Christmas Cards and Treats

On November 24, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Die Cuts, Holidays, Stamping4 Comments

Welcome back.

Well it is that time of the week for another blog post. This time I am just going to show some Christmas cards and party favours that I have been making while I have been working on a big project for our next blog hop on the 1st November focusing on the December Stamp of the Month – Special Care.

I am loving the papers from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide. They are so beautiful and the colours coordinate so well. I have also done some layouts using the WOTG Sparkle and Shine kit and once I have printed some more photos I will post them on here. I am so pleased with how they turned out as I have used the recipes in the Make it from the Heart series of books. This has made it a lot easier to get good layouts and then I could concentrate on coordinating papers and embellishments to finish off the pages.

Back to the cards. This card recipe is rapidly becoming one of my favourite designs. It is from the Make It from the Heart Volume 1 which is a great source of recipes for both scrapbook layouts and cards and is sooo cheap for quick inspiration (just $12 per book!). So quick and easy to mix and match colours and papers and these patterns go so well together. I have also used different stamp sets and I was really pleased how they turned out and actually did this card in a class last week and they turned out well. I had pre-cut everything and the Cricut has come in so handy – I have used the Artiste cartridge here.

The stamp sets I have used are: Perfect-Fit Birthday Occasions, Perfect-Fit – Frames 2 Occasions and Magical Days Holiday from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.

I have never really used alphabet stamps before so I am pleased this has turned out well. This is another simple card that did not need special equipment to make – just a good accurate trimmer like the Fiskars Surecut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer that is available from my shop. (Just as an aside I have been doing a lot of cutting and had to get some more blades quickly, and I won’t be doing that again as the blades were more expensive at the local Warehouse Stationary than what I can pay retail through Close to My Heart!). I am using bakers twine more often now and the sparkles add the shine to the card.

The stamp sets I have used are: Urban Alphabet, Scandanavian Wishes – November SOTM.

For this card I have been inspired by a card by a fellow CTMH consultant, Wanda, and here is my take on it. I have used my Cricut (Art Philosophy) to cut out the frame and the holly leaves, berries and the flame. The holly leaves have been embossed by hand to give some shape to the leaves and the edges were distressed with Topiary ink (I have used Olive cardstock). The berries were cut out of Ruby cardstock and I have used my Liquid Glass to create some dimension and make them stand out. The flame was cut using a petal shape and I have stamped the candle on the base of the petal.

The stamp sets I have used are: Scandanavian Wishes (October SOTM) and Illuminate (November SOTM – available for $5 if you spend over $75 – be in quick though as this will no longer be available after the end of the month).

Finally here some party favours that I have made from the Artiste and Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges. I have put little chocolate bars inside them and used them as little thank you gifts for the ladies attending my classes at the Upper Hutt Library.

The stamp sets I have used here are: Banner Wishes Occasions and Santa Claus Holiday – both from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.

Just a reminder that you can choose one ‘star’ product free for every $150 you spend in both the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide or the 2013 Product Launch Guide. This great deal is available through until the 31st December 2013 or until stocks last.

Please feel free to click on the links to my website to go shopping for any of these products or contact me for further information.

My next blog post will feature the December SOTM – Special Care. I can’t wait to show you what I have been up to.

In the meantime have a great week.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Rosette Christmas Tree

On November 17, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Holidays, Stamping7 Comments

Welcome to my blog – especially to all my new followers. I hope that you find some inspiration from my creative endeavours just I find inspiration from other blogs and blog hops.

Today I will be showing my version of the rosette Christmas tree that is shown front of our Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide. Here is the picture on the front of the Holiday Gift Guide.

There are instructions for doing the rosettes with the Artiste Cricut cartridge and Jenny Gilbert has really detailed instructions here. However, I have been asked to teach my friends at Crafty Angels how to make these trees so I have done mine by hand so they are able to go home and do their own.

Here is my version of the tree:

I have adapted the instructions from the archives of Close to My Heart which used a scoring board and a trimmer to make the tree.

The papers that I have used are the Sparkle and Shine papers from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide and they pleat so easily.

Before cutting the paper I used my ScorPal to score all the papers at 1/2″ intervals as it made it a lot easier to cut and pleat later.

I have cut the following pieces:

3 strips of 3″ x 12″

3 strips of 2 3/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 2 1/2″ x 12″

2 strips of 2 1/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 2″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 3/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 1/2″ x 12″

2 strips of 1 1/4″ x 12″

2 strips of 1″ x 12″

1 strip of 3/4″ x 12″

20 circles – I have used a 1 3/4″ punch for the larger circles and my CCS from CM for cutting two small circles for the top rosette.

