A Chickadee Birthday

Here we are one more time the "Spruced Up" paper collection. You still have 2 days left to order this super cute paper and the matching embellishments. All these items will retire on February 28th at midnight.
I used one more time the "Spruced Up Cardmaking Stamp Set" C1816 or if you like it including the dies Z3633.

The branches were stamped in Fern ink and fuzzy cut or if you have the matching dies you can use your die-cutting machine. The bird was stamped in Charcoal ink and then colored in with some watercolor pencils. I used a green-blue and grey to color in some of the wing and belly of the bird. I also used the clear shimmer brush to add some sparkle to the pine needles of the branch.

The card front is covered in a piece of sangria colored cardstock. The chickadee design paper covers the top while the wood grain paper covers the bottom. I added a strip of silver glitter paper to cover the seam of the two papers. You add a few phrases to the front and inside and another birthday card is done.

Angel Hugs

Today we are using the beautiful stamp set "Angel Hugs" Z3634 which includes matching dies. It is such a simple but beautiful set and if you don't like or need the dies, you can get the set just as a stamp set as well "Angel Hugs" C1820.

Here is a quick look at the set before we talk about the card I made:

When I saw this set in the Idea Book I knew I would use it for a sympathy card. Simple but meaningful. I went with a simple design paper in grey for my background. I was debating between a settle light pink or this sea grass color for the middle. While both would work great, I decided to go with the sea grass color. I used white cardstock and stamped the angel with Charcoal ink. Charcoal is a really nice dark grey and not as harsh as a black ink would have been.

A little strip of silver ribbon on the bottom and a "praying for you" phrase is all this card needed.
Instead of coloring the angle completely I decided to give her just a hint of color. I used my watercolor pencils and added just a hint of light blue to her dress and a little bit of brown to her hair. I don't think it needed any more color than that.
For the inside phrase we used a sentiment that came with the set.

Beside for sympathy cards, these angels would also make great Christmas cards or Thank You card for an angel in your life.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!

Luck is in the air this weekend with the Lucky in Love Flash Sale from Close to My Heart1 Get great deals on individual items, bundles, and some exclusive goodies during this three-day flash sale!

And we still have our awesome stamps sale going on so why no combine both of them? Right? Go to my website and have fun browsing and shopping!

Remember, all items are while supplies last and if this sale is anything like our previous sales than make sure to check early. Many items will sell out fast!

Getting old is just part of life,...

Who does not love the funny ladies from Art Impressions? Here is a simple way to make someones birthday a fun one LOL

The design paper is the "Spruced Up" collection from Close to My Heart and you can find more papers and matching elements right HERE. I used sangria and julep cardstock to match the stripes. The balloons are stamped in a light colored ink. Next we used the new Julep Shimmer Brush and added some extra sparkle to them. You could color the funny lady in with markers or pencils but I thought it works great just stamped in black too. A few extra doodles and some sequins and this card is pretty much done.....what??? no wait, we haven't decorated the inside yet.

The Art Impressions stamp set comes with so many funny phrases that it is hard to pick the right one. But I think this one will bring a smile on anyone's face. What do you think?

Let's Spruce it Up - Part 2

Here we are with our layouts from the "Spruced Up" G1194 workshop kit. Remember, this is the kit with all elements that you need to create these pages:

But know let's see the other two layouts that come with the set:

I really love this setting. While the original design only asked for 3 pictures, I used some extra cardstock and added a few more. I also changed the line up of the borders on the bottom of the page just a bit. I cut about 1/4" of the middle border and stacked them closer together than in the original layout. Some Clear Shimmer was added to the trees including the wooden ones.


The background paper is one design of 6 from the Spruced Up paper pack. The trees are pre-die cut and the deer and little trees are from the sticker sheet. The wooden elements are also included in this set so there is no looking for matching embellishment ;-)



The right page combings a cute tree cut out and more die cut trees and wooden elements. The row of trees seen here is special. They come on one of the die cut sheets but also contain fold lines. Fold the trees accordingly, open them back up and adhere them loosely to the page. A super cute 3D effect without adding any bulk to your pages.



Last but not least, here is the third double page layout of the workshop kit:

This was a layout were I didn't really needed to change anything. I liked it the way it came...well ;-) you know me beside one little change. Instead of placing the little bird into the middle frame of the right page I used it for a photo spot and added the birdie on top.
I did used some clear shimmer that I brushed on the berries and some branches.



The circle frames are easy to punch out and you can use the inner circle as a template for your pictures. I placed the frame on thin foam squares so it pops up a little and it makes it easy to slight the pictures in the circles. The branches are either die cuts or stickers. A few wooden elements round up this pages.

 The other page mirrors the first page in elements and decor. Like I stated before, I used the middle ring for another photo spot and added the little bird above the first circle.
I really love our new workshop kits, because they completely take the guess work out of creating matching pages. Everything in the kit works well with each other. If you are a beginning scrapbooker you can relay on the guide and create wonderful pages with ease. If you are a pro you can take the inspiration and change it up anyway you like.

Next Friday we will look into the "Celebrate Today Scrapbook Workshop Kit G1193" and explore what we can create with this kit. By the way, with those changes I did, I still had a lot of stickers left, as well as wooden elements and 3/4" of a 12"x 12" design paper sheet. Inn previous kits I had even more leftovers for more pages to add to the 3 double page layouts the kit includes.

Spruced Up - Thinking of You

You know I love our current paper pack "Spruced Up" so I couldn't resist to use it in this months class. Beside the papers we also used the matching stamp set "Spruced Up -Cardmaking" C1816 with pretty little birds and branches.

This set is really versatile since you can use it for Christmas, Winter or Spring themes and it works well for masculine cards too. Here we used two strips of the design paper from the pack and three strips of cardstock (colors sangria, espresso and vanilla). The bird was stamped in espresso on vanilla cardstock and matted on a piece of new England ivy cardstock.

The bird was colored in with some watercolor pencils and for a little sparkle we added a little clear shimmer to its belly. The branch was stamped and fuzzy cut or if you get the set with the matching thin dies you can cut it out with your die-cutting machine.

 For the inside we used a sentiment that I had in my stock for years. I thought it was perfect for this card.

Be Mine Special

Be Mine

January 15 – February 29

Add some pizzazz to your home this Valentine’s Day with the Be Mine special! This special helps you to create an adorable wooden heart banner and includes a specialized SVG file with hearts and fun word accents. Whether you’re creating it for your own home or giving it as a gift, you’ll be sure to please with the Be Mine Heart Banner! Learn more about this special by clicking here.

While the SVG files are meant to be used with a Cricut machine, you can easily decorate the hearts without these files. Use one of the hearts as your template and cut the paper by hand.