Interesting Inspiration!

I recently purchased 2 Rainbow Looms and coloured elastics, to make bracelets, for my Nanny business. We are providing childcare for several large groups this summer and this is the hot craft. My 16 year old daughter got hold of my supplies and made a gorgeous bracelet with grey; purple and turquoise bands. That bracelet was my inspiration for this card.

I started with Gypsy cardstock on a White Daisy card base. I cut this screen from Whisper cardstock, then added some gorgeous, Turquoise zipper ribbon. I stamped with Whisper; Lagoon; and Gypsy inks, with images from the Ivy Lane Workshop On The Go stamp set. I added tiny pieces of Turquoise Shimmer Trim to the centre of each flower to finish this card off.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Ivy Lane WOTG set
Ink: Lagoon; Gypsy; Whisper
Cardstock: White Daisy; Gypsy; Whisper
Embellishments: Turquoise Zipper Ribbon and Shimmer Trim
Tools: Art Philosophy & Artbooking Cricut cartridges

Flowering Free To Be Me

Free To Be Me will be available only until tomorrow....don't miss out getting your package!

I combined Free To Be Me patterns with Ruby cardstock; some polka dots from retired Key To My Heart; and stamping with Oodles of Doodles.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Free To Be Me; retired Key To My Heart
Stamp: Oodles of Doodles
Ink: Ruby; Smoothie
Cardstock: Colonial White; Ruby
Embellishments: Colonial White brads
Tools: Art Philosophy & Artiste Cricut cartridges

Free To Be Me ready to fly away!

I have been having fun using my, Free To Be Me, May promotional paper pack. I was feeling owly, so added this feathered friend.

All of the paper on this card is from our May special, Free To Be Me, except some Sweet Leaf and Lagoon cardstock. I cut this sweet owl with my Hoot 'n' Holler, Cricut cartridge. I added words from a zip strip in the pack, along with some Sunset Baker's Twine and Sweet Leaf brads.

Don't miss out on getting your Free To Be Me paper pack. Click on my website link to order NOW!

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Free To Be Me May 2014 promotion
Cardstock: White Daisy; Lagoon; Sweet Leaf
Embellishments: Sunset Baker's Twine; Sweet Leaf Brads
Tools: Corner/Scallop punch
Other: Hoot 'n' Holler Cricut cartridge

Quick Thank You cards

My Nanny business recently provided childcare for a surgeon's conference. I made each of the Nannies a card to house their earnings in. I used up some of my stash and scraps for these.

I used retired, Wings, patterned paper for the backgrounds. One received an embossed scrap I had on my work space, the other, more coordinated patterned paper. I stamped the sentiment from retired set, Thank You. I added Turquoise Shimmer Trim to one and retired Black striped grosgrain to the other. It took about as long to make these as it did to type this description!

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Wings
Stamp: retired Thank You
Ink: Lagoon
Cardstock: White Daisy; Lagoon
Embellishments: Turquoise Shimmer Trim; retired Black striped grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Colours and causes that Inspire

Just prior to Mother's Day, I met up with the gal who ordered the custom made Mother's Day cards I recently posted. She had just spent the afternoon at a protest rally and had a wonderfully colourful flourish design painted on her face. Stephanie inspired me to make this card.

These were the colours painted on Stephanie's face, so I replicated them with Gypsy; Whisper; Cotton Candy; and Lagoon. They are matted with Black cardstock and the butterflies are also cut from Lagoon cardstock. I stamped the flourishes, from retired You and Me, with Slate and Lagoon ink. The sentiment is from the same set and I stamped "dreams" with Black pigment ink, then embossed with clear powder.

I added some Stardust Glitz to each butterfly, then tied up the White Daisy shape with Grey Wool Baker's Twine.

