New Product Blog Hop!

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Have you seen the new stuff? Oh My Goodness!! All the holiday stuff you could want! (ok, well, I guess that depends on the holiday that you celebrate, but so much fun stuff!!) We will have 22 ladies participating in this fun hop, you may have started at Alyson’s blog, or you may have started here, either way, you will have plenty to go see! If you get lost along the way, Melinda has the whole list over on her blog.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Today I have this fun card that mixes the new Cedar & Pine paper packet and the continuing Holiday Cheer special.

I stamped the truck image by sponging the stamp with Candy Apple Red and Evergreen inks onto one of the tags from the Holiday Cheer special. Then I added the sequins and the foam and acetate from the window foam and acetate. I used the Shaker window thin cuts to cut the gold glitter paper that also comes in the Holiday Cheer special.

I used a pattern for the card from the old Wishes how to book. This card measures 3 1/2 x 8 inches. I used a bit of the white and gold ribbon to hang the ornament from. I just taped the ribbon to the back, to make it easily removable from the card once the recipient gets it.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know what you think! After to take a few moments to do that, hop on over to Krista’s blog!

Back to the Basics a blog hop!

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Welcome to the Technique Blog Hop! This month, we are going back to the basics! You will see many different things (and maybe a few versions of the same thing) I know you will see some things that you forgot about, and maybe even a few things that are new to you! I can’t wait to see everyone else’s things, I know you will too! So, you should have gotten here from Krista’s blog, but if not, it’s a circle, and you will get back around to her!

Today I went back to the basics, and let my paper do the talking for me! (at least mostly!) I grabbed two pieces from the newly available Cedar & Pine paper packet, a piece of linen cardstock and a piece of black cardstock! Keeping the design basic was key to all of this!

Let me share the sizes with you!

Black: 4 x 11
Linen: 3 7/8 x 5 3/8 (x2) & 3 3/8 x 1/2
Evergreen B&T: 3 3/4 x 3
Red B&T: 3 3/4 x 3

Super simple! I could easily get 3 cards from these sheets of cardstock!

I used the Say it in Style stamp set for the sentiment. I could totally make this card be for ANY occasion! There are so many great sentiments on this set! You will definitely want to have it in your stash!

I added a bit of the black velvet ribbon to finish it off and give it a nice polished look! You could easily use a piece of black cardstock to get a similar effect, if you don’t have that ribbon yet!

Oh, and just to give you an idea of how ‘back to basics’ this card was . . . . I had TOTALLY forgotten that I was supposed to do this hop! When I signed up I was going to do a different technique, however, when I remembered, I had just over an hour and a half to design, make, photograph, edit, and type up this whole post. Plus wait for my food that I had just ordered and then get home! Just so you know, I did it, and I have a few minutes to spare, even! (so long as everything doesn’t crash when I hit publish! hahahahahhaa!!)

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my card with a back to basics card design! Now, leave a bit of love below, and then hop on over to Melissa’s blog to see what she has for you!

Until next time, have some crafty fun!

~ Michelle

All About Cricut with H2H!

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This week’s challenge is to use your cricut machine to create . . .something! Anything! Just so long as you use your cricut machine, it qualifies! There are a few great examples over on the Heart 2 Heart blog, so you should make sure to go and check that out!

Today, I have this fun card for you! I actually show you how to make it in my FB live video that I did on Sunday evening. So, if you wanted, you could totally go and watch, and play along with me! I even give you all the measurements, and the design space file too!

I used two different sentiments from the September SOTM, Random act of Cardness

The two B&T papers are from Every Little Thing, one of the new paper packets, and some basic cardstock in Black, Lemonade, & Ballerina. Add a bit of white ribbon, and we are done!

I sure hope you like the card! Please let me know if you watch the video and make one of your own! I would love to see!

Thanks for stopping by! Now, go and use your cricut to make something fun, and join in on the challenge!

New Product Blog Hop!

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There is a group of ladies that are showing off some of the new goodies that went live at the beginning of the month! If you didn’t start here at my blog, you should have come from Brandi’s blog. Either way, at the end, you will see who to hop along to next! I know you will have a LONG list of things that you are going to want!

Today I have a fun card for you that uses the Hawthorne papers and the new, fun coffee set and thin cuts, called Perk Up!

Can you name all of the new products on this card? I bet you will find something new everywhere!

This card features the new color of the year, Julep! it’s on the cardstock strips in the center (the light side), the ink on the coffee coozy, and the velvet trim under the cup!

I used the stitched oval shape to stamp the sentiment on, and then added some black stickles on there to give a bit of pop! I think it turned out super cute, what about you? Let me know what you think!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now, hop on over to Kristine’s blog! And make sure to leave love along the hop, we love to know that you have seen our fun creations, and that you like them too!

