Category Archives: CTMH

15 years of Close to my Heart goodness!

Just add water, you say?

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At least I’m not Gizmo! That would be bad! (though, it would fit right in with how 2020 is going, right?)

So, I decided I was going to add some water to my ink! So I grabbed a piece of acetate and picked a paper, and then chose an ink. Believe it or not, both of these cards were done with the same ink color, and that was fern!

So, let’s walk through the steps, shall we?

So, first I grabbed a couple of pieces of white daisy cardstock, and used some versamark ink and stamped the little mushroom scene from the Gnome Matter stamp set. (LOVE that set!) and embossed with some white powder. Then I put some fern ink directly onto some acetate and grabbed a water brush, added some water, and then swirled it around. I then smooshed the ink and water mix onto the paper with the embossing. I dabbed it a few times, then did some heat setting. Then, a bit more ink and a smidge more water, mixed, and smooshed again some more! Then a bit more drying and the first one was done.

I decided to see what would happen if I put some ink on the back side of the paper, directly, and then added some water from behind. It gave a completely different result! But, still so fun!

I ended up getting more browns from my inks than I expected! A bit of red, too!

So, to finish the card, I cut the circle out with the solid circle from the shaker window and confetti die set. I cut the frame from that set from white daisy cardstock. I used the B&T from the Mix In paper pack. I stamped a sentiment from the set on vellum with the versamark and white embossing powder. I lined the B&T with two rows of the white and gold ribbon (retired and sold out!), then popped up the circle with some foam tape. Then I tied a double bow, and attached it with a mini glue dot.

The cards were so simple and easy to do! Super fun, and no two cards will be the same!!

Now, make sure to hop over to the H2H blog and see the other inspiration and link up your project too!

See you again soon!!

Sunny Days with H2H

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Hey there!

Today is another challenge week over at H2H! This week’s theme is Sunny Days! Man, that opens up so many different options! Cards, layouts, projects, you name it!

Today I am going to use the Fabulous Flamingo stamp and thin cut set. (Can you believe the pair are only $12.95?!?!) Super cute, super fun set!

The card is loosly based off the card in the current CTMH book. And it came together so very nicely!!

Here are the items that I used:

Fabulous Flamingo Stamp & Thin Cuts
Summer Vibes paper packet
Candy Apple Red Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Value Cards & Envelopes
Fern Ink
Glacier Ink
Intense Black Ink
Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts
Stitched Bracket Thin Cuts
White & Gold ribbon {On clearance right now!}
Watercolor pencils
Small Waterbrush
Microtip Scissors
Liquid Glass
Shaker Window Foam & Acetate

Let it Shimmer!

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Welcome to the technique blog hop. This month we are all about the Shimmer brush! Today you should have arrived from Wendy’s blog, however if you didn’t that’s okay, it is a big circle and you will get back to her. I have three different cards with three different techniques to show you today.

Check out these cards! I am using the June stamp of the month tag set, and it is fantastic! Let’s get on with our cards, shall we?

This first card I used the Spectrum Noir markers. I colored in the dragonfly wings, then did a fun technique for the body. I mixed the mint and clear Shimmer brushes to create the iridescents on the wings of my dragon point.

On this second card, I used the watercolor pencils to color splotches on the wings, and then I used the mint and clear Shimmer brush mix to spread the color around on the wings.

On this last card, I used Bluebird and Julep inks to color in the wings on the dragonfly. Then covered with the Shimmer brush.

I really love how these cards turned out! I even did them on a video to show how to do these different techniques. You are welcome to watch it here.

I would love to know which of these cards is your favorite! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Then hop on over to Lauren’s blog for the next stop in this hop. Thanks so much see you later!

June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop – Garden Tags

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Welcome to the June SOTM blog hop! This month, the stamp set is all about tags! You get four beautiful tags, ready to be colored, an additional To and From, plus a little binding stamp (that goes around the hole, if you wanted) Today you should have arrived here from Jen’s blog. If not, that’s ok too, and you just keep clicking through, you will get back around to Jen’s blog!

Today I wanted to do something just a little bit different, and went with a box that I created with the tags! Isn’t it adorable? I stamped with Intense Black Ink and colored using our watercolor pencils. Add some micro-tip scissors and a bit of liquid glass, and you are all set!

It turned out so cute! I am just in love with it! I will be doing a video on how to do it in my Let’s Flock Together FB group later this week!

Hopefully you know by now, that the SOTM is yours for just $5 with a qualifying purchase from me/my store! I would love to answer any questions that you may have on how to do that! Just let me know!

Now, I know you want to keep hopping and gathering ideas for how to use this fantastic stamp set! So, I will send you off to Becca’s blog!

Thanks for stopping by! I will see you again real soon!

~ Michelle

You have me In Stitches!

