Clearly the Best: Alcohol Marker Madness

Here's a video from Close to My Heart talking about their new alcohol markers.   These markers are great.  Have  a look...

If you would like to order any of the products you see, feel free to visit my website, here, or contact me.  I would love to show you how :)

If you should happen to order from my website this month, be sure to join the "Mystery Hostess" gathering upon checkout.  For every $25 you spend you will receive an entry to win $25 in hostess rewards. 

Happy Scrapping!

Project Inspiration: Card Workshops on the Go

One  of the great new items that was introduced in the current Autumn/Winter idea book  is the Cardmaking Workshop on the Go.  I believe they have had card kits in the past (before my CTMH time), but never a Workshop on the Go for cardmakers.

Just like in the WotG for the featured paper packs, the cardmaking WotG's have a stamp set and embellishments unique to the kit.  There are two WotG's for cards this season, one for all occasions and one for Christmas.   Here is a video from Close to My Heart showing the features in each kit.

The great thing about these kits,  is that you have the stamp set and the instructions, complete with cutting guide, that you can use over and over again.   I have done the Avonlea kit as a group workshop  and posted on it earlier, here.   My daughter and I spent an afternoon doing the Christmas kit.    Either alone, or in a group, these kits are great.  

For more information on the kits you can check on my website here or feel free to contact me.   

Thanks for stopping by.  

Happy scrapping!

Krafty Christmas Cards

I thought I would give my cute little snowmen a rest for a while and try my hand at kraft paper.  I do love to work with kraft paper.  While surfing through the posts on Pinterest, I came across a great card.  Plain, simple, and done with kraft paper.  The 5x7 card in the middle was my spin on the original.

The patterned paper was some Christmas paper I have had in my stash for a while.   I only had one page of each paper, so I meant I was going to make it stretch.   I got four big stars out of the polka dotted sheet comfortably (cut at 4" on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge).  So, four big cards is what I have.  The stamped flourish is from the Love Life stamp set.  It's another one of my favorite "go to" stamp sets.  I stamped the flourishes in Colonial White pigment ink.  Make sure when using the pigment inks that you give it time to dry or heat set it.  I usually stamp and then move on to something else.    I cut stars out of Colonial White cardstock and then layered them on.  I tied a little bow from our natural hemp and added a little red sparkle. I stamped my sentiment, from the Merry and Bright stamp set,  in Ruby ink.  Voila!  Krafty and simple.  Although, I couldn't get any more stars out of my printed papers, I just couldn't let it end there.  I made the cute little note cards on either side.  Here's a closer look. 

I love mini cards.  These little jewels are 2 1/2 x 3 3/4.  I just cut strips for little banners, stamped the smaller flourish and added my Colonial White star.  I needed some way to keep these all together so I found this neat little box that's cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge.  It's on page 57.  I cut it at 3" and it's perfect for five of these little cards with their envelopes.  

No set is complete without 3x3's :)  I used the same design on my 3x3 kraft cards and made them a neat little holder for them to fit in.  Thanks to Vicki Wizniuk for the template for this little holder.  I use it all the time.  I think it makes such a great little gift. 

This holds four cards and their envelopes.  I just decorated the belly band with a leftover star or two and it's now part of the matching set.  

Moral of the story is....never throw away scraps :) I still had some of this paper left, so I made five more Christmas cards which I hope to get posted soon.  As long as you have a good base cardstock, you can make two pieces of patterned paper go a long way. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to have more posted soon. 

Happy Scrapping! 

Oval Frames

Amongst my cardmaking efforts, I managed to get a few frames done.  ( I tend to get distracted by shiny things..or zebra things..or brightly colored things...or..you get my point).  I found these great oval frames at Tuesday Mornings.  I thought they might be worth working with.  They are chipboard and open backed.  It just so happens that our Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge had just the right oval to cut the opening for the middle.  So, basically, I lucked out :)

 

This is the first one I did.  I'm not sure where I got the cream and black paisley paper from, but I have been wanting to do something with it for a while.  I cut some roses from the Artiste Cricut cartridge in Ruby and Colonial White.  I inked the edges of the Colonial white roses with Ruby ink.  The leaves are cut from Olive and Colonial White.  I used the Olive marker to add color to the Colonial White leaves.  Here's a better look.  

To me the leaves seemed too flat.  So I used the marker to give them some life.  I gently curved them around a paint brush to give them some shape as well.  

The frame around the opening was cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  It took several attempts to get the size right, but I finally found one that worked.  

These frames can be hung either horizontal or vertical.   The ones below were at my daughter's request.   She does love some zebra stripes. 

