Monday, February 5, 2024

CTMH Love Notes

Love Notes is the Valentine paper for 2024 from Close to My Heart and I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with it in the last month!  

This collection features a paper pack with stickers, a stamp set with Thin Cut dies including an exclusive envelope and puffy heart stickers.  Two workshops have been created so you can create cards or scrapbook layouts as soon as you receive your order!  The only downside is that this is only available through February 2024 or while supplies last.   

Here's the link on the website. 
This link will take you to anything related to Love Notes and work after 2/29/24.   


This is the stamp with Thin Cut dies.  The set of dies includes an envelope that's approximately 2x3" when folded closed.  When open, you can see our amazing double sided papers!




Here's what I created....

A birthday card.  It's based on one of the workshop cards, you can see the original in the pic above.  I just flipped a paper over and changed the sentiment.  My local workshop ladies loved this flexibility.  



The bear is just so cute!  I cut him from Toffee Cardstock and used a marker to color bits of him  I snipped his arms so they would be separate from his body.  

Here's the bear with Tailgate Greetings. The background brick is from Stencil Pack 2, Z7041.  The stencils are in the annual Essentials Catalog and will be available until July 2024, unlike most of our stamp which are only available during the 2 months they're featured in a catalog.  The truck is cut from the lighter side of the Scarlet Cardstock to give it a vintage look. 


Here's the Valentine's I created for my hubby and son.  I used the Winter Gnomes Thin Cut and trimmed the blade off the ice skates to make regular shoes.  I learned the Ice Grey marker makes for great cellophane look and much less coloring!  The roses are colored with the middle shade of the Coral Shades marker.  It's RED, not coral when you're using the Coral Shades.  

I admit it, this card's a little cheesy, just how I like my Valentine's Day.  Surf and Turf are a favorite food of my hubby and I, but my son won't touch steak.  Pizza is a love language in our home.  That piece of pizza is a banner piece on the sticker sheet.  It's supposed to be roses, but not in my house.  


I adhered the banner to a piece of Shortbread cardstock and trimmed out like it was a slice of pizza.  It was super simple. This is a Z fold card.  I started with a 4.25" x 11" piece of White Daisy cardstock and scored it at 2.75" and 5.5" and folded it back and forth.  



This is my pride and joy!  Nine years ago, I did a series of "Seasonal Samplers."  I didn't care for the pink, grey and Glacier sampler and have been looking forward to updating it.  


After hanging it on my wall, I've decided to swap the light colored hearts under Be Mine to all Scarlet & Candy Apple, but that has yet to happen.  But I'm in love.  
This hummingbird is from Hummingbird Wings C2007 or Z7112 with Thin Cuts.  The flowers are stickers from the paper pack.  I dusted the back with Anti-static Pouch Z4220 and trimmed the ones that were a circle.  Then added 3D foam tape (1 or two layers) for dimension

This square features the doily and flourish from Sweet Memories Cardmaking Workshop Your Way.  The doily is cut from the paper pack.  

This little bear made 2 appearances on my sampler.  Once in the truck's tailgate and again the envelope.  



With the leftover paper, I created some little goody bags.  They are super simple and use a 5.5" square of paper and a 2.75 x 1" scrap at the top that's completely optional.  They're easy to make and are self closing, even without the pretty paper at the top.  They'll hold 2-3 Godiva chocolates or 8-10 Hershey kisses.  


Here's my cutting guide for the treat boxes.  Click to enlarge.  
fold all of the score lines inward and open flat.  Fold in the 1/2" strip and put adhesive on the side that is up.  Bring the other half of the bag over and fold it, adhering it like a flat tube.  Fold the first flap of the bottom down and inside the tube.  You'll squeeze the tube a bit so that it starts taking on a square shape.  Repeat with the 2nd flap.  Add adhesive to flaps 3 & 4 and secure, making sure the bottom of the bag is now square and the flaps overlap correctly.  You're done!  


Here's how to change the size of the treat box:  
For height, you can make them shorter or taller without changing the math.  Don't change the dimensions of the bottom of the bag in anyway.
For the base of the box, you want it to be 4 times the width of the base of the box plus 1/2".  If you want the base of the bag 2" you would need a piece of paper that is 8-1/2" wide.  2" for each side of the base and 1/2" for glue along the edge.  The base of the bag will always be square so you'll need to score 2" from the top of the paper to get square flaps.  

The biggest bag you could make from a 12x12 sheet of paper is making the base a 2-7/8" square.  You determine this by subtracting 0.5" from the 12" for the flap to seal the side.  This leaves 11.5" and that divided by 4 is 2-7/8" per bottom square. 
You would make a horizontal score line at 2-7/8" then turn and make the vertical scores at 2-7/8", 5-3/4" 8-5/8" and 11-1/2"  It would be 9-1/8" tall!  I'm not sure what you would want to put in it, but if it a try and let me know.  If you don't like 1/8" measurements, trim your paper to 11.5" and the score lines would be 2.75, 5.5, 8.25 & 11"  Whew!  

After all of this, please let me know which one is your favorite project by leaving a comment.  

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Cherish Stamp, Thin Cuts & Stencil Inspiration

 The Cherish Cardmaking Stamp, Thin cuts & Stencil bundle has been my most used stamp in the last 6 months.  Here's 10 projects I've created using it.



This is one of Close to My Heart's first stamp, thin cut & stencil bundle where the stencil is used to color the stamped image.  

I've used sponges, daubers and blending brushes the create the following cards.

Here I blended several colors across the flowers for a softer look



This is a Faux Step Card.  There's no fancy cutting for make this stair step design unlike the original stair step.  Here's a stair step tutorial from last year.

