This is why I love CTMH clear stamps!

As you watch this video you will see why I LOVE LOVE LOVE my CTMH clear acrylic stamps!!! You can clearly see what steps you have to take to line up stamps or to double stamp. Because you can't see where you are stamping you have to go through all these extra steps just to line up images!!!
CTMH clear acrylic stamps are so easy to use, clear to stamp and you can even bend the long stamps to change shape. You can bend a sentiment so it has a rounded edge and goes around a photo or stamped image.
In relation to this video, because CTMH has clear stamps so you can just see through the clear acrylic and stamp right where you need to. No extra tools needed! Get your CTMH stamps and try for yourself!

Springin' Up Flowers

This is pretty cool! It's so easy to do flowers with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I love the spiky flowers and the roses the best. I just did a layout using a bunch of little rosettes on and around a tree. I'll have to take a photo soon and get it up. Do you think you can do fun projects with the flowers using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge? You can do it. Let me show you how!

Floral Wreath using CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

What a super cute idea for using flowers using the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge! It's a good thing making the flowers is not hard because there are sure a lot of them in this project.

Do you think you would make this project? What colors would you use? I am thinking of doing a workshop for this project... would you be interested?
That's all for now! Happy crafting!

Newsprint Rub-Ons from Close To My Heart

How cute are these newsprint Rub-ons! Who knew how versatile letter Rub-ons were! I think the background with the newsprint Rub-ons are the cutest. Just watch this quick video to see how easy it is to use rub-ons and how CTMH has made using them even easier! I can't wait to get my Rub-ons and start playing!

My Acrylix® On This Day Inspiration & Tutorial

Doing projects with stamps can sometimes feel difficult for me. I like how this video shows how to use a potentially difficult stamp set. What a fun idea for using a date stamp set! In this video she does a lot of cutting to get a neat look. You can streamline the process and just stamp once if you like.



Does this video inspire you to use your date stamps? Post your artwork in a comment so we can all get some inspiration!
Happy Scrapping!

My Acrylix® Dreams Come True Stamp Set

Don't you just love this stamp set? It has so many versatile stamping options! I love how the corner flourish can be used for more than just a corner image! If you love this Dreams Come True stamp set, contact me and I'll get you set up!

Creativity with Trees & Things Stamp Set

This technique is known as first and second generational stamping with some masking technique thrown in too! This super cute stamp set is useful for any season. Just use green leaves for summer, browns for autumn, add flowers or fruit for spring and don't use leaves at all for winter! How cool is that!
Let me know if you want to order this stamp set and anything else!




Happy crafting!

101 Days to Go

It’s officially 101 days left of the year 2011! Can you believe how fast the time has flown by? I know! We have gone through most of the rituals of the year; throwing out the old Christmas tree, planting spring flowers, ending a school year, having lazy days of summer, back to school,camping trips, scrapbook retreats. So many things! Lets take a moment to reflect on the last 8 months.
Ok, enough reflecting! on to the next three months! We still have Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the day after sales, Christmas, and of course my birthday! Take the time to enjoy every moment that’s left of this year and keep looking forward to the next day!
Happy scrapping!

Soon To Be Retired CTMH Products

The following product lines from the current Idea Book will not be available in the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book:

Color-Ready products:

• X1406 Color-Ready Hodge Podge Alphabet
• X5749 Color-Ready Oxford Alphabet

8 1/2" x 11" cardstock:

• X1411 8 1/2" x 11" Colonial White Cardstock
• X1412 8 1/2" x 11" Black Cardstock

Brayer:

• Z616 Rubber Brayer

Eyelets:

• Z1228 Soft Set Eyelets Black & White Daisy Collection
• Z1229 Soft Set Eyelets Chocolate & Colonial White Collection
• Z1208 Soft Set Eyelet Tool
• Z1245 Eyelet Tool Replacement Punches

CTMH will continue to stock all of these items with the exception of the eyelets and eyelet tool through the end of January. The eyelets and eyelet tool (including replacement punches) are available only while supplies last; however, if sales levels remain as they are today, they will not run short. Once the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book goes live to customers, any excess inventory of the retiring items listed above will be available online at a discount in the “While Supplies Last” category.

