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 

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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

DIY Gold and Silver Acetate Boxes for Cookies and Gifts

I absolutely love to personalize the gifts I give by dressing them up with pretty cards and boxes.  Even better when I can DIY my own box or bag to perfectly fit!!

My hostess last week makes the most AMAZING cookies so when I was planning the projects to share at her party, I knew I had to share something fun that she could use to package her cookies.  (Please note - I'm not a baker, I imagine cookies will be put in food safe bags first.)

I used the new Fundamentals All About Gold acetate sheets to create these quick and easy boxes and now I am addicted and I keep coming up with more cool ways of using these sheets (stay tuned!!)

Here's a video to show you how to make them.  I've included measurements below.





DIY Acetate Box Measurements

Buy Your All About Gold Acetate Here

Top/Bottom - Cardstock
4.25"x 4.25"
Score at 11/16 from each edge.

Acetate Middle
You can choose any height.
Samples are 4" x 11.5" and 6" x 11.5"
Score along 11" side at 2.75", 5.5". 8.25" and 11"

Embellishments
Z3260 Thin Cuts - Hearts
Flower Market Cricut Cartridge - Buy Your Cartridge Here 

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

CTMH Whoo's Your Valentine Ideas and Video

I am loving the adorable stamp set that comes in the CTMH Whoo's Your Valentine National Papercrafting Month Special!!  So stinkin cute!!

Here are a few 3x3 cards I made

And here's a Video tutorial that shows you how to make the most of the adorable background stamps in the stamp set.




Products Used:

• Paper - Hollyhock, Ruby, Blush, white daisy, black
• Inks - Hollyhock, Ruby, Blush

Stamping Tips!
I stamped a bunch of images on the white daisy cardstock and then cut them out while I was watching tv.  Then it was super easy, fun and quick to mix and match the images on my cards.

Paper Cupcakes Artiste Blog Hop

Welcome to the Paper Cupcakes Artiste Blog Hop.  Today we are featuring the Thanksgiving key on the Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge.

Whether you're starting your journey here, or you hopped over from Linda Taylor's blog, you're right on track.

I had so much fun playing with the items on this key.  Instead of going with the traditional shades of Thanksgiving, I used the Clementine paper pack and went with some lighter shades.  (Does anyone else think of Holly Hobby when they see this paper? - I know, I'm dating myself. LOL)

Here's a little collection of items I created that could dress up your holiday table.

I also created a video to show you how easy it is to create the 3-d box.  Please let me know what you think!


Now it's time to hop on over to Karen Cullen's blog to see what she has created.

Book Card Video Tutorial

I taught this fun card at my workshop a couple of weeks ago and my customers asked me to create a video so they can watch it again later.

I aim to please...
so here we go....

Another Art Philosophy Video Tutorial

I have been having so much fun making cards with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge that I decided to make another video to show you how easy it is.   This is another in the "beginner" series.  I took some time and showed how to move the blade around the mat and select the different features.  I may skip some of that on future videos so they aren't so long....I don't want to bore you!

Here are pictures of the cards featured

And here's the video!




Supplies Used:
Miracle Level 2 Paper Pack (Retired)
Pair a Phrase Stamp Set
Inks: Chocolate, Bamboo, Crystal Blue
Markers: Taffy, Buttercup, Colonial White, Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf

Spray Pen - Unplugged

Hi there everyone!  I'm putting my finishing touches on my projects/samples for the Crop/Workshop on Saturday and I'll be featuring the Close To My Heart Spray Pen.  We'll be using it on our January Wall Hangings and a spray pen is included in the Wings Workshop on the Go.... (which is our featured project in February)

Here's a sneak peek at some of Close To My Heart's tips for the spray pen.  Come on by to hear what I have to add.  I'm sure you'll be putting "Spray Pens" on your wish list!

