Australasian SOTM Blog Hop – A Happy Hello

On February 1, 2015January 25, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, CTMH SOTM, Stamping33 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the Month Australasian Close to My Heart 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 some cards which features February SOTM – A Happy Hello which is available exclusively throughout February for NZ$33 or for just NZ$5 when you spend NZ$75. This stamp set is very versatile and you can mix and match the flower shapes together to make a lot of different flowers and shapes that would look great on cards and also to embellish scrapbook layouts.

As I said in my last post I have had a lot of fun making my own background papers and decided to use the backgrounds for this gorgeous stamp set. For further information on how I have achieved this background please visit here.

For this card I have used the pattern from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 pattern 28 and turned it around on the side. I have used the Triangle Border Punch to cut the Cotton Candy cardstock and backed it with Canary cardstock with the Brushed diamond patterned paper helped to pull the two strong colours together. I have mixed and matched the shapes using the 1 1/4″ circle punch (in the while supplies last category) for the round shapes and fussy cut out the top pattern and the large flower on the bottom and used the thin foam tape for some dimension. The gold sequins finished off the flowers nicely. The sentiment is from the Artfully Sent Just a Note stamp set.

For this card I have used the ink and pearl paint background technique using Flaxen ink and I then stamped the stem with Desert Sand ink to show up. I have kept to a simple colour scheme with the rest of the cards – Flaxen and Canary on Colonial White cardstock. I found this to be quite a restful combination. For this particular car I have fussy cut all the images and layered them to create some flowers. The bow is left over from the Ariana complements and just fitted perfectly with this card. I have again used gold sequins for the centre of the flowers. The sentiment is from the Artfully Sent Just a Note stamp set. I used a small sentiment so as not to take away the attention from the flower.

I just had to use the large half circle stamp and here I have used it as a border and placed a flower in the centre of the middle shape. I love the tinge of Pixie ink on the top of the background paper and used a piece of Pixie cardstock to balance the colour scheme. You can see the slight pearlescent sheen on the background and to me the card resembles a lovely old fashioned brocade blind with a trim. I have finished the card with the sentiment from the A Happy Hello stamp set and some Glitter Gems.

For this card I have used another piece of Flaxen background paper and stamped the leaves as a background for the flower in Flaxen ink. For the base of the card I have edged a piece of Flaxen cardstock using the Chevron border punch and then embossed the bottom of the cardstock with the stripe embossing folder. There is a slit in the middle of the embossing folder to make it so much easier to partially embossing cardstock. Can you see a small piece of green patterned paper from the Hopscotch papers behind the punched border? I have fussy cut out the large flower and then using the 1 1/4″ circle punch I stamped the middle of the flower with the stitch stamp and flower stamp.

Finally for this card I used the Flaxen colour paper from the Whimsy Paper Fundamentals Paper Pack – this has two sides to the paper with one side being tone on tone and the other side being a pattern. Again I have used the same embossing and punching technique for the Flaxen cardstock and it looks great over the patterned paper and looks a little like a balustrade so I did some random patterns to create the effect of flowers in the front. The frame for the sentiment is from the Frame Flair stamp set and the sentiment is from Sincere Expressions. The butterfly is from the Your Own Kind of Wonderful. I have stamped the base of the butterfly with Canary ink and then using Flaxen ink I have used the outline butterfly stamp over the base. I fussy cut out the butterfly and then added some liquid glass to make it stand out.

The Happy Hello stamp is only available until 28 February from your CTMH consultant here. I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, the very talented Shaunna’s Blog Passionate about Pages

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Colonial White, Flaxen, Pixie, Canary

Papers – Whimsy Fundamentals, Hopscotch, Brushed

Inks – Flaxen, Pixie, Canary, Desert Sand

Stamps – A Happy Hello. Artfully Sent Just a Note, Sincere Expressions, Frame Flair, Your Own Kind of Wonderful

Punches – 1 1/4″ and 1″ circle punches, Chevron border punch, Triangle Border Punch

Embossing Folder – Stripe

Gold sequins

Glitter gems

Cricut Cartridge – Art Philosophy

Thin foam tape

Pearl Paint (NLA)

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Wedding Cards

On January 25, 2015January 26, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping12 Comments

Welcome to my new followers and I hope that you enjoy all my creative endeavours and that you are inspired to stretch and challenge yourself to create your own artwork.

