A Rainbow of New Colors!

The brand-new Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations Idea Book is in full swing – and it is my favorite so far to date. Two of the brand-new products that I am going to focus on today are the Cricut “Artistry” Cartridge and the seven incredible new colors in the color palette!

One of my fellow CTMH Consultants, Susan Williams, is an incredible artist. She creates such inspirational artwork, that it is her designs that I re-created for the following four cards. They are only slightly different from her originals, due to my not having the exact same supplies, but the end result is the same – gorgeous! These were done with the specific goal of showcasing the seven new colors in the 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations Idea Book, so they are VERY colorful! For your reference each card is 4 ¼ ” x 5 ½ ”, if, like me, you’d like to re-create them! Let’s begin…

“The Good Life” banner is one of the cuts from the new “Artistry” Cricut Cartridge (pg. 16). I cut it at 4 ¾” from black cardstock (CS). The words “the” and “Life” were then backed with white CS, while the word “Good” was backed with silver glitter paper. The card base is Whisper CS, the top and bottom strips on the front are White Shimmer Trim, and each strip of colored CS is ½” wide. The brand-new colors are as follows (from top to bottom): Eggplant, Sapphire, Peacock, Fern, Saffron, Poppy, and Pomegranate. Gorgeous, right?! The banner is adhered with 3-D foam tape, and then embellished with Sparkles.

The “Eat Cake!!!” card uses an “Artistry” cut from pg. 18, cut from Whisper CS at 2 ¼”. The cut was then backed with white CS and embellished with Sparkles. Each colored CS strip is 1” wide and cut at a length of between 3 ½” and 3 ¾”. I notched the ends and inked the edges of each with its coordinating color of ink. A strip of 1” black CS and Black Shimmer Trim across the front, and a few more Sparkles for bling…and voila - you’re done!

The “Lucky” card uses two “Artistry cuts – “Lucky” from page 36, cut from Whisper CS at 1 ¾” and backed with black CS, and the cloud from page 38, cut at 2” from white CS and dry embossed with the Chevron Embossing Folder. The CS on top of the black base is Slate, and each of the colored strips is ¼” wide. Add some Extra Thick Pixie Twine and – of course! – more Sparkles, and we’re down to one last card!

I saved the best (in my opinion) for last! This was also the most time-consuming, due to having to trim all of the colored CS to back the openings in the “Artistry” cut from page 42. This was cut from black CS at 3”. The banner was also cut from the “Artistry” cartridge (pg. 15) – the outline from Whisper CS at 1 ¼” and its backing from white CS, also at 1 ¼”. The card base is Slate CS, then black, then white embossed with the Quatrefoil Embossing Folder. A sentiment from the “Artfully Sent” Cricut Collection (Hello), a little bit of White Shimmer Trim, and a spattering of Sparkles, and our set of very colorful cards is complete!

I think, by far, that these are the coolest cards I’ve made to date – thanks again, Sue! All of the incredible supplies used to make each of these cards can be found in the new “Annual Inspirations” Idea Book for 2015-2016. You can page through the entire thing on my website at funforyou.ctmh.com. Be sure to contact me for any help you need – that’s what I’m here for! Happy creating!

Happy 4th!

I apologize for not posting last week - and for being a day late this week. My family and I drove to Myrtle Beach, SC last Tuesday, and returned home this past Tuesday...at 1:30am. It took me a couple of days to "regroup", and being that my husband is still on vacation, and the kids are out of school, my internal clock is still a bit messed up!

So, I am posting my "Home of the Brave" card today in honor of our nation's birthday. This card came together very quickly using the "Home of the Brave" stamp set from Close To My Heart. I used Pacifica and Cranberry cardstock, along with Pacifica, Cranberry, Black, and Topiary inks. The finishing touches were the silver and black Shimmer Trims and a sprinkling of Bitty Sparkles. Nice & easy! That's what I like!

I will be creating more cards with this set for next week. This set, along with "Courage", is still available WHILE SUPPLIES LAST until the end of the month! Visit my website HERE to get yours! Happy 4th!

Simply Beautiful

I don't know about you, but I am constantly seeing things online where I think to myself, "I can do that!" With the ever-growing popularity of Pinterest, there is definitely no shortage of inspirational ideas out there. For me, I am drawn to cards. I have a cards board on Pinterest, subscribe to two different card magazines, and follow several blogs offering up spectacular artwork in the card arena. Recently, about 60 different Close To My Heart consultants participated in a "Dream Pop Blog Hop". You could start anywhere in the chain, then just click on a link provided in the post that would take you to the next person's blog, until you made your way back to the place you started. It's a great way to see how others are using the products!

There was one image in particular that caught my eye while hopping blogs. It belongs to Gina Brandstetter at gmbscrapper.blogspot.com. The image is actually that of a My Creations Bookmark Album cover that she decorated, but I decided to make it as a card. Here is Gina's artwork:

Now, here I was mentally figuring out what papers I had to cut to create the "Beautiful" cluster at the left - but guess what? The entire base for my card - and this album cover - is the top-left portion of one of the patterned papers from the "Dream Pop" paper pack! Check it out (it's the sheet at the bottom-left):

So all I had to do is cut that portion of the paper at 8" x 3.5" for the front of my card. Next, I cut a 4.5" circle from the Banana cardstock (CS), and mounted it to the right-side of my card, trimming off the excess. Now the fun part - cutting all of the flowers! These were quite easy using the "Art Philosophy" Cricut cartridge (pg. 48 ). For the smaller flower, I cut the following: Strawberry CS - 1.75" & 1"; Raspberry CS - 1.25"; Banana CS - 1.5". For the larger flower: Strawberry CS - 2.25" & 1.5"; Raspberry CS - 1.75"; Banana CS - 2". Stack the flowers and adhere each of the layers together (I only glued the centers, so I could bend the petals up a little). I then punched a 1/2" circle and a 3/4" circle from Banana CS for the flower centers. Add a couple of clear buttons tied with embroidery floss, and you're flowers are complete!

All that was left was to adhere the flowers to the front of my card, add a strip of Silver Shimmer Trim to the top-right corner, and three Clear Sparkles under the word "Beautiful".

I love it! I would also love to see what you do with the papers in your "Dream Pop" paper pack! You don't have yours yet?! Time is running out! See if you're in time to get one by going to http://funforyou.ctmh.com and clicking on "SHOP". The "Dream Pop" paper pack is only $10 with a $35 purchase! Good luck!

A Gift Box For Mom

With Mother's Day just around the corner, here's a cute, little gift box that can be made using Close To My Heart's Cricut cartridges, stamp sets, and ink. I've included the entire list of instructions below! You, of course, can use any colors and stamps that you'd like - be creative! You may want to customize it for your special Mom, or make it larger in order to accommodate a larger gift or sweets. It's up to you - have fun with it!

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1) Cut box from Whisper cardstock (CS) using the CTMH Cricut “Artiste” cartridge - 3” 3D Object (pg. 45) (NOTE: Make sure “Real Dial Size” is NOT selected).

Step 2) Cut flower bow and topper from Honey CS and Hollyhock CS, respectively, from the Cricut “Artiste” cartridge – 5” Accent 1 and 5” Shift-Accent 1 (pg. 55) (NOTE: Make sure “Real Dial Size” is NOT selected).

Step 3) Cut a circle from White CS using the Cricut “Artiste” cartridge – 1¼” Card (pg. 48) or a 1 ¼” circle punch. Stamp the “MOM” circle image from the “Perfect Fit – Mom” stamp set onto the circle using Whisper ink.

Step 4) Cut scalloped circle from White CS using the CTMH Cricut “Art Philosophy” cartridge – 2 ¼” (pg. 31). Stamp the scallop circle frame from the “Perfect Fit – Frames” stamp set in Hollyhock ink onto the cut piece.

Step 5) Stamp Heart image from the “Perfect Fit – Mom” stamp set onto a scrap piece of White CS using Lagoon ink and cut out.

Step 6) Cut a 1” x 12” strip of Honey CS and random-stamp it with the flower image from the “Perfect Fit – Mom” stamp set using Honey ink.

Step 7) Trim four ¾” pieces of Silver Shimmer Trim and adhere to the Hollyhock scallop circle frame in an overlapping fan pattern as shown. Using 3-D Foam Tape, adhere the “MOM” circle to the center of the Hollyhock frame. Embellish “MOM” image with two Bitty Sparkles as shown.

Step 8) Assemble box (pg. 16 of the Artiste Assembly Instructions booklet). Assemble flower bow (pg. 30 of the Artiste Assembly Instructions booklet). Attach a silver Bigger Brad through the center of the flower bow. Attach entire bow assembly to the top cover of the box.

Step 9) Apply glue to the back of the Honey CS strip and wrap it around the center of the box horizontally, starting in the middle of the back of the box (pinch the CS around the corners as you go).

Step 10) Using 3-D Foam Tape, adhere the Hollyhock frame to the center of the front of the box. Using 3-D Foam Tape, adhere the Lagoon heart to the lower-left corner of the Hollyhock frame.