Happiness is... a Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share

Hi All! Welcome to Day 3 of the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share. This month we're sharing some Floral Happiness with you, and happy it is! Today's project is a little reminder:

I happened to be at Brave Girls Camp last week and was reminded again that while we can't always control our circumstances, we can always choose our attitudes toward them. Since I can have an amazingly short memory, I thought I'd just make myself a little reminder to hang on my wall. 

I covered a piece of heavy-duty chipboard with scraps of paper from the Claire and Surf's Up paper packs and coated them with Mod Podge to make sure they were nice and adhered. After letting the Mod Podge dry (an extremely important step that can't be skipped or rushed, I promise), I toned the papers down a little by sponging them with White Daisy Exclusive Ink and then inked around the edges with Smoothie Exclusive Ink. I then inked up and fussy cut a bunch of small and medium roses from the Floral Happiness stamp set in a variety of colors: Sunset, Outdoor Denim, Smoothie, Crème Brulee, Hollyhock, and White Daisy Exclusive Inks. I set the roses aside and worked on the sentiment. I layered Sky Cardstock with Claire patterned paper and White Daisy Cardstock. "a" and "CHOICE" are stamped in Sunset Exclusive Ink using the Trinity and Urban Alphabet stamps respectively. "DAILY" is stamped in Sky Exclusive Ink using the Classmate Alphabet [ret.] stamp set.   I stamped "Happiness is..." in Sunset Exclusive Ink on White Daisy Cardstock and used a corner rounder to shape it. I popped that up on a background of Claire paper and then popped the whole thing up using dimensional adhesive. For a little extra flair, I added some Sky bling and bitty sparkles along the edges of both sentiments. I then arranged the roses along the bottom, popping up the last three with dimensional adhesive. 

For the hanger, I used some retired CTMH hardware, light blue and natural jute string from my stash and a Filigree Charm. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture of it hanging on the wall, but you can see a little of the hanger in the close-ups below.

Speaking of which....

I hope you enjoyed the Kraft-y Hearts March Stamp Of The Month blog share. Don't forget to hop over and see what Lynn Darda (a.k.a. Queen of Kraft) has for you at From My Bungalow. And, as always,  Floral Happiness can be yours for $5 with any qualifying order of $50 or more, or you can purchase it on its own for $17.95. It is available through 31 March. 

Have a fantastic weekend, and remember: Happiness is.... a daily choice!

A Tisket A Tasket A Kraft-y Little Mother's Day Basket

Hello All! Welcome to day 2 of our Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share featuring Floral Happiness, Close To My Heart's March Stamp Of The Month. If you haven't yet made it to Lynn's Bungalow, don't forget to hop over and see the beauty she has to share!

I know it's a bit on the early side for Mother's Day, and I started out making an Easter basket, but you know what they say about the best laid plans...

Without further ado, here's today's little bit of inspiration:

So let's start with the basket:

I love using the rose shadow stamps to make my own background paper. For this basket, I used the medium rose and stamped it in Sweet Leaf Exclusive Ink on Sweet Leaf Cardstock. (Tone on tone is one of my favorite techniques to use with these stamps.) The basket is made from a 6-inch square piece of cardstock that was scored at 2 inches and 4 inches. (Here's an old tutorial on it.) I punched out a scalloped circle in Crème Brulee Cardstock (you could use your Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for this too). I layered that with a 1 1/4-inch circle in Sweet Leaf Cardstock. "Mother's Day" is stamped in Gypsy Exclusive Ink using the Tag the Occasion [ret.] Stamp Set. The back ground was made using the 2nd generation stamping technique. I used a 1-inch circle punch to punch it out and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. The whole flower is popped up with dimensional adhesive so that it covers the brad that is holding the handle to the basket. I did an identical flower for the other side. A little bow made from Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon adds some extra flare.

 Here's a close-up of the basket tag:

And now for the card. Here it is closed:

The base of the card is made from Crème Brulee Cardstock and is cut to 3 x 6 inches. I scored it at 1 1/2 inches and 3 inches to form an easel. The front layer is also from Crème Brulee Cardstock to which I added scalloped borders of Sweet Leaf. I stamped the Amethyst [ret.] Cardstock layer with Smokey Plum Exclusive Ink. I liked the tonal effect. I used Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon to tie the layers together (visually, not literally, of course). I made a tag like the ones I used on the basket and tied it to the ribbon with a little crochet thread from my stash. Finally, I added bitty pearls for extra elegance.

Here it is opened:

I scalloped the base of the card and added bitty pearls to the scallops to mimic the front. I used a couple of punches to create the stopper (you could use the Artiste Cricut Cartridge for this) and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. "I love you" is also from the Tag the Occasion [ret.] Stamp Set. I added some bitty pearls to tie it together.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the card:

 And the set, again:

I hope you're inspired to create your own backgrounds now and then. It's a lot of fun to experiment with the different looks--tone on tone, different hues, etc. Remember, Floral Happiness can be yours for $5 with any qualifying order of $50 or more, or you can purchase it on its own for $17.95. It is available through 31 March. 

Now if you haven't done so, hop over to see what the wonderfully talented Lynn Darda has been Kraft-ing at From My Bungalow.

See you tomorrow!

March Stamp Of The Month with Kraft-y Hearts

Hi All!
I'm sorry to have been MIA from the blogosphere, but I'm back!

The Kraft-y Hearts are sharing a little Floral Happiness (the March Stamp of the Month) this weekend so be sure to tune in today through Saturday to be inspired. And if you haven't been to see Lynn Darda at From My Bungalow, stop reading this and go there now! I mean, come back after you see them and all, but kids, her projects today are G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S.! That's nothing new for Lynn, but honestly, I could have looked at her cards all day. (She's one talented Kraft-y Heart!)

For my little share today, I used a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  Here it is:

And now for my take:

I've been all about bright colors lately. So for this card, I flipped the sketch sideways and used Honey Cardstock for my base. I cut two strips of Lagoon Cardstock and edged them with my deco scallop border punch. The black and white paper is from the For Always collection. (The black border is one of the zip strips off the top of the paper. I love that every part of these papers are usable!) For the roses, I stamped the large and medium backgrounds in Honey Exclusive Ink using the 2nd generation stamping technique. I then stamped the shadows using Ruby Exclusive Ink. (I think Cranberry might be a little brighter, so I'll try that next time.) I popped the largest rose up a little using dimensional adhesive. The leaves are stamped in Pear Exclusive Ink and the veins are stamped in Lagoon. The sentiment is stamped in Lagoon Exclusive Ink on White Daisy Cardstock. I edged it with a fancy corner rounder I have, and then added a little Lagoon bling. I thought about using pearls on the boarder, but decided to use a white gel pen instead. 

Here is the inside:

I love this sentiment! I added a piece of White Daisy Cardstock to the inside and stamped the sentiment in Lagoon Exclusive Ink to match the front.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And here is the front, once again:

I hope you enjoyed my bright little roses. Remember, Floral Happiness can be yours for $5 with any qualifying order of $50 or more, or you can purchase it on its own for $17.95. It is available through 31 March.

See you tomorrow!

A Little Mojo (with a Sneak Peek at Floral Happiness)

Hi Folks! It seems like forever since I had a chance to play along with Mojo Monday! It's "Round or Square?" week. Here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

The Honey Cardstock base is cut at 4 x 12 inches and scored at 4 and 8 inches. The pattern paper is from the For Always collection in the new Close To My Heart Spring/Summer Idea Book. I used Ruby Cardstock, black ribbon (from my stash), a bling button and bitty pearls for accents. The rose is stamped in Lagoon Exclusive Ink on White Daisy Cardstock using the March Stamp Of The Month: Floral Happiness. 

Heres a little close-up:

Now let's take a look at the inside.

The inside flap features more Floral Happiness. This time, I used the 3rd generation stamping technique to create a lighter hue of Lagoon for the base of the rose and then 2nd generation stamping in Lagoon for the highlights. This created a softer look. The "Happiness Is...." pennant is stamped in Ruby Exclusive Ink on White Daisy Cardstock.

Here's a close-up of the rose:

And now for the inside middle panel.

I added a piece of White Daisy Cardstock and stamped the sentiment in Ruby Exclusive Ink. I used Lagoon Exclusive Ink to add a smaller rose (from the same stamp set) to the corner to tie it all together. For a little extra pop, I edged the Whited Daisy Cardstock with Ruby Exclusive Ink. 

Hope you enjoyed a little Mojo. Remember, Floral Happiness will be available starting tomorrow, 1 March.