Born to Ride!

Hi everyone!  I was recently commissioned to create a variety of cards with a motorcycle theme.  I was super-excited to get started AND pick up some new embellies to go with the theme since none of my sparkly stuff seemed to fit, lol.

I came up with six different cards using the Close to My Heart C1483 Born to Ride My Acrylix.  Here are the two that feature the self adhesive silver vinyl I bought just for this creative session.

I thought this was a unique twist on the triple stamping technique...

The following card is my personal fave of the set!  :)  The inside says... "Enjoy the ride!"  These sentiments are on the retired Close to My Heart It's Your Day National Scrapbook Month My Acrylix set.

This vinyl even dry embossed beautifully!  

I'll post up more of the cards soon!  :)  Thanks for taking a peek!

Color Dare #45 Is a DREAM {pop}

Happy Friday again!  :)

Let's get right down to business, shall we?  I love any excuse to use my Dream Pop papers, so when I got the assignment to use it for the Color My Heart Color Dare this week, I went crazy!  :)

I wanted to make a project for two other challenges, Rose Blossom Garden's Birthday Girl key challenge and the H2H Creature Feature challenge, so I combined all three into a glitzy little tag for the birthday girl!

I used a combination of my favorite papers from the Dream Pop packet, starting with the last of my grey chevron paper.   You can also see the shimmer of Close to My Heart's Glitter Paper peeking out from the bottom layer...

Since this tag is ALL GIRL, I wanted to sneak in as much sparkle as possible.  I used the Cotton Candy Sparkles and Glitter Glitz Startdust Gel on the little butterfly.  I created antennae for him with black waxy flax.  If you haven't used waxy flax yet, you simply MUST!  ;) LOVE that stuff!

The Slate Polka-Dot Satin Ribbon was the PERFECT touch for this tag.  I added a button from the Buttons Black Assortment as well.

You 

I think that is a tag fit for a princess, don't you?  :)

TAG!  You're it!  Now it is your turn to create something with your Dream Pop papers to show US!  Link up with us at the Color My Heart Color Dare and you could be the winner of our prize this month, the Pirouette My Acrylix Stamp!  You could also be the next designer to display the Color Dare Diamond award on your blog, so come and play with us!  ;)

TODAY is the very last day to order Dream Pop!!!  She will be gone after today, I am afraid, so get your $35 order in on my website and pick one up for only $10!!!  While supplies last or until May is over!!!  Click HERE to go get yours!

Last day for this adorable Stamp of the Month too!!!  Only $5 when you add another $5 in product to your Dream Pop order!!!  Run!  :)

Color Dare Mojo Combo!

Whew, got it finished!  I realized that practically all of the Color My Heart DT had submitted entries for the current Color Dare.  Since I was selected to be on the Design Team, I had not even realized that I should link up an entry!  Well, you know I just had to make one, and I happen to have a second challenge that I wanted to enter as well, so this card is going in both the Neutral Color Dare AND Mojo Monday 275.  :)

Here is the Mojo sketch:

Before you wonder if I have lost my sparkle, rest assured that I have not!  The Color Dare this week is to use all neutrals.  NO colors.  I reluctantly chose Colonial White, Bamboo, Desert Sand, and Chocolate.  I honestly didn't think I had it in me--and as you can see, I added a punch of color to the background for the pics, lol!  You can't keep a colorful woman down, lol!

One of my goals for 2013 is to use more of my craft supplies.  I have been HUGELY focused on using my Close to My Heart products, which is great, but I want to branch out and see what I can do.  So to take a step, baby step, that is, in the right direction, I used the Verve stamp set Hope Blooms for the sentiment and stamped flower on this card.  They are stamped in CTMH Chocolate Ink, however, ha ha!

The flower took on a life of its own as I stamped and cut and glued and tied, and I love it!  

This faux band aid was the very first piece of the card that formed in my head.  I KNEW I would enboss it using my Hugs and Kisses embossing folder.  Perfect hidden sentiment for a boo-boo, don't you think?  Soooo many people are sick right now, so this is my get better card for everyone who needs it.  I had the flu over Christmas, so I know how they all feel, and trust me, it is miserable.  Perfect theme for a neutral card--misery.  ;)

See the burlap ribbon in there?  I removed some of the strands to give it a different texture.  No sparkles here!  Check out the bottom corner of the inside of the card.  More hugs and kisses from me.  Germ free, I might add! 