I sent this card to Stephanie, to thank her for standing up for something she believed in, which I too support. I also wanted to encourage her to continue to embrace her beliefs in her Environmental Studies program.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: retired You and Me
Cardstock: Black; Gypsy; Whisper; Cotton Candy; Lagoon; White Daisy
Ink: Black pigment; Lagoon; Slate; Versamark
Embellishments: Grey Wool Baker's Twine; Stardust Glitz
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Memorial Day

In honour of my U.S. friends today.........

Are you a Dreamer?

Okay, here I go with the weird titles again......but I used our "Dreamer" stamp set with Free To Be Me!

If you haven't noticed, I LOVE flowers! I love to look at them; I love to smell them; I love to take pictures of them; and I love to craft with them! For this card I started with this sweet, Juniper resist cardstock in our May promotional paper pack, Free To Be Me. I love that I don't need to do any stamping or other techniques because there is already this wonderful pattern on the paper.

I cut the flowers from FTBM patterned paper, then added Colonial White Brads to each centre. The sentiment is from, Dreamers, and is stamped with Ruby ink. The border is Sunset cardstock and I added Creme Brulee Baker's Twine and Pink Glitter Gems.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Free To Be Me May 2014 promotion
Stamp: Dreamer
Cardstock: Colonial White; Sunset
Ink: Ruby
Embellishments: Colonial White Brads; Creme Brulee Baker's Twine; Pink Glitter Gems
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Free To Be Me crazy!

There is really no other way to describe my current creations using our May promotion, Free To Be Me. I love the resist cardstock and patterned paper so much, I just can't stop!

This is the 3rd and final special request Mother's Day card. For this one I copied my other cards using the, Girls Rock, stamp set. I stamped the flowers on Colonial White cardstock with Sorbet and Crystal Blue ink. The leaves are stamped and on Sweet Leaf cardstock. The upper left sentiment is stamped in Smoothie ink on Crystal Blue cardstock and from the, Mother's Day, stamp set. The lower right sentiment is from, Say It In Style, and is also stamped with Smoothie ink on Crystal Blue cardstock. I curled the leaves with my bone folder and added glitz to various spots on each flower.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Mother's Day; Say It In Style; Girls Rock
Paper: Free To Be Me May 2014 promotion
Ink: Smoothie; Sorbet; Crystal Blue; Sweet Leaf
Cardstock; Colonial White; Sweet Leaf; Crystal Blue
Embellishments: Stardust Glitz
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Free To Be Me and a Rooster!

I must apologize for my terrible headings......it is a good thing I am not responsible for naming things! I received a request for 3 Mother's Day cards back in April. This is the second unique one I created with our Free To Be Me paper.

The request was for a chicken and I was able to find this rooster in a retired set. I stamped it with Desert Sand ink on White Daisy cardstock with a Twilight mat. Both the patterned border and main piece are from, Free To Be Me. The border is first matted on Ruby, then Champagne cardstock. The main pattern is matted just on Champagne cardstock. I added Ruby Chevron Ribbon and Pink Glitter Gems and my customer was thrilled!

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Free To Be Me
Stamp: Say It In Style
Ink: Desert Sand; Ruby
Cardstock: Champagne; White Daisy; Twilight
Embellishments: Ruby Chevron Ribbon; Pink Glitter Gems
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Free to Be Me and May SOTM

Our May, Free To Be Me, paper promotion and "You've Got A Friend" stamp of the month make a perfect combo.

This card is sweet and simple. Patterned paper and resist cardstock from the Free To Be Me paper pack and some Silver Shimmer Trim to join them together. This sentiment is stamped with Juniper ink on White Daisy and Smoothie cardstock. I added a ribbon from more patterned paper and a Sparkle gem to finish.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Free To Be Me - May Constant Campaign
Stamp: You've Got A Friend - May stamp of the month
Cardstock: White Daisy; Smoothie
Ink: Juniper
Embellishments: Silver Shimmer Trim; clear Sparkle
Tool: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Life is better with FRIENDS!

This is the final card made at my May embossing & die cutting class. We used the amazing Ivy Lane Workshop On The Go stamp set.

