Happy Father's Day!

Guys are tough.  Not like, "tough", but tough to make cards for tough.  So I was pleased to see some "outdoorsy" themed papers and accessories to use for this year's Father's Day cards.  Something different than the plaid and pipe theme.

Close To My Heart Supplies Needed:

Timberline Papers (retired - use Jackson - X7195B)
Timberline Stickease (retired - use Jackson - X7195C) 
Timberline Assortment (retired - use Jackson - Z3071)
"You're The Best" Holiday Stamp (retired)
Inks - Chocolate - (Z2111), Goldrush - (Z2123), Juniper - (Z2165)
Sanding Kit (Z1294)
Durable Triangle Studs (retired)

Distressing is GOOD therapy!!

Zip strips tell us the color palette of the papers!!  Who knew?

Each of these cards uses the same basic background paper, distressed and placed on a card, then embellished with some different accents to highlight the man's personal interests and excellence.

For my husband - we like to camp.

Sentiment for my husband's card

Our son-in-law is an avid fisherman and outdoors man.

Our nephew, the veteran Marine, lives by the sea.

Our brother-in-law goes with the flow, camping and showing hospitality to everyone he meets.

Sentiment for our three guys

All of these men have brought a kaleidoscope of life to my world and it wouldn't be the same without them.  They are full of fun, devoted fathers and loving people.  Happy Father's Day to them all.

Hope you enjoy this post and have a wonderful day with your special men and families.  

Blessings,

Micah 6:8

Art Nouveau

Good morning!  This is a card I made for my daughter's birthday.  The lovely maiden is from the Art Nouveau collection. 

The Cricut die cuts offer an almost infinite assortment of shapes and fonts for the creative paper crafter.  You can download the handbook for this cartridge here.  While the die cuts offer great detail - down to the tiny lips and flower buds - they are also very time consuming.  The nice thing is, you can always use up those itty-bitty scraps, as long as you can get them to STICK to your cutting mat!

The inside of the card uses CTMH stamp "Your Kind Of Wonderful" (D1627), with inks in Goldrush (Z2123), Sunset (Z2191) and Topiary (Z2155).  The card itself is made of Colonial White cardstock (1388) 4"x9" (cut 8"x9" folded in half) and using corner rounders to create the card.  It fit perfectly in a regular letter sized envelope.

Using complex die cuts to create cards can be time consuming.  It results in beautiful one of a kind cards.  Each card, even using the same die cuts, yields different looks and can be tailored to the person for whom you are making it.  I hope you will be inspired to explore some of the Cricut designs you may have available to you.  Until next time!

Romans 8:28

Bittersweet Days

Sometimes in the midst of celebrating the joy of holidays, we also experience the bittersweet occasion of mourning the passing of a friend or family member.  Such was the case for us last month.  Here is the card I sent to the family.

Supplies needed:
Twilight Ink (retired)
Avonlea Papers (retired)
"Be Still" Stamp (A1141)
"Words of Comfort" Stamps (retired, suggest "Look to the Light" B1428)
Just Blooms Butterflies (retired)

I sanded the edges of the papers to give them a worn look.  The butterflies were daubed with a couple different colors of ink to match the paper color.  Inside, the card has a fitting expression with a small grouping of flowers.

Thanks for looking at this project.  Best wishes for the New Year!

Matthew 7:7

Laughing Lola Cards

This Close To My Heart Workshops On The Go (WOTG) is the "Laughing Lola" design (G1064).  The colors are vibrant, the kit comes complete with all the cards, papers, stamps and embellishments needed to make 15 beautiful cards.

Additional supplies needed are listed in the cardmaking guide included with the kit.  Mainly, you will need inks, acrylic blocks, CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge (Z1790), sanding (distressing) supplies and adhesive, including 3-D dots or tape.  If you don't have the Artiste cartridge, there are other cartridges that have hearts, emblems and banners that may approximate the shapes needed for these cards.  As you can see from the cards above, though, the stamps fit perfectly on the Artiste cuts.

The cardmaking guide is very detailed, so there are only a few notes to add to what is included.  I found the instructions for the Cricut cuts to be somewhat vague. 

Accent 1 is on Accent 3, R1, C3 (on the keypad) - cut at 1.75" (H)
Accent 2 is on Accent 4 <s>, R5, C6 - cut at 1.5" (H)
Accent 3 is on Accent 2, R1, C5 - cut at .75" (H)

Additionally, the measurement provided for the heart cut is incorrect.  It is given as 1.5" (H) cut (that is also what is noted on the sheet of stamps).  That cut is too small.  In order to be big enough for the heart stamp ("Thinking of You"), the cut must be made at 2.24" (H) x 1.9" (W), using the heart on p. 66 of the Artiste guide book (Accent 1 <s>, R4, C6).

Once all the pieces and shapes are cut out, the smaller detail pieces are to be sanded on all edges:

My assistant Smokey was very helpful during this portion of the project.  I think she was just hungry and wanted supper, HAH!

Stamping the sentiments and shapes was next.  Since I didn't have Pear ink (recommended in the materials list), I used Sweet Leaf instead and it looks great!

Here is one of each of the final cards.  They turned out so well, I gave the "You Can Never Have Too Much Happy" one to my girlfriend today for her birthday.  "OOOH - PURPLE!" she exclaimed when she opened it.  Now who could ask for anything more?

