Month: November 2014

More Christmas ideas from CTMH

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Close to My Heart6 Comments

Welcome again

Wow it is not very long now until Christmas although my North American friends have Thanksgiving coming up shortly.  I am still working on Christmas ideas and I absolutely love the Yuletide Carol papers with the Victorian feel to the papers and they are so versatile for lots of different projects.

Today I will feature three different ideas for using these gorgeous papers.

First up are three cards that I have made using patterns from Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 and inspiration from the Annual Inspirations book.  I have also used wet embossing to create the shiny effect on these cards.  I have been making cards for 20 years now and the first technique I learnt was wet embossing and I was so thrilled to see CTMH bring back embossing powders and I have finally  had the chance to use the powders that I have bought.

Christmas card 3

For this card I have embossed the baubles from the Holiday Cheer stamp set with gold powder on Ruby cardstock and then fussy cut them out.  This card is similar to one that I did earlier on and I changed it a little to make it easier to cut up for classes.  The bow has been cut out of the Artiste cartridge and finished with a bling gold gem.

Christmas Card 2

This card has been inspired from the Annual Inspirations Book and using the pattern from MIFYH book Volume 2 pattern 28.  This is such a simple card design but is so versatile and here I have used two different papers and also Ruby cardstock for the panels.  I have stamped the Noel from the Noel stamp set and the sentiment is also from the same stamp set.  I love the Curlicue stamp set from the Artfully Sent cartridge and now have a supply ready to go.  The frame has also been embossed with gold embossing powder.  The holly wreath is from the Noel stamp set and I have stamped it on scrap Colonial White cardstock and fussy cut it out to place at the top and coloured in the ribbon with the Shinhan Touch Twin Carmine marker.

Christmas Card 1This card has also been inspired by the Annual Inspirations book and the MIFYH book Volume 2 pattern 23.  Very quick and easy to do but a stunning card just topped off with gold sequins.

I then made some tags using different tag shapes from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and using the Yuletide Carol papers decorated them to make little packs for sale.

Christmas tagsI have used a number of different stamp sets – Seasons Tweetings, Yuletide Carol WOTG and Sweet Salutations.

Finally I have decorated some Kraft bags with the Yuletide Carol papers and  Cricut cuts from the Art Philosophy and Artbooking cartridges.  I bought the Kraft bags from my local $2 shop and I am pleased how they have turned out.  It is always good to stretch myself out of my comfort zone of cards and scrapbooking.  And they did not take very long to make!

Yuletide Carol Kraft Bags

For this bag I have cut the deer out of the Artbooking cartridge and put the washing tape directly onto the bag for a softer look.  The bauble is from the Home for the Holidays SOTM set from October.  The ‘T0 and From’ for the gift tag is from the Holiday Tags stamp set .  I think this stamp set is one of my favourites because it is so versatile for lots of different projects.

Yuletide Carol Kraft bag with reindeer

This particular paper is my favourite paper – it is so whimsical and on the back is the most beautiful roses and it is hard to decide what side to choose.  This time I have put the washi tape onto the same colour cardstock to create a stronger colour.  I have used Ruby chevron ribbon (free from last months Ribbon special) and Slate chevron ribbon.Yuletide Carol Kraft bag with stockings

Materials used:

Cardstock – Ruby, New England Ivy, Cocoa, Colonial White, Cashmere

Paper – Yuletide Carol

Stamps – Home for the Holidays (NLA), Holiday Tags, Just to Say… Cricut Collection, Yuletide Carol WOTG, Curlicue Frames Cricut Collection, Seasons Tweetings, Sweet Salutations, Noel

Inks – Ruby, Versamark, New England Ivy

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Art Philosophy, Artfully Sent and Artbooking

Embossing powder – gold

Washi tape – Ruby chevron, Topiary mini chevron

Ribbon – Ruby chevron, Slate chevron

Shinhan Touch Twin marker – Carmine

Gold sequins

Gold shimmer trim

Bling Gems Gold Assortments

Most of these products will be available for sale at Gift Hutt.  I also have some kits available for sale for the cards.  Please feel free to contact me through this blog – they can be pre stamped and just ready to put together if you would prefer.

As usual all these products (except for the Kraft bags) are available from my website here.

Happy crafting

Patricia

 

 

Close to My Heart Artfully Sent Christmas Card

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Cricut, Stamping6 Comments

Welcome back

I have been very busy doing more Christmas cards and lots of other goodies for Gift Hutt.  Today  I would like to show you a card made using the new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge.  I have been having problems using Cricut Craftroom so had not been able to do much for a couple of weeks, but finally yesterday I was able to cut again.  I am still getting used to the new cartridge and  I have seen some amazing pieces of artwork on various Facebook groups I belong to.

For this card I have cut out the scene card on page 47 of the booklet at 7″ out of Glacier cardstock.  I then cut out a piece of White Daisy cardstock at 4 3/4″ x 6 3/4″ to use for the scene.  This is the first time I have sponged a background and it is not perfect but still gives an idea of creating the scene.  There are a number of different videos on YouTube if you would like instructions on how to do this.  To create the snow hills I have used scrap cardstock shaped to create the hills and I have used a combination of Glacier and Indian Corn Blue inks for the snow and added some Outdoor Denim for extra depth around the moon.  To make the moon I cut out a circle from a post it not at 1 1/2″ and used that to sponge the colours around to create the moon.  I softened the moon by sponging lightly over with Glacier ink.  I then stamped the Santa Claus from the Santa Claus Holiday stamp set with Slate ink to create the depth of the image.

CTMH Artfully Sent Christmas CardThe trees were cut out of New England Ivy cardstock using the Artbooking Cricut cartidge. I wrinkled the trees a little to create some dimension and then I used some white liquid applique on the trees for a snow effect (available on special while stocks last).  The deer and cute little bird has been cut from the Artfully Sent cartridge in Chocolate cardstock and I ripped a piece of green paper from the Yuletide Carol paper pack for the effect of grass in the foreground and the ripped edge has come up looking like snow. (Unfortuanately, CTMH do not provide glitter for sale as some prisma glitter over the applique would have just finished the project of so well – extra sparkle would have been good.)

Here is a close up view of the scene I have created:

CTMH Artfully Sent Christmas Card scene

I stamped the sentiment from the Holiday Cheer stamp set using Glacier ink on White Daisy cardstock and matted it with New England Ivy cardstock and placed it on the front.  I then placed white enamel stars for a snow effect on the front.

My technique could do with some practice but I am still happy at how the card has turned out for my first effort.  And the good news is that CTMH  provide 5″ x 7″ envelopes to match so this card will be for sale at Gift Hutt and would make a very special card to give someone.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Glacier, New England Ivy, Chocolate, 

Paper – Yuletide Carol

Inks – Glacier, Slate, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim

Cricut Cartridges – Artfully Sent, Artbooking

Stamps – Holiday Cheer, Santa Claus Holiday

White enamel stars

I have some more Christmas ideas coming up and will post them over the next week.

Have a great week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

Sustainable Christmas Tree with CTMH

On By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts7 Comments

Welcome

I have just had a very productive morning this morning crafting with my aunt.  She had seen this idea on Pinterest of using corks from wine bottles and making a Christmas tree and we finally got around to making them up.

We made two trees  – the first one I decorated with the stickers from the Cut Above Holiday  Treat Bag kit.  These packs are great for treat bags and they come with lots of stickers to decorate.

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When my aunt was working at a rest home she collected the used wine bottle corks and today we got together to make up the trees.  She had bought a small oval box from the local $2 shop and filled it with sand.  She then covered it with some gold coloured textured wallpaper to create the base of the tree.  This came up really well and looks just like a log of wood.  Then we got the hot glue gun out and glued the corks together.  We first glued the six bottom corks together and then worked our way up to the single cork at the top.  The corks were different sizes and shapes which makes for an interesting tree shape.  I made the mistake of putting the stickers on first but I should have left them to after the tree was completed and then I could have coordinated them better and also they would have been straighter as well.  Never mind it still came up well.  My aunt had the star and we cut a groove at the top and glued the star in place.

Cork Christmas tree using CTMH Cut Above Christmas Treat bag stickers

It didn’t take very long at all and we were very pleased with the result.

And here is the second tree my aunt made using different brads.  As you can see it is quite effective.

Cork Christmas TreeI hope that I have inspired you to create something different and out of the box.

Happy Crafting.

Patricia

 

 

CTMH Yuletide Carol Pic Folio Album

On By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Holidays, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Welcome back.

It is not that long to Christmas now and I have been busy with Christmassy things such as Christmas cards and decorations.  However, I have taken some time out to complete this My Creations Hip Pic album.   I have been looking at these albums for some time and I was inspired by my upline, Grace Green, who created a similar album using the Yuletide Carol papers.  I love these papers as they are so traditional and the patterns are beautiful.  Some of them are too beautiful to cover with photos in fact.

The Hip Pic albums are  sturdy kraft chipboard albums with  16 white pocket photo pages with 3¾” × 3¾” windows that hold 16 – 4″ × 6″ photos and are spiral-bound. You can decorate as much or as little as you want and they will look fabulous.  These are very inexpensive and great to decorate up with lovely papers and embellishments and give as a gift.

Z1956

 

I have done the front of the album utilising the lovely image of the stockings and the bird.  Inside I have used an assortment of stamps and die cuts from the Artbooking and Artfully Sent cartridges to decorate the pages.

