February Crate Card Club

This past weekend I held my Crate Card Club. As always the participants are free to make any themed card {or special project} as they wish. The only thing I ask is that they use mostly Close To My Heart products on their creation, especially the stamps! There is always a great variety and seeing how others create is so much fun. We all inspire each other with our techniques and choice of papers, colors or stamp sets. Take a look at our art this month!

Here are all the projects displayed on a shelf just above our work table. We had a few that were Valentine inspired, but we also had, Birthday, Thank You and an everyday sentiment too.

As you can see they are all beautiful cards and even a darling, humorous candy wrapped "You're the Bomb" treat.....which has me thinking of dropping the "card" word in the name of my club. What do you think about just "Crate Club"? These ladies are so crafty and talented I'm sure they would surprise me with their creations each month!

Truly Original!

Happy Monday! Today I have some time to get caught up on a couple of projects and challenges that I have been wanting to do all week! I rarely create manly cards or projects, so it is always great to be challenged into doing some!

First, I am playing along with Heart 2 Heart's Tic-Tac-Toe challenge. {see board game below}Within that challenge is to use a sketch which leads to the second challenge at Freshly Made Sketches! It is also a manly theme with some stamping, completing the tic-tac-toe, 3 in a row!

I used some Paper Fundamentals with a great shimmery arrow pattern on the front. I then die cut a circle through the entire front so that the message was revealed on what is the inside of the card. That curly mustache is simply floating in the circle. I finished it with just a few pewter sequins, not too blingy for the guys, just a metallic color to match their machines!!

Curious where the mustache is from?! It is actually found on the new Artfully Sent cartridge. I used the negative cut from a pocket card found on page 40. Here is what the project should look like when used as directed in the booklet.

I am always holding on to those negative pieces to use on another project. In this case I was seeking out the mustache alone and then completed the project as directed. So save your negative cuts....or look at a project completely different in the first place!

Old is New for H2H

It's a new year and all new challenges at Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog. They are kicking off the year with an Old is New challenge. I think the majority of us can admit to hoarding certain products in our stash. This is a great challenge to bring those stamps or papers back into the light and get some use out of them!

I saved my project to post today, because I feel it's perfect for a Throw Back Thursday! My old item is the You Rock papers and Rockin' Top Coats. Do you remember this collection? I had to look back through old Idea Books to recall when it was first released. Can you believe it was in the Spring 2010 book! That's 5 years ago now, yikes! I made it new again with a fresh, awesome You're the Bomb stamp set!

Rockin' Top Coats

Check out that old Outdoor Denim twill ribbon!

This guitar top coat is totally radical, no wonder I was hoarding it!!

Thanks for challenging me to use my old stash H2H! Personally I think this paper is Still Rockin'!

Totally Awesome for Mojo Monday

Hello and happy Monday to you! Today I have a simple card for you using the Mojo Monday sketch and some very cool new papers from the Seasonal Expressions 1 Idea Book called Hopscotch! This paper kit uses a very unique color combination of oranges, blues and the seldom used Ponderosa Pine! I also inked up the new Operation Smile stamp called You're the Bomb! This stamp has quickly become a favorite, so fun and the sentiments have a great script font.

To see more of the new items in the Seasonal Expressions 1 book click on the picture in the right hand column or ask me for a copy of your own!

You're the Bomb Mini's

One of the first items on my wish list from the brand new Seasonal Expressions book was the You're the Bomb stamp set. This stamp set has the cutest little images and some great phrases in a fun hand written font. What really makes this stamp set cool though is that a portion of the proceeds is being donated to Operation Smile. You get an awesome stamp set while a child gets confidence through their smile for a lifetime! That is pretty cool!

I inked up a few of the images and phrases to create some mini 3x3 cards for my customers. With any purchase they get to choose a set of cards and wouldn't you know that I didn't have a single set of these left over!!

Did you see some new papers in there? how about that glitter paper? don't you just love the gold sequin and those new puffies?

Tomorrow is my annual Christmas card exchange. Instead of mini 3x3 cards for my customers I have a little something extra for them. It is the season of giving after all! Come back soon to see what goodies I have to share and to see the Christmas cards designed by myself and my talented customers!