Category: Close to My Heart

Some Jackson Masculine Cards

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping4 Comments

Welcome back

I had some computer problems last week so I am a little late with this post.  Normally I love feminine cards with lots of flowers so this week I will be featuring some masculine cards.  I love how CTMH has a lovely range of papers especially for masculine layouts and cards and In the Seasonal Expressions 2  they have released the Jackson range of papers.  I must admit to really struggling with this paper range as it has brown in it.  I love all colours except I cannot handle brown – a very long story.

But there is enough blue to offset the brown trims in these papers and here are three quick cards I have made with the papers and the Hats Off Hostess stamp set.  

_DSC0774

 

I love the simplicity of this card with a little bow tie from the Stuck on You Puffies embellishments.

_DSC0777

The clock on this card has been cut using the Artiste cartridge and I have stamped the clock image with slate and sponged the edges with Whisper.

_DSC0775

The hat in this card has been stamped and then fussy cut and placed on the card using the thin foam tape for a bit of dimension.  The little puffie stickers just add the finishing touches.

 

Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Barnyard Red

Paper – Jackson

Stamps – Hats Off – Hostess stamp

Inks – Slate, Black, Whisper

Stuck on You Puffies

Cricut Artiste cartridge

These products are still available until the end of this month when the new Annual Inspirations book comes out.  Please visit my website here to purchase any products.

There are some gorgeous new products coming out and this week there is a blog hop for the new Zoe papers which are just beautiful.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

 

Australasian CTMH SOTM Blog Hop – Framed

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Cricut, CTMH SOTM, Stamping36 Comments

1255207_10202500725937312_859120681790975122_n

Hello and welcome aboard ourStamp of the month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Meryl’s blog Mez’s Craft Room,  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.

c7e735cf-9ee4-441e-882c-766231aacbd4

Today I would like to share with you several cards and a special project which features the August Stamp of the Month Framed available exclusively throughout August for $33 or for just $5 when you spend $75.  This stamp set is a MUST HAVE for cardmakers.  The frames are wonderful and easy to cut out if you have no Cricut machine and the sentiments fit every occasion you can think of.   However, if you are lucky to have the new Artistry cartridge then you can use that to cut the frames out.

Before moving onto the cards I would like to share a little box that have made using the Artiste cartridge and the paper fundamentals (whimsy).  I have cut the flower out using a combination of Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges and placed it on the front and added a little framed tag for a special box.  It didn’t take very long at all once I had it all the pieces together.  I finished with a little heart from the Stuck on You Puffies – on the while supplies last list.

_DSC0750

 

I really enjoy using contrasting colours and this card uses Lagoon and Sorbet colours together which picks up the colours of the flowers in the patterned paper from the Blossom Reflections pack.

_DSC0762

#CTMH SOTM Framed

 

I am going to miss the Seaside papers as they are wonderful for masculine cards.  Here I have used one of the stickers from the Complements pack.

_DSC0758

For this card I have cut out the flowers and leave from the patterned paper and layered them on the card.

#CTMH SOTM Framed

I love the Yuletide Carol papers as they are so traditional for Christmas and the complements are beautiful as well.  For these Christmas cards I have used gold embossing to add to the traditional feel to the cards. (Unfortunately, a lot of other people thought the same and the papers and complements are now sold out!)

#CTMH SOTM Framed

I have looked at this little bird for a long time on the Art Philosophy cartridge and finally used it with this card to add a whimsical accent to the card.

#CTMH SOTM Framed

 

This paper does not need a lot of embellishments and the small sticker and the frame with the sentiment just adds j the finishing touches to this card.

Framed is only available until 30 August from your CTMH consultant here.  I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Lauren’s Blog, CTMH Craftings.

Materials Used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Colonial White, Lagoon, Sorbet, Sweet Leaf, Flaxen. Kraft, Cashmere, Ruby, New England Ivy, Pear, Pixie

Papers – Blossom, Brushed, Seaside, Yuletide Carol, Whimsy Paper Fundamentals

Complements – Seaside, Yuletide Carol, Brushed

Stamp – Framed

Inks – Cotton Candy, Lagoon, Versamark, Desert Sand, Black, Pear, Pixie

Ranger embossing powder – gold

Cricut – Art Philosophy

Gold Shimmer Trim

Aqua Dots

Gold Bling

Durables round studs

Extra thick twine – Pixie

Stuck on You Puffies

 

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

More from Blossom

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping11 Comments

Welcome back

We are almost at the end of the Seasonal Expressions 2 book and I am really going to miss the Blossom range of products from this book.  The colours are so beautiful and can be used for a wide range of projects from masculine to feminine and babies.  I am normally a pink girl but Blossom has turned me around.  One of my first purchases from the Seasonals Expression 2 catalogue was the Blossom WOTG Card Making kit.  The stamps were gorgeous and I will be using them a lot for a long time.

