CTMH Stamp of the Month Australasian Blog Hop – Balloon Talk

On April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, Cricut, Scrapbooking, Stamping11 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Jen’s Creative Classroom , 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, instead of my usual cards, I would like to share with you a mini book which features the April Stamp of the Month Balloon Talk available exclusively throughout April for NZ$29 or for just $5 when you spend $75.

The Balloon Talk stamp set is really great to put little accents on scrapbook layouts and I have used them throughout the mini book. I have teamed up the Balloon Ride Papers with the Balloon Talk stamp set for the mini album. I wasn’t sure about this paper range but I have changed my mind as the colours are so gorgeous. I thought the patterns would be appropriate for a travel album.

My Cricut machine has been working overtime but I am so pleased with the outcome as I have never done anything like this before. The Artbooking cartridge makes it so easy and all I had to do was to decide was what colour cardstock and papers I need to make my cuts. Here is a close up of one page that I have put some of the Balloon Talk images on: The “Been There”, “Done That” stamps were really appropriate for this album as well. As this album has been made to sell I have not added photos and I have used the sentiments on the tags of the pages as well as randomly throughout album. As I have said I have used the Balloon Ride paper pack with the titles and photo mats being in Colonial White. The titles have been sponged with Cashmere to help soften them and stand out from the background cardstock or paper.

I do apologise for the quality of the photos but I think my camera needs to be looked at again. I was thinking it was my eyesight but it could be the camera instead.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Crystal Blue, Saddle, Cashmere, Colonial White

Papers – Balloon Ride B&Ts

Inks – Cashmere

Cricut Cartridge – Artbooking

Stamp sets – Balloon Talk, Reel Life, Sweet and Lovely Cricut bundle

Bakers Twine – slate

Balloon Talk is only available until 30th April 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. Happy Crafting Patricia

Skylark Wedding Cards

On March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Stamping10 Comments

Welcome back

I do apologise for missing last week’s post but I have had some family issues to deal with, and while they have settled down there is still going to be some problems to work through.

For this post I have been playing around with the last of my Skylark papers and have made some wedding cards. I am really enjoying using a different combination of colours and papers to what I normally use. Here I have used Lagoon and the beautiful Teal shimmer trim to create a pop of colour with the Skylark papers.

For this card I have used the pattern out of the Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 page 46 and used a cut from the Artbooking cartridge (page 48) in Lagoon cardstock for the centre panel which fitted in well. I love using the Perfect Fit – Frames 2 for an accent and the little wedding couple from The Happy Couple stamp set fits perfectly in the middle. The congrats stamp is from the Cricut Artiste Collection Kudos. And I have finished the card with a flower from the Skylark Assortments.

For this card I have again used the Quatrefoil embossing folder to add some interest to the plain cardstock. I love how the papes from Skylark are great for cards as well as for scrapbook layouts and here I have trimmed the corner of the 12 x 12 paper to fit the card base. I have added an extra pennant topped with a blue epoxy bubble and the sentiment is from The Happy Couple stamp set. A very simple yet elegant card.

Again for this card I have manage to trim the patterned paper to fit the card and keep the lovely bird which ties in well with the striped lagoon paper for the bottom of the card. I have cut the lovely ribbon out with the Artbooking Cricut cartridge. I the stamp is from The Happy Couple stamp set. I have finished off with a couple of epoxy bubbles and the Teal shimmer trim.

This card was very quick and easy with the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. I have cut the same image but for a portrait card instead and teamed it with the Lagoon striped paper from Skylark pack and the Teal shimmer trim and just placed a simple sentiment on it matted with Lagoon cardstock. Another simple, yet elegant card.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Lagoon

Paper – Skylark Paper Pack

Ink – Lagoon

Skylark assortment

Green and Blue Epoxy bubbles

Stamps – Cricut Artiste Collection, Kudos (only available as part of the Artiste Cricut Collection, The Happy Couple, Perfect Fit – Frames 2

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Art Philosophy and Artbooking

These cards will be available for sale at Craft Hutt, so if you live in Wellington do pop in and say hello and have a look at all the wonderful arts and crafts for sale.

I am going to be busy over the next few days as I have the Australasian CTMH SOTM hop coming up and I have also been invited to another blog hop featuring papers from CTMH.

