Creative Basics Mistletoe and Card Patterns Sketch 90

I enjoy creating cards using a sketch pattern and this one came pretty easily to me.

I used a 3/4" paper punch to stamp out ornaments from the Creative Basics Mistletoe patterned paper from Close To My Heart and glued them onto a cranberry CS strip.  The same ornament paper was glued onto cranberry CS and then punched with a square scallop punch.  The greeting from D1324 Christmas Melodies was stamped in Cranberry Ink on Garden Green CS.  The cardfront was texturized with a scrunched up piece of plastic wrap and Garden Green Ink. It was pretty simple and fun to do!  You can join in on the challenge here.

November Stamp of the Month and Card Pattern Sketch #89

I've had a lot of fun lately playing with Close To My Heart's November Stamp of the Month called "A Little Thanks".  The stamp set is pictured here:

It is a very versatile set which is only available during November 2010.  The price depends upon how much other CTMH product you purchase and can range from $22.95 to FREE with a $100 purchase.  In addition Close To My Heart is extending thanks to those customers who spend $100 and offering a stamp set of their choice for FREE also.  You can get 2 stamp sets for FREE this month.  It is a very good deal! You can check out the catalog through my website.

Here are some cards that I've made from this set.  The first one follows Card Patterns Sketch 89:

I used Olivia papers, Barn Red CS, Barn Red Ink and Autumn Terracotta brads.  (The flowers were made with a Martha Stewart punch.) It was very quick to do.

The next card uses Sunset Ink, Barn Red Ink and CS and some gold edged ribbon.

The third card features Splendor paper, Moonstruck CS, Topiary CS and Goldrush Ink.  Cream opaques sit on top of the green buttons.

The next card features Magnifique papers and Pacifica Ink:

The last of these cards features paper from the Creative Basics Mistletoe Collection.and Cranberry Ink.  (The flourished square frame is a Martha Stewart punch.).

Thanks for visiting my blogsite!

Happy Halloween!

These cards were so much fun to make!  I couldn't decide which one to enter in the H2H challenge this week so I'm posting all of my 2010 Halloween cards here. All of these cards were made with Close To My Heart "Thriller" stamp set which was the September Stamp of the Month set.  The first card uses Grey Wool and Vineyard Berry Ink.  The skull was stamped on white with Versamark ink and then chalked with vineyard berry chalk.

The second card has a clear window.  The outside frame was stamped using black Stazon ink on a piece of Xyron laminate.  The inside was stamped in Grey Flannel Ink and the pumpkin colored in with Sunset Marker.  The polka dot print is from the Olivia Level 2 Paper Set. The Happy Haunting greeting was stamped with Gypsy Ink.

The next card features a Clear Card and a bleaching technique to achieve the white skull face.  First a piece of white paper was brayered with Pear Ink and then embossed with Black embossing powder.  I used a Q-tip and some bleach to remove the green color from the skull face.  This element was then sponged with black ink. This is mounted on the outside of the clear card while the randomly stamped images and eyeball ribbon trim are on the inside of the card.  Red sparkles and cream opaques accent the card.

The final card uses Pear, Sunset and Pansy Purple Inks and Pansy Purple embossing powder.  I sponged white photo mounting corners with Pansy Purple Ink to frame the skull.  Pansy Purple and Sunset cardstock paper was used. The green polka dot print is from the Olivia Paper Set.

Wishing you all a spooky and spectacular Halloween filled with lots of fun! 

Ruffled Lace, Clear Sparkles and a Clear Button for Card Pattern Sketch 87

I enjoy challenging myself to create cards to share on various stamping related blogsites. I have learned so much from others and I'm glad that I have the opportunity to pass on some good ideas.  This week the Card Pattern Sketch 87 looks like this:

My interpretation looks like this:

There is a fan looking corner stamp in the CTMH Triple Play stamp set which was stamped twice to make the half circle.  I stamped with Pacifica Ink on Lagoon cardstock (LOVE these 2 new colors!).   I also stamped on a small piece of Lagoon CS and used a circle punch to cut it out and attached it to the clear button using CTMH Bonding Memories Glue Pen which dries clear.  I looked through my shoebox full of ribbon and found this white irridescent ruffled lace which I attached using my sewing machine to Pacifica cardstock. Then I glued the Pacifica CS onto a White Daisy folded card. Last I took out my set of clear adhesive sparkles and stuck them on the card.  (When I went to photograph this card the sparkles appeared uneven and too bright so I used my scanner which created the shadow on the top left corner.)  Do you think I have too many sparkles or not enough?  Your comments are always appreciated.  Thanks for stopping by!

Card Pattern Challenge Sketch 86

This is the first time I am participating in the Card Pattern weekly challenge.  We were invited to make a card using the following sketch:

Here is my entry:

 All products are from Close To My Heart.  I used Magnifique patterned paper, Lagoon and Pacifica cardstock on Colonial White paper.  The thank you greeting is from C1220 You're Special set.  I used Lagoon Ink and then stamped again with Versamark Ink and embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel (retired CTMH product.).  The three elements on the lower right corner were made with a pencil eraser tip stamped in lagoon and then again with versamark and embossed with Polysparkle Tinsel.  Don't they look like real sparkle brads?

