Friendship Warms The Heart

Yesterday, I walked into my studio determined to straighten it up.  I thought the clutter hampered my ability to be creative.  While putting tools and supplies back into place, I decided to turn on the Cricut and cut some images for a stamp set that debuts in the new Annual Inspiration Idea Book on August 1st.  Once the blade stopped and I removed the images, the creative juices began to flow.  The resulting card made me so happy!

I instantly fell in love with the new Snowhaven paper pack when I received my Idea Book, and I knew the Polar Bear Holiday stamp set would be the perfect match.  I colored the polar bear image using our ink pads and the alcohol blending pen.

The Cricut-cut banner shape is stamped using the coordinating new Bodacious Banners stamp set in Glacier ink, then over-stamped with the sentiment in black.  I used 3-D foam tape to raise the polar bear image up for dimension.

You'll find a few new ribbon selections in the new Idea Book as well.  For this card, I used the Black Striped Twill Ribbon.  The ribbon has an off-white background with two black stripes. The off-white color clashed with the white base of my card.  I colored the ribbon with Glacier ink, cut the width in half to make it narrower, and tied it to my popped up image.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my card!

Supplies Used:

C1557 Polar Bear Holiday

*D1607 Bodacious Banners

*X7188B Snowhaven Paper Pack

1386 Black Cardstock

Z2105 Black Stamp Pad

Z2172 Whisper Stamp Pad

Z2116 Cranberry stamp Pad

*Z2641 Glacier Stamp Pad

Z1801 Alcohol Blending Pen (retiring July 31, 2014)

X254 White Daisy Cards and Envelopes

*Z1988 Black Striped Twill Ribbon

Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

Z11513-D Foam Tape

Z1686 Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

9042 Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2

* Items with an asterisk will be available in the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book on August 1, 2014

Three Amigos July Blog Hop

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

This month we are sharing projects made with the Picture My Life pocket cards.  June was a particularly busy month for me with my daughter graduating, winding down 15 years of volunteer work with PTSA and Girl Scouts, preparing for company, and getting ready to travel to Kansas (we left the day after the graduation ceremony).  Needless to say, I was unable to get a fresh new project photographed to share.  Since this particular hop landed on a Thursday (think TBT), I thought I would share a project I created with the Skylark collection.  I used the PML cards on my layout to highlight the title and to create a bit of journaling space.

The cards have designs printed on both sides.  While I adhered my cards directly to my layout, you could insert the cards into flip flaps to showcase both sides and create space for extra journaling or pictures.

When I return from my trip, I will photograph the card I made for this hop and get it posted.

Thanks for hopping by.  Hop over to Lisa’s Blog to see what she created for you.

Three amigos June Blog Hop

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

Our Theme for this month's project is "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,"  but not necessarily wedding themed.  I saw a layout on Pinterest from embellish kits that I knew would work perfectly with the Jubilee collection.

The banner is "hanging" from the title with Colonial White Waxy Flax (something old).  I love how the waxy flax grabs the paper and stays put, allowing me to make the loops without using adhesive.  The Jubilee papers, Compliments, and Topiary Ribbon are all "something new."  I recently borrowed a Hello Kitty cricut cartridge from Donna and used it to cut out the cute little cherries.  You'll see lots of "something blue" in the layout too.

Here's a closer look at the small cluster on the right page.

Thanks for hopping by!  Now hop on over to Lisa's blog to see what she created for you.

Supplies:

G1076 Jubilee WOTG

X7191C Jubilee Compliments

B1416 Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet

S1211 Capture the Date (retired)

Z2503 Cashmere Pigment Ink

Z2116 Cranberry Ink

Z2130 Indian Corn Blue Ink

Z2155 Topiary Ink

Z1835 Tiny Type Epoxy Alphabet

Z1929 Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon

Colonial White Waxy Flax (Retired)

Antique Copper Brads (Retired)

Three Amigos May Blog Hop

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

This month we are sharing projects featuring the Free To Be Me paper pack to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month.  The paper pack features six B&T Duos, six sheets of embossed cardstock, and two sheets of embossed vellum.  The paper pack is only $5 with a $50 purchase during the month of May.

I decided to make a mini album to share this month.  The album is held closed with a belly band that I decorated with a couple feathers and my daughter's first initial.

The album opens up to three sections.  The first section has a pocket that holds a tag.

The middle and right sections have space to include pictures and a little bit of journaling.

This is what the album looks like when it is fully opened.  I used the gold polka-dot embossed vellum to create a pocket for a journaling tag.

Thanks for hopping by!  Now hop on over to Lisa's blog to see what she created.

