Just a few more days left to get, Family is Forever.

One more card with this wonderful stamp of the month from September, Family is  Forever.

I had another piece of paper from Snowhaven on my craft table, so I added it into another card using this lovely tree image. I stamped with Crystal Blue ink on coordinating cardstock, with the tree leaves. Then came a Pacifica mat and a strip of Snowhaven, with a Black cardstock scalloped border. 

I inked the tree in Desert Sand, then highlighted the hearts with a Shin Han marker. The larger heart I covered in Liquid Glass. I stamped "LOVE" with Pacifica pigment ink, then embossed it with clear powder.


All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Snowhaven
Stamp: Family is Forever Sep SOTM
Ink: Desert Sand; Crystal Blue; Pacifica Pigment; Shin Han Marker
Cardstock: White Daisy; Crystal Blue; Black; Pacifica
Embellishments: Liquid Glass
Tools: Scallop Border Punch

The Buffet is getting full!

I have another card from my Card Buffet to show you today. I used lovely patterned paper from retired Sarita and an image from retired Ivy Lane Workshop On The Go stamp set.

It was nice to see Thistle as a new addition to our colour palette in August, since it showed up in many retired papers. I started with a scallop punched border from Thistle cardstock. That was matted on some Outdoor Denim cardstock, then tied up with lovely Thistle Diagonal Ribbon.

The stamped background piece is done with Lagoon ink and an image from Geometric Backgrounds. The scalloped circle is cut in Outdoor Denim and Colonial White. The outside image is stamped from the Ivy Lane WOTG stamp set in Outdoor Denim ink. The sentiment is from, Holiday Tags and is stamped with Lagoon ink.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: retired Ivy Lane WOTG; Geometric Backgrounds; Holiday Tags
Paper: Sarita
Cardstock: Lagoon; Outdoor Denim; Colonial White; Thistle
Ink: Lagoon; Outdoor Denim
Embellishments: Thistle Diagonal Ribbon
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge; Scallop punch

Coffee and Cards

This Thursday, Sep 25th, I am hosting a Card Buffet at Township Coffee in Victoria. You can find Township, in Gordon Head, at the corner of San Juan and Tyndall (4343 Tyndall). We will be open from 7 - 9 pm and Township owner Eric will be there to create drinks, including delicious espresso or frothy latte for you, while you make cards.

You can make as many cards as you can, during the 2 hour session, for $17 (bring along your own adhesive). This is another card, that will be served up this Thursday. The flowers are coloured in with Shin Han alcohol markers and the flower centres and bird are finished off with Liquid Glass. The images are stamped from retired, Fabulous You. I also added some White Daisy grograin ribbon.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Fabulous You
Paper: retired
Embellishments: White Daisy grosgrain ribbon
Other: Memento Black

Family is Forever

This wonderful September Stamp of the Month, Family is Forever, is available for only another week and a few days.......it is a keeper! It is hard to think about Fall when it is a whopping 24 degrees today. Our weather forecast is changing to showers and I plan to enjoy them too!

 There has been so much wonderful artwork floating around with this stamp set, that I used several ideas, from other consultants, to complete this card.

First, while inking my tree with Desert Sand ink, I swiped on the ink to give a more tree like look to the trunk. Once stamped, I used my Shin Han markers to colour over the leaves and hearts. I also used my colourless blender to push colour back, where I coloured outside the lines! I stamped the sentiment in Pacifica ink.

I swiped the entire piece with Versamark ink, then embossed with clear powder. I added paper from NEW Snowhaven and retired For Always. I also have Black; Pacifica; and Glacier cardstock mats.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Snowhaven; For Always
Stamp: Family is Forever Sep SOTM
Cardstock: Glacier; Pacifica; Black; White Daisy
Ink: Desert Sand; Pacifica; Shin Han markers
Other: Versamark

Card Buffet OWL

Wow, today was an interesting day.....here on the island. It was so humid.....which is not something I can say very often. I was in excruciating pain yesterday and did not put together the correlation, until I woke up today. That barometric pressure my Mom always talked about, relating to her arthritis, has hit my body in other ways. We had a lovely sprinkling of rain, but  you would think I would have figured these signs out by now!

