Back Home...

Just popping in to say a quick hello. 

We went away for Christmas to visit with and spend time with family, and then a quick trip to Edmonton to pick up some stuff for the new home... lighting, kitchen faucet... you know, stuff.  We arrived home yesterday, so I'm just playing catch up now.  If you've emailed me while I was away, I will get back to you.  Just might take me a bit of time, so please be patient.  ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/holiday season! 

3x3 Damask Card Box Set...

This 3x3 card boxed set uses my fave Damask Tiles stamp set.  I love this set so much, I don't think I'll ever part with it! 

I can't wait to see what Close To My Heart has in their new 2011 Idea Book for Spring/Summer.  I'm hoping there will be some fabulous B&Ts in the new colors they brought out in current book.  For now though, I'm happy to create my own.  ;)

If you're looking for a template for the box, I don't have a template/instructions for it yet, but I will let you know when it's available.  I was completely inspired by a card box created by Sandi MacIver which holds larger cards (like 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" size).  With her permission and graciousness, I will be offering this box template in a 3x3 size to you as soon as it's ready.  Please take a moment to visit Sandi MacIver's inspiring blog and be sure to leave her some love. 

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Colonial White, Lagoon CS

Stamps:  Damask Tiles, Thank You

Inks:  Lagoon, Black

Embellishments:  Black stitched grosgrain, Colonial White buttons, Colonial White waxy flax

Punch:  Corner Rounder, Scallop border (SU)

Oh-so-quick Christmas card!

I quickly made this card to hold a gift card that we will be giving to my niece this Christmas.

I stamped the tree outline image and sentiment in Black ink, then stamped the tree in Pear ink.  I used CTMH pink and clear sparkles to decorate the tree.

Cute, and just girlie enough!

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I'll be taking a break from blogging over Christmas, so have a safe & happy holiday everyone!

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Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  White Daisy CS

Inks:  Black, Pear

Stamp:  Tannenbaum

Embellishments:  Clear and Pink sparkles

Lookie what I got in the mail...!

Thanks Canada Post! 

Schtuff happens... Merry Christmas!

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More 3x3 Customer Thank You cards

I needed to make some customer thank you cards to have on hand for future orders, so I quickly made these.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Top card:

Paper:  Colonial White, Black, Vineyard Berry cardstock

Stamps:  Wings Workshop, Thank You, Dreams Come True, Take A Picture

Ink:  Black, Vineyard Berry

Punches:  1" and 1 1/8" circle (EK), Scallop Trim border (SU)

Other:  3D foam tape

Bottom card:

Paper:  Wings B&T; Colonial White, Black, Juniper, Vineyard Berry CS

Stamps:  Thank You, Take A Picture

Ink:  Black

Punches:  1" and 1 1/8" circle (EK), Scallop Trim border (SU), Butterfly (Martha Stewart)

Other:  Clear sparkles

No Muss, No Fuss, Teenage Boy Christmas Card

Teenage boys are hard to buy for, aren't they?  Well, we decided to get our 16 year old nephew a 3 pack of iTunes gift cards for Christmas and instead of wrapping it up, I will place it inside of this card.

I stamped the main image and sentiment in black ink, then re-stamped them with VersaMark ink and heat embossed the images with Clear Detail embossing powder.

I then took the background stamp and inked it up in Cranberry ink, then Garnet ink on the top half, and stamped the image.  Then I did the same with Pear ink and Olive ink on the bottom half.

Simple & easy.. just the way I like it!  ;)

Besides, it'll just get thrown out anyways!

Happy creating!   :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  White Daisy cardstock

Stamps:  Holiday Trinkets, Extreme (CTMH); Extreme Elements (SU)

Inks:  Garnet, Cranberry, Pear, Olive, Black, VersaMark

Other:  Clear Detail embossing powder, Craft heater

CTMH December Spotlight Blog Hop {...& H2H Challenge, too}

Welcome to the Close To My Heart December Spotlight Blog Hop!  You should have arrived from Haley Dyer's blog.  But this is a circular hop, so it doesn't matter where you begin. ;)

This month we are spotlighting Sparkles & Pearls.  My card is featuring Clear Sparkles, Licorice Pearls, and lots of glitter.  You may need to click on the picture to see the detail better.

I learned something while making this card.  I learned that when you add Prisma Glitter over Black cardstock, it looks green.  That totally works for this card.  Lucky me!  lol

The main stamp set I used is called Tannenbaum.  The scroll-type detail above/below the sentiment is from a set called All The Best, which is available only in the Mistletoe Workshop-On-The-Go Kit.

