Postcards From Paris

Hello all you fine crafty folk!  A short post today to show you my Out of a Hat Challenge creations.  The subject this week is a postcard from France.  I have 3 different attempts to share.

This first one is pretty straight forward.  I used my Cricut to cut out letters to spell Paris and substituted the Eiffel Tower for the letter i.  The cutouts were inked around the edges and glued to a piece of patterned paper from the CTMH La Belle Vie collection.

For the second postcard, I again cut out letters spelling Paris with the Cricut and added some sparkle with Bronze Glitz Glitter Gel.  The background was stamped using various French stamps from my Close To My Heart stash.

The last postcard is totally digital.  I used digital images from the My Time Made Easy Vintage Vineyard Collection and the Cool Romance Digital Paper Pack.  Since these are supposed to be postcards, I tried to keep them flat, as if I were going to mail them.

Well that’s it from me.  If you have a chance check out the OOAH challenge blog to see what the others have made.  And if you’re feeling up to it why not post one of your own!  Happy crafting!

~Tracy

I’ve Been Framed!

Good day everyone.  Are you getting the same glorious weather that we’re getting in Ottawa?  It’s been 27 C for the last week and it’s been just delightful!  I’m loving it.  Needless to say it’s been great being outside in the garden and hard to drag myself into the craft room.  But I had two Mother’s Day cards and a few birthday cards that needed to get done and that’s what I’ve been working on.

This week’s theme at Out of a Hat Creations is picture frames.  I’ve incorporated that theme into 3 cards, which I will share with you today.After searching the internet for some ideas, I found a sample of a line frame card.  This was very interesting and effective to me, so I tried it out on my Mother’s Day cards.After stamping my images and sentiments, I took a black archival ink marker and drew lines around the outside at equal distances from the edge.  As you can see, I tried one card with the lines going through the images and one card  stopping at one side of the image and carrying on at the other side of the image.  Both are effective and finish off the cards nicely in a simple way.This last card uses a more traditional frame to enhance the focal image.  I used my Cricut machine to cut it out.  The stamped image is from the CTMH Fabulous You stamp set.

Well that’s it from me.  I truly hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods.  It’s been a long time coming here.  Enjoy the rest of your day and happy crafting!

~Tracy

 

 

 

MTME May Year In Review – Sizzlin’ Summer Ideas

Welcome back!  I have the winner of the MTME May Sneak Peek contest!!  Drum roll please…………………….. and the lucky winner is…………. Sue D!!!  Congratulations, Sue.  You get your choice of any one of the templates in the My Time Made Easy shop!  I’ll send you an email with all the details so you can claim your prize.  Thanks to everyone who played along.

So now we move on to our Year In Review.  This is when we get to choose any MTME product and turn it into something completely different (some serious fun to be had here!).  I decided to stick with the BBQ grill template and add a travel theme to it by turning it into a travel trunk.  Check it out…Imagine filling this with a bag of trail mix, a travel game, or even a pack of gum and some moisturizing facial wipes for someone travelling on a plane.  Of course, no gift is complete without a card, so I whipped up this little cutie pie using some digital paper from the Sweet & Sour Sweethearts Paper Pack, along with a sentiment from the Sentimental Occasions Digital Images set.

This makes me wish I was boarding a plane for an adventure!  If you have a moment or two, take a cyber trip over to the other girls’ blogs to see what kind of new things they’ve made from something old.  And if you’d like a little more inspiration, you are always welcome to pop by the MTME Design Team Gallery for a peek.  Have a great day everyone and thanks for stopping by!  ~Tracy

• Lauren Meader
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz
• Jackie Randolph
• Karien vab der Westhuizen
• Kimberly Morrow
• Lisa Kind
• Lori Hairston
• Lori Kalus
• Pattie Goldman
• Tangii Crain
• Tracy Holmes  <— You’re here!
• Wendy McGaffey
• Romaine Rancier
• Dawn Barwick

My Time Made Easy May Release

Hey there crafty friend!  Welcome back for the full reveal of the MTME May release.  For those of you who played along yesterday and left a comment you will be entered into the draw for a chance to win a MTME template of your choice.  Woohoo – a great prize!  If you guessed BBQ or grill – you were absolutely right.  See for yourself…

How cute is that?  The grill on the BBQ lifts up so you can store a gift in the bottom.  Maybe a rub or some steak spices for the grill master of the family!  We all have one of those in the family, don’t we?  This would also be great for Father’s Day or as a summer BBQ party favour with a little bag of Hot Tomales in it!

And to round things out, I made this quick and easy backyard BBQ party invitation using the new Summer Paper digital paper pack and the It’s Grilling Season digital stamp images.  You can purchase all of these items separately or as a complete set (including the grill) by clicking here.

I hope you have a chance to visit the other DT’s blogs and check out their fun and amazing creations, and please do come back tomorrow for the Year In Review and to see if you’re a lucky winner.  Thanks for stopping by!  ~Tracy

• Lauren Meader
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz
• Jackie Randolph
• Karien vab der Westhuizen
• Kimberly Morrow
• Lisa Kind
• Lori Hairston
• Lori Kalus
• Pattie Goldman
• Tangii Crain
• Tracy Holmes  <— That’s me!
• Wendy McGaffey
• Romaine Rancier
• Dawn Barwick

My Time Made Easy May Peek Giveaway!

It’s the last day of April, so don’t be a fool!

Here is a peek at a project, that is sure to make you drool.

Tell me what do you think, what could it be?

Leave me a guess, and you may win a template for FREE!

Here are the details:
My Time Made Easy is having their monthly release of new products tomorrow on May 1st. Check out all
the amazing Pretty Packaging Templates My Time Made Easy has to offer HERE! There are OVER 100 to
choose from. They offer templates in PDF (printer friendly) SVG, GSD, DXF, and WPC.