Supplies:

Free To Be Me Paper Pack

Seafoam Cardstock (Retired)

1385 White Daisy Cardstock

1386 Black Cardstock

X5927 Ruby Cardstock

Z2118 Desert Sand Ink Pad

Z2167 Creme Brulee Ink Pad

Z2165 Juniper Ink Pad

Z2105 Black Ink Pad

D1524 Frame it Up

C1584 Feathers

E1029 Marquee Uppercase

A1160 This is Good (Hostess Exclusive)

Z1912 Corner Rounder

Three Amigos April Blog Hop

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

This month we are featuring the Ivy Lane papers.  Back in February, I made a pop-up box card for my daughter for Valentine's Day.  She loved it!  With Mother's Day just around the corner, I decided to make a similar card using the Ivy Lane papers.  Once I choose the perfect sentiment, I'll add it and maybe a few sequins here and there.

I discovered that our retired Garnet Cardstock coordinated with Ivy Lane beautifully and used it for the base and a few of the hearts.  I cut the hearts in various sizes using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, inked all of the edges, and layered them into the box.

After I assembled the card, I thought it needed a little more sparkle.  I covered three chipboard hearts with glitter paper from the Brown & Tan collection.  Three of the hearts are attached with strips of transparency overlays to give them a little movement.

This is what the card looks like when it's folded.  I was able to fit it into a 6x6 envelope. The base of the card is decorated with gold shimmer trimand pieces of the zip-strip from the top of the patterned paper.

Thanks for hopping by!  Now, hop on over to Lisa's Blog to see what she created for you this month.

Supplies:

G1079 Ivy Lane Card WOTG

X5640 Blush Cardstock

Z1830 Brown & Tan Glitter Paper

Z2111 Chocolate Ink Pad

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

Garnet Cardstock(Retired)

Transparency Overlay

A Little FUNN-ercise

My friend and upline, Mary Gunn, gave her team a little FUNN-ercise challenge a few weeks ago to create a card from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2: Pattern 28.  Mary is so creative and inspirational.   I made the card, but didn't get around to sharing it.  So, here it is...

Part of the challenge was to use background and texture paper from two different packs.  I used scraps from Lollydoodle and Balloon Ride.

I paper pieced the car image by stamping it on several different paper scraps. Then, I added Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint to the back windshield to give the illusion of reflection and red Glitz glitter gel for the taillights.  The cans are colored in with a tiny bit of Juniper ink on the tip of a slightly damp watercolor brush.  The sentiment in the stamp set says "You are the One."  I masked off the "the," giving the sentiment a new meaning.  A few sparkles and Teal Shimmer Trim add a touch of bling to the sentiment area.

Supplies:

X7180B Balloon Ride Paper pack

X7183B Lollydoodle Paper Pack

X5929 Whisper Cardstock

X5752 Juniper Cardstock

D1584 Big Hug

M1035 Newlyweds

Z2173 Slate Ink

Z2165 Juniper Ink

Z1754 Black & Grey sparkles

Z1918 Teal Shimmer Trim

Z1039 Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Red Glitz Gel (Retired)

Watercolor Brush (Retired)

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'm hoping I can get the Balloon Ride layout I created photographed and up this weekend.

Three Amigos March Blog Hop

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

This month we chose to create with our new embossing folders.  A few days ago, I was looking at some of my favorite blogs and creative websites and was inspired by a project at Scrapbook & Cards Today.   I immediately imagined the card with the Lollydoodle paper pack. 

I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the placard shape behind the flower as well as the flower circles.  To add interest to the placard, I stamped a wood grain background and anchored it with two Aqua Dots.  I embossed the sentiment banner with the new Strip Embossing Folder, adding a subtle texture.  The sentiment was stamped on the banner after it was embossed using White Daisy Pigment Ink.

The placard and flower are popped up with 3-D foam tape for added dimension.  You can see a video of Lynn Ghahary's "Hello There" card here.

Thanks for hopping by!  Now, hop on over to Lisa's Blog to see what she created for you this month.

Supplies:

X7183B Lollydoodle Paper Pack

D1587 Lollydoodle Scrapbooking Workshop Stamp Set

D1585 Lollydoodle Cardmaking Workshop Stamp Set

D1584 Big Hug Stamp Set

Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink Pad

Z2172 Whisper Ink Pad

Z2193 Cotton Candy Ink Pad

Z2197 Pear Ink Pad

Z1853 Aqua Dots

Z1960 Stripe Embossing Folder

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

Z726 Sponge Daubers

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Pink Button (Retired)

White Baker's Twine (Retired)