2017 Queen of Hearts Blog Hop

Welcome to the Quietfire Design's 2017 Queen of Hearts Blog Hop!

This week we're celebrating the release of the newest dies, stencils and stamps from Quietfire Design by sharing our best projects!

My project for the blog hop is a scrapbook page for our wedding album.  The page used the new die set "Sweet Smiles"

and Quietfire Design's "Together Forever" stamp

The die set and stamp are a perfect pairing for the wedding's cake cutting photo.

Aren't the dies and stamp gorgeous?!  

The papers used are from Graphic 45's A Ladies' Diary set.

An ornate metal key and a heart doily were added to a corner. 

Black card stock was used for the dies.  Love how the dies pop against the paper!

The stamp is so lovely.  Suzanne's calligraphy is beautiful!

Here is our Blog Hop Schedule with the dates each designer will be posting (Click on each person's name to go to their blog):

Sun Feb 12 - Suzanne
Mon Feb 13 - Wanda and Connie
Tues Feb 14 - Robyn and Teresa
Wed Feb 15 - Kathy Jo and Diana
Thurs Feb 16 Yvonne and Yogi
Fri Feb 17 Selma

What would a celebration be without a giveaway!? Suzanne is giving away stamps, dies or stencils to random winners on each blog. 

Make sure you leave a comment below before midnight Sunday February 19, 2017. A winner will be randomly chosen from my list of comments and the winner's name will be posted on Quietfire Creations shortly afterwards. Visit and leave comments on all the designers Queen of Hearts blog posts! You can go back if you've missed any of them. 

Good Luck!

"Special Moments" using new ECD dies and Graphic 45

Hello Crafty Friends!

Another project using a newly released die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs, Special Moments:

For the lovely die set, I decided to create a scrapbook page using one of my favorite photos of my hubby and our puppy, Teddy.  (Some of you may have seen this photo on a prior post.  This page will be displayed at some craft shows so I chose this photo as I love it!)  The patterned papers are from Graphic 45's Botanical Tea.  All card stock is from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  Brown card stock was used for "Special"...

...and green was used for "Moments".

For those of you that like to make calendars for family and friends, this die set (as well as other A Way With Words dies) would make each month's layout even more special.  Team it up with a pad of Graphic 45 papers and your project will look beautiful!

In case you missed the entire A Way With Words die and stencil release:

The designer, Suzanne Cannon, really designed a fantastic set of new dies and stencils!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a happy, crafty day!
Big Hugs,
Kathy Jo

"Remember" scrapbook page using newly released ECD die

Hello Crafty Friends!

How did you get started in papercrafting?  Was it a project for a party?  Or the desire to make a personal gift for someone special?  For me it was my sister, Bobby Jo.  She has four (of the most amazing) kids and she wanted to preserve memories in scrapbooks.  She asked if I could look for crafting supplies in my area...next thing I know, I am buying a few supplies for myself.  My first scrapbook pages were rudimentary- only paper, scissors, a glue stick and a corner rounder was in my stash.  Eventually the stash grew and so did my interests: cards.  Scrapbook pages are few and far between for me now.  However, when the new Elizabeth Craft Designs dies were released my thoughts once again turned to scrapbooking.  This is my second page shared this week!  The first page used the "Memories" die.  Today's page has the lovely "Remember" die:

The photo was of my beautiful kitty, Daisy, and she was on the first scrapbook page I ever completed.  She has now passed so I wanted a special page for her in a scrapbook.  This photo of her is one of my favorites and the Remember die is a perfect elegant touch to her page.  

 The photo was mounted on Graphic 45's Botanical Tea patterned paper.  Remember was die cut in pink and mounted on a doily.  Two gold sequins were adhered on either side of the die cut and a half pearl applied.  Self adhesive lace was applied along the bottom edge of the page.  

The page was simple as I did not want to distract from the image or the die.

Thank you for stopping by!  I do hope you enjoyed the scrapbook page.  Feel free to take a peek at all the new products released at Quietfire Design- the new releases include not only the new ECD dies but also very lovely stamps!

Have a happy, crafty day.
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

Graphic 45 "Raining cats & Dogs" scrapbook page

Happy Sunday, Crafters!

Yesterday I woke up at 2am and couldn't sleep.  I hopped on to Pinterest to look at craft pretties when I saw a cute scrapbook page layout.  It made me think of the stack of photos I have that are in need of being scrapbooked.  Next thing I know, I am sitting in my living room surrounded by Graphic 45's Raining Cats & Dogs product.  My husband walked into the room wide eyed: it was 5am and he was getting ready to go work!  Funny how time flies so quickly!  I finished the scrapbook page this morning and took some photos.  One photo down..."too many to count" photos to go!  :)

Here is the layout.  It is a photo of my cat, Pepper, the first day she arrived at our home:

The sketch that inspired:

Another view showing the banners below the photo:

A cat postage stamp banner was added to the top left corner:

Foam tape was used for the photo and embellishments:

Close-up of the C is for Cat (what a cute dress!):

Another look at the layout- flowers were highlighted with Stickles.  The doily was die cut using Cheery Lynn's French Pastry:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I really hope you enjoyed the scrapbook page.  :)

Have a good day!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

This project is entered into the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp, Weds AG

Chalkboard Thinking of You page

Well, I hope you are all sitting down when you hopped to this entry.  Another scrapbook page!  Holy smokes!  As you can see, I am still trying to figure out the best way to photograph a scrapbook page so please pardon the poor quality.

The sketch is as per Canadian Scrapbookers August Sketch challenge:

The materials used are Quietfire's Thinking of You stamp, Spellbinders dies from Mystical Embrace and Venetian Motifs, and My Mind's Eye Chalk Studio paper.

Honestly, if feels weird to do scrapbook pages again and I have a feeling it will take a while to get used to working on such a grand scale.  Hopefully the pages will start to look better, too!  However, I still had fun making it and I am happy to have finally documented one of my favorite time of day: watching Ella taking her dip in the dog park lake.

Have a good day and thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo

Christmas scrapbook page- Graphic 45 and Quietfire

Hello!

Today is my day to share a project at Quietfire so I decided to share a scrapbook page I made.  Yep.  Scrapbook page.  It does not happen often but when it does I need to share.  :)

The photo is of my handsome hubby and exceptionally cute Saint Bernard, Ella.  We had just taken Ella for a long walk so she was a little dirty but her "formal wear" (aka her barrel) made up for it.  

The paper used was from various Graphic 45 collections (Twelve Days of Christmas, Nutcracker Sweet, Place in Time).  Also used were Cheery Lynn's die Pinwheel Doily, Memory Box' dies Delicate Vine and Holly Branch.  The gorgeous sentiment used was Quietfire's "Hold on to The Spirit of Christmas" stamped in Memento's Rich Cocoa.  Here is a better image of the stamp below:

Bling, lace and Stickles were applied as shown.  Distress inks in Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain were applied to all paper edges.

If you are preparing cards or other paper crafts using holiday sentiments, then you should hop over to Quietfire- all holiday stamps (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, etc) are 30% off!  Woo-who!

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a lovely day!
Kathy Jo 

Graphic 45 Scrapbook page- Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge

Happy Sunday, All!

The challenge this fortnight at Craft Hoarders Anonymous is a sketch.  In celebration of the National Scrapbooking Day, I decided to use the sketch for a scrapbook page.  I usually only make cards and I am not used to photographing 12x12 paper so please pardon the photos!  I took some outside and inside to try to get the best photos possible.  :)

First of all, the two adorable young ladies in the photo are my nieces.  The pictures were taken when they visited us over Canada Day.  I love this photo of them...every time I see it I cannot help but smile.  They are beautiful girls inside and out!

The paper is mostly from Graphic 45's Mother Goose collection except the green diagonal striped paper which is from the Magic of Oz.  The photo is on two Cheery Lynn doilies (French Pastry) and on red patterned die cut from Spellbinders Heirloom Legacy.  My old stamp is BIG HUG from Hampton Art- made in 2011...and never used until this layout.  I added swirl bling and flowers as shown.

In the top left corner I used my new stamp "You make me happy" from Pink Paislee's Hello Sunshine set.  It was die cut with Spellbinders Matting Basics and adhered to yellow die cut paper from Spellbinders Pearl Effects.  The pennants were scrap Mother Goose paper.  

It was fun to do a scrapbook layout again.  It has been too long and I have so many photos that should be in a scrapbook...perhaps I shall make a point to do one more often than once a year!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Sunday and a wonderful week!
Hugs,
Kathy Jo  

Happy Scrapbooking Day from my Saint Bernard, Ella

 

 

Happy Scrapbooking Day!

 

I would like to share a scrapbook page I made for my sweet Saint, Ella. She is not only a big sweetie, but she also has a lot of character and sass.  This paper screamed Ella and I had to use it for her! 

 

The paper is called "Big Deal" by Marah Johnson of Creative Imaginations.  Spellbinders Blossom Four and Sizzix On the Edge Bracket were also used.  The pink bling I picked up at the Dollarama.

 

The large photo is a close-up of her at the local dog park.  The small photo is her Halloween shot: she wore an adorable pink boa around her leash to celebrate the day and greet the kiddies.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!