Card Class Project March - 4/4

This is the last card we made in March class. One more time I used the Swiss Dot Embossing folder, but this time I embossed each side just a bit and left the middle part open.

The stamps I used are "Bunny Basket" (M1211) and a Easter egg basket which is a retired stamp.

The white cardstock is cut at 2 1/2"x2 1/2" and the pink one is cut at 2 3/4"x2 3/4".
The basket is stamped in black ink. Color pencils were used to give the basket a little more color.

The "Happy Easter" phrase is stamp in black as well as the bunny basket. A few doodles and a bit more color and this card is done. Simple but super cute if I might say so :-)

Made with Love Mini Album Special

Made with Love Mini Album Workshop

Whether you are creating a keepsake for a mother, grandmother, or any of the special women in your life, the Made with Love workshop gives you everything you need for a heartfelt, handmade mini album. Use the Mix-in paper packet and coordinating cardstock to cut unique shapes from the Cricut® Artbooking collection for your pages and put it all together inside a wood mini album.

If you don't own the CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge ( well you might want to think about getting this one ;-) ), but you still would like to create the album, contact me and I will see how I can help you with this.

The Made with Love mini album workshop kit includes the Mix-in paper packet, Mix-in coordinating cardstock, white ribbon, and wood mini album cover needed to create this workshop. The wood cover features a die-cut heart shape that is used inside the album and comes with three rings for assembly.
You can purchase the workshop kit with the "For My Mother" stamp set at 25% discount, or you can choose a kit option without the stamp set.

For more information about the individual sets CLICK HERE.

This workshop is available from April until the end of May or while supplies last. So don't wait to long to get your set for the special woman in your life.
Dates: April 8, 2019 (12:01 am MDT) – May 31, 2019 (11:59 pm MDT)

Scrapbook Friday - Layout 4

Still working with my original 5 design paper sheets and some cardstock. Today we will explore a little how much a cardstock color can enhance your pictures. We will also have a closer look at what difference matting and positioning of photos can do to your layout.

So these were my pictures for this double page layout. All uncut and just bunched together. Looking good right? So just adhere them down and move on....well we could do that, but how much fun is this? First I started to sort them so I could get a better idea of how many photos would end up on each page.

I used CTMH "Bluebird" cardstock for my page base. I did pick the lighter side of the cardstock which came pretty close to the sky color of my photos. In the second closeup picture you can actually see how much the pictures are being absorbed by the cardstock. It is actually a pretty cool effect. 

I ended up using 5 pictures per page and tossed two which were just to similar to the ones I am going to use. Next, well I needed to cut them to a more manageable size.

My pictures on the left are cut at:

5 3/4" x 3 3/4" (2x), 4"x4", 3 1/2"x3 1/2" and 3"x3"

My pictures on the right are cut at:

5 3/4"x3 3/4", 4"x4" and 3"x3" (3x)

Here you can see the pictures cut and arranged on the cardstock. On the left side I arranged the square ones from smallest to biggest. Flush with the left side which off-sets them to the right. The square pictures on the right page are just spaced in a row.

The positioning of the middle pictures on each side is still up in the air.

Papers needed for this layout:

- 2 sheets of 12"x12" cardstock in "Bluebird" (Close to My Heart)

- 1 piece of 9"x12" design paper cut in an angle (see cutting guide)

- 1 strip of 1/2"x12" design paper cut in half 

- 1 strip of 1/2"x12" design paper cut in 3" pieces (4x)

- 1 sheet of white cardstock

I used for the two strips of 1/2"x12" the border strips of our Close to My Heart design papers. Love these strips. One side has the paper pack information on it and the other side is a design element matching the papers from this package.

First I placed the design paper on the pages and added the photos back on it. Remember to move your pieces around. Try placing the design paper on the inside or the top or bottom of your page. Move the pictures too and see what works best for you.

I often get asked when to use mats under pictures and when to use the pictures without them. I think I have here a good example to show you the difference. So far this layout looks good and yes, we could leave the pictures without a mat. The pictures positioned on the design paper pop out, but for my taste the middle ones seem to blend in too much. While three pictures have clouds to lift them up from the page color, the bottom left one is getting absorbed. 

So what would be the solution here? Yes, let's try some matting...simple white cardstock works perfectly. I cut my mats at 6"x4" (3x) and 4 1/4"x4 1/4". 

If I cut the mats at 6"x4" I can get 6 mats per sheet of paper. 

