The Rose Blossom Blog Hop...Where Being Framed Is A Good Thing....

Hi All! Welcome to the first Rose Blossom Blog Hop for the month of August. (That's right, August! The summer is flying by!) Today we're featuring Close To My Heart's August Stamp of the Month: Framed. (Oh the puns were flying when I was writing this...)

If you just hopped over from Shelly's inspiring blog, Just One Pretty Piece, you're on the right path. If you're just starting with me, I'll have a full list of blog participants at the end of the post. So on with today's project!

"Framed" is a fantastic stamp set for card makers, so today I'm bringing you a little card set that I crafted. Here's a look at the portfolio that is created from Kraft Cardstock. I layered inside and out with Ponderosa Pine cardstock and the coordinating paper from the Paper Fundamentals Enchantment Assortment pack. Then I looped a little hemp twine from my stash and tucked it under the Colonial White cardstock tag that I made from the Framed stamp set. I used Ponderosa Pine and Desert Sand inks for stamping. Finally I added some Gold Sequins layered with brown sparkles for a little extra bling.

Here's a close-up of the embellishment and a look at the portfolio when opened:

This portfolio holds nine cards and 10 envelopes. (Don't know about you, but I always need an extra envelope....) There are three each of three designs, with each card using a different color of paper from the Paper Fundamentals Enchantment Assortment pack that is layered on a Kraft cardstock base. I stamped the frame in matching ink and the sentiments in Dessert Sand on Colonial White cardstock. Let's take a look:

Here are the thank you notes in Smokey Plum, New England Ivy, and Autumn Terracotta. I added a little flag embellishment of matching paper with the mini stapler, as you can see below:

Here are the birthday cards in Outdoor Denim, Olive, and Barn Red. And here's a look at the embellishment:

And here are the thinking of you cards in Indian Corn Blue, Goldrush, and Ruby. As you can see, I couldn't decide how I wanted the extra splash of color to be positioned. Here's the close-up:

And here's one last look at the whole set:

I hope you enjoyed this little project of mine. Now hop on over and see what the amazingly talented Morgan has created for your inspiration at Tweet Scraps. And if you get lost along the way, here is a list of blog participants:

Brenda

Lynn

Marg

Barbara

Shelly

Kim {that's Me!}

Morgan

Cathy

Kristine

Kim S.

And, by way of a heads up, the Enchantment palette is going through an overhaul, so if you love these colors, you'll want to snap them up this month. On September 1st, we will unveil the new Idea Book, and with it, seven (7) new Enchantment colors that will replace seven of the existing ones! (

A little fall fun (part 2)

Hi all! Thanks for joining me today for part two of our Fall Fun Folio. Yesterday we took a look at the cards in the folio, so today we'll be looking at the folio itself.

Like the cards, the folio is made from Kraft cardstock. I used textured Glacier cardstock from the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment pack for accents and the closure. (The closure stays in place with the help of a couple of hook and loop dots.) The patterned paper is from the Pathfinding paperpack. I've inked around all the edges of the elements with Chocolate ink and used the same ink to stamp the sentiment, which is from the "For A Friend" stamp set. The brown sparkles give the whole thing just the right amount of bling, don't you think?

Here is the folio opened:

Each side houses three cards and three envelopes. I could certainly fit one more of each card and envelope in it. If you made the cards completely flat, you could easily fit 6 cards on each side. (I like my cards with a little dimension and bling though.)

Here it is with the cards showing:

And here is one more look:

I'm going to try to get a tutorial written up for this project. I'll let you know when it's done!

Posted with Blogsy

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share: Just sayin'....

Hi All! Welcome to the Kraft-y Hearts April Blog Share. Today's project features the Close To My Heart April Stamp Of The Month: Balloon Talk. (If you are loving the speech bubble trend, this is YOUR stamp set!)

I'm also giving you a little sneak peek at some of next month's goodies that CTMH has created to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month.

Now for the projects! When I first saw the Balloon Talk set, I knew it would make great sentiments for little notes of encouragement for my family and friends. So with that in mind, I came up with this set of 3x3 note cards. Let's take a look at one and then I'll show you all of them.

The card base is cut at 6 x 3 inches from Kraft cardstock. I scored at 3 inches and folded it in half. The gold cardstock and patterned paper are both from the new Free To Be paper pack that is being released next month to celebrate National Scrapbooking month. (Read on to learn how you can get this in your hot little hands early if you'd like!). I layered the gold cardstock (cut at 2 3/4 inches square) with a 2 1/2 inches square of White Daisey. The frame is folded from a 3-inch square piece of pattern paper. (Go here for a great tutorial on how to make the frame.) I added a 1 1/4-inch square of gold cardstock in the middle of the frame and layered it with a 1-inch square piece of White Daisey for the sentiment. I stamped the sentiment in Cashmere Exclusive ink. "Awesomeness" is from the Balloon Talk stamp set. "NOTE" and "THE" are from a retired stamp set. I dug out all my word and font stamp sets just for fun and added to the sentiments.

Here's a look at the other cards:

So is this Free To Be paper pack fabulous or what?!? (And there's even more to it than you see here... I didn't want to completely spoil the surprise!) If you want to get your hands on Free To Be a little early, all you have to do is join my team as a Close To My Heart consultant. One of the perks of being a consultant is getting in on the goodies before they hit the general public. (Gotta admit, I love that!) And this month you can get an even better deal! By joining my Close To My Heart team in April, not only do you get all the fabulous goodness in the consultant kit, BUT you also get your choice of Close To My Heart Cricut Collections! Each collection comes with your cartridge, chipboard elements that match, and THREE matching stamp sets! It's a sweet deal any time, but this month it is yours for FREE when you become a consultant. 

