AND a card to match!!

Yesterday I posted a layout that's part of a kit I'm working on. There will also be cards!!!! All of the cards will have an "love" theme without being straight up Valentines. That makes them useful for more than one day of the year. This "Flakey Friends" stamp set is the cutest. (click here to see the whole thing) AND I also love  "Snowflakes", which I used for the sentiment. (click here to check out snowflakes)

Hopefully these projects will be as exciting to you as they are to me. I'm having so much fun cutting and stamping and gluing and blinging!!

Something NEW is around the corner

In just a few days I'll be announcing something new for 2013. I promised my customers that I'd launch it in an email on December 10th. BUT now that there's a layout to show ... I just can't wait.

I'm excited to present this "love never melts" layout, which will be available as part of a kit in just a few days. This is the first of two layouts that I'll be offering together in January. You'll be able to purchase the kit and assemble it at your leisure OR come to my house and assemble it with a group in January.

Isn't this just the perfect winter phrase ... "love never melts"? I live in Minnesota, which is a cold and snowy place. Snow is here for awhile, but love lasts all year long! 

For a lot of  people, winter is just another kind of fun. People of every age still go outside and play in the snow.  Even if you don't get out and build a snowman this is a great Valentine layout too.

50%

OK ... We're half way through June. That's scary isn't it?? BUT as far as posting a different stamp set EVERY day is concerned ... it seems monumental that I haven't missed a beat.

One thing you should know about me is that mostly, I don't stamp. At least, before I met CTMH 2 1/2 years ago that is. It's still not natural to me. That just proves that ANYONE can do this. Because if I can be turned into a person who has a rainbow collection of ink, then you will probably find yourself loving all of this too. This card is a bit of my previous anti-stamp self. It appeals to me though because as they say ... sometimes less is more.

I will show you the rest of this stamp set ... A Sip ... later. In the meantime wander through a few of these posts and let me know what you think.

Card Chatter

Close To My Heart offers a series of stamp sentiments called Card Chatter. Each set it a specific subject. Check all four out by clicking --> here. If you're going to be a person who makes cards it only makes sense to own all 4.  The month of June is an awesome time to get your three favorites since you can buy two and get one free during Stampaganza.

Here are just a few cards made with the birthday version.

There are a lot more sentiments in the set so you'll have to be sure to check it out. 

The "Happy Birthday" is from this set but NOT "Let them eat {cup}cake".

Check Out My Sign

Does anyone remember the paper flowers I was making?  Here there are ... TA!! DA!!

This adorable sign is so satisfying .... I made it all with my own two hands, a few pieces of paper AND a lot of glue. Of course my Cricut helped too. I hope you'll come and see it in person soon.

What's it for??  I'm sure glad you asked. For the next two Saturdays I'll be attending vendor fairs and sharing Close To My Heart with everyone who slows down enough for me to get their attention!! Check out the two places I'll be under the Upcoming Events tab.

I would loooooove to see you this Saturday. You can be one of the first to sign up for next year's Simply Rewards Club ... make a Thanksgiving card ... order the NEW Holiday Wishes stamp set for $5 ... or pick up some supplies on the spot.

Made These Myself!!

Paper flower craziness this morning using my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. 

I can't wait to show you what they're all for.

Just One Piece ... inks, ribbon, colored pencils, and a few miscellaneous scraps of cardstock

Here it is ... the post about paper creating that you all expected to see on the very first day. You were right when you thought I'd be writing a little something about cutting & gluing with colorful papers. 

I love double sided paper ... it gives me options. AND I used just one piece of 12 x12 double sided paper to make nine cards. There wasn't one scrap left of the original sheet. It's rewarding to use up a whole piece of paper. I don't have to figure out where all of the scraps will go.

There is someone reading this who is getting all exacting about my one piece claim.  Yes ... I used pre-made cards (4x5.5) because I'm lazy. I added embellishments too. In this case I used the Pair-A-Phrase Stamp Set that is FREE from Close To My Heart with a $75 order.  You can embellish with buttons, ribbons, stickers, and a million other doo-dads that most paper crafters have way too many of. Dig out some of those things you just had to have when you were shopping and get busy. You all have some lovely things sitting alone in your supplies. USE YOUR STUFF

I know you have a stamp set or sticker sheet that you've been itching to use, but somehow you feel like you have to create the ultimate work of art to do it justice ... so you aren't doing anything with it ... yet.
That's why this just one piece method is a great kick start to get your mind off of being perfect. Sometimes it's better to just get it done : )

CUTTING ... 5 minutes
This is so easy it's embarrassing.  Cut a 12x12 paper sheet into 3 strips that are 4 inches wide. Cut two of those strips into four 3 inch sections (8 pieces of  3x4 inches). Cut the remaining strip into 9 one inch strips with an additional 3x4 inch piece to add to your other pile. If you have CTMH paper you'll also have a zip strip that you can cut & use up. Here are the pieces you'll have to work with.


PASTING ... 10 minutes
The next thing you'll do is to attach one large piece and one small to a card.  Really, there are no rules.  Just do something ... you can't really do it wrong. The important part here is not to think too hard. Don't get all particular, because this is the background ... not the focus. As you look at the finished cards below you'll see that I used  4 basic patterns. You can do them all the same or make up even more. You'll also notice that just by twisting and turning the same designs look different.


DECORATING ... can be done in less than 45 minutes so that you can say it only took an hour
This is the fun part.  Take all of those cards and add something from your stash of goodies. Use something else up in addition to that one piece of paper. I limited myself to one kind of ribbon and a few colors of ink, but otherwise there were again ... no rules. When I made these I didn't worry about how "perfect" everything matched in size or color. I had fun!!! That's what this is supposed to be isn't it?


OK ... laugh with me ... I have no idea how to get these photos into ANY sort of order. They all seem to want to float around.  I'm going to call it artsy, even when I know it's just a lack of technical skills.

Check out the photo below ... the background designs are paired up ... just a flip makes a difference

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART ... 

Use your cards or give them to someone who will. Sometimes cards turn out so great that you just like to look at them.  There's no bigger waste of your time and resources : )  Don't you want to brighten someone's day? Trust me when I say that the action of mailing a note is the most beautiful part of any handmade card. 

Amazingly creative cards that never get sent to someone are the saddest cards of all times. If you don't know who to send a card to you can donate your cards. I will be sending a box of cards to Operation Write Home every month during this school year. I'll take all the cards I can get for this wonderful group that supports our military. If you see me ... hand over your unsent cards !!