Live Beautifully Congratulations Card

While I love making more complicated watercolor versions of this month's Live Beautifully rose images, I also wanted to see what I could do just stamping a single rose, fast and simple.

Inspired by the Navy in this week's Fusion Card Challenge, this little Congrats card comes together in no time at all. I simply inked the rose in blue ink and stamped it repeatedly all over the card front. each time I stamped the rose I also stamped off the second and third generation lighter images in the spaces between the roses. 

I love how that extra pouncing of the stamp image fills in the spaces of the background without adding more images to compete with the roses. I layered my sentiment strip over some navy organdy ribbon from my stash, and topped it off with a couple of sparkly gems. I'm linking this card up to the Heart 2 Heart Coming Up Roses Challenge. Check out the Live Beautifully Collection before it sells out!

Live Beautifully Workshop Coming in May!

Did you know that May is National Scrapbooking Month? I'm super excited this year, in part because I'll be hosting a crop on May 6th with my local Crafty Peeps, and in part because we will be making up this stunning Live Beautifully 10 page Scrapbooking Workshop!

Below is my favorite of the gorgeous 5 double page layouts included - each kit includes preprinted bases, precut papers, diecuts, and stickers with gold foil accents. I whipped up this special kit today, adding just a few extra goodies, like a bit of washi tape, Gold Glitter Gems, and adorably teensy gold sequins. I can't wait to get my pics onto these beautiful layouts!

If you are interested in creating this amazing kit in May, I've got the full pages (with my twist on the basic kit) loaded to my VIP Monthly Memories Facebook Group. Let me know if you'd like to join! That's where I share all my upcoming classes and organize our twice monthly crop days. I offer both in person and To- Go kits shipped right to your home. Contact me if you have any questions or want to reserve your kit!

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we have 30 talented consultants sharing their crafty creations using Thoughtful Flowers, a stunningly pretty set of 14 floral images and sentiments.You may be arriving here from TAMMY'S BLOG.

As soon as I saw this set I started to ponder how I could best turn it into floral sprays of goodness. I didn't really want to fussy cut all the flowers, or have it be too bulky, so it seemed natural to give masking a try!  I used some post-its to create a mask for each type of flower. Then I started with my biggest center flower, masking each image off as I went along, working from the "front" of the floral spray to the "back" so that the finished element would have depth. I stamped everything in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored the image using Shin Han alcohol markers. I don't usually go in for the one layer card but the MUSE Challenge this week is a cute one layer card with a vine wrapping around the sentiment so I took it as an additional challenge not to add a bunch of extra layering.

I went back in on the image with a shimmer pen for some subtle sparkle. I am a girl who lives and breathes sparkle, but I couldn't bring myself to add sequins or rhinestones this time. I wanted to let the pretty flowers stand alone, so all I did to finish is add a few teensy drops of glitter gel to the tiny flower centers and draw a delicate border around the outer edge of the card base with a very fine journaling pen.

Next up on the hop is KATHY'S BLOG. You can find a full blog hop list here. Don't forget that the December SOTM is only available in the month of December, so click here or chat with your consultant to get yours soon. Happy Hopping!

 Additional December SOTM Projects:

December SOTM Holiday Card

Day 314: January SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we are featuring Beloved Bouquet, a gorgeous set of 14 images. I never can have too many flower stamps! You may be arriving here from NANCY'S BLOG. The complete hop list can be found here. Let's hop!

I was inspired for this project by a stunning layout I saw on Instagram by Jessy Christopher-Tham. She does amazing work, and I thought that the January SOTM would look lovely in place of the die cut flowers she used so beautifully. I used the stripe from La Vie en Rose, embossing with white powder the triangles from Crazy Good. I used Slate ink to stamp the floral spray (in a circle on the right) and the sentiments from the January SOTM. 

