Friends Make Everything So Much Better

I love the stamp set I am showing you today.  The flowers are so fun and easy to color.

I've used three Shinhan markers to color the flower - Leaf Green, Golden Yellow, and Peony Purple.  I used the blender to remove a little color from the petals.  When you are coloring with alcohol markers, be sure to stamp your image with Memento ink so that the colors don't run.  A little purple shimmer trim and purple glitter hearts, and this card was done.  It's a pretty little card and sure to make someone happy!

I've been waiting for a set that has a sister sentiment, and that is also in this set called Friend in Me.

This is a keeper for me, and it was such a great price at $13,.95!

Don't forget - it's Stampaganza month!  

Buy any two stamps sets and get one of equal or lesser value FREE!!

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Easter Card Kit

Over the years I have made card kits for Easter, and although the paper and stamps are different, there is always one thing that stays the same.  I keep Easter cards simple so that the thought behind the card is always our Risen Savior.  Easter is my very favorite holiday.  I love the time of reflection before during the Lenten season.

I did something unique with this kit - I used retired stamps.  Perhaps it is because lilies are my favorite flower or maybe it's because I love the simplicity.  The inside of the card is stamped with the sentiment "May His love fill your heart."  

This card will come to you pre-stamped in black and white.  Markers are included in the kit so that you can color your images.  I will include some tips for coloring these images easily.
(There is an option if you'd like me to color your images.)

The $16 kit includes (With this option, the card bases, envelopes, and cardstock are free):

• (4) 4" x 4" card bases and envelopes
• Pre-cut White Daisy and Thistle cardstock
• Pre-stamped images and sentiments
• Leaf Green Shinhan Twin Touch Marker
• Golden Yellow Shinhan Twin Touch Marker
• 12 Bitty Sparkles
• Shipping

The $10 kit includes:

• (4) 4" x 4"card bases and envelopes
• Pre-cut White Daisy and Thistle cardstock
• Pre-stamped  AND COLORED images and sentiments
• 12 Bitty Sparkles
• Shipping

Easter Card Kit

Kit with Markers and Shipping $16.00 USD Kit Pre-Colored with Shipping $10.00 USD

Please order your kit by Tuesday, March 8th, so that I can get them to you in time for Easter!

Thank you so much for stopping in today!

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Thanks For the Lift!

Did you know that there are some Spring items in the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide?  The Lifting Spirits stamp set landed on my doorstep last week, and I have been wanting to ink it up to show you how fun the Spring product is, too!  I used the sketch from The Paper Players for this card.

Now who wouldn't love getting this balloon in the mail?  The clouds, balloon, and banners are a part of the Lifting Spirits stamp set.  I didn't use a lot of patterned paper on this card  - just a little Chantilly and Surf's Up.  I've colored the banners and balloon with Buttercup, Sky, and Sorbet markers after stamping the images with chocolate pigment ink.  Do you see that woodgrain pattern?  That is one of the washi tapes in the book, and I will be using that one a lot!  I brought out the white core in our paper by sanding the dots after dry embossing.

If you don't have your Holiday Guide yet, you can view it online HERE.  The fun thing about going to this link is that you will also find the recipes for the projects in the current Idea Books!

Thanks for stopping in today and giving me a lift!

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Thanks a Bunch

I am back again today with another card.  I found a great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, and I wanted to give it a go.

I so loved putsing over this card and decided to make one for each of my team members that completes my May challenge.  Let me tell you how I made it.  This is the June Stamp of the Month (so you are getting a peek!), and I stamped the flower garden image with olive pigment ink.  From there, I colored the flowers and leaves with alcohol markers.  I used pear, ruby, sorbet, lagoon, blush, and gypsy.  I grabbed my texture tools and used the sea foam with pear ink to make the grass and the stipple brush with sky ink to create the sky.  The strip of green paper is from Chantilly, and I've added washi tape and silver shimmer trim.

I hope you've been having a great week!
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Muslin Bag

I am teaching a class tonight and tomorrow night on misting with the Close To My Heart spray pens.  I wanted to show other examples of what can be done with this fabulous tool, and this is just one of my other ideas.

