What Does the Fox Say?

I have come to the conclusion that the fox can say anything.  This particular card was for Valentine's Day, so the fox said, "I love you."  But after I made it I thought, he could say anything!  Lol.  I still have a couple of Valentine's cards left to share with you.  Then, I'm done, I promise :) Here's the card I made for my daughter using the February stamp of the month from CTMH.

I have wanted to use this little fox since I first saw him (or maybe her) in the catalog.  This set has several little foxes, all just as cute.  I stamped him in Slate ink.  The cardstocks are Slate and Cotton Candy.  I didn't have a stamp for the sentiment, so I typed this out on the computer and used my CTMH watercolor pencils to lightly color the letters in.  I used our blending pen to give it that fading effect.  I colored in the ears and flower on the fox with the same pencils.  The chevron piece in the background is White Daisy cardstock that I ran through my big shot with our new embossing folder.  Yes, finally, CTMH has embossing folders!!  I love them. The little hearts were cut with a SSS die, Holiday Shapes.    I layered the card with some 3d foam tape and added a sparkle.  I thought he turned out rather cute.  

The card below was the result of...I just wanted to color :) I found this stamp during a Valentine's day sale and thought it was cute.  The stamp was a wood mounted stamp from Stampendous called Kissin Kiddos.  You may recognize the little girl from some cards I have done recently where she is wearing her boots.  I colored them with Copics and then hit a few spots with my wink of stella glitter brush.   The sentiment is from last year's constant campaign set, Whooo's Your Valentine from CTMH.   

That's it for me tonight.  Remember you still have a few days to get the February stamp of the month, Wild About Love.   With any qualifying purchase of $50 or more, you can purchase the stamp set for only $5.  Also, this month CTMH is featuring it's embossing folders.  If you buy two cardstock paper packs, you receive your choice of embossing folders for free.  For more details on either promotion, visit my website, here or drop me a line. 

Thanks for stopping by!

New Base and Bling

The new 2014 idea book has a new line of wearable art in the Base & Bling line.  The last book had base & bling, but it was mainly used with textiles to make necklaces, hair bands, bracelets, and the like.  This time around it focuses on creating personalized pendants.  I was rather intrigued when I first saw it and ordered some to make for our open house back in January.  I chose to make mine very personal with monograms and pictures.   It was trial and error for me, because these did not come with any instruction.  Close to My Heart has recently released a video with instructions, which I'll include below.

Here's the board I made for the party.  I only had two chains, one silver and one gold, so I had to do a little improvisation, hence the ribbons.   I have to say, the grey organza ribbon was a big hit. And for those with skin sensitivity issues, this may be the way to go.

The first pendant I made was the "S".  I used our Token Alpha stamp set and heat embossed it with gold powder.  The alphabet was perfect for these 1" circles.    The one on the left below I made for a friend of mine for her birthday.  I used our Lollydoodle paper and I had some metallic alpha stickers in my stash.  These stickers were very flat and were on a clear base.  They work perfectly.  I also made the "Z" pendant further down the same way.   

We also have a variety of charms you can add to your chain in addition to your pendant.  

After I made the monogram pendants, I decided I would try to add a photo to one of these.   I love the way it turned out.  

This was a picture I had taken of my daughter a few years back.  The picture was much larger so I simply cut it down to a 1" square.   The closeup on her face it gave it a real artsy feel to me.  

I did use liquid glass to put my pendants together.  A word of caution, where the liquid glass touched the printed side of my picture it did cause some slight discoloration.  In this case with the black and white, it gave it a hint of pink.  Personally, I loved the effect..lol.  I print my own pictures, so your results may vary.

When I put my pendants together, I used liquid glass, but I did not cover the entire thing.  In the video you will see her use a liberal amount of liquid glass under the glass covers.  What I did was use the liquid glass in a very thin coating behind my cardstock or picture to adhere it to the pendant.  Then very carefully, I put liquid glass on the very inside edges of my pendant and then added the glass cover.   If you do cover the entire face of the pendant with liquid glass, definitely make sure you have it covered evenly.  If you get any bubbles under the glass, they look like discolorations at certain angles.  

Another note, when using photos, be sure to check out your positioning under the glass cover before putting it together.  Because the glass covers are rounded, they tend to have some magnification to them.  So be careful of the placement of faces or objects.  They may look slightly distorted under the glass closer to the edges.  I found it less of an issue with the circular ones.   You can tell a little bit with the chevrons behind the "Z" below.  Again, I thought it added a little something to the design..lol. 

These pendants are very easy to customize.  Your options are limitless.  They are inexpensive and fun to make.  What more could you ask for? :)

Here's the video from Close to My Heart with more examples and some instruction. 

If you have any questions or would like to see more of the Base and Bling line or purchase some of your own, contact me or visit me at my website, here.   

Thanks for stopping by!