I'm going to continue sharing the cards I colored with Melon, the CTMH color of the year to show you how you can vary the shading in the stencil to change the look completely. 

Like the Stair Step Card, this one is very uniform, with just a little bit of lighter blending around the center.  



This time, I barely blended any melon in the center of the flowers.  I focused on the edges.



On this card, I blended Scarlet primarily around the edge of the stencil, but on the next card, I filled in the stencil uniformly.




This one I diecut the stamped image from a circle to create a spotlight effect.  We have several card-front background dies like this still available.


This one is layered.  I used 2 diecuts, one in Glacier and other in Honey Butter and Mink.  I cut out the flowers and layered them over the first image.  This was a good way to use up the image as I didn't diecut it perfectly and had cut off a couple leaves.  

The Cherish Cardmaking Stamp bundle is on sale this month because March 2023 is our Stamptacular Sale!
Cherish Cardmaking Stamp and Stencil



You can get this set discounted for only $20.  



Tuesday, October 18, 2022

It's beginning to craft a lot like Christmas

Yes, it's beginning to look like Christmas at my house.  

First, I have my last few card 2022 workshops on the calendar.  Click the link to see more details on the Facebook event

  1. Fun & Fab Fall Cards on Friday  This Friday 10/21 @ 6:30 PM
  2. Cards at Noon - October  Tuesday, 10/25 @ Noon
  3. Christmas Card Workshop Friday, November 18 @ 6:30 PM
    • This one requires pre-payment.  See here.  
  4. Thanksgiving Leftovers Saturday, November 26 @ 4PM 
  5. Cards at Noon - November Tuesday, November 29 @ Noon

 

Picture This Christmas

This year CTMH has released a 5x7 photo greeting card kit.  Print your favorite 4x6 photo and make it part of your Christmas card.  There's two versions:  Regular card & shaker card.  See here for more info.


Christmas Card Workshop

Friday, November 18th is my Annual Christmas Card Workshop.  
This card kit will be pre-cut for all attendees.  You can also purchase it here.  


Stamp of the Month

This adorable set is only $5 with a $50 order.  Or FREE when you're a VIP customer.  VIP customers also get 15% credit on their orders too!  


These sentiments are so honest!  

These are the Days

Create 13 pages for an album or calendar with our newest Cut Above kit.  Stamping is optional!



Ongoing Specials Ending in October

Fa-boo-lous

This is our newest Halloween themed paper collection.  P.S.  There's 3 retired collections still on my shopping website



Flower Shoppe

Two workshops:  One for scrapbookers, one for cardmakers!



Card Creativity from National Stamping Month

Amazing stamps & dies!  


Whew that's all! 


Sunday, October 16, 2022

Christmas Card Workshop

I'm excited to be back to hosting a Christmas Card workshop at my home in Everett, WA this year!  

I'm using the Christmas Story Card Workshop from Close to My Heart.  It has 4 card designs, and I'll be adding a 5th design to round it out to 5 unique cards.  

This year's cards have no coloring, lots of dimension with die-cuts and a little stamping in Black & Scarlet inks.  All items will be pre-cut and ready to create for you on the day of the workshop.  

One set of 5 cards $15

Two sets of the 5 cards is $25

Three sets of the 5 cards is $35 (15 cards total)

Four sets of the 5 cards is $45 (20 cards total)

Standard foam squares will be included.  If you want the Thin 3D foam tape or dots, please let me know and I can pre-order them for you.  This class requires pre-payment via mail or PayPal/Venmo no later than November 8th.

Please select the number of sets of cards and Add On Items.  This order form is only for the workshop attendees.  If you would like this kit, you can also order directly from my website.  I won't be mailing out pre-stamped kits this year.  

Use this link to register


Thin 3D foam Tape 75" per roll
Thin 3D foam Tape 75" per roll
 
Double-sided foam dots,
1 mm tall; 6 mm (128 dots)
and 12 mm (50 dots) wide.

 
Black Journaling Pen



Friday, June 10, 2022

Sweet Pickings of Strawberries 🍓 & Watermelon 🍉makes for a sweet 30 card workshop with 15 designs!  

I've created this colorful workshop with 15 card designs for a total of 30 cards using 1 pack of the May-June Mix-In paper and Sweet Pickings.   There's 3 designs that have shaker elements with an option to make 3 more designs into shakers as well.


The Tutti Frutti shapes not only make fun shaker bits, but amazing, yet soft and flat card front embellishments.


  


These fun cards are easy to cut and assemble.  There's no fussy cutting required if you have the Thin Cut dies that accompany the stamp set.  Only 4 ink colors required.  If you mail them, no extra postage required!   These cards have tons of customizability with your choice of sentiments.  

Item #   Description

X9040    Mix-in Paper Packet (May–Jun)

Z4441    Sweet Pickings Stamp + Thin Cuts

X7281E  Tutti Frutti Mini Shapes

Z4309    Circle Shaker Window Thin Cuts

Z4310    Circle Shaker Window Foam + Acetate

X254      White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

Z679      Liquid Glass

Z6528    Capri Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z6520    Flamingo Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z6513    Green Apple Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z2805    Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z3341    Thin 3-D Foam Dots

Z3547    Piercing Tool

S2206    I Heart Summer—June Stamp of the Month

Also:  3 Sheets of White Daisy & 1 sheet of Black Cardstock and a black journaling pen.  They are currently sold out on my website.  

I'm including the Stamp of the Month in this kit because it's perfect and you can customize your card workshop with some of these images and stamps.  It's just so adorable.  


To get the workshop guide, just place an order on my website of $25 or more or purchase the cutting guide for $10.

 

You can order the workshop guide for personal or workshop use here.  It will be emailed within 24 hours of purchase, but most likely sooner.