So take a look at all the project peeks each design team member has to share and leave a comment with
each one of them. Every time you leave a comment at a blog it is another chance to win.
ONE person from EACH blog will be chosen randomly to win a FREE template of their choice! Winners
will be announced on May 2nd.  Good luck and have fun!!

• Lauren Meader
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz
• Jackie Randolph
• Karien vab der Westhuizen
• Kimberly Morrow
• Lisa Kind
• Lori Hairston
• Lori Kalus
• Pattie Goldman
• Tangii Crain
• Tracy Holmes  <— C’est moi!
• Wendy McGaffey
• Romaine Rancier
• Dawn Barwick

Hearts & Swirls

Hello out there!  A short post today to give you a look at my Out of a Hat Challenge card.  The theme is hearts and swirls so I made this birthday card for my husband, who turned 45 today.  Happy birthday honey!

 

My apologies for the crummy picture but I had to take this at night – no natural light (ugh!).  Anyway, I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in four different colours down a strip of white card stock.  I then framed it out with a navy pinstripe patterned paper and added the hearts and swirls on the right hand side.  The large heart is popped up with dimensional foam over the swirl.  Pretty straight forward but I like the result.

So that’s it from me.  Come on back tomorrow for a My Time Made Easy May release sneak peek.  There will also be a chance to win something so be sure to check it out.  See you tomorrow!

~Tracy

 

It’s A Circus Around Here!

Well hello there!  It’s seems like forever since I posted last.  My hubby had back surgery two weeks ago and ever since then it’s been like a circus around here.  With all the balls in the air I had to drop a few and one of them was crafting  The good news is we are getting back on track and my husband is recovering nicely.  Slowly but nicely!

Speaking of the circus, the Out of a Hat Challenge this week is… you guessed it… the circus!  I made a birthday card for the challenge but maybe I should have just taken a picture of my house, lol!  Anyway, without further ado…

I don’t really own any type of circus stamps, but I do own this cute animal stamp set, which works with the circus theme.  I also thought the flags had a bit of a circusy feel to them, so I used them to stamp the background.  The animals were stamped, coloured and cut out and then perched on top of a homemade circus stand.  I couldn’t fit the whole happy birthday sentiment on the stand so I decided to make a sign for the monkey’s hand with the happy part of the sentiment on it.

I also made a card for last week’s OOAH altered paper clip/clothes pin challenge but didn’t have time to post.  So here it is a week late…

I thought it would be fun to put the altered paper clips on a card so the recipient can use them.  This would be great for a teacher.  The bottom portion of the card uses a burlap background stamp, which I inked up with four different ink colours.  I then stamped the sentiment across the bottom in black ink.

That’s all today.  Thanks for stopping by and checking it out.  I hope to be back soon with more creations.  Until then happy crafting!!

~Tracy

 

Through Stormy Seas

Hello crafty friends.  This week at Out of a Hat Creations the challenge theme is travel/suitcase.  I just received my Tommy Workshop-On-The-Go Scrapbook Kit from Close To My Heart, and used it to create my challenge card.  I’m loving the stamp set that comes with this workshop and you can check it out by clicking the link.

I stamped the sentiment onto the chipboard tag with Outdoor Denim pigment ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I then sponged on some Bamboo ink to make it look weathered.  The map and sailboat were stamped and cut out to add a bit more weight to the tag.  I also stamped the blue star and the stitching around the perimeter of the card.The layout for this card was inspired by a card from the latest issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.  Such a great resource when you need some inspiration!

That’s it from me today.  Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day!

~Tracy

My Time Made Easy Blog Hop

Hello!  I hope you are all enjoying your week.  Can you believe it’s Thursday already?  Today is the last post showcasing My Time Made Easy‘s April Release products so sit back and enjoy!  I decided to use the shoe box template from the Match Your Bag Package to create this cute housewarming gift box.

The shoe box measures 4″ x 5 1/2″ x 9″ so it is large enough to hold something substantial.  I created this box using the brick and grid papers from the Construction Materials Digital Paper, and I coloured, printed and cut out the house accessories using the Home Improvement/Shoppe Window Digital Stamp Set.  This was really a lot of fun to put together.Of course, a gift isn’t complete without an accompanying card, so I created this cute little number to go with the housewarming gift box.  I used the same grid paper from the Construction Materials paper pack for the background and paired it up with this adorable Love Birds  digital image.   I hope you have time to check out what the rest of the design team has created for your viewing pleasure.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

~Tracy

• Dawn Barwick
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz
• Jackie Randolph
• Karien van der Westhuizen
• Kimberly Morrow
• Lauren Meader
• Lisa Kind
• Lori Hairston
• Lori Kalus
• Pattie Goldman
• Romaine Rancier
• Tangii Crain
• Tracy Holmes  <— You’re here!
• Wendy McGaffey

Follow Your Dreams Mini Album

Hi there!  Today I am sharing a mini album I made out of a CD jewel case.  This was made quite a while ago, but it has never been posted until today!  Here is the front cover…The paper is from a now retired Close To My Heart paper pack but I still love the colour combination and designer papers.

The inside boasts more of that lovely paper and frames a couple of pictures of my kids.  If you want to attempt one of these make sure you take out the plastic piece that holds the CD/DVD.  There is also room to add more pages, if desired.

And finally the back cover.  These make a nice gift because they don’t take too much time and everyone loves something made from the heart!  I will be sharing this with the ladies over at the Out of a Hat Creations Blog.  They are looking for something with faces this week and this just happens to contain my two favourite faces!

Come on back tomorrow when I will be sharing one last My Time Made Easy April Release project.  Until then happy crafting!

~Tracy