Tina Valentine

Another quickie post today.  The image on this card is Tina and she's a stamp from Art Impressions.  This is another one that I saw and knew I had to have.  The sentiment and the image just make me smile.

I stamped her on watercolor paper and used my distress markers to color her in.  I didn't do anything else to her.  I really liked her just the way she was and wanted her to be my focal point, as if she could be anything else..lol.    I mounted her on some red and black card stock and then attached her to the front of my top folding card base.  That was it. 

I adore Tina.  I just had to share her with you.  That's it for me today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Get Krafty

I've got just a quick post tonight.  I still have some Valentine's day cards to share with you.  This one is made using the Stampendous image Boots Kiddo.  I have made several cards with her.  I found one of the images I had stamped previously and colored her with my Prismacolor pencils. I love to color!

It just so happened that I had some scrap cardstock that matched perfectly. The sentiment is from the SSS  stamp set called Card Exchanging Friends.  It may not have been meant as a Valentine's Day set, but it worked for me.  I find myself using this set quite often.   

Because this little cutie is mounted on a kraft card base, I'm going to enter her in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Get Krafty. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll try to be back tomorrow with another card. Have a great week!

Fairy Valentine

Happy Saturday my blog friends!  Some of you may still be on a chocolate high leftover from Valentine's Day and that's okay.  I won't judge :)  Today, I wanted to share with you a card I had made for Valentine's Day.  I fell in love with this image from the first time I saw it and knew I had to do something with it.

The image is from Lili of the Valley stamps, a UK company.  I don't remember how I stumbled on their site, but I am so glad I did.  Their images are sooo sweet.  And they ship worldwide for FREE!  How awesome is that?  They are unmounted rubber stamps, but I don't mind. 

I stamped this image on watercolor paper with Stazon ink and used my distress markers and an aqua brush to color her in.   I mounted her with 3d foam tape onto a piece of red cardstock from my stash and affixed them to the front of my Neenah Desert Storm card base.  I didn't have a sentiment that fit what I wanted to convey, so I typed my message and then die cut it.  Very simple card.  

Lili of the Valley has a challenge blog, too. This month the challenge is Name that Tune.  This image makes me think of the song, Wind Beneath My Wings.  Maybe because it was intended for someone special and both characters have wings.    Although, it could be for any occasion, this one was created for Valentine's Day.   Also, because its card base is kraft, I'll be entering it in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Get Krafty.  

I still have some more Valentine's cards to post.  I realize it's a little late, but I still wanted to share. I hope to get them up in the next few days.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Tiddly Inks Dino Valentine

I know, it's kind of a strange title.  But it fits, you'll see ;)  I still have one more post from the open house.  Hopefully, I will get that up tomorrow.  The end of this week is Valentine's Day, so I wanted to share a few cards with you for the occasion.

This first one I made for a friend of mine to give to her little boy.  I really thought this little guy was so cute.  The image came from Tiddly Inks.  He was a digital image and he was on sale!  Cute and cheap, can it get much better?

I believe the image is called King of the Wild Things.  I printed him out and colored him with my Copic markers.  The printed paper is from a SSS card kit from a couple of months back.  I didn't have a sentiment that I thought fit,  so I typed it out and then die cut with a Sizzix hearts die.  I didn't have any cardstock the color I wanted nor did I have a die that gave the heart the reveal around the edge I wanted.  I used the same die I cut the words out with and turned it over and traced it on plain white cardstock.  I carefully cut it out and then used the same color marker to color the edges that would show.  Problem solved.   I used my Dienamics Pinking Edge die to put the pinked edge on the red cardstock.  The little ball on the end of his scepter got replaced with a heart, just for the occasion.

I'll be entering this little guy in two challenges.  Because he is a Valentine's Day card, he fits the bill for the challenge over at Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog.    Because he has a heart, he fits in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog.  Both blogs have tons of inspiration.  Be sure to check them out. 

That's it for me tonight.  I'll be posting some more Valentine's later in the week, so be sure to check back in.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Balloon Ride

Evening everyone!  I have another layout and some cards I wanted to share with you from the new Balloon Ride paper pack.  When I looked at this in the book, I thought it was pretty, but wasn't totally taken by it.  When it arrived and I saw in it person, I had a whole new opinion.  The colors in this paper pack are so soft and subtle.  I knew I wanted to do a layout for the open house and when I saw the papers I remembered some  portraits I had done of my daughter long ago. I thought they would work wonderfully.

This layout is very much akin to the one in the idea book which is the Workshop on the Go layout for this paper pack. It can also be found in the Make it from Your Heart How-to book we have.  I didn't have the WotG for this one so, I used the complements, instead.  

Adjacent to the paper pack in the book is a stamp set called Give a Lift.  I loved the vintage look of these stamps.  I couldn't wait to color some.  I ended making two cards with them. Although, I have them posted with this paper pack, these cards are primarily stamped.  They do use the same colors as the paper pack and have the same theme, so to speak. 

