Simple To Stunning #2 - Mother's Day cards

Shouting out a very Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! In honor of Mother's Day I am happy to share with you the latest in my Simple To Stunning series of cards. These cards showcase how you can take a card design and with a few additional elements or techniques step it up from a simple design to stunning.

These cards feature the May Stamp of the Month from Close To My Heart - Flowers for You. This set of 14 images is available during the month of May for $18.95 on my website. You can also get this set for $5.00 with a $50 purchase or FREE if you are a VIP and make a $50 purchase during the month of May. So many great images and sentiments in this set with so many uses.

All three cards are based on Sketch #484 from Freshly Made Sketches. You can see this sketch along with other variations on it here.

The first card follows the sketch very simply with a piece of Sage cardstock cut using the Stitched Squares Thin Cuts set. The flower image was stamped on White Daisy cardstock using Intense Black Ink and colored in using Triblend Markers. I stamped the sentiment in black ink on Ballerina cardstock and dovetailed it. I added an additional dovetailed piece of Ballerina using the light side of our two-toned cardstock for some contrast. I added some simple embellishment with Clear Sparkles.

The next card adds a base layer of Blue Belle Cardstock and a circle cut using the Circles Thin Cuts for the stamped flowers.

The final and most stunning card adds some embossing on the Blue Belle cardstock layer using the Spring Blossoms Embossing folder and some additional embellishment using Mink Twine.

These are some simple techniques you can use with any card design to step up your designs to take them from Simple To Stunning!

I hope you like the cards! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies List:

S2105 - May Stamp of the Month - Flowers for You
X6045 - Sage Cardstock
X6048 - Blue Belle Cardstock
X6036 - Ballerina Cardstock

1385   - White Daisy Cardstock
X254 - White Cards and Envelopes Value Pack
Z4259 - Stitched Squares Thin Cuts
Z3943 - Circles Thin Cuts
Z3694 - Spring Blossoms Embossing Folder
Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Ink
Z2496 - Pale Pink Triblend Marker
Z2530 - Pale Pink Shades Triblend Marker
Z2525 - Vintage Blue Triblend Marker
Z2486 - Dull Green Triblend Marker
Z3274 - Clear Sparkles
Z4221 - Mink Twine

Close To My Heart May/June Catalog

The newest Close To My Heart Catalog is now live and has so many wonderful goodies in it.  I am excited to show you just a bit of the catalog here!

The first collection I want to share from the catalog is the Hillside Cottage collection and is the Featured Paper for the month of May. This collection contains papers and elements with rustic charm and richness that are perfect for scrapbook pages, cards and other projects.

There are so many fun options with this collection! There are 2 choices for the paper pack - each pack has 6 sheets, 2 each of 3 double-sided designs, you can choose the pack by itself or with a coordinating sticker sheet. In addition to the paper pack there is also a Coordinating Cardstock pack, Wood Shapes, Picture My Life Cards and a mini Cricut Collection. If you are also into stamping this collection also offers a scrapbooking stamp set and a cardmaking stamp set.

Not to overwhelm you but there are 2 workshop kits available with this collection. Each workshop kit features exclusive elements that are only available through the kit. Exclusive die cut shapes in the scrapbooking workshop kit and an exclusive stamp set in the cardmaking kit.

I hope you are in love with this collection as much as I am! I have been busily creating with this and cannot wait to share the final results with you.

You can see and shop this collection on my website today - here!

April 2018 Monthly Recap Layout

Sometimes I see a sketch and immediately know what I want to scrapbook with it, what papers to use and can visualize what it will look like when completed. Other times, it's not so easy. This completed layout was done recently during a Scrapbook with me event and I am the first person to admit it took a bit of thinking and revising plans to figure out how I was going to use the sketch and what I would scrapbook. I am so happy with how this came out and am excited to share this with you.

The layout was based off this 1-page sketch from Bella Blvd Studio Blog. You can see this sketch along with others here.

This was another 1-page to 2-page sketch challenge I gave to my group. I loved seeing how everyone met this challenge - so many interesting methods for making a single page sketch into a double page layout. For mine extended the hexagons from the left page to the right and then hand them ending trailing off to the bottom right as opposed to where they started on the top left.

I based my stash for this layout in pulling out some retired So Much Happy paper to cut my hexagons from. I used the 2 1/2" die from the Stitched Hexagons Thin Cuts set for this. This is a great set of dies with many uses.

