Thursday, December 25, 2014
Heirloom Nativity
My son loves gag gifts so for Christmas this year I got him a fabulous rubber duck nativity set! I picked it up at Hobby Lobby. To make it even better I made a beautiful box for the set. I sure hope it gives him a good laugh and that every year when he looks at them he will remember me fondly (or at least with a sigh and an eye roll).
This is the second time I've made this box and I really love it. I did make a change this time and trim off the flaps that are on the lid so the pattern paper I used for the bottom of the box could show through the star cutouts. If you leave the flaps on, the box is much sturdier but I was willing to sacrifice sturdiness for cuteness! I used the Large Snowflake Box from the Winter Gazebo set by SVGCuts.com.
I used paper from the Close to My Heart Snowhaven paper pack. I absolutely love this paper! I also used a leftover embellishment from the Close to My Heart Yuletide Carol Workshop on the Go and some Close to My Heart Sparkles that I colored with a Copic Y28 marker to make them gold. I'll let you in on a little secret...you can color those gems any color you want with an alcohol marker. Once I found that out I quite buying anything other than clear ones.
The paper I used for the bottom of the box is from the Close to My Heart Paper Fundamentals Enchantment Assortment. I really like this paper because one side has a glossy design that you can rub ink over and end up with a really cool effect. I used Tim Holtz Barn Door Distress Ink to get the effect I was looking for on this box.
But...the best part is on the inside!
I think the cow and the donkey are my favorites!
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Sweet Baby Card
The daughter of my best friend in high school recently had a sweet baby boy - wow...how in the world did all those years go by? I still remember holding her the day she was born. It seems like just yesterday but I guess that time does have a tendency to rush by when you aren't watching. I made her a mini album to capture his first year and in all the work of the album I almost forgot to make a card to go with it! I recently ordered some new stamps from Close To My Heart. There was a perfect one in the bunch - D1642 Cute Koalas - that turned into an adorable card. This particular set is not in the current catalog but if you click on the link above you can order it on my website.
I used a new paper line that just became available on December 1st called Hopscotch. The sentiment is from the Just to Say stamp collection that comes with the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge. I love this set - it has a sentiment for every occasion. I stamped the front image and sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black and the inside in Autumn Terracotta. I also outlined Baby with my clear Wink of Stella brush pen.
Copics used:
W0
W3
W6
E57
E59
E79
Deer in the Birch
I wanted to create a clean masculine card for my dad for his birthday this year. I used some dies from Taylored Expressions for the birch tree panel and the fabulous deer. I used watercolor paper for the trees so they would stand out and some black cardstock from Close to My Heart for the deer. I really love our black cardstock. It almost has what looks like a very faint shimmer and cuts so nicely! It does have a white core so I just took a black marker and ran it along the edges and no more white showing!
I also wanted to try a new technique that I've been seeing lately. I created the sunrise background using several Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I don't have too many colors in my collection so I used what I had available and while it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for I still like it very much. Lawnfawn has a really good video tutorial on how to use this technique. Here's a link: http://youtu.be/K7lPcQ8QQ_M
I also wanted to try a new technique that I've been seeing lately. I created the sunrise background using several Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I don't have too many colors in my collection so I used what I had available and while it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for I still like it very much. Lawnfawn has a really good video tutorial on how to use this technique. Here's a link: http://youtu.be/K7lPcQ8QQ_M
Monday, December 1, 2014
Bible Art Journaling - Romans 8:28
I finally received my journaling bible today! My husband encouraged me to jump right in and I chose to art journal my favorite verse. This verse has meant so much to me over the years. It's the sort of verse that even when I am having an absolutely horrible day/week/month I can hang on to that promise. I knew I wanted some fun hand lettering and also wanted to add some flowers to my page. When I look at nature I am struck with how God can take something as homely as a seed and turn it into a beautiful flower. Sometimes I feel like he does that with my life too. There have been so many things that while I was going through them felt like they would never turn around but things always seem to turn out. His promises are always true!!
I'm not very good at hand lettering so I found some lettering online (unfortunately I couldn't figure out who actually created it) that I liked and then I traced the lettering on a scratch paper to fit the space I have in my bible and then slipped that paper under the bible page and traced everything with my colored pencils. I debated stamping some flowers on the page but I was afraid the ink would bleed through the paper. So I grabbed the Close to My Heart #S1411 - It's the Little Things (November Stamp of the Month) and using the acetate sheet only I traced the flowers and leaves using colored pencils.