Anyhow, this is another card for my upcoming Card Buffet, using retired products. I stamped with, What A Hoot, on Ariana paper and got to cutting. I added another Ariana pattern, along with some Sorbet and Black cardstock. I finished with Black Shimmer Trim. This card was so easy, but I think the owl turned out very charming with this paper.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: retired Ariana
Stamp: retired What A Hoot; Fringed Phrases
Cardstock: White Daisy; Black; Sorbet
Ink: Black
Embellishment: Black Shimmer Trim

First Christmas card of 2014!!

I cannot believe I have made a Christmas card in September! This September is so turned around....with our kids not back at public school yet. Thankfully, it looks as though they could be going back as early as Monday. Then I will feel like I can get into the Fall groove. For now, this Christmas card is the first in several I have to make for a friend, to send overseas soon.

 This card was inspired by Vicki Wizniuk's workshop using this wonderful and new, Snowhaven paper. I also used a great new stamp set called, Merry, Merry. I love this set because it has a wreath and bird image.

I started this card by stamping this sweet bird in Desert Sand ink on Glacier cardstock. Then used a sponge to distress the piece with Desert Sand ink. I used Versamark ink and stamped 3 wreaths, then embossed them with clear powder. Then I got my sponge and started to apply Crystal Blue ink around the wreaths. Seemed the Crystal Blue ink sometimes got smushed with the part of the same sponge that had Desert Sand ink on it......I like how they blended together!

Next, I added Red Glitz to all of the berries, then used Cranberry pigment ink to stamp this sentiment on White Daisy cardstock. I added clear embossing powder, then cut it out to pop up over the wreath and bird piece. I added Kraft; Glacier; and Cranberry mats along with the Snowhaven border pattern and my card was finished. Here is a close up so you can see the embossing and ink resist.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Merry, Merry
Paper: Snowhaven
Cardstock: Kraft; Cranberry; Glacier; White Daisy
Ink: Crystal Blue; Desert Sand; Pigment Cranberry
Embellishments: Red Glitz; Clear Embossing Powder
Other: Versamark

Cards for Buffet

I am holding a Card Buffet at my home next week and this is one of the cards that will be available for the making. I am using mostly retired products, so I can whittle down my horde!

The main patterned paper is from Babycakes, but I also used a really old piece for the border. I stamped with Chocolate ink on the border piece, with an image from, Eclectic Edges.
The sweet main image is stamped with Whisper ink, from, Baby Love. I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate ink and added a tiny butterfly from Lagoon cardstock. The scalloped circle is cut from Slate cardstock and the base and main piece are Colonial White cardstock. I added new Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon.

All supplies are Close to My Heart.
Stamps: Baby Love; Eclectic Edges
Paper: Babycakes
Cardstock: Colonial White; Slate; Lagoon
Ink: Whisper; Chocolate
Embellishments: Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon

Masking is a favourite

Well, this past week went fast......I was enjoying our beautiful weather in Victoria! I stayed between 16 - 20 degrees the entire week and was sunny and bright. I was also preparing for my "Coffee & Crafts" Open House at my friend's coffee shop.

I prepared this card as a Make 'N Take, for those who attended. I used the lovely Sunset coloured, patterned paper, from Scaredy Cat. I paired it with the lovely stamp set, A Budding Friendship. My all time favourite thing about Close To My Heart, is with our amazing clear Acrylix stamp sets, you can stamp some amazing using both 2-step stamping and Masking.

This is my favourite 2014 set for both techniques. I first stamped the outline of the flower with Black ink in the bottom left hand corner of the feature piece. I also stamped the image on a sticky note and cut it out. I placed the sticky note over top of the original stamped image, then stamped the two other flowers, on either side. With the mask still in place, I stamped the 2 side flowers with their companion stamps, in Thistle ink. Then I removed the mask from the first flower and stamped it, also. Then I used Canary ink to stamp the centre of each flower and Black for the sentiment.

