September/October 2020 Idea Book New Product Blog Hop

Every two months, Close To My Heart releases a special, seasonal Idea Book supplement to our core line, and I think the September/October edition is going to blow you away!  Hop along to see lots of new product and amazing projects.  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Gina's blog.  From here, you'll visit Lauren's blog next.)

Don't you love the NEW Bloom with Grace collection?  I paired it with the Operation Smile Every Bit of Wonderful stamp set (which will be available all year and not exclusive to Sept.-Oct.).  I stamped the sentiment on the French Vanilla panel with NEW Desert Rose ink (which also matches the card stock base).  I stamped the flower in Desert Rose on Canary card stock and then fussy cut it out.  I also stamped the foliage in Fern.  I added gold glitter gems and a heart from the Bloom with Grace wooden cutouts.  This card will be heading to my daughter at UGA soon...  

My second card came together quickly using a Make It From Your Heart sketch.  I used the same materials as the first card plus added in gold shimmer trim.  I'm sending this one to a special teacher bestie who is such an inspiration and friend to me.  (I am finishing up week 4 of both face-to-face and simultaneous online teaching, with Fridays being online days for everyone, so I am especially grateful for my tribe right now!)

Thank you for visiting!  If you like my quick & easy cards, feel free to copy them.  Please leave a comment before hopping to Lauren's blog next!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

First Day of School 2020 Layout

 This year has certainly been a year like no other, and the start back to school was no exception!  My school system had two weeks of pre-planning and started back on August 17.  Families had the option of starting online for the first nine weeks or starting back face-to-face.

My layout uses the July/August Mix-In papers in Smoothie, Peach, Glacier, and Sapphire.  I used three different stamp sets that are now retired.

I'm using a flip flap on each page to be able to add more photos.

I colored the stack of books with markers, and the hand sanitizer is two stamps.

The pink hearts are from the previous catalog's Mix-In collection.

If you look really closely, you'll see that I embellished with silver glitter gems and silver star confetti.  (Squeeze a little liquid glass onto scrap paper.  Use a toothpick to transfer glue to the stars and then place).

My adorable assistant doesn't always know when to behaave!

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

September is such an incredible month for Close To My Heart!  We have a brand new core catalog that will be available for the next year, the September-October Idea Book is available, and in addition to the stamp of the month, we have an awesome Creativity in Motion special!  This particular blog hop is featuring the September stamp of the month, Here for the Memories.  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Krista's blog.  From here, you'll visit Darlys next.)

This set is incredible for scrapbookers like myself, so I challenged myself to use it on a card instead.  I grabbed the cute NEW Party Time collection.  I decided to make a spinner card to really let the good times roll!  I used a piece of Sapphire thread for my spinner circle.  Here's a little video of my card in motion:

Here's a peek at the "skeleton" of this spinner card in case you want to give one a spin.

In addition to the cute yellow acrylic star, I embellished my card with Lemonade, Lagoon, Candy Apple, and Sapphire shimmer brushes (which are super hard to photograph).

For reference, the star piece measured 4" x 4.75".  (I wish I had slipped a piece of card stock behind it for more dimensions.)  Also, did you notice the stamped twirly arrows?  If I try this card again, I'll stamp them parallel to the star panel instead of the card base.

Thank you for hopping by!  I'd love a comment before you hop on over to Darlys's blog next!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

Heart2Heart Challenges: Something To Smile About

 This week's Heart2Heart challenge could be interpreted in so many fun, cheerful ways!  I decided to share a layout of a really fun afternoon with friends.

The Timber collection paired very well with photos from a post-Christmas skate party in 2018.  The teens are all high school friends, and the Busses made this family skate party possible.

I embellished my layout with a New England Ivy CTMH/Cricut Christmas tree and gold stickles, shimmer trim, and glitter gems.

The title uses the Simply Said alphabet stamp set in Ruby and New England Ivy.  What do you think of my stickles stars?

Be sure to check out all of the design inspiration on the H2H challenge blog!  You have until the end of the month to join any of our August challenges.

Heart2Heart Challenges: Walk on the Wild Side

Today is my first day back at school (more on that later), so I will REALLY be taking a walk on the wild side with 20 fifth graders in class face-to-face and 3 online learners!  I'm sure my first day photos will appear on the blog later this month (or this year at the rate things are going...) 

For this week's Heart2Heart Challenges theme, I knew that I had to use the You Make Me Happy Operation Smile stamp set and the Timber collection (both only available through the end of this month).

The first card uses a simple wood grain panel, the green and blue plaid with the New England Ivy tree pattern for the scalloped circle (Thin Cuts).  That little sliver is gold shimmer trim that I cut down with my paper trimmer.  After stamping the fox with Espresso ink, I used my watercolor pencils (without water) to color it.  A few little gold glitter gems finished it off.

My second card uses the cool square window pane Thin Cuts die cut.  Because I designed this for a class and was cutting multiple window panes, I used several different patterns then pieced them together in the windows.  The sentiment is also from the You Make Me Happy stamp set.

Be sure to "walk on the wild side" with H2H until the end of the month!

Use Your Scraps Technique Blog Hop

Every paper crafter ends up with scraps, and this month the technique blog hop is highlighting ideas for using up those mismatched pieces. (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Lauren's blog.  From here, you'll visit Darlys next.)

My first card is one that I made for my husband's birthday last month.  Each strip (from the Timber collection) is 3/4" wide.  I made a herringbone-esque pattern with the strips on a French Vanilla panel, stamped Happy Birthday from Say It In Style with Espresso ink, embellished with some tiny wooden arrows, and finally mounted this piece onto a Ruby cardstock card front.

This second card was actually featured on last month's technique blog hop, the Pretty of Paper-Piecing, and was made entirely from scraps.  (Read more HERE if you're interested or happened to miss that hop.)

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love a comment before you continue along the hop to the talented Darlys's blog next.

More August Stamp of the Month Cards

 The August stamp of the month, Floral Celebrations, is one of my faves!  I had fun teaching these two cards in my recent Facebook Live card class.

The first card features random stamping in the color combo of Glacier, Thistle, and Peacock.  I stamped the sentiment in black, and then added black dots with a journaling pen and a few black enamel dots.  (Thanks to Melinda Everitt's inspiration for this card!)

The second card is another copycat, this time from the CTMH Make It From Your Heart blog.  I used Saffron, black, and white.  The gold journaling marker was a great match for the flower centers!

Remember that this pretty set is only available through the end of this month.

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Floral Celebration

Close To My Heart has a pretty floral set for August's stamp of the month, called Floral Celebrations.  Join me and fellow consultants on this hop featuring this set.  (If you're already hopping, you've probably arrived from Colleen's blog.  From here, you'll click on her name to go to Krista's blog next.)

Since we have eight colors retiring this month, I wanted to pair some of them with this fun stamp set.  (The retiring colors are the color of the year, Julep, and Ruby, Pixie, Thistle, Eggplant, Sweet Leaf, Saffron, and Goldrush.)  All of my cards use different sketches from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4.

My first card features retiring Pixie, paired with Sweet Leaf (also retiring) and Pewter (as suggested in the Love of Color guidebook).  I random stamped the White Daisy panel with Pixie and fussy cut the big Pixie flower.  I added Pink Taffeta stickles and white enamel dots to finish this card.

For my second card, I random stamped the background flower in retiring Saffron and the leaves in first and second generation Fern.  For the pretty central "sunflower", I stamped and fussy cut the flower in Saffron and then stamped the flower in Espresso and then fussy cut the center only.  The patterned paper is from the current Mix In paper pack.  I used New England Ivy for the stem and leaves on the banner and then added a simple white ribbon bow to finish this card.  Not only was the color comb inspired by Love of Color, but this same sketch is featured on the Saffron pages.

The third card is a fun, funky one!  I random stamped the background with retiring Thistle, Nectarine, Peacock, and Glacier (another Love of Color combo).  I used White Daisy & Thistle card stock, the Glacier gingham from the Mix In pack, and the Nectarine stripe from the Summer Vibes collection.  A few more white enamel dots finished this off.

My final card uses the Timber collection (retiring Ruby, Sapphire, and New England Ivy).  I knew that I wanted to use that big, fun outline stamp with some of our threads (gold and Sapphire).  To help the center mat pop off the plaid background, I scissor-distressed the edges.  I added gold stickles to the flower centers.

Isn't this a pretty set?  I used most but not all of the stamps on my cards.  I'm looking forward to making lots more this month with this great set.  I hope I've been able to inspire you with my cards.  Please leave a comment before hopping on to Krista's blog next!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

Heart2Heart Challenges: Favorite Tool

This week's Heart2Heart Challenge is to highlight your favorite crafty tool, and it was honestly difficult for me to decide!  I cannot imagine crafting without my paper trimmer and some really good adhesive, plus some stamps and inks...

So, I am actually going with... can you guess what?  While Thin Cuts sure make cutting stamped images easier, my current favorite tool is actually my SHIMMER BRUSHES!!!!

The flowers are highlighted with red shimmer brush after being colored with watercolor pencils.

I colored the fish with Peach and Toffee shimmer brushes (plus blue watercolor pencils) and the bubbles with Mint shimmer brush.

The sun's rays, after stamping with Lemonade ink, were then colored with Lemonade shimmer brush.

 Peach shimmer brush fills in the frosty drink with Lemonade shimmer on the umbrella...  (Is it enough where you are for some umbrella drinks, too?!?)

Mint shimmer brush painted on the background gives the illusion of sky, plus of course some Lemonade shimmery rays...

 Can you see the Lemonade and Peach shimmer on the fish scales?

This fish was colored the same as the preceding card, plus Candy Apple highlighted the "seaweed" and clear shimmer added sparkle to the bubbles.

Please join us at H2H Challenges to share your favorite tool!  I know that you will be inspired by our DT creations.  We'd love to see yours too!

Dry Embossing, Part 1

If you follow my InkyScrapper Facebook page, then you might have caught my video about dry embossing basics.  (If not, you can find it HERE.)  I have set a goal for myself to make a "tips & techniques" video each week.  My goal was live each Tuesday, but that hasn't happened yet, but I am two weeks in at least.  The first video was how to use Thin Cuts die cuts, so I continued with my die cutting machine to feature dry embossing.  (Next week will be dry embossing, part 2, with more advanced techniques.)

Each card featured a 4"x5.25" dry embossed panel.  This first one uses a retired floral embossing folder with Wisteria card stock.  I went back and painted the flowers with Wisteria shimmer brush. (I think I prefer it without, but I didn't think to take before/after pictures.)  The sentiment is from the retired Yesterday & Today Cardmaking stamp set, and the patterned paper is from the retired Every Little Thing collection.  The Wisteria ribbon is currently available.

(close up of the Wisteria shimmer brush detail)

My second card uses a non-CTMH embossing folder.  It was a gift, and I'm not sure of the manufacturer.  I used the same sentiment and piece of the retired Mix-In collection and sparkles to embellish.

This third card may be my favorite!  Before I embossed the card stock with the retired scallops folder, I inked the folder with Glacier, Lagoon, and Sapphire.

The fish and bubbles are from the current Summer Vibes Cardmaking stamp set & Thin Cuts.  I freehand cut (free cut?) the "seaweed" from the same retired Mix-In 

Can you see how I painted the images and "seaweed" with shimmer brushes?  Candy Apple on the seaweed, clear on the bubbles, and Lemonade and Peach on the fish makes this card even cuter in real life.  I haven't decided on a sentiment yet- either the "Just Keep Swimming" from the set or possibly "Birthday Fishes" from the (retired) April stamp of the month.

As always, if you have any questions, ask them in the comments.  Of course I love to get comments if you've taken the time to stop by.  Just keep swimming!

The Pretty of Paper-Piecing Technique Blog Hop

This month's technique blog hop, the Pretty of Paper-Piecing, was honestly a challenge for me!  I think you're going to learn a lot along this month's hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Lauren's blog.  From here, you'll visit Darlys next.)

My project might not be what you were expecting when you thought of paper-piecing.  While I was struggling for ideas, I turned to Pinterest (of course), and all of the paper-piecing projects were for quilts.  One thought led to another, and I decided to create a sunburst card.

I used strips of scraps from my Summer Vibes collection.  As you can see below, the pieces behind the focal sentiment are a hot mess.  I maybe should have trimmed them a little more at an angle (less rectangular and more triangular), and I wish that I had added some gold shimmer trim.  The thing is, because I was using scraps, there's really no way for me to make it again unless I start cutting up big pieces of paper.

For the focal sentiment, from the July Stamp of the Month, For My Beautiful Friend, I first inked up the sentiment in Lemonade, then Smoothie, and the Candy Apple before stamping it on the White Daisy rectangle.  Even the Smoothie mat was a scrap that I cut down a bit.

Here's another quick card that used paper piecing for the focal sun.  I stamped it first in Lemonade, then again on scrap in Black.  I cut out the Black circle center and adhered it to the Lemonade sun.

Thanks for letting me share some quick & easy paper-piecing projects with you.  After leaving a comment, hop on over to Darlys's blog to continue.