Close To My Heart Sneak Peek - Rock the Block Campaign

Check out the video below for a sneak peek at one of the new products that will be available in the Spring/Summer Idea Book for 2012. These My Creations Collage Cubes will be available in a special promotion that starts December 19th and runs through to January 31st. The Rock the Block campaign also includes and exclusive E sized stamp set.

It's Been a While - A Couple of Photo Frames Today

Hello everyone. I can't believe it has been over a month since I posted to this blog. I have been very busy with other priorities so haven't spent much time in my crafting room.

I do have a couple of photo frames to show you today, that I donated to a craft sale earlier this month. I picked up these wood frames at Michaels for $1 each. They suited the purpose, but I wasn't very happy with the stand (a small dowel to be placed in a small hole at the back), so I didn't make as many as I had originally intended. These would make a great gift, but I would invest in a better quality frame if I was to make them again.

The first two frames are the same, just different shades of steel blue cardstock were used.

I painted the backs and sides of the frame first with black acrylic paint. I traced the inside opening of the frame unto my cardstock and marked the outer edges of the frame on the cardstock with pencil. I cut out the inside opening (I found it easier to do this before gluing to the frame rather than after) and stamped the image 'Live, Laugh, Love' from the stamp set "Love Life" around the outside. Then I covered the front of the wood frame with 2 way glue, glued the cardstock to the front of the frame making sure to center the opening on the cardstock with the opening of the frame and then trimming the outside of the frame using a craft knife. I then sprayed the whole thing with a matt finish spray sealer.

The frame below is a result of:
a) not cutting out the center opening before gluing the cardstock to the frame. I trimmed the center opening after the paper was already glued to the frame and had a difficult time getting a clean cut (hence I had to add the additional black paper cardstock frame to cover the rough edges)
b) touching the front of the frame with paint on my fingers. I had a couple of spots to touch up with the black paint on the back of the frame and accidentally got paint on the front of the cardstock. This frame was suppposed to be the same as the blue frames above, but I had to change it to cover the unwanted paint. The stamp set used was a retired set called 'Make It Count'

For this final frame I used paper from the retired paper pack 'Miracle' to cover the frame and paper from the retired paper pack 'Perfect Day' for the rose. The letter stickers are from retired 'Silhouette' My Stickease.

New Blog Header

I have been wanting to change my blog header for some time, but just didn't know where to start. I happened to go to fellow consultant Tresa Black's blog on the weekend and found some great tutorials on doing exactly that. Check them out here!

Thank you Tresa! I now love my blog header.

Card Sets for Local Bazaar

I am donating items to a local Senior's Home for their bazaar which is being held in November. Here are some of the cards sets that I have already completed and I will post more as I get them done. I am packaging the cards with envelopes in sets of four in these great clear boxes from The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. I absolutely love these little boxes as they are perfect to slip your cards into after completion to keep them safe, they are great for storing cards and they provide a beautiful way to present embellished cards or sets of cards.
I tried to keep the card styles simple and easy to make (especially when making so many multiples) and as inexpensively as possible to keep the sets at a reasonable cost. These first cards used a great stamp set from House Mouse. Love these little guys. I coloured them simply (no shading) with Copics and mounted on black and white cardstock bases.

I totally CASE'd this next card by Lisa Johnson at PTI.

And here is a sample of what they look like in their clear boxes.

Supplies - All cards are standard A2 size
House Mouse cards - Paper - Black & White cardstock; Stamps - Birthday Cupcake (House-Mouse), Piece of Cake (CTMH); Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics;
Thank you Cards - Paper - Magnifique, Kraft & Colonial White cardstock (CTMH); Stamps - Circle of Love (CTMH), Say It In Style (Waltzing Mouse); Inks - Pacifica, Chocolate & Lagoon (CTMH), Memento Tuxedo Black; Other - Hemp, Spellbinders labels 4

Just For Fun - Attack of the Killer Apples

I have been working diligently on items that I am donating to an upcoming bazaar at a Seniors Residence so I haven't got anything new to show you today. I will post pics of the card sets I am making for the bazaar when I get the chance.

A friend posted this video on Facebook that I wanted to share - too cute!

