Box on a Card

Is it a box on a card or a card with a mini box? Who cares, it's cute! This little project has been around the internet for awhile now. I will be teaching a Christmas version of it with the Beary Christmas paper and stamp collection. It comes with some funny little gift tags that fit perfectly inside the mini box.

You can finish this project in a variation of themes, not just Christmas. You can make them for Valentine's Day, Easter, and even makes a cool gift for someone's Birthday! At Thanksgiving I made a slightly different shape to accommodate the grateful wreath stamp. You can see that it is slightly more narrow and taller. The box is more centered, but is the same size.

These boxes contained a personal note to my family of reasons that I am thankful for them. Isn't it wonderful how one kind word can change your entire day!

Hope you are having a fun, crafty, Holiday season! Don't forget to go online to see the monthly specials. December is almost here, so that means the savings will change and the Stamp of the Month. Hint, hint....if you want the special in December, you'll want the November stamp at the $5 dollar price! Oh! and December is the last month to purchase from the Holiday Expressions Idea Book!

Some ~ Bunnies are Hopping Away Soon!

No ~ Bunny should miss out on this darling Stamp of the Month! You can purchase this stamp set at a discounted price, but only until Tuesday, February 28th! Need more ideas how to incorporate them into your artwork? Take a look at these creations.

I hope that you have been inspired! You can order the stamp of the month online here! Thanks for stopping by!

Oh Hello!

With only 2 days until the newest Annual Inspiration book release, this card is a little sneaky! A sneak peek that is! Feast you eyes on some new items coming very, very soon as I play along with the sketch on Freshly Made Sketches this week!

I can't tell you about all the new stuff yet, but get ready for some crafty goodness coming to my updated website on Monday morning. Log on at www.amysart.closetomyheart.com

Embossed Scary Halloween

You have seen dry embossing many times, but have you seen a diffuser? Well, don't be scared of this new tool! It's a lot of fun to play with and you'll get some really awesome results from it.

Close To My Heart now offers a circle and square diffuser that you can use with any dry embossing folders and a die cutting machine like Cuttlebug and Sizzix Big Shot. I played with the circle diffuser so far and this is the Halloween card I created.

For this card I used an older skeleton folder and the circle diffuser. I simply laid the diffuser over my folder that contained a piece of white cardstock in the middle. I then ran it through my Big Shot. What you have in the end is the embossed image all over the cardstock except the middle, circular portion. Now I can stamp or embellish as I desire on the flat surface. For this particular card I stamped a winged scroll image in black then I layered a skull metal charm on top. You will also notice that I sponged some ink on the embossed image to allow it to stand out more.

Here is a close up view of the center image~

Here is a look at another piece of cardstock that I rolled through the Big Shot using the circle diffuser and the new Confetti folder.

The diffusers come in square and circle. You can also reverse the effect by only using the punched out circle or square allowing only that small portion to be embossed on your card base. (you can search a video of this technique in action by following CTMH on Instagram)

Finally, one last look at the finished embossing using the circle again with the quatrefoil folder.

You can find these diffusers and all the embossing folders online.

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!

Cute Critters On Artistry

I was having some fun with the images I could cut from the new Artistry cartridge. I love the animals that are on the cartridge like the hedgehog and fox, but I wanted to start out with some pets. These simple cat & dog images should be called Best 'Furr'iends!

I have to mention that the "Best friends" label is also cut from the Artistry cartridge and is stamped with one of the MyAcrylix stamp sets that comes with the collection. I dry embossed some paper for the background and used an older patterned paper to create a scene. With the cartridge doing most of the cutting, this card comes together quickly!

You can purchase the regular collection or digital edition today online!

Happy as a Bee in a Hive

Today I am sharing a card I created for the Freshly Made Sketches Blog. It features the Operation Smiles stamp, Happy Everything and this month's special paper collection, Taste of Summer. The embossed honey comb background in bright yellow makes this card really stand out and I love that little bumble bee!

The frame on the label was stamped from the Curlicue Frames stamp set only available in the Artfully Sent Cricut Collection. {Z3017}

Taste of Summer paper collection will only be available to purchase until May 31. You can order online here.

Watercolor Butterfly

Last week I decided to get out some really old watercolor paper. I wanted to experiment with some water coloring using our stamps and re-inkers. After a couple attempts I liked one of the images and created a card with it.

I am submitting this card to Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week for their "green with envy" theme! Be sure to stop by their blog to see all the fabulous green artwork! I chose to feature Pear for my green! It's so bright and happy!

To make the butterfly I lightly misted my watercolor paper with water. Then I put a few drops of Lagoon and Pear re-inker on a plastic saucer and gently mixed them so they were touching. Then I stamped the butterfly image in the ink and stamped it on the watercolor paper. The inks will bleed into the paper. I then dried it with my heat tool. Lastly, I stamped the butterfly in black ink and cut it out.

I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to achieve a "watercolor look". I was simply just playing and experimenting and I suggest that you try whatever you like. Who know what you'll discover and the best part is you'll have fun!

Celebrations Month!

Sorry for not posting in awhile! My schedule has been full and it is officially celebrations month. This week we celebrated reading week at school and I have been busy with activities and projects for various classrooms. It was also my father and my husbands Birthdays this week. But that's not all! I have been busy working on plans for my daughter's Birthday this weekend too!

Needless to say it has been crazy this week. However, when I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches I could hardly resist! What a fun sketch and I do need a special card for my Birthday Girl!

I love the new embossing folders from Close To My Heart. I chose the chevron pattern for this card and peeking out beneath is the lovely Skylark papers. I also incorporated the new pink glitter paper as the band and pleated some gray grosgrain ribbon behind it. These colors are perfect for my fashionable teen and has layer upon layer of texture!

Frosted Evergreens

Today I am playing with The Paper Players! The theme is "Evergreen", not just the color, but the trees too! I chose to use frosted gray's and deep denim blues for my trees.