The flowers on the following frames were cut from the Artiste Cricut cartridge.  They were cut from White Daisy cardstock and I used Tulip (retired) ink to ink the edges. The flowers are cut in three different sizes.  Mine are 1/2" difference in size.  You ink the edges, spritz them with water, crumple them up, flatten them back out and then assemble while still damp.  I layered them with our black tulle ribbon, roughly cut into ovals.  I found some pink gemstone brads from my stash and just poked them in there.  While the flower is still damp, you can shape it as you please.  

I cut the coordinating leaves from the same key as the flower, but in black cardstock.  I used our Sparkles Black Flourish to add a little bling around the frame.   Here's the one done in Gypsy.

The flowers were done in the same manner.  I used the clear Sparkles Flourish for this frame. 

Also, I used my embossing stylus and simply drew a line down the middle with the curve of the leaf to give it a little more dimension as well. 

These little jewels will be going with me to the Fall Festival at Sunland this year at the end of this month.  If you are in the area, please stop by.   I'll have some more crafted items, cards, layout kits, and papers for purchase.   

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope to have more soon. 

Happy Scrapping!

 

More Flakey Friends

I am still having fun with my Flakey Friends.  These guys are just fun.  They make me smile.  I hope they have the same effect on whoever receives these cards.  This time I thought I would try for a blue Christmas.    So here are my little fellows in blue. 

This time I took advantage of the beautiful day outside to take the picture of this one.  The colors are definitely more true to life.  Again, I stamped the images in Memento Black ink.  I used the Sky and Outdoor Denim marker sets to color them in. It's still a little hard to tell from the picture, but I stamped the little snowflakes from the Ornamental Cheer stamp set above my snowmen and used our Clear Detail embossing powder on them.  After I heat set them, I used a sea sponge and lightly swirled on some Sky ink.  The cardstock colors are Dutch Blue (retired) and Sky.  The sentiment is from the Pear and Partridge cardmaking WOTG.  I stamped it in Dutch Blue.  The frame is a cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartrdge (page 26, I use this one all the time, but I can never seem to find it unless I mark it..lol). I cut the white on the layer  function and used the fallout from that cut to put on the blue which is cut from the regular shape.  That way I can raise my sentiment for some dimension instead of it being framed in.  It gives the same look but going a different direction,  if that makes sense.    I had some blue ribbon in my stash that just happened to match and topped off my bow with a bling gem from the Boutique Assortment.  That's it, three merry little snowmen.  Oh, how dare I forget.....prisma glitter!   One cannot have happy snowmen without prisma glitter snow :) 

I'm going to try a couple of more combinations of color for these little guys, so check back soon.  Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Happy Scrapping! 

My Flakey Friends

 I'm still on my cardmaking mission, at least one a day.  So far I have done better than that, but just haven't been able to post every day.  Today, I have a few I wanted to share with you.  These are my flakey little friends from the stamp set Flakey Friends, how appropriately named :) From the  moment I saw this stamp set, I have wanted to make something with them.

Not only did I want to do something with them, but I wanted to do it in non traditional colors.  This was the first card I made with these little guys.  I stamped them all in Memento Black ink.  I colored them with our new alcohol ink markers.  These were done in Smokey Plum, Twilight and Sky.  I think their noses are Autumn Terracotta.  I used the same colors of cardstock with some Whisper thrown in.  After I colored them I used our Prisma Glitter and dazzled up their snow. I just brushed on some Mod Podge and sprinkled it on.  I thought they turned out really cute.   Here are the other cards.  

I was definitely having some flakey fun :)  You can see the glitter a bit better in the picture below.  

The glittery snowflakes on these cards are K&Company.  I wanted to make a frilly kind of card.  I don't usually go frilly, but they are fun.  The lacy square in the background is cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  The frames and the little snowflakes are cut from the Artiste Cricut cartridge.  I added a little ribbon bow from my stash, a  bling gem from the Boutique Assortment, and some sparkles and called it good.    

I don't think I'm through with these little guys.  They are just too fun.  I think I am going to try some different colors.  Check back soon and hopefully I will have them completed and posted. 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!

A Few Butterflies

I was doing a little experimenting tonight.  Every now and then I will see something and just have to try it.  Sadly, I don't remember where I saw the original card, but it was gorgeous.  I knew I couldn't recreate it exactly, but I could come close.  I don't have an embossing/die cut machine.  I keep seeing all these beautiful cards with this lovely embossed papers.  I think I am going to put one on my Christmas list.  But until Santa comes,  I'll have to figure out how to get the same look by some other means.