Items used today:
Hawthorne paper packet
Julep Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Julep Ink
Archival Black Ink
Julep Velvet Ribbon
Stitched Shapes, Oval
Perk Up Stamp & Thin Cuts

September SOTM Blog Hop – Random Act of Cardness

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Welcome to another SOTM blog hop! It’s been a bit since I have done one! Today you should have arrived from Danielle’s blog. If not, that’s ok, it’s a big circle, and you will get there!

Today I mixed up a couple of stamp sets, just because they are so fun!! I used the Perk Up stamp and thin cuts for everything except the sentiment, and the September Stamp of the Month for the sentiment.

I made a rainbow background using the circle from the Perk Up Stamp set, and stamped in a whole rainbow of colors, including some new ones! Candy Apple, paprika, goldrush, canary, green apple, bluebird, wisteria, and pansy.

I used some vellum for the sentiment, so it wouldn’t completely hide the fun cup that I stamped!

See that black ribbon? Its new too! Its a fun velvet ribbon, that you will love!

I hope that you love the card! I can’t wait to use both of these sets more! And these colors are fantastic!

Thanks for stopping by! Now, hop on over to Michelle’s blog

See you guys again soon!!

FBL: Into the Wild Mini Album ~ Completed!

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On Sunday’s FB Live, we finished putting together the Into the Wild Mini Album! I need to order an actual album for it now! (There are a few more options coming up in the new book!) It was so fun putting it together!

The only thing that I did “off camera” was to cut the cut apart sheet pieces and die cut some of the shapes from White Daisy Cardstock. Everything else was the same as it was left at last week!

The items for this album will be retiring on Saturday, so make sure to get them before they are gone! As I said last week, there are a few options on how to get your hands on this fun-ness! Let me know if you would be interested!

I did make a quick walk through video, so that you can see the whole thing finished! Click here to see that!

To follow along with the making of the album, you can click here for part one, and click here for part two!

I hope that you enjoyed this little mini album! It was fun to make!

Thanks for joining me!

Man Card Monday: Explore

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I think this super fun card is great for so many things! The guys in your life will think it’s really cool! So, let’s get the info out there, shall we?

First, I’d like to say thanks to Sandy Allnock, who created this version originally, way back in 2012! It was great then, and is great now!! She has a PDF download with sizes for both this reformatted version and the original tri-fold shutter card. So, check her out, as well!

{If you are not seeing the video, click here to go to the blog post}

Cardstock sizes:

Black: 5 1/2 x 12
White Daisy: 3 3/4 x 5 1/4 & scrap for the circle (approx 3 1/2 x 3 1/2)
New England Ivy: scrap for the circle frame (approx 3 1/2 x 3 1/2)

Into the Wild Paper Packet:
Green Plaid: 1 3/4 x 5 1/4 (qty. 2)
Stars: 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 (qty. 2)
Trees: 1 3/4 x 1 1/4 (qty. 4)

Scoring:

With the 12″ along the top of your scoring board, score the full length at 4″ and 8″

Then, only scoring down to about 1 1/2″, score on the 2″ and 6″ lines. To help make sure you are scoring on the correct lines, turn your paper 180*, and scoring down to about 1 1/2″, score on the 6″ and 10″ lines.

The other items you will need to complete the card as shown:
You are Here Cricut Bundle (Explore Stamp)
Shaker Window and confetti Thin cuts
Into the Wild Scrapbooking Stamp Set
Mink Ink
New England Ivy Ink
Black Shinhan Touch Twin Marker
Tombow Glue
Liquid Glass
3-D Foam Tape

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed this card! Who would YOU give it to?

~ Michelle

From Me to You

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Welcome to another challenge from H2H Challenge blog! This is the last challenge of the month, and next week/month, you will be seeing new products available with CTMH, and I can’t wait to show you! This week is all about “From me to you” . . . which screams gift giving, right?

So, for this, I thought it would be perfect to create a card box to gift a set of cards to someone. I decided to go with the True Love Paper Packet, as I do love the colors in it! One of the ladies that I watch on Youtube quite frequently, is Sam Pootles, and she has a knack for making boxes. So, she was the first place I went! She has MANY boxes (many!) along with the tutorials for them. I found a couple of boxes for some smaller cards, but I wanted to make something to fit standard A2 sized cards (that means 4 1/4 x 5 1/2). So, I used her plan, figured out what sizes I needed, cut a test one, made some adjustments, and then came up with this fantastic little box!

This box holds 5 cards and envelopes perfectly. It is just one inch deep, so it wouldn’t hold a ton of cards, but you could easily make it deeper to hold more, should you want.

I did use a magnet to hold the box closed (since we no longer have our hook and loop dots!), and I couldn’t be more happy with it! I tied some white ribbon around the front flap, and it was just what it needed! I could add a sentiment onto the front of this box as well, however, I think it is just perfect like it is!