If you leave your picture at 6"x4" (which by the way my prints often not exactly match) you can only get 4 mats per sheet...so I rather cut 1/4" or less of my pictures ;-)

Now what do you think? Compare the two pictures, which one looks better? Pictures without the white mats or with the white mats? I like the white matting the best. The page looks more finished and the pictures are standing out.

But before I can get started adhering the photos to the page I like to play a bit more with my composition. While the pictures on the sides are pretty well set, I move the middle ones around. How do they look on the bottom or maybe set apart? Or maybe offset? I need to leave room for journaling and maybe a title too. 

After playing around for a while I decided that placing the pictures offset is the best for my taste. To further connect my pictures on the sidelines I placed a few small pieces of paper between them before I adhered my photos to the page.Two small stipes of paper on the top and bottom of the pages and I think this layout is done.

Here is the final layout:

Yes, like with the rest of the layouts so far, we will be coming back to them to add journaling and other embellishments. But this will be at the end when I have used up my 5 sheets of design paper.

Attention:

If you decide to create this page, please change the following measurement on the cutting guide. The design paper should be cut at 9" x 12". When cutting the angle, the 12" is vertical and the 9" horizontal. 

Card Class Project March - 3/4

Here is another use of the cute "Swiss Dot Embossing Folder" which sadly is sold out. If you like to know how to create a similar impression, check back on the Card Class Project March - 1/4.

Here we used Pixie cardstock and embossed the top part of the piece. The cardstock is cut at 5 1/4"x4" and the matching strip is cut at 2"x4". The big piece is adhered with the lighter side up while the small piece is showing the darker side on top.

The Charcoal cardstock is cut at 3 1/2"x4 3/4". The white cardstock is cut at 3 1/4"x4 1/2". We stamped the second flower from the "Love Blossoms" set on the top using Charcoal ink. The "thinking of you" and the inside phrases are stamp in Thistle ink.

Before we adhered the white pieces to the grey we wrapped a piece of "Silver Embellishing Thread" (Z4213) twice around. Both ends of the thread are secured on the back. Next we adhered the white onto the grey and then raised the piece with foam dots.

Like with all my cards, you can't leave the inside blank. A little phrase, another flower and some doodling and this card is done.

Bring Back My Pack - Zoe Paper Special

Bring Back My Pack - Zoe
Zoe is back in a new, slimmed down paper packet! This paper packet features 6 paper sheet and a full 12" x 12" sticker sheet, giving you paper and stickers in the same pack!
Close to My Heart refreshed a few of the colors to create this updated pack and paired it with a coordinating cardstock pack and stamp set. Save 25% on a workshop kit that includes all of these items, and use it to create all of the beautiful and sunny artworks shown here! This collection will only be available through May 31, 2019, while supplies last, so order yours right away before it is gone!

Scrapbook Friday - Layout 3

Welcome back to the third layout created from the 5 sheets of design paper I picked. I am still working with only those sheets of design paper plus cardstock that I add.

The base for the layout is simple white cardstock. I also used Close to My Heart cardstock in the colors SweatLeaf and Charcoal.

I try to keep these pages simple so if you are a beginner you can tag along without any problems. The whole purpose of this tutorial and the upcoming ones is to show you how far 5 sheets of design paper and cardstock in matching colors and take you. Can you do more, sure, but for now I like to keep it simple. 

For this layout you would need the following cut papers:

- 2 sheets of white cardstock 12"x12" as the page base

- 1 sheet of sweatleaf cardstock where you cut 2 pieces of 6"x10" from

- 1 sheet of charcoal cardstock where you cut 2 pieces of 7"x4" from

- 2 strips from the heart design paper cut at 1"x12"

- and 2 strips of the heart paper cut at 3/4"x3 1/2"

Like in my previous pages I placed the cut pieces on my base and moved them around until I ended up with the design you see here:

Your pictures might be different or you have more you like to add to the page, so play around with them and see how they would fit best for you. I had the challenge that I wanted a little bit of variation in size to make the page more interesting.

The pictures on the left page are cut at 4"x5" and two are cut at 4"x4".

The pictures on the right page are cut at 4"x4', 5"x3 1/2" and 5 1/2"x4".

Like I mentioned in last weeks post, I didn't feel like matting the pictures was needed

, so all that was left was to find the right position for them. This is the sketch I used for this layout here.

Here are a few more ideas on how you can use the same elements on your page, but positioning them in different ways. Believe me, there are many more possibilities to arrange them, so try what you like.

