Close to My Heart Artfully Sent Christmas Card

On November 17, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart, Cricut, Stamping6 Comments

Welcome back

I have been very busy doing more Christmas cards and lots of other goodies for Gift Hutt. Today I would like to show you a card made using the new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge. I have been having problems using Cricut Craftroom so had not been able to do much for a couple of weeks, but finally yesterday I was able to cut again. I am still getting used to the new cartridge and I have seen some amazing pieces of artwork on various Facebook groups I belong to.

For this card I have cut out the scene card on page 47 of the booklet at 7″ out of Glacier cardstock. I then cut out a piece of White Daisy cardstock at 4 3/4″ x 6 3/4″ to use for the scene. This is the first time I have sponged a background and it is not perfect but still gives an idea of creating the scene. There are a number of different videos on YouTube if you would like instructions on how to do this. To create the snow hills I have used scrap cardstock shaped to create the hills and I have used a combination of Glacier and Indian Corn Blue inks for the snow and added some Outdoor Denim for extra depth around the moon. To make the moon I cut out a circle from a post it not at 1 1/2″ and used that to sponge the colours around to create the moon. I softened the moon by sponging lightly over with Glacier ink. I then stamped the Santa Claus from the Santa Claus Holiday stamp set with Slate ink to create the depth of the image.

The trees were cut out of New England Ivy cardstock using the Artbooking Cricut cartidge. I wrinkled the trees a little to create some dimension and then I used some white liquid applique on the trees for a snow effect (available on special while stocks last). The deer and cute little bird has been cut from the Artfully Sent cartridge in Chocolate cardstock and I ripped a piece of green paper from the Yuletide Carol paper pack for the effect of grass in the foreground and the ripped edge has come up looking like snow. (Unfortuanately, CTMH do not provide glitter for sale as some prisma glitter over the applique would have just finished the project of so well – extra sparkle would have been good.)

Here is a close up view of the scene I have created:

I stamped the sentiment from the Holiday Cheer stamp set using Glacier ink on White Daisy cardstock and matted it with New England Ivy cardstock and placed it on the front. I then placed white enamel stars for a snow effect on the front.

My technique could do with some practice but I am still happy at how the card has turned out for my first effort. And the good news is that CTMH provide 5″ x 7″ envelopes to match so this card will be for sale at Gift Hutt and would make a very special card to give someone.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Glacier, New England Ivy, Chocolate,

Paper – Yuletide Carol

Inks – Glacier, Slate, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim

Cricut Cartridges – Artfully Sent, Artbooking

Stamps – Holiday Cheer, Santa Claus Holiday

White enamel stars

I have some more Christmas ideas coming up and will post them over the next week.

Have a great week and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Sustainable Christmas Tree with CTMH

On November 10, 2014November 10, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Crafts7 Comments

Welcome

I have just had a very productive morning this morning crafting with my aunt. She had seen this idea on Pinterest of using corks from wine bottles and making a Christmas tree and we finally got around to making them up.

We made two trees – the first one I decorated with the stickers from the Cut Above Holiday Treat Bag kit. These packs are great for treat bags and they come with lots of stickers to decorate.

When my aunt was working at a rest home she collected the used wine bottle corks and today we got together to make up the trees. She had bought a small oval box from the local $2 shop and filled it with sand. She then covered it with some gold coloured textured wallpaper to create the base of the tree. This came up really well and looks just like a log of wood. Then we got the hot glue gun out and glued the corks together. We first glued the six bottom corks together and then worked our way up to the single cork at the top. The corks were different sizes and shapes which makes for an interesting tree shape. I made the mistake of putting the stickers on first but I should have left them to after the tree was completed and then I could have coordinated them better and also they would have been straighter as well. Never mind it still came up well. My aunt had the star and we cut a groove at the top and glued the star in place.

It didn’t take very long at all and we were very pleased with the result.

And here is the second tree my aunt made using different brads. As you can see it is quite effective.

I hope that I have inspired you to create something different and out of the box.

Happy Crafting.

Patricia

CTMH Yuletide Carol Pic Folio Album

On November 9, 2014November 9, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Christmas, Close to My Heart, Holidays, Scrapbooking3 Comments

Welcome back.