I do have the front, back, top, and insides covered with B&T paper, however chose to leave the side edges and inside top without the extra paper. Doing it that way allowed for the cardstock of the box to show through a bit more, which I really liked.

I hope you like the box, and the cards that I have inside! Let me know what you think!

Would you like to make one for yourself? I did a FB live Sunday video on how to do it! You could go and take a look, and make your own box!

Thanks for stopping by! Why don’t you come join us over at H2H with one of the weekly challenges? They are great fun, and give great inspiration!

All items used are CTMH unless otherwise noted.

True Love Paper Packet
Ballerina Cardstock
White Ribbon
Liquid Glass
Paper Trimmer
Corner Rounder
Micro tip Scissors
Bone Folder
Magnets

Have you shopped your stash today?

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I was teaching a class the other day, and didn’t have the paper pack that the class was designed for, so I had to improvise!

So, what did I do? I shopped my stash, of course! The class used a bright happy paper packet, so I wanted to keep with that theory, and have bright happy colors!

I think I ended up with papers from 5 different paper packs! The class turned out great, and the ladies loved it!

Today I am going to share just the cards from the class, so, remember to put your Make it from Your Heart books to use, and use up those scraps!

I would love to see how you are using YOUR scraps! I do hope you will share with me!

Feature Friday: All about the Inks

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Close to my heart has a few different inks, and they are great for a few different applications. Let’s talk about them for a minute, shall we?

First there is the Exclusive Inks which are Dye based inks. This is the group of inks that had the most colors. These inks will sink into the paper that you are stamping on.

Next are the pigment inks. These inks are thicker in consistency and are more opaque. When stamped on top of another image, they will blend less. These inks stay on top of the paper, and also take longer to dry.

Then there are specialty inks. Those are Archival Black, Intense Black, StazOn, and Versamark. They are do different things, and may look similar on your finished project, however, it’s all about using the right tool for the job.

Archival black is the blackest black ink that Close to my Heart has. I personally love this ink! It really is a true black color. This ink is archival safe and acid free. Once dry it is waterproof, lightfast, and fade-proof.

Intense black is also archival safe and acid free. Like Archival Black, it is waterproof once dry. This ink is fast drying and non-smearing.

StazOn is not an acid free ink, so you may not want to use it in your scrapbooks, however it is great for a good number of things, especially non-porous surfaces.

Versamark ink is an archival safe watermarking ink. This means it is a thicker, clear ink. It, like the pigment ink, will stay wet (or sticky) for a bit.

So, you are thinking “Ok, Michelle, so what ones do I use on what projects?”, right? Well, let me give you a few examples!

These first two cards I used the dye ink and pigment inks in both pixie and sapphire. You can see slight differences in the inks on the paper.

In this close up, on the right, you can see that the pixie and sapphire dye inks blend together where they overlap. On the left side of this little cluster, you can see the pixie pigment ink on top of the sapphire ink. It isn’t super obvious because pixie is such a light color, and sapphire such a dark color, however you can see the difference.

On this next example, I am using three types of ink. I used the Versamark ink to hold the white embossing powder for the lace doily. I used ballerina dye ink to sponge some color over top of it, and then I used the sapphire pigment ink for the sentiment, and used clear embossing powder over top of it. (this helped it dry so I could continue with my project, and tied the look into the doily that is under it) Since the versamark and the pigment inks stay wet/sticky for a bit, they hold embossing powder fantastically!

I used the dye ink to sponge, as the pigment ink would have stuck to the embossing powder, and I would have ended up with a look that I wasn’t really going for!

Now, for this post, I did not use Archival Black, Intense Black, or StazOn inks. The majority of my cards use Archival Black ink. This is one of my most recent uses. I will use Intense Black Ink if I am going to be using my alcohol markers, as the solvent in the markers will not pick up the Intense black ink. You can see the Intense Black ink and coloring on this project. I know I have used StazOn ink, however apparently it didn’t make my blog! Ack!

I hope this helps you to know which ink to use for which project! Still have questions? Let me know! I will gladly answer them for you!

Items used for today’s projects:

Value Card bases & Envelopes
White Daisy Cardstock
True Love Paper Packet
Sweet Girl Paper Packet
Into the Wild Paper Packet
Vellum
Ballerina Ink
Pixie Ink
Pixie Pigment Ink
Sapphire Ink
Sapphire Pigment Ink
Versamark
White Embossing Powder
Clear Embossing Powder
Colorful Texture Stamp Set
Love Right Now (Artistry Cricut Bundle)
Sweet & Lovely (Artbooking Cricut Bundle)
Basic Circle Thin Cuts
Stitched Circle Thin Cuts