Halloween Wall Hanging

My Steampunk Scoundrels stamp set arrived yesterday, so I carved out a little time this afternoon to make a Halloween wall hanging with it and the Nevermore paper pack.

The bases of the banner were cut with my CTMH/Cricut Artbooking cartridge.  These cutouts are actually pages for a mini album (with the binding on the left).  My older daughter thought that when they are turned with the binding up, like for the banner,that  they look like cauldrons.  "Boil, boil, toil and trouble..."

The simple, plain circles were cut with the CTMH/Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  Everything else was cut with Artbooking.

...quoth the raven, nevermore.

I am linking this project up to the H2H BOO challenge.  Happy Halloween!

Sangria Workshop on the Go Layout #2

For my recent scrapbooking class, we made the featured layout in the beautiful Sangria Workshop on the Go kit.  (I will post mine when I add pictures.)  I then went on to make the second, additional layout following the kit instructions (but changed up the photo mats to fit my pictures).

This is one of those layouts that doesn't commemorate a milestone but rather captures a little moment in time.  My sister was taking her boys out for Chinese in the next town over, so she invited us to join them.  It was one of the few Friday nights that the girls had "off" from marching band (although they had gotten soaked at after school practice), so we jumped on the chance for good food with family.

I also included a photo of the girls teaching their cousin to play Monopoly.  It wasn't from the same night but was close enough in time and subject to be included.

Don't forget to scrapbook the "small stuff" in life too!

Cricut Capers & a Chorus Concert

One of the October Heart 2 Heart challenges is Cricut Capers, and I put my Cricut to work to help me create this layout of our daughters' fall chorus concert.

 Our older daughter, a senior, opened the show with an introductory speech, and then the curtains rose for the 135-student chorus to begin singing hits from a famous American icon and franchise.

To match her Tinkerbell costume, I chose to use Pear with pieces from the Zoe and La Vie en Rose paper packs.

 The Vogue alphabet (retired) was a great choice for stamping the title on this big Cricut banner.

To make her "wings," I cut the butterfly base on vellum and then the pretty scroll overlay with White Daisy card stock.  (By the way, I love that the girls decided to coordinate their costumes and performed as Tinkerbell and Wendy Darling!)

The entire layout is embellished with white shimmer trim, white sparkles, and green glitter triangles.

If you'd like to play along with any of the H2H October challenges, you have until the end of the month!

Sangria Workshop on the Go Meets Nevermore

What do you do with leftover card pieces?  Make some more, with a twist!  I had pieces of my Nevermore/September stamp of the month card leftover from my open house, and I had my Sangria Workshop on the Go stamp set out, so I decided to create with them together.

 All the cards use the same basic ingredients, but they are each different.  I used the Nevermore paper pack with Whisper, Slate, Black, and Eggplant inks plus silver shimmer trim, silver sequins, and/or grey enamel gems.

I think this last one is my favorite.  I love how the leaf stamp can become a vine!

So now why don't you give it a try?  See how many alternatives you can make with the same basic ingredients.

Open House Recap

Last month I held my Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations open house.  I was lucky to participate in several rounds of a great new catalog swap with other CTMH consultants, so what you're seeing here is a collective effort.  Talk a "walk" through my open house...

Sangria

Urban

Georgie

Kaleidoscope

Artistry Cricut Cartridge

Zoe

Zoe

watercolor paints

new colors

new Base & Bling

La Vie en Rose

Nevermore

Holiday Expressions Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Expressions blog hop!  Holiday Expressions is the Close To My Heart catalog supplement featuring tons of fab holiday products.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Krista's blog.  You'll check out Gina's festive Holiday Expressions project next.)

My card is actually a gift card holder.  I tried to keep it simple, quick, and easy!  I began with the October stamp of the month, Twinkle, and the White Pines paper pack.  I grabbed a sheet of Glacier card stock and my Artiste CTMH/Cricut cartridge to cut out the gift card holder.  I also used Artiste to cut out the sentiment panel and mat.  I used two different pieces of White Pines B&T, red shimmer, trim, Glacier thick twine, and red enamel gems.  Can you see the star-stamped border?

Thanks for hopping by!  I hope you're inspired along the hop to begin your holiday crafting.  Go see GINA next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Twinkle

It's time to Twinkle with the October Close To My Heart stamp of the month!  If you're already hopping along the Stamp of the Month Blog hop, then you're probably here from Carol's blog.  From here, you'll visit Priscilla next.

While this stamp set is perfect for Christmas, I wanted to try to use it in a different way.  For my flower card, above, I turned the light bulb stamp into a flower.  All of the pieces are cut with the Cricut Artiste cartridge.  I had to use the new Sapphire blue plus Honey and Eggplant.  I paired this flower with pieces of the Sangria paper pack, and added a New England Ivy Cricut-cut leaf.