It is not that long to Christmas now and I have been busy with Christmassy things such as Christmas cards and decorations. However, I have taken some time out to complete this My Creations Hip Pic album. I have been looking at these albums for some time and I was inspired by my upline, Grace Green, who created a similar album using the Yuletide Carol papers. I love these papers as they are so traditional and the patterns are beautiful. Some of them are too beautiful to cover with photos in fact.

The Hip Pic albums are sturdy kraft chipboard albums with 16 white pocket photo pages with 3¾” × 3¾” windows that hold 16 – 4″ × 6″ photos and are spiral-bound. You can decorate as much or as little as you want and they will look fabulous. These are very inexpensive and great to decorate up with lovely papers and embellishments and give as a gift.

I have done the front of the album utilising the lovely image of the stockings and the bird. Inside I have used an assortment of stamps and die cuts from the Artbooking and Artfully Sent cartridges to decorate the pages.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Ruby, New England Ivy, Topiary, Black, Colonial White, Cocoa

Paper – Yuletide Carol

Yuletide Carol Assortments

Stamps – Noel Holiday, Charming Chevrons, Artfully Sent – Just to Say…

Inks – Ruby, Black, New England Ivy

Washi Tape – Topiary Chevron, Gold Polka Dot, Silver Geometric

Gold gems

Chevron sparkles

Cricut Cartridge – Artbooking, Artfully Yours

Scallop punch

All these materials and the album are available for purchasing through my website here.

This album will be for sale at Gift Hutt.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Scaredy Cat Waterfall Folio Album

On November 2, 2014November 2, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Close to My Heart4 Comments

Welcome back.

As promised here is the other waterfall folio album I have made using Scaredy Cat papers this time. I struggled with this one as I kept making mistakes and the finished product is lots of cover ups but I am really pleased how it turned out. I was really unsure of the Scaredy Cat papers as it is for Halloween which we don’t really celebrate here in New Zealand. However, there is only one sheet that is Halloween focused and the rest can be used for lots of different projects. The colours are so vibrant and strong and it was good to get out of my comfort zone of pastel colours.

Here is the link again for the instructions on how to make the albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLbHLZUAPeo&feature=share

Here is the front of the album. I have used the Artbooking cartridge to cut the sentiment and the Artiste cartridge to cut the flowers out of Sunset cardstock. The flowers have been cut and at 2″ and 1 1/2″ and I have inked the edges of the flowers with Sunset ink. I have used the Mini-Medley Accent Black collection for the embellishments which really make this stand out. The leaves have been cut from Pear cardstock to soften the arrangement.

Here is a close up of the flowers:

Here is the inside of the album:

Because the paper had a one way pattern I kept cutting it wrong but as I said before I am happy with how this has turned out. There seems to be a good balance with the patterns and paper. I was intending on using some flip flaps but unfortunately I seem to have mislaid them. The sentiment has come from the Take Note Cricut Bundle from the Artbooking cartridge.

I have also made some other items with the Scaredy Cat papers (including the hat) and here they are displayed at Gift Hutt. They looked great in the window.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Colonial White, Sunrise, Black, Thistle, Pear

Paper – Scaredy Cat

Inks – Sunrise,

Stamps – Take Note Cricut Bundle Artbooking

Cricut Cartridges – Artiste, Artbooking

Mini-Medley Accents – Black

Corner Rounder

Liquid Glass.

I really enjoyed making all of these items and I hope that it inspires you to do the same. All the products used are available from my website here.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH Austalasian SOTM Blog Hop – ‘It’s the Little Things’

On November 1, 2014November 1, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn CTMH SOTM, Stamping46 Comments

Hello and welcome aboard our Stamp of the month Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Jenny’s blog – The Creative Heart 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 my creations which features the November Stamp of the Month ‘It’s the Little Things’ available exclusively throughout November for $33 or just $5 when you spend $75.

I love this whimsical stamp set as it is so versatile for all sorts of projects and today I have done a card and a box featuring the flowers.

