Three Amigos December Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we chose to make 3x3 cards. The size is perfect to add as a tag to a gift, to tuck into a lunch box, or just to brighten someones day. I am sharing two cards I put together with a few leftover scraps from the White Pines Card WOTG. I stamped the cards with images from the White Pines Scrapbook WOTG stamp set and sentiments from the new A Million Thanks stamp set.

On my first card, I stamped the holly and berry images onto the white sentiment piece and then again on a scrap piece of white cardstock. I cut the holly leaves and berries out from the scrap cardstock and popped them up over the stamped images on the sentiment piece with 3-D foam tape. It's hard to tell from the picture, but I added Gold Foil Tape above the strip of B&T paper to add some shine.

 I also used a glitter pen to highlight the sentiment, designs on the holly leaves, and berries. 

I used the tree image for my second card and added Fern Extra Thick Twine and Bitty Sparkles. The tree is also popped up with the 3-D foam tape.

I used the glitter pen and Gold Foil Tape to add a bit of shimmer to this card as well.

I wanted to make a third card, but it just didn't turn out.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hop on over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created for you.

Three Amigos November Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we are featuring projects made with White Pines and/or Urban papers. When I attended the CTMH Making Connections event last month, we made a White Pines Picture My Life album. I can't wait to fill this album with daily pictures as we count down to our first Christmas in our new home. Today, I am sharing the cover page and the intro page for the album.

I used Shin Han markers to add color to the Picture My Life card that is the focal point of the cover page. The papers are all inked with chocolate ink. White Pines Complements, Poppy Extra Thick Twine, and Red Enamel Gems accent the page.

I change a few of the complement pieces in the cluster on the intro page. Once I place a picture in the photo spot, I will add an appropriate subtitle to the layout. This page will sit to the left of the first set of pocket pages in the album, which I will share as soon as I get them photographed.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created!

Supplies:

X7200B White Pines Paper Packet

Z3176 Picture My Life White Pines Scrapbooking Program

X7200C White Pines Complements

Z2111 Chocolate Ink Pad

Z3094 Poppy Extra Thick Twine

Z3090 Red Enamel Gems

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Sangria Slider Card Instructions

Remember this card? Time sure did get away from me. Here are the instructions for the Sangria Slider Card I posted here. Writing the steps out proved to be a little more difficult than I imagined. I wrote them, re-wrote them, and tweaked them a little more. I'm sure they are far from perfect, but you should be able to recreate the card by following the steps outlined. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification if you need it.

Slider Card Instructions

Finished card size 4 ¼ x 5 ½

Front (Chevron B&T) 4 ¼ x 5 ½

Back (Pomegranate CS) 4 ¼ x 5 ½

Inside Sentiment (Colonial White CS) 3 ¼ x 4 ½  

Slide Piece (Colonial White) 3 1/8 x 4 3/8

Mat (Pomegranate) 2 ¾ x 4

Focal Piece (Colonial White) 2 7/16 x 3 1/8

Prepare Front:

1. Align 5 ½ inch side along 1 inch on paper cutter. Start cutting blade at 4 ½ inch mark and cut to 1 inch mark.

2. Turn piece ¼ turn. Align 4 ¼ inch side along 1 inch on paper cutter. Start cutting blade at 3 ¼ inch mark and cut to 1 inch mark.

3. Turn piece ¼ turn. Align 5 ½ inch side along 1 inch on paper cutter. Start cutting blade at 4 ½ inch mark and cut to 1 inch mark.

4. The uncut 4 ¼ inch side will be the top of the card. Align the top along 1 inch on the paper cutter. Score between the cut lines.

5. Slide the top to align along 2 ½ inch on the paper cutter. Score between the cut lines.

6. Slide the top to align along 4 inch on the paper cutter. Score between the cut lines.

7. From the top, fold the scored lines valley-hill-valley.

Prepare Back:

1. Adhere inside sentiment to card back, centered.

2. Apply adhesive around sides and bottom of card back as close to inside sentiment as possible.

3. Attach front piece to back piece, aligning tops of each piece.

4. Find the center of the top edge and punch a thumb notch (you can use the new thumb notch punch or half of a 1” circle punch).