Flourished Blessings with Clear Embossing Technique

Here are two cards that I made using a clear embossing technique over Splendor paper.  First I stamped the leaf image (D1379 Flourished Blessings) onto the patterned paper with Versamark Ink.  Next I applied CTMH Clear Embossing Powder and heat set with our craft heater. After that I used a sponge dauber with either Chocolate stamp pad or Topiary stamp pad to rub ink into the grooves of the stamped image and around the stamped image to provide contrast from the original paper print which shows in the leaf image.  The first card uses Colonial White as the base with Goldrush and Pansy Purple cardstock and Chocolate ink.  The second card uses Colonial White as the base with Garden Green and Autumn Terracotta cardstock and Topiary Ink.  Close To My Heart has such beautiful patterned papers that this technique can be used with--let your imagination run free with this easy yet stunning technique!

Super Simple Birthday Card

Here is a very simple birthday card to make using our fabulous new Magnifique papers. Use a .5" of Pacifica CS and glue it .25" from the left side vertically.  Cut a 3.25" of striped paper and overlap the Pacifica stripe. Cut a .75" strip of patterned paper and glue it horizontally across card front about 1.5" from the top. Stamp "Happy Birthday" from D1187 For Every Occasion stamp set onto Lagoon CS with Pacifica Ink. Use your favorite tool to cut into an oval shape. (I used the Coluzzle cutting system). Sponge the edge with White Daisy ink and glue it onto the card centered over the horizontal stripe. How easy was that?





Halloween Treat with Matchbook Cover

Here is a cute way to use your stamps for Halloween.  Make a matchbook cover and staple your candy bag inside it.  It is really quick and simple to do.  Cut a piece of cardstock [Sunflower is used here] 3" by 9.25.  Score it at .75", 4.75" and 5.25".  Then stamp an image on the front and back and perhaps the top spine and bottom flap.  I used CTMH September Stamp of the Month, "Thriller." I double stamped the skull image slightly off to give it an eerie appearance.  I used Cotton Candy Ink and Gypsy Ink.  When the stamping is done, staple a bag of snack size candy to the inside--I used M & M's here.  As a business promotion, you could even place your business card inside to show your neighbors where they could learn to do this also.

Fall Card Workshop--Make 20 beautiful greeting cards with a fall theme!

Here is a photo of all the cards we will be creating in my Fall Card Workshop on Wednesday, October 13 at 1:30 PM and at 7 PM.  If you are in the Hunterdon, Warren or Somerset NJ county areas and would like to attend please email me at mflayer@comcast.net.  The fee is $10 and all materials will be supplied including envelopes. (Where else can you purchase 20 greeting cards for $.50 apiece?) You must RSVP by Monday, October 11 so I can be sure to have enough supplies ready.  (Can't make the workshop but would like to make the cards--I can send all the card elements with the directions.  Email me if you are interested in that option.)

These cards were made from the Olivia Workshop on the Go set (G1013) from Close To My Heart.  The cardstock colors used are and Barn Red and Honey for the greetings.  Ink colors used are Barn Red for the greetings and Sunset and Barn Red for sponging the backgrounds.  I used my favorite greeting set--D1187 For Every Occasion which says just about everything! (if you don't have it and now "need" it you can order it through my CTMH website--just click the button on the right.)  I used an oak leaf punch for small embellishments and leaf stamps from the Olivia Workshop on the Go set and some Glitz Glitter Gel (Z1313) to make some of the elements sparkle.  I LOVE the Olivia papers!

My first H2H challenge

Last week I joined the H2H Challenge and participated in a "Sketch" Challenge.  We were to copy a diagram with our own design elements.  I enjoyed it so much that I posted 2 cards.  Here they are:

Sketch:

                                                 
Snow Friends Card:

This card was made with only CTMH products.  The colors used were Pacifica, black, sky and white daisy.  The stamp set is D1244 Snow Friends. A cranberry marker was used to color the cardinal and hat. Although the embellishments may look like eyelets, they are red or clear sparkles on the stamped image.  On the black strip white Opaques Adhesive Gems were used.

Circle of Love Card:

I love the Circle of Love Stamp set (D1438)!  It has 2 greetings, 1 frame, 2 flourishes, 1 small heart, 2 focal images--feather and Peacock--a very versatile new set!  Many CTMH new colors were used here also: Cotton Candy, Lagoon and Pacifica.  Lagoon ink was used to stamp the feather stamp.  Clear sparkles appear on the Pacifica stripe.

Feel free to leave comments. Thanks for looking! :)

Coming soon--this blogsite is under construction!

Come back to visit again soon and hopefully I'll have something fun to share with you.