I have had a very challenging week and have had to make a very difficult decision. I still have to work through some things and I hope to have more information next weekend.
In the meantime I took some pet related products to a Pet Exp in Upper Hutt yesterday so I managed to squeeze some time to make some pet related cards using the two pet stamp sets which are so cute – Love My Cat and Love My Dog from CTMH. Plus I have also used some Artistry cat and dog cuts and some very cute animals from the Creata Critter 1 Cricut cartridge. I have also used a combination of different papers to make a mix of feminine and masculine cards.
These two cards have been made using the Kaleidoscope papers and are very feminine. The scallop is from a Spellbinders beaded oval die and framed the very sweet poodle nicely.
Some cards using Zoe.
This is a little 2″ x 2″ card and is so cute.
I love the pink and grey combination of this card to make a very feminine card.
A very masculine card with a strip of black glitter paper.
This card features Sangria papers.
Another very masculine card with Urban papers.
A very simple card using Nevermore papers and a trim from the black shimmer paper trimmed with the scallop edge punch.
Love the black and white elegance using the dotted paper from Le Vie En rose papers.
A card using Zoe papers.
Finally a very cute little 2″ x 2″ card featuring an owl.
It was a great day at the Expo and I saw a wide range of dogs and other animals including seeing my first blue tongue lizard up close.
And this very cute chihuahua dressed up as Dracula for Halloween.
This is a quick post today featuring a card that I made for my sister-in-law,s birthday. This is totally different to what I normally make but it is good to stretch and challenge myself sometimes. I have based this card on pattern 25 from the Make it From Your Heart Vol. 1 how to book. There is no stamping on this card at all – the sentiment, scallop edge and champagne glasses have been cut from the new Artistry Cricut cartridge. I have used a small strip of paper from the new White Pines paper range as those colours and pattern was perfect for Lissa. The champagne in the glasses have been cut from the Sangria papers while I added some sparkle and bubbles with the new Fundamentals Assortments – Glacier.
I am a couple of days late but the light has been against me for taking photographs and then I downlaoded Light Room on my computer and that took ages as well. Never mind I am all sorted now.
So it is a very quick post showing off the versatility of the Artiste cartridge. There are over 700 images on this cartridge which makes it very cost effective for the price which also includes 3 coordinating stamp sets as well as some dimensional shapes. I love how you can do boxes, cards, layered images and more for any project you can imagine.
Today I have done the lovely masculine card with a coordinating envelope using Seaside papers. Father’s Day was last Sunday in the United States so this is an appropriate card to show I think. I got the instructions for the dimensions from Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking here and it was super quick and easy to make.
I have used the dots embossing folder for the tie and pocket to add some interest to the card.
And here is the back – oops there is a sneak peak of the upcoming August SOTM here.
You can cut the collar to help with opening the card up to write inside but I thought that I would put this on the back for ease of use.
Today I have another couple of layouts using the Hopscotch papers that are due to be retired at the end of the month. I am going to miss this papers as the colours are gorgeous and the papers are really fun.
Last Easter my daughter had a craft making session with her friends, where they decorated up some Easter eggs and made them look like dinosaurs. I took some photos, as you do, and when CTMH had a special a while back on Studio J I got these photos printed in different sizes. The colours in the photos matched perfectly with the Hopscotch papers – particularly the Sorbet and Flaxen colours.
The Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge is so versatile and here I have used the sleeve function to cut out the envelope to hold my journalling card for my daughter to complete when she can. I have used the journalling card from the Artbooking Cartridge stamp set Take Note. This stamp set is only available as part of the Artbooking Cricut cartridge and I use this a lot for my journalling. Here is a close up of the sleeve and I have used strips of the Hopscotch papers to create the patterns.
Here is another layout using small strips of paper to embellish the layouts. I have taken my inspiration from the Magic book but added my own twist. I have also used Artfully Sent for the letters FUN and Artbooking cartridge for the embellishment and the Artiste cartridge for the Easter title.
As I said these Hopscotch papers and the You’re the Bomb are only available until the end of the month so be in quick so you are not disappointed. You can click here to go straight to my website to order.
There is another Seasonals Expressions coming out next month and I have had a sneak peak and there are some gorgeous new products coming so watch this space…
I have done a lot of cards recently, but I did find some time to do some scrapbook layouts a couple of weeks ago. I am more of a cardmaker, but I do enjoy scrapbooking and I am so thankful that CTMH has a great range of how to books to inspire me.
For this layout I have used the Performance pattern on page 48 – 49 of the Magic book. This is the first time that I have used hand stitching on a layout and I am happy with the outcome. I am going to look at getting my sewing machine out and have a go with that as well. I have used the stitch guide to punch the holes and some embroidery floss and stitched it by hand.
Here are close ups of the flowers and butterflies. The flourish has been cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (page 59 Font Layer) and I played around in Cricut Craftroom to get the size right. The flowers are from the Artiste cartridge (page 55 Accent 1>Shift) and I have cut several different sizes to create some depth with the flowers. The butterflies are from Artbooking (page 62 Icon)and I have stamped them with using the rock and rock technique with Canary and Pixie inks with the butterfly stamp from the Brushed WOTG set. I have used the script stamp from the Armour stamp set and lightly and randomly stamped onto the Colonial White cardstock in Bamboo ink and then distressed the edges with Desert Sand ink. I love how this has turned out.
I have hidden the journalling in this pocket. Sometimes I struggle to put journalling on a layout as it seems to detract from the artwork so putting them into pockets makes it easy to create layouts.
I originally stamped this sentiment with Black ink but it didn’t look right so I then stamped the sentiment with Cotton Candy ink onto some scrap Colonial White cardstock. I fussy cut out the letters and then adhered them slightly to the left of the black letters to create a shadow and actually it looks so much better for it and I will be doing this again.