I misted one of our muslin bags using a mixture of alcohol, desert sand re-inker, and water.  I have found that the alcohol helps the mist "set" and dry just a little faster.  The base color is vintage-y because I wanted to use these great stamps from the Fabulous You stamp set.  If you look closely, you see I've stamped a harlequin pattern in the background using creme brulee pigment ink.  I used cocoa pigment ink to stamp the bird stamp and sentiment.  Pigment is pretty important, I think, when stamping on these bags.  You get just a little more definition and richer color.  Pigment is not an instant dry like dye ink, but by the time I got the harlequin stamp cleaned, I was ready to stamp the bird.

Now, to color the bird and flowers, I used alcohol markers.  Before coloring, I slide two pieces of white scrap paper inside the bag.  Alcohol markers will seep through, so you want to make sure that you are protecting your piece.  I used blush, sorbet, and indian corn blue markers.  That looks just like the little bluebird from my backyard.  

What a fun little gift bag to give to a friend!!

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Friendship

Do you know that it's just 

3. More. Sleeps.

until my husband and I leave for the Southern Caribbean cruise?!  

I am not packed (I have always been a "last day" packer).

I don't have my documents printed yet (but I did register us, so it's just a matter of hitting the "print" button).

Instead, I am in my craft room just enjoying some time creating!

Heart 2 Heart has a fancy fold challenge going on, and I was so happy to see that!  I have been thinking about the Joy Fold card lately, and this prompted me to finally sit down and put one together.  I haven't made one of these in years, and I don't know why.  They are so pretty!  

I think the best thing about this card is the ribbon.  I've used Color-Ready Seam Binding and colored it with a Sorbet Alcohol Marker.  Oh, Sorbet is such a pretty color for spring!  The next photo will help you see what it looks like when it's opened.  The paper is just so lovely!

Lest you be worried about me, I really have been preparing for our upcoming cruise!

My hair has been cut and colored.

I've been tanning for a couple of weeks.
Mani-Pedi appointment for Friday afternoon.

My fancy dresses and shoes have been purchased for formal night (and are they ever fancy!).

The house sitter, dog sitter, cat sitter are in place.

And I am over-the-top-cannot-wait-to-get-on-that-ship excited!!

Watch for my post tomorrow because you are going to love my personal special!  

It's just my way of saying a 

BIG. THANK. YOU.

for the part you played in helping me earn the cruise!!

Items used on this card:

• X7156B   Clementine Paper
• X7156C   Clementine Canvas Shapes
• Z1794      Cottage Assortment
• Z2407      Sorbet Alcohol Marker
• Z1732      Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon
• Z1369      Sorbet Buttons

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Happy Thanksgiving

I have much to do in my office today, but sometimes you just have to stop and play.  That is what I did this morning!  I took out my pigment towers and decided to use alcohol markers with them.  This gorgeous set is called Abundance and without a doubt, the most gorgeous Thanksgiving set I've ever seen.

I stamped the image with Cocoa pigment ink, and I stamped the sentiment with Barn Red pigment ink.  I also sponged the edges with Barn Red and used my stubble texture tool to add a little depth.  The marker colors I used are Autumn Terracotta, Smokey Plum, Eggplant, Ruby, Olive, and Honey.  Because our Basic colors are not available yet (Good thing come to those who wait!!  And aren't we glad that Close To My Heart takes the time necessary to bring us the perfect product?), I mixed Autumn Terracotta and Olive to get brown.  I so love Thanksgiving, and the end result was that this card soothes me...the color, the technique, the thoughts of a turkey in the oven with my apple pecan stuffing.  Sometimes we just need to step back and play with our supplies even if there is work to do!

I am going to enter this card into three challenges:

• 2 Sisters Challenge Blog - Halloween/Fall Colors
• The Ribbon Girl - Autumn Photo Inspiration
• There She Goes - Pumpkin Spice Coffee Inspiration

Clearly the Best: Alcohol Marker Madness

Over the next few days, I want to share some videos with you.  I don't know if you are aware of this, but Close To My Heart is doing a weekly segment on My Craft Channel.  They are so informative that I know you are going to love watching them!  I will follow each video with a piece of related artwork, so I hope you enjoy the next few days!



This is a card I created for the Alcohol Marker class I had last month.

By and far, it was the favorite of the class, and I think that's because it shows good use of base and shade with our sets of alcohol markers.  The intricacy in the design of the stamps helps this card look as though the flowers are jumping off the page.  You will see more of this stamp set, Happy Valentine's Day, as it the January Stamp of the Month.  These markers are SO MUCH FUN to play with, and I look at stamps in a whole new light now!  I love how easily the blend and create a beautiful project.

