Embossing with Thin Cut dies

I am doing a terrible job of posting here.....if only it were as easy as posting to Instagram...! These are two of 6 cards I made using this sweet retired stamp set and coordinating die.

 I stamped the image with Versamark then used Gold embossing powder. You can sort of see the impression around the stamped image. I placed the coordinating die over the embossed image and ran it through my Big Shot with the rubber mat underneath, so the die would emboss rather than cut. I was also able to use up 4 scraps of cardstock for each card.

All supplies used are Close To My Heart.

Cosmos and Roses

This was my first try at making crepe paper Roses.

I used Lia Griffith Heavy Crepe and a pattern from her website. I did not use all of the petals, as I liked the way they looked when I got to this point. The Cosmos were also made with Lia's Heavy Crepe, but with a pattern from Tiffanie Turner's book, The Fine Art of Paper Flowers.

I have decided I really like making smaller flowers with less petals because I get the satisfaction of finishing one faster! I have been working on some larger flowers and will post them here very soon. I have posted them on Instagram and Facebook already.

Supplies used:
Lia Griffith Heavy Crepe Paper
The Fine Art of Paper Flowers - Tiffanie Turner

Crepe Paper dabbling.....

I don't know how it started, but I have begun dabbling with Crepe Paper!

I had been seeing some amazing flowers posted on Instagram made from crepe, although, I did not recognized them as crepe because they looked picked from the garden! I found a lovely lady, Quynh from Pinkandposey.com who made the prettiest Coral Charm Peonies. Since I was travelling to Seattle, WA and Portland, OR in June, I asked if she ever gave private crepe flower making lessons. She said "yes"....I was so thrilled and she lived just outside Seattle, right where we were staying.

So I asked a lot of questions and was not very comfortable making the flower or really understanding any of what was going on. With Quynh's help I completed one Coral Charm Peony and she sent me on with supplies to make many more and another 2 flowers started. I got home days later and felt overwhelmed. I finished the 2nd flower, then made the 3rd flower. I was not really happy with what I did on my own. I decided to tackle something easier to see if this crepe dabble was all a bust!

I had ordered some crepe paper packages from Lia Griffith and visited her site at LiaGriffith.com for some additional instructions I could look at several times. I decided to try something easy and made this Poinsettia. I LOVED it and it gave me the confidence to start making other flowers. I will show you those flowers here off and on or you can also check them out on Instagram!

Supplies  used:
Lia Griffith Heavy Crepe Paper
retired Close To My Heart Glitter
Floral Wire
Alene's tacky glue

Just Treats in September!

Contact me to get your FREE kit!

New Beginnings!

Well, life has been busy this year. I have let my blog go, but am changing things up now and going to be using it more frequently with all sorts of different projects.

You will continue to see my Close To My Heart creations. I will also start sharing some other art/craft endeavours, such as my new found love of making crepe paper flowers. I have also been making some sweet fabric bird pins and cat nipz mats and toys.

I will be sharing all of them here and continue to do so on my other social media accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/ballisticdesign/

https://www.facebook.com/nancy.ball.710

I will also be listing some of these creations on my etsy shop here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BallisticDesigns

I hope to see you soon!

So, let's go.....here is a card made with NEW Close To My Heart products. The stamp set is, Bunches of Love.

I stamped with Versamark ink then embossed with Black embossing powder. I stamped with Raspberry and Willow inks to fill in the flowers. I used some Heather ink for the spots around the flowers. I also used my water brush to spread some of the colour from the leaves out.

The sentiment I stamped with black ink then covered with Liquid Glass. You can't tell, but the sentiment pieces are popped up on foam tape for a little added dimension.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.

Stamp: Bunches of Love

Ink: Versamark; Willow; Raspberry; Heather

Embellishments: Liquid Glass; Black Embossing Powder

A good HEART!

More flowers.....no surprise for me. These flowers are part of the wonderful multi-layer stamping set, Beautiful Friendship - Scrapbooking.

