So it is summer here in Australia, which often means rain in January, at the moment we have heavy downpours & it has been like that all week. Although the last couple of days it has been broken up with humid sunshine. Plus we are still in a hotspot for Covid in my region – so my holiday leave is at home. What is a girl to do ? Well craft of course.
I stuck to the orientation of the sketch & used a tiny scallop stamp for the scallops & replace the Flowers with these Penguins to create this cute Birthday Card.
I used Close To My Heart Party Time Paper for the main rectangle & the current Jan – Feb Mix-ins paper for the banner. I added stamped faux stitching to the banner to ground it a bit more as it is sits away from the edge. The Penguins are from the current Jan – Feb CTMH catalogue & are called Winter Penguins – I think they are so cute.
I hope you liked my idea & it has inspired you to try it out or even the sketch out for yourself.
If you are interested in any of the products I used & live in Australia you can order these on my website.
The next idea also has some embossing, but mixed with just plain inked images and the colours were all tied together to work with the gorgeous Serenity Paper Packet.
I started off stamping in Sapphire ink, then I choose another leaf set & did second generation of Sapphire ink. The next leaf I stamped in Toffee & then finally the last lot of leaves were gold embossed. I cut out some of the Sapphire Blue Splattered paper from the Serenity Paper Packet and matted with some Gold Foil Paper, the Merry was also cut from the Gold Foil Paper and added to the Pine, Spring Design from the Serenity Paper Packet. I just love how the stamped design tied together with the printed paper.
I started with drawing a line in pencil where I wanted the base of the animals to be, I worked out the height by seeing how tall the leaves in the Merry Borders Stamp + Thin Cuts set would be. I then stamped the Penguin & masked, stamped the Deer & masked again to stamp the Polar Bear. I coloured in the animals with markers. I then cut some wood grain paper & started to stamp some leaves in various green inks & added some red dots as berries & stuck the paper down. I cut another strip of wood grain paper as I knew I needed a ledge & I wanted to create a wooden sign for the Penguin to hold. This was a fun way change up using the Merry Borders Stamp + Thin Cuts set.
Back to a non-Christmas idea, this time playing with layered embossing & the Thanks Thin Cut.
I stamped the first layer of leaves in VersaMark™ Ink Pad on white cardstock & heat set and I then coloured with Peel Paint Distressed Distress Oxide™, I then stamped the next layer of leaves again with Versa Mark & once heat set I coloured over with Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide™ Ink Pad, I done another layer of leaves and added Peacock Feathers Distressed Oxide Ink. I added my final layer of leaves, but this time gold embossed the leaves. I then sprayed over the entire card front with Lime Gloss Spray which doesn’t rub off from the embossing once dry, so it tied in all the green layers. I then cut out the thanks thinner letters from this background. The Background thanks was cut in white card stock & sits over the cutout. I glued the letters back in place. I love the texture & the embossing resists of different greens this card shows.
I started off with a circle mask & then started stamping my leaves around the circle in various green inks. Once that was done I stamped my sentiment from the December’s Stamp of the Month – Happiness Never Grows Old in charcoal ink. I stamped, coloured & fussy cut out the roses & added them to my wreath of leaves. I backed the decorated card front with some Jingle Joy Paper Packet to finish it off.
I thought I share this card as a VIP Customer you can get a free Stamp of the Month FREE with qualifying purchase of $80 & the Merry Borders Stamp + Thin Cuts set would make the perfect item to spend your $40 in VIP Credit you get when you sign up before 31 December.
Don’t forget you can get all your Craft supplies to make these at discount when you sign up to be a VIP Customer.
You earn credit that you can spend or save each time you purchase your supplies. Not only that all VIPs are invited to an exclusive workshop on February 25th 2021 to make these cards & scrapbook layouts.
We can’t wait to craft with our incredible VIP’s! There will be a virtual event in a private Facebook group for VIP’s and a workshop bundle available to order on January 1st to help you craft these amazing workshops. Find Out More..
Specials
Make sure you check out our other great promotions including Seasons in Motion & Merry Little Christmas. And don’t forget you can sign up any time to our Craft with Heart™ – Scrapbooking or Cardmaking Subscriptions with Heart.
Regular sized slimline cards have been super popular in the card-making world, so why not a mini version?
I thought I have a go at playing on a slightly smaller surface & create mini slimline card with a finished size of 6″ x 3.5″ . What I love about this is I can have the fold on the smaller 3.5″ or on the longer 6″ side which makes it super fun.
I loved how it turned out. I even based the layout on a sketch that was for a traditionally sized card. Check out the World Carmaking Day post to see all the details how I put this together.
These Gnome For Christmas stamps are just so cute on this card.
So for this next card I took the window as a 3 fold card. This turned out to be so fun to create.
When you first open you see the details of the barn, with window shutters & woodgrain & the cute From the Funny Farm animals
And then you open up again to get this cute little scene with the sheep
Really this shows, just because these mini slimline card are a smaller size of 6″ x 3.5″, you can still create a huge variety of designs & creative opportunity.
