Some Kinda Wonderful

Happy March! and welcome to my workshop projects this month! We are gearing up for them to be Some Kinda Wonderful... full of bold, bright and beautiful, not to mention all that makes you happy.

Today I am sharing a preview of some of the layouts my workshop attendees have already created with this fun range of Close To My Heart products. We have celebrated friendship and have prepared pages in readiness for our Easter photos and there is still more fun to be had!

Don't you just love the cute cat and fox stickers from the Some Kinda Wonderful Complements Pack - they just look super sweet together! I extended the papers from the Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Pack with the Whimsy Fundamental Paper Pack... the very best feature of the Close To My Heart paper range is the way they all compliment each other and this collection is no exception!

Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Pack - X7217B  and Complements Pack - X7217C

 

 I followed the same sketch format for this Easter Layout and for this layout I extended the embellishments from the Some Kinda Wonderful Complements Pack with assorted Cricut cut shapes, the Title can be found on the Flower Market Cartridge. I then combined them with lovely Butterfly images stamped and cut from the Dreamin’ Big Cardmaking Thin Cuts Bundle. I am a huge fan of Thin Cuts, they are another fast and easy way to cut all kinds of shapes to embellish your crafting projects and this month you will find a huge variety of them available to purchase for 25% off retail price in my Online Shop.

I love meeting new crafting friends and you are very welcome to attend my workshop events - the next one is Saturday 18th March and we will be having more Some Kinda Wonderful fun.... you will find all the registration details on my Facebook Page...simply click here.

Happy Crafting - see you soon!
Chris xx

 

Treats for Everyone!

Thank you for your patience over the last couple of weeks while I have been making changes to my blog... I think we are almost there and back on track. I've still been crafting behind the scenes and will try and update you on my creations over the next few days. You will notice that I now have a page listing some of my kits that are available to purchase. It will make it easier for those of you unable to attend my workshops.

June as also brought with it a new Stamp of the Month called Ice-cream Dream which is such a treat!

This is the ideal stamp set for those of who love to the colour and our Shin-Han Markers are just perfect for this. I used a combination of my favourite colours to create this card.

ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Cherry Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Tender Pink Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Pastel Peach Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Barely Beige Marker
ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Clay Marker

Along with my favourite marker colours, I combined the Stamp of the Month with what has fast become my most used stamp set - a D size set with 37 images and a sentiment for every occasion. This month's Stamp of the Month can also be paired up with the Treats of Friendship to create really "yummy" art work. I used the same colour combination of Shin-Han Markers for colouring the images as the previous card. However, I added some depth to the donut image with a touch of the ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Light Orange Marker and the Colourless Blender Marker to soften the colours.

When colouring with alcohol markers it is important you make "friends" with your ink and Colourless Blender ... you will notice that I didn't wait long enough for the Archival Black Ink to dry and this caused some slight smudging of the outline when I started to colour with the markers. The name Colourless Blender is a little misleading as it isn't the "magic marker" that will blend two or more colours together it actually re-wets the maker ink ( that as already been applied to the paper ) meaning you can manipulate and push ink/colour around and erase away portions of marker ink already laid down. I always suggest treading carefully with its use, so you don't end up wetting your paper too much and pushing colour outside the outline of the image... it does take practise!

 

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend and have time to enjoy some colouring fun of you own.

 

Seasonal Expressions #2 - Blog Hop

This blog hop is featuring  products in Close To My Heart's recently released  Seasonal Expressions Idea Book/Catalogue #2- whatever season you are experiencing in your life - birthdays, holidays, anniversaries...you are in the right place to find the perfect artistic tool for preserving and celebrating your memories. The Seasonal Expressions products debuted on the 1st April and are available right through until the 31st March 2015.
 

If you have come here from Tracey Pierce's Blog  you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here...with me and work your way all around. If you get lost along the way, you'll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog – simply click here.

 

This month we have over 40 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations featuring these new products combined with other wonderful Close To My Heart products on their blogs. Be sure to check out all the fabulous art work they have to share - just click on the link at the end of this post to begin the journey!

The Seasonal Expressions is jammed pack with so many adorable goodies that I found it difficult to decide which one to feature today. However, being a huge fan of Mini Albums and an Embellishment addict! I thought I would combine my love of both.

Two new Mini Albums were introduced this month - the My Creations™ Mini Folio and the My Creations™ Mini Mix Album.The Mini Mix Album is a cute album that includes a mix of vellum, white cardstock, and kraft (4" x 4") pages with a white chipboard cover. I thought it would make a lovely birthday gift for my BFF and set about pre-decorating the pages in readiness to add photos.

The cover was decorated with papers from the Blossom Paper Pack, a title... cut from the font included with the Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection, some Oceanside & Coral Reef Sequins... then some of the gorgeous new metal/enamel pieces from the Blossom Assortment were added to the cover design to give it that perfect finishing touch!!

One of my favourite products released in the new Seasonal Expressions is the Carnival Washi Tape Pack - it contains 3 rolls of washi tape including a label based tape with 8 different sentiments making them ideal to cut, trim and alter for a variety of projects... again, perfect for my Friendship Mini Album!

For these pages I also "tore" one of the vellum pages from the album and cut to size to use as a journaling or photo mat. The little heart shape is also from one of the newly released embellishment packs - the Bubbly Enamel Shapes. I used more of the Carnival Washi Tape label sentiments along with some Blossom Complements stickers and sequins to decorate some of the other pages in this album.

I'd love to show you more pages in this album but I don't want to spoil all the surprises for my friend!! - I hope you have enjoyed these little "sneek" peaks"?!

Thanks for visiting my blog and if you haven't already been there or started from the very beginning of this blog hop?? -  now is the time to "Hop" on over to the lovely Catherine Nowak's Blog  to see what she has created...and don't forget to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to check out some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! 

April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

  

 

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

We are featuring the April Stamp of the Month - called Typed Note...it is jammed packed with 19 individual stamp images.  If you have come here from Chris Robertson's blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here with me and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog - simply click here.

This month we have almost 70  Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations featuring the Stamp of the Month combined with lots of other wonderful Close To My Heart products. Be sure to check out all the fabulous art work everyone has to share - just click on the link at the end of this post to begin the journey!

I love Close To My Heart's Stamp of the Month concept and the stamp sets offered are amazing! ...  not only can you purchase them at a discount price but they are some of the most versatile stamp sets you will ever add to your collections. This set is "jammed packed" with sentiments - there is certainly something for every occasion and the distressed typewriter image is the perfect icon to showcase them. I have become a little addicted to this stamp set as you will see from the cards I am sharing today.

April is also the beginning of the Seasonal Expressions #2 /  mini idea book/catalogue and the release of some fabulous new products including the Blossom Paper Pack and the Friendly Pets stamp set I have used for this card.

I have been using lots of Picture My Life™ cards in my projects lately and have even enjoyed making my own versions with different background stamps. The textured background used in this card design was one of these creations. I stamped a 4" x 3" rectangle of White Daisy Cardstock with one of the images from the Distressed Backgrounds using Black Ink then cut each of the corners with the Corner Rounder. The cute little cat was stamped and paper pieced with papers from the Scaredy Cat Paper Pack and the "new"  Blossom Paper Pack - a puffy heart sticker was added from the  Chalk It Up Assortment for some additional cuteness. All the faux stitching was done using the Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen - the .5mm fine tip is fabulous for tiny precision detail.

... and just so you know how addicted I am to this month's Stamp of the Month here is a collection of cards I whipped up in just a few minutes... following similar sketch patterns with the Fundamental Paper Assortments - quick, easy and lots of fun!

Thanks for visiting my blog and taking a "peek" at my card projects..... and if you haven't already been there?? -  now is the time to "Hop" on over to Beth Naumann's  blog and see the art work she has created for you... don't forget to visit all the other Consultants at their blogs to view some great crafting inspiration and fun ideas! Remember, the Stamp of the Month is only available until the end of February!  Contact your Close To My Heart Consultant (or click here) to see how you can purchase this stamp set and receive a discount!....order now and create your own "Typed Notes"!

