Monday, May 26, 2014

A Little Inspirational Flourish

I made this card a few months ago, but life has just been so busy that I am just now getting around to posting it.  I was made at a time that families all over the country were celebrating graduations.  This year my family attended the college graduation if our oldest daughter, and of course, this special occasion called for a special handmade card.  However, I wasn't particularly feeling a traditional graduation card - I wanted a much more feminine and slightly elegant feel. This is what I ended up with and I couldn't have been more pleased.  And who would have thought a stamp set from Inspirational Flourishes would be perfect for a graduation card?  It is amazing how versatile many of the stamps really are.


 I followed the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2, Pattern #22 with only minor adjustments.  This is a list of what I used to complete this card:

Here are a couple of pictures to give you a close up view of some of the details on this card.





This is a quick peak inside the card - which is always a fun place to add a bit of additional embellishment detail.


Thursday, May 15, 2014

Quick Crafting with Class

The corporate video provides a few additional ideas for using this May's Stamp of the Month, You've Got a Friend.  Remember, it can be purchased during the month of May for only $5 when you spend $50 on other Close to My Heart products.  It is also a wonderful stamp set for card makers.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Artbooking Made Easy: Fun in the Sun

Say what?  With today's video, CTMH has delivered the final installment in the Artbooking Made Easy video series! It has been a wonder series and has offered so much in the way of inspiration.

In this video, Kristine explores the cuts on pages 66 & 67 of the Artbooking Handbook.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Artbooking Made Easy: Togetherness

It is time, once again, for another Artbooking Made Easy video.  Today, Mimi shows us the Together Layout keys which are found on pages 60 and 61 on the handbook.   We can choose from titles, overlays, borders, icons, and frames; and many of the cuts have a romantic feel to them.  However, as is often the case, the cuts are versatile and can work in a variety of layouts.

You can also see a detailed tutorial on how to make a 3-D flower!  It is quite easy and the resulting flower is just amazing.

As a fun bonus, Mimi shows show us the overlay used, as originally intended, on a scrapbook page.  However, she then shows the exact same overlay, but cut at 4 1/2 inches, and used as the basis for a card! 

The Artbooking Cartridge is just a wonderful creative tool that, when you factor in the 700 cuts included on the cartridge, the size options from which to choose and the ability cut from a variety of papers, provides us with an almost infinite number of creative options.  If you don't own this wonderful cartridge (or Art Philosophy or Artiste) you should seriously consider adding it to your scrapbooking bag of tricks!


Sunday, May 4, 2014

Balloon Ride - Our Own Little World

A boat ride down the river on a beautiful Florida day - it is hard to find a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  But, in my opinion, getting to scrapbook about the day certainly adds to the experience!

I chose to use Balloon Ride Workshop on the Go for this layout and the color palette worked beautifully.  I followed the instructions for the additional layout, but of course I had to make some minor modifications.  However, the overall feel of the layout wasn't lost and, as in the case of most of my pages, I was quite please with the result.



Here are the basics of what I used to complete this two page layout:
I'd like to leave you with a few close us shots of some of the details on this 2 page layout...




Friday, May 2, 2014

May - Let's Celebrate National Scrapbooking Day/Month

Yes, scrapbooking is near and dear to my heart.  I simply enjoy the creative outlet that it provides and I treasure the fact that it is documenting our lives for future generations.  I can't describe how wonderful I feel when my girls grab an album off of the self and spend a few minutes reminiscing about the past.  It is definitely a hobby that has purpose and meaning.

Therefore, it doesn't surprise me that we would have a National Scrapbooking Day/Month.  After all, everyone know that with something as wonderful as scrapbooking - we need a full month to really appreciate it to it's fullest.  And so it is with National Scrapbooking Month.  We dare not try to limit our celebration of this wonderful hobby to just one day!  And Close to My Heart couldn't agree more...they have designed a special paper collection that will be available for the Month of May, when you place an order of $50 or more in Close to My Heart products, for only $5.


Here is a picture of what is in this fun kit...
  • 6 sheets of B&T duos
  • 6 sheets of textured cardstock (one side is plain and the other has a special UV coating that provides a subtle, tone-on-tone, pattern
  • 2 sheets of velum (one with gold foil dots and one with a feather pattern)


Thursday, May 1, 2014

May Stamp of the Month

This month's SOTM has a playful edge to it and is perfect to use for cardmaking projects.  As always, for the entire month of May, it can be yours for only $5 when you make a $50 purchase of CTMH products. 

Here are the stamp images...


And here a few projects that have been made with this stamp set...