Here is an example of varying the "look" of the cards by taking advantage of the double sided paper and turning it over:

Thanks for joining me for this project.  If you have any questions, do send me a note.  Here's sending everyone blessings for a bountiful Thanksgiving.  Adrienne 

Clementine Cards

"The New Pattern"

My last post, Darlin' Birthday Card, detailed one card from the Close To My Heart Clementine Workshop on the Go cardmaking project.  Here are two more cards from that project.  For the list of supplies needed, see the link to the post above.

For "The New Pattern" Card

Sponge all edges of card and pieces with saddle ink, stamp across middle with Creme Brulee ink.

Cut burlap ribbon as pictured.

Cut "Forever Friends" zip strip to fit card, sponging edges with Saddle ink.

Since the inside of this card is dark, I added a light piece for a personal note or stamped sentiment.

The next card is "Gallery".

Sponge all edges of card and pieces with saddle ink.

Stamp and cut out the medium flower. 

Remember the recent post about steam ironing a piece of paper?  The finished product is below, to be incorporated in this card.

For an added bit of texture, I ran the largest piece through my Big Kick using the "Dots" folder.

Stamp sentiment with Sorbet ink on small piece.

In order to fit the sentiment on the piece on TWO levels,

use a piece of paper or post-it to "mask" half of the stamp when applying it to the piece.

 Finished piece:

Here are all the pieces, ready to be assembled, including the large flower stamp.

The finished card, with some "bling", was perfect for our nephew on his birthday.

Thanks for joining me on this project.  If you have any questions, drop me a note.  Many blessings, Adrienne

Darlin' Birthday Card

"Sentiment Secured"

This card is one of five created from a Close To My Heart "Workshops On The Go" (WOTG) Bonus Project for Clementine.  My sister's birthday is in September and this card is just perfect for her.  Since the papers and stamps for Clementine are no longer offered, I suggest using Huntington paper (X7174B), In The Moment (C1565) and One Way Border (C1561) stamps or any of the appropriate stamps and papers in your stash.

Close To My Heart supplies needed:

Wishes Book (9041) pattern p. 78
WOTG for Clementine (not available - substitute current product)
Colonial White Card 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 (X1410) (link is to the 50 card value pack)
Colonial White Cardstock (1388)
Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment (Z1753)
Burlap Ribbon (Z1760)
Inks - Creme Brulee (Z2167), Saddle (Z2171), Sorbet (Z2164), Topiary (Z2155)
Sanding Kit (Z1294)
Sponge Daubers (Z726)
3-D Foam Tape (Z1151)

Art Philosophy Cartridge (Z1686)
Artiste Cartridge (Z1790)
Liquid Glass (Z679) 
Acrylic Stamps and Blocks

Non-CTMH supplies needed:

ATG Tape Runner
Embossing Machine (Big Kick) and Folders ("Flowers")
Cricut machine (plus Gypsy, if desired)
Adhesives of choice

Using the base card, cut the pieces as described in the Wishes book pattern:

Pattern dimensions

Note:  An additional 1"x 3"  cut piece is needed for this card that is not listed in the book.  It is the distressed blue piece under the burlap ribbon below the piece with the flowers, above the piece with the sentiment statement.  Clear as mud, right?

Sponge all edges of card and pieces with saddle ink:

Distress the bottom (3") edge of the 1" x 3" piece (no picture).

If you have the sanding kit, use a tool from that to sand the sorbet colored piece (3" x 4") to obtain a distressed look over the entire surface of the piece.  A regular emery board will also work.

Stamp largest piece with straight border on all four sides:

In my stamp set this required using the edge of the stamp

The "look" desired is of a straight stitch on all four sides of the piece.  The next step I did was to emboss this piece as an extra bit of "fancy", because I knew my sister would love it!

If you look closely, you can see the "stitch" border stamp.

Stamp the medium flower in creme brulee on colonial white cardstock and cut it out.  I used my Cricut Artiste cartridge (Accent 1<s> R3, C6) to cut shapes approximating the flowers at 1" high for this card.  I still had to trim it for a final size.

Stamp the bitty flower in saddle ink on piece B.

Cut the zip strip of sentiments from the 12x12 paper and find the one that says "You're So Fun" - this will be used on the card front.  Sponge edges to give it a finished look.

Alternatively, you may decide on a stamped sentiment for the front of your card.

Assemble the card, attaching the medium flower using 3-D foam tape on piece B.  Also add a flower decoration from the WOTG package.

Assembling the card components

Trim two 2-3/4" strips from serged edges of burlap ribbon and secure them to the small distressed piece with liquid glass.

I've said it before - I really like liquid glass when securing "wiggly" or otherwise difficult materials such as ribbon, buttons or fabric to paper.  It holds securely and is reliable when mailing items.

The right side of the card didn't quite line up, so I sponged it with saddle ink to camouflage the opening.

 When closed, the card now has a nicer finished look.
   
Attach all pieces to the card and finish assembly by adding some brown and tan sparkles.

The bottom of this card looked a little plain to me, so I spiced it up by randomly adding as many of those itty-bitty (now I know what to use them for!) sparkles as I could fit on the bottom of the card next to the sentiment.

 The inside of the card uses "Hello Tweety" (B1420), 

a cute little stamp set, as well as the birthday greeting that comes with the Art Philosophy cartridge stamp set.

Here is the inside of the card:

Thanks for joining me on this project.  If you have any questions, send me a note.  Many blessings for a bountiful autumn.  Adrienne