Today I would like to feature some wedding cards that have been inspired by Pinterest but I have given them my own twist. I loved this card design and was determined to make one but I couldn’t find a subtle enough background paper and then I remembered a blog post Make It From Your Heart – the CTMH blog, on how to do backgrounds with ink and using the all purpose mat creating a wonderful one of a kind paper. You can see the step by step instructions here. However, I have taken it one step further and used some pearl paint to create a lovely pearlescent finish and I was so pleased with the result that I did quite a number of colours and mixtures and you will see the results over the next few weeks. I have put a little blob of paint in the small spray bottles available from my website and sprayed the paint on top of the ink to make it bubble and then placed the paper over the ink.

Here are some that I have done with Pixie and Flaxen inks. The colours do not really come up well in the photo but looked beautiful with the mix of the lovely pink and the flaxen came up looking like antique gold.

Here is a photo that shows the shine in the card.

The card did not take long to dry and I did use a heavy book to flatten the card ready to make some cards.

Anyway here is the first card I have made using just Glacier ink. I have always loved this pattern when I first saw it on Pinterest and as I said I didn’t feel that the papers I had were suitable for what I was trying to achieve in a ‘bathroom’ I was rapt at how the Glacier colours looked like marble with the pearlescent finish and the white shimmer trim finished it off perfectly along with the silver embossing of the tag from the Cricut Artfully Sent Curlicue stamp set. This card was really quick and easy to make once everything had been assembled. I also used some Opaques – licorice which is no longer available.

This inspired me to move on with a different pattern from Pinterest – this time using embossing folders to make wedding cake cards. The Pixie and Flaxen background cardstock made a wonderful backdrop to the wedding cake and I have mixed up the cards with a combination of Pixie and White Daisy cardstock and silver accents with clear sparkles to highlight the flowers. The flowers have been cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and I have shaped them a little before putting them on the card. The rose has been made using the same technique as my last blog post here. The sentiments for the cards as well as the bridal couple and wedding bells are from The Happy Couple wedding stamp set. I have used the versamark pad and silver embossing powder to stamp them and fussy cut out the shapes. The ribbon is the Seam Binding Ribbon which is no longer available.

This lace border has been cut using a Martha Stewart punch – my only non-CTMH tool that I have used as that lace border fitted in well with the theme.

For the card with a flower on it I have made a box envelope to hold the card in so it won’t get so squashed. If you are interested in the dimensions please let me know and I will put up a post with the instructions in the next few days.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier, White Cardstock, Pixie

Stamps – Artfully Sent Curlicue Frames, The Happy Couple

Inks – Versamark, Pixie, Flaxen, Glacier

Seam ribbon

White Shimmer Trim

Clear bitty sparkles

Silver embossing powder

Embossing folders – Quatrefoil, Dots and Scallop (new)

Seam Binding Ribbon (NLA)

Opaques – Licorice (NLA)

I will be showcasing more of this background technique for my next blog post, which is a blog hop featuring the February SOTM set which is the lovely and versatile stamp set A Happy Hello.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Shabby Chic

On January 18, 2015January 19, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, Cricut, Stamping10 Comments

Welcome

Many thanks for all the visits and lovely comments for my cards on the blog hop.

Today I will be showing you how I made the roses on the lovely trinket box that I showed a couple of posts ago.

