HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Looking forward to a great year of crafting in the year ahead!

CTMH - NEW TOTES ARE HERE!

WOW!  The new totes from CTMH are finally here, and they appear to be well worth the wait.  I love the style of them, and the design of the rolling tote.  It fits our storage conatiners so you don't have to re-pack your supplies when heading out the door for your craft activities.  Just put your plastic boxes in the main compartment, your papers in the front zippered pouch, and all of your tools in the two side zippered pouches.  Add the matching shoulder tote for all those smaller items or your personal belongings for a great crafting day.

Contact me if you are interested in these new products!

scrappingailaz@gmail.com

CYBER MONDAY SALE ON CTMH CRICUT CARTRIDGES!

If you've been waiting for the right time to purchase one of the great Cricut cartridge collections from Close to My Heart, NOW is the time.  Today only - Monday, December 1, 2014 - CTMH is offering their first-ever Cyber Monday Sale.  And all four of the Cricut collections are 20% off.  That means you will only pay $79.20 for these wonderful sets.

In addition, your purchase qualifies you to take advantage of the December Deal of the Decade special.  This month marks the 10th anniversary of CTMH's clear My Acrylix stamps.  So with a qualifying purchase of $50 (does not include clearance items), you can purchase any of our C or D size stamp sets for only $10.  And you can purchase as many of them as you want!  That's a minimum savings of $3.95 (for the C sets) and a great savings of $7.95 for the D sets.

Contact me if you are interested in either of these specials - scrappingailaz@gmail.com - or head over to my CTMH website and place your order - http://scrappingail.ctmh.com/

CHALKBOARD CHRISTMAS CARD

I've been wanting to do another chalkboard technique card.  I bought this set of Christmas stamps from Taylored Expressions a while back thinking they would be perfect - and they didn't disappoint!  The challenge over at Just Us Girls this week happened to be using the chalkboard technique, so that was great.

I thought I had a frame stamp that would work, but the images in the set were too big - so this sketch from Mojo Monday came up at just the right time!   I'm also entering this card in the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge #36 - Anything Goes.

The background paper I had already had that chalkboard feel to it.  After I embossed the red paper, I decided to sponge a bit of the white pigment ink on the raised holly image to continue the chalkboard feel onto that piece as well, as you can see below.

I love the fact that good colored pencils will allow you to color on black cardstock, allowing you to add fun elements to the chalkboard stamped image.

After adding the ribbon, I cut out the holly leaves, adding an extra layer in the center and finishing it off with fun gemstones. 

I always like to add something to the inside of the card - so I stamped the same holly leaves inside.

Here's a list of the materials I used on this card:
Stamps
Big Bold Christmas (set of 7) - Taylored Expressions
Holly leaves - Stampabilities
Papers
Snowhaven Background Paper - CTMH
Black, Topiary, Cranberry and White Daisy Cardstock - CTMH
Inks
White Daisy Pigment Ink - CTMH
Black - CTMH
Other
Recollections Detail White embossing powder
Holly embossing folder - Sizzix
Darice premium acrylic rhinestones
Red striped grosgrain ribbon from my stash
Primacolor colored pencils
Sponge dauber - CTMH

Be sure to pop over to these challenge blogs to see other great projects with the sketch and technique:
Just Us Girls #266 - Trend Week
Mojo Monday 371 - Sketch
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Challenge #36 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

PATHFINDING SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT

I finally completed the scrapbook layout that I used for my October workshop.  I think this is the fastest I have ever completed a layout of an activity – done within a week of arriving home!

This layout uses the CTMH Pathfinding papers, and a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart pattern book – Volume 2, #3. 

While Phoenix doesn’t really offer a lot in the way of fall colors, it was still our fall getaway, so I added the cork and wooden pieces from the Pathfinding Assortment and some of the leftover leaves from the fall box project we did earlier in the month.   I also stamped some larger leaves and acorns to add interest to the top right corner.  

My Cricut is usually put to work for titles on my pages, but this time I decided to use a couple of my large alphabet sets instead – and then fussy-cut them before adding them to the page. 

 

I added flip-flaps to this layout.  One reason was to hide photos that weren’t the greatest (the only photos of my husband and me together were blurry, but I still wanted to use them) and to add more details.  The cork and wooden elements worked great as tabs for the flip-flaps.

I am entering this layout into the following challenges this week.  Hop over to these blogs to check out the other projects.

JustUs Girls – photo inspiration (fall)

Crazy4 Challenge – photo inspiration (fall)

SweetStampin’ – anything but a card!

YULETIDE CAROL CHRISTMAS CARD WORKSHOP

These are the 10 cards for the Christmas card workshop.  In addition to the cards, everyone will make at least 10 tags—probably more.  I’m still working on those!  The covered canister is an added option, and can be used to store the tags we will make. It also makes a great package for a small gift to a special friend.

Dates are:

Monday, November 17

Tuesday, November 18

Saturday, November 22

Head over to the Project Workshop page of this blog to see more details of what you need to complete this workshop.

MERRY MONDAY #131 - Non-Traditional Colors

The Snowhaven Cardmaking Workshop on the Go stamp set has some really fun images – and this is one of my favorite sentiments.  I love paper piecing, and this sentiment worked very well with the technique.  

The layout of the card is the same as in the workshop, but that is where the similarities end.  I was inspired by the Merry Monday challenge to use “non-traditional colors” on a Christmas card.  Now I realize that I used the traditional red and green, but I started with the navy blue patterned paper, which actually came from the “Superhero” paper pack.  What could be further from Christmas?!  

I loved the mix of the navy with the red and green, so I am entering this card in the Merry Monday Challenge.

Here is a list of all the materials I used for this card.  All items are from CTMH.

Stamps:

Snowhaven Cardmaking WOTG stamp set G1085

Papers:

Colonial White and Outdoor Denim cardstock

Superhero Background paper (retired)

Inks:

Outdoor Denim, Cranberry and Topiary

Other:

Topiary Striped Washi Tape 2002

Ruby Chevron Washi Tape Z1933

Red Enamel Hearts Z2009

3-D Foam Tape Z1151

Be sure to check out Merry Monday’sChallenge Blog for more non-traditional colors on Christmas cards. 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

NOTE - I was told that this card would be featured on the 613 Avenue Creations facebook page - and I was chosen as the Color Designer of the Day for Monday, October 27!

FULL OF THANKS - Deconstructed Sketch #173

I’ve created a second card using the stamp set from the Pathfinding Cardmaking Workshop on the Go.  I love the phrases in this set – and while it has a fall theme, the cards can be made for any time of year when you need to thank someone.  I used the Deconstructed Sketch #173 for the inspiration.  The paper I chose is from the Scaredy Cat pack – which has a Halloween theme.  But there are so many colors in this particular sheet, it was easy to pull out the thistle (purple) and black to create a whole different feel.  And the purple from the retired Laughing Lola papers coordinated perfectly with it.  

So here’s all of the materials I used for this card.  All items are from CTMH unless indicated.

Stamps:

Pathfinding Cardmaking WOTG stamp set G1083

Papers:

Colonial White, Thistle and Black cardstock

Scaredy Cat Background paper X7185B

Laughing Lola Background paper (retired)

Inks:

Thistle

Other:

Purple Shimmer Trim Z1919

Black Shimmer Trim Z1809

3-D Foam Tape Z1151

Cuttlebug embossing folder

Black gemstones from my stash!

Be sure to check out DeconstructingJen’s blog for more cards made with her sketch. 

Thanks for taking time to visit today!