Cartwheels In My Mind

Readers Digest Books Revisited :: A Challenge Layout.

Hello hello!

I'm just popping in quick this morning to share a layout designed by the AMAZING krafty pearl that she created for my challenge last friday. If you don't already know her work, check out her blog right away for some inspiration overload. She just oozes crafty coolness. need proof? see for yourself:

 
 

Next up, I have a couple more book pages challenge projects myself. This first one means the world to me because it is the only photo Gracie ever will have of her and my grandma. I could explain it a little but I think the journaling says it all...

And finally, I have a quick card that I made for my grandma that is still living. She's one of my favorite people in the world so I just wanted to send her a pretty card to say I love you. Because I'd give anything to say it one more time to the one photographed above. 

What's on your mind this week? Have you been doing anything fun and crafty? If you do...please remember to share it on the Cartwheels flickr group so that we can all check it out!

As for me...I'm rearranging my art space, organizing my art supplies, finishing up my digital kits (coming very soon!) and doing some art in between all of it. I'm not going to lie, having a job that requires you to do lots of handmade art isn't all that painful for me. :)

x's and o's, Cheryl

RANDOM CHERYL FACT: I sing all day everyday, everywhere I go. It's a thing my Grandma used to do (hence the topic in the layout above) and it got passed down through her children and now her grandchildren. I'm not going to lie, though...I know for a fact that her songs of choice were in a far far different genre than the Black Eyed Peas I love so much. (Random Fact hidden inside my other random fact...the BEP's are my favorite.)

Readers Digest Books Revisited :: A Challenge Layout.

Hello hello!

I'm just popping in quick this morning to share a layout designed by the AMAZING krafty pearl that she created for my challenge last friday. If you don't already know her work, check out her blog right away for some inspiration overload. She just oozes crafty coolness. need proof? see for yourself:

 
 

Next up, I have a couple more book pages challenge projects myself. This first one means the world to me because it is the only photo Gracie ever will have of her and my grandma. I could explain it a little but I think the journaling says it all...

And finally, I have a quick card that I made for my grandma that is still living. She's one of my favorite people in the world so I just wanted to send her a pretty card to say I love you. Because I'd give anything to say it one more time to the one photographed above. 

What's on your mind this week? Have you been doing anything fun and crafty? If you do...please remember to share it on the Cartwheels flickr group so that we can all check it out!

As for me...I'm rearranging my art space, organizing my art supplies, finishing up my digital kits (coming very soon!) and doing some art in between all of it. I'm not going to lie, having a job that requires you to do lots of handmade art isn't all that painful for me. :)

x's and o's, Cheryl

RANDOM CHERYL FACT: I sing all day everyday, everywhere I go. It's a thing my Grandma used to do (hence the topic in the layout above) and it got passed down through her children and now her grandchildren. I'm not going to lie, though...I know for a fact that her songs of choice were in a far far different genre than the Black Eyed Peas I love so much. (Random Fact hidden inside my other random fact...the BEP's are my favorite.)

Guest Artist Tutorial, Irasema

hola! my name is irasema and you will find me on my little corner of the bloggy world at iamirasema.blogspot.com. there hopefully you will find super happy, colorful stuff and cute things too.

i love art, crafts and design! i mean how can i not, it is all around us every single moment of the day! and it didn't hurt that i grew up around a very artsy/crafty family and that i became a graphic designer. i love to learn and try new things, so my craft stash is ridiculous and taking over my house! thank goodness i have a husband that loves me, my quirks and my ever growing collection of buttons. so you ready for the tutorial??

i luurve decorating my door! i like to show a little personality before you even enter the house. but who says you have to use wreaths just for the door? i like to use them for the fireplace and as wall art, especially around the holidays!
so today i will show you a cute holiday wreath!
YEY!!
o(^__^)o



here is what you need:
14" straw wreath
50 ft garland
glitter ornaments
glitter floral picks (you can't have enough glitter!)
hot glue

dab a generous amount of hot glue to the wreath and attach an end of the garland

start wrapping around the wreath. if you want, you can glue every several inches but it is not necessary. once it's wrapped, it should hold its place

yeah we're done wrapping! hot glue the end in place.



decorate!!!
(>___<)

for a hanger, i use a floral wire. dab a little glue on the end and just shove it in and shape it up.



voila! you are done. hang and enjoy....


 
what? you don't like tinsel!?!? well why didn't you say so! there are tons of materials to use: yarn, fabric, ribbon, paper, beads, feather boas.... seriously anything!



so you want a random fact... i am a list maniac! i have list for everything and los of notebooks to keep lists of everything but that doesn't mean my lists get done!

thanks for having me cartwheelers!
(n_____n)

Guest Artist Tutorial :: Jody, Smilin' Moon.

ello!  I'm Jody...I live in Iowa with my husband, four kids & two golden retreivers.

   
I create mixed media, folk art-inspired paintings, and often incorporate vintage pieces or elements into my art.  I especially love to create pieces that inspire and uplift...and that connect soulfully with others.  You can find me at my blog, smilin' moon!  You can also find my art in my smilin' moon etsy shop.  I recently had my blog re-designed.  It was a big decision and I did a lot of searching to find someone who's style really spoke to me, and who had great communication skills.  I am thrilled that I found Cheryl Manz-Ametewee!  I absolutely love what she's done, and although it still needs tweaked a bit, it's almost there.  Please stop by and admire Cheryl's magic!

Since I like to re-use and recycle in my art (and when creating with my children), I've chosen a little holiday decoration project that will help your home sparkle by starting simply with cardboard, cardstock or thicker-weighted paper left over from craft packaging.  If you have little ones (and don't mind a little glitter and chaos flying about!), this is a fun craft to let your kids help with.