This card has been cut using the Artfully Sent cartridge in the shape of a cage and there is a matching card liner to coordinate featuring a bird so that it looks like the bird is in the cage. I have stamped the flowers and leaves and fussy cut them all out. This stamp set is great for those that do not have a Cricut machine to cut shapes to fit the stamps. There are all sorts of flowers that are great for layering but here I have made them single flowers to create a garland of flowers draping over the bird cage with just a peep of the bird in the cage. I love tone on tone stamping and have used Thistle ink on Thistle cardstock and Glacier ink on Glacier cardstock.

Here is the inside of the card:

The second project has been inspired by the Annual Inspiration book. I am really enjoying making three dimensional objects with the Artiste cartridge and the Paper Fundamenta ls papers combine really well with making boxes.

I have used the Sorbet coloured paper fundamentals paper and created the box out of page 44 of the Artiste booklet. I then used the Artfully Sent cartridge and cut the pocket card from page 20 and then placed flowers and leaves on the front and finished the front with the ‘Just for You’ sentiment.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier, Colonial White, Thistle, Cocoa, White Daisy, Sorbet, Sweet Leaf, Canary

Paper – Paper Fundamentals Whimsy pack

Inks – Thistle, Glacier, Canary, Sorbet, Pear, Sweet Leaf,

Embossing Folder – Dots

Sparkles

It’s the Little Things is only available until 30 November from your CTMH consultant. I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Denise’s Blog, Scrap Stamp Share.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

Close to My Heart’s Seaside Capers

On October 27, 2014October 27, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart, Stamping11 Comments

Welcome back

Summer is coming to New Zealand and I have been playing with the Seaside Reflections range from Close to My Heart. I love this paper range as it has the most beautiful colours and textures suitable for lots of different uses – plus there are absolutely gorgeous stamp sets to match the papers.

My son has just had his birthday and he is very keen on sailing and boats etc, so once I tidied my craft desk I got to work to make some cards and then stretched myself to make a waterfall folio album. Actually I did 2 waterfall folio albums but ran out of light to photograph, but will do that and post at another time. Here is the card that I made for him to go with the sailing print that I got him for his birthday. I must confess I had seen this idea on one of the CTMH Facebook groups I belong to but it was very suitable for James’ birthday. I have stamped the yacht image on the patterned paper using Lagoon ink and used the Holiday Tags stamp set for the sentiment.

Here is another version of the card.

I then went on to used the other stamps. I love using the Paper Fundamentals paper and this paper coordinated well with the embossing using the Quatrefoil embossing folder. This is a lovely masculine card.

For my last card I have stamp the shell images onto Colonial White cardstock and coloured them in with Shinhan Touch Twin markers – Pastel Peach, Barely Beige, Clay and Bronze. I then cut them out and used Liquid Glass to cover them and let them dry. The shells created some dimension for the front of the card, with the lovely soft sea images of the paper in the background.

Finally here is my waterfall folio album that I have made with the papers. I have got the pattern from here and the idea from my upline Grace Green – thank you. I have decorated the front with the stickers from the Seaside Assortment pack and also cut the sentiment from the Artbooking cartridge in both Glacier and Desert Sand to help the letters stand out from the background.

And here is the middle of the album.

I am looking forward to creating more with these beautiful papers and yes my desk is still tidy after my day’s efforts. Apart from the first card all these items will be available for sale at Gift Hutt.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Glacier, Colonial White, Desert Sand

Paper – Seaside, Paper Fundamentals – Whimsy

Inks – Desert Sand, Lagoon, Glacier

Stamps – Treasured Friendship, Seaside Greetings, Holiday Tags

Seaside Assortments

Embossing Folders – Dots, Quatrefoil

Cricut Cartridges – Artbooking, Art Philosophy

Shinhan Touch Twin markers – Barely Beige, Pastel Peach, Clay, Bronze

Happy Crafting

Patricia

CTMH makes Christmas cards easy.

On October 21, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Christmas, Christmas Cards, Close to My Heart5 Comments

Welcome back.

A very short post today. Christmas is not that far away so I have been busy making some Christmas cards. I love the two Christmas reflections pack from Close to My Heart – Snowhaven and Yuletide Carol. Both have such different themes but they both make stunning Christmas cards.

