bits and pieces of beautiful designer papers that I've been using for the last few weeks and tore them, stitched them, pleated them and distressed them and placed them all over my piece. 

Once that was done I matted and arranged the photo of my hubby and me and adhered that in place.  I added the flowers and some bling as the last bits and pieces once I made sure I had everything where I wanted it. 

Here is my finished piece for my darling husband.

Here are some close ups as it's really hard to get the full piece in frame.  Although you'll see at the end how it looks when it's hanging as I created a space in my kitchen to hang it temporarily.

Thanks for hanging in with me for this long post!!  I hope you've enjoyed peeking at my Valentine's creation as much as I enjoyed making it!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Bombshell Montly Challenge - Tags

Good morning Bombshell fans!!  Today we're playing along with Ms. January's challenge right here on the Bombshell Forum.  The challenge is "Let's Play Tag!".  So I've created a fun tag using my new Homeward Bound stamp set. 

I've used the compass image from the set, inked in three different Distress Inks - Pumice stone (tanish), Gathered Twigs (rusty brown), Chipped Sapphire (blue) stamped onto watercolor paper.  Once stamped, I spritzed the paper twice at close range with Pearlized Water to give it a subtle shimmer.  I then punched them out and coated them in Crackle Glaze.  After dry, I inked the edges with an ink blending tool and embellished the center with a resin flower from Recollections.  

The tag is also from Recollections and I've used a bunch of scrap that I had lying around to create the background.  I tore some with my hands to give it a rough look and other pieces I trimmed off.  I stitched the center with a zig zag stitch as well as a straight stitch. Before I added my cracked images I washed the entire tag and background papers with my Picket Fence Distress Stain.  I added a tiny clothespin and my PTI twill ribbon and was happy!  

I hope you have enjoyed and been inspired!!

Thanks for coming by today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith