A Joyful Birthday Workshop

Happy Hump Day!  It was simply GORGEOUS here yesterday after not seeing the sun in I don't know how long!  What a treat!

Today I have a special private workshop that I am hosting for a friend.  Here is one of the cards we will be making...

We will be using the Blossom Paper Packet(retiring!), the Joyful Birthday My Acrylix Stamp Set (retiring!), White Shimmer Trim, Kraft CS, and Coral Reef Sequins.  I also used the Cricut Artfully Sent Collection to cut the flower and leaves.  The shapes all cut out on the same paper, and I just had to reverse the pattern to the green leaves.  Easy peasy!  :)

Stamp of the Month for JUNE!

Want to get a FREE My Acrylix worth $9.95?

Happy Birthday, to My Baby! :)

My baby girl is turning 11 today...oh my! I have absolutely NO idea how this happened, because I feel like it was just yesterday that she was starting Kindergarten.  The years just evaporate, so I had better get busy on my scrapbooks...but I digress...on to the birthday girl!

She is a lover of all things yellow, and basketball, and Blackhawks...which leaves this momma with a whole lotta nothing when it comes to stamps, lol.  Lucky for me she also adores turtles!  I scooped up an adorable set from Lawn Fawn and the patterned papers from my Simon Says Stamp Card Kit from last fall with the Lawn Fawn papers included, and got to work with the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches...

I ADORE this sketch SO much!  LOVE these papers with fall color in them as well.  There isn't any yellow here, but I know she will love that cute little guy bringing her a gift!

He actually used to have a heated bottle on his back from a get well set...

That was easy to change up for sure--it is still there under the present.  ;)  I added some color to the image with the ShinHan Touch Twin Alcohol Marker in Sap Green.

This sentiment is from one of my favorite Birthday My Acrylix sets from Close to My Heart, Joyful Birthday.




I am linking this up with Lawnscaping Challenges for their pattern paper challenge.  :)
Sorry for the missing links! 


OH!  And Happy Birthday, to my big girl!!!  Just remember, you are not 11 until after you go to bed tonight, lol...I get one more day of your 10-year-old hugs!  ;)

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!  :)

Month-long Cardmaking Challenge! Who's In?

Hi there!  My upline, Mandy Leahy, is hosting a fantastic little challenge this month to create a card-a-day.  You can find it HERE.  She even gave us a different theme or guideline for each day!  I finished the first one just in time...but posting is another matter all together, lol.  Here is day #1 Use a Banner!

This card is dedicated to my two friends who I was having a washi discussion with yesterday.  I was determined to use it as more than an afterthought...and for this one, it was actually the FIRST part of the card I make!   Girls, I love this banner even more than capris!  ;)

This adorable sentiment is found on Close to My Heart's Joyful Birthday My Acrylix stamp set.

I even used washi on the inside of the card to easily add a bit of interest!

Any other washi lovers out there?  Check out these two that I used on my website!

Slate Polk-a-dot Washi Tape
Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape

Guess what!?  Very soon there will be MORE washi to choose from!!!!  I will let you know when they are available, but let me leave you with a few hints of what is to come...spots, chevrons, and woodgrain and MORE....is anyone else drooling???  :)

Mooooooving on to day 2, we had a challenge with embossing!  Sweet!  I desperately need more little thank you cards to send with my Etsy orders, so I came up with an idea using 3x3 card bases made of Kraft paper, our Mini Pigment Inks, and clear embossing powder...

You can see the shiny detail in the stamp a bit better in this one...the stamp is cut out of White Daisy CS on my E2 from the Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge...

I used the retired June Stamp of the Month, A Flowering Bunch, to make a row of flowers to go along with the thank you...and added sparkles to match on a few of the blooms!  I was even able to color the clear Sparkles with my Alcohol Ink Markers to match the ink on the stamp!  :)

Two days down and 28 to go!  :)

Mistakes: Take One

Hi everyone!  Yep, I make mistakes all the time!  How about you?  I just don't usually blog about them, lol!  ;)

Here is a classic that I have made before in the height of my creative glow, and I am sure I will do it a million more times before I am finished. 

Can't tell what's wrong?  Well, that is because I fixed it before I took this pic!  Otherwise the card would not have stood up well because I PUT IT ALL ON UPSIDE DOWN!  Oooops!  Sigh....

At least there is an easy fix for this problem.  I simply cut the front OFF of the card and glue it to the front of another one!  ;)  

I used Joyful Birthday for the sentiment here in White Daisy Pigment Ink. 

 Love those Black Glitter Buttons!  A purple sparkle in the middle accents it nicely.

 

I used the Banana colored Dream Pop Cardstock for this flower.  I just can't stop making them, lol!  Don't worry, I won't keep posting new versions of this card...I have to move on at some point.  ;)  Until that day comes, just bear with me and enjoy! 

Happy Birthday, Bethie and my #1 Fave! :)

I cannot go live with this post until Beth gets her card, so you are probably reading this a little AFTER her big day, Cinco De Mayo, lol.  Just extending that birthday celebration!

Did I tell you how much I am loving the Dream Pop Papers?  Here is just one reason why!

I made this card with a chalkboard look.  I adore that type of style right now, so hope to try it a lot more in the near future.  I used this sentiment from the Joyful Birthday My Acrylix and a flourish from the Love Life My Acrylix.

It is pretty easy to achieve this look, actually, just use White Daisy Pigment Ink on the Black Cardstock.  The tricky part comes while you are trying to let it dry!  Don't touch it or it will look like a hastily erased chalkboard!  ;)

I also just had to use the dark inking idea that my upline, Mandy Leahy, used in her Blog Hop project last week that you can see HERE.  I LOVE this look!  Best of all, it meant I got to use my favorite CTMH tool!  Know what it is yet?

The Just for You My Acrylix worked beautifully for making this flower with Dream Pop paper.  It is truly one of my favorite stamps.  I cut out the petals and inked each one with my #1 Fave Close to My Heart Tool.........a Sponge Dauber!

Before I became an Independent Consultant for Close to My Heart, I had no clue about inking paper edges.  None.  At all.  Fast forward to today and I can hardly complete a project without using one of my daubers!   Such a difference!  Inking the edges of patterned papers just makes it stand out a bit more from the crowd.  I love the effect. 

Here is one of mine in action on a recent project (go figure!)  It came in super-handy to ink up these letters.  :)

I store them in a handy dandy little case that I found online.  One for each CTMH color!  :)

I hope that Beth had a fabulous time extending her birthday a bit for my post!  Happy, happy, birthday!!!  If you want to find out how you can get your hands on the amazing Dream Pop paper, click HERE!  It is only available THIS MONTH! 

Happy Birthday, Carlie!!!

Today is the birthday of a certain little red-head that I know.  ;)

I made her sister an adorable journal last month on her birthday.  You can see it HERE.  Guess what I made for THIS birthday girl?  Well, her own journal, of course!  I just happened to get some happy mail with my new Close to My Heart Dream Pop paper preview inside, so this is your official first sneak peak at it! These gorgeous flowers are inspired by consultant Susan Gardner-Williams.   I adore her work.

Carlie is a girly-girl, no doubt about it, so I knew her journal needed to say just that!  Sparkle and shine just goes along with her personality.  :)

Can you see the shiny lines in the pink flower petals?  The Dream Pop paper packet (which is available starting May 1st!) has 24 sheets of paper/cardstock.  Half are double sided papers and half are cardstock that has this kind of embossed look on one side.  Isn't it amazing!?

Here is the darling little card to match.  :)

The shimmer brads are retired, unfortunately, but I love it as the center of the flower.

The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is found in CTMH My Acrylix B1419 Joyful Birthday.  I just love the swirliness of this one!  See the pattern paper at the bottom?  More Dream Pop Paper!!! 

I will show you more sneak peaks of Dream Pop (shown below) in the next couple of weeks.  It will be the special in May for National Scrapbook Month!   I'll share more details later!  :)

 Ok, so I couldn't wait!  Watch this video if you can't either!  :)

God bless you on your birthday, Carlie!!!