May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Just Sayin'

The CTMH May stamp of the month, Just Sayin', has lots of possibilities, and my CTMH consultant blog hop group is here to show you some great ideas!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Lucy's blog.  From here, you will click to go see CAT next!)

When I saw the polka dotted triangle stamp, I knew I wanted to use it to make some banners.  I grabbed my Wanderful paper pack and coordinating inks and designed this card.  I first stamped the banner in Flaxen, Sunset, Crystal Blue, Gypsy, and Honey onto my card front.  I then used my journaling pen to "tie" the banner together.  After I made the "This Is Cool" sentiment, I thought it would be fun to have Just Sayin' peeking out above it.  I like how that turned out!

Next, I am "recycling" this layout that also uses the Just Sayin' May stamp of the month.  Although the Heartstrings paper pack is no longer available, you can still order the Picture My Life card set.  (Click HERE to read more about this particular layout.)  Notice how I random stamped my Whisper and Slate pieces with the Just Sayin' stamp set and embellished with several of the sentiments.

Just sayin', thanks for hopping by!  Go check out Cat's creation next!

Click HERE for the entire hop list.

Just a Quick Note to Say Hello

Tomorrow is the last day to get the April stamp of the month, Typed Note!

The Blossom paper pack, Boardwalk washi tape, and Ocean sequins will be around a lot longer though!  (You can find everything HERE.)

Welcome Baby Card

A friend recently had a baby boy, and I made this quick card for them.

If this card looks familiar, it's because it uses the same basic materials as my H2H Wonderful Word challenge card.  It is a swing card with a Colonial White base and pieces of Seaside and Blossom paper packs plus the New Arrival stamp set.  Does the heart sentiment look like a balloon to you?  I hope so!  I am loving the thick Glacier twine!

To color the elephant image, I just grabbed my blending pen and inks after stamping in Cocoa.  This was a fun way to welcome a sweet baby boy to a sweet mom and dad!

Masked Torn Frame Technique & Butterfly Cards

Are there any Pinterest fans out there?!?  This card is CASEd from a gorgeous card that I found on Pinterest, and it uses a masked torn frame technique.  You'll also see several other cards here that I made in this "series."

To begin, create a frame with torn card stock and washi tape.

Then begin sponging ink onto your card panel, working from the lights color to the darkest.  I used Glacier, Lagoon, and Thistle.

Here is a one-layer card that I made which is very similar to the original.

The ladies in my card class opted for another version of this technique: sponge the panel first (without the framed mask) and then tear the edges to expose the white core.

 For this one I decided to stamp the butterflies in the same color as the background instead of using black ink.

 Finally, here's a quick card that I made using the same materials but without the sponging.

I'd like to link all of these up to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge, Anything Goes.

H2H Challenges: What a Wonderful World

Just in time for Earth Day this Wednesday, Heart 2 Heart Challenges has issued the "What a Wonderful World" challenge.  (Anybody else hear Louis Armstrong in the background?)  I really thought that this was going to be an easy one, but then when I carved out time to create, I was stumped.  My mind drifted, and this hot air balloon card made me think of floating over the Earth.  It might be a lame connection, but it's the best I've got this week!

This card uses three different paper packs: Blossom (new), Seaside (current), and Hopscotch (retired).  They share enough of the same colors that I thought they looked nice together.  I taught the ladies at my recent card class how to make a swing card without a Cricut cartridge, although the hot air balloons are cut with the CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge.

To give them a little perspective, I cut the balloons at 3", 2.5", and 1.75".  This quick card is embellished with new Ocean sparkles.

Since I don't have a specific use for the card (yet), I left off any sentiments.  I think it would be a great "just because" or thinking of you card, but what about a new baby, graduation, birthday, or even get well?  What other ways would you use this card?

Are you ready to share our wonderful world?  Hop on over to the H2H blog to see our design team's inspiration and to link up your worldly creation.

CTMH Technique Blog Hop: Embossing Is Back!

Welcome to the April installment of the CTMH technique blog hop!  This month, we're featuring embossing.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Wendy's blog.  You'll visit Catherine after checking out my two cards and quick tutorials.)  Both of my cards use heat embossing with the Some Kind of Wonderful stamp set and the Brushed paper pack, yet they look very different!

The first card uses the "emerging color" embossing technique.  Begin by stamping your images all over your focal piece with dye inks in various colors. I used ALL of the colors of the Brushed paper pack except black: Cranberry, Hollyhock, Pixie, Canary, Flaxen, Pear, and Juniper.  I did work from top to bottom creating a rainbow effect.

