CTMH Products Blog Hop featuring Thick Twine

Hello and thanks for joining the Close To My Heart products blog hop featuring our lovely and versatile thick twine. You probably arrived here from Corinna's lovely blog but you are welcome to jump  in anywhere along the line and just keep following the links for some crafty fun and inspiration.  The next stop on the hop will take you to Kirsten's blog to see her fabulous project!


So here is how I used my twine to cover a little 7 1/2" vase I picked up at a yard sale.  I'm not sure where I got the idea for this project from, but I've had a picture of it in my mind for quite some time.  Of course, like so many projects, once I got started it took on a life of its own and turned out quite different from my vision, but even more lovely once I was done.









As you can see, I used three colors: Thistle, Glacier, and Pixie.  I pretty much covered the outside of the vase with an adhesive tape runner and to get the vase started, I simply unraveled and flattened out each of the three colors and used Washi tape to secure them at 1/2" intervals from the bottom of the vase along a vertical line of adhesive, and started wrapping around the vase with the first color.







It didn't take me long to figure out the best way to keep the various twines from tangling was to keep the two not in use inside the vase, and once I did that the project went really quickly.
(Never mind the large pearl buttons, I thought I was going to embellish with these but didn't like them once I got them on, so I had to unravel it, slide the pearls out of the project, and redo about half of it, lol.)






To change the colors, I made sure to hold the "oncoming" color with one hand while keeping the "outgoing" color taut and pulling it up along that vertical line of adhesive, making sure the two colors overlapped at the point of color change, which kept the two twines tight and in place, if that makes sense.

I made sure to really coat the bottom and top 1/2" of the vase with adhesive, and once I was done I held the three strands firmly in hand and applied another piece of Washi to them and then adhered the tape to the inside of the vase.  I think I'm going to seal the whole outside, as well as where the twines end inside the jar, with either Modge Podge or Liquid Glass.  I love the texture of the twine as it is, but I'm afraid the bottom and top strands may not stay in place when handled and as I want this piece to have a permanent spot on my bedroom dresser where it may get handled a lot, I think coating it with one of those adhesives will essentially seal it and keep it from getting stained by the natural oils found on skin.  For the embellishments, I dug out my last little crocheted flower from a long ago CTMH White Daisy assortment (adhered with the same tape runner adhesive I used on the rest of the vase) and the largest of the self-adhesive opaque pearls we used to carry.

Whew, that took longer than I than I thought so thanks for sticking it out if you're still with me. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the other ladies' projects using twine.
Happy crafting and Merry Christmas!~~  Annette

My first CTMH products blog hop!

Welcome to the CTMH Products Blog Hop featuring our new foil tape. Blog hops are a circular kind of thing so you probably got here from Kim's lovely blog but you are welcome to jump in anywhere along the line and just keep following the links for a shiny bit of inspiration.

I'm very happy to participate in my first hop but I'm especially excited because I LOVE this tape.  I was already a big fan of CTMH's shimmer trim so I was eager to get my hands on the new foil tape and test it out.  Now that I've created my first project with it, I have to say I love it every bit as much as the shimmer trim!  It's super easy to work with and adds the perfect finishing touch when you want a little shine.

details:  I confess, I couldn't stick with just one new product for this card; pretty much all the supplies are new.  I started with our new Sapphire cardstock and the Confetti Stars embossing folder, which I distressed using the block in the sanding kit, and Sapphire ink with the Christmas Star stamp.  Then I used the silver foil tape to create the "rays" emanating from the star, trimming the ends in angles or dovetails to closely border the points and angles of the stars.  To do this, I lay the loose end of the tape over my left index finger leaving a tail and just snipped the ends with scissors, and I never had any problems with the tape getting tangled or sticking to itself.  For the inside of the card, I used Sapphire ink again with the Reason for the Season stamp set, but before I set stamp to paper I wiped off the ink from the Christ child's halo and the star and edged those parts of the stamp in the Versamark and sprinkled silver embossing powder so they could be heat embossed.  All in all, I was pleased with how quickly this card came together but especially the shine this foil tape added.

Thanks for stopping by and I  hope you enjoyed the card.  If you jumped into the hop somewhere in the middle or if you want to take the tour all over again, you can head on over to Kirsten's blog and see her project.

Merry Christmas and happy crafting!  ~~  Annette

First time entry for Craft Your Passion challenge blog

Good morning, all!  I am a big fan of fall and while I have enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've had so far this month, I have to admit I'm ready for a few crisp evenings and the upcoming holiday season.  So when my daughter requested a card for a college friend who prefers a spring palette, I found it a little challenging to switch gears.  I also wanted to come up with something especially pretty as this young woman is an art major, but after a few days' thoughts I finally came up with something I'm pleased with.  Plus, I got to ink up several stamps I hadn't used yet as well as break into a new paper pack, AND this will be my first entry over at the Craft Your Passion challenge blog (where the theme is always 'anything goes') so this project was a win-win-win for me!


details:  All products are from Close To  My Heart.  I used patterned paper and cardstock from the Kaleidoscope kit which features Pear, Canary, Pixie, and Gypsy.  One of the papers has this pretty striped pattern which starts out green, transitions to yellow and then to pink.  I love playing lines against curves so I rounded the corners on each of the layers/banners and chose a sentiment stamp, Wavy Blooms, that features cursive writing.  The small butterfly images are from a set called Your Own Kind of Wonderful.  I used this set again for the sentiment on the inside of the card which I positioned within one of the images from the Frame Flair set.  This stamp set is Cricut compatible but I chose to fussy cut it this time because I wanted the stamped image to be as close as possible to the edge of the paper since I was using tone-on-tone.  I used the rock and roll stamping technique for the butterfly in the corner, and that stamp is from the retired Brushstrokes Workshop On The Go set, which lends itself really well to the colors and patterns in the Kaleidoscope kit.