This stamp set will be one of my favourites for a long time....it is just fantastic! We started with Smokey Plum cardstock and embossed it with our Chevron embossing folder. All of the shapes for this stamp set were cut with Art Philosophy.

The doily was stamped with Chocolate ink; Life with Pear ink; sentiment with Hollyhock ink; green flower with Sweet Leaf; smaller flower with Cotton Candy and centre flower with Hollyhock. I added butterflies cut from Sweet Leaf cardstock and Purple Shimmer Trim. There is also a wee bit of Stardust Glitz on each butterfly and Sparkle Gem on the smallest flower.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: Ivy Lane Workshop On The Go Kit
Ink: Chocolate; Pear; Hollyhock; Sweet Leaf; Cotton Candy
Cardstock: Colonial White; Smokey Plum; Sweet Leaf
Embellishments: Purple Shimmer Trim; Stardust Glitz; Clear Sparkle
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge; Chevron embossing folder

Feathers, apples and arrows oh my......

Oh yes, apples do play nice with feathers and arrows! This is another card from my May embossing & die cutting class that was lifted from another consultant. Wish I had made a note of who, but Thank you just the same.

This card started with Juniper cardstock. I cut this rectangle screen with Artbooking, then added these wonderful patterned pieces from our May promotion, Free To Be Me paper pack. The apple is stamped with Ruby ink and is from our May stamp of the month, You've Got A Friend. It is matted with some resist cardstock, also from Free To Be Me paper pack. It is all tied up with Cranberry Baker's Twine.

I used a fun technique for the sentiment piece. You may not really see it too well, but I used Tim Holtz's new Distress Marker Spritzer, to treat the White Daisy cardstock before stamping the sentiment on it. I loaded up one our Sweet Leaf alcohol markers and spritzed away to get a bit of colour down. It worked like a charm and added a wonderful new use for markers.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Free To Be Me
Stamp: May SOTM You've Got A Friend
Cardstock: Juniper; White Daisy
Ink: Ruby; Sweet Leaf Alcohol marker
Embellishments: Cranberry Baker's Twine
Tools: Artbooking Cricut cartridge
Other: Tim Holt's Distress Marker Spritzer

Free To Be Me in May

I saw this card design on another Close To My Heart Consultant's blog and had to lift it. I switched it up a bit for my May embossing & die cutting class. 

The colour mat is Twilight cardstock, then I added this delicious patterned paper from our May promotion, Free To Be Me. Also in this promotion are 2 pieces of patterned vellum. This one is usually shown as gold polka dots, but if you turn it over, you have lovely silver dots. 

I put the vellum through my Fiskars Fuse with a square stitched die from Lil' Inker Designs first, then added it. The sentiment is stamped with Twilight ink from our May stamp if the month, You've Got A Friend. I stamped on a shape cut from Art Philosophy and added Topiary ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Free To Be Me
Stamp: May SOTM You've Got A Friend
Cardstock: Twilight; White daisy
Ink: Twilight
Embellishments: Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Other: Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Dies

Unicorn Dreams for a Happy Sweet 16 Birthday

My dear daughter Amy turned 16 last week and here is the card I made for her.

My daughter has a LOVE of horses and in her younger years was quite smitten with unicorns, also. I knew this stamp would be great for her birthday card and I copied the way in which it was stamped, from another CTMH consultant.

I used Slate cardstock for a mat and Lollydoodle pattern paper on top. I stamped the unicorn and stars with Sky ink, then stamped the sentiment over top with Black ink. You can't see it, but I added Stardust Glitz to the centre of the larger stars, also.

I cut the sentiment letters from Sky and Silver Glitter paper, with Artiste. I added them to a Black cardstock ribbon and tied it all up with Grey Wool Baker's Twine.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Lollydoodle
Stamp: Unicorn Dreams
Cardstock: Slate; Whisper; White Daisy; Black; Sky; Silver Glitter
Ink: Sky; Black
Embellishments: Grey Wool Baker's Twine; Stardust Glitz 
Tools: Art Philosophy & Artiste Cricut cartridges

Today is Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I had a special request for 3 Mother's Day cards. The first needed to have 2 dogs and a cat on it, so I got out my sweet dies from Impression Obsession. 