I hope you all have a good week.

Happy Crafting.

Patricia

New Product Blog Hop – Part 2

On March 4, 2014March 4, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, Cricut, Paper Crafting17 Comments

Welcome to this blog hop featuring new products from the Ideas Book and catalogue from Close to My Heart.

For this post I have used one of the note boxes available for sale through CTMH and decorated it with the Skylark paper which I had left over from the WOTG and it is just beautiful.

Here it is:

The birdcage has been die cut out of Honey cardstock and sponged with Desert Sand to get the old gold look. I have used a Couture Creations die as I couldn’t find a birdcage on the CTMH cartridges.

For the flowers I have been inspired by Cathy Derouche (a sister CTMH consultant who has done some great videos and uploaded them to YouTube) and used my Art Philosophy (p 50 for the outside petals) and Artiste cartridges (page 54 for the centre) to cut out the shapes. I have used White Daisy cardstock and sponged with Buttercup ink and then sponged all the edges with Sweet Leaf ink to create a subtle yellow/green flower that matched the Skylark paper beautifully. Prior to inking I have used an embossing stylus to create some texture and shape to the flowers. This has created a more realistic and faded look to the roses which is what I was wanting to achieve.

The leaves have been cut using the Artiste cartridge (page 54) out of Sweet Leaf cardstock. Again I have dry embossed using an embossing stylus to create a leafy texture and then sponged with Pear ink.

Finally I added a little bling to finish off the picture using the Clear Sparkles Flourishes – small.

Once I had completed all the embellishments the rest of the box was easy to do. I have used Juniper cardstock to mat the Skylark papers on all the sides.

I have left the inside of the box empty for the box to be used as a trinket or keepsake box.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the flowers:

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Juniper, Sweet Leaf, Honey

Papers – Skylark B&T Duos

Inks – Desert Sand, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf, Pear

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste and Art Philosophy

Sparkles Clear Flourishes – small

Couture Creations birdcage die

Sizzix Garden Flower set

Cuttlebug embossing machine

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Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Skylark embossed card.

On February 23, 2014February 23, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Paper Crafting10 Comments

Welcome

I hope everyone has had a good week and are ready for new week. For this week’s post I am ( showing a very simple card featuring one of the new embossing folders from Close to My Heart.

I love the Skylark colours and here I have used Lagoon cardstock with the Skylark yellow paper which echoes the pattern of the embossing. For the flower I have cut three daisy shapes with my Cricut Artiste cartridge out of Buttercup cardstock and sponged the edges of the shapes with Sweet Pear to tone down the yellow to allow it to be more subdued and match the yellow paper better. I then finished the flower off with a flower from the Skylark Assortment pack. I am really enjoying using the twist ties to add something different to a project and here they finish off the flower nicely.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Buttercup, Lagoon

Inks – Lagoon, Slate, Sweet Leaf

Papers – Skylark

Skylark Assortment

Stamp – Holiday Tags (D1560)

Cricut cartridge – Artiste

Slate twist ties

Next week I have a couple of blog hops so I am busy with preparing for them so watch this space…

I hope you all have a good week and I will see you next week.

Happy crafting

Patricia

Heart2Heart Challenge – Hearts

On February 16, 2014February 16, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Die Cuts, Stamping11 Comments

Welcome back

This week I thought I would enter a challenge at the Heart2Heart Challenges. This Challenge Blog is for anyone who loves CTMH products and is administered by Close to My Heart Independent Consultants. Click on the Heart 2 Heart badge on the sidebar to take you to the site for further information.

This month the challenge is HEARTS and my submission to this challenge is a card that I had made last year and taught in a class. I have used my Cricut to cut out the square scallop, cupcake, lace HEART doily, rose, leaves and butterfly. As you can see I am a sucker for punishment when it comes to rolling up roses but I just love them.

Materials I have used are:

Cardstock – Cotton Candy, White Daisy, Smokey Plum, Pear

Inks – Cotton Candy, Chocolate

Paper – Chantilly B&T Duos (N/A)

Cricut cartridge – Artiste, Art Philosophy

Stamp set – Cricut Art Philosophy Celebration Cricut Collection, Cricut Artiste Collection Birthday Cricut Collection.