I love rolling roses but I have also seen some other amazing roses on Pinterest and You Tube and thought I would have a look in the CTMH Cricut cartridges and see what I can find to match some of the punches that have been used. I needed a flower with 5 petals and I found the perfect shape on page 54 of the Artiste cartridge booklet – Accent 3>shift key. This one was good as it had a jagged edge to make it easier to make a shabby chic rose. I cut out two different sizes – 2″ and 2 1/2″ in Colonial White cardstock.

I then stamped the flowers with the script stamp from the Armour stamp set in Bamboo ink and then sponged in the middle with the Bamboo ink back and front.

I then sponged the edge with Blush ink back and front.

A couple of years ago I was very fortunate to win a Sizzix Susan’s Garden tool kit in an online challenge and it is now coming in very useful to help shape flowers. I watched a few videos on the Sizzix website to learn how to use all the tools properly and put them to the test with these flowers. I used the petal shaping tool to shape the flowers and the large ball embossing tool in the centre to create the cupcake shape.

I cut down a little to the centre of the flowers on three of the flowers to make it easier to create the centre of the flower.

Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of putting the flowers together and I am not comfortable doing a video but there are a number of videos on You Tube that will show you how to put these flowers together – this is one of the many I watched here. I used a hot glue gun to put the flowers together so please excuse the strands of glue. I have tried using liquid glass but it is not as good to glue quickly.

I glued two opposite petals together and then glued the other petals around the centre to create the bud of the flower.

I then glued the next layer onto the base and overlapped the petals by gluing at the base of each petal.

I did the same with the third layer of petals.

And the fourth layer.

And the fifth layer. Once all the layers were together I then used my tweezers to roll the outer petals out to create the finished rose.

Here are some of the completed roses. I am really happy how they turned out and they are all so different. It was interesting how the script stamp ended up looking like veins in the petals and the colours worked really well together.

Now that I had my roses I had purchased a couple of the trinket boxes in the while supplies last section on my website. I love the Flaxen cardstock and it matched really well with the Bamboo and Blush colours I had used. I covered the box with Flaxen cardstock and then I again used the script stamp on Colonial White cardstock with Bamboo ink and then sponged the edges with the ink. I then cut the flourish from Art Philosophy on page 58 Font Layer in Bamboo cardstock using Cricut Craft Room to get the correct size that I wanted. I then sponged with a mixture of Bamboo, Flaxen and Desert Sand ink which came up like an antique gold colour. This was then placed on the corner of the box.

I cut the shape for the sentiment from the Artfully Sent Curlicue frames set and then stamped the frame with Bamboo ink and sponged the edge with Bamboo ink. The sentiment is from the A Thing Well Done stamp set and I stamped that with Desert Sand ink.

The leaves have been cut out of Olive cardstock and I have used the leaf shaping tool to make the veins and then shaped the leaves for dimension and I then sponged the edges with New England Ivy.

I worked out where I could put the pearl flourish (unfortunately, no longer available) and then placed it on the box. I then glued one large and two small roses in a triangle over the the flourish and pearl flourish. I spent time placing the leaves in a pleasing manner and then finished off with the lovely rosette ribbon that is also no longer available. (I am trying to work through some of my stash). I placed three single ribbon roses around the base of the roses to add to the Shabby Chic look.

Around the base of the box I did the same with Flaxen cardstock and the script cardstock. I then cut two flourishes form page 50 of the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge using the mirror image in Cricut Craft Room and using the same technique that was used on the flourish on the top I then antiqued them and glued them to the front. And voila a Shabby Chic box.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Flaxen, Bamboo, White Colonial, Olive

Ink – Bamboo, New England Ivy, Desert Sand, Flaxen, Blush

Stamps – Armour, Curlicue Frames from Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge, A Thing Well Done

Cricut Cartridges – Artfully Sent, Artiste, Art Philosophy

Pearl Flourish – NLA

Ribbon Rosette – NLA

I enjoyed making this and hope that you find the instructions easy to find.

