ONE Design - THREE Cards!

It's fun to take one card design but use different colors and

 stamp sets to create totally different cards!

 

The bold stripe in the pattern paper gave me lots of color options to work with these cards.  I chose Sapphire and Julep for this leaf card.  The sentiment uses the new julep ink pad and the September Stamp of the Month - Random Act of Cardness (S1909).  The leaf is created with the new Layered Leaves Thin Cuts (Z3523) and Hawthorne paper with Sapphire cardstock.

Even if you aren't a coffee lover, it's hard to resist this great sentiment!  I used Paprika for the sentiment, and other colors added this time are Julep and Saffron.  The Perk Up stamp set (C1799) can be purchased alone or with its coordinating die (Z3537).  It is currently out of stock - but more are on the way!

 

The new Halloween by Aimee Ferre stamp set (D1893) gives lots of elements to add to this final card.  Even though neither Eggplant or Nectarine are used in the striped paper, they coordinate perfectly.  The "Spooky" is stamped on the lighter side of the nectarine - one of the benefits of having two shades on each color on the CTMH cardstock!

Pop over to my CTMH Website if you want more information about any of these products.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Would you like a QUICK way to get some papercrafting done, but still be able to put your own twist and personal touch on it?  Then here's something for you to think about!

Keep your creativity flowing with Close to My Heart’s Craft with Heart™ subscriptions, where you receive regular deliveries of Cut Above^® card or layout kits that will keep you connected with your passion.  Shown above are boxes for both subscription kits - the smaller box for the cards and the larger for the scrapbook kit.

Cut Above kits give you a shortcut to beautiful artwork since they include pre-printed bases that you complete with die-cut shapes and stickers. Cardmaking kits also include exclusive stamp sets and mini ink pads you can use for a truly personal look.

You can watch this video as I open my turquoise cardmaking box with the camera running - showing everything that is included in this card kit.  Just click on the photo below for the video to start! Then check out the photos below that give you an idea of what the finished cards look like.  But the beauty of this is that you can switch things around the way you want as you put the kit together. (I'll do a video with the scrapbooking box in a few days!)   

 #unboxing #DIY #cardmaking #papercrafting #CTMH

You saw everything coming out of the box - take a look below to get a closer look at some of the pieces.  I love that nearly EVERYTHING you need to create all of the cards (24 in all this time - 2 each of 12 unique designs) is included in this box.  The card bases and envelopes, the stamp set with a mini ink pad, a block to put the stamps on, and embellishments that you can use as you wish. You provide your adhesive - that's it!

And here's a look at the finished cards.  All 24 of them!  Please note - there may be a few sentiments that vary from the stamp set in this kit.  Since it is an exclusive stamp set, I didn't finish all of the cards at the recent CTMH convention and couldn't get the set.  Some other sentiments were substituted, but they have the same general theme.

This is a great kit that you can do for yourself, give as a gift (even to a beginning paper crafter since everything is included), or get together with a friend and you each go home with 12 great cards!

Click this link to head over to my Close to My Heart website and get all the details about pricing and delivery.  Have questions?  Email me at scrappingailaz@gmail.com. 

Finally - A NEW card to share!

Life has been busy around here, and I literally have been away from home more than I was home during the last three months.  But I had fun playing in the craft room when I returned from my most recent journey - and I wanted to share it with you.

I used the sketch on the right from CAS(E) this Sketch.   I used the Lace Border thin cut die for the left strip, the Flower Garden embossing folder and the "You Are My Sunshine" stamp set.  All of these are from Close to My Heart. 

 
I also used a sponge to add some mint ink to the embossed background of the card, giving it a little added dimension.  I used silver embossing powder on the vellum for the sentiment.  It was too wide to fit in the "blank" space, so the vellum allowed me to overlap the background. 

The special thing about the stamp set I used for the sentiment is that a portion of the sale price of every set goes directly to Operation Smile - the charity for CTMH.  And not just a little bit - but $7 for each stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my work.  Don't forget to pop over to CAS(E) this Sketch blog to see the other great creations with this design.

Sticky Note for Freshly Made Sketch Challenge #379

Living in Northern Arizona is beautiful.  We do not have the heat that other parts of the state experience, BUT we do still encounter those cacti in the empty lots in the neighborhood!  It was quite a challenge when the boys were young and we were sledding down the hillside - just had to be careful where you landed!  Maybe that's why this fun stamp set - "Sticky Notes: - from Close to My Heart is so fun to me.  I can enjoy the images and the puns in the sentiments that accompany the set. 

I used the design from this week's Freshly Made Sketch challenge for the card.  It is such a versatile design, I even used another stamp set for a second card!  That will be shown in just a bit.  If you are looking to see more creations with this sketch, then just follow this link to the FMS blog to take a look!

