Saturday, January 30, 2016

Hooray, It's Your Day!

My card today was made for the Freshly Made Sketches Blog. The cute octopus can be found in the newest Seasonal Expression Idea Book along with the Regatta paper collection. The stamp is called Beach Days. (D1684) The beauty of this stamp is that you can cut the shape out on your Artistry Cricut, then all you do is stamp! The balloons and the "Hooray" sentiment are from some older stamp sets, however the "It's Your Day!" is from a brand new stamp that will be available this Monday! Stay tuned for that!





Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Live Your Day Calendar Page ~ August has ABC's

National Papercrafting Month is almost over! If you want the exclusive Live Your Day Picture My Life collection you will need to order before this Sunday!

You may recall that I decided to pull all the month cards from the collection to create a traditional 12x12 calendar. I was working on the August page last night and incorporated the ABC challenge on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog. August is typically the month that we all head back to school. Even if you don't still attend school I think its important that we never stop learning. Here is the page I created for this challenge~



A close up of each square random stamped with a different letter of the alphabet. The top title for my page was cut on the Cricut using the Artistry cartridge. The bottom portion of my title was stamped from the same alphabet stamp that I used on the 3x3 squares. The black and white really pops with the primary colors.



Perhaps you'll be inspired to create your own calendar, but you need to purchase the Live Your Day PML set soon!




Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Soft Cactus?!

Is it possible for cactus to be soft? Sure, especially when they have beautiful Close To My Heart watercolors! This card was inspired by another CTMH consultant Aaron Brown. I just loved the soft color choices and the water color background.



This card will be part of my Watercolor Workshop happening next month.Attendees will not only learn to blend watercolors on images and backgrounds, but they will get to use the Thin Cuts and Stuck on You stamps. These are all amazing products that will keep your creative juices flowing!


Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Spring Wreaths in Many Colors

This past weekend I held my Spring Wreath Workshop. I had a total of four attendees, but Oh! Man, you should have seen all our stuff spread out across two rooms! We had Cricuts chirping, flowers being assembled and hot glue guns galore. Just about every outlet was filled! In the end the ladies created the most lovely spring wreaths in an assortment of colors. You can see my original sample wreath here.

This first wreath has yellow and dark blue flowers~



This next one has yellow with slate gray and just a pop of smoothie pink~



Look how pretty the smoothie, black and beige flowers look together~



Finally, this wreath is for the fans of purple with just a bit of black & white pattern. Gorgeous~



To think that all of these wreaths were inspired by the cover of the Annual Inspirations Idea Book. What will inspire you today?

Monday, January 25, 2016

Do Mondays Make You Crabby?

This post is for all of those that feel a little crabby on Monday's! I think for me it starts with a forced early morning wake up call, a shortened coffee time and the hustle to get ready and out the door on time!



This cute crab has been brought to you by: Beach Days My Acrylix stamp set (D1684), Cricut Artistry and Regatta Papers. {All new products found in the Seasonal Expressions 1 Idea Book.}


I hope this adorable crab made you smile, on this lovely day we call Monday!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Stuck on You

I love all the recent artwork lately with images of cactus. Living in the Southwest all my life, I've grown to love the desert and all it's beauty. Just last weekend I was talking to my husband about how lovely it is to look out across the vast desert of cactus and Joshua trees as the towering purple mountains lie in the backdrop. Especially since some peaks are dusted with just a bit of snow right now, it's my favorite! 

Close To My Heart made it even easier to create these cactus works of art with their Stuck on You stamp set and coordinating Thin Cuts. I'd like to share a few cards that I have been experimenting with. Here is just one for today that is pretty simple and straight forward. It makes me think of the warmer Spring days in the desert, no more snow-capped mountains in the background when the cactus are in bloom!

I cut out the images first with the Thin Cuts and a Big Shot embossing machine. I used watercolor paper as I knew that I wanted to color in the images. Then I simply lined up the stamp over the cut paper. I colored in with water paints and placed them on my card creating a scene.

Here is some artwork from the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book. I will share some more cards I created in the coming week!

 You can create you own cactus art by ordering the stamp set and Thin Cuts here.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Spring Wreath

Inspired by the wreath on the Annual Inspirations Idea Book I created a Spring version. My customers really liked the red and white version and wanted a class. I will be teaching them how to make this wreath on Saturday from cutting all the pieces on their Cricuts to lots of hot glue assembly!



I chose some pretty colors for my flowers of pinks and yellow. The ladies will get to choose whatever colors they wish. I could see this wreath in red, white and blue perfect for the Fourth of July!

Hopefully, I will remember to take pictures of all the completed wreaths to show you the variations! Have a great week!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Live Your Day 12x12 Calendar

Did you know that January is National Papercrafting Month? I shared with you earlier this month how Close To My Heart is celebrating with the Live Your Day Picture My Life pocket scrapbooking cards. They are perfect for adding to your Everyday Life planner, however they can be used in many more applications.

It occurred to me this past weekend how perfect these cards would be to add to a 12x12 calendar. The collection contains a black and white card for every month. They can be displayed vertical or horizontal making them perfect for many layout options. I pulled out all the monthly cards for the group and a 12x12 My Creations calendar I have been saving.


Strangely I started with a page for March. Typically I would have gone in order, but I felt like I had my idea for this month and just went with it. {I'm learning to let my sparks of ideas & passion for creativity override my O.C.D.!}


I pulled some older papers and stamps for this page, but added in some newer La Vie En Rose papers. I love the graphic black & white with pops of color!

As I was looking at my new paper collections, I came across the Penelope papers featured in the current Seasonal Expressions 1 book. I wanted to use these papers in my calendar also and thought that they would be wonderful for the month of September! This layout was inspired by one in the book. I loved the use of bright vivid yellow papers and the watercoloring on the center white cardstock. I finished this page with just a bit of embellishments from the Penelope collection and of course the Live Your Day September card.