Have a good week.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

You’re the Bomb Operation Smile Blog Hop

On January 16, 2015January 15, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart21 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard our You’re the Bomb Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Maz’s blog Inky Fingers, 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.

Operation Smile is a private, not for profit organisation providing reconstructive surgery to children and young adults born in developing countries. Close To My Heart is partnered with Operation Smile^®, an organization that provides free, life-changing surgery that repairs smiles and reshapes lives, one child at a time. Since 2008, Close To My Heart has provided support to change the lives of over 1,500 children and their families. For more information about Operation Smile please visit www.operationsmile.org

On 1^st December Close to My Heart Consultants released our Seasonal Expressions Idea Book. On the back page of this Idea book you will find the C- sized, You’re the bomb stamp set. By purchasing this set at full retail price of $25 you can help change the life of a child as CTMH will donate $US3 from your purchase to Operation smile. This special is available until the 31 March so be in quick to get this stamp set and make your donation to this very worthy cause.

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

The blog hop is a loop with about 11 participants so follow along and you will end up right back here. If you get lost there is a list of participants on Mandy’s Blog here.

I would like to share with you some cards that I have made with this stamp set. I struggled with some inspiration so looked at the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book to get started.

I love the simplicity of the card that is used for the book and took that and changed it a little with different papers and embellishments. I have used Heartstrings and Hopscotch papers and mixed them up as well as using different coloured inks to stamp. The hearts are from the This Moment stamp set and I have used a combination of stamping and fussy cutting as well as first and generation stamping. Sometimes less is more and I would like to thank the CTMH art department for the inspiration.

Then I was able to stretch out with the Hopscotch paper and use different embellishments. I love the look of faux stitching on the sentiment and how it makes it stand out more. I used the Marvy Uchida LePen Journalling pen that is available from CTMH. It has a lovely fine nib and lasts a long time. I don’t normally cut the corners on my cards but this card worked really well with this finish.

This card has been inspired by the card in the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book and I have changed it to fit the You’re the Bomb stamp set and added the new Extra Thick Pixie Twine. I have also used the new thinner foam tape to add some dimension with the sentiments.

Thanks for joining me on this journey, the “You’re the Bomb” stamp set is available from your CTMH consultant here and $3USD from every purchase will go directly to Operation Smile.
To continue your journey, hop over to see what Mandy has created on her blog, Hall of Indulgence and see what fabulous ideas she has come up with.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Colonial White, Cotton Candy, Glacier, Flaxen, Ruby

Paper – Heartstrings, Hopscotch

Stamps – You’re the Bomb, This Moment

Inks – Glacier, Sorbet, Flaxen, Ruby, Lagoon

Extra Thick Twine – Pixie

Gold Sequins

Flamingo Dots

Marvy Uchida LePen Journalling pen

Happy Crafting

Patricia

A Mix of Colours and techniqes from CTMH

On January 11, 2015January 12, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping19 Comments

Welcome back

Many thanks for all the lovely comments and likes for my last post.

I love the stamp sets in the new Seasonal Expressions and in particular I love the A Thing Well Done which is a hostess stamp set (this month if you would like a gathering there is a special deal for you). I just love the butterfly in this stamp set and also the card that is accompanying the stamp set in the book. I haven’t got the same embossing folder and that is on my wish list to get. The butterflies have been stamped with Flaxen, Sorbet and Outdoor Denim inks. The background stamp has been stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with Silver embossing powder. I have then sponged Sorbet ink over the top and tried to graduate the colour up the panel.

This really inspired me to go further with some more cards. The colours that I used in that project inspired me to do some cards with the same colour scheme – Creme Brulee and Sorbet. (Creme Brulee is no longer available and I am using up my scraps). This stamp set is from the Happy Autumn stamp set and it is great to put the stamps together to make a lovely picture. I have used the rock and roll technique for the flowers and leaves. I am not sure about putting a sentiment on the card as I had someone come into Gift Hutt the other day asking for a plain card without a sentiment. However, I think that I might look at putting on on the bottom right corner. I have used my favourite pattern again from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 pattern 28 and embossed the panels with the Dots and Chevron embossing folders.