I got my 5x5 prints from Parabo Press, and they are so nice and thick! I trimmed the top of a gold PML overlay card into 1/4" strips so I could line two of the sides of my square print. Then I filled in the remaining two sides with so, so much gold glitter gel. Dude, it might still be slightly wet even next week. I patted some glitter gel over the white embossed triangles too, because more glitter is always good in my book. The flowers were stamped onto sanded colored cardstock. I inked only the outline images using the lightest color (like Canary or Whisper) and tapping on bolder colors here and there (Slate and Pomegranate). Then I sanded again and brushed on some Wink of Stella for extra shimmer.  

Next up on the hop is NINA'S BLOG. Don't forget that this lovely set of blooms is only available in the month of January, so contact your consultant or click here to pick your Beloved Bouquet  today!

My other January SOTM projects:
Thinking of You Card

Day 249: Blossoming Friendship Card

Have you seen the new Muse Card Club Challenge? It's a beautiful floral card by Tracey McNeely to stamplift and inspire! I've been doing a lot of holiday cards this month, so it was fun to break out the Hollyhock ink and florals.

I used a new set called Blossoming Expressions, which I've had but hadn't broken open yet. It's a two step stamp set, which is one of my favorite styles. Basically you stamp the bottom/solid layer in a lighter color (in this case that's second generation Hollyhock ink). Then you stamp the detail image over top using a darker ink (full strength Hollyhock). I love the detailed effect with no coloring - like a super fast highway to Adorable-ville!

I used a post-it note to mask and layer the blossoms. I added leaves and the sentiment using Olive ink. Then I popped on a few pink enamel gems for some texture. Now I'm back to working in Studio J!

Day 127: Rolled Flower Tutorial

So I've been working on these watercolor rolled Cricut cut flowers for a very special project, and posting the pics to my Instagram. We have these flowers in different shapes on many of the CTMH cricut cartridges. This shape in particular is from the Art Philosophy cartridge, which remains my favorite cartridge to this day. It's my favorite flower on my go to, almost-always-has-what-I-need cartridge.

I had cut these flowers out of plain white cardstock, then colored them using a water brush to pick up ink from my ink pads. When the shapes were dry I rolled and shaped them into this:

There was one left over, which I used on this card, which lead to a question on Facebook about how to roll up these funky rolled flower shapes. Since rolling and shaping flowers is one of my favorite things, here's a little infographic tutorial for you!

Seven Steps to Beautiful Rolled Flowers:

1. The first thing I do with a freshly cut rolled flower shape is add a dab of dry adhesive to the flat center of the shape. This could be Tombo, a glue dot, whatever you like that sticks well.
   
2. Then I use my CTMH Quilling tool to roll them. I insert the smallest end into the wide slot on the tool. You could use tweezers, but I find this so much easier.
   
3. Roll up the flower shape towards the center, wrapping it tightly around the tool.
   
4. When you get it rolled as far as you can, Hold it tight for a few seconds to sort of "set" the curl.
   
5. Let it go (Let it go!) and slide it off the tool. Place it on a flat surface and gently tap the center to help it relax into shape. Then press down lightly on that center to stick it to that adhesive we applied earlier. That's just to hold it in place until the next step.
   
6. Apply Liquid Glass (or the sturdy liquid adhesive of your choice) down in between the petals of the flower. Let that dry completely before moving on to the last step.
   
7. Use the quilling tool on the smaller side to roll the petals back. I like to start on the outsdie and work my way in. Sometimes I leave the center area untouched for a more rose like effect. In the photo on the chevron above I used the tool to push in and down the center petals for more of a peony center. If I need it flatter I'll smack it down with a handy 3 x 3 or bigger acrylic block.  Sometimes I fill the centers with Glitter. Take that basic flower and make it your own!

If you want to color on, emboss, sand/distress your flower, do that before you start step one. The possibilities with these rolled flowers are endless...endlessly fun! 

Day 93: Mojo Thank You Card

So I know I've been on kind of a Blossom kick lately, but I just can't seem to get enough of this print! Today I looked at the new Mojo Monday sketch and I just had to make one more Blossom card.

