Christmas in July - Merry Christmas Mr & Mrs Claus

This was a fun little card made using "City Sidewalks" papers and "The North Pole" stamp set for the cute little Santa & Mrs. Claus.  They were fun to color with our markers.

I've always really liked blue & red together for Christmas.  I know it's not a traditional combination, but I really think it works.  

This card looks like an odd size, but folded it is a regular 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card.  The square on the bottom is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 and the circle is placed so that the top of it sits at 5 1/2" from the bottom of the card.

For the sentiment I used a holiday digital Cricut Cartridge that Close to My Heart came out with, also called "City Sidewalks".  I love the font.  And you can never go wrong with bakers twine.  I have oodles of it in my stash.

Once again, thank you for visiting.

Make Waves - "Whale Hello There" card

Whale hello there!  I wanted to show you a fun card I made a couple months ago using Close to My Heart's "Make Waves - Cardmaking" stamp set.

How about that purple whale?  It would be fun to see one, don't you think?  :)

This was one of those rare occasions that I did not use any patterned paper on the card, only cardstock.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Simple and clean.  I used an image in Cricut Design Space for the waves.  They're both the same image, I just re-sized them so they would look a bit different.

You can see I used an embossing folder to create some texture on the front wave.  I also popped up the whale and the top of the front row of waves to give it some depth.  

I used "Pansy" ink and "Lagoon" cardstock on the card.  The cardstock from Close to My Heart is two toned, so the waves are made from the same sheet of paper.  Pretty cool huh?

Whale, there you go, that's my card for today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Flashback Friday: "Zoe" Thinking of You card

Hello.  I seemed to have missed "Throwback Thursday", so I'm doing a "Flashback Friday" card this week.

This is one I created quite a while back using the now retired "Zoe" paper pack.  I loved this paper and made many fun cards with it.  This particular card was totally inspired by one of my favorite fellow CTMH Consultants, Lisa Stenz.  Her work is always fabulous.  You can see the inspiration card HERE.

I thought this was a really fun card fold as well, something you don't see everyday.  I really liked the sentiment script as well.  The sentiment came from the now retired stamp set called "Sincere Expressions".

Well, that's all for today.  If we don't lose power with our stormy weather we're having, I hope to take some more photos of some recent cards after work tonight so I can get back to posting.  See you soon!

SUPPLIES USED:

Paper: Zoe paper pack (retired)

Stamps: A1146 Sincere Expressions (retired)

Inks: Slate

Embellishments: Coral shimmer trim, Clear Sparkles

Other: CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (retired), White Daisy Cards & Envelopes

"Thanks" card with no stamping

Hello.  Here's another of my cards from a recent swap using the Whimsy Fundamentals paper pack.  This was also a card we made in my August card class and seemed to be a hit.  It was very quick to put together, which is always a plus.

I very rarely make a card that has absolutely no stamping on it, but this one worked out that way.  Like I said in my previous posts, I just love all the patterns and colors in the Whimsy Fundamentals, so I used a several on this card.  I thought a different card fold would be fun so I cut a shorter front panel and the flower holds it down when closed.

We have these great new "Thin Cut Dies" available now in different shapes and fonts and I just loved the "Thanks" font.  I cut this one out of our gold glitter paper and in person it really sparkles.  I backed it with a piece of cardstock embossed with the our new Simple Chevron folder.  It adds a little extra something to that space.

The flower layers were cut from the new Cricut Flower Market cartridge.  This was a pretty simple flower, there are so many other fun options as well.  It's hard to see in my photos but I also brushed the glacier blue petals with our new shimmer pen.  It's really pretty and sparkly in person.

Well, that's all for this time.  Thanks for stopping by.

SUPPLIES USED:

Paper: Whimsy Fundamentals, White Daisy, Glacier, Sweet Leaf & Thistle cardstocks, Gold Glitter paper

Tools: Hello & Thanks Thin Cuts, Shimmer Brush - Clear, Cricut Flower Market Collection

Pretty little sympathy card

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted on here since February!  Where does the time go?  Anyhoo... I'm back!  

Nothing much has changed here.  Still working at my day job, busy with family in the evenings and trying to squeeze in time to teach my monthly card classes and get ready for my fall craft bazaars.  Whew!  Well, I'm going to work on posting some recent items I've made (as well as some (now retired items) I haven't posted over the last few months).  Wish me luck!

Here's a pretty little sympathy card I made using product from the new Close to My Heart Annual Inspirations book.  

I just participated in a product swap called "Awesome Artist's Swap" with some fellow consultants and I was asked to make my items using the "Urban Home" and "Memo" Fundamentals paper packs and the matching ribbon collection.  I love both of these paper packs because they are full of neutral papers, which can go with anything.

I decided to add a pop of color with CTMH's new "Color of the Year", Sea Glass.  It really is a lovely color.  And it even comes in glitter paper.

I don't tend to make many sympathy cards in my classes or swaps but I loved the fonts used in the new "Heartfelt Thoughts" stamp set.  And unfortunately, there are times when a sympathy card is needed.  

Another requirement of the swap I participated in was to use the new CTMH Cricut Cartridge called "Flower Market", hence the lovely little bouquet on the card front.  The "Flower Market" cartridge is really pretty fantastic.  It comes with hundreds of images, both 2-D and 3-D.  Just look at the cover of the Annual Inspirations Catalog:

Those flowers all came from the new cartridge.  Lovely, aren't they?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little card.  I've listed items used below, with links to my website.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Take care.

** I have entered my card in the "Show us your Sea Glass" challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges. **

SUPPLIES USED:

Paper: Rustic Home Fundamentals, Sea Glass, Cocoa & Colonial White cardstock, Sea Glass Glitter paper

Stamps: C1661 Heartfelt Thoughts

Inks: Cocoa

Embellishments: Rustic Home Ribbon Pack, Clear Sparkles
Cricut Cartridge: Flower Market

Other: Colonial White Cards & Envelopes

You make my World go 'Round

I was searching through some boxes in my craft room the other day and ran across more cards I haven't shared here.  Geez, I'm beginning to realize just how many cards I've made over the years.  This was a fun one from a couple years ago.

This paper was part of the "Dream Pop" paper pack.  It was a really bright and fun paper pack introduced for National Scrapbooking month back in May 2013.  The stamp set called "Pinwheel" was the Stamp of the Month that same month.  

This was a super fun stamp set.  It could be used with any paper pack, just by stamping the pinwheel wheels in any color combination that suits your needs.  For this card I was inspired by a very talented fellow CTMH Consultant named Allisa Chilton.  I love all of  her cards!

The "wheels" of the pinwheel were stamped in Cotton Candy, Sunset & Honey inks and coordinated very well with this fun paper pattern.  I added a little bit of foam tape between the pinwheel layers to add more dimension.  I put them together with a large white brad and added a bright colored stir stick (which I found in the break room at work, shhh...).

This is the now retired "Pinwheel" set (which coordinated with CTMH's "Artiste" Cricut Cartridge).  This set really reminds me of summertime.

I hope you enjoyed this card.  Please visit again.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Dream Pop (retired), Honey & White Daisy CS

Stamps: S1305 Pinwheel (retired)

Inks: Cotton Candy, Honey, Sunset

Embellishments: White Daisy Brad (retired), Stir Stick (non CTMH)

Other: Cricut Artiste Cartridge, White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

Hello tweety...

What?  No, it's not a post about Tweety Bird, it's actually the name of the stamp set I used on this card.  I've been working on some ideas for cards for my upcoming card classes, but they're not ready for photos yet.

