Easter is coming

On March 9, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Cricut, Stamping9 Comments

Welcome

I am a day late for my blog but I lost the battle with the light last night to take photos. It is heading into Autumn here and Easter is just around the corner so the days are getting shorter and the dark came up quicker that I had wanted. I went out with my aunt yesterday and found some very cheap foam crosses and thought I would have fun dressing up the cross to put on the wall in my shop. It is also fitting as my new landlord is a church. Here is the finished product hanging on the wall at Gift Hutt. I am going to look at doing another cross up for ANZAC Day with red poppies.

To cover the cross I have used the lovely B&T papers from the Yuletide Carol Reflections paper range. This particular paper is really versatile for lots of different projects apart from Christmas. I wasn’t sure about it at first but now I love it for doing backgrounds. I used liquid glass to adhere the paper onto the foam – the edges are not perfect as this is not a perfect cross but I did what I could. I had to have a join in the paper and hid this with the Black Striped Twill.

I really like using different techniques for making flowers and for these flowers I have got my inspiration from another company on how to do these flowers. They used dies and stamps but I used my Cricut cartridges – Artiste and Art Philosophy and kept to a very neutral palate – Colonial White and Flaxen. I love how you can make all different sizes instead of being limited to the size of the die.

For the flowers I cut the flowers from the Artiste cartridge page 54 Accent 3>Shift at sizes ranging from 2″ down to 1/2″ in increments of 1/2″ as this made a good contrast in sizes. However, I used flowers that I had cut out earlier and I think the sizes were only 1/4″ difference and I think the centre petals are a little big.

After cutting the flowers I used the small spray bottles to slightly dampen the flowers.

Once they were pliable to use I then used the shaping tool to create some texture and pattern on the petals.

I then pleated all the petals by hand and twisted them slightly. Using the large ball embossing tool I then made the flowers cup up. Each flower had two of these layers. These were then left to dry.

For the centre of the flowers I used the next size down flower and using the same technique I created the cups for the centre. However, I did not pleat the petals this time.

Here are the completed flowers ready to put on the cross. As you can see I have done three different sizes to create some depth and interest to the flowers.

Before putting the flowers on the cross I cut out several leaves from the Art Philosophy cartridge page 35 <Branch2> size 2″ from Flaxen cardstock. I then played around with the placement of the leaves and glued them down with the small glue stick.

I placed a bow on the cross first and then had some fun with placing all the flowers in a pleasing way. I finished off with a pearl flourish (NLA) and then some clear sparkles in the middle of the flowers. For the final touch I embossed three butterflies from the Armour stamp set with gold embossing powder and fussy cut them out and used liquid glue to adhere them to the flowers. I would have preferred to use pearls but unfortunately, CTMH do not stock them.

Here is a close up of the pearls, flowers and butterfly.

I then went on to create some cards using the same papers, flowers and colours and the His Love stamp set that is only available until the end of the month.

Here I have used my own design and used a spare flower and leaves to embellish the card. I have used the black sequins from the Mini Medley Accents – Black to finish it off.

For this card I have paper pierced the lily and finished off with the Black Strip Twill. The pattern for this and the following card is from the Make it From Your Heart Volume 1 pattern no. 25. I have first stamped the lily image on the Colonial White cardstock and then again on some scrap White Daisy and Flaxen cardstock and then fussy cut out the images and pieced them together to make the lily stand out.

Finally, I have turned the card around and put the Bible verse on the card and finished with the smallest flowers – 1/2″ on the leaves in Flaxen cardstock.
Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Flaxen, White Daisy

Paper – Yuletide Carol B&T

Stamps – Armour, His Love

Inks – Black, Versamark

Liquid Glass

Ranger Gold embossing powder

Clear Sparkles

Black Striped twill

Bakers Twine Neutral Metallic Assortment

Mini Medley Accents – Black

I hope that you enjoy my latest creations.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Someone Special From CTMH

On February 22, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Stamping8 Comments

Welcome.

Gosh these weeks fly past and it is time for yet another blog post. This week I will focus on another stamp set, Someone Special, that is available only until the end of March through the Seasonals Expressions catalogue for just NZ$25. This is such a pretty stamp set and I can see myself using this set a lot for cards and layouts. I love the fact that CTMH use clear acrylic stamps so it is really easy to stamp over base images to create a lovely 2 dimensional look.

For these cards I have kept to the lovely Canary and Flaxen combination. For the first card I have embossed White Daisy cardstock with the Quatrefoil embossing folder which I had inked first with Canary and Flaxen ink. I have got this technique from a fellow CTMH consultant, Karen Pedersen here and there are more ideas about using the CTMH embossing folders on this post. I did not sand the cardstock at all and the ink stamped the background of the embossing with the white embossed edge standing out more. I was thrilled with the outcome and I hope you like it too. The embossed cardstock has been matted on Flaxen cardstock and another strip of Flaxen cardstock has been placed over the bottom third of the card. I have topped with this with the coordinating Flaxen Paper Fundamental paper .

The flower and bud has had the base stamped with Canary ink and then overstamped with Flaxen ink. The leaves base has been stamped with Flaxen ink and overstamped with Olive ink. These colours go so well together and I found it to be a very restful combination on the eye. These were very easy to fussy cut and I have used the thin foam tape to add a little dimension.