It's Tall and Skinny week over at Mojo, so this is a 3.5 x 5.5 card. I used Smoothie stripe washi tape for the banner, which is carefully pieced from two strips of washi tape. I embossed the scribble circle from Doodled Designs in white embossing powder over the card base design. Then I stamped the circle in Glacier ink. I stamped over the circle with the chevron border in Glacier Ink and added the sentiment in White embossing powder, all from the same Have a Happy Day set. I popped the circle up with foam tape.

I dug around in my Cricut diecut bin and hit paydirt with a Colonial White spiral flower that I hadn't built yet. I inked the edges of the flower in Smoothie ink, and twirled it up on my Quilling tool. After I had secured it with Liquid Glass and it was dry, I curled out the petals using my Quilling tool, then leaned on it a bit with a clean acrylic block to flatten out the flower. A smaller simple daisy shape and some leaves completed my floral spray.   

I'm going to link this one up to the new Paper Issues Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue challenge, as I was actually using Therm-o-Web foam squares on this project instead of my usual CTMH foam tape, because I sold all my foam tape at the show last weekend. I was so glad to find that packet of  Therm-o-Web foam squares in my drawer, and I love that I didn't have to cut up the 1/4" squares. Serendipity!

Day 73: Happy Birthday Floral Card

I've got another sweet Blossom paper card for you today. 

Today I was inspired by the new Muse Card club challenge.  I used the inspiration photo as a sketch. I widened the center dividing strip, since I was using glitter paper. My philosophy is everything is better with glitter!

I used three stamp sets on this. The big circle is from Doodled Designs. The big flower is from Shower Flowers. The sentiment and the wreath spray is from Happy to Be Friends. I made some with the birthday sentiment and a few with the Happy Mother's Day sentiment. I love the assortment of sentiments in that set! 

Tomorrow I'll be playing with the new Taste of Summer goodies that CTMH is offering especially for National Scrapbooking month. See ya soon!

Day 72: AHSC Floral Blank Card

I am loving the bright, happy colors in this blossom paper lately. It just makes my heart happy when I'm working with pretty paper!

Today I used the new Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge sketch. It was sweet even before I added the blossoms from the Shower Flower stamp set.  

I added some stitching into the block at the bottom, using strips instead of a solid block. The main flower is popped up with foam tape. I colored some Sparkles with a Shin Han marker and filled the tiny flower centers. Happiness!

Day 64: Operation Smile CREATE Wall Display

On Friday I'm heading to Seattle for a Close To My Heart Making Connections Event. At the event there will be an artwork auction to raise money for Operation Smile, an amazing charity that provides free, life-changing surgeries for children. I'm so excited to be bringing this piece of altered wood wall art to the Operation Smile Auction.

I wish you could see the sparkle of this piece, carefully painted with layers of silver glitter paint. I added a sentiment from the upcoming June SOTM, altered a bit with a little handmade banner to better fit the CTMH event. It says, "You can't buy happiness, but you can buy CTMH & that's the same kind of thing."

I handmade these paper gerber daisies using only one image from the Artiste Cartridge. Here's my Gerber Daisy Cricut Design Space file if you have that cartridge and you'd like to give it a go! I cut three larger daisies for the bases of the flower, and embossed a line down each petal. Then I formed the three smaller daisies using my embossing tool and the foam mat so they would curl up to form the center. Liquid glass holds them together, and I filled the centered with glitter gel, though a nice button wouldn't go wrong, either. 

. Aaaand I just couldn't let it go without a darling little butterfly, colored with my Shin Han markers and glittered on the black overlay. I'm linking this up to the Heart 2 Heart Wonderful World Challenge. 

It was a lot of detailed work to put this sweet wall display together, and at first I was like all "I'm too busy with show prep to donate artwork". But then I looked at the Operation Smile videos again, and I knew it was important to make time to help CTMH and Operation Smile help more children. I love how CTMH makes it possible to do good with every stamp set I purchase. 

If you're coming on Friday, be ready for the amazing auction - there's way more goodies than this! See you in Seattle!

Day 62: Making Connections Gerber Daisy Name Badge

So carrying on with the scrappin' my stash idea, I decided to work on my name badge for the upcoming Making Connections meeting in Seattle next week. 