As promised I said I would write a tutorial on how to make the poinsettia flower that I featured in last night’s post.
This flower was actually easy to make because when you look at the poinsettia flower it has the same shape to the leaves and flowers and the centre of the leaves are bright red which makes it stand out from the leaves.
I have cut the flower shape Accent 3 (shift) on page 61 on the CTMH Artiste cartridge. The red flowers have been cut out from Ruby cardstock in three sizes – 3″, 2.75″ and 2.5″, while the leaves have been cut out at 4 and 3.5″. I used the Cricut Craft Room to use the hide/contour function to get rid of the circle in the middle.
I then shaped the flowers by using the flower shape tools I won last year and created the veins in the leaves and then bent the leaves gently to create some shape. The flowers have a white edge to them and the CTMH white core cardstock worked perfectly to make a perfect finish to the flowers.
I have done the leaves the same but this time I tried to make a heavier score for the veins so that I could sponge Canary ink on it to create yellow veins.
I then combined them together by alternating the leaves to create the flower. I then added the Bling gold gems to centre to finish it off..
As you can see it is very quick and easy to make and I hope that you have fun making them.
Welcome to another Paper Trail Blog Hop and this month the focus is on the the Balloon Ride papers.
If you have come from Amy’s blog, you are in the right place and if you have just popped in to visit then feel free to have a good browse. The blog hop is circular so once you have visited everyone you will end up where you have started.
I have been doing my son’s album and the Balloon Ride papers have been really great to stretch myself with a different colour palette. I have also used the Artbooking cartridge to create the first layout. Once again I have a layout from the Make it From the Heart Volume 2 book (pattern No. 13). I have used a different overlay to the one in the book and placed strips of different colour behind the layout. I love the effect it creates and it adds such a pop of colour on the layout. I have also cut some other shapes out of the Artbooking cartridge to embellish the page.
Here is a close up of the Artbooking detail on the page.
I have also showed this page to demonstrate that you don’t need to have a Cricut machine to create layouts. This is my own design using the front sheets from the Picture Your Life kit to place at the top of the page and a couple of strips down each side of the page. The photos work in well and I have just added a couple of complements from the Balloon Ride Complement set.
Here is a close up of both pages of the layout. I have been admiring the merry go round in the Artiste cartridge for a long time and I am so thrilled that I could use it on this layout. The base is made out of S0rbet cardstock and the second layer is made from the sorbet crackle paper in the paper pack. I have finished off with Crystal Blue cardstock to create some unity with the colours in the paper and the photos. I have also made the rosette out from the Artiste cartridge and topped it with the Fun stamp out of the June SOTM set – Kaboom (NLA). The title and the pocket with the journalling tag is from the Artbooking cartridge. I have used off cuts from the overlay in the first layout to decorate several layouts to create unity with this album. The tags have been cut by hand.
To start with I wasn’t too sure about this paper range as well but the colours are so beautiful and the album is turning out really well. I have combined traditional layouts with the Balloon Ride Picture Your Life programme to get through the photos quickly.
I have paper pieced the image using the blue paper and Sorbet, Crystal Blue and Creme Brulee cardstock. I have also used the offcuts of the overlay I cut out for the first layout featured at the beginning of the post.
I love the colour combination here and the three dimensional effect that I have achieved with overlaying the trimmed image over the balloon background paper. I have sanded the edges of the Sorbet and Creme Brulee cardstocks to give a lovely edge to the matting. The balloon image has been paper pieced using the patterned paper and Sorbet cardstock.
This was a quick and easy card and the balloon image has been coloured using the watercolour pencils from CTMH. I used to do a lot of water colour painting once until I became ill and now I am enjoying doing using these pencils and creating the watercolour effects again. I have used my watercolour brushes to create the lovely soft effects. I have also used the paper piercing tool to create a pattern on the trim as seen in the photo below.
This final card has had the stamped image coloured in using the watercolour pencils and then blended with the watercolour pen available from CTMH. As you can see it is a much more vibrant colour to the washed look of watercolour.
Just a very quick post today to show you my latest card. I have had this in my mind for a while and had to get it out. This is similar to what I was doing prior to starting up with Close to My Heart and could be suitable for any occasion – including bereavements. I love white on white and here I have combined texture from three different embossing folders from CTMH – Stripes, Damask and Dots. I had cut out the shapes using the Art Philosophy cartridge and then run them through my Cuttlebug. I am so pleased how they turned out. The flower is made from rolling a rose cut from the Artiste cartridge at 3″ and the other petals are cut from Art Philosophy at 3″ and 2 1/2″ (I think – I had cut them out a while ago). The leaves are from Artiste as is the tag. The sentiment has come from the Just For You stamp set while I have finished it off with a couple of black sparkles.
I am sorry to be a day late for this post but I was called away to a family emergency and then I have ended up with a cold and chest infection. Just great having a fever when the weather is starting to get very warm! Enough about me, I hope that you have all had a good week and not getting too stressed with Christmas just around the corner. I know that I said that this week there would be a blog hop but, unfortunately, that has been delayed until next weekend. I can’t wait to show you what I have created.
Today, as a break from Christmas, I thought I w0uld post a card that I have made for my niece’s 18th birthday using my Cricut machine. I was late sending it but she has received it now and I can finally publish it.
For this card I have used the Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges and Chantilly papers. The dress and stand were made using the Artiste cartridge while the numbers were cut using the Art Philosophy cartridges. I have used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder to create the textured white card which is matted on Cotton Candy cardstock. To make the pink sparkles I have used my Cotton Candy alcohol markers on clear sparkles to make the sparkles pink and match my card.
Materials used are all Close to My Heart or otherwise stated:
Materials used:
