Beautiful Materials!



Card design ©Sharon M. Reinhart 2011

Have you ever noticed that card making becomes much easier when you have supplies that look beautiful and tools that also work beautifully. I am often inspired by the supplies themselves. This card was a cinch to make due to the supplies used. The printed paper is from Fab Scraps a company from Africa who were new exhibitor's at CHA in Los Angeles. I had the opportunity of visiting their booth, what a great group of people paired with a great product line. The leaves were generated using a Sizzix die from the flowers, branches & leaves set. The doilies - well doilies seem to be all the rage right now and I have in the past used the ones that you can purchase that are normally found in white, gold or red. The doily on this card is created from a die called a French Pastry Doily, so now we can easily create doilies in any color. This die can be found at Cheery Lynn Designs and they have many styles to choose from.  The flower is petals from a stem found at Michaels and the button is a found one from a bag of buttons.  Hope you enjoy this creation!
Creatively yours,
Sharon

Bit of the Green!

Card design ©Sharon M. Reinhart 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Although I don't typically make cards specifically for this day, I do celebrate and honor this day with a bit of the green. This card would be perfect for a friend or loved one.  I had my daughter's in mind when I created this one. The base card is created using green linen card stock with an ivory pearl paper layered on top. The pearl paper was embossed using the square lattice textured impressions folder created for Stampin' Up by Sizzix. The next layer is a beautiful printed paper found in a 6 inch paper pad by Kaisercraft called the English Rose collection. The heart was die cut using a Spellbinder's Nestabilitie scallop die and then wrapped with beautiful thread from Wonderfil. The stamped words were generated using olive pastel Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink by Clearsnap and a Crafty Individuals stamp by Magenta. To finish it off, a sheer satin edge ribbon by Offray was used. I think it turned out quite nicely, hope you enjoy it!
Have a great day!
Sharon

Tea Bag Folding through the Seasons!

I am so excited! I can finally share this with you.  My new book Tea Bag Folding through the Seasons is set to be released.  The scheduled release date is May 6th.  I will be sure to keep you posted on the release dates and any launch celebrations such as signings, classes and demonstrations. If you would like to see some of the projects in this book head on over to Annies Attic (click on link).  It does state that it is back ordered, this is simply because it has not been released yet. 
I am very pleased with the cover and the quality of the photos that I have seen so far.  Looking forward to getting my copy so I can check out the inside!  What a great way to celebrate National Craft Month!
Creatively yours,
Sharon

Iris Folding Inspiration

Many of you have asked where you can purchase my book Iris Folding for Christmas.  It is available for order online at Annie's Attic, Amazon, and a variety of other companies.  If you prefer, it is also available as an electronic download at Annie's Attic.  For those of you in Calgary, Lethbridge or Red Deer I am pleased to say that it is back in stock at Scrapbooker's Paradise.  If you are a retailer, check DRG Network for distributors or order through their wholesale division.  Scrapbook Eh! Wholesale is another company which may be able to assist you.


Card design ©Sharon M. Reinhart

 As you can see with this card (created for a friend who recently had a baby girl), Iris Folding is certainly not just for Christmas. The designs in this book are easily adaptable to any season or theme by simply switching up the papers. Hope you enjoy the card and the book!
Creatively yours - Sharon

Shades of Blue

Project design
©Sharon M. Reinhart 2011

Well I am not blue -- the card is. The temperature is almost tropical here today. Not really, but it is a great deal warmer. So I thought I would celebrate this warmth, National Craft Month and Fave Crafts by sharing a card created with the Spellbinders Sunflower Set #2, Nestabilities Ovals and one of my most favorite, Labels One.The printed paper is beautiful chiyogami papers from The Japanese Paper Place. The script is a Cuttlebug embossing folder lightly accented with blue ink. To get the dimension on the flower centers, simply use a couple of 3D Glue Dots underneath. It is a quick card to put together, hope you like it!
Creatively yours,
Sharon

National Craft Month!

Did you know that we actually have an entire month devoted to crafting - that's right, it is this month, March!
So what can we do to celebrate this special month?  There are many things, here are just a few:

1. Share your enthusiasm for crafting by volunteering to teach a class.  Possibly at schools, hospitals, senior centers, or boys & girls clubs.
2. Gather a group of friends together and celebrate with a Creative Night In, maybe one or more would like to design a project for everyone to create or choose a project together from one of your favorite magazines.
3. Create for charity - maybe knitted hats and mittens for the homeless, cards for the troops, cards for charitable organizations.  I know Cardmaker Magazine has a Readers Reach Out program that is perfect for cardmaker's wishing to donate cards.
4. Go on a road trip with friends and check out all the creative areas in your area from retailers to art galleries.
5. Send a card to a loved one or friend just because.

Lets all do something to celebrate the creativity in each of us!

For today's inspiration,check out my most recent issue of CardMaker Magazines free online newsletter, it went live today and its about finishing the insides of cards.  Hope you enjoy it!
Creatively yours,
Sharon