a little Valentine fun with the Artiste cartridge

The cut-out heart base of this card started out as an entirely different project but when I got that part completed and placed it on the patterned paper I planned to pair it with, they were just too busy together.  However, I loved the look of the two layers together and I wasn't ready to give up on it, so what's a crafty gal to do?  This gal went back to the Artiste cartridge and played around until I found this phrase, cut a matching heart in red and added a little stamping, shading, and bling and the result was a quick but striking little card.
All supplies were from Close To My Heart:  As I stated, I used the Artiste cartridge to cut the phrase, the heart, and both the pink and red layers of the cut-out hearts.  I used Ruby, Cotton Candy, and black on a white card base and I inked the edges of the heart in Ruby and used black ink and the retired Roxie workshop on  the go stamp.
Just in case you were wondering how I got all the red hearts behind the pink cut-out hearts, I did NOT cut a bunch of hearts and glue them behind the pink ones, LOL.  I used the "hide" feature on my Gypsy (also available on the Cricut craft room if you have registered your Artiste cartridge there) and "hid" each of the hearts for the layer I cut in red.  I liked this effect so much, I think I'm going to play around with the "hide" and "weld" features some more and see what other variations I can come up with.

Happy crafting!  Annette

 

Seize the Birthday #2 with *new* papers

I know we CTMH consultants are supposed to keep the items from the new Idea Book under wraps until 2/1/13 but I keep seeing little peeks here and there and I was just so excited to see a masculine paper I could really use for my guys that I couldn't resist!  So here is a sneak peek at one of the new paper kits in the Spring/Summer Idea Book which goes online Feb. 1st, but if you live in southwest Iowa contact me to get an invite to my open house on January 27th and get your Idea Book to see all the fabulous new products for yourself!

Ok, as I said, I simply could not resist using this paper for this week's Seize the Birthday masculine card challenge from their featured sketch.  All products used are from Close To My Heart:  I used the new "Later Sk8r" paper kit, I cut the gear using the Artiste cartridge on Slate paper which I backed with a simple circle of Whisper, I edged and random sponged Slate over the gear as well to give it some dimension.  The sentiment was stamped in Outdoor Denim using a retired set called "Gear Up" which is yet another set I hadn't quite gotten around to using yet but I think this one will be seeing a lot of ink in the near future.

Talk about a banner day!  I had a paid holiday, I posted 2 projects, broke out 2 stamps I had not used before, I got to use a new paper kit and the Artiste cartridge, AND I'm over a month *early* making a birthday card with a specific person in mind.  Oh, yeah, and we had lots of leftovers from the weekend so I didn't even have to cook!!!!  This is pretty close to heaven on earth, LOL.

 

Happy crafting, Annette

Playdate cafe #165 and using what I've got

I was so inspired by the color combo at the Playdate Cafe #165 where this week's challenge called for using plum, mustard, and rose.  I went through all my stamps (more than once, to be honest) looking for something that seemed feminine enough for this elegant color combo and I kept coming back to this beautifully delicate butterfly image. 

Once again, all supplies used were from Close To My Heart.  I used the Quick Cards-Butterfly stamp set, and after experimenting with several color and shade combinations I ended up going with Pansy Purple, Creme Brulee, and Hollyhock.  These might be slightly darker colors than those suggested at PDCC but I inked the stamp in the Creme Brulee and sponged the other colors onto the stamp which toned down and softened the colors, and then I stamped the sentiment directly in the ink so the lettering would stand out.  I used the AP cartridge to cut the tag using the same colors CS as the ink, sponging Hollyhock onto the edges of the Creme Brulee frame and then finished everything off with a Hollyhock brad.  I plan on using this tag as an embellishment for a page in my personal scrapbook/journal and I also get the satisfaction of knowing I've made use of another stamp in my stash that was waiting to see ink.

Happy crafting!  Annette

my take on Whoo's Your Valentine

By now you have probably seen the Close To My Heart promotion called Whoo's Your Valentine kit but if you haven't and you're interested you need to hurry because there are only 2 weeks left in the promotion and supplies are down to about 25%.  Anyway, here's are the ones I've had the most fun with:

 

The only supplies I used that were not from CTMH was the ragged-edge 1 1/4" punch from The Paper Studio and a small circle punch from Studio  G just because I like  to use all the scraps of paper, but you could just as easily use shapes from the Art Philosophy or Artiste cartridges. 

Happy crafting!  Annette

a little Valentine fun

So I missed the deadline to submit this tag to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge from last week to make a tag, but it was a fun project so I thought I would share anyway.

All products used were from Close To My Heart except for the white heard brad, I can't remember the brand.  I random stamped in Ruby ink on Ruby cardstock with the January Stamp of the Month Happy Valentine's to create the background paper and on on white paper for the sentiment (same stamp set).  The tag was cut using the Artiste cartridge and the silver trim was handcut from the silver glitter paper in the Whoo's You Valentine kit (which is available while supplies last through 1/31).

Happy crafting! ~~ Annette

DYL: Decorate your life (aka use what you've got) #1

Somewhere, sometime I saw a saying that basically said 'give yourself permission to decorate your life.'  That really resonated with me because I wasn't necessarily told that growing up and I find I need to give myself that permission every now and then.  And, if I pair this with the idea of using what I have accumulated but not necessarily used yet, it just doubles the enjoyment I feel when I play...  I mean, create.  So I'm challenging myself to craft with something previously unused and share it at least one time per week.

So here's my first DYL project which is a cover for a 2-year calendar I picked up at a dollar store, so the left half of the picture will be the back cover and the right half the front.  All materials used are from CTMH and I believe all 3 stamp sets are retired.  I used black, Desert Sand, and Vanilla Cream CS and the patterned paper is from the Roxie kit (both the Vanilla Cream CS and the Roxie papers are also retired).  The "dream" stamp is from the Dreams Come True set (which I hadn't used yet), the "2013-2014" are from the Moments In Time set, and the image and "much happiness" is from Kanji Phrases, and the shape was cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge.  Coincidentally, I used this same paper, shape, and stamp for the first project I posted on this blog to make covers for small photo books (also bought at a dollar store) and this calendar is intended for my daughter's best friend who received the photo book, and this is the papers & stamps she asked for.  So, I guess if I can't get my daughter interested in papercrafting I shold be glad she and friend will at least let me make things for them, LOL.

PDE #1 -- use ribbon

Happy new year to everyone!  I have to take a minute to confess that my mojo, creativity, and joy were generally in short supply over the last few weeks but thankfully I think I'm back on track and *that* is a wonderful feeling!  So I have actually been busy the last week or so but some of what I've been making is per request of friends and family for upcoming events so I can't share some of them just yet, but I can share this one I made for a happy couple, and I'm entering this card at the Pause, Dream and Enjoy challenge to use ribbon.

 

details:  All products used were from Close To My Heart.  I used the retired Roxie paper kit (I can't get enough of this paper!), black ribbon and square sparkles, and I used the retired Treasure Life stamp set in black ink on the right-hand side of the card and the retired From My Heart stamp set in Tulip (also retired but this kit also uses Smoothie which is still available).  I'm always a little reluctant to post things using mostly retired items but I'm very much into using what I have at the moment and this would be a great project for anyone who still has scraps of this paper!

Happy crafting!

Annette