Christmas Tags

My last workshop of the year, we created an ornament (which was the subject of a previous post done with City Sidewalks Papers) and making Christmas tags.  I love the look of kraft paper and even stamping with white daisy pigment ink didn't brighten it up as much as I would have thought.  So, with the help of a white gel Signo Glo pen I got the brightness I'd hoped for.

Papers:  z1375 Kraft cardstock and White Daisy Cardstocks

Stamps:  D1697 Perfect Presents, A1187 World Joy

Inks:  Cranberry, Willow, and Black Exclusives Inks; White Daisy Pigment Ink

Embellishments:  z3090 Red Enamel Gems; Red & White Baker's Twine

Other: White Signo Glo gel pen, Cricut Design Studio using CTMH Art Philosphy cartridge, Nuvo White Crystal Drops

Here are the images of the stamps I used:

D1697 Perfect Presents

A1187 World Joy

I can say that I truly had forgotten how much fun white gel pens can be!  Blessed Advent to you all!

Christmas Swing Card

This was the final card in my action card workshop--the Christmas swing card.  I love 3D flowers as long as they are not too big to put in an envelope.  I keep thinking with some of the cards that I've seen, "Do they really mail that in an envelope?"  Well, maybe it goes in a box.  Then it seems to lose it's "card" status.  Anyway, I made my card from a card originally created in Cricut Design Space by Julie Carriere of The Scrap Zone, (link is to Julie's card) whose beautiful workshops are amazing!  So, here is my card:

Here is a closer look at that poinsettia:

Finally a look at the inside of the swing portion of the card:

Papers:  G1114 City Sidewalks Workshop Your Way,  Cranberry, Peacock, Black, and White Daisy Cardstocks

Stamps:  D1324 Christmas Melodies (Retired)

Inks:  Cranberry, Willow, and Black Exclusives Inks

Embellishments:  z3090 Red Enamel Gems; Cranberry Ribbon (Ret.)

Other: z3239 Silver Glitter Paper, Cricut Design Studio using CTMH Art Philosphy cartridge; 1-1/4" circle punch (Ret.)

For those with using Cricut Design Studio, my file can be found here:  https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/47121062.

D1324 Christmas Melodies:

 

Hope your Holiday season is blessed with the spirit of the New Born King!

Double-Z Oh Deer! Card

Back in October my monthly workshop did action cards.  You already saw my Halloween twist and pop card in an earlier post.  Another one of them was this Oh Deer Double-Z fold card.  I added in a couple of pieces so that it was almost like a box card inside the double-z fold.  Then I saw that Color Dare Challenge Blog #223 was still open on their Oh Deer! colors.

Closed up:

Opened:

Full view:

Papers:  G1116 Oh Deer! Workshop Your Way,  Glacier, Lagoon, and White Daisy Cardstocks;

Stamps:  D1696 Woodland Wishes

Inks:  Cocoa, Desert Sand, Lagoon Exclusives Inks

Embellishments:  Z3274 Clear Sparkles

Other: Z4015 Woodland Wishes Thin Cuts

Woodland Wishes Bundles:

I love cards and are interactive or have fun folds!

Getting Ready for December Workshop

Usually our December workshop is everything but a card (which to me means tags, ornaments, boxes, bags, etc.).  So, I found a cutting file for this ornament from Dreaming Tree's Elegant Ornament set.  It also has lots of bling which I love and which I plan to enter into the Between the Folds blog challenge.

Here is the ornament from a different angle:

Papers:  City Sidewalks Kit; Peacock, Cranberry Cardstocks, Mirror Paper from Hobby Lobby

Embellishments:  Red Glitter Papers; Red Glitter Gem (Retired)

Other:  Cricut Explorer; Silver Ribbon; Cranberry Baker's Twine (Retired)

This was such a fun project!  It will go well with some tags.

September 2016 Card Workshop

On Saturday I had a card workshop using the new Uptown Fundamental papers and the new Glitter papers along with the new Heart Thin Cuts.  The original workshop was created by a consultant named Karen Pederson for CTMH consultants.  Another consultant, Robin Taylor, modified the chosen papers to use the Uptown Fundamental papers with the new Sea Glass (Color of the year), and they are (IMHO) gorgeous!  Here is what we did:

Here are closer-ups of the cards:

 

Papers:  z3263 Uptown Paper Fundamentals, Black, Sea Glass, and White Daisy Cardstocks;

Stamps: A1192 Happy Heart

Inks:  VersaMark with z2068 White Embossing Powder

Embellishments:  Gold, White, Black, and Sea Glass Glitter Papers

Other: Z3260 Hearts Thin Cuts

 

Here is the featured stamp set - A1192 Happy Heart:

That was a FUN workshop.  Best part of workshops is getting together with friends!

