Seasonal Expressions 2 (2019) Blog Hop

Oh my goodness, have you gotten your hands on the newest Seasonal Expressions Idea Book?  It's the 2nd installment for 2019, and Close To My Heart just gets better and better.  I am currently crushing on the Sweet Girl collection, and I have two projects to share with you on this hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Jayma's blog.  From here, you'll visit Gina's blog next.)

My layout (with my own original sketch) features my younger daughter's fall senior photo shoot.  (She is graduating on Friday!)  I used the Sweet Girl Workshop Your Way for my own personal Sweet Girl, and added silver glitter gems.

Sweet Girls isn't just for little ones!

My second project is a cool tri-fold card in honor of my older daughter's upcoming birthday, also using the Sweet Girl collection.

Sorry that this one is a little blurry!  You can find the card template/tutorial HERE.  I didn't include bulky embellishments because this card is actually going to be a stowaway in her suitcase because she leaves for study abroad in Germany soon (and will be abroad for her birthday)!

I cut the focal image with my CTMH/Cricut You Are Here cartridge.  I added a few of the Sweet Girl complements.  I've also included a peek at the June stamp of the month, stamped here in Charcoal.

Thanks for letting my share my Sweet Girl projects with you.  Be sure to check out all of the great Seasonal Expressions projects!  I'd love a comment before you hop on over to Gina's blog.  Thank you!

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

Sweet Girl Collection Blog Hop

With the new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book, Close To My Heart has four new paper collections!  This month's hop is featuring Sweet Girl.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Kathleen's blog.  From here, you'll visit Danielle next.)

Sweet Girl isn't just for babies!  Here's my very own sweet girl with photos from her senior photo shoot.  I totally and completely built my layout around her pictures.  Here is the basic layout:

Now here are close ups of both pages:

The only thing that I added to the Sweet Girl Workshop Your Way collection was the silver glitter gems.

 The right page:

Thank you for letting me share my very own Sweet Girl with you!  Please leave a comment before hopping on to Danielle's blog.  Thank you!

Make the Cut Technique Blog Hop

This month, we're focusing on all the great cuts that Close To My Heart offers.  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Michelle Loncar's blog.  From here, you'll visit Maz Wood's blog next.)

It is graduation season, and with my baby being a high school senior I know that I'm going to need several cards.  I grabbed Eggplant card stock to make this fun cut of a card (that doesn't lay quite flat for a good photo) and paired it with True Love paper collection.  I cut the mortarboard with both sides of Eggplant card stock and the CTMH/Cricut You Are Here cartridge.

I cut the "You Did It!" sentiment with the CTMH/Cricut Flower Market cartridge, and "Way to Go" came from one of the stamp sets in that set.

To create this card base, use a piece of 8.5"x11" card stock.  Score it in half both the length and the width.  Because none of my trimmers are big enough, I used a ruler and pencil to trace the diagonal (top left to bottom right) and then cut it in half by hand.  (You'll get two of these cool cards.)  Fold the flaps over!

When I make a card with a dark card stock base, I line the inside with White Daisy card stock so the message will be clear.

I hope that you'll give this fun card a try!  Please leave a comment before heading off to Maz's blog next.

H2H Challenges: Minty Fresh

Heart 2 Heart Challenges has a fun "minty fresh" color challenge for you this week!  I decided to use the National Scrapbooking Month special stamp set, part of The World Is Yours collection, to create a fun card.

My card is based on the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 card pattern #3.  I used The World Is Yours collection for my color scheme and accent papers.  After stamping the bicycle with Mint ink, I used my black journaling pen and Shin Han Twin Touch marker to color over the portions that I wanted black.  (The Mint by itself was just too flat.)

I used both my Mint and Black shimmer brushes to splatter some color onto the card front base.  On the inside, I stamped the "Enjoy the Ride" sentiment in black.

Be sure to check out how all of the H2H Design Team interpreted this challenge.  Be sure to join us before the end of the month!

National Scrapbooking Month Blog Hop

Close To My Heart is offering a spectacular National Scrapbooking Month collection: The World Is Yours.  It features an amazing travel-themed paper pack, a cool exclusive stamp set, and an awesome Cut Above layout kit with two layouts.  Be sure to hop along the complete hop to get great ideas for these special offers!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Gina's blog.  From here you'll visit Michelle Loncar next.)

My first project is the title page to Volume 3 of our epic European adventure in 2016.  The pretty background is one of the papers in the paper collection, and I layered different scraps behind my photo.  (The photo mat and largest vertical rectangle are leftover pieces that I didn't use on the Cut Above layout, below.)  The heart and location pin stickers are part of the paper collection also.  I did add in some black dots.  (I stamped Volume III in Espresso ink.)

