CTMH Shabby Chic

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.

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I then sponged the edge with Blush ink back and front.

2015-01-11 15.08.14A 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.

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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.
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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.

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I then glued the next layer onto the base and overlapped the petals by gluing at the base of each petal.

 

 

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I did the same with the third layer of petals.

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And the fourth layer.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

2015-01-18 16.15.25Materials 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

 

 

 

CTMH Valentine’s Day cards

Welcome back.

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

CTMH Valentines Day Card CTMH Valentine's Day card CTMH Valentines Day Card CTMH Valentines Day Card CTMH Valentines Day CardThe materials used are:

Cardstock – Ruby, White Daisy

Paper – Sparkle an Shine B&T Duos

Ink – Ruby

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste, Artbooking

Stamps set – Holiday Tags (D1560)

Bakers twine – Harvest collection

Clear Sparkles

Ruby marker

Scallop punch

Cuttlebug – Swiss Dots,

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

Some heart decorations using CTMH Artiste cartridge and Ruby and Candy Cotton ca

 

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

Some heart decorations using CTMH Artiste cartridge and Ruby and Candy Cotton ca_0004 Some heart decorations using CTMH Artiste cartridge and Ruby and Candy Cotton ca_0003 Some heart decorations using CTMH Artiste cartridge and Ruby and Candy Cotton ca_0002 Some heart decorations using CTMH Artiste cartridge and Ruby and Candy Cotton ca_0001The materials I have used for these are:

Purchased polystyrene heart shapes

Cardstock – Ruby, Cotton Candy

Cricut Cartridge – Artiste

Liquid glue

Hot glue gun

Ribbon from my stash

 

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

Happy crafting

Patricia

 

A solution to the Creative Memories pages and protectors dilemma

Welcome back.

This is a quick post is for all those people out there (like me) who have Creative Memories albums but not enough pages or protectors.  The very resourceful new CTMH Consultants in Australia have discovered a solution to your dilemma.  You can convert the CTMH page protectors to use in your CM albums and save a lot of money instead of trawling through Trade Me or Ebay and paying exorbitant prices.  It looks to be very easy to do and the CTMH pages are really good quality and will protect your photos in many years to come.  I am really hanging out until the time I can sign up as a Close to My Heart Consultant in New Zealand.  Hopefully it will be early next month.

Please check out this YouTube video for further information and details:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5rIJlpQEpY&feature=youtu.be

I hope you find this useful during this transition from Creative Memories to Close to My Heart.

Happy scrapping

Patricia

A whole new world coming to New Zealand with Close to My Heart

Welcome

I have just been to the Close to My Heart Opportunity Event in Auckland last week and I am very excited about this opportunity.  The career pathway looks great and the products will allow people to be a lot more creative.  I have put a Cricut Expressions 2 on layby and can’t wait to get the cartridges from CTMH to play with.  They look so cool and it will be nice to be able to make my own embellishments to match my scrapbook layouts and cards.  I am also looking to the three dimensional elements on the cartridge and will be looking at doing some workshops at Make Shift when Make Shift gets established.  The other thing that is really cool is that I can just do parties online as well as doing parties with people.

We had a little play with some inks, papers and cute glitter embellishments and the papers and cardstock are lovely.  It took a while to work out how to use the ink pads, but I have got it sussed now.  The stamps are great and easy to use and I will be looking at building up my CTMH stamp kits.  I am also looking forward to playing with the alcohol markers as well.

Just as well I have joined a de-stash Facebook site to start clearing out some of my old stock to make room for Close to My Heart.

In the meantime I have got back to basics and will be teaching heat embossing at my card making class tomorrow at the Upper Hutt Library.  When I first started doing cards too many years ago to remember I started with heat embossing and I still have my heat tool as well (which is starting to get a little sick and I will finally get a new one once I sign up with CTMH).  I remember a lot of hit and misses then, but I have discovered using a embossing buddy (a kind of chalk in a bag) that helps with keeping the card clean and my endeavours are much more successful now.  Here are a few of the cards I have made with heat embossing:

Embossed flowers card Embossed flowers Embossed flowers Embossed flowers

 

I found some papers that I bought years ago as a 6 x 6 paper pack at The Warehouse and they matched perfectly with the pink cardstock from Stampin‘Up.  I also like the combination of gold and pink and the result is some very retro looking cards, but some people still like these classic cards so I will be putting them in Make Shift as well.  I have coloured the images using a watercolour pen and Stampin’Up inks.  I have also used my artist quality paints in the past with good effect as well.

The materials I have used here are:

Stampin’Up Cardstock – pink

Stampin’Up ribbon – Light Pink

Stampin’Up inks – Old Olive, Artichoke, Regal Rose, So Saffron, More Mustard

Kaisercraft stamps

Kaisercraft rhinestones

Peelcraft stickers

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – ovals

Creative Memories Border Maker – Twinkle Chain Cartridge

Cuttlebug and embossing folders – Swiss Dots and Edges

Cuttlebug Die – Whimsy

For the heat embossing I have used a versamark ink pad and the powder is Ultra Detail Embossing Powder – gold.

I hope the ladies tomorrow get inspired to branch out and do more with their stamps and inks.

I am now going to look at doing some digital scrapbooking to get put onto canvases for Make Shift to sell.

Happy crafting

Patricia

 

 

 

Special cards for the budding ballerina

Welcome back.