 

Pretty Petals

I've just spent the most wonderful 3 day weekend playing and sharing all things crafty with my Close To My Heart community of friends - we inked and embossed up a storm....and as quoted by one friend - had the "most funest time ever"!

This is one of my cards from the weekend combining both wet and dry embossing techniques, some ink play and a lovely floral stamp set called Pretty Petals - which is also one of our Cricut compatible stamp sets.

 The glossy black flower was created with Black Pigment ink and Clear Embossing Powder. The flower image had been stamped onto some white cardstock I had customised earlier with Pixie and Canary ink. To create this unique patterned paper I smeared the 2 colours of ink onto my All Purpose Mat then spritzed with water and salt, which in turned created a nice spotty effect.... it is also the salt that gives the embossed flower it's glittery appearance. I LOVE playing with my inks to produce these special effects and I'd love to show you how too! - simply contact me at lotfam@iinet.net.au to book your own creative playtime session.

 

I used the Score Board to create the dry-embossed waffle pattern on the Canary and Hollyhock  - the ¹/₈" score increments on the board can be used in various combinations simply by using the Scoring Tool (included with the board) to make linear patterns.

 

 

The card design was finished off with a thin sliver of Black Shimmer Trim on top of a border created with the Scallop Border Punch and some faux stitching using the Black Journalling Pen.

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today - I hope you have had a wonderful Monday and I'll be back during the week with some more Close To My Heart goodness to share with you.



Friday Friend Feature #3

Today is the 3rd instalment of my Friday Friend Feature…each and every Friday I will be featuring art work created by my Crafty Friends using Close To My Heart products. This art work will be created by consultants in my team, paper craft designer friends and others from my circle of scrapping and card making buddies – all have amazing talents and a love for all that is crafty… I know they will inspire you to use these wonderful products in ways you never would have imagined.

Today’s sweet crafting comes from one of my online designer friends Alicia who creates... simply, because it makes her happy. Alicia and I belong to an online crafting community and her card making is very inspiring. Alicia is sharing a set of 3 delightful cards featuring one of our Hostess Reward Stamp Sets called Sweet As Sugar.

After earning Hostess Rewards at your qualifying gathering you can "treat" yourself to some discounted stamp sets making your hostess credit stretch even further. The Sweet As Sugar set features 12 images and would normally retail for $27 however, as a Hostess Reward you can purchase it for only $14!!....take a look at what Alicia has created using this set....her cards are certainly very sweet!!

The "lolly jar" images were stamped on a combination of papers from the Brushed Paper Pack and the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment. Although there are images included in this set to fill the jars, Alicia chose to use a mixture of embellishments instead - very cute and clever!

The Embellishments featured on this card are all available in my Online Shop and include some of my favourites Red Enamel Hearts, White Enamel Stars and puffy pink hearts from the Chalk It Up Assortment. Alicia's card bases were taken from the Daisy White Value Pack - 50 x  5 1/2" X 4 1/4" cards for $20....not only are they exceptional value but they are a great time saver for card makers.

If you would like to host a gathering and add this stamp set to your collection please send me a message at lotfam@iinet.net.au I'd love to help you earn discounted craft goodies! I'm also happy to announce that Alicia will be sharing her designs with us on a regular basis  and I would love you to leave some love & a message for her in the comments section below... and don't forget to check back next Friday for the 4th instalment of my Friday Friend Feature.

What ever this weekend has in store for you I hope you get to enjoy some crafting time!

A Sneaky Little Preview

I have been struggling to sleep ever since returning from the Close To My Heart Annual Convention in the USA. I was so inspired by my fellow consultants and now have millions & millions of ideas buzzing around in my head! I've also found it difficult to contain my excitement about all the new products being released on the 1st August - and today that excitement has burst it's bubble LOL! - well just enough to give you a "sneak peek" of some of my favourites - old & new combined together.