Twist & Pop Card - El Dia de los Muertos

Coming from New Mexico I love the holidays influenced by the Mexican culture, specifically, El Dia de los Muertos which honors those who have passed from this life by celebrating their life.  So for Halloween and El Dia holidays I have made a twist and pop card.  (Really I've been seeing them around and have been dying to make one).

I also wanted to enter something in this week's Between The Folds Weekly Challenge--to use CTMH's new Jeepers Creepers paper pack.  Here is my Twist & Pop card using the new Sugar Skull stamp set:

Next is beginning to open the Twist & Pop Card:

Here is inside of card, fully opened:

Finally a look at the little monsters:

Papers:  Jeepers Creepers Workshop Your Way, Eggplant, Lagoon and White Daisy Cardstocks;

Stamps: D1698 Sugar Skull; C1630 Little Monsters (retired)

Inks:  Pansy, Willow, Tangerine, Emerald, and Black Exclusive Inks; R5 Cherry Pink, WG7 Warm Grey, WG4 Warm Grey Shinhan Touch Twin Markers

Embellishments:  X7211c Jeepers Creepers Assortment; Peacock Fundamental Assortment (hearts on sugar skull - retired)

Other: None

 

Here is the featured stamp set - D1698 Sugar Skull:

Here is what the retired set C1630 Little Monsters contains:

Finally, if you have a Cricut Explorer, here is the cut file for the Twist & Pop cards:  https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/45487532.  Start with a 4" x 12" card stock for card base.  Have fun and leave me a comment if you make a twist and pop card!

August 2016--the Missed Month

August was a pretty tough month for our family and it seems I completely missed posting at all in August.  The day before her 3rd birthday (July 30th), my granddaughter Sophia, took a fall that hyper extended her neck and the swelling of her brain caused neurological problems.  She was life-flighted to Sacred Heart Children's Medical Center in Spokane.  She was there for almost a week which revealed she had Chiari (One) Malformation--which can only be repaired by surgery.

 

Thanks to physical therapy and her family, Sophia is now walking independently. She still has a little muscle weakness in her left leg, and left hand. Sophia is getting stronger week by week. She is practically back to her little spirited self. Her stutter that she acquired after the fall has almost disappeared as well. Sophia can't wait to get her surgery (get the boo-boo part removed) so she won't have to wear her brace anymore, and looking forward to being able to have both parents by her side for comfort and support.

 

Sophia is having her surgery this coming week  on Wednesday September 7th.  She will be in the hospital about one week before she can come home and I will be staying with my other beautiful granddaughter (her sister) Zoe who is in first grade.

Sophia will be starting preschool a couple days a week when she is feeling up to it after surgery. She couldn't be more excited about school, especially after watching her older sister going to school the past few years, now it's her turn. We really have no idea what to expect after surgery and will just have to wait and see how things will unfold. Thanks to all those who have helped in supporting Sophia on this journey.

Color Dare #201

Today I took all day to work on a card for Color My Heart Color Dare #201.  Some days, artwork ideas will come to in a snap, but then there are days, like today, that I would play around with pieces over and over trying to make a card that started out one way but ended up completely different from what I pictured in my mind.  This month the paper of the month is the Magical Workshop Your Way.  So here is my project - a standard size card with a top fold:

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the dimension--the red oval has dimensional tape, the whole flower bunch has dimensional tape and so does a few flowers and part of the banner ribbon.

 

 

And this last one is just a picture that shows the front of the card better.

 

 

Papers:  Magical Workshop Your Way, Cranberry, Crystal Blue and White Daisy Cardstocks;

Stamps: C1647 A Bunch of Love; Z3251 A Bunch of Love Thin Cuts; D1560 Holiday Tags

Inks:  Crranberry, Crystal Blue, Whisper, and Black Exclusive Inks;

Embellishments:  z1809 Black Shimmer Tape, Blue Sparkles (retired)

Other: Spellbinder Oval Dies

 

Featured Stamp set:  C1647 A Bunch of Love which has it's own set of thin cuts too (as indicated by the blue outlines):

 

 

Second featured set (retiring end of July) (Happy Birthday greeting)  D1560 Holiday Tags:

 

 

Hope this will inspire you to join a challenge this week!