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This card also fits in the with the challenge over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog this week, to post your fave holiday card(s).

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Thanks for visiting! Your next stop along the blog hop is over at Corina Mitchell's blog.

Happy creating! :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Mistletoe, Creative Basics Mistletoe Collection B&Ts; Colonial White, Black CS
Stamps:  Tannenbaum, All The Best - from the Mistletoe WOTG kit
Inks:  New England Ivy, Olive, Black
Embellishments:  Clear Sparkles, Licorice Pearls, Prisma Glitter, Olive grosgrain
Punches:  Corner rounder, 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" circle (EK Success)
Other:  Glue pen, , 3D foam tape, 1/8" ScorTape (ScorPal)

Wings... {A Sneak Peek at what's coming in January}

This is a little sneak peek into January with CTMH.  The paper pack featured on my card is called Wings.  (I will fill you in on the awesome details a little closer to January, and believe me, you want to know!)

The butterfly and sentiment is from the new January SOTM - Find Your Style.  And the flourish is from a new set called Dreams Come True.  (Both will be available for purchase in January.)

For the butterfly, I cut stamped the image, cut it out, then curled the wings around a pencil and then pop dotted the wings for dimension.

I added Licorice Pearls (both in black and grey) and Clear Sparkles along the fourish.  Adds just the right touch. 

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH):

Paper:  Wings B&Ts; Black, Colonial White CS

Stamps:  Dreams Come True, Find Your Style - Jan SOTM

Inks:  Olive, Twilight, Black

Embellishments:  Licorice Pearls, Clear Sparkles

Other:  3D foam tape, Sponge, Micro-tip scissors

CASEd Merry Christmas card

Yesterday, I spent my morning getting all my mail-away Christmas cards prepped and ready for the Post Office. So after I was finished with that, I treated myself to a CASEd card (Copy And Steal Everything).

Sometimes, as you may very well know about me by now, I LOVE to CASE a fabulous card.  It seems to help keep the creative mojo juices flowing in between my own spurts of creativity. 

So here I go again!   This time I'm casing this fab card created by the extremely talented, Andrea Walford.

I think this one is pretty straight forward, so I'll leave it at that.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Mistletoe B&T; Colonial White, Cranberry CS

Stamp:  Holiday Commentary

Ink:  Black

Embellishments:  5/8" and 3/8" Cranberry grosgrain ribbon, Olive buttons, Neutral floss, Clear Sparkles

Punch:  Threading Water border (Fiskars)

Other:  3D foam tape

Humble Artists Swap Cards... October round

It occurred to me that I haven't ever posted the cards I've received from the Humble Artists Swap group.  Here's a sampling from the last round I was involved in and received cards for...

And of course you've already seen mine...

And here's a "bonus" card from my friend, Karen Pedersen.  We weren't in the same group this time, but we swapped anyways...  ;)

Aren't they all fabulous??!!  I'm gonna miss swappin with y'all! 

Happy creating!  :)

H2H Challenge - It's Gift Week!

This week over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog, the challenge is to create a gift.

"We are focusing on gift items - NO cards! We want to see what you can create or dress up as a small gift for someone this holiday season."

So this is what I came up with.  I started with one 12x12 sheet each of Cranberry and Colonial White cardstock, and with some handy-dandy scoring, I came up with a box to fit a mug. 

Then I just pulled out some striped Mistletoe B&T, and a scallop border punch and created a simple strip to wrap around the Cranberry lid.  Too plain to leave it that way... so I cut 5 strips of Creative Basics Mistletoe B&T at 1x12, glued them end to end, and did a simple pleat fold, tacking them with a little glue in each of the center creases.  After I glued that onto my striped B&T, I sewed some buttons onto just the front section with some red/white twine.

For the tag, I used the A Sip stamp set and Holiday Trinkets stamp set for the Merry Christmas.

I love how it turned out.  Adorable!

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Mistletoe, Creative Basics Mistletoe B&Ts; Cranberry, Colonial White, New England Ivy CS

Stamps:  A Sip, Holiday Trinkets

Inks:  Cranberry, Garnet, Olive, New England Ivy, Black

Embellishments:  Olive grosgrain, Colonial White buttons, Red and Green buttons (Autumn Leaves)

Other items:  Paper piercer, Floss needle, 1 1/4" circle punch, Scallop border punch (SU), Red/White twine (The Twinery)

Queen For A Day...

