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!

 

 

 



Come Get Crafty With Me!

April is an awesome month for joining the Close To My Heart family of crafters with an amazing opportunity to purchase a collection of products and receive a special bonus gift of a Cricut Cartridge -  together they are valued at over $500 but could be yours for just $130. What do you need to do? - just click here and place your order....no obligation - you can take this wonderful collection of crafty goodies and simply play or you have 6 months to trial the joys of being a consultant - the choice is all yours!

 

....the most difficult decision will be to decide what cartridge to choose. I love, use and have all three!! - one of the benefits of being a consultant is that I get all my craft supplies at a discount! However, to help you with your decision making you might like to watch this fabulous video that showcases a little of what can be done with the Cricut Artbooking Collection

 

 

I am rather addicted to making paper flowers to embellishment my craft projects and after watching this video I have become addicted to using the overlay grids found on the Artbooking Cartridge too! - they are so much FUN!

 

 

This card was inspired by the video and was made entirely of scraps - including some cardstock off-cuts that I had previously embossed with the Dot Embossing Folder and a little Glitter Paper. My flowers and leaves were cut from the Cricut Artiste Collection and embellished with some Clear Sparkles - then just a few Aqua and Flamingo Dots were added as my finishing touch!

 

...and because these cards are so addictive and easy to make I thought I would share a couple more with you. I wish I was able to photograph this card a little better so you could see all the beautiful glossy accents in the Fundamentals Paper and the gorgeous "Free To Be Me" paper pack. The "Free To Be Me" papers are another good reason to join Close To My Heart this month - this pack is our exclusive National Scrapbook Day collection and can be purchased for only $5 with a qualifying order in April or May. It includes, decorative paper, printed vellum and glossy embossed cardstock and is ideal for a variety of papercraft projects.

  

 

This card shows how vibrant the "Free To Be Me" papers are and how they co-ordinate so well with other paper packs in our range. The feathers were hand cut from the decorative paper with my ever favourite Micro-Tip Scissors and matted with some Silver Glitter Paper. I also used a different overlay grid from the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge to create this card - there are just so many possibilities!

 

 

If you would like more information about joining my Close To My Heart family or would like to place an order for the "Free To Be Me" paper pack just visit my Online Shop or contact me at lotfam@iinet.net.au

 

...and to keep up to date with all that happens in my crafty world follow me on Facebook - I'd love to have you share the crafting journey with my team and I.



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"!

April - Stamp of the Month

We are now well into April and I realised I am yet to share my April Stamp of the Month cards with you but don't despair there is still plenty of time to add this stamp set to your collection. This month we have an awesome set of 24 stamps called "Balloon Talk" available to you for just $5 with a $75 purchase - amazing value! Speech Bubbles are a FUN way to add sentiments to your card projects. However, this set isn't just about balloons & bubbles there are many individual words/sentiments included too...making it one of the most versatile stamp sets you will own.

 

I decided to create a card Welcoming New Friends into the neighbourhood by combining my Balloon Fun stamps with the very cute images from the Robot Family. It is a little difficult to see in the picture but I used Bitty Sparkles for the buttons and antennas on my Robot couple. I really enjoyed piecing this card together and I hope the recipients enjoy it too!

While you often hear me boast about the 42 colours of  cardstock in the Close To My Heart range, that isn't really all we have to offer!! - many of our My Reflections Paper Packs have exclusive colours included in them - I used the "Ariana Grey" from the Ariana Paper Pack for my Robot card and I also used it as the feature for this other card created with the "GOODBYE" sentiment from the Balloon Talk stamp set. To add a little more texture to it I embossed the cardstock using the Dot Embossing Folder.

I love creating my own background papers using exclusive ink reinkers and spray pens. This time I added a little pearl paint to give it a bit more glitter and shine and to co-ordinate with my use of silver shimmer trim - I also added a little more "bling" to embellish this card in the way of - black jewels, grey sparkles  and bitty sparkles... all these products are available in my online shop - click here to add these goodies to your treasure chest of craft supplies!

The tag for this card was cut using the shapes from the Artiste Cricut Collection and many of the Balloon shapes in this month's Stamp of the Month can also be cut from this cartridge. Remember this month we also have the added bonus of receiving a Cricut Collection for FREE when you join Close To My Heart as a consultant. This offer comes with "no strings attached" you can purchase you "Start-Up Kit" here and for the cost of $130 receive over $500 of products for your personal 'craft treasure chest'. However, if you decide you want to build a business you also have the opportunity to earn back the reimbursement of your $130 start up fee..........interested in finding out more? - joining my team? or my craft classes? - please don't hesitate to contact me.