Artbooking Made Easy: Top Secret

Oh, oh, oh...I just love this mini book, Top Secret, which is featured on pages 42 and 43 of the Artbooking handbook.  Of all of the mini books shown thus far in the Artbooking Made Easy video series - this one is my favorite.  I think I love it so much because of the wonderful pockets that can be made with these keys :-)  The pockets provide really adorable places to tuck in notes, photographs, special embellishments. They also allow for layering of paper - which adds dimension and interest to your pages. 

I also love the notebook paper embellishment.  Carlee has done really fun things with it by adjusting the size of the cut, but I also love cutting it at 4 inches and using the coordinating stamp that is on Take Note, D1574, which is included as an exclusive stamp set with the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  It is such a fun and versatile embellishment that I am sure to use many times over the years.

For a few additional close up shots of details in this mini album, visit Jeanette Lynton's blog.  She describes a few more of the techniques that are used and even offers a chance to win the Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  It is certainly worth checking out. 

Score Big with Embossing & February SOTM

Jill not only introduces us to the new CTMH embossing folders, but she gives us some wonderful tips into using them.  These embossing folders include a slit through which you can slide your paper.  This features allows you to continue your embossing design over the entire length of the paper!  This means that we can now emboss a strip of paper that covers the full 12-inch span of our scrapbook pages.  I used this feature and was able to get a perfectly embossed 8 inch paper segment for a card and it worked beautifully!  Alignment was so easy.

Jill also shared information with us that was completely new to me - CTMH cardstock has a grain.  She demonstrates how to easily find the grain and the different results you will get depending on whether you emboss with or against the grain.  This 4 minute video is just packed with wonderful information. Enjoy!

Just a reminder - CTMH has a special that ends at midnight (MST) this Friday, 28 February 2014.  You can receive an embossing folder free with the purchase of two paper packs.  See the details HERE.




 The February SOTM is an adorable set that includes several cute foxes and a couple of fun sentiments.  It is available until midnight MST on 2/28/14 with a qualifying purchase of $50.    I wanted to share a card that I made with it...

 

Here are details of the products I used on this card:

• Buttercup and Blush Cardstock
• Big Hug, My Acrylix Stamp Set, D1584
• Wild About Love, S1402, February Stamp of the Month
• Exclusive Inks, Buttercup and Blush
• CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge:  pp 55 <card> Shift at 1.25 inches cut from Chantilly B&T paper
• Hemp - White, retired
• Liquid Glass
• Buttons, Pink Assortment, retired
• Cuttlebug
• Quatrefoil Embossing Folder
• Blending Pen 
• Tombow Adhesive

Here are a couple of close up shots of my card...

Inside of card

Close up showing the inside embellishment and the card front.

Artbooking Made Easy: Nursery Rhymes

Jill offers up some creative uses of the cuts on the 2 keys featured in this video.  I love her imaginative use of the overlay...by scaling it down to 2 inches and then using it tone on tone as a background it gives a truly unique use of the cut.  She also shows the amazing versatility of this cartridge.  Cuts that were designed to work on a scrapbook page, when scaled down to a size appropriate for a card, will bring interest and texture to your card making projects.  While the CTMH Artbooking Cricut Cartridge is a powerful cartridge for all scrapbookers, it also packs a major punch for all kinds of crafting projects! 

Skylark WOTG - Timeless Beauty

When I sat down to make the second layout in the Skylark WOTG, I knew that I wanted to scrapbook pictures from my daughter's birthday.  However, I knew that the pictures featured their fair share of pink and pink was nowhere to be found in the Skylark papers.  I also knew that it would accommodate pink quite well, so my solution was to randomly stamp the dragonfly image using Cotton Candy Ink onto the B&T paper and use some Cotton Candy cardstock.  I was very pleased with the results.

Left-hand page of the 2-page layout

Right-hand page of the 2-page layout

I did change some of the photo sizes and I needed a larger portion of my layout to hold my journaling.  Overall, I mostly followed the WOTG instructions, but tweaked things here and there to suit my pictures and my taste.  Here are some close up photos of some details on each of the layouts...

The title

Design cluster, includes a couple of the shapes from the Skylark Assortment.

Design cluster...a cutout stamped image of the dragonfly, a couple pieces from the Skylark Assortment, and some of the Slate Striped Twist Ties that I colored using Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks

A beautiful bird from the Skylark Assortment.