Don’t forget you can get all your Craft supplies to make these at discount when you sign up to be a VIP Customer, You earn credit that you can spend or save each time you purchase your supplies. Find Out More…
Specials
Make sure you check out our other great promotions including Seasons in Motion & Merry Little Christmas. And don’t forget you can sign up any time to our Craft with Heart™ – Scrapbooking or Cardmaking Subscriptions with Heart.
Some of us are still staying home in 2020, so what better way than to spend your time making & creating cards this World Cardmaing day. Although today we have a gorgeous spring day outside so a bit of it will be spent outdoors enjoying it.
I thought I start off my day by working off a sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #388 and I wanted to try out a mini slimline card & seeing it is a gorgeous spring day – I had to use flowers.
So this is the sketch I worked off from today.
And from that bit of inspiration I created this sweet mini slimline card.
I used the Close To My Heart Operation Smile Every Bit of Wonderful stamp set for the flowers & sentiment. I cut the squares from the Woodgrain pattern paper using the smallest stitched square thin cut dies, kraft cardstock & some soft pink cardstock to create my mini slimline card.
I added some black shimmer brush splatters to represent the three dots at the top of the card.
The mini slimline card with a finished size of 6″ x 3.5″ was a fun slightly smaller surface to play with but I loved how it turned out.
I hope you liked my idea & it has inspired you to try it out or even the sketch out for yourself.
We’re delighted & excited to announce that we are offering a NEW VIP Customer Program where you get Rewarded EVERY time you shop!
Be A VIP
The VIP Customer Program is your chance to earn shopping credits on your purchases while getting access to exclusive product and perks!
To kick off this exciting new program we have an introductory special that will be live from October through December of 2020.
Join the VIP Customer program during October, November or December for $55 AUD and get back $40 credit back in your account, instead of the regular amount of $25 AUD – I mean that is like like joining for $15 as you get to spend $40 on any of the new products^ on my website.
The benefits are amazing
Join for $55 AUD and get $25 AUD $40 AUD to spend now!
Earn 15% spending credit of full retail amount paid.
FREE Stamp of the Month with orders of $80 AUD or more.
Access to exclusive products throughout the year.
Exclusive workshop bundle available for purchase.
FREE Facebook Live event for workshop.
So what else can you get as a VIP customer?
VIP credits earned on each order equal to 15% of retail amount paid
This means every time you buy product as a VIP signed up with me, you get 15% of retail amount paid. This means if you place a $100 order, YOU will earn $15 in VIP credit, can use that credit to get product up to $15 FREE!
These credits can be used up right away, or they can be saved up for when YOU are ready to redeem them. VIP credits can be used to purchase most products^ – so you can start earning FREE product every time you buy!
The more you spend the more you get rewarded
One free Stamp of the Month set each month with qualifying order of $80 AUD
That is right, instead of having to pay $9 for the stamp of the month every time you spend $80, you can get it for FREE!
So in October spend $80 and get the With All My Love Stamp of the Month Free.
In November spend $80 and get You Warm My Heart Stamp of the Month Free
And this is a sneak peek of the December Stamp Of the Month – isn’t it pretty? It is called Happiness Never Grows Old.
Plus when you join & become part of my VIP Facebook Group , where I will share some great ideas on using these Stamp of the Month stamps.
Access to exclusive Workshop
If you join as a VIP Customer between Thu 1 Oct & Thu 31 Dec, you will have access to an exclusive Workshop that includes Cards & Scrapbook Layouts
Exclusive Facebook Group
As a VIP member you will be given a link to join an Exclusive Facebook Group hosted by the Close To My Head Head Office. There will also be an exclusive group run by me where I will share some great ideas using the Stamp of the Month that you can earn for free & where you have access to card kits & more.
Exclusive special offers & content & product throughout the year
VIP Customers will be eligible for exclusive savings and special offers & access to exclusive products throughout the year, when they participate in the program. More details about these special offers will be shared as they become available.
There is also a VIP Facebook group that when you join with me you can join for exclusive content that is created JUST for the VIP customers – I will not post it anywhere else. This content will include, tips, techniques, card kits you can get sent to you & more.
Come & JOIN the VIP Program
If you an Aussie, come & join the VIP Program with me & enjoy the fab befits listed above – I just know we have so much fun crafting together with all your new products & you love earning free stuff too.
Til next time, see you soon & keep creating! Maz
^The following items cannot be purchased using VIP credits
– Craft with Heart™ Subscriptions 
– Annual VIP Customer Renewals
– Cricut.com purchases
– Maker Enrollment
– Discounted products (including specials and clearance items)
In addition, VIP credits cannot be applied toward Operation Smile™ donations, tax, or shipping.
Distress® Oxide® Inks are not new but they are to Close To My Heart & I thought it would be fun to play with these fun water-reactive dye & pigment ink fusion & use the Floral Details & Background stamp to showcase the different looks you can achieve Distress® Oxide® Inks with with one image.
