It's New Year's Eve!

Wow, I can hardly believe it is already time to usher in a new year.

I wish each of you a very Happy and prosperous 2012!

These are my New Year's cards created with Love Life and an unnamed set where the sentiment came from...sorry. I used Holiday Red and Topiary in for the swirls. The sentiments were both stamped with Holiday Red on a shape cut with my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

I added Stardust Glitz to all of the swirls to finish each card off.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Love Life

Cardstock: White Daisy; Sweet Leaf; Holiday Red

Ink: Topiary; Holiday Red

Other: Stardust Glitz; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Last of the Christmas cards...

I have been enjoying my days off, home with family. I have been sleeping in past 11am every morning and didn't do much of anything in my workshop! I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas!

This card was another I created while using my Love Life stamp set like crazy. I cut our the star with my Art Philosophy cartridge, as well as, the sentiment shape. The sentiment is from Holiday cheer and all of the stamping was done in Holiday Red ink. The final touch on this card was our Stardust Glitz on the star.

All supplies are Close to My Heart.

Stamps: Love Life; Holiday Cheer

Ink: Holiday Red

Cardstock: White Daisy; Holiday Red; Sweet Leaf

Other: Stardust Glitz; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

It must be a Christmas stamp set?

Once I started using the stamp set, Love Life, I realized it was really an all season set. These cards scream Christmas poinsettia to me...and yet in different colours, not so much.

I used the polka dot flourish in between the small polka dot flower image. The pointed tips of each flower petal resemble a poinsettia, to me.

As with previously shown cards, I made this one with all sorts of interchangeable colours. These two show Holiday Red ink with Sweet Leaf and Holiday Red mats. The sentiment is Topiary ink stamped on Sweet Leaf Cardstock. I added Stardust Glitz to finish the cards.

All supplies are Close to My Heart.

Stamps: Love Life; Holiday Cheer

Cardstock: Sweet Leaf; Holiday Red; White Daisy

Ink: Holiday Red; Topiary

Other: Stardust Glitz; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Live Love Laugh and Christmas

I have not been very far away......but just busy enough to not post to my blog for a bit. I've been feverishly working on Christmas cards and thought I'd share a few.

These three all use Love Life to add pattern to the trees. The sentiment is from Holiday Cheer and the tree shape was cut with Art Philosophy.

As you can see, I made several versions of this card by simply changing the colour of the tree, Glitz gel and mat. All of the trees are on foam squares for some dimension.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Love Life; Holiday Cheer

Ink: Holiday Red

Cardstock: Sweet Leaf; Topiary; Holiday Red; White Daisy

Other: Red & Stardust Glitz; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Christmas Love Life

This card was totally lifted from another CTMH Consultant.....at the moment I can not recall who..so sorry.

The flourish image and flowers are from Love Life and the star is from Holiday Wishes. I popped the star up on foam dots and added some Stardust Glitz to various spots on the card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Holiday Wishes; Love Life

Ink: Topiary; Holiday Red

Cardstock: Topiary; White Daisy

Embellishments: Stardust Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy and Cricut

A small interruption!

I create things for one big craft fair every year. I have become very smitten with felt and started creating felt hair accessories, last year.

Yes, I do use my Nestabilities; Sizzix; and Quickutz to create them. This year, after getting and using my Close To My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, I decided I would make a holder for my hair accessories, rather than just letting them float around inside the zip lock bags I put them in.

I cut my favourite shape.....I call it the bracket square. First I cut 4 from a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 Colonial White cardstock. I used this a template to design the printed words for each tag. Once I had everything lined up just right, I put several pieces of cardstock through my printer for the words. Then I cut the shapes with my Cricut.

I stamped the flourish image from CTMH's May, You and Me promotional stamp set, in Sweet Leaf Ink. Then I used a punch that punches holes to thread ribbon through, to punch holes for the barrette or hair clip to slide through. Then I slide these into zip lock bags and they hang nicely on my display/sale rack, with all of my information there.

You may notice, I also used a glittered Bigger brad for the centre. I dipped the brad in Liquid Glass and then in Prisma Glitter before using it to secure the layers of my flower.