CTMH Yuletide Carol Pic Folio albumMaterials used:

Cardstock – Ruby, New England Ivy, Topiary, Black, Colonial White, Cocoa

Paper – Yuletide Carol

Yuletide Carol Assortments

Stamps – Noel Holiday, Charming Chevrons, Artfully Sent – Just to Say…

Inks – Ruby, Black, New England Ivy

Washi Tape – Topiary Chevron, Gold Polka Dot, Silver Geometric

Gold gems

Chevron sparkles

Cricut Cartridge – Artbooking, Artfully Yours

Scallop punch

All these materials and the album are available for purchasing through my website here.

This album will be for sale at Gift Hutt.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

 

 

CTMH Scaredy Cat Waterfall Folio Album

On By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart4 Comments

Welcome back.

As promised here is the other waterfall folio album I have made using Scaredy Cat papers this time.  I struggled with this one as I kept making mistakes and the finished product is lots of cover ups but I am really pleased how it turned out.  I was really unsure of the Scaredy Cat papers as it is for Halloween which we don’t really celebrate here in New Zealand.  However, there is only one sheet that is Halloween focused and the rest can be used for lots of different projects.  The colours are so vibrant and strong and it was good to get out of my comfort zone of pastel colours.

Here is the link again for the instructions on how to make the albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLbHLZUAPeo&feature=share

Here is the front of the album.  I have used the Artbooking cartridge to cut the sentiment and the Artiste cartridge to cut the flowers out of Sunset cardstock.  The flowers have been cut and at 2″ and 1 1/2″ and I have inked the edges of the flowers with Sunset ink.  I have used the Mini-Medley Accent Black collection for the embellishments which really make this stand out.  The leaves have been cut from Pear cardstock to soften the arrangement.

Scaredy Cat waterfall folio album

 

Here is a close up of the flowers:

CTMH Scaredy Cat Flowers

Here is the inside of the album:

CTMH Scaredy Cat Waterfall folio album inner

Because the paper had a one way pattern  I kept cutting it wrong but as I said before I am happy with how this has turned out.  There seems to be a good balance with the patterns and paper.  I was intending on using some flip flaps but unfortunately I seem to have mislaid them.  The sentiment has come from the Take Note Cricut Bundle from the Artbooking cartridge.

I have also made some other items with the Scaredy Cat papers (including the hat) and here they are displayed at Gift Hutt.  They looked great in the window.1012925_347741242052382_8213987507050438331_n

20141028_150244 (1)

Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Sunrise, Black, Thistle, Pear

Paper – Scaredy Cat

Inks – Sunrise,

Stamps – Take Note Cricut Bundle Artbooking

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Artbooking

Mini-Medley Accents – Black

Corner Rounder

Liquid Glass.

I really enjoyed making all of these items and I hope that it inspires you to do the same.  All the products used are available from my website here.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

CTMH Austalasian SOTM Blog Hop – ‘It’s the Little Things’

On By patriciamanhireIn CTMH SOTM, Stamping46 Comments

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Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Jenny’s blog – The Creative Heart 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 my creations which features the November Stamp of the Month ‘It’s the Little Things’  available exclusively throughout November for $33 or just $5 when you spend $75.


1411-sotm-stamp

I love this whimsical stamp set as it is so versatile for all sorts of projects and today I have done a card and a box featuring the flowers.

CTMH Artfully Sent Card with Nov. SOTM It's the Little Things

This card has been cut using the Artfully Sent cartridge in the shape of a cage and there is a matching card liner to coordinate featuring a bird so that it looks like the bird is in the cage.  I have stamped the flowers and leaves and fussy cut them all out.  This stamp set is great for those that do not have a Cricut machine to cut shapes to fit the stamps.    There are all sorts of flowers that are great for layering but here I have made them single flowers to create a garland of flowers draping over the bird cage with just a peep of the bird in the cage.  I love tone on tone stamping and have used Thistle ink on Thistle cardstock and Glacier ink on Glacier cardstock.

Here is the inside of the card:

CTMH Artuflly Sent card with Nov SOTM It' the Little Things inner

The second project has been inspired by the Annual Inspiration book.  I am really enjoying making three dimensional objects with the Artiste cartridge and the Paper Fundamentals papers combine really well with making boxes.

CTMH Nov SOTM Its the Little Things

I have used the Sorbet  coloured paper fundamentals paper and created the box out of page  44 of the Artiste booklet.  I then used the Artfully Sent cartridge and cut the pocket card from page 20 and then placed flowers and leaves on the front and finished the front with the ‘Just for You’ sentiment.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier, Colonial White, Thistle, Cocoa, White Daisy, Sorbet, Sweet Leaf, Canary

Paper – Paper Fundamentals Whimsy pack

Inks – Thistle, Glacier, Canary, Sorbet, Pear, Sweet Leaf,

Embossing Folder – Dots

Sparkles

It’s the Little Things is only available until 30 November from your CTMH consultant. I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop,  Denise’s Blog, Scrap Stamp Share.

Happy Crafting

Patricia