To tell the truth I was a little afraid to even get started with this project but once I got going I had a great time and found myself completely immersed in what I was doing.
***My bible is the Crossway ESV Single Column Journaling Bible. I purchased mine directly from Crossway through their website. I had originally ordered it on Amazon but it was backordered for several weeks so I finally cancelled my order. That is the first time I can remember Amazon failing me!
Friday, November 14, 2014
Operation Christmas Child Packing Tips and Ideas
Well...it's almost the week before Thanksgiving so that means it's Operation Christmas Child National Collection Week!! I get questions all the time about what to pack in a shoebox. You can check out the OCC website here to get some ideas but I thought I'd show you what we packed into one of our boxes this year.
The only things missing are a toothbrush and toothpaste - not sure how I missed those in my shopping trips but we'll pick those up tomorrow. I shop all year round and keep a rubbermaid bin in my crawl space to corral everything. I find that by shopping the clearance racks and back to school sales all year round I can put a nice box together without having to take out a 2nd mortgage! I also find the dollar store to be a great place for stuffed animals, hair pretties, and small toys. (However, you have to be careful because they don't always have the best price on hygiene type items and their school supplies are really overpriced.) Oh, and Peanut wanted me to relay that I'm on his naughty list since I didn't bring one of those stuffed animals home for him. He actually gave me the most pitiful looks the whole time I was removing all the tags on the fluffy creatures. I told him I'd post a pic of him here to make up for my failings - not sure he is finding that much solace though. Maybe if he's good Santa will bring him some fluffy lovies all his own and if he's really, really good they might even have squeakers!
Oh...that reminds me of something else. For the most part I remove all the packaging. I leave the packaging on the crayons and colored pencils because that is the best way for the kids to store them. But the rest of the packaging gets removed and thrown away. Most of these places the boxes are traveling to do not really have efficient trash removal methods and it also allows me to get more items in my boxes. Have you ever realized how much trash is involved in the items we buy? It will astound you when you really take the time to look at it all.
We use the plastic shoe boxes from Walmart (please don't buy those cheap ones from the dollar store - they end up breaking before they ever leave the country - spend an extra 50 cents and get one of the ones from Walmart or Target). Also...I do not wrap the boxes. I line the inside with a bright bandana or piece of fabric instead. I have several reasons for that. First is that I like to make everything in my box useable and the kids will get much more use out of fabric than they would the paper. While Christmas wrapping paper is pretty it really won't last long and has a tendency to get messed up in the shipping process anyway. Second is that I really suck at wrapping and it frustrates me to no end trying to wrap the lid and box separate. If you choose to wrap your gift, please make sure you wrap the lid and box separate. The boxes need to be openable (is that really a word?). All boxes are opened at the sorting center to make sure there isn't anything problematic in the box (such as liquids, medicinal items, meltable or breakable treasures, or other such prohibited items.)
After you have everything in your box place your suggested $7.00 per box donation on the top of your items, rubber band the lid on, and attach your label on the end of the box like shown in the picture above. I personally use the online donation option. That way I can also track what country my box goes to via the barcoded label you can print out. I also include a letter to the child with a couple pictures. I place that letter in an envelope that is clearly marked "Letter for Child - No Money Enclosed" and I tape it to the inside of the lid so it doesn't get lost.
I hope these tips help you out with your boxes this year and if you've never packed a box before, I hope I've encouraged you to make a difference in a child's life. We have been packing boxes for 13 years now and it's become a family tradition that we all really enjoy.
For more information on Operation Christmas Child or to find your closest donation location please visit the website I linked up above or leave me a comment here and I'll do my best to answer.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Boxed Note Cards
We are having a silent auction at work for charity so I've been putting some things together to donate. I created this set of five A2 sized blank note cards and a card box. The background papers on the cards are from a We R Memory Keepers paper pack called Simply Spring. I stamped the critters from the CTMH Cuddly Salutations stamp set in Momento Tuxedo Black and colored them in with Copic markers. I cut the scalloped circle (circle3) with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge at 2.75" and I punched the white circles out with a Fiskars 2" circle punch.