Update and Colored Pencil Tutorial

Yep, I disappeared for a bit. Here's life in a nutshell

1. Car was in a minor accident

2. Car ended up being totaled. I was shocked! 

When we went to clean the car out at the dealership I saw the smiley on the back and had to take a picture.  There were other cars that were obviously totaled and they didn't have smiley faces so I have no idea why ine did.  Maybe they like AAA.  Maybe they liked my car.  I decided it was a good sign that things were going to work out fine....
3. There's a lot to do when your car gets totaled, but let me just give a little shout out to AAA.  They made the whole process smooth and easy. 
4. Spent the next week or so looking at cars online, test driving cars at the dealer, narrowing down what I wanted....
5. Meanwhile I told Tony, the king of craigslist and cars, what I was looking for and he found me a great deal!! One owner, always serviced at the dealer, 58,000 miles, beautiful condition... I had to buy it! So here's my new (used) car.  So far I am loving it!!

6. Still have a bit of work to do.  Got most of the DMV stuff done.  Now I just have to get my tow hitch installed and I'm upgrading the stereo to one with an auxiliary port. You can blame the stereo on the rental car.  I loved hooking up my ipod!!

All that means that I haven't had time to even go in my stamp room, but I created this tutorial and totally forgot to post it. So, enjoy... and I hope to take some more pictures and finish up a couple of projects in the next couple of days...

My Creations CD Holder Tutorial

I don't know who the original genious is that came up with this idea, but I heard about it from Bren Yule and immediately loved it!!!

Basically you create a pocket, by glueing three sides of the internal pages and then put a cd in the pocket!  What a great idea.  It's a perfect way to have a little memento from a trip or a special occasion and a back-up of photos from your computer too?

Or... Do you create a year in review cd/dvd?  What a fun way to store your annual dvd/cd?

The ideas are endless.  Please be sure to leave me a comment if you use this tutorial to create one of your own.  I'd love to share your creation and link back to you!

Ok, so let's get started!


You start with a 6x6 My Creations Memory Showcase

I covered the pages with paper from the Passages Level 2 Paper Pack

Create a cut-out so that you can see where the cd is.

I started by tracing the Circle Template 2 from the pattern DVD for the Wishes book.  You could look around your house or stamp table for something round that is similar in size.

I wanted to make sure that my cut-outs lined up perfectly, so I cut through both of the inside pages at the same time...which left me with some jagged edges.  You could avoid this by cutting through one page at a time or by using an exacto knife.  The scissors bite into the pages because of the odd angle.  You'll understand what I'm saying as soon as you try to start cutting. ;-)

Thankfully I had the awesome finishing files handy so I just used them to finish off the edges and sand away the rough edges.

Now that you have your opening cut, it's time to glue the pages together.  You'll need a strong adhesive.  Please note you need to raise the tape up a bit higher on the bottom or the cd will fall to the bottom of the pocket and you won't be able to see it in the cutout. 

I used a wider than usual adhesive tape on this one so my pocket ended up being really snug.  Learn from me and use something a little more narrow!

Now it's time for the fun part!!  You can embellish with a few photos that are included on the cd.  Add quotes or sayings...whatever your little heart desires.  On this one I decorated it with pictures from our beautiful Sedona bike ride and then put a cd with the rest of the pictures in the pocket.  It's a fun memento for someone that went with me on that trip...hmmm.... I wonder who's getting some happy mail.  (assuming I finally go to the post office and mail it!)

CTMH Irresistables Video Tutorial

Hi there everyone!  Hubby is home so it's been hard to concentrate on stamping and picture taking...although I do have a stinkin cute project sitting on my stamp table that is just dying to be shared...

In the meantime, here's a little video from Close To My Heart featuring Irresistables.  We currently sell a package of Irresistable letters in the catalog and...our National Scrapbooking Month Kit has Irresistables in it. Stay tuned for more info on the kit.  The special starts April 15th.

Happy Stamping!

It's on the way and a new video!

