Catching up a bit as it has been busy around here lately. I do hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and is able to enjoy this holiday season amid the pandemic. I am starting to get into the swing of the holidays and wanted to make sure to share some recent Scrapbook with me layouts I have done. This layout is another of my Monthly Recap layouts.
The layout was inspired by this recent sketch challenge from Stick It Down. You can see this sketch along with others here.
Decided to Scrap my Stash with this layout and pulled out some retired Florence paper along with some paper flowers and buttons. I am continuing with the Cricut cut titles for the month names with this layout.
I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by.
Even in Covid we get to have fun celebrating birthdays in our house. Mike's birthday recently was no exception so I knew I wanted to scrapbook the celebration. I did this layout today during my most recent Scrapbook with me event.
Inspiration for the layout came from this sketch from the Ally Scraps Blog. You can find this sketch along with others here.
For the layout I used papers from both the Party Time collection from the current Close To My Heart Core catalog along with papers from the Mix-Ins from the September/October Seasonal Idea Book. The bracket labels were cut with my Cricut.
I love how the Party Time papers can be used for celebrations other than young birthdays. I added some presents as embellishments that I cut from one of the papers in the collection.
If you are interested in joining one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow my Facebook page so you will get the event notifications.
I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by.
I created these fun treat boxes for my family and my coworkers for Thanksgiving. I wanted to share the instructions here with you since this Explosion Box can be used at any time of year or occasion. I filled these with bags of candy but this box would be perfect for gift giving as well.
I am sharing pictures of the box here. You can also find a link to the printable instructions as well as a video tutorial at the end of this post.
I added a Belly Band to the box as a way of "wrapping it up" for presenting it as a gift.
Here is what the box looks like when you slide the belly band off and take the lid off. So many possibilities with this box design!
The materials needed for this box are simple: 2 pieces of cardstock plus 1 piece of patterned paper.
The cardstock for the base is cut to 11 1/4" x 11 1/4" and then scored at 3 3/4" and 7 1/2" along both the horizontal and vertical sides.
After scoring you need to cut away about 1/2" from each corner to the score lines. Cutting this away will aid in folding the corners in to create the box.
Fold this along the score lines and then fold each corner from the bottom of the box base out to the corner. You can decorate the sides with pieces of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" patterned paper.
The cardstock for the lid is cut to 6" x 6" and then scored at 1" and 5" on both the horizontal and vertical sides.
Cut along the score lines on both horizontal sides to create tabs. Put some strong adhesive on the outside of the tabs and then fold under to create the box lid.
The belly band is made from 2 pieces of 2 1/2" wide patterned paper. One piece is left at 12" long and the other is cut down to 5 1/2" long.
Score the 12" long piece at 1 1/2", 5 3/8" and 9 1/4". Score the 5 1/2" piece at 1 5/8". The best way to assemble the belly band is by putting it around the box as you do since you do not want the band to be too tight or too loose. I used strong adhesive on one end of each piece and once I had everything lined up I adhered the ends together.
I decorated the band at the top of the box with some Cricut cut leaves and a tag and added some ribbon and twine as well.
Completed another monthly recap layout on Wednesday during my most recent Scrapbook with me event. For this layout I once again dove into my stash and pulled out some retired Pathfinding paper along with the stamp set from the Pathfinding Workshop.
This layout was based on the following sketch from the February 2014 Edition of Create Magazine from Scrapbook Generation. You can see this sketch along with other downloadable sketches here.
The title was cut with my Cricut to follow along with the title style I have been using for all my 2020 monthly recap layouts. I decided to follow a set title style for each year I am doing recaps for to give a unity to these layouts. The pumpkin and leaves were stamped with the Pathfinding Workshop on the Go stamp set. In addition I stamped on two of the banner pieces to give a tone-on-tone pattern to the pieces. I love using stamps to add some custom embellishments to a layout. I did add some machine stitching just above the row of leaves.
I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!
If you are interested in attending one of my virtual Scrapbook with me events, please make sure to follow my Facebook page to get notifications of upcoming events.
