Bokeh Technique Valentine Card

I was inspired to try out the Bokeh technique once and for all after checking out the fun projects in the latest CTMH technique blog hop featuring this style. Bokeh is actually a photography term which means the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image that produced by a camera lens. In cardmaking or other papercrafting area, this term is used to create a blury/hazy background.  While the background usually features dots, I just had to use hearts after seeing Helen's post that stamps work nicely if you don't want to make your own template.

Here's the final product, I will be using this as a make-n-take item at our Stamp, Scrap and Craft day coming up on January 30.

I started with White Daisy paper then used Pixie ink and a sponge dauber for the first layer (in hindsight, I would have done this after the "spritz" so I could get the lighter color to pop a bit more.)

Then, I put a few drops of Hollyhock ink in a sprayer and gave the paper a quick spritz.

Next, I used another sponge dauber and used Cranberry ink (one spot got a little darker than I wanted so that was my target for the title area!)

For the last layer, I used the smooth side of the heart that comes on with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge set, inked with White Daisy and then made a random pattern for the background.  Don't be afraid to overlap the hearts, it does give it a fun look.  Since the White Daisy is a pigment ink, I heat set it before mounting on the hearts (cut from Art Philosophy cartridge at 2.25" in White Daisy and 2.5" in Cranberry cardstock.)

The January Stamp of the Month was the perfect set for the title and a sentiment inside.

Here is a list of products used:
Cardstock Paper: White Daisy and Cranberry
Ink: White Daisy, Pixie, Hollyhock (re-inker), Cranberry
Cricut Cartridge: Art Philosophy
Stamp Set: S1601 - Beloved Bouquet

Thanks for stopping by!

Live Your Day Blog Hop

Welcome to the Live Your Day Blog Hop. We are celebrating National Papercrafting Month with the exclusive Picture My Life™ Live Your Day scrapbooking program. If you have come here from Traci'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.

The Live Your Day collection was designed to coordinate perfectly with the sensational Everyday Life™ 2016 Planner Pages and My Crush® Everyday Life Pages, so you can seamlessly integrate pocket scrapbooking into your 2016 planner and also work very nicely on their own.  I wanted to showcase the versatility of this set with this birthday card.  

This card was fun to make and came together pretty quickly.  I used items from both of our promotions this month; the background on the top of the card is from the January Stamp of the Month - Beloved Bouquet.  I also used a sentiment from that stamp set inside the card that says "Wishing you all the happiest things in life, all the best of everything."  I thought that fit nicely with a birthday wish!  If you look closely at the Happy Birthday title, it's two tone.  For that, I inked the stamp with Pixie and then used a sponge dauber to add some spots of Sorbet to add a bit of interest.

The pattern on page 47 of the Make It From Your Heart book was the inspiration for this card layout and I used the following supplies:

Pattern card from the Live Your Day set

Paper: 

• Sorbet
• Pixie
• White Daisy

Ink:  

• Sorbet
• Pixie
• Bamboo

Stamp sets:

• Joyful Birthday
• Beloved Bouquet

Accessories/Supplies:

• Black shimmer trim
• Silver gems
• Corner Rounder

You can purchase these items from your Close To My Heart consultant or can shop on my website if you don't already have one.  Now, check on Katie's Blog next to see what fun project she has to share with us. 

Beloved Bouquet - January SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the January 2016 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. If you have come here from Jean'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.

The Beloved Bouquet stamp set gave me lots of options for inspiration.  I started off with a Valentine's Day card:

 and I used one of the hearts from the negative space on this to go with the sentiment inside the card.

I think my husband will like this card!  Here's the supplies I used:

Artistry Cricut Cartridge - page 28, cut at 5.5" with cranberry cardstock from the Adventure cardstock combo then backed some of the open hearts with silver glitter paper and inked the title. I also embossed the title to give it a bit of shine to complement the glitter and glitz of the card.

Next, I made a birthday card; I just love how you can create a nice dimension with the layered flower stamps.

This one also came together pretty quickly courtesy of the Artiste Cricut Cartridge on this one. Start with a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of Hollyhock cardstock, then layer on a 4" x 5.25" piece of Charlotte paper.  Stamp the flowers on White Daisy cardstock with Pixie as the base and Hollyhock on the outline, for the third flower, I used Pixie as the outline without the base.  Ink the leaves with Sweet Leaf and fussy cut all the elements to put on the card front.  Cut the 1.34" banner from Whisper cardstock and ink the sentiment with Whisper using the stamp set that comes with the Artiste collection.  Voila, two pretty fun cards from one stamp set!

Now "Hop" on over to Pam's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! The Cheers SOTM is available until November 30. Contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website.

November 2015 SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the November 2015 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. If you have come here from Stefani'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.

This month we have 37 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. 

I really like how versatile this stamp set is so I wanted to showcase that with my cards for this post. The first card is a fun one and I used the new circle diffuser with the confetti stars embossing folder to leave a nice space where I could stamp the Dream Big sentiment. I added a touch of sparkle by embossing the sentiment and then adding some shimmer trim. I also made use of the edge strips from the Kaleidoscope paper.  

Supplies Used:

Paper: Kaleidoscope paper packet, Honey, Pacifica, Smoothie

Ink: Pacifica, Smoothie
Embellishments: White shimmer trim, Clear embossing powder

While I was at it, I made a couple of additional cards with this stamp set, it was so fun to get completely different looks from the same set!

 

Now "Hop" on over to Krista's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! The Cheers SOTM is available until November 30. Contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

October Stamp of the Month Twinkle

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We are featuring S1510 - Twinkle SOTM, a set of 15 stamps.  If you have come here from Lori'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.

This month we have 47 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs.  This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This is my first blog hop that I've participated in; it's always fun to try new things.  Speaking of new items, I made this card for a consultant swap event that required us to use a new paper that came out in the most recent catalog along with an assigned stamp set.  I had used the Kaleidoscope paper for a two page birthday layout and was thinking how versatile this paper pack will be for many different themes and projects so thought I'd try it on a Christmas card and am really happy with the results, I hope you agree! 

Supplies Used:

• 1385 - White Daisy Cardstock
• X7202B - Kaleidoscope paper
• Z8997 – White Daisy Envelopes
• Z3170 - Artiste Cricut Cartridge
• S1510 – Twinkle SOTM
• Z3130 – Silver Foil Tape
• Z2116 – Cranberry Ink
• Z2197 – Pear Ink

 Cut the following:

·         8.5” x 4.25 white card stock for card base

·         4.25” x 4.25” Kaleidoscope

Artiste Cricut Cartridge and white cardstock:

·         pg 53 accent 1 – cut 1.75”

·         pg 53 accent 2 – cut 2.75”

·         pg 53 accent 3 – cut 2”

Assembly instructions:

• Fold card base in half
• Stamp the ornaments with Cranberry ink
• Place silver foil tape on the Kaleidoscope paper, let it hang over the edge a little as you cut it then fold it over the top of the paper.
• Mount the Kaleidoscope paper on the front of your card
• Mount ornaments at ends of silver foil tape
• Ink sentiment of your choice inside card
• Ink envelope flap in Pear

Now "Hop" on over to Judy's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! The Twinkle SOTM is available until October 31. Contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Twinkle SOTM

Anything's Possible

I made this card from the Just Sayin' stamp of the month set for May.  This is such a fun set and can be used on cards or your favorite scrapbook pages,  It's available for only $5 with a qualifying order through May 31.

Just Sayin'

Hello card with April Stamp of the Month

This April Stamp of the Month set is one of my favorites but I haven't had a chance to post anything yet with this stamp set so I figured I should squeak one in before the month was over.  I used Glacier ink and Seaside paper with some washi tape.  The sentiment is stamped and then heat embossed with gold for a little extra bling.

Products used:

Gold Polka Dot Washi Tape

Seaside paper packet

I am getting ready for a crop this weekend and put together a make and take project.  The inspiration comes from this Mojo Monday sketch and the Close To My Heart January Stamp of the Month set.

       

For this card, I used the following supplies:

S1501 This Moment, January Stamp of the Month

Artbooking Cricut Cartridge for the bullseye

Papers: Heartstrings, Lagoon, White Daisy and Ruby

I used the Heart Embossing Folder and sanded the hearts to get the nice white contrast.  The heart Washi tape works nicely with this card when layered on white paper.

The January Stamp of the Month, This Moment, has lots of options for Valentine's and traditional cards or scrapbook pages. This stamp set pairs with the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge set for even more possibilities with your creations and be yours for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! . Place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products to qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing. I'm going to have lots of fun with this stamp set and will post pictures as I get creations made. 

I just finished lining up my supplies for Monday night's group; the Scrappers of Deforest get together once a month to make 3x3 cards to go out with Meals on Wheels deliveries in the area.  We have a theme each month and a rule that we can only use supplies we already have on hand. The theme this month is snow or winter and I just had to use the polar bear for these, he fits perfectly.

Paper: 

3x3" square of pacifica blue paper from the assortment pack

2 3/4" postage stamp cut from white daisy (Art Philosophy cartridge)

3/4"snowflake (Art Philosophy cartridge)

Ink:

Pacifica ink (Polar bear)

Whisper pigment ink (daub on snowflake and heat set with embossing powder)

Stamp set:

S1410 - Home for the Holidays 

C1593 - Hats off Hostess (for sentiment)

Supplies:

Bow tie from Z3037 - Stuck on You Puffies

The polar bear from the November 2014 Stamp of the Month set is so cute, I had to use it on my Christmas thank you cards.  I used colonial white cardstock along with the Yuletide Carol paper for each card.  For the one on the left, desert sand paper for the accent along with Pacifica ink.  For the card on the right, I used Ruby paper and ink for the accents.