Pink Glitter gems

Liquid Glass

I hope you enjoy my offering today and that you all have a good week, despite all the dreadful weather that I have been seeing on the news.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Valentine’s Day cards

On February 9, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Die Cuts, Paper Crafting, Stamping6 Comments

Welcome back.

I have been busy making Valentine’s Day cards and decorations for selling at Craft Hutt and this time I have kept to the traditional colours of red, pink and white for making them. I have kept them very simple and used the last of the Sparkle and Shine candy stripped papers and Ruby cardstock. My Cricut machine had a good workout and I am happy with the way they have come out.

The materials used are:

Cardstock – Ruby, White Daisy

Paper – Sparkle an Shine B&T Duos

Ink – Ruby

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste, Artbooking

Stamps set – Holiday Tags (D1560)

Bakers twine – Harvest collection

Clear Sparkles

Ruby marker

Scallop punch

Cuttlebug – Swiss Dots,

Here are some decorations that I have made with roses using the Cricut Artiste cartridge and some polystyrene shapes from the local bargain store.

The flowers are cut out using the flower from page 54, Accent 1 cut at 2.5″. These have been rolled using the great quilling tool from CTMH and glued together using the amazing liquid glass and then a hot glue gun was used to stick them onto the heart shapes. I then used some organza ribbon from my stash to finish them off with a bow and also to have something to hang them with.the mar

The materials I have used for these are:

Purchased polystyrene heart shapes

Cardstock – Ruby, Cotton Candy

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste

Liquid glue

Hot glue gun

Ribbon from my stash

I hope that you all have a good week and keep safe from all the bizarre weather conditions around the world.

Happy crafting

Patricia

New Product Blog Hop

On February 6, 2014February 7, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Cricut, Scrapbooking, Stamping17 Comments

Hi There

This is the first time that I have participated in the blog hop so I hope that this works for me. I was really excited to be invited to join this blog hop and hope to do a lot more. It is a great way to see how many different ways that Close to My Heart products can be used and is a great source of inspiration for me.

The new Idea Book has been released by Close to My Heart and there are so many fabulous new products that I have had a hard time choosing what to get to start with. I decided to go with Ivy Lane paper to finally finish off some scrapbooking some photos from Christmas 2012. This one is for my album and is a layout of my family and I am really pleased with how it has turned out. I don’t normally have a photo of myself as I prefer to be behind a camera. I have put on a lot of weight over the last few years due to the medications I am on and I don’t recognise myself in the mirror. But my daughter managed to get a nice photo of me and I decided to focus on that with smaller photos of my husband and children.

This layout is lifted from the Made It From The Heart Volume 1 No 2 page 8. I have used my Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the large shape and roses, my Artbooking cartridge to cut out the title and the journalling box, and Artiste cartridge to cut out the leaves. The journalling tag was stamped with Cocoa ink and distressed with Desert Sand ink.

The materials I have used are:

Cardstock – Hollyhock, Colonial White, Pear, Sweet Leaf

Papers – Ivy Lane Paper pack

Stamps – Sweet and Lovely Cricut bundle

Embellishments – Ivy Lane Assortment

Inks – Cocoa, Desert Sand

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Artbooking, Art Philosophy

Just to finish off here are a couple of Valentine cards I have made with Skylark paper and the Artbooking cartridge. I have reduced the size of the cuts to half to fit onto the paper and worked in with the lovely Skylark papers to highlight the birds. The birds from the Artbooking cartridges fitted in really well with this paper. I reduced the size of the cuts by half in order (6.5) for them to fit onto the card.

Materials used:

Cardstock, Bamboo, Cocoa, Lagoon. White Daisy

Papers – Skylark

Embellishments – Skylark assortment, Slate Striped Twist Ties

Inks – Lagoon, Sweet Leaf

Stamp set – Holiday Tags Occasions

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste

I hope that you enjoy the new products and have as much fun playing with them as much as I have.

Thanks for stopping by the New Product Blog Hop! To view all the other entries and see more Close to My Heart new product inspiration.

