Congratulations on New Home

By now it's obvious I love to color. No matter how many times I keep saying my next project will involve my Cricut cartridges, I still keep coloring. My card today is a Congratulations theme for a friend of my husband's. They're having a celebration next weekend for the new home they bought and I thought I'd prepare this in advance. Yes I used a retired Close To My Heart stamp set again but who could resist this? When I first started out as a consultant this was on my list of must haves. I thought about the current Camper Crazy but it just didn't look right for this occasion.

So, I used Around the Block and colored it using my Spectrum Noirs. I used a mix of Skin Tones, Browns, Tans and Gold Brown colors to complete the house color. The grass is what I had leftover from my previous project. The tree beside the house is also from a retired stamp set named Treetops. The butterflies are from A Tree and the sentiment I believe came from Casual Expressions.

I used Topiary for the tree leave and Cocoa for the bark, Black for the "Congratulations" sentiment, and a mix of Sorbet, Pear, Saddle and Sweet Leaf for the butterflies. I hope my hubby's friend will like it!

April Promotion

Close to My Heart is having one big awesome promotion this April! From what I've heard this will be the biggest promotion for this year! How I wish I knew beforehand and could have waited for April! That's why I want to share this exciting news with everyone!

Sign up to be a consultant starting April 1st and you get to pick your very own Cricut Bundle!! Yes! You read it right! You get your full Consultant Kit for $99 AND you get to pick a Cricut Bundle of your choice for FREE!! That Cricut Bundle includes 3 sets of D size stamps and 3 chipboard dimensional elements! This has got to be the most bang for your buck you'll ever get! Add to that as a consultant you get to earn your commissions AND get your discount with every purchase you make!

Below is the Consultant Kit you'll be getting, and as you can see it is PACKED with so much goodies!!! I remember how excited I felt waiting for my box to arrive, and it did not disappoint!!

New Consultant Kit Box of Goodies

And for this month of April only, sign up and you get to pick a Cricut Cartridge Bundle to go with it! Here are the 3 choices you have. You simply cannot go wrong! All 3 cartridges are a MUST HAVE! Ever since I got mine I've used nothing else but these! They are truly the BEST Cricut cartridges and probably the only ones you'll ever need! So, what are you waiting for? Become a consultant now and join my team! All I can promise is LOADS of FUN!!!

Z1686 Art Philosphy 

Z1906 Artbooking

Z1790 Artiste

Fluttering By

I've been thinking about using this stamp set for quite some time now, I got the inspiration to color it from the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book. This is a very simple card, very quick and fairly easy to do. I just knocked my socks off coloring and experimenting on the new set of Tim Holtz distress markers I just got so I got a bit carried away.

A2 standard size card. The base is kraft using Recollections, and for the layer I used Neenah Natural White card stock, stamped the tree, butterflies and sentiment all from the A Tree stamp set. This has got to be one of the cutest stamp sets I've used. I really had so much fun coloring in the tree. I stamped the tree using Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and the butterflies are a mix of Gypsy, Buttercup, Sunset, Cotton Candy, Lagoon and Sweet Leaf inks. The designs inside the tree I colored using random Tim Holtz Distress Markers and Spectrum Noirs. I just wanted it to pop and be colorful

The grass was cut using Lawn Fawn dies. I believe it's called Grassy Borders. It was one of my 'steals' at the recent Scrapbook expo. Buy 3 get 1 free. So, I cut more than 1 grass border and layered them on top of each other to give it a more dimensional look. The paper I used for the grass is from Bazzill, not sure of the color since I'm using a stack of 6x6.

My last attempt to make the card pop was to add the Wink of Stella glitter. I saw the demo at the Scrapbook Expo and these Wink of Stella Glitter brushes looked so cool while I was being demo'd. The glitter effect really made the artwork pop. However, when I tried it here, I somehow got disappointed with the turnout. First of all I wanted to add glitter to some parts of the tree, so I brushed some clear glitter on it. Then I wanted to make the butterflies really pop with glitter so I was a bit more generous with it. Well this morning when I woke up and it had time to dry, I saw that it had sort of white-out my ink colors. As you can see, the butterflies now have a two-tone layer kind of look. Not so bad actually, especially since you can see the glitter up close, but it wasn't exactly the look I had originally in mind. Either way it turned out fine, but still a lesson learned for me. Either I brushed too much glitter on to it, or I should just but all these colored brushes. I just got the white one to try out, and at the time seemed more reasonable given it costs about $6-8 a pen. Luckly I was able to get my at Jo-Ann's for $3.89! By the way, side note, the lady who demo'd this product says if it starts to get a bit dry, just unscrew and put a couple of drops of water and shake, and voila! It'll be good as new!