My creative formulary for this card:

*Colonial White Close to My Heart Size A2 Card Base
*Colonial White, Bamboo, Desert Sand, and Chocolate Cardstock
*Pemberley Paper Packet (retiring after this month!)
Provo Craft Hugs and Kisses Embossing Folder
*Chocolate, Bamboo, and Desert Sand Exclusive Ink
*It's Your Day My Acrylix Stamp Set
Verve Hope Blooms Stamp Set
*Close to My Heart Burlap Ribbon
*Colonial White Ribbon Rounds
*Paper Blooms
*Basic Buttons Assortment
*Bamboo Waxy Flax
*Liquid Glass
Gelly Roll White Pen


It is alright if you would like to restrain your sparkle for this challenge...you have until Thursday at 8 pm to link up your entry at the Color My Heart Color Dare!  Go for it!  :)

Merry Birthday! Aaaaachoooo!

Huh?  What day is it?  Ugh...I was bitten hard by the flu bug and am finding it a tad bit hard to think straight right now.  I am not at all used to being incapacitated, and after being in bed for three days, I need a do-over for Christmas!  Oh well, my kids had a good time opening presents and I promptly went back to bed...so not much to be done about it but thank God that I am up and healthy again.

Now that I am vertical, (baby steps), I wanted to share a card I made for my niece's birthday.  I used Close to My Heart's last promo set, It's Your Day along with the amazingly cute new promo set, Whooo's Your Valentine.  You can get this adorable stamp set and all the fabulous goodies that come with it for just $10 with any $35 order on my website to celebrate National Papercrafting Month in January!  Now, here's the card...

 I had to take pics right away because we were leaving soon, so the marker still had to dry on the "best DAY ever" sentiment.  That is why it looks a little blotchy.  ;)  I used the Perfect Fit Frames to perfectly match the shape from this card on the Cricut Artiste Cartridge.  Can you spot the new glitter paper I used?  OF COURSE you can, that stuff is blindingly sparlky!  I LOVE it sooooo much that I used it for the body of the butterfly as well!  Now, I didn't want my shimmer trim to feel left out, so I added a good long strip off to the left.  Whew!

Now, here is the inside of the card when you open it up!  Isn't it fabulous?  There are NINE different versions of this card on the cartridge!  NINE!  Each one has a different shape on the front.

The word bubble here is also cut from the Artiste Cartridge.

My sister gave me a paper crimper for Christmas that I used to make the tree trunk...score!

This was a super-fun card to make, and I sure hope my Niece loved it since I was sleeping the day away in bed with the flu on her birthday Thursday!  Sigh...oh well.

Here's a glimpse of the entire Whooo's Your Valentine kit before you go!

Babies, Babies, and More Babies!

What a DAY!  Ugh!  I have literally spent the whole time dealing with researching property taxes so I can appeal ours.  My brain is FRIED!  Time to move on to something a little less numeric, lol...

It seems as though everyone I know is prego these days!  I just made two baby cards last week that I can't wait to show you.  But FIRST, here is the card I sent my Senior Director, Mandy Leahy, after she had her little sweet pea in August.

Mandy's team name is the Damask Divas for a reason--she {hearts} all things damask!  I had to work it in somehow to the perfect card for welcoming her new little Diva and came up with this:

Slam dunk!  I don't have any baby stamps per say, so I had to be creative and completely LOVED how it turned out!  The stamp set I used on the front is the August Stamp of the Month.

This "hello life" circle is from the It's Your Day My Acrylix set.  Now if that doesn't say, "new baby" I don't know what does!

Ok, so on to the cards I made last week!  The first is for my hubby's cousin who had a bouncing baby boy on the 11th of this month.  I loved using the "hello life" stamp from Mandy's card so much that I wanted to use it for more baby cards.  I had tons of fun laying this one out with different textures, especially the new burlap ribbon. 

The pattern paper in this one is from the Victory Paper Packet.  The cardstock I used besides the White Daisy are two retired colors, Dutch Blue and Brown Bag.  These small numbers from a retired Stamp of the Month commemorate his awesomely special birth date. 