Slider:

1. Insert slider piece between top and bottom of card.

2. Apply adhesive to the back side of the ½ inch scored flap of front piece, align with bottom edge of slider piece, and adhere.

3. Cut ¾ inch off of mat to create two pieces measuring 2 ¾ x 3 ¼ and 2 ¾ x ¾

4. Apply adhesive to top side of the center scored flap on card top. Attach 2 ¾ x 3 ¼ mat.

5. Apply adhesive to top side of ½ inch scored flap on card top. Attach 2 ¾ x ¾ mat aligned with larger mat.

6. Stamp/decorate focal piece.

7. Attach focal piece to 2 ¾ x 3 ¼ mat piece (centered).

8. Embellish 2 ¾ x ¾ mat piece as desired (zip strips, complements, twine, ribbon, etc.)

9. Stamp sentiment on inside of card.

Thank you for stopping by today and for being so patient!

Three Amigos October Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we challenged each other to make an interactive card. The challenge is a perfect fit since our hop falls on World Cardmaking Day this year! A year or so ago, I offered a slider card as a make and take at a crop. The card was a huge hit, so I decided to make another for our challenge. Sangria is the featured paper pack at CTMH this month. I used the Sangria WOTG and Sangria Complements to create my card.

Don't be fooled when you see a WOTG geared for scrapbooking. Many times the stamp set is versatile enough for making cards as well. I stamped the leaves in Pear Ink and the flowers in our new Pomegranate and Eggplant Inks. All of the flowers are fussy cut with a bitty sparkle in the center. The two eggplant flowers are popped up with foam tape. The word "FRIEND" is stamped in Chocolate Ink using the Jennifer's Hand Stamp Set.

The inside sentiment is revealed when you slide the card open. I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Ink to coordinate with the stamped word on the front. I used part of a boarder strip from the Sangria Complements to decorate the slider strip under the focal point, but you could easily use a zip strip, twine, ribbon, or a stamped border.

A personal message can be written on the front and back side of the slider piece and will be revealed when slid up from the card.

I am in the process of writing the directions to create this card and will post them as soon as they are ready (it took me a while, but the directions are now posted). Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they have created for you.

Supplies Used:

B1484 Jennifer's Hand

G1097 Sangria WOTG

X7199C Sangria Complements

Z2653 Pomegranate Ink Pad

Z2647 Eggplant Ink Pad

Z2197 Pear Ink Pad

Z2111 Chocolate Ink Pad

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Three Amigos September Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

Before I begin with my hop project, I would like to thank you for being so patient with my lack of blogging since the July hop. We have been in the midst of a relocation from Western New York to Michigan. The moving van pulled up to pack my house on July 17th and left with all of my belongings, including my August hop project, on July 21st. Our WNY closing was delayed by the buyer for nearly two weeks, which put us into August and all of our belongings into storage. Sadly, my beautiful mom passed away unexpectedly in the midst of our move on July 29th. I miss her terribly every single day! This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom captured by my niece earlier this year.

The new Annual Inspirations Idea Book and Holiday Expressions went live just two days ago! If you haven't seen all of the crafty goodness yet, be sure to check them out. With the release of the AI and HE Idea books, we decided to feature new products this month. Throughout the month of September, CTMH will showcase two new paper packets, Zoe and Nevermore. I chose to make a layout using the Halloween themed Nevermore Paper Pack, Complements, and Accessories. My layout was heavily inspired by the layout on page 8 of the Holiday Expressions book. I kept the basic design of the layout and switched up some of the embellishments.

I plan to put this picture of my daughter from last year on the layout as soon as I get it printed. I might do a bit of editing first to blur the background, but haven't had the chance yet.

The new Complements include Kraft and thick plastic die-cuts as well as cardstock stickers.I used a variety of them in the top left and bottom right corners of the page.