This one does have a small strip of the patterned paper from the pack.  I stamped the image in Rich Cocoa Memento ink and used our watercolor pencils and inks to color in the image. 

The background in the card below was made by using a dauber and Crystal Blue ink on Colonial White cardstock.  I then used the sentiments in the stamp set and stamped repeatedly across the paper in Saddle ink. This image is colored in the same manner as the one above.  

I'll be playing more with these images later I am sure.  I just love the antique feel they have. 

That's it for me tonight.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Lollydoodle

Hello everyone.  Quick post tonight.  I wanted to share with you another one of our new paper packs, Lollydoodle.  This paper is so cute.  It's perfect for little girls.  It just so happens I have one of those!

Sadly, she's not this little anymore.  This was one of the layouts I did for our open house.  I have many more planned from this paper pack, I just ran out of time. This layout doesn't even begin to show how cute this paper pack is.   I did manage to make a couple of cards from it, too. 

This was a very simple card.  The flowers and leaves were cut with the Cricut in different sizes.  I sanded the edges for a little more depth.  The cardstocks used were Cotton Candy, Twilight, Slate, Whisper, and Sweet Leaf.   The only stamping was the sentiment.  The next card required a little coloring.  

The little owl, branch and sentiment are from our new stamp set, Owls.  I colored the little owl with our watercolor pencils and then fussy cut him.  I stamped the branch in Cocoa on Cocoa and cut it out as well.  Even the little leaves come separate.  I added a few miniature punched flowers and sparkles.  The cardstocks are Juniper and Cotton Candy.  I love that polka-dotted paper from the pack.  So cute!

Lollydoodle also has a Workshop on the Go Cardmaking kit.  It is one of the two featured in this book.  

That's it for me tonight.   As always if you have any questions about or wish to view more products you may contact me or visit my website. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Skylark

Skylark is one of our new paper packs from the 2014 Spring/Summer Idea Book.  This is another wonderful color combo.  The green and blues are so pretty.  I found these pictures that I hadn't scrapped yet and couldn't have asked for a better match.  

Here's another layout made with the paper pack.  I don't usually care for paper that  has designs already laid out on it.  But these, I liked.  The birds on the wire and the banners on the left page are actually printed on the paper.   The flowers in both layouts are from the Skylark assortment.  Some of the other elements are from the Skylark Complements.    

 The little birds are from a stamp set called Love This.  I used my Lagoon alcohol markers and colored them and then fussy cut them.

I only managed to get one card made with the paper pack because I was a little pushed for time.  I'm sure there will be more in the future.  These flowers are also from the Love This stamp set.  I used Lagoon and Sweetleaf inkpads and an aquabrush and colored in my flowers. The cardstock is Lagoon and Saddle.  The sentiment is from one of the stamp sets that come with the Artiste Cricut cartridge.  I added some bling and called it good.

If you have any questions about Skylark or any of our  products feel free to contact me or visit my website. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Scrapping!

Ivy Lane Leftovers

Just a quick post tonight. I wanted to share with you a layout I did with the Ivy Lane Cardmaking  Kit.  Yes, I said cardmaking.  You can recognize the elements from the card kit in the layout.

I really liked the colors in this paper pack.  I added the two kraft cardstock bases and I used some leftover Blush cardstock I had.   I started to make all the cards in the kit, but I decided the "You're Amazing" and the little doily flower would look great on a layout, too.  The scalloped Cocoa borders were also leftover from the card kit.  The little green lacy square was made by using a stamp from the included stamp set and trimming it into a square.  The little self adhesive sequins also worked well for adding a little bling to the layout.  You can only get those in the cardmaking kit. 

If you would like to find out more about the Ivy Lane cardmaking kit or any of our other new products, you can contact me or visit my website. 

That's it for me tonight.  I will post more soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

2014 Spring/Summer Idea Book

The new Spring/Summer Idea book from Close to My Heart is now live!  I really think this may be my favorite one yet.  You may now view it online, here.   There are seven new paper packs, with a workshop on the go for each, and two new card workshop on the go's.   Not to speak of a whole new line of customizable necklaces and pendants and embellishments galore.

My downline and I had an open house/sneak peek last week.  I'll be featuring some of the new things we were showing this upcoming week.    I don't think I have ever scrapped so fast..lol.  We only had one week from the time our new stuff arrived until our big reveal.   I didn't get all I wanted to get done, but I did manage to do enough to choose a few new favorites from the bunch.  One being the Ivy Lane Cardmaking Kit.

Love these colors and the designs are great.  I actually did these by the directions I liked them so much.  The one below is my version without the cricut cuts.  

Here's a peek at some of the jewelry I made for the open house.  I'll have a more in depth post later. 

These are just a couple of the many new items I'm in love with.  Check back throughout the week to see some of my other creations.  

That's it for tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!