The card box is made using the envelope punch board. The paper is cut at 9" square and punched at 3.5" and 4.5" on opposite sides and then just match up the score lines on the other two sides. The paper is from a Paper Studio stack called Glasses, Staches, & Ties. I created the belly band with some scraps from the paper I used to make the cards. The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the critters and it's stamped in CTMH Pear ink.
I'm going to ask them to set the starting bid at $15. I figure if it doesn't sell for at least that, I'll keep it and just give them a cash donation. Those little critters took a little bit to color and I had to use my old lady glasses! *smile*
The card box is made using the envelope punch board. The paper is cut at 9" square and punched at 3.5" and 4.5" on opposite sides and then just match up the score lines on the other two sides. The paper is from a Paper Studio stack called Glasses, Staches, & Ties. I created the belly band with some scraps from the paper I used to make the cards. The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the critters and it's stamped in CTMH Pear ink.
I'm going to ask them to set the starting bid at $15. I figure if it doesn't sell for at least that, I'll keep it and just give them a cash donation. Those little critters took a little bit to color and I had to use my old lady glasses! *smile*
Monday, October 6, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 11
Today's class was so very timely! I had been coloring up this cute image from Karla Dornacher (unfortunately it was a limited time freebie and isn't available anymore but she has lots of other fun coloring pages so go check her out!) and I had all sorts of oopsies on it and figured I'd just have to print another and start over. But...after watching the videos today I decided to try cleaning it up with the tips in class. It turned out great! You really can't see the Gelly Roll white pen after it dries - it even covers red!!
I further prettied it up with some Wink of Stella brush glitter and ball point pens along with my Gelly Roll white pen.
The card is a little larger than your standard A2 since I wanted to add a border. I created the mat by coloring some white card stock with Copic RV55 to match the hearts in the image. I also didn't have enough of the blues I wanted to use on the birds so I used the gray technique from earlier in class. I also created the polka dot effect under the sentiment with another technique we learned - using the colorless blender.
Here are the Copic colors I used:
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Everything is Better with a Friend!
I made this card today using the techniques from the Copics for Cardmakers Class I am taking. This is the first time I've ever drawn in a background and this is the first I've ever made a single layer card! I really like the way it turned out.
The stamp set is a hostess reward from Close to My Heart - #D1608. The card is a little bit different size than I usually do but I really liked the extra white space and didn't want to cut it off. It measures 6" tall by 5.75" wide. I created the mat using a couple Copic colors from the image coloring. I like the way it ties it all together.
Here are the colors I used:
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 7
Today's class was all about using those difficult colors - whites, reds, and blacks. I don't have many grays so the white flowers proved quite difficult to get the white look but I still like the way they turned out. I really like how the red flowers turned out. I haven't had much success with reds in the past but for some reason they worked tonight. I've also determined that I really like coloring flowers - they are so very forgiving!
The little halloween robot turned out cute but again my lack of grays made things a little harder than I think they needed to be.
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 6
I'm a little late with this post but it took me forever to color my critters yesterday. I was really looking forward to the class because for some reason critters never turn out quite right for me. And...last night proved to be very challenging as I expected. My husband likes camo dog and I think I like the one I colored to resemble our dog, Peanut.
I experimented quite a bit and I also realized that I really need to invest in some more earth tones - I really don't have many which made the fox a huge challenge - hence the pink one at the end when I was just reaching for straws on possibilities.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 5
Our class for this day was all about skin and hair. I have the hardest time with both of those but I think my practice has helped quite a bit. I also realize where I have some holes in my marker colors! I mostly used my Copics but I grabbed a couple ShinHan markers I have to see how they did. I also experimented with all different colors of hair since I really don't have many of the earth tones. I think I found some great combos for fire and some Halloween looks!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 4
Today was all about looking at your light source and which direction it is coming from. This is something I really struggle with. I tried the techniques presented and I think the one of having the light coming from your face worked the best for these images for me. I did try one with the light coming from the left and pointing down - the red flower - but I ended up going back to the light coming from me. I also really liked the flicking method for flowers - the blue and yellow ones.
I tried two different combos for the leaves and I think G20, G24, and G28 is my favorite.