I love utilizing the patterns on the papers and the gorgeous wee socks hanging on the shelf is so beautiful and the red paper from the Snowhaven pack coordinates well.

I taught a class yesterday starting with the basics of card making just using the basic equipment i.e. no Cuttlebugs and Cricut machines and this is a good example of a card anyone can make with the basic tools and lovely patterned papers.

Finally this is one of my favourite cards. I love the combination of the Ruby, Black and Glacier colours. I have used the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge to cut the sentiment tag and used the Curlicue Frames stamp set that came with the cartridge to stamp it in Black ink. I love the sentiments from the Just to say… stamp set that also came with the cartridge. I know that I am going to get a lot of use from these two stamp sets. This pattern is from the Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 book and is such an easy pattern to use.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Black, Ruby, White Daisy, Colonial White

Paper – Snowhaven, Yuletide Carol

Inks – Ruby, Black

Stamp sets – Artfully Sent Just to say…, Curlicue Frames, Scandanavian Wishes (NLA)

Cricut Cartridge – Artfully Sent

Gold sequins

Clear sparkles

Twin Touch Shinhan marker – Carmine

Embossing folder – Dots

These cards are for sale at Gift Hutt along with my other cards I have featured in my recent posts.

Have a good week and happy crafting.

Patricia

CTMH Baby Blues

On October 15, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Babies, Cardmaking, Cricut, Stamping6 Comments

Welcome

Sorry this is a couple of days late but sometimes life just gets in the way. I have been busy doing a big project for Gift Hutt and will feature this later in another post.

In the meantime I noticed that Gift Hutt was getting a little low in blue baby cards and as I have just received the new Artfully Sent cartridge I thought I would have a little play. This new cartridge is great for cardmaking as well as for scrapbooking and there is so much to choose from and it is going to take me quite a while to get through all the projects.

There are some gorgeous icons in the cartridge to cut and I love the baby outfits that are in there. I have cut a number of them out of both Glacier and Crystal Blue cardstock for quick and easy cards when I need them.

This first card features the sleeve card from page 23 of the Artfully Sent cartridge booklet cut at 5 1/2″ on Cricut Craftroom, and I have backed it with some White Daisy cardstock embossed with the Quatrefoil embossing folder and this time used the back of the embossed cardstock to try and create a more quilted affect that suited a baby card. The bows have also been cut out using the same cartridge. I love the simple sentiments that come with the Artfully Sent cartridge and they were perfect for these cards.

This second card caries on the same theme with the Quatrefoil Embossing folder with White Daisy Cardstock on Crystal Blue cardstock (although it is hard to see in this photo). This time I have strung three little baby outfits cut from the two blue cardstocks onto some Bakers twine and finished them off with some bling. The bows also come from the Artfully Sent cartridge.

The third card has some paper from the Wanderful paper range. This is a beautiful soft patterned paper and it teamed well with the Crystal Blue cardstock. Once again I have kept it simple and just embossed a piece of Colonial White cardstock with the Dots embossing folder and placed the three different baby outfits on top of this and finished off with some bling with some clear sparkles and bitty sparkles.

Finally I have had this card ready for the finishing touches for some time and finally got round to finishing it off. I have used a piece of the now retired Balloon Ride paper and trimmed it into 4 equal sized pieces and placed it on the Colonial White card to create a scenic effect. The trim has been made by layering different colours of cardstock starting with Colonial White, Cashmere, and finished off with Crystal Blue punched using the chevron punch. The sentiment has been stamped using the new Artfully Sent tag Curlicue Frames stamp set and again I have used the stamps out of the Just to Say… stamp set. I have coordinated the colours using Saddle and Crystal Blue with Colonial White cardstock. I love how all the colours harmonise so well.

Because I do so many cards I use the bulk packs that are available from Close to My Heart and they are very good value for money and as there are 50 cards with envelopes they last a lot longer for me.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Colonial White, Glacier, Crystal Blue, Saddle, Cashmere

Papers – Wanderful, Balloon Ride (NLA)

Stamps – Artfully Sent Cricut Collection Curlicue Frames and Just to Say…

Inks – Saddle, Crystal Blue, Glacier

Cricut Cartridge – Artfully Sent

Embossing Folders – Quatrefoil, Dots

Bitty Sparkles

Clear Sparkles

Bulk card supplies – Colonial White, White Daisy

Punch – Chevron Border

Bakers Twine – Slate

All these products are available from my website at www.patriciamanhirescreatingwith.shopctmh.co.nz.