The spider is a stamp from the new Steampunk Scoundrels set. I stamped it on Kraft cardstock with black ink to tie in with the complements I used and fussy cut it for the page.  The spider web is one of the cool thick plastic die-cuts. I hoped to use the new  Grey Enamel Gems, but discovered they were not part of my initial Idea Book order. I used our retired black and grey epoxy bubbles instead.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created for you.

Supplies Used:

B1503 Steampunk Scoundrels

Y1006 3x3 Block

X7198B Nevermore Paper Packet

X7198C Nevermore Complements

Z3083 Nevermore Assortment

Z1375 Kraft Cardstock

Z2105 Black Ink Pad

Z2173 Slate Ink Pad

Z1979 Marvy Uchida LePen journaling Pen

Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Z1836 Nonstick Scissors

Z697 Round Sponge

Z1471 Ruler

Z3022 3L EZ Dots Adhesive

1778 Spritz Cleaner

Z1782 Stamp Scrubber

Three Amigos July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we are sharing a blast from the past. I'm sharing a Fourth of July layout I put together about 5 years ago. This layout is simple, but perfectly showcases the photos. I used the Reflections pattern book for my layout designs, and stamps to create a custom patterned paper. The right page features a flip flap, allowing me to add an additional picture and journaling without cluttering the original design.

I dry embossed the cut-out stars and sanded them to reveal the embossed pattern. The USA letters are dimensional elements. The phrase "made in the" was created from alphabet rub-ons.

I added a flip flap on the right page and used one of the cut-out stars to hold the flap closed.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created for you.

Three Amigos June Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we are featuring the Stitch Guide or Ruler with the Piercing Tool. I created the Confetti Wishes Workshop on the Go layout and added a little bit of stitching on the pages to go along with the stitched accents. We are in the midst of relocation activities around here, and I can't find the box my camera  was stuffed into. I had to use my iPad to take pics for this post, so the quality may seem sub-par. I can't make the pics any larger for viewing here either. Sigh. You can barely see the stitching in the first photo, but it's there.

I added the stitching around a few of the stamped star embellishments. The stitch guide has four circle sizes to choose from. I temporarily placed my embellishment on my layout, centered the circle on the stitch guide over my embellishment, and used the piercing tool to poke holes to sew through. If you squint and look closely, you'll notice I also stitched around the star shapes on the photo mats. The stitch guide contains all sorts of shapes and patterns. 

The title and stamped embellishments were also heat embossed with clear embossing powder to add a little more texture to the layout.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created for you.

Three Amigos May Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we are featuring the Happy Everything stamp set. Close To My Heart will donate $3 of the proceeds of each Happy Everything stamp set purchased to Operation Smile. I love the sentiments included in this stamp set! April was a busy month around here, leaving very little time to be creative. I designed my card to send to my mom, and also for a make-and-take project at an all day crop I attended yesterday.

I paired patterned paper from the Brushed paper pack with Smoothie cardstock, black Shimmer Trim, and Flamingo Dots that I colored with the black Shin-Han alcohol marker. The black accents really make the colors in the card pop and plays off of the black outlines in the paper.

I added more patterned paper and smoothie cardstock to the inside to dress it up a little. The sentiment says "Because you're a one-of-a-kind, fabulous person."

After I created my card, I remembered I used some of the sentiments on the insides of a couple other cards I haven't shared yet. The first Card is from the Blossom Workshop On The Go set.

The second card uses Jackson papers and the Dizzy Circles stamp set.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they created for you.

Three Amigos April Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month our projects will feature washi tape. The Seasonal Expressions 2 idea book debuted yesterday chock full of paper crafting goodness. The two new washi tape packs were just begging to be used together on a card. I pulled out the new Wavy Blooms stamp set, a few of my Shin Han Markers, White Daisy Cardstock, and the Boardwalk and Carnival Washi Tape Packs and got to work. I wasn't sure about the bright colors at first, but love how vibrant the card turned out.

The thin washi tape is perfect for creating a woven plaid design. You can see how the colors show through at the intersections.

