2023 Favorites

 I haven't blogged in forever, but I wanted to end the year by celebrating my top ten favorite projects of the year. Many of them I haven't posted here as I share more freely in my Crafty Friends Facebook Group. 

There you have it, my top ten projects of the year. 

Now that we've moved to Germany and the craft cabinet is set up and loaded, I hope to be posting more in 2024. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and crafty new year.

Until next time,
Becca

Cozy Up with Flower Shoppe

 Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love pumpkin spice everything, hot tea, cozy blankets, and a good book...which makes the new Cozy Up collection of products introduced in the brand new CTMH July-August catalog a must have. But even I need a little more summer before immersing myself in "all Fall, all the time." I decided to use the Flower Shoppe paper suite that was introduced last year in the Core Catalog. It was hands down my favorite in that book. It's still available, and another package is in my cart because...I mean, just look at how cheerful it is.

Isn't that fun? The snail comes from Cozy Up - Cardmaking and the envelope comes from In Autumn Time. 

While Flower Shoppe was out, I thought I'd pair it with the July Stamp of the Month: The Bee's Knees. This set is available for $19.95 or, with a $50 purchase, is either $5 or free. See sidebar for link.

I used colored pencils on both cards, making them quick and easy. 

For information on the other products used, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

Until next time,
Becca

A "Quick and Pretty" Card with Two Current Specials

Oh people, it's been forever since I posted. Life is just...life. And mine is in a constant state of flux right now. I needed to do something crafty, though, so I jumped into my craft room to make a "quick and pretty card" using two CTMH specials that retire at the end of June (2023).

The focal image and sentiment come from Botanical Shadows, which is a stamp of the month. It's $5 with a $50 purchase or FREE with a $50 purchase for VIP's (see sidebar for links to both the stamp set and VIP program). The background text and pink swoosh are from the Dream Maker special which is gorgeous!

There's a third special, Melon Mania, which is also going on. I don't have the Melon ink pad, so I used Ballerina ink and sequins, but you could totally substitute Melon and get a good deal on both the ink pad, cardstock, and sequins.

If you want to know the specifics of the other products used, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

I absolutely love how this turned out. I think I might go make a ton more but use a sympathy sentiment as my stash is low in that category.

Until next time,
Becca

Easter Blessings

I made several Easter cards on Monday several different sets from CTMH (Close to my Heart). The first two are nearly identical, just different colors and backgrounds.

These primarily use a set called God is Love with coordinating thin cuts. It includes the cross, woodgrain, small floral pattern on the cross, sentiment, and the die cut lilies. The crown is from a different set called Storybook Cardmaking Workshop. The additional die cut on the second card is called Sunburst but retired quite a while ago.

And then there's this one...

The ears are actually loopy bows from the new Cosette Cardmaking Workshop. I touched them up with whith Fun Flock that's been in my stash for maybe thirty years. Isn't. That. The. CUTEST???

Easter is such a precious time. I love celebrating it in beautiful, fun ways.

Until next time,
Becca

Parisian Notes Stamp Set: Part 3

 Oh people, I am so sad that Parisian Notes is gone in a couple of days. Here are some more cards I made with them.

This one uses stamps from the soon-to-be released Cossette collection. I stamped Parisian Notes in Capri ink on the tags then added some sponging in Capri to create a bit of glow behind the flowers. I also sponged Lemonade ink behind all three tags to create a glow behind them.

This card is proof that you need to get the things you love when they're available. The gold leaves retired quite a while ago, the flowers and sentiment retired this last February. I used Parisian Notes to gold emboss a vellum flower for something a little different than the usual cluster of three flowers.

There are so many good things coming from CTMH in April, but I hope I've convinced you to shop the Stamptacular sale and add Parisian Notes to your cart!

Until next time,

Becca

Another Card with the Parisian Notes Stamp Set

 I'm still playing with the Parisian Notes Stamp Set. It will be retired on March 31, 2023 but I'll be using it for years to come. (For a full image, see this post.) Here's another card I made with it.

I masked all four sides of my card base before stamping Parisian Notes. I avoided the flowers that run along the left side, which meant I didn't get a full image through the mask. So I inked up again and stamped once more along the right side of the card base. If you look closely, you'll see a small gap along a line. Before removing the mask, I pressed Ballerina ink directly to the paper.

Once my masking was removed, I added the butterfly, sentiment, and small bit of glitter paper under the sentiment. I love sentiments like this because it allows me to have a card made that I can customize on the inside for whatever occasion I need.

There are a gazillion more stamps on sale during Stamptacular, so be sure to check that out before it's too late!

Until next time,

Becca

The EXCEEDINGLY Versatile Parisian Notes Stamp Set

 Um...I don't know about you, but very rarely does a stamp set come along that I'm literally drooling over. Parisian Notes, which is an exclusive set only available through March 2023 is one of them. Factor in that it's on sale during STAMPTACULAR, and you know it went in my cart right away! Let me show you the stamp set first before I show you the cards I've made so far.

This one uses the Parisian Notes stamp set along with some die cut sprigs out of a retired set called Christmas Story. It would be VERY pretty without the sprigs, but they do add that little "something, something."  

These next two add stamps from a collection of products that will be available April 1. It's called Collette and, as the name suggests, has a very Parisian feel. 

I have a gazillion more ideas, most of them combining Parisian Notes with Collette products, which would be a bummer since Parisian Notes is only available through the end of March except for all the amazing deals on every single stamp set currently available through CTMH. 

Go. Shop. I guarantee you'll find several things that will total up enough to make it worth adding the adorable stamp of the month (see side bar for image) to your cart for only $5.

Until next time,

Becca

March Stamp of the Month-Precious Moments

 Wow! Does anyone else feel like February flew by? I know it's the shortest month of the year, but not by TWO WEEKS! I swear it was January just a couple weeks ago.

Anyway...my DIL was here last week, and she brought me the adorable SOM for March called "Precious Moments." I had a little play with it, so I'll be posting several times to show you what I made. Remember that the SOM is only $5 with a $50 purchase or FREE for VIP's with a $50 purchase. That should be pretty easy, especially this month with STAMPTACULAR going on!

Here are a couple cards I made with Precious Moments featuring the two kangaroo images:

I paired this first card with the current Mix-in papers. I love how cheerful it is. I'm not sure I'm crazy about the sideways sentiment, but I wanted to show you that it's a possibility.

This next one is paired with Are We There Yet paper and coordinating Borders stamp set. Just because a paper has a specific theme, in this case travel, doesn't mean it can't stretch to something completely different.

Both of these card also use the Stitched Fancy Bracket Thin Cuts.

Cute, right? A full picture of all the stamps in Precious Moments is on the sidebar. Click on the picture to link through for ordering.

Until next time,
Becca

January SOM: Frosty Friends

The minute I saw this Stamp of the Month (SOM) from CTMH, I added it to my cart. The lack of sentiments doesn't bother me one bit. For these cards I pulled out a bunch of retired sentiments. Just because they're gone, it doesn't mean they're no longer adorable.

Everything except the sentiments is current. I used both Copic markers and colored pencils. 

I'm really pleased with how these turned out. A link to this set is on the sidebar. It's only available until January 31, 2023. As always, stamps of the month are $5 with a $50 purchase or FREE with a $50 purchase for VIPs.

Until next time,
Becca

Playing with New Products in the Jan-March CTMH Seasonal Catalog

 A new catalog launched January 1, and I've been having a blast playing with the new products. My personal favorite is the "Are We There Yet" (AWTY) collection. I have a TON of travel pictures to scrapbook, so I purchased almost everything in the collection. Let me show you the products in the line before I get to what I've done with them.

This layout shows off all of the paper patterns and some of the embellishments.

These cards feature the AWTY-Borders stamps and coordinating thin cuts. Pay attention to the thin cuts, in particular, because I've used them in several ways, as you'll soon see.

I love tags, and this little beauties will be showing up a lot in just a moment. 

And here's the scrapbooking workshop including exclusive paper and embellishments just for this workshop.

Now hang on, because I've gone wild with these. First up is a scrapbook page. I used the AWTY-Borders stamp set, the cardmaking workshop, and Picture My Life cards in addition to the paper and stickers.

Next up, a card made with the AWTY-Borders stamp set to create my own background as a compliment to the Floral Blooms stamp set featured in the Core Catalog. To finish off this card, I splattered White Acrylic paint and Mist Shimmer Brush over my floral cluster then added Crisp Air Enamel Dots.

I used the same AWTY-Borders set, but this time just the thin cuts which I accented with a White Gel pen. The sentiment and swoosh come from the Sending Smiles stamp set in the Core Catalog. I simply adore the clean and simple feel of this Pinterest inspired card!

For this next card, it's a different thin cut from the AWTY-Borders set along with AWTY patterned paper behind the tags from the AWTY Cardmaking Workshop. The little animals and stamped sentiments are from the Love Mail stamp set which is also in the Jan-March Seasonal Catalog.

Here's the same border and Love Mail stamp set this time paired with some retired black and white check paper. The little black tag and large round tag are from the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts in the Core Catalog. The little heart is from the Love Mail set with coordinating thin cuts. I cut in in Honey Butter cardstock and then accented it with the Honey Butter Shimmer Brush.

And finally, here are the little tags from the AWTY Cardmaking Workshop behind images from the Eating Chocolate stamp set with coordinating thin cuts. 

The "Chocolate" thin cut is from a different company which has gone out of business. I don't normally feature things you can't purchase, but this was too perfect.

Whew! It's been a busy few days in the craft room. Here's a link to the Are We There Yet suite of products. Now it's off to do laundry 'cause it's sortof piled up in the last few days. LOL!

Until next time,

Becca