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!

Hi All!
Welcome to my first ever blog hop with the Rose Blossoms! I'm so excited to be participating!

You've probably just hopped over from Sara's Kreative Korner. (Is she loaded with talent or what?!) I'm so glad you've hopped by. I have a couple of projects to share with you, along with a little give-away goodness. All the projects I'm featuring were made with the new CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge. Folks, this cartridge is AWESOME! So much creative material here! Let me show you just a fraction of what this little cartridge can do.

First up is a birthday card and box combo that I made for my niece who turned 18 this month.

The card and envelope are found on page 52 of the Artiste handbook. I cut both at 5 1/2-inches. The motif on this particular card is found on page 33.  (By the way, this is just 1 of 9 s-fold cards on this cartridge!) I used cocoa card stock for the base layer of the card and covered that with B&T paper from Stella. The flower accent is from the Bohemian assortment, the button is from the pink assortment, and the twine is from the neutral assortment. The envelope and accent pieces are cut from colonial white card stock. (I lined the envelope with Stella B&T paper to match the card.) The sentiment and accent flower are from the Card Word Puzzle stamp set, and stamped in smoothie pigment ink and bamboo exclusive ink. I inked around the edges of everything in either chocolate exclusive ink or the smoothie pigment ink. Finally, the "18" on the inside is made with our new irresistibles houndstooth alphabet inked with smoothie pigment.

The box is found on page 74. It is cut at 1-inch, which is the height of the sides, from cocoa card stock and Stella papers. The flower embellishment and leaves are found on page 54. The flower is cut from Stella B&T and the leaves are cut from olive card stock. The flower button is from the basic assortment. I used tan pearls from the opaques mocha adhesive gems in the center of the button and then in graduating sizes on each side. The button on the front of the box is from the pink assortment, and the bakers twine is from the paradise assortment.

The next project will go to a lucky follower. I'll be doing a random drawing on Monday morning and will announce the winner on Tuesday. (I'm kinda excited because I've never done a give away before!)

This is a cute little note set that I made using the magazine box on page 47 and the card and envelope on page 73. (This idea was inspired by fellow CTMH Independent Consultant Mandy Leahy.) I cut the box at 4 1/2-inches from kraft card stock, and the cards were cut at 4 inches from the saddle and cashmere card stocks in the Clementine paper pack. The envelopes were cut at 4 inches from kraft card stock.

I decorated the box with Clementine paper using a template I made from scrap card stock. The chocolate twine is from the neutral assortment, and the wooden flower is from my stash. It's inked with twilight, sorbet and crème brulee pigment inks from the Whimsy Exclusive Inks mini pigment pad set. The canvas and button sticker is from the Clementine Workshop On The Go kit. The flags were made using the Card Word Puzzle stamp set, and were stamped in chocolate ink on sorbet card stock. Tucked in behind them is a little bit of frayed burlap ribbon.

Here are the cards that are included:

And here are a couple shown close up:

The lucky winner will also receive the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book packed with creative inspiration!

I hope you enjoyed my little smidgen of what the Artiste cartridge can do. Don't forget to post a comment and become a follower. Now hop on over to see what the über-creative Marg Van Patten has in store for you.

If you find yourself hopping off track, here's a list of the participants:

1) Brenda - http://roseblossomlegacies.blogspot.com

2) Sara - http://saraskreativekorner.blogspot.com

3) Kim - http://violetsandsunshine.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)

4) Marg - http://ididnthavepotatoes.blogspot.com

5) Crystal - http://craftinginlove.blogspot.com

6) Lynn - http://frommybungalow.blogspot.com

7) Tammie -  http://tchelberg.blogspot.com