Inspiration - AHSC # 87

The beginning of the new year is almost here & I wanted to make an Inspirational card and also share one of the new stamp sets in the new CTMH Seasonal Expressions.
Here is the Atlantic Hearts Sketch # 87, I hope you decide to make something for the challenge this week. Click here to see all of this weeks entries.

cardboard art!

This is my 2014 Christmas art!
It's a piece of scrapbook paper mounted on cardboard with some edge distressing, some ink distressing, a couple of Cricut cut outs and some embellishments left over from previous projects!
After I cut the tree branch on the Cricut I dry embossed it with the CTMH Woodgrain embossing folder. Then I inked the branch with gold pigment ink. The bird is also cut with the Cricut and I used the gold ink around the edges of the bird and mounted it with foam tape.
Making your art hangings with a cardboard base makes them very lightweight & great for hanging almost anywhere!
Now I'm off to create some garland so check back later to see how it turns out!

Garland complete!

I cut holly leaves with the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge in 2 sizes, then used tape runner to attach the leaves to each other and strung them on Kraft covered wire. To distress the leaves I rubbed my ink pad over the cut leaves while the CS was still on the cutting mat.

Joy to the World!

This new Holiday stamp set is one of my favorites! To create this card the globe and banner were stamped twice, first in Olive on white cardstock, then again in Black on Glacier cardstock. Just cut around the banner piece and place it over the globe. The heart was stamped, cut out and added with some foam tape.
If you like to stamp your journaling this is a great stamp set to use. Here are all of the stamps included in the set...

C1602 Magical Moment                                                            $13.95

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cricut Artfully Sent and Pathfinding paper pack - pretty and fun to make cards!

Veterans Day

If you follow my blog you know I am the daughter of a WW II Navy Veteran. So today I want to once again thank my dad for his service to our country and for instilling in me the pride of being an American and knowing the value of freedom. Thank you Dad!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 79

I love fall! and I love the fall color pallet. This card has a piece of Kraft CS that was dry embossed with the CTMH wood grain embossing folder.The leaves were stamped on Colonial White CS, cut out then sponged. I used foam tape to attach them to the card.
The glitter paper was double punched with the scallop punch but you could also cut one of the Cricut borders, CTMH glitter paper is so nice to cut on the Cricut!
My tip for this card is to use a liquid glue to adhere the Kraft CS to your card base.
Here is the Week 79 Atlantic Heart sketch. There is still time to enter this week's challenge so I hope you will!

Annual Inspirations Witches Hat!

As soon as I saw the witches hat in the Idea Book I knew I wanted to make one!
So with the Idea Book as my inspiration and the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge and a pack of the Scaredy Cat paper this is what I made. My hat is a smaller version and to create the cone I used the cone on the W key. This gave me the scallop edge of the cone to cut and adhere to the hat base. The spiderweb cuts fit together perfectly around the brim. I cut 3 of these using the Halloween key on the cartridge.
I hope you'll be inspired to give this a try - it really is a lot of fun!

Look at these!

You guessed it! These are all from the new Artfully Sent CTMH Cricut cartridge!
Are you ready to order yours? Just click here and let the fun begin!

October Workshop - Scaredy Cat Layout

How fun is this with the great Scaredy Cat papers and Assortment!
I love the ribbon accents over the photo mounts.The metal accents and stars are the perfect finishing touches.

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Contact me here for Workshop details. & Thank you!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #73 - Hello Fall!

This card was a lot of fun to make. I used 3 different stamp sets to create the look I wanted. Tomorrow is the first day of fall and I decided to make a card to send to my sister-in-law who lives in Michigan. The fall season is so much different there than what we have where I live in Southern California!
I love the stamp sets that come with the new CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut collection and the font was perfect for this card. Fall is stamped with the new Handwritten Print Alphabet. The leaves were stamped with the Fall Harvest stamp set then sponged. I wanted some sparkle on the card so I used a scallop cut piece of Bronze glittter paper.
You could change the card to suit your own taste by stamping the leaves in different colors or adding more leaves.
I hope you will take time to create something this week for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, here is the current sketch. You can see all of the great cards created for the challenge this week here.

Artfully Sent - Candy Corn Kisses!

Isn't this fun! I just got the new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge today & this is the first card I cut & I love it!
The finished card is 4.25 x 5.5 and I used the Canary yellow Fundamentals Basic paper behind the cut out sentiment. One side of the paper is striped and was perfect for the piece of candy. I haven't stamped inside yet but here is a view of the inside of the card.

Remember...

Fast & Fun! Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 72

This card was so fun and easy to create! AHSC #72 was the perfect inspiration to use the Raven stamp and get my Halloween papercrafting started!
The accents on the card are pieces of shimmer trim in gold, black and thistle. The stamped image was mounted with a thin border of the thistle/black stripe B&T from the Scaredy Cat paper pack and adhered to the card with the CTMH thin mounting tape.
It's early in the week so give this sketch a try -
You can visit the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge blog page here.

Sept Workshop #2 - Snowhaven Banner

Banners are so much fun to create and decorate with! In this workshop we are combining cuts from the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge, the Snowhaven chipboard and papers, the fun striped twist ties and the adhesive backed sequins.
Contact me here for workshop details.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 71

I choose a couple of the Brushed papers from CTMH and the Dreamer stamp set for this sketch. The accents are the New! Gold Sequins also from CTMH.
To see all of the great cards made for AHSC #71 click here.
If you'd like to join the challenge this is the sketch to follow.

September Workshop ~ Snowhaven

This project is right from the new Annual Inspirations 2014 Idea Book.
In this workshop I will show you how to maximize your paperpack to create this beautiful wreath and still have paper left to create a 2 page layout. Contact me for workshop dates & times @ pssmitty@cox.net.com

My favorite new paperpack - Seaside!

I love the new Seaside papers! When I was at convention I got to see this artwork created for the new CTMH Annual Inspiration in person and loved it! The wall hanging was cool but the framed scrapbook layout was my favorite.
CTMH has introduced 5 new colors & Glacier is my favorite!
I'm going to bet that you have some great summer pictures that will be perfect when you create your layouts using the new Seaside papers!

August Workshop - Includes 1 ShinHan Marker!

What you see here is the CTMH My Creations Journaling Card Box decorated with a sheet of the NEW! Seaside paper. And BEST OF ALL! this box is perfect for storing the ShinHan  Touch Twin markers now being offered by Close to My Heart!

This project will be my August workshop and will include one ShinHan marker of your choice! Contact me here for workshop information.

AHSC #66 - Ready Set Go!

Remember the young man who graduated in May? That was my nephew Jason who is only 17 but is taking off on a road trip next week with his uncles and his dad heading to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. And this Saturday we will have a big celebration to send him off! So here is my card for him! The stamps you see here are a preview of a brand new stamp set that will be available Aug 1st. It's called Here We Go!
Be sure you visit the AHSC blog & see all the great cards that have been submitted for this week's challenge & get ready to be wowed! they've been created by some very talented ladies.
This is the sketch for this week's challenge.

AHSC #65

Here in Southern California it's been very dry and the outdoors is showing it even though our hottest months are not here yet. So I decided to choose papers for this card that have a weathered look. Different textures will always add depth and interest to your art. My cards tend to be simple but for me that makes them fun to create and send to family. This one will be going to my parents in Washington.
Here is the sketch for this week's challenge if you'd like to create something.Visit AHSC blog here.

My card was chosen as one of the top 3! Thank you AHSC Team!

Picture My Life + Washi Tape = Mini Journal!

I love projects that take just a few minutes to create! I choose 5 of the Picture My Life cards from the Skylark package and used the Chocolate Woodgrain washi tape to put them together! These photos will show you how I did it!
Choose your cards....

 Tape them together!                                                           

Yes! It's that easy!

Picture My Life from Close to My Heart

Have you tried the new Picture My Life scrapbooking from Close to My Heart? If not you are in for a treat!
I usually don't take photos of my layouts inside the page protectors because of the glare but this is an exception, I want you to see just what this new line of scrapbooking products really is. In the photo you see the Skylark 12 x 12 pre-printed layout that comes with the package and one of the pocket pages I've inserted a few PML cards in.
There are several Picture My Life kits. Each one comes with a full size 12 x 12 double sided pre-printed layout, 122 double sided cards in 2 sizes and 10 Memory Protectors for your photos and the cards.
One of the great things about Picture My Life is you just add pictures and journaling and your scrapbooking is DONE!
If you would like to see this in person just contact me here.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #64

I'm joining the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge again this week using papers from the Skylark pack. I decided to dress my card up with an embossed background and some shimmer trim. It really doesn't take much to make a project a little fancy!
Here is the sketch for this week & be sure to visit the Atlantic Hearts blog to see what everyone else enters!

Skylark Layout

To create this layout I used the full sheet B&T papers from the Skylark paper pack.
Want to see how easy this is to do? Here are the steps!

1. Trim the zip strips off the B&T papers
2. Mount the B&T onto Colonial White CS
3. Sponge edges.
4. Choose which dimensional elements you want to use and sponge the edges. 
5. Choose which Picture My Life Cards you want to use and sponge the edges.
6. Cut mounts for the  PML cards, corner round them, and sponge.
7. Cut photo mounts for 4x6 photos, sand distress the photo mounts.
8. Add washi tape to layout bases.
9. Add dimensional elements.
10. Add strips of simmer trim.
11. Attach PML cards and photo mounts. 
12. Add your photos
13. Use the PML cards as journaling spots for the who, where and when or add small photos in the PML cards.

Your layouts are complete!
Here are the embellishments I used:

Memory Keeping Fundamentals

Close to My Heart is offering some great collections this month. Here they have bundled together the Cherish how to book, 2 paper packs, punches, accessories, markers, glue and memory protectors so you can create some amazing scrapbook pages.
Click here to see everything in the collection.

Skylark Mini Book

This 4 x 5.5 mini book was designed fellow consultant Denise Turley and is really fun and easy to put together. I'm going to fill it up with a mix of pictures and stamped inspirations.
If you would like the directions to make this cute album just send me an email and I'll give them to you!

Lollydoodle Layout

One of the fun things CTMH consultants do at our annual convention is exchange handmade gifts. This is the beautiful framed layout I received from my roommate Lauren Kelly. Thank you Lauren!

Independence Day

This photo is one that is on my Pinterest board. The quote below is from Wikipedia.

No matter how you spend your Independence Day - ENJOY YOUR CELEBRATION!

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (now officially known as the United Kingdom). 
Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States. (quote from Wikipedia)

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge # 62

The focal point of this card is a couple of the flourish stamps from the Inspirations Flourishes set I used a couple weeks ago. The pink stamping is one stamp, stamped 3 times.
Papers are from the Skylark paper pack and I decided to use the Chocolate Woodgrain Wahsi tape for an accent.
There is still time to create something for the challenge this week, here is the link to the AHSC blog and this is the sketch for Week #62.

July Workshop - Kraft Hardbound Mini Album

This is the 8 page Close to My Heart Hip Pic spiral bound album that I am featuring at my July Workshop.
This is a fun mixed media album with 8 pages for inserting photos or mementos.
Contact me here for workshop details.

Convention Time!

The Close to My Heart annual convention begins today! I will be waking up this morning in the magical land of Disney!
Earlier this month I celebrated 8 years as a CTMH Consultant. In 2010 I attended my first CTMH convention in Washington, DC. When I became a consultant in 2006 I had no idea that CTMH would be giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of visiting our nation's capital.
This year at convention the scrapbook contest is to create a 2 page layout featuring a favorite Close to My Heart memory. If you have followed me you know landscape photography is my first love! So I think this page tells my story well!
The Fundamentals Basics glossy patterned cardstock, the glitter papers, the Rosewood accents collection and the CTMH Cricut cartridges were all I needed to create this layout.
I don't know if my layout will be chosen as a contest winner but I know the experience of building relationships and operating a successful business with Close to My Heart have already made me a winner.

AHSC #60

I really like the Ariana paperpack and I had not used the black / blue damask B&T yet so I decided to try it for this card. So of course using the Damask Embossing Folder seemed like a good idea too! My punches came in handy for the white embossed oval and the butterfly. The sentiment is stamped with pigment ink and edged after trimming.
 To see all the entries this week just click here.
Here is the Week # 60 sketch, I hope you decide to make something too!