What I love about Distress® Oxide® Inks is that they are easy to blend, if you had issues blending before, than try these inks. They help give you nice coverage with no lines. They create an oxidized effect when sprayed with water , the look is unique to these inks. But with these inks you can also stamp & emboss with them & there are soo many things you can do with them.
Distress Oxide Stamping & Embossing Resist
This is one of the simplest techniques, it really just embossing resist, but Distress Oxides blend so nicely & are easy to wipe off the embossed image.
Once I embossed the image, I added picked raspberry & candied apple. I buffed off the excess ink on top of the embossed image. The card design came into play due to the fact when I was covering the embossing there was just one part that didn’t emboss properly so I only had once nice area that I could use that I just did not want to toss after all the hard work, but wow I loved how this card came together from this mistake. I used the inside of the large stitched rectangle & cut out a piece using one of the Fancy Borders Thin Cuts & added foam tape to raise it above the background.
Distress Oxide Stamping & Water
When you add water to the inks they run which is great to create water colours but doing this directly on cardstock they do nor run or smudge much. To get that to occur you need a barrier like Gesso or even stamp onto watercolour cardstock, to stop the water from sinking straight into the cardstock.
Once the Gesso was dry I stamped the Floral Details & Background stamp onto it & then used a water brush to spread out & smudge the ink into the stamped images.
For anyone wondering what else you can do if you do not have Gesso, in this card I used the Distress Watercolor Cardstock & stamped onto the smooth side & was still able to do the blending & smudging.
With this technique you cover cardstock with Distress® Oxide® Inks & then cover your stamp with water & stamp – thats right stamp the image with with water. Make sure you let the stamp sit for a bit on the ink before removing & dry with a heat gun to speed up the oxide reaction.
For this one I cover white daisy cardstock with candied apple before I stamped over with the Floral Details & Background stamp in water. I cut the cardstock down & added a thin strip of black cardstock & silver shimmer trim. I really like how subtle the stamp image is.
Now I also tried this technique with Black cardstock – one of the things with Distress® Oxide® Inks is due to their pigment properties they sit on top of the cardstock showing the colour.
I covered the black cardstock with seedless preserves before I stamped over with the Floral Details & Background stamp in water. I die cut the Thanks Thin Cuts I added some White Opal Pearls to the Thanks image & extra flowers. It is amazing how the water stamped image stands out so much more on the black cardstock than the white.
Distress Oxide & Waterpainting or Watercolour lifting technique
For this technique I used water in a water brush to colour in images. I started with the Distress Oxide Stamping & Embossing Resist techniques first described in this post. I covered the entire piece of cardstock with mowed lawn Distress® Oxide® Inks & buffed off the excess. I then went back with the water colour brush & painted the flowers & leaves with water & let it dry. To remove more colour you can dab off the excess water & add more water. The whiter/lighter colour intensifies over time as it dries.
Once I was happy how the leaves & flowers were lighter, I stamped, die cut & coloured the fawn from the Woodland Friends image. Added the stitched rectangle die layered a few times & a Merry Christmas cut using the Cricut.
Iron Off Transfer
For this technique I started with the Distress Oxide Stamping & Embossing Resist techniques first described in this post. I then used the Distress Oxide & Waterpainting or Watercolour lifting technique as above. Then I covered the cardstock with another piece of cardstock & ironed over it – only the embossing powder will transfer, unless you did not buff off the excess ink off the embossed image. It makes the cardstock flat so you no longer see the embossing & on the transfer piece the embossed image is a little more smooshed, not as fine lined & crisp.
I then covered the iron off transfer with more distress oxide inks & it looks more softer way than before.
You can see the two pieces before I created into cards side by side. The left side is the embossed image that I covered with Mustard Seed & Spiced Marmalade & the right side is where I have ironed off the embossing powder & then covered with Abandoned coral, Mustard Seed & Spiced Marmalade.
Painting with Distress Oxide Inks
So we know we can create a water colour like paint with the distress oxide inks, so I thought it be good to do some painting/colouring with the watercolours I created with them. To create the watercolours I smooshed some ink onto the All-purpose Mat & mixed with some water & picked up the colours with the water brush to paint onto the images.
The gold embossing kept the paint in the lines & adding more layers of paint over the dried areas helped create shades.
On this card I stepped up this technique a notch & coloured over back soot with the watercolours I created on the All-purpose Mat and wow I loved how this turned out.
I white embossed onto white daisy cards stock & then covered the embossed image in black soot distress oxide ink. I then smooshed some ink onto the All-purpose Mat & mixed with some water. I picked up the colour with the water colour brush & coloured the leaves & flowers in with the Distress® Oxide® Inks & then on the flowers I added some Clear Shimmer Brush for some extra sparkle.
The ink mixed with water not only oxidized the black soot, but also allowed me to layer the colour on top of the black soot background. They are soft & pretty over the black soot.
Specials
Make sure you check out our other great promotions including Got Candy? & National Stamping Day Creativity in Motion And don’t forget you can sign up any time to our Craft with Heart™ – Scrapbooking or Cardmaking Subscriptions with Heart. With new designs that have started this month.
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