My last addition to the card was to sponge a tiny bit of sky color to it using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers, and I mixed in a bit of CTMH Sky Ink. The Peacock Feather was a bit strong, so I added in the CTMH Sky to kind of even it out. I wasn't too generous as I didn't want it to take the look away from the colorful tree. Oh and I also rounded the top corners to finish off the card.

Hope you guys like it!

And here is the stamp set I used.

A1124 A Tree

Joyful Wishes

The stamp set I'm using today is one of my favorites from this Spring/Summer catalog. When I saw the stamps on that page, I just had to get them all! This stamp set is called Joyful Wishes and in the Idea Book it was used as a decoration for a party favor box front. I wanted to use mine on a card, so here goes my rendition.

It's not perfect. As you can see I pretty much messed up on stamping the arrows. It was my fault as it was a last minute thing. I did not originally mean to have those there but at the last minute decided I'd like to use my Flight of Arrows stamp set to good use. At first I only wanted to do the bottom, but then after I stamped the bottom it looked iffy, so to even it out I decided to just stamp the top. But at that point, I had already adhered my sentiment with brads and all, so getting the block to stamp the arrows perfectly was kind of hard. Of course I tried to clean it up but the more mess I got. So lesson learned, next time lay everything out first and test on a piece of paper before doing the actual card. 

Ok, so for this card I used Bazzill green cardstock as my base, Amerian Crafts gray card stock from the Neutrals pack as the layer. For the sentiment layer I used Ariana paper as the background. The sentiment is Joyful Wishes which I stamped using Slate ink. I colored it in using Spectrum Noirs, mixed of lights and pastels. I attached 4 brads on the corners to make it look like a poster. I then die cut the scallop borders using my Spellbinders dies. And my last minute add on was the Flight of Arrows 'border'. 

Here are the stamp set images. I just love Joyful Wishes! 

A1152 Joyful Wishes

D1578 Flight of Arrows

Thinking of You

New day, new card. When will I ever get to finish my scrapbooking pile?? I keep getting dragged into making cards and it is so addicting!!

For today's card I made a simple Thinking of You card using a stamp from Jeanette's Archives. This stamp is called Friendly Thoughts and is available for purchase at my store. The card is standard A2 size and I used Skylark paper packet. Skylark has a design that's so 'universal' you can't go wrong using it for any theme!

I stamped using Cocoa ink directly onto the Skylark paper that has the chevron looking design on the background. I then cut out the center piece that has the sentiment "Thinking of You". I then inked the edges of the frame I created after cutting the center. I used Tim Holtz Antique Linen to achieve the dark edges. The middle portion or inside portion of the frame was a bit harder so I slightly used a sponge dauber to work it in somehow. It's not obvious from the picture, you have to hold it up to see. I didn't want it going over the sentiment. I re-stamped the whole stamp again onto a plain white Neenah card stock, cut out the middle portion so I can make the whole thing look like a picture frame. I added a splash of color using my Spectrum Noir markers, just single colors since the image is too small for me to blend. I also added a chipboard flower element from the Skylark Complements and Baker's Twine to finish off the card.

Birthday Box Card

I took advantage of the 50% off promotion Silhouette has ongoing until the end of March. I stocked up on some box cards and some other SVG designs I have on my wish list. I’ve always wanted to make one of these and try my hand at it. It’s supposed to be quick, but I have to admit it took me awhile and at the last minute I switched to chipboard adhesives and puff stickers that I have in my stash. It was too cumbersome to cut the small cake and gift box images and I didn’t feel like wasting paper on a super tiny image. Making the box and pieces were quick and easy, it’s cutting the small files that got too much for me. This is a Lori Whitlock design, and for the decorative paper I used a mix of DCWV and American Crafts. The base is Recollections cardstock. This card folds into an A2 size, which is super convenient as I don’t have to make a custom envelope for it. It folds flat after which is super cool! I’m sending this one to my mom for her birthday and I hope she’ll love it! I use Photoshop to clean up my image since I took it last night and the really dark background and shadows didn’t look great. I’m not an expert in Photoshop so forgive the little messes here and there.

