May Stamp of the Month (Time To Celebrate) Birthday Cards

My nephew and our daughter's BFF share a birthday later this week, so I made them both birthday cards this weekend featuring the May stamp of the month, Time To Celebrate.

For my nephew, I used the Aurora collection: Scrapbooking stamp set and Thin Cuts, papers, and accessories.  It doesn't show well in the photo, but I used my Sapphire shimmer brush to splatter the background of the Sage card stock.  I like the ruggedness of the scissor distressing and paper tearing on this card.

My second birthday card uses the Blue Skies collection plus lots of shimmer trim (the green, blue, and purple are retired).  We've never carried orange shimmer trim; I used retired white and used my orange alcohol marker to color it.  I also added a strip of Clover card stock.  I think all of the embellishments are retired bits from my stash, but they definitely added more fun to this vibrant card for a girl who loves her bling!

Today is the last chance to order your own May stamp of the month!  Check it out HERE.

More Blue Skies Layouts

Today is your last chance to order the gorgeous, fun Blue Skies collection.  (See it all HERE.)

I have been having lots of fun with the paper pack, stickers, stamp sets, and Thin Cuts of this collection to scrapbook our stay in Brugge (or Bruges), Belgium. 

This layout includes My Legacy Page Protectors Plus to add more photos from seeing the windmills up close.

All three of us girls enjoyed touring (and tasting) the Chocolate Museum and the French Fry Museum!

Don't you love the fun, vibrant colors of this collection?  What you can't probably tell is that many of the stickers have a shiny UV coating to add more eye-catching appeal.

Kits for Sale

With most of us staying home in these strange times and my school year winding down, I am now ready to start offering pre-cut kits and virtual classes on my Facebook page.  (They are available while supplies last.)  I thought I would also share them here, but please contact me directly if you're not on Facebook.  I only have 4-5 of each kit.

All kits are $5 or free with a minimum $25 order (before S&H/tax) from my CTMH website (unless otherwise noted).  Shipping is not included with these kits.  For my local friends, I am happy to offer pick up at my place or delivery to you!  Kits do NOT include stamping (unless otherwise stated) but do include embellishments (though they may differ slightly from the photos based on availability).  Card kits include envelopes.

Card Kit #1: Celebrate Today & Seas the Day

Card Kit #2: Aurora & Stitched Together

Scrapbooking Kit #1: Celebrate Today

NOTE: You will receive a sheet of Lagoon cardstock to cut your own photo mats rather than the squares pictured.

Scrapbooking Kit #2: Seas the Day

Scrapbooking Kit #3: Yesterday & Today

NOTE:  This kit includes the photo mat & journaling box, but NOT the photo placeholders pictured.

Scrapbooking Kit #4: Aurora

NOTE:  This kit DOES include stamped images that you have the option of using or not.  It does include the photo mats but NOT the photo placeholders pictured. 

Scrapbooking Kit #5: Stitched Together

NOTE: This kit does NOT include stamped images; you will have to add your own.  It does include the photo mats but NOT the photo placeholders pictured.  (Wooden button embellishments are also included but may not match the photo.)

Blue Skies Cut Above Layout 1 & H2H Challenges

The phenomenal Blue Skies special is still available, and I am using it currently to scrapbook our photos and memories from when we were in Brugge (Bruges), Belgium.  The Cut Above layout kit includes all the pieces for two gorgeous layouts.

Don't you love the rainbow die cuts? 

I used my Lagoon shimmer brush to splatter even more on the base layout pages prior to assembling the pieces.

I also used my Red and Mint shimmer brushes plus pink stickles to add more shimmer to the layout.

On all of your layouts, don't forget to add your journaling so that others will know more of your story.

I'm sharing this layout on the current Heart2Heart Challenges, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  Check out all of the great ideas there, and consider submitting your own project to any of our May challenges.