These are just a couple pages of the calendar to give you an idea of how you can use these cards. Keep in mind that they are only available this month. Click on the Current Specials tab at the top for more information or go online here.



Monday, January 11, 2016

Charlotte My Dear...Deer?!!

Ah! The lovely deer has made its return! Back in December I shared some projects with deer images, from cards to the gift tags I adorned all of my Christmas packages with. Those projects were made with a cut on the newest Artistry Cricut cartridge. However, in the new Seasonal Expressions 1 book you can find a stamp set with a lovely deer image. That is what I used on this layout along with some floral images, paint splatters and the gorgeous Charlotte papers.




Here is the full image of the stamp set Woodland Romance {D1683}. How cute are these images and look how some of them can be cut on the Cricut for easy stamping! {indicated by the red outline}


Friday, January 8, 2016

Charlotte; My Type of Friend

I've been sharing information about the Charlotte Workshops Your Way all week. With this kit you will use several materials including the zip strips. I love that nothing goes to waste!

So this week for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge I reached for some more leftover zip strips to create my card. I also pulled out an older stamp set that just needed some more love!


 You can see just how awesome that zip strip is and the design of it really brings your eye to that cute sentiment. A little bit of water color and paint splatters makes the vintage typewriter stand out!


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Charlotte Kit Cards

I've shared a couple of layouts that can be made using the Workshops Your Way kit. Today I would like to share the cards that you can create from the kit using the online guide. They use a mixture of papers, puffies, ribbon and sentiments, but what I really love is that you get to incorporate some water coloring with all three designs!



Take a closer look~




If your not a Scrapbooker, just imagine all the beautiful cards you can create with this workshop! You can order the Charlotte Workshop Your Way here and start creating!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Celebrate Charlotte

Yesterday I told you about the fabulous new Workshops Your Way. I showed you a layout that I created using the online guide. Remember that the guide will show you step-by-step how to create 3 layouts, a pocket scrapbooking layout and several cards.

Today I'd like to show you another layout from the guide. This time I put my own personal touch on the project. I changed the patterned papers to ones that appealed to me more and chose portions of the design to leave out or change.




Like the other layout I incorporated some chipboard embellishments, self sticking titles, gold puffies and pocket scrapbooking cards for journaling. I hope this layout encourages you to try a Workshop Your Way, because it can truly be created YOUR WAY!!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Charlotte Workshop Your Way

In the newest Seasonal Expressions Book you will find the brand new Workshops Your Way. This is a new program that will allow you to make several pieces of artwork with just a handful of supplies. They are perfect for traditional scrapbooker's, pocket scrapbooker's and card makers. A typical workshop includes a paper packet, complements and cardstock. Additional embellishments will vary from puffies, ribbon and washi tape. A list of additional project materials can be found on the same page as the WYW kit, this includes stamp sets, thin cuts, ink and recommended adhesive. A Workshop kit is priced at only $26.95. That is a fantastic deal when you consider that with the easy-to-follow online guide you can create 3 traditional layouts, a pocket scrapbook layout and multiple cards in various design options.

Here is just a sample page from the Charlotte collection. I simply followed the online guide to create this layout using just a fraction of the materials in the kit.




Where you see some blank spaces of cardstock is obviously where some photo's will go. You will also notice the use of chipboard embellishments, self sticking titles, ribbon, gold puffies and pocket scrapbooking cards for journaling. I love that you still incorporate some stamping and the guide uses every little piece possible including those awesome zip strips. You could further personalize this layout with more stamping, paper distressing or even some Cricut cuts.

Tomorrow I will show you another layout that was from the guide. I personalized it to my taste just a little bit, but I think you'll enjoy seeing the possibility these workshops have.

Friday, January 1, 2016

New Year, New Book and New Products!!

A brand new year means a chance to start fresh. Why not freshen up your scrapbooking supplies too! Having new papers, stamps and tools always fires up my creativity again!

The newest Seasonal Expressions catalog goes live today. It contains some brand new lines of products that Close To My Heart has never had before, plus they are introducing some gorgeous new lines of paper and embellishments that you know and love!


The Everyday Life Planner is an entirely new item for Close To My Heart. If you truly want to get organized in 2016 this planner will help you tremendously.


Plus, get these PML Live your Day cards only available this month. These cards coordinate perfectly with the Everyday Life planner or use them in your pocket scrapbooking pages.


Celebrate National Papercrafting Month with the exclusive Picture My Life™ Live Your Day scrapbooking program—available for one month only! This collection was designed to coordinate perfectly with the sensational Everyday Life™ 2016 Planner Pages and My Crush® Everyday Life Pages, so you can seamlessly integrate pocket scrapbooking into your 2016 planner. Whether in the planner or on their own, these cards make it easy to preserve your everyday moments all year long. Get yours today for only $8.95 USD / $10.50 CAD before this offer is gone!

Dates: Offer valid January 1, 2016 (9:00 am MDT)–January 31, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT).


Want to instantly fall in love this year? Check out these amazing new paper collections.

Charlotte

 Penelope


Regatta


You will also find new Picture My Life collections, complements to the Base and Bling jewelry, a new Instalife album and some brand new Thin Cuts.

Looking for a good deal? You will find the Stamp of the Month collections for January, February, March and April in the back of the book. This month's stamp is the gorgeous Beloved Bouquet.




I will have lots more to show you in the coming weeks. Your going to love all the new choices in this book. If you want a Seasonal Expressions for yourself please contact me. You can also view the book online by clicking the picture located in the right hand column.