Pure Joy of Washi Tape

Close to My Heart has its own line of Washi Tape and I can't wait to try this! The Paper Fundamentals are so cool!!! Lucky me I have a pack ready for me to play!

There are 8 different kinds of Washi Tape CTMH carries. All of them have wonderful colors and  designs that you can easily incorporate with your projects!

Honey Triangles
Chocolate Woodgrain
Smoothie Striped
Gold Polka Dot
Ruby Chevron
Lagoon Houndstooth
Slate Polka Dot
Silver Geometric

Washi Craze

While I'm still on Washi tape high, I thought of my Close to My Heart Washi Wonder stamp set. I haven't really used this on a whole card before but since I felt like playing, here goes.

I used 6 colors, Hollyhock, Cotton Candy, Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, Sky and Buttercup. The embellishments are from a mix bag. The sentiment was stamped using Simon Says Stamp's Expressions for You stamp set.

Here's what the stamp set looks like. If anyone's interested, please send me an email or leave a comment and I'll find one for you. This is a really versatile set, with so many combinations, both on designs and colors. Loads of fun!!!

D1558 Washi Wonder

Scrapbook Expo Weekend

I spent the last 2 days at the Anaheim Scrapbook Expo and was lucky enough to have a supportive hubby who tagged along. I found a lot of good deals and was able to stock up on my supplies. Not that I was missing anything to begin with, but as you probably all know too well, we can never have enough of everything. I opted out on classes this time around and didn't attend any workshops. Last time I attended some I thought it was a waste of time and money. This just gave me more time to roam around and not have to worry about leaving my hubby for an hour or two waiting for me to come out of class. Believe it or not we got there at 830am Friday and didn't leave until 4pm. Time just flew by so fast next thing I know hubby's dragging my arm because he did not want to get stuck in Friday afternoon traffic.

I scored some great deals on paper, gosh not that I don't have enough of them! I also got a lot of embellies from Adorn It. I love love love their stuff! $1 each embellishment if you buy 20, plus 2 free embellishment of your choice and they gave out this really really cute bag!

I of course stopped by Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life booth and got a couple of coordinating stamp sets that I've been wanting to collect. Then I went crazy with paper stick straws. I must have gotten like 8-10 packs of it, 24each per pack. I've been wanting to buy some but they seem to be more expensive elsewhere. I didn't have the patience to keep going back for 40% off coupon everyday just to collect the colors.

I also got me some cute Lawn Fawn stamps and dies. Too bad they ran out of the Elephant dies, that was disappointing. I did not get the new Hello Sunshine stamp set but after thinking about it, when I went back, it was all sold out! Bummer! Guess it was not meant to be! The show was having a Buy 3 get 1 Free stamps and dies and I took that opportunity. Buying it there saves me on shipping plus I get 1 Free.

Lastly, I splurged on some Washi tapes. Yes, Washi tapes. Like I need more Washi tapes right? I probably already 45 rolls in front of me right now and I just added another 38 from Queen and Co. The designs were too cute to resist! Plus the box they're giving away fits the tapes perfectly and I preferred it more than the dispenser. I also went ga-ga over the epoxy bubbles, or as they call it, Jellies and Jawbreakers. Bought 12 and they gave a pretty storage album for free. Here are some of the pictures.

Hubby and I  had so much fun. We were dead tired and exhausted by the time we got home but it was all worth it!

Some Bunny Happy Easter

Easter's around the corner and here's my card for the occasion. I used Close to My Heart's Some Bunny stamp set which I earned from the Hostess Rewards. I love how cute this stamp set is!

