Stitched Flowers - Going, Going...

We're down to the last week of the current CTMH catalog. I'm very sad that the Stitched Flowers are being retired, but lovely new products are on the way which are filling my crafty heart with joy. However, if you've been hemming and hawing over getting these flowers, now is the time to do it. I used two different flowers for the focal point of this card...

I used Emerald ink to stamp the top part of the background using the Charming Borders stamp set.  The bottom part of the background is from the Craft On paper suite. All of these items are retiring. Not retiring are the White Daisy and Raspberry cardstocks, Raspberry ink, sponge daubers (inking the edge of the flower), and the Stitched Rectangular frames.

One of the great things about being at home is that I can now hand-deliver dimensional cards like this. I have a baby shower coming up for a little girl. I think this will work perfectly.

Until next time,
Becca

Craft On Project

We moved into a new house a couple months ago. My craft area, while nice, needed some decoration. Craft On paper to the rescue!!

Now please don't think I came up with this idea on my own. I saw several similar ideas, but what I did was the cheap version. Where others used images of scissors, glue, and paint tubes made from the Crafting Shapes Thin Cuts, I used the cut apart sheet from the Craft On paper suite. Additional supplied I used include Stitched Square Thin Cuts, Stitched Circle Thin Cuts, and Stitched Heart Thin Cuts. After gluing down the cut out images onto the squares, I glued them to a 8.5+ a smidge square black piece of cardstock. I had an 8.5x11 piece which was just a fraction...like 1/16 of an inch...over 8.5, but that tiny bit of overage allowed me to just barely fit all of the squares over top with a thin border around and between them. I would probably have cut my black square to 8.75 square if I'd used a 12x12 piece of cardstock for the base. The border around the edge and between would have been larger but that would have looked just fine.

I glued the 8.5 square to a 12x12 piece of white cardstock and then added Craft On sequins. To make sure my sequins stay in place, I added a dollop of Liquid glass to the paper, placed my sequins over top and pressing enough for some of the Liquid Glass to bubble up through the center hole, then I added another dollop of Liquid Glass over the top. This under/over technique really makes those sequins secure.

I so love how this turned out. The fresh, vibrant colors - as well as the sentiments - bring joy to my heart.

The great part about this project is that, while the stitched die cuts are nice, you can create all of it with the Craft On paper, a paper cutter, a pair of scissors (plus maybe the bottom of a small jar if you want the center circle shape) and some glue. The "frame" here is just a border added via photoshop but represents how I plan to have it framed.

Eat. Sleep. Craft. Repeat. Gotta love it!!

Until next time,
Becca

Card #2 with From Me to You - August SOM

Someone we know just got really good news. To celebrate, I made this fun little card using the August Stamp of the Month (SOM): From Me to You. (See the sidebar for a complete image of all the great stamps in this fun set.)

I love the little smiley faces inside the shaker. I cut them from Lemon cardstock using the smallest stitched circle thin cut from this set. I then cut the circle frame from the Craft On paper suite. Using the coordinating foam mounting tape and plastic circle, I created my shaker with Craft On Loose Sequins and the smiley faces which are too large to turn over inside the plastic. I stamped the sentiment in Black ink, cut it with Micro-tip Scissors to create a banner, then outlined it and the 4.5x4.5 cardbase with a black micron pen.

Craft On paper, sequins, and this fun stamp set are all gone at the end of the month, so be sure to get them quick.

Until next time,
Becca

August SOM Blog Hop - From Me to You

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring "From Me to You." You should have come from Michelle's blog. The hop is a circle, so you can start anywhere and keep going. If you get lost along the way, pop over to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants. You can view the full image of this SOM set on my side-bar or by clicking here.

I'll admit it...every time CTMH releases a new catalog, the first place I look is at the Stamp of the Month (SOM) specials because it's usually where I find my favorite stamp sets. Before I became a consultant, I planned which month I would order in based on which SOM I liked the best. And this one was the first set on my list because I love, love, LOVE sets with multiple sentiments. Privately, I call these stamp sets "justifiers." Let me show you why...

Below are two stamp sets with coordinating thin cuts which I absolutely love but would give me limited usefulness when it came to making cards.

Yes, I love the "bloom" sentiments in the watering can set, and the "enjoy each day" from the camper set could be used for cards. But how many of those would I actually send? Not that many. However, if I purchase the stamp sets and then add a $5 Stamp of the Month with lots of great sentiments, suddenly I can make a boatload of cards without adding very much to my overall stamp budget.

To get the shaded effect on my watering can, I swiped Mink ink across my stamp the pressed it down using my MISTI stamp positioner. I then sponged Heather ink around the edges with a Sponge Dauber - a tool I used constantly - and pressed down again. The leaves were stamped in Mint ink then sponged with Sage, and the flowers were stamped in Peach ink. I also stamped the small line of solid hearts in the From Me to You stamp set across the top of the watering can in Ballerina, although you could just as easily use Peach ink.

After cutting out my background paper from the Sweet Girl paper suite with Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, I glued it to my card base and then stamped the splotchy thing (yes, that's a technical term)  from the Timeless Textures stamp set in Ballerina ink before gluing  down my die cut watering can.

The sentiment and small swoosh are both from the SOM. I stamped them in Heather and Peach inks respectively. I then cut it out using the Circle Thin Cuts (which are retiring as of August 31, so get them before they sell out).

Okay...how cute is this for a retirement card? I used the exact same supplies except this one features the Oval Thin Cuts (also retiring August 31). I fussy cut the plaid bottom and peach curtains out of leftover paper in Sweet Girl. It doesn't really take that long and it sure ups the cuteness factor. You'll really want Micro-tip Scissors for this.

Now, just for the fun of it, here's the watering can again with various sentiments from this set.

See. Justifiers! But now I need to stop playing with them and actually get back to work. I'm heading to a writer's conference in a couple weeks, and it would be good to have some proposals for books ready to pitch to editors.

Your next stop is Jessica's blog. Again, the hop is a circle so be sure to keep going until you see all the inspiration these amazing consultants have for you.

Until next time,
Becca