Base & Bling Style

In this video, Christine gives us a close up look at the Base and Bling Wearables and demonstrates how to assemble the pendant using liquid glass.  She also shows us how to use the CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge to make a wonderful presentation card that is a perfect way to package a necklace as a gift to a special friend or family member.

Base & Bling at Its Finest

Monica and Christine show the newest Base and Bling Wearables from Close To My Heart. Notice the adorable cards that are holding the necklaces...there is an additional video which I will post later today that shows now they made those :-)

Skylark WOTG Primary Layout

Well, I just can't say it enough - I love this paper pack!  It is just so beautiful and the Skylark WOTG was so much fun to work with.  Of course, I almost always tweak the layout to make it my own, but that is one of the things that make the WOTG so great.  The basics are done, you just follow the instructions and go off-road when the mood suits you. 

Left-hand page of 2 page layout

Right-hand page of 2 page layout

I won't go into detail to describe all of the elements that follow the WOTG instructions, but I will describe a couple of the changes that I implemented.  First of all, I felt that the "Live in the Moment" title was better suited to this particular subject matter - my daughter's piano recital.  But, given the size of this stamp, it fit more readily on the right hand page.  So that is why I ended up replacing the title on the left page with an additional picture.  This was a simple alteration that didn't change the overall feel of the layout, but did work better with the photos that I had and the title that I wanted.

Another change that I incorporated was the journaling box.  While I did like the one on the original layout, I wanted more color on my page and I liked the idea of using a tag.  I decided on the tag from page 50 of the CTMH Artbooking Cricut cartridge, which I cut at 4 inches.  I then used MS Word to print my journaling, embellished it with a small segment of the twist tie and then adhered it to my page.

I decided to include a close up of the design detail that showcases a flower from the Skylark Assortment and a couple of the Slate Striped Twist Ties.  The flower is an adhesive backed resin piece that adds texture, depth and beauty to the layout.  Such a simple, but powerful detail that I felt it deserved a moment in the spotlight...

Design Detail

February CTMH Specials

Close to my Heart has two wonderful special offers for the month of February.

First, what's not to love about the February Stamp of the Month, Wild about Love?  The fox images are just too cute and I love both of the hearts.  It is a D-size stamp and can be purchased for $17.95, or with a qualifying $50 purchase it can be bought for just $5.

The second special I'd like to mention is during the month of February, you are eligible to receive your choice of a new embossing folder FREE (a savings of $8.95) for every 2 packs of bulk single color or combo card stock you purchase.  Pick from the 5 new folder designs - dot, chevron, quatrefoil, damask or stripe - when you make a qualifying purchase.  This offer is only valid while supplies last.

Spring Summer CTMH Idea Book

With the arrival of February, CTMH released the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book.  And it is packed with amazing new product!  I love the new paper packs, the 5 new embossing folders and of course, the new stamp sets.

The idea book can be viewed online by clicking here.

I'd like to share a few of my favorites with you.

Although it is hard to pick just one, I'd have to say that my favorite new paper pack is Skylark, it is simply beautiful and perfectly suits my taste.  I have used it on both scrapbook pages and on cards, both of which will be the subject of future posts.

CTMH's entry into the world of embossing folders is so much fun, too.  I love all of them, but my favorite one (at the moment) is the Quatrefoil...can't wait to play with it and I will post a project when I can.

Finally, my favorite pick for a new stamp set - well, there is simply no way to pick just one because I love so many of them, but I will give you a couple.  For scrapbooking, I'd have to pick True to Life, C1575 which is quickly becoming a much used stamp set and I've only had it for a few weeks.  For cardmaking, I'd have to pick Big Hug, D1584.  It is packed with 10 sentiments that will be great for cardmaking, but I also see great potential for use on my scrapbook pages.

CTMH has also introduced a new scrapbooking system designed to get you to finished pages quickly called Picture My Life.  There are 8 themes to chose from and each kit comes with an assortment of 10 memory protectors,  all you need to add is your pictures.  CTMH has a wonderful corporate video that introduces this program and it can be view by clicking here. I have not used this product, but I can see the potential of this system.

I hope you enjoy perusing this idea book as much as I have.  Feel free to let me know what you think.

Until next time,  Happy Crafting!