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Welcome to another week at H2H! This week’s challenge is In Stitches. For this, I went with the Stitched Together paper packet. I love how bright and happy these papers are! And look, there are even photos on the pages! (there’s journaling too, it is under the names, and will be under a flip flap when I get it into a page protector!

I used a few stickers from the compliments sheet, some vellum, and some gold shimmer trim too, to add just a bit more!

I put the page together in one of the virtual crops that Danielle and I hosted, using one of the free sketches from the Make it from your Heart blog. I hope that you enjoyed the page, and maybe it even inspired you a bit! We would love for you to join in on a virtual crop and to also play along with the Heart 2 Heart Challenges! (and, if you are looking, we are also looking to add a few people to the design team for H2H!)

Home is where the Heart is

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It’s a saying you hear often, right? So, wherever your love is, is where home is, right? That is the theory I am working with for this week’s challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! I have been working on a mini album, as you may know, for the trip that I surprised hubby with for his birthday a few years ago. We went to New York City, and that city hums on his wavelength.

We had so much fun there! I am so glad that we were able to do that! So, there aren’t any photos on here yet, but it is ready for the photos and the journaling! I think this might be a good page for when we were in Times Square!

Danielle and I did this layout during a zoom call for the Let’s Flock Together Facebook group. It’s a group that is participating in the #100DayProject with a video every single day!

Did you realize that Heart 2 Heart Challenges has a new challenge every week? And that you have the whole month to participate? We would love it if you came and participated with us! We are even looking for a few more people to join the design team!

April 15, 2020 Technique Hop – “Heat It Up!”

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Welcome to the technique log pop! Today you should have arrived from Lauren’s blog, however if you started here no worries, it’s a big circle and you will make it back there.

Today in the Let’s Flock Together Facebook group, we played with heat embossing. I have a number of samples that I show you how to do on video, and it was a lot of fun!

Today’s card uses just one of the examples of how you can use heat embossing in different ways. And this one was a crafting oops! (But I LOVE how it turned out!)

I used the silver embossing powder and did 3 layers, and tried stamping the hello, to press it into the heated powder, however, it wasn’t thick enough yet. So, I added a few more layers, and it half worked. I had more pressure on the O than I did the H, so I heated it up, and was going to stamp it again, and when I did that, the powder became smooth, and the stamped Hello turned black! I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this turned out! Crafting oopses are fun sometimes, right?

I used pattern 20 from the MIFYH Volume 4 book, and this card came together in no time at all! (It’s taken longer to type the blog post than it did to make the card! LOVE that!)

I hope you like my little discovery! I would love it if you left a note below, before you hopped along to Miss Carrie’s blog!

Oh, and by the way, this is what it was SUPPOSED to look like! LOL!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Michelle

These are My People Blog Hop

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Thanks for joining us on the These are my People blog hop! Today you should have arrived from Becca’s blog. If you started here, don’t worry, it’s a big circle, so you will get back to Becca’s blog!

This fun layout is created with the These are my People papers and sticker sheet! It was super easy to put together, with the use of the free sketch on the Make it from your Heart blog! This page came from Moondoggie, so many years ago, and was re-shared a few years ago for NAM, and we used it this weekend for a zoom Virtual Crop over in the Let’s Flock Together FB group! All of the ladies used this same page, and everyone used a different paper, and the pages all turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!

These stickers made putting the extras on this two page layout a cinch!

Like I said, the page was EASY to put together! I know you could do something similar with this paper pack or any other! I would love to hear what you think about it! Leave me a quick note, and then head over to Valerie’s blog to see what she has for you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Can’t get enough of this Music!

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Happy Wednesday! Today Danielle and I used inspiration from the CTMH blog, Make it from your Heart. This layout (and the cards on the blog post as well) has a shaker bit on it. I did not do that part, but had fun with taking the rest of it into play!

If you remember, the layouts are going towards a mini album for the trip we had to NYC. This page is going to be about the concert we went to at Irving Plaza. I probably should have gone with red instead of glacier, but I liked this color! LOL!! I plan on printing out a nice copy of the logo for them, and putting it onto the left page as part of my title. (that’s why there is a big space there!)

I used the stamp set Can’t Get Enough for every bit of stamping on this mini layout! It has a little bit of everything in it, and I am LOVING it!

I even stamped lines (also from the stamp set) in linen ink on the right page for the journaling! I love that they will essentially disappear when I get the journaling down!

There are three different watercolor swooshes in this stamp set, and I used the smallest one, and ‘tucked’ it under the photo and mat, so that it only emphasized the word MUSIC.

All in all, I am super happy with how this layout turned out! It only uses cardstock, which is fun to do sometimes!

I would love to hear your thoughts on this! What else would YOU add? After you leave a comment, hop on over to Danielle’s blog to see what SHE did with this inspiration!

CTMH Items used:
Black cardstock
Glacier Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Can’t Get Enough Stamp Set
Archival Black Ink
Glacier Ink
Linen Ink
Tombow Tape Runner
Fiskars Paper Trimmer