The title was cut on my Cricut and I used Sapphire and Mint cardstock to cut it twice and then slightly offset the pieces to give some added dimension.

I added some more dimension by using Thin 3-D Foam tape under some of the hexagons and also overlapping the photos with them.

I used a pencil and ruler to draw a "frame" 1 1/4" in from all sides on the left-hand page and then using the .01 Black Journaling Pen I created faux-stitching along the frame and then erased the pencil lines.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events just Like and Follow my Facebook page to get notified of upcoming events. I do these events over Zoom so make sure to respond Going or Interested so I can send you the Zoom link!

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

What is Scrapbook with me?

I know I have referenced Scrapbook with me events over the past year here on my blog as well as on my Facebook and Instagram pages. If you are unfamiliar with these events, this post is for you!

My finished layout from a recent Scrapbook with me.

Sketch used as the basis for this layout.

With the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdowns happening many of my in-person scrapbooking events ended up being cancelled - day crops, retreats and vendor events. Everyone I know was stuck at home and looking for outlets to keep them "sane" during these times. I started doing twice weekly scrapbooking events through Zoom to keep myself working on my scrapbooks and to challenge my friends and customers to keep up with their scrapbooking. 

Of course, the biggest side benefit of these events has been the social interaction we have during our Zooms. We have visitors pop in to say hi as well as bark or meow a hello!

So what exactly is a Scrapbook with me? These events run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00pm to 5:00pm (EST) and are open to my friends and customers. I set up the events on my Facebook page each week for the following week. I provide a link to a downloadable PDF that contains the sketch as well as a supply list for what papers and tools you would need to do a layout from the sketch.

I send a Zoom link out to those who respond to the Facebook event. We meet for those 2 hours, work together and enjoy the social time! I have my setup so that I have 2 panels on Zoom - one with my face and the other with my work surface so attendees can see how I create my layouts. I always love to see everyone and seeing the different takes on the sketch that people create!

Here are a few behind the scenes pictures from my most recent event.

So I am sure you have some questions. I have some answers here but if you do not see your question answered please comment below or send me a message!

1. Do I need to scrapbook using the sketch during the Zoom? No, I have people who join me and work on other scrapbook layouts, cards and paper crafting projects during the event.

2. Do you need to follow the sketch exactly during the event? No, you can adjust the sketch however you want to fit your scrapbooking.

3. Do I need to be a customer of yours to join? No, my events are always open!

4. Do you teach any techniques during your events? Yes! I try and teach something new as often as I can during these events.

5. Do you record the event? No, since there are multiple people attending the event for their privacy I do not record the Zoom.

6. How can I join one of your events? Follow my Facebook page to get the notifications of upcoming events and then just respond Going or Interested to the event so I can send you the link. 

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at one of my upcoming events!

Lovely One Sheet Wonder Card Workshop and Operation Smile

I have been wanting to do some workshop crafting with the Lovely Collection from Close To My Heart that is in the current Core Catalog. My first workshop with this is a One Sheet Wonder Card Workshop that pairs paper from this collection along with the current Operation Smile Stamp Set - Every Bit of Wonderful. 

Each catalog from Close To My Heart has a stamp set in which proceeds from the set go to Operation Smile. If you are unfamiliar with Operation Smile it is a non-profit organization that provides surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates in children around the world. 

I found inspiration for the card designs on Pinterest to create the following cutting guide:

The cardstock used for these cards comes from the Lovely Coordinating Cardstock pack for the card bases and other elements. In addition I used White Daisy cardstock for the stamped elements. The brackets for the sentiments were die cut using the Stitched Scallop Brackets Thin Cuts set and the borders on some of the card elements were die cut using the Fancy Borders Thin Cuts set.

The sentiments and embellishments were die cut and stamped using the Every Bit of Wonderful Stamp Set. The images were stamped on White Daisy cardstock using Intense Black Exclusive Ink and then colored in using Triblend Markers.