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Happy crafting

Patricia

A Sad Farewell to Chantilly by Close to My Heart

On January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Paper Crafting, Scrapbooking6 Comments

Welcome back

Firstly I would like to apologise for not following other blogs and commenting on them as much as I would like but I have been very busy. Earlier last year I told you about setting up Make Shift, well that unfortunately has popped down, so I have started up my own shop called Craft Hutt. This is also an art and craft collective that focuses on selling hand crafted NZ made goodies. Craft Hutt is still in it’s infancy so needs a lot of TLC to get established and I have been quite busy with manning the shop plus doing all my own crafting. Once things settle down I will be keeping up with all that is happening around the world. In the meantime check us out on Facebook.com/CraftHutt for all the latest news and information.

For this weeks post I have been doing some layouts using the last of my beautiful Chantilly papers. This lovely paper is no longer available, but I am eagerly awaiting a delivery of the gorgeous new papers coming in the next catalogue. I love using the Made it From Your Heart books Volumes 1 and 2 as it is quick and easy to make a fabulous 2 page layout. All you need to do is sort out your photos. I have left the photo mats blank as I am uncomfortable about putting photos of my family on the internet.

For this layout I have used the recipe from page 12 of the Volume 2 book. This layout was also featured in the Laughing Lola WOTG and I love it as it is so easy to use either landscape or portrait photos. I have distressed all the edges except for the white photo mats with Desert Sand ink and the flowers and leaves are from the Cricut Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges. I still have space to do some titles and I can use one of the photo mats for journalling as well. I love the simplicity of the colour scheme, especially with the little pop of pink with the Hollyhock cardstock.

For this layout I have used the recipe from page 24 of the Volume 2 book. I have cut out some flowers and birds from the patterned paper and adhered them to the page and also used the Just for You (B1398) stamp set to make a flower embellishment. The journalling shape has been cut out using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. For this layout I have not distressed the edges to keep it crisp and clean. As you can see there is still some finishing to do with titles etc but that can wait until the photos are in place first.

These layouts did not take very long and yet are very effective.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Hollyhock, Twilight, Pear, Colonial White, White Daisy, Buttercup, Topiary, Desert Sand

Ink – Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Buttercup, Pear, Cotton Candy

Chantilly paper pack

Chantilly complements

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste, Art Philosophy

Stamp set – Just for You (B1398)

As I said before I am looking forward to getting my next order with a whole lot of new products from the next catalogue. I am hoping to participate in a couple of blog hops to showcase the new items so watch this space…

I would like to remind people that there is only a few days left for purchasing any retiring items so please don’t delay and order your items now as these are available while stocks last only.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH SOTM Cross Stitch Wishes

On January 5, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Paper Crafting, Stamping5 Comments

Happy New Year

I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe 2014.

Unfortunately, life did get in the way for me and I was unable to participate in the Australasian Blog Hop on the 1st January. But please click on this link to see what my fellow CTMH Consultants downunder have been doing. However, I did manage to get my stamp set early and here is what would have been my entry.

This month the stamp set is Cross Stitch Wishes (S1401). This is a great stamp set for all those crafters out there. Over the years I have done a lot of different crafts including sewing, cross stitch and quilting (more cross stitching then quilting – see my only effort at quilting a bag under my Crafty Creations page) and this stamp set suits me to a tee. This set is also great for scrapbooking all your photos of your crafts as well.

For my card I have used the ‘sunburst’ technique for the background. I have got the instructions from a fellow CTMH Consultant, Patti Gaspari Ehrhardt, but there are numerous instructions on YouTube that can show you how. It is very simple and a great way of using up scraps. I have also used another stamp set Stitch Wonder (C1564) which goes so well with this SOTM set. When I was doing a lot of digital scrapbooking I loved using a stitch kit to finish off my layouts. I also used this in my last post on a layout using White Daisy pigment ink to look like I had stitched the cardstock down.

I have also used the Cricut cartridge – Artiste to cut out the buttons and cotton reel. I have used a combination of sponging and my alcohol markers to colour in the thread on the reel. The buttons have had liquid glass applied for a three dimensional effect. These cartridges are amazing and the Artbooking cartridge is on my must get list for this month.