I started with a Colonial White card base, then added some Cashmere cardstock and patterned paper from Balloon Ride.I stamped the flourish from, Inspiration Flourishes, in Crystal Blue ink. The sentiment is from, Say It In Style, stamped in Cocoa ink.

I cut the animals from Cocoa; Saddle; and Desert Sand cardstock. All edges were sponged with Desert Sand ink. I tied it all up with Hemp Baker's Twine.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Balloon Talk
Stamps: Inspiration Flourishes; Say It In Style
Cardstock: Colonial White; Cocoa; Saddle; Desert Sand; Cashmere
Ink: Crystal Blue; Cocoa; Desert Sand
Embellishments: Hemp Baker's Twine
Other: Impression Obsession Dies

Mother's Day Card Madness

I have had a really busy week. My middle daughter had her 16th birthday; I was planning for a group event for my Nanny business; and my son had his Gr 12 Graduation party and dinner, too. With a little extra time last week, I made many Mother's Day cards to sell at a local coffee shop. Here are ones using my "Forever Young" Cricut cartridge.

 I used a black mat with Lagoon or Cotton Candy cardstock. I embossed with our Damask or Dots embossing folders, then swiped coordinating ink over top. I added Black or Turquoise Shimmer Trim and stamped in black with, Mother's Day, stamp set sentiments.

For the following cards I used Blush cardstock with a Black mat and Shimmer Trim. The embossing was done with a Spellbinders folder and stamping with the, Mother's Day, stamp set in Black ink.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Mother's Day
Cardstock: Black; Cotton Candy; Lagoon; White Daisy
Ink: Black; Lagoon; Cotton Candy
Embellishments: Turquoise and Black Shimmer Trim
Tools: Damask and Dots Embossing Folders
Other: Spellbinders Embossing Folder; Forever Young Cricut cartridge

Just Because in Lagoon

Well, we are blooming with May flowers and some left over April showers, here in Victoria. I love rain and am enjoying watching some parts of Canada go from 71 degrees to 22 degrees with snow, in less than 24 hours! I'll stay in the "Wet Coast", thanks!

Here is a fast and sweet card using Skylark and Oodles of Doodles. I love saying that....Oodles of Doodles...brightens my day!

I stamped the Lagoon cardstock, with an image from Geometric Backgrounds, in coordinating ink. The banner is stamped with Sweet Leaf ink and the sentiment in Black.  I added some Aqua Dots to the banner, also.

I cut the sweet butterflies from Sweet Leaf cardstock and added Stardust Glitz as the body. Theshapes were all cut from our Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Skylark
Stamps: Oodles of Doodles; Geometric Backgrounds
Cardstock: White Daisy; Sweet Leaf; Lagoon
Ink: Lagoon; Sweet Leaf; Black
Embellishments: Aqua Dots; Stardust Glitz
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Timberlline meets Skylark

Let's be frank......camping to me is a cheap hotel! So when Close To My Heart comes out with new paper packs that sport campingish patterns, I resolve I have to try it before I say I don't like it. Well, that was not my verse once I got Timberline.

I love Twilight, so I hoped Timberline would not disappoint in that department.....and it does not. My husband asked me to make a birthday card, for him to give to a guy co-worker, so this was the perfect pack. I used Champagne cardstock for all of the mats and Twilight was my choice of ink. The borders are zip strips from Skylark and I like how they break up the Timberline patterned paper. The sentiment is from Joyful Birthday.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Skylark; Timberline
Stamp: Joyful Birthday
Ink: Twilight
Cardstock: Champagne; Twilight; White Daisy
Tools: Corner Rounder/Scallop Maker