Lovely Afternoon

Is there anything more lovely in life than snoozing-snuggling with a sweet newborn on a cold wet afternoon?

If there is, I most certainly can't think of it.

Shower Centerpiece Idea

Crafty Secrets has the coolest product called Vintage Postcard Kit. There are quite a few different themed kits and each of them comes with images that you can adhere to pre-cut chipboard. I've fiddled with these kits in the past (you can see some pretty Christmas ornaments here) and recently, for my The Scrap Review review came up with the idea of using these postcards in a centerpiece. I happened to use the baby boy themed kit, but this would certainly work for any of the kits or any of the images as long as you adhere them to a thick medium.

Here is a picture of the postcard before I attached it to three white pillar candles with a scrap of ribbon and some tulle.

The back of the postcard.

I pretty much left the image alone except for the addition of a bit of Shimmerz Blingz in Pixie Dust on the wings.

Next time you need a quick and easy centerpiece, I hope this stirs up your creative juices!

Happy Entertaining!

xoxo
Bethany

Shimmering Flowers -- New Video

Sometimes a girl needs a cute hair flower that matches her outfit. Right?

Learn how to make this sweet flower clip using only basic supplies: plain white muslin fabric, a stamp and of course, my favorite, Shimmerz Vibez. It is an easy and fun project that you can even do with your kids!

 Remember, Shimmerz products are completely non-toxic and clean up with water so this is a stain free project.

Enjoy my newest video!



Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Experimenting with Textiles

For my Crafty Secret's Review on The Scrap Review, I did a bit of experimenting with adding fabric to a layout. Of course, adding fabric isn't something completely new to my repertoire, but I've never tried adding dimension with fabric.

I'm Here for You and Sweet are the results of my experiment.

Materials: Crafty Secrets images and stamps, Bazzill cardstock, Stazon ink, fabric, machine and thread, Donna Salazar pattern paper, button, paperclay embellishments, American Crafts Thickers

 

Materials:Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps and stamps, My Mind's Eye papers, Bazzill cardstock, lace, muslin, My Little Shoebox sticker letters, Shimmerz paints

Even though I'm only mildly satisfied with the results of my experimenting, I do enjoy trying new things and I'll certainly be adding more dimension with fabric on future projects.

Happy Creating!

xoxo

Bethany

Merry Christmas

From the entire Kartchner clan, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Posing in their new Christmas Eve jammies.

Lots of love.

xoxo
Bethany

My Mind's Eye Christmas Blog Hop

Hello everyone! Welcome to the My Mind's Eye Christmas Blog Hop! If you are just beginning, please start at the MME Blog and proceed from there so that you can be eligible for one of the grand prizes!

Remember, there are two ways to win Holly Jolly, I Believe and Union Square.

1. Begin at the MME Blog, visit each designer's blog, assemble the secret phrase using all 12 words gleaned from each blog) and email Amber with that phrase.

2. Leave as many comments on as many designer blogs as possible and be drawn randomly.

This hand-print mini-album is my favorite project this year. I love how it has captured our ever-growing and changing family at a single moment in time. The My Mind's Eye Lost & Found collection is by far my favorite release of 2010. It is just perfect in every way.

(Just in case you are wondering, I had each family member stamp their hand in DecoArt's Paper Perfect.)

My secret part of the secret phrase is WHITE.

Please proceed on to the My Mind's Eye Blog and please leave a comment letting Amber know that you have finished the Christmas Blog Hop.

Thank you for hopping!

I hope you win the awesome prize pack!

xoxo
Bethany

My Mind's Eye Christmas Designer

When I was contacted by My Mind's Eye to be one of their 12 Designers of Christmas, I was so excited! I love My Mind's Eye products and creating for them again is a dream.

I created this Christmas collage using the Holly Jolly collection. You can read all the details on how to make this project on the My Mind's Eye blog.

And...because Baby Wy slept better for a few days, I felt up to making another Quick Tip video on how to make the dimensional tree on the collage.

I hope that you enjoy it!



I love that Texture Thick paint by DecoArt! You can find it at your local craft store in the paint section. And the double thick cardstock by Bazzill and the MME products can be found at www.scrapbook.com.

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Polka Dot Chick

I'd like you to meet the newest gal in the bird family. She's a cutie and she knows it.

She's got the longest legs on the block. (6 inches!)

She's pretty proud of her tail feathers too.

She's destined for a special place, (I'll spill the details soon!) but I'm considering adding birds like her to my etsy shop, what do you think?

xoxo
Bethany

Crafty Secrets Review

My latest review on Crafty Secrets is now live at The Scrap Review. Wow, I certainly enjoyed reviewing this great company.

What a Hoot is one of the layouts that I completed for this project.(I think that it might be my fave.)

 

All of the photos were taken by Sara Jarvie last January when she spent the morning photographing us. Quinn refused the smile the entire time. Totally put his entire personality on the shelf. Until...he found this pinecone. Then and only then did he remove the scowl from his face and act like the mischievous little monkey he is. Luckily, she snapped this pictures before he hid behind his scowl again. Crazy little dude.

 

Lots of details on this layout, thanks to those awesome Crafty Secrets stamp sets!

  

You can read my entire review here. I also created a video of their products if you are unfamiliar with Crafty Secrets. 

Happy Creating!

xoxo

Bethany

National Elementary Honor Society

I'm proud to announce that Danika is now a full-fledged member of the National Elementary Honor Society. I'm so proud of her!

She and about 19 other students were inducted last week.

The whole family attended and we took up an entire row. Baby Wy made his debut performance in public (besides trips to the grocery store and doctor's office.) He celebrated by nursing the entire time which made taking pictures difficult...giggle...

Good things happening here.

Quick Tip Video #1: Creating Background Stone Texture

I've wanted to create Quick Tip videos for my bloggy friends for a few months and finally got to it! Yeah!

Just so you know, each Quick Tip video will be less than 5 minutes (hopefully less than 3 minutes) and will be something fun to add to your technique repertoire. I'd ultimately love to do a video a week, but I know that is unreasonable during this time of transition. So I'll commit to one a month until I feel like I've got a grip on life.

Sound good?

Without further ado, Quick Tip #1 is all about adding faux stone texture to your layouts.

First Day of Kindergarten illustrates my faux stone brick background. (I created this layout for a review of Crafty Secrets on The Scrap Review.)

Materials: Crafty Secrets stickers, DecoArt Sandstone paint in neutral beige, Crafter's Workshop template in brick, American Crafts Thickers, Bazzill cardstock

I hope that you enjoyed this video!

xoxo
Bethany