A Little Crafting Fix

So I thought I'd share a secret to a quick little crafting fix: Close To My Heart's Workshops on the Go. The Workshop On The Go collections are perfect when you want (or need) to do some quick crafting projects that look like you spent hours on them. All the paper, embellishments and stamps are included in the workshops. You just need to bring the ink, adhesive and paper trimmer. (In the case of the Laughing Lola card workshop that I'm showing you today, you also need to bring your Cricut and the Artiste Cartridge, though you could fussy cut around the images if you don't have the Cricut.)

Here are the 3 card designs (you have 15 card bases to make 5 of each design):

Now I made a few changes to the cards (shocking, I know) in order to make them more my own--and to cover up some mistakes. First, the "hooray for you" stamp isn't part of the workshop, it's from the 4 My Friend stamp set. The original card said "cheer up." For some reason, this sentiment struck me as odd. It's almost like a command. Seems to me like the last thing some one who might be down needs is to be commanded to "cheer up." So I switched out the sentiment. 

The second change I made is to the "You can never have too much happy" card. All of the paper strips are sanded at the edges to add texture and interest. I got a little overzealous with my sanding on one of the Pear strips and it tore a bit. I didn't want to waste it, so I covered the tear with a strip of Silver Shimmer trim. I really liked the effect, so I added it to all the other cards in this style as well.  

The "hugs" card was made exactly like the instructions suggested. 

Here are some close ups:

Hope you enjoyed this peek at the Laughing Lola Card Workshop. And remember, if you need a quick crafting fix, Close To My Heart's Workshops On The Go are just the ticket!

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share Day 1: Everything Old is New Again....

Hi All! Welcome to the July Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share. This month we Kraft-y Hearts (that'd be Lynn, Jody and I) decided to shake things up a bit, so we're branching out beyond the Stamp Of The Month (though you'll get a taste of it in the projects I've created.) This month's blog share is all about stash busters and sneak peeks--out with the old and in with the new. Today's projects were created with Close To My Heart items from the current Spring/Summer Idea Book. Let's take a look:

I love the title of this month's Stamp of the Month: Sweet Life! (Ain't it the truth!) The countryfied fruit was just begging to be watercolored, so I decided to create some 3 x 4-inch note cards to use as gift enclosures. Well, you know how it goes when you're having fun. Next thing I knew, I'd created a whole note card set and then some! (You'll get a peek at the box tomorrow.) 

Here's the 411: The card bases are cut from Kraft cardstock at 4 x 6 inches and scored at 3 inches. The Cocoa, Outdoor Denim, and Olive cardstock layers are cut at 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, and layered under 3 1/4 x 2 1/4-inch pieces of patterned paper from the Dakota collection. (Although technically not retiring until the end of the month, the Dakota paper pack has sold out.) The images are stamped on Colonial White cardstock using brown Stāz-On ink. After the ink dried, I colored the images using watercolor pencils and a water brush. I then fussy cut around the images and adhered them to the patterned paper. I added the matching sentiment to each in Olive, Cocoa, and Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks. A little bakers twine, corner rounding, and dimensional adhesive finished them off. I actually made 9 cards (3 of each design), but found than only 6 will fit in the box once you add envelopes, which I did. I made the envelopes from Kraft cardstock as well, but didn't quite have enough patterned paper to line them. 

Here's a couple of close-ups of the cards:

Here are the cards and envelopes:

And another peek at the cards:

 I hope you enjoyed Day 1 of the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share. Remember to shop your stash. It's amazing what you can find! Stay tuned for tomorrow's Blog Share, where we'll show you how well the old and the new can play together. Until then, hop on over and visit Lynn and Jody for some AMAZING inspiration!