My fabulous second upline Naomi Smith challenged us all to make a name badge for her team meeting. I started with a super old blue metal frame leftover from my Super Hero Album project that's been kicking around in my odds and ends bowl for, oh my goodness, three years. I painted the bright blue frame silver with some nail polish, then added a coat of silver glitter polish to be sure it was shiny enough. I adhered my frame to some Black cardstock and a bit of doily I couldn't bear to part with...I only hoard scrapbooking embellishments. And mason jars. And books.  

Then I added some freshly cut and assembled Gerber Daisies (extra from a project that I'll be revealing very soon), and a few more bits from my catch-all bowl. I miss those sparkly rhinestone flowers...but not that much, since I stocked up big time when they retired. Ahem. In any case, I think my embellie hoarding has paid off on this project. 

I'm gonna link this one up to the Heart 2 Heart Wonderful World Challenge, 'cause what in the world could be better than heading off to a CTMH event to chat, learn, and craft with lots of CTMH friends? Hope to see ya in Seattle!

Day 27: Just Because You're Perfect Card

Today I'm sharing another version of the special custom card order from Jacobsen's Books, The request was 5x7 in blues and greens with perfect friend in the sentiment. I think this fits the bill!

I combined a bit of Snowhaven B&T with some Simple Stories Story of Us music print, mounted onto Whisper and Sky Cardstocks. I embossed the wreath image from Happy to Be Friends, which is also where I got the sentiment. I literally created the YOU'RE by inking individual letters of the small fonts in the set to build the word I needed that was missing. 

I colored each rose by hand using Spectrum Noir markers BT 2 and BT 4 plus DG2 for the leaves, which I cut by hand. I filled the flowers with green stickles. I hit up my ribbons stash again. I've been on a washi tape kick, but sometimes you can't beat the extra dimension and shimmer of real ribbon. I'm linking my stampy card up to the Paper Issues Painting By Numbers Party.

Day 7: March SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the March SOTM Blog Hop. This month we have over 60 consultants sharing their creative projects using the March SOTM. You should be arriving here from ANGELA'S BLOG. Let's get hopping!

This month I chose to paint a small 4x6 canvas to use with my favorite stamp in that set, the "Choose happy" sentiment. I painted the canvas silver, and added streaks of Silver glitter paint, sparkly pink nail polish, and Outdoor Denim ink, I embossed the scalloped border and frame onto pink cardstock and fussy cut the elements. You'll see a bit of one of the swirl stamps in there as well as some black sparkle flourishes. My colors were grey/silver, Outdoor Denim, and Blush pink. I'm linking up to the Heart 2 Heart Think Pink Challenge.

Here you can see the texture of the nail polish splatters. The flowers were colored with a blush marker and glittered. I love this flower shape because I don't have to cut leaves too - I can just trim out the individual petals and turn those into leaves.

Don't forget you can get this SOTM for as low as $5, but only through the month of March. Contact your consultant or click here to order yours today! Next up on the hop is ALYSON'S BLOG. I can't wait to see what she's done with this adorable stamp set.

Other Projects I've made with the March SOTM:

Choose Happy Embroidery Hoop Wall Art

Choose Happy Monochromatic Card

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge Card

Scrapping Our Stash Blog Hop

I'm so excited to be back sharing another Scrapping Our Stash project this month. You could be arriving here smiling from BOBBI'S BLOG, Vintage Muse Designs - welcome! I've been doing a series of Wall Art Hoops inspired by this fabulous "stash only" blog hop you hopping. My wall of hoops is getting to look more like an actual inspiration wall instead of just a few random non-matching projects! I added two hoops this week, and this is one of the new additions.