I kept the inside simple, adding a touch of washi tape and a Kraft Cardstock mat.

As I was cleaning up my studio the other day, I came across a few scraps of Snowhaven Paper and extra Cricut cut tags. I decided to assemble the pieces and make a few tags that can go on gifts or adorn a card. I used the thin Glacier Washi Tape on the Slate Twist Ties as an experiment and liked the result. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the cup has "Bitty Sparkles" steam coming from the top.

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to check out Lisa's blog and Donna's blog to see what they have created for you!

Supplies Used:

Card:

D1651 Wavy Blooms

1385 White Daisy Cardstock

Z1375 Kraft Cardstock

44751 Archival Black Ink Pad

Z2469 Shin Han Colorless Blender

Z2454 Shin Han Leaf Green

Z2465 Shin Han Turquoise Blue

Z2461 Shin Han Peacock Green

Z2464 Shin Han Tender Pink

Z2452 Shin Han Golden Yellow

Z3066 Boardwalk Washi Tape Pack

Z3067 Carnival Washi Tape Pack

Z3042 Coral Reef Sequins

X254 White Cards with Envelopes

Z2060 3-D Foam Tape

Tag:

C1616 Treats of Frendship

X7188B Snowhaven Paper Pack

44751 Archival Black Ink Pad

Z2469 Shin Han Colorless Blender

Z2448 Shin HanCarmine Red

Z2445 Shin Han Barely Beige

Z2451 Shin Han Clay

Z1864 Slate Twist Ties

Z1989 Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon

Z3066 Boardwalk Washi Tape Pack

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

Z2060 3-D Foam Tape

Other- Shin Han Frost Blue Marker

Three Amigos March Blog Hop

Welcome to the Three Amigos Blog hop.  We are three Close to My Heart Independent Consultants with a love for stamping and scrapping and would like to share our creative ideas with you.  On the 3rd of each month we feature a different CTMH product and create a card, layout, or other project.  There are only three stops on this hop so it will only take a few minutes to hop through.

This month we are featuring the Stamp of The Month, Choose Happy. This stamp set can only be purchased during the month of March, so get it while you can. With a qualifying $50 purchase, you can add Choose Happy for just $5!

I used the wooden frame, doodle lines, and "you're special" stamp images from Choose Happy. To fill the frame, I stamped a couple images from The Happy Couple stamp set and colored them with our Shin Han markers. The Glacier background was created using wax paper and ink. A small strip of B&T paper from the Seaside Paper Pack pulls the bouquet colors across the card.

A few of the flowers and the bow are popped up with Thin 3D Foam Tape to add a little dimension and interest. I stamped the wood frame with Desert Sand ink, colored it in with the Clay Shin Han marker, and then stamped the image again with Cocoa ink. Stamping with the lighter color first set up guidelines for coloring. Over-stamping with the dark ink allowed the wood grain design to show without blurring from the marker.

I used the same wax paper background on the inside of the card as well. I dressed up the corners with one of the doodle line images stamped off of the paper.

The wax paper technique only took six easy steps to achieve.

1. Cut two pieces of cardstock to the desired size.

2. Cut one piece of wax paper slightly larger than the cardstock pieces.

3. Crumple the wax paper into a ball, open, re-crumple to get lots of wrinkles, and open again.

4. Make a "sandwich" of scrap paper-cardstock piece-wax paper-cardstock piece-scrap paper.

5. Using an iron set to high heat with NO steam, press and lift the iron over the entire "sandwich". Make sure to press and lift repeatedly in order to get the wrinkly design.

6. Lay cardstock pieces with wax side up and sponge with ink to reveal the pattern.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hop over to Lisa's blog and then Donna's blog to see what they created!