All paper supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: You and Me

Cardstock: Colonial White

Ink: Sweet Leaf

Love Life

This stamp set, Love Life, is one of the most beautiful stamps sets Close To My Heart has created for our Fall/Winter Idea Book. It also contains an image that makes creating backgrounds easier than spelling it!

I started with White Daisy cardstock as the base. I added a Topiary background, then another White. I stamped the entire white piece in Topiary ink with the background image. I added a Tulip accent, then stamped a sentiment from set, December 25th, in Topiary. I stamped the next image with Holiday Red on a scallop circle cut with Art Philosophy. I see I should have matched the reds, but on the next one!

Below, I switched up the base mat to Blush, along with the ink. The sentiment was stamped in Tulip. Both of these cards took maybe 15 minutes to complete! I also added a blob of Glitz to the centre of each flower.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Love Life; December 25th

Cardstock: White Daisy; Topiary; Tulip; Blush

Ink: Topiary; Tulip; Holiday Red; Blush

Embellishments: Stardust Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy and Cricut

Twist with Remarkable Wreath.

This is another card made at my recent Remarkable Wreath class. It took a lot of thought, but I knew I wanted to something a little different.

I started with the 1/2 scallop shape and went from there. I had decided on the Sweet Leaf mat and the Twilight scallop circle, but it was the smaller circle from Kraft cardstock that brought it all together.

The stamping was a lot of steps. On the 1/2 circle, we stamped the leaves twice in Sweet Leaf. Then in Twilight ink, we stamped the berries 4 times to cover all but the middle. After all of the coloured stamping, then we stamped the wreath in Cocoa.

Once the 1/2 circle was finished, we stamped the wreath in Cocoa on the Kraft circle. The berries were stamped twice in Twilight after that. We used Eclectic Edges to stamp the border in Twilight on the Colonial White base.

The sentiment came from Bundled Buddies. The word "Friends" was stamped in Twilight and the rest in Black ink. We added a Twilight brad and some Colonial white grosgrain ribbon. The striped paper is from Miracle. Finally, we added Stardust Glitz all over where no berries were stamped.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Eclectic Edges; Bundled Buddies; Remarkable Wreath

Paper: Miracle

Cardstock: Twilight; Sweet Leaf; Colonial White; Kraft

Ink: Twilight; Sweet Leaf; Cocoa; Black

Embellishments: Twilight brad; Colonial White grosgrain ribbon; Stardust Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy and Cricut machine

Remarkable Wreath strikes again!

I have just completed my final Remarkable Wreath class for the season. For this class I thought we'd so some non-Christmas cards.

I started with a White Daisy card base and added some paper from Spring Sophia. We stamped the bottom right corner in Blush with an image from Typeset WOTG set. The border was stamped in Tulip with Eclectic Edges.

For the wreath, I cut a 2 3/4" circle in White Daisy; a 3" circle in Tulip and a 3 1/4" scallop circle in Kraft. These were all cut with Art Philosophy and my Cricut.

The wreath was stamped in Cocoa. The flowers were stamped in Creme Brulee; Sorbet; and Tulip. We stamped the lightest ink first and then the second colour overlapped about one third of the first. Then the Tulip was stamped to overlap about one third of the Sorbet. I added Stardust Glitz to the flowers and retired red velvet ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Eclectic Edges; Typset WOTG; Remarkable Wreath

Paper: Sophia

Cardstock: White Daisy; Blush; Tulip; Kraft

Ink: Tulip; Sorbet; Creme Brulee; Cocoa; Blush

Embellishments: Stardust Glitz; retired Red Velvet Ribbon

Tools: Art Philosophy; Cricut

Some Christmas Cheer

I'm finally back with some cards I've been making over the past few weeks. I got through my craft fair and then didn't seem to be able to get my act together to get any of these posted. So, here comes another run.

I've been staring at my "Happy Clusters" stamp set since I was fortunate enough to get it in a convention bundle. I just haven't been able to come with anything to help me use it. I am smitten with shades of grey the last few months and with that, was finally able to come up with something.

I used Tulip cardstock as my background and Grey Flannel over top. I stamped in Grey Wool ink with an image from "Universal Backgrounds". The word, "Wish" came from a retired set that I think was "December Word Puzzle". I stamped it in Tulip, then overstamped in Versamark. I embossed it with clear powder for a raised effect.