Okay, yes, this is kind of a repeat from yesterday's post.  I made this version not long after I created my swap cards this past September and I haven't been able to share until now.

This is a more simplified version of the swap cards, using no acetate, just cardstock.

For the sparkly strip, I simply took a piece of 1/2" ScorTape and ran it down a piece of Lagoon cardstock, then trimmed it to 3/8".  Then I peeled the backing off of the tape and poured Prisma Glitter over it.  Easy peasy.  For the glitter on the gem on the crown, I just used my glue pen to adhere the glitter with.  Then added 3 black bitty brads and pop-dotted it with 3D foam tape.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used - all CTMH:

Paper:  Olivia B&T; Black, Colonial White, Lagoon CS

Stamps:  Royal Birth, Damask Tiles

Inks:  Black, Lagoon, Sunset

Embellishments:  Black bitty brads, Blue sparkle, Prisma Glitter

Other items:  Corner rounder, Micro-tip scissors, 1/2" ScorTape, Glue pen, 3D foam tape, Paper piercer

My last set of HAS swap cards...

I have been part of the Humble Artists Swap group for exactly 2 years now, and with the building of our new house and the move coming soon-ish, it was time for me to move aside and let someone else take my spot in the group.

So this is my last set of swap cards as part of the Humble Artists, and here were our guidelines for this round for October:

• Create a clear card bigger not smaller than 4 1/4 x 5 1/2, using either pre-folded cards by CTMH or fold your own card using clear acetate.
• Use Glitter
• Use Bling
• Use designer brads, ribbon is optional
• Use dimensional elements
• Use a background stamp
• Use multiple layers

 I was struggling with doing a clear card on this round.  I had come up with another card (actually two others), but wasn't really happy enough with it, so I sat it aside for about 3 weeks hoping I would come up with another one.  And I did!  I LOVE this card!  And hopefully the recipients do too.  I wanted to go out with a bang!  Or at least a little pop.  lol

Best wishes to the HAS group, the newbies included!  I can't wait to see what you all create in the future...

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Papers:  Olivia B&T; Black, Colonial White, Lagoon CS
Stamps:  Royal Birth, Damask Tiles
Inks:  Black, Sunset, Pear, Black Staz-On
Embellishments:  Lagoon bitty sparkles, Colonial White designer brads, DE Perrenials
Other items:  Clear acetate (LSS); Sponge, Corner rounder, Paper piercer, Liquid glass, Prisma glitter, 1 1/4" circle punch

3x3 Customer Thank You card

I made this little 3x3 cutie as a thank you for my December customer orders.

The large snowflake has Prisma Glitter on its ends, and a large clear sparkle in the center to add a little dazzle.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Magnifique B&T; Colonial White, Chocolate, Pacifica CS

Stamp:  Thank You

Ink:  Pacifica

Punches:  1 1/4" circle (CTMH), Snowflake (Martha Stewart), Mega Snowflake (Marvy Uchida), Scallop border (SU)

Other items:  Clear sparkle, Prisma Glitter, Glue pen

Tropical Christmas

This is the Chistmas card that I should really be mailing out soon if it's to arrive to its destination before Christmas.  My Father-in-law and his spouse spend their winters in warm climates away from the snow and cold.  Lucky them! 

I pulled out my unused (until now) CTMH Tropical Christmas stamp set and some SU DSP and created this card.  The sentiment is from Contempo Christmas (SU).  To color the image, I just used inks and my blending pen.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used:

Paper:  White Daisy and Black CS (CTMH); SU DSP - not sure what it's called

Stamps:  Tropical Christmas (CTMH), Contempo Christmas (SU)

Inks:  Black (CTMH), Creamy Caramel, Always Artichoke, Yoyo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange, Real Red (SU Stampin Spots)

Other:  Blending pen (CTMH), Blue gems (Michaels), Scallop border punch (SU), Large Circle Cutter (Martha Stewart)

Plenty For Twenty in December!

Close To My Heart is offering Plenty for Twenty in December! 

From December 1st - 31st, when you place a $20 order on a MyCTMH website, you'll be rewarded with a popular, retired

D-size stamp set for FREE! That's a $26.95 value, plus there is FREE shipping/handling and no tax on your free stamp set.

Grab Plenty for Twenty in December by visiting your Consultant’s MyCTMH website and making a qualifying purchase today!

Within Canada, you can shop online HERE and take advantage of this great offer! 

:)