Have a great week and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

Poinsettia Flower tutorial

On October 7, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Paper Crafting8 Comments

Welcome

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.

Materials used:

Cardstock – Ruby, new England Ivy

Bling gem – gold.

Flower shaping tools – I used the sharp end of the tool to create the veins as I needed to break the surface of the cardstock.

Happy Crafting.

Patricia

CTMH Artfully Yours

On October 6, 2014 By patriciamanhireIn Cardmaking, Close to My Heart4 Comments

Hello again

Thank you for all the lovely feedback for my last post on the photo I took of the orchids at Gift Hutt. I was so pleased that I finally managed to get what I had been seeing whenever the sun was shining through the window.

I have finally got my new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge and have had a play with it. There are so many different ideas in the cartridge that it was hard to know where to start but I had to start somewhere. So I got some inspiration from the Annual Inspirations Book on page 65 with the lovely die cut card. It was interesting getting some feedback on the Christmas cards I had made with the Stamp of the Month – Home for the Holidays. The non-traditional cards got the most likes on Facebook. Plus, as I am in Wellington, New Zealand, and heading towards a warm Christmas some friends felt that the polar bear was not quite so appropriate for southern hemisphere countries so I thought I would do something more appropriate for the warmer climates.

The poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico and South America because of it’s green and red foliage is very popular in Christmas floral displays. It has been a very popular emblem on Christmas cards in New Zealand for many years.

I looked through all the CTMH cartridges and found just the right image on the Artiste cartridge to use to make up the flowers and the leaves. I need to charge my tablet to upload my step by step photos and I will add a tutorial on how I made these once I have done that so please bear with me.

I have used the sleeve (shift) image on page 46 at 5.5″ to cut out the card using Ruby cardstock. Because the flower was quite heavy I have lined both sides inside with White Daisy cardstock to create some more stability. I have added some trim using some topiary washi tape on a small strip of White Daisy cardstock and then matted it with some Ruby cardstock. I am loving the sentiment stamp set that comes with the Artfully Sent cartridge and this stamp has some lovely fonts and sayings for all occasions.

I first practiced making the card with some Buttercup cardstock (NLA) and when I put the flower on it it actually went well as it toned with the yellow in the leaves so I decided to make a birthday card with it. Here it is:

This is such a bright and cheerful card and would make a wonderful gift for someone.

Materials used:

Cardstock – White Daisy, Ruby, Buttercup (NLA) but Canary is a good substitution, New England Ivy

Stamps – Artfully Sent Just to Say, Just a Number, Noel

Inks – New England Ivy, Canary, Ruby, Black

Cricut Cartridges – Artfully Sent, Artiste

Embossing folder – Dots

Bling Gems Gold

Topiary washi tape

Both cards will be available for sale at Gift Hutt as most of my cards are.

Have a great week and happy crafting.

Patricia

	patriciamanhire on Merry Christmas
	patriciamanhire on Blue and White Daisy Shaker Bi…
	Helen Gullett on Blue and White Daisy Shaker Bi…
	Sharon Tarpinian on Merry Christmas
	Sue Hart on A Serene Blue, White & Sil…

Patricia's Creative Corner

Tag: Close to My Heart New Zealand

Close to My Heart Artfully Sent Christmas Card

Like this:

Sustainable Christmas Tree with CTMH

Like this:

CTMH Yuletide Carol Pic Folio Album

Like this:

CTMH Scaredy Cat Waterfall Folio Album

Like this:

CTMH Austalasian SOTM Blog Hop – ‘It’s the Little Things’

Like this:

Close to My Heart’s Seaside Capers

Like this:

CTMH makes Christmas cards easy.

Like this:

CTMH Baby Blues

Like this:

Poinsettia Flower tutorial

Like this:

CTMH Artfully Yours

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: