Close To My Heart Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  I’m really excited to be a part of a small CTMH blog hop which was put together by a few local (Ottawa area) consultants, to show off some new stash from the Spring/Summer 2013 Catalogue.  I will be showcasing the For Always papers and textiles, which will be available February 1st.

First up is a simple card.  I layered four strips of the B&T duos papers with 3 strips of the coordinating card stock, which all come in the For Always Paper Packet (pg 32).  The edges of the coloured card stock were scalloped using the corner rounder punch (pg 132).A band of baker’s twine (pg 121) in Lagoon, Cranberry and Crème Brulée was added to the top of the patterned paper.  I thought this was a bit more fun than a strip of ribbon.  The sentiment is from the March Stamp of the Month: Floral Happiness (pg 140).  This is a gorgeous set but you’ll have to wait until March to get yours!

Next, I decided to decorate a few plain candles I had laying around.  These will go in my powder room to jazz it up a bit.Aren’t these fun?  I just wrapped strips of paper around each candle and then added some of the grey ribbon from the For Always Cardmaking Kit (pg 37).  I coloured the paper flowers with alcohol ink markers to match the card stock and added a Licorice Opaque Adhesive Gem (pg 120) to each centre.  The flags are sponged with Desert Sand and Whisper inks and then stamped with the sentiment from the Love Life stamp set – one of my all-time faves!

Last but not least is a canvas wall hanging I thought would be lovely in a baby’s room.I’ve used some of the fabric from the For Always textiles collection (pg 117) on the bottom of each canvas.  The pinwheels were cut out using the Cricut Artiste cartridge and heat embossed to add pattern and texture.  These canvases were inspired by the May Stamp of the Month:  Pinwheel (pg 142).

So that’s it from me.  I hope you’ve enjoyed my projects and are inspired to check out the new Close To My Heart Catalogue.  Remember you can start ordering from it on February 1st!

Please check out what the other lovely ladies have made by clicking on the links below.  Have a great week everyone and happy crafting!

~Tracy

Heather Hunt www.creativecoconut08.blogspot.com

Tracy Holmes www.papercraftnut.wordpress.com <you’re here!

Tracey Geneau http://traceyctmh.blogspot.ca

Laurie Wood www.laurieslovingmemories.blogspot.com

 Diana Saunders www.farmerdistamps.blogspot.com

Sweet As Honey

Happy Friday to you!  I have a really cool card to share with you today for the Heart2Heart Challenge happening this week.  They are looking for projects/cards with folds.  After searching different styles of cards on the web, I found one called a book box card.  LOVE IT!This card looks like a shadow box, but the front cover opens like a card.  The tutorial I found online used an embossed acetate window on the front cover, so I did the same (you know I love acetate!).  But you could just as easily make a regular card front so the inside is a surprise for the recipient.Paper from the new CTMH Buzz & Bumble paper pack was used on this card.  The branches and beehive were cut using the Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut Cartridges.  To get the rounded lines on the beehive, Cocoa ink was sponged on using a piece of circular cardstock as a mask.  I then used a dotty hexagon stamp from the new Honeycomb stamp set to add a subtle dotted pattern in Crème Brulée ink.  My bumblebee is from the Jardin stamp set.I think the flowers on this card were the only non-CTMH products.  I had the little orange premade blossoms in my stash, so I used those on the tree branches.For a complete set of instructions on how to make a book box card click here.  The instructions are really clear and there are lots of photos.  Have a great weekend everyone and hopefully you’ll have some time to try a book box card of your own.

Happy crafting!

~Tracy

CTMH Supplies:

Cardstock:  Colonial White, Crème Brulée, Cocoa, Olive

Buzz and Bumble B&T Duos Paper

Cocoa Ink, Crème Brulée Ink

Sponge dauber

Artiste Cricut Cartridge

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Accessories: Burlap Ribbon, Color-Ready Kraft Borders, Hook & Loop Dots, 3D Tape

Stamps: Honeycomb, Jardin

 

 

Pawsitively Purrfect!

Good day all!  Today is Thursday and it’s time for the My Time Made Easy Pretty Palette Challenge #80.  We have a lovely colour palette today…This could be a really great palette for a winter card or a masculine project but today my card is all about kitty cats!Friends of mine went away to Florida for a week and asked me to watch their cats while they were gone.  This got me to thinking about a thank you card for a pet sitter.  My Time Made Easy made it even easier with the Pawsitively Pampered Pet Collection.This is a super cute set that contains digital papers, images and sentiments, as well as a cut file to make a doggy bone shaped container.  How cute would that be as a gift (filled with people treats, of course!)?

So I hope you are inspired to play along with the challenge this week.  You can also check out the My Time Made Easy store, which has oodles of great projects and gift ideas.  Can’t wait to see what you come up with.  Have a crafty day!