The card is standard A2 size, and I used Recollections Kraft paper as my layer and Recollections Pastel Printed Paper Cardstock as the 2nd layer. Both I got from Michael's whenever there's a 3 for $10 paper pack sale. I used a Spellbinders square scallop die to create the window and stamped on both the girl and bunny images. I used my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers (all colors coming from the Pastels and Lights set) to color. The scallop sentiment was stamped using CTMH's Topiary Ink. I really wanted to use Sweet Leaf, but unfortunately do not have a re-inker bottle on hand. My stamp pad's running a bit dry so I had to go with the alternative. The accent ribbon and floral brads are also Recollections from Michael's. The sentiment was stamped using CTMH's Black Ink, and I used a pennant die from Sizzix.

As a finishing touch I used my favorite Zig Wink of Stella markers to give the girl's ribbon a glittery sheen, and the eggs in the basket too. It's not too visible in these pictures, but the white specks are the glittery portion. Forgive my photography skills. I couldn't seem to capture the glitter correctly. But trust me, it's really there. I love my Wink of Stella pens. Seriously!!

 Here's an image of the Some Bunny stamp set. If you want to get your hands on one of these, all you need to do is host a gathering and when product orders reaches $150, then you can avail yourself of this super cute stamp set! If you're interested in hosting, please leave me a message or send me an email. I would love to show off these great products CTMH has to offer.

Hello Wonderful..Happy Place

This month's stamp of the month is Happy Place. I just love this stamp set! Isn't it just adorable? Add to that I love coloring! I will be honest, it took awhile to color it, but maybe because I was coloring multiple images at the same time. I stamped different images and tried different colors until I found the one I liked.

I could have probably made 4 cards out of the images I stamped but for now, here are the 2 cards I made. Note that this is my first time to actually stitch on a card. I just got my stitch guide last week and I'm using it for the first time. Boy was it a challenge! Maybe I will get better if I do it more often. But it sure did take up as much time as it did coloring to get the stitches in, and it's not perfect. For that I apologize.

For my first card I used retired paper Claire on a Recollections tan cardstock. I stamped the Russian doll image and colored it using my Spectrum Noir markers. I used a mix of Pinks, Oranges, Turquoise and Tan markers. Sorry I can't name the specific marker numbers as I was winging it. I was trying to find the right combination of orange and turquoise so  I was experimenting as I color. The sentiment is from the stamp set  Hello Wonderful and is available on my site.

My second card also uses the Claire paper, this time I used the 3 tiny Russian doll images instead. The sentiment came from the same Happy Place stamp set and the whole thing is layered using a Recollections plain purple cardstock. The images were also colored using my Spectrum Noirs.

Don't you just love this stamp set? Especially if you love to color like I do. If you want to get your hands on this Stamp of the Month, all you need is to shop $50 worth of Close to My Heart goodies and this Happy Place stamp set can be yours for just $5! 

Take a look at what else you can do with it. I'm in love with this set and I can't wait to create other stuff with it. I have that journal box that's just sitting there in plain white waiting for me to dress it up!

S1403 March SOTM

Happy Birthday Wishes

As I've promised, I did use my Heidi Swapp materials and dabbled in stencils over the weekend. There are many techniques to using stencils and so far my favorite one is sponging.

Below are the 2 versions I did. The first one is just sponging over inks. I used Hero Arts Shadow Ink mid-tones in Bubble Gum Pink, Soft Cantaloupe and Grape Juice. I used Heidi Swapp Make Me Happy Polka Dots stencil. After sponging the ink, the background looked so bright and colorful that I decided against adding any more embellishments. I then stamped the sentiment from Close To My Heart's Banner Wishes.

The second technique I used is called layering. It usually goes with masking but I had too much fun with this I decided to just finish it off using layers. This is is another birthday card which I'm giving my aunt. Her birthday's coming up and I thought this might cheer her up. I used the scallop shape from Heidi Swapp's Butterfly Stencil Set. I sponged over the colors using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Soft Cantaloupe, then the 2nd layer with Close to My Heart's Sorbet Ink and lastly I used Close to My Heart's Buttercup Ink. Sunshine theme I think is what I had in mind when I did this. After the stencil I stamped a flower from Close to My Heart's Rustic Flowers stamp set. It's a retired set which I was able to acquire from another consultant. I stamped it several times using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Bubble Gum Pink. I then cut them out and layered them, and adhered a circle brad which I got from Michaels. I stamped the sentiment from Close to My Heart's You Are My Happy stamp set. The card base is also from Recollections, Butterfly Wings collection. I love this collection of papers. Nothing says Spring more than the colors in this set.