The luscious buttons are from our Red Assortment and I added some Red Glitz where no buttons would fit.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Happy Clusters; Universal Backgrounds; retired December Word Puzzle

Cardstock: Grey Flannel; Grey Wool; Tulip; Versamark

Embellishments: Red Button Assortment; Red Glitz

Still hanging around!

I am still hanging around in blog land....just have not had time to post any pics lately. I finished up my craft fair on the weekend, but had a genius idea about one of my items.

I have been making felt hair accessories and will post how my scrapbook supplies continue to collide with all of the crafts I do.

So hang on for a few more days.....and I'll see you soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just thought I would pop in from creating items for my upcoming Craft Fair this Saturday, to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING

to all of my U.S. friends.

A Holiday

Yes, I would like another holiday.....but in the meantime I can stamp with, "A Holiday"! This is the 4th and final card from my Red and Green card workshop.

The plaid paper is from the Believe paper pack. The tag is made with Kraft cardstock and I prestamped each of them with the music image from Universal Backgrounds. I also precut the corners and punched the holes for the gals.

The holly leaves are cut in Sweet Leaf cardstock, from Art Philosophy and stamped in Topiary ink. For the berries, I punched 1" circles from Tulip cardstock and we rolled them like you would roll dough for buns. We stuck the holly leaves together, then added a small pool of Liquid Glass and stuck the berries down. Once the Liquid Glass was set up we added Stardust Glitz to the berries.

The sentiment was stamped in Topiary and the entire tag is strung with White Hemp, overtop of Cranberry grosgrain ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: A Holiday

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: White Daisy; Kraft; Topiary; Sweet Leaf; Tulip

Ink: Topiary; Desert Sand

Embellishments: White Hemp; Stardust Glitz; Liquid Glass

Tools: Art Philosophy

Christmas ornaments of Holiday Cheer

This is the third card in my recent Red and Green card workshop. I thought it would be fun to use non-holiday paper to complete it.

I used the Juniper side of paper from Typeset for the bottom. The top colour is Vineyard Berry. All of the components are on a Cocoa mat. The bulbs are from the new stamp set, Holiday Cheer. They are stamped in Creme Brulee; Vineyard Berry; and Juniper, which are the colours used in the Typeset paper package.

We added a Kraft border and some Sparkles to each ornament. I also dug out some retired Vineyard Berry grosgrain ribbon, to finish the card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: Holiday Cheer

Paper: Typeset

Cardstock: Cocoa; Colonial White; Vineyard Berry

Ink: Creme Brulee; Vineyard Berry; Juniper

Embellishments: Kraft Borders; Sparkles; retired Vineyard Berry grosgrain ribbon

Christmas Red and Green #2

This is the second card made at my Red and Green card workshop, this past Sunday. While the girls wanted no sharing in my head cold germs....they were happy to share time in making these cards.

First, we started with Roxie patterned paper. We added black; Desert Sand and Colonial White cardstock before adding some retired red velvet ribbon. The reindeer image is stamped in Chocolate and is from the "I Believe" stamp set. The sentiment is stamped in Tulip ink and is from the same stamp set.

The main piece is cut with our Art Philosophy cartridge from Colonial White and the mat is from Tulip cardstock. We've added Red Glitz to the reindeer's nose and snowflakes.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: I Believe

Paper: Roxie

Cardstock: Colonial White; Desert Sand; Black; Tulip

Ink: Chocolate; Tulip

Embellishments: Red Glitz; Sparkles; retired velvet ribbon

Tools: Art Philosophy; Corner/Scallop maker

Let the Red and Green begin!

This is the first card in my recent Shades of Red and Green workshop. Gals made 4 each of 4 cards.

This card started with patterned paper from Believe. All of the other images came from Winter Joy, which is a very sweet silhouette stamp set.

The ice skater was stamped in Sky and the sentiment in Topiary. I stamped the winter fun border in Sweet Leaf ink on Sweet Leaf cardstock.

We finished up with a scallop border and some red Sparkles. There is also a wee bit of Glitz on the skater's ear muff.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Winter Joy

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: Sweet Leaf; Sky; Colonial White

Ink: Sky; Topiary; Sweet Leaf

Embellishments: Red Sparkles

Tools: Art Philosophy

The final Shade of Blue card

This is the final card gals created at my Shades of Blue workshop. They created 4 each of the 4 cards I have recently posted.