This time I covered the inner hoop of my embroidery hoop with strips of Washi Tape, just looking to make a solid surface to glue on since I knew you wouldn't even see the fabric. Plus, I couldn't find my bag of fabric scraps. Ahem. Then I grabbed my huge bin of paper flowers and started gluing. I covered the base with lots of the scraggly can't really use them white flowers that I also couldn't bring myself to purge. Then I added anything I could find in pinks, purples, a few yellows, and teals. Some are slightly altered from previous projects with marker or glitter. Even the butterfly was a leftover from another project, already inked and glittered. Then I dug into my sparkles stash and glued on a variety of odds and ends doo-dads I had leftover from well, everything.

I used some really old rub-ons on scraps of Lagoon paper to make up the words of my quote. Each word was trimmed out and detailed with a sketchy little hand-drawn border. Then WINGS is white mostly because I didn't have enough black letters, but then I decided I liked it and gave it a bit of a glitter border too.  I glued the words onto the flower bed with Liquid Glass and was happy to find they didn't fall off come morning even without foam tape.

I'll share my other new hoop early next week - it's black and white and polka dot and very, very sparkly! The next blog on the hop is Monica over at Scrap Inspired. I hope you'll be inspired to hit up your stash for hidden treasures, too!

CTMH Weekly Creative Challenge

OK, I know I was supposed to be sharing another koala card today, and I swear I will, tomorrow. But today I got distracted by another project and a sick 5 year old today. Between water bottle refills and cuddles I couldn't stop messing around with this project for CTMH's new weekly artistic challenge.

So I have this running embroidery hoop project going, for a wall display I'm building in my stamp room. When I saw this week's challenge to make a scrapbook page with our new year's resolutions I knew I needed to make a new hoop. I don't do resolutions, but I've already said to a few friends that my motto for 2015 is gonna be Choose Happy. As a mom of three little boys I find myself saying "yes" to a lot of things I don't really want to do...but this year I want to focus on choosing activities that will be happy for my family, friends, and myself. I know I'll need a reminder, since I find it hard to say no, so I used the sketch over at Sketchabilities (a bit loosely, since I'm scrapping into a circle), pulled a few photos that make me smile, and fancied up my motto with lots of scrappy things that make me happy.  Now it's hanging on the wall in my stamp room, making me smile every time I glance over there.

I wove the background from pretty much every bit of Slate Polka Dot Ribbon I had left in my stash and a lot of Beacon's 3 in 1 adhesive. Then I sprayed a large splash of silver glitter and traced some circles with a white paint pen. I added banners from the new Heartstrings papers, some leftover Heartstrings Complement stickers, silver sequins, and metal flowers from the Yuletide Carol assortment.  The 3-D flowers came from Art Philosophy, and the HAPPY sentiment from Artbooking. I added lots of red glitter gel to my title, and filled my 3-D roses with more glitter. It sparkles, and catches the light - I love it! 

Tomorrow I'll be back with the other Koala Card. Today, this made me happy!

Annual Inspirations Hop #3

Since I'm winging my way back to Spokane today after spending a few days with my family for my brother's wedding, I figured that today was a good day to share with you the card I made for the happy couple Thursday night before I got to packing. I wish I was more organized...but the happiness and love was still there in my last minute craftiness!

I saw this awesome (and simple) sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Knowing I was short on time, simple was important. Their colors/theme were purple and sunflowers, a little bit country, a little bit fancy.  The card is hung off the white gift bag that held their gift so it's sentimental and useful too! While pressed for time, this was still a wedding card, so it needed some love and bling...so I grabbed my new Gold Embossing powder and my very, very old heat gun and got to work.

I inked up my new Chevron embossing folder with Colonial White pigment ink and pressed it onto Colonial White Cardstock to imprint the chevron pattern. Then I coated it in the new gold powder and heated it up. Strips of Gold Shimmer tape stood in for the three stripes in the sketch. I Stamped some sunflowers and tiny purple flowers using one of my favorite new sets called Lifetime of Happiness. That's also where I got the sentiment that I embossed on purple CS. I layered all my little handmade goodies on with foam tape and topped them off with the new gold sequins, bitty sparkles, and platinum Stickles. I hope the love I have for my brother and his beautiful bride shines through! 

Here's the Blog Hop linky party again - keep checking back for more Annual Inspirations happiness through August 7th!