50th Anniversary Celebration(s) and Cruise Layouts #1-2

My wonderful parents celebrated their 50th anniversary earlier this month, and we were blessed to be able to take a family cruise in June to celebrate and then have a backyard BBQ with friends.  I'll be posting my projects over the next week or so.  (MOM!  If you're looking, go away and come back after you get your album!!!!!!)

Here is the title page for their album, using the former "Dad Is Rad" collection.  (If you missed this one and would like to know more, click HERE.)

All of my cruise layouts use the Postcard Perfect collection.  (I have to give a huge shout out to Susan Williams for the amazing workshop that she created!  Contact me if you'd like to know more.)  You can still get the paper collection and A Cut Above Kit- while supplies last- by clicking HERE.

Layout #1 highlights getting to meet our baby cousin for the first time on the way down and embarkation day.

I cut my title with the CTMH/Cricut  Flower Market to cut my titles.

I added some Document Dots for dimension. 

Layout #2 was our first full day on board: my nephew's 10th birthdayand a sea day finishing with formal night.

Come back daily to see more if you'd like to travel vicariously and/or enjoy some tropical scrapbooking!  I'll be making my family's album as my next big project!  (I did make both sets of base pages at the same time.)

H2H Challenges: Fresh Air Fun

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is Fresh Air Fun.  You don't have to use the Fresh Air collection, but it's a great fit! This is the card I made my husband for our 23rd anniversary.  (My does time fly!!!) 

It didn't take long to fussy cut the focal image from the Fresh Air Scrapbooking set after stamping it in Fern and rolling it in New England Ivy.  The sentiment is from a retired CTMH set.  I used a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 to put this together pretty quickly.  He really seemed to like it!

Be sure to visit the H2H blog and see our designers' inspiration.  All of our July challenges are open to the end of the month, so won't you join us for one or more?  You earn a special badge for participating in each of the month's challenges. 

Featured Paper Blog Hop: Central Park

No matter where you call home, you're going to love the Central Park paper collection!  You'll be amazed at how versatile this paper collection is, so be sure to hop all the way through this blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Kathleen's blog.  From here, you'll visit Brittany next.)  This paper pack features primary colors AND pastels, and somehow they work together!

My first card is based on the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 pattern 10.  I used my Thin Cuts/Cuttlebug to create the scalloped border.  The sentiment is from a retired stamp set.

Both of these cards use the Sending Prayers stamp set.  The one below is based on the  Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 pattern 24.

Now there's a twist on the Central Park paper pack: a very soft, feminine, pastel version!  (Sorry for the retired stamps, but they are ones in my collection that I absolutely love!)

Thank you for letting my share my Central Park cards with you!  I have a scrapbook layout planned next, so be sure to come back.  After leaving me a comment, feel free to visit Brittany's blog next.

Magically Masked (CTMH Technique Blog Hop)

Masking is a magical technique!  You can do soooo much with a little creative masking, as you're sure to see along this technique blog hop.  You can layer images without lots of cutting and pasting, you can use multiple colors on one stamp, and so much more.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Catherine's blog.  From here you'll visit Darlys's blog next.)

For this hop, I wanted to show how you could use more than one color ink directly on your stamps using the masking technique.

Step One: Use a Post-It-style note or washi tape to cover up the part of the stamp that you do NOT want to ink up (in this case "memories"_.

 Ink up the stamp in your color of choice (Smoothie).

Pull off the Post-It note and stamp image onto your project.  (It's really helpful to have a trash can nearby!)

Next cover up the parts that you've already stamped so that all you can see is the portion that hasn't been stamped.

Ink up "memories" in Peacock ink.  Remove the Post-Its and align with the previously-stamped portions.

Voila!  Now you have a two-toned (or more) stamped image!

Here's another card from earlier this year that uses this masking technique.  (TIP: You may want to use washi tape instead of post-its for "curvy" images.)

Thank you for checking out my Magically Masked project.  Be sure to visit Darlys next!

H2H Challenges: Anything Goes!

Heart 2 Heart Challenges is offering a fun "anything goes" challenge this week to help you get crafting to beat the summer heat.  I've been working on several projects lately, so I thought I would share my parents' 50th anniversary card.  First, though, I must show the inspiration behind their card!