Technique Thursday- Perfect Paper Pinwheels

This is a great video that shows how to make paper pinwheels. Even thought you can't get this workshop on the go anymore the method of making pinwheels is the same!
To make it super easy cut your square out first and then stamp a pattern on top. Make sure your stamp image is larger than your square so the image covers the entire surface.


Once you get the hang of this super easy technique, you'll want to do pinwheels for everything!

Designer Ribbon Pink Collection

This ribbon is super cute!! I love how versatile the rosette ribbon is! This cute video shows how you can do different projects with the Pink Collection of designer ribbon. Check it out and then go try it yourself. To order this ribbon go to my link for shopping! Or just send me a message that you want to order it and we'll get going!

Krafty, Kool & Kolorful!

How fun this is video about Kraft Borders! Unfortunately they are not available anymore but you can use any paper or cardstock cut with a border punch or your Cricut Machine! It's super easy to make a border and color it so it matches your layout or card perfectly!
If we are lucky CTMH will bring the Kraft Borders back soon! Love it!

Spray Pen Unplugged

Spray Pen Technique
 This little video will show you exactly how to use the super cool spray pen that CTMH sells. It's true you can probably buy some spray pens that are already mixed and ready to spray but they won't match your CTMH colors exactly! Beware!
As the demonstrator says, cover your work surface well so you don't have any spray messes!





Happy crafting!

Bits and Bobs Wall

Isn't this the cutest idea? It's called a "Bits and Bobs Wall" and I found it and wanted to share. It totally looks like something I would end up doing in my future craft room. I really like how the walls are pure white to really set off the wall of art and "stuff". If you want to see the whole article and see the photo up close check out the link below. 

http://dottieangel.blogspot.com/2011/08/bits-and-bobs-wall.html

Technique Thursday Bling it Up

Technique #2

BlingI know you want some diamonds for Valentines Day, or any other day for that matter! But what about using gems on your scrapbook pages or cards? “It’s too bulky” or “It costs too much” might be some objections but I have the answer for you. NO! It’s not very expensive at all and you get such a visual impact it’s totally worth it. And if bulk is TRULY your objection, then you can get bling stickers that are very, very close to the real thing. Or there is a product out that mimics pearl. It is called Liquid Pearl and comes in different colors and looks pretty. I don’t mind the tiny amount of bulk that bling uses. So let’s get started… 

First go to the CTMH website and check out your options. You can choose from Clear sparkles (diamonds)” or Opaque Adhesive Gems (pearls) or colored Sparkles. You'll find all of these on page 126 of the new Winter catalog from CTMH! There’s even colored “pearls” you can choose from. All these bling come in different sizes from pretty large to super tiny (Bitty Sparkles). I prefer to use the small and tiny ones but I have used some large “diamonds” and the effect is pretty great. Once you get your bling take it home and start sticking! They are self adhesive so it’s super easy to just lift off the sheet with your piercing tool or X-acto knife. I don’t use tweezers because inevitably the gems pop right out of the tweezers, never to be found again! Once you are done blinging your page, stand back and prepare for your friends to marvel at your talent!

Have Fun!

Banner Ideas with CTMH

Banner Ideas

Banners are hot right now. These trendy creations make sassy décor for any room. They are a cinch to freshen up by switching out a couple of pennants, making quick work of all your decorating needs.

Learn how to create fabulous banners by purchasing the Wings Workshops on the Go™ kit (G1016) and our new My Creations^®banner (Z1378) during January. Just in time for National Papercrafting Month and your workshops; the Wings Workshop kit includes a special insert of color instructions—for purchases made during January.
Want more? Here’s a smattering of clever ideas for satisfying your banner urge:

• A “word” banner: Spell out a word putting each letter on a different pennant, e.g., BIRTHDAY, JESSICA, EASTER, FAMILY, PARTY, LOVE, etc.
  

  
  

• A “wish” gift banner: Include a different wish you have for the person receiving the banner, e.g., good health, long life, happiness, your dream trip, good grades, caring friends, etc.
• A “theme” banner: Focus on one person, pet, event, or theme and include pictures, quotes, and other memorabilia that represents the theme.
  

