Wild Berry Blast Hop!

Welcome Back Friends!

We've got 5 MORE DAYS to take advantage of our fun Wild Berry Blast Exclusive product offering with Close To My Heart!

So 8 of my fellow Close To My Heart Makers have got some artwork to share with you using our Wild Berry Blast goodies. If you've arrived from Show & Tell with Michelle, then you're on the right track!

I have been working on so many albums and lucky for me ? I have LOADS of photos to work with as I have LOADS of stories to still tell!!!

I started with a PageMaps sketch and then I ended up somewhere else entirely which is why I LOVE using sketches for inspiration!

Wild Berry blast indeed...so much PINK right?! Well if you're like me, I needed this collection toned down a smidge. That's where the stencilling and ink splatters come in....

I knew I wanted to work with white cardstock but I also have had so much fun stencilling and playing with ink lately, so I added this fun brick stencil with the Wild Berry and Black CTMH ink pads.

I also cut these fabulous cut-files from my longtime friend Jennifer Edwardson Creative Inc. and they worked beautifully with our Wild Berry Blast paper collection, don't they?!!! I added some of our awesome black acrylic arrows which helped bring more black onto this page too. 

The 12x12 sticker sheet is LOADED with images, icons, titles and words...and the chipboard sheet that is available with this collection I know I'll be able to use on many future projects. 

Check out my list of products I've used below and don't be afraid to be bold with colour and use it in a non-typical way as well. I could have easily decided that this was 'too girly' and if I did, well, then I wouldn't have this fun new layout to add to John and my Italy album!

Thanks so much for stopping in, I hope you've picked up some inspiration along the way as well. Now it's time to head on over to Wendy's Blog to see what she's got to share!

Products Used:

Wild Berry Blast Paper Packet & Sticker Sheet

Wild Berry Blast die-cuts

Black Acrylic Arrows

White Daisy Cardstock

Mix-ins Paper Packet

Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Wild Berry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

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Wild Berry Blast Collection!

Hello Friends!

I've been SUPER busy this week in my Workshop creating with so many NEW PRODUCTS and I can't wait to share them with you.

Today's highlight is our April Special, Wild Berry Blast. If you haven't had a good look at our Colour of the Year yet, then now's your time! 

We've created some exclusive products with our Wild Berry including a paper pack with sticker sheet, cardstock, chipboard and a stamp set. I LOVE the stamp set and it will remain in my stamp collection (most don't stay FYI) as it's really fun and versatile for so many applications!

As you can see, this is Matthew's Prom Day and we went for a photo shoot before all the festivities started. There's a spot with LOADS of graffiti and I have been there before for photos when his sisters graduated as well...but the graffiti artwork has changed with each visit.

I used the Wild Berry paper pack and sticker sheet and also added in our current Mix-Ins (X9038) which is my all time favourite so far...it's the black print PP. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again...adding stamping to your layouts really adds another layer of texture and dimension and if I can make it happen...I often do. 

TIP: I laid out my photo mat and cut patterned papers roughly where I wanted them and with my background PP on my VersaMat, I inked up my burst stamp, moved the PP out of the way slightly and stamped in the three locations. Pretty much the eyeball technique...one of my favourites.

I adhered the 'guts' of the papers and photo block next then started adding layers of stickers, chipboard and more small stamps. You'll even spy on the photo below, our NEW VIP Exclusive Acrylic Shapes (arrow) that I added here! (more info about that below)

Products Used:

Wild Berry Blast Paper Pack + Sticker Sheet (CC4221)

Wild Berry Blast Die-cuts (CC4230)

Wild Berry Blast Stamp Set (CC4231)

Mix-in Paper Packet (Mar-Apr) (X9038)

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Fall layout

Happy Fall Y'all! 

I decided to follow along with Jennifer Edwardson's layout class this Sunday morning and dug into my Bloom With Grace leftovers now that I've created a 6 Page layout Workshop with this collection!

At my last weekend retreat away, I was busy playing with lots of inky things...but today I want to talk about our inks and watercolour paper. 

To create this look I started with a smaller piece of watercolour paper (4x6 so it's easier to work with), three inks (Cinnamon, Paprika and Sundance) and a spray water bottle. 

You'll need an all-purpose mat for a work surface. 

Start by taking your ink pad and smooshing it onto the all-purpose mat to transfer some ink from your ink pad to the mat. Do this with two or three different colours and then spritz it with water from your spray bottle. Give your (4x6) watercolour paper a light spray with water and then drag/dip your paper through the ink and water on your all-purpose mat! 

Play with your paper until you have a watery/inky result...sometimes I add more water with my spray bottle and sometimes I add more ink to the mat if I want to intensify the colour. I dried the wet watercolour paper with a heat gun or you can let it air dry but heating it with a heat gun will lock in the droplets and dry the paper quickly while preserving the look. I also took one of my water brushes and picked up the ink off the mat to tap and splatter more ink onto the dried watercolour paper once it was dry to add more detail.

As you can see with the image above, some of the papers look more intense than others but once you thin cut the leaf shapes and stamp them, they're going to look fantastic!

I used inks and some rock and roll stamping to layer the different colours of ink before stamping the leaves for some added interest.

Always start with the lightest ink colour when you are layering ink on a stamp before stamping...that way you won't transfer the darker ink colour to your ink pad! I created LOTS of leaves with the three 4x6 watercolour sheets with the intention of using them on several projects in the future...I added them to my Bloom With Grace kit so I had it all together for the next time I was creating.

This is actually the first time I've used this Classic Alphabet Thin Cut set and I'm loving it...perfect way to customize a title for your projects using papers you already have in your kits and stash.

Classic Alphabet Thin Cuts (Z3655)

Burlap Ribbon and wood arrows from my stash were added as well as those rose gold sequins! Some are still available on my website :)

Textured Leaves Stamp and Thin Cuts set (Z3754) Great addition to your stamp and thin cut collection, just sayin' 

Remember with every purchase from the Bloom With Grace collection, I will email you the Bloom With Grace 6 Page Layout Workshop Guide to you for FREE.

October 1st marks the start of our new VIP program...take advantage of this customer loyalty rewards program to earn VIP Credits with every purchase PLUS a FREE Stamp of the Month too!

Thanks for stopping by today and I'm hoping you'll take some time to play with this technique and create some fun embellishments too!

Additional Products Used:

Cinnamon, Sundance, Paprika and Sangria inks

watercolour paper

Bloom With Grace paper pack and sticker sheet

Bloom With Grace wood shapes

Kraft cardstock

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Sept/Oct NEW PRODUCT Blog Hop!!!

WELCOME TO OUR NEW PRODUCT BLOG HOP! yes that was ALL CAPS because we are all super excited with ALL the fabulous products now available for you to play with!

If you've arrived from Kathy's Blog, you are on-track...if you get lost along the way head back to Melinda's blog for the full lineup of Hoppers.

Once I dig into a paper collection I like to use it all up! This layout was fun to create because I used up my leftovers PLUS I ended up playing with so many new products!

The patterned paper base was from a retire mix-in pack. The moon was hand drawn/trimmed out and the small striped scrap and stickers were from my leftovers in the Got Candy? paper pack!

The Wisteria stamped star came from the Got Candy? stamp set along with a few of the direct stamped stars on the base page.

I added some vellum behind the photo to frame my photo without adding any colours or heaviness to the image area.

You may also see the black acrylic arrows which are some of the all new embellishment offerings we have available now for the entire year!

So is this star shaker '2 cute' or what?!!!!  You got it, this new thin cut and foam and acetate star shape is one of the new shapes available now and I'm in LOVE! 

Notice the fun Got Candy? loose sequins in that shaker star?!!