In the mean time, I thought I'd continue to post some older cards that I haven't shown in the past.  Even though the stamp sets and/or paper may not be available on some of my older cards, I thought they may still inspire you if you're a card maker.  Or if not, maybe it will inspire you to visit my Etsy or Ebay shops.  Can you say shameless plug?  hee hee

This is a card I made a couple years ago with a great paper pack called "Claire".  I had fun with this paper and did an entire card class with it.  The different patterns in this paper pack made it pretty easy to create some nice cards.  This stamp set was fun one too.  I loved the birdcage when I saw it and knew I had to use it.  These "Center Step" cards are great for a long, narrow stamped image.  You can see a sample of another "Center Step" card I made recently HERE.  

When I stamped the birdcage, I used the "rock n' roll" stamping technique.  In case you're unfamiliar with that technique, you stamp the image in a base color and then before stamping that image on your paper, you roll the edges of the stamp in a different ink color (usually darker), then stamp your paper.  If you look closely you can see that I stamped the entire birdcage in Sunset Ink and then rolled the edges in Hollyhock Ink.  It's subtle on this image, but is a pretty effect.  

I also did all of the stamping on the Colonial White paper on the center of the card, then ran that piece of cardstock thru my embossing machine giving it some texture.  After that, I stamped the bird image in Outdoor Denim ink, cut it out and adhered it to the birdcage image.  

I used the Close to My Heart exclusive "Art Philosophy" Cricut Cartridge for the shape the main sentiment is stamped on.  I have all of the CTMH Cricut Cartridges, but I have to say Art Philosophy is still my favorite.  There are approximately 700 different images on this cartridge.  Amazing!  The nice thing about the cartridges is the fact that Close to My Heart has many stamp sets that coordinate with shapes on the different cartridges.  It makes it even more fun to create!  See all of the different images available on Art Philosophy HERE.

I added a piece of Colonial White cardstock to the inside of the card to make it easier to write your special message.  The stamped row of birds is a nice surprise for the recipient too.  

This is the stamp set I used on this card.  Along with the great sentiment on the the front of my card, you can see it also includes a few other sentiments and a lovely vine design.  As I mentioned before, it's called "Hello Tweety" and unfortunately it is a retired set.

Well, thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you've enjoyed my card and maybe were inspired to do something creative today.  :)

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Claire (retired), Outdoor Denim & Colonial White CS

Stamps: B1420 Hello Tweety (retired)

Inks: Hollyhock, Outdoor Denim, Sunset

Embellishments: Outdoor Denim & White Baker's Twine (retired)

Other: Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Micro-tip scissors, Colonial White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

You're Tweet

I'm back today with another throwback card from 2 years ago.  I made this card for my monthly card workshop using Close to My Heart's "Claire" paper and the April 2013 Stamp of the Month "My Sunshine".  I was a big fan of "Claire" when it came out and made several cards using it.  I'll be posting more in future throwback posts.

I fell in love with the bird in the "My Sunshine" stamp set, so I wanted to make it a focus of my card.  This particular Stamp of the Month had several images that coordinated with CTMH's Cricut "Artiste" cartridge.

I used my "Artiste" cartridge to cut the bird out of our Silver Glitter Paper.  Then I stamped the bird in Hollyhock ink, cut it out and centered it up on the Glitter Cricut piece.  The Glitter bird wing is popped up for added interest.  I also framed the "You're Tweet" sentiment with the Silver Glitter Paper.  The photo doesn't do that paper justice, it's so shimmery in person.

And because I think you can never have enough sparkles, I added 3 Sparkles in two of the card's corners and a Bitty Sparkle for the bird's eye.

This is the "My Sunshine" stamp set (now retired).

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you liked my card.  If you have any questions, please use the "Contact Me" link in my side bar.  Ciao!

** Note: And as I've mentioned in my previous posts, I'm also listing some of my cards for sale in both my Etsy shop and my Ebay shop.  You can find the links on the sidebar of this blog.  For the next few months the sales will go towards the cost of a school trip to Italy my 15 year old son will be taking next Spring.  Every little bit helps, right? **

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Claire (retired), Hollyhock & Colonial White CS, Silver Glitter Paper

Stamps: My Sunshine (retired)

Inks: Hollyhock

Embellishments: Clear Sparkles, Bitty Sparkles

Other: Cricut Artiste, Micro-tip scissors, Colonial White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

I mustache you...

I'm going back in time with this card.  I have many from the past that I have never posted, so I figured why not start sharing those as well?  A couple of years ago, back when the mustache trend was big (I'm still digging the mustache trend by the way) I came up with this fun masculine (or not) birthday card for one of my monthly card classes.

The paper I used on this card is Close to My Heart's "Later Sk8r" (now retired, bummer).  However, that fabulous Mustache is still available.  It's from the "Perfect Fit - Dad" stamp set.  It's one of those great stamps that coordinates with one of CTMH's Cricut Cartridges ("Artiste" to be exact), so it will be available for a long time.  Yay!  The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is still available as well.  That set is called "Joyful Birthday".  It has four different birthday fonts to choose from and is a must have stamp set.

I don't make very many masculine cards, but this paper pack lent itself easily to it.  The colors of Outdoor Denim, Pear, Lagoon and Slate are a great color combo.  I actually used my computer to print out the "I... you to have a" text and added the mustache stamped with Outdoor Denim ink and Happy Birthday sentiment stamped with Pear ink.  I added a piece of polka-doted washi tape and tied on some baker's twine and voila, easy peasy.

Actually, I think I'm going to pull out my supplies and make a few more of these for my Ebay & Etsy shops.  They'd be a great card for an adult or teen, don't you think?

Here are the two stamp sets I used; "Perfect Fit - Dad"

& "Joyful Birthday"

As I mentioned, some of the supplies I used to make this card are no longer available, but several still are.  I will list the supplies at the bottom of this post, including links to those items that are still available on my CTMH website.

As always, thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you again.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Later Sk8r (retired), White Daisy, Outdoor Denim & Lagoon CS

Stamps: Joyful Birthday, Perfect Fit - Dad

Inks: Pear, Outdoor Denim

Embellishments: Slate Polka-Dot Washi Tape (retired), Baker's Twine (non-ctmh)

Other: Artiste Cricut Collection, Micro-tip scissors, White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

Don't worry...

...be Happy.  Don't worry, be happy now.  Oo, ooo...  You're welcome for today's ear worm. lol

I made this "Be Happy" card for a swap I participated in a few months ago.  My required paper was "Brushed" from Close to My Heart.   (Several of the "Brushed" cards I've previously posted were part of a swap too.)  It is such a fun, colorful paper to work with.

I was also required to use the newest Cricut collection sold by CTMH, "Artfully Sent".  All of Close to My Heart's Cricut collections are wonderful.  Each cartridge has approximately 700 images included.  That's crazy good!

"Artfully Sent" is a cartridge more focused on card making.  There are so many fancy cut cards, pop-up cards, just about everything you could ask for.

This card is a little larger than the cards I normally make.  It's a 5x7 size, which is fun for a change.  The White Daisy cardstock piece on the front of my card was cut with the Cricut cartridge.  I just added some pieces of the different papers from Brushed under each letter.  The yellow chevron pattern in the "P" came from the Paper Fundamentals - Whimsy paper pack (another great pack to have on hand).

I layered this on Pixie pink cardstock that I embossed with our Dot Embossing Folder.  I also used three of the pennant stickers from the Brushed Compliments, popped them up and added a string of Pixie Extra Thick Twine to make it seem like they're hanging across the corner of the card.  The word "be" was stamped in Pixie ink using the "Handwritten Print" stamp set.  And lastly, I added little White Enamel Stars on three of the letters in lieu of a hole.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will "be Happy" today.

SUPPLIES:

Paper: Brushed, White Daisy & Pixie Cardstock, Paper Fundamentals - Whimsy

Stamps: Handwritten Print

Inks: Pixie

Embellishments: Brushed Compliments, White Enamel Stars, Pixie Extra Thick Twine

Tools: Artfully Sent Cricut Collection, Dot Embossing Folder