Supplies Used:

S1503 Choose Happy

X7192B Seaside Paper Pack

1385 White Daisy Cardstock

X5642 Cocoa Cardstock

X5770 Glacier Cardstock

X5751 Sorbet Cardstock

Z2114 Cocoa Ink

Z2641 Glacier Ink

Z2451 Clay Shin Han Marker

Z2455 Light Orange Shin Han Marker

Z2452 Golden Yellow Shin Han Marker

Z2454 Leaf Green Shin Han Marker

Z2465 Turquoise Blue Shin Han Marker

Z697 Sponge

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Wax Paper

Frost Blue Shin Han Marker (B182)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy New Year! We are now entering the year of the Goat. I read somewhere that it's Chinese tradition to avoid having children during the year of the goat because it's considered unlucky. We are starting out this new year with some misfortune, but we have every intention of turning the misfortune into opportunity!

A few weeks or so ago, Cricut offered the Chinese characters as a free cut. I found this cute project in the Cricut Design Space "make it now" area which cut six Chinese characters and mini envelopes to hold a treat. I cut the envelopes from cranberry cardstock. The characters were cut from retired gold metallic paper I had in my stash. The meaning of each character was written on the flaps of the envelopes with the pen inserted into the Cricut Explore.

Adding the cut characters to the envelopes was a little tricky. Some of the pieces are very tiny and kept sticking to my fingers. I used the negative areas from the cuts for the placement.

I filled the envelopes with milk chocolate gold coins. My daughter works at a Chinese restaurant and is excited to give them to her co-workers.

May your New Year be filled with Love, Honor, Friendship, Home, Strength, and Fortune!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

1272 Cranberry Cardstock

Gold Metallic Paper (Retired)

Cricut Explore and Design Space

Bokeh Technique

A week or so ago, I came across the Bokeh technique here using watercolor for the background. I was anxious to try it after I finished my blog hop project and a couple other odds and ends. Bad news came our way just after the blog hop, putting most of my crafting on hold. Then, just last Friday, I saw this tutorial using a sponged background. Since sponging is less messy, I decided to try it first. I pulled out my inks, sponges and a left over piece of cardstock that I previously cut various sizes of circles from.

My first attempt at the technique uses colors drawn from the Hopscotch paper pack. I made a baby card for my new little niece. I can't wait to send it!

I found it difficult to capture the true effect of the technique with the camera. here's a side view.

I tried to stamp my sentiment directly to the front of my card with less than stellar results. As Bob Ross says, "We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." I pulled out two white daisy circles left over from another project and covered up my "happy little accident." The circles play off of the sponged circles in the technique.

I added a silver charm from the Base & Bling Storyteller Charms Assortment. Since the Bokeh technique is the real focus of the card, the charm was just right. All of the sentiments on this card are from the Cute Koalas stamp set.

To maintain the austerity of the card, I stamped the sweet sayings at the bottom and left plenty of room for a heartfelt message.

The second card is more masculine since I needed a birthday card for my dad. I only sponged two ink colors onto the panel of the card before adding the Bokeh circles. The Glacier and Flaxen inks on this card are softer and harder to capture on camera.

I stamped the sentiment on vellum for this card and attached it with Flaxen Extra Thick Twine. I added a few Gold Sequins, but kept it simple so the Bokeh design would really shine.

The sequin on the vellum banner also hides a glue dot that holds the banner in place. I kept the inside of this card simple as well.

This technique is really fun and addicting. I encourage you to try it!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies Used:

Baby Card:

D1642 Cute Koalas

X5771 Flaxen Cardstock

X5763 Smoothie Cardstock

1385 White daisy Cardstock

Z2641 Glacier Ink

Z2642Flaxen Ink

Z2196 Smoothie Ink

Z2105 Black Ink

Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink

Z1959 Storyteller Charms Assortment

Pink Carnation Ribbon (retired)

Birthday Card:

C1605 Happy to Be Friends

D1635 Assorted Edges

X5771 Flaxen Cardstock

X5770 Glacier Cardstock

1385 White Daisy Cardstock

Z2641Glacier Ink

Z2642 Flaxen Ink

Z2105 Black Ink

Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink

Z3036 Flaxen Extra Thick Twine

Z2012 Gold Sequins Assortment

Other: Vellum