Gratefulness and Joy

Hey friends!  I hope and pray that this season brings you gratefulness and joy.  I have found lately that those two things can really get you through when things are hard...because seriously, life gets hard, it really does!  But WE CAN do hard things by practicing gratefulness and choosing joy!

I'm doing it my way, of course...soooooo I made this card to show someone how grateful I am...

This is the second version of this type of twisted gatefold card that I have made now.  I'll show you the other one soon...I just realized that I haven't even blogged it yet!  I found the directions for these amazing little cards on You Tube like any good cardmaker, lol.  Here's the link.  It even fits in a regular size A2 envelope!  :)

I used the Beary Christmas and Silver and Gold Paper lines from Close to My Heart for this one.

Bronze sequins?  Yes, please!

The Falling For You leaf and the Thin Cuts Leaf in vellum and gold foil were perfect for creating a more masculine leaning theme.  I added pops of color to the leaf with my ShinHan Alcohol Ink Markers in...

Here you can see the inside underneath the "twist" where I added another part of the sentiment...

Maybe I can help you out a little bit with some joy right now...today for Cyber Monday (I still can't believe this is a real thing, lol) Close to My Heart has organizational tools on sale up to 40% off on my website!  Here is the link to see what's available.  I know organizing brings me some much needed joy!  ;)

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

It's that time of year again!  Every time World Cardmaking Day rolls around, I like to think that I will drop everything and make cards all day, but alas, we need clean clothes and groceries again, lol.  I'm sure I will get something made even if it's during the Cubs game tonight...ok, so maybe tomorrow!  ;)

I made this beautiful card using the same easy easel card as the turkey Thanksgiving place cards I shared on an earlier post.  I just adore this easy design!

I used the Basic Fundamentals, Espresso and Heather CS and inks, and Falling for You Paper Suite along with a retired gold foil dot paper, Gold Foil Paper, the Thin Cuts Leaf, and the Falling for You Cardmaking stamp and die set from Close to My Heart.

Love those Gold Gems!

 Here is the card when unfolded...

Finally, here are the super easy directions to create this card using a standard size A2 or 5.5 x 4.25 card base!

Turkey Place-cards for Thanksgiving Planning

Hi again!  I had a fantastic little idea come together pretty sweetly recently, so I wanted to share it in case anyone is already planning ahead for hosting Thanksgiving this year.  I know, I know, here in the Midwest, with weather in the 90's it's pretty hard to even THINK about the seasonal holidays coming up, lol!  BEFORE the heat wave kicked in, I used some of the great new Thin Cuts from Close to My Heart to create this little Turkey Place-card out of an Easy Easel Card...

Isn't he the cutest little thing?  Guess what?  He is made entirely out of different leaf dies!  :)  I used the Falling for You Cardmaking Stamp and Thin Cut set and the Leaf Thin Cuts dies.  I chose Kraft CS, Fern, Goldrush, Saffron, Peacock, and Canary CS along with the Falling for You pattern paper.

That little leaf is popped up with a foam dot so it will catch the easel part of the card.

First I used glue dots to layer his body with those first three leaf shapes in the picture above to give it a bit of dimension.  The two leaf stems hang down to form his drumsticks!  :)  I used my Carmine and Marigold ShinHan Touch Twin Markers along with a black fine-tip pen and white gel pen to add some character to his facial features and legs.

Here is a picture of the easel card when it is closed...

I know what you want to know!  How did I make that easy-peasy easel card!  My amazing and creative friend, Shelly, showed me how to make this version over the summer...you just use a pre-made size A2 card base!  Here's a quick picture guide...

Gotta love the new features on PicMonkey!  :)

You might want to pick up this wonderful Stamp of the Month to go with your Thanksgiving crafting, too!

THANK YOU for stopping by today!  :)

Happy National Stamping Month!!!

Oh how I love September!!!  There is SO much stamping goodness going on right now on all the crafty blogs and sales GALORE I might add on lots of different stamp makers' websites.  I haven't NEARLY enough time to soak it all in right now, but I wanted to share with you some of the crafty fun happening over at Close to My Heart before the month just slips away! 

First of all there is an AMAZING new Stamp of the Month for September called Feel So Blessed. I can't wait to ink this one up!

Also, just for National Stamping Month, Close to My Heart has a BEAUtiful From the Heart Stamp set and Card Kit available this month!  Purchase the kit to get a 20% discount on the products!!!

Oh my goodness, these layered floral images are just gorgeous!!!  SO many possibilities and SO many amazing sentiments included in this set!

FINALLY, we are excited to bring you the new products and papers in the Holiday Expressions Catalog!

NOW, I have a little teaser photo to get you coming back to my blog soon!  I crafted this adorbs little turkey guy on a super easy easel card my friend, Shelly, showed me this summer...

I'll have the directions up soon for you!  Thanks for stopping in today!  :)