September Card Club & a Surprise!

Crate Card Club made its 'mini' return this month. Not all of my members have returned yet, but we still had fun creating! Here is the card I created again and remember I told you that I had a surprise for the girls!

On my card I did some background stamping on the base of the card. I used a 'Best Day' sentiment from the Zoe WOTG kit. That was the only stamping for this card! All the other details were cut on my Cricut from mostly the Artistry cartridge and the Artbooking cartridge. I used some Fundamental Papers for a little shine and added in some new aqua shimmer trim for even more sparkle!

My surprise for the ladies is a new idea I wanted to try. A monthly add-on kit that will coordinate with my card. As much as we all love to exchange cards, I still have some scrapbooker's in my group. I love that this idea reflects the direction of Close To My Heart's Annual Inspirations Book which is to focus on memory keeping! After making cards I will show my customers the two page layout. If they like it they can add the kit to their order for $10. They will get everything they need, pre-cut and pre-stamped with instructions to create the layout for themselves. So far it is a success!

 Here are the other cards that the ladies created for our exchange. As always we had a great mix of themes and products.

 Thank you for stopping by, have a great week crafters!

A Fall and Halloween Card Exchange

I held my annual Fall card exchange yesterday. The participants had the option of creating a Fall themed card or a Halloween themed card. Last year when I held this event I was the only one that created a Halloween card. This year had a different outcome, which made it very interesting! As always I saw unique ideas and was inspired by all the talent of my wonderful friends & customers!

This is a picture of all the cards, except one. I'll post more about the table decor later!! ;)

First up is the card I made. As you may have seen in previous posts, I teased you a bit with cards that did not make the final cut. I hinted about images that carried forward to my final card. Do you see them now? I used the apothecary jar from the first card I showed with the candy in them. From my Halloween Characters card I stamped the skeleton dudes so they look like their floating in the jar. It was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest {Consultant Mischelle Smith} and I loved the unique and unpredictable blend of images!

I tried to show the shine of the fundamentals paper in this photo. I love Halloween so the purple hearts were just perfect. The added glitter in the shimmer trim and inside the jar just screams Halloween too!

Janet's card~

 Inside Janet's card~

Nikki's card~

Tommie's card~

Julie's card~

Nanette's card~

Pat's card~

{take a close look at this card, the entire front is a shaker card with pieces of straw inside!}

So as you can see there was a great mix of Fall and Halloween themes! Please leave a comment and let these ladies know how beautiful their artwork is!

We are not even half way through the month though!! I still have several Halloween projects to share with you, so visit again soon!

Halloween Characters!

Today I have the other card I made for the Fall/Halloween card exchange that did not make the final cut! It is still a super cute card with the most adorable characters on it and I really can't tell you why it was not my final card. I think that maybe it was just too predictable, I wanted to really mix things up more. I can also tell you that like the first card I showed you, this one has an image on it that I carried over to my final card!?!? OMG what can it be??

I used the Scaredy Cat paper collection, Frightfully Fun MyAcrylix stamp set, black epoxy stars and black striped twill ribbon. I stamped all the images in black ink and then used ShinHan Touch Twin markers on just the outline. It gives them just a bit more character and color!

Scaredy Cat Paper Collection X7185B

Frightfully Fun B1453

Be sure to come back this weekend to see all the cards from the exchange and pictures from the event!

Sparkle & Shine Flip Album

Today is the day! I am so excited!! It's my annual Christmas card exchange. I look forward to this event every year. I like to mix it up and do something different each time. In the past I've done a secret gift exchange or handmade ornament exchange, in addition to swapping cards. This year I've included a cookie exchange! I was busy baking and decorating yesterday and I'm preparing for a major sugar rush today!!

I also like to provide a fun project to make so we can hang out and create for awhile! This year I've decided to create a mini flip album. After a shopping trip to Ikea this summer, I accumulated several of these darling frames. Then with the premier of the Artbooking Cricut cartridge I knew that I wanted to create a mini album. Finally, the Holiday Gift Guide arrived and the Sparkle & Shine papers and embellishments were the final touch!

The assembly will be so simple. All the pages were cut on my Cricut and then I cut the photo mats from the left over pieces of cardstock. We are decorating each page with the coordinating chipboard, zip strips, washi tape, twine and ribbon...that's it....no stamping at all?! {whaaaat?!!}

 

 

Come back soon as I will share all the Christmas cards from the exchange, cookies and other festive surprises that even the ladies don't know about!! ;)



Buzz and Bumble Birthday Gift

What's a card exchange without a project to go along with it? Keeping with the Birthday theme of my card exchange I decided to create this Kraft container using the Buzz and Bumble papers. I also used the fun Honeycombs stamp set and sentiment on a label cut out from the Art Philosophy cartridge. The little Burt's Bees goodies inside match perfectly with the theme decorating the container! What a great gift this would be for a special loved one!

The gorgeous flower on the top of the container was 100% inspired by the talented Lisa Stenz! Her idea for creating and assembling the flower was simple, yet made such an impact on the finished result. See her directions here.

Birthday Themed Card Exchange

What a busy month this has been! Earlier this month I posted about my upcoming card exchange with a Birthday theme seeing how my family has celebrated many Birthday's this March! Participants could create anything with a Birthday theme...young or old, feminine or masculine, serious or hilarious! There was a wide variety as usual, but all done beautifully with the help of gorgeous Close To My Heart products!

First off is my card. I think it turned it out to be one of my favorites in a long while.

One of the girls remarked that the black tulle was her favorite part of the whole card!

Next is Barbie~ She is new to our exchange and would you believe new to paper crafting?!! What a gorgeous card and that butterfly is amazing!

Janet's card is full of amazing cut outs from the Cricut cartridges. Her card could be used for both feminine or masculine I think!

Tommie shows off her dry embossing skills and great distressing techniques.

I love the black and yellow color theme that Pat chose for her card. She surprised us with an unexpected Cricut shape for the flower vase! Can you guess what it is?

Julie's cards travel many miles to reach me every year. How fitting that her vellum envelopes should be post marked with a Birthday sentiment!

Her card also featured a fun split opening behind the cute party hat!

Nanette's card is simply sweet with just a bit of pearls and lace to give it a soft, vintage feel!

 

 

 and finally... A bright and fun card from Stacie. The pops of color and dry embossing really make you want to celebrate!

A big thank you to all the ladies that participated in the exchange. I truly enjoy sharing all of your creations and seeing the wonderful artwork you design.