Circle of Love

This card was particularly fun to make because you just don't know how the stamped image will look until it's on the paper!

Circle of Love is a great stamp set and I adore this peacock image. I think it will be a go to set for a long time.... The paper on this card is from the Magnifique paper packet and I love this ribbon for this card...finishes it just right!





So, to stamp this image you will need your inks - I used Pacifica and Cocoa, and some sponge daubers. First ink the whole stamp with the Pacifica ink. Then stamp it off on some scratch paper. Lay the block on your table and grab your brown sponge dauber. Ink up the dauber with cocoa and then decide what areas you want to accent with the brown - reink dauber as necessary. Then go back to Pacifica and add a little darker blue here and there. You want to leave some of the lighter blue in some areas so that you have lots of good shading and blending. When you have it colored the way you like, stamp it and be amazed!! :)

I finished this card off with a strip of Magnifique paper and a knot of Colonial White ribbon. I used my daubers to add ink around the edges of the whole card and finally stamped the word Love in full-strength Pacifica.



I also made a "clean" copy of this card because I wasn't sure I liked the sponged edges after I did it. I think I like the second version better for this one.

Have fun with this technique! Thanks for stopping by today!

A Game of Love

What a week! It's been hard to even find time to breathe this week! So, I decided this morning to TAKE some time to get a new card posted! :)

This is a fun new set from CTMH called A Game. I wasn't going to order it, but well....things happen!



The colors on this card are Tulip, Baby Pink and Black. Embellishments are Itty Bitty black brads. Fun and simple!


Here's a couple versions...so many fun possibilities. Besides this heart and X, there are several other small images to create your tic tac toe game.

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Find Your Style - Shoe

Here's a shoe with Style! I love the way each of the images in this set has words within the image. Right along the heel of the shoe it says "grace." I love that!

The colors in this card are Smoothie and Pear. For some extra bling, I added bows of pretty-close-to-Pear ribbon and some sparkly adhesive flowers. I have inked the edges of the shoe panels by swiping them across my ink pad. The background panel of Smoothie cardstock has been stamped with the word Friend in Smoothie ink and I used an edge distresser and my scissors to rough up the edges. The green shoe has been popped up on foam tape - forgot to do that with the pink shoe so it is just adhered flat on the card.

More to come with this set...Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous, stylish, graceful day!

The end of the party...time to go...

Here are the last few projects with "It's Your Day" and then I will get busy with this month's Stamp of the Month set!! LOL

I really enjoyed this set and can see it being used a LOT in the future, too!

I used papers from the Animal Crackers paper packet this time. Love these bold bright colors. On the left the cake is cut out and popped up on foam tape, along with the middle package on the right page.

Sweet and simple pages for celebrating a special day!

Colors are Holiday Red, Dutch Blue, Clover Meadow, Sunflower.



Here is a small card for the gift bag - same papers and colors, and the green gift is also popped up on this one.

Thanks for stopping by...hope your day is wonderful!

and the Party goes on...

I still have a few more photos to share of projects with the August SOM - need to get started on September's!! LOL

Anyway, I used Sorbet and Citrus Leaf green for this card. The "flames" on the candles are Sunny Yellow.

For some extra pizzazz, I added Liquid Glass to the cake plate so that it's all shined up for the party! I stamped the Party circle in Sorbet on a piece of cardstock and then stamped the word "time!" over it in black. Then I cut the circle out and adhered it with a piece of foam tape.

The border along the bottom was made with the cake sections.

Party fun!

(All supplies are CTMH)

Valentine Calendar Cards

Here's a calendar duo created for Valentine's day. The first is non-traditional colors - Petal, Twilight, Sweet Leaf. And the second is Holiday Red, Black and White.

Both cards use the stamp set Moments in Time, which was the January SOTM. I used Petal brads for accents on the first card, and Red Sparkles for the second card. The sentiments are from Say It In Style, and The Works Alphabet.

Thanks for visiting today!

(All supplies are Close To My Heart)

Heart Key

Here's another card using the special set, Key to My Heart. I love how this one turned out - colors are Tulip and Juniper. Papers are from the KTMH paper packet. It's really a fun set!

(All supplies are Close to My Heart)

Love is spoken here

This is a card I made using the Treasure Life stamp of the month set from a couple months ago. I used the rolling technique to get the fall leaves in two colors. (Ink the whole stamp in one color, then roll the edges in another color. I stamped in first and second generation to fill up the whole white panel with layers of colors. Then I also sponged around the edges. Colors used are Sunflower, Juniper, and Barn Red.

I used the Word Window punch from SU! to make the oval cutout in the bottom. The sentiment is stamped on a one inch strip of cardstock that is glued to the bottom inside of the card, and also stamped with leaves.
(All supplies except the punch are CTMH, punch is from SU!)

Dressing Up

I fell in love with this dress! The pattern came out recently in Paper Crafts Magazine and I've seen so many lovely creations using this dress! I finally had to make some myself.

This first one uses paper from the Good Times paper pack, Sweet Leaf textured cardstock, Chocolate cardstock, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, and copper brads. (All from CTMH.)

I folded the skirt so that there are two pleats that pop out from the card - really fun!





For this card, I changed the layout a bit after being inspired by fellow CTMH consultants. This card uses paper from the Caprice paper pack, Chocolate and Crystal Blue cardstock, Chocolate Grosgrain ribbon, Crystal Blue Exclusive Inks, a clear self-adhesive Sparkle, and the Card Commentary stamp set.

For this card, I reversed some of the folds so that the skirt folds completely flat.


All supplies are from Close To My Heart.

Thank yous

Definitely not the best photos - I even played with them trying to edit them a bit.....not too successfully.

Anyway, I needed some thank you notes for the people who helped with our Alleluia Fair at church. I used Thoughts of You and the great leaf stamps for those cards. I was hoping they looked a bit like palm leaves.... The color is Citrus Leaf Green and I found a great almost-matching organdy ribbon to use with it. The sentiment stamp comes from the For Every Occasion set.


I needed a few other thank you notes, so using the same layout design, I switched from leaves to pink flowers (Bubblegum and Citrus Leaf for this card.)









This picture shows both cards. I love how you can use the same layout and similar or different colors or stamps and come up with cards with a totally different feel.

Have a fabulous day!

All supplies, except the ribbon, are from Close To My Heart.

Pig Pile!!

Ok, I admit it. The only reason I bought this stamp set, Nursery Bash, was for the pigs!! I just LOVE this image of these pigs. They are SO cute!

For this 1st Birthday card, I stamped and colored the pigs with my watercolor pencils and waterbrush. They are layered on Breeze cardstock, then the sweet plaid b&t paper onto a Breeze card. The 1st was stamped on the sunny yellow circle and then again on the b&t. I cut out just the 1 and glued it over the 1 on the yellow circle. A small piece of folded ribbon was added behind the circle and it was attached with a piece of foam tape.

"Happy Birthday" was stamped inside.






Here's a close up of that cute piggy face!












A dark, blurry photo just to show that the circle/ribbon medallion was popped up on a piece of foam tape.



All supplies used from Close To My Heart

Friends and Flowers

Love this card! Totally stamp-lifted it from my friend, Jeri's, sample she shared with me!! I did use different papers and colors, but the basic design is hers.

The stamp set is Thoughts of You from CTMH. Colors are Sweet Leaf and Bubblegum. The sentiment is finished on the inside with the words: I'd walk in my garden forever.

back from La-la Land

Hey everyone,
Long time no post...I have a few Easter cards to share from last year and then I have some new projects to share as soon as I break out my camera and get photos taken. So here's a fun card I made last year......

Wow, that's hard to see!! Bright! The cute little chickie was made using the solid egg stamp and one of the small leaf stamps for the wings, and beak. I used a marker to add little "feathers" around his edges and a black marker for the eyes. The flap lifts up at the hinge to reveal a Happy Easter message underneath.

Card 3 - Treasure

This one is my absolute favorite! I just love the way it turned out. The card is 4-3/4" x 3", and is made with Sweet Leaf cardstock. The saying comes from Treasures of the Heart stamp set (Close to My Heart) and is stamped in Chocolate ink on a Sweet Leaf panel. The heart is created with a petal from the Playful Petals set and is stamped in Sweet Leaf ink. I added a small chocolate paper flower to the heart for the finishing touch. The strip of Chocolate cardstock is distressed around the edges with Chocolate ink, and I did the same thing to the Sweet Leaf panel with the Sweet Leaf ink.

Valentine Gift Bag and Card 1

This is the gift bag that we made at the workshop to hold all the cards. It is made with Blush cardstock. The front is covered with a beautiful Blush patterned paper from the Life Delights paper packet. Then there is a stamped piece of colonial white layered on Chocolate cardstock. The Colonial White piece is stamped tone-on-tone - Colonial White ink with the same design found on the pink patterned paper. It is very hard to see in this picture, but it's there.

The hearts were all stamped on another piece of Colonial White cardstock and cut out. The large heart was inked first in Blush ink and then the edges were rolled in Chocolate ink. The Blush heart is layered on with a piece of foam tape and has a small Chocolate paper flower with a white sparkle adhered to the center.

Chocolate organdy ribbon is tied as handles to the front and back of the bag.

Here is the first card of the set. It is made with papers to match the bag, and includes a Colonial White bigger brad for an accent.

This card is actually different than the one we made at the class - I didn't like it as much. The large heart on this card is stamped the same way as the one on the bag above. The smaller heart was inked in Blush, and then I inked the pretty flourish stamp with Chocolate inked and stamped it directly onto the heart stamp. Then I stamped and cut out the heart. It is attached to the card with a piece of foam tape.

The edges of this card were inked with Chocolate ink.

Check back tomorrow for a closer look at more of the cards from this little set!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Blush, Chocolate, Colonial White (Close To My Heart)
Patterned paper: From the Life Delights paper pack (CTMH)
Inks: Blush, Chocolate and Colonial White Exclusive inks pads (CTMH)
Embellishments: Chocolate Organdy, Colonial White Bigger Brad, Chocolate Paper Flower, White Sparkle (CTMH)
Stamps: All My Love, Playful Petals (CTMH)

Be Mine

Well, so this picture isn't so great, but hopefully you will get the idea anyway....

Same stamp set as the last couple of cards - All My Love from CTMH. Different colors and papers for a different look.

All products CTMH.

******
Our snow is melting here and, in fact, it's supposed to rain today. The roads are still slushy messes, so it should be fun!!

Hope everyone has a great Thursday.

love

This is one of my favorite stamp sets from Close To My Heart - Wisdom. This simple card is a top-fold 4x4. I distressed most of the edges with the new Distressor tool CTMH carries, but left a few clean and sharp.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Cranberry, Blush, Vanilla Cream (Close To My Heart)
Ink: Blush, Cranberry Exclusive Ink pads (CTMH)
Stamps: Wisdom (CTMH)

Cherish

I love the simplicity of this card. It was fun to make, and I think, fun to look at!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Chocolate, Hollyhock, White Daisy (Close to My Heart)
Inks: Hollyhock and Chocolate Exclusive Inks (CTMH)
Stamps: All My Love (CTMH)

Here come the Valentine's!

For the next few days I have a bunch of Valentine's cards to share. First off, here's one I made last year - it's one that I still really like and decided to share! This was a card made at some of my classes last year....

It's shaped like a tag, with the fold on the side. I cut a slit in the fold to tie the ribbon around the front only of the card. The little piece at the top is attached with a matching green eyelet - I folded a small strip in half, placed it on the card without folding it closed. Then I attached the eyelet through the front half of the strip and the front of the card. Once it was in, I folded the back of the strip down and glued it over the back side of the eyelet - so you can't see the back of the eyelet when you open the card.




Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Chocolate, White Daisy (Close to My Heart)
B & T paper: Sweet Leaf (Close to My Heart)
Ink: Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks pad (Close to My Heart)
Embellishments: White grograin , Sweet Leaf eyelet (CTMH)
Stamps: All My Love (CTMH)

Yep, still alive...

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, even though it looks like it! I got in a stamping slump and life has just been beyond interesting and rather stressful...so blogging got a little put on hold. And, I loaned the sample cards I was going to upload before I ever got pictures taken. So, as soon as I get those back, I'll share them....

Here's the reason why I was in a bit of a slump....I needed to make thank you cards for all the lovely birthday gifts and Christmas gifts - 30 total. It just seemed overwhelming for some reason. But they are done and I love them and I'm in the process of writing the notes and sending them out. So hopefully, that will get me past my creative block and get back to the fun of it all!













Yep, it's those Snow Friends stamps again! And the giant new scallop circle punch I got for my birthday. FUN! You can tell in these pictures, but the snowman circles are attached with foam tape to raise them up just a little bit.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Crystal Blue, Moonstruck, White Daisy (Close to my Heart)
Inks: Black ink pad (Marvy); Moonstruck Exclusive Inks Pad (CTMH); Cranberry, Blush, Heavenly Blue, Crystal Blue, Orange Exclusive Inks Markers (CTMH)
Marvy Giant Scallop punch
Stamps: Snow Friends, Everyday Occassions (CTMH)