I think that's it!  Happy crafting, Annette

"Positive-ly" perfect sketch

Don't you love it when a project comes together?  This week my daughter asked me to make a card for her friend who was just named the head of the chemistry club at their college.  I knew I had the perfect stamp in the new supplies I got on Thursday and I had hoarded several scraps of a very fitting paper, but I wasn't sure just how I was going to pull the various elements together as I had them pictured in my mind.  Then I found this darling sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches which is one of several challenge blogs I follow, but I  had not posted to this one yet.  Anyway, after a little tweaking on my measurements to be able to use as much of the designer paper as I could, this is what I came up.  The actual stamped image of the proton had 1 large and 3 small dots and I was over the top when I dug through some more of my stash and found these very complimentary gems that were a perfect fit, both in size and color!

details:  All products are from Close To My  Heart.  The "periodic elements" patterned paper is from the retired Superhero set.  The stamped images in the sentiment panel as well as the blue panel were from the Positive Chemistry stamp set.  The card base is on Cranberry CS and the blue is a retired shade called Sky.  I hope my daughter's friend enjoys receiving the card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy crafting, Annette

1st ride for H2H challenge

Where does time go?  Well, this layout will give you some idea of where, or at least how, 2015 has been going for me.  In December of 2014, I started having a significant increase in pain and decrease in mobility and after months of adding meds, cortisone shots, and physical therapy, an MRI was finally ordered and a diagnosis was reached.  Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly the one I was expecting or hoping for, but it is what it is and now at least I am sure of what I'm dealing with.  So, when the goal is to stay out of a wheelchair as long as possible, it's really difficult to come to terms with the fact that the very thing you so want to avoid can, in some situations, help you in the long run.  In other words, I had to accept that renting a scooter for a day at the state fair was not "giving up" but in reality was saving me from a painful recovery for days, if not weeks.  I also discovered it made this traditional outing much more enjoyable for the whole family when I didn't spend the day limping, hurting, and having to constantly stop to rest.  And I didn't do so bad for my first time: out of a crowd of over 106,000 people, the only mishap I had all day was managing to run over my own foot!  LOL  At any rate, this whole process has been life changing and I'm thankful the "Ticket to Ride" theme at the H2H challenge blog gave me an excuse to document this part of my journey.

details:  I used the retired "Dotty 4 You" paper pack because I liked the bright colors, especially the bicycle and "stamp of approval" images, and that I was able to fit my picture in between them.  I used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the tickets and the letters for title as well as the tickets at the bottom for journaling.  I scanned my actual handicapped parking permit and printed it onto Colonial White CS and then altered it, fussy cutting the wheelchair image and adhering it to Lagoon CS, both to fit the space on the page and to make the colors blend better with the patterned paper.  I used a discontinued stamp set (small Chocolate alpha) to stamp the date I got my parking permit to cover the actual permit number, and included the admission and dated parking ticket as well as the receipt for the scooter rental.

p.s.  I wasn't quite satisfied with the first draft so I came back to it and ended up using my black alcohol marker, I inked up the orange letters in the title for greater contrast and I was much happier with that effect.


Happy crafting!
Annette

grad card for retrosketches #156

So on one hand I have thoroughly enjoyed having my daughter home on spring break this past week but on the other hand I finally found my long lost mojo and was working on projects for two challenges, only to miss the deadline for both by mere minutes.  However, the deadline for one was extended due to pc difficulties (my sympathies, Arielle!!!) so here is my take on the current sketch at RetroSketches.

details:  All products are from CTMH.  Both designer paper are opposite sides of the same paper from the  Chalk It Up pack and the banner is in Lagoon CS.  I used silver shimmer trim and silver glitter paper for the stars.   I used the Doodled Designs stamp set in Lagoon for the drawn-looking circle and the graduation cap, diploma, and sentiment are from a new set, "Diploma Day" from the new Seasonal Expressions catalog available 4/1/15.

Happy crafting!  Annette

Color My Heart challenge

I have had a lot going on and on my mind of late, which can make it hard to feel creative.  However, I continue to follow my favorite challenge blogs and even refer new people to them.  Anyway, even though inspiration came at the last minute and I *just* missed the deadline for posting this, I wanted to share it.  It's a fairly CAS card, which I thought was fitting as this week's challenge at Color My Heart called for using black and white with Whisper, the lighter of the 2 grays that CTMH has in our palette.  This particular stamp (Aspire) is retired but I have never inked it until now, despite good intentions.

Anyway, if you have never checked out this challenge blog, I hope you will do so.  You will undoubtedly find inspiration from this great group of crafters!

Happy crafting!
Annette