Thanks for looking!

Picture My Life (PML)

Along with the My Crush book, I also ordered these Picture My Life (PML) kits. I figured with so much pictures that needed scrapbooking, I just do not have the time. I have my daughter's school activities pictures, our last family trip to Hawaii from 2 years ago, my daughter's baby book that has a last picture when she was 6 months old - she's 2 now by the way. So catching up to all those just seem like an impossible task. So I thought to do a fast forward, I might as well jump in and do it PML style. My pictures just don't do enough justice to how nice these journal cards look.

Chantilly Picture My Life Kit

Surf's Up Picture My Life Kit

Babycakes Picture My Life Kit

Each kit contains:

10 sheets of 12"x12" memory protectors in various designs
44 - journal cards in 4"x6" size (2 each of 22 designs)
78 - journal cards in 3"x4" size (3 each of 26 designs)
1 - 12"x12" Designed Cover Sheet

The Designed cover sheet looks like the 2nd picture above where the front has a big blank square for you to put a cover photo.

There's a lot of other designs available, I just bought these to get started since they are related to my projects. My next one will probably be Laughing Lola before it retires, and perhaps Balloon Ride. I just love these papers and themes and can't seem to get enough of it!

I can't wait to get started. Though with so many projects in limbo right now, I'm not sure which one to start with! So much to do, so little time!

My Crush Books

Before I joined CTMH I was a big fan of K&Company's Smash Book. So when I found out CTMH has its own line of these books, of course I have to grab one for myself! My book arrived yesterday and let me just say I love every page of it! I ordered My Crush Modville and 2 of the assortment, Memories and Favorites to go with it. I currently have a small K&Company's travel smash book and it's always in my purse. Whenever an idea hits me, or if I just need to keep a piece of paper or receipt or need to jot down some notes or highlights of my day, I quickly turn to it and write it down. It's nice to be able to look back at it. It's like your memory on the go. With everything on my plate these days, some memories are just too precious to forget. I like how I can go back anytime and mark a to-do I've done, or add to a list of ideas I'm collecting for my daughter's birthday party and stuff like that.

I've snapped a few pictures of the inside, just to give you an idea what some of the designs are. I took pictures of my favorites so far. Don't you just love them??

And here are the 2 assortments I purchased along with the book.

You Are Truly Amazing - Ivy Lane

There are some paper designs that are truly so beautiful you get this certain pull to keep using it or stare at it. Ivy Lane is one of those so here's another card where I'm featuring its awesomeness.

I cut a 3" circle in the middle of this 4.5"x5.5" B&T paper, then used the Cocoa paper and cut another circle, this time I think it was 2-7/8", slightly smaller, and I used the other side of the B&T circle I cut as the 3rd layer. I lined them up so the circle looks staggered. I then used this flower from A Flowering Bunch stamp set and colored it in multiple shades of pink, lavender, orange and yellow. The die cut is from Cricut Artiste I believe, and I stamped on a Colonial White cardstock. I colored the flowers using a variety of my Spectrum Noir markers. Since this is not about coloring I won't go into details of which colors I used, but if you're interested leave me a message and I'll be more than happy to share. I sponged or brushed Tim Holtz Tea Dye distress ink on the edges of the cardstock so it blends with the other colors of the flower. I love A Flowering Bunch stamp set. It was last year's stamp of the month and I was able to get my hands on it from a fellow consultant. It has so many designs that you can use repeatedly. I especially love the garden of flowers piece that's part of this set.

The sentiment came from the You Are stamp set, also from last year's Stamp of the Month series. Both sets are now retired. If you want them send me a message and I can find those for you. I used Colonial White cardstock and Saddle ink to stamp, and hand cut the "You Are Truly" sentiment. The "Amazing" sentiment was die cut using a Sizzix banner die from one of Stamps of Life's Sizzix die and stamp sets.  I embellished the 2 corners with sequin dot assortment that came with the Ivy Lane Cardmaking WOTG kit.

Enjoy!

The retired stamp sets I used are A Flowering Bunch and You Are.

S1306 A Flowering Bunch 

S1204 You Are

Ivy Lane WOTG Cardmaking Kit