I hope this will show you how you can use one sketch and change it to multiple different layouts. Give it a try and see how different each page will look like. 

TIP: I sometimes move things around so much that I can't remember the first ones :-) I know it gets confusing. So take out your camera or phone and snap a quick picture of each layout you dry fit together. Then sit back and scroll though them so see which one you like the best....save a lot of headaches.

 

Reminder: These pages are not finished. Journaling and embellishments will be done ones the pictures are all placed. 

Card Class Project March - 2/4

Today we are using the Close To My Heart stamp set "Know That I Care" (C1752) and the pretty Lilac Cardstock.

The front paper is cut at 5 1/4"x4" and adhered to the front of the card base with the lighter color side facing up. A strip of Lilac cardstock is cut at 2"x4" is adhered to the front with the darker side facing up.

The white cardstock is cut at 3"x4". We used Charcoal ink to stamp the flowers and Pixie ink to stamp the inside of them. Pixie ink looks darker when you stamp it, but once completely dry is lightens up.

The doted paper is cut at 3 1/4"x4 1/4". Adhere the white paper in the center of the doted paper. Finally a piece of Charcoal cardstock is cut at 3"x4". We adhered this one offset to the right and bottom of the doted paper. The completed piece is then raised with foam dots and placed on the front of the card.

The "Let's Celebrate" phrase is also stamped in Charcoal ink, cut out and placed with foam dots onto the flowers. A few rhinestones finishing of this card. Well all most, we did decorate the inside with a few extras.

Home Crafty Home Special

Looking for a super cute home décor idea? How about this beautiful workshop set?

With the Home Chipboard Monogram workshop, you can create a papercrafting project that is sure to add a cozy touch to any room! This workshop uses chipboard monogram letters and easy-to-cut shapes from the Cricut Design Space™ project file created just for this workshop. You can order this set until April 30st.

Dates: March 8, 2019 (12:01 am MST) – April 30, 2019 (11:59 pm MDT)

Scrapbook Friday - Layout 2

Today I continue my quest to create more scrapbook layouts with the 5 design sheets I picked for this project. So let's see how many layout I can get out of these 5 sheets.

After we created the starting page last week, this week we concentrate one the second layout, a double page. I cut two strips of the sheet with the red design at 2" x 12", and four strips 1" x 12" of the paper with the little hearts. I also used two strips 1/2" x 12" of the Charcoal cardstock. 

Our Close to My Heart cardstock is two toned, meaning one side is a darker and the other a lighter hue of the color. I chose the light charcoal side so the color isn't to potent.

Material used for this layout:

- 2 sheets of white cardstock as my base

- 2 strips of the red design paper cut at 2"x12"

- 4 strips of the heart design paper cut at 1"x12"

- 2 strips of charcoal cardstock cut at 1/2"x12"

In order to make the strips a little bit more interesting I decided to cut a little triangle in the two bigger strips. 

This time I arranged my pictures a little bit different than I normally would do them. Placing them of set or overlapping sometimes goes against my nature :-) Yup, I like them straight and nice even spaces between them, but sometimes a little off is so much better.
On the left side all pictures were cut at 5" x 3 1/2". How you arrange them is up to you. all depending what your photos show. On the right side I cut the photos at 5" x 3 1/2" and the piece of cardstock (also charcoal lighter side up) at 5 1/2" x 4". This could be a place mat for some journaling or another picture. I still have room to embellish, but this will have to wait until all my photos are in place.

Here is a close up picture of the papers I used and the order how they are attached. The little hand drawn sketch is the one I used for this layout, but you know you can create so many different layouts with just the same paper cuts? Yes, the possibilities are endless. Here are just a few more variations:

 There are  more possibilities, but I think this gives you an idea how to use them in different way. Again this all comes back to the point what pictures you have and how many you want to use on your page. Before you start adhering your papers, make sure to lay them down on your cardstock, place you pictures on top and see what it looks like. Move them around and see if another positioning might fit better. I do this all the time and often I find a different one to fit better than the one I picked to begin with.

Last you might ask, why didn't you mat your pictures? Well, that is a good question and there is not really an answer too it. Yes, you can mat all your pictures, but is it necessary, No!
The beauty of laying all my papers and photos down and move them around before I adhere them, gives me an idea if I think my pictures need a mat. In this case here I thought they are fine without a mat. Sometimes a mat can take away from your pictures and other times it can make them stand out. So it is a personal preference and what pleases your eyes.

Reminder: These pages are not finished. Journaling and embellishments will be done ones the pictures are all placed.