Graduation Card

Graduation is coming again soon, so how about getting an early start?

Here is another card we did in our June card making class. What can you do with big and bold golden striped paper? Well, I thought it was perfect for a very special accomplishment, a graduation.

This time we went with a more simple card as well. The card base is cut at 4 1/4" x 11" and fold in half, so the fold will be on the left side.

We placed two strips of the golden paper on the top and bottom on the card. The middle portion was filled in with a piece of black cardstock. Next place the open card on a cutting mat and cut a small opening with your knife. The opening should be only as long as the tag is wide.

Decorate the front as desired. For the tag I used a strip of cream colored cardstock folded in half. A decorative punch was used on both ends of the strip. The strip is a little wider than a gift card. Punch the hole close to the card to keep it in place. Use a piece of ribbon to close it. Decorate the tag with a phrase or other embellishments.

A quick an easy card with a golden touch... stay tuned for more to come...

Thank You Card

Thank you so much my blog readers for your patience with me. It has been a busy summer and even so I wanted to get so much done, time was running out on me. Does anyone else have the same problem these days? I don't know, but it seems like June was just here.

Well, speaking of June, believe it or not, I owe you still our Card Making Class projects form June. Yes, seriously....so lets get back on track and catch up with things!

Before we went on our summer break we were working one a couple of really cute cards. This "Thank You" one is one of them. 

I like the simple elements and the summery colors the best.

We used four squares, two bigger and two smaller once. A perfect project to use up some of your scraps. I picked a nice blue background for the base card.It is cut about 1/8" smaller than the base on each side. I arranged the squares so they overlap each other by a little. The "Thank You" phrase was stamped in black ink and the square was edged with some glacier ink. I lifted some squares with foam dots while others are adhered directly to the paper.

Little flowers are punched out and five are placed on the front of the card, while one goes inside and the rest on the envelope. A little button with thread is used as an extra embellishment. A few pearls and your card is done!

Don't forget to stamp the inside and decorate the envelope if possible. 

Stay tuned for more catch up projects to come...

A Year of Card Techniques ~ September Blog Hop ~ Mixed Media

Welcome to

It is month nine of our year long journey to explore different techniques and we're mixing things up this month with a few mixed media techniques and products. It's not to late to hop and comment to be entered into out prize drawing. If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January February March April May June July August 

So what is mixed media you might ask? It is as simple as it sounds: you take different techniques, materials and mix them up. Yes, that easy!

No matter if you use dry embossing, heat embossing, glitter glues, metal elements, wood pieces, ribbons and rhinestones and mix them up with card making, boxes, albums and any other display form ... any of these and more combined will be considered mixed media.

I have to admit, I was very short on time this month, but I didn't want to miss out on the hop, so pardon me for using some items that I created over the past year to show what you can do. Promised, next month will be back to new creations. 


Let's start with some card samples, shall we?



In this card for example I dry embossed vellum with some dots, added glitter papers and silver thread to the card.

The silver thread is meant to be used for sewing, but I think it is a great material for cards and other items too.

Did you know that paint can be a great mixed medium too? I mixed just a few drops of pearl shimmer paint with water and flicked them over my background paper. Not only does it create a wonderful shimmer, but it also makes for a super snow background. 
The foreground snow is made up with white pigment ink and white embossing glitter... 

 An even simpler way to create mixed media ... I used white embossing powder to create the flower background on watercolor paper and on the phrase flag.

Watercolors create the green and blue shading and little rhinestones add dimensions.

Yes, mixed media can be as simple as this! Combining two mediums...

Here are some 3-D displays for a change.

I created these wine bottle sleeves for a craft show. 

Beside the cardstock and design paper I added some wooden elements, ribbons, greens form a wreath and Christmas ornaments to decorate the sleeves. I also used some glitter glue to enhance the dots on the one design paper.

Last but not least a little decorate lantern for the season. Place a LED light inside and the stars shine.

Here I used a combination of embossed cardstock, vellum stamped with white pigment ink, glitter paper for stars (which I cut with different star dies), crochet ribbon and some linen string...





Again, sorry for the "old" examples, but mixed media really gives you a ton of opportunities to use any product you have in your stack. Create a card, a page, a photo frame, an album, boxes and on and on it goes. The possibilities and the items you can create are endless.

