A card for a friend

I get asked this a lot: "How do you know what papers to pick?" First of all, Close To My Heart makes this super simple. Not only do they sell pattern papers, but they sell coordinating cardstock, and with each paper pack, you get both. Second, when picking papers to create a random project, if I don't already have a vision in my head (which most of the time, I do), than I just grab the first paper pack I come across. It's that simple.

For this next card, I saw a card on pinterest and recognized it as a sketch from the Wishes How-To-Program. It has been a while since I created a circle card. And since it was for a special friend, why not pull out all the stops and move that stack of stuff in front of my cricut and turn it on? LOL I don't know why I make using my cricut that difficult. It's so EASY.

Recipe:
Paper: Florentine (retired), Garden Green CS (retired) Brown Bag (retired), Colonial White CS (CTMH)
Stamp: Just For You (CTMH)
Inks: Twilight, Autumn Terracotta, Creme Brulee, Olive, Chocolate (CTMH)
Tools: Cricut Art Philosophy, Micro-Tip Scissors (CTMH)

Hope your day is wonderful.

Casandra

Sweet Florentine Layout

Here is another layout I made for the baby album I'm working on.

This layout was inspired by a layout made with Magnifique paper that was featured in a previous idea book. I decided to keep this one as simple as possible so that any photos could be used with it. Tons of hand-stitching and yes, my fingers hurt. I may have to get a thimble if I keep this up. :)

Until I made this layout, I never realized how similar retired Brown Bag is to Saddle (ink/paper colors). Even the new Champagne is quite similar to Vanilla Cream. I hope this layout doesn't seem too girly because it's going in a baby boy album. 

Recipe:
Paper: Florentine (retired), Brown Bag CS (retired), Vanilla Cream CS (retired) (CTMH)
Stamps: Unity (retired), Love Life, Headline Alphabet (retired) (CTMH)
Inks: Champagne, Lagoon, Twilight (retired), Chocolate (CTMH)
Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Stitch Guide Ruler, Glue Pen (CTMH)
Other: Basic Bitty Brads (retired), Chocolate Embroidery Floss (retired) CTMH

*Sniff* I miss Twilight. I hope we can back with a very similar color to it sooner rather than later. Wishing I'd stocked up on more than 2 packs of it before it sold out. I don't know why I get so attached to colors and papers, but well, Twilight will forever hold a special place in my heart as one of two first ink pads I ever purchased from Close To My Heart. Even the paper-piercer was the first tool I ever bought from CTMH. 

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your day is SWEET.

Casandra

TSOT 158 Perfect Day Card

Hi! I hope your weekend has been great. We had two birthday parties to attend this weekend, and I don't think I can eat another piece of cake again for a while. LOL

I am very excited to share my next card with you. I tried out a technique that I've been wanting to do for some time now. I heat embossed my stamping with white embossing powder and then sponged first in Twilight ink on the top half and sponged Bamboo ink on the bottom half. It really makes the embossed areas pop. I love nature scenes and am so glad that I bought this stamp set before it retired a few years back.

Recipe:
Paper: Florentine (retired), White Daisy CS, Twilight CS (CTMH)
Stamp: Perfect Day (retired) (CTMH)
Inks: Twilight, Bamboo, VersaMark (CTMH)
Tools: Sponges, Heat Gun, White Embossing Powder (CTMH), Embossing Folder (SU!)
Other: Chocolate Embroidery Floss, Glue Dots (CTMH), White Buttons (MFT)

I would like to enter this card into the Try Stampin' On Tuesday Challenge #158. Have a great week, my crafty friends.

Casandra

Use Your Stash Blog Hop

Last week, my new products arrived, and it made me realize something. I have too much paper. I am a paper addict. With that being said, I found the perfect way to bust my stash (a wee bit) with a blog hop put on by some of my CTMH sisters.

If you have arrived here from Michelle's blog, you are on the right track.

At the top of the pile in drawer #2 of my super cute Lingerie chest (that I found at a resale shop) was Emporium. My card stash was low, but I never start there when using up scraps. I always try to squeeze out as many scrapbook layouts as possible, first.

Without further ado, here they are:

Inspired by Spring 2009 Idea Book

Inspired by Spring 2009 Idea Book

Inspired by Spring 2009 Idea Book

Sketch Layout from Imagine

Sketch Layout from Reflections

A childhood friend lost her baby boy back in August, and I plan to use most of these layouts in a scrapbook album that she can personalize to remember her sweet Jayce by. After creating 6 pages, I was left with small scraps that were perfect for cards.

I used a lot of retired product for this challenge. 

Paper: Florentine, Emporium, Veranda (retired)

Stamps: Love You Forever (retired), Baby Love (retired), Capture The Date (retired), Trinity Alphabet (retired), Rustic Alphabet (retired), Headline Alphabet (retired), Laughing Lola Cardmaking WOTG, Art Philosophy, You Only Live Once, Words of Comfort, Look To The Light, For Every Occasion, Santa Claus, Artbooking

Inks: Cocoa, Twilight, Crystal Blue, Garden Green (retired), Sweet Leaf, Heavenly Blue (retired)

Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Watercolor Pencils, Blending Pen, Corner Rounder, Scallop Border Punch, Sanding Kit, Artbooking Cartridge

Other: Metallic Brads (retired), Neutral Brads (retired), Sweet Leaf Ribbon (retired), Heavenly Blue Ribbon (retired), Chocolate Ribbon (retired), Neutral Embroidery Floss (retired),Clear Sparkles, Bronze Glitter Tape,Buttons (retired), Dimensionals (retired), Neutral Baker's Twine

Next up on the blog hop, please be sure to visit Nikki's blog. Thank you for visiting my blog today. I hope we have inspired you to use up some of your old scraps, too. 

Casandra

SSSC203 Valentine Card

I recently made it a mission to try and use up scraps from an old paper pack I've had sitting in a drawer since *gasp* 2010. I refuse to count back in years just how long that might be...you do the math. LOL

Anyways, this morning I was trying to finish up this craft mission and started with a sketch and an inspiration challenge. From there, this card was born.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #203
2. Curtain Call - Love Letter Challenge
3. The Cat's Pajamas TCP TCPTUES252 Paper-Piecing Challenge

I plan to give this Valentine card to my little boy. I stamped the inside with "Happy Valentine's Day". I know he's going to love it.

Products Used:
Paper: Florentine (retired), Emporium (retired), White Daisy CS, Cocoa CS (CTMH)
Stamps: Words of Comfort, Fast and Furious (CTMH)
Inks: Sweet Leaf, Cocoa, Twilight, Sunset, Desert Sand (CTMH)
Tools: Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Micro-Tip Scissors, Glue Pen, Paper-Piercer, Watercolor Pencils (CTMH)
Other: Bamboo Brads (retired)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a happy, crafty day!

Casandra

STS#4 Mary and Babe Card

Here is the last card I have to share with you today. I created this card using a sketch from Seize The Sketch blog. I missed the deadline, but it was such a great sketch, I felt inspired to still play along.

Recipe: (All products by CTMH unless otherwise noted.)
Paper: Florentine (retired), Colonial White CS, Kraft CS
Stamp: Mary and Babe
Ink: VersaMark, Twilight
Tools: Micro-Tip Scissors, Paper-Piercer, Heat Gun, Gold Embossing Powder, Craft Tray
Other: Chocolate Ribbon (American Crafts), Pearls

My customers will have the option to emboss or stamp the sweet Baby Jesus image in cocoa and color in for my upcoming Christmas card workshop.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you have a great day!

Casandra

FMS91 Lighthouse Card

Good afternoon! I woke up this morning feeling crafty. Since I spent the past 6 days working, I feel that I'm owed a day of fun.

So after creating a card the other day using a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches blog, I decided I liked it so well, that I'd create another interpretation of it. Here goes.

Supplies Used: (All CTMH)
Paper: Florentine (retired)
Stamp: Perfect Day (retired)
Inks: Desert Sand, Twilight
Tools: Scissors, Paper-Piercer, Heat Gun, Clear Detail Embossing Powder
Other: Cocoa Bitty Brads

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday afternoon as much as I am. Thanks for stopping by.

Casandra

Fanfare Birthday Layout

I decided to keep this last scrapbook page simple and understated. The photo's will pop off the page.

Recipe:
Paper: Fanfare, Florentine, White Daisy CS, Black CS (CTMH); Stamps: Fanfare WOTG (CTMH); Inks: Pacifica, Cranberry, Black, Honey (CTMH); Tools: Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Micro-Tip Scissors (CTMH); Other: Make It From Your Heart Volume I how-to book (CTMH)

I can't wait to meet this new little one, and for the Mama-To-Be to receive this gift. It was made from the heart.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my Clementine layout series.

Casandra

Card Patterns Sketch 171 Superhero Card

Today, I am participating in the Card Patterns Sketch #171 Challenge, as well as the Stamp It! Cards Birthday Challenge over at Moxie Fab World.

Recipe:

Paper: Superhero, Florentine, Cruisin', Black CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH); Stamps: Super Powers, Cricut Art Philosophy (CTMH); Inks: Grey Wool, Cranberry, Black (CTMH); Tools: Watercolor Pencils, Paper-Piercer, Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge (CTMH); Border Punch (Martha Stewart); Other: Brad, Foam Tape

I want to thank Debbie Carriere for always inspiring me to take it up a notch with the insides of my cards. If you've never had the pleasure of visiting her blog before, she does a fabulous, professional job with each of her creations. 

I would also like to pass along a little tip about mixing and matching paper packs. Don't be afraid. If the colors work well together, and the patterns are basic enough, chances are they will look terrific together. As you can see from this card, I mixed 3 different paper packs together, and yet they all blend very well. Happy Crafting!

Casandra

MFT Sketch Florentine Sympathy Card

Good morning! It's a beautiful, sunny day in Northern Michigan. Pretty humid, but there is a nice breeze gently blowing through the windows. 


I found this cute sketch from My Favorite Things blog, the other day. Unfortunately, I missed the cut-off for entry, but I like this sketch so much, I think I will use it for my next card workshop sometime in September.


Anyways, here is the beauty of a card I made using this fabulous sketch.

Here is the sketch that I created the above card from:

So as I explained last night, my husband was busy knocking down some weeds with a weed whip. I wanted to show you the "after" picture. Use your imagination for the "before". LOL

I hardly recognize the place. After letting it get away from me a few years ago while I was busy raising babies, I could no longer keep up with it. Amazing that Jeremiah uncovered a few plants I forgot we even had. LOL Yeah, it was that bad. Did I mention that I have a strong aversion to pulling weeds? I'd much rather be creating cards for y'all. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Casandra

40th Birthday Card

Good morning! I found a new blog that does card sketch challenges. It is called Freshly Made Sketches.

Here is this week's sketch:

This sketch made me think of my Spellbinder oval dies that are still in their package. I decided it was time to crack them open and find out what all the Spellbinder fun was about. It's pretty cool, actually.

Here is the card I made based on the above sketch:

I just love the simple elegance of Florentine. 

If you would like to participate in this week's sketch challenge, please click here for more details.

Casandra