I'm a huge fan of the Picture My Life Scrapbooking Program a product jam packed with 122 double sided cards in 2 sizes -  3" x 4" and 4" x 6" and while they are a fabulous embellishment for this slip in style of album making, I also LOVE creating cards with them - even altering the size to showcase a particular design element or sentiment...but my biggest "Ah Hah" moment at Convention was when the amazing Extravaganza Teachers suggested altering the My Crush Books and treating the pages as decorative papers....Oh My! a whole new world suddenly appeared. This card uses papers from one of our original Crush Books and one of the new ones, to be released in just 4 short days!! I love how well they co-ordinate together. I'm a "tool collector" and as you can see I used my trusty Corner Rounder and Scallop Border Punch to create this card...and I am thrilled to say "watch this space" as I will have 2 new Border Punches to introduce to you in the coming days....they make very cool borders too!!....and how sweet are the metal flowers I used to embellish this card?? - I can see plenty of these flowers coming my way in future orders!! Stay tuned for further information on these ( and so much more!! ) in the coming days....and remember time has almost run-out to order your favourite products from the Feb - July 2014 Ideas Book, if there is anything you can't live without?? - you are best to visit my Online Shop Today!!
 

Friendship and Happiness

 

Recently I was asked the question - What is it about paper craft playtime that you love so much! My answer was simply two words "Friendship" and "Happiness". According to the academics ..."play is often described as a time when we feel most alive, yet we often take it for granted and may completely forget about it. But play isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. Play is as important to our physical and mental health as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising. It supercharges learning, helps us relieve stress, and connects us to others and the world around us. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable". and truly, that is exactly how I feel about the "time-out" I take to play with paper. It is my stress release, it's fun, pleasurable... and I have met and fostered life long friendships with so many others who also share a passion for this craft. It is what I love most about my Close To My Heart business the sharing, joy, laughter, and fun we have at our playtime gatherings and workshops. Along with meeting new people - these events promote bonding and certainly strengthen the sense of community. My closest friends are those that are in my "Crafty Chicks" team and we would love to welcome "new" friends into our little community....if you are feeling a bit lonely and need to nourish your heart with happiness then becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant may be just what you are looking for - click here to find out more....and if you check out the photos below, you can see the results of my latest playtime and moments of happiness.

 

I really enjoyed revisiting the world of Paper Dolls playing with this stamp set. It made me very nostalgic and took me back to my childhood where a lot of my creative play time was spent colouring in and making Paper Dolls....such fond memories!

 

I did colour my little doll in with a combination of Copic Markers and Close To My Heart Exclusive Ink Makers - I love how they complimented each other so well.

Copics Used:
Skin - E11, E01, E00, E000, R20, BV000
Jeans - B91, B93, B95,
Dress - R81, R83, R85

The other card I made was pieced together using the little scraps of cardstock left-over from my Paper Doll card. It was easy to make and I was so pleased with how it turned out. I also LOVE the sentiment on this card it speaks volumes and reinforces my feelings on friendship. I can see myself using the "You Are My Happy" stamp set trio on so many of my upcoming projects - if you would like a preview of what this stamp set offers check out this video and contact me if you would like to add one to your stamp collection.



If you would like to see what some of the "Crafty Chicks" in my team have been making in their playtime click on these blog links - JLou and ScrappyVee. These ladies have become very dear friends and their creativity inspires me every day...be sure to leave them some love when you visit their blogs.

 



Gorgeous Girls in Green!

....Yes! I know this is my first post for April, but please don't think I have been resting LOL!! I have just been a little behind in some design deadlines - (sadly, for confidentiality reasons I cannot share with you here)....but last week this is the list of everything I completed... 12 Scrapbook Layouts, 4 Cards, 2 Tags, 2 Off the Page Projects and 2 Paper Page Embellishments and this week, the count so far.. is 2  Gorgeous Girl in  Green Cards LOL!!

Both cards use one of my favourite colours - Green - but I seldom use it for anything other than, grass and leaves (when colouring my images). However, one of my "Scrappy Friends" suggested I try using it to colour clothing - I was  very inspired by one of her card creations... so I took her up on the challenge and here are the results.

The stamp is called "Waiting" and is from the Simply Gorjuss range - she was stamped ontoX-Press IT Blending Card  (available from Mad for Markers ) and coloured with the following:
Copics Used:
Skin: - E000, E01, E11 - Cheeks: - RV10
Hair: - E21, E25, E27, E49
Clothing: - Dress: BG93, BG96, BG99 - Jacket:YG93, YG95, YG97 - Tie: Y21, Y23,Y26
Boots: - E25, E27, E29

This card was made using a Saturated Canary Digi Image by Krista Smith - called "Blanche". I used the same colour combination to colour the image and create the card as my previous one of the Gorjuss "Waiting" girl - isn't it amazing how the same design sketch, same colours, same paper can look so different?

Copics Used:
Skin: - E000, E01, E11 - Cheeks/Lips: - RV10 - Eyeshadow: - YG93
Hair: - E13, E15, E17
Eyes: E33, E35
Clothing: - Dress:YG93, YG95, YG97 - Tie: Y21, Y23,Y26
Boots: - E25, E27, E29

I also wanted to share with you, a special little gift that arrived in my mail box this week. My BFF Judy and I, had been discussing the best way to remember all the Digital Images we had been purchasing - when she came up with the idea of creating a little book to catalogue them in.... and that could also be used  as a Copic journal.

This is the little book she made just for me! and of course it is Pink! - if you want to have a little peek at her book  and other journals she has created - check out her newly revamped blog - you will find it here....the books were made using a Bind-It-All and if you want to find out more about them, our friend Karen at scrap2relax will be happy to oblige! ;-) - I am now adding one to my collection of toys! Here is little look inside the pages of my journal....I love the black pages.

I hope you have enjoyed the little catch-up... on my "Creative Capers" and I will try not to leave it too long between posts, from now on :-)

Hugs to All


Lots of Kisses with Best Wishes

....Hello friends and "blog followers" while I share with you, my very last creation for 2011...I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for being such loyal followers... and for all your lovely comments throughout the year. Your kind words and encouragement are very much appreciated.

My final card of the year was created with another of my favourite Mo Manning  digital images - this Sweet Miss is called Kisses - and again perfect for the sentiment!

Copics Used:

Skin: E11, E00, E000
Cheeks/Lips: R20, RV42
Hair: Y21, Y23, Y26
Dress: R81, R83, R85/ Frilly Edge - C1, C3/ Ribbon BV000, BV00, BV02
Flowers/Leaves: R85, R81, Y08, YG41, YG45, YG67

The sentiment... is my own attempt at poetry LOL!! and was generated on the computer using the font CK Journalling. I added some Crystalina Kindy Glitz to the frilly petticoat and flowers... and used  Liquid Pearls (colour - Bisque) for the heart pendant. The papers are from a collection of 6 x 6 Paper Pads - Kaisercraft/Lilac Avenue, Echo Park/Victoria Garden and Imaginisce/Garden Party. The adhesive white lace trim was picked up at a little $2 type thrift shop and I so wish I had purchased more!! ;)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a busy lead up to Christmas with a mixture of happy and sad moments and as such, my plans of homemade Christmas cards for everyone... just didn't happen!! My idea, was to create a collection of cards based on Mo Manning's Christmas Cherubs Irma and Vieno.... some made it into the post - others didn't!....but I thought I would share them here, so you know my intentions were good LOL!!

They were all coloured in with variations of the following Copic colours:

Red: R22, R24, R27
Brown: E31, E33, E35, E37
Green: G03, G05, G07 - G14, G16, G19

The hats were all trimmed in Polar White - Flower Soft the diamond speckled range and the papers were all chosen in shades of green and red to tone in with my base cardstock of Creative Memories - Cranberry. They were all embellished with snowflake punches and rhinestones...and some liquid pearls added to the coat buttons.

I am looking forward to a much nicer start to 2012 and lots more time to create goodies to share with you.

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with Love, Happiness and many Special Memories.

I'm Back!!