As you can see I have reduced the size by 1/4 inch each so make the tree graduate to a point. You could use another small rosette of 3/4″ x 12″ to place at the top of the tree but I have used my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out snowflakes for the top of the tree as well as smaller snowflakes to decorate the tree. The smaller white snowflakes have had glue applied and I have sprinkled some prisma glitter to give some glitter. I have also stamped the stars from the Sparkle and Shine WOTG stamp set and fussy cut them out and put some sparkles in the middle of them for a bit of ‘sparkle and shine’.

I have not used a hot glue gun as my skin does not heal easily and I still have scars from last Christmas on my fingers! But I have discovered Liquid Glass from CTMH to be a really great adhesive for making the adhesive (and for rolling flowers). The Liquid Glass gives you about a minute to manipulate into place and then it sets really quickly and it did not take me long to do the rosettes. There are lots of videos on YouTube to show you have to form the rosettes (I am sorry but I couldn’t find the particular one that I used). I made sure I had the circles close by to place them on the rosette quickly before I lost the shape. Because the adhesive set very quickly it did not take long. Foam squares have been used in between the rosettes as well for additional height.

To finish I had to purchase some green and red ribbon as I did not have Ruby Chevron ribbon or the ribbon to dye with the re-inkers like they have in America.

The materials I have used are:

Sparkle and Shine B&T Duos

Slate cardstock

Daisy White Cardstock

Juniper Ink

Slate Ink

Ruby Ink

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Foam squares

Non-stick scissors

Bonding Memories glue

Liquid Glass

Clear Sparkles

Prisma Glitter

Purchased ribbons.

I hope that you are inspired to make your own version of the tree. A shorter version would look great as Christmas place settings with names on them, or doing a group of three different sizes would look nice as decorations together as well.

Have a great week as we spiral onwards towards Christmas.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

Christmas is Coming!

On November 4, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Die Cuts, Holidays, Stamping12 Comments

Welcome back.

Today I am doing something completely different from my usual cards and/or scrapbook layouts. Christmas is not too far away and I have been inspired by the lovely ornaments featured in the Product Launch Guide from Close to My Heart on page 44 (Aus/NZ version).

For my ornaments I have used last month’s Stamp of the Month set Scandinavian Wishes heart image and lots of different colour inks. Here is my efforts:

They are really easy to do and the hardest part was picking colours to stamp with. Here is a quick tutorial for you to make your own.

1) Using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge cut out the heart shapes at 2 inches. I have used the fill option to fill the entire sheet and cut out 25 hearts.

2) Stamp the heart image on four shapes.

3) I used my Fiskars trimmer scoring blade (but you can use a ruler and scoring blade or whatever you have available) score down the middle of the heart and then fold the heart in half with the stamped image towards the middle.

4) On one half of a heart use a good strong glue – I have used CTMH Bonding Memories glue which bonds really quickly and then put the 2nd heart onto it and try to get it matching as much as you can.

5) Glue the other half of the heart and place the third heart onto the ornament.

6) Glue the last two sides and place the final heart onto it and making sure that you get it as close as possible to the centre of the hearts.

7) Using a piercing tool pierce a hole at the top of the hearts and then using a needle thread your string through (I have used bakers twine) and tie a knot at the base of the heart and one at the end of the twine to enable you to hang your ornament on your Christmas tree.

Voila a Christmas tree ornament!

It is so easy and I hope that you can give it a go as well.

Materials used:

Colonial White cardstock

Pacifica ink

Stamp of the Month set – Scandinavian Wishes

Baker’s twine

Bonding Memories Glue

Piercing tool

Needle

Scissors

Next week will be our next Australasian blog hop featuring this month’s Stamp of the Month Set – ‘Illuminate’. I can’t wait to see what everyone has done with this stamp set.

Have a good week and see you next weekend.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

Close to My Heart Scandinavian Wishes Stamp of the Month

On October 27, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Crafts, Holidays, Stamping5 Comments

Hello again.

It is that time of the week again for another post and I have gone back to Split Coast Stampers to get some more inspiration for a card. There are so many great tutorials there that it is going to take me quite a while to go through them all. I am enjoying the challenge of stretching myself to do something different every week.

This week I have done a side spring card and the link to the tutorial is here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/sidespringcard/

I have discovered that it is a lot easier to practice with scrap paper first, otherwise a lot of cardstock can be wasted. It took me some time to work it out, but once I did it did not take me long to complete the card.

I have used the Close to My Heart Scandinavian Wishes Stamp of the Month set. This is a very cute and whimsical stamp set and a lot of the stamps will be really useful for other occasions – like the heart is going to be really good for Valentine’s Day. This stamp set is only $5 when you spend $75. You only have a few days left to purchase this gorgeous stamp set so be in quick to get your order here.