Let that piece dry completely! Then take solid (or mostly solid) stamps- the larger the better- and randomly stamp the solid images (in this case the solid butterflies) with Versamark ink.  Sprinkle clear embossing powder of this second layer of stamped images.  Knock off the excess embossing powder and heat set with your embossing tool.

In the above picture, you can see the clear embossing powder before I heat set it.  Unfortunately either my Versamark wasn't very "juicy" or my clear embossing powder has lost some of its potency, because my heat tool blew some of it off before heat setting it.  I've never had that happen before!

The next step is to sponge or brayer ink over the entire piece.  You can go with a very dark color to completely (or almost completely) hide your random stamping, or you can do what I did and use a rainbow of colors.

After you've covered the piece with a top layer of color(s), grab a tissue or some toilet paper and burnish the piece: wipe off the excess ink so that the clear embossing really show through.

The second card uses a much simpler embossing technique: white-on-white with sponged color.  I stamped the butterflies with clear Versamark and then heat embossed them with white embossing powder.  (White-on-white didn't photograph well, but is actually pretty in and of itself.)  Next, I sponged color over the butterflies and then burnished them.  This time I used Canary, Pixie, and Hollyhock inks.

 To finish this piece, I sponged Juniper on the "sky" background and added pearls and a pretty bow from my stash.

Thanks for sticking with me so far!  I hope you've gotten some great ideas on using embossing in your crafting.  I'd love to know which card you like better.  (Thanks in advance for leaving a comment!)  Your next stop on the CTMH embossing blog hop is CATHERINE.  Thanks for leaving me a comment before visiting her blog! (Just click on her name.)  Enjoy embossing!

H2H Challenges: Sketch for April

Heart 2 Heart Challenges has a great sketch for you to try this week, courtesy of our own Design Team Member, Nikka!  Don't you want to give it a try?  If you need some inspiration before you begin (or are ready to link up your project), visit the H2H blog.  Here's the inspiration sketch:

My card uses the Brushed paper pack and the Some Kind of Wonderful stamp set.  I knew I wanted to use one of the butterflies and a sparkle "trail."  Because of the direction of the bling, I knew that I needed to flip the pennants.

To create the butterfly, I stamped it three times: twice on scrap paper (in Canary and in Pixie) and once in black on the focal White Daisy card stock with a wing tip going off the edge.  I think cut out both top wings and both bottom wings, then adhered them to the focal piece.

Thanks for "fluttering by!"  Be sure to check out how the H2H Team Canary interpreted this sketch, and link up your own before the end of the month.

Seasonal Expressions 2 Blog Hop

Have you seen the gorgeous new products in the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog supplement?  These items are available through August, and you are going to want to get your hands on some of them!  My blog hop group is featuring all new projects using products from this Idea Book supplement.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Lela's blog.  If you'd like to see more fabulous ideas with products from Season Expressions 2, go to Michelle's blog next.)

 For my project, I thought that the new Blossom paper pack was a great match with our Easter photos!  (Thank heavens for Walmart's 1-hour photo service in our small town!)  I used a sketch from the Cherish how-to guide to fit in all of my photos.

On this left page, you'll notice the cool new Boardwalk washi tape (3 coordinating tapes), Glacier extra thick twine, and Oceanside sequins.

To stamp my title, I used the gorgeous Vogue alphabet with Lagoon ink.  The pennants with my square photo use Blossom B&T, Boardwalk washi tape, and Teal shimmer trim.

Click HERE for the complete hop list!

Thanks for letting me share our Easter 2015 with you!  After leaving a comment, please go check out Michelle's amazing projecnext!

H2H Challenges: Checkerboard

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is a checkerboard theme challenge.  You might think black & white, you might think squares, or you might think of a fun childhood game.  Whatever you think of, get busy creating and share your CTMH project with us!  I decided to make a card using the (retired) Lollydoodle Workshop on the Go card sketch.

Don't you love the new Blossom paper pack?!?  It is only available this spring and summer!  I used the April stamp of the month, Typed Note, for the birthday sentiment, and embellished the card with the NEW Glacier thick twine and Ocean sequins.

Be sure to check out all of the H2H designers and their checkerboard creations!  Happy crafting!  I am off on spring break, so I am not sure if I'll get more or less crafting done.