Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Friendship Bouquet (May 2012)

It's already time for the May edition of the Close To My Heart stamp of the month blog hop, and April showers have definitely brought us some lovely flowers in this stamp set, Friendship Bouquet. (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from Teresa's blog. You will head to Lalia's blog next.)

I wanted to try something a little different from the "typical" sunflowers you might see.  All of my cards follow the same basic design, but each has its own twist.  I created them with Heart 2 Heart Challenges "April Showers/May Flowers" challenge and the CAS-ual Friday's CFC50 Clean & Simple "Flowers or Trees" challenge in mind.  Each card began with a standard side-fold White Daisy card base, a 3.5" White Daisy square, and a Black square just a bit bigger.  All of the polka dot paper is from the current CTMH Dotty for You paper pack special.  (The large square measures 4".) 

The flower image was stamped with Archival Black ink so that it wouldn't run when I waterbrushed each flower.  All of the sentiments are also stamped in black.  To color the centers of each flower, I waterbrushed them with Grey Wool ink AFTER I did all my other coloring.  If you look closely, you'll  see that each card is embellished with Licorice Opaques self-adhesive pearls.

The flower on the second card was waterbrushed with Sunny Yellow and then Creme Brulee ink.

The next card uses Sunset ink for the flower.  The little frame was cut with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

The following uses Smoothie ink.  I love how the pleated border turned out!

Finally, I used one of my favorite colors, Lagoon, and switched up the design.  I'm not sure that I like this design as well, but I wanted each card to be different (and other than color and sentiment, this one matches the yellow card).

Which card is your favorite?  I would really love your feedback before you head off to the next blog on the hop (Lalia's). 

If you don't already have a CTMH consultant and would like to learn more about the May stamp of the month, the Dotty for You special paper pack, or anything else, please feel free to contact me.  Now, visit Lalia's blog for her Friendship Bouquet creation.  Thanks for hopping by!

Spring Card Class Recap

Several lovely ladies and I enjoyed an afternoon of cardmaking this past Sunday. Here are the cards that we made.   All of them used the Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge in some way.

The first uses the Card Word Puzzle (with the frame stamped with one of the patterns from the April stamp of the month) and Silver glitter glitz gel.

This little 3"x3" top-fold birthday card was easy to make.  We stamped the same patterned stamp onto the Sweet Leaf card stock (tone on tone).  We also stamped "happy" from the Card Word Puzzle stamp in two lines on the Grey Flannel base with Grey Wool ink.  The present and its bow were cut with the Cricut using this month's special offer, the Dotty for You paper pack.  Finally, the coloring on the seam binding ribbon does not show up well in the photo, but it is a soft tie-dye effect IRL.  I spritzed a reinker/water mix onto the seam binding with a mister (Sweet Leaf and Lagoon).

Participants had the choice of either of the following two cards.  Depending on how you turn the Dotty for You papers and how you finish the ends, you get two cool looks!  (The sentiments are from the Card Chatter- Sympathy stamp sets.)  I have to give a big shout out to talented consultant Nancy Ball for these two great card ideas!

This standard-sized card features the April stamp of the month, You Are, and the Cruisin' paper pack.  I always try to offer a variety of cards at my classes so that you can use them (and make more)!

You can find our final card from class right HERE.  Thanks so much for looking!  If you'd like to attend my card classes or would like to purchase card kits, just give me a holler at inkyscrapper @ gmail dot com (all typed together of course).

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  We are state testing today (day 3- math- a gateway huge important test for my grade and both my daughters) so I am definitely looking forward to the weekend.  Make it a good one!

H2H Challenges: Photo Inspiration & a Birthday Celebration

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is to use this pretty photo to inspire your Close To My Heart creation.

The colors drove my choice of Sunset and Smoothie, and I really like the shower curtain. Can you see how it inspired my card?  The current Dotty for You paper pack special has the perfect polka dot paper!  I used the adorable June stamp of the month, Life is Sweet, for the stamped images (including that pretty scallop that I fussy cut).  The Just Blooms flowers were the perfect addition, along with some Baker's Twine and pearls.

Here's the inside too.