This card was inspired by Vicki Wizniuk and is the second time I have recreated it. This time the images are from Wonderland's Workshop On The Go stamp set.

The mittens and sentiment were stamped in Pacifica ink, to go with the patterned paper from Magnifique. The snowflake was stamped in the background with Crystal Blue and we added some Silver Glitz to the centres.

The base of the card is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 and the shape is added hanging over the folded edge enough to extend the card's length to 5 1/2. We finished off the card with Chocolate grosgrain ribbon and Chocolate Waxy Flax tied through a button from our Blue Assortment.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Wonderland Workshop On The Go

Paper: Magnifique

Cardstock: Colonial White; Dutch Blue

Ink: Pacifica; Crystal Blue

Embellishments: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon & Waxy Flax; Blue Button; Silver Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy

Let them make snow!

Okay, so it is paper crafting snow........but we get so little snow here in Victoria, I needed to let my gals create some!

This card is a simpler recreation of my previously posted card. We used Remarkable Wreath to stamp the wreath in Cocoa ink on Kraft paper. The snowflakes were stamped in Crystal Blue and Pacifica ink. The berries were stamped in White Daisy pigment ink, then snow was added with Liquid Applique.

The patterned paper is from Magnifique and we added some Sparkles to complete this card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath; Just For The Holidays; Holiday Trinkets; retired December Word Puzzle

Paper: Magnifique

Cardstock: Sky; Colonial White; Twilight; Dutch Blue; Kraft

Ink: Crystal Blue; Pacifica; Cocoa; White Daisy

Embellishemts: Sparkles

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

More Shades of Blue

This is the second card in my Shades of Blue workshop. I love this playful image from the new, "Winter Joy" stamp set.

We stamped the snowman image in Crystal Blue, then stamped the sentiment in Chocolate. The snowflake images on the background are from Snow Flurries and are stamped in Crystal Blue and Twilight.

I used patterned paper from Wonderland; shapes from Art Philosophy; and added White Hemp and Glitz to finish this card off.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Winter Joy; Snow Flurries

Paper: Wonderland

Cardstock: Grey Flannel; White Daisy; Twilight

Ink: Crystal Blue; Twilight; Chocolate

Embellishments: Glitz; White Hemp

Tools: Art Philosophy

Shades of Blue Workshop

I am sorry I have not posted in a week or so. My youngest daughter started the week in Emergency with a playground accident. Then I began my decent into sore throat.....laryngitis....coughing.....stuffy head.....blow through 2 boxes a day....cold H-E-double hockey sticks!

Okay, so on with the card! I was inspired by Lisa Stenz to create this card, for my "Shades of Blue" workshop. The patterned paper is from Wonderland; sentiment is from Ice Crystal stamp set; snowflake images are from Snowflakes; and the shapes are cut from Art Philosophy.

The background snowflake image was stamped in Crystal Blue, while the snowflake was stamped over top in Grey Wool. The sentiment was stamped in Twilight and a sparkle was added to the snowflake with some Chocolate grosgrain ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Snowflakes; Ice Crystals

Paper: Wonderland

Ink: Twilight; Grey Wool; Crystal Blue

Cardstock: Grey Flannel; White Daisy; Crystal Blue

Embellishments: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon; Clear Sparkles

Tools: Art Philosophy

Wonderland and Remarkable Wreath

OMG, I'm so sorry, this originally posted without my description! Sometimes being able to create a post to edit later can get you......this one and yesterday's did!

This card needed retired December Word Puzzle; Just for the Holidays; and Holiday Trinkets to complete the wreath. I have since recreated the stamped portion with stamp sets current to CTMH's Idea book.

The snowflakes were stamped in Pacifica and Twilight over top of the Cocoa wreath. I stamped the dots in white 4 times before adding Liquid Applique. The patterned paper is from Wonderland; with striped Chocolate ribbon and a button from our new Bling Assortment. The button is tied up with Chocolate Waxy Flax.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath; Just For The Holidays; Holiday Trinkets; retired December Word Puzzle

Paper: Wonderland

Cardstock: Sky; Colonial White; Twilight; Chocolate; Kraft; Grey Flannel

Ink: Twilight; Pacifica; Cocoa; White Daisy

Embellishemts: Bling Assortment; Chocolate striped Ribbon; Chocolate Waxy Flax

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

A snowy Remarkable Wreath for the holidays

Christmas Love and all of the fixins!