1.  Find recylcled cardstock, cardboard, etc.  and cover it in a layer of white gesso.  Or, skip this step if you have white cardstock or cardboard.

2.  Find a simple star template online or use a star cookie cutter to trace lots of little stars on the dried cardstock.

3.  Cut out the stars and spray with glue adhesive or cover with matte gel medium.

4.  Immediately cover with glass giltter and shake around to cover entire star.

5.  When dry, repeat glue and glitter on other side of stars.

6.  Punch little hole in each star and attach clear string through hole.

7.  Hange from ceiling, or where ever you like!  I used glue dots to hang mine, but there are many creative ways to hang these stars.

Now, about the glass glitter...I wasn't familiar with it until last year when I found some at a local vintage shop.  I stocked up on this German glass glitter and have found that a little goes a long way.  It becomes more beautiful over time and takes on almost an aged, patina look.  I found this adorable esty shop that sells German glass glitter in many colors...These stars would be fantastic in festive colors as well! 

  

 

 

Last step:  Admire your work.  Dim the lights.  Bring the kids in to take in the sparkly, holiday magic you've created.  Save your stars!  They'll be good to go next year as well!  Happy holidays from me and mine!  Thank you, Cartwheels! 

xxoo

jody

 

Guest Artist Tutorial :: Lindsay Clowes, LDC Designs.

Hello everyone! I'm Lindsay, from LDC designs.

Before we get to the fun stuff I will tell you a little about myself. I am 19 years old and I spend most of my leisure time crafting. Sewing is my first love but I have many many second loves. Here are a few pics of what I do! You can see all of my things if you visit my facebook page

.

I was asked to do a guest post for you all and as I was making cupcakes with my best friend and my little sister I though "Wouldn't this be an awesome guest post!" I have a bunch of photos of cupcakes we decorated that will hopefully inspire you and a couple of cupcake DIYs along the way! Lets get rolling... First a little inspiration...

Getting hungry? I am.... Looking at these you can get a couple ideas for your own decorating. Want to know a little secret about these delish looking cupcakes? I thought so.... the inside of them are tie dyed ! Didn't see that coming did you?

 So how did I tie dye these beauties? Simple...

All you do is pour your batter into different bowls, use food colouring to turn the bowls of batter all different colours and then pour them into the cupcake tins in layers. Then we used a tooth pick to make cool designs in them.

Voila! Now thats not all... oh no, I have more in store for you! Once your cupcakes are all cooled off you are going to need to decorate them! You are going to need to dye your food colouring different colours, the same as you did with the batter.

 Step One: Cover the top with frosting.

Step Two: Using a tooth pick, put a glob of another coloured frosting in the middle.

Step Three: Using the tooth pick again, pull the frosting from the middle to the edges making a star shape. And then use the tooth pick to go around in circles making a wavy thing.

Step Four: Then add a chocolate chip and some sprinkles!

Done! Wow, now I am starving. Now for a random fact about me! Well.. this is a little weird, but I totally love pictures of feet. I don't necessarily like feet.. but I like pics of them !

Well, that's all for now! I really hope you enjoyed this! Let me know if you make any cupcakes! You can visit me at my blog, on facebook, twitter or flickr! Thanks so much for letting me do a guest post! xo ldc

a grrfeisty packaging tutorial :)

oh, hi! :)

i'm roxy from grrfeisty.com. since we've probably never met, let me go ahead and share a little bit about myself.

i currently reside in houston, tx with 3 lovely dogs, and one lovely boyfriend.  my 9-5 [technically 8-4 :) ] consists of educating young minds in the ways of mathematics. but really, aren't we so much more than our day jobs? :)  i love photography, crafting, traveling, blogging, and smooching cute animals. hopefully i can get to know so many more crafty minds through this lovely opportunity, and this meeting can be more two sided!

on to the packaging!

i think we can all agree that receiving something in the mail, whether an order or gift, is extremely exciting :)  - and all the more when it looks amazing and is filled with surprises!

materials: a lot of these items are optional, but they are what i will be using today :)

colored pens, scissors, twine, stickers, freebies, stamps, stamp pad, biz cards, tissue paper, gift tag, mailing envelope [padded], cards stock, and of course, the gift/item.

first you will need to fold your tissue paper into fourths. it usually doesn't matter in which direction, but i like to fold it "hot dog style" [or long ways :)].

roll the item up in the tissue paper. i shoot for a rectangle. tucked within my quadrilateral i have placed a personalized thank you note, a business card, and a little mustachasaurus brooch.

the thank you note is a little rectangular piece of cardstock. fold it in half, add a sticker, and voila! a little mini card :)

once i've wrapped up the item and added a sticker to hold it closed, i twine up the gift, add a gift tag, and one of my freebies. doesn't it already look so much cuter? ;)

now to the actual envelope! this is the first thing seen by the receiver - so make sure to get them ever-so-excited to rip it apart on their way to its creamy center!

i've purchased a couple stamps from etsy.com. one is my address label, the other is a thank you stamp with my shop link.

the third stamp i created by carving out my own mustachasaurus design. sometimes i add a fourth little owl stamp because, let's face it, who isn't diggin' owls? :)

stamp up the envelope, write in the address, add any more cute little drawings, and ta-da!

[thank you stamp is on the back!]

once you've added your prettily wrapped up item and freebies, you are ready to send your amazing gift off into mailman [or woman] land.

if i am feeling extra gifty, i'll use extra colorful envelopes, add a tree drawing to one side, use bigger stamps....go crazy!

i hope you all have enjoyed my little packaging tutorial! thanks so much to cheryl for offering me this great opportunity!

have a lovely holiday season! and be sure to show your love and appreciation to friends, family, and customers with some adorable mail ;)

xoxo

roxy