I random stamped just the accents of the 2 largest flowers and stamped the centres like they were flowers! I used Raspberry; Blush; Tangerine; and Canary inks. The leaves I stamped in Sweet leaf ink and the sentiment in Black. I added a faux bow with this sweet Peacock Stitched Ribbon. I matted the stamped piece and polka dotted Beautiful Friendship paper with Sapphire cardstock. The sentiment is from set, Inspire.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Beautiful Friendship - Scrapbooking; Inspire
Paper: Beautiful Friendship
Cardstock: Sapphire; White Daisy
Ink: Blush; Canary; Raspberry; Sweet Leaf; Tangerine
Embellishments: Peacock Stitched Ribbon
Other: MFTstamps Cross Stitched Die-namics

Beautiful Friendship

Well, I have been terrible at blog posting! I am really efficient at Instagram posting.....gotta get myself back on track! So here is the first card I made with product from our current Seasonal Expressions. I love flowers, so that is what I always gravitate to first.

The lovely polka dot paper is from Beautiful Friendship and the stamped images are from Documented - Cardmaking. I love this flower, so I used inks to watercolour it with. After it was dry, I coloured away with my Bashful Shimmer pen. The ink colours for the flower are Lemon and Blossom. The leaf was done with Heather. I used Sapphire cardstock for the mats. I also added a Black line around the patterned paper and stamped piece with my Black Journaling pen.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Documented - Cardmaking
Paper: Beautiful Friendship
Cardstock: Sapphire; White Daisy
Ink: Lemon; Blossom; Heather; Black; Bashful Shimmer; Black Journaling pen

Chelsea Gardens ROCKS

One of my all time favourite Close To My Heart paper packs, Chelsea Gardens, will retire soon. I have used it for so many projects and can barely get enough of it. I'm sure an all time favourite Sweet Leaf is in large part due to this love.

This is Chelsea Gardens patterned paper and the coordinating cardmaking stamp set that is another favourite. I stamped and cut flowers and leaf stem then used my CTMH inks as watercolours to fill them in. I used Glacier ink to create the patterned background. 

A little technique here, I used the back side of the small flower and stamped with Glacier ink. Then, I used the flower image and stamped over top of the shape, for a coloured image. I cut the oval and scalloped shapes from our Art Philosophy Cricut cart. I stamped the sentiment with one of our sweet M sized stamp sets, Happy Birthday.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Chelsea Gardens
Stamp: Chelsea Gardens Cardmaking; Happy Birthday
Cardstock: Sweet Leaf; Glacier; Heather; White Daisy
Ink: Glacier; Sweet Leaf; Lagoon; Black; Black Journaling Pen
Tools: Cricut Art Philosophy

It's almost time to say Goodbye.....

Our Spring Seasonal Expressions will be replaced by our Summer one, on May 1st. I will miss this one greatly, as it has been one of my all time favourites. I especially loved all of the greenery. This card came from Sunny Thoughts, our February stamp of the month.

I started with Heather cardstock and added some Chelsea Gardens patterned paper. Then on Pewter cardstock, I added my stamped piece. I stamped the vine with Juniper; Sweet Leaf; and Flaxen inks. I stamped the sentiment from our "Inspire" stamp set with Black ink. I added Peacock Stitched Ribbon; Clear Sparkles; and Black Journaling pen lines to finish this card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Inspire; Sunny Thoughts
Paper: Chelsea Gardens
Cardstock: Heather; Pewter; White Daisy
Ink: Flaxen; Sweet Leaf; Juniper; Black; Black Journaling pen
Embellishments: Peacock Stitched Ribbon; Clear Sparkles

Back in Action.....

I have been sorely neglecting my blog.......so I am going to try harder to post at least once a week! Here is a sweet card I made for my son, who had just been offered co-op or intern positions with both Relic Entertainment and Microsoft. He is currently at Relic until the end of April, then will start with Microsoft in June. Both are him living away from home for the first time!

This card was very simple but I liked this technique for the sentiment that I am pretty sure was a Tresa Black one. I stamped this sweet boy image from our Super Boy set, then coloured him with our Shin Han Alcohol markers. I added patterned paper from Stargazer to some Pacifica cardstock.