That card then led me on to this card. Another really lovely stamp set in the Seasonal Expressions catalogue is the Armour stamp set. I have done a couple of cards with this stamp set and will feature them in a later blog post. For this card I have used the background writing stamp and stamped with Bamboo ink onto Colonial White cardstock and then sponged with Bamboo ink for a lovely antique look. I don’t normally mix the Colonial White with White Daisy cardstock but this has turned out great. I can see myself using this stamp a lot and have some ideas for it – so watch this space. This has been matted with Flaxen and Sorbet cardstocks. The stamps for the flowers are also from the Happy Autumn stamp set and again I have used the rock and roll technique using Sorbet and Creme Brulee inks for the flowers and Flaxen and Olive inks for the leaves. These have been fussy cut out and I have used foam tape for some dimension. I still had some Olive bakers twine which finished off the card nicely. I won’t be putting a sentiment on this card.

Finally I did this card again using a combination of the Happy Autumn and Amour stamp sets. I have used the script background stamp technique for the small panels which are 1 3/4″ x 2″ each and then stamped the small flowers on top with Olive ink. (this has been inspired by a card on Pinterest, except that I have added my own twist). I have matted each panel with Cocoa and then onto Flaxen cardstock which has been cut at 4″ x 5 1/4″ . I placed a trim of Cocoa cardstock in the middle and then tied some Olive bakers twine. The sentiment is from the Just to Say Artfully Sent stamp set and I have matted it with the Cocoa and Flaxen cardstock.

Edited – I have just entered this card in the Atlantic Hearts Challenge Blog – check it out here.

Finally here is a sneak peak at my next blog post where I will put a tutorial up to show how I have made the roses.

I have used the script stamp on the roses as well as the on the back ground but more about that next post. So be sure to pop back to check it out.

Materials used:

Cardstock, Creme Brulee (NLA), Sorbet, White Daisy, Colonial White, Cocoa, Flaxen, Outdoor Denim

Inks – Flaxen, Cocoa, Desert Sand, Bamboo, Creme Brulee (NLA), Outdoor Denim, Versamark

Stamp sets – Armour, Happy Autum, Cricut Artfully Sent Curlicue Frames, Artfully Sent Just to Say, A Thing Well Done

Embossing Folders – Chevron, Dots, Quatrefoil

Bakers Twine – Olive (NLA)

Chevron Punch

Foam Tape

Silver Embossing powder

Sponge Daubers

These cards will be available for sale at Gift Hutt.

Have a Good Week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Australasian SOTM Blog Hop – This Moment

On January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping18 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the Month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Doris Taylor’s blog Creative Inspirations , 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.

I apologise if this is a repeat post for you. I had accidentally pressed publish for my first draft and of course once that happens you can’t take it back, unfortunately. Gotta love technology sometimes!

Today I would like to share with you some cards which features the January SOTM This Moment which is available exclusively throughout January for $33 or for just $5 when you spend $75.

This stamp set would be perfect for wedding and Valentine Day layouts but I didn’t have any suitable photos so I made some cards instead using the Heartstrings papers as they were a good match with this stamp set. The Heartstrings papers are from the Seasonal Expressions catalogue which is available until the end of March. I have also kept the cards simple by sticking to the papers, stamps and coordinating cardstocks and inks.

For the first card I have matched up the Cranberry and Lagoon cardstocks with the patterned papers from the Heartstrings paper. For the target I have cut the outer two shapes with the Art Philosophy cartridge and then stamped the same image on scrap White Daisy cardstock – twice with Cranberry and once with Whisper ink. I then fussy cut out the circles and layered them on to create the striped effect. The arrow and the sentiment have been stamped and fussy cut out and placed on the card.