If you are interested in creating this workshop for yourself or with your customers, there are 4 ways to get the files:

1. Follow the Buy Now link on the bottom of this post. The files are $12.00 (USD). 

2. Place a purchase on my Close To My Heart website for $35 or more (before taxes and shipping).

3. Join the VIP Program from Close To My Heart under me. All my VIPS get FREE access to my workshop files.

4. Join my Close To My Heart team, all team members have access to my workshop files.

Here is what you will receive with the workshop files:

• Welcome Page 
• Cutting Guide with color photos of the papers and directions for cutting the papers needed
• Layout Guide with supply list and color photos of the completed layouts
• Consultant Release
• Social Media image for you to use in promoting the workshop for your customers

I hope you enjoy creating these layouts just as much as I did creating them!

I hope you like the cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies list:

X8015B - Lovely Paper Pack

X8015C - Lovely Coordinating Cardstock

1385 - White Daisy Cardstock

Z4260 - Stitched Rectangle Frames Thin Cuts

Z3688 - Stitched Scallop Brackets Thin Cuts

Z3682 - Fancy Borders Thin Cuts

X254 - White Cards and Envelopes

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Inks

Z2496 - Pale Pink Triblend Marker

Z2525 - Vintage Blue Triblend Marker

Z2486 - Dull Green Triblend Marker

Z2519 - Gold Yellow Triblend Marker

Celebrate Layout

I did another Zoom Scrapbook with me event today with my group and created this layout from my husband's birthday in 2019.  If you aren't familiar with my Scrapbook with me events. Twice a week I post a sketch and supply list to those attending and we work from the sketch over Zoom to create our layouts. This has been a great way for me to keep up on my scrapbooking and my group has been very supportive and helped me step outside of my comfort zone in creating my own layouts.

The inspiration for the layout came from this sketch from Dusty Attic. You can see this sketch along with others here.

I have been doing some challenges with my group recently to convert single page sketches into double page layouts. I did my version today by mirroring the sketch on the right-hand page.

I dug through my stash to pull out some paper as a starting point and pulled the patterned pieces from the Woodgrain paper pack and the March/April Mix-Ins paper pack. I used the Love of Color How-To Book to give me inspiration for the color combination I used. I used the suggested combination of Espresso, Pebble, Peacock, Toffee and Glacier paper. 

The title was cut on my Cricut and comes from the Artistry cartridge from Close To My Heart. You can see all of the images available in this cartridge through my affiliate link - here.

The embellishments came from my stash as well.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to like and follow my Facebook page to get notifications of the upcoming events.

I hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies list:

X8017 - Woodgrain paper pack

X9026 - March/April Mix-In paper pack

9045 - Love of Color How-To Book

X5951 - Espresso cardstock

X5955 - Pebble cardstock

X5958 - Peacock cardstock

X5950 - Toffee cardstock

X5978 - Glacier cardstock

Artistry Cricut Cartridge

Eat Play Love Scrapbooking Workshop

I went to a retreat weekend recently and had a lot of fun crafting. One of the projects I worked on was this Eat Play Love Scrapbooking Workshop. I loved working with this collection from Close To My Heart. The bright colors and designs are so perfect for scrapbooking our family and kitchen memories along with many other occasions.

This workshop creates 10 12" x 12" scrapbook pages - 5 2-page layouts.  Here are some previews of the layouts you will be able to create with this workshop.

If you are interested in creating this workshop for yourself or with your customers, there are 4 ways to get the files:

1. Follow the Buy Now link on the bottom of this post. The files are $12.00 (USD). 

2. Place a purchase on my Close To My Heart website for $35 or more (before taxes and shipping).

3. Join the VIP Program from Close To My Heart under me. All my VIPS get FREE access to my workshop files.

4. Join my Close To My Heart team, all team members have access to my workshop files.

Supplies Needed for this Workshop:

X7267B - Eat Play Love Paper Pack

X7267C - Eat Play Love Coordinating Cardstock

X7267D - Eat Play Love Picture My Life Cards

X7267E - Eat Play Love Wood Shapes

1385 - White Daisy Cardstock

Z3826 - Candied Apple Distress Oxide Ink

Z3830 - Mustard Seed Distress Oxide Ink

Z3833 - Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Ink

Z3866 - Mini Blending Tool

Here is what you will receive with the workshop files:

• Welcome Page 
• Cutting Guide with color photos of the papers and directions for cutting the papers needed
• Layout Guide with supply list and color photos of the completed layouts
• Consultant Release
• Social Media image for you to use in promoting the workshop for your customers

I hope you enjoy creating these layouts just as much as I did creating them!