This was the 3rd card each gal made at my weekend, Christmas Love, card class.

First thing each gal did was roll their flowers and secure the bottoms with Liquid Glass. We inked the bird with Twilight Ink and the sentiment in Black. I had not noticed this flourish image on Art Philosophy until cutting the main shapes for each card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: Christmas Love

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: White Daisy; Sweet Leaf; Topiary

Ink: Twilight; Black

Embellishments: Sparkles

Other: Liquid Glass

Tools: Art Philosophy

More Christmas Love

Here is the second card gals made at my recent Christmas Love and Believe card class. The gals usually only put one of each design together, so then they can take home pieces to make the rest.

Each of the 3 designs we did could be mixed and matched with different pattern designs of the Believe paper pack. For this image, we inked the sentiment in Black ink then used CTMH markers to colour the holly and berries.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Believe and Jingle Borders

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: White Daisy and Topiary

Ink: Black

Markers: Topiary and Tulip

Embellishments: Cranberry and White Daisy brads; Red Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy; Corner/scallop maker

Christmas Love and Art Philosophy

I held a card class this past weekend featuring the stamp set, Christmas Love and the Believe paper pack.

We inked the image in Sweet Leaf, then the sentiment in Black ink. A little Glitz was added to the gift for just a wee bit of sparkle. Each gal made 4 each of this design.

All supplies are Close To My Heart

Stamp: Christmas Love

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: Sky and White Daisy

Ink: Sweet Leaf and Black

Embellishments: White Bigger Brads; Holiday Red grosgrain ribbon

Tools: Art Philosophy

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN

I hope you have a very SPOOKY Hallowe'en today! I made these packages for gals who attended a Christmas Love card class on this past Saturday night.

The stamp set is Thriller and I cut the tags with Art Philosophy from retired Orange and Hydrangea cardstock. They were stamped in Black ink and I added sparkles and some satin ribbon.

What is inside the bags you say......well, I found this post on Tatertots and Jello for Candy Corn fudge. I am not a big fan of candy corn, because it always seems to not taste fresh from the stores. So, making my own candy corn that tasted like fudge was a no brainer.

The recipe was also a no brainer.....6 cups of white chocolate chips and 2 cans of condensed milk. Here is a link to the recipe from Something Swanky. Both of these sites have some wonderful things to oogle!

Now, I know you're saying...."Why is her candy corn not orange and yellow?" Well, I added what I thought was enough food colouring, but clearly it was not enough! The colours may not have been very vibrant, but it tasted fudgelicious!

All supplies are Close to My Heart, unless noted.

Stamp: Thriller

Ink: Black

Cardstock: Retired Orange and Hydrangea

Embellishments: Sparkles

Tools: Art Philosophy

Other: Hallowe'en plastic bags

Fall glory with Remarkable Wreath

This is my ode to Fall.....I LOVE Fall. I love the temperature outside; I love the colours; I love how dark it is so early in the evening; and I love the rain!

I started this card with a Barn Red base then added patterned paper from Elemental. The Kraft and Goldrush cardstock pieces were stamped with an image from Spot On Backgrounds.

The wreath was stamped in Cocoa, the the leaves were inked in Goldrush and rolled in Autumn Terracotta. I added Bronze Glitz along with Twill ribbon; hemp; and an Antiqued Copper brad.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath; Spot On Backgrounds

Paper: Elemental

Cardstock: Barn Red; Kraft; Goldrush; Colonial White

Ink: Desert Sand; Cocoa; Goldrush; Autumn Terracotta

Embellishments: Antiqued Copper brad; hemp; twill ribbon; Bronze Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Sonoma and Remarkable Wreath

This is my non-Christmas card. I shamelessly stole the idea and colours from fellow HAS swap card member, Lorrinda Holman.

I created two of everything with Remarkable Wreath, and this card was no exception. I stamped the flowers in both Petal and Smokey Plum inks. What you can't see is I have used our Silver Glitz in the centres of some of the flowers.