Thanks so much for visiting, and I'll see you tomorrow with another video!

Cut it Up Challenge #2

Did you have fun playing with the first challenge at Cut it Up?  I sure had fun looking at all of your work!  Time for the next challenge!  We'd like to see you create something with a die cut using this photo as your inspiration:

Here is what I created for you as an example:

I used the Cricut Artiste cartridge to cut this CUTE little box with Moonlight paper.  It reminds me of animal crackers - what do you think?  I made a border strip for the box using the September Stamp of the Month, Fall Favorites.  I colored the images using the CTMH alcohol-based markers honey and autumn terracotta.  I added a little twine from one of our sponsors this challenge, Trendy Twine, and the button and flower finished off the box.  Quick and easy!!

Trendy Twine and My Thoughts Exactly have put together this prize package for the winner of this challenge:

I hope to see you play along at this fun fall-themed challenge!!

I am entering this into the following challenges:

• Party-Time Tuesdays - photo inspiration
• Inspired By - photo inspiration
• Papertake Weekly - autumn theme

My Pick O' the Patch

Fall photos are some of my favorite to scrap.  I think it's the rich colors of autumn that just make me happy!
I wanted to show you today how easy it is to use the September Stamp of the Month, Fall Favorites, on a layout.

Where did this little boy go?  As the mother of an adult child, I am so glad that I was never a chronological scrapbooker.  I really enjoy going back, looking through these memories, and putting them to paper now.

I know many people are hesitant to incorporate stamping into a layout.  Let me tell you about all the stamping I did on this layout.  The leaves at the top are from the stamp set Harvest Happiness.  The rest of the stamps - border, scarecrow, pumpkins, "fall," jounraling spot, and "pick o'the patch," are all from the September Stamp of the Month.  Because of all the coloring that I did with the awesome alcohol markers, there wasn't a need for printed paper or even a lot of matting. (If you'd like to see the coloring a little better, just click on the photo to make it larger.) The burlap ribbon lends itself well to this stamp set, don't you think?

I think you might see a lot more of this stamp set.  It's just so cute and a lot of fun to use!!  I am going to enter this into a challenge:

• Shopping Our Stash - wooden element

Life is Good

I'll be sharing more about the September Specials tomorrow, but I wanted to bring this card to you today.  It  our combines both the September Stamp of the Month (Fall Favorites) with the National Stamping Month special (It's Your Day).

I can't get enough of this scarecrow!  He is just so cute!!  I can't wait for you to try our new markers.  They are just so much fun to work with, and they colored this card simply and quickly.

I created this card using Kraft cardstock, a little Clementine strip, and a circle of Indian Corn Blue cardstock.  I've stamped the circle with the grid pattern from Universal Backgrounds.  Let's see, the markers I've used in both base and shade are Autumn Terracotta, Honey, Indian Corn Blue, Olive, and Smokey Plum.  I finished the card with a little piece of Burlap Ribbon and some hemp.

I hope that you've had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  It has been just beautiful here in my neck of the woods in Minnesota.  Labor Day plans include an afternoon on the boat, so I am looking forward to that!  Thanks for stopping by and visiting!

Alcohol Marker Coloring Class

Have you heard?  Close To My Heart carries alcohol markers now!  They come in 40 colors (wow!), and let me tell you a few things about them.

• 40 colors
• Each color comes in a set of 2 markers in coordinating base and shade
• Each marker is dual-tipped; one end is a brush marker and one end is a bullet tip.
• Set of 2 markers is just $5.95

I am having two classes in September to teach how to color with these wonderful markers!  Here are the four cards we will be making:

Each card uses a little different technique, and I am super excited to show you!  Here are the details:

Dates & Times:

• Sunday, September 16 at 4:00 pm, or
• Tuesday, September 18 at 6:30 pm

Location:

• My home

Cost:

• $20

Includes:

• Set of Olive Markers
• Alcohol Blending Pen
• All pre-cut paper and necessary supplies to make 4 cards

Bring:

• Yourself and a bottled beverage - that's it!

Class size is limited to 8 people per class.  This class will sell out quickly (and is already filling!) so be sure to sign up as soon as possible!