I sanded on the Pacifica cardstock where I wanted to stamp the sentiment, to expose the white core of our cardstock. I also added some new Blue Burlap Ribbon.


All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: Super Boy w/coordinating Thin Cuts
Patterned paper: Stargazer
Cardstock: Pacifica; White Daisy
Embellishments: Blue Burlap Ribbon

Super Girl

I am smitten with our new Super Girl stamp & Thin Cuts combo set, not to mention what I consider a coordinating stamp set, Comic Book Scenes background set.

I started this card by opening up our Volume 4, Make It From Your Heart How To pattern pages. This is the card pattern that caught my eye. I used patterned paper from Stargazer. Then I stamped with Comic Book Scenes with Blossom ink on White Daisy cardstock. I added lines to each piece with my Black journaling pen.

I stamped and cut out the strong Super Girl, then coloured her with my Shin Han Alcohol markers. After I stamped the sentiment with Ruby ink, I outlined it too, with my Black Journaling pen. Then I coloured the popped up POW with my Clear Shimmer Pen.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Super Girl w/coordinating Thin Cuts
Cardstock: White Daisy; Ruby
Ink: Memento Black; Ruby; Black Journaling Pen; Shin Han Alcohol Markers; Clear Shimmer Pen

February is here already........

Happy February! I can hardly believe it is February already.....but, lets go with it.....like we have a choice! I have been creating with new products from our Seasonal Expressions from the moment they arrived. I think this is one of my all time favourite issues! Here is the first card I put together with Make Waves.

Mermaids are every where and I am happy to join in. I stamped this sweet patterned paper from Make Waves with the sea star image from the coordinating scrapbooking stamp set. 

*Technique Tip: I used the wrong side of the sea star stamp to make this solid image with Glacier ink. Then I turned it to the right side and stamped the proper image, over top, with Glacier ink.

**Tech Tip #2: I stamped the mermaid image on the lighter side of Bashful cardstock so I would not have to do any skin toned colouring.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark, then embossed with Black powder. I coloured in the letters with our Clear Shimmer Pen afterwards.

The reeds are stamped with Willow and Emerald ink. My mermaid is coloured in with Shin Han Alcohol markers. I also added a sparkly amazing flower sequins from the coordination Make Waves Sequins and Gems pack.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Make Waves - Scrapbooking
Paper: Make Waves
Cardstock: Crystal Blue; White Daisy; Bashful
Ink: Willow; Emerald; Glacier; Versamark; Memento Black; Shin Han Alcohol Markers; Black Journaling Pen
Embellishments: Make Waves Sequins & Gem pack; Clear Bitty Sparkles

Happy New Year + Seasonal Expressions

Happy New Year!

I was lucky enough to be at the launch of our NEW Seasonal Expressions in Portland, Oregon. I buddied up with Washington State Consultant, Amy Ulen again and enjoyed sitting with her and friend Karen. I declare that the 2018 Spring Seasonal Expressions is one of my all time favourites!

Here are the first 2 cards I created with products I was able to order in advance of the book's release. Just a huge perk of being a Consultant!

 This sweet set is the Making Waves - Scrapbooking stamp set. The Making Waves patterned paper pack is so whimsical with mermaids and ethereal colours. this set is simply FANTASTIC!

I did a little technique on these cards I call, Backwards Stamping! For the Sea Star, I used the wrong side of the stamp to stamp the star image with Glacier ink. Then I turned the stamp the way it was intended and stamped the sea star outline within the "backwards stamped" image! This stamping was done on 2 different patterns of paper in the Making Waves package.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark and embossed it with Black embossing powder. Then I used my Clear Shimmer Brush to colour in the word "Stardust". I coloured the mermaid with my Shin Han Alcohol markers and added the DIVINE coordinating flower sequins to her hair.

All supplies are Close To My Heart:
Paper: Making Waves
Stamp: Making Waves - Scrapbooking
Ink: Willow; Emerald; Tangerine; Glacier; Versamark; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Embellishments: Making Waves Sequins; Clear Shimmer Brush