~Tracy

Shooting Stars

Hello there!  Glad you could stop by and take a peek at a couple of cards I made this weekend.  The first one I will enter into the Out of a Hat Challenge and showcases one of my favourite go-to stamp sets – Close To My Heart’s Love Life.I have used this set on many projects.  It has some fabulous shapes and swirls that are great for a variety of projects.  Here, I wanted to utilize the big swirl and stars, so I went for a simple card that could be used for a birthday or to congratulate someone. 

The colours were pulled from the background paper that I received in a prize pack from Vivian over at ContadinaK (thanks Vivian!).  If you have a few moments go check out her blog.  It’s chock full of beautiful handcrafted projects.  And she does video tutorials too!My second card uses a water colour background, which I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while.  After brushing on the water colours (green, blue, purple) and letting them dry, I stamped the flowers on with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured them in with Copic markers.

This card is really pretty in person.  One of the many things on my paper crafting to-do list is to learn how to take better photos.  So many things to learn!

Hope you are having an excellent weekend.  Here’s to a great week.  Talk at you soon!

~Tracy

 

 

Wonderful Fabulous You

Hi everyone!  I hope it’s not as cold in your neck of the woods as it is here.  We had unseasonably warm weather last week, but Old Man Winter is back with a vengeance!  Brrrrrrrr!  To warm things up a bit, the Heart2Heart Challenge Blog is hosting a hot cocoa inspired challenge this week.  I didn’t make a winter card but did use the colour cocoa quite a bit.I love this bird image and sentiment from the new Close To My Heart Fabulous You stamp set.  The diamond print down the side of the card is also a stamp from the same set.  It will be available beginning February 1st in the new CTMH Spring/Summer catalogue.The Cocoa patterned paper is from the new Buzz and Bumble paper pack and I used the new brown Glitter Paper to frame out the focal image.  To add a pop of colour to the card, I ran a red ribbon down the side and sponged a bit of red onto the bird and flowers.

I have another card, which I will enter into last week’s challenge.  The theme was snow, so I made a snowman card for the occasion.Here I go again with the acetate!  I stamped and embossed the snowman onto a piece of acetate and then painted him with Color-Ready Pearl Paint.  This stuff is great because you can add reinker or distress stain to get whatever colour you want.  Once the paint was dry, I cut the acetate to size and used glue dots to adhere it to a clear card.  Unfortunately you can’t heat emboss right onto the clear card because they melt!  I found that out by trial and error!The inside of the card holds a piece of white card stock with the sentiment ‘There’s snowman like you’.  I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder to add a snowy look.  The stamps used on this card are both retired but they are so wintery and fun!

Hope you had a good time looking.  Have a great day and stay warm!

~Tracy

Hats Off To You

Hi all!  I have an Out of a Hat Challenge card to share with you today.  This week is a Bingo challenge, which is always fun.  I chose hat, button, heart, swirl.I downloaded a picture of a tophat off the internet and imported it into Sure Cuts A Lot software.  I then used the image to create a cutting template for my Cricut.  The swirls were stamped on with Versamark and embossed in silver.A strip of the new Close To My Heart Washi Tape was put down as a hat band, and a flag on top of that with the stamped sentiment.  I used Grey Wool ink to match the colour of the Washi tape.A little heart and button vignette was created to adorn the hat band.  The netting underneath the button is from an orange bag, and adds a bit of texture and interest to the card.  I have started keeping these netting bags for just this sort of occasion.  Why not recycle and reuse when you can?The silver ribbon on the button is wired, so I curled it around a paintbrush handle to create the curlicues.  I think I’ve covered all my bases for the Bingo challenge.  Head on over the Out of a Hat Challenge blog to see the other entries, if you have a few moments to browse.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Tracy

Let’s Share A Glass

Hello, folks!  Well, it’s already time for another My Time Made Easy Pretty Palette Challenge.  This week’s colours are…MTME recently came out with a really beautiful hostess kit, in which you can make your own wine bottle box or tag (among other things).  The set comes complete with the cut files, digital stamps and papers.  It also comes with a complete set of instructions on how to assemble your projects.  You don’t even need a die cutting machine!  For more information on this great kit, click here.Given the colour scheme, this was the perfect go-to kit for this challenge.  I came up with my own host/hostess gift set using the digital papers and stamps.  Here is the card…I used a border punch on the edges of the card for something different, and because it’s just looks so pretty!  The wine bottle was manipulated using GIMP, printed out, and coloured with Copic markers.  Purple and green were blended together on the wine bottle to get that colour that only wine bottles have – burgundy coloured wine in a green bottle – you know what I’m talkin’ bout!And at the last minute, I decided to make a wine bottle tag.  These are so fun and easy, and really looks much more impressive than handing over a plain old wine bottle to your host at a dinner party.

So if you think you’re up for a challenge, and would like to try winning a pretty package of your own, all you have to do is follow these few rules:

You can use the palette on ANY type of project!  While participation with products from My Time Made Easy ™ LLC is appreciated, it is not required to participate. You can use products from ANY company.  Every other week we will pick a winner from the palette participants, and announce them the following week, when the next Pretty Palette Challenge is announced.  This month’s contest began Thursday, November 29th. Contest ends Wednesday, January 23rd. Winner announced Thursday, January 24th.

PRIZE PACKAGE: Whoever plays along  in Palette Challenges #76, 77, 78, and 79, will be entered to win a Pretty Package of THEIR Choice!

So what can you do with these colors? We can’t wait to see!  Have a crafty day!

Shimmery Roses on Acetate

Happy humpday!  I’ve been messing around in my craft cave with acetate again.  This time I’ve used clear cards and one of the rose images from the Close To My Heart Happy Valentine’s Stamp of the Month Set.  This really is a gorgeous stamp set, and if you spend $50 on Close To My Heart products this month, you can get this set for $5!  A great deal.  Check out my CTMH Specials page for more details.

The whole process started off with me heat embossing the roses onto a piece of acetate.  Originally, I tried to do this right onto the clear card, but ended up melting it (dorky crafter mistake #1).  I also discovered, after the fact, that there is a protective plastic layer on each side of the clear card that needs to be peeled off before using (dorky crafter mistake #2).  I’ve used these clear cards before and wondered why they looked so cloudy.  Now I know, LOL!  Maybe the protective film contributed to the melting!I wanted to add colour and sparkle to the roses, so I spread glue onto the roses with my glue pen, and then sprinkled them with Prisma Glitter.  This worked ok, but when I tried colouring the glitter with Copics – not so good!  After a few moments of contemplation, I decided to use my Color-Ready Pearl Paint, red reinker and green distress stain to colour them.  LOVE the results!I added a drop of red reinker to a glop of pearl paint and mixed it up.  After painting in the roses, I went back in with straight reinker to add contrast.  Once that was finished, the same technique was used on the leaves using green distress stain and pearl paint.  This would have looked great without the Prisma Glitter, but the glitter adds a lovely shimmer.  The roses were cut out and stuck to the front of the card (paint and embossed side down) with glue dots.The inside of the card holds a piece of Colonial White card stock, which I stamped.  It was then run through the Cuttlebug with the Thanks embossing folder and adhered to the inside of the card with glue dots.  The roses were positioned on the front of the card to hide the Thank You sentiment inside.

I’m really happy with the way this turned out.  There is a snow themed challenge over at the Heart2Heart blog this week and  I may just have to try a snowflake card using this technique.  We’ll see what happens!  Have a fabulous evening and I’ll see you back here tomorrow for My Time Made Easy’s Pretty Palette Challenge #79.  Happy crafting!

Out of a Mad Hatters Tea Party Challenge

Hello, friends!  My post today is an RSVP to the Out of a Hat Creations Mad Hatters Tea Party Challenge.  They are having a cyber tea party to welcome in the New Year, and the challenge is to make a card or project in response to their invitation.

This is a very bizarre card for me.  Because it is a Mad Hatters tea party, I was inspired to create something abstract, but this does not feel intuitive to me.  One of my goals this year is to learn more about distressing and altered art projects.  So I guess this was a small step towards that goal.

I started out with an image of Alice swimming in her own tears and imported it into GIMP photo editing software.  I then took a teacup image from the My Time Made Easy A Spot of Tea digital stamp set and edited the two images together.  Alice surely does like her tea!After distressing the card stock with sandpaper, the edges were inked, and images stamped all over.  I tried to use things that are in reference to the book or to add to the distressed look.

That’s pretty much it from me today.  Hope you’re having a terrific weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

Love @ Home

Happy New Year everyone!  Best wishes for a happy, healthy and crafty 2013.  I took a bit of a crafting break over the Christmas holidays and am now anxious and excited to get back at it.  So I visited the ladies over at Out of a Hat Challenge Blog for some inspiration and decided to make a card for this week’s challenge.  The theme is birthstone colours.  My birthday is in June so I went with the pearl.I chose the sentiment from the Close To My Heart Home Sweet Home stamp set.  This inspired me to use roses (a symbol of love and beauty) on the bottom of the card.Using the CTMH Floral Happiness stamp set, I stamped the first rose layer in Baby Pink ink and then brushed some Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint over top.  Once it was dry, I stamped the rose overlay on top in Blush ink.

A bit of pink patterned paper, some ribbon and pearls are the finishing touches.  I gotta say I’m feeling a bit rusty so I’d better get back down in my crafting dungeon and make more stuff!  Have a great day and see you real soon!