I add a Thistle border, punched with our scallop border. For a bit of sparkle, I added Black Shimmer Trim. I also mounted the focus piece on our amazing Thin 3-D Foam Tape.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: A Budding Friendship
Paper: Scaredy Cat
Ink: Black; Thistle; Canary
Cardstock: White Daisy; Thistle
Embellishments: Black Shimmer Trim

Live in the Moment

I'm so exhilarated.....we are now experiencing more Fall like weather for Victoria. That means temperatures between 14 - 20 degrees Celsuis and that makes me very happy! It also gets me making more Fall like cards and here is an example.

This card started with my love of background stamps. I stamped the leafy and nutty image from, Season of Thanks, with Champagne ink on coordinating cardstock. Then there was this small piece of patterned paper from, Pathfinding, just sitting on my table. I matted it with Chocolate cardstock, then found a Lagoon scrap that got the same treatment.

I stamped all of the flowers with coordinating ink on Crystal Blue cardstock. I cut them all out with my micro tip scissors, then added our Gold Sequins to each of their centres. The flowers and sentiment are from, Lifetime of Happiness. The sentiment is stamped with Barn Red ink.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Season of Thanks; Lifetime of Happiness
Paper: Pathfinding
Ink: Champagne; Barn Red; Crystal Blue
Cardstock: Champagne; Chocolate; Crystal Blue; Lagoon; Colonial White
Embellishments: Gold Sequins and Shimmer Trim

Oldies but Goodies!

I have been working on creating cards for my upcoming Card Buffet, using some of my stash of retired papers and stamps. These two stamp sets have been favourites since they became part of my Close To My Heart collection! Tell me what your all time favourite, CTMH stamp sets are?

This card could not be simpler to put together......patterned paper from retired Huntington, on a Black mat, attached to a White Daisy card base. I cut this lovely Lagoon piece with a My Favorite Things Die-namics die, then stamped the sentiment in Black ink. The sentiment is from, A Little Everything, which was March 2010's Stamp of the Month! The flourish is my all time favourite and is from set, You & Me, and also stamped in Black ink. I added some retired Stardust Glitz to each of my butterflies.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: retired You & Me; A Little Everything Mar 2010 SOTM
Patterned paper: retired Huntington
Cardstock: Black White Daisy; Lagoon
Embellishments: Stardust Glitz
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Other: Die-namics Horizontal Stitched Strips

Travel Photos

I thought I would finish out the week with one more #30yearsofhappy card I made, following along with my other cards this week.

These images got me thinking about our trip to the Oregon Coast next year. We've been talking a lot about it lately, so I decided to use the camera and highway images on this card. I stamped them in Black ink, then over stamped with the circular arrow image from, Here We Go in Lagoon ink. I also stamped a chevron image, from the same set, on the top with Lagoon ink. The sentiment came from November's Stamp of the Month, It's the Little Things and is stamped with Black ink.

I used our Chevron Border Punch and backed that piece with Flaxen cardstock. I finished this card off with retired Slate Baker's Twine.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: #30yearsofhappy; Nov SOTM It's the Little Things; Here We Go
Ink: Lagoon; Black
Cardstock: Black; White Daisy; Lagoon; Flaxen
Embellishments: retired Slate Baker's Twine
Tools: Chevron Border Punch

A Rock Star Party!

Well, the cards with #30yearsofhappy continue. There really are some great images in this set and then the fact you can get it for FREE in September is just crazy good! Here is the third card I created with this set.

