Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Gray is The New Black

Have you noticed it, or is it just me?

Actually Paper Craft Magazine just had a simular statement a few months ago in one of their issues. Things have been changing from formal black to slightly gray when it comes to weddings and graduations.

And not only is gray climbing on the popularity scale, it's getting twisted with colors like gold. How unique is that?

But don't just take it from me, Hello Beautiful has this to say about the grey trend, and even the stars of letting go black and turning grey according to the NY Times Daily.

Sophistacted
Refreshing
Neutral
Comforting

Is Grey the new black? What do you think?

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Wedding Guest Book and Pen Set

This is a 8" x 10" wedding guest book album that I custom made from one of my daughter's preschool teachers to give to her daughter. I know, too many daughter's in that sentence!

Anyway, this couple choose steel blue and lime green for their wedding colors.


As you can see, it came out very lovely.


Inside are formal lined pages, entitled "Friends & Family".

I made a ribbon pen, and instead of the traditional feather style, I added a second color ribbon and tied it with a bow. The one end of the pen has a matching rhinestone. It all comes together quite nice with the rhinestone trimmed heart pen holder.


Monday, March 28, 2011

The Design Process


I appologize for being absent these past few days.  Sometimes one must just go off and renew their creative thinking. Like attending a craft show as a shopper instead of a vendor.

This past weekend was the spring craft fair at a local high school. I can't say I can home empty handed, but was delighted to see all the new ideas and talents of others. I wish I had taken my camera just to give you all a glimpse of the show.

When I came home, I've been working on some custom order request. Pictured above is a design I've been working on the past day and a half of a customer. It wasn't until I stepped away from this for a while, that I was able to come back and combined the colors and theme.

Green, yellow, and red.
Butterflies and florish
Formal Wedding Style

Most designers have trays or boards they used when putting together elements of a design. I just lay them out on the table and like a puzzle it all comes together. Like this one.

What you see above will soon become a 8" x 8" hardback wedding guest book album with pale yellow fabric binding and yellow photo pages. The cover will be the green florish paper you see, and the pages will be white with a stamped design.

In the meantime, I've got other hardback covers in the press that will soon need binding, and another custom order to finish up by the end of the week.

I just love custom orders. It's all in the design process, don't you think?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The At Home Collection


Whenever we go to visit a certain relative on my husband side, there's always a guest book in the foyer. I love signing it. Not only that, I love seeing who else has, and I'm sure it's become a treasured memoir in the home as after decades of living there, these relatives can look back and remember those they've welcomed into their house.

That's why when I saw these paper designs from The At Home Stack by DCWV, I knew they were destined to become guest book albums. I've lined these pages and wrote "Guests" at the top for just the occasion.Search Amazon.com for DCWV

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

All In A Flutter

Lately, I've been feeling like a dozen butterflies have been all a flutter around me. Each one lightly reminding me that it's spring! That and reminding me that with spring comes both beauty and toil. So today I hope you enjoy the flutter of these new butterfly papers that are being added to the paper gallery.

Love these colors!

Classic!

Settle serenity, don't you think?

hidden peace, do you see the butterfly?

Silver Foil Embossed

Reminds me of walking through a field and all the butterflies flutter up and go with wind!

Ah, yes. Spring has come in all it's splendor and beauty. How would you describe the coming of spring? All in a flutter? Or peaceful and swooping?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Craft Ideas Weekly Contest

Craft Ideas Wweekly is currently hosting a contest to win a new cricut expression and some extra goodies, like cartridges and studio software and cutting mats(affiliate links). I know there's a lot of "ands" in there!

Basically the contest is based on popular vote.

You can find out more about the contest rules and how to enter here.

In the mean time however, VOTE FOR ME!

I know, I know, it's pathetic, but hey I entered. It's all for fun right? Or maybe a cricut expression, but your support is appreciated.

You can view my entry here.

Happy Voting!

Monday, March 21, 2011

MRsCHADT in Esperanza Magazine

I developed the Mood Organizer and it's companing the Mood Journal a few years ago in order to help some loved ones who were suffering from Bipolar Disorder. I'm happy to say the Mood Organizer is three years old and still going strong.

I'm even more thrilled to say that it was in the Winter 2010 Edition Esperanza Magazine!

I had sent a few copies to BP Hope Magazine back when the first author copies came out and was pleasantly surprised to be getting emails from readers that the organizer was in the winter edition!



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Recent Events


We've all been listening tentatively to the news, praying, and considering ways we can help out those devastated in Japan.

Over the weekend, my MOPS group held a bake sale and donated the proceeds to Samaritans Purse to help Japan.

If you skip over to Tea Rose Room, you'll find the link to donate to Humanitarian Services and the recent quilt tying event to benefit those in Japan.

You can click over and learn more here: http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-i-am-feeling-now.html.

As such, this month I will be donating a proceed of my book sales to Samaritans Purse.

May we always remember to reach out to our neighbors, no matter how far away are in a time of need.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Turquoise Daisies Guest Book Album



This is a guest book I put together recently and personalized for a customer. As you can see, a simple one line name card was placed on the front cover.

This cover is a textured glossy card stock that has a brilliant sheen in the light.  It's perfect for any occasion.

Inside I placed ivory and creme pages that are stamped with daisies!

How cute and just in time for spring. I think turquoise is a great color for March don't you? Not blue/ not green but a mixture entirely of it's own like the weather and transition the month represents.

Friday, March 18, 2011

To Find a Hoot Owl


I've been on a hoot owl search these past few days. Yep, the beautiful paper I've been using for the Hoot...Hoot Books has been retired by it's maker DCWV.  Since it doesn't come single sheet and the stacks are getting few and  far between with my supplier, I've decided to go out on a limb with my hoot owl book.

I found these cute little owls on eBay.  They're made from the stamping up owl punch. I'm thinking they will make a great 3-D effect on the front of a cover of a newly designed hoot...hoot... book.  I'm thinking I'll cut out a stamped branch and give the cover a similar effect as the original paper design.

What do you think, did I find a good hoot or what?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Think Green!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Everyone is thinking green today, so I thought I'd share some new green designs I just got in the studio this week!







All different shades of green, these new paper selections come from three different paper stacks by KandCompany and DCWV.

So now that you've seen my green, how green are you today?


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A Crinkle in the Process of Book Binding


I apologize for no post these past few days. As you can see I've been working on something new. I found this really unique beaded paper and thought it would look very nice as a book cover.

After putting together the book cover and setting it up for several days, the paper didn't press flat. Bummer!

You can see in the photo below how the paper gaps at the edges and has a ripple. My conclusion is because the paper was beaded the texture of the beads didn't allow it to press flat and so it didn't dry properly. :(


But even with the small gaps on the cover, I couldn't resist finding out how this book would look finished. So, I stitched it up and placed some inside pages in it. It's too fancy to place in my foyer, so I'm not sure yet what to do with it. It would have definitely been beautiful for a wedding! Perhaps I'll listed it at discount or maybe put it on Ebay.

What do you think?

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Book of Potions

Harry Potter never went anywhere with out his book of potions. Now, you too, can have one of your very own!
Whether you're cooking up some new concoctions in the kitchen or keeping track of those experiments in the lab. This scrapbook journal is the perfect place for all those notes and results.
Hand bound so it will never fall apart...unless you cut the ties.

Gray signature pages for all your writing and recording and hot pink pages made of card stock for photos and newspaper clippings.

Got any recipes brewing?

Friday, March 11, 2011

Feathered Ribbon Pen Tutorial

Some secrets are meant to be shared. This one is a no brainer, or at least for someone crafty with a spool of ribbon, a glue gun, a feather,and a pen!


I'm always buying those packs of Bic pens  (affiliate) in the stationary aisle when I'm out shopping. As you may not know, I got through a lot of ink. When I'm not crafting I'm writing in journals, jotting down notes in my mini journals, or plainly working on writing a story.

These pens, however, are smooth and comfortable and add a little flare with the feather for writing. They're great for those special occasions and go nicely with any of my guest book albums or journals.

So do you make one?

Simple:

You'll need: 1 Bic pen (or similar off brand pen)
                    ribbon (any size - but note the smaller the width the more it will take to cover the pen)
                    feather
                    hot glue gun

Step 1:  You'll want to put a small bead of glue on the end of your pen.
Step 2: Take the end of your ribbon and attach to the bead of glue on the pen.
Step 3: Wrap Ribbon around pen. Put a spot of hot glue every once in a while to hold ribbon in place.
Step 4: Once you've wrapped your ribbon 3/4 of the way around the pen stop and glue your feather to the top.  (You may need to stripe the end of your feather a little so the center bone is clean for attachment)
Step 5: Proceed with wrapping your ribbon the rest of the way around the pen and around the feather.
Step 6: Cut Ribbon and glue end at top of pen.

Now your done!

Optional: Attach Rhinestones or other embellishments to pen for decoration.

so what do you think? easy?
Not for you? don't worry, I'll have a few in the shop along with the wooden pen holders.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

How To Create a Wooden Heart Pen Holder

So I was in the mood to paint today and had a few little hands to help in this fun project. As you can see we're not done yet. These are 3" wooden hearts and candle stick holders that I picked up at our local craft shop. 

The kids and I spent some time after school putting a base coat of white on them. I left the bottoms and insides of the candle stick holders unpainted. That's tomorrow's project - painting the unfinished places.


Once the parts are painted, then the candle stick holder is glued (hot glue works or even wood glue) to the heart base.

This is just a miniature version of the heart pen holder that I showed you in a post earlier this week.

Now to spruce these pen holders up with some personal touches...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

What Customers Are Saying About MRsCHADT

I recently received some feedback from my customers over on Etsy and wanted to share some of the praise. I can't express in words what making my customers happy means to me. I love what I do!

"Thank you very much. We received the guest book and loved it! We look forward to filling it with pictures and great memories of a special day. We also really loved the note and poem that was included. What a great personal touch! It makes us happy to support someone "local" who is selling handmade products. :) Thanks again for being a part of our special day!"

   - kbernhardt

"Thank you very much for your help! I will certainly be contacting you in the future for other orders."

  - klbegnaud

"Nice scrapbook journal, I'm going to use it as a memorial scrapbook."

  - acruz

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

May All Your Dreams Come True


Something blue just got more interesting with this golden rod blue bird guest book album!


From the glossy bird cover and this bird stamp (below) this book was inspired.

"May all your DREAMS come true." What a sweet saying for the front page of this guest book album. It's so versatile, for a wedding, bridal shower, graduation, even a retirement party. I like how the bird is in flight, because isn't that how we all are? When we're getting married, starting a new journey in our life, we're fluttering and taking flight toward a dream.

Beyond the dream of the front page of this guest book album, are the autograph pages stamped with this new floral design swag.
There's plenty of room between these stamped flowers for your guest to write advice, well wishes, and their name to create memories of your special day.

Unlike any of my other guest book albums, I took that last autograph page and did something extra special. This page is more of a transition from those special hand written notes to the photo card stock pages. So, I stamped it with the floral swag, then with the little snowflake flower stamp that leads us into the photo pages of the book.


As you can see the snowflake flowers then grace the photo pages and carry the floral theme throughout this book.

May All Your Dreams Come True!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...