Viva la Chelsea Gardens

I haven't participated in a creative challenge in what seems like forever...until this past weekend!  I'm actually shocked that I am really blogging it now too, lol!  ;)

I made this A2 card for the January Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge.  This birthday sentiment from Verve is one of my favorites!

There are SO many things that I LOVE about this one.  That double bow tied with Verve ribbon is amazing.  I just cannot get enough of these new marble colored gems from Close to My Heart either!

I used the negative cut from a Mixed Mats Die Cut from PTI to frame out the card along with some matting in CTMH CS colors Mink and Pebble.  Those gorgeous pattern papers and the leafy sprig are found in the brand new Chelsea Gardens Paper Suite and Complements.

LOVED getting creative and adding this beauty to my card stash!  Thanks for the great sketch, Julee!  :)

Chicago Cubs Fan Celebrates 100!

Oh my goodness, this is such an incredible post to make.  It was absolutely my pleasure to be asked to make this card for a fellow Cubbies fan...and not just any fan--a fan for her 100 years of living life!!!

I used my Cricut Explore to create a Cubs cut file pretty easily by using a chunky font.  Then I realized how fun it would be to incorporate the Cubs logo style "C" into the birthday sentiment!  It worked brilliantly!  The Sapphire striped paper from the Close to My Heart Enchantment Fundamentals was a great paper to use for this design, as well as the Red Shimmer Trim and Blue Enamel Dots.

I used a retired sentiment stamp that coordinated nicely stamped in the front and inside in Sapphire Ink.  100 candles should get her any wish her heart desires, don't you think...and I bet she wished for another Cubs World Series Win!!!!!  :)

Freshly Made For My Little Friend

School is OUT for the summer!  While that is super news for my crafting time, it also means I am going to be missing my little school friends.  I took advantage of the adorable sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week to make a little card for one of them...

When I saw the release of this set from Mama Elephant, I realized right away that my pockets would be a bit lighter, lol.  The sentiment and elephant are just perfect together!  I added a banner and balloon from my MCT stitched dies with some playful color provided by the Taste of Summer Paper Packet from CTMH.  The awesome green pattern is found in the Blossom Paper Packet.

CTMH Whisper Ink and CS for the elephant and Taste of Summer paper for the balloon.

MCT banner die using CTMH Taste of Summer papers (including my fave zip strip!)

 I know my little friend is going to love it!  Can't wait to get more inky fingers this summer!

Just two more days to get YOUR Taste of Summer coordinating paper and stamps AND to play along with Freshly Made Sketches!  :)

Taste of Summer My Acrylix with coordinating juicy sentiments!

A Filmstrip Birthday Card

Welcome to my crazy summer!  Sorry for the shorter/fewer posts for a while, but with a family reunion and VBS coming up, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!  ;)

Here is a card that I made a while back that I am finally remembering to show you that used both Artbooking and Art Philosophy Cricut Collections to make.  You can tell it was a while ago with that old watermark, lol...

That filmstrip stamp is included in the Artbooking Collection from Close to My Heart.  I used Lagoon, Twilight, and  Juniper for this card and accented with Aqua Dots to match.

The background was super-easy to make by using a few extra cuts I had lying around from the Art Philosophy Cartridge.  I sponged different shades of blue over them all and then removed them...

This is a great technique to play with, so give it a try!

Don't forget you can get all these supplies on my website 24/7 by following the links above.  THIS month is an even better time to shop since I have a special offer for a special occasion!

Shop online at mimimyselfandi.ctmh.com!

 Get ready for July 4th right now with the June Stamp of the Month!

A Birthday Jubilee!

I picked up some new toys recently and had to break them in...of course!  I decided to give them a go for my friend, Beth's birthday card.  I saw a yellow and blue color scheme earlier this month that I loved, so decided this card would be just PERFECT for it! 

This is the first chance I had to really play with the Jubilee Paper Packet.   I absolutely love these two papers together!  I added some White Daisy and Pacifica CS for the flowers and sentiment. 

The flowers and labels are made with two beautiful dies from MCT.  I added some retired Pemberley Assortment blooms to add some more pops of yellow.

Enamel Dots from MME and these itty bitty sequins from my stash add the perfect touches!

Happy, happy birthday, Beth!  Feel better soon so I can bring you this beautiful bouquet!  :)

If you check out the Jubilee Paper Packet on my Close to My Heart website, don't forget about our monthy specials!

SOOOOO, when you take advantage of BOTH these deals, you can get almost $80 worth of fabulous papercrafting products for only $60!  That is a 25% savings!!!  You can find all these deals on my website at mimimyselfandi.ctmh.com.  Happy shopping, and Happy National Scrapbooking Month!  :)

Heart 2 Heart Shaped Card Challenge!

Here we go!  It is already time for the next Heart 2 Heart Challenge for October.  This month, we want you to show us your amazing shaped card creations!  No squares or rectangles, but something else, something different for a change!

What better thing to celebrate with a fun shaped card than an October birthday!?  My youngest just turned 10 last week, so I put on my thinking cap and went to work.  I decided on a party hat design with her favorite color from the Babycakes Paper Packet!

There is quite a bit going on here, so I will hit the high points, lol.  My favorite parts are the Striped Slate Twist Ties and the free printable download of a chevron flag/banner!  You can get them free on my Close to My Heart website until the end of October right HERE!  I just printed them out on white CS, cut it out, and folded it around this stick pin from the For Always Assortment.  Easy as cake!  ;) 

I added a glittered up #10 from the Glamor Glitter Alphabet that I easily trimmed the middle out of to fit the flag.  ;)

The pom-pom atop the hat is made by cutting two of the little burst shape from the Artiste Cartridge, one in Lagoon and one in Pear.  Then I layered over top those with pieces of twine tied in the middle.  It is topped off with another piece from the For Always Assortment.

The wonderful sentiment is stamped with my clear acrylic Joyful Birthday stamp.  I just can't get enough of this font!

Some Lagoon Houndstooth Washi, Aqua Dots, and Black Sequins dot the corners, and a strip of green glitter paper is all it took to ground the bottom of the hat.

I lined the inside with two smaller White Daisy CS triangles than I used to make the card in the Cricut Craft Room.

Have you played in CCR yet?  It is amazing what you can do in there!  You can make a shaped card, for instance!  I chose the pennant banner shape on the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge to start and sized it to fit in a standard size A2 envelope.

Then I copied that triangle, and flipped it using the little clicky below...

After lining it up the triangles, just slightly overlap them so that you can choose to WELD them together!  SO easy! 

Now that you know how to make a shaped card--it's YOUR turn!  Link your creation up with us to play along over at the H2H Challenge Blog!  :)

A Cute Birthday Cupcake with the Close to My Heart Artiste Collection

Welcome back to birthday week on my blog, lol!  TODAY it is my youngest kiddo's birthday!  None of my babies can count how old they are on their hands after this year!  Ouch. 

I can't share her card with you yet, though, because it is for a special post next week...hint, hint!  ;)

I CAN share this one with you though!  This one is another that I made for Mandy's Card-A-Day Challenge!  It does have her very favorite color in it from the Chantilly Paper Packet, so see if you can guess...

Oh my goodness, was this ever fun to make!  I love cupcakes, but don't bake unless forced.  Then nobody wants it anyway, lol, so I just like to make cupcakes that sparkle on paper!  ;)

I added lots of bling and Silver Shimmer Trim to this one!  The cupcake in Blush Ink and sentiment in Cotton Candy Ink are from the Cricut Artiste Collection exclusively from Close to My Heart.  See the tab on top of my blog for more information about what is on that one.

Have you guessed my girlie's favorite color yet?  LOL, it's YELLOW!  ;)  Had you for a second, eh?  I will show you all her REAL card on Monday, so tune in!  Sign up for email notification over on the right side so you won't miss it!  :)