I tried two different combos for the leaves and I think G20, G24, and G28 is my favorite.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 3
Today we learned how to take gray and use it to shade colors that maybe you only have one or two of. I did my first cup with two colors of blue but for the rest of my practice sheet I decided to try using just single colors since I have a fair bit of markers that I don't have a natural blending shade to go with. I really like how the B91 cup and the V01 umbrella turned out. I was really hoping the YR68 cup would turn out because I love the bright orange color but it just turned out all muddy I think. I'll keep trying it out though!
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 2
Today was all about blending in creative ways. For me laying some ink on an acrylic block and then picking it up with the lighter marker worked better. I really pushed myself and made a concerted effort to use colors I didn't think would work together. I definitely created some crazy birds that way!! But...I learned a lot about how to get some really unique looks. The one bird where I used green and orange on his chest (YG06 and YR68) would work really great on a monster. I love the way the color mottled down. I also really liked the pink butterfly. I think that would be a wonderful look on a skirt. I was also really surprised at the effect I got with layering the grays - I'll probably use that quite a bit.
Here's my practice sheet - wowzers what a mess but there's a lot of learning there!!
Here's my practice sheet - wowzers what a mess but there's a lot of learning there!!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 1
I am taking an online class to try and improve my Copic coloring. So...I thought I would post some of my practice sheets and other projects here. Maybe when I look back I will be able to see an improvement.
Today's class was on blending. I stepped out of my box a bit and tried some combinations that aren't "natural" combos - some I like and others were definite do not do that again!
Today's class was on blending. I stepped out of my box a bit and tried some combinations that aren't "natural" combos - some I like and others were definite do not do that again!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Birthday Plane and ODBD Challenge
Hi! Today's post is a dual duty - don't you just love it when you can get two things done at once?!?
This card is for my brother-in-law's birthday next week. I had a lot of fun with this card and used a technique that I'm still perfecting - namely masking. I created the background by masking off the large cloud in Close to My Heart's Lifting Spirits stamp set (C1570) to give the background dimension. The clouds were stamped on Daisy White CS with CTMH Crystal Blue ink. I stamped the plane and then masked it off before stamping the banner. I used my favorite ink for alcohol marker coloring, Momento Tuxedo Black. The sentiment is from CTMH's Your Own Kind of Wonderful stamp set (D1627). I was so happy it fit in the banner!! The pattern paper at the bottom is from a limited edition paper release from CTMH (Free to Be Me) and is unfortunately no longer available.
Here are the ShinHan and Copic markers I used to color the plane (I love how they work well together!!):
ShinHan:
YR24
Y222
WG4
B62
Copics:
B000
B91
B95
I'm also linking this card up for the September Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) challenge to create your own background.
This card is for my brother-in-law's birthday next week. I had a lot of fun with this card and used a technique that I'm still perfecting - namely masking. I created the background by masking off the large cloud in Close to My Heart's Lifting Spirits stamp set (C1570) to give the background dimension. The clouds were stamped on Daisy White CS with CTMH Crystal Blue ink. I stamped the plane and then masked it off before stamping the banner. I used my favorite ink for alcohol marker coloring, Momento Tuxedo Black. The sentiment is from CTMH's Your Own Kind of Wonderful stamp set (D1627). I was so happy it fit in the banner!! The pattern paper at the bottom is from a limited edition paper release from CTMH (Free to Be Me) and is unfortunately no longer available.
Here are the ShinHan and Copic markers I used to color the plane (I love how they work well together!!):
ShinHan:
YR24
Y222
WG4
B62
Copics:
B000
B91
B95
I'm also linking this card up for the September Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) challenge to create your own background.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Country Born Birthday
I CASEd this card from Leanne Garner using the Close to My Heart Country Born stamp set (D1543). I loved the way she created a full scene from these stamps so I had to try my hand it as well.
I colored the scene with the following Copic colors:
B0000
B00
G43
G46
N4
N0
N8
E42
E50
E18
E47
E37
I created the background with CTMH Topiary and Lagoon ink pads.
The sentiment is from the Cricut Art Philosophy Stamp Set.
I colored the scene with the following Copic colors:
B0000
B00
G43
G46
N4
N0
N8
E42
E50
E18
E47
E37
I created the background with CTMH Topiary and Lagoon ink pads.