I stamped our Canvas Badge Buttons with a butterfly image from Gnome Garden. The image stamped behind the button is from Dreamin' Workshop On The Go.

I used Sonoma paper and Kraft borders. All edges were inked with Desert Sand.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Paper: Sonoma

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath; Gnome Garden; Dreamin' WOTG

Cardstock: Petal;Smokey Plum; Garden Green; Colonial White

Ink: Petal; Smokey Plum; Desert Sand; Cocoa

Embellishments: Canvas Badge Buttons; Kraft Borders; Silver Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Love Life and Remarkable Wreath for Christmas!

Another fine use, just a little different, for my Remarkable Wreath stamp set.

For this card, I stamped the leaves in green over the Cocoa wreath, then the berries in red. I wanted it to somewhat resemble holly. I stamped the flourish image from Love Life in Sweet Leaf ink on Sweet Leaf cardstock.

I LOVE our Kraft cardstock and borders, so you can see the base layer of the card; scallop circle mat and borders are all in Kraft paper. I added some patterned paper from Believe and White Daisy grosgrain ribbon. Finally, I had to add some red Glitz to the berries to finish off this card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath; Love Life

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: Kraft; Colonial White

Ink: Sweet Leaf; Holiday Red; Desert Sand; Cocoa

Embellishments: White Daisy Grosgrain ribbon; red Glitz

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Remarkable Wreath and Believe

This version of Close To My Heart's, Remarkable Wreath, has got the Christmas holidays all over it.

I used patterned paper from Believe on a White Daisy card base. The wreath is stamped in Cocoa ink and the berries are stamped in Holiday Red, four times. The berry image is a semi-circle, so you must stamp it twice to cover the wreath. After I stamped the berry wreath once, I turned the paper a 1/4 turn and then stamped the berry wreath again, for a fuller image.

The sentiment is stamped in Cocoa ink from the set, Glory to God. I added Red Glitz to some of the berries. I sponged Desert Sand ink on all paper edges and added 3 White Daisy brads, at the bottom.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Paper: Believe

Stamp: Remarkable Wreath; Glory to God

Ink: Desert Sand; Holiday Red; Cocoa

Cardstock: Kraft; White Daisy; Sky

Embellishments: White Daisy brads

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Remarkable Wreath Extravaganza!

For the next several days, I will be posting cards I have recently made with this AMAZING and VERSATILE stamp set.........Remarkable Wreath. You can purchase it, Remarkable Wreath C1473 for $15.50, from my website OR attend my upcoming classes on Saturday, Dec 3rd or Sunday, Dec 4th. We will be making versions of the upcoming cards. Please email me for my class descriptions.

This card began as an experiment......in what would work with White Daisy pigment ink. I stamped the wreath image in Cocoa ink on Barn Red cardstock. Then I stamped the berry image and sentiment with White Daisy. I find when you are stamping with this pigment ink on dark coloured cardstock, you have to wait a bit for the ink to dry so you can really see what it will look like. You could use your heat gun to speed up the process, but I just let it sit and the ink became much brighter with time.

The patterned paper is from Mischeif, as well as, the border image. The border is the zip strip, which is new to Close To My Heart's paper. It is patterned on one side and on the reverse is the paper kit's name and colours it is comprised of.

I cut the bracket shape with my CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. The lighter mat is cut at 1/4 inch larger. I added White Daisy ric rac ribbon and some Bitty Sparkles. I also used a sponge to ink some piece edges with Desert Sand ink.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamp: Remarkable Wreath

Paper: Mischief

Ink: White Daisy pigment; Cocoa; Desert Sand

Cardstock: Barn Red; White Daisy; Grey Flannel; Smoothie

Embellishments: Bitty Sparkles; White Daisy ric rac ribbon

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Dreamin' for a workshop

This is the final card in my recent Variety card class. It started with Dreamin' paper and some cuts from Close To My Heart's Art Philosophy cartridge.

The stamped images are from the stamp set, Unscripted. The sentiment is stamped on Crystal Blue cardstock with Pacifica ink. The tiny flowers are stamped with Crystal Blue ink on Colonial White cardstock.

The bracket shapes and flowers are all Art Philosophy cuts. The flowers, which are the lollipop or circular ones, were cut at sizes between 1 3/4" and 2 1/4". The bracket shape was cut at 3 1/4" in Colonial White and 3 1/2" in Chocolate.

