Seasonal Expressions 1 Blog Hop

Welcome to the Seasonal Expressions Blog Hop where we are showcasing products from the new Seasonal Expressions 1 catalog. If you have come here from Haley's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

It's winter in Wisconsin so I was very excited to get my new catalog and look at the pretty spring colors in there.  The colors used with the Penelope collection caught my eye and I just had to try out the new thin cuts for this card.  I got the inspiration for the cut-out strip technique from Maile Belles and she has a great step by step tutorial on her blog.

I stamped the large flower right on the white card front with Thistle ink, then cut out the strip.  Next, I ran the thin cuts through my Cuttlebug using White Daisy cardstock; then inked the flowers, centers and leaves.  Arrange them nicely across the card and stamp a sentiment with Peacock ink.  (Note: the Penolope featured colors use Crystal blue but I was looking for something a bit bolder for the sentiment.) Next up was to add a bit of dimension to the background so I used a flower center and Versamark ink to make a random background; I didn't want to detract from the flowers so used a clear embossing powder and heat set that.  Here's a close up picture so you can see that a bit better:

I was on a roll and decided to challenge myself to use the same color pallet for different cards; on this second card, I used an embossing folder to add another dimension for the background and then used some purple shimmer trim and a purple gem as the flower center to glitz it up a bit.

On this one, I used thicker tape so you can really see the depth of the cutout section here

For the final card in this selection, I changed from portrait to landscape and flipped my paper over, backed the title with Pixie cardstock for this completely different look

Supplies used in these projects:
C1641 Springtime Wishes stamp set
Z3201 Springtime Wishes Thin Cuts
White Daisy Cardstock
Inks: Honey, Pear, Pixie, Thistle, Peacock, Versamark
Clear embossing powder
Scallop embossing folder
Purple shimmer trim
Purple glitter gem
Strip of pear pattern paper (from either the Penelope or Kaleidoscope paper pack)


Thanks for stopping by to visit; now, head on over to Krista's Blog and see what fun project she has created for us.

Stamping Techniques Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamping Techniques Blog Hop. This month we are featuring different stamping techniques using products from Close To My Heart.  I ran into some issues with the posting/linking process so ended up on the 'fringes' of blog hop so no one is linking directly to me this time but you can see all the participants on Melinda's Blog.

I just hosted a workshop where we made our own ink pads to make this Happy Birthday card.

The "ink pad" is made by folding up some paper towels and then using our re-inkers to blend some nice coloring together for a variegated ink pad.  On the left card, we used a stamp like you normally would to ink the background pattern.  For the card on the right, we turned the stamp over so the smooth side went into the ink pad and then it leaves a more random pattern.  Then we stamped a sentiment and layered it on our card.  These came together pretty quickly and the ladies at the gathering thought this was a fun technique to try out.

Supplies used:
Re-inkers: Honey, Smoothie, Hollyhock, Canary
Paper: Kaleidoscope, Smoothie, White Daisy
Stamp Sets: B1419 - Joyful Birthday, D1604 - Season of Thanks


Thanks for stopping by, now hop on over to Jen's blog and see what fun techniques she is sharing this month!

Scooter birthday card

For today's post, I was inspired by Michelle's blog, a fellow Close to My Heart consultant who made a really nice birthday card using a combination of stamp sets to showcase in the Holiday Expressions blog hop.

I used the same stamp set for the main image and Kaleidoscope papers.  I wanted to have the scooter rims stand out so used some liquid glass to make them nice and shiny, here is a close up view.

If you'd like to try out a similar card, here are the supplies I used:

Stamp sets: Make It Merry and Holiday Tags
Paper: Kaleidoscope paper packet

Ink: Archival black (or regular black), Gypsy, Canary
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles, Liquid Glass, Cherry Pink marker, and some clear glitter glue I happened to have on hand

I also used my Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut out the background image for the birthday sentiment. I love using these cartridges on my projects; it makes the process go so quickly if you are making multiple cards of a similar layout!