The sentiment has come from the Artfully Sent Just to Say stamp set and I have stamped it in Flaxen ink.

For my second card I have used another piece of the lovely pearlised cardstock that I did several weeks ago. I have embossed the Flaxen cardstock with the Stripe embossing folder and then edged the card with the chevron border punch similar to another card I featured earlier. This time you can see the lovely background of the painted card. The sentiment has been cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and stamped using Frame Flair stamp set, and the sentiment came from the Someone Special stamp set.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Flaxen, White Daisy

Paper – Whimsy Paper Fundamentals

Stamp set – Someone Special, Frame Flair, Just to Say

Inks – Flaxen, Canary, Olive

Embossing Folders – Stripe, Quatrefoil

Pearl paint (NLA unfortunately)

Cricut Cartridge – Art Philosophy

Punch – Chevron border punch

This stamp set is only available until the end of March so make sure you get in quick if you would like it. You can visit my website here to purchase this stamp set.

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Bring on Spring

On February 15, 2015February 14, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping9 Comments

Welcome back

Today I would like to share with you a very quick and easy card that I have made using the A Little Note stamp set that is available for just NZ$12 through the Seasonals Expression catalogue which is available until 31 March from my website here. I know the Northern Hemisphere are going through some very cold weather at the moment and I thought this might cheer them up as they look forward to spring. Daffodils always herald the start of spring for me and they are so cheerful after the bleak days of winter.

When I first started paper crafting many years ago I started with wet embossing. I was fascinated with how the powder changed to a lovely embossed edge in no time with just a little heat. I was so thrilled to see that CTMH brought out a range of basic colour embossing ink and I love using them on all sorts of cards and embellishments.

A little trick with embossing is to use a stamping buddy or a pad made from cornstarch or something similar. This helps stop stray strands of embossing powder ruin your work and also helps the embossing powder stick to the versamark inked image.

For this card I have made a base card by cutting a piece of White Daisy cardstock 8″ x 4″ to make a 4″ square card. I cut a piece of White Daisy cardstock 3″ x 3 1/4″ and after using my stamping buddy I have stamped the image with Versamark ink and then sprinkled the Ranger gold embossing powder generously over it. After shaking the excess powder off I then used my heat gun to melt the powder to give the lovely embossed finish.

I used my ShinHan Touch Twin markers – Marigold, Golden Yellow and Sap Green – to colour in the images. As my hands haven’t been very good lately, embossing and then colouring in was a good option for me.

I then matted the image with Pear cardstock 3 1/4″ by 3 1/2″ For the base card I have placed a strip of yellow chevron paper from the Whimsy Paper Fundamentals Papers – 1 1/2″ x 4″ and then placed two strips of Pear cardstock 1/4″ x ” on either side of it. I then embossed the sentiment below it from the same stamp set using the technique outlined above.

Before placing the stamped image on the base card I placed piece of Topiary Chevron Ribbon to tie the image together and add some dimension.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Pear

Paper – Whimsy Paper Fundamentals

Stamp set – A Little Note

Ink – Versamark

Embossing Powder – Gold

ShinHan Touch Twin Markers – Marigold, Golden Yellow, Sap Green

Topiary Chevron Ribbon

These cards and others are available for sale at my shop Gift Hutt. I will be moving shop to a larger shop at the end of this month and will be looking at starting to do some workshops and classes from next month.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Valentines Day

On February 9, 2015 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping2 Comments

Welcome

I apologise for being a little late this week but it has been a very busy week. I am aware that I have not done a tutorial on making the box envelope and I will do that as soon as I can.

This week I have a couple of cards using the lovely Amour stamp set and Heartstrings papers that is only available until 31 March through the Seasonal Expressions catalogue. These go so well together and would be suitable for both a Valentines Day card and also a wedding card.

For this card I have cut a piece of cardstock at 4″ x 8″ to create a 4″ x 4″ card for something completely different. I stamped the background script stamp with Bamboo ink on Colonial White cardstock and then stamped the Eiffel Tower and Armour stamps in Slate ink over the top. The lovely silhouette stamp was stamped with Black ink. I love how the inks do not smudge and I can used the stamped cardstock straight away. The stamped card has been matted with the red paper from the Heartstrings paper pack and then matted again with Black cardstock.

For this card I have made the card look like a postcard as the stamps fit that so well. As before I have used the script stamp to create the background in Bamboo ink on Colonial White cardstock. I have used a mix of different stamp to create the postcard and this time they have all been stamped with Slate ink. The background is made from the red Heartstrings paper and Hollyhock cardstock embossed with the Damask embossing folder. I have added a trim of Black cardstock. The sentiment is stamped in Black ink on Colonial White cardstock and then matted on a mix of Hollyhock and Black cardstock. The hearts are from the January SOTM This Moment stamp set and I have stamped them in Hollyhock ink on Colonial White cardstock and then fussy cut them out and placed them on the card.

The Heartstrings paper packet and Armour stamp set are only available until the end of March when the Seasonal Expression catalogue is retired. All these products (except for the This Moment stamp set) are available from my website here.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Black, Hollyhock

Paper – Heartstrings

Stamps – Armour, This Moment (NLA)

Inks – Bamboo, Black, Hollyhock, Slate

Embossing folder – Damask

Have a good week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

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

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

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

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Patricia's Creative Corner

Category: Stamping

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