There it is... my application to teach at Extravaganza at the Close To My Heart convention in Washington DC (July 2010). 

I've been lucky enough to be chosen to teach many times in the past, but every time I apply I get nervous and this year...is the worst!  They are only choosing 32 teachers and there are soooo many incredibly talented people who have applied.  I don't envy those who have to choose! 

And now here's my shoutout for FedEx Ground!!  I took this box to the post office and they were going to charge me $23 to mail it!!!!!  The issue was the size, not the weight.  Sorry, but I'd rather pay $23 for a service that tracks my package so I headed off to FedEx and my little ole package cost $8.64 to mail, will get there in two days AND gets tracked the whole way. 

I love the post office for mailing my cards, but I think I'll be sticking with FedEx for my packages.  Hmmm... I wonder how much it would cost to mail catalogs that way.  I may have to check on that!

Here's a sneak peek at one of the items in the box.  I was so stinkin proud of a little technique I made up while creating the layout, that I decided to make a video about it.  Please watch the video and rate it if you have a youtube account. (Thanks!)

Rubber Stamping Tips - Snow Topped Letters

Stamp Kissing Valentines Video

Woo Hoo!  I'm making videos again!  I did a few way back when, but always had to bug poor Josh to help me.  Well I need to make two videos for CTMH soon (a contest and a teaching submission) so I decided I'd better practice and figure it out myself.

So here's my first attempt.  I did it all in one take and didn't try anything fancy....but I think it's still ok.

Enjoy!!

Coluzzle Tutorial

Ok, so yesterday was Wednesday and that means no time for stamping! I'm taking an online class and assignments and quizzes are due on Wednesday night. So of course, I procrastinate and wait until um... Wednesday night to get it done. I'm really not sure why I wait until the last minute. I absolutely love the class and I love the homework. It's managerial accounting and I'm just a big ole numbers geek. It makes me happy when things balance.....

But I'm thinking that you don't REALLY want to hear about my accounting class... You probably want to see my latest video.

Here's the second video Josh and I made - It's coluzzle time! Be forewarned, this is just a little snippet of the things you can do with a coluzzle. I'm sure I will have more videos with tutorials for actual projects, but this is a little help to get you started with the coluzzle.

Thank you for all the great emails about the videos! Please feel free to leave comments here too. I really will take requests for future tutorials.

I'm thinking my next one might be a blast from the past... a cute little Easter/goodie basket using... the March Word Puzzle of course.

My First Video Tutorial!!

Woo Hoo!! It's finally here. This has probably been at least two years in the making. Every time we get a new camera or new techie toy in my house, I say "do you think we can use it to make a tutorial for my blog?"

At Christmas, Joshua combined all his gift cards and bought a little digital recorder and he kept saying "are you ready to make a tutorial?"

Somehow I kept making up excuses. I think I was suddenly camera shy... well... I finally got over myself and we recorded two last night!!!!

Of course we know we have lots to improve.. lighting and sound... Anyone who knows me in real life will be shocked to find out that I didn't speak loud enough. I think I was very aware of the microphone by my mouth and I was afraid to talk to loud..

So the music at the beginning and the end is significantly louder than I am... I'll do better next time.

In the meantime... leave me a comment and let me know what tutorials you'd like me to do next!

Empressor Mat Tutorial

I'm working on my samples for my workshop this month and we're using the Empressor Mat, so I thought I'd add a bit of a tutorial here.

Here is the mat and the empressor tool:

The mat has gridlines spaced 1/4 inch apart on one side and 1/2 inch on the other side.

Place your paper on top of the mat and line it up on the appropriate line. Run your tool along the edge of the mat to create and embossed line on your paper. Slide your paper over to the next line you'd like to use and score again.

Once you've mastered the scoring you can experiment with different designs and styles.

Tip: Try scoring one line and then flip the paper over to score the next line. You can create raised frames!

We're headed off to a wedding, but I'll try to post some cards and other empressor samples tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy!