FMS172 Valentine Card

I have been busy all week finishing up love-themed projects. Today's card is for my husband.

Recipe:
Paper: Heartstrings, Hollyhock CS, Whisper CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Stamps: #30yearsofhappy (retired), Distressed Backgrounds (CTMH)
Inks: Hollyhock, Black, Cranberry (CTMH)
Tools: Journal Pen, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Glue Pen, Cricut Art Philosophy (CTMH), Fancy Flourish Die (MFT)
Other: Stuck On You glitter puffies, Bitty Sparkles (CTMH)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
1) Freshly Made Sketches FMS172 Challenge
2) The Friday Mashup FM196 Challenge
3) Stampin' Royalty #265 Challenge

I recommend adhering the flourish with a glue pen. Happy Valentine's Day.

Casandra

FM196 Heartstrings Layout

I made it a mission to try and use up as much of the Heartstrings paper pack and matching complements as I can. Often, leftover scraps get tucked away with plans to reuse them. However, the next paper pack looks sparkly and exciting and those leftover scraps quickly become a thing of the past. 

Recipe:
Paper: Heartstrings, Hollyhock CS, Whisper CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Other: Heartstrings Complements, Stuck On You Puffies (CTMH)

I would like to enter this into The Friday Mashup FM196 Challenge: Love is in the air. I plan to use this layout for next week's Valentine's Day pictures.

I spent some time looking at the stickers I had left before finally attaching them to the page. The close-up of the layout shows you how I clustered them and added dimension with the puffy stickers. Feel free to scraplift for your own use.

Casandra

Heartstrings Love These Moments Layout

I am so happy to be creating layouts that aren't winter-themed. LOL I look outside and I see snow, so much white; playing with vibrant colored papers makes me feel happy.

I created a second layout with Heartstrings. After much deliberation, I finally decided on 2 sketches from our Reflections book. I taylored this layout after one that was featured in the Annual Inspirations book with Chalk It Up papers.

Recipe:
Paper: Heartstrings, Lagoon CS, White Daisy CS, Cranberry CS (CTMH)
Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Sanding Kit (CTMH)
Other: Stuck On You Glitter Puffies, White Shimmer Trim (CTMH)

It may be hard to see, but I sanded the edges of my papers. It takes a little extra time, but I think it is worth it. Because there was so much color going on, I decided to print my pictures in black and white (again). This also helped unify the color since my photo subjects were all dressed in different colors. 
I would like to enter this into the current challenge at Heart 2 Heart: Home Is Where The Heart Is. 

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day!

Casandra

Heartstrings Layout

Over the weekend, I carved out some official "me" time to play in my craft room. I had this idea to use non-romance theme photos on my layout. 

Recipe:

Paper: Heartstrings, Hollyhock CS, Whisper CS (CTMH)

Tools: Sanding Kit, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors (CTMH)

Other: Stuck On You Glitter Puffies, White Shimmer Trim, Heartstrings Complements (CTMH)

I was inspired by Close To My Heart's artwork design and decided not to switch it up much. Only change I think I really made was to leave off the badge buttons. In their place, I added some of the Stuck On You glitter puffies. Here's a little confession: The washi tape strips were lightly placed down because I wasn't sure I was truly committed to them (at first). The more I looked at them, the more I liked the whimsy of them. Trend or not, I think they are just right.

I lightly sanded the edges of my papers to help my photos pop. That typewriter sticker is so stinkin' cute, and it renewed my search for an uber fun vintage typewriter in seafoam green. But alas, I can't seem to make myself purchase the one I really want when it costs more than the computer I use. However, my husband is in on the search now...who knows? Maybe.... :)

Oh, something else I wanted to mention real quick. Photos: For the 6x8 size photo, I simply opened up Microsoft Word, inserted my picture, edited the photo size to 8" height, 6" width. Then, I went into printer options and changed my paper to HP Premium Plus Photo Paper. After making that change, it automatically adjusted my print option to "Best". Clicked print, and waited for my printer to do its magic. It's the easiest way I know to do it myself. I got lucky with my other photos because I could print them on 4x6 papers and trim them down to size. 

My latest style is CAS, meaning Clean and Simple. This fits well with this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge. I love clean lines, and almost never ink distress white edges anymore. Hope you like my layout as much as I do. 

Have a great night!

Casandra

Snowhaven Up To Snow Good Layout

Last night, I started working on my latest project. I was excited to receive my Shutterfly print order in the mail and itching to create a scrapbook layout with some of the photos. I had this layout idea spinning circles in my brain and felt the mojo magic to create it.

Recipe:
Paper: Snowhaven, Glacier Paper Fundamentals, Hollyhock CS, Smokey Plum CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Stamps: Frosty Fun, Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet, Year: Noted (CTMH)
Inks: Smokey Plum, Hollyhock, Black (CTMH)
Tools: Sponge, Cricut Art Philosophy, Cricut Artbooking, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Craft Heater, Craft Tray, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, ShinHan Alcohol Markers, Stitch Guide Ruler (CTMH)
Other: White Daisy Embroidery Floss (retired), Red Enamel Hearts, Silver Sequins, Clear Sparkles (CTMH)

The "snow" title pieces were negatives from a cricut title piece I used on another layout. They were cut out on white cardstock, but I thought the white felt flat against the picture, so I used my smokey plum ink pad and a sponge to color them purple. Tomorrow, they will probably look lighter (more purple) than they do now, since that's the way ink seems to work as it dries. If I had a white gel pen, I would have outlined them to make them pop more. I must remember to add it to my next order. 

People often ask me if I use a machine to stitch, but the answer is no. I hand-stitch. Call me crazy, but I like it. Oh, and that title was something I saw today on Pinterest. How's that for timing? I couldn't resist using it since it paired so well with my mischievous children and last January's photos.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. Hope your weekend is crafty!

Casandra

PP228 Ombre Card

Good evening. I was lucky enough to be home today, and shortly before the kids arrived home from school, I managed to complete my card.

I used a mixture of water and Lagoon re-inker and applied it to my cardstock pieces with a sponge dauber. The trick is to get your dauber good and wet, and obviously the more you apply to the cardstock, the deeper the color will be. Because our white cardstock is so fibrous (perfect for stamping), you will have some pilling. I simply took a dry paint brush and brushed the pilled pieces away. To help the paper dry faster, I used my craft heater.  

I played along with a Bingo challenge that Close To My Heart has this week. My row had re-inker spritz, favorite CTMH color, ribbon, and painting with watercolors. I thought it would be fun to combine the challenge with this week's Paper Player's Sentiment Only Challenge.

Recipe:
Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Black Cardstock (CTMH)
Stamp: You Mean The World To Me (CTMH)
Ink: Black (CTMH)
Tools: Spray Pen, Sponge Dauber, Lagoon Re-Inker, Journal Pen, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Craft Heater (CTMH)
Other: Bitty Sparkles, Slate Stripe Ribbon, Black Glitter Puffie (CTMH)

I hope I've inspired you today with a couple of cool techniques. Have a great day.

Casandra

Snowhaven Christmas 2014 Layout

Hello, and Happy Monday to you! It's happy for me because I am home alone today. Just me and my crafty stuff! Wahoo!

My husband thinks I'm crazy. He saw me spend almost a whole day working on this layout. Lots of little details to this, but first, I want to give credit to Close To My Heart's art department for inspiring me. They are awesome. And honestly, there wasn't much I could improve upon. I couldn't wait to use my punches and spray pen, and of course, my brand new Christmas Village stamp set. Isn't it fun? 

I did a ton of coloring with my ShinHan alcohol markers and fussy cutting. I really don't mind cutting out my images by hand, but my workshop attendees may not be so eager. LOL So here's my tip if you want to recreate this layout. You could stamp your images onto cricut/punched circles, and the title and trees, for instance, could be stamped directly to the layout. As for the banners...omg...I used my circle punch and then grabbed my one-hole punch that I've had for as long as I can remember, to achieve the banners. I recommend, should you be crazy enough to try them, using a glue pen to glue them down, or even liquid glass glue, along with a pair of craft tweezers to set them.

I take a ton of pictures at Christmas, and even though I scaled back on my picture-taking this year, I never seem to have enough photo spots for all of them. Needless to say, it was hard to narrow it down to just these particular snapshots. Someone once told me that it is our relationships that make scrapbooking so special, so I paid careful attention to including at least one photo of my little niece. And of course, journaling is so necessary to painting the full picture of the story, so be sure to include it when possible.

One more quick note: Our glitter paper is beautiful and is nice and sturdy, too. It is a bit more expensive when you consider it costs $2 a sheet vs. normal cardstock or even our patterned paper's price point. BUT, as you can see, I used it as accents, and between this layout and the other Snowhaven layout I created, I still have 2 1/2 sheets of glitter paper left. I really do recommend trying it; I promise you won't be sorry.

Recipe:
Paper: Snowhaven, Glacier CS, Topiary CS, Cranberry CS, White Daisy CS, Teal Glitter Paper (CTMH)
Stamps: Christmas Village, Handwritten Alphabet (CTMH)
Inks: Cranberry, Black (CTMH)
Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Craft Tweezers, 1 1/4" Circle Punch (retired), Chevron Border Punch, ShinHan Alcohol Markers, Craft Heater, Craft Tray, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, White Pigment Re-Inker, Spray Pen (CTMH), One-Hole Punch (Other)
Other: White Enamel Stars (CTMH)

I'm so pleased with how this layout turned out...even if hubby thinks I'm crazy. LOL

Casandra