February Stamp of the Month - Easter Bunny

Oh My Goodness - it is day 8 of February already!! This year has certainly got off to a flying start, the kids are back at school, Summer sports are winding down but the days are still very warm! If you are finding yourself with a little free time or need to escape the heat - retreat to your craft room and the air conditioning?... then I have the cutest stamp set for you to ink up.

Take a peek at this month's Stamp of the Month - a 12 piece set that will ensure you have some cute cards ready to send out at Easter time... and with a quick change of sentiment, a card for just about every occasion.

 

 

I used two of the sweet little bunny images to create this card. I coloured them with Watercolour Pencils and then paper pieced their clothing with papers from the Whimsy Fundamental and the Sugar Rush Paper Packs. The sentiment was stamped on a "word bubble" shape, cut from the Cricut Artbooking Collection. It is a little difficult to see in this photo but I stamped both the bunnies and sentiment in Cocoa Exclusive Ink™. I am finding this my "go to" colour when I want to soften the look of my cards rather than stamp in black ink.

 



I also created these 2 cards using this month's Stamp of the Month. I have developed a bit of an addiction to making "scenic cards" with my latest craze being "picket fences". Using the woodgrain print from the Rustic Home Fundamentals I cut small 1/2" strips, then roughly cut a picket shape into the top edge. Next I distressed the edges with a sponge & Cocoa Exclusive Ink™ and lined the pieces up across my base piece. The base was then trimmed with some grass shapes, again cut from the Cricut Artbooking Collection. The "There's Nobunny Like You" card came together really easily with lots of my scraps from my craft desk. Papers from the Sugar Rush and Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packs along with stickers and die-cuts from the Hello Lovely and Springtime Complement Packs.

The "Sending Smiles" card came together in much the same way...but rather than have my bunny strolling in the grass, I decided to have her popping out to say "hello" from a flower pot...an idea that was inspired by an adorable card created by CTMH Consultant - Corinna Murphy. To further embellish the card I used a combination of flower, leaf and cloud shapes from the Close To My Heart Cricut Collections... cut in a variety of my favourite coloured cardstock - Raspberry, Lemon, Willow, SweetLeaf and Glacier.

 

February is also the perfect time for you to join the Close To My Heart family as a Consultant... especially if you love paper crafting, sharing your creativity with others and enjoy Fun, Friendship and Awesome Rewards.

 

New Consultants who join Close To My Heart in February will get the February (Easter Bunny), March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE! That’s an additional $81 in retail value added to the already incredible value of the New Consultant Kit! and if you are a former Close To My Heart Consultant?? there is special offer just for you.... a lower-priced, no-kit enrolment option that will allow you to sign up and join my team for just $75! You will still receive $75 in Select Product Credit to spend on products of your choice, meaning...you basically get to sign up for free! PLUS you will receive the February, March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE!

 

If you are interested in joining me and the other rewards Close To My Heart have to offer - simply click here to find out more.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my bunny cards and I look forward to sharing more of my Close To My Heart journey with you.

Chris xx

One Design - Three Different Ways.

Inspired by the cover of the current Seasonal Expressions catalogue/idea book I created this sweet little card, that I have labelled as a "pocket full of friendship".

It uses three of my favourite stamp sets - Springtime Wishes, Friend in Me and Ink Blot. The floral images were stamped onto papers from the Georgie  and Penelope Paper Packs and arranged in a bouquet above a pocket shape cut from the
Cricut® Artistry Collection. The pocket was cut from White Daisy Cardstock, stamped with a sentiment and outlined with a Black Pen. The card design came together very quickly and I was super please with the end result... so what do you do when you have a fool proof "recipe" ? - you "cook" it again!!

The two versions below were stamped in Black Memento™ Ink then one was coloured with Watercolour Pencils and the other in a distressed Watercolour Painting technique using the same colour palette.

Then I repeated the paper pieced version in a slightly different colour palette...fun, fun fun!!

 

 

If you would like to recreate this card yourself then now is the perfect time to add these stamp sets to your collection. During the month of March when you purchase two stamp sets you get a third set for free - that is a saving of $21 on the 3 stamp sets used in these card creations and exceptional value for money especially knowing you can use them over and over again. To find out more about this offer simply click here!

 



 

Stamp of the Month - Ice Cream Dream

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing art work created using this month's Stamp of the Month - Ice Cream Dream using a variety of techniques such as paper piecing and colouring with the wonderful ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Markers. Today's card also features colouring however, I have opted to use the Watercolour Pencils to add a different effect again. The colours I chose from the Watercolour packs were Bubblegum, Sunny Yellow and Autumn Terracotta.