Let me also point out the ALL NEW Simple Serif Bundle, which includes the thin cuts for uppercase and lowercase PLUS the coordinating stamp sets. The '2' is cut 3x's for some more dimension and I've used our new *AVOCADO colour which I have to say is now tied with Lagoon for 1st Place in my favourite colour competition...way to go Close To My Heart!!! I wanted to keep 'cute' in White Daisy cardstock and the 'spook' is Mint cardstock and stamped with Black for some extra pop.

I LOVE the size of both of these and that I can add to them with the stamp OR leave them as thin cut alphas as well. So versatile!

I hope you're getting as excited as me to play with all the new treasures Close To My Heart has available in the new CORE and Sept/Oct Seasonal Catalogs !

Head on over to Cat's Blog to continue with the Hop and contact your CTMH Maker with your WishList...if you don't have a CTMH Maker yet, head on over to our website and find one near you!

Products Used:

Got Candy? Product Bundle (CC8206)

Got Candy? Loose Sequins (CC8205)

Spooky Gnomes stamp and thin cuts (Z3782)

Star Shaker Window (Z3871)

Simple Serif Bundle (Z3865)

Wisteria, Tangerine, Black Inks

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Scrap Your Stash

Hello! How are you?! we are something like 5 weeks into our Corona Virus #stayhome situation right now and  I'm wondering what all of you are doing to keep yourself distracted from the world's event?

For me, scrapbooking is the greatest therapy of all...and I'm fortunate that I have so much STASH in my home that I could be home for years without running out! LOL

Yesterday's video in the Scrap Your Stash series I've started on my Facebook Page I was working with this sketch from our Close To My Heart 'Make It From Your Heart Volume 2' 

 There are loads of fantastic how-to designs in this book and it gives you exact measurements for cutting plus images to help you visualize other versions of each sketch also!

So this is what I used as a reference for the three photos I wanted to work with and this is how it turned out...you'll note that I just created the left page in this sketch!

So I made this sketch design work for me. I preferred the look of the Beach Script PP flush with the RHS edge of the Kraft CS edge. I also was working with some pieces I had leftover (scraps) and so my PP on the far left is off from the sketch but remember that a sketch is a starting off point, so don't obsess over 'exact' because no one knows any differently when they're looking through YOUR ALBUM!!!

The point as well when working through your stash...get into your embellishments! YES! I mean ALL of them, not just the ones that you purchased with your specific papers. You have a literal TREASURE in your creative spaces, so get on into them and start considering 'collecting' all your 'chachskis', 'bits and baubles', 'embellishments' into one storage style so you can use your stash more easily and have fun mixing things up!

chachskis 

Yiddish: Knickknacks, collectables, figurines. Small figures and mememtos that can be bought at gas stations, dollar stores, gift shops, tourist destinations, etc. These are usually used to give to friends or to decorate cubicles. Sometimes placed in curio cabinets and so forth.

I bought some lovely chachskis for my scrapbook page from Kristine!

Speaking of chachskis, I was able to locate some beach'y ones that came with these No Worries papers (in my scraps) of years gone by... PLUS using up more of the 'bits' which was AWESOME!

Can you see how I've sanded the edges of these photos? A great way to define, highlight or make them pop without having to mat them with CS...I created some extra 'scratch' lines with my sanding technique to add to the effect which I really like!

Thank you for popping by today and follow the Facebook link (above) to see the Scrap Your Stash videos if you're looking for something to do!!!

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Every Little Thing

There's so much to love in our new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book (Sept-Oct 2019) from Close To My Heart!

Soft Florals/feminine colours AND Fall/masculine colours that you can enhance further or even add to which I've discovered...we've created a Mix-In paper packet to extend and add to our current Every Little Thing AND Hawthorn paper suites! Check them out!

Every Little Thing

Hawthorn

Mix-In

This layout is a combination of our Every Little Thing AND Mix-In paper collections...added to that our newest Hawthorn Scrapbooking Stamp & Thin Cut set...which I am IN LOVE WITH!!!

I've used Sangria, Paprika and Goldrush inks to create these rock n'roll technique stamped leaves...super fun and they look real. Vellum hearts and leaves from the ELT collection and some doodled lines with our awesome new journalling pens!

Shop for these products now before they are gone! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP 


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September Cross Canada Hop!

Welcome to our September Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Every Little Thing!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Brenda's Blog

This was a fun card we created at my all day crop this past weekend...

lovin' our new Julep Colour of the Year! 

This month's Stamp of the Month is perfect for cardmaking and scrapbook pages...the sentiments are great and the font combo is fantastic too!

This page was created from the scraps left over from this month's Page Club class...plus I've added the Every Little Thing Complements...love the solid black chipboard pieces and how some of them have white embossed elements on them too.

I decided to add our new mix-ins paper pack to use with both paper collections, Every Little Thing and Hawthorn, which I'll be showcasing over the next two months! CTMH has hit it outta the park with these new and improved mix-in paper packs as they have been designed specifically to support our two paper collections in the Seasonal Expressions Idea Books...

In case you missed it, our new colour of the year Julep is available in all our products; cardstock, inks, shimmer pens, glitter paper, embellishments...you get the idea!

Check out these wood shapes! and Julep sequins! everything on this page makes me happy...paper, embellishments and of course photo! 

Take note of those typewriter stickers...we had them from a retired paper collection and because we have consistent colours...I can incorporate products from past collections into newer ones because we do even through changing Idea Books!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEWEST Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark October 10th on your calendars and hop along with us when we feature our Hawthorn collection!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Every Little Thing paper pack with sticker sheet

Every Little Thing Complements

Julep Glitter Paper

Julep sequins

Arrow Wood Shapes

Sept. SOTM 'Random Act of Cardness'

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August Cross Canada Hop!

Welcome to our August Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Craft On!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

After returning for our 2019 Convention in Provo, Utah...I had the perfect colourful photos and theme for this collection!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure about this paper suite...but once I got into it and started creating, I now know I do love it! LOL...sometimes a paper suite will 'speak to me' and sometimes it doesn't...but then sometimes it just takes me digging into it!

You'll notice that our black chipboard is now a solid black! No more inking the edges for this girl! woot woot Close To My Heart, thank you!

If you haven't tried our Flip Flaps, they are literally the best on the market...we have the highest quality page protectors and flip flaps out there...I needed another spot for two more photos so this 3x4 flip flap fit the bill.

During our tour of the Home Office, we came upon this hall recognizing all of our Company's Top Sellers...one wall for Canada, one wall for USA, one wall for New Zealand & one wall for Australia! They will now need to add one wall for JAPAN as we announced this Convention that they will be joining our Company! 
How exciting is that?!!!

 I spotted my photo up there, that was an awesome surprise!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEWEST Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark September 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Craft On paper pack
Craft On Complements
3x4 Flip Flap
Craft On Rubber Shapes
sanding block
border punch
3D Foam Tape


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July Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our July Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Into The Wild!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

This paper suite is so versatile and absolutely adorable...I dug into the past for photos of my son exploring in our backyard for bugs! 

I knew when I started creating this layout exactly what photos were in the shoebox in my closet and I loved scrapbooking older photos this month.

I added some watercolour paint splatters and random stamping with our Into The Wild Scrapbooking stamp set (D1842) and I really love the look of stamping on my layouts AND of course you know how I feel about wood veneer!

Combining the stickers from the coordinating Complements sheet and our NEW foam Alphabet Sticker...yes please!

The stamping was first, second and third generation using Sapphire Ink.

This collection has so many great products that coordinate from papers to stickers & chipboard to wood bits and burlap twine! 

LOVE LOVE it all !!!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEW Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark August 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:


Into The Wild Paper Pack
Into The Wild Complements
Wood Shapes
D1842 - Into The Wild - Scrapbooking Stamp Set
Watercolour Paints
Sapphire Ink





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