Continuing to work on my monthly recap layouts during my Scrapbook with me event. At my event this past Monday I created this layout from July of 2019. I dug into my stash to pull out some retired Celebrate Today paper for this layout.
The inspiration for this layout came from this sketch from the School of Scrap Blog. You can see this sketch along with others here.
The title was cut on my Cricut and I used the negative space to let the underlying patterned paper show through. I die cut some flowers as embellishments and then added my journaling on strips of black cardstock using a white gel pen.
I hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.
If you are interested in joining one of my Scrapbook with me events, make sure to follow my Facebook Page so you will get notifications of upcoming events.
One of the things I love about being with Close To My Heart is the opportunities to learn new techniques that I can use in my scrapbooking and card making. I recently attended a virtual album retreat where I learned a bunch of new techniques and am excited to share them here with you.
The first technique I am sharing is Using Stencils. Stencils are great in that they can expand your crafting in adding designs and patterns to your papers in cards and scrapbook layouts. During the retreat we used a stencil to create a tone-on-tone diagonal stripe design on the piece of Scarlet cardstock in this layout.
The stencil was placed over the cardstock and, using a piece of sponge and Scarlet Exclusive Ink, we swept the color across the stencil to create this diagonal pattern.
The stencil we used was cut from stencil film as part of the album retreat I attended but Close To My Heart also carries 3 sets of stencils with 3 12" x 12" stencils in each collection.
You can also make your own stencils. You can create them using punches and die cuts as well as a cutting machine like a Cricut. They can be made from heavyweight cardstock or stencil film. Close To My Heart has a great stencil film that is perfect for cutting your own. I love using background and border designs from the Close To My Heart Cricut collections to create my own.
I cut my own starburst stencil using an image from the Artbooking Collection - probably my go-to collection for these types of images.
For coloring with your stencils you can use any of our Exclusive Inks as well as Distress Oxide inks. To color you have the option of using a dauber or a sponge as well an ink blending tool that works great with the Distress Oxide inks.
I did a Facebook Live video where I demonstrated using the different types of stencils along with different tools and inks to create the look you want in your crafting. You can see the video here or on my Facebook Page.
I hope you enjoyed this Technique Thursday post. Thanks for stopping by!
I just finished creating this scrapbook workshop featuring the Jingle Joy Collection from the November/December catalog from Close To My Heart and am so excited to share it here with you!
This workshop creates 8 12" x 12" scrapbook pages - 4 2-page layouts. I love the trendy colors and cheerful designs in this collection. This collection is perfect for making your holiday crafting pop!
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.
Sharing a few more pictures of the layouts you will be able to create with this workshop guide.
Supplies Needed for this Workshop: X7262S - Jingle Joy Paper Pack + Sticker Sheet
I have been in serious crafting mode lately to get ahead for the coming holidays. I got a head start with the Thanksgiving One-Sheet-Wonder workshop I designed and continued with creating a series of Christmas cards following a variation on another One-Sheet-Wonder technique I found through Pinterest.
I had a great time creating these cards and am so excited to share the results with you!
The cards use the Jingle Joy paper and coordinating cardstock from the November/December 2020 Close To My Heart catalog. I added these adorable gnomes from the Gnome for Christmas Stamp Set + Thin Cuts. I adapted the guide I found on Pinterest to create the following cutting guide:
I used cardstock from the coordinating cardstock pack to add some mats to the pattern pieces and add some additional color to various cards. I ran some of the cardstock pieces through my die cut/embossing machine using the Cascading Dots embossing folder to add some additional dimension to the cards.
The sentiments were stamped on pieces of White Daisy cardstock die cut using the Simple Stitched Brackets Thin Cut.
The gnomes were stamped on die cut pieces of White Daisy cardstock using the Intense Black Exclusive ink and colored in with Triblend Markers. I added some Black Shimmer Trim to the cards for a little bling.
If you are interested in making these for yourself you can purchase the full directions to this workshop at the end of this post following the Buy Now button which will take you to my shop.
I hope you like the cards. Thanks for stopping by!