The original card I saw had an embossed frame on the face of the card and lots of bling.  I didn't want to do all the rhinestone flourishing on the front, so I opted for heat embossing.  With my lighting its a little hard to see, but I used the flourish from the Love Life stamp set and our clear detail embossing powder.  I stamped it with Versamark, coated, then heat set.    I cut a card face slightly smaller than my card and used my embossing stylus (after I stamped)  and my scoring board to make it look like a frame.   Here's a closer look.

It's super easy to do and an option if you don't have an embossing/die cutting machine.  I thought it added just a little dimension to my basically all white card.  The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I added a few bitty gems.  The sentiment is from the 4 My Friend stamp set.

My daughter told me there wasn't enough color in the first card so I made another one with a little color.

That's the same flourish from Love Life stamped in Whisper ink.  The butterflies are the same as above, I just used a dauber and Buttercup ink to give them a hint of color.  This sentiment is from the Casual Expressions stamp set.  I did the same thing on the front of this card. I outlined about 1/8" from the edge with my embossing stylus on my scoreboard.  Make sure to remember to emboss from the back.

I'm hoping that I will continue celebrating World Card Making Day all week long.  My goal is to make at least one a night.  I'll be posting more later this week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Scrapping!

More Sunflower Cards

Here are a few more of the sunflower cards I was working on this past Saturday.  I took pictures of the three just before my batteries quit.  I had stamped several sunflowers, so now I'm just trying to use them up.  I drug out my Pemberley paper pack and created a few cards.   

The cardstock is Outdoor Denim and Bamboo.  I used Colonial White on the card above and White Daisy on the one below.   The patterned is the B&T paper from the Pemberly pack.  I used Outdoor Denim ink for the sentiment, which came from the Card Chatter - Birthday stamp set.   The sentiment below is from the Friendship Bouquet set. 

The card below is straight off the flyer for the stamp of the month where Friendship Bouquet was featured.  I really liked it from the moment I saw it.  Mine is not exactly like theirs, but it was as close as I could get it. The letters are cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to be done with my Christmas cards very soon, so stop back by and see what's new.

Happy Scrapping!

Happy World Card Making Day!

So, I'm a day late (and usually a dollar short), but wanted to wish everyone a happy World Card Making day!

Even though I didn't get this posted yestereday, on card making day, I did celebrate the day.  I made cards all day yesterday.    I didn't get as many done as I wanted.  Mainly because there are other people in this house that think they need things, like food and clean clothes and the like.   Some people just don't understand the importance of making cards!  But in any case, I will be posting more cards this week as I get them uploaded.

It was a day where I just wanted to stamp and color.  So, that's what I did.  I drug out a previous stamp of the month stamp set, Friendship Bouquet, and went to town with our new markers.  Here are the first three I did. 

The card above is a square card base  4 1/2"  square  and adhered to a scalloped square cut at 5 1/4"  from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.   The cards below are standard 5 1/2" x 4" card bases from CTMH.   The one on the right is stamped on White Daisy with Memento Black ink.  The one on the left is stamped on Colonial White with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

 The only yellow marker set I have right now is Honey. I used the two Honey markers on the flower petals.  I used an eyeshadow applicator and our Chocolate ink and applied the ink to the center of the flowers.  I tried using the wet brush and applying it that way, but I ended up liking the daubed on look better.  The stems and leaves are colored in our new markers in the two shades of Olive and the darker Topiary.  The green cardstock is New England Ivy and the brown is Chocolate, but the yellow cardstock is some I had from my stash and there is no telling where it came from.    I also wanted to see what our prisma glitter looked like on the flowers, so the one on the White got some in the center.   It really picked up a green hue on top of the chocolate ink.    

I'll be posting more cards through the week, so stop back and see what's new.   Thanks for stopping by. 

Happy Scrapping!

Clearly the Best: Dauber Dynamite

Before I found Close to My Heart, I never really played in ink.  But once I found them, and fell in love with their products, I play in ink all the time.  And what fun is playing in ink if you don't have a dauber?  I use my daubers all the time.  I love them!  I, too, have one for each color.  

CTMH put out this great little video showing you a couple of techniques you can use your daubers for.   I thought I would share it with you. 

You can find the Clearly the Best videos on MyCraft Channel.com.  All of the items shown in these videos are Close to My Heart, so if you see something  that you can't live without or like more information on, please, feel free to contact me or log on to my website, here.  If you make an order through my  website, be sure to "join" the Mystery Hostess party.  For every $25 you spend you will receive an entry into a drawing at the end of the month to receive $25 in free merchandise.     

I'm in the process of getting a few more things together which I'll be sharing with you later, so stop back by if you get a chance.   Thanks for dropping in!

Happy Scrapping!