Hello, Burlap Ribbon!  Meet my friend, the Pewter Brad.  ;)

An Outdoor Navy Button, twine, and ink on the corrugated star all come together for some great dimension.  I used the stitched side of the burlap ribbon that I had cut off earlier to tie on the tag.

I have to say, I was very happy to have a little girlie card to make next!  Bring on the glitter!  ;)

This card is for a former teacher at my girlies' school.  It is their very first baby, and we are super-excited for them!   I dug out my Lucy Paper Packet in her honor.

I really like adding the date to these type of cards to commemorate the occasion.  Guess what?  The Cotton Candy Cardstock that frames the date is actually a remnant from another cut I made a while back.  Now you see why I keep my scraps! 

Alright, my big moment of inspiration came while making these butterflies.  I had trimmed the bottom of the card with the Cotton Candy bulk ribbon and had scraps left.  One look at them laying on my desk, and I had turned them into bodies and antennae!  The cute little feelers are the bottom edge of the pom pom ribbon that I had trimmed off to glue the body flat to the wings!  Thank you, liquid glass, for making this moment possible.  ;)

The numbers I used are from the Storybook Numbers My Acrylix Set.  I also used the Chevron Butterfly and "hello life" stamps from It's Your Day.   The Pear Ink on this flower from the Hooray Bouquet My Acrylix Set just jumps off the paper.  I love how it looks with the Cotton Candy Ink.  The last thing this card needed was bling.  Shimmer Trim first, then some Sparkles and Glitter Glitz.  Absolutely princess worthy.  :)

There, now I am DE-stressed!  Thanks so much for checking out my latest cards.  Now I have to go unpack some boxes that my Fed Ex man just brought--all the supplies for my Advent Calendar Workshop are here!!!  Woot, woot!  More DE-stressing coming right up! 

It's Your Day CTMH Consultant Blog Hop!

Good morning and welcome to our National Stamping Month Blog Hop!  This is my SECOND blog hop this weekend!  It was an accidental double sign-up, but I did not want to pass up the chance to take part in this one, so I decided to go ahead with both of them.  If you are looking for the Damask Divas Blog Hop, then click HERE!

This hop is for the awesome new Close to My Heart stamp set for National Stamping Month called "It's Your Day."  If you came here from   Lori B's Blog, then you are in the right place!  If not, you can start at the beginning of the hop HERE at Lucy's blog or continue on from here until you make the loop!  :)

We also are happy to announce that one of our consultants, Maria Woodworth, of Maria's Paper Craft Place is offering blog candy. To be eligible to win, please be sure to leave a comment on each blog post and become a follower of her blog. Thanks so much Maria!

At Close to My Heart, we want to celebrate the everyday moments in our lives.  Close to My Heart is doing that by offering an amazing exclusive double-stamp set called “It’s Your Day”.  This is two D-size stamp sets in one!!  This amazing set has nearly 50 images designed to inspire you to capture your life one day at a time.   There are trendy chevron backgrounds, classic images, as well as versatile phrases.  You can get your own stamp set for only $5 with a qualifying order of $35.  This stamp set has a value of $35.90!

We're so excited to be doing this hop, and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies. There will be lots of fun projects, so enjoy!

I really wanted to do something different with my set this time, so that meant no cards or layouts.  I also wanted to use a project from the Artiste Cricut Collection that I had not tried yet, so this is what I created!  Don't you think it would make a perfect centerpiece for a baby shower or even a bouquet to welcome a new little baby girl?  I could not find any candies in this color scheme, so used the tootsie rolls to fill the base that I already had on hand.

I used the <Accent 1> cut on page 55 of the Artiste Handbook to make the flowers.  They are cut at 6, 5, or 4 inches each.  The base is a little flower pot type container that is featured in the <3D Object> on page 54.  This is cut at 2.5 inches. 

This Hello Life stamp is one of my faves in the set.  I stamped the petals with the chevron border stamp and the dots stamp to create some interest.  They were so much fun to decorate! A good dollop of Liquid Glass secured them to the sucker sticks.

 This chevron butterfly is going to be used quite a bit, I have a feeling!

I did use a couple of brads and the Baby Pink Cardstock that are no longer available because they were just perfect for the variety I needed in this project.  It always feels good to dig in your stash and find just the thing you need!  :)  I absolutely love the little heart shaped "leaf" on the stem below. 

A little shimmer trim and a bling button to girlie up the base.

Here is a complete list of current Close to My Heart Supplies that I used:

Cricut Artiste Collection
Blush, Hollyhock, and White Daisy Cardstock
Blush and Hollyhock Exclusive Ink Pads
Shimmer Trim!
Glitz Stardust Glitter Gel
Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment
Sparkles Red, Pink, and Purple Assortment
Bling Button

Now you are hopping over to see Deanne's amazing creation!  Happy hoppin'!

Here is a list of the talented Close to My Heart Consultants in our hop!  Thank you, Lucy, for putting it all together!  :)

1.  Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com/
2.  Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/
3.  Lori B. ~ http://savingmine.blogspot.com/
4.  Amie ~ you are here!
5.  Deanne J. ~ http://deannestamps.blogspot.com/
6.  Jennifer Kramer ~ http://4heartsscrapbooking.blogspot.com/
7.  Carolyn ~ http://www.nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com/
8.  Bethany ~ http://stampingathome.blogspot.com/
9.  Eva Friesen ~ http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com/
10.  Maria Woodworth ~ http://mariawoodworth.blogspot.com/
11.  Julia Hammond ~ http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com/

More from It's Your Day

Last week was the first week of local schools, so a pretty busy one around here getting back into the swing of things.  It became even more hectic when my van decided to die in the pick-up line at school on Wednesday!  I could not believe it.  To complicate things even more, I needed to pick up another child at ANOTHER school immediately after.  What could have been a recipe for disaster, was completely averted by one of the wonderful teachers who works there.  She did not hesitate to come to my rescue by loaning me and my troop of kiddos her minivan!  I could have cried with gratitude right on the spot, but really needed to get my tail moving!  That night I used our amazing National Stamping Month set, It's Your Day, to make her this card:

Inside the card it says, "Thank you for being a part of mine!" 

You just never know when you might need a thank you card, and I am very blessed to have had these amazing supplies on hand to whip one up.  Simple.  Easy.  You get the picture--no trip to the store to squeeze in in order to buy a card--just a few minutes to put it together.  Done.  :)  You can do it too!  Here is a list of the supplies I used to make it.  You can order them on my website right now and even get the Double Stamp set, It's Your Day to boot for $5 with a $35 purchase! 

Baker's Twine Neutral Assortment
Colonial White Cardstock
Crystal Blue Ink Pad
Black Ink Pad
2 x 3.5 inch acrylic block
It's Your Day My Acrylix (only available with a $35 purchase until the end of September!)

Place your online order HERE!

Get Ready for National Stamping Month!

That's right!  There IS such a thing, lol!!!  And I can't think of a better way to celebrate than a special My Acrylix set from Close to My Heart.  This is a Double D set (ok, go ahead and giggle, I did too!) set with a retail value of $35.90--BUT you can get it for JUST $5 with a $35 purchase from August 15th through the end of September!  Here it is:

 I know, you are thinking, "NO WAY!!!"  Well, YES WAY, it is true!!!  Here is my tribute to this amazing set of stamps that is perfect for scrappin'.  I combined the specials from National Scrapbook Month (Dotty For You paper pack) and National Stamping Month (It's Your Day My Acrylix Stamps) to make this crazy-fun layout:

Sorry for the glare.  I don't know if you can tell, but the swimsuit she is wearing in this one has chevrons on it!  Now tell me that it wasn't begging to be in a layout!

These dots are so much fun to add as a background.  I think the 'love this' arrow is going to get quite a bit of use out of me!

This circle is just the right size for a 1.25" circle punch!

I added this bit of twine after the fact--what do you think?  Twine or no twine?   Either way, I just HAD to make these fun letters with the dots on them from the Art Philosophy cartridge, then I popped them up with foam tape to add some dimension.

 I think I am addicted to tags for a journalling box as much as I love matting my photos now!  ;)

Remember, this special starts WEDNESDAY, August 15th (tomorrow!)  :)