The sentiment is from the Cricut Art Philosophy Stamp Set.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Gamer Birthday Card
This card was made for another nephew of mine who likes to play video games. I'm sure his games are much more sophisticated than this old Nintendo controller. The controller cut is from the Cricut Wrap It Up Cartridge. Rather than cut out all the colored buttons I backed the top cuts with white paper and then used Copics to color in the correct colors. I then coated each of those pieces with Close to My Heart Liquid Glass. The star holographic paper is from Hot Off the Press. The background paper is from the DCWV Boyhood Stack and the solid card stock is from Core'dinations.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
My Little Pony Birthday Card
I made this birthday card for my nephew. He really likes My Little Pony so I found a really nice graphic online and cut it out with my Cameo. The paper is from the Boyhood Stack from DCWV. The solid card stock is from Core'dinations. I added a Close to My Heart 4mm sparkle for the eye and popped the sentiment up on homemade foam tape. I like making my own adhesive foam from those inexpensive fun foam sheets from Hobby Lobby and some Scor-Tape.
The inside stars were stamped in Ponderosa Pine ink from CTMH and the stars are from the (now retired) Unicorn Dreams hostess stamp set from CTMH.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Butterfly Birthday
This was a fun card to make with my Cameo. I made this card for a very dear friend for her birthday. The cut file was a freebie from Bird's Cards.
I created the sentiment for the front on my computer and the inside sentiment is from one of the special stamp sets that comes with the Close to My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge. The sweet little butterfly is from a retired Petite Perks stamp set.
The paper is from my stash and unfortunately I have no idea who the manufacturer is.
I created the sentiment for the front on my computer and the inside sentiment is from one of the special stamp sets that comes with the Close to My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge. The sweet little butterfly is from a retired Petite Perks stamp set.
The paper is from my stash and unfortunately I have no idea who the manufacturer is.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Elegant Cross Birthday Card
My goal this year was to make birthday cards for my family and some close friends. I've been doing really well and making the cards and getting them sent out on time but blogging them is an entirely different animal!! I use a Filofax to keep myself organized and I have a small post-it note for each month that outlines which cards I need to make for the following month. I like having everything ready to go several weeks before I need it just in case something pops on my schedule that I did not anticipate. But...that also means that I can't blog about it right away because I don't want the recipient of the card to see it virtually before they see it in real life. That means the pictures sit on my phone until I am sure the cards have been received (and normally quite a bit longer than that usually!).
So over the next few days I'll be sharing some of the birthday cards I've made this year.
First up is a wonderful card for a special gentleman.
His faith is very important to him and I had this paper from The Paper Studio that I thought he would really appreciate. The bottom solid color is from Core'dinations and I embossed it using a Darice EF and then sanded it slightly to get that two color look. I wrapped some brown velvet ribbon I found in my ribbon basket under and the sentiment was printed out from my computer using the Lavenderia font. I used CTMH Chocolate ink for the sentiment and to ink around the edges of my layers for some added dimension.
So over the next few days I'll be sharing some of the birthday cards I've made this year.
First up is a wonderful card for a special gentleman.
His faith is very important to him and I had this paper from The Paper Studio that I thought he would really appreciate. The bottom solid color is from Core'dinations and I embossed it using a Darice EF and then sanded it slightly to get that two color look. I wrapped some brown velvet ribbon I found in my ribbon basket under and the sentiment was printed out from my computer using the Lavenderia font. I used CTMH Chocolate ink for the sentiment and to ink around the edges of my layers for some added dimension.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
And....Father's Day!
I shared the Mother's Day cards yesterday so naturally here are the Father's Day cards. These also went out on time but I'm just now getting around to posting them here.
This card was made using the Close To My Heart Timberline paper collection and the You're The Best stamp set. Unfortunately both of these items are now retired. I stamped the background on Kraft paper that I cut from a big roll we use for gift wrap and the other solid color papers are from Coor'dinations. The metal embellishments are Durable Triangle Studs (Z1928) from Close To My Heart and you can purchase those on my shopping site. I've used them on several projects and I'm really impressed with how well they adhere.
This next card was really fun to make and used the same stamp set as the one above. I loved how the teal paper from Close to My Heart is embossed on one side so that when you rub ink over it you get a really cool effect. You can't purchase this particular paper anymore but we have several new paper collection packs that have this same feature. Check them out here. The color I used is Lagoon and you can find it in the Adventure Assortment. I used Chocolate Ink for all the stamping and inking and used the (now retired) Timberline paper.