I used White Daisy waxy flax to add the tie and Opaques and Sparkles in the centres of each flower.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Paper: Dreamin'

Stamp: Unscripted

Cardstock: Dutch Blue; Chocolate; Colonial White; Crystal Blue

Ink: Crystal Blue; Pacifica

Embellishments: White Daisy Waxy Flax; Opaques; Sparkles

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge; Cricut

Remarkable Wreath

This card was lifted from Vicki Wizniuk.......she creates amazing artwork and I just couldn't resist. You can check out her card by clicking on her name, for a link to her blog.

I have come to the conclusion that stamp set, Remarkable Wreath, is one of the most versatile stamp sets yet. For this card I stamped the wreath in Cocoa ink; leaves in Creme Brulee; then berries in Cranberry. The scalloped mat is Barn Red and it is paired with patterned paper from Mischief. We added Red Glitz to some of the berries.

The circle and scallop shape were cut with Art Philosophy. We added our new, glorious Chocolate striped ribbon with a Colonial White button and Chocolate Waxy Flax. Pretty clean and simple, with a gorgeous outcome.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Remarkable Wreath

Paper: Mischief

Cardstock: Barn Red; Colonial White

Ink: Creme Brulee; Cocoa; Cranberry

Embellishments: Chocolate ribbon; Colonial White button; Chocolate Waxy Flax

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Mrs. Claus is fashionable!

This is another card recently created for my Variety Card class. I used a technique previously lifted and used from Mandy Leahy. You can check out her instructions of how to make these dresses on her blog, by clicking on her name.

We used "Believe" patterned paper and the zip strip on the end, also. The dress was cut at 3" and scored across every space, leaving one open half way, to be cut for the top of the dress. We folded the skirt up, then flattened it out and added Liquid Applique. This is the best "snow" for paper crafts....it is just amazing stuff.

The dress form is from Tailor-Made and the sentiment is from Christmas Love. We used some retired Topiary embellishments and my trusty corner/scallop maker for the border. We also used a Topiary marker to adjust the words on the zip strip to read Mrs. Claus.

All supplies are Close to My Heart.

Stamps: Christmas Love; Tailor-Made

Paper: Believe

Cardstock: White Daisy; Topiary; Sweet Leaf

Ink: Topiary

Embellishments: retired Topiary buttons

Tools: Art Philosophy; corner/scallop maker

Typeset craziness

I recently held a Variety card class and this is one of the cards each gal made. As much as I love Typset paper, I seem to go a bit crazy whenever I use it.

I cut star and bracket shapes on with my Art Philosophy cartridge in Desert Sand, then put them through my dollar store crimper. I also cut the cut ticket shapes. These were stamped with one coordinating AP stamp set and an image from Blue Ribbon.

We stuck the tickets in our new Pin Clips, then added coordinating buttons. Our corner rounder/scallop maker was used to make the border.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamps: Blue Ribbon; AP bundle set

Paper: Typeset

Cardstock: Vineyard Berry; Colonial White; Juniper; Desert Sand

Ink: Juniper; Vineyard Berry

Other: Pin Clips; Buttons

Tools: Art Philosophy; Corner/Scallop Maker

An Elemental Birthday

Hah, rather than an Elemental Birthday.....it could have been a temper mental birthday for my husband!I put this card together, quickly, when I realized it was past midnight and already my husband's birthday. This wouldn't matter to most, however, my husband arrives home from work at 12:30am, so there didn't seem to be any excuses for me to not have a card ready!

This was a very simple card using Elemental paper in the background on a Dutch Blue background. I stamped the Art Philosophy shape with the background image from Happy Journey. I inked up some Milepost stars and added two Kraft border strips. The card was finished off with wooden buttons and some mushy, words of love on the inside!

All supplies are Close to My Heart.

Paper: Elemental

Stamp: Happy Journey; A Little Everything

Cardstock: Dutch Blue; White Daisy; Pacifica; Indian Corn Blue

Ink: Dutch Blue; Pacifica

Embellishments: Wooden Buttons; Kraft Borders; Milepost shapes

Believe in pointsettias

I have discovered a new use for a flower image on my Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge.....poinsettias.