Yes, I am on a roll......when you find something you like....you just change it up a bit and go to town with it! So I stamped these images with Thistle and Lagoon ink. The sentiment is from, Have a Happy Day and is stamped in Black ink. I used our new Chevron Border Punch and Black Striped Twill Ribbon. This card got a Lagoon mat on a White Daisy base.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: #30yearsofhappy; Have a Happy Day
Ink: Lagoon; Thistle; Black
Cardstock: Black; White Daisy; Lagoon; Thistle
Embellishments: Black Striped Twill Ribbon
Tools: Chevron Border Punch

Pretty Flowers with #30yearsofhappy

I got on a roll working with September's #30yearsofhappy set and created this sweet number, after yesterday's camera card.

This one went together pretty much the same way.....I stamped the flower with NEW Pixie and Thistle inks. I stamped over the flowers with an image from, Flight of the Arrows in Flaxen ink. I added Purple Shimmer Trim along with Thistle Diagonal Striped Ribbon to a Thistle strip I punched with our Scallop Border Punch.

The sentiment is from, Have a Happy Day and is stamped with Black ink. The mats are Flaxen and Black on a White Daisy card base.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: #30yearsofhappy; Have a Happy Day; Flight of the Arrows
Ink: Pixie; Thistle; Black
Cardstock: White Daisy; Black; Flaxen; Thistle
Embellishments: Purple Shimmer Trim; Thistle Diagonal Striped Ribbon
Tools: Scallop Border Punch

Back to School.........sort of!

Back to School starts today.....well at least for one of my children. My son starts his Software Engineering degree at University today. My daughters will start school on a yet to be determined date! Thankfully my girls are teens, so I really don't mind having them home for another week or two.

To start the school year off, I also wanted to ink up the #30yearsofhappy stamp set you can get FREE during September. In honour of National Stamping month, our founder Jeanette has put together a 30 image set to represent her 30 years of stamping. Click the link to find out how to get yours!

For this sweet and easy card, I started with the camera image......love the image, especially with the heart on the lense! I alternating stamping with NEW Flaxen and Glacier inks on White Daisy cardstock. I matted with Flaxen cardstock, then again with Black cardstock. I added Black Shimmer Trim; Baker's Twine; and Black cardstock cut with our Border Punch. I stamped the sentiment from a retired set that was all about pictures.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: #30yearsofhappy
Ink: Flaxen; Glacier; Black
Cardstock: White Daisy; Black; Flaxen
Embellishments: Black Shimmer Trim; Black Baker's Twine
Tools: Scallop Border Punch

It's been A HOOT!

We said farewell to this awesome August Stamp of the Month, What A Hoot, yesterday.....but I had one last card to show you. This is a card I made for one special customer, to give to another. Here is how I did it.

 I started with Pacifica cardstock and matted with Crystal Blue cardstock. The patterned paper is from retired Ariana. For this sweet owl, I started by stamping her on Crystal Blue cardstock and cutting her out. I stamped the eye mask; wings; and belly on White Daisy cardstock, then swiped Flaxen and Lagoon ink over each piece. On the belly, I used 3 of the small stamps with Black; Lagoon and second generation Black ink.

After I cut each piece out and covered the wings and belly with Liquid Glass. I cut the word "FRIENDS", in Black cardstock, with Art Philosophy at 1/2". I stuck it down to White Daisy cardstock that I had also swiped with both Flaxen and Lagoon ink. Then I covered the entire piece with Liquid Glass. It looks different in this picture, than the owl's pieces, because it is still wet.

I added Liquid Glass to just the stamped flower part of the owl's eyes then a teeny Blue Sparkle to the middle. I finished the card with Black and Turquoise Shimmer Trim and Lagoon Baker's Twine.

Stay tuned for my post tomorrow to show you what I have created with our September #30yearsofhappy stamp set. You can have your own set FREE, during September, by spending just $30 on any current retail-priced stamps. Click on the link to find out how.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: Aug SOTM What A Hoot
Paper: retired Ariana
Cardstock: Pacifica; Crystal Blue; White Daisy
Ink: Black; Flaxen; Lagoon
Embellishments: Bitty Blue Sparkles; Liquid Glass; Black & Lagoon Shimmer Trim; Lagoon Baker's Twine
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge