AHSC #36

I printed this photo by mistake the other day, then while I was organizing things here in my craft room I found my layouts from Convention in Orlando this summer and realized I had just a few scraps left that would be perfect for this picture so I set everything aside. Then I saw this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge! The sketch was perfect for the picture - funny how things come together sometimes!
The punched border was fun to create. If you haven't tried working with border punches you should! It's really easy...

There is a painted image right on the punch so you just line up what you last punched over the image & continue punching for a perfectly spaced border. On the backside of the layout I have attached a strip of smoky plum cardstock.

Here is the sketch for this week...

Hope you decide to create something & post on the AHSC blog!

AHSC #35 - Happy New Year!

To create this card I've used the B&T from Pro Player and Sparkle & Shine paper packs.
Stamps are from Hooray Bouquet D1491, Zoology B1391 & Artbooking D1574.
I used 2 different size hole punches to punch out dots from the red shimmer trim for accents.
Here is this weeks sketch for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #35.

For 2014 I plan to catalog my stamp sets so I have a listing of sentiments, numbers, letters, and image descriptions of each set. Who would have thought that Zoology would have the tiny numbers & star strips that would be perfect for the tag on this card!

Gift Ideas!

Do you know a papercrafter who would love something new? The My Crush book might be just the perfect gift! These 7"x9" albums are the perfect place for saving special notes & photos.

Albums are $12.95 & Journaling Assortments are $4.95 - a great gift for under $20!

Another fun gift to display pictures and mementos from a special occasion is the Designed Decor Frame Kit. 

The photo above is from the Idea Book .... now here is mine!

I took the photos at our convention last summer in Orlando. Everything else you see, including the bow were items given to me by my friends! This hangs here in my office/craft room where I can enjoy it everyday!

Birthdays!

Tomorrow our family will celebrate just one of many December birthdays. Little Austin will have his 1st birthday party to celebrate being 1 year old!
I found a cute Happy Birthday gift card so decided to make a little denim pocket to put it in.
This card was a lot of fun to make! If you decide to make a card with a pocket like this I have 2 tips, fold the edges of the pocket over to give it a nice finished look and use red tacky tape to attach it to the front of the card.

Lots of Love!

I'm participating in a card swap this evening with a Valentine theme.
I've created this card using the CTMH Sparkle & Shine Ruby & Silver papers and the NEW! Lots of Love stamp set A1151.
I think this card could even be sent as a Christmas card to a special someone.


Reminder...  right now you can get this paper pack or the stamp set FREE because they are just 2 of the many items you can choose from the Holidays From The Heart booklet.

Take Ten Winter 2013

I had 3 more cards published in this issue!
Here is one of them...

As you can see this is a very simple card. There is only one stamped image, the rest is just layered papers and trims.
The Take Ten publication features only cards that can be made in 10 minutes or less!
Most of our time is spent in the design & putting together the papers, stamps & trims. Sometimes the design goes together quite easily like this one did. A lot of times when I am creating a card the design starts with a piece of leftover trim, like the black border punched cardstock you see on this card. But it really doesn't matter what inspires your design, if you can put the card together in just ten minutes you have a card ready to submit for publication! I'd like to encourage everyone to give this a try. The Winter 2013 issue of Take Ten Magazine just went on sale Dec 1st & it's a quarterly publication so you have lots of time to get your cards submitted! So give it a try!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #28

When I saw this week's sketch I decided to use the candy cane strip paper from the Sparkle & Shine paperpack and make a Christmas card. See all of the entries by clicking here.
There is still a little bit of time left to make a project for this week's challenge. Here's the sketch...

17 years ago!

Well here we are! The upper left picture was 17 years ago when we traveled to Phoenix International Raceway to attend the NASCAR events. One week later we flew to Las Vegas & got married! Over the years we have returned to Phoenix several times to see the races. Picture bottom left is one of our many camping trips at the track!
Scrapbooking has let me preserve these memories so they can be enjoyed over & over!
I hope you are preserving your heartwarming memories too!

Sparkle & Shine!

A couple weeks ago when I opened my box with all the new things from the CTMH Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide I fell in love with the Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape! So far I have two projects to share with you....

The banners hanging down on this card are strips of each of the 3 washi tapes mounted on White Daisy CS and trimmed. The top banner is one of the zip strips from the paper pack.
Next is my 2013 Gift Card Holder. Every year I design a gift card holder. I use these for my customers who purchase a gift certificate. Even a gift card or gift certificate should have a fun package to open!

 

The box and tag are both cut with the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge.
The tag is stamped with the October Stamp of the Month, Scandinavian Wishes. Oct 31st will be the last day to order this stamp set.

Saturday - Oct 19th - Craft Fair - Santee!

Tomorrow I will be at the Santee Christian Church Craft Fair and Bake Sale!
The address is 8410 Fanita Drive - Santee, CA

So if you are in Santee please drop by!

I'm selling card, journals, mini photo albums, scrapbook layouts & more so I hope to see you!

AHSC # 24

BOO!

 This was a super quick & easy card to make. Using the CTHH Artbooking cartridge I cut the bats @ .75" & 1". The Boo is cut @ 1.5". Be sure you turn on the Real Dial Size before cutting.Papers are from Authentique Enchanted Collection.
Next is the sketch for this week's challenge.

Click here to see all of this week's entries.

Let me show you how! Halloween Papercrafting Session 1

Starting now! I am offering Holiday papercrafting sessions!
This is Halloween Session 1 created with the CTMH Cricut cartridges.
This session will be a $10 - 2 hour session. You don't need to own a Cricut to participate in these sessions. All shapes will be pre-cut so the project is ready to assemble.
Here's a closeup that shows some of the sparkle!

You can contact me at pssmitty@cox.net to schedule your Halloween papercrafting session.

Thank you & Happy Halloween!

Also, many of you have asked me if I'm on facebook - well now I can tell you "Yes! I am!" You'll find me at Pssmitty papercrafts.

AHSC # 23...Happy Halloween

Before seeing this week's sketch I had already decided I wanted to make a Halloween card! All of the great Fall & Winter Holidays that we all love are coming up & there are so many paper choices and stamp choices I want to highlight as many as I can here on my blog in the coming weeks.
For this card I choose the Goldrush B&T from the Sarita paper pack and stamps from 3 different sets, Distressed Backgrounds Flair (D1544), Perfect Fit Halloween (B1413), & Holiday Tags Occassions (D1560).
I've started using Black Archival ink for most of my black stamping on cards. It is much easier to get a good dark image with this ink. The black dots you see are dabs of Soot Black Distress Stickles but small black sparkles would work well too.
Here is Atlantic Hearts Sketch # 23 and a link to their blog so you can see all of the great projects being posted this week.

And remember! you can create any project you choose using the sketch. I'd love to see you post what you create! This is a great sketch & very versatile!

Artbooking Made Easy (S01E04): Spooky Halloween Layouts

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #22

I wanted to make a birthday card for my nephew who is turning 17 next week. He has just started his senior year of high school and his school colors are blue and gold. Instead of using stamps I used two different papers that had fleur de lis pattern and sentiments. Then I just got a couple of punches to add the finishing touches.
Sometimes it's fun to make a card with "things" instead of stamps!
To see all of the other great cards made with this sketch go to the AHSC blog.
Here is the sketch, hope you decide to give it a try!

AHSC # 20

I found this sketch to be a bit challenging! Then I saw the tiny CTMH Petite Perks stamp set in my organizer and realized "that's it!" I just was not inspired to cut tiny images to fit in tiny boxes on a card. So mixed glitter paper squares with papers from the Huntington and Frosted paper packs and arranged my pattern. I wrapped the light colored squares with a script print washi tape and used StazOn Timber Brown ink to stamp all of the images.
Here is this week's sketch. You have all week to create something and post it on the AHSC blog. I'd love to see what you create!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 19 - Laughing Lola!

This layout was inspired by the Atlantic Hearts Sketch #19. It has all of the elements I love about scrapbooking. There are pieces from the Artbooking CTMH Cricut cartridge, there is some chipboard, I've done a bit of stamping and added a few sparkle elements.
Here is the sketch posted on AHSC blog:

You have all week to create your project and post it to your blog or fb page so go create something of your own and join the challenge!

aunt patty pays for A's!

About 2 months before school ended for the summer I found out some of my young nephews were not doing as well as they could be in school. So when I went up to Ventura to do our photo shoot I also called a family meeting. Young Nico was finishing up 2nd grade but was struggling a bit with his reading. Tommy just wasn't spending as much time on his studies as he needed & would be starting high school in the fall. Jason was ending his junior year & I knew grades are really important for college so didn't want him to get lazy!
Bribery is made out to be a bad thing for some reason so with all of the parents permission I made deals with each kid! Tommy & Lili agreed to work with little brother Nico to practice his reading. There would be a pay off to all three kids if he got up to 2nd grade reading level by the end of school. Then we agreed that Tommy & Jason would both be paid for every A on their report card! I prefer to call this motivation instead of bribery! But no matter what you call it all the kids stepped up & made the grades!
When it was payoff time I made each kid a card, wrote them a special note and added the cash! These are the cards the boys got...

  And this one was for Lili... our only girl... and thank goodness she loves bling!

I am happy to add that all 5 of the kids are doing great this fall in school! Little Micah is in Kindergarten this year and doing very well in math like his big brother Jason! Lili will probably have straight A's! Nico knows he needs to keep practicing his reading, he is such a good boy! Tommy is in marching band and loves it! Jason is playing football again & enjoying all the senior year activities. These kids all rock!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 18

This is a preview of a couple stamps from the CTMH September National Stamping Month campaign. I love the sentiment and I think these little flowers give a whimsical feel to the card.I've used embroidery floss to tie around the card but hemp or baker's twine could also be used.
I used Kraft cardstock for the flowers that are cut at 1 inch to fit the stamp. For a nice image that stands out on the Kraft cardstock I used black Archival ink.
Stamping Tip:
Use a block that is bigger than the stamp and place the Kraft flowers on a piece of white paper.

This sketch is so easy & you can create so many different looks with it so give this challenge a try this week! You have until Saturday night to post your project on the AHSC blog!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 16 - I did a layout this time!

I'm not sure I truly followed the sketch this week but it certainly did inspire this layout!
The base of the layout has been scored horizontally @ 1/4" intervals and lightly sanded in random places.
The barn red cs pieces have been stamped with the new Swirl Around Flair stamp set using second generation Saddle Ink & the edges are sponged with the Saddle Ink.
The "family" title was cut with the new Artbooking Cricut cartridge.
The "enamel" flower at the top is just a piece of B&T paper from the Huntington paper pack with Liquid Glass applied to the flower print - my friend Rosie showed me this technique last week & I love it! Thanks Rosie! Here is a close up.

Those who have paper crafted with me know I use Glue Dots a lot!. The Rosewood metal flourishes don't have adhesive on the back & I didn't want to wait for more glue to dry so I've used Mini Glue Dots to mount these.
You have until Saturday evening to join the AHSC #16 so take a look at the sketch & see what you're inspired to create!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #15

The stamps used for this card are from one of the stamp sets that comes with the New CTMH Cricut Artbooking Collection! Don't you just love the stamps!
The paisley paper is from the Laughing Lola Collection.
The black glitter accents are some of the black sparkle tape attached to Bamboo CS. The gold glitter accents are a little bit of Stickles Glitter Glue applied with a foam brush.
               Click here to see all the other great cards submitted to the challenge!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #15

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #14

I'm participating in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge again this week.
Since I am waiting for most of my new CTMH products to arrive I decided to mix some new paper with some leftover paper from another pack. The grey, chocolate, yellow & orange polka-a-dot paper is from the NEW! Baby Cakes paper collection & it matches perfectly with the Dotty For You papers from last summer!
The Happy Birthday sentiment is stamped with chocolate pigment ink. I find you get a better image when you use pigment ink for stamping on printed papers.
The flowers are all cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. The largest is 2.5 inches and the smallest is 1.25 inches. The center of the flower is a piece of bronze glitter paper punched with a regular hole punch and attached with a small glue dot. I just realized the camera didn't pick up the sparkle but it really does have sparkle!
The hemp pieces are placed on the card by applying a glue dot to stick them to then adding a piece of double sided scotch tape on top to keep them in place.
The flower is mounted with foam tape so it's not got a bump from the hemp.

this photo shows how I attched the hemp

I love this sketch!

 Now go take a look at all of the other cards posted!

Artbooking! The newest Cricut cartridge exclusively from Close to My Heart!

You've probably heard the buzz that there is a new Cricut cartridge available exclusively from Close to My Heart & it really is ground breaking!
There are 700 images that include overlays, welded words and phrases, fonts and shapes!
The Cricut Artbooking Collection contains the cartridge, 2 Cricut books, 3 My Acrylix stamp sets and 3 sheets of dimensional elements. And you are going to LOVE it!
At convention last month we were given a mini book to assemble that was cut from this awesome cartridge. All of the conventions I've attended and all of the projects I've created at convention, (& some have been pretty fantastic!) this is by far my very most favorite! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed assembling  a project as much as I enjoyed this one!

The cover of this mini album uses chipboard elements from the NEW Laughing Lola Complements. The pretty gem is from the NEW Laughing Lola Assortment. The strip of hearts (that are cut welded together without anything more than selecting the image right off the cartridge!) are stamped with one of the NEW Geometric Backgrounds Flair stamps.

I love these pages! The stamped arrow, the welded banner, the picture frame, the fun sunshine shape, the sentiment and butterflies all layer together so nicely! the butterflies are also stamped with the Geometric Background Flair stamps.The purple picture frame is cut from one of the Laughing Lola papers.

This is the center of the book and these are pocket pages filled with more fun shapes including photo frames and journaling tags that can be stamped with the Cricut Collection stamps. The pages have been pierced and the Grey Baker's Twine is threaded through and tied to hold the book together.

These pages have room for bigger photos and lots of journaling. The layers of shapes and chipboard add a lot of dimension and interest to the pages.

I love all these bright colors!

These are the last two pages of the mini album. The chipboard element is the perfect ending! The black arrow cutout behind it is another one of the overlay cuts. The Close to My Heart Artbooking Collection really is awesome!

So just 10 more days until you can order your own Cricut Artbooking Collection!

The Cricut Artbooking Collection will be only $99 and has has several overlay cuts that are designed for full size 12 x 12 scrapbook pages.
There are several mini books that can be cut with just one or two keys each.
You can cut photo frames for all your pictures.
There are lots of welded words that can be cut for titles and sentiments on your pages.
And fonts too!
The three stamp sets in the collection will be great for journaling!

So check back here on August 1st & I'll have a link posted for instant purchase!

AND... For everyone who purchases the Cricut Artbooking Collection from me in August I will send you TWO FREE STAMPS!  A True Thank You and A Little Gift.
 A True Thank You is pictured below - Sorry! I can't show you A Little Gift yet! But it's super cute!

M1029 A True Thank You

 
Since I know you are so excited to see everything this great cartridge can do.... I'm giving you just a little peek at some of the pages from the Cricut book!

Here's he cover!

the new font!

a few of the picture frames!

a few of the overlay cuts!

a few more overlay cuts & some Halloween fun!

some of the welded sentiments!

and some fun shapes, borders & tags!