In addition to the Sticky Notes (C1751) stamp set, I used the new Playful Scallops Embossing Folder (Z4231), the Stitched Circle Thin Cut Dies (Z4181), Fern and Sweet Leaf inks, and the watercolor pencils (Z4242) - all from Close to My Heart.

Thought you would like to see the second card I made with this sketch.  I love it when you can cut one set of papers but get multiple card designs from it!  That's what I did here - primarily to give the people in my card classes a choice for their project.  Not everyone is going to want the cactus theme, no matter how cute I think it is!  So here's what I did for a gentler card!

This card makes use of the upcoming Stamp of the Month for April from Close to My Heart - "Love So Sweet" (S1904).  Just a change of the stamp pads and everything else is the same!  The flowers are done in Peach and Glacier inks, while the butterfly uses Lagoon.  The leaves are the new Sage ink - which I have fallen in love with! 

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world.  I hope you are enjoying a beautiful weekend.

CELEBRATING PURPLE FOR SPRING and EASTER

As February draws to a close, several of the challenges this week chose the beautiful purple color of the amethyst gemstone of the month.  In addition, there was an embossing challenge.  So this card, and the two below that follow the same design, work perfectly for these three challenges!

These cards all make use of the CTMH Pansy Purple carstock, ink and coordinating watercolor pencils (the Just Us Girls and Shopping Our Stash challenges).  For the background of the bunny card, I used the new Playful Scallops embossing folder (Z4231).  For the cards below, I used the retired Rose embossing folder (Z3343) which is available on the CTMH clearance page!  All of the image bases were cut with the new Stitched Rectangle Frames (Z4260).  The sentiments were then stamped and heat embossed on a strip of vellum paper.  The entire embossed strip was overlayed on the image base and wrapped around the embossed panel (two types of embossing for the Just Add Ink challenge).  I love using vellum this way to allow the background image to show through, but still highlight the sentiment.

The stamp sets used for these cards are (all from Close to My Heart)
  
Bunny card

• image from "Bunny Basket" M1211
• image colored with watercolor pencils
• sentiment from "Egg-stra Special D1828

Sympathy card

• image and sentiment from "Know that I Care" C1752
• ink on flowers is second generation Pansy

Easter Morning card

• image and sentiment from "Easter Sunday" C1766
• flowers colored with watercolor pencils 

Be sure to click on the challenge links above to visit the sites to see other great creations with these themes. 

If you are interested in any of the products I used, check out my Close to My Heart website - scrappingail.closetomyheart.com

Thanks for stopping by! 

SPRING SHAKER CARD

After dealing with 20" of snow over the weekend, I'm happy that I can bring a little spring into my life with this card!  It's going to take awhile for those piles of snow to disappear, even here in Northern Arizona!  So it will be fun when I get together with my classes later this week that we get to focus on Spring and Easter.  I used the I Heart Us Cardmaking stamp set (C1760 from Close to My Heart) for the flowers and sentiment on this card.  This shaker card, and the one for Easter shown below, were inspired by the sketch for Mojo Monday.  You can see the sketch above, and notice that instead of the little strips used as accents, I switched it to leaves and flowers.  Still in the same place, just a different element.  I love the fact that sketches give me a starting point, but I can interpret them the way that works for what I what to showcase.  In addition to the Mojo Monday challenge, I am also entering this card in the Allsorts SPRING challenge.  You can pop over to both of those challenge blogs by clicking on the links above and check out what other creations people have designed.

What I love about the shaker card is how easy it is to put together.  Close to My Heart came out with a set of dies for the base circle and the stitched overlay - along with a foam circle and acetate circle for the whole shaker element.  Add some sequins and you are set to go!  Here's a link to a video I did last fall for a Christmas shaker card I did that shows how quickly these go together!

So here's the Easter card I mentioned before - the same basic design, but it doesn't have all of the elements in the sketch.  It was so fun to make with the Egg-stra Special stamp/die set from Close to My Heart (Z4262).  

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creations!  Hope your week is off to a great start.

HEARTFELT SENTIMENTS - February Stamp of the Month

Heartfelt Sentiments is a beautiful stamp offered as the Stamp of the Month in February by Close to My Heart. It's a BIG stamp, and thanks to some inspiration from a fellow consultant friend Jennifer Kelly over at Paper Traditions, I have this great card to share with you. The large image from the stamp set is used as a backdrop for a smaller sentiment. I used the new Stitched Rectangle Frame dies to create the black border and the white sentiment block. I also added the lovely Butterfly Friendship stamp to give a little dimension. Jennifer shared how to have versatility with this stamp - hope you give it a try.

The stamp is available only during February. You can purchase it for $18.95, or if you place a $50 order on my CTMH website, you can get the stamp for only $5! Such a deal.

Click here to pop over and check it out.

LAYERED FLORAL CARD - Mojo Monday #508

Last week I shared a clean and simple card.  Today's creation is using the same stamp image, but with several layers behind it to create an elegant background.  I followed the sketch for Mojo Monday.  You can click on this link to see the other creations following this same design.  It's amazing how each person interprets the sketch and the variety that is presented in the gallery.

I used the Feels Like Home background paper (Close to My Heart) for the base of the card, and added white glitter paper and silver foil accents.  The cardstock banner is raspberry.

The stamped and die cut image is from the CTMH set Budding Peonies (which comes with coordinating dies).  I used watercolor pencils to color and shade the flower.  It was a fun card to create.

I will be using this card in my April stamp classes - so stay tuned to see what else will be offered both in March and then April!  Thanks for stopping by!

CLEAN and SIMPLE FLORAL GREETING

I have really come to love the clean and simple card designs.  That doesn't mean they are always quicker to design, but they allow the stamped image to be the focal point of your card.  These are samples of this type of clean design - similar inspiration, but different approaches.

The inspiration came from the CAS(e) This Sketch Challenge this week.  I first decided to try the variant colors by piecing cardstock together.  That worked well - just make sure that you have the pieces firmly butted up against each other so your stamped image is clean.  I was very happy with the results.

But I had really wanted to try inking the background, and then I saw a blog post from Close to My Heart describing how to use stamp cleaner to get a watercolor effect on the inked background.  So I decided to give that a try as well.  Click here to see that post.  I was really pleased with the results - although the splotches don't show up so well in the photo.  I think it's because the ink was lighter, they sort of faded away as everything dried.  But I still happy with the monochromatic background.  I just inked more at the bottom of the section than at the top so there was some gradient color.

In order to get the ink just where I wanted it with the straight line, I used washi tape to mark off my area.  Then I used a sponge to apply the mink ink.  I've tried using daubers for this, but the effect is not as smooth as using a sponge.  So I cut my sponge into six wedges - and I always add a tag with the color of it so I don't get them mixed up when I am using multiple colors!

On this card, I used mint ink and cardstock and black ink for the image and sentiment.

The floral image is from the Budding Peonies stamp set from CTMH (D1831). 
The sentiment is from Card Captions (S1901) the January Stamp of the Month from CTMH.

This inked background card is the one that I am entering in the CAS(e) This Sketch challenge.

You can head over to their blog to see other creations by clicking on the blog link in the line above.

For the striped background, I cut the strips of cardstock slightly wider than the white base cardstock.  This made it possible for me to make sure everything would be even.  It's easy to trim even with the base cardstock once everything is assembled.  I also found that I had to be VERY careful as I cut the strips - a little bit off and the background was going diagonally!  It is important to make sure that the strips butt up against each other so there is no gap for your stamped image.  I used ballerina cardstock (light side on the background) and mint cardstock - both light and dark sides of the sheet.  For the matting, I used the dark side of the ballerina cardstock.  The only drawback I found to doing the strips is that the sentiment needs to fit on the cardstock - if you try to overlap to the background piece, you will get a gap in the inking.  But otherwise, it's a quick process to create this design.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my cards!  If you are interested in any of these products, feel free to pop over to my CTMH website and check them out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES!

It's fun to celebrate with color, and this card gives you lots of that!  The cupcakes make it the perfect card to enter into the Just Add Ink #441 challenge - Inspiration.  The inspiration photo is shown on the right, and you can click on the blog link above to see the other creations that are entered into this challenge.

I used lots of the new products from Close to My Heart.

• Background paper is from "I Heart Us" paper suite
• Cardstock is raspberry, bluebird and Carolina
• Inks are raspberry, bluebird, and canary
• The scallop stitched circle is from the "Fancy Tags" die set
• Cupcake shape and "happy" are cut from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge
• Birthday sentiment is from the Stamp of the Month "Card Captions"
• Cupcakes are from the "Years of Sweetness" stamp set

This card will be a part of the Birthday Extravaganza card class in February.

Thanks for stopping by!

NEW SEASONAL EXPRESSIONS CATALOG FROM CLOSE TO MY HEART

The new Seasonal Expressions catalog is now available on my Close to My Heart website.  Click on the link so you can see all of the wonderful new products.

CTMH's founder and CEO Jeanette Lynton is celebrating 35 years in the papercrafting industry.  The products that she is providing in this catalog are wonderful - a variety that will fit any need you have in the coming months.

Here's a link to the CTMH Blog where they have a wonderful sneak peak at some of the new products - take a look!

If you are interested in having a catalog of your own to flip through instead of looking online, contact me and I'll make it happen - scrappingailaz@gmail.com.

And - Happy New Year!