  
  

• A “family” banner: Give each family member a pennant of their own to decorate in a way that represents them, and then hang them together.
  

  
  

• A “timeline” banner: Depict an event or a person over time, starting with early photos at one end and later photos at the other. Ideas could be photos of building your new home, your child's first day of school, getting ready for prom, carving pumpkins, etc.
  
  Which project would you most likely do first? What colors would you like to use?

Add Cricut® Flair to Any Workshop

This fun video is super cute and makes it easy to make any cards! If you want to do a special card workshop let me know!

"Enjoy" Scrapbook Page Pops with Flowers Video

I love doing new and interesting things with flowers. Don't you? I found this super cute video about doing a scrapbook page using lots of flowers! It's too cute and don't you just love how the Cricut machine cuts out the flowers for you instead of having to cut each flower out. I know it'll make using flowers a lot easier and therefore... I'll do it a lot more! Love it!

Thanksgiving Card: Project Inspiration Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book

Are you starting to think about fall activities? I am! There are all kinds of fun things you can be doing for fall and many different places to find inspiration.

So here's a cool video to check out from CTMH, it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving already! Can you believe it?

If you are interested in getting this stamp set or any items you see here, let me know!

Using Embossed Fonts as Backgrounds

Using Embossed Fonts as Backgrounds
(using CTMH stramps)

I found this technique on jeanettelynton.com and I love it! I usually forget about using stamped images as background paper but stamping andembossing! Genius!

I love the softer yet shiny look this technique gives to layouts. It would even work great on cards or other project. Don’t you just love how this looks? It gives a great subtle look that is not overpowering for the photos or other elements on the page.

For a more subtle use of the alphabet, adorn yourschool-themed layouts with your own alphabet-patterned paper. On this layout, the alphabet pattern is made using the Classmate Alphabet (D1303).

Stamp your alphabet rows onto cardstock using VersaMark ink. Start by lining up your alphabet stamps in a single row from A to Z. You’ll need more than one block to fit them all. You can use both sides of the same block; just make sure you don’t overlap the images so you can still see clearly.

After you’ve stamped all your rows, dust the image with clear detail embossing powder, then heat using your craft heater. It’s easier if you focus on embossing in sections, two lines at a time. The resulting gloss will give your layout a subtle, but very “classy” look. Try stamping and embossing on Dimensional Elements tocreate your own Irresistibles! Now it’s your chance to go to your creative corner and put those ABC’s to good use!

When you are all done with the embossing remember to set aside for a couple of minutes to cool off and harden completely.  After you get your photos in you can finish up adding embellishments to complete your page! It’s fun and easy to do and gives a great professional finished look too!

Technique Thursday Glitter Glue

So I have a new thing I want to try. I have so many little techniques that I like to try and if I get to share them with others, I’ll be more likely to use them! So here goes…

Technique #1
Glitter Glue

This one is pretty easy and I have recently fallen in love with Stickles. Stickles are a no-mess glitter glue (gg) and they come in many different colors; at least 35! With that kind of variety you can match most of your pages or cards you do. There are other kinds of gg out there you can get at Craft Warehouse, JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby, to name a few. I have found that the gg you can get in the dollar bin are not the best. They don’t flow out of the bottle nicely, and they glob up and don’t spread very well. I like Stickles the best so far!

The technique is really easy. You can gg over a stamped image, on a die cut or directly on the paper to create your own design. You can glitter on chipboard shapes, buttons, brads and stickers. It’s pretty endless as to what you can gg on and I’m ready to try them all! Glitter Glue really gives a fun sparkle to most anything without adding the bulk of gems.
Here I stamped a butterfly image from CTMH and went over it with two colors of gg. You need to wait until the ink from the stamp has dried enough so the ink doesn’t run or blend with the glue. After I applied the gg, I set it aside for a long time to dry. This is important, because if you mess with it too soon, you can smear the glue all over and it makes quite a mess. After it is completely dry, you can apply it to your project and voila! you are finished!

Check out my product page and see other cards I have used gg. Good luck trying something new!