Here are a couple of cards I have made using the stamp set and the  ideas from the WOTG ideas booklet.  The first card is using the background to one of the cards but I have turned it into a portrait card and ‘hung’ the sentiment up with some Glacier extra thick twine.  I have used the leaf stamp and then cut out the flowers from the Art Philosophy cartridge page at 1″ .  I curled up the petals using the end of a paint brush to get a little dimension.  I have finished with some clear sparkles, Coral Sequins and Junebug Puffies.

2015-07-19 09.47.14

 

 

2015-07-20 07.54.41

The second card has been turned around again and this time I have made a trim using the retired zipper lace in Lagoon to add something extra to the card.  It fitted in well with Pear cardstock and a strip of the floral patterned paper.

 

 

Materials used:

Cardstock – Pear, Kraft, White Daisy

Paper – Blossom

Stamps – Blossom WOTG

Inks – Pear, Black, Glacier

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Extra Thick Twine – Glacier

Clear Sparkles

Coral Sequins

Junebug Puffies

The Blossom WOTG is still available for sale on my website here – but you will need to be quick as some of the current products are selling out very quickly.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Get Well Wishes from CTMH

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Cricut11 Comments

Welcome back.

I am getting low on get well cards at Gift Hutt so I got down to work to make these lovely cards.  I am finding that I am using my Artfully Sent cartridge more and more for unique and individual cards and I particularly love the lattice sleeve cards to create backgrounds for my embellishments.

For these cards I have used all four CTMH cartridges – Artfully Sent, Art Philosophy, Artiste and Artbooking.  I love using Cricut Craftroom to put all the images together to help make it easier to cut the images out.  I have used the sleeve from page 16 of the booklet and cut them at 4″ x 5 1/2″ and I have backed the lattice with Glacier cardstock for a lovely soft combination.

The frame has been cut from the Artbooking cartridge page 47 using White Daisy cardstock at 4″.  For the first card I cut the centre out but then I had a ‘doh’ moment and used the hide/contour function to cut the full background image out for the second card.

The flowers are what I have left from previous projects.  The flowers are cut from both the Artiste cartridge – page 54 in the booklet and the Art Philosophy cartridge – page 50 of the booklet.  To see how I have made these flowers please click here.  I have coloured the centres of the flowers in Canary ink and sponged the edges in Pixie ink.

The leaves have been cut in Pear cardstock from the Artiste page 54 – I am sorry I cut these some time ago and can’t remember what size I cut them out (possibly about 1 1/2″)

I have stamped the image from Sincere Expressions (which is sadly retiring) in Outdoor Denim ink (which is also retiring).

To finish off I have used Junebug Puffies to create the look of forget me knot flowers and some white shimmer trim.

#CTMH Artfully Sent

Here is the second one with the centre that has not been cut out.  As you can see it is better without the cut.

#CTMH Artfully Sent

Here are some close ups.

#CTMH Artfully Sent

#CTMH Artfully Sent

#CTMH Artfully Sent

 

Materials used:

Cardstock- White Daisy, Pear, Glacier

Stamps – Sincere expressions

Ink – Pixie, Canary, Outdoor Denim

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

Junebug Puffies

Gold Glitter Gems

White Shimmer Trim

It is that time of the year for a new Annual Inspirations book to be released with a lot of new products and to make room for these new products there are a large number of current products retiring.  Please check out my website here for a list of retiring products and get in quick before they disappear.  There is also more products on the ‘while supplies last’ button.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

Some More Elegance from CTMH

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Cricut8 Comments

Welcome back.

It is a very short post tonight following on my last post on white on white cards.  I really like the simplicity of white on white for sympathy cards and here I have combined embossing with rolled roses from the  Artiste cartridge and leaves from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I love using the frames from the Artfully Sent cartridge and here I have used the Silver embossing powder for extra elegance.

#CTMH Sympathy cards #CTMH Sympathy cards

 

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy

Stamp set – Sincere Expressions, Curlicue Frames (Artfully Sent Cricut Collection)

Ink – Versamark

Ranger Silver Embossing Powder

Cricut Cartridges – Artfully Sent, Artiste, Art Philosophy

Embossing Folders – Damask, Spots

Clear Sparkles

White Shimmer Trim

These cards have been teamed with the box envelope that I designed here and are now for sale at Gift Hutt.

These cards are very quick and easy to make and would suit a wedding card as well with an appropriate sentiment.

These products are available from my website here – and don’t forget to check out the new items that are now on special in the While Supplies last button as well as all the products that will be retiring at the end of August.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australasian CTMH SOTM Blog Hop – Life is Wonderful

On By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, CTMH SOTM, Scrapbooking16 Comments

10001517_10152327088764808_982230598_n

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.

65bc62af-4491-4b56-8d98-eeb954b1e64b

Today I would like to share with you this layout  that I have made which features July Stamp of the Month Life is Wonderful available exclusively throughout June for NZ$33 or for just NZ $5 when you spend NZ$75.

My son was very fortunate to have gone to Japan on a school trip and  I have finally started scrapping his photos.  I have not used the Wanderful papers much but these are perfect for doing travel photos.  And the travel overlay and other travel related icons from the Artbooking cartridge goes so well with this.  I particularly like this overlay as you can get a lot of small images to use for the rest of the album.

#CTMH Life Is Wonderful

 

 

Yes I probably should have put the ‘is about to happen’ underneath the two stamped images but I am happy with how it has come out.

Life is Wonderful is only available until 31st July from your CTMH consultant.  I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop,  Maz’s Blog, Inky Fingers

Materials used:

Cardstock – Crystal Blue, Colonial White, Flaxen

Paper – Wanderful

Stamps – Life is Wonderful

Inks – Desert Sand

Artbooking Cartridge

Silver sequins

Aqua Dots

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

 

CTMH Artiste Masculine Card

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart4 Comments

Welcome

I am a couple of days late but the light has been against me for taking photographs and then I downlaoded Light Room on my computer and that took ages as well.  Never mind I am all sorted now.

So it is a very quick post showing off the versatility of the Artiste cartridge.  There are over 700 images on this cartridge which makes it very cost effective for the price which also includes 3 coordinating stamp sets as well as some dimensional shapes.  I love how you can do boxes, cards, layered images and more for any project you can imagine.
cricut-artiste-sm

 

Today I have done the lovely masculine card with a coordinating envelope using Seaside papers.  Father’s Day was last Sunday in the United States so this is an appropriate card to show I think.   I got the instructions for the dimensions from Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking here and it was super quick and easy to make.

I have used the dots embossing folder for the tie and pocket to add some interest to the card.

#CTMH Artiste Shirt Card

And here is the back – oops there is a sneak peak of the upcoming August SOTM here.

#CTMH Artiste Shirt Card

You can cut the collar to help with opening the card up to write inside but I thought that I would put this on the back for ease of use.

This card did not take me very long at all.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Desert Sand

Paper – Seaside 

Stamps – Framed

Ink – Desert Sand

Embossing Folder – Dots

Sparkles – Black and Grey Assortment

This card and many of the other cards I make are available for sale at Gift Hutt.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

Australasian Operation Smile Blog Hop

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping20 Comments

Hello and welcome to the Australasian Operation Smile Blog Hop.  If you have come here from Mandy’s blog Hall of Indulgence you are in the right place.  If you have landed here by accident no problem, please join in by clicking on the link below.

Operation Smile is  a private,  not for profit organisation providing reconstructive surgery to children and young adults born in developing countries. On 1st April Close to My Heart Consultants released the 2nd Seasonal Expressions Idea Book. On the back page of this Idea book you will find the D – sized, Happy Everything stamp set. By purchasing this set at full retail price of NZ$33 you can help change the life of achild as  CTMH will donate $US3 from your purchase to Operation smile. 

Today we will be sharing some inspiration using “Happy Everything”. We hope you will be compelled to purchase this set and in so doing, contribute to the life changing work of operation smile.

518c37ff-33e3-4954-85c8-827a3c88852a

This stamp set is perfect for cardmaking and here are some cards that I have made with this stamp set:

#CTMH Operation Smile 'Happy Everything'

I have cut this swing card using the Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges using the Blossom papers at 4 3/4″.

DSCF2747

#CTMH Operation Smile 'Happy Everything'

 

These two cards I made today for my cardmaking class using the Brushed papers and the A Budding Friendship stamp set.

#CTMH Operation Smile 'Happy Everything'

 

Another card using Seaside papers and the Treasured Friendship stamp set and complements.

#CTMH Operation Smile 'Happy Everything'

 

Finally I thought I would have some fun with the cute little bees.  I have tried using the Honeycomb embossing folder and trimming it down and making it look like a beehive.  I had some fun using the Shower Flowers stamp set to create the background with fussy cut out flowers on top.  It hasn’t quite turned out how I wanted but it was fun to do.

For more information about Operation Smile please click on this link here.

This stamp set is available until the 30 August from here.

Please feel free to leave a comment and then pop on over to the talented Lauren at CTMH Craftings to continue on the hop for more inspiration.

Materials used for the cards:

Cardstock – Glacier, White Daisy, Juniper, Pixie, Sorbet, Canary

Papers – Blossom, Brushed, Seaside

Stamps – Happy Everything, A Budding Friendship, Treasured Friendship, Shower Flowers

Inks – Black, Pear, Cotton Candy, Desert Sand, Juniper, Lagoon

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Art Philosophy

Embossing Folder – Honeycomb

Complements – Blossom, Seaside

ShinHan Touch Twin marker – Black

Aqua Dots

Pink Shimmer Trim

Silver Sequins

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

CTMH Artfully Sent Baby Card

On By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Close to My Heart, StampingLeave a comment

Welcome back.

I have been busy with the next Australasian blog hop so it is just a small post today.  I have been playing on the Artfully Sent cartridge and came up with this baby card.  It is not perfect but it is a start.  I apologise for the quality of the photos but I think it is time to start looking for a new camera unfortunately.

#CTMH Artfully Sent Baby Card

 

I have cut this card at 7″ on Cricut Craftroom and used Blossom papers for the decorations.  I have used scraps of Slate cardstock and Blossom paper behind the cut out of the pram and then covered with the inner Lagoon cardstock.  The toys have been coloured using the ShinHan Touch Twin markers from the Nursery Charms stamp set and fussy cut out and placed on the front of the card.

#CTMH Artfully Sent Baby Card

Inside I have cut the baby clothes from the Blossom B&T papers and used the retired SOTM Cross Stitch Wishes to create the string to have the clothes hanging on.

DSCF2754

 

I am always aware of having somewhere to write on a card and placed a peace of White Daisy cardstock and stamped and coloured the rattle in with the ShinHan Touch Twin markers for something different.

#CTMH

I have stamped the buttons onto Glacier cardstock and coloured in the rim and the threads and then used Liquid Glass to create the shiny dome.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier, White Daisy, Slate, Lagoon

Paper – Blossom

Stamps – Nursery Charms, Cross Stitch Wishes

Inks – Black

ShinHan Markers – Bronze, Clay, Mahogany, Tender Pink, Turquoise Blue,herry Pink, Golden Yellow

Liquid Glass

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Wishing Well with CTMH

On By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping5 Comments

Welcome back

I have been busy today with crocheting squares for the upcoming International Yarnbombing Day on Thursday and haven’t had a chance to do paper crafting today.  So I have picked a card I did a couple of weeks ago.

#CTMH Seaside and Blossom Get Well Card

This card uses papers from both the Blossom and Seaside B&T paper packs.  I am loving how I can mix and match between all the range available.

The flowers have been cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge at 1″  and the bird is a cut out from the Artfully Sent cartridge that I used for another card that I featured a little while ago.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier

Paper – Blossom, Whimsy Paper Fundamentals, Seaside

Stamps – Artfully Sent Just to Say, Shower Flowers

Ink – Desert Sand, Pear

Cricut Cartridges – Art Philosophy, Artfully Sent

Scallop edge punch

Coral Reef Sequins

Black and Grey Assortments

Sparkles

All these products are available on my website here or just click on any of the highlighted links above.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia