Monthly Archives: October 2016

More Thin Cuts!

I don’t know about you, but I am LOVING the thin cuts dies that CTMH has started carrying! They just announced at the Australiasia Convention that they are releasing FOUR MORE thin cuts sets! This means less fussy cutting for some of those GREAT stamped images! (That means that this little girl could have been popped up even a bit more!)

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These thin cuts will last until the end of the Annual Inspirations book, or until supplies run out! So, that means that you don’t want to wait until July to get yours, they may not be there anymore!! I’ve listed the stamps and the matching Thin Cuts below for you. They are NOT being offered as a bundle at this point in time, as many people already have the stamp set in their stash already.

Swirly Seashells (C1664) matches Swirly Seashells Thin Cuts (CC1155)
Sweet Birthday (B1532) matches Sweet Birthday Thin Cuts (CC1156)
Wreath (A1193) matches Wreath Thin Cuts (CC1157)
School Kids (D1706) matches School Kids Thin Cuts (CC1158)

If you haven’t used the Thin Cuts dies yet, you will love them, I’m sure of it! You will need a cuddlebug or big shot (or another machine similar) to be able to use them. This is one of the tools that I always have available at my crops for people to use!

Let me know if you have any questions about these new dies! I can’t wait to get mine!

Until next time, stay crafty, my friend!

~Michelle

Are you a Planner Person?

Well, last year, CTMH came out with a great planner, complete with mini album/binder and all sorts of accessories. This year is no different! Well, a bit different, in that you can get it NOW!

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The planner pages have a week spread over two pages, the dividers are coloring pages, so you can put your pens and pencils to work, each month overview that spreads over two pages, three gold paper clips, and even a pencil pouch to keep your tools handy!

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You can get your planner three ways right now. . . . just the planner insert (shown above) for just $16.95, the Sea Glass Album & insert bundle, for just $31.90, or the Stripes Album & insert bundle, also just $31.90. You can see the stripes album on one of my previous posts about pocket pages.

So, if you are a planner, or know a planner, this is a great time to get these! They are while supplies last, and I know last year they went quickly!

I hope you have a fabulous day! Until next time!

~Michelle

Fall Cards Class

Hey everyone! Have you seen the new shop here on the site? I’ve added kits ready to be mailed, Retreat options, and my classes will be there too! Trying to make things be a one stop shop for you!

The next class coming up is the Fall Cards Class. This is a great class for those fall card needs. You will make a total of 6 cards, one of each design, and walk away with the envelope for them too. Your cards will be done completely, and will be ready for you to give to someone immediately!

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The times for the class are:

Fall Card Class | Oct. 25 @ 9am
Fall Card Class | Oct. 25 @ 6pm

Classes are limited to 10 people per class, so make sure that you get your spot! I hope to see you there!

~Michelle

JCB Blog Hop Swan Lake

Welcome to the Just Crazy Blessed Mini Team Blog hop! Today we are going to show you some fun projects with the fabulous Swan Lake papers! These papers are SOOO fun! They are filled with great fall colors.

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Today I made a double page layout, with photos! (hey, Erin, you proud of me??) These papers are so very fun!

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I used the Artistry cartridge for the title on my page, I like the chunky-ness of the font for this.

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I didn’t do a whole lot of fussiness on this layout, and I do need to add journaling, that’s what I keep telling my ladies, so I should probably follow my own advice, right? That will be added later, somehow. . .

Anyway, I hope you liked my project today! Now, since it is a mini hop, after you leave a short note, hop on over to Janna’s blog to check out her project!

CTMH Technique Blog Hop – Wacky for Watercolor

Welcome to the Wacky for Watercolor blog hop! While it’s storming outside, we are playing with water inside, too! Well, water-colors! haha! Yup, had to toss a ‘dad’ joke in there! Today you should have arrived from Jenifer’s blog. However, if you started here, no worries, it’s a big round circle!

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Have you seen all of the watercolor options that CTMH has? You have the traditional Watercolor paints, of course. And with it you have the paint brush set, and the water brushes too! There are also the Water color pencils! I LOVE these things!! I have used them in the past, many times, like with the bunny cards, the cupcake card, this other cupcake card, this fabulous you card set, and this fun sweet life card. Anyway, as you can see, I love to use these watercolor pencils! They are simple to use, but you can get many different looks with them, including vibrant colors with darker shading, super light watercoloring colors, and everything in between!

Today I am sharing a set of 4 PML cards that I used the watercolor paints on. Each has a different style/type of effect on them, and they were fun to do with the little resist that is on each of the cards!

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So, the first one is just a solid color onto the card. I had to go over it a few times to get a mostly solid color on the whole card, but that is what is great about the watercolors! You can determine how much color you want with how much paint you have to water.

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Now, I know this pic makes it look pink, but that is just because of the lighting that I had to use to get the photo. It really is the orange color that you see in the first picture and the next one.

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These cards have a clear embossing done on them in different designs and phrases. So when you color over them with the watercolor paints and pencils, the part that is embossed will resist the color and it will show as a bright white!

This next card uses the variant technique. You start with one color, and it fades into another color. Here you can see I did blues and greens with the wave embossing card, so it has a feel for ocean waters.

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After your paint dries, you want to wipe off your embossed pieces to removed the paint from them.

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This next one uses the ombre technique. This is much like the variant in that it fades, however, it is all the same color.

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Because your brush won’t hold a TON of color, this card has a few layers on it, starting at the top where the color is the heaviest, and moving to the bottom, where the color is lightest, since the brush is running out of color/water as you are brushing it on the card.

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This last one was the most fun. It is basically the “smooshing” technique mixed with a flicking technique. So, it has multiple steps. First, you need a slick surface, like the All Purpose Mat. Then you need to pick some colors. For this one I used purple, grey, and a smidge of yellow.

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So, what you do is mix your colors with water, and put them in a spread out blob on your mat, then spritz them with water, and smoosh your card into it. I did this a couple of different times for each color, moving the card around a little bit each time, to help get a bit more coverage on the card. Since I didn’t have my heat gun with me, nor did I want to wait (I’m not big on patience), I took a paper towel and dried off some of the watercolor. (if you look close, you can probably see the texture from the paper towel!)

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Since I thought that the card needed a few more bright spots, I took the same colors and added a bit more paint to them. Put them on one of the acrylic blocks, and then flicked my paint brush from the color to the paper. This gave me the circle splash like dots you see.

I like all of the cards, but I think the last one is my favorite! Which is YOUR favorite?? I would love to know!

Thanks for stopping by today! Next up on the hop is Janna! I’m sure that you will find LOTS of fun projects along this hop!

I hope you stay dry this weekend, and get lots of fun crafty time in!

Until next time!

~Michelle