I was searching for some inspiration and went to the tried and true Make it From Your Heart Volume 1 and found pattern number 27. I have mixed the patterned paper with the script paper and later realised that I had the script the wrong way but I was looking at the flourishes! Anyway, I have stamped the images with a mix of Whisper and Cranberry ink and the main image has been matted with Cranberry and Whisper cardstock.

Finally here is a very quick and easy card utilising the gorgeous Heartstrings papers. I have place a matted trim of coordinating paper across in order to place the simple stamped Hello that has been matted on Cranberry cardstock and then finished with a bow from the retired Ariana Assortments.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Cranberry, White Daisy, Whisper, Lagoon

Paper – Heartstrings B&Ts

Inks – Cranberry, Whisper, Lagoon

Ariana Assortments (retired)

Cricut Cartridges – Art Philosophy

This Moment is only available until 31st January from your CTMH consultant here. I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Anne Patterson’s Blog Mummy you made this?

Happy Crafting

Patricia

More Christmas ideas from CTMH

On December 21, 2014December 21, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Cricut4 Comments

Welcome

This is my last post for the year featuring Christmas craft ideas seeing as it is Christmas Day on Thursday.

I have been inspired by Joy Tracey to make my version of her Artiste ornament. For the instructions please click here for a link to her blog and the video that she has made to show how this is done. My version has used Glacier and White Daisy cardstock and I have finished off with a silver sequin and a licorice epoxy bubble. I bought the silver sparkle tulle from the local variety plus store to complete the ornament.
I have also made some more simple gift tags this time using the Art Philosophy cartridge to make boot shapes. The boots have been cut out with Ruby cardstock and the trims in White Daisy and Black cardstock. It is hard to see on this photo but I have also put a piece of the white shimmer trim on the boot top for a bit of sparkle.

I also cut some White Daisy cardstock to back the boot so as to be able to write to and from on it. I have used the stamps from the Holiday Tags stamp set and stamped the images in Ruby ink.

A hole and some slate bakers twine finished off these very quick and easy tags.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White daisy, Glacier, Ruby, Black

Inks – Ruby

Stamps – Holiday Tags

Cricut Cartridges – Art Philosophy, Artiste

Ribbon (NLA)

1 1/4 punch (available while supplies last)

Silver sequin

Licorice epoxy bubbles (NLA)

Slate bakers twine

Liquid glass

White Shimmer trim

These tags and other crafts that I make are available for sale at Gift Hutt in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and may Santa bring you more craft supplies to keep you busy in the New Year!

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Studio J

On December 14, 2014December 14, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, CTMH SOTM, Digital Art, Scrapbooking, Studio J Digital Scrapbooking4 Comments

Welcome back.

We are coming up to Christmas and lots of photos will be taken so this week I will be featuring the awesome Studio J from Close to My Heart. This is great software that is FREE to use and you just pay for the layouts and/or a JPEG file. You can use pre-designed layouts and just add journalling and photos or you can design your own layouts and add embellishments.

For those that have followed me for some time you will remember that I used to do a lot of digital scrapbooking with Creative Memories StoryBook. Now that is no longer being supported I have switched over to Studio J. Last month we had a very special deal where we could get a double layout for just $5 which normally costs $12 so it was a very special deal for us. New Zealand pays a lot more for their CTMH products but when we have the same deal as Australia, Canada and the United States we certainly win big time. I took the opportunity to have a play with some layouts and also get some photos printed.

First up I used a pre-designed layout using the Skylark papers from the last catalogue. My photos of the orchids went really well with the colours of Skylark and I really didn’t need to add a lot to this layout to detract from the photos.

Then I had some photos I had taken of my daughter a few years ago and had already scrapped them in her album but I wasn’t happy with what I had done so thought I would have another go with them online and I am very happy with the result except for a typo which I can look at fixing at a later date. I love that there are a lot of papers and colours from past CTMH releases to choose from and here I have gone for Olivia which went well with the photos – very earthy and ethereal.