I started with one of our new card boxes and covered it with patterned paper from, Believe. I added some of our new gingham ribbon from the Red assortment.

Then I set out to decorate with a poinsettia.....which I love because of there colours and joyfullness. This image is the second to last image on the second row of buttons...flower7. I cut 4 different sizes: 3 3/4; 3 1/4; 2 3/4; and 2 1/4. Then I used my stylus and drew leaf spines the backside of each petal. Then I turned the flower over and bent each petal on the centre line.

After bending each petal on the centre line, I used our sanding block to expose the other spine lines I had drawn on the back side. I used a sponge to apply Topiary ink to the edges and lightly on the spine marks. I used our glue pen to draw a thin bead of glue on each petal edge. Once it was tacky I rubbed our Prisma glitter on for the bling.

Here is what the front of my box looks like decorated.

For the berry like middle of the poinsettias, I simply tor a 1/4" piece of cardstock in white, then soaked the edge in Topiary ink. I applied glue pen to the top and added Prisma glitter once tacky. I put a small pool of Liquid Glass in the middle of the stuck together flowers, then held the berries in place until the LG was set.

Here is a second pointsettia in Holiday Red. I also slightly bent each petal towards the middle, just by pressing my thumb nail in between each towards the middle of the petals.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Paper: Believe

Tools: Art Philosophy; stylus

Cardstock: White Daisy; Holiday Red

Ink: topiary

Other: Liquid Glass; Prisma Glitter; Glue pen; Red ribbon Assortment; Card Box

More spooky Hallowe'en......

While at Close To My Heart's annual convention, I was able to take advantage of ordering new product that was bundled up with other new goodies. One stamp set I received was, Backdrop-Charmed.

This stamp set has Hallowe'en and Fall backdrop style frames and a few sentiments. I stamped the Hallowe'en image on Mischief patterned cardstock. I overstamped it in Versamark and embossed in clear embossing powder.

I cut out an image from another patterned piece of paper in the Mischief kit, for the circle embellishment. The sentiment is from Mischief Workshop On The Go. I also stamped the entire Barn Red cardstock mat in the web flourish image from the same stamp set.

Finally, I added the crow/raven from our new Midnight Felt Shapes. Once it was stuck down, I covered it in our Stardust Glitz for a bit of bling on the card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamps: Backdrop-Charmed; Mischief WOTG

Paper: Mischief

Cardstock: Colonial White; Barn Red; Sunset; Black

Ink: Black; Versamark

Embellishments: Midnight Felt Shapes; Black brad

Spiders...'n Crows....'n webs oh my!

Hallowe'en is less than a month away........I've made a few more cards for the occasion! This card started with Close To My Heart's new stamp set, All Hallows Eve.

I first cut the main shape with my Art Philosophy cartridge. I used the web image and stamped enough times in black ink, to cover the entire shape. Then I stamped the crow image in black and embossed in clear over top.

I have been very selectively cutting this piece of patterned paper from my Mischief package. It has several great scenes on it and I figured I should use it for several cards. I picked out the creepyish flourish border to creatively look like a spider's silk, that he comes repelling from outta nowhere. You know what I mean.....one minute there is nothing there and the next thing you know you've got a spider's silk and likely the spider too.....on you............eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

I stamped in black, then embossed in clear the little spindly legged creeper. Seems, most every image I stamped, I followed the same technique. The sentiment is from the Mischief Workshop On The Go kit and the border from Aug stamp of the month, Wicked.

Finally, I added Barn Red cardstock and Mischief patterned as a mat for the crow. I also added Black Opaques.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamps: All Hallows Eve; Mischief WOTG; Wicked

Paper: Mischief

Ink: Black; Versamark

Cardstock: Colonial White; Barn Red; Black; Sunset

Embellishments: Black Opaques; Colonial White brad; Clear embossing powder

Tools: Art Philosophy cartridge

Other: Fiskars Admit One punch

Blogtoberfest Challenge

Fellow consultant extraordinaire, Tresa Black has posted a Blogtoberfest challenge on her blog. It is a time to "step up their game" in everything that is bloggy. So, I am going to take challenge and I hope you enjoy my stepping up! Please click on this icon to the right to take you to a list of blogs who have also accepted Tresa's challenge!