Month: November 2013

Christmas Cards and Treats

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Die Cuts, Holidays, Stamping4 Comments

Welcome back.

Well it is that time of the week for another blog post.  This time I am just going to show some Christmas cards and party favours that I have been making while I have been working on a big project for our next blog hop on the 1st November focusing on the December Stamp of the Month – Special Care.

I am loving the papers from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.  They are so beautiful and the colours coordinate so well.  I have also done some layouts using the WOTG Sparkle and Shine kit and once I have printed some more photos I will post them on here.  I am so pleased with how they turned out as I have used the recipes in the Make it from the Heart series of books.  This has made it a lot easier to get good layouts and then I could concentrate on coordinating papers and embellishments to finish off the pages.

Back to the cards.   Christmas cardThis card recipe is rapidly becoming one of my favourite designs.  It is from the Make It from the Heart Volume 1 which is a great source of recipes for both scrapbook layouts and cards and is sooo cheap for quick inspiration (just $12 per book!).  So quick and easy to mix and match colours and papers and these patterns go so well together.  I have also used different stamp sets and I was really pleased how they turned out and actually did this card in a class last week and they turned out well.  I had pre-cut everything and the Cricut has come in so handy – I have used the Artiste cartridge here.

The stamp sets I have used are:  Perfect-Fit Birthday Occasions, Perfect-Fit – Frames 2 Occasions and Magical Days Holiday from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.

CTMH card using Sparkle and Shine papers and SOTM set Scandinavian Wishes

I have never really used alphabet stamps before so I am pleased this has turned out well.  This is another simple card that did not need special equipment to make – just a good accurate trimmer like the Fiskars Surecut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer that is available from my shop.  (Just as an aside I have been doing a lot of cutting and had to get some more blades quickly, and I won’t be doing that again as the blades were more expensive at the local Warehouse Stationary than what I can pay retail through Close to My Heart!).  I am using bakers twine more often now and the sparkles add the shine to the card.

The stamp sets I have used are:  Urban Alphabet, Scandanavian Wishes – November SOTM.

???????????????????For this card  I have been inspired by a card by a fellow CTMH consultant, Wanda, and here is my take on it.  I have used my Cricut (Art Philosophy) to cut out the frame and the holly leaves, berries and the flame.  The holly leaves have been embossed by hand to give some shape to the leaves and the edges were distressed with Topiary ink (I have used Olive cardstock).  The berries were cut out of Ruby cardstock and I have used my Liquid Glass to create some dimension and make them stand out.  The flame was cut using a petal shape and I have stamped the candle on the base of the petal.  

The stamp sets I have used are:  Scandanavian Wishes (October SOTM)  and Illuminate (November SOTM – available for $5 if you spend over $75 – be in quick though as this will no longer be available after the end of the month).

Finally here some party favours that I have made from the Artiste and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges.  I have put little chocolate bars inside them and used them as little thank you gifts for the ladies attending my classes at the Upper Hutt Library.

??????????????????Christmas boxThe stamp sets I have used here are: Banner Wishes Occasions and Santa Claus Holiday – both from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.

Just a reminder that you can choose one ‘star’ product free for every $150 you spend in both the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide or the 2013 Product Launch Guide.  This great deal is available through until the 31st December 2013 or until stocks last.

1310-cc-holidays-from-the-heart-au_nzPlease feel free to click on the links to my website to go shopping for any of these products or contact me for further information.

My next blog post will feature the December SOTM – Special Care.  I can’t wait to show you what I have been up to.

In the meantime have a great week.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

CTMH Rosette Christmas Tree

On By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Holidays, Stamping7 Comments

Welcome to my blog – especially to all my new followers.  I hope that you find some inspiration from my creative endeavours just I find inspiration from other blogs and blog hops.

Today I will be showing my version of the rosette Christmas tree that is shown front of our Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.  Here is the picture on the front of the Holiday Gift Guide.

1310-cc-holidays-from-the-heart-au_nz

There are instructions for doing the rosettes with the Artiste Cricut cartridge and Jenny Gilbert has really detailed instructions here.  However, I have been asked to teach my friends at Crafty Angels how to make these trees so I have done mine by hand so they are able to go home and do their own.

