Close To My Heart Holly Jolly Australasian Blog Hop

A Happy Hello and welcome aboard our Holly Jolly Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Doris Taylor Creative Inspirations then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Holly Jolly Is such a bright fun collection & it is perfect for a traditional Christmas with a few modern colours additions of Smoothie & Glacier.

I decided to have another play with the Cricut® Complete Creativity Digital Collection as there are a couple of pre-designed Christmas.

With this one I even created a second page in a 8½” × 11″ format using the same elements by slicing & resizing things. I loved how it turned out.

I used the Holly Jolly papers to cut the the photo mats and the tag. Plus I used the words that are in one of the zip strips & stapled at the top. I also used a tag sticker & some of the flower stickers near the poinsettia flower.

Holly Jolly papers to cut the the photo mats and the tag & again used the words on the zip strip words stapled near the bottom. I used the holly stickers on top of the O in Joy.

I also wanted to make a card so thought I used the snowflake paper that is part of the Holly Jolly Paper Pack.

I thought it was cut having the woodland creatures gathering around a Christmas Tree (cut from the Cricut® Complete Creativity Digital Collection) in the snow.

And finally I wanted to make something that was not Christmas Theme, so decided to use some of the presents in the sticker sheet and fussy cut some presents out of the paper & paired it with a Birthday Saying Stamps.

I also used some of the green gingham with some silver shimmer trim to finish off the card.

I had lots of fun creating with Holly Jolly and I would love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Danielle Edwards – Scrappy Chicks

Enjoy the hop & thanks so much for taking the time to check out these ideas with this month’s feature on

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

It’s a Close To My Heart Spooktacultar Australasian Blog Hop

A Happy Hello and welcome aboard our Spooktacular Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop.

If you have arrived here from Lauren Moore- CTMH Craftings then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Celebrate Halloween in style with exclusive papers and stamps that are truly Spooktacular!.

In this project I used the Halloween Layouts in the new Cricut® Complete Creativity Digital Collection & changed it up to be a single page layout & to incorporate the Spooktacular papers, sticker sheet & even the Frightful Friends stamp set to create my own scrapbook layout.

I used design space to ungroup & hide contours to create my layout from the sample layout using elements from the right side to incorporate into the left side to get the sizing & see visually how my layout will look.

And then cut it out with the Spooktacular papers and started to decorate with the Spooktacular stickers and the Vampire cat from the Frightful Friends stamp set.

My next project I thought I create a birthday card to showcase that the Spooktacular papers & stamp set could be used for other projects besides Halloween

I used the patterns that were not too Halloween Themed & as this cute Pirate Bunny to create this card.

I hope you like my idea using Spooktacular and if you would like to get any of the products that I have used in this project, please contact your Close To My Heart Consultant or if you do not have a consultant, I would love for you to place an order with me on my website

I’d love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Dannii – Scrappychicks

Enjoy the hop & thanks so much for taking the time to check out these ideas with this month’s feature on Spooktacular Special

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

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

Create 12 Heartfelt Interactive Cards with the Exclusive From the Heart Kit

See how easy these Brilliant & gorgeous cards come together.

Playing with Jack the Close To My Heart featured Paper Pack

Have you had a chance to play with the Jack the Close To My Heart Paper Pack?

Well let me tell you it is a fab fun & a little bit manly.

Into Scrapbooking 

You will love the Jack the Close To My Heart Paper Pack to scrapbook your camping trips & if you have a little wild child this paper pack if perfect.

Into Pocket Scrapbooking 
If Traditional Scrapbooking is not your thing – Jack as with all Close To My Heart Paper Packs includes some cut apart Pocket Scrapbooking pages that you can cut up & create your pocket scrapbook layout in a flash.

Into Card Making 
I can Bearly Stand this cute Bear Stamp from the Jack Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts Bundle & you can use this cutie for any occasion.

 

And I could not resist making a Popup Box card with the Bear.

Of course there is also the always fab Father’s Day Cardmaking Kit which allows you to create 12 Brilliant cards

Into Paper Crafting 
If you love to create something a little different how about decorating up a Photo Frame like this Jack Handsome Frame

Whatever Your Into
Whatever form of crafting Jack has something for everyone.
Make sure you get your pack today before it is all gone by the end of this month.

Thanks for checking out what I had to say about Jack the Close To My Heart featured Paper Pack
Till Next Time Maz

Hidden Inlay Die Cutting with Close To My Heart Thin Cuts

Well I have another fab idea & technique to share with you so that when you go & get your 25%  saving on the Close To My Heart Thin Cuts you will have lots of ideas on how to use them and this technique shows you how to create hidden inlay die cuts which are almost invisible – until you take a closer look.

Die cut inlay is where you die cut shapes and glue the pieces back together like a puzzle for a smooth look.

Material:
– Close To My Heart Thin Cuts I used the the Thanks out of the Hello & Thanks Thin Cut Set
– Die Cutting Machine of your Choice
– And  multiple colours of Cardstock

How To
1. Stamp your image & colour in with your choice of colour. I used the In Bloom stamp set and Watercolours
2. Cut your Close To My Heart Thin cut as you normally would & save the little negative cut out left over pieces.

3. Re-cut the same die out of another colour of cardstock – this is optional & if you want to build your word up into a 3D look. I started to do this look but changed it right at the end for a more flush look.
4. Attach your card to a base and stick in in the left over negative cut out pieces into place.

5. Stick the word into place

6. Optional: To make sure that the word is flush you can run your card through your embossing machine – just protect your card from the marks that could be on your plate – I got some lovely marks that had to be hidden!

What I love
How the word looks just fab by itself with the stamped, coloured background – I could use it like that if I really wanted too! In fact I am very tempted to make another to do just that!

I hope you try this technique and have fun with it and thanks so much for taking the time to find out more about the Hidden Inlay Die Cutting technique…see you soon.

Maz