National Scrapbooking Day Celebration Blog Hop

Welcome to the National Scrapbooking Day Celebration Blog Hop. Close To My Heart (aka CTMH) pretty much thinks this day was named for them, so they go all out to celebrate. They released five, limited edition project kits, each with exclusive stamps and most with exclusive papers. Click here to view all of them. They come with downloadable guides to complete pre-designed projects. The Blog Hop ladies decided to show other things you can do with the same materials. You should have come from Michelle's blog, but don't worry if you started here. The hop is a circle. Just keep going until you've seen all the wonderful inspiration. If you get lost along the way, head to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants.

I chose the Cheerful Humor project kit. Some of the sayings cracked me up! Here's a look at the full kit:

Aren't those fun???

Here's my card:

I wanted to show off all the various options for filling in the space between "I forgive you for being" and "than me. (Not really)." I used tape to mask off (Not really) and stamped it on the inside. I also used tape--lots of it--to mask off everything but the "and" in the sentiment that reads "Thanks for being OLDER than me (and happy birthday)."

My colors are Lagoon, Candy Apple, Lemonade, Clover, and Nectarine. I used the Fancy Border Thin Cuts to created my side border, which only required a small scrap of paper. I could have embellished with some of the puffy stickers which come in the kit, but I wanted to show that--even after those are used up--you can still created cute cards. In fact, you could reproduce this with any paper pack that has at least one pattern with lots of bright, bold colors. Just use coordinating inks and...voila!

Now you're off to Miss Carrie's blog. I can't wait to see what she and the other CTMH Makers have created to inspire us!

Until next time,
Becca

Stamp-tacular Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp-tacular Blog Hop. This is my FAVORITE blog hop of the whole year. I can't wait to see what all the Makers have created. You should have come from Michelle's blog, but don't worry if you started here. The hop is a circle so just keep going until you've seen all the fabulous inspiration from these incredibly talented ladies. If you get lost along the way, head to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants.

Most of the time when I make a card, it needs to be one I can create quickly. But sometimes I need to slow way down and do something that takes extra time. Usually that's for the sake of the recipient; once in a while it's for me because art is my therapy. For this card, it was both.

I've recently realized just how much winter and the pandemic has taken out of me. I'm suffering from mild depression. Art, as I said, is therapy--and the more time I take to create something beautiful, the more I get lost in it and the better it is for my soul. I also have a friend whose teenage daughter committed suicide a few months ago.

You don't send a quick and easy card for something like that.

One of the greatest fears of parents who lose a child is that they'll be forgotten. I plan to keep sending cards to my friend throughout the year--and for years to come--to let her know I remember.

I combined Where Happiness Blooms with Thin Cuts, on sale for $20, and Sweet Fruit with Thin Cuts, on sale for $25, for this card. I also used eight different ink colors and some sponge daubers to create my shading. Here's the list of colors:

• Linen with Mink shading (watering can)
• Avocado with Fern shading (all leaves)
• Peach with Desert Rose shading (tulips and grapefruit slice)
• Lemonade and Sundance (two-tone lemon)

Everything was cut using the coordinating thin cuts except the leaves around the fruit and the solitary tulip on the bottom left. I hand cut those using Micro-tip Scissors. The only extra coloring I did was to add some colored pencil lines for the tulip stems. The background paper is from the Eat Play Love collection cut with the largest Stitched Rectangle Frame Thin Cuts. After everything was cut and assembled, I accented with White Liquid Pearls. 

The whole saying is "Where flowers bloom, so does hope." I can't think of a better sentiment to send a grieving mom when spring is in the air.

For more artwork featuring the Sweet Fruit stamp set, click here. For more featuring the Where Happiness Blooms set, click here and here, but be aware that not all the supplies used are still available.

Now you're off to Gina's blog. I'm right behind you because over twenty ladies contributed to this hop, and I can't wait to see what they have created to inspire us!!

Until next time,
Becca

April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Scandinavian Folk Art Greetings

 

Welcome to the April Stamp of the Month: Scandinavian Folk Art. You should have come from Alyson's blog, but don't worry if you started here. The hop is a circle. Just keep going until you get back to where you started. If you get lost along the way, head to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants.

My heritage has some Swedish in it, so I was immediately drawn to the images in this set. However, I needed a jump start for inspiration on what to do with them. I went to Pinterest and searched "Scandinavian Handmade Card" and "Folk Art Card." The images inspired a couple of cards and a scrapbook page.

My colors here are Lagoon. Sundance, and Candy Apple. The background paper is from the current Mix-In collection. I think this pattern is perfect for the Scandinavian theme. I created my colored, scallop bordered mattes by running cardstock through the Stitched Lattice Background Thin Cut. I ran a piece of White Daisy cardstock through the largest Stitched Rectangle Thin Cut, layered all of them together, then glued it at an angle over my cardbase, careful to line it up so the top and left side showed no stitching, before trimming it down. 

For this card, I used the Eat Play Love Digital Image set. The images have some fancy, swirly cuts to them. I used the "Hide Contour" feature in Design Space to get rid of almost all of them so I could White Emboss the images I wanted. The background paper is from the Eat Pray Love paper suite which I also ran through the larges Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts then backed with a piece of Lagoon cardstock. The idea of decorating with these image inspired me to do a little more white embossing in non-traditional way...

As soon as I went through the March/April Seasonal catalog, I thought the Scandinavian images coordinated well with the Eat Play Love suite of products. Colors here and for the above card are Lagoon, Candy Apple. Lemonade, Fern, and Toffee.

Here are some close ups of the wood shapes which I colored and then white embossed for this page.

I added some acrylic stars and Rose Gold Liquid Pearls, which I felt would hold up on a scrapbook page because they are nestled close to thick wood and acrylic shapes that will keep the dots from getting crushed. To keep the white powder from clinging to the wood shapes I liberally patted the Anti Static Pouch after coloring them with alcohol markers. 

The border on the right side of the page was cut with the Fancy Borders Thin Cuts on the light side of Lemonade.

I'm excited to add pictures to this page. Our family has a tradition of Christmas cookies. This year we added a daughter-in-law who'd never done cookies. We had such fun! Sure...this isn't technically Christmas paper, but it's my scrapbook and I can do what I want. 

Now you're off to Lauren's blog. Again, keep going until you get all the way through the blog hop to see lots of great inspiration using this fun set.

Until next time,

Becca