Of course I had to use it in a bit more traditional way but the Sangria paper pack is a nice twist.

Thanks for hopping on by.  Go to Priscilla's blog next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

Last Chance for September Specials!

Last chance today for the Close To My Heart September stamp of the month, Paper Garden, and the Hello Life stamps!

H2H Challenges: Change

The final September challenge for Heart 2 Heart Challenges is change.  I'll be honest: this card isn't my original project idea.  I wanted to create a layout of our daughter with her kindergarten picture and her senior picture, but I was crying too much.  (Please be kind to my naked, open heart here, peeps!)  I will get that layout made, but NOT today.

Since Fall is in the air here in my hometown, I chose the Sangria Workshop on the Go paper pack, stamp set, and assortment to create this card based on the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2 sketch.  "Together" might not be a good change sentiment, but it's what I chose anyway. ;)

My card is embellished with a flower from the Sangria Workshop on the Go stamp set and a flower from the Sangria assortment.  Colors are Poppy and Pomegranate.

Be sure to check out all of the H2H September challenges and inspiration.  You have until the end of the month to join us!

Blossoming Expressions Card

The new Blossoming Expressions stamp set fit my CTMH "needs" perfectly!  I really needed a pretty floral stamp set, and this base-and-shade set fit the bill perfectly.  I paired it with the new Sangria paper pack and the new CTMH colors of Poppy, Pomegranate, and Eggplant.  I created two versions of the card, based on a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2: one with Desert Sand text added to the focal image and one without said text.

For both cards, I stamped the base flower in the aforementioned colors and then their coordinating outline image in Cocoa.  Embellishments are Poppy thick twine, Bronze shimmer trim, and the Sangria Assortment of resin flowers.

The card background was easy to create with tone-on-tone stamping.  I laid the stamps that I wanted to use onto a card, then picked them up with a large block.  I used Desert Sand ink on the Desert Sand card base for a subtle background effect.

I turned my block 180 degrees to stamp the same flowers on the bottom of the card front.

I am curious to know which card you prefer.  One of my daughters loved the first one, and the other preferred the second!

September Stamp of the Month 3"x6" Card

If you've seen my stamping work, you probably know how much I love to add multiple colors to one solid stamp.  This inking and stamp rolling is such a great way to add dimension to your stamped images without any pesky fussy cutting or other complicated techniques.  (One word of caution, however: always work from the lightest color to the darkest!)  I am having so much fun with the gorgeous September stamp of the month, Paper Garden.

To create this card, I first cut a 2.5"x5.5" panel of White Daisy card stock.  I inked up my image in Canary, Glacier, Sweet Leaf, and Sunset (in that order) and then stamped it onto the card stock panel.  I then inked up the little flower stalk with Canary and Sweet Leaf and also Glacier and Sweet Leaf, stamping it several times across the bottom at varying levels or heights.  (Be sure to clean your stamp between each inking!)  I also stamped the small flower in Sorbet in first and second generation.  Finally, I embellished my card with Coral shimmer trim and my new Grey enamel gems (which have a sheet of white gems).

The main panel was mounted onto a piece of 2.75"x5.75" of Zoe Sorbet polka dot B&T and then mounted onto a side-fold Canary card base.  I am not sure if this card looks more like spring or more like fall, but I love it either way.  I hope you do too!

CTMH Technique Blog Hop: Watercolor Your World

One of the cool new product lines in the new Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations Idea Book is the watercolors!  You're going to learn some great watercolor techniques along this month's CTMH Technique Blog Hop.  (If you're already hopping, then welcome from Priscilla's blog!  If you're just getting started or when you're ready to move on, go to Darlys' blog next.)

For my project, I decided to try my hand at painting a sunset-inspired background to go with the September stamp of the month, Paper Garden.  I thought that I would stamp in Black on the colorful background, but as you can see I changed my mind.

For the background, I started with a 4"x5.25" watercolor paper panel.  I began with yellow water color paint (which didn't photo well) and then added the next three colors (progressing to darker colors and working from bottom to top for the color area so that the pain was lighter to dark top to bottom).

Here is our actual watercolor paint, and the colors I chose are numbered in the order that I used them.

To ink up the Paper Garden flowers, I started with Poppy then Pomegranate then Eggplant and finally added touches of Cocoa.

To finish off this card, I mounted the watercolor stamped panel onto Sangria B&T and then wrapped Poppy thick twine around the card front.  I added several of the dark Pink enamel gems to add a little sparkle and dimension.

Thanks for checking out my watercolor project.  You'll learn a lot along the hop, so leave me a comment and then go visit Darlys next.