After I coloured the images I used a Blending Pen (that had been dipped in a little water) to add a streaky appearance. Usually I would use the blending pen to soften and smooth out the colour however, for this card I wanted my ice-cream images to look a little like a Strawberry/Vanilla Swirl (with a touch of banana flavour too!!)

I chose Pixie and Canary coloured papers from the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment to co-ordinate with the colour of my ice-cream images and pieced together the card using scallop shapes - made with the Scallop Border Maker and scallop circle shapes from the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection.... and because ice-cream is the best medicine for happiness!!!...  I chose to use the "Cheer Up Buttercup" sentiment from the Hostess Reward Stamp Set - Tagged with Love. The card was then embellished with some Silver Sequins and Pixie Extra Thick Twine.

 If you would like to view some of the other art work I have created with the June Stamp of the Month simply click here or here and don't forget there are only 4 more days to add this stamp set to your collection. Spend $75 and you can purchase this Stamp of the Month set for just $5 - that is a saving of over 70%...  when ordering from my Online Shop  you will be prompted to add this set before you check out -  easy, peasy! 

Time is running out fast for Close To My Heart's other June special - "Summer Crush" ...this really is a great deal you won't want to miss out on, all you have to do is purchase any My Crush book and its accompanying assortment and you will receive the co-ordinating stamp set absolutely FREE!  There are five lovely My Crush book offerings for you to choose from and you can find them here.

 

Treats for Everyone!

Thank you for your patience over the last couple of weeks while I have been making changes to my blog... I think we are almost there and back on track. I've still been crafting behind the scenes and will try and update you on my creations over the next few days. You will notice that I now have a page listing some of my kits that are available to purchase. It will make it easier for those of you unable to attend my workshops.

June as also brought with it a new Stamp of the Month called Ice-cream Dream which is such a treat!

This is the ideal stamp set for those of who love to the colour and our Shin-Han Markers are just perfect for this. I used a combination of my favourite colours to create this card.

ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Cherry Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Tender Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Pastel Peach Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Barely Beige Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Clay Marker

Along with my favourite marker colours, I combined the Stamp of the Month with what has fast become my most used stamp set - a D size set with 37 images and a sentiment for every occasion. This month's Stamp of the Month can also be paired up with the Treats of Friendship to create really "yummy" art work. I used the same colour combination of Shin-Han Markers for colouring the images as the previous card. However, I added some depth to the donut image with a touch of the ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Light Orange Marker and the Colourless Blender Marker to soften the colours.

When colouring with alcohol markers it is important you make "friends" with your ink and Colourless Blender ... you will notice that I didn't wait long enough for the Archival Black Ink to dry and this caused some slight smudging of the outline when I started to colour with the markers. The name Colourless Blender is a little misleading as it isn't the "magic marker" that will blend two or more colours together it actually re-wets the maker ink ( that as already been applied to the paper ) meaning you can manipulate and push ink/colour around and erase away portions of marker ink already laid down. I always suggest treading carefully with its use, so you don't end up wetting your paper too much and pushing colour outside the outline of the image... it does take practise!

 

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend and have time to enjoy some colouring fun of you own.

 

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! 

We are featuring December's Stamp of the Month - called Cutie Pie...a  super sweet set of 11 stamps.  If you have come here from Jacquelin Green's blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here - with me and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog - simply click here.

This month we have over 60  Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations featuring this month's Stamp of the Month combined with lots of other wonderful Close To My Heart products. Be sure to check out all the fabulous art work everyone has to share - just click on the link at the end of this post to begin the journey!

I am very excited to be participating in this blog hop group for the very first time...so much so, that I thought I would share "not one but two" cards with you...and "not one but two" new paper packs - Heartstrings and Hopscotch ... that have just been released today!

I have used the same card design for both cards and coloured my cupcake images with ShinHan Touch Twin Markers. I stamped multiple cupcake images on White Daisy Cardstock with both Archival Black Ink and VersaMark Ink  ( combined with White Embossing Powder ) then fussy cut the different sections of the images with Micro-Tip Scissors. These individual sections were then pieced and layered together on the card using Bonding Memories Glue.

Card #1 - ShinHan Touch Twin Markers - Colours Used:
 
Cherry Pink -  Z2450
Tender Pink - Z2464
Turquoise Blue - Z2465

Peacock Green - Z2461
Warm Grey 4 - Z2467

Warm Grey 7 - Z2468
Light Orange -  Z2455
Barely Beige -  Z2445
Colorless Blender Marker -  Z2469

This next version of the card design uses 3-D Foam Tape behind the sentiment panel and the cupcake image to add a little more variation and dimension.

 

Card #2 - ShinHan Touch Twin Markers - Colours Used:

Cherry Pink -  Z2450
Tender Pink - Z2464
Turquoise Blue - Z2465
Light Orange - Z2455
Barely Beige - Z2445
Pastel Green - Z2459

Pastel Peach - Z2460
Colorless Blender Marker - Z2469

 

This is the sketch I used for the card design which was just perfect for the great smile phrase/sentiment in the Cutie Pie stamp set.

 

Thanks for visiting my blog and if you haven't already been there?? -  now is the time to "Hop" on over to the lovely Adeline Brill's  blog to see what she has created... and don't forget to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to check out some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Remember, the Cutie Pie Stamp of the Month is only available until the 31st of December!  Contact your Close To My Heart Consultant (or click here) to see how you can purchase this stamp set and receive a discount!....this is one set you will most certainly want in your crafting collection! 

 

Colouring Fun

One of the most exciting new product lines added to the Close To My Heart crafting range is the ShinHan Touch Twin Markers. There is something very therapeutic about colouring in your stamped images - it is also a perfect way to spend a rainy winter day. Twenty-four carefully selected colours are featured in the range -  rich vibrant colours that match beautifully with Close To My Heart's colour palette...which of course takes the guess work out of colour co-ordinating your projects.

I like to colour in a small circular motion rather than taking the linear approach, it gives a much more even coverage of ink leaving you with a smooth professional finish. However, if you want to add a textured look to your coloured image try experimenting with the ShinHan Touch Twin Colourless Blender. A fun thing to do is to desaturate your colouring using a pointillism type technique which is basically "dotting" away colour. I used this technique to give my Koala image on this card a more "fluffy" appearance.

Colours Used:
Warm Grey #7, Warm Gray #4, Clay, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink

I enjoyed experimenting with lots of different tools and materials when piecing together this card. I created a decorative strip by combining the Chevron Border Punch with the Scallop Border Punch and highlighting the perforations with Silver Shimmer Trim. The large scallop circle was cut on my Cricut machine using one of the 700 shapes found on the Art Philosophy Cartridge. The spotted "bluegum" coloured border was cut from a page taken out of the My Crush - In The Pink Book and when I stamped on it with the leaf image from the A Budding Friendship D1602 stamp set it made perfect gum leaves. The lovely pink & white metal flowers come from the Brushed Assortment and I see a lot of these being added to my future orders - you can add them to yours too, by clicking here. Again, I reached for my trusty Marvy Uchida LePen to add some faux stitching. A touch of stitching takes away the harsh edges and gives definition to cardstock shapes.

If you would like to learn more about colouring with the ShinHan Touch Twin Markers, creating gorgeous projects with the wonderful Close To My Heart product range or becoming a Consultant.... contact me today at lotfam@iinet.net.au or visit my website - I'd love to "Show You How"!

What a Hoot! - Totally Awesome New Products

Today is the day Close To My Heart release their new Annual Inspirations Idea Book/Catalogue and My Oh My!! is it jammed packed with the yummiest most awesome products you have ever seen!! I have been waiting for this day with so much excitement & anticipation and I can't wait to share all this goodness with you here on my blog - you will need to log in regularly to see the multitude of ideas and products I have to show you....yes!! I have so much to "show & tell" that I will be posting 3-4 times a week instead of the regular once a week you have been use to!!...be sure to check back so you don't miss a thing. If you head on over to my Facebook Page and share the link I have 3 hard copies of the Idea Book to give away! OR you can simply view an online copy here!

Now with all this yumminess where do I start? I thought the best place to start would be by showing you this month's Stamp of the Month - What a Hoot!  - remember with a $75 purchase, from me personally or in my Online Shop - the Stamp of the Month  can be yours for just $5 ( a huge saving of $22 )...and who doesn't want to add this cute Owl set to their collection?! It is such a "hoot" and so much fun to play with.

It is a perfect stamp set for Paper Piecing and Colouring techniques and I love that the cute owl character can be customised to suit any theme with a variety of wings, eyes and little hats that come included in the stamp set. I used many of the new products released today to create this card, including one of our new ink and cardstock colours called Flaxen, a new Triangle Border Punch and the lovely ShinHan Markers . The extra "Congratulations" sentiment comes from one of my favourite new Aussie Stamp Sets Cute Koalas - D1642 - stay tuned for more ideas using this set very soon!!

I decided to paper piece a second Owl image from this month's Stamp of the Month - I used another of the new ink & cardstock colours called Pixie  - love, love, love!!! and some papers ( pages taken ) from the  My Crush Books along with Kraft Cardstock - same stamp set but such a different looking card...experimenting with colour can bring amazing results.

If you would like to see more of the new products released today - click on the "New Products" tab in my Online Shop and take a peek - if you would like more information about anything you see or would like to place an order or even become a consultant and join my team of Crafty Chicks - please don't hesitate to send me a message at lotfam@iinet.net.au I am happy to help your creative journey any way I can.


 

Sweet and Simple

Some of my favourite card creations are often the most simple in design - limited colour choice, a single stamped image and minimal embellishment - quick, easy and just as sweet! I thought I would share a couple with you that have been a real hit at my card making classes.

Although Juniper Cardstock was my base colour  for this card, I decided to use Twilight Ink to stamp my image, being just a little more intense in tone it helped the sentiment to "pop". Twilight Ink is one of my favourite colours. However, it is currently on the Close To My Heart list of retiring ink colours. If it is one of your favourite colours too?? - you only have a couple of months left to stock up on the Cardstock and Re-inker. You can place an order, any time of day or night at my Online Shop. There are 5 different colours retiring from the Whimsy Colour Palette  - Blush, Buttercup, Twilight, Crème Brulee and Sky....and you may like to consider stocking up on Re-inkers if you have stamp pads in all or any of these colours. If you would like me to forward you a complete list of retiring products simply send me a message and I will pass it on...and come the 1st August Close To My Heart will have an amazing 250 "new" products to introduce to you - I'm very excited by that news!!

This card is also very simple in design but adding a few little feature components such as the Scallop Border, the Triangle Studs and creating striped banners with the Aussie Praises Stamp Set helps to give it that "finishing touch"....and the Clear Sparkles used in the centre of the coloured flower is the "icing on the cake"!

Card making is a whole lot of FUN! If you would like to commence a journey into this form of paper crafting? I am more than happy to provide you with pre-cut card kits (where you can produce cards such as these) or gather a group of friends together and I'll bring a card making class to you....contact me at lotfam@iinet.net.au for more information....I'd love to "show you how"!

Happy Easter

Easter in my family has always been a time of year where we get our "craft on" - creating Easter Bonnets for the school parade, decorating eggs, making paper baskets (for the Easter Bunny to fill) and the list goes on. As a child I use to collect the foil Easter Egg wrap for my art and craft projects and as an adult nothing much has changed!! It was these memories that inspired my Easter cards along with some fabulous stamp sets from Close To My Heart.

While I didn't use foil wrap to embellish my card, I did have some wonderful Close To My Heart products to make it "sparkle".  Pink Glitter Paper, Pearl Paint and Teal Shimmer Trim are amongst my favourite embellishments. I am so glad that as a consultant I get a discount on my craft supplies because I am always re-ordering these glitter goodies! My crafting friends call me the "Embellishment Queen" I love using all sorts of bling to add finishing touches to my projects and the Wooden Trinket Shapes and Flamingo Dots where perfect for this card. I really enjoyed piecing this card together, incorporating all sorts of FUN techniques - colouring, paper piecing and ink misting. If you are a paper crafter and enjoy sharing your creative passion with others?... why not consider joining my team of consultants check out my Facebook Page to see the bonus offer for new consultants - it is only available this month!!....or  you can click here to find out more! I would love to share my creative journey with you :)

This next card was something I "whipped up" today for my daughter to give to a friend - while I may be the "Embellishment Queen" she is the "Queen of Last Minute" LOL! - but Mum always comes to the rescue - a little stamping, a little colouring, some faux stitching and a craft room full of paper... and a card is created in a matter of minutes - gotta love that! The little girl and bunny featured belong to a stamp set called "Some Bunny". It is one of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets you can treat yourself to by hosting a craft gathering with your friends - message me at lotfam@iinet.net.au if you would like to add this set to your collection.

I hope you and your family have a lovely Easter break, the Easter Bunny finds you and you get a moment to get your "craft-on"!