Stampin' Up Frames & Flowers Projects

Today, I am thrilled to share my latest crafting adventure using the stunning Frames & Flowers Specialty Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! This beautiful pack includes 3 double-sided 12x12 papers and 3 sheets of single-sided die-cut designs, providing endless creative possibilities. With the addition of some Lost Lagoon and Petal Pink cardstock from the Subtles 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock pack, I crafted four unique cards and a charming gift bag. Let's dive into the details!

Birthday Bag

• Sponge edge of frame and white matte with Lost Lagoon ink
• Stamp image from Simply Said stamp set to center of white matte
• Attach white matte to bag
• Attach frame to matte with foam tape
• Add additional die-cuts and embellishments to frame

Shabby Chic Distressed Edges

I used my scissors to distress the edges of the Lost Lagoon cardstock on each of these samples. The distressing adds to the homemade appeal and adds more texture to the cards. I also layered a couple of die-cuts from the Unbounded Love dies on the thanks card. I love how many dies come in the set and all the different ways you can layer them.

Sponged Edges - Lost Lagoon Ink

I sponged the edges of several layers with Lost Lagoon ink. Sponging the edges can increase the contrast between the layers, add depth and add a bit of a visual frame to the layers. 

Final Thoughts

Creating with the Frames & Flowers Specialty Designer Series Paper was an absolute delight. The combination of Lost Lagoon and Petal Pink cardstock added a soft, cohesive touch to all my projects. I still have a large assortment of die-cuts and some Designer Series Paper left, which means more crafting fun awaits!

If you're looking for inspiration, I highly recommend experimenting with distressing techniques and sponging ink to add depth and character to your projects. The Frames & Flowers pack provides a perfect starting point for creating elegant and charming designs.

 

Create Your Own Custom Rainbow Pad for your Unicorn

There are some stamps, like this adorable Unicorn from the Little Dreamer stamp set, that just need to be stamped on a rainbow pad.  Shouldn't all unicorns be colored like the rainbow?  

Today I'm going to share a fun tutorial on how to create your own rainbow pad.  

Step One:

Choose the colors for your project.

Step Two: Place 3-4 folded baby wipes on a plate or tray.  Gently squeeze reinker bottle to dispense ink.  Place the colors in the order you like.  A good rule of thumb is to start with the lightest color and build up to the darkest color.

Step Three: 

Place the stamp across the colors at the angle you prefer.   Tap up and down to completely ink up the stamp.  As you tap up and down you may want to slightly move the stamp on the pad so that the colors blend and you don't have a harsh line between colors.

Step Four:

Stamp your image and add to your project!

Products Used are available in my Close To My Heart (CTMH) retail store!

• Reinkers (Available in 41 gorgeous colors!)
• Little Dreamer Stamp Set

• Little Dreamer Paper Pack

• Glitter Paper
• Shimmer Trim 

Sign-up for my newsletter to get more tutorials, product updates and information about our monthly specials! 

Faux Metal Embellishments using CTMH Thin Cuts

I love finding new ways to use my tools and products and I have been a bit obsessed with our thin cuts lately.  I love using them to cut glitter paper.... and now... I love using them to make faux metal embellishments!!

While I used thin cuts in the video below, you could use this technique on items you cut from your cricut as well.

Get all of your CTMH products here :-)

Products Used:
Z555 Craft Heather
Z2067 Ranger Silver Super Fine Embossing Powder
Z891 Versamark Ink
Z2045 All-Purpose Mat
Z553 Bonding Memories Dual Action Glue Pen


Available until December 31, 2016
X7212B Swan Lake Paper Packet



Available until September 30, 2016
S1609 Blessed Beyond Measure - August Stamp of the Month

CTMH Rustic Home and Flower Market Daisies

I cannot tell you how much fun I had making this card!!!

It all started because I decided that I was going to use the Daisies from the Flower Market Cricut Cartridge as the theme for a birthday party at my work. I got started by cutting a bunch of daisies.  I mean if you're going to cut one... why not cut a bunch, right?  FYI - the centers take a really long time to cut. LOL

So I had this little pile of Daisies on my desk and I suddenly thought they would look fabulous on craft paper.  The minute I pulled out my Rustic Home Fundamentals Paper Packet, I knew it was going to be the perfect combination!!

Products Used - Click Here to Buy Them Now. 

CTMH Flower Market Cricut Cartridge 

Rustic Home Fundamentals Paper Pack

Cocoa, Honey, Canary and Barn Red (Retired) Cardstock

Watercolor Wednesday - River Wash Card

Hello there!  Welcome to Watercolor Wednesday.  Each week I share a fun watercolor technique or card.  This week it's back to basics with a very simply "watercolor wash."  You can create a ton of great cards and scrapbook pages just by washing some color onto your project and then add the stamped images of your choice.

Here's a video with this week's technique:





Did you see some fun supplies that you need to add to your collection?  I'd love it if you'd support me by purchasing through my retail site!!

