Tip of the Month: Zinnia paper flowers
20 Feb 2011 1 Comment
in CTMH, layouts, Scrapbook layouts Tags: Alphabet stamps, Tip of the week, Tips, Wings
The tip of the week was a bit too ambitious of me to continue with a new tip every week. But a tip of the month certainly seems doable for me. ; – ) So without further ado, here’s the tip of the month: Zinnia paper flowers. I’m certainly no expert on flower species but to me this type of paper flower looks like a zinnia. This flower creation is quite easy.
Here’s a layout I made recently with the Wings paper pack from Close To My Heart. It is a modified version of a layout from the Magic Scrapbook Program, also from Close To My Heart. These photos totally cracked me up of my son playing around one day pretending to be a “working man.” He put on the shirt, slacks and tie by himself and grabbed his dad’s suitcase for a business trip. He is such a character so the title “Be You” really fit him.
Close up of flower:
To make the flowers:
Cut a strip of paper 1″ x 12.” Then cut a series of slits into the paper the entire length. Roll around a pencil or a round tool like a piercing tool. Don’t roll too tightly. Secure the end with a glue dot. Gently pull the flower off the piercing tool keeping it whole. Gently push the slits down to “open” up your flower. Sponge ink to the “flower petals.” Add a button to the center and secure with glue dots.
Recipe: Wings Paper Pack, Friendship Alpha Large, Dreams come true stamp set, Take a Picture stamp set, black ink, black mini-medleys, sweet leaf stamp pad & glue dots.
Tip of the week – Pleated Paper
05 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in CTMH, layouts, Scrapbook layouts Tags: Alphabet stamps, Splendor, Tip of the week
See the topiary band under the blue strips? It’s kinda hard to see on the right side but on the left page you can see that I pleated the paper. It was easy to do and gives a cute new look to your paper projects. For this pleat I scored at 1” and then a ½” on the whole 12” strip. The hardest thing was to remember if it was 1” or ½”. So just repeat to yourself: 1 inch, ½ inch, 1 inch, ½ inch…
Then fold your pleat so it is valley fold (inward) and then mountain fold (outward). Repeat for the full strip of paper. I added a line of adhesive at the top and the put the blue strip on it to keep it flat.
The other fun thing on this layout was using the Irresistibles chipboard. I just sponged color on them and the pattern just popped right out. These took color so well. They have a slicker finish than our other dimensional elements and really looks fabulous.
Recipe:
Splendor paper pack, Irresistibles dimensional elements, Splendor designer brads, Friendship alphas (E & C size), Topiary stamp pad, Moonstruck stamp pad & marker, Goldrush stamp pad
Tip of the week – Scrapbook Page Flow
19 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment
in Children, layouts, Scrapbook layouts Tags: Alphabet stamps, caboodle, Tip of the week
One of the easiest ways to get the readers eye to flow across the page is to add embellishments on the top left side, create an embellishment in the middle and then finish with an embellishment on the bottom right side. For the scrapbook page below I added silver accents to create the flow across the page. I added silver hinges on both the left and right page towards the center to give it balance as I had 5 embellishments. By giving the reader a visual flow you’ve helped ease them into the traditional method of “reading” a page from top left to bottom right.
Recipe:
Caboodle paper pack, Giggle lowercase stamp set, Candlelight stamp set, Happy Birthday stamp set, tiny typewriter stamp set, Silver hinges, silver photo hangers, tiny tabs, crystal blue stamp pad, buttercup stamp pad, sweet leaft stamp pad and ribbon rounds, chocolate stamp pad, Dimensional Elements monogram “H” & “B”, hearts & simple numbers.
April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring Flower Pot
31 Mar 2010 9 Comments
in Cards, CTMH, Thank You Cards Tags: Flower Pot, Tip of the week, Veranda
Welcome to our Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring April’s SOTM, Flower Pot, which is a set of 16 stamps.
Isn’t it sweet?
If you have come here from Cibele’s Blog, you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Helen’s Blog and start from the beginning!
This month we have 67 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month’s SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do – just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!
This stamp set begged me to do some watercoloring with the flowers. And I was happy to oblige. : – ) I used my waterbrush and stamp pads to watercolor. If you haven’t watercolored before here are some tips for you. While your stamp pad is closed squeeze the lid onto the stamp pad and then open up. You will then be able to use the lid of the stamp pad as your palette. Pick up some color from the lid and test on scrap paper. If it’s too dark squeeze some water out of your waterbrush to lighten it. If it’s too light add some more ink. Then just start coloring. I also added a little “shadow” around the flowers in heavenly blue to make them stand out a bit more. Finally, I added some speckles to my image by running an old toothbrush over some leftover watercolored ink from the desert sand stamp pad and “speckled” the paper by tapping on the back of the toothbrush.
Recipe: Flower Pot April SOTM stamp set, Veranda paper pack, Chocolate stamp pad, Brown Staz-On stamp pad, Heavenly blue stamp pad, Creme Brulee stamp pad, Autumn Terracotta stamp pad, Juniper stamp pad, Tulip stamp pad, Desert Sand stamp pad, Colonial White ribbon rounds, Waterbrush, Just Blooms paper flowers (butterfly) and sanding kit.
Now “Hop” on over to Traci’s Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the April SOTM is only available until April 30th! Contact me or your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!
Tip of the Week – Chalk Popping on CTMH TV
23 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in CTMH, layouts Tags: caboodle, Tip of the week
Oh, I love this layout shown on CTMH TV this week. The Caboodle paper used here is great for Easter pictures, Spring Fling and for babies too.
The technique featured in the video is chalk popping, is a favorite of mine too.