My card began with a Peacock card stock base, but not your typical base because this card is actually an easel card!

On the White Daisy center panel, I meticulously stamped my sayings with the Pen Pal alphabet in Peacock ink.  The "50" I stamped and heat embossed with gold powder.  Both anchors were cut with the CTMH/Cricut You Are Here cartridge.

Gold glitter paper, gold glitter gems, and burlap ribbon finished off the card.  Below, you can see how the card looks opened from the side.

Thanks for letting me share this monumental milestone with you!  Be sure to check out all of the Design Team's inspiration on the H2H blog.  You have all month to join us!

July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Highlight Reel

Welcome to the July CTMH stamp of the month blog hop featuring Highlight Reel!  You're going to love creating and sharing the highlights of your life.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Darlys Recker's blog.  From here, you'll visit my talented friend Alyson's blog next.)

Each month I participate in a stamp of the month card swap, and it was a challenge at first to use this adorable set on a card!  I ended up using the Central Park collection and sketch pattern 13 from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4.  On the card base itself, I stamped Good Times in Pacifica and the music notes in Mink.  For the cute card, I first stamped in in black ink and then colored the wheels with Shin Han Twin Touch Warm Gray WG4 and the body with Carmine.  I went back and used my silver metallic marker to color the bumpers and a little Glacier ink with a water brush to highlight the windows.

(All of the images in the July stamp of the month)

Thank for hopping through the July stamp of the month blog hop!  Please leave me a comment before you hop on over to Alyson's blog next.

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

H2H Challenges: Unwind and Relax

The final June Heart 2 Heart challenge is the theme "unwind and relax."  Don't we all need some of that right now?!?  I made a fun summer-y card for this challenge!

My inspiration for this card are two current Close To My Heart special offers: the Dad Is Rad kit and the Create the Rainbow savings.  (You can find out more HERE if you're interested.)  My card is based on a cool sketch in the Dad Is Rad workshop, but I customized it for summer with the yellows in the Create the Rainbow savings (Goldrush, Saffron, and Canary) combined with the Central Park Scrapbooking stamp set.  From left to right, the 1/4" stripes are gold glitter, Canary B&T from Beautiful Friendship, Canary card stock, Saffron B&T from the Enchantment collection, Saffron card stock, and Goldrush B&T from the Enchantment collection. 

For the sentiment, I stamped the Sunshine word in Goldrush, its shadow outline in Canary, and "walking in" in Saffron.  The sun on the card base was also stamped in Saffron with gold shimmer brush to highlight the sun's center.

Thanks for checking out my summer, sunshine, relax & unwind card!  Be sure to visit the H2H blog, and join us!

Dad Is Rad Workshop Layouts

This month, Close To My Heart is offering a cool "Dad Is Rad" workshop!  You get a selection of papers, a stamp set, ribbon, gold clips, and preprinted instructions to create a two-page layout, a one-page layout, and four cards.  I pretty much followed the directions exactly to make the projects.  Today I'm sharing the layouts.

For the two-page layout, I decided NOT to add the dad sentiments yet because I may use it for more of our cruise pictures instead.  So, don't be afraid of this set because you might not "need" so many dad-themed projects.  The color scheme is gorgeous, and argyle is classic.

My second layout, the one-page layout, was absolutely perfect for this gorgeous picture of my parents, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary later this summer.  (We actually have already started celebrating "anniversary season" with a cruise earlier this month!)  This layout is the title page of the album that I am making for them to highlight our cruise and their party next month.

If you'd like to know more about this layout, just click HERE.  Yes, the gold glitter paper is part of the collection!  There is plenty extra to cut the title the way that I did.

Come back later this week to see the cards from this cool collection.  Thanks!

Featured Paper Blog Hop: Fresh Air

Welcome to the monthly Featured Paper Blog Hop!  We have four CTMH consultants highlighting the Fresh Air collection this month.  I have both a scrapbook layout and a card to share with you.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Carol's blog.  From here, you'll visit Kathleen's blog next.)

The Fresh Air collection was a perfect choice to scrapbook my husband, brother-in-law, and daughter's rafting trip last year with friends!  The colors went so well together along with that great outdoor theme.  The inspiration for my sketch came from the Workshops Your Way for this collection (second layout), but the actual dimensions didn't work for my pictures so I just made it my own with a little trial and error.

You can see how I used the Fresh Air Scrapbooking stamp set to accent my layout in two places.  First, I stamped the "Memories" circle onto one of the lightest pieces of the patterned paper after inking up the stamp in Glacier, New England Ivy, and Nutmeg.  I also stamped some pine boughs onto the Escape pre-printed card.

The "Incredible" sentiment was part of a larger stamp, so I used post-it notes to cover the parts of the stamp that I didn't want to use, ink up the exposed stamp in Nutmeg, peeled off (and threw away) the inky post-its, and then stamped "incredible" under my focal photo.  A few of the Fresh Air wooden shapes and gold glitter gems finished off my layout nicely.

My second project is a card that I made with the June stamp of the month, A Bushel and a Peck.  You can read all about it HERE if you'd like.

Thanks for hopping by!  Take a deep breath of fresh air, leave me a comment please, and then go on to visit Kathleen's blog next.  Enjoy the great outdoors!

Mini Is Marvelous (CTMH Technique Blog Hop)

Mini is marvelous!  You're going to love all the teeny tiny projects you'll see along this fun technique blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Catherine's blog.  From here, you'll visit Danielle's blog next, just by clicking on her name.)

My projects are two mini 3"x3" cards made with the Beautiful Friendship collection: Cardmaking stamp set, Thin Cuts, and paper pack.  After stamping both the tea cup and the tea pot with Sapphire ink onto scrap White Daisy cardstock, I ran them through my Cuttlebug with the coordinating Thin Cuts dies to cut them out so beautifully.  For the tea cup, I stamped the pretty floral pattern with Canary ink, and on the tea pot I used Smoothie for the sentiment.  Both cards use some grey gems, and I wrapped some grey thick twine around my card before adding the tea pot on top with 3D foam tape.

I love making and giving mini cards, because they express a lot in a small package!  Be sure to leave me a comment please before you hop on to Danielle's blog to see her interpretation of Mini Is Marvelous!

H2H Challenges: Dad Knows Best

Boy, could I create an entire scrapbook around the Heart2Heart Challenge's theme, Dad Knows Best!  (He sure thinks he does!)  Instead, I've chosen to use the current Dad is Rad collection to create a layout to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary which is coming up later this summer.

This layout was super easy to make because I basically just followed the directions in the Dad Is Rad workshop collection.  I personalized this layout by first turning the photo 90 degrees to fit my parents' picture.  I also added the "50 years" title with the gold glitter paper from the collection and my CTMH/Cricut Flower Market cartridge.  All of the gold glitter and the burlap ribbon are part of the collection; I did add the gold glitter gems for some extra bling.  Of course you need some gold for a 50th anniversary celebration!  You will get to see lots more about their celebration(s) this summer, so be sure to come back often.  Don't forget to visit the H2H blog to see how our talented designers interpreted this theme, just in time for Father's Day!  As always, you have all month to play along with any of this month's H2H challenges.

June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: A Bushel and a Peck

Welcome to the June stamp of the month blog hop, featuring A Bushel and a Peck!  (If you're already hopping then you've arrived from Krista's blog.  From here you'll visit Shelly next.)

My card is based on the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4 pattern 4, turned to become a side-fold card.  After choosing the Fresh Air paper collection, I stamped my sentiment onto White Daisy card stock with Nutmeg ink.  I then stamped the basket onto scrap card stock (also in Nutmeg).  To color the basket, I first used my waterbrush dipped in Toffee ink for the lighter brown and then Nutmeg again for the top of the basket and the apple stems.  With the waterbrush, I colored the basket strip and apple leaves with New England Ivy.  After all that dried, I used three of my Shin-Han Twin Touch markers to color the apples: Golden Yellow, Sap Green, and Carmine.

Instead of embellishing with the pretty green burlap ribbon in this collection, I opted to use white burlap instead for a nicer contrast.  Finally, I added three red enamel gems to balance the pop of red from the apple basket.

Thank you for letting me share my simple card!  After leaving a comment, be sure to visit Shelly's blog next, and continue on for lots of great ideas!

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