Last Chance for Hello, Life!

This is IT!  Today is the very last day to order the THREE fantastic Hello, Life sets from Close to My Heart to celebrate National Stamping Month!  Whether you scrapbook, pocket scrap, or create handmade cards, there is a set for you!  BEST of all they all coordinate together!

Here are my favorite creations with mine...

ANY local peeps who want to get these ordered, I will combine shipping to keep your costs down, so just get any last minute requests to my by 9pm tonight!  Thanks!

Don't forget the Stamp of the Month!  A new one comes out tomorrow!  :)

Two More Days for Paper Garden!

This is one of my last creations with the September Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart.  I really wanted to show off a pop of one of the NEW colors, Poppy!

I used the Nevermore Papers...but you cannot even tell there are spiders on the Eggplant patterned paper, can you now?  (On a side note, I am making that appt. to get bifocals because I could not even see how crooked my matting was until I posted these pics!  Hello, 41.)

How awesomely unexpected is this pop of Poppy speckled with Bitty Sparkle Bling?

I am really catching on to the doodling craze, how about you?  I drew an outline around this banner cut from the NEW Cricut Artistry Collection and stamped a sentiment from the Cricut Artfully Sent Collections Stamps...

There are QUITE a few to choose from on here!

Loving these pretty blooms layered with foam tape...

Soooooo, please don't wait if you want to get your hands on the September Stamp of the month...because after tomorrow, it will be available Nevermore!!!!  ;)

I couldn't resist!  LOL!!!

Just TWO days left!!!

Makeover Monday Java Tags

How about a bit of Java to start off your work week?  Alright!

Here are the first two tags I made with this adorable cut found on the NEW Cricut Artistry Cartridge exclusively available from Close to My Heart.  Nothing fancy, but that's what I love the most!

I used Kraft paper and simply added a sweet little glitter heart from the Enamel and Glitter Duos.

This one sports a cute little pattern from the Zoe paper packet and some limited quantity Ruby chevron washi tape.

I love the idea of tying one of these onto a birthday gift or as a thank you to someone.  I gave the tags a bit of a makeover for the upcoming holidays...and we will be making the Christmas version at my class on Saturday with the ladies of Crafty Souls.  At 3.25 inches high, they are the perfect size now.  :)

Can't you just taste the Pumpkin Spice Latte?  I added a sweet little Cricut shaped leaf from Artiste (I think!) and a sentiment from the Cup of Cheer My Acrylix.

The holly and berries are also found on the Artistry Cartridge with the cup of Java.  The Fern Thick Twine is the perfect color coordinated tie-on!

I can't wait to create with the ladies at Our Lady of Mercy on Saturday!  Thanks for stopping in today, and have a great week!  :)

My CTMH Cricut Display Board: Artbooking Cartridge

Happy School-Improvement-Day-so-that-means-no-school Friday!  :)  Since Paras get the day off, it also means a bonus crafty day for me!

I don't know about you, but I love not setting the alarm or prying the kiddos out of bed!

Today I wanted to share my CTMH Cricut Cartridge Display Board that I use to show off our FIVE, yes, we have 5 now, AMAZING jam-packed Cricut Collections!

I'm going to break it up for you and show you just a bit each day...starting with the Cricut Artbooking Collection. 

 I used the font on each cartridge for displaying its name.  Then I chose some of my favorite cuts from each to give potential customers a feel for what they can do with the images.  Artbooking is a tricky one to put on a board, so I do have a separate stand filled with scrapbook layouts I made with the designs, as well as a mini album I made completely with the cartridge.  Of course that album isn't shown in my pic, so you can see it HERE.

That cutie-patootie tag tie stamped "JOY" image is found on the Make it Merry My Acrylix Set.

I had the MOST fun making this little element on page 58 of the Artbooking Handbook...I had recently stumbled on the whole #itwasneveradress campaign online, and just HAD to recreate one MY way...

Next up, I will show you the NEW cartridge on my display board, Artistry!  :)  See you soon, and have a sparkly weekend!

Tag (You're It!) Tuesday!

I have a few more fun tags to show you this week that I created with the NEW Cricut Artistry Collection, so scroll on down!

I just love the simple round shape of these tags.  One for Halloween...

One for Thanksgiving...

And one for Christmas!

Did you notice these all came together without any stamping required?  Just some quick cuts on my Cricut Explore with the NEW Artistry Cartridge, a bit of white gel pen, and some ShinHan Alcohol Ink touches.  Walla!  :)

September Stamp of the Month

Only available in September!

Fundamental Friday and Some NEWS!

Welcome back to my little crafty corner of the web!

Today is Friday, and I thought it was time to introduce you to the brand new patterns of the Close to My Heart Fundamentals!

I just LOVE our line of Fundamentals from the stickers to the paper.  We even have a little bit of bling now!