If you want to sign up or are interested in the fantastic Stamp Of The Month (which, remember, is yours for $5 with a $35 purchase, or $17.95 if purchased alone), just stop by and see me here!

Meanwhile, hop on over to the ever-talented Lynn Darda's Bungalow to be inspired by her Kraft-y Hearted Goodness! 

Valentine Countdown with the Rose Blossoms! (Day 12….)

Hi All! 12 days and counting! 

Today we have a special treat: we're joining the Rose Blossoms Blog Hop celebrating the release of Close To My Heart's Spring/Summer 2014 Catalog! Woo Hoo! If you just hopped over from Marg Van Patten's AMAZING blog, you're in the right place. If you're just starting, you can hop on over to Brenda Rose's always-INSPIRING blog and begin at the beginning. Or here's a list of Blog Hop participants if you get lost along the way:

Brenda

Sara

Lynn

Tammie

Kim

Kristine

Marg

Kim {that'll be me}

Today's project is an All-Occasions Cards Set that I created using the new Jubilee Workshop On The Go, along with other elements from the Jubilee collection and the new My Creations Journaling Cards Box. (As you'll see, I didn't use it for journaling cards….) Jubilee is a bright, fun line designed to invoke visions of summer and county fairs! It's full of ginghams and doilies and primary colors. I love working with it!  So let's take a look:

The card box comes in white ready for you to alter. I inked all the edges heavily in Indian Corn Blue Exclusive ink and then covered the outside with Jubilee paper. I used Jubilee chipboard compliments on the top and bottom front sections of the box, and layered strawberry flair from the Jubilee assortment on the top. I added some of the new Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon to the chipboard element on the front of the box and then finished it off with Durables Triangle Studs and Sparkle Flourishes. (I inked around the edges of the yellow doily and red gingham papers with Cranberry Exclusive ink.)

Now lets take a look at what's inside:

The card bases are cut at 5 1/2 x 4 inches from Kraft cardstock. 

The first card is very simple. I layered three pieces of patterned paper to the base of the card, and then added layered chipboard elements from the compliments pack. I finished it off with a little "First Place" flair from the assortments. Inside is a congratulations stamp from the 4 My Friend stamp set.

For the next card, I layered the yellow doily paper with a piece of a zip strip (that's the extra 1/2-inch edge at the top of the paper that has all the color information on one side and a coordinating pattern on the other) from the Jubilee paper. The green and blue ombré doily is from the back side of the yellow paper. I fussy cut it to fit the card front. I added some Sparkle Flourishes and popped up the gingham flag with dimensional adhesive. I stamped the sentiment from the 4 My Friend stamp set in Indian Corn Blue Exclusive ink and then popped that on top of the flag with dimensional adhesive as well. 

This next card is one of my favorites. I started by layering patterned paper that matched the width of the card base. Then I added a strip of Woodgrain Washi Tape at the top and bottom of the layers. The yellow flag, green washi tape and ticket element is cut from one of the patterned papers and adhered to the card. (Love that layered look!) I stamped one of the chipboard complements with a sentiment from a retired stamp set in Indian Corn Blue Exclusive ink and added Topiary Mini and Ruby Chevron ribbons to the chipboard. I popped it up on the front of the card with dimensional adhesive. The final bit of fun comes from the "Yee Haw" flair from the Jubilee assortment.

For this simple card, I inked up a layer of patterned paper with Indian Corn Blue Exclusive ink and added a strip of Woodgrain Washi tape, over which I layered a strip of the Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon. The sentiment is from the Banner Wishes stamp set. I stamped the banner in Saddle Exclusive Ink and the greeting in Indian Corn Blue on Colonial White cardstock. I fussy cut around the banner and popped it up using dimensional adhesive. I added a bow of Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon to the sentiment with Liquid Glass.

All-Occasions cards sets MUST have a thank you note, and this one couldn't be easier to make. I layered two pieces of patterned paper (both inked with Cranberry Exclusive ink) on the base, and added two banners cut from the zip strip of one of the papers. A chipboard element from the Jubilee compliments pack and "Thank You" from the Banner Wishes stamp set stamped in Cranberry Ink round out the sentiment.

 Last, but not least, we come to my most favorite card in the set. It is also our Valentine's Day Countdown project. I couldn't decide if I wanted to put "Valentine" at the top or not…. May have to go back and add it. For this, I layered a piece of patterned paper on the card base. I then stamped the melon image from the Jubilee Workshop On The Go in Indian Corn Blue ink in the middle of a piece of Colonial White cardstock. (I stamped the image again in the same ink on a scrap piece of Colonial White, colored it with my watercolor pencils, and fussy cut around it to use as a decorative element.) I added more watermelon stamps in Saddle Exclusive ink to the Colonial White cardstock to make my own patterned paper. I attached that piece to the middle of the card and cut the sentiment from one of the zip strips on the patterned paper. I added chipboard hearts from the Jubilee compliments collection and then popped up the colorful melon in the middle. Gotta be honest, I like this one for the pun!

All that, and folks I still have enough paper, cardstock, compliments, studs and flair to make at least 6 or 10 more cards. These Workshops On The Go sets are packed with goodies!

I hope you enjoyed today's project! And remember, if you just started, hop on over to Rose Blossom Legacies and begin the hop at the beginning. You'll be so inspired and glad you did!

Pop on by tomorrow as we continue our Valentine's Day Countdown!