I hope you enjoyed our little excursion into the world of products and hopefully we could inspire you to be a little more experimental with the things you have on your desk. Enjoy crafting and as always we love to hear from you. So please leave a comment along the way and have a chance to win a gift certificate. 

Up next are the wonderful creations of Debbie!

Keep on crafting and don't forget to comment!

Have a wonderful day

Claudia

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way

Theresa ~ http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com

Kim ~ http://katydidcards.com

Claudia...Your are here!

Debbie ~ http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com 

Sharon ~ http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com

Lisa ~ http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com

September Special - "Kindness changes everything"

National Stamping Month: Create Kindness

September Constant Campaign

Celebrate National Stamping Month this September with hand stamped cards designed to help create a little more kindness in the world. The Create Kindness card kit contains all of the supplies needed to create 24 beautiful handmade cards that you can use to brighten someone’s day! The kit can be yours for only $46.95—a 15% savings off the retail value!

Thanks to the pre-printed card bases, these cards come together in no time, leaving you more time to do something thoughtful for someone. Watch Close To My Heart’s blog,Instagram account, and Facebook page throughout the month of September to see what we’ve created with this card kit as well as the acts of kindness it has inspired! This exclusive kit will only be available in the month of September while supplies last, so make sure to get your order in early.

As a special bonus, the exclusive stamp sets and pre-printed card bases with envelopes are also available for separate purchase, but only in the month of September while supplies last!

The kit includes:

- Mini Stamp Organizer Box

- 8 Mini Stamps for outside and inside

- small black ink pad

- Acrylic block

- 24 printed card bases inclusive envelopes and decoration 

Don't miss out on this super cute special! CLICK HERE to order this set online!

Seasonal Expression Holiday Book ...It's Here!

The Close to My Heart "Seasonal Expression Holiday" book is finally here! Check out all the new and exciting paper packs, stamps and beautiful embellishments and so much more....

Click Here to see the new book online... or ...contact me for your personal copy!

For all of you that can't wait to get there hands on all the new goodies, I will place a collective order on September 2nd. If you life in the area and like to save on shipping, email me and I call you when it is ready to be picked up. Otherwise, simply go to my website ...CLICK HERE... and start shopping and all items will be send directly to your front door. Enjoy browsing and I see you soon :-)

Seasonal Expression Holiday Book - Sneak Peek Two

Here is sneak peek number two of the upcoming Holiday book. So beside the new papers, what else might be in it? Well let's see:


- Pocket scrap booking is becoming more popular, but did you know that we have a smaller version for you in stock? Perfect as a travel journal, diary, calendar or a scrap book for all these small events we like to remember. Quick and easy to fill with coordinating printed pages and memory protects and all of it in a handy 6" x 8" format.


- Matching the "City Sidewalks" paper pack there is a new Cricut City Sidewalks Digital Collection coming. It is only available as a digital cartridge and therefore can only be used with the Cricut Explore or Cricut Explore Air!!!



- A must have for this winter are for sure these cute snowflake thin cuts. The Close to My Heart thin cut will work with pretty much any die-cutting machine on the market. The snowflakes come in a pack of two and will embellish any card, page or home decor item you create. Don't miss out on them as long as they last!






 - Many new stamps are also coming your way and I am sure you will find some that fit your projects for the upcoming seasons....

Well, return to my website tomorrow (CLICK HERE) and have a look online at the new Seasonal Expression Holiday book. 

Please contact me if you have questions or if you would like to receive your own personal copy of the book. Have fun browsing and I see you soon back here with more projects to come....

Seasonal Expression Holiday Book - Sneak Peek One

We are only a few days away until the new Seasonal Expression Holiday book will go live. So what are you looking for this year? Do you need new papers or maybe some new stamp sets? Well, we can always use some new embellishments, right? I am sure we will find something for everyone. Let me give you a little inside of what's coming your way:

- Let's start...hmm?... Let's start with some embellishments, shall we? 

Each new paper pack comes with it's own unique complements package. It will work perfectly with the coordinating paper pack and it will make your life so much easier. The packs contain combinations of stickers, glitter die-cuts, gold foil accents, assorted white acrylic shapes or kraft die-cuts with gold and silver accents, all depending on what paper pack you pick.




- Speaking of paper packs... there are four brand new designed paper packs to choose from:

• Jeepers Creepers
• Swan Lake
• City Sidewalks 
• Oh Deer!

All come with their own complements, coordinating cardstock pack, special assortments and more. 

Yes, our paper packs have changed a little. Now you will receive in each paper pack 12 design paper (2 each of 6 double sided designs) including two tiled sheets. These are ideal for pocket scrap booking, journaling or card making. The matching cardstock can be bought in a separate pack or contact me if you like single sheets to go with the papers.

New embossing folders, and thin cuts are coming your way as well...Can you guess what they might look like? Oh and did I mention new bundles of stamp set and thin cuts? 

Well, stay tune to see more...

New Season Expression Holiday Book on it's way!

Well, I guess my creative summer break is almost over and I can't believe that I still have so many projects left... So before I start back up, here are a few updates what's coming up:

- Let's start with the brand new "Seasonal Expressions Holiday Book" which is going live on September 1st! Many new paper packs, stamps and embellishments coming your way. Check back here in the next few days and get a little sneak peek.

- To all my customers, living in the area and like to save some shipping costs: My next collective orders will come up soon on September 2nd and October 3rd. Naturally you can place orders anytime in between or online and items will ship directly to your front door :-)

- Classes will start back up at the end of September, so please contact me for more information or check the calendar here on the blog for updates. 

- All of you who are looking for a fun weekend to get some scrap-booking, card making or any other crafting done, come join us on October 20-23 at the Oakland Fair Grounds in Davisburg, MI. You can book the whole weekend or individual days, just as you like. Some sleeping arrangements are available if you life further away and like to spend the weekend. Please CLICK HERE to get more information. 

Lot's of crafty and funny ladies, good foods and awesome vendors (including me ;-) ... so come join us for some fun time! Looking forward to seeing you!

- More craft shows are coming up so stay tuned for more...

I hope you will enjoy the rest of the summer and hopefully we will have an awesome Indian Summer here in Michigan. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

See you soon

Claudia

A Year of Card Techniques ~ August Blog Hop ~ Baby Wipe Technique

Welcome to

It's month eight of our year long adventure into different card-making techniques, folds and paper crafting products. We hop you got the chance to hop with us each month.

It's not to late to hop and comment to be entered into out prize drawing. If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January February March April May June July

This month we are playing with the baby wipe technique and you won't want to miss the amazing and fun cards we've got for you today. We really love feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in today's hop. Each comment on the 12 hops throughout the year will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Blitsy.com or Stampin' Up gift certificate (Winner's Choice).

Now one with the projects:

 Wow, this months technique was really a challenge. Looking through my ink pad I noticed I only had two re-ink's that would work with this technique. Oh well, they have to do it.

So, how do we bring baby wipes and re-ink's together? My first try was to fold two baby wipes together. You just fold them over and over until you have a need little bundle square of about 1 1/2".

Next I grabbed my "juniper" color ink and placed four dots next to each other on the edge of the square, than simply place the ink side on the paper and pull down. Repeat until the paper is cover. This is seen here on the left!

Now I used the same square, added more ink to the first and third dot and added brown ink to the second and fourth. Similar technique here, place ink side on paper and pull down, repeat until paper is covered. Turn paper 90 degree and repeat to create the plaid design seen on the right.

Honestly, I said it was a challenge and I didn't really had an idea what I should do with these paper....yes we do trial and error too LOL

And then I had another idea!... I took two baby wipes, folded them together in a long strip about 1" wide. I rolled the strip together into a small cylinder. Next I used my chocolate brown ink and added it to nicely rounded bottom part of my cylinder. I used some "desert sand" cardstock as my base.

I randomly dabbed the ink side over my base leaving rose like images behind. Eureka... that's more what I need :-)

I added a few small leave stamped images in between and my background paper was done. 

Oh and don't forget to decorate the inside of your card... 

 Sometimes when you try a new technique the turnout is not always what you expect. I am sure I will find a good use for the other two papers I made with this technique, but for know they will be on my "work in progress pile". I do love the rose like image I made, which was more of an excident :-) but a good one!

I hope you had fun with my challenge today. Leave a comment and make sure to hop over to the lovely Debbie and here creations.

Up next are the wonderful creations of Debbie!

Keep on crafting and don't forget to comment!

Have a wonderful day

Claudia

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way

Theresa ~ http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com
Lisa ~ http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com
Kim ~ http://katydidcards.com

Claudia...Your are here!

Debbie ~ http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com 

Sharon ~ http://piece-ofheart.blogspot.com