Here is my card:

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Cotton Candy, Slate

Chantilly papers

Inks – Cotton Candy, Slate

Alcohol Markers – Cotton Candy

Stamp sets – Cross Stitch Wishes, Stitch Wonder

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste

Liquid Glass

As usual with the Stamp of the Month set it is available for just $5 for any purchase over $75 saving $24.

Plus January is National Papercrafting month and there is another special offer for this month.

You can get an exclusive Cloud Nine cardmaking kit for $20 (retail value $74 NZD) with a qualifying purchase of $55 or more (excluding tax and shipping) during January in celebration of National Papercrafting Month. Make 10 adorable cards (2 each of 5 designs) with funky messages to put any recipient on cloud nine! You can add one cardmaking kit for every $55 in your order*.

This is a gorgeous set, the colours are fantastic and they are so easy to put together. They would be great to give as a gift for a friend as well.

Watch the campaign video and contact me for further details.

If you buy both sets at the special price you can save a total of $78.

Whew that is a lot for this week. I hope everyone has a great week and I will catch up with you next week.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

Sparkle and Shine Double Page Layout

On December 29, 2013December 29, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Holidays, Scrapbooking, Stamping5 Comments

Welcome back

I hope you all had a good Christmas and are now rested for the new year. I would like to thank you so much for all the lovely get well wishes. I am on the improve and am looking at getting back into crafting again which is always a good sign.

For my last post for this year I am finally using a scrapbook layout. While I a primarily a cardmaker I do enjoy scrapbooking as well. Close to My Heart has really made it a lot easier for me as well. It is so much easier coordinating colours and papers to create fabulous layouts.

I am really enjoying using the WOTGs from Close to My Heart and also have found the “Make It From Your Heart” Volumes 1 and 2 books by Jeanette Lynton really useful to use for creating well balanced and interesting layouts for my scrapbooks.

I have loved using the Holidays from the Heart WOTG – Sparkle and Shine as the colours and papers are gorgeous. I have completed the two double layouts that are suggested but as they have family members in them that are not happy about having their photos posted, I have used this layout with my cat, Sox, in it. The photos are from last year’s Christmas and we had record high temperatures of 32 degrees. Needless to say we were struggling in the heat and our poor Sox just did not know what to do with himself. Plus, he had to be in the action and not miss out on the fun of opening presents!

For this layout I have used the recipe from page 32 “Make It From Your Heart” Volume 2 book by Jeanette Lynton. I have found this particular recipe really useful as I can use landscape photos much more easily. I have also used my Cricut to cut out the titles using Cricut Craft Room to make the letters weld together.

These books that are available from Close to My Heart are great when you are struggling for inspiration. There are layouts for all number of photos and the instructions are easy to follow. Here I have added some extra embellishments and titles to help make it my own and kept it very simple to make the photos the focus of the pages.

The materials I have used are:

WOTG – Sparkle and Shine

Stamp set – Stitch Wonder Everyday Life

Cardstock – Slate, Ruby, Juniper, White Daisy

Inks – Slate, Ruby, Juniper, White Daisy

Sparkle Clear Flourishes – small

Cricut Cartridge – Art Philosophy

Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 by Jeanette Lynton

These products in the Holidays with Heart Gift Guide are still available through until December 31st while stocks last. Orders totaling over $150 during the promotion can choose one starred item from The Holidays with Heart Gift Guide for free so it is an ideal time to purchase one of our Cricut Collections or our ink and marker organiser.

So be in quick as there are only a few days left before these products are no longer available.

I am hoping to get my creative mojo up and running in time to do the Australasian Blog Hop for the SOTM on 1st January which will be good. There are some very talented ladies downunder and it is a real privilege working with them.

Enjoy the rest of the year and look forward to more creative gorgeousness next year.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

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Patricia's Creative Corner

Category: Cricut

CTMH Stamp of the Month Australasian Blog Hop – Balloon Talk

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Skylark Wedding Cards

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New Product Blog Hop – Part 2

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CTMH Skylark embossed card.

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Heart2Heart Challenge – Hearts

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CTMH Valentine’s Day cards

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New Product Blog Hop

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A Sad Farewell to Chantilly by Close to My Heart

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CTMH SOTM Cross Stitch Wishes

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Sparkle and Shine Double Page Layout

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