Supplies Available at my retail site:
Watercolor Paper
Z3132 Watercolor Paints
Z3226 Waterbrush
Z3188 Paintbrush Set
z899 Memento Ink Pad
Z2045 All purpose mat

Watercolor Wednesday - Masculine Card

Welcome to Watercolor Wednesday!  I have been having so much fun creating with watercolors that I decided to create a whole series of posts that will appear on Wednesday's.  I haven't been blogging much, so in the spirit of moving forward and just getting it done...I'm just going to post today's card and info.  I have some tutorials and basic info to share, but I'll put that in some future posts.

Here is today's card...

Watercolor Tips

• Cut your watercolor paper about 1 inch bigger than the image you plan to stamp.  
• Choose the colors that you would be likely to use if you were coloring in the stamp and just do a band of color.
  
• Do a quick watercolor wash (lots of water, little bit of color) on your paper.  
• Let dry
• Stamp Image

Quick, Easy and Done!!  You don't have to actually watercolor the fine details of the image.



The wood grain paper is from our new Rustic Home Fundamentals Paper Pack.(Z3262) Oh how I love this paper!!!!  I'm sure I will use it so much that you will get sick of seeing it.  The wood grain has a brown tint on one side and a grey tint on the other.  How smart is that?

Want to get the Rustic Fundamentals FREE??

During the month of August, when you order our Whimsy, Adventure, and Enchantment Fundamental papers, you can choose to get either the Rustic Home or Uptown Fundamentals for FREE! Both of these Basics packets feature foil designs and specialty materials for making your artwork unique. Yep, this deal is basically the best!

Click Here to Order

CTMH January SOTM - S1601 2nd Generation Stamping Technique

I am loving the January Stamp of the Month!  It is such a versatile stamp set.  I can see myself finding uses for it all year long.  There are 14 stamps in the stamp set and it includes the following sayings:

• You mean so much to me
• Love You!
• Thinking of You
• Happy Valentines Day!
• Hugs, kiss and Valentine wishes.
• Love is not a matter of counting the years, it's a matter of making the years count.

At my workshop this month I showed the Second Generation Stamping Technique.  This technique is perfect for this stamp set and really helps you to get the most out of your stamp pads.  You can create additional shades and add depth to your projects.

On the first card we used the little sprig in the set.  While I was working with a Valentine theme, you could ink this sprig with a variety of colors and use it all year long.  

• Ink your stamp in the color of your choice and stamp it on your card.
• Before you reink, move your hand over slightly and then stamp it again.  
• The lights, darks and varying shades add more interest and depth to your project.

On the second card we played with the base and shade stamp sets.  While you can stamp them in any order, I like to start with the solid stamps first, then stamp the detailed stamps on top.

Ink your stamp in the color of your choice and "stamp it off" on scratch paper.

Then stamp your image again on your project.

Ink up the detailed image and then stamp it on top.  

Tips for lining up the stamps:

Use a block that is a little bit bigger than your image so that you can see excess block all the way around the edge of your image.  This will help you to see through the blocks for proper alignment.

I find that it helps if I stand up so that I can look straight down on my image.

Look for a particularly distinguishing characteristic of the stamp and use that to align it.  On the rose, I used the two leaves/petals that have that v shaped cut away between them.

Practice makes perfect.  Experiment a few times on scratch paper until you get the hang of it.

You can purchase the stamp of the month, papers and inks featured on my website.  

Workshop Kits featuring CTMH new Thin Cuts

I am so excited to share Close To My Heart's new Thin Cuts at my workshop Saturday.  While I am a big fan of Cricut and I can't imagine crafting without it... there are many who can't afford the machine or think it is too "techy" for them....well Thin Cuts might be the perfect answer!!

You can use the thin cuts in your die cut/embossing machines like cuttlebug and Big Shot.  I will be demonstrating how to use them and incorporating them into my projects at my workshop this weekend.

We will be using the Springtime Wishes Thin Cuts


Along with the Springtime Wishes Stamp Set





I welcome your business!  You can purchase all of these items on my retail website.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Artfully Sent Lattice Birthday Card

The more I play with the overlays on the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge, the more I love them!!!  I think part of the trick is to keep the paper behind the overlay simple.  It needs to be a small print or a solid cardstock so that the pattern doesn't compete with the overlay.

Feelin Groovy with Artfully Sent

One of the things I love about being a papercrafter, is the ability to create fun items to go with any theme!  My boss picked up some tye-dye tablecloths for a party so I decided to use the same colors and theme to make a birthday card and banner to go with the tablecloth.

I had so much fun making these....and I'll tell you a little secret.... My coworker has the card on her counter and every time I walk by it, I still think it is so cute!!!  I don't think the picture does justice to the colors...

Supplies Used:

• Close To My Heart (CTMH) cardstock - Pear, Honey, Sorbet and Dutch Blue (retired)
• CTMH ink for saying - Indian Corn Blue
• CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge - Card base/overlay Explore code- #M101159
• Cricut Font and Basic Shapes - Flower

 

Supplies Used:

• Close To My Heart (CTMH) cardstock - Pear, Honey, Sorbet and Dutch Blue (retired)
• CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge - Banner pieces
• CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge - Font
• Cricut Font and Basic Shapes - Flower

Cute Koalas - CTMH Cards

This set was originally designed for the Australia/New Zealand market, but I am so glad that they made it available to the US because I love, love, love koalas!  Instead of using the Koalas for a baby card, I thought it would be fun to make a birthday card and a Happy Day card.  Who wouldn't love to get one of the cute guys in the mail?