Outside |
Inside |
This card was sort of an experiment. For my birthday I received a Silhouette Cameo and this was the first digi stamp I cut out with it and then I also cut out the shadow piece as well. I love using the Cameo for this purpose. I am a terrible fussy cutter so this has really opened up a lot of possibilities for me. The paper I used on this card is from the Boyhood Stack from DCWV. I used the same stamp set from CTMH as I used on the cards above for the sentiment and the digi is from Birdie Brown. I colored it with my Copics and tried to give it a cartoony feel so I didn't do very much blending at all. Sorry but I've lost the list of colors I used. The shirt is probably R46 and R89 and the overalls are most likely done with B95 and B99.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Mother's Day Cards - Better Late Than Never!
I am so behind on posting my projects!! But...the cards themselves went out on time and that's what counts! Here are some cards I made for some of the mom's in our lives.
The owl comes from the Cindy Loo Cricut Cartridge and I cut it out of some Core-dinations card stock. The pattern paper in the background is from my stash and I have no idea where it came from. I printed the sentiment out on my computer using one of the standard fonts that comes with Word.
The Donkey is a wonderful digi stamp that was released by Meljen's Designs as a card drive stamp for Michelle Oatman when she needed a pick me up after an accident she had. You've got to check out her blog! It's awesome!! I colored it using my Copics but unfortunately I lost the list of colors that I used. I fussy cut it out and mounted it on some paper in my stash that I think is from American Crafts.
I made another really cool card for one of our other moms but I'll be darned if I can find the picture. If I find it, I'll post it later.
The Donkey is a wonderful digi stamp that was released by Meljen's Designs as a card drive stamp for Michelle Oatman when she needed a pick me up after an accident she had. You've got to check out her blog! It's awesome!! I colored it using my Copics but unfortunately I lost the list of colors that I used. I fussy cut it out and mounted it on some paper in my stash that I think is from American Crafts.
I made another really cool card for one of our other moms but I'll be darned if I can find the picture. If I find it, I'll post it later.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Birthday Card for a Sweet Boy
Long time no post! I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to share what I've been working on. However, today I had to make the time. You may have seen the news story about the little boy battling brain cancer who wished for cards for his birthday. If not, here's a link: http://abc7news.com/203344/ His birthday is coming up at the end of the week so if you can get a card out in the mail to him, that would be awesome!
A little while ago I cut out these cute caterpillars from the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I wasn't sure what I would use them for but they were so adorable I just had to use the cut. As soon as I saw this news story I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Normally I struggle with design and spend more time figuring out what I want to do than actually making it happen. Not so with this special card! I think this was the fastest I have ever come up with an idea and made it happen. Must have been meant to be!
Paper: DCWV Year Round Stack and Close To My Heart Daisy White
Ink: Close to My Heart Cranberry
Stamps: Cricut Artiste Collection Birthday (Close to My Heart Cartridge) for the birthday banner and Close to My Heart With Toppings Petite Perks for the ice cream cone (colored with Shinhan Touch Twin Alcohol Markers in mahogany, clay, and tender pink.)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
National Scrapbooking Day!
Today is National Scrapbooking Day!! I have so much going on today I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to do any Papercrafting at all but I'm sure going to try!! In the meantime, I wanted to share the May Close To My Heart specials with you:
Stamp of the Month - You've Got a Friend
Paper Pack Special - Free To Be Me
Both items are only available this month. You can get the stamp for $5.00 with any $50 purchase or you can purchase it for the full price of $17.95 on its own. The paper pack is also available for $5.00 with any $50 purchase.
I'm also offering this free mini stamp set with any $25.00 purchase this month!! After I receive notification of your qualifying order I will mail the mini stamp set directly to you.
What are you working on for National Scrapbooking Day?
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Thank You For Your Service Cards
I have a couple events coming up for Armed Services Day and Memorial Day that I needed to make some cards for. I decided to use the same layout for them all but ended up making six different paper combinations. In total I will have 120 cards made for these two events. I think my ATG is still smoking!! lol
Here's a pic of the six different styles I ended up with.