World Card Making Day Challenge - Cartoon Inspired

In honor of World Card Making Day (which was Saturday October 1st - I'm just a few days late), Flourishes is hosting a fun challenge (FLLCWCMD11). Create a card using your favourite cartoon character as inspiration. I chose Donald Duck, one of my favourite cartoons when I was a child, for my colour scheme on this clean and simple card. I used Card Patterns Sketch 135 as my layout inspiration.

Supplies - Card size - 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Paper - You Rock (CTMH - retired), Outdoor Denim CS (CTMH), Neenah Solar White CS
Stamps - Mix 'n' Mugs (Flourishes)
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories - Bakers twine (May Arts), Buttons (CTMH)
Other - corner rounder

Baby Boy Congrats - Card Patterns Sketch #134

Nothing quite says purity and innocence like a newborn baby so I like to use a lot of white when making baby congrats cards. This card is for my new great nephew Case (I now have 24 great nieces/nephews).

I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to use some of my new ribbons from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. Love this wide May Arts blue and white check ribbon. I used this week's sketch from Card Patterns for inspiration. (The sun was hiding this morning so my picture isn't as pure white as is should be, the card is gorgeous in person.)

Supplies - Card size is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Paper - White Daisy and Sky cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - Say It In Style (Waltzing Mouse)
Ink - Sky (CTMH)
Accessories - Ribbon (May Arts), buttons, charm (CTMH), white floss (DMC)
Other - Lacy Squares (Spellbinders), Swiss Dot folder (Provo Craft), border punch (Martha Stewart), 3D foam

Another Orchid Card - Timeless Tuesday #136

The Timeless Tuesday Challenge FTTC136 this week is to create a girly card. Well, this card started out really girly in my head, but after changing out the paper I was going to use for something else it didn't quite turn out as I had originally intended. Still very happy with it though.

Supplies - Card size is 4 3/4" x 6 1/2"

Paper - DP - Enlish Rose (Kaisercraft), Silhouette (CTMH - retired), Black & green CS (Bazill), Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Stamps - Orchids (Flourishes)
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo (CTMH)
Accessories - lace (Kaisercraft), satin ribbon (fabric store), resin charm (CTMH)
Other - Spellbinders Plain Ovals (large & small), Labels 18

Poppy Patch Card - Flourishes Sketch Challenge

I put this card together quickly today to meet the deadline for the Flourishes noon time Sketch challenge FLLC911A. This is an older stamp set, but new to me and I was really excited about using it. I am still working on my colouring with Copics, but am slowly getting there.

I used the same technique for extending my image beyond the Spellbinders die-cut as I did in my previous post. You can view a tutorial on the Flourishes website here. Love this technique.

Supplies - Card size is 6 1/2" x 4 3/4"

Paper - Designer Paper - Roxie (plaid), Silhouette (dot)- retired, Grace - retired (CTMH), Black CS (Bazzill), Neena Classic Crest Solar White CS
Stamps - Poppy Patch (Flourishes), Card Chatter - Thank You C1381 (CTMH)for inside
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo (CTMH), Copics - R02, R14, R27, YG11, YG13, YG17, Y21, Y35
Accessories - 1/2" black seam binding (MayArts), Black Waxy Flax, Bamboo Button (CTMH)
Other - Reverse Wonky Rectangles (Spellbinders), 3D foam

"Gus" Birthday Card - Mojo Monday 206

Hey all, I've been away for a while. Had a wonderful visit with my oldest daughter and next week my youngest daughter is coming home, so I thought I had better sneak a card in here. My brother-in-law is celebrating his 60th birthday, so I had to pull out my favourite digi image "Gus" from Bugaboo Digi Stamps

Normally I make these cards more simply with white bases and some contrasting bright colours, but I liked the sketch at Mojo Monday this week so I thought I would try something a little different for 'Gus'. I used one of Close To My Heart's new paper packs called 'Dreamin'. The opposite side of these papers, have beautiful floral designs, but for this card the more geometric patterns suited a masculine card better.

I paper pieced the robe and slippers and coloured the image with Copics.

Supplies - Card size is 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Paper - Designer Paper - Dreamin' (CTMH), Brown cardstock (Bazill), Bamboo and Colonial White cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - 'Gus' digi stamp (Bugaboo), Card Sentiments - D1111 (CTMH - retired)
Ink - Chocolate (CTMH), Copics, computer
Accessories - Anitque Copper brads, Flourishes Foundry Access. (CTMH), 1/2" brown satin ribbon (Offray)
Other - 3D foam