H2H Challenges: National Scrapbooking Month

This year, when the CTMH Album Retreat went virtual, I decided to treat myself in honor of my 20th CTMH anniversary, and I am so extremely glad that I did!  The pages that I made will be used to document our older daughter's undergraduate memories.  Here's to the Class of 2020!  We are trying to make the best of a disappointing end to her undergrad years.

Don't look too closely to spot the mistakes on this layout (although if you didn't see the original you might not notice them anyway).  My CTMH team's motto is "A mistake is an opportunity to embellish," and I am living it on this layout!  Everything you see there except for inks and adhesives (and the Memories stamp set- retired) was included in the Album Retreat bundle.

Diamond stickles are my new favorite product!  Not only are these letters sparkly, but they can turn card stock into faux glitter paper.

I'm adding this layout to the Heart2Heart National Scrapbooking Month challenge.  I challenge YOU to join us!

May Technique Blog Hop: Stencil It!

Come along this month's technique blog hop to learn all about stencils!  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Michelle's blog.  From here, you'll go to Tamara's blog next.)

At first glance, you might be wondering where my stencil is on my card using the new A Million Little Things stamp set.

I made my own stencil to sponge the flowers.  I started by stamping the flower stamp twice on cardstock squares.  On one, I cut out only the center of the flowers with my craft knife.  On the other, I carefully cut out all of the insides of the flowers.  (I decided the stem would be too hard since it's so thin.)

 Here is the first step of the sponged flowers.

On the card, you can see how I used black to sponge the flower centers and my TriBlend Light Green marker to color the stem and flowers.  (I also wanted a longer stem, so I masked and stamped it twice on the main panel.)

While it takes time to make your stencil, it is reusable for a long time and will help you color quickly.  Please leave a comment before hopping over to Tamara's blog for the next stencil project!

May/June New Product Blog Hop

It's time to highlight all of the amazing goodies in the May/June Close To My Heart Idea Book with an extra special blog hop!  {If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Krista's blog.  From here, you'll visit Gina's blog next.}

My projects, our stay in Caen, France, featured the Stitched Together paper collection plus the adorable wooden buttons

Since I didn't have stamps to go with this collection, I ended up fussy cutting pieces from the gorgeous floral print, kind of like applique.  (I love how it turned out!)

I also used some of the corresponding PML cards.

Here is the left page with the memory protector plus on the right...

...and the right page with the backside of the memory protector plus on the left.

 I added in stitching on the buttons and doodle some stitches on my journaling with my black journaling pen.

For the pretty border on the left, I used my paper trimmer to cut the strip to the butterfly and then opened the track, moved my blade past the butterfly, and continued cutting.  Then, I went back and fussy cut around the butterfly's body.

The right page uses one of the PML cards with a flip flap to add "hidden" journaling.

Thanks for letting me share a twist on the Stitched Together collection with you.  I'd love a comment before you hop on over to Gina's Little Corner of Stamping Heaven!  Thank you!

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

National Scrapbooking Month 2020 Blue Skies Blog Hop

The National Scrapbooking Month special, Blue Skies, offers something for literally every paper crafter!  Continue along this hop to let this special collection inspire you.  {If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Krista's blog.  From here, you'll visit Janet's blog next.}

Here is my take on the Blue Skies scrapbooking workshop layout #3. Since I didn't have the Cricut cartridge to cut the pretty "bubbles" at the top, I improvised with my circle Thin Cuts.

Here's a tip: layout your pieces and then snap a picture with your phone so that you can glue the pieces in place where you like them.

Here's a close up of  the photo cluster:

(Sorry for the glare!)

Thin Cuts make it so easy to cut out your images!

This close up shows the cool combination of stickers, stamps, and Thin Cuts!  You can easily see the UV embossed pattern on the Sapphire cardstock and the embossed "shine" in Sunshine (which is all Canary colored).

Please leave a comment on my twist on the Blue Skies scrapbooking workshop layout #3 before hopping along to Janet's blog next.  Thank you!

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