40 of these cards are going to a local hospice provider who is going to deliver cards to all the veterans that they provide services for. The rest of the cards are going to be used at my office. We are having an Anyhero card signing event for Operation Write Home. Between Armed Services Day and Memorial Day we are going to place boxes in our three lounges with instructions on how to write an Anyhero message. We will have a place for them to leave their completed card and then I will send them all off to OWH in June. We've never done anything like this before but hopefully my building full of 300 employees can manage writing 80 cards. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised and we run out of cards during the first week of our event!
The patterned paper all came from the Proud to Serve paper stack from The Paper Studio. The solid card stock is all from Core'dinations and the card bases are Georgia Pacific standard card stock from Sam's.
The holographic paper I used for the ribbon tails was purchased at Hobby Lobby in their by the sheet section and I used my Cricut Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to cut them all out (Banner2 on page 29). It was actually quite funny once I got them all cut out and then put the Cricut mat on my desk to remove them. First thing I noticed was that I had to turn off my desk lamp because I was blinding myself (not to self - do NOT hit holographic paper with a high powered Ott Lamp!) and then I realized the holographic paper was actually sticker paper! It was a little bit more challenging to get those little buggers off the mat but it sure made it easier when it was time to adhere them!
The sentiment is from Doodle Pantry and I punched the stars out from a piece of pattern paper in the stack I used. It was so awesome that my smallest punch fit the stars exactly. I'm thinking everything about these cards was really meant to be because I had just enough paper in the stack to punch out all the stars I needed with only a couple extras!
I used a consultant sketch from Close To My Heart and tweaked it just a bit to fit the paper supplies I had available. I'm still trying to use up all my stash of non CTMH papers. I must admit though that it's been hard to go back to using those others papers after I've used CTMH paper. Their paper is a joy to work with and now that I've used some higher quality paper I think I might be spoiled.
One special thing I did have to do was create my own solid card stock for the cards with the blue background and strip. I didn't have any blue in my stash that seemed to work so I took some of the GP white card stock and rubbed a Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans all over it. I liked the effect so much that I did the same thing to some Kraft card stock using Barn Door and used that paper on the card that in the middle of the above picture. It really gave it such a great dimension!
Here are my paper measurements:
Card size - A2
Bottom Layer - 5.25 x 4
Pattern Paper Layer - 5 x 3.75
Pattern Paper Strip - 4.25 x 1.25
Solid Paper Strip - 4.25 x .75 (although I ended up having to make a couple of them .5 since I was running out of paper - it still looked fine though)
Ribbon Tails - 1 x .5 - they are really tiny and you need to use some tweezers when you are working with them!
Stars - cut with a Fiskars 1" circle punch
Sentiment - 2.75 x 1.5
Here's a pic of the six different styles I ended up with.
40 of these cards are going to a local hospice provider who is going to deliver cards to all the veterans that they provide services for. The rest of the cards are going to be used at my office. We are having an Anyhero card signing event for Operation Write Home. Between Armed Services Day and Memorial Day we are going to place boxes in our three lounges with instructions on how to write an Anyhero message. We will have a place for them to leave their completed card and then I will send them all off to OWH in June. We've never done anything like this before but hopefully my building full of 300 employees can manage writing 80 cards. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised and we run out of cards during the first week of our event!
The patterned paper all came from the Proud to Serve paper stack from The Paper Studio. The solid card stock is all from Core'dinations and the card bases are Georgia Pacific standard card stock from Sam's.
The holographic paper I used for the ribbon tails was purchased at Hobby Lobby in their by the sheet section and I used my Cricut Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge to cut them all out (Banner2 on page 29). It was actually quite funny once I got them all cut out and then put the Cricut mat on my desk to remove them. First thing I noticed was that I had to turn off my desk lamp because I was blinding myself (not to self - do NOT hit holographic paper with a high powered Ott Lamp!) and then I realized the holographic paper was actually sticker paper! It was a little bit more challenging to get those little buggers off the mat but it sure made it easier when it was time to adhere them!
The sentiment is from Doodle Pantry and I punched the stars out from a piece of pattern paper in the stack I used. It was so awesome that my smallest punch fit the stars exactly. I'm thinking everything about these cards was really meant to be because I had just enough paper in the stack to punch out all the stars I needed with only a couple extras!
I used a consultant sketch from Close To My Heart and tweaked it just a bit to fit the paper supplies I had available. I'm still trying to use up all my stash of non CTMH papers. I must admit though that it's been hard to go back to using those others papers after I've used CTMH paper. Their paper is a joy to work with and now that I've used some higher quality paper I think I might be spoiled.
