It’s Not All Christmas Themed

I can forgive you in thinking that the Close To My Heart November–December 2019 Catalogue is all Christmas Themed products. Yes the papers do have a very Christmas look about them but the wonderful thing about the Holly Jolly, the Cedar and Pine and Nov-Dec Mix ins papers collections is the designs on them – they lend themselves to any theme.

And well Red is a traditional colour to be used in Christmas but I also noted a few pinks & peaches and some flowers too. So I just had to create a scrapbook layout that used these papers.

I started off by wielding together Heart Border in the Close To My Heart – Artistry, the border has some open hearts with allowed me to back them with papers.

I then created a background using ink pads & water colour to show through the open areas of the overlay.

I added some Cedar & Pine Leaf stickers & fussy cut out some flowers from the Cedar and Pine Floral design and embellished with some hearts from sticker sheets and the White Acrylic Hearts, one of which I coloured red with my markers.

I added the Title Love This with White Alphabet Foam Stickers to finish off.

As I kind of wanted to show off all the pretty papers & not hide too much I decided I use 3×3 photos – so I have my placements down now, for once I print. However this did not leave too much room for journalling.

So I decided to create a 6″ x 6″ using the same techniques & a smaller scale overlay & add journalling strips. I had some left over Craft On Rubber Shapes, and well they were perfect to create a little mini title & add more embellishments.

Close To My Heart 6″ x 6″ Memory Protectors™ are actually designed to go into a 6″ × 6″, 8½” × 11″ or 12″ × 12″ album so it is perfect to sit next to my 12″ × 12″ layout.

I hope you like my ideas & will look at the Close To My Heart November–December 2019 Catalogue in a new light & see past the Christmas Theme to create some non Christmas ideas.

Til next time, see you soon & keep creating!
Maz

Fun Stamping Technique: Retiform Stamping Technique

This Stamping technique, which takes “masking & sponging” to a whole new level. This technique has been around for a while, you normally see it as a background that is a focus of the card front.

I have created a card with this technique, but I created a different look then what you normally see.

What you need
– A couple of Stamp images. I used the Bunches of Love (D1815) stamp as my main feature.
– Two or more coordinating colours of Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pads
– Either the Round Sponge or a couple of a Sponge Daubers for each colour you will use.
– Close To My Heart Cardstock
– Sticky notes of varying sizes.

Technique Process
Stick down your sticky notes to form a grid pattern. With a pice of the Round Sponge or with one of the Sponge Daubers sponge on the lighter shade of colour onto the unmasked area. Once sponged with the lighter add the darker shade ink. While the space is still masked stamp your images either in a contrasting or darker shade of ink.

Remove your sticky notes masks & mask off the the section you have sponged & stamped & continue to do another section. Keep masking sponging, stamping until you have covered the card or where you like the technique to appear.

I hope you enjoyed this fun Retiform Stamping Technique and I hope you give it a try.

Till next time Maz

10 ways to change up your Thin Cuts

So many Possibilities with your dies here are just a few

1. Dry emboss – try with embossing folder!
2. Heat emboss.
3. Background stamp.
4. Stitch (with smaller layer).
5. Vellum stitch (with same size layer).
6. Add gems/ sparkles/ embellishments.
7. Edge distress.
8. Cut on patterned paper.
9. Use the negative & create a second shape.
10. Cut on glitter paper.

Have you tried any of these techniques?
If so what is your favourite?

Remember, now through the end of March, get your favourite Thin Cuts at 25-30% off!

Have fun die cutting – Till Next Time
Maz

1 March 2018 (12:01 am AEDT) – 31 March 2018 (11:59 pm AEDT) or while supplies last

Leave Fussy Cutting Aside and Enter an Era of Perfectly Cut Stamped Images

Using correlating stamps and dies is big right now and a must-technique for any stamper and allows for perfectly cut images. With just a few turns of a lever, you can make your cards look super professional.

Luckily Close To My Heart have a bunch of Dies called Thin Cuts that come packaged with matching stamps – there are also a couple of Thin Cuts that are stand alone – allowing you to stamp or decorate the die cut image any way you like!

What I love about Stamps with the matching Thin Cuts

It is that you can recreate the same images over and over again in different colours, papers, textures- you name it, just by purchasing stamps with coordinating dies, you basically have the equivalent of endless stickers! All you need is a Die Cutting machine like a Cuttlebug or a Bigshoot to name a few. Basically -Thin Cuts are an easy way to add shapes, titles, and sentiments to any project — no scissors required!

Some Cards using Stamps with the matching Thin Cuts

There are a bunch of amazing Thin Cuts with matching stamps in the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book and here are a few cards to show how easy it is to turn a perfectly cut image into an amazing card, plus a few ideas to get you started.

 

Special Offer

Ok just when you thought it could not get any better, than making it easy for you to cut out your images – Thin Cuts dies are on sale all month!

Save 25% on a wide selection of Thin Cuts dies and 30% on select Thin Cuts bundles!

During March, you can purchase individual Thin Cuts at 25% off the retail price and select bundles of Thin Cuts at 30% off the retail price. This special includes both current and retired Thin Cuts.

Anyway I hope you enjoy my thoughts & ideas about Thin Cuts & you get a chance to look at what we have on offer for you.

Till Next Time
Maz

1 March 2018 (12:01 am AEDT) – 31 March 2018 (11:59 pm AEDT) or while supplies last

Tutorial: Joyfold Card from a pre-scored card

Modify the white cards from the White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack into a Fancy or Different Fold

I know some people may find the pre-scored cards that come in the White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack a little restricting & may only think you can create a standard fold with the card – I get it there is a score line smack bang in the middle of the card how can you create a fancy fold with that?

Do not let this scored line get in your way of creating fancy or different folds – in fact use that score line to your advantage to create these fancy folds. Plus the advantage is that you will ALWAYS have envelopes that will fit your cards. I know I have created many of a fancy fold in the past that meant also having to create a custom envelope. No need to do that with these cards.

So I thought I would share some of my ideas, measurements & of course pics of the cards that I have customised. You will start to really recognise why this is called a value pack! To start the whole series off is the Joyfold Card.

Joyfold cards

Joyfold cards are basically two cards rolled into one. You can get some really great results using a variety of contrasting papers on the different panels of the card and you can also experiment with shape, size and fold placement for unique looks. But I am here to show you how to create one using one of the pre-scored cards from the White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack so unless you are going to cut down the size, the size is standard – but you could experiment where you cut the front panel & where you place the smaller card.

How To Steps

1. Take one of the White cards from the White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack & cut the front panel vertically in half – it is about 5.5cm or for those of you who love inches (sorry this Aussie Baby grew up with metric) 2 1/4 inch. The measurement doesn’t need to be exact but this size will give you a good panel to work with in creating the JoyFold Card.

2. Now I found the cut off piece too small for my liking to create the inner card – but for the purpose of showing how to create this card, I used it. I just folded it in half & well it makes the whole thing pretty economical. I personally like the cardstock a little taller and about the same width. It means cutting up another piece of cardstock but have a play. I like the inner cardtock to be around 7cm or 2 3/4inches tall by 14cm or 5 1/2inches wide.

 

3. Now the fun part the decorating part – you want to place the background paper of your choice on the inside of the card first before adding the inner card. Now you can do the whole card or just the part you see – the choice is yours.

4. Once you have your background paper adhered to the inside of the main card , it is now time to play the little joy inner card. You can mat this whole pice if you like or leave it plain. If you do mat the card – you will need to cut another smaller pice of white cardstock if you want the front panel of the smaller card to be white.

 

OPTIONAL: Create a Belly Band to keep the card closed & it also creates a little fun extra embellishment to the card. To see an example of a card I created with a Belly Band check out the example over on my Facebook Page

Check out one I made Earlier over on Facebook

Head over to my Facebook Page to take a closer look at this card fold I made earlier in the month.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial & that you have a go at creating a Joy Fold Card yourself.

Till Next time
Maz

Same Card Design – Different Colouring in Methods

How Changing the way you colour an image changes the look of a Card

I wanted to have a go at the the whole No-line Colouring Technique so I basically replicated a card that I already created.  I mean let’s face it –  this no-line colouring is kind of scary. The lines disappear and before you know it, you don’t know what you’re colouring anymore so I needed a basis of where & what I was doing.

What I got was two cards with the exact same design but two completely different looks! So I wanted to share with you how the way you colour the card can completely change the look of the card. If you want to find out more how I did the No-line Colour there is a little How To after the images.

Cards Side By Side

As you can see I used the same design – this is easier to see the subtle differences that the different colouring methods make on the cards. The no-line colouring method softens  the whole card.

Close up Standard Colouring In

Close up No-Line Colouring In

No-line Colouring How To

• Stamp the image in a pale colour. I used Linen Exclusive Ink – it gave me a very pale outline that disappears once you colour over it.
• With your darkest colour ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Marker, add the shadows. This helps a lot when the lines start to “disappear”. For the Flowers I used Cherry Pink and with the leaves some were done with Vivid Green & others with Sap Green.
• Now with the lightest ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Markers, fill in the rest of the area. Making sure you blend in the lighter colours with the darker colours.
• If you need certain Features to stand out like the centre of the flowers you can draw them baack in – I did use the Black ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Marker but I could easily have used the Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen
• For the Butterfly I went with a gradient look instead of colouring in the different sections of the Butterfly wings & kept that gradient look in the standard colouring for the other card.

Well I hope you enjoyed this idea & how to tips & that you have a go at the No-line Colouring Technique.

Till Next Time
Maz