As I said before you can also get your photos printed to then add later to layouts. You can get all sorts of sizes – 8″ x 6″s, 7″ x 5″s, 6″x 4″s, 4″ x 4″s, 3″ x 3″s , 2″ x 2″s and a number of other different combinations. Different size photos make for more interesting scrapbook layouts. Even at $12 a double 12″ x 12″ getting your photos printed this way is good value for money and so much easier sorting out the photos in the comfort of home. I bought a few of these layouts to cut out later and here is an example of one.

A couple of weeks ago for the SOTM blog hop I did a layout using the Brushed B&Ts and the Cutie Pie stamps and said that I had ordered the photos from Studio J.

Well here is the completed layout with the photos that I had printed. Doesn’t it make a big difference and I like the fact that I can get specific sizes printed and organise the layouts in advance. I have also done some journalling and will look at it for a while to see if I need to embellish it more.

I am sure you will enjoy using Studio J and to help you get started there are also videos on YouTube here that will help you get more out of the programme. Create an account here and then start playing…

Have a good week and happy crafting.

Patricia

CTMH Quick and Easy Masculine Cards

On December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping6 Comments

Welcome to my new followers and I hope that I inspire you with my creative endeavours.

Today I am taking a break from Christmas ideas and thought I would show you some very quick and easy cards using the Seaside papers, the Seaside Greetings and the Treasure Friendship stamp set. I love the understated colours of the Seaside papers and the rustic maritime feel to the papers and how the stamp sets coordinate so perfectly with the papers.

My first card was extremely quick and easy to do. I just used a combination of the papers – the rustic stripe and the knot paper and then a strip of the blue spots,and then just added the square durable studs and a birthday greeting in Desert Sand ink. The knot paper looks like a rope when using a thin strip on each end of a strip of coordinating paper. How simple is that and I am sure any man would love to get this card!

My next card was another one based on my favourite pattern from Make if From Your Heart Volume 2 pattern 28. This time I have used the blue spotted paper and for the centre strip I have used the Glacier coloured Whimsy Paper Fundamentals paper – which is a shiny and stunning patterned paper and it coordinated well with the green Pear cardstock and the stripped paper strip with the Teal shimmer trim.

As I finished this card I put it aside and then glanced round to find the sun shining on the card and the Paper Fundamentals paper literally gleamed in the sun. I have tried to capture the effect but you really need to buy this paper to really get the full effect. Straight on the paper looks just like patterned paper, but here you can see the quatrefoil pattern really glow.

My final card I looked at doing a similar card to what I had done earlier in the year here, but this time stretching myself to use the Sorbet colour instead of the usual greens and blues. I stamped the shells with Sorbet and Desert Sand inks and fussy cut them out and placed them on the lovely marine paper background. Again I have used the same Paper Fundamentals paper for the top part and then placed the orange zip strip across. I stamped the sentiment in Sorbet ink on Colonial White cardstock and then matted with Glacier and Sorbet cardstock. I think the colours work really well together and it is good for me to challenge myself to work different colours and combinations.

I must admit Close to My Heart make it so easy to mix and match totally different colours with their Reflections range so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Pear, Glacier

Papers – Seaside B&Ts, Whimsy Paper Fundamentals

Inks – Sorbet, Desert Sand, Pear

Stamps – Treasure Friendship, Seaside Greetings

Square Durables Studs

Green and Blue Epoxy Bubbles

Teal shimmer trim

As you can see the list of ingredients is very small and all materials are available on my website here. The finished cards are available for sale at Gift Hutt.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Great Gift Ideas from CTMH

On December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Cricut, Paper Crafting7 Comments

Welcome back.

I have been really busy with making lots of cards, tags and general gift items to sell at Gift Hutt. I have been seeing a lot on Facebook where people have gone to YouTube for inspiration to make boxes and general gift basket type items and I thought I would have a look through the CTMH Cricut cartridges and see what I can come up with. The Artiste cartridge came up trumps with a purse box and I could also coordinate cards and envelopes to match the edging. I was able to get 5 little cards and envelopes to fit into each purse to make a fabulous Christmas or birthday gift.

The purse, envelopes and cards are all found on page 31 of the Artiste booklet. The purse was cut at 3.6″ and just fitted onto the 12 x 12 mat. I cut one out with Pixie and the other out with Cotton Candy cardstock. I then used Cricut Craftroom to size the envelopes and cards to match – unfortunately I cannot give exact measurements as it took a bit of manipulation to get the sizes to match. I now use CCR all the time as it is easier to use the layers to check the sizes and these came out perfect on the first cut.

For the Pixie purse I have then traced the shape of the areas I wanted covered with the diamond patterned paper from the Brushed Reflections range and then cut them out and glued them onto the purse with liquid glass and trimmed any excess with sharp scissors. I have added strips of pink and the new white shimmer trim onto the front and then placed the vellum flowers from the Brushed Complements onto a piece of scrap White Daisy cardstock and then fussy cut it out and glued it onto the front with liquid glass and topped the flowers off with silver sequins. For the flap I have used the diamond patterned paper and this time change it the other way and cut a small trim of 3/4″ and then placed a strip of the white shimmer trim over it and placed it on the flap and then trimmed the ends to match the flap. I have placed a flower from the Brushed Assortment pack on the front and used one of the small hook & loop dots available from CTMH to help hold the purse together. Finally I have cut a strip of matching cardstock size 6/8″ x 10 inches and glued the edges to the inside of the purse for a small strap handle.

The Cotton Candy purse has a strip of patterned paper – 1″ wide then trimmed with Cotton Candy cardstock 3/4″ wide and then finished off with a strip of white shimmer tape and then placed along the bottom of the purse on the front and two sides. I then used the A Budding Friendship stamp set and stamped 4 of the small flowers with Cotton Candy ink and overstamped the edges with the edge stamp in Black ink. These are great little stamps as they end up looking like a watercolour and ink image and there is no need to be really fussy with the outcome. I have done the same using the small leaf stamps in Pear ink. I then arranged three flowers over the trim and coordinated the leaves around the flowers. I have used liquid glass again as I have found that over time the glue tends to melt – particularly in my warm and sunny Gift Hutt. For the flap I happened to have a spare envelope that I tore as I was getting it off the mat and it fitted perfectly on the flap and I trimmed it down to fit the flap, and I have just used the white shimmer trim as a strip to tie in with the rest of the purse. I then glued another flower and set of leaves in the centre of the trim. To finish the flowers I have place silver sequins and pink glitter gems to add a little bling.

As I said the cards and envelopes came from the same page and I have used CCR to size them. I have kept the cards simple using the Brushed papers and the stamp from the Fabulous You stamp set and

The shapes for the sentiment have been cut out using the Art Philosophy cartridge and again I have used CCR to ensure that the White Daisy shape matches with the larger patterned paper shape as I have found that cutting two shapes only 1/4″ difference will not exactly match up on all sides. To coordinate with both purses I have again made the trims from patterned paper, coordinating cardstock and white shimmer trim – can you tell how much I love this new trim! This is now available from the new Seasonal Inspirations catalague just out today.

The envelopes were very easy to assemble and I have just added a small amount of double sided tape to use when giving the card to someone.

Both these purses will be available for purchase at Gift Hutt for $15 each.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Pixie, Cotton Candy, White Daisy

Paper – Brushed B&Ts

Brushed Assortments

Brushed Complements

Stamps – Fabulous You, A Budding Friendship

Inks – Cotton Candy, Black

White Shimmer trim

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Art Philosophy

Happy Crafting

Patricia

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