Follow this link to watch the whole episode: CTMH TV
Tip of the week – Tiny Tabs
18 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Cards, CTMH Tags: caboodle, candlelight, paper flowers, Tip of the week
Have you seen the cute little Close To My Heart embellishment called Tiny Tabs? These fun little accents match the colors in the caboodle paper packet. They have have words, swirls, stars and other patterns in each pack. One fun thing I did with the tiny tabs was to peel off the epoxy sticker very carefully with my paper piercer and used it as a sticker on the center of my paper flower. I still used the silver part on the tab to hang my tag on. But for the center of the tab I took one of my leftover Lots of Dots Color Ready alphabets centers and colored it with crystal blue to match the card.
I particularly like the plaid paper from the Caboodle paper pack on the back side. Don’t forget all of your paper from CTMH has 2 sides so you have maximize the versatility of your paper.
All products available from Close To My Heart.
Recipe: Caboodle paper pack, Candlelight stamp set, Edge Distresser, Crystal Blue stamp pad, Just Blooms paper flowers, Sorbet Collection designer ribbon round, Tiny Tabs and Color Ready alphabet Lots of Dots.
Tip of the week – pink paper not just for girls
16 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Children, CTMH, family, layouts, Scrapbook layouts Tags: Alphabet stamps, Stamp of the Month, Tip of the week, topstitch
The new Topstitch paper from the Spring 2010 Close To My Heart Idea Book is just adorable! I love the combination of baby pink, heavenly blue and chocolate together. However, as the mom of two boys I don’t have a lot of use for pink paper. I created the layout below commemorating our son’s 12th birthday dinner at Cheesecake factory. I thought this paper worked beautifully with the photos and the February Stamp of the Month, Piece of Cake. When I showed the layout to my son, he didn’t even notice the pink on the layout! When I asked him about the flowers (I didn’t want to call his attention to the pink) he said it looked good. Hmmm…maybe he is maturing?
Recipe:
Topstitch paper pack, Piece of Cake stamp set, Cocktail alphabet, Chocolate stamp pad & marker, Antique cooper mini-medley, borders Dimensional Elements, Heavenly Blue stamp set, Vineyard berry cardstock & stamp pad, White Embossing powder & Versamark
Tip of the week – Shimmer paper
11 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Cards, CTMH, paper crafting Tags: Grace, Tip of the week
Here’s a pretty look to add some shimmer to your paper or an element on your paper crafting project.
Take a spray bottle (I used an empty bottle that our CTMH My Acrlix Spritz Cleaner comes in- yes, they are refillable but my label had rubbed off and I like the size of spritz from that bottle) and fill about 1/2 the bottle with water, 5-6 drops of reinker (I used Cocoa for mine) and several drops of Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint. Shake it vigorously so the paint mixes well with the water and reinker. Then spray some scrap paper to see if you need more shimmer (pearl paint) or reinker. Once you are happy with the results spray onto your paper. Make sure you have a large scrap paper under your project. Since the paper has gotten wet it will tend to curl up. Use that to your advantage and crinkle or roll the edges to give it more texture. I had several size circles and one stamped flower that I used to make a flower for my card.
Close up of the flower:
Recipe:
Delightful Things stamp set, Grace paper pack, Bamboo stamp pad & brad, Twilight stamp pad, Cocoa grosgrain, Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint & Cocoa Reinker.
Tip of the week – curling waxy flax
10 Dec 2009 Leave a Comment
in Cards, CTMH Tags: Back Country, Heartfelt Die-Cuts, Tip of the week, Waxy Flax
Waxy flax is so easy to work with. I reach for it every time I need to thread a button. I prefer it over embroidery floss or even hemp because it doesn’t shred when you start working with it. Plus we have 11 beautiful colors that match our cardstocks and inks perfectly. For this card I tied two of the HeartFelt die-cut wonder shapes together with waxy flax. I left the ends rather long – 1 1/2 inch or so. To give the waxy flax a different look I twisted it so it started curling on itself. Just keep twisting and twisting to get the achieved look. You might have to snip a tad bit off the end that didn’t curl.
Recipe: Heartfelt Wonder Die-Cut shapes, Many Thanks stamp set, Back Country paper pack, Love Letter rub ons, Chocolate cardstock, brads and stamp pad, Crystal blue cardstock, sandpaper, stipple brush, Olive stamp pad and Bamboo waxy flax
Tip of the week – Circle Cards
25 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in Cards, Christmas Cards, CTMH Tags: Christmas cards, Holiday Jingle, Holiday Trinkets, Jingle, Just for the Holidays, Tip of the week
In the new card pattern book from CTMH, Wishes, there are a lot of card bases that are circles. I think these are so unique and really make a card stand out. I also think they look especially festive this time of year – especially when you add an ornament “top” to it and a ribbon, like I did on this first card. To make these cards I cut my cardstock into 5 x 10″ strips and scored at 5″. So you have a 5″ square. Then I used the 4 1/2″ circle on the (retired) coluzzle to cut my circle. I laid the template over the card and then moved it a bit so there was at least 1″ for the fold and then cut my circle. It fits beautifully in an invitation envelope.
If you don’t want to go that route, there is a CD included in the Wishes book that has all sorts of templates, including a circle!
Recipe: Jingle paper pack, Holiday Jingle stamp set, Holiday Trinkets stamp set, Just for the Holidays stamp set, Creme Brulee stamp pad, white daisy stamp pad, silver embossing powder, Tulip stamp pad, Twilight stamp pad & cardstock, Green embroidery floss, Twinkle brads, white eyelets & ribbon, sandpaper, circle punch & corner punch.