 

Quick Cards from New Cut Above Card Kits

In the Seasonal Expressions 2 book there are two daring card kits called Cut Above Fiesta Card kit (of the mint and silver variety) and Cut Above Jubilee Card kit (hot pink and gold variety).  Aren't they gorgeous on their own?  What I love about these cards is how quickly you can create a card and how beautiful they look with other paper!  Here is what the cards look like in the kit:

So, here are some cards that were made with the May Happy Time papers (retired) and other papers:

Next we have some non-Close To My Heart paper and you can really see the shine on the silver stripes.  I love how nice it goes together with this paper, too:

Papers:  Cut Above Card kits; Happy Time Paper Pack, Black and White Daisy Cardstocks;

Stamps:  C1644 Beyond Awesome; Celebrate With Cake (May SOTM, retired)

Inks:  Watermelon (Retired), Pacifica and Black Exclusive Inks; VersaMark & Gold Embossing Powder

Embellishments:   Z3213 Florence Sequins; Z2013 Silver Sequins; Z1799 Silver Shimmer Tape; Z1985 Gold Shimmer Trim 

Other: 

Featured Stamp sets:

Always looking for a way to do things quickly when I'm in a hurry.  This really fit the bill!

 

Jewelry Workshop

I have been eyeing Close To My Hearts Base & Bling jewelry for a couple of years now, but it wasn't until this year's selection of chains, pendants, charms, and beads that I actually wanted to order some of them and try them.

They are really fabulous and are so dressy!  I think before I thought they just weren't right (at least for me).  All the Base & Bling items are so well made and are so classy.  Well, my little group decided we should do a workshop to make some necklaces.  Here are few of the items that we made below:

The necklace above is on a necklace card holder.  It was one for my daughter and has the birthstones of her two daughters.  I colored the rhinestone bead with a Shinhan lavender marker to make the purple color.  The next one (below) was made for my daughter-in-law and has the beads of her three children.  Both of these were Mother's Day presents.  I embossed the letter "A" with silver embossing powder.

The last one was a graduation present for my oldest granddaughter who just graduated from the 8th grade and will be going to high school next year.  She is "Fearless"!

Here are the supplies that I used for these:

Z3160 Faux silver 30" chain with 2" extender
Z3153 Faux silver circle pendant
Z3154 Faux silver square pendant
Z1966 Circle Glass Cover
Z1967 Square Glass Cover
Z3143 Teal Bead
Z3141 Black Bead
Z3110 Heart Charm
Z3174 Lovely Blooms Style Sheet
A1182 Etched Alphabet
Z891  VersaMark Ink Pad
Z2067 Ranger silver super fine embossing powder
Z3196 Base & Bling Necklace Cards

These are beautiful and are truly worth a closer look!

Paper Cone Wreaths Workshop and Tutorial

There is nothing I love more than having time to sit down and make cards!  However, it is always fun to change it up to do some paper engineering or construct something different like making paper wreaths.  So a while back we did a workshop to make some paper wreaths.  There were a few that got away before I got pictures but here are some pictures of the ones I was able to get.  Each wreath took about 6 sheets of 12 x 12 decorative two-sided paper (and/or cardstock).

The nice thing about these is that they are SO light-weight that they can hang anywhere.

Here is what you need to make this project:

Large round piece of chipboard/stiff cardboard 8" to 9" in diameter
6-7 pieces of 12" x 12" double-sides decorative papers/light cardstock
Some white quick dry liquid adhesive (can use glue gun)
3/8" ribbon (for hanging the wreath)
something to decorate centerpiece

1.  Cut about sixteen 6" x 6" squares of double-sides paper to make large cones.  Glue each piece into a cone shape.

2.  Cut about twelve 4" x 4" squares of the same or different paper to make smaller cones.  Glue each piece into a cone shape.

3.  With your 8" to 9" circle out of cardboard (like from a cereal box, or a very stiff paper plate, etc.) use your marker to divide the circle in quarter.  I found that if you divide it in quarters, it will help to better place the cones.

4.  I used white glue (Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive) to glue the cones in place.  The white glue is a pretty strong adhesive.  Glue a cone made with the 6" x 6" squares on each quarter line drawn with the point in the center of the circle.  Then fill in with additional cones between the four cones you first glued down until your circle is covered.

5.  Next with the cones made from the 4" x 4" papers, they will glue nicely by placing them in the valley between cones of the 6" x 6" cones.  (See below).  Complete the smaller circle of cones.

6.  I completed the center of the wreath by making a paper yo-yo flower from two 2" x 12" strips of cardstock fan-folded every 1/4" and glued into a circle.  Then I added a paper flower made from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (see below) out of cream colored decorative papers.  I don't remember the measurements (made a long time ago and thown into bag for later use when the right project came along).

7.  Attach ribbon to the cardboard on the back and hang.  Voila!