Do you see that sweet little lady on the far right?  Well, today is her birthday!  It is so hard for me to believe that my baby is now 11 years old!  I used the same Dotty for You paper pack, but in Lagoon and Sweet Leaf, and the same June stamp of the month, Life Is Tweet, to make her birthday card.  You'll notice the similarities in the two cards.

I paper pieced the bird, part of the hat, and the balloons.  The "presents" are scraps.  The Baker's Twine made one piece look like a package, while half of a paper bloom made a cute "bow" on the other.

Thanks for taking a look at my cards.  Now it's your turn to use the photo to inspire your CTMH creation.  Link it up at H2H before the end of the month.  Happy crafting!

Baby Cards & Mini Albums

A dear family friend is expecting her first grandchild, a precious baby girl, and I was able to attend a baby shower recently for them. I decided to make both the new mommy and new grammie each a 6"x6" mini album. Because the nursery is lavender and yellow, I thought that these retired CTMH papers went well.

Here are the pages of their albums, which are pretty much identical for the mom and grandma.

Dotty for You Blog Hop!

Welcome to a very special blog hop featuring the Close To My Heart special offer, the Dotty for You paper pack! I made two projects for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday: a "celebrate" banner and a guest book for the suprise birthday party we threw for her. (She was definitely surprised!)

If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived here from Dawn's blog and will head to Wendy's blog after checking out my projects.

These little My Creations mini banners are so much fun! I used the Cricut to cut the banner shapes and then used my 2" circle scallop punch for the polka dot circles (each one is the back side of one of the patterns you see). The letters are stamped in Lagoon on Colonial White 1-1/4" punched circles with the Bohemian Alphabet. I had fun embellishing between the banner pieces with Colonial White and Sweet Leaf ribbon plus our new Baker's Twine.

My second project is a guest book made with a (retired) mini album. I used the Card Word Puzzle, Party Pennants, and It's Your Day stamp sets to decorate this album.

Click HERE to download a PDF that explains all the details of this fun special offer.

Now, go see what Wendy has whipped up with the Dotty for You paper pack!

CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop: Word Stamps

For this month's edition of our Close To My Heart product spotlight blog hop, three consultants, myself included, are showcasing some of CTMH's word stamps. (If you've already started hopping, then you should have arrived from Wendy's blog. You'll head to Nikka's blog next.)

For my project, I decided to choose the beautiful "Thinking of You" sentiment from the Card Chatter- Sympathy stamp set. As you can see from the next photo, this stamp set is extremely versatile. Don't let its name fool you! (If you'd like to order this set for yourself, just click HERE.)

I paired it with the equally beautiful (and versatile) Florentine paper pack. I began by measuring my stamp to see what size square I would need, and then I cut said square from Colonial White card stock at 3" using the Cricut and the Art Philosphy cartridge. I cut another Colonial White piece at 3-3/4" for the inside of the dark card. The striped mat was again cut with the Cricut, this time set at 3-3/4". Finally, the card base was also cut using the Cricut and set at 4". I love anything that is nested like this! The last Cricut cut was the pretty flower using the back side of the striped Florentine paper. (I think it was cut at 2-3/4" but my memory fails me.) The Cricut/Art Philosphy combo makes it so easy to make the beautiful flowers: press a few buttons to cut them out, then roll them up and adhere with Liquid Glass or glue dots!

To stamp the sentiment, I first inked it up in Twilight and then inked the bottom portion in Cocoa. The pretty scalloped strip is actually the "zip strip" from the top of the striped paper. Waste not, want not!

Thanks for taking a peek at my card. Now hop on over to Nikka's blog to see her pretty thank you card using CTMH's beautiful word stamps.

Pemberley Cards

Here are a few cards that I made a while back with the pretty Pemberley paper pack and a few stamp sets. The combo of Outdoor Denim, Indian Corn Blue, Bamboo, and Honey is pretty.

All supplies from CTMH: Card Chatter- Sympathy and Salutation Seals (retired) stamp sets; Pemberley paper pack; Indian Corn Blue and Honey inks; Just Blooms paper butterflies; Colonial White ribbon; Kraft button; Colonial White waxy flax