I have been busy going through all my stash and found these gorgeous papers that I bought years ago when I first starting scrapbooking.  They are from K & Company and the pack is called Hopscotch.  I have no idea if they are still available, but the papers make beautiful cards.  I have already done a couple of layouts of my ballet forms from many years ago and will perhaps keep a couple of papers for layouts for my daughter for when she did ballet.  I managed to match up the colours with various cardstock that I had already and I am really pleased with how they turned out.  For most of these cards I have distressed the edges and that has helped with making the different papers stand out more from the backgrounds.  The little pictures of flowers, butterflies and tutus have been fussy cut out from the paper.  These cards have been easy as the paper and colour coordination was made easy by using the same range of papers.

I am sure these will go down a treat at Make Shift.

Here they are:

Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet card Ballet cardMaterials used for these cards:

K & Company Hopscotch 12 x 12 pad

Creative Memories Cardstock – Pink Shimmer

Bazzill Cardstock – Bling (sorry not sure of the name)

Peelcraft stickers

Kaisercraft pink pearls

Stampin‘Up greeting

Versamark stamp pad

Gold embossing powder

Creative Memories Place-n-Punch – Blossom

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – circles.

Tim Holtz Distressing Ink – Victorian Velvet

I am really excited to be going to Auckland tomorrow to find out more about Close to My Heart and also get my hands on some of the products.  I can’t wait to join up and start having workshops at Make Shift.

I hope you all keep well and safe and Happy Crafting

Patricia

Bi-Colour Cards

Welcome back.

I am looking through all my stash to try to either use it up or put it on a de-stash facebook page before I start with Close to My Heart.  I have a mix of different products from different companies and lots and lots of different papers so I will probably take some of these to use up at my Crafty Angels group when we do some papercrafts next term.

With these cards I have used a burgundy card from Stampin’Up (sorry I don’t know the name of the colour as it came in a pack that was on special – I have been told it is Rich Razzleberry by my Stampin’Up friend Julie Butler) and white cardstock and used embossing folders and Memory Box dies to create these cards. I even sneaked in some stamping as well.  I took these cards to the library where I take a card making session and sold a couple of cards before I could even get them put aside for Make Shift.

Here they are:

Handcrafted card Handcrafted get well card Handcrafted sympathy card Handcrafted sympathy card Handcrafted thank you card Handcrafted thank you card

Materials used:

Memory Box dies – Cherry Blossom, Phloe, Pippi Butterfly

Dienamics Die – Fancy Flourish

Stampin-Up Stamps – Cottage Garden

Creative Memories Custom Cutting System – ovals

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder – Elegant Frame, Swiss Dots

Peelcraft stickers

Purchased sympathy stickers.

White ribbon and button from my stash

I have just purchased a Cricut Expressions 2 and put it on layby so won’t be picking it up for a while.  I am not sure how long I can hold out with this as it is going to expand my creative horizons so much!   I have been watching videos on You-Tube and can’t wait to get started.  Next week I am off to Auckland to learn more about Close to My Heart and  get the chance to get my hands on some of the CTMH products which I am really looking forward to.  We have been really fortunate that we have got this opportunity to move forward with.  I really feel for the CM Consultants in Canada and the United States who may not have the same opportunities.

Have a good day and Happy Crafting.

Patricia

Baby Cards for Make Shift

Hi there

Here is just a small selection of baby cards that I have made for Make Shift.  At the moment I have just done blue and pink cards, but will look at doing some different colours like yellow, green and purple.

Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card Handcrafted card

 

I have used a variety of materials and tools in these cards:

Creative Memories Pink Shimmer Cardstock

Creative Memories Border Maker – scallop cartridge and twinkle chain cartridge

Creative Memories Fabulous Tone on Tone paper

Creative Memories rotary trimmer – scallop edge

Bazzill Cardstock

Cuttlebug embossing folders – Swiss dots and Welcome Baby, buttons strip

Memory Box dies – Pram

Kaisercraft pink bling

These cards have been very quick and easy to complete.  Once we have Make Shift up and running I hope to be able to run workshops teaching cardmaking and will also look to having some quick make and takes when I am working in the shop.

Happy Crafting

Patricia

 

More Sad news

Welcome back.

Raindrops on Bower Vine

I was really sad to hear today that Creative Memories in America will be closing down at the end of the month.  My thoughts go out to all the Creative Memories Consultants as I know what they are going through, as we have been through it all down under just a very short time ago.  We are fortunate that we have been given a lifeline by Close to My Heart.  I hope all the Consultants find another door opening for them like it has for us here.

My thoughts also go to the families of the firefighters lost in the wildfires in Arizona, USA, as well.  It is tragic when men, in the prime of their lives, fighting the ferocity of nature lose their lives protecting others.

Patricia

 

Photo of the Day – Paris Daisy

My photo of the day. These Paris Daisies are amazing. They have self seeded in my garden and have given such great colour and lots of inspiration for my photography.
I will also take the opportunity to update what is happening with Creative Memories and Close to My Heart as I have noticed that people are searching for answers about CM products in NZ. Brian O’Callaghan was on Facebook on Friday night (he was the MD of CM and is involved with setting up CTMH in Australasia) and stated that they are looking into trying to continue with getting the pages and protectors here, but there are no promises that they are able to procure them for our market.  There are issues with patents and copyrights with CM USA.  There are lots of products on Trade Me, but do be very careful as there are some price gougers out there asking for $150 or more for one set of pages and protectors.

I have no more information as yet regarding the launch of CTMH in New Zealand.  I am hoping to know more later in the week and will keep you posted here.  Their range of products look exciting and I can’t wait to see what is released Down Under.  I am particularly excited that there is lots of card making products.  I am busy making lots of cards for our shop and it will be great having a new range of products to play with.  So it is still a matter of watching this space…

I hope you are all having a safe and happy weekend.

Patricia