Supplies Used:
D1462 - Cute Koalas
Shinhan marker on the birthday
Colored pencils on the koala
Found ribbon
Paper Fundamentals - These cool papers add lots of great texture to your projects

Be sure to head on over to my website to purchase any of these CTMH supplies!

I'm Crazy For You - CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Card

I'm continuing with my creations using the "N" key on the CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge

Today I used the "Scene" function key and cut my card at the 7" size suggested in the manual.

To add more visual interest and to make the saying pop a little bit more, I added some Lagoon cardstock behind the saying and the flower. I also dry embossed the flap on the card and then lightly sanded to created the striped front.

Products Used:

• Chalk It Up Paper Pack
• Black Enamel Stars
• Unknown Ribbon
• Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge

All CTMH supplies may be purchased at my website stamptildawn.ctmh.com

CTMH Artfully Sent Pocket Card Fun

One of the fun features on the CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge is the pocket card key!!  The pocket cards are designed to be cut to fit the Picture My Life sheet protectors for quick and easy scrapbook fun...but they can be OH SO MUCH MORE!!!

You can:

• Use them as mattes on scrapbook pages
• Fold them in half to create bag toppers
• Write a little note on them and tuck them into lunches
• Add them to a card base and make a card
• And much, much more....

Today I experimented to the pocket cards on the "9" key and the "R" key

On card number 1 - I trimmed the bicycle pocket card and layered onto a white card base, then I added the saying from the "R" pocket card and added a ribbon.  Quick, easy and fun!

Remember that bicycle from card number 1?  Well I took the pieces, added them to a piece of White Daisy Cardstock and created another card!  The "Hello" stamp is from the Artfully Sent Cricut Bundle and comes with the cartridge!!

And last but not least, I used the rest of the pocket card with the saying, to create one more card.  

And there you have it... I cut two pocket cards out of a piece of cardstock from the Enchantment Paper Fundamentals pack and made three quick and easy greeting cards....and I still had quite a bit of paper left. 

Products Used:

• Z2031 Paper Fundamentals - Enchantement Assortment
• X254 Cards and Envelopes - White Daisy
• Z3017 Cricut Artfully Sent Collection
• Miscellaneous Ribbon

You can order all of these products at stamptildawn.ctmh.com

Artfully Sent - N Key - Love Bug

As soon as I flipped through the Artfully Sent cartridge book the first time, I knew the "N" key was going to be a favorite!!!  I love that little Love Bug and I am sure I am going to keep looking for reasons to use it.

The first card I decided to cut was the "Pop-Up" Card.  I used the Explore for mine, but on the other cricut machines you would use the "N" key to cut the outside of the card and the "N/Shift" to cut the pop-up insert.  Then you will cut the Love Bug using the Icon Key and the "n" and the "N/Shift."

I cut the "Love Bug" saying twice. Once with solid Lagoon and once with the printed paper.  Then I trimmed the flower with my scissors and layered it.

I cut an extra Love Bug for the outside of my card and repeated the pattern paper on the front to tie it all together.  I love, love, love this card.  My husband loved it so much that he asked me to create one for his Dad.  On his Dad's card I cut the numbers that represented his birthday (73) and added them to the hood, ala Herbie. LOL

Products Used:

X7184B Chalk It Up Paper Packet

Z3017 Artfully Sent Collection (Birthday saying is included on one of the stamp sets)

Z1792 Awards Dimensional Elements

All items available for purchase at www.stamptildawn.ctmh.com

More Artbooking Cricut Cartridge Samples from my booth

I had so much fun sharing tips and ideas featuring the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge at the Close To My Heart (CTMH) convention and on Saturday I got to share them with my Workshop group!!

I would love to share the same info with each of you!!  Book your online Facebook Party.  I'll share fun demos filled with tips and ideas on how to use the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge for your papercraft projects...and you'll earn free product without leaving your house too!!

In the background you can see part of the demo board I used to show the difference between cuts using real dial size and regular dial size.  I also shared how the layers work and how quick and easy it is to create a fabulous scrapbook page.  The easels in front of the board have one 8 x 8 book and my adorable 6 x 6 Halloweeen book that auctioned for $250 in the Operation Smile auction.

Here's a quick and easy card using one of the photomats on the cartridge.  I creased and distressed the corners to make it look like a little frame.

On this card I used one of the overlays from the Artbooking cartridge as well as the arrow and the cut-out circle behind the pumpkin.

I bet you can't even tell that the overlay doesn't fit the card!!!  I cut it and spread it apart so that it looks like it went edge to edge and then hid the gap behind the pumpkin medallion.

Contact me to pre-order your Artbooking Cricut Cartridge (available August 1) or to book your own party (online or in person) and get your cartridge for only $50 (with a qualifying $250 party).