But, perhaps my very FAVORITE thing about the new Fundamentals is the fact that my daughter is featured in the Fundamentals artwork for the Idea Book!!!!

What a beautiful surprise!

I was absolutely smiling from ear to ear when I found out Close to My Heart chose to use her Senior pics for their artwork.  I might not stop smiling about it either!  ;)

Anyway, I used the NEW Sapphire colored Fundamentals Paper in the Enchantment pack for my latest watercolor card creation!

See the shiny embossed side?  LOVE!

I used the new Watercolor Paints, paper, and brushes to make this gorgeous background.

The shine goes just PERFECTLY with the glitter paper AND the sentiment I used from the NEW Diamonds are Forever My Acrylix...

I think I might save this one to send to MY crazy diamond.  ;)

Thanks for taking a peek today, and keep on shining!!!

Hello, Life

Stamp of the Month

Watercolor Wednesday!

Well, I have to say, as much as I wish we still had some washi to play with from the new Close to My Heart Idea Books, at least we have NEW Watercolor Paints to ease the transition!  :)

Today I finally get to show you one of my FAVORITE new My Acrylix Stamp set from Annual Inspirations...Diamonds are Forever!  I played around with it for the first time a while ago and have been pretty excited to share it...

Did you notice the sentiment ^^^^^ at the bottom of the set?  It is totally MY MOTTO!!!!  :)

This adorable light bulb is cut from acetate packaging (most likely from my crafty supplies like Cricut cartridges, lol.)  The filament inside is glitter paper, of course! This light bulb image is found on the brand NEW Cricut Artistry Cartridge from Close to My Heart!  :)

You can't even see the glue dots I used to hold this together!

For the sentiment, I stamped in Versamark Ink on uncolored Watercolor Paper, sprinkled with  Ranger Superfine White Embossing Powder, and hit it with my craft heater...that way, when I painted over the sentiment, it stayed white!

What do you think of the trendy Watercolor technique?  I am really loving it!  :)

September Stamp of the Month

Celebrate National Stamping Month!

My Journey Through Bible Journaling

Not too long ago...OK so like a year or more ago, lol, I ran across some blog posts about Bible journaling.  I fell in love with the idea of getting to the heart of God's word with art.  After all, art is one of the ways I speak my life...so it seems totally natural for God to speak more clearly to ME through it.

I started researching the how-tos and what supplies I might need to add to my collection to get started, ahem.  (I need supplies.  Right.)  I picked out the bible I wanted to use...and waited what seemed like eons for it to be back in stock SOMEWHERE, lol.  I guess LOTS of people discovered Bible journaling about the same time as me!  ;)

So, that brings me to today when I can finally say I completed a page!  I went so long not knowing where to begin...well, that is until I remembered to start at the very beginning--a VERY good place to start...

If you want the quick low-down on my supplies for this page, here you go:

Animal Greetings
Great Job
Close to My Heart Mini Pigment Inks
Hello, Life 
Faber Castel Gelatos
Watercolor Paints
Brushes
Wink of Stella Glitter Brush
leftover Cricut cut (flower from Art Philosophy)

I probably could have planned the animal arrangement out a bit better, but I was a teeeeeny bit excited.  ;)

I think I need some more animals to fill in the gaps...

My bunny was trapped by the fold of the spine...it hit my stamping block.  Ooops!

I stamped the leaf, sun, and planet with my Watercolor Paints.

Now, remember--I am NOT in any way a good sketch/drawing/painting artist.  Shoot, I hardly even like my own handwriting most of the time.  I stamp.  I color.  I cut paper.  I did the things I DO, not the things I don't.  And it was good.  :)

I will share lots more about my Bible Journaling Journey, so stay tuned!

This is the set I used from Hello, Life!

A Masculine Birthday Card with Artistry and Zoe

Oh my goodness, how is it that a birthday can just SNEAK up on you like that???  Does anyone else understand that, or am I the only one who habitually sends birthday cards a teeny bit late?  Anyone? 

Sigh, anyway, my FIL had his 69th birthday this past weekend, and I needed something FAST!  (Thank goodness he was out of town, so it bought me another day, lol.)  I had a TON of cuts from the NEW Cricut Artistry Collection laying around, so I grabbed a couple of them and had a card put together quicker than you can say, "The mailman is coming!"  ;)

The party hat cut is easy to use in any color scheme you like.  I paired it with the happy birthday sentiment cut in White Daisy.  The papers and cardstock (except the Sweet Leaf) are all included in the Zoe Paper Packet from Close to My Heart, so I knew it all coordinated before I even started. 

Embellishing is super fun with freehand stitching and lines drawn both on the hat and around the edges of the pattern paper.  I also distressed the edges heavily with Slate Exclusive Ink.  Those little enamel stars were originally white.  I used my ShinHan touch Twin Alcohol Ink Marker in Golden Yellow to easily change them. 

Yep, it was that easy!  :)

September is National Stamping Month!

September Stamp of the Month