Crafted by Grace

Winter blues got you down?  Let's cheer up with a look at one of our newest colors. My pick for Winter Blues?    Carolina I love this color because it is fresh and encouraging.  It reminds me of all the best parts of a snowy day, and none of the worst.    It is cheerful, but not brash.  Winter in our area of the world can be harsh, but I tend to focus on the astounding beauty and quiet of our snow-globe world.   This season, Carolina is featured in our  Love Blossoms  and  Something Fierce  kits!  These are available for a limited time. There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning to peer out at a 'brand new world' that was created overnight, simply by falling snow.   On the best of these mornings, there are a loads of blue tones and sometimes even this perfect  Carolina  blue painting the sky.   In  Love of Color ,  we learn that there are some beauti...

Let's face it.  New moms are BUSY.  They may not get time to sit down and craft a scrapbook for a long, long time.  So one thoughtful gift I like to create is an EASY Baby Shower Gift Book.   Here is one I made awhile back for a friend.     All you need is a handful of papers that co-ordinate well.  Grab one or two cardstock colors and a few patterned papers to match.  (Or grab one of our  CTMH Paper Packs  ,  all perfectly coordinated and ready to go!    Using the rule of thirds, (or halves, for variety), is a sure-fire way to a, easy, balanced page.       G o for it .  Use your stash!

The mice will play!  With my husband and eldest away tonight on a Scouts canoe trip, I decided to help the little mice play with me ... scrapbooking!  I am amazed at what their little imaginations can so quickly come up with.  This is the gift of innocence.  Creativity abounds!  Unfortunately it is not matched with equal amounts of hand-eye coordination OR wisdom yet ... which results in: spinning office chairs, tape runners occasionally running along the desktops, and glitter where it absolutely should NOT be.  But that's where I come in.  I simply use every ounce of patience I have to keep my helpful "nice words" flowing instead of the glue.  Well anyway ... Here's what my Nathan saw when I opened the first page of the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge booklet ... A COMPASS!  Really?  I thought it was a flower on a tag.  What do I know.  Look what we made! We couldn't resist adding a belt to match ....

A while back I learned how to make the most of those leftover pieces of our beautiful, high quality scrapbook papers. It was so much fun that I decided to share it in our Card Club, and then with friends at Open Houses and Workshops! You've got to try it. It's SIMPLE and FUN! Inspired By Scraps Card Workshop by Rebecca Laird 1. First cut all of your scraps into strips: either 4.25" or 5.5" depending on their length. Widths can vary between 3/4 inches and 1.5 inches. It's a fun and easy job. 2. Next divide them into color groups. Sort card stock and pattern papers into piles according to their most prominent color: all blues together, all reds together, etc. So beautiful! 3. Now you begin creating! Gather up or create some 4.25" x 5.5" card bases. (These are half of an 8.5 x 11" piece of card stock paper, folded). Begin to group colors in monochromatic or contrasting color groupings, according to what will fit on on each card. Keep t...

Wouldn't you love to arrange a few minutes of inspiring technique demos with a crafting expert, right in your own home, right when you need it most? Art & Soul is just that! If you have not viewed our online webisodes before, this is my Christmas gift to you today! View this month's show: Art & Soul ~ Stencil, Sparkle and Shine! My favorite features of our CTMH TV shows are their brevity (just a few minutes each!), their quality (excellently done), and their ingenuity ( new ways to use what I already have!) Viewing Tip: If your video feed is halting, there is help! Just adjust to a lower bandwidth setting underneath the little viewing screen, where you read, "Need Help Watching CTMH TV?" Through this feature, I was able to view the show even on my old dial-up connection. Enjoy! Don't let the "I"m stuck" winter blues halt your creativity - tune in to CTMH TV through my site to chase those blues away. There is a complete library of sho...