My goal is to finish our Greece photos with this collection, and here we are at Olympia (the first of two Cut Above layouts).  As you can see, I didn't exactly follow the directions; I made the layout work for my photos.  After adding the "adventure" sticker, I stamped Olympic with Espresso ink (using a retired alphabet set).  Because I have so many photos from the day, I used our pocket protectors to quickly show off a dozen pictures.

Here's a close up of the left page.

 On the right page, I used the triangle as pennants instead of mountains.  I added Sage card stock from the card stock collection and White Daisy card stock for my journaling box.

As I said, I plan to use this collection for all of our Greece photos so be sure to check back as National Scrapbooking Month has only just begun!  I'd love a comment before you hop on over to Michelle's blog.  Thank you!

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

May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: To My Bestie

Happy May Day and welcome to the May stamp of the month blog hop, To My Bestie!  This hop also launches the new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book, so you are going to get so many great ideas!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Krista's blog.  From here, you'll visit Valerie next.)  I decided to pair this set with the new True Love collection to make an 18th birthday zigzag-fold card for our younger daughter.

I used my CTMH/Cricut Flower Market collection to cut the 18 from silver glitter paper and the exclamation mark from a piece of True Love Sapphire paper.

I stamped the balloon image on the center panel, then on scrap White Daisy card stock to fussy cut for the balloons to rise above the card edge, and then again on the patterned paper to create the sets of balloons.  I colored one of the balloons with my watercolor pencils and then used my clear shimmer brush to add some sparkle.  I had only planned to make two sets, but the far right ones were too far to the right.  Live and learn! LOL

After I assembled everything, I did not like the stark white of the back of the balloons so I colored them with markers and watercolor pencils.

I stamped the balloons in Charcoal and the sentiments in Ballerina and Sapphire.  My baby loves blue!

The card base is a piece of Mint card stock.

I added a few silver glitter gems for embellishments.  The birthday girl was pretty pleased with her special card.

Thanks for letting me share!  Please leave a comment before hopping on over to Valerie's blog!

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

H2H Challenges: Florals AKA April Stamp of the Month Lever Fun-Fold Birthday Card

Okay, that title is kind of a mouthful for this pretty card!  I made it for my mother-in-law's birthday earlier this month using the April stamp of the month, Love So Sweet.  It certainly qualifies for Heart2Heart Challenges Florals challenge to kick off May.

The way this card opens is pretty spectacular (if I do say so myself).

It's called a lever fun fold, and I used the instructions found HERE.  (No sense in making my own tutorial because hers is very clear.)

I did cut my center square about a sixteenth of an inch smaller than the Fern card base square so that the center panel and butterfly would pass through easily.

Because my MIL's favorite color is yellow, I used Canary and Saffron inks for the flowers.  I colored the butterfly with Sugarplum and Gold shimmer brushes, and of course added some shimmer to the flowers also.  The patterned paper on the inside is from the Feels Like Home collection.

If you don't have any shimmer brushes, at least get the clear one so that your projects can sparkle too!  Be sure to see what the H2H Design Team has created for the Florals challenge!

Dandelion Wishes Birthday Card

This sweet card is an almost exact replica of the Dandelion Wishes card on p. 82 of the current CTMH Seasonal Expressions Idea Book, except that I used Sage.

I also decided to use the gray twine instead of a bow.  The perfect circle was cut with my Cuttlebug and our Thin Cuts.  I actually cut it from the center of the Sage piece because I knew that the White Daisy stamped panel and the card base would cover the hole. 

Next time, I will flip the base Sage cardstock over to the lighter side so that the circle sentiment will pop a little more.  Also, on a color that light, Sage stamped on Sage didn't pop enough for the sentiment.  I used Pewter because Mink ink was also too light.

Don't be afraid to copy ideas for our Idea Books.  That's exactly what they're for!

MSC Orchestra and So Much Happy

On our epic European adventure, we took a second cruise of the Mediterranean Sea and had fun aboard the MSC Orchestra.

I used my Reflections how-to guide for my layout design.

 I had fun with scraps to make the flags on the side bar.  Do they look a bit nautical to you too?

While we don't have another cruise planned (yet!), we are working on another epic adventure for 2019.  Come back for more of 2016!

Europe 2016: Day 15

On the 15th day of our epic European adventure, we visited the port town of Bari, Italy, home of the St. Nicholas Basilica.

This layout uses the Mix-In Paper Pack and the peach papers from the So Much Happy collection.

For the first page, I made my own layout based on my pictures.  I love stamping titles!

The next page uses one of our pocket Memory Protectors (Design 1).  I love that our papers have two different designs on each side!  I was able to use that to my advantage on a few of the pockets; others have two mats to get the look that I needed.

The gold cross is just two pieces of gold shimmer trim.  I thought that was a nice way to accent the photos of the relics of St. Nicholas.

The final page is also of my own design to make the most of my photos. 

Bari was beautiful!