Here is my card:

Materials used:

Daisy White Cardstock

Ruby Cardstock

Ruby Ink

Sparkle and Shine paper

Cricut – Art Philosophy cartridge

My Acrylix Scandinavian Wishes Stamp set

White Bakers Twine

Tombow adhesive

Liquid Glass adhesive.

I have cut out the heart according to the size of the stamp – 2 inches and then for the background heart in ruby cardstock I have cut it at 2.25 inches.

I am loving the Sparkle and Shine papers from the Holidays from the Heart Catalogue as they are beautiful colours and have a lovely sheen to them. The photo does not do justice to the beautiful silver coloured paper.

I hope that you enjoy my latest efforts and I would love to see what you can do with this card.

Now I have to put my thinking cap on again as we have another blog hop coming up for next month’s Stamp of the Month set – Illuminate. I was really impressed with all the participants entries and it was very impressive going through all the blogs. CTMH really does make it easy to be so creative and inventive.

Happy Crafting.

Easel paper pad holder

On March 22, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Crafts, Creative Memories1 Comment

Hello

As I said yesterday I have been busy with my crafts as well as my camera. I have been trying to design an easy paper pad holder that I can teach to my friends at my Crafty Angels group later in the year. I wanted to create an easy and economical gift that people can do at home.

For these projects I have used paper and cardstock that I have had for a few years. They are different brands, but I was able to match the colours quite nicely. Use whatever you have and embellish as you would like.

After working through some prototypes here is the final product with instructions:

Instructions:

Here are the pieces I have used to make this pad holder:

Cut a 4″ x 8 ” piece of base cardstock and score it at 4″, 5″, 6″ and 8″. Fold as per the easel card with the last 1/2 ” folded in to help anchor the easel a lot stronger.

To continue with the easel card place tape on the fold to create the easel. I have used double-sided tape as it is much stronger than the tape runner that I normally used.

Cut out a piece of card stock 8″ x 4″ ( or length to fit whatever size of pad). Cut a piece of patterned paper 7 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ and then adhere it to the cardstock

Then adhere this card to the base of the easel.

Then place double-sided tape onto the last fold and adhere it to the base of the long card. This will help stabilise the easel.

Cut out a piece of patterned paper to match the cardstock 3 3/4″ x 1 3/4 to cover the top of the easel card. (I seemed to have missed taking a photo of this step – sorry).

Cut out a die cut tag and stamp your greeting on it. Here I have used a stamp from Kaiser craft. Adhere it to the front of the easel.

To make the base stronger I used a piece of heavy chipboard that came with my card stock packs from Creative Memories and cut it 4″ x 8″. Use double-sided tape to adhere it to the base of the card. Trim with scissors if necessary. (Depending on how strong your card base is you may miss this step).

Adhere the paper pad to the card with double-sided tape.

Add embellishments to finish.

Here is the finished article again with embellishments added on to it.

Here are the earlier versions of my templates.

These would make great gifts or stocking fillers at Christmas time with a nice pen to match.

Materials used:

Creative Memories rotary trimmer

Creative Memories card

Double sided tape

Creative Memories tape runner

Kaisercraft stamp

Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tag Two die

Stampin’Up Black ink

Cardstock, patterned paper and various embellishments that I have had for a number of years

I hope you have fun to make these and that it is not too difficult to follow the instructions.

Have a great day.

Patricia

More Christmas cards

On November 27, 2012February 20, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Patricia's Creations2 Comments

Hello again.

I am still making a lot of Christmas cards. This time I have used some old watercolour paintings that were rubbish and then stamped on them and used my custom cutting set to cut out the images. I am quite pleased with the results.

For this card I have used a landscape painting with hills and far trees and stamped my tree on the top. For the snow effect I have used Liquid Applique and dusted this with fine glitter for a touch of sparkle. I then cut out an oval of dark green card and placed it over my image. I then used Peelcraft stickers for the corners and edges.

This another card using a watercolour background. This one used a plain sky background that I had painted years ago. I have used the Liquid Applique and glitter again to create the snow effect. My custom cutting system is great for cutting out the matted image as well as cutting out the green card in the foreground. A Peelcraft Christmas greeting finishes off this card.

For this card I have stamped a Santa image onto a plain slightly watercoloured background. I painted the Santa image with my watercolour paints. The Santa beard has had flock applied for a fluffy effect and for the trim on the coat and hat I have used Liquid Applique and glitter. I have used a combination of red and green scraps for the background, matted greeting and the ribbon. The touch of bling is from the Enchanted epoxy stickers.

This card has another stamped image on a lightly coloured watercolour background. I have painted the stamp with my watercolours and then I have matted it on a green card using my custom cutting system. The base of the image needed to be covered hence I have placed the band across the card. For the grey card I have used my zigzig blade on my rotary trimmer for the fancy edge. I then placed the blue card on top and finished with a strip of green ribbon from the Noel range of products from Creative Memories. I have put three stickers from the Enchanted epoxy stickers on the ribbon. Finally I placed a Peelcraft sticker onto the card.

This rather simple card also has another tree stamped onto a watercolour background. I managed to get some hills in the background to create some depth to the image. Once again I have used the Liquid Applique and glitter to create snow on the tree. This time I have stamped Merry Christmas onto the image and then cut it out using my custom cutting system. I used a scrap of green patterned paper for the background and then finished of with a strip of ribbon from the Noel range (which sadly is being discontinued, but the new range of Nordic and Be Merry is just as good) with some bling from the Enchanted epoxy stickers.

I love the blue and grey tones on this card. I have stamped the tree with blue (actually it was not meant to happen but still turned out great) ink onto a lovely watercolour hill paper. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to stamp it evenly so covered the blank areas with the stamp of Peace and a flower from the Reminisce range from CM and with a black sticker from the Enchanted epoxy range. I then cut out the image and matted it with blue card using the custom cutting system. The lacey edge is made from using a punch from Fiskers and layed using a lovely cream metallic paper and a silver grey card that I had in my scrap drawer. I then cut a piece of the same blue card approximately 1 inch in diameter and topped it off with a piece of the metallic paper using the deckle blade on my rotary trimmer. To finish of I have stamped the greeting and then placed some Kaisercraft blue rhinestones.

Materials used in these products:

Creative Memories rotary trimmer, custom custom cutting system, Noel range of ribbons, Enchanted epoxy stickers Reminisce flower

Kaisercraft Christmas Sentiments and Turtle Dove stamps

StampinUp green and blue papers

Happy crafting and catch you again soon.

Trisha

Green and blue card stock from Timbrels in Upper Hutt

Scrap cards and papers.

Christmas cards

On November 3, 2012February 20, 2013 By patriciamanhireIn Patricia's CreationsLeave a comment

Well it is that time of the year and I have started on making Christmas cards. Most of my cards have been created using CM products, but I have also used other scraps that I have had in my scrap drawer. I have also got a book out of the library with old fashioned images which makes lovely vintage type cards. All these images are copyright free which is even better.

This card has been created using CM Noel papers and a die cut. I have also used the red Enchanted ribbon which goes really well with the Noel range. The stamp is from Rubbadubbadoo.

This is one of the images from the library book. I have put a little glitter on the snow in the image. I have used my CM custom cutting system ovals to create the matted image. I have finished off with a Peelcraft Christmas greeting.

I have printed off an Enchanted paper from Storybook Creator for the background. The ribbon in the background and the die cut is from the Noel range of papers. I have used white liquid applique and shook some glitter over the top to create a snow effect.

Noel ribbons have been used here and a Noel die cut with a Santa also printed from my Storybook Creator placed in the centre. The strip on the left has been created using my CM border system twinkle chain cartridge out of Enchanted embossed paper. Finished off with a couple of Enchanted embellishments.

Once again I have used a combination of Enchanted papers and Noel ribbon and die cuts.

I have printed off an image from my Storybook Creator and backed it onto a piece of scrap paper that I had in my scrap drawer. I love the colours in this card.

This Christmas tree is a very popular image on Pinterest and is so easy to do. I have used a 5 inch circle of paper and then cut that in half. I scored about 1.25 inches along from the edge and then folded it back. I then folded that fold onto the edge and then back onto itself. Sorry about the confusing instructions but there are very good videos on You Tube. Here I have used the Enchanted bling for the tree decorations, and Enchanted papers for the background. I love these colours for Christmas cards and the Enchanted embossed papers mean I don’t have to use an embossing folder to create the dots on the white oval. The green Enchanted ribbon makes a nice edging when a piece of card is placed on top.

In this card I have used some scraps for the ribbons. I have used my Snowman punch and put them on the circles. Peelcraft greeting finishes this off.

This angel is another image from my library book and has been placed on an embossed red card and finished off with Peelcraft corners, lines and greeting. Glitter glue has been used to highlight the wings and snow.

Similar card to the last one with another image from the lovely library book. I have highlighted the snow with glitter glue.

This card is made from Noel papers and a die cut with a Peelcraft greeting.

Another ‘scrappy’ card from scrap drawer and again the lovely image from the library book.

Another card with scraps and an image from my Storybook Creator.

As you can see cards are so easy to make and it is great to use some of scraps. The library is a great source of information and images.

Happy cardmaking

Patricia Manhire

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Patricia's Creative Corner

Tag: Christmas

Christmas Cards and Treats

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