Here is my version of the tree:

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I have adapted the instructions from the archives of Close to My Heart which used a scoring board and a trimmer to make the tree.

The papers that I have used are the Sparkle and Shine papers from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide and they pleat so easily.

Before cutting the paper I used my ScorPal to score all the papers at 1/2″ intervals as it made it a lot easier to cut and pleat later.

I have cut the following pieces:

3 strips of 3″ x 12″

3 strips of 2 3/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 2 1/2″ x 12″

2 strips of 2 1/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 2″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 3/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 1/2″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 1/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 1″ x 12″

1 strip of 3/4″ x 12″

20 circles – I have used a 1 3/4″ punch for the larger circles and my CCS from CM for cutting two small circles for the top rosette.

As you can see I have reduced the size by 1/4 inch each so make the tree graduate to a point.  You could use another small rosette of 3/4″ x 12″ to place at the top of the tree but I have used my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out snowflakes for the top of the tree as well as smaller snowflakes to decorate the tree.  The smaller white snowflakes have had glue applied and I have sprinkled some prisma glitter to give some glitter.  I have also stamped the stars from the Sparkle and Shine WOTG stamp set and fussy cut them out and put some sparkles in the middle of them for a bit of ‘sparkle and shine’.

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I have not used a hot glue gun as my skin does not heal easily and I still have scars from last Christmas on my fingers!  But I have discovered Liquid Glass from CTMH to be a really great adhesive for making the adhesive (and for rolling flowers).  The Liquid Glass gives you about a minute to manipulate into place and then it sets really quickly and it did not take me long to do the rosettes.  There are lots of videos on YouTube to show you have to form the rosettes  (I am sorry but I couldn’t find the particular one that I used).  I made sure I had the circles close by to place them on the rosette quickly before I lost the shape.  Because the adhesive set very quickly it did not take long.  Foam squares have been used in between the rosettes as well for additional height.

To finish I had to purchase some green and red ribbon as I did not have Ruby Chevron ribbon or the ribbon to dye with the re-inkers like they have in America.

The materials I have used are:

Sparkle and Shine B&T Duos

Slate cardstock

Daisy White Cardstock

Juniper Ink

Slate Ink

Ruby Ink

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Foam squares

Non-stick scissors

Bonding Memories glue

Liquid Glass

Clear Sparkles

Prisma Glitter

Purchased ribbons.

I hope that you are inspired to make your own version of the tree.  A shorter version would look great as Christmas place settings with names on them, or doing a group of three different sizes would look nice as decorations together as well.

Have a great week as we spiral onwards towards Christmas.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

Australasian Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Stamping17 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard the Australasian Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Mandy’s Blog, Hall of Indulgence, then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you these cards which features the November  stamp of the month “Illuminate”. I have enjoyed the challenge of working with this stamp set as it is quite different to what I normally work with and I hope you like my offering.

I love working with clear acrylic stamps and Close to My Heart clear My Acrylix stamps are the best quality I have ever used over too many years I care to remember!  With clear stamps it is so easy to place your stamps accurately on your paper and with these samples I have tried to show you how you can link up stamps to create a more complete image.

To start with I did some basic cards but decided that I needed to do something a little different with yet another folded card.  I searched Google and ended up on Split Coast Stampers again for a recessed window card.  The link for this tutorial is here.  I also wanted to convey a message of light shining on Mary and child and the birth of Christianity.

Here is my version using the “Illuminate Stamp” and “Mary and Babe” stamp sets and the lovely silver paper from Holiday from the Heart Gift Guide. Recessed window card using CTMH November SOTM Illuminate , and Holidays from the Here are some close ups to show more details of this card. Recessed window card using CTMH November SOTM Illuminate , and Holidays from the_0002 I have stamped the image of the Mary and Babe in slate grey on the background cardstock slightly to the right of the card to take into account the lantern that would be hanging there. Recessed window card using CTMH November SOTM Illuminate , and Holidays from the_0001To create the lamp post I have stamped the image on a piece of scrap cardstock and then fussy cut out the image and then using a sharp craft knife I have cut out around the swirls on the top of the lamp post.  When fussy cutting or cutting with a knife it is very important to move the paper or card around and not your scissors or knife as you get a better result. I have used alcohol markers (buttercup) to colour in the lamp to create a little bit of colour (and create the image of light shining onto Mary and her baby) to a very serene silver/grey colour scheme.  To stamp the yellow rays of light on the base card I have put the lantern in the approximate place it would end up and then marked the spot with a pencil and then stamped with buttercup ink to create the rays of light.  I have used my Bonding Memories glue to adhere the lamp post onto the side of the card and then put two layers of foam adhesive to create the correct height of the lantern with the recessed window, and to stabilise the lantern. Recessed window card using CTMH November SOTM Illuminate , and Holidays from the_0002Using my Cricut I cut out the sentiment shape and then stamped the sentiment from “Illuminate” in black.  I also cut out the edging on the shape from Twilight cardstock and glued it onto the background shape.  I felt that it needed a little more black and balance so added the black bakers twine.  I finished off with some sparkles to add a little shine. Here are my first efforts with the “lluminate” stamp set: CTMH November SOTM Illuminate CTMH November SOTM Illuminate CTMH November SOTM Illuminate The materials I have used are:

November SOTM set – “Illuminate” Holidays from the Heart – “Mary and Babe”

Daisy White cardstock

Black cardstock

Twilight cardstock

Buttercup cardstock

Juniper cardstock Slate

Cardstock Holidays from the Heart Sparkle and Shine B&T Duos 

Buttercup alcohol markers

Black and white bakers twine

Cuttlebug embossing folder – Swiss Dots

Cricut – Art Philosophy cartridge

Clear sparkles Adhesives –

Tombow tape runner and Bonding Memories glue

This exclusive stamp of the month is only available during November. It can be yours for just $5 with a qualifying order of $75 or for $29 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order in my online store.  I’d love you to leave a comment and some liking before heading off to the next stop, Monika’s blog, A Sprinkle of Glitter.

Happy Crafting Patricia

Christmas is Coming!

On By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Die Cuts, Holidays, Stamping12 Comments

Welcome back.

Today I am doing something completely different from my usual cards and/or scrapbook layouts.  Christmas is not too far away and I have been inspired by the lovely ornaments featured in the Product Launch Guide from Close to My Heart on page 44 (Aus/NZ version).

For my ornaments I have used last month’s Stamp of the Month set Scandinavian Wishes heart image and lots of different colour inks.  Here is my efforts:

Heart Christmas ornamentsThey are really easy to do and the hardest part was picking colours to stamp with.  Here is a quick tutorial for you to make your own.

1) Using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge cut out the heart shapes at 2 inches.  I have used the fill option to fill the entire sheet and cut out 25 hearts.

Making hearts with my Cricut E22)  Stamp the heart image on four shapes.

Heart Christmas ornaments3)  I used my Fiskars trimmer scoring blade (but you can use a ruler and scoring blade or whatever you have available)  score down the middle of the heart and then fold the heart in half with the stamped image towards the middle.

Heart Christmas ornaments Heart Christmas ornaments4) On one half of a heart use a good strong glue – I have used CTMH Bonding Memories glue  which bonds really quickly and then put the 2nd heart onto it and try to get it matching as much as you can.

Heart Christmas ornaments5)   Glue the other half of the heart and place the third heart onto the ornament.

Heart Christmas ornaments6)  Glue the last two sides and place the final heart onto it and making sure that you get it as close as possible to the centre of the hearts.

Heart Christmas ornaments Heart Christmas ornaments7)  Using a piercing tool pierce a hole at the top of the hearts and then using a needle thread your string through (I have used bakers twine) and tie a knot at the base of the heart and one at the end of the twine to enable you to hang your ornament on your Christmas tree.  

Heart Christmas ornaments Heart Christmas ornamentsVoila a Christmas tree ornament!

It is so easy and I hope that you can give it a go as well.

Materials used:

Colonial White cardstock

Pacifica ink

Stamp of the Month set – Scandinavian Wishes

Baker’s twine

Bonding Memories Glue 

Piercing tool

Needle

Scissors

Next week will be our next Australasian blog hop featuring this month’s Stamp of the Month Set – ‘Illuminate’.  I can’t wait to see what everyone has done with this stamp set.

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Have a good week and see you next weekend.

Happy Crafting

Patricia