Floral Creations

If there is such thing as a Paper Flower Addiction - then I am a self confessed addict!! I love creating customised flowers for my crafting projects and the Close To My Heart Cricut Collections make it so easy. There are numerous flower shapes included in the cartridges and with a little ink, some dimensional elements and a few basic tools you can turn them into unique 3D embellishments which will make your projects shine!

Today, I am sharing two of my most recent floral creations with you....I love adding depth & texture to flat cardstock shapes and watching them come alive!

The Piercing Tool Kit and the Bone Folder are my most recommended tools for anyone wanting to create flowers, they simply are a "must have" and can be ordered direct from my Online Shop. I added some glitter to my Pink flowers along with some glossy accents using Liquid Glass. Then added Flamingo Dots and Ivy Lane Complements for that finishing touch.

The Blue flower became the feature element on my Thank You card. The leaves were cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection and again dimension was added using my trusty Bone Folder! This card was all pieced together with another of my favourite Close To My Heart products - Bonding Memories Glue - you really must have this in your crafting tool box too! -  it is a great adhesive with many different applications.

If you are attending the "Come Create with Chris" events in Sydney next weekend... I will be demonstrating how to make these charming little flowers - need more information on these events? - click here - I'd love to have you come "play" with me!

Another Stroll Down Ivy Lane

...yes, I am featuring the lovely Ivy Lane range of products again in today's blog post! I love the pretty colour palette which includes subtle pinks, smokey plums and lovely florals. It was the first range I reached for when I created my little Hip Pics family "brag book". This handbag sized album was created in just over an hour and includes some of my most treasured photos.

The album title was created using the Cricut Artbooking Collection and the woodgrain background paper came from the wonderful Timberline Paper Pack. It is such a versatile paper that has so many fun applications...experimenting with the direction of the grain can really change the appearance of your artwork. The album has 16 pages and is designed for 4 x 4 photos. This is a little "peek" at a few of the pages.

I stamped all the Blush and Hollyhock cardstock with the wire image from the  Distressed Backgrounds stamp set... just to add some texture and then sponged the edges with Blush Ink to add depth. I really enjoyed making this quick and very easy project and I will be sharing this (and another version using the Skylark papers) with some of my papercraft buddies tomorrow at a National Scrapbook Event. If you would like to create one for yourself or would like to gather a group of friends together and schedule a Project Class I would LOVE to show you how!!

 

Gathering Gifts

In today's post I am showcasing one of my favourite exclusive Hostess Rewards stamp sets - called "A Mother's Love" it features a 2 step stamping technique called base & shade which offers so much versatility and lots of different colour combinations for your projects. The cascading Lilac image is simply lovely and you can create so many pretty projects with it....and the sentiment makes it the perfect set for Mother's Day.

I love how the Close To My Heart paper packs co-ordinate with one another and the Ivy Lane and Ariana packs were an ideal choice for this card. The leaves were cut using shapes from the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection as was the large scallop circle used in the background. The scallop border of course, was created using one of my most favourite and "most" used tools.... the Scallop Border Punch!  Pearl Paint and Blush Re-Inker were combined to add a glittery appearance to the Lilac image - I love the little "sparkle" it gives to my project.

I used the Lilac image & Pearl Paint again... to create this card that I am sending to a special friend - just to let her know I am thinking of her - she is a bit of a "Pink" girl too, so I know she will love it!

The little 4" gift card below, really shows the diversity of this lovely stamp set and the leaves truly highlight how great the 2 step - base & shade effect is. The edges of the card were softened using the Corner Rounder then I added some Purple Glitter Gems and Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon for that finishing touch.

This stamp set has so many possibilities and if you want to treat yourself and add it to your collection?? -  contact me today. It is one of the exclusive sets only available to those that host a Gathering and as an added bonus it is heavily discounted to ensure that your hostess credits stretch just that little bit further. Hosting a Gathering is a lot of fun....you and your guests will get to take home some finished projects and of course our Hostess Rewards program is second to none.

 

 

Pretty in Pink

It goes with out saying that my favourite colour is Pink and one of my favourite Close To My Heart paper packs is from the Ivy Lane range. It has become my "go to" pack when creating cards that need a feminine touch. I thought today I would share a few of these cards with you.

 

 I love how this card came together  using a combination of left over papers from my Ivy Lane Card Making Kit including the lovely Sequin Dot Assortment - which is only available in this kit! I combined a few different stamp sets together too, including the leaves that come from the exclusive stamp set found in the Jubilee Scrapbooking Kit - it is great to get so much value for money from my kit purchases.

 

The shimmery appearance of my stamped flowers was created by adding a little Pearl Paint with some Blush ReInker and water and applying over the top of my flowers using a Spray Pen - love playing with these goodies, it is a lot of FUN! I got a little more creative and adventurous with this technique on my next card and used the technique to create my own unique background paper.

 

 I sprayed the Daisy White Cardstock with Cotton Candy ReInker and a little water. Then using the Damask Embossing Folder I ran it through my Cuttlebug Embossing Machine - then sponged some Smokey Plum Ink over the top...it took away the brightness of the white cardstock, the added colour making it tone in more harmoniously with the paper pack.

 

This Friendship card again uses a combination of paper packs and stamp sets including this month's Stamp of the Month - You've Got a Friend in Me.

 

 

I used my ever trusty Corner Rounder and Scallop Border Punch to add some decorative elements and added some finishing touches using Sparkle Flourishes and a small button from the Babycakes Assortment.

 

There are 5 Fun Friendship sentiments included in the  May Stamp of the Month which can be purchased for $5.00 when you place a $75 order this month...making them just $1.00 each - at that price - what a great value packed addition, they will be to your stamp collection!?! To order your set this month simply place an order in my Online Shop 

 

 

Wishing all my friends a very "Happy Month of May" - make mine happy too and leave a comment below - I love hearing from you!