....did you miss me??? - my apologies for taking so long to get back to the "world of blogging". The winter plays havoc with my "mo-jo" I find it so hard to get motivated when it is so cold and miserable...but I have managed some creative time. The past few months I have been busy doing some design work for Creative Memories and have been out and about teaching some scrapbooking ideas to consultants...it's been fun, but it is now time to get myself back into the "happy room" and spend some time with my Copics and my Camera!

There is no doubt Spring is my favourite time of the year - I love days filled with warm sunshine and a garden in full bloom. I thought I would share these photos of my cherry blossom - a beautiful sight to behold, when I open my curtains in the morning :)

I spent last weekend with some of my favourite scrapping buddies and this is one of the cards I created.

....when I first saw Mermaid Marci from La-La Land Craft Stamps I knew instantly that I wanted to give her beautiful mermaid tail, a shimmery look and with a bit of experimenting, I am really pleased with the effect I was able to achieve. I started by colouring the tail in with BG11, BG13, BG15 and my usual method of shading. Then over the top of this colouring I applied a thin coat of Tim Holtz Perfect Pearls ( Berry Twist mixed with water ) and finished it all off, by tracing over the tail image (scales) with clear Spica Pen. The effect was a little difficult to photograph, but if you have ever seen the children's book The Rainbow Fish this tail has the same wonderful shiny foil appearance :) I can't wait, to try this technique again, it would be perfect for all my princess & fairy themed stamps!



Copics Used:


Skin - E000, E00, E11 - Cheeks/Lips - R20
Hair - E31, E33, E35
Top & Star - R81, R83, R85
Tail - BG11, BG13, BG15 / Clear Spica Pen

...well now I am a back and the "mo-jo" is returning.... stay tuned for more regular posting :)

For the Luv of Art

Have you ever visited the wonderful world of  http://www.fortheluvofart.com/ ?? It is a wonderful online store for all your creative pursuits including a fun and inspiring forum community. For The Luv of Art nutures your creative needs through many artistic mediums - fabric, paper, ink, paints, stamps, digital software and the list goes on....and on!!!....The gallery is a gorgeous collection of art work from many talented ladies throughout the world....who love to share their work and special techniques. I LOVE "playing" there and if you are a Digital/Hybrid artist we would love to have you onboard too....and I encourage you to apply for the Creative Team call listed below. I can promise you a very warm welcome and plenty of inspiration.

SunKissed

Angel Hartline has teamed up with AnDi Designs & JW-DigiScraps to create Sun Kissed. It’s a beautiful kit made up of glorious shades of gold, green and purple....it is so full of "sunshine" it makes your heart sing....just looking at it makes me happy and I’ve already created a variety of layouts with this kit - and I know there are more to come.




If you want to add this kit to your collection too - visit http://www.digitalscrapbookingstudio.com

A Little Card Making

....well I am slowly on the mend - I'm heading into my 4th week of this flu and really and truly that is enough!!! - I've still managed some playtime - nothing big but very enjoyable thanks to my Sweet Friend Janet Carr of Little Feet Digital Designs and her brand new kit "Dear Sweet Friend". This kit is adorable and it inspired me to do a little hybrid card making. I had so much fun.... and when I made the "Friends" card it took me back to my childhood it was like cutting out paper dolls all over again!!!....I think I was always destined for paper and scissors :)



....this photo shows off the detail - I created these cards by printing off multiple 4 x 6 copies of each design - then I freehand cut around the main embellishments and adhered back over the top with some foam adhesive - just to give the cards a little
3D effect.











I really LOVE this kit...It has some wonderful "pink" touches ( just for me LOL!! ) but so many cute embellishments the stitched heart border and the little clothes line just for starters. I can't wait until I have some time to create some layouts with it....here is a sneak peak of the kit...and don't forget to pop on over to fortheluvofart.com where you can purchase it for yourself.

Olivia's Friend

....is the name of a beautiful new kit released today by Janet Carr Little Feet Digital Designs - it contains some gorgeous gingham paper, a fun flag banner, lovely word art and of my favourite - lots of shades of pink - here is preview of the kit - be sure to check it out at For the Luv of Art

and here are some layouts I did using the kit....love the fact that is suits so many different themes...