Hello Darlings

....have you missed me??? I know I have missed you and my craft room! Sadly, I have spent the past few weeks laid up with a nasty flu and sinus infection - not much fun at all!! However, I am happy to report I am on the mend and the lovely spring weather, along with my blossoming garden, has put a smile back on my face.

This is a pic of a dwarf cherry tree blossoming in my front garden - it is very pretty... so you can see why I am smiling!

I have managed some "playtime" in my craft room this week too... and I hope this card I created for a sassy girlfriend brings a smile, if not a giggle, to her day.

I combined a few of my favourite new "pink" products from the current Annual Inspirations Catalogue to make this card and I love how well they all worked together.

The glossy accented black background is from the new Paper Fundamentals Basics. The pink striped paper can be found in the Kaleidoscope Paper Pack, the black striped paper with the Hello Darling sentiment is actually a Picture My Life™ card...  from the gorgeous new Beautiful You collection. It was embellished with some Pink Enamel Gems then I added a further sentiment - "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"  - that can be found in the Diamonds Are Forever stamp set . The little pink diamond in the centre of the sentiment is one of the stickers found in the Kaleidoscope Complements pack. You really need to check out all the new revamped Complements packs - they are amazing value for only $9.00  this pack contains the following: 2 – 6" x 6" Coordinating Sticker Sheets, 1 – 6" x 6" Thin Plastic Sticker Sheet (looks like vellum on your pages) and assorted Chipboard Die-Cuts. Each of the My Reflections™  range of products has a co-ordinating Complement pack and they are jammed packed with a variety of embellishments, vellum, kraft, chipboard and plastic die-cuts along with sheets of cute stickers - click here to browse through the collection.

Close To My Heart have had some great stamp sets available only during September for National Stamping Month and as there are only 5 days left for this promotion don't forget to place your orders - you can order by following this link to my Online Store - also head on over to my Facebook page and scroll through the posts featuring some of the beautiful art work created with these sets. They simply are a "must have" and as an added bonus... anyone who places an order over the weekend  (26th-27th September) will go in the draw to receive an additional stamp set - a gift from Me to You!!

These are the 3 sets available:

 I hope you have had a great week too and your weekend is even better!

Happy Crafting!

Chris x

Welcome Spring!!

Yay!! - today is the 1st day of Spring and I have been looking forward to this day for so many different reasons!... here are my top 2 reasons

1). It means warmer weather is on it's way! (I am so not a winter girl!!)

 

2). It is the release of our brand new Close To My Heart Catalogue/Idea Book (Annual Inspirations) - jammed packed with delicious new papers and crafting goodies to inspire your creativity!

...but that is just the beginning - today also sees the release of our Holiday Expressions supplement too! It contains lots of wonderful ideas and products to prepare you for Christmas and the holiday season... you can view the contents here.

 

September is also National Stamping Month, and this year Close To My Heart has something to help every kind of papercrafter say a big “hello” to life! Available only during the month of September, these exclusive C-size My Acrylix^® Hello, Life! stamp sets can be purchased for $21 each! or - for an even better deal, you can purchase all three for only $53 —a savings of $10!! Each stamp set is designed to fit with a specific type of papercrafting, whether that’s scrapbooking, cardmaking, or pocket scrapbooking. However, all the stamp sets coordinate with each other and can be used together to create dynamic artwork. These stamp sets also coordinate with shapes from the new Cricut^® Artistry collection to help expand your artwork options, even further. Remember, these stamp sets are available for one month only, so head on over to my Online Shop for one stamp set—or all three—before these gorgeous stamps disappear!

 

 ...and don't forget when you place your order for these stamp sets to add the September Stamp of the Month too - it's the perfect accompaniment for both your Springtime projects and the Hello, Life stamp sets. Here is a little preview of a card I made combining the 2 sets.


This card also uses one of my favourite "new" products released this month - Watercolour Paints! These paints fuel my passion for the Adult Colouring craze and I love that you can just play or unleash your inner artist with fancy techniques. The background for this card was simply created by "dripping" paint and water onto my watercolour cardstock and moving it around with my heat gun to create a marbled looking background...this is a fun technique to try if you are new to watercolour paints.

Another simple technique for beginners to try is applying a "wash" of colour over die-cuts and shapes... for this technique the 1st step is to adhere the die-cut shape to the watercolour cardstock and dampen the surface with water before adding the paint. A little tip is to attach your cardstock/working area to a hard surface with washi tape before you wet it. This will help eliminate the distortion (buckling and wrinkling) of the cardstock.

For the card below, I cut a title from the new Cricut® Artistry Collection multiple times (four) adhered them on top of each other with Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen and then applied a "wash" of pink coloured tones of paints across the title. The card was then embellished with Kaleidoscope Complements and stamped images from a new stamp set called Diamonds are Forever. The images were stamped in champagne pigment ink from the Basics Exclusive Inks™ Mini Pigment Pads Set, along with a few little star images stamped with the VersaMark™ Ink Pad and embossed with Silver Embossing Powder.

These cards also showcase one of the new paper packs released today, called
La Vie En Rose... a lovely romantic pack that contains some classic black and white prints.

I am looking forward to sharing the full array of new products and some more fun and advanced watercolour techniques with you over the coming weeks... it is going to be one very creative journey that I know you are going to enjoy!