One special thing I did have to do was create my own solid card stock for the cards with the blue background and strip. I didn't have any blue in my stash that seemed to work so I took some of the GP white card stock and rubbed a Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans all over it. I liked the effect so much that I did the same thing to some Kraft card stock using Barn Door and used that paper on the card that in the middle of the above picture. It really gave it such a great dimension!
Here are my paper measurements:
Card size - A2
Bottom Layer - 5.25 x 4
Pattern Paper Layer - 5 x 3.75
Pattern Paper Strip - 4.25 x 1.25
Solid Paper Strip - 4.25 x .75 (although I ended up having to make a couple of them .5 since I was running out of paper - it still looked fine though)
Ribbon Tails - 1 x .5 - they are really tiny and you need to use some tweezers when you are working with them!
Stars - cut with a Fiskars 1" circle punch
Sentiment - 2.75 x 1.5
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Skylark Workshop On The Go!
I put together the Skylark WOTG and added some pictures from our wedding and honeymoon. It went together really easily and I had tons of paper left so I started making cards with the leftovers. Here are some pics of the layouts I made and some of the cards. A couple of the cards are going to some people who just might read my blog so they won't be posted until later.
This kit was such an awesome value for just $29.95! You get all the papers I used (minus the card bases), all the embellishments (and I didn't use them all), a stamp set, and the instructions for the scrapbook layouts. I was really impressed with the detail of the instructions - I love that it showed me graphically what cuts to make in the paper.
If you are interested in purchasing this WOTG, you can check out my online store at http://www.reneprice.ctmh.com.
I'm still running my fundraiser for ChildSafe so 20% of your purchase price will go toward their amazing mission of providing support and counseling to children who are victims of sexual abuse. Thanks for your support of ChildSafe!!
The pages up above are some favorite pics from our wedding.
These pages to the left are from the first few days of our honeymoon. We went on a Southern Caribbean cruise that left from San Juan, Puerto Rico. We decided to go early and spend three days in Old San Juan. By the end of the honeymoon we both said we would have liked to spend more time in Puerto Rico. The cruise was great but Puerto Rico was so much better.
Here are some of the cards I was able to make from the leftovers. I'm pretty sure I should be able to get several more made and I held two back that are being given to some special people. I'll post those later. I used the CTMH stamp sets C1574, Believe in Yourself Everyday Life, and D1497, Cricut Art Philosophy Celebration. D1497 is one of the sets that comes with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. You can get that cartridge free this month by signing up to be a CTMH Independent Consultant. The starter kit is $99 and there is no obligation to ever buy or sell another thing!! If you want more information on joining the CTMH family, just click above on "Joining CTMH" to find out more.
This kit was such an awesome value for just $29.95! You get all the papers I used (minus the card bases), all the embellishments (and I didn't use them all), a stamp set, and the instructions for the scrapbook layouts. I was really impressed with the detail of the instructions - I love that it showed me graphically what cuts to make in the paper.
If you are interested in purchasing this WOTG, you can check out my online store at http://www.reneprice.ctmh.com.
I'm still running my fundraiser for ChildSafe so 20% of your purchase price will go toward their amazing mission of providing support and counseling to children who are victims of sexual abuse. Thanks for your support of ChildSafe!!
The pages up above are some favorite pics from our wedding.
These pages to the left are from the first few days of our honeymoon. We went on a Southern Caribbean cruise that left from San Juan, Puerto Rico. We decided to go early and spend three days in Old San Juan. By the end of the honeymoon we both said we would have liked to spend more time in Puerto Rico. The cruise was great but Puerto Rico was so much better.
Here are some of the cards I was able to make from the leftovers. I'm pretty sure I should be able to get several more made and I held two back that are being given to some special people. I'll post those later. I used the CTMH stamp sets C1574, Believe in Yourself Everyday Life, and D1497, Cricut Art Philosophy Celebration. D1497 is one of the sets that comes with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. You can get that cartridge free this month by signing up to be a CTMH Independent Consultant. The starter kit is $99 and there is no obligation to ever buy or sell another thing!! If you want more information on joining the CTMH family, just click above on "Joining CTMH" to find out more.
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