Friday, January 31, 2014

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello friends! 
It’s an exciting time of year!  In a few hours, the new Spring & Summer Idea Book will be launching.  Tonight we’re featuring the first stamp of the month from it!  This blog post is part of a ‘blog hop,’ which means that you can see artwork for this stamp set created by over 50 consultants this month from the same stamp set.  It’s a big circle so once you start hopping, you’ll end up back at my blog.    If you’re on the right track, you’ve just come from {Alyson’s Blog}!
I created this card with the new Ivy Lane Paper pack and the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  Ivy Lane will be available as of 2/1/14 on my website before then, the link may not work.
Card-Feb-SOTM-front-web
I cut the card at 5” twice, once in Colonial White cardstock and again in Ivy Lane.  I trimmed the back of the card off the patterned paper cut and put it back on my mat and cut the frame.  I love having double sided paper!  It made this card go together so easily. 
You’ll notice that I stacked the sentiment, “Hey foxy.”  I actually cut the stamp!  Yes, you’re allowed to do that.  It will go back together just fine if I want it to.  It’s so much easier than masking when using two colors. 
I embellished this card with the new purple glitter gems and a smaller one of the Small Sparkle Flourishes.  I like the small packet of flourishes, you get six different flourishes in one packet and they’re just right for cards. 

The foxes peek through the card from the inside.  I used Hollyhock & Cocoa Exclusive Inks on the inside of the card. 
Card-Feb-SOTM-inside-web

Here’s how the card looks completely closed.  Too cute! 
Card-Feb-SOTM-closed-web
I can’t wait to play with this set more!   I hope to make some friendship cards using a sentiment or two from the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  Come back for a friendship version of this card later this month. 

This month’s set is 9 fun stamps.  You can purchase this set alone for $17.95 or get it for just $5 with a $50 purchase. 
The new Idea Book will be online at midnight tonight.  If you want your own copy, let me know when we can meet to get one to you.  If you need one shipped, click here to request one
2014 - February SOTM -  Wild About Love - Edited

That’s all from me, please hop on over to {Katy’s blog} to see her artwork. 
Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Simple Scallops

I’m not a big lover of punches now that I have a Cricut.  However, simple, useful border punches that I can use a variety of ways are something I’ll invest in. 

It’s so easy to create a border of any length with this Scalloped Border Punch from CTMH. Want a 12” border?   The Cricut can’t do it without jumping through a lot of hoops and a 24” mat.  Simple is great! 

Check out these itty bitty borders!  I would cut the strip of paper a bit wider and trim it down after it is punched just so it’s a little easier to hold. 

image

 

Here’s the full video.  {Click here to watch via YouTube}

 

There’s a ton of great videos on YouTube showing Close to My Heart’s products. There’s a new Artbooking project each week!

Click here to Subscribe to the Official CTMH YouTube channel.

Friday, January 17, 2014

You are the Best version II

Here’s another card  of the exact same format that I showed for the Stamp of the Month blog hop. I’m out of the For Always paper (and it’s sold out) so I substituted the polka dot print from the Spellbound papers that were liquidated last September.  I few extra packs of Spellbound left over from my Halloween workshop last year.  I couldn’t resist getting them for less than the cost of the cardstock.  (If you’re local, let me know if want a package, they’re $3). 

Card January SOTM You Are the Best polka dot_edited-1

The cardbase is Sunflower, a retired color.  The ribbon is our Seam Binding Ribbon and it’s retiring this month.  (boo hoo).  The black goodies are 2 self adhesive sequins from our black mini medley and a black rhinestone from our black/grey sparkles collection. 

Hop on over to our retiring items ASAP to grab what’s left.  When they go, they’re gone!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

You Can Never Have Too Much Happy!

 

P1060619

This is one of the three fabulous cards from the Laughing Lola Card Workshop on the Go.  These kits are wonderful.  Everything but ink and cutting tools are provided.  It’s designed to make 15 cards but you’ll have plenty of paper and embellishments left over after you’ve used card bases and envelopes that are included. 

 

Now I have a question for you…  How many special tools does it take to make the green splatter on the word HAPPY?  One?  Two?  Three? 

How about ZERO!  It’s a stamp!  It’s a mess free, no special tools required way of adding a little fun to any project.  Kids from 3 to 83 will love it! 

Be sure to order your kit soon!  The Workshop on the Go portion is  on the Retired List and there’s a good chance they’ll sell out before the end of the month.  The paper pack will be available until July.

Be sure to order your kit soon! Click her to order.

 

Don’t forget about this month’s Cloud 9 card kit promotion! Only 50% of the inventory is left! 

1401-cc-npm-cloud-nine-us_ca

Friday, January 3, 2014

I’m on Cloud 9 Blog Hop!

Welcome to tonight’s blog hop!  We have two blog hops this week because we have an extra special promotion from Close to My Heart that you’re going to love. 
If you’re hopping from {Joy’s blog}, welcome!  If you’re just getting started, I’d love for you to visit all 21 blogs.  When the hop is complete you’ll be right back here!
This kit is fabulous!  It’s just $15 with a $35 regular priced purchase.  It’s full of new product and valued at $46.  Just the stamp set alone is valued $17.95.  The kit includes cards, triangle metal studs, new teal shimmer trim, cardstock, gold polka dot washi tape and die cut shapes that are ready to stamp!  It is compatible with the Artiste Cricut Cartridge, but it’s not required to create these fabulous cards! 

I created this card last night from my scraps + a bit of Sunset orange cardstock from the card base.  Everything else is from the card kit.  This is one of the 5 cards for tomorrow’s workshop.  I sized this card a little smaller than usual so it will fit in a standard A2 envelope.

FREE GIFT TO YOU!    
Receive the all new Spring & Summer 2014 Idea Book & a KIT of these cupcake cards free when you purchase your own Cloud 9 kit from my website!  
Artiste Cupcake Card with Cloud 9 card kit from CTMH  Available January 2014 only 1

Here’s the stock photo of the cards that come in the kit.  They’re adorable and hip!  They’re also super fast to cut out and make. 

If you love what you see, hop on over to my website to start your order.

Or hop on over to {Pam’s blog.}
 
A complete list of the blog hoppers can be found here




Thursday, January 2, 2014

Favorite projects of 2013

Happy 2014!  I hope your year is off to a great start!   I just ran out of time last year to show you some beautiful artwork so I’ll just keep sharing them with you this year!  These are my a few of my favorite projects that I personally designed.  They are posted in the order I created them not the order of popularity. 

Girls Rock Cascading Card with Art Philosophy and Chantilly CTMH paper - Copy

This stamp set Girls Rock was featured on the front page of the 2013 Spring & Summer Idea Book that was released to consultants in late December.  I immediately envisioned this project as I had been wanting to try my hand at a cascading card.  The stamp set is compatible with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and so very versatile. 

Card-For Always Birthday card watermarked

I never dreamed that black flowers and leaves would look so amazing.  But it does.  This is the same stamp set as above.

Exploding Easter box.  Created with CTMH Artiste & Art Philosophy Cartridges.  Created by Lalia Harris

This Easter box had no stamping.  It was all Cricut cuts.  Super fun to put together.  Click here to see the inside.

3D rolled rose and 3d paper ribbon top the Artiste exploding hexagon box.  Created by Lalia Harris

I learned a lot about rolling roses from this one rose.  When you rough up the paper and it frays and cracks, just add ink to hide the the ugly.  The ink transformed this flower from broken to beautiful.  It was much better than the basic, simple rolled flower without frayed edges.   There were lots of happy mistakes that came together to make a beautiful creation.

Dream Pop  Wonderful Fabulous You stamp CTMH

I bought a stamp set just for this sentiment.  The rest of the stamp set is beautiful too.  See Fabulous You.

Spinner card with a penny and a pinwheel

Spinner Cards are so stinkin’ easy that it’s almost a crime {if you have Cricut and software or similar die-cutter to create that slot.}  You can do it with a circle punch and a paper trimmer but it’s not nearly as fun.  You can see the card in action on my blog.

Embossed resist card using June 2013 Stamp of the Month A flowering bunch

Embossed resist is truly a fun technique! 

Elegant damask card in black and purple using Artbooking Cartridge and Cricut Craft Room by Lalia Harris

I reworked an earlier card design using that exact same stamp from Casual Expressions almost a year earlier.  This time I used the Artbooking cartridge to make the elegant damask background.  It was a crowd pleaser.  The slate polka dot ribbon, the creamy white seam binding ribbon and the For Always paper are discontinued this month.  I’ll really miss them.  Here’s my original blog post with a bunch more pix and tricks to making this card. 

Damask & Ribbon Card using Casual Expressions & For Always papers.  Created by